{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_14554/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_14554","id":"gutenberg_14554","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14554","summary":null,"tags":["Baltimore catechism","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Category: Teaching & Education","Catholic Church -- Catechisms -- English"],"text":"An\nExplanation\nOf The\nBaltimore Catechism\nof Christian Doctrine\n\n\nFor The Use of\nSunday-School Teachers and Advanced Classes\n\n(Also known as Baltimore Catechism No. 4)\n\n\nby\nRev. Thomas L. Kinkead\n\n\n\n\nNihil Obstat:\nD. J. McMahon\nCensor Librorum\n\nImprimatur:\n+ Michael Augustine\nArchbishop of New York\nNew York, September 5, 1891\n\n\nNihil Obstat:\nArthur J. Scanlan, S.T.D.\nCensor Librorum\n\nImprimatur:\n+ Patrick J. Hayes, D.D.\nArchbishop of New York\nNew York, June 29, 1921\n\n\n\n\n{Transcriber's Note: This book is commonly known as \"The Baltimore\nCatechism No. 4\" and is the last part of a four volume e-text\ncollection. See the author's note to Baltimore Catechism No. 3 for the\nbackground and purpose of the series. This e-text collection is\nsubstantially based on files generously provided by\nhttp://www.catholic.net/ with some missing material transcribed and\nadded for this release. Transcriber's notes in this series are placed\nwithin braces, and usually prefixed \"T.N.:\".}\n\n\n\n\nAPPROBATIONS\n\n\nHis Eminence Cardinal Gibbons:\n\"I thank you for the copy of The Explanation of the Baltimore Catechism\nwhich has just reached me. A Religious spoke to me in very high terms of\nyour book. I regard the opinion as of great value.\"\n\nMost Rev. M. A. Corrigan, D.D., Archbishop of New York:\n\"I congratulate you on the good which it is likely to do.\"\n\nMost Rev. William Henry Elder, D.D., Archbishop of Cincinnati:\n\"I think the work will be a very serviceable one. I hope it will meet\nwith great success.\"\n\nMost Rev. Thomas L. Grace, D.D., Archbishop of Siunia:\n\"Your book entitled An Explanation of the Baltimore Catechism supplies a\nwant which is generally felt by the clergy and others engaged in\nteaching Catechism. Apart from the very satisfactory development of the\nanswers to the questions and apt illustrations of the subjects treated,\nthe additional questions inserted in your book give it a special value.\"\n\nMost Rev. P. J. Ryan, D.D., Archbishop of Philadelphia:\n\"Your explanation of the Baltimore Catechism is excellent and must be of\nvery great service to teachers of Sunday schools and to all who desire a\nclear exposition of Catholic doctrine, either for themselves or to\ncommunicate it to others. We give the work our cordial approval.\"\n\nMost Rev. William J. Walsh, D.D., Archbishop of Dublin, Primate of\nIreland:\n\"I have had a copy of your admirable work for some weeks past, and on\nseveral points it has been of very great use to me and to the committee\n[a committee of professors of theology, moral as well as dogmatic;\npriests of long and of wide experience in the work of instructing\nchildren in the Catechism; experienced examiners of children;\naccomplished scholars and writers of English; members both of religious\nand of secular collegiate communities; and representatives of the\nmissionary priesthood, secular and regular, appointed to draft a new\nCatechism].\"\n\nRight Rev. D. M. Bradley, D.D., Bishop of Manchester:\n\"I am sure this 'Explanation' will be welcomed by the teachers in our\nschools and indeed by all whose duty it may be to instruct others in the\nteachings of the Church.\"\n\nRight Rev. Thomas F. Brennan, D.D., Bishop of Dallas:\n\"I like the book very much and will not only recommend it to the priests\nand good sisters of my diocese, but will also use it myself at catechism\nevery Sunday in the Cathedral. The list of questions and general index\nrender its use very easy.\"\n\nRight Rev. M. E. Burke, D.D., Bishop of Cheyenne:\n\"Your Explanation of the Baltimore Catechism is excellent, and it\nsupplies a much needed means of useful and necessary catechetical\ninstruction for our Sunday schools. It will be found an excellent\ntextbook for Catholic schools and academies throughout the country and a\nmost useful manual for all who are engaged in the instruction of our\nchildren.\"\n\nRight Rev. L. De Goesbriand, D.D., Bishop of Burlington:\n\"I consider your book, the Explanation of the Baltimore Catechism, as an\nadmirable work. Nothing can be found more clear, more satisfactory.\"\n\nRight Rev. John Foley, D.D., Bishop of Detroit:\n\"I congratulate you upon producing a work so useful to those having\ncharge of souls in such clear, concise, and instructive a style. I shall\ngladly commend it to the Rev. Clergy.\"\n\nRight Rev. H. Gabriels, D.D., Bishop-elect of Ogdensburg:\n\"Your book will furnish solid material to priests who wish to preach at\nlow Masses the catechetical instructions prescribed by the council of\nBaltimore. A rapid perusal of some of its pages has convinced me that it\nis just what was often looked for in vain in this important branch of\nthe holy ministry.\"\n\nRight Rev. N. A. Gallagher, D.D., Bishop of Galveston:\n\"Having read your Explanation of the Baltimore Catechism, I wish to say\nthat it is in my opinion a very useful book for priests as well as for\nteachers; and that it is a valuable book to place in the hands of those\nwho wish to become acquainted with the teachings of Holy Church. I have\njust ordered ten copies from the Publishers for my own distribution.\"\n\nRight Rev. Leo Haid, O.S.B., D.D., Vicar Apostolic of North Carolina:\n\"I am very glad you gave us such a sensible, simple, and complete\nexplanation of the Baltimore Catechism. I wish it were in the hands of\nevery teacher of Christian doctrine. In this Vicariate, where priests\nare few, and often obliged to receive converts into the Church without\nthat thorough instruction which resident pastors can give, your book\nwill be hailed with joy. I will do my utmost to make it known. Please\nsend me one dozen copies.\"\n\nRight Rev. John J. Hennessy, D.D. Bishop of Wichita:\n\"From what I have seen of your book I am delighted with the method which\nyou have adopted for explanation. It makes the Catechism easy and\ninteresting to both teacher and pupil. I shall heartily recommend your\nbook to our clergy for introduction into our schools.\"\n\nRight Rev. A. Junger, D.D., Bishop of Nesqually:\n\"I am sure your work will not fail to obtain its object. There is not\nthe least doubt that it will be of the greatest and best use for Sunday\nschool teachers and advanced classes who will make use of it, and to\nwhom we highly recommend it. Such a work was needed, as our Baltimore\nCatechism does not and cannot contain all the necessary explanations.\"\n\nRight Rev. John J. Keane, D.D., Rector of the Catholic University,\nWashington:\n\"The character of the work speaks for itself.\"\n\nRight Rev. W. G. McCloskey, D.D., Bishop of Louisville:\n\"What I have already seen of it gives me the impression that it is a\nmeritorious work which ought to be encouraged.\"\n\nRight Rev. James McGolrick, D.D., Bishop of Duluth:\n\"I think you have prepared a thoroughly practical work in your\nExplanation of the Baltimore Catechism. You have in well selected and\nplain English enabled teachers to give useful lessons from the text\nitself without the need of resort to other books. Your book will find\nits way to the desk of every Catholic teacher, and we hope to the home\nof every Catholic family. I am glad you marked the Scripture references,\nfor the higher classes after Confirmation can unite their Scripture\nlessons with such study of your book as to prepare themselves for\nteaching. Your series of questions and good index are certainly very\nuseful.\"\n\nRight Rev. Camillus P. Maes, D.D., Bishop of Covington:\n\"I have examined your Explanation of the Baltimore Catechism on some of\nthe most important points of doctrine and morals. I find its teachings\nsound, and the manner of presenting them practical. I take pleasure in\ncommending your book to priests and teachers, and in congratulating you\nfor having bestowed so much time on the greatest of all pastoral work,\nviz: giving children a thorough and sound knowledge of Holy Church and\nof her divine teachings.\"\n\nRight Rev. C. E. McDonnell, D.D., Bishop-elect of Brooklyn:\n\"I beg you to accept my hearty congratulations.\"\n\nRight Rev. R. Manogue, D.D., Bishop of Sacramento:\n\"We have ponderous works from distinguished authors on the Catechism in\ngeneral, but yours--An Explanation of the Baltimore Catechism--is the\nsimplest, most concise, most natural and instructive I have yet\nencountered. It is good not only for advanced pupils, teachers,\npreachers and priests, but also for the sacred precincts of every\nCatholic family.\"\n\nRight Rev. Tobias Mullen, D.D., Bishop of Erie:\n\"Your book appears to me a very meritorious production. In your preface\nyou observe it has been designed for the use of Sunday school teachers\nand that it 'should do good in any Catholic family' I think you might\nhave added that any clergyman having the care of souls, whether giving\nprivate instructions or preparing for the pulpit, would derive great\nbenefits from its perusal.\"\n\nRight Rev. H. P. Northrop, D.D., Bishop of Charleston:\n\"The Explanation of the Baltimore Catechism, plain and practical, clear\nand comprehensive, was a work very much needed. From a general\nexamination, I think you have done your work well, and you deserve the\nthanks of all teachers of catechism and those who have charge of our\nschools. You have simplified the work of the teacher by putting in his\nhand such a ready handbook and commentary on the text he is supposed to\nexplain. If they do what they expect their pupils to do--study the\nlesson--with such a help as you have furnished them, the work of the\nSunday school will be much more satisfactory. I hope the hearty\nappreciation of those for whom you have labored will crown your work\nwith abundant success.\"\n\nRight Rev. Henry Joseph Richter, D.D., Bishop of Grand Rapids:\n\"The aim of your book is excellent. To judge from the portions which I\nhave read, your labor has been successful. I recommend the book to all\nCatholic adults, but especially to teachers and converts, as a\nconvenient handbook of appropriate, plain, and solid instructions on the\ndoctrine of the Catholic Church.\"\n\nRight Rev. S. V. Ryan, D.D., Bishop of Buffalo:\n\"I think your work fully meets all you claim for it. It will serve as a\ngood textbook for an advanced catechism class, and a very useful\nhandbook for catechists in instructing converts or our own people what\nthey should know and what they are bound to believe in regard to our\nholy faith. The book will, I think, do good in any Catholic family.\"\n\nRight Rev. L. Scanlan, D.D., Bishop of Salt Lake:\n\"I consider it a most useful if not necessary book, not only for Sunday\nschool teachers and for advanced classes, but for all who may desire to\nhave a clear, definite knowledge of Christian doctrine.\"\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n\nPRAYERS\n\nThe Lord's Prayer\nThe Angelical Salutation\nThe Apostles' Creed\nThe Confiteor\nAn Act of Faith\nAn Act of Hope\nAn Act of Love\nAn Act of Contrition\nThe Blessing before Meals\nGrace after Meals\nThe Manner in Which a Lay Person Is to Baptize in Case of Necessity\n\n\nCATECHISM\n\nLesson 1--On the End of Man\nLesson 2--On God and His Perfections\nLesson 3--On the Unity and Trinity of God\nLesson 4--On Creation\nLesson 5--On Our First Parents and the Fall\nLesson 6--On Sin and Its Kinds\nLesson 7--On the Incarnation and Redemption\nLesson 8--On Our Lord's Passion, Death, Resurrection and Ascension\nLesson 9--On the Holy Ghost and His Descent upon the Apostles\nLesson 10--On the Effects of the Redemption\nLesson 11--On the Church\nLesson 12--On the Attributes and Marks of the Church\nLesson 13--On the Sacraments in General\nLesson 14--On Baptism\nLesson 15--On Confirmation\nLesson 16--On the Gifts and Fruits of the Holy Ghost\nLesson 17--On the Sacrament of Penance\nLesson 18--On Contrition\nLesson 19--On Confession\nLesson 20--On the Manner of Making a Good Confession\nLesson 21--On Indulgences\nLesson 22--On the Holy Eucharist\nLesson 23--On the Ends for which the Holy Eucharist Was Instituted\nLesson 24--On the Sacrifice of the Mass\nLesson 25--On Extreme Unction and Holy Orders\nLesson 26--On Matrimony\nLesson 27--On the Sacramentals\nLesson 28--On Prayer\nLesson 29--On the Commandments of God\nLesson 30--On the First Commandment\nLesson 31--The First Commandment--On the Honor and Invocation of the\n           Saints\nLesson 32--From the Second to the Fourth Commandment\nLesson 33--From the Fourth to the Seventh Commandment\nLesson 34--From the Seventh to the Tenth Commandment\nLesson 35--On the First and Second Commandments of the Church\nLesson 36--On the Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Commandments of the\n           Church\nLesson 37--On the Last Judgment and Resurrection, Hell, Purgatory and\n           Heaven\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE\n\n\nIt must be evident to all who have had experience in the work of our\nSunday schools that much time is wasted in the classes. Many teachers do\nlittle more than mark the attendance and hear the lessons; this being\ndone, time hangs heavily on their hands till the school is dismissed.\nThey do not or cannot explain what they are teaching, and the children\nhave no interest in the study.\n\nThe Explanation of the Baltimore Catechism is intended for their use.\nThe explanations are full and simple. The examples are taken from Holy\nScripture, from the parables of Our Lord, from incidents in His life,\nand from the customs and manners of the people of His time. These are\nmade applicable to our daily lives in reflections and exhortations.\n\nThe plan of the book makes it very simple and handy. The Catechism is\ncomplete and distinct in itself, and may be used with or without the\nexplanations. The teacher is supposed, after hearing the lesson, to read\nthe explanation of the new lesson as far as time will allow. It may be\nread just as it is, or may be learned by the teacher and given to the\nchildren in substance.\n\nThe Explanation of the Baltimore Catechism will be found very useful\nalso for the instruction of adults and converts. The priest on the\nmission is often called upon to instruct persons who can come to him but\nseldom, and only for a short time; and who, moreover, are incapable of\nusing with profit such books as The Faith of Our Fathers, Catholic\nBelief, or works of controversy. They are simply able to use the Child's\nCatechism when explained to them. If the Explanation of the Baltimore\nCatechism is in their hands, they may read the explanations and study\nthe Catechism with pleasure.\n\nIndeed the book should do good in any Catholic family. The majority of\nour people are children as far as their religious knowledge goes. They\nmay, it is true, have books on particular subjects, such as the Duties\nof Parents to Their Children, The Sure Way to a Happy Marriage, etc.;\nbut a book that explains to them in the simplest manner all the truths\nof their religion, and applies the same to their daily lives, ought to\nbe useful.\n\nThe chief aim of the book is to be practical, and to teach Catholics\nwhat they should know, and how these truths of their Catechism are\nconstantly coming up in the performance of their everyday duties. It is\ntherefore neither a book of devotion nor of controversy, though it\ncovers the ground of both. As in this book the explanations are\ninterrupted by the questions and answers of the Catechism proper, it\nwill, it is hoped, be read with more pleasure than a book giving solid\npage after page of instructions.\n\nWherever a fact is mentioned as being taken from Holy Scripture, it will\ngenerally be given in substance and not in the exact text; though the\nreference will always be given, so that those wishing may read it as it\nis in the Holy Scripture. The children are not supposed to memorize the\nexplanation as they do the Catechism itself, yet the teacher, having\nonce read it to them, should ask questions on it. The book may be used\nas a textbook or catechism for the more advanced classes, and the\ncomplete list of numbered questions on the explanations--given at the\nend--will render it very serviceable for that purpose.\n\nAs the same subject often occurs in different parts of the Catechism,\nexplanations already given may sometimes be repeated. This is done\neither to show the connection between the different parts of the\nCatechism, or to impress the explanation more deeply on the minds of the\nchildren, or to save the teacher the trouble of always turning back to\npreceding explanations. The numbering of the questions and answers\nthroughout the Catechism, and the complete index of subjects and list of\nquestions at the end, will, it is hoped, make these comparisons and\nreferences easy, and the book itself useful.\n\nWith the hope, then, that the Explanation of the Baltimore Catechism may\ndo all the good intended, I commend it to all who desire a fuller\nknowledge of their holy religion that they may practice it more\nfaithfully.\n\n\nRev. Thomas L. Kinkead\nJune 21, 1891,\nFeast of St. Aloysius\n\n\n\n\nAn\nExplanation\nOf The\nBaltimore Catechism\nof Christian Doctrine\n\n\n\n\nBasic Catholic Prayers\n\n\n\nTHE LORD'S PRAYER\n\nOur Father, Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come.\nThy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily\nbread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass\nagainst us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.\nAmen.\n\nThis is the most beautiful and best of all prayers, because Our Lord\nHimself made it. (Matt. 6:9; Luke 11:2). One day when He was praying and\nexplaining to His Apostles the great advantages of prayer, one of them\nsaid to Him: \"Lord, teach us to pray.\" Then Jesus taught them this\nprayer. It contains everything we need or could ask for. We cannot see\nits full meaning at once. The more we think over it, the more clearly we\nunderstand it. We could write whole pages on almost every word, and\nstill not say all that could be said about this prayer. It is called\n\"the Lord's,\" because He made it, and sometimes the \"Our Father,\" from\nthe first words.\n\nWe say \"Our,\" to show that we are all brethren, and that God is the\nFather of us all, and therefore we pray not for ourselves alone but for\nall God's children.\n\nWe say \"Father,\" because God really is our Father. We do not mean here\nby Father the First Person of the Blessed Trinity, but the Blessed\nTrinity itself--one God. What does a father do for his children? He\ngives them their natural existence, provides them with food and\nclothing, teaches, protects, and loves them, shares with them all that\nhe has, and when he dies leaves them his possessions. Now, in all these\nways, and in a much truer sense, God is our Father. He created us and\ngives us all that is necessary to sustain life. He gives light, heat,\nand air, without any one of which we could not live. He provides for us\nalso food and clothing, and long before we need or even think of these\nthings God is thinking of them. Did you ever reflect upon just how much\ntime and trouble it costs to produce for you even one potato, of which\nyou think so little? About two years before you need that potato, God\nputs it into the mind of the farmer to save the seed that he may plant\nit the following year. In the proper season he prepares the ground with\ngreat care and plants the seed. Then God sends His sunlight and rain to\nmake it grow, but the farmer's work is not yet ended: he must continue\nto keep the soil in good condition and clear away the weeds. In due time\nthe potato is taken from the ground, brought to the market, carried to\nyour house, cooked and placed before you. You take it without even\nthinking, perhaps, of all this trouble, or thanking God for His\ngoodness. This is only one article of food, and the same may be said of\nall the rest. Your clothing is provided for you long before you need it.\nThe little lamb upon whose back the wool is growing, from which your\ncoat is someday to be made, is even now far away on some mountain,\ngrowing stronger with the food God gives it till you need its wool. The\nlittle pieces of coal, too, that you so carelessly throw upon the fire\nwere formed deep down in the earth hundreds of years ago. God produces\nall you use, because He foresees and knows you will use it. Moreover He\nprotects us from danger; He teaches us by the voice of our conscience\nand the ministers of His Church, our priests and bishops. He loves us\ntoo, as we may learn from all that He does for us, and from the many\ntimes He forgives us our sins. He shares what He possesses with us. He\nhas given us understanding and a free will resembling His own. He has\ngiven us immortality, i.e., when once He has created us, we shall exist\nas long as Himself--that is, forever. When Our Lord died on the Cross,\nHe left us His many possessions--His graces and merits, the holy\nSacraments, and Heaven itself.\n\nIt is surely, then, just and right to call God Father. Our natural\nfathers give us only what they, themselves, get from God. So even what\nthey give us also comes from Him.\n\nBefore the time of Our Lord, the people in prayer did not call God\nFather. They feared Him more than they loved Him. When He spoke to\nthem--as He did when He gave the Commandments to Moses--it was in\nthunder, lightning, and smoke. (Ex. 19). They looked upon God as a great\nand terrible king who would destroy them for their sins. He sent the\ndeluge on account of sin, and He destroyed the wicked city of Sodom with\nfire from Heaven. (Gen. 7:19). They called Him Jehovah, and were afraid\nsometimes even to pronounce His name. But Our Lord taught that God,\nbesides being a great and powerful king--the Ruler of the universe and\nLord of all things--is also a kind and good Father, who wishes His\nchildren not to offend Him because they love Him rather than because\nthey fear Him, and therefore He taught His disciples and all Christians\nto call God by the sweet name of Father.\n\n\"Who art in Heaven.\" The Catechism says God is everywhere. Why then do\nwe say, \"Who art in Heaven,\" as if He were no place else? We say so to\nremind us, first, that Heaven is our true home, and that this world is\nonly a strange land in which we are staying for a while to do the work\nthat God wishes us to do here, and then return to our own home; second,\nthat in Heaven we shall see God face to face and as He is; third, that\nHeaven is the place where God will be for all eternity with the blessed.\n\n\"Hallowed\" means made holy or sacred. Halloween is the name given to the\nevening before the feast of All Hallows or All Saints.\n\n\"Thy kingdom come.\" This petition contains a great deal more than we at\nfirst see in it. In it we ask that God may reign in our hearts and in\nthe hearts of all men by His grace in this life, and that we and all men\nmay attain our eternal salvation, and thus be brought to reign forever\nwith God in Heaven--the kingdom of His glory. As the Church on earth is\nfrequently called the kingdom of Christ, and as all the labors of the\nChurch are directed to the salvation of souls, we pray also in this\npetition that the Church may be extended upon earth, that the true\nreligion may be spread over the whole world, that all men may know and\nserve the true God and cheerfully obey His holy laws; that the devil may\nhave no dominion over them. While saying this petition we may have it in\nour minds to pray even for particular ways in which the true religion\ncan be spread; for example, by praying that the missionaries may meet\nwith success and all the missions prosper; that priests and bishops may\nbe ordained to preach the Gospel; that the Church may overcome all her\nenemies everywhere, and the true religion triumph.\n\n\"Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.\" In Heaven all the angels\nand saints obey God perfectly; they never offend Him; so we pray that it\nmay be on earth as it is in Heaven, all men doing God's will, observing\nHis laws and the laws of His Church, and living without sin.\n\n\"Give us this day our daily bread.\" In this petition \"bread\" means not\nmerely bread, but everything we need for our daily lives; such as food,\nclothing, light, heat, air, and the like; also food for the soul, i.e.,\ngrace. If a beggar told you that he had not tasted bread for the whole\nday, you would never think of asking him if he had eaten any cake,\nbecause you would understand by his word bread all kinds of food. We say\n\"daily,\" to teach us not to be greedy or too careful about ourselves,\nand not to ask for unnecessary things, but to pray for what we need for\nour present wants.\n\n\"And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against\nus.\" \"Trespasses\" means here our sins, our offenses against God. When we\ntrespass we enter places we should not, or where we are forbidden to go.\nSo when we sin we go where we should not go, viz., out of the path of\nvirtue that leads to God, and into the way of vice that leads to the\ndevil.\n\n\"As we forgive them.\" We take this to mean: we forgive others who have\noffended us, and for that reason, God, You should forgive us who have\noffended You. Our Lord told a beautiful parable, i.e., a story by way of\nillustration, to explain this. (Matt. 18:23). A very rich man had a\nservant who owed him a large sum of money. One day the master asked the\nservant for the money, and the poor servant had none to give. Now the\nlaw of the country was, that when anyone could not pay his debts, all\nthat he had could be sold and the money given to the one to whom it was\ndue, and if that was not sufficient, he and his wife and his children\ncould be sold as slaves. The servant, knowing this, fell on his knees\nand begged his master to be patient with him, and to give him time and\nhe would pay all. Then his master was moved to pity, granted not only\nwhat he asked, but freed him from the debt altogether. Afterwards when\nthis servant, who had just been forgiven the large sum, was going out,\nhe found one of his fellow servants who owed him a very small sum of\nmoney, and taking hold of him by the throat, demanded payment. Now, this\npoor servant, having nothing to give just then, implored his assailant\nto be patient with him and he would pay all. But the hard-hearted\nservant--though he himself had a little while before asked and obtained\nthe very same favor from his own master--would not listen to the request\nor wait longer, but went and had his fellow servant cast into prison\ntill he should pay the debt. The other servants, seeing how unforgiving\nthis man was who had himself been forgiven, went and told all to their\nmaster, and he, being angry at such conduct, had the unforgiving servant\nbrought back and cast into prison.\n\n\"And lead us not into temptation.\" \"Temptation\" means a trial to see\nwhether we will do a thing or not. Here it means a trial made by some\nperson or thing--the devil, the world, or our own flesh--to see whether\nwe will sin or not. God does not exactly lead us into temptation; but He\nallows us to fall into it. He allows others to tempt us. We can overcome\nany temptation to sin by the help or grace that God gives us. Therefore\nwe ask in this petition that God will always give us the grace to\novercome the temptation, and that we may not consent to it. A temptation\nis not a sin. It becomes sin only when we are overcome by it. When we\nare tempted we are like soldiers fighting a battle: if the soldiers are\nconquered by their enemy, they are disgraced; but if they conquer their\nenemy, they have great glory and great rewards. So, when we overcome\ntemptations, God gives us a new glory and reward for every victory.\n\n\"Deliver us from evil.\" From every kind of evil, and especially the evil\nof being conquered by our spiritual enemies, and thus falling into sin,\nand offending God by becoming His enemy ourselves. It would be a sin to\nseek temptation, though we have a reward for resisting it when it comes.\n\n\"Amen\" means, be it so. May all we have asked be granted just as we have\nasked it.\n\n\nTHE ANGELICAL SALUTATION\n\nHail, Mary, full of grace! the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou\namongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary,\nMother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.\nAmen.\n\nNext in beauty to the Lord's Prayer comes this prayer. It is made up of\nthree parts:\n\n\"Hail, full of grace! the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou amongst\nwomen\" was composed by the angel Gabriel, for these are the words he\nused when he came to tell the Blessed Virgin that she was selected to be\nthe Mother of God (Luke 1:28). All her people knew that the Redeemer\npromised from the time of Eve down to the time of the Blessed Virgin was\nnow to be born, and many good women were anxious to be His mother, and\nthey believed the one who would be selected the most blessed and happy\nof all women.\n\n\"The Lord is with thee\" by His grace and favor, since you are the one He\nloves best. He is with all His creatures, but He is with you in a very\nspecial manner.\n\nAfter the visit of the angel, the Blessed Virgin went a good distance to\nvisit her cousin, St. Elizabeth, who was the mother of St. John the\nBaptist (Luke 1:39). When St. Elizabeth saw her, she, without being told\nby the Blessed Virgin what the angel had done, knew by the inspiration\nof the Holy Ghost what had taken place, and said to the Blessed Virgin:\n\"Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.\"\nThat is \"blessed\" because, of all the women that have ever lived or ever\nshall live, you are the one selected by God to be the mother of His Son\nand Our Redeemer, and blessed is that Son Himself. This is the second\npart of the prayer. The third part, from \"Holy Mary\" to the end, was\ncomposed by the Church.\n\n\"Hail.\" This was the word used by the people of that country in saluting\none another when they met. We say when meeting anyone we know, \"Good\nday,\" or \"How do you do?\" or some such familiar expression used by all\nin salutation. So these people, instead of saying, \"Good day,\" etc.,\nsaid \"Hail\" i.e., I wish you health, I greet you, etc. The angel did not\nsay \"Mary,\" because she was the only one present to address.\n\n\"Full of grace.\" When anything is full it has no room for more. God's\ngrace and sin cannot exist in the same place. Therefore when the Blessed\nVirgin was full of grace, there was no room for sin. So she was without\nany sin and gifted with every virtue.\n\n\"Holy Mary,\" because one full of grace must be holy.\n\n\"Mother of God,\" because her Son was true God and true man in the one\nperson of Christ, Our Lord.\n\n\"Pray for us,\" because she has more power with her Son than all the\nother saints.\n\n\"Sinners,\" and therefore we need forgiveness.\n\n\"At the hour of our death\" especially, because that is the most\nimportant time for us. No matter how bad we have been during our lives,\nif God gives us the grace to die in His friendship, we shall be His\nfriends forever. On the other hand, no matter how good we may have been\nfor a part of our lives, if we become bad before death, and die in that\nstate, we shall be separated from God forever, and be condemned to\neternal punishment. It would be wrong, therefore, to live in sin, with a\npromise that we shall die well, for God may not give us the grace or\nopportunity to repent, and we may die in sin if we have lived in sin.\nBesides this, the devil knows how much depends upon the state in which\nwe die, and so he perhaps will tempt us more at death than at any other\ntime; for if we yield to him and die in sin, we shall be with him\nforever--it is his last chance to secure our souls.\n\nBesides the Hail Mary there is another beautiful prayer on the same\nsubject, called the Angelus. It is a little history of the Incarnation,\nand is said morning, noon, and evening in honor of Our Lord's\nIncarnation, death, and resurrection. It is made up of three parts. The\nfirst part tells what the angel did, viz.: \"The angel of the Lord\ndeclared unto Mary. And she conceived of the Holy Ghost.\" After saying\nthese words, we say one Hail Mary in honor of the angel's message. The\nsecond part tells what Mary answered, viz.: \"Behold the handmaid of the\nLord. Be it done unto me according to thy word.\" We say another Hail\nMary in honor of Mary's consent. The third part tells how Our Lord\nbecame Man, viz.: \"And the Word was made flesh. And dwelt among us.\" The\n\"Word\" means here the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity; and \"made\nflesh\" means, became man. Then another Hail Mary is said in honor of Our\nLord's goodness in humbling Himself so much for our sake. After these\nthree parts we say: \"Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God! that we may be\nmade worthy of the promises of Christ\"; and, finally, we say a prayer in\nhonor of Our Lord's Incarnation, Passion, and Resurrection. This\nbeautiful prayer is said three times a day in all seminaries, convents,\nand religious houses. The time for saying it is made known by the\nringing of a bell called the \"Angelus bell.\" In many parishes the church\nbell rings out the Angelus. In Catholic countries the people stop\nwherever they are and whatever they are doing, and bowing their heads,\nsay the Angelus when they hear its bell. It is a beautiful practice and\none most pleasing to our Blessed Lord and His holy Mother. Good\nCatholics should not neglect it.\n\nI might mention here another kind of prayer often said in honor of our\nblessed Mother. It is the Litany. In this form of prayer we call Our\nLady many beautiful names which we know are most dear to her, asking her\nafter each one to pray for us. We address her first by names reminding\nher that she is the Mother of God and has therefore great influence with\nher divine Son. We say: Mother of Christ, Mother of Our Creator, Mother\nof Our Redeemer, etc., pray for us. Next we remind her that she is a\nvirgin and should take pity on us who are exposed to so many temptations\nagainst holy purity. We call her virgin most pure, virgin most chaste,\netc., and again ask her to pray for us. Lastly we call her all those\nnames that could induce her to hear us. We say: health of the weak,\nrefuge of sinners, help of Christians, pray for us.\n\nIn addition to the Litany of the Blessed Virgin, we have the Litany of\nthe Holy Name of Jesus, the Litany of the Blessed Sacrament, the Litany\nof the Sacred Heart, the Litany of St. Joseph, and many others--all made\nup in the same form. We have also the Litany of all the Saints, in which\nwe beg the help and prayers of the different classes of saints--the\nApostles, martyrs, virgins, etc.\n\n\nTHE APOSTLES' CREED\n\nI believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth; and\nin Jesus Christ, His only Son, Our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy\nGhost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was\ncrucified; died, and was buried. He descended into Hell; the third day\nHe arose again from the dead; He ascended into Heaven, sitteth at the\nright hand of God, the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to\njudge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost, the holy\nCatholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the\nresurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.\n\nA creed is a definite list or summary of all the things one believes.\nThe \"Apostles' Creed\" is therefore a list or collection of all the\ntruths the Apostles believed. The \"Apostles\" were the twelve men that\nOur Lord selected to be His first bishops. We know they were bishops\nbecause they could ordain priests and consecrate other bishops. They\nlived with Our Lord like a little family during the three and a half\nyears of His public life; they went with Him and learned from Him\nwherever He preached. Besides these He had also His disciples, i.e.,\nfollowers who went with Him frequently but did not live with Him. Our\nLord wished His doctrine to be taught to all the people of the world,\nand so He told His Apostles that they must go over the whole world and\npreach in every country. During the life of Our Lord and for a short\ntime after His death they preached in only one country, viz.,\nPalestine--now called the Holy Land--in which country the Jews, up to\nthat time God's chosen people, lived. Since the Apostles were to preach\nto all nations, the time came when they must separate, one going to one\ncountry, and another to another. In those days there were no steamboats\nor railroads, no post offices, telegraph offices, telephones, or\nnewspapers. If the Apostles wished to communicate with anyone they had\neither to go to the place themselves or send a messenger. By walking or\nriding it might have taken them months or years in those days to make a\njourney that we can make now in a few days; and for an answer to a\nmessage which we can get now by telegraph in a few hours they might have\nhad to wait months. The Apostles knew of all these inconveniences, and\nbefore leaving the places they were in pointed out the chief truths that\nall should know and believe before receiving Baptism, that Christian\nteachers who should come after them might neglect nothing--just as we\nuse catechisms containing the truths of religion, for fear the teachers\nmight forget to speak of some of them. There are \"twelve articles\" or\nparts in the Apostles' Creed, and each part is meant to refute some\nfalse doctrine taught before the time of the Apostles or while they\nlived. Thus there were those--as the Romans--who said there were many\ngods; others said not God, but the devil created the earth; others\ntaught that Our Lord was not the Son of God: and so on for the rest. All\nthese false doctrines are denied and the truth professed when we say the\nApostles' Creed.\n\nJust as in the Lord's Prayer we do not see all its meaning at first, so\nin the Apostles' Creed we find many beautiful things only after thinking\ncarefully over every word it contains.\n\n\"I believe,\" without the slightest doubt or suspicion that I might be\nwrong.\n\n\"In God\" by the grace that He gives me to believe and have full\nconfidence in Him.\n\n\"God,\" to show that there is only one.\n\n\"The Father,\" because He brought everything into existence and keeps it\nso (see Explanation of the Lord's Prayer).\n\n\"Almighty,\" i.e., having all might or power; because He can do whatever\nHe wishes. He can make or destroy by merely wishing.\n\n\"Creator.\" To create means to make out of nothing. God alone can create.\nWhen a carpenter makes a table, he must have wood; when a tailor makes a\ncoat, he must have cloth. They are only makers and not creators. God\nneeds no material or tools. When we make anything, we make it part by\npart; but God makes the whole at once. He simply wills and it is made.\nThus He said in the beginning of the world: \"Let there be light; and\nlight was made.\" For example, suppose I wanted a piano. If I could say,\n\"Let there be a piano\" and it immediately sprang up without any other\neffort on my part, although neither the wood, the iron, the wire, the\nivory, nor anything else in it ever existed till I said, \"Let there be a\npiano,\" then it could be said I created a piano. No one could do this,\nfor God alone has such power.\n\n\"Heaven and earth\" and everything we can see or know of.\n\n\"Jesus Christ.\" Our Lord is called by many names, but you must not be\nconfused by them, for they all mean the same person, and are given only\nto remind us of some particular thing connected with Our Lord. He is\ncalled \"Jesus,\" which signifies Saviour, and \"Christ,\" which means\nanointed. He is called the \"Second Person of the Blessed Trinity,\" and\nwhen we call Him \"Our Lord,\" we mean the Second Person of the Blessed\nTrinity after He became man. He is called the \"Messias\" and the \"Son of\nDavid\" to show that He is the Redeemer promised to the Jews. Also at the\nend of all our litanies He is called the \"Lamb of God,\" because He was\nso meek and humble and suffered death so patiently. In the Litany of the\nHoly Name of Jesus we will find many other beautiful names of Our Lord,\nall having their special signification.\n\n\"His only Son,\" to show that God, the First Person of the Blessed\nTrinity, was His real Father. We are called God's children, but we are\nonly His created and adopted children.\n\n\"Who was conceived,\" i.e., He began to exist by the power of the Holy\nGhost in the womb of His Mother, the Blessed Virgin.\n\n\"Suffered.\" We shall see in the explanation of the Passion what He\nsuffered.\n\n\"Under\" means here, at the time a man named Pontius Pilate was governor.\nIf anyone were put to death today in this country, we should say he was\nexecuted under Governor or President so-and-so. \"Crucified,\" i.e.,\nnailed to a cross. We say \"died,\" because Our Lord is the Giver of Life,\nand no one could take His life away unless He allowed it. Therefore we\nsay He died, and not that He was killed, to show that He died by His own\nfree will and not against His will.\n\n\"Was buried.\" This we say to show that He was really dead; because if\nyou bury a man who is not really dead he must die.\n\n\"Hell\" here does not mean the place where the damned are, but a place\ncalled \"Limbo.\" You know that when our first parents sinned, Heaven was\nclosed against them and us, and no human being could be admitted into it\ntill after the death of Our Lord; for He by His death would redeem\nus--make amends for our fall and once more open for us Heaven. Now from\nthe time Adam sinned till the time Christ died is about four thousand\nyears. During that time there were at least some good men, like Abraham,\nIsaac, Jacob, Moses, David, and others, in the world, who tried to serve\nGod as best they could--keeping all the divine laws known to them, and\nbelieving that the Messias would some day come to redeem them. When,\ntherefore, they died they could not go to Heaven, because it was closed\nagainst them. They could not go to Hell, because they were good men.\nNeither could they go to Purgatory, because they would have to suffer\nthere. Where could they go? God in His goodness provided a place for\nthem--Limbo--where they could stay without suffering till Our Lord\nreopened Heaven. Therefore, while Our Lord's body lay in the sepulchre,\nHis soul went down into Limbo, to tell these good men that Heaven was\nnow opened for them, and that at His Ascension He would take them there\nwith Him.\n\n\"The third day.\" Not three full days, but the parts of three days, viz.,\nFriday afternoon, Saturday, and Sunday morning.\n\n\"He arose\" by His own power: and this was the greatest of all Our Lord's\nmiracles. Some others, like the prophets and Apostles, have, by the\npower God gave them, raised the dead to life; but no dead person ever\nraised himself. Our Lord is the first and only one to do this, and by so\ndoing, showed they could not take away His life unless He wished to give\nit up; for since He could always take back His life, how could they\ndestroy it?\n\n\"He ascended\" forty days after His Resurrection.\n\n\"Right hand of God.\" We know God is a pure spirit having no body; and if\nHe has no body He can have no hands. Why then do we say right hand? When\nthe President of the United States invites anyone to dine at his house,\nhe makes the invited guest sit at his right hand, and thus shows his\nrespect by giving him the place of highest honor.\n\nWhen Our Lord ascended into Heaven, He went up in the human body He had\nupon earth, and His Father placed Him as man, in His glorified body, in\nthe place, after His (the Father's) own, the highest in Heaven; but\nremember, only as man, because as God He is equal to His Father in all\nthings.\n\n\"From thence\"--that is, from the right hand of God.\n\n\"To judge.\" To examine them, to pronounce sentence upon them; to reward\nthem in Heaven or punish them in Hell.\n\n\"The living and the dead.\" We may take this in a double sense. As the\ngeneral judgment will come suddenly and when not expected, all will be\ngoing on in the world as usual--some attending to business, others\ntaking their ease as they do now, or as they were doing when the deluge\ncame upon them. Just when the judgment is about to take place, God will\ndestroy the earth; and then all those living in the world will perish\nwith its destruction and then be judged. The \"dead\" means, therefore,\nall those who died before the destruction of the world, and the \"living\"\nall those who were on earth when the time of its destruction came. Or\nthe \"living\" may mean also those in a state of grace, and the \"dead\"\nthose in mortal sin; for God will judge both classes.\n\n\"Holy Ghost,\" i.e., the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity. Ghost is an\nold word meaning spirit. When persons say that a ghost appeared, they\nmean that the spirit of some dead person appeared. These stories about\nghosts are told generally to frighten children or timid persons. If\nthose who thought they saw a ghost always examined what they saw, they\nwould find that the supposed ghost was something very natural; probably\na bush swayed by the wind, or a stray animal, or perhaps some person\ntrying to frighten them. Ghost here does not mean the spirit of a dead\nperson, but the Holy Spirit, which is the proper name for the Third\nPerson of the Blessed Trinity.\n\n\"The communion of saints.\" There are three parts in the Church. We have,\nfirst, the Church Militant, i.e., the fighting Church, made up of all\nthe faithful upon earth, who are still fighting for their salvation. The\nHoly Scripture tells us our life upon earth is a warfare. We have three\nenemies to fight. First, the devil, who by every means wishes to keep us\nout of Heaven--the place he once enjoyed himself. The devil knows well\nthe happiness of Heaven, and does not wish us to have what he cannot\nhave himself; just as you sometimes see persons who, through their own\nfault, have lost their situation trying to keep others out of it.\n\nOur second enemy is the world. This does not mean the earth with all its\nbeauty and riches, but the bad people in the world with their false\ndoctrines; some telling us there is no God, Heaven, or Hell, others that\nwe should pay no attention to the teaching of the Church or the laws of\nGod, and advising us by word and example to resist our lawful superiors\nin Church or State and give free indulgence to our sinful passions.\n\nThe third enemy is our own flesh. By this we mean our concupiscence,\nthat is, our passions, evil inclinations, and propensity to do wrong.\nWhen God first created man, the soul was always master over the body,\nand the body obedient to the soul. After Adam sinned, the body rebelled\nagainst the soul and tried to lead it into sin. The body is the part of\nour nature that makes us like the brute animals, while the soul makes us\nlike to God and the angels.\n\nWhen we sin, it is generally to satisfy the body craving for what it has\nnot, or for that which is forbidden. Why did God leave this\nconcupiscence in us? He left it, first, to keep us humble, by reminding\nus of our former sins, and, secondly, that we might overcome it and have\na reward for the victory.\n\nThe second branch of the Church is called the Church Suffering. It is\nmade up of all those who have gone through this world and are now in\nPurgatory.\n\nSome of them while on earth fought well, but not as well as they could\nhave done; they yielded to some temptations, fell into some small sins,\nreceived some slight wounds from their spiritual enemies, or they have\nnot satisfied God entirely for the temporal guilt due to their great\nsins; therefore they are in Purgatory till they can be completely\npurified from all their sins and admitted into Heaven.\n\nThe last or third branch of the Church is called the Church Triumphant,\nand is made up of the angels and all those who have lived at one time\nupon earth and who are now in Heaven with God, enjoying their rewards\nfor overcoming their spiritual enemies and serving God while upon earth.\nThey are triumphant or rejoicing because they have reached their\nheavenly home.\n\nYou must not think that those only are saints who have been canonized by\nthe Church and whose names are known to us; for all in Heaven are\nsaints, as we also shall be if admitted into that happy eternity. God\nwishes all to be saints, for He wishes all to be saved. You know we can\npray to the saints and ask their help and prayers; but how could we know\nthat certain men or women are really in Heaven? We can know it when the\nChurch canonizes them, and thus gives proof that they were great\nspiritual heroes in the service of God and can be more confidently\nappealed to on account of their eminent sanctity and powerful\nintercession.\n\nTherefore the Church by canonization tells us for certain that such and\nsuch persons are truly in Heaven. But might not the Church be deceived\nlike ourselves?\n\nNo! for Christ has promised to be always with His Church, and the Holy\nGhost is ever directing her, so that she cannot err in faith or morals.\nIf the Church made us pray to persons who are not saints, she would fall\ninto the worst of errors, and Our Lord would have failed to keep His\npromise--a saying that would be blasphemous, for Christ, being God, is\ninfinitely true and could not deceive or be deceived. To canonize,\ntherefore, does not mean to make a saint, but to declare to the whole\nworld that such a one was a saint while upon earth. After death we\ncannot merit, so our reward in Heaven will be just what we have secured\nup till the moment of our death; hence holiness is acquired in the\nChurch Militant.\n\nHow does the Church canonize a saint? Let us suppose some good man dies,\nand all his neighbors talk about his holy fife, how much he did for the\npoor, how he prayed, fasted, and mortified himself. All these accounts\nof his life are collected and sent to Rome, to the Holy Father or to the\ncardinals appointed by him to examine such statements. These accounts\nmust show that the good man practiced virtue in a more than ordinary\nmanner, that he either performed some miracles while he lived, or that\nGod granted miracles after his death through his intercession.\n\nThese accounts are not examined immediately after his death, but\nsometimes after a lapse of fifty years or more, so that people might not\nexaggerate his good works because they knew him personally.\n\nWhen these accounts are examined, one is appointed to prevent, if he\ncan, the canonization. He is sometimes called the devil's advocate,\nbecause it is his business to find fault with all the accounts and\nmiracles, and prove them false if possible. This is done to make certain\nthat all the accounts are true and the miracles real. If everything is\nfound as represented, then the good man is declared venerable, later\nbeatified, i.e., called blessed, and still later canonized, i.e.,\ndeclared a saint. If he is only beatified, he can be honored publicly\nonly in certain places or by certain persons; but if he is canonized, he\ncan be honored throughout the whole Church by all the faithful.\n\nThus we understand the three branches of the one true Church--the Church\nMilitant, i.e., all those who are on earth trying to save their souls;\nthe Church Suffering, those in Purgatory, having their souls purified\nfor Heaven; and the Church Triumphant, those already in Heaven.\n\nThe \"communion of saints\" means that these three branches of the Church\ncan help one another. We help the souls in Purgatory by our prayers and\ngood works, and the saints in Heaven pray for us. But \"communion of\nsaints\" means still more. Let us take an example. Suppose there are in a\nfamily, living together, a mother and three sons. The eldest son earns a\nlarge salary, the second son enough to support himself, and the youngest\nvery little. They give their earnings to their mother, who from the\ncombined amounts provides for the wants of all and draws from the large\nsalary of the eldest to supply the needs of the youngest. Thus he who\nhas too little for his support is--through his mother--aided by the one\nwho has more than he needs. Now, the Church is our mother, and some of\nher children--the great saints--were rich in good works and did more\nthan was necessary to gain Heaven, while others did not do enough. Then\nour mother, the Church, draws from the abundant satisfaction of her rich\nchildren to help those who are poor in merit and good works. The\ngreatest treasure she has to draw from for that purpose is the more than\nabundant merits of Our Lord and the superabundant satisfaction of the\nBlessed Virgin and the greatest saints. Our Lord could have redeemed us\nall by the least suffering, and yet He suffered dreadful torments, and\neven shed His blood and died for us. The Blessed Virgin never sinned,\nyet she performed many good works and offered many prayers. Therefore\n\"communion of saints\" means, also, that we all share in the merits of\nChrist and in the superabundant satisfaction of the Blessed Virgin and\nof the saints; also in the prayers and good works of the Church and of\nher faithful and pious children.\n\n\"The forgiveness of sins,\" i.e., by the Sacrament of Penance, through\nthe power that God gave His priests; also by Baptism.\n\n\"The resurrection of the body,\" i.e., on the last day (Matt. 24:29; Luke\n21:25). When on the last day, at the general judgment, God's angel\nsounds the great trumpet, all the dead will arise again and come to\njudgment, in the same bodies they had while living. But you will say: If\ntheir bodies are reduced to ashes and mixed with the earth, or if parts\nof them are in one place and parts in another, how is this possible?\nVery easily, with God. If He in the beginning could make all the parts\nout of nothing, with how much ease can He collect them scattered here\nand there! When God made man He gave him a body and a soul, and wished\nthem never to be separated. Man was to live here upon earth for a time,\nand then be taken up into Heaven, body and soul, as Our Lord is there\nnow. But when man sinned, in punishment God commanded that he should\ndie; i.e., that these two dear friends, the body and the soul, should be\nseparated for a time. Death is caused by the separation of the soul from\nthe body. The body and soul together make a man, and neither one alone\ncan be called a man. A dead body is only part of a man. At the\nresurrection every soul will come from Heaven, Purgatory, or Hell, to\nseek its own body; they will then be united again as they were in life,\nnever to be separated--to be happy together in Heaven if they have been\ngood upon earth, or miserable together in Hell if they have been bad\nupon earth.\n\n\"Life everlasting\"--either, as we have said, in Heaven or Hell. There\nwas a time when we did not exist but it can never be said of us again we\ndo not exist. When once we have been created, we shall live as long as\nGod Himself, i.e., forever. When we have lived a thousand years for\nevery drop of water in the ocean; a thousand years for every grain of\nsand on the seashore; a thousand years for every blade of grass and\nevery leaf on the earth, we shall still be existing. How short a time,\ntherefore, is a hundred years even if we live so long--and few\ndo--compared with all these millions of years! And yet it depends upon\nthe time we live here whether all these millions of years in the next\nworld will be for us years of happiness or of misery. The whole life of\na man extends through the two worlds, viz., from the moment of his\ncreation through all eternity; and surely the little while he stays upon\nearth must seem very short when, after spending a million of years in\nthe next world, he looks back to his earthly life. There is a good\nexample to illustrate this. If you stand on a railroad, and look away\ndown the track for about a mile, it will seem to you that the rails come\nnearer and nearer, till at last they touch. It seems so on account of\nthe distance, for where they seem to touch they are just as far apart as\nwhere you are standing. So, also, when you look back from eternity, the\nday of your birth and the day of your death will seem to coincide, and\nyour life on earth appear nothing. Then, if you are among the lost souls\nyou will think, What a fool I was to make myself suffer all this long\neternity for that silly bit of earthly pleasure, which is of no benefit\nto me now! And this thought will serve only to make you more miserable.\nBut, on the other hand, if you look back from a happy eternity, you will\nwonder at God's goodness in giving you so much happiness for so short a\nservice upon earth.\n\n\nTHE CONFITEOR\n\nI confess to Almighty God, to blessed Mary ever Virgin, to blessed\nMichael the Archangel, to blessed John the Baptist, to the holy Apostles\nPeter and Paul, and to all the saints, that I have sinned exceedingly,\nin thought, word, and deed, through my fault, through my fault, through\nmy most grievous fault. Therefore I beseech blessed Mary ever Virgin,\nblessed Michael the Archangel, blessed John the Baptist, the holy\nApostles Peter and Paul, and all the saints, to pray to the Lord our God\nfor me.\n\nMay the Almighty God have mercy on me, forgive me my sins, and bring me\nto everlasting life. Amen.\n\nMay the Almighty and merciful Lord grant me pardon, absolution, and\nremission of all my sins. Amen.\n\nThis is another beautiful prayer. In it we can imagine that we are\npermitted to enter Heaven. What do we see there? God, the Blessed\nVirgin, the thousands of angels, the Apostles, all the saints, martyrs,\nconfessors, doctors and virgins. They cease singing God's praises, as we\nenter, and fix their eyes upon us. Our guardian angel conducts us before\nthe great throne of God, and we kneel down in the presence of the whole\ncourt of Heaven, to acknowledge our sins and faults, while all listen\nattentively. Touched by so sublime a sight and the thought of having\noffended a God of so much glory, we begin our accusation of ourselves.\nWe fix our eyes first upon God, and say: \"I confess,\" i.e., accuse\nmyself, \"to Almighty God.\" Then we look upon the rest of the blessed,\nand say: \"to the Blessed Mary ever Virgin,\" etc. Thus we call the whole\ncourt of Heaven to be a witness of the fact that we \"have sinned,\" not\nlightly, but \"exceedingly,\" i.e., very greatly, and in three ways: \"in\nthought,\" by thinking of things sinful and forbidden; \"in word,\" by\nlies, curses, slanders, etc.; \"in deed,\" by every bad action that we\nhave committed; and each of us can say: I have done all this \"through my\nfault,\" i.e., willingly and deliberately; and it was not a small fault,\nbut an exceeding great fault, because God was helping me by His grace to\novercome temptations and avoid bad thoughts, words, and actions, and I\nwould not accept His help, but willingly did what was wrong. What am I\nto do, therefore? Will God pardon all these offenses if I alone ask Him,\nseeing that all the angels and saints know that I have thus offended\nHim? What shall I do? I will ask them to help me by their prayers, and\nto beg God's pardon for me. He may grant their prayers, especially those\nof the Blessed Mother and of the saints, when He would not grant mine.\n\"Therefore I beseech the Blessed Mary ever Virgin,\" etc., \"to pray to\nthe Lord our God for me.\"\n\nWhen we kneel down to say the Confiteor, if we could imagine what I have\njust described to take place, how well we should say it! With what\nattention, respect, and sorrow we should ask the prayers of the saints!\nWhen we say the Confiteor, and indeed any prayer, we say it in the\npresence of God, and of the whole court of Heaven, though we are not in\nHeaven and cannot see God. The angels and saints do hear us and will\npray for us. When, therefore, you are saying the Confiteor, imagine that\nyou see all I have described, and you will never say it badly.\n\n\nAN ACT OF FAITH\n\nO my God! I firmly believe that Thou art one God in three divine\npersons, Father, Son and Holy Ghost; I believe that Thy divine Son\nbecame man, and died for our sins, and that He will come to judge the\nliving and the dead. I believe these and all the truths which the Holy\nCatholic Church teaches, because Thou hast revealed them, Who canst\nneither deceive nor be deceived.\n\nAn \"act,\" i.e., a profession, of faith. The whole substance of the act\nof faith is contained in this: I believe all that God has revealed and\nthe Catholic Church teaches. We might mention one by one all the truths\nGod has revealed, i.e., made known to us, and all the truths the\nCatholic Church teaches as revealed by God. For example, we might say, I\nbelieve in the Holy Trinity, in the Incarnation of Our Lord in the Holy\nEucharist, in the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin, in the\ninfallibility of the Pope, and so on, till we write an act of faith\ntwenty pages long, and yet it would all be contained in the words: I\nbelieve all God has revealed and the Catholic Church teaches. Hence we\nfind in prayerbooks and catechisms acts of faith differing in length and\nwords, but they are all the same in substance and have the same meaning.\nThe act of faith in our Catechism gives a few of the chief truths\nrevealed, that it may be neither too short nor too long, and that all\nmay learn the same words.\n\n\nAN ACT OF HOPE\n\nO my God! relying on Thy almighty power and infinite goodness and\npromises, I hope to obtain pardon of my sins, the help of Thy grace, and\nlife everlasting, through the merits of Jesus Christ, my Lord and\nRedeemer.\n\nThe substance of this act is: I hope for Heaven and the means to obtain\nit. The means by which I will obtain it are the pardon of my sins by\nGod, and the grace which He will give me in the reception of the\nSacraments and in prayer, by which grace I will be able to know Him,\nlove Him, and serve Him, and thus come to be with Him forever. Here\nagain we could make a long act by mentioning all the things we hope for;\nviz., a good death, a favorable judgment, a place in Heaven, etc.\n\n\nAN ACT OF LOVE\n\nO my God! I love Thee above all things, with my whole heart and soul\nbecause Thou art all-good and worthy of all love. I love my neighbor as\nmyself for the love of Thee. I forgive all who have injured me, and ask\npardon of all whom I have injured.\n\nThe substance of this act is: I love God above all things for His own\ngoodness, and my neighbor as myself for the sake of God. An act of love\nand an act of charity are the same thing with different names. We are\naccustomed to call such things as the giving of alms or help to the\npoor, the doing of some good work that we are not bound to do for\nanother, charity. Surely there are many motives that may induce persons\nto help others in their distress; but what is the chief Christian\nmotive, if it be not the love we bear our brother-man because he is,\nlike ourselves, a child of God, and the desire we have to obey God, who\nwishes us to help the needy? The sufferings of others excite our pity,\nand the more we love them the more sorry are we to see them suffer.\nThanks to God for all His mercies to us; He might have made us, instead\nof this man, poor and in suffering, but He has spared us and afflicted\nhim; we know not why God has done so, and therefore we help him, moved\nby these considerations even when we feel he is not deserving of the\nhelp, because we know his unworthiness will not prevent God from\nrewarding our good intention. We may be charitable to our neighbor by\nsaying nothing hurtful about him, by never telling his faults without\nnecessity, etc. Therefore real charity, in its widest sense, and love\nare just the same.\n\n\nAN ACT OF CONTRITION\n\nO my God! I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all\nmy sins, because I dread the loss of Heaven and the pains of Hell, but\nmost of all because they offend Thee, my God, Who art all-good and\ndeserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace,\nto confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life.\n\nThe substance of this act is: O my God! I am very sorry for all my sins,\nbecause by them I have offended Thee, and with Thy help, I will never\nsin again. It is well to know what the acts contain in substance, for we\ncan use these short forms as aspirations during the day, when we\nprobably would not think of saying the long forms. A fuller explanation\nof the qualities of our contrition will be given in Lesson Eighteen.\n\n\nTHE BLESSING BEFORE MEALS\n\nBless us, O Lord, and these Thy gifts which we are to receive from Thy\nbounty, through Christ our lord. Amen.\n\n\nGRACE AFTER MEALS\n\nWe give Thee thanks for all Thy benefits, O Almighty God, Who livest and\nreignest forever. And may the souls of the faithful departed, through\nthe mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.\n\n\"Grace\" means thanks. We saw in the explanation of the Our Father how\nGod provides us with all we need, and most frequently with food. It is\nthe least we can do, therefore, to thank Him for it, when it is just\nplaced before us. We should thank Him also after we have eaten it and\nfound it good, pleasing, and refreshing. When God provides us with food\nHe thereby makes a kind of promise that He will allow us to live awhile\nlonger and give us strength to serve Him. How shameful it is, then, to\nturn God's gifts into a means of offending Him, as some do by the sin of\ngluttony! Again, it is very wrong to murmur and be dissatisfied with\nwhat God gives us. He does not owe us anything, and need not give unless\nHe wishes. What would you think of a beggar of this kind?\nHe comes to your door hungry, and you, instead of simply giving him some\nbread to appease his hunger, take him into your house and give him a\ngood dinner, new clothing, and some money. Now, instead of being\nthankful, suppose he should complain because you did not give him a\nbetter dinner, finer clothing, and more money, and should look cross and\ndissatisfied; what would you think of him? Would you not be tempted to\nturn the ungrateful fellow out of your house, with an order never to\ncome again, telling him he deserved to starve for his ingratitude? We\nare not quite as ungrateful as the beggar when we neglect grace at\nmeals, because in saying our daily prayers we thank God for all His\ngifts, our food included, and hence it is not a sin to neglect grace at\nmeals. But do we not show some ingratitude when we murmur, complain, and\nare dissatisfied with our food, clothing, or homes? God, even when we\nare ungrateful, still gives; hence His wonderful goodness and mercy to\nus.\n\n\nTHE MANNER IN WHICH A LAY PERSON IS TO BAPTIZE IN CASE OF NECESSITY\n\nPour common water on the head or face of the person to be baptized, and\nsay while pouring it: \"I baptize thee in the name of the Father, and of\nthe Son, and of the Holy Ghost.\"\n\nN.B. Any person of either sex who has reached the use of reason can\nbaptize in case of necessity.\n\n\n\n\nCATECHISM\n\nQuestions marked * are not in No. 1 Catechism.\n\nA catechism is any book made up in question and answer form, no matter\nwhat it treats of. We have catechisms of history, of geography, etc. Our\nCatechism is a book in the same form treating of religion. It is a\nlittle compendium of the truths of our religion, of all we must believe\nand do. It contains, in the simplest form, all that a priest learns\nduring his many years of study. The theology he learns is only a deeper\nand fuller explanation of the Catechism. A whole book might be written\non almost every question. For example, might we not write a book on each\nof the first three questions--the World, God, and Man? There is\nconsequently much meaning in the Catechism, which must be made known to\nus by explanation. You should therefore learn the Catechism by heart\nnow, even when you do not fully understand it; because afterwards, when\nyou read books on religion or hear sermons, all these questions and\nanswers will come back to your mind. Sermons will help you to understand\nthe questions, or the questions will help you to understand the sermons.\n\n\n\nLesson 1\nON THE END OF MAN\n\n\nThe end of a thing is the purpose for which it was made. The end of a\nwatch is to keep time. The end of a pen is to write, etc. A thing is\ngood only in proportion to the way it fulfills the end for which it was\nmade. A watch may be very beautifully made, a very rare ornament, but if\nit will not keep time it is useless as a watch. The same may be said of\nthe pen, or of anything else. Now for what purpose was man made? If we\ndiscover that, we know his end. When we look around us in the world, we\nsee a purpose or end for everything. We see that the soil is made for\nthe plants and trees to grow in; because if there was no need of things\ngrowing, it would be better to have a nice clean solid rock to walk\nupon, and then we would be spared the trouble of making roads, and\npaving streets. But things must grow, and so we must have soil. Again,\nthe vegetables and plants are made for animals to feed upon; while the\nanimals themselves are made for man, that they may help him in his work\nor serve him for food. Thus it is evident everything in the world was\nmade to serve something else. What then was man made for? Was it for\nanything in the world? We see that all classes of beings are created for\nsomething higher than themselves. Thus plants are higher than soil,\nbecause they have life and soil has not. Animals are higher than plants,\nbecause they not only have life, but they can feel and plants cannot.\nMan is higher than animals, because he not only has life and can feel,\nbut he has also reason and intelligence, and can understand, while\nanimals cannot. Therefore we must look for something higher than man\nhimself, but there is nothing higher than man in this world, and so we\nmust look beyond it to find that for which he was made. And looking\nbeyond it and considering all things, we find that he was made for\nGod--to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him both in this world and\nin the next. Again, we read in the Bible (Gen. 1) that at the creation\nof the world all things were made before man, and that he was created\nlast. Therefore, if all these things could exist without man, we cannot\nsay he was made for them. The world existed before him and can exist\nafter him. The world goes along without any particular man, and the same\nmay be said of all men. Neither was man made to stay here awhile to\nbecome rich, or learned, or powerful, because all do not become\nrich--some are very poor; all are not learned--some are very ignorant;\nall are not powerful--some are slaves. But since all men are alike and\nequal in this, that they have all bodies formed in the same way, and all\nsouls that are immortal, they should all be made for the same end. For\nexample, you could not make a pen like a watch if you want it to write.\nAlthough pens differ in size, shape, etc., they have all one general\nform which is essential to them. So, although men differ in many things,\nthey are all alike in the essential thing, viz., that they are composed\nof body and soul, and made to the image and likeness of God. Hence, as\npens are made only to write with, so all men must have only one and the\nsame end, namely, to serve God.\n\n1 Q. Who made the world?\nA. God made the world.\n\nThe \"world\" here means more than the earth--more than is shown on a map\nof the world. It means everything that we can see--sun, moon, stars,\netc.; even those things that we can see only with great telescopes.\nEverything, too, that we may be able to see in the future, either with\nour eyes alone, or aided by instruments, is included in the word\n\"world.\" We can call it the universe.\n\n2 Q. Who is God?\nA. God is the Creator of Heaven and earth, and of all things.\n\n3 Q. What is man?\nA. Man is a creature composed of a body and soul, and made to the image\nand likeness of God.\n\n\"Creature,\" i.e., a thing created. Man differs from anything else in\ncreation. All things else are either entirely matter, or entirely\nspirit. An angel, for example, is all spirit, and a stone is all matter;\nbut man is a combination of both spirit and matter--of soul and of body.\n\n*4 Q. Is this likeness in the body or in the soul?\nA. This likeness is chiefly in the soul.\n\n*5 Q. How is the soul like to God?\nA. The soul is like God because it is a spirit that will never die, and\nhas understanding and free will.\n\nMy soul is like to God in four things.\n\n(1). It is \"a spirit.\" It really exists, but cannot be seen with the\neyes of our body. Every spirit is invisible, but every invisible thing\nis not a spirit. We cannot see the wind. We can feel its influence, we\ncan see its work--for example, the dust flying, trees swaying, ships\nsailing, etc.--but the wind itself we never see. Again, we never see\nelectricity. We see the light or effect it produces, but we never see\nthe electricity itself. Yet no one denies the existence of the wind or\nof electricity on account of their being invisible. Why then should\nanyone say there are no spirits--no God, no angels, no souls--simply\nbecause they cannot be seen, when we have other proofs, stronger than\nthe testimony of our sight, that they really and truly exist?\n\n(2). My soul will \"never die,\" i.e., will never cease to exist; it is\nimmortal. This is a very wonderful thing to think of. It will last as\nlong as God Himself.\n\n(3). My soul \"has understanding,\" i.e., it has the gift of reason. This\ngift enables man to reflect upon all his actions--the reasons why he\nshould do certain things and why he should not do them. By reason he\nreflects upon the past, and judges what may happen in the future. He\nsees the consequences of his actions. He not only knows what he does,\nbut why he does it. This is the gift that places man high above the\nbrute animals in the order of creation; and hence man is not merely an\nanimal, but he is a rational animal--an animal with the gift of reason.\n\nBrute animals have not reason, but only instinct, i.e., they follow\ncertain impulses or feelings which God gave them at their creation. He\nestablished certain laws for each class or kind of animals, and they,\nwithout knowing it, follow these laws; and when we see them following\ntheir laws, always in the same way, we say it is their nature. Animals\nact at times as if they knew just why they were acting; but it is not\nso. It is we who reason upon their actions, and see why they do them;\nbut they do not reason, they only follow their instinct.\n\nIf animals could reason, they ought to improve in their condition. Men\nbecome more civilized day by day. They invent many things that were\nunknown to their forefathers. One man can improve upon the works of\nanother, etc. But, we never see anything of this kind in the actions of\nanimals. The same kind of birds, for instance, build the same kind of\nnests, generation after generation, without ever making change or\nimprovement in them. When man teaches an animal any action, it cannot\nteach the same to its young. It is clear, therefore, that animals cannot\nreason.\n\nThough man has the gift of reason by which he can learn a great deal, he\ncannot learn all through his reason; for there are many things that God\nHimself must teach him. When God teaches, we call the truths He makes\nknown to us Revelation. How could man ever know about the Trinity\nthrough his reason alone, when, after God has made known to him that It\nexists, he cannot understand it? It is the same for all the other\nmysteries.\n\n(4). My soul has \"free will.\" This is another grand gift of God, by\nwhich I am able to do or not do a thing, just as I please. I can even\nsin and refuse to obey God. God Himself--while He leaves me my free\nwill--could not oblige me to do anything, unless I wished to do it;\nneither could the devil. I am free therefore, and I may use this great\ngift either to benefit or injure myself. If I were not free I would not\ndeserve reward or punishment for my actions, for no one is or should be\npunished for doing what he cannot help. God would not punish us for sin\nif we were not free to commit or avoid it. I turn this freedom to my\nbenefit if I do what God wishes when I could do the opposite; for He\nwill be more pleased with my conduct, and grant a greater reward than He\nwould bestow if I obeyed simply because obliged to do so. Animals have\nno free will. If, for example, they suffer from hunger and you place\nfood before them, they will eat; but man can starve, if he wills to do\nso, with a feast before him. For the same reason man can endure more\nfatigue than any other animal of the same bodily strength. In traveling,\nfor instance, animals give up when exhausted, but man may be dying as he\nwalks, and still, by his strong will-power, force his wearied limbs to\nmove. But you will say, did not the lions in the den into which Daniel\nwas cast because he would not act against his conscience, obey the\nwicked king and offend God--as we read in Holy Scripture (Dan.\n6:16)--refrain from eating him, even when they were starving with\nhunger? Yes; but they did not do so of themselves, but by the power of\nGod preventing them: and that is why the delivery of Daniel from their\nmouths was a miracle. It is clear, because the same lions immediately\ntore in pieces Daniel's enemies when they were cast into the den.\n\n6 Q. Why did God make you?\nA. God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world,\nand to be happy with Him forever in the next.\n\n\"To know\" Him, because we must know of a thing before we can love it. A\npoor savage in Africa never longs to be at a game or contest going on in\nAmerica, because he does not know it and therefore cannot love it. We\nsee a person and know him; if he pleases us we love him, and if we love\nhim we will try to serve him; we will not be satisfied with doing merely\nwhat he asks of us, but will do whatever we think might give him\npleasure. So it is in regard to God. We must first know Him--learn who\nHe is from our catechisms and books of instruction, but especially from\nthe teaching of God's ministers, the Holy Father, bishops and priests.\nWhen we know Him, we shall love Him. If we knew Him perfectly, we should\nlove Him perfectly; so the better we know Him the more we shall love\nHim. And as it is our chief duty to love Him and serve Him upon earth,\nit becomes our strict duty to learn here whatever we can of His nature,\nattributes, and holy laws. The saints and angels in Heaven know God so\nwell that they must love Him, and cannot therefore offend Him.\n\nYou have all seen some person in the world, or maybe several persons,\nwhom you have greatly admired; still you did not love them perfectly;\nthere was always some little thing about them in looks, manners, or\ndisposition that could be rendered more pleasing; some defect or want\nyou would like to see supplied; some fault or imperfection you would\nlike to see corrected. Now suppose you had the power to take all the\ngood qualities you found in the persons you loved and unite them in one\nperson, in whom there would be nothing displeasing, but everything\nperfect and beautiful. Do you not think you would love such a person\nvery much indeed?\n\nMoreover, suppose you knew that person loved you intensely, would it not\nbe your greatest delight to be ever with such a friend? Well, then, all\nthe lovable qualities and beauties you see in created beings come from\nGod and are bestowed by Him; yet all the good qualities on earth and\nthose of the angels and saints in Heaven, and even of the Blessed Virgin\nand St. Joseph, if united in one person would be nothing compared to the\ngoodness and beauty of God. How good and how lovable, therefore, must He\nbe! And what shall we say when we think that He loves us with a greater\nlove than we could ever love Him, even with our most earnest efforts?\nTry then first to know God and you will surely love and serve Him. Do\nnot be satisfied with the little you learn of Him in the Catechism, but\nafterward read good books, and above all hear sermons and instructions.\n\n\"In this world.\" Because unless we do what is pleasing to Him in this\nworld we cannot be with Him in the next. Our condition in the next world\ndepends entirely upon our conduct in this. Thus we have discovered the\nanswer to the great question, What is the end of man; for what was he\nmade?\n\n*7 Q. Of which must we take more care, our soul or our body?\nA. We must take more care of our soul than of our body.\n\n*8 Q. Why must we take more care of our soul than of our body?\nA. We must take more care of our soul than of our body, because in\nlosing our soul we lose God and everlasting happiness.\n\nEvery sensible person will take most care of that which is most\nvaluable. If a girl had a hundred dollars in a ten-cent pocket-book, you\nwould consider her a great fool if she threw away the hundred dollars\nfor fear of spoiling the pocket-book. Now, he is a greater fool who\nthrows away his soul in order to save his body some little\ninconvenience, or gratify its wicked desires or inclinations. Wherever\nthe soul will be, there the body will be also; so we should, in a\ncertain way, try to forget the body and make sure of getting the soul\nsafely into Heaven. You would not think much of the wisdom of a boy who\nallowed his kite to be smashed in pieces by giving his whole attention\nto the tail of the kite. If he took care to keep the kite itself high in\nair and away from every danger, the tail would follow it; and even if\nthe tail did get entangled, it would have a good chance of being freed\nwhile the kite was still flying. But of what use is it to save a\nworthless piece of rag, if the kite--the valuable thing--is lost? Just\nin the same way, of what use is our body if our soul is lost? And\nremember we have only one soul. Therefore, make sure to save the soul,\nand the body also will be saved--that is, the whole man will be saved;\nfor we cannot save the soul and lose the body; they will both be saved\nor both be lost.\n\n9 Q. What must we do to save our souls?\nA. To save our souls, we must worship God by faith, hope, and charity;\nthat is, we must believe in Him, hope in Him, and love Him with all our\nheart.\n\n\"Worship,\" that is, give Him divine honor. We honor persons for their\nworth and excellence, and since God is the most excellent, we give Him\nthe highest honors, differing from others not merely in degrees but in\nkind--divine honors that belong to Him alone. And justly so, for the\nvilest animal upon the earth is a thousand times more nearly our equal\nthan the most perfect creature, man or angel, is the equal of God. In\nspeaking of worship, theologians generally distinguish three kinds,\nnamely: latria, or that supreme worship due to God alone, which cannot\nbe transferred to any creature without committing the sin of idolatry;\ndulia, or that secondary veneration we give to saints and angels as the\nspecial friends of God; hyperdulia, or that higher veneration which we\ngive to the Blessed Virgin as the most exalted of all God's creatures.\nIt is higher than the veneration we give to the other saints, but\ninfinitely inferior to the worship we give to God Himself. We show God\nour special honor by never doubting anything He reveals to us, therefore\nby \"faith\"; by expecting with certainty whatever He promises, therefore\nby \"hope\"; and finally by loving Him more than anyone else in the world,\ntherefore by \"charity.\"\n\nBut someone may say, I think I love my parents more than God. Well, let\nus see. Suppose your mother should command you to commit a sinful act (a\nthing no good mother would do) and you have therefore to choose between\noffending her or Almighty God. Now, although you love your mother very\nmuch, if in this instance you prefer to displease her rather than commit\nthe sin that offends God, you show that you love God more than her.\nAgain, many who dearly love their parents leave them that they may\nconsecrate their lives to the special service of God in some religious\ncommunity and thus prove their greater love for Him. The love we have\nfor God is intellectual rather than sentimental; and since it is not\nmeasured by the intensity of our feelings, how are we to know that we\nlove Him best? By our determination never to offend Him for any person\nor thing in the world, however dear to us, and by our readiness to obey\nand serve Him before all others.\n\n10 Q. How shall we know the things which we are to believe?\nA. We shall know the things which we are to believe from the Catholic\nChurch, through which God speaks to us.\n\n\"Catholic Church\" in this answer means the Pope, councils, bishops, and\npriests who teach in the Church.\n\n11 Q. Where shall we find the chief truths which the Catholic Church\nteaches?\nA. We shall find the chief truths which the Catholic Church teaches in\nthe Apostles' Creed.\n\n\"Chief,\" because the Apostles' Creed does not contain in an explicit\nmanner all the truths we must believe. For example, there is nothing in\nthe Apostles' Creed about the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, about the\nImmaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin, or the infallibility of the\nPope; and yet we must believe these and other articles of faith not in\nthe Apostles' Creed. It contains only the \"chief\" and not all the\ntruths.\n\n12 Q. Say the Apostles' Creed.\nA. I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth;\nand in Jesus Christ, His only Son, Our Lord, Who was conceived by the\nHoly Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was\ncrucified, died, and was buried; He descended into Hell; the third day\nHe arose again from the dead; He ascended into Heaven, and sitteth at\nthe right hand of God, the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to\njudge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost, the holy\nCatholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the\nresurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.\n\n\"Descend\" means to go down, and \"ascend\" to go up.\n\n\n\nLesson 2\nON GOD AND HIS PERFECTIONS\n\n\nA \"perfection\" means a good quality. We say a thing is perfect when it\nhas all the good qualities it should have.\n\n13 Q. What is God?\nA. God is a spirit infinitely perfect.\n\n\"A spirit\" is a living, intelligent, invisible being. It really exists,\nthough we cannot see it with the eyes of our body. It has intelligence\nand can therefore think, understand, etc. It is not because we cannot\nsee it that we call it a spirit. To be invisible is only one of the\nqualities of a spirit. It is also indivisible, that is, it cannot be\ndivided into parts. God is such a being. He is \"infinitely perfect,\"\nthat is, He has every perfection in the highest degree. \"Infinite\" means\nto have without limit. If there were any perfection God did not have, He\nwould not be infinite. He is unlimited in wisdom, in power, in goodness,\nin beauty, etc. But you will tell me persons on earth and the angels and\nsaints in Heaven have some wisdom and power and beauty, and therefore\nGod cannot have all, since He has not the portion with which they are\nendowed. I still say He is infinite, because what the angels and others\nhave belongs to God, and He only lends it to them. \"Perfect\" means to be\nwithout any defect or fault.\n\n14 Q. Had God a beginning?\nA. God had no beginning; He always was and always will be.\n\nWas there ever a time when we could say there was no God? There was a\ntime when we could say there was no Heaven or earth, no angels, men, or\nanimals; but there was never a time when there was no God. We may go\nback in thought millions and millions of years before the Creation, and\nGod was then existing. He had no beginning and will never cease to\nexist. This is a mystery; and what a mystery is will be explained in the\nnext lesson.\n\n15 Q. Where is God?\nA. God is everywhere.\n\n\"Everywhere\"--not spread out like a great cloud, but whole and entire in\nevery particular place: and yet there is only one God, and not as many\ngods as there are places. How this can be we cannot fully understand,\nbecause this also is a mystery. A simile, though it will not be perfect,\nmay help you to understand. When we speak of God, we can never give a\ntrue and perfect example; for we cannot find anything exactly like Him\nto compare to Him. If I discharge a great cannon in a city, every one of\nthe inhabitants will hear the report; not in such a way that each hearer\ngets his share of the sound, but each hears the whole report, just as if\nhe were the only one to hear it. Now, how is that? There are not as many\nreports as there are persons listening; and yet each person hears the\nwhole report.\n\n16 Q. If God is everywhere, why do we not see Him?\nA. We do not see God because He is a pure spirit and cannot be seen with\nbodily eyes.\n\n\"Pure spirit,\" that is, not clothed with any material body--spirit\nalone.\n\n17 Q. Does God see us?\nA. God sees us and watches over us.\n\n\"Watches\" to protect, to reward or punish us. He watches continually; He\nnot only watches, but keeps us alive. God might have created us and then\npaid no more attention to us; but if He had done so, we should have\nfallen back again into nothingness. Therefore He preserves us every\nmoment of our lives. We cannot draw a breath without Him. If a steam\nengine be required to work ceaselessly, you cannot, after setting it in\nmotion, leave it henceforth entirely to itself. You must keep up the\nsupply of water and fire necessary for the generation of steam, you must\noil the machinery, guard against overheating or cooling, and, in a word,\nkeep a constant watch that nothing may interfere with its motion. So\nalso God not only watches His creatures, but likewise provides for them.\nSince we depend so much upon Him, is it not great folly to sin against\nHim, to offend, and tempt Him as it were? There are some birds that\nbuild their nests on the sides of great rocky precipices by the\nseacoast. Their eggs are very valuable, and men are let down by long\nropes to take them from the nest. Now while one of these men is hanging\nover the fearful precipice, his life is entirely in the hands of those\nholding the rope above. While he is in that danger do you not think he\nwould be very foolish to tempt and insult those on whom his life\ndepends, when they could dash him to pieces by simply dropping the rope?\nWhile we live here upon earth we are all hanging over a great precipice,\nnamely, eternity; God holds us by the little thread of our lives, and if\nHe pleased to drop it we should be hurled into eternity. If we tempt or\ninsult Him, He might drop or cut the thread while we are in mortal sin,\nand then, body and soul, we go down into Hell.\n\n18 Q. Does God know all things?\nA. God knows all things, even our most secret thoughts, words, and\nactions.\n\nCertainly God \"knows all things.\" First, because He is infinitely wise,\nand if He were ignorant of anything He would not be so. Secondly,\nbecause He is everywhere and sees and hears all. Darkness does not hide\nfrom His view, nor noise prevent Him from hearing. How could we sin if\nwe thought of this! God is just here, looking at me and listening to me.\nWould I do what I am going to do now if I knew my parents, relatives,\nand friends were watching me? Would I like them to know that I am\nthinking about things sinful, and preparing to do shameful acts? No! Why\nthen should I feel ashamed to let God see and know of this wicked\nthought or action? They might know it and yet be unable to harm me, but\nHe, all-powerful, could destroy me instantly. Nay, more; not only will\nGod see and know this evil deed or thought; but, by His gift, the\nBlessed Mother, the angels and saints will know of it and be ashamed of\nit before God, and, most of all, my guardian angel will deplore it.\nBesides, this sin will be revealed to the whole world on the last day,\nand my friends, relatives, and neighbors will know that I was guilty of\nit.\n\n19 Q. Can God do all things?\nA. God can do all things, and nothing is hard or impossible to Him.\n\n20 Q. Is God just, holy, and merciful?\nA. God is all just, all holy, all merciful, as He is infinitely perfect.\n\n\"All just\"--that is, most just. \"Just\" means to give to everyone what\nbelongs to him--to reward if it is merited or to punish if it is\ndeserved. \"Holy\"--that is, good. \"Merciful\" means compassionate,\nforgiving, less exacting than severe justice demands. In a court a just\njudge is one who listens patiently to all the arguments for and against\nthe prisoner, and then, comparing one with the other, gives the sentence\nexactly in accordance with the guilt. If he inflicts more or less\npunishment than the prisoner deserves, or for money or anything else\ngives an unfair sentence, then he is an unjust judge. The judge might be\nmerciful in this way. The laws say that for the crime of which this\nprisoner is proved guilty he can be sent to prison for a term not longer\nthan ten years and not shorter than five: that is, for anything between\nten and five years. The judge could give him the full ten years that the\nlaw allows and be just. But suppose he believed that the prisoner did\nnot know the law and did not intend to be as wicked as he was proved; or\nthat it was his first offense, or that he heard the prisoner's mother,\nwho was old and infirm, pleading for him and saying he was her only\nsupport; or other extenuating circumstances that could awaken sympathy:\nthe judge might be merciful and sentence him for the shortest term the\nlaw allows. But if the judge dismissed every prisoner, no matter how\nguilty, without punishment, he would not be a merciful but an unjust\njudge, who would soon be forced to leave the court. In the same way, God\nis often merciful to sinners and punishes them less than He could in\nstrict justice. But if He were to allow every sinner to go without any\npunishment whatsoever--as unbelievers say He should do, by having no\nHell for the wicked--then He would not be just. For as God is an\nInfinite Being, all His perfections must be infinite; that is, He must\nbe as infinitely just as He is infinitely merciful, true, wise, or\npowerful.\n\nNow He has promised to punish sin; and since He is infinitely true, He\nmust keep His promise.\n\n\n\nLesson 3\nON THE UNITY AND TRINITY OF GOD\n\n\n\"Unity\" means to be one, and \"Trinity,\" three in one.\n\n21 Q. Is there but one God?\nA. Yes; there is but one God.\n\n22 Q. Why can there be but one God?\nA. There can be but one God because God, being supreme and infinite,\ncannot have an equal.\n\n\"Supreme,\" that is, the highest. \"Equal,\" when two are equal one has\neverything the other has. You could say one pen is the equal of another\nif it is just as nice and will write just as well; one mechanic is the\nequal of another if he can do the work equally well. Two boys are equal\nin class if they have exactly the same marks at the end of the month or\nyear. You could not have two persons chief. For example, you could not\nhave two chief generals in an army; two presidents in the nation, or two\ngovernors in a state, or two mayors in a city, or two principals in a\nschool, unless they divide equally their power, and then they will be\nequals and neither of them chief. God cannot divide His power with\nanyone--so as to give it away entirely--because we say He is infinite,\nand that means to have all. Others have only the loan of their power\nfrom God. Therefore, all power and authority come from God; so that when\nwe disobey our parents or superiors who are placed over us, we disobey\nGod Himself.\n\n23 Q. How many persons are there in God?\nA. In God there are three divine persons really distinct and equal in\nall things--the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.\n\n\"Distinct,\" not mingled together. We call the first and second persons\nFather and Son, because the second is begotten by the first person, and\nnot to indicate that there is any difference in their age. We always see\nin the world that a father is older than his son, so we get the idea\nperhaps that it is the same in the Holy Trinity. But it is not so. God\nthe Father, and God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost existed from all\neternity, and one did not exist before the other. God the Son is just as\nold as God the Father, and this is another great mystery. Even in nature\nwe see that two things may begin to exist at the same time, and yet one\nbe the cause of the other. You know that fire is the cause of heat; and\nyet the heat and the fire begin at the same time. Though we cannot\nunderstand this mystery of the Father and Son, we must believe it on the\nauthority of God, who teaches it. First, second, and third person in the\nBlessed Trinity does not mean, therefore, that one person was before the\nother, or brought into existence by the other.\n\n24 Q. Is the Father God?\nA. The Father is God and the first Person of the Blessed Trinity.\n\n25 Q. Is the Son God?\nA. The Son is God and the second Person of the Blessed Trinity.\n\n26 Q. Is the Holy Ghost God?\nA. The Holy Ghost is God and the third Person of the Blessed Trinity.\n\n27 Q. What do you mean by the Blessed Trinity?\nA. By the Blessed Trinity I mean one God in three Divine Persons.\n\n*28 Q. Are the three Divine Persons equal in all things?\nA. The three Divine Persons are equal in all things.\n\n29 Q. Are the three Divine Persons one and the same God?\nA. The three Divine Persons are one and the same God, having one and the\nsame divine nature and substance.\n\nThough they are one and the same, we sometimes attribute different works\nto them. For example, works of creation we attribute to God the Father;\nworks of mercy to God the Son; and works of love and sanctification to\nthe Holy Ghost; and you will often find them thus spoken of in pious\nbooks; but all such works are done by all the Persons of the Trinity;\nbecause such works are the works of God, and there is but one God.\n\n*30 Q. Can we fully understand how the three Divine Persons are one and\nthe same God?\nA. We cannot fully understand how the three Divine Persons are one and\nthe same God, because this is a mystery.\n\n\"Fully\"--entirely. We can partly understand it. We know what one God is\nand we know what three persons are; but how these two things go together\nis the part we do not understand--the mystery.\n\n*31 Q. What is a mystery?\nA. A mystery is a truth which we cannot fully understand.\n\n\"A truth,\" that is, a revealed truth--one made known to us by God or His\nChurch. It is a truth which we must believe though we cannot understand\nit. Let us take an example. When a boy goes to school he is taught that\nthe earth is round like an orange and revolving in two ways, one causing\nday and night and the other producing the seasons: spring, summer,\nautumn, winter. The boy goes out into the country where he sees miles of\nlevel land and mountains thousands of feet in height. Again he goes out\non the ocean where sailors tell him it is several miles in depth.\n\nNow he may say: how can the earth be round if deep valleys, high\nmountains, and level plains prove to my senses the very opposite, and\nthe countless things at rest upon its surface tell me it is motionless.\nYet he believes even against the testimony of his senses that the earth\nis round and moving, because his teacher could have no motive in\ndeceiving him; knows better than he, having learned more, and besides\nhas been taught by others who after long years of careful study and\nresearch have discovered these things and know them to be true. If\ntherefore we have to believe things that we do not understand on the\nauthority of men, why should we not believe other truths on the\nauthority of God? Yes, we must believe Him. If a boy knew all his\nteacher knew there would be no need of his going to school; he would be\nthe equal in knowledge of his teacher, and if we knew all that God knows\nwe would be as great as He. As well might we try to empty the whole\nocean into the tiny holes that children dig in the sand by its shore, as\nfully to comprehend the wisdom of God. This is the mistake unbelievers\nmake when they wish to understand with their limited intelligence the\nboundless knowledge and mysterious ways of God, and when they cannot\nunderstand refuse to believe. Are they not extremely foolish? Would you\nnot ridicule the boy who refuses to believe that the earth is round and\nmoving because he cannot understand it? As he grows older and learns\nmore he will comprehend it better; so we, when we leave this world and\ncome into the presence of God, shall see clearly many things that are\nunintelligible now. For the present, we have only to believe them on the\nauthority of God teaching us. Another example. We take two little black\nseeds that look just alike and place them in the same kind of soil; we\nput the same kind of water upon them; they have the same sunlight and\nair, and yet when they grow up one has a red flower and one a blue.\nWhere did the red and where did the blue come from? From the black seed,\nor the brown soil, or the pure water, air and sunlight? We do not know.\nIt is there, and that is all. We see it and believe it, though we do not\nunderstand it.\n\nSo if we refuse to believe everything we do not understand, we shall\nsoon believe very little and make ourselves ridiculous.\n\n\n\nLesson 4\nON CREATION\n\n\nThis lesson treats of God bringing everything into existence. The chief\nthings created may be classed as follows: (1) The things that simply\nexist, as rocks, and minerals--gold, silver, iron, etc. (2) Things that\nexist, grow, and live like plants and trees. (3) Things that grow, live,\nand feel, like animals. (4) Things that grow, live, feel, and\nunderstand, like men. Besides these we have the sun, moon, stars, etc.;\nall things too that we can see, and also Heaven, Purgatory, Hell, and\ngood and bad angels. All these are the works of God's creation. All\nthese He has called into existence by merely wishing for them.\n\n*32 Q. Who created Heaven and earth, and all things?\nA. God created Heaven and earth, and all things.\n\n\"Heaven,\" where God is and will always be. It means, too, everything we\nsee in the sky above us. \"Earth,\" the globe on which we live.\n\n*33 Q. How did God create Heaven and earth?\nA. God created Heaven and earth from nothing, by His word only; that is,\nby a single act of His all-powerful will.\n\n34 Q. Which are the chief creatures of God?\nA. The chief creatures of God are angels and men.\n\n35 Q. What are angels?\nA. Angels are pure spirits without a body, created to adore and enjoy\nGod in Heaven.\n\n\"Angels\" are not the same as saints. Saints are those who at one time\nlived upon the earth as we do, and who on account of their very good\nlives are now in Heaven. They had bodies as we have. The angels, on the\ncontrary, never lived visibly upon the earth. In the beginning God was\nalone. We take great pleasure in looking at beautiful things. God,\nseeing His own beauty, and knowing that others would have very great\npleasure and happiness in seeing Him, determined to create some beings\nwho could enjoy this happiness; and thus He wished to share with them\nthe happiness which He Himself derived from seeing His own beauty.\nTherefore He created angels who were to be in Heaven with Him, singing\nHis praises and worshipping before His throne.\n\nThe angels are not all equal in dignity, but are divided into nine\nclasses, or choirs, according to their rank or office, and, as\ntheologians tell us, arranged from the lowest to the highest and named\nas follows; angels, archangels, virtues, powers, principalities,\ndominations, thrones, cherubim, and seraphim. Archangels are higher than\nangels and are so called because sent to do the most important works. It\nwas the Archangel Michael who drove Lucifer from Heaven and the\nArchangel Gabriel who announced to the Blessed Virgin that she was to be\nthe Mother of God. The angels receive their names from the duties they\nperform. The word angel signifies messenger.\n\n*36 Q. Were the angels created for any other purpose?\nA. The angels were also created to assist before the throne of God and\nto minister unto Him; they have often been sent as messengers from God\nto man; and are also appointed our guardians.\n\nThe duties of the angels are many. Some remain always in Heaven with\nGod; some are sent to earth to be our guardians and to remain with us.\nEach of us has an angel to take care of us. He is with us night and day,\nand offers our prayers and good works to God. He prays for us, exhorts\nus to do good and avoid evil; and he protects us from dangers spiritual\nand temporal. How unfortunate then must one be to cause him to return to\nHeaven with sad complaints to God; such as: \"The one whom I have in\ncharge will not obey Thy laws or use the grace Thou sendest him: with\nall my efforts to save him, he continues to do wrong.\" He will be doubly\nsad when he sees other angels returning with good reports and receiving\nnew graces for those whom God has committed to their care. If you love\nyour guardian angel, never impose on him the painful duty of bringing to\nGod the report of your evil doings.\n\nNow, how do we know that the angels offer our prayers and good works to\nGod? We know it from the beautiful story of Tobias, told in the Holy\nScripture. (Tobias). This holy man loved and feared God. He lived at a\ntime when his people were persecuted by a most cruel king, who wished to\nforce them to give up the true God and worship idols, but many of these\ngood people suffered death rather than deny God and obey the wicked\nking. When they were put to death, their bodies were left lying on the\nground, to be devoured by birds of prey or wild animals. Anyone caught\nburying them was to be put to death by the king's servants. Tobias used\nto carry the dead bodies of these holy martyrs into his house and bury\nthem at night.\n\nOne day when he returned very tired he lay down by the wall of his house\nto rest, and, while lying there, some dirt fell into his eyes and he\nbecame blind. This Tobias had a young son whose name was also Tobias;\nand as he himself was now blind and poor, he wished to send his son into\na certain city, at a good distance off, to collect some money that he\nhad formerly loaned to a friend. As the young man did not know the way,\nhis father sent him out to look for a guide. Young Tobias went out and\nfound a beautiful young man to be his guide and he consented, and he\nbrought Tobias to the distant city. As they were on their way they sat\ndown by the bank of a river. Tobias went into the water near the edge,\nand soon a great fish rushed at him. Tobias called to his guide. The\nguide told him to take hold of the fish and drag it out upon the shore.\nThere they killed it, and kept part of its flesh for food and part for\nmedicine. Then they went on to the city, got the money and returned. The\nguide told young Tobias to rub the part of the fish he had taken for\nmedicine upon his father's eyes. He did so, and immediately his father's\neyes were cured and he saw. Then both the father and son were so\ndelighted with this young guide, that they offered to give him half of\nall they had. He refused to take it and then told them he was the angel\nRaphael sent from God to be the guide of this good man's son. He told\nthe old Tobias how he (the angel) had carried up to God his prayers and\ngood works while he was burying the dead. When they heard he was an\nangel they fell down and reverenced him, being very much afraid. From\nthis beautiful history we know that the angels carry our prayers and\ngood works to God. Again we learn from the Holy Scripture (Gen. 28) in\nthe history of another good man almost the same thing. The patriarch\nJacob was on a journey, and being tired, he lay down to rest with his\nhead upon a stone. As he lay there he had a vision in which he saw a\ngreat ladder reaching up from earth to Heaven. At the top he saw\nAlmighty God standing, and on the ladder itself angels ascending and\ndescending. Now the holy Fathers of the Church tell us this is what is\nreally taking place; the angels are always going down and up from God to\nman, though not on a ladder and not visibly as they appeared to Jacob.\nBesides the guardian angel for each person, there are also guardian\nangels for each city and for each nation.\n\nAgain (Gen. 19) angels appeared to Lot to warn him about the destruction\nof the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrha. Angels appeared also to the\nshepherds on the night Our Lord was born (Luke 2). The catechism says\nangels have no bodies--how, then, could they appear? They took bodies\nmade of some very light substance which would make them visible, and\nappeared just like beautiful young men, clad in flowing garments, as you\nfrequently see them represented in pictures. Angels were sometimes sent\nto punish men for their sins, as the angel who killed in one night\n185,000 men in the army of the wicked king, Sennacherib, who blasphemed\nGod, and was endeavoring to destroy Jerusalem, God's city. (4 Kgs. 19).\n\nBut here is a difficulty. If God Himself watches over us and sees all\nthings, why should the angels guard us? It is on account of God's\ngoodness to us; though it is not necessary. He does not wish us to have\nany excuse for being bad, so He gives us each a special heavenly servant\nto watch and assist us by his prayers. If a friend received us into his\nhouse and did all he could for us himself, we should certainly be\nsatisfied, but if he gave us a special servant, though it would not be\nnecessary, he would show us great respect and kindness. Moreover\nwhatever the angels do for us, we might say God Himself does, for the\nangels are only obeying His commands.\n\n*37 Q. Were the angels, as God created them, good and happy?\nA. The angels as God created them were good and happy.\n\n*38 Q. Did all the angels remain good and happy?\nA. All the angels did not remain good and happy; many of them sinned and\nwere cast into Hell; and these are called devils or bad angels.\n\nGod did not admit the angels into His presence at once. He placed them\nfor awhile on probation, as He did our first parents.\n\nOne of these angels was most beautiful, and was named Lucifer, which\nmeans light-bearer. He was so perfect that he seems to have forgotten\nthat he received all his beauty and intelligence from God, and not\ncontent with what he had, became sinfully proud and wished to be equal\nto God Himself. For his sin he and all his followers were driven out of\nHeaven, and God then created Hell, in which they were to suffer for all\neternity. This same Lucifer is now called Satan, and more commonly the\ndevil, and those who accompanied him in his fall, devils, or fallen\nangels.\n\n\n\nLesson 5\nON OUR FIRST PARENTS AND THEIR FALL\n\n\n39 Q. Who were the first man and woman?\nA. The first man and woman were Adam and Eve.\n\nIn the beginning God created all things; something particular on each of\nthe six days of Creation. (Gen. 1). On the first day He made light, on\nthe second, the firmament, or the heavens, and on the sixth day He\ncreated man and called him Adam. God wished Adam to have a companion; so\none day He caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep, and then took from his\nside a rib, out of which he formed Eve. Now God could have made Eve as\nHe made Adam, by forming her body out of the clay of the earth and\nbreathing into it a soul, but He made Eve out of Adam's rib to show that\nthey were to be husband and wife, and to impress upon their minds the\nnature and sacredness of the love and union that should exist between\nthem.\n\n40 Q. Were Adam and Eve innocent and holy when they came from the hand\nof God?\nA. Adam and Eve were innocent and holy when they came from the hand of\nGod.\n\nGod placed Adam and Eve in Paradise, a large, beautiful garden, and gave\nthem power over all the other creatures. Adam gave all the animals their\nappropriate names and they were obedient to him. Even lions, tigers, and\nother animals that we now fear so much, came and played about him. Our\nfirst parents, in their state of original innocence, were the happy\nfriends of God, without sorrow or suffering of any kind.\n\n*41 Q. Did God give any command to Adam and Eve?\nA. To try their obedience God commanded Adam and Eve not to eat of a\ncertain fruit which grew in the garden of Paradise.\n\nHe told them (Gen. 2) they could take of all the fruits in the garden\nexcept the fruit of one tree, and if they disobeyed Him by eating the\nfruit of that tree, they should surely die. God might have pointed out\nany tree, because it was simply a test of obedience. He gave them a very\nsimple command, for if we are faithful in little things we shall surely\nbe faithful in greater. Moreover, it is not precisely the consideration\nof what is forbidden, but of the authority by which it is forbidden that\nshould deter us from violating the command and prove our fidelity. Thus\ndisobedience to our parents and superiors, even in little things,\nbecomes sinful. Someone might say: \"Why did God not try their obedience\nby one of the Ten Commandments?\" Let us examine them. \"Remember the\nSabbath.\" That one would be unnecessary: for every day was Sabbath with\nthem; the only work was to praise and serve God. \"Thou shalt not steal.\"\nThey could not; everything was theirs; and so for the other\nCommandments. Therefore, God gave them a simple command telling them: If\nyou obey, you and all your posterity will be happy; every wish will be\ngratified, neither sorrow nor affliction shall come upon you and you\nshall never die; but if, on the contrary, you disobey, countless evils,\nmisery and death will be your punishment. The earth, now so fruitful,\nshall bring forth no crops without cultivation, and after years of toil\nthe dead bodies of yourselves and children must lie buried in its soil.\nSo having the gift of free will they could take their choice, and either\nkeep His command and be happy, or disobey Him and be miserable.\n\n*42 Q. Which were the chief blessings intended for Adam and Eve, had\nthey remained faithful to God?\nA. The chief blessings intended for Adam and Eve, had they remained\nfaithful to God, were a constant state of happiness in this life and\neverlasting glory in the next.\n\nOur first parents and their children were not to remain in the garden of\nParadise forever, but were, after spending their allotted time of trial\nor probation upon earth, to be taken body and soul into Heaven without\nbeing obliged to die.\n\n43 Q. Did Adam and Eve remain faithful to God?\nA. Adam and Eve did not remain faithful to God, but broke His\ncommandment by eating the forbidden fruit.\n\nAs it is told in the Bible (Gen. 3), Eve went to the forbidden tree and\nwas standing looking at it, when the devil came in the form of a serpent\nand, tempting, told her to take some of the fruit and eat. It does not\nappear that she went and tasted the fruit of all the other trees and\nfinally came to this one, but rather that she went directly to the\nforbidden tree first. Do we not sometimes imitate Eve's conduct? As soon\nas we know a certain thing is forbidden we are more strongly tempted to\ntry it.\n\nSee, then, what caused Eve's sin. She went into the dangerous occasion,\nand was admiring the forbidden fruit when the tempter came. She listened\nto him, yielded to his wicked suggestions, and sinned. So will it be\nwith us if through curiosity we desire to see or hear things forbidden;\nfor once in the danger the devil will soon be on hand to tempt us--not\nvisibly indeed, for that would alarm us and defeat his purpose, but\ninvisibly, like our guardian angels; for the devil is a fallen angel who\nstill possesses all the characteristics of an angel except goodness. But\nthis is not all. Eve not only took and ate the fruit herself, but\ninduced Adam to do likewise. Most sinners imitate Eve in that respect.\nNot satisfied with offending God themselves, they lead others into sin.\n\nWhy should the devil tempt us? God created man to be in Heaven, but the\nfallen angels were jealous of man, and tempted him to sin so that he too\nshould be kept out of Heaven and might never enjoy what they lost; just\nas envious people do not wish others to have what they cannot have\nthemselves.\n\n44 Q. What befell Adam and Eve on account of their sin?\nA. Adam and Eve on account of their sin lost innocence and holiness, and\nwere doomed to sickness and death.\n\nThey were innocent and holy because they were the friends of God and in\na state of grace, but by their sin they lost His grace and friendship.\n\"Doomed\" means sentenced or condemned. The first evil result, then, of\nAdam's sin was that he lost innocence and made his body a rebel against\nhis soul. Then he was to suffer poverty, hunger, cold, sickness, death,\nand every kind of ill; but the worst consequence of all was that God\nclosed Heaven against him. After a few years' trial, as we said, God was\nto take him into Heaven; but now He has closed it against Adam and his\nposterity. All the people in the world could never induce God to open it\nagain; for He closed it in accordance with His promise, and man was an\nexile and outcast from his heavenly home.\n\n45 Q. What evil befell us on account of the disobedience of our first\nparents?\nA. On account of the disobedience of our first parents we all share in\ntheir sin and punishment, as we should have shared in their happiness if\nthey had remained faithful.\n\nDoes it not seem strange that we should suffer for the sin of our first\nparents, when we had nothing to do with it? No. It happens every day\nthat children suffer for the faults of their parents and we do not\nwonder at it. Let us suppose a man's father leaves him a large\nfortune--houses, land, and money--and that he and his children are happy\nin the enjoyment of their inheritance. The children are sent to the best\nschools, have everything they desire now, and bright hopes of happiness\nand prosperity in the future. But alas! their hopes are vain. The father\nbegins to drink or gamble, and soon the great fortune is squandered.\nHouse after house is sold and dollar after dollar spent, till absolute\npoverty comes upon the children, and the sad condition of their home\ntells of their distress. Do they not suffer for the sins of their\nfather, though they had nothing to do with them? Indeed, many families\nin the world suffer thus through the faults of others, and most\nfrequently of some of their members. Could you blame the grandfather for\nleaving the estate? Certainly not; for it was goodness on his part that\nmade him give. Let us apply this example. What God gave Adam was to be\nours also, and he squandered and misused it because he had free will,\nwhich God could not take from him without changing his nature; for it is\nour free will and intelligence that make us men, distinct from and\nsuperior to all other animals. They can live, grow, feel, hear, see,\netc., as we can, but the want of intelligence and free will leaves them\nmere brutes. Therefore, if God took away Adam's intelligence and free\nwill, He would have made him a mere animal--though the most perfect.\n\nWhen a man becomes insane or loses the use of his intelligence and free\nwill, we place him in an asylum and take care of him as we would a tame\nanimal, seldom allowing him to go about without being watched and\nguarded.\n\nLet us take another example. Suppose I have a friend who is addicted to\nthe excessive drinking of strong liquor, and I say to him: \"If you give\nup that detestable habit for one year, I will make you a present of this\nbeautiful house worth several thousand dollars. It will be yours as long\nas you live, and at your death you may leave it to your children. I do\nnot owe you anything, but offer this as a free gift if you comply with\nmy request.\" My friend accepts the offer on these conditions, but the\nvery next day deliberately breaks his promise. I do not give him the\nhouse, because he did not keep his agreement; and can anyone say on that\naccount that I am unjust or unkind to him or his children? Certainly\nnot. Well, God acted in the same manner with Adam. He promised him\nHeaven, a home more beautiful than any earthly palace--the place Our\nLord calls His father's house (John 14:2) and says there are many\nmansions, that is, dwelling places, in it. God promised this home to\nAdam on condition that he would observe one simple command. He had no\nright to Heaven, but was to receive it, according to the promise, as a\nfree gift from God, and therefore God, who offered it conditionally, was\nnot obliged to give it when Adam violated his part of the agreement.\n\nThe example is not a perfect one, for there is this difference in the\ncases between Adam and my friend: when my friend does not get the house,\nhe sustains a loss, it is true; but he might still be my friend as he\nwas before, and live in my house; but when Adam lost Heaven, he lost\nGod's friendship and grace, and the loss of all grace is to be in sin.\nSo that Adam by breaking the command was left in sin; and as all his\nchildren sustain the same loss, they too are all left in sin till they\nare baptized.\n\n*46 Q. What other effects followed from the sin of our first parents?\nA. Our nature was corrupted by the sin of our first parents, which\ndarkened our understanding, weakened our will, and left us a strong\ninclination to evil.\n\nOur \"nature was corrupted\" is what I have said of the body rebelling\nagainst the soul. Our \"understanding darkened.\" Adam knew much more\nwithout study than the most intelligent men could learn now with\nconstant application. Before his fall he saw things clearly and\nunderstood them well, but after his sin everything had to be learned by\nthe slow process of study. Then the \"will was weakened.\" Before he fell\nhe could easily resist temptation, for his will was strong. You know we\nsin by the will, because unless we wish to do the evil we commit no sin;\nand if absolutely forced by others to do wrong, we are free from the\nguilt as long as our will despises and protests against the action. If\nforced, for example, to break my neighbor's window, I have not to answer\nin my conscience for the unjust act, because my will did not consent.\nSo, on every occasion on which we sin, it is the will that yields to the\ntemptation. After Adam's sin his will became weak and less able to\nresist temptation; and as we are sharers in his misfortune, we find\ngreat difficulty at times in overcoming sinful inclinations. But no\nmatter how violent the temptation or how prolonged and fierce the\nstruggle against it, we can always be victorious if determined not to\nyield; for God gives us sufficient grace to resist every temptation; and\nif anyone should excuse his fall by saying he could not help sinning, he\nwould be guilty of falsehood.\n\n\"A strong inclination\" to do wrong--that is, unless always on our guard\nagainst it. Our Lord once cautioned His Apostles (Matt. 26:41) to watch\nand pray lest they fall into temptation; teaching us also by the same\nwarning that, besides praying against our spiritual enemies, we must\nwatch their maneuvers and be ever ready to repel their attacks.\n\n47 Q. What is the sin called which we inherit from our first parents?\nA. The sin which we inherit from our first parents is called Original\nSin.\n\n*48 Q. Why is this sin called original?\nA. This sin is called original because it comes down to us from our\nfirst parents, and we are brought into the world with its guilt on our\nsouls.\n\n*49 Q. Does this corruption of our nature remain in us after Original\nSin is forgiven?\nA. This corruption of our nature and other punishments remain in us\nafter Original Sin is forgiven.\n\nIt remains that we may merit by overcoming its temptations; and also\nthat we may be kept humble by remembering our former sinful and unhappy\nstate.\n\n50 Q. Was anyone ever preserved from Original Sin?\nA. The Blessed Virgin Mary, through the merits of her divine Son, was\npreserved free from the guilt of Original Sin, and this privilege is\ncalled her Immaculate Conception.\n\nThe Blessed Virgin was to be the Mother of the Son of God. Now it would\nnot be proper for the Mother of God to be even for one moment the\nservant of the devil, or under his power. If the Blessed Virgin had been\nin Original Sin, she would have been in the service of the devil.\nWhatever disgraces a mother disgraces also her son; so Our Lord would\nnever permit His dear Mother to be subject to the devil, and\nconsequently He, through His merits, saved her from Original Sin. She is\nthe only one of the whole human race who enjoys this great privilege,\nand it is called her \"Immaculate Conception,\" that is, she was\nconceived--brought into existence by her mother--without having any spot\nor stain of sin upon her soul, and hence without Original Sin.\n\nOur Lord came into the world to crush the power which the devil had\nexercised over men from the fall of Adam. This He did by meriting grace\nfor them and giving them this spiritual help to withstand the devil in\nall his attacks upon them. As the Blessed Mother was never under the\ndevil's power, next to God she has the greatest strength against him,\nand she will help us to resist him if we seek her aid. The devil himself\nknows her power and fears her, and if he sees her coming to our\nassistance will quickly fly. Never fail, then, in time of temptation to\ncall upon our Blessed Mother; she will hear and help you and pray to God\nfor you.\n\n\n\nLesson 6\nON SIN AND ITS KINDS\n\n\n51 Q. Is Original Sin the only kind of sin?\nA. Original Sin is not the only kind of sin; there is another kind of\nsin which we commit ourselves, called actual sin.\n\nSin is first or chiefly divided into original and actual; that is, into\nthe sin we inherit from our first parents and the sin we commit\nourselves. We may commit \"actual\" sin in two ways; either by doing what\nwe should not do--stealing, for example--and thus we have a sin of\ncommission, that is, a bad act committed; or by not doing what we should\ndo--not hearing Mass on Sunday, for example--and thus we have a sin of\nomission, that is, a good act omitted. So it is not enough to simply do\nno harm, we must also do some good. Heaven is a reward, and we must do\nsomething to merit it. Suppose a man employed a boy to do the work of\nhis office, and when he came in the morning found that the boy had\nneglected the work assigned to him, and when spoken to about it simply\nanswered: \"Sir, I did no harm\"; do you think he would be entitled to his\nwages? Of course he did not and should do no harm; but is his employer\nto pay him wages for that? Certainly not. In like manner, God is not\ngoing to reward us for doing no harm; but on the contrary, He will\npunish us if we do wrong, and give no reward unless we perform the work\nHe has marked out for us. Neither would the office boy deserve any wages\nif he did only what pleases himself, and not the work assigned by his\nmaster. In the same way, God will not accept any worship or religion but\nthe one He has revealed. He tells us Himself how He wishes to be\nworshipped, and our own invented methods will not please Him. Hence we\nsee the folly of those who say that all religions are equally good, and\nthat we can be saved by practicing any of them. We can be saved only in\nthe one religion which God Himself has instituted, and by which He\nwishes to be honored. Many also foolishly believe, or say they believe,\nthat if they are honest, sober, and the like, doing no injury to anyone,\nthey shall be saved without the practice of any form of religious\nworship. But how about God's laws and commands? Are they to be despised,\ndisregarded, and neglected entirely, without any fear of punishment?\nSurely not! And persons who thus think they are doing no harm are\nneglecting to serve God--the greatest harm they can do, and for which\nthey will lose Heaven. God, we are told, assigned to everyone in this\nworld a certain work to perform in a particular state of life, and this\nwork is called \"vocation.\" One, for instance, is to be a priest;\nanother, a layman; one married; another single, etc. It is important for\nus to discover our true vocation; for if we are in the state of life to\nwhich God has called us, we shall be happy; but if we select our own\nwork, our own state of life without consulting Him, we shall seldom be\nhappy in it. How are we to know our vocation? Chiefly by praying to God\nand asking Him to make it known to us. Then if He gives us a strong\ninclination--constant, or nearly constant--for a certain state of life,\nand the ability to fulfill its duties, we may well believe that God\nwishes us to be in that state.\n\nAfter we have begged God's assistance, we must ask our confessor's\nadvice in the matter, and listen attentively to what the Holy Ghost\ninspires him to say. The signs of our vocation are, therefore, as\nstated: first, a strong desire, and second, an aptitude for the state to\nwhich we believe we are called. For example, a young man might be very\nholy, but if unable to learn, he could never be a priest. Another might\nbe very learned and holy, but if too sickly to perform a priest's\nduties, he could not, or at least would not, be ordained. Another might\nbe learned and healthy, but not virtuous, and so he could never be a\npriest. Aptitude, therefore, means all the qualities necessary, whether\nof mind, or soul, or body. The same is true for a young girl who wishes\nto become a religious; and the same, indeed, for any person's vocation.\nWe should never enter a state of life to which we are not called, simply\nto please parents or others. Neither should we be persuaded by them to\ngive up a state to which we are called; for we should embrace our true\nvocation at any sacrifice, that in it we may serve God better, and be\nmore certain of saving our souls. Thus, parents and guardians who\nprevent their children from entering the state to which they are called\nmay sin grievously by exposing them to eternal loss of salvation. Their\nsin is all the greater when they try to influence their children in this\nmatter for selfish or worldly motives. As they may be selfish and\nprejudiced without knowing it, they too, should ask the advice of their\nconfessor, and good persons of experience. Oh! how many children, sons\nand daughters, are made unhappy all the days of their life by parents or\nsuperiors forcing them into some state to which they were not called, or\nby keeping them from one to which they were called. This matter of your\nvocation rests with yourselves and Almighty God, and you are free to do\nwhat He directs without consideration for anyone.\n\n52 Q. What is actual sin?\nA. Actual sin is any willful thought, word, deed, or omission contrary\nto the law of God.\n\nThree ways we may sin, by \"thought\"--allowing our minds to dwell on\nsinful things; \"word\"--by cursing, telling lies, etc.; \"deed\"--by any\nkind of bad action. But to be sins, these thoughts, words and deeds must\nbe willful; that is, we must fully know what we are doing, and be free\nin doing it. Then they must be \"contrary to the law of God\"; that is,\nviolate some law He commands us to obey, whether it be a law He gave\ndirectly Himself, or through His Church. We can also violate God's law\nby neglecting to observe it, and thus sin, provided the neglect be\nwillful, and the thing neglected commanded by God or by His Church.\n\n53 Q. How many kinds of actual sin are there?\nA. There are two kinds of actual sin--mortal and venial.\n\n\"Mortal,\" that is, the sin which kills the soul. When a man receives a\nvery severe wound, we say he is mortally wounded; that is, he will die\nfrom the wound. As breath shows there is life in the body, so grace is\nthe life of the soul; when all the breath is out of the body, we say the\nman is dead. He can perform no action to help himself or others. So when\nall grace is out of the soul we say it is dead, because it is reduced to\nthe condition of a dead body. It can do no action worthy of merit, such\nas a soul should do; that is, it can do no action that God is bound to\nreward--it is dead. But you will say the soul never dies. You mean it\nwill never cease to exist; but we call it dead when it has lost all its\npower to do supernatural good.\n\n\"Venial\" sin does not drive out all the grace; it wounds the soul, it\nweakens it just as slight wounds weaken the body. If it falls very\nfrequently into venial sin, it will fall very soon into mortal sin also;\nfor the Holy Scripture says that he that contemneth small things shall\nfall by little and little. (Ecclus. 19:1). A venial sin seems a little\nthing, but if we do not avoid it we shall by degrees fall into greater,\nor mortal, sin. Venial sin makes God less friendly to us and displeases\nHim. Now if we really love God, we will not displease Him even in the\nmost trifling things.\n\n54 Q. What is mortal sin?\nA. Mortal sin is a grievous offense against the law of God.\n\n\"Grievous\"--that is, very great or serious. \"Against the law.\" If we are\nin doubt whether anything is sinful or not, we must ask ourselves: is it\nforbidden by God or His Church? and if we do not know of any law\nforbidding it, it cannot be a sin, at least for us.\n\nSuppose, for example, a boy should doubt whether it is sinful or not to\nfly a kite. Well, is there any law of God or of His Church saying it is\nsinful to fly a kite? If not, then it cannot be a sin. But it might be\nsinful for another reason, namely, his parents or superiors might forbid\nit, and there is a law of God saying you must not disobey your parents\nor superiors. Therefore a thing not sinful in itself, that is, not\ndirectly forbidden by God or His Church, may become sinful for some\nother reason well known to us.\n\nWe must not, however, doubt concerning the sinfulness or lawfulness of\neverything we do; for that would be foolish and lead us to be\nscrupulous. If we doubt at all we should have some good reason for\ndoubting, that is, for believing that the thing we are about to do is or\nis not forbidden. When, therefore, we have such a doubt we must seek\ninformation from those who can enlighten us on the subject, so that we\nmay act without the danger of sinning. It is our intention that makes\nthe act we perform sinful or not. Let me explain. Suppose during Lent a\nperson should mistake Friday for Thursday and should eat meat--that\nperson would not commit a real sin, because it is not a sin to eat meat\non an ordinary Thursday. He would commit what we call a material sin;\nthat is, his action would be a sin if he really knew what he was doing.\nOn the other hand, if the person, thinking it was Friday when it was\nreally Thursday, ate meat, knowing it to be forbidden, that person would\ncommit a mortal sin, because he intended to do so. Therefore, if what we\ndo is not known to be a sin while we do it, it is no sin for us and\ncannot become a sin afterwards. But as soon as we know or learn that\nwhat we did was wrong, it would be a sin if we did the same thing again.\nIn the same way, everything we do thinking it to be wrong or sinful is\nwrong and sinful for us, though it may not be wrong for those who know\nbetter. Again, it is sinful to judge others for doing wrong, because\nthey may not know that what they do is sinful. It would be better for us\nto instruct than to blame them. The best we can do, therefore, is to\nlearn well all God's laws and the laws of His Church as they are taught\nin the catechism, so that we may know when we are violating them or when\nwe are not, i.e., when we are sinning and when we are not.\n\n*55 Q. Why is this sin called mortal?\nA. This sin is called mortal because it deprives us of spiritual life,\nwhich is sanctifying grace, and brings everlasting death and damnation\non the soul.\n\nWhen the soul is sent to Hell it is dead forever, because never again\nwill it be able to do a single meritorious act.\n\n*56 Q. How many things are necessary to make a sin mortal?\nA. To make a sin mortal three things are necessary: a grievous matter,\nsufficient reflection, and full consent of the will.\n\n\"Grievous matter.\" To steal is a sin. Now, if you steal only a pin the\nact of stealing in that case could not be a mortal sin, because the\n\"matter,\" namely, the stealing of an ordinary pin, is not grievous. But\nsuppose it was a diamond pin of great value, then it would surely be\n\"grievous matter.\" \"Sufficient reflection,\" that is, you must know what\nyou are doing at the time you do it. For example, suppose while you\nstole the diamond pin you thought you were stealing a pin with a small\npiece of glass, of little value, you would not have sufficient\nreflection and would not commit a mortal sin till you found out that\nwhat you had stolen was a valuable diamond; if you continued to keep it\nafter learning your mistake, you would surely commit a mortal sin. \"Full\nconsent.\" Suppose you were shooting at a target and accidentally killed\na man: you would not have the sin of murder, because you did not will or\nwish to kill a man.\n\nTherefore three things are necessary that your act may be a mortal sin:\n(1) The act you do must be bad, and sufficiently important; (2) You must\nreflect that you are doing it, and know that it is wrong; (3) You must\ndo it freely, deliberately, and willfully.\n\n57 Q. What is venial sin?\nA. Venial sin is a slight offense against the law of God in matters of\nless importance, or in matters of great importance it is an offense\ncommitted without sufficient reflection or full consent of the will.\n\n\"Slight,\" that is, a small offense or fault; called \"venial,\" not\nbecause it is not a sin, but because God pardons it more willingly or\neasily than He does a mortal sin. \"Less importance,\" like stealing an\nordinary, common pin. \"Great importance,\" like stealing a diamond pin.\nWithout \"reflection\" or \"consent,\" when you did not know it was a\ndiamond and did not intend to steal a diamond.\n\n*58 Q. Which are the effects of venial sin?\nA. The effects of venial sin are the lessening of the love of God in our\nheart, the making us less worthy of His help, and the weakening of the\npower to resist mortal sin.\n\n\"Lessening of the love,\" because it lessens grace, and grace increases\nthe love of God in us. It displeases God, and though we do not offend\nHim very greatly, we still offend Him. \"Weakening of the power to\nresist.\" If a man is wounded, it will be easier to kill him than if he\nis in perfect health. So mortal sin will more easily kill a soul already\nweakened by the wounds of venial sin.\n\n59 Q. Which are the chief sources of sin?\nA. The chief sources of sin are seven: Pride, Covetousness, Lust, Anger,\nGluttony, Envy, and Sloth; and they are commonly called capital sins.\n\nA \"source\" is that from which anything else comes. The source of a river\nis the little spring on the Mountainside where the river first begins.\nThis little stream runs down the mountain, and as it goes along gathers\nstrength and size from other little streams running into it. It cuts its\nway through the meadows, and marks the course and is the beginning of a\ngreat river, sweeping all things before it and carrying them off to the\nocean. Now, if someone in the beginning had stopped up the little spring\non the mountain--the first source of the river--there would have been no\nriver in that particular place. It is just the same with sin. There is\none sin that is the source, and as it goes along like the stream it\ngathers strength; other sins follow it and are united with it. Again:\neach of these \"capital sins,\" as they are called, is like a leader or a\ncaptain in an army, with so many others under him and following him.\nNow, if you take away the head, the other members of the body will\nperish; so if you destroy the capital sin, the other sins that follow it\nwill disappear also. Very few persons have all the capital sins: some\nare guilty of one of them, some of two, some of three, but few if any\nare guilty of them all. The one we are guilty of, and which is the cause\nof all our other sins, is called our predominant sin or our ruling\npassion. We should try to find it out, and labor to overcome it.\n\nEvery one of these capital sins has a great many other sins following\nit.\n\n\"Pride\" is an inordinate self-esteem. Pride comes under the First\nCommandment; because by thinking too much of ourselves we neglect God,\nand give to ourselves the honor due to Him. Of what have we to be proud?\nOf our personal appearance? Disease may efface in one night every trace\nof beauty. Of our clothing? It is not ours; we have not produced it;\nmost of it is taken from the lower animals--wool from the sheep, leather\nfrom the ox, feathers from the bird, etc. Are we proud of our wealth,\nmoney or property? These may be stolen or destroyed by fire. The learned\nmay become insane, and so we have nothing to be proud of but our good\nworks. All that we have is from God, and we can have it only as long as\nHe wishes. We had nothing coming into the world, and we leave it with\nnothing but the shroud in which we are buried; and even this does not go\nwith the soul, but remains with the body to rot in the earth. Soon after\ndeath our bodies become so offensive that even our dearest friends\nhasten to place them under ground, where they become the food of worms,\na mass of corruption loathsome to sight and smell. Why, then, should we\nbe so proud of this body, and commit so much sin for it, pamper it with\nevery delicacy, only to be the food of worms? This does not mean,\nhowever, that we are not to keep our bodies clean, and take good care of\nthem. We are bound to do so, and could not neglect it without committing\nsin. The one thing to be avoided is taking too much care of them, and\nneglecting our soul and God on their account. The followers of pride\nare: conceit, hypocrisy, foolish display in dress or conduct, harshness\nto others, waste of time on ourselves, etc.\n\n\"Covetousness,\" the same as avarice, greed, etc., is an inordinate\ndesire for worldly goods. \"Inordinate,\" because it is not avarice to\nprudently provide for the future either for ourselves or others.\nCovetousness comes under the Tenth Commandment, and is forbidden by it.\nWe must be content with what we have or can get honestly. The followers\nof covetousness are: Want of charity, dishonest dealing, theft, etc.\n\n\"Lust\" is the desire for sins of the flesh; for impure thoughts, words,\nor actions. It comes under the Sixth and Ninth Commandments, and\nincludes all that is forbidden by those Commandments. It is the habit of\nalways violating, or of desiring to violate, the Sixth and Ninth\nCommandments. Lust and impurity mean the same thing. The followers of\nlust are, generally, neglect of prayer, neglect of the Sacraments, and\nfinal loss of faith.\n\n\"Anger\" comes under the Fifth Commandment. It is followed by hatred, the\ndesire of revenge, etc.\n\n\"Gluttony\" is the sin of eating or drinking too much. With regard to\neating, it is committed by eating too often; by being too particular\nabout what we eat, by being too extravagant in always looking for the\nmost costly things, that we think others cannot have. With regard to\ndrinking, it is generally committed by taking too much of intoxicating\nliquors. The drunkard is a glutton and commits the sin of gluttony every\ntime he becomes intoxicated. Gluttony, especially in drink, comes in a\nmanner under the First Commandment, because by depriving ourselves of\nour reason we cannot give God the honor and respect which is His due.\nThink of how many sins the drunkard commits. He becomes intoxicated,\nwhich in itself is a sin. He deprives himself of the use of reason,\nabuses God's great gift, and becomes like a brute beast. Indeed in a way\nhe becomes worse than a beast; for beasts always follow the laws that\nGod has given to their nature, and never drink to excess. They obey God,\nand man is the only one of God's creatures that does not always keep His\nlaws. Think too of the number of insane persons confined in asylums, who\nwould give all in this world for the use of their reason, if they could\nonly understand their miserable condition. Yet the drunkard abuses the\ngift that would make these poor unfortunate lunatics happy. Again, the\ndrunkard injures his health and thus violates the Fifth Commandment by\ncommitting a kind of slow suicide. He loses self-respect, makes use of\nsinful language; frequently neglects Mass and all his religious duties,\nexposes himself to the danger of death while in a state of sin, gives\nscandal to his family and neighbors, and by his bad example causes some\nto leave or remain out of the true Church. By continued intemperance, he\nmay become insane and remain in that condition till death puts an end to\nhis career and he goes unprepared before the judgment seat of God.\nBesides all this he squanders the money he should put to a better use\nand turns God's gifts into a means of offending Him. If a father, he\nneglects the children and wife for whom he has promised to provide;\nleaves them cold and hungry while he commits sin with the means that\nwould make them comfortable. Drunkenness therefore is a sin accompanied\nby many deplorable evils. There are three great sins you should always\nbe on your guard against during your whole lives, namely, drunkenness,\ndishonesty, and impurity. If you avoid these you will almost surely\navoid all other sins; for nearly all sins can be traced back to these\nthree. They are the most dangerous, first, because they have most\nfollowers, and secondly, because they grow upon us almost without our\nknowing it. The drunkard begins perhaps as a boy by taking a little,\neven very little; the second time he takes a little more; the next time\nstill more, then he begins to be fond of strong drink and can scarcely\ndo without it; finally he becomes the slave of intemperance and sells\nhis soul and body for it. The passions of dishonesty and impurity grow\nby degrees in the same manner. Therefore avoid them in the beginning and\nresist them while they are under your power. If you find yourself\ninclined to any of these sins in your youth, stop them at once.\n\n\"Envy\" is the desire to see another meet with misfortune that we may be\nbenefited by it. We are glad when he does not succeed in his business,\nwe are sorry when anyone speaks well of him, etc. Envy comes under the\nEighth Commandment.\n\n\"Sloth\" is committed when we idle our time, and are lazy; when we are\nindifferent about serving God; when we do anything slowly and poorly and\nin a way that shows we would rather not do it. They are slothful who lie\nin bed late in the morning and neglect their duty. Slothful people are\noften untidy in their personal appearance; and they are nearly always in\nmisery and want, unless somebody else takes care of them. Sloth comes\nunder the First Commandment, because it has reference in a special\nmanner to the way in which we serve God. How, then, shall we best\ndestroy sin in our souls? By finding out our chief capital sin and\nrooting it out. If a strong oak tree is deeply rooted in the ground, how\nwill you best destroy its life? By cutting off the branches? No. For\nwith each returning spring new branches will grow. How then? By cutting\nthe root and then the great oak with all its branches will die. In the\nsame way our capital sin is the root, and as long as we leave it in our\nsouls other sins will grow out of it. While we are trying to destroy our\nsins without touching our capital sin--our chief sin--we are only\ncutting off branches that will grow again. Indeed a great many people\nare only cutting off branches all the time and that is why they are not\nbenefited as much as they could be by the prayers they say, Masses they\nhear, Sacraments they receive, and sermons they listen to. But do not\nimagine that because you are not becoming better, when you pray, hear\nMass, and receive the Sacraments, you are doing no good at all. That\nwould be a great mistake, and just such a thing as the devil would\nsuggest to make persons give up their devotions. What is the use, he\nmight say, of your trying to be good? You are just as bad as you were a\nyear ago. Do not listen to that temptation. Were it not for your prayers\nand your reception of the Sacraments, you would become a great deal\nworse than you are. Suppose a man is rowing on the river against a very\nstrong tide. He is rowing as hard as he can and yet he is not advancing\none foot up the stream. Is he doing nothing therefore? Ah! he is doing a\ngreat deal: he is preventing himself from being carried with the current\nout into the ocean. He is keeping himself where he is till the force of\nthe tide diminishes, and then he can advance. So they who are trying to\nbe good are struggling against the strong tide of temptation. If they\ncease to struggle against it, they will be carried out into the great\nocean of sin and lost forever. Someday the temptation will grow weaker\nand then they will be able to advance towards Heaven. We feel\ntemptations most when we are trying to resist them and lead good lives,\nbecause we are working against our evil inclinations--the strong tide of\nour passions. We have no trouble going with them.\n\n\n\nLesson 7\nON THE INCARNATION AND REDEMPTION\n\n\n\"Incarnation\" means to take flesh, as a body. Here it means Our Lord's\ntaking flesh, that is, taking a body like ours, when He became man.\n\"Redemption\" means to buy back. Let us take an example. Slaves are men\nor women that belong entirely to their masters, just as horses, cows, or\nother animals do. Slaves are bought and sold, never receive any wages\nfor their work, get their food and clothing and no more. As they never\nearn money for themselves, they can never purchase their own liberty. If\never they are to be free, someone else must procure their liberty. Now,\nsuppose I am in some country where slavery exists. I am free, but I want\none hundred dollars; so I go to a slave owner and say: I want to sell\nmyself for one hundred dollars. He buys me and I soon squander the one\nhundred dollars. Now I am his property, his slave; I shall never earn\nany wages and shall never be able to buy my freedom. No other slave can\nhelp me, for he is just in the same condition as I myself am. If I am to\nbe free, a free man who has the money must pay for my liberty. This is\nexactly the condition in which all men were before Our Lord redeemed\nthem. Adam sold himself and all his children to the devil by committing\nsin. He and they therefore became slaves. They could not earn any\nspiritual wages, that is, grace of God to purchase their liberty; and as\nall men were slaves one could not help another in this matter. Then Our\nLord Himself came and purchased our freedom. He bought us back again,\nand the price He paid was His own life and blood given up upon the\nCross. In His goodness, He did more than redeem us; He gave us also the\nmeans of redeeming ourselves in case we should ever have the misfortune\nof falling again into the slavery of the devil--into sin. He left us the\nSacrament of Penance to which we can go as to a bank, and draw out\nenough of Our Lord's grace--merited for us and deposited in the power of\nHis Church--to purchase our redemption from sin.\n\n60 Q. Did God abandon man after he fell into sin?\nA. God did not abandon man after he fell into sin, but promised him a\nRedeemer, who was to satisfy for man's sin and reopen to him the gates\nof Heaven.\n\n\"Abandon\" means to leave to one's self. Adam and his posterity were\nslaves, but God took pity on them. He did not leave them to themselves,\nbut promised to help them.\n\n\"Gates of Heaven.\" Heaven has no gates, because it is not built of\nmaterial--of stone, or iron, or wood. It is only our way of speaking;\njust as we say \"hand of God,\" although He has no hands. Heaven is the\nmagnificent home God has prepared for us, and its gates are His power by\nwhich He keeps us out or lets us in as He pleases. Our Lord, therefore,\nobtained admittance for us.\n\n61 Q. Who is the Redeemer?\nA. Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is the Redeemer of mankind.\n\n62 Q. What do you believe of Jesus Christ?\nA. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the second Person of\nthe Blessed Trinity, true God and true man.\n\n\"True God.\" He was true God equal to His Father from all eternity. He\nbecame man when He came upon the earth about 2,000 years ago, and was\nborn on Christmas Day. Now He is in Heaven as God and man. Therefore, He\nwas God always, but man only from the time of His Incarnation.\n\n*63 Q. Why is Jesus Christ true God?\nA. Jesus Christ is true God because He is the true and only Son of God\nthe Father.\n\nGod the Father, first Person of the Blessed Trinity, is His real Father,\nand St. Joseph was His foster-father, selected by the Heavenly Father to\ntake care of Our Lord and watch over Him while on earth. A foster-father\nis not the same as a stepfather. A stepfather is a second father that\none gets when his real father dies. A foster-father is one who takes a\nperson, whether a relative or a stranger, and adopts him as his son. It\nwas a very great honor for St. Joseph to be selected from among all men\nto take care of the Son of God; to carry in his arms the great One of\nwhom the prophets spoke; the One for whom the whole world longed during\nso many thousand years; so that next to our Blessed Mother St. Joseph\ndeserves our greatest honor.\n\n*64 Q. Why is Jesus Christ true man?\nA. Jesus Christ is true man because He is the Son of the Blessed Virgin\nMary, and has a body and soul like ours.\n\nHe has all that we have by nature, but not the things we have acquired\nsuch as deformities, imperfections, and the like. Everything in Our Lord\nwas perfect. Above all, He had no sin of any kind; nor even inclination\nto sin. He could be hungry, as He was when He fasted forty days in the\ndesert. (Matt. 4:2). He was thirsty, as He said on the Cross. (John\n19:28). He could be wearied; as we read in the Holy Scripture (John 4:6)\nthat He sat down by a well to rest, while His disciples went into the\ncity to buy food. All these sufferings come from our very nature. We say\na thing comes from our very nature when everybody has it. Now, everyone\nin the world may at times be hungry, thirsty, or tired; but everybody in\nthe world need not have a toothache or headache, because such things are\nnot common to human nature, but due to some defect in our body; and such\ndefects Our Lord did not have, because He was a perfect man. Therefore,\nOur Lord had a body like ours, not as it usually is with defects, but as\nit should be, perfect in all things that belong to its nature, as Adam's\nwas before he sinned.\n\n*65 Q. How many natures are there in Jesus Christ?\nA. In Jesus Christ there are two natures: the nature of God and the\nnature of man.\n\nHe was perfect God and perfect man. His human nature was under the full\npower of His divine nature, and could not do anything contrary to His\ndivine will. You cannot understand how there can be two natures and two\nwills in one person, because it is another of the great mysteries; but\nyou must believe it, just as you believe there are three Persons in one\nGod, though you do not understand it. Those who learn theology and study\na great deal may understand it better than you, but never fully. It will\nbe enough, therefore, for you to remember and believe that there are two\nnatures--the divine nature and the human nature--in the one person of\nOur Lord.\n\n*66 Q. Is Jesus Christ more than one person?\nA. No, Jesus Christ is but one Divine Person.\n\n\"But one,\" so that the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, the Son of\nGod, the Messias, Christ, Jesus, Our Lord, Our Saviour, Our Redeemer,\netc., are all names for the one Person; and, besides these, there are\nmany other names given to Our Lord in the Holy Scripture, both in the\nOld and the New Testaments.\n\n*67 Q. Was Jesus Christ always God?\nA. Jesus Christ was always God, as He is the Second Person of the\nBlessed Trinity, equal to His Father from all eternity.\n\n*68 Q. Was Jesus Christ always man?\nA. Jesus Christ was not always man, but became man at the time of His\nIncarnation.\n\n69 Q. What do you mean by the Incarnation?\nA. By the Incarnation I mean that the Son of God was made man.\n\n70 Q. How was the Son of God made man?\nA. The Son of God was conceived and made man by the power of the Holy\nGhost, in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary.\n\n*71 Q. Is the Blessed Virgin Mary truly the Mother of God?\nA. The Blessed Virgin Mary is truly the Mother of God, because the same\nDivine Person who is the Son of God is also the Son of the Blessed\nVirgin Mary.\n\n*72 Q. Did the Son of God become man immediately after the sin of our\nfirst parents?\nA. The Son of God did not become man immediately after the sin of our\nfirst parents, but He was promised to them as a Redeemer.\n\nGod did not say to Adam when He would send the Redeemer, and so the\nRedeemer did not come for about 4,000 years after He was first promised.\nGod permitted this long time to elapse in order that mankind might feel\nand know how great an evil sin is, and what misery it brought upon the\nworld. During these 4,000 years men were becoming gradually worse. At\none time--about 1,600 years after Adam's sin--they became so bad that\nGod destroyed by a deluge, or great flood of water, all persons and\nliving things upon the earth, except Noe, his wife, his three sons and\ntheir wives, and the animals they had in the ark with them. (Gen. 6).\nLet me now give you more particulars about this terrible punishment.\nAfter God determined to destroy all living things on account of the\nwickedness of men, He told Noe, who was a good man, to build a great\nark, or ship, for himself and his family, and for some of all the living\ncreatures upon the earth. (Gen. 6). When the ark was ready, Noe and his\nfamily went into it, and the animals that were to be saved came by God's\npower, and two by two were taken into the ark. Besides the two of each\nkind of animals, Noe was required to take with him five more of each\nkind of clean animals. Clean animals were certain animals which,\naccording to God's law, could be offered in sacrifice or eaten; they\nwere such animals as the ox, the sheep, the goat, etc. Therefore, seven\nof each of the clean animals, and two of each of the other kinds. Why\ndid He have seven clean animals? Two were to be set free upon the dry\nearth with the other animals, and the other five were for food and\nsacrifice. Noe spent a hundred years in making the ark. At that time men\nlived much longer than they do now. Adam lived over 900 years and\nMathusala, the oldest man, lived to be 969 years old. There are many\nreasons why men live a shorter time now than then. When the door of the\nark was closed, God sent a great rain that lasted for forty days and\nforty nights. All the springs of water broke forth, and all the rivers\nand lakes overflowed their banks. Men ran here and there to high places,\nwhile the water rose higher and higher till it covered the tops of the\nmountains, and all not in the ark were drowned. The big ark floated\nabout for about a year; for although it stopped raining after forty\ndays, just think of the quantity of water that must have fallen! Think\nof the rain what would fall during the whole of Lent from Ash Wednesday\nto Easter Sunday--forty days. It took a long time, therefore, for the\nwaters to go down and finally disappear. When the waters began to go\ndown, Noe, wishing to know if any land was as yet above the water,\nopened the little window, and sent out a raven or crow over the waters.\nThe raven did not come back, because it is a bird that eats flesh, and\nit found plenty of dead bodies to feed upon. Then Noe sent out a dove,\nand the dove came back with the bough of an olive tree in its mouth.\nFrom this Noe knew that the earth was becoming dry again. After some\ndays, the ark rested on the top of a mountain named Ararat. When all the\nwaters had dried up, Noe and his family and all the animals passed out\nof the ark. He offered a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and he and his\nfamily settled once more upon the earth. For a while, the descendants of\nNoe were good, but when they became numerous they soon forgot the deluge\nand its punishments, and became very wicked. Many forgot the true God\naltogether, and began to worship the sun, moon, and stars. Some\nworshipped animals, and others idols of wood or stone. They offered up\nhuman victims and committed all kinds of sins most displeasing to God.\nMany were in slavery; masters were cruel; and things were becoming daily\nworse, till just before the coming of Our Lord the world was in a\nterrible condition of misery and sin. The lawmakers tried to remedy\nthese evils by their laws, and the teachers and professors by their\nteaching; but all was of no avail. God Himself must save the world.\n\nGod gave many promises of the Redeemer. The first one was given in the\ngarden to our first parents. God said (Gen. 3:15) to the serpent: I will\nput enmities, that is hatred, between thee and the woman; that is,\nbetween the devil and the Blessed Virgin--whom the holy writers call the\nsecond Eve; because as the first Eve caused our fall, the second Eve\nhelped us to rise again. I will put also a great hatred between the\ndevil and your Redeemer. The next promise of the Redeemer was made to\nAbraham. (Gen. 15). Another was made to Isaac, and another to Jacob; and\nlater these promises were frequently renewed through the prophets; so\nthat during the four thousand years God encouraged the good people, by\npromising from time to time the Redeemer.\n\nSome of the prophets foretold to what family He would belong, and when\nHe would be born, and when and what He would suffer, and how He would\ndie. They also foretold signs or things that would come to pass just\nbefore the advent or coming of the Messias (Gen. 49:10); so that when\nthe people saw these things coming to pass, they could know that the\ntime of the Messias was at hand. Thus when Our Lord came, the whole\nworld was waiting and looking for the promised Redeemer, because the\nsigns foretold had appeared or were taking place. But the majority did\nnot recognize Our Lord when He came, on account of the quiet, humble,\nand poor way in which He came. They were expecting to see the Redeemer\ncome as a great and powerful king, with mighty armies conquering the\nworld; and in this they were mistaken. If they had studied the Holy\nScriptures they would have learned how He was to come--poor and humble.\n\n*73 Q. How could they be saved who lived before the Son of God became\nman?\nA. They who lived before the Son of God became man could be saved by\nbelieving in the Redeemer to come, and by keeping the Commandments.\n\nWe have seen that God promised the Redeemer during four thousand years.\nNow, those who believed these promises and kept all God's Commandments,\nand observed all His laws as they knew them, could be saved. They could\nnot, it is true, enter into Heaven after their death, but they could\nwait in Limbo without suffering till Our Lord opened Heaven for them.\nThey were saved only through the merits of Our Lord. And how could this\nbe when Our Lord was not yet born? Do you know what a promissory note\nis? It is this. When a man is not able to pay his debts just now but\nwill be able afterwards, he gives those to whom he owes the money a\npromissory note, that is, a written promise that he will pay at a\ncertain time. Now, those who died before Our Lord was born had the Holy\nScripture promising that Christ would pay for them and for their sins\nwhen He would come. So God saved them on account of this promise and\nkept them free from suffering till Our Lord came. If any died when they\nwere little infants, their parents answered for them as godfathers and\ngodmothers do now for infants at Baptism.\n\n74 Q. On what day was the Son of God conceived and made man?\nA. The Son of God was conceived and made man on Annunciation Day--the\nday on which the Angel Gabriel announced to the Blessed Virgin Mary that\nshe was to be the Mother of God.\n\n\"Annunciation Day\" is the 25th of March. You can easily remember that\nfeast. Everybody knows that St. Patrick's Day is on the 17th of March,\nand therefore eight days after it comes Annunciation day. There is\nanother feast coming in between them, the feast of St. Joseph, on the\n19th of March. Therefore it is easy to remember these three feasts\ncoming all in March and almost together. Annunciation is the name given\nto that day after the angel came, but it was not called so before.\nAnnunciation means to tell or make known, and this is the day the angel\nmade known to the Blessed Virgin that she was selected for the high\noffice of Mother of God. The Blessed Virgin was expecting the Messias,\nand was probably praying for His speedy arrival, as were the rest of her\npeople, when suddenly the angel came and said: Hail, full of grace. (See\nHail Mary Expl.).\n\n75 Q. On what day was Christ born?\nA. Christ was born on Christmas Day in a stable at Bethlehem, over\nnineteen hundred years ago.\n\n\"Christmas Day\" is the 25th of December, one week before the New Year.\nIt is called Christmas Day since the time Our Lord was born, over\nnineteen hundred years ago. \"In a stable at Bethlehem.\" The story of Our\nLord's birth is in every way a very sad one. The Blessed Virgin and St.\nJoseph lived in Palestine--called also the Holy Land since Our Lord\nlived there. Palestine was the country where God's people, the Jews,\nlived, and at the time we are speaking of, it was under the power of the\nRoman Emperor, who had his soldiers and governor there. He wished to\nfind out how many people were there, and so he ordered a census or count\nof the people to be made. (Luke 2). We take the census very differently\nnow from what they did then. We in the United States, by order of the\ngovernment, send men around from house to house to write down the names;\nbut in Palestine, when they wanted the number of the people, everyone,\nno matter where he lived, had to go to the city or town where his\nforefathers had lived and there register his name with all the others\nwho belonged to the same tribe or family. Now, the forefathers of St.\nJoseph and the Blessed Virgin belonged to the little town of Bethlehem\n(Luke 2); so they had to leave Nazareth where they were then living and\ngo to Bethlehem. This was shortly before Christmas. When they got to\nBethlehem, they found the place crowded with people who also came to\nenroll their names. They went to the inn or hotel to seek for lodging\nfor the night. The hotels there were not like ours. They were simply\nlarge buildings with small rooms and no furniture; they were called\ncaravansaries. A man was in charge of the building, and by paying him\nsomething persons were allowed the use of a room. No food was sold\nthere, so travelers had to do their cooking at home and bring whatever\nthey needed with them. When the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph went to\nthe inn they found all the rooms occupied. Then they went up and down\nthe streets looking for some house where they might stay. Nobody would\ntake them in, because St. Joseph was old and poor and had no money, or\nlittle, to give. They were refused at every door, a very sad thing\nindeed. What were they to do? It was growing dark, and the lights most\nlikely were being lighted here and there in the houses. The old towns\nwere not built as ours are, with houses on the outskirts growing fewer\nas we advance into the country. They were surrounded by great walls to\nkeep out their enemies. There were several large gates in these walls,\nthrough which the people entered or left the city. At night these gates\nwere closed and guarded. Nearly all the people lived within the walls\nand the country was lonely and almost deserted. Only shepherds were to\nbe found in the country, and they lived in tents, which they carried\nabout from place to place, as soldiers do in time of war. Such was the\ncountry about Bethlehem. As St. Joseph and the Blessed Virgin could not\nfind anyplace to stay in the town they were forced to go into the\ncountry. They must have suffered also from fear because the country was\ninfested with wolves and wild dogs, so fierce that they sometimes came\ninto the towns and attacked the people in the streets. Besides, many\nrobbers were wandering about waiting for victims. Palestine is a hilly\ncountry and there were on the sides of some of the hills large caves in\nwhich these robbers frequently took refuge or divided their spoils.\nBecause the shepherds at times, especially in bad weather, brought their\nanimals into these caves, they are often called stables. The Blessed\nVirgin and St. Joseph found, we are told, one of these cold, dark\nplaces, went into it for the night, and there Our Lord was born.\n\nIt was the month of December and must have been quite cold, so the\nlittle Infant Jesus must have suffered greatly from the cold. If it had\nbeen a stable such as we see in our days it would have been bad enough;\nbut think of this cold, dark, miserable cave, and yet it was Our Lord,\nthe King of Heaven and earth, who was born there. There are few people\nso poor that they have to live in a cave. What wonderful humility, then,\non the part of Our Lord. He could have been born, if He wished, in the\ngrandest palace man could construct and have had thousands of angels to\nbring Him whatever He needed, for they are His servants in Heaven. But\nOur Lord became so humble to teach us. What impression should this make\non those who are too fond of dress and too vain about their homes.\n\nIt was foretold by the prophets that Our Lord would be born in\nBethlehem, and when the time was near at hand His parents were living in\nNazareth; then the Roman Emperor gave the decree that the census be\ntaken, which obliged Our Lord's parents to go to Bethlehem, and thus Our\nLord was born there, and the words of the prophets fulfilled. See how\nGod moves the whole world, if necessary, to accomplish what He desires.\nBut how naturally He does everything. Nobody knew--not even the Roman\nEmperor himself--that he was giving an edict to fulfill the prophecies\nand the promises of God. So, at times, people do many things to carry\nout the designs of God, though they know it not. We should never\ncomplain therefore to do unwillingly whatever work we have to perform,\nbecause it may be something that God wishes us to do for some very\nspecial end. If you look back upon your lives, you can see that God\nguided and directed you upon many occasions.\n\n*76 Q. How long did Christ live on earth?\nA. Christ lived on earth about thirty-three years, and led a most holy\nlife in poverty and suffering.\n\nThe life of Our Lord was spent in the following manner. At the time Our\nLord was born in Bethlehem wise men or kings, called Magi, came from the\nEast--perhaps from Persia or Arabia--to adore Him. They saw a strange\nstar, and leaving their own country came to Palestine. When they came as\nfar as Jerusalem, they went to King Herod and asked him where the young\nKing was born. Herod was troubled, for he was afraid the new King would\ndeprive him of his throne. He called together all the priests and asked\nthem about this royal child. They told him and the Magi that, according\nto the prophecies, the Saviour should be born in Bethlehem. The Wise Men\nsaw the star once more, and followed it to Bethlehem, where it stood\nover the stable in which Our Lord lay. They entered, and adored the\nInfant Jesus, and offered Him presents. Now, Herod told them to come\nback after they had found the newborn King, and tell him where He was,\nthat he too might go and adore Him. But such was not Herod's real\nintention. He wished not to adore but to kill Him. See, then, how the\nwicked pretend at times to do good, that they may deceive us and lead us\nastray. Be always on your guard against a person if you suspect his\ngoodness. But Herod could not deceive God, who, knowing his heart,\nwarned the Wise Men not to return to Herod, but to go back to their own\ncountry by another way, which they did. We celebrate the day on which\nthe Wise Men adored the Infant Jesus on the feast of the Epiphany (six\ndays after New Year's Day). When the Magi did not return, Herod knew\nthat they had avoided him. He was very angry indeed, and in order to be\nsure of killing the poor little Infant Jesus, he had all the infants or\nchildren in or near Bethlehem who were not over two years old put to\ndeath. We honor these first little martyrs who suffered for Christ on\nthe feast of Holy Innocents--three days after Christmas.\n\nAfter the departure of the Wise Men, God sent an angel to St. Joseph\nwarning him of Herod's evil designs, and telling him to fly with Jesus\nand Mary into Egypt. Then St. Joseph, with the Blessed Virgin and the\nInfant, set out for Egypt. St. Joseph did not ask the angel how long he\nwould have to stay there; nor did he ask to be allowed to wait till\nmorning. He obeyed promptly; he arose in the night, and started at once.\nWhat an example of obedience for us! They must have had many hardships\non the way. They must have suffered much from hunger, cold, and fear.\nThey dare not go on the best roads, for we may well suppose that Herod\nhad his spies out watching for any that might escape. So they went by\nthe roughest roads and longest way. In Egypt they were among strangers,\nand how could a poor old carpenter like St. Joseph find enough work\nthere! The Holy Family must at times have suffered greatly from want.\nThey remained in Egypt for some time. Afterwards, when Herod died, they\nreturned to Nazareth. (Matt. 2).\n\nAt twelve years of age Our Lord went to the Temple of Jerusalem to offer\nsacrifice with His parents. (Luke 2:42). He afterwards returned to\nNazareth, and then for eighteen years--called His hidden life--we do not\nhear anything of Him. Most likely He worked in the carpenter shop with\nHis foster-father, St. Joseph.\n\nAt the age of thirty (Luke 3:23), Our Lord began His public life; that\nis, His preaching, miracles, etc. His public life lasted a little over\nthree years, and then He was put to death on the Cross.\n\n*77 Q. Why did Christ live so long on earth?\nA. Christ lived so long on earth to show us the way to Heaven by His\nteaching and example.\n\nChrist went through all the stages of life that each might have an\nexample. He was an infant: then a child; then a young man, and finally a\nman. He did not become an old man to set an example to the old, because\nif men follow His example in their youth and manhood they will be good\nin old age. Youth is the all-important time to learn. If you want a tree\nto grow straight, you must keep it straight while it is only a little\ntwig. You cannot straighten an old oak tree that has grown up crooked.\nSo you must be taught to do right in your youth, that you may do the\nsame when old. Of the hidden or private life of Our Lord we, as I have\nsaid, know nothing, except that He was obedient to His parents; for He\nwished to give an example also to those holy persons who lead a life\nhidden from the world. Some books have given stories about what Our Lord\ndid in school, etc., but these stories are not true. The only true\nthings we know of Our Lord are those told in the Holy Scripture, or\nhanded down to us by the Church in her teachings, or those certainly\nrevealed to God's saints. Remember, then, that others are taught best by\nexample, and be careful of the example you give.\n\n\n\nLesson 8\nON OUR LORD'S PASSION, DEATH, RESURRECTION, AND ASCENSION\n\n\nThe Passion, that is, the terrible sufferings of Our Lord, began after\nthe Last Supper, and ended at His death. On Thursday evening, Our Lord\nsat down for the last time with His dear Apostles. He had been talking,\neating, and living with them for over three years; and now He is going\nto take His last meal with them before His death. He told them then how\nHe was to suffer, and that one of them was going to betray Him. They\nwere very much troubled, for only Judas himself knew what he was about\nto do.\n\n78 Q. What did Jesus Christ suffer?\nA. Jesus Christ suffered a bloody sweat, a cruel scourging, was crowned\nwith thorns, and was crucified.\n\nAfter the Supper, Our Lord went with His Apostles to a little country\nplace just outside Jerusalem, and separated from it by a small stream.\nHe told the three Apostles, Peter, James, and John, to stay near the\nentrance, and to watch and pray, while He Himself went further into the\nGarden of Olives, or Gethsemani, as this place was called, and throwing\nHimself upon His face, prayed long and earnestly, but the Apostles fell\nasleep.\n\nWe often find persons who are in great anguish or dread covered with a\ncold perspiration. Now, Our Lord's agony in the garden was so intense\nthat great drops, not of sweat, but of blood, oozed from every pore, and\ntrickled to the ground. There are three reasons given for this dreadful\nagony.\n\n(1) The clear, certain knowledge of the sufferings so soon to be\nendured. If we were to be put to death tomorrow and knew exactly the\nmanner of our death and the pain it would inflict, how great would be\nour fear! Our Lord, knowing all things, knew in every particular what He\nwould have to undergo. Moreover, His sufferings were greater than ours\ncould be, even if we suffered the same kind of death; because His body\nwas most perfect, and therefore more susceptible of pain than ours. A\nwound in the eye, because the most sensitive and delicate part of the\nbody, would cause us greater pain than a wound on the foot or hand.\nThus, all the parts of Our Lord's body being so perfect and sensitive,\nwe can scarcely imagine His dreadful torments, the very thought of which\ncaused Him such agony.\n\n(2) The sins, past, present, and future of all men. He knew all things,\nas we have said, and looking back upon the world He saw all the sins\ncommitted, of thought, word, and deed, from the time of Adam down to His\nown; and seeing all these offenses against His Father, He was very much\ngrieved.\n\n(3) The third reason why He grieved. He looked forward and saw how\nlittle many persons would profit by all the sufferings He was about to\nendure. He saw all the sins that would be committed from the time of His\ndeath down to the end of the world. He saw us also sinning with the\nrest. No wonder then that He suffered so much in the garden. This\nsuffering on that night is called \"Our Lord's Agony in the Garden.\" That\nnight Judas, who had betrayed Him to His enemies, came with a great band\nof soldiers and people, with swords and clubs, to make Our Lord a\nprisoner. He did not try to escape, but stood waiting for them, though\nall His Apostles, who had promised to stay with Him, ran away. Then the\nsoldiers led Our Lord to the house of the Chief Priest. Then they\ngathered the priests, and gave Him a kind of trial, and said He was\nguilty of death. But at that time the Jews had no power to put persons\nto death according to the law; so they had to send Our Lord to Pontius\nPilate, the Roman Governor, to be condemned, because they were under the\npower of the Romans. The Jews acted against their laws in the trial of\nOur Lord.\n\n(1) They tried Him at night; and (2) they allowed Him no witnesses in\nHis defense, but even employed false witnesses to testify against Him,\nand thus acted against all law and justice. Early in the morning they\nled Him to Pilate, who commanded that He should be scourged. Then they\nstripped Our Lord of His garments, fastened His hands to a low stone\npillar, and there He was \"scourged\" by the Roman soldiers. The lashes\nused by the Romans were made of leather, with pieces of bone, iron, or\nsteel fastened into it, so that every stroke would lay open the flesh.\nIt is most likely these were the lashes used upon Our Lord till every\nportion of His body was bruised and bleeding, and they replaced His\ngarments upon Him. Now, you know if you put a cloth upon a fresh wound\nthe blood will soak into it and cause it to adhere to the mangled flesh.\nOur Blessed Lord's garment, thus saturated with His blood, adhered to\nHis wounded body, and when again removed caused Him unspeakable pain.\nNext, the soldiers, because Our Lord had said He was a king--meaning a\nspiritual king--led Him into a large hall and mocked Him. They made a\ncrown of long, sharp thorns, and forced it down upon His brow with a\nheavy rod or reed; every stroke driving the thorns into His head, and\ncausing the blood to roll down His sacred face. They again took off His\ngarments, and opened anew the painful wounds. Because kings wore purple,\nthey put an old purple garment upon Him, and made Him a mock king,\ngenuflecting in ridicule as they passed before Him. They struck Him in\nthe face and spat upon Him; and yet it seems our patient Lord said not a\nword in complaint. Then they put His garments upon Him, and Pilate asked\nthe people what he should do with Him, and they cried, \"Crucify Him.\" It\nwas then Friday morning, and probably about ten or eleven o'clock. They\nmade a cross of heavy beams, and laying it upon His shoulders, forced\nHim to carry it to Calvary--the place of execution, just outside the\ncity; for it was not allowed to execute anyone in the city. Our Lord had\nnot eaten anything from Thursday evening, and then with all He suffered\nand the loss of blood, He must have been very weak at eleven o'clock on\nFriday morning. He was weak, and fell many times under the Cross. His\nsuffering was increased by seeing His Blessed Mother looking at Him.\nWhen He arrived at Calvary they tore off His garments and nailed Him to\nthe Cross, driving the rough nails through His hands and feet. It was\nthen about twelve o'clock. From twelve to three in the afternoon Our\nBlessed Saviour was hanging on the Cross, with a great multitude of His\nenemies about Him mocking and saying cruel things. Even the two thieves\nthat were crucified with Him reviled Him, though one of them repented\nand was pardoned before death. Our Lord's poor Mother and His few\nfriends stood at a little distance witnessing all that was going on.\nWhen Our Lord was thirsty His executioners gave Him gall to drink. At\nthree o'clock He died, and there was an earthquake and darkness, and the\npeople were sorely afraid.\n\nBut you will ask, how could these soldiers be so cruel? They were\nRomans; and in those days men called gladiators used to fight with\nswords before the Roman Emperor and all the people--just as actors play\nnow for the amusement of their audience. People who could enjoy such\nscenes as men slaying one another in deadly conflict would scarcely be\nmoved to pity by seeing a man scourged. Again, in the early ages of the\nChurch, during the persecutions, the Emperors used to order the\nChristians to be thrown to wild beasts to be torn to pieces in the\npresence of the people--who applauded these horrible sights. They who\ncould see so many put to death would not mind putting one to death, even\nin the most terrible manner.\n\n79 Q. On what day did Christ die?\nA. Christ died on Good Friday.\n\n\"Good Friday,\" so called since that time.\n\n*80 Q. Why do you call that day \"good\" on which Christ suffered so\nsorrowful a death?\nA. We call that day good on which Christ died, because by His death He\nshowed His great love for man, and purchased for him every blessing.\n\n*81 Q. Where did Christ die?\nA. Christ died on Mount Calvary.\n\n\"Mount Calvary,\" a little hill just outside the city of Jerusalem. For\nevery city they have a special prison or place where all their criminals\nare executed. Now, as the great Temple of God was in Jerusalem, the city\nitself was called the City of God, because in the Temple God spoke to\nthe priests in the Holy of Holies. The Temple was divided into two\nparts: one part, something like the body of our churches, called the\nHoly, and the other part, where the Ark of the Covenant was kept, called\nthe Holy of Holies. It had about the same relation to the Temple as our\naltar and sanctuary have to our churches. The Ark of the Covenant was a\nbox about four feet long, two and a half feet high, and two and a half\nfeet wide, made of the finest wood, and ornamented with gold in the most\nbeautiful manner. In it were the tables of stone, on which were written\nthe Commandments of God; also the rod that Aaron--Moses'\nbrother--changed into a serpent before King Pharaoh; also some of the\nmanna with which the people were miraculously fed during their forty\nyears' journey in the desert when they fled out of Egypt. All these\nthings were figures of the true religion. The Ark itself was a figure of\nthe tabernacle, and the manna of the Holy Eucharist. The Holy of Holies\nwas hidden from the people by a veil. Only the Chief Priest was allowed\ninto that sacred place, and but once a year. The veil--called the veil\nof the Temple--hiding that Holy of Holies, though the things mentioned\nabove were no longer in it, was torn asunder when Our Lord died on the\nCross (Matt. 27:51); because after His death there was no need any\nlonger of figures; for after His death we have the tabernacle itself and\nthe real manna, the real bread from Heaven, viz., the body of Our Lord.\nThe veil was rent to show also that God would not remain any longer in\nthe Temple, but would be for the future only in the Christian Church. On\naccount of all these things, therefore, Jerusalem was called the Holy\nCity, and no criminals were put to death in it, but were conducted to\nCalvary--which means the place of skulls--and were there put to death. I\nnow call your attention to one thing. If the Jews showed such great\nrespect and reverence for the Ark containing only figures of the Blessed\nSacrament, how should we behave in the presence of the tabernacle on the\naltar containing the Blessed Sacrament itself!\n\n*82 Q. How did Christ die?\nA. Christ was nailed to a cross and died on it, between two thieves.\n\n\"Two thieves,\" because they thought this would make His death more\ndisgraceful--making Him equal to common criminals. One of these thieves,\ncalled the penitent thief, repented of his sins and received Our Lord's\npardon before his death. The other thief died in his sins. Holy writers\ntell us that one of these thieves was saved to give poor sinners hope,\nand to teach them that they may save their souls at the very last moment\nof their lives if only they are heartily sorry for their sins and\nimplore God's pardon for them. The other thief remained and died\nimpenitent, that sinners may fear to put off their conversion to the\nhour of death, thus rashly presuming on God's mercy. Persons who\nwillfully delay their conversion and put off their repentance to the\nlast moment, living bad lives with the hope of dying well, may not\naccept the grace to repent at the last moment, but may, like the\nunfortunate, impenitent thief, die as they lived, in a state of sin.\n\n83 Q. Why did Christ suffer and die?\nA. Christ suffered and died for our sins.\n\nIt was not necessary for Our Lord to suffer so much, but He did it to\nshow how much He loved us and valued our souls, and how much He was\nwilling to give for them. We, alas! do not value our souls as Christ\ndid; we sometimes sell them for the merest trifle--a moment's\ngratification. How sinful!\n\n*84 Q. What lessons do we learn from the sufferings and death of Christ?\nA. From the sufferings and death of Christ we learn the great evil of\nsin, the hatred God bears to it, and the necessity of satisfying for it.\n\nWe learn \"the great evil of sin\" also from the misery it brought into\nthe world; the \"hatred God bears to it,\" from the punishment He\ninflicted on the wicked angels and on our first parents for it; and\nlastly, the \"necessity of satisfying for it,\" from the fact that God\nallowed His dear and only Son to suffer death itself for the sins even\nof others.\n\n*85 Q. Whither did Christ's soul go after His death?\nA. After Christ's death His soul descended into hell.\n\n*86 Q. Did Christ's soul descend into the hell of the damned?\nA. The hell into which Christ's soul descended was not the hell of the\ndamned, but a place or state of rest called Limbo, where the souls of\nthe just were waiting for Him.\n\nHell had many meanings in olden times. The grave was sometimes called\nhell. Jacob, when he heard that wild beasts had devoured his son Joseph,\nsaid: \"I will go down with sorrow into hell.\" He meant the grave. Limbo\nis not the same as Purgatory. It does not exist now, or, if it does, is\nonly for little children who have never committed actual sin and who\nhave died without Baptism. They will never get into Heaven or see God,\nbut they will not have to suffer pains as they who are in Purgatory or\nHell endure.\n\n*87 Q. Why did Christ descend into Limbo?\nA. Christ descended into Limbo to preach to the souls who were in\nprison--that is, to announce to them the joyful tidings of their\nredemption.\n\n*88 Q. Where was Christ's body while His soul was in Limbo?\nA. While Christ's soul was in Limbo His body was in the Holy Sepulchre.\n\n\"Sepulchre\" is the same as tomb. It is like a little room. In it the\ncoffin is not covered up with earth as it is in the grave, but is placed\nupon a stand. We call such places vaults, and you can see many of them\nin any cemetery or burying ground. Sometimes they are cut in the side of\nelevated ground with their entrance level with the road, and sometimes\nthey are built altogether under the ground. The one in which Our Lord\nwas placed was cut out of the side of a rock, and had for a door a great\nstone against the entrance. Our Lord was not placed in a coffin, but was\nwrapped in a linen cloth. It was the custom of the Jewish people and of\nmany other ancient nations to embalm the bodies of the dead, wrap them\nin cloths, and cover them with sweet spices. (Matt. 27:59). Thus it was\nthat Mary Magdalene and other good women came early in the morning to\nanoint the body of Our Lord. But you will say, why did they not do it on\nFriday evening or night? The reason was this: The day with the Jews\nbegan at sunset--generally about six o'clock--and ended at sunset on the\nnext evening. We count our twenty-four hours, or day, from twelve at\nmidnight till twelve the next night. Therefore, with the Jews six\no'clock on Friday evening was the beginning of Saturday. They kept\nSaturday, or the Sabbath, instead of Sunday as a day of worship. On that\nday, which they kept very strictly, it was not allowable to do work of\nany kind; so they could not anoint Our Lord's body till the Sabbath\nended, which was about six o'clock, or sunset on Saturday evening. So,\nas the Holy Scripture tells us, they came very early in the morning; for\nMary Magdalene and these good women were Jews, and strictly observed the\nJewish law. You must know that Our Lord Himself, the Blessed Virgin, St.\nJoseph, and the Apostles were Jews; and that the Jewish religion was the\ntrue religion up to the coming of Our Lord; but as it was only a figure\nand a promise of the Christian religion, it ceased to have any meaning\nor to be the true religion when the Christian religion itself was\nestablished by Our Lord.\n\n89 Q. On what day did Christ rise from the dead?\nA. Christ rose from the dead, glorious and immortal, on Easter Sunday,\nthe third day after His death.\n\n\"Rose\" by His own power. This is the greatest of all Our Lord's\nmiracles, because all He taught is confirmed by it and depends upon it.\nA miracle is a work that can be performed only by God, or by someone to\nwhom He has given the power. If anyone performs a real miracle to prove\nwhat he says, his words must be true; for God, who is infinite truth,\ncould not sanction a lie--could not help an impostor to deceive us. Now\nOur Lord said He was the Son of God; that He could forgive sins, etc.;\nand He performed miracles to prove what He said. Therefore He must have\ntold the truth. So all those whom God sent to do any great work were\ngiven the power to perform miracles that the people might know they were\nreally messengers from God. They, on the other hand, who claim--as many\nhave done from time to time in the world--that they have been sent by\nGod to do some great work, and can give no convincing proof of their\nmission, are not to be believed. Thus, when Martin Luther claimed that\nhe was sent by God to reform the Catholic Church--which had existed\nnearly 1,500 years before he was born--he performed no miracles, nor did\nhe give any other proof that he had any such commission from God; and he\ncannot therefore be believed.\n\nGod has established all the laws of nature permanently. They will not\nvary or change, so that we can depend upon them. We can always be sure\nthat the sun will rise and set; that the seasons will come; that fire\nwill burn, etc. Now, if we see three young men in a great fiery furnace\nwithout being burned (Dan. 3), we say it is a great miracle; because\nnaturally the fire would burn them up if God did not prevent it. Again,\nwater will not stand up like a high wall without something keeping it\nback; it will always run about and fill every empty spot near it. If,\ntherefore, we see water standing up like a high wall, as it did in the\nRed Sea at the command of Moses, and in the River Jordan, we say it is a\nmiracle. So in all cases where the laws of nature do not work in the\nordinary manner, we say a miracle is being performed. Now Our Lord\nperformed many such miracles--many times He suspended the laws of\nnature--which God alone can do, since He alone established them. Our\nLord called back the soul to the body after death, thus raising the\ndead. He healed the sick, gave sight to the blind, cured the lame, etc.,\nwhen all medicine and natural means were useless. He did all these\nthings instantly as a rule, and without remedies. Therefore His miracles\nprove His divine power. Since the resurrection was a great miracle, and\nOur Lord performed it to prove that He was the true and only Son of God,\nHe must have been just what He said He was.\n\n\"Glorious.\" Our Lord rose in the same body He had before His death; but\nwhen He rose it had new qualities--it was glorified. The qualities of a\nglorified body are four, viz.: brilliancy, agility, subtility, and\nimpassability. (1) It has brilliancy; that is, it shines like a light;\nit gives forth light; the soul shines through the body. You have heard\nof the Transfiguration of Our Lord. One day He took three of His\nApostles--Peter, James, and John--unto a high mountain (Matt. 17); and\nas He was speaking to them, suddenly His whole body began to shine like\nthe sun. Then Moses and Elias--two great and holy men of the Old\nLaw--came and conversed with Him. The Apostles were astonished and\ndelighted at the sight, and wished to remain there always. Our Lord's\nbody at that time showed one of the qualities of a glorified body. The\nsame three Apostles that saw Him thus transfigured and heard the voice\nof the Heavenly Father saying, \"This is My beloved Son,\" were present in\nthe garden during Our Lord's agony. He allowed them to see the\nTransfiguration, so that when they should see Him suffering as man, they\nwould remember that they saw Him on the mountain glorified as God. (2)\nAgility; that is, a glorified body can move rapidly from one place to\nanother, like the lightning itself. After His resurrection Our Lord was\nin Jerusalem, and almost immediately He appeared near the village of\nEmmaus to two disciples going there. (Luke 24). They had left Jerusalem\nafter the Crucifixion, probably through fear, and were going along\ntogether talking about what had happened during the days of Our Lord's\nPassion. Suddenly Our Lord came and walked and talked with them, but\nthey did not know Him. They asked Him to stay that night at their house,\nfor it was growing dark. He did not stop with them, and at supper they\nknew Him, and then He vanished from their sight. An ordinary person\nwould have to get up and walk away; but He vanished, showing on this\noccasion the second quality of His glorified body--agility. (3)\nSubtility; that is, such a body can go where it pleases and cannot be\nresisted by material things. It can pass through closed doors or gates,\nand even walls cannot keep it out. It passes through everything, as\nlight does through glass without breaking it. At one time after Our\nLord's resurrection the Apostles were gathered together in a room, for\nthey were still afraid of being put to death, and the doors were tightly\nclosed. Suddenly Our Lord stood in the midst of them and said: \"Peace be\nto you.\" (John 20:19). They did not open the door for Him; neither wood\nnor stone could keep Him out: and thus He showed that His body had the\nthird quality. (4) His body had the fourth quality also--impassability,\nwhich means that it can no longer suffer. Before His death, and at it,\nOur Lord suffered dreadful torments, as you know; but after His\nresurrection nothing could injure or hurt Him. The spear could not hurt\nHis side, nor the nails His hands, nor the thorns His head. Shortly\nafter His resurrection Our Lord appeared to His Apostles while Thomas,\none of them, was absent. (John 20:24). When Thomas returned, the other\nApostles told him that they had seen the Lord risen from the dead; but\nhe would not believe them, saying: \"Unless I see the holes where the\nnails were in His hands and feet, and put my finger into His side, I\nwill not believe.\" Now Our Lord, knowing all things, knew this also; so\nHe came again when Thomas was present, and said to him: \"Now, Thomas,\nput your hand into My side.\" Thomas cried out: \"My Lord and my God!\" He\nbelieved then, because he saw. Now if this body of Our Lord's had been\nan ordinary body, it would have caused Him pain to allow anyone to put\nhis hand into the wound; but it was impassable. It seems very strange,\ndoes it not, that Thomas would not believe what the other Apostles told\nhim? God permitted this. Why? Because, if they all believed easily, some\nenemies of Our Lord might say the Apostles were simple men that believed\neverything without any proof. Now they cannot truly say so, because here\nwas one of the Apostles, Thomas, who would not believe without the very\nstrongest kind of proof. Another person, one would think, would have\nbeen satisfied with seeing Our Lord's wounds; but Thomas would not trust\neven his eyes--he must also touch before he would believe: showing,\ntherefore, that the Apostles were not deceived in anything Our Lord did\nin their presence, for they had always the most convincing proofs.\n\nAfter the Resurrection, at the last day, the bodies of all those who are\nto be in Heaven will have the qualities I have mentioned; that is, they\nwill be glorified bodies.\n\nSpeaking of Our Lord's wounds, I might tell you what the stigmata means,\nif you should ever hear or read of it. There have been some persons in\nthe world--saints, of course--who have had upon their hands, feet, and\nside wounds just like those Our Lord had, and these wounds caused them\ngreat pain. For example, St. Francis of Assisi (see Butler's Lives of\nthe Saints, Oct. 4th). Up to 1883--that is, only a few years ago--there\nlived in Belgium a young girl named Louise Lateau who had the stigmata.\nWe have the most positive proof of it, as you may see in the accounts of\nher life now published. Her wounds caused her great pain and bled every\nFriday for many years. She was a delicate seamstress, and lived with her\nmother and sisters in almost continual poverty. She had always been\nremarkable for her true piety, patience in suffering, and charity to the\nsick. I mention this young girl because she lived in our own time, and\nis the latest person we know of who had the stigmata, or wounds of Our\nLord. So if you ever hear of the stigmata of St. Francis or others, you\nwill know that it means wounds like those of Our Lord impressed on their\nbodies in a miraculous manner.\n\n\"Immortal\"--that is never to die again, as it will be with us also after\nthe Resurrection.\n\n\"The third day.\" It was not three full days, but the parts of three\ndays. Suppose someone should ask you on Friday evening how long from now\nto Sunday; you would answer: Sunday will be the third day from today.\nYou would count thus: Friday one, Saturday two, and Sunday itself three.\nSo it was with Our Lord. He died on Friday at about three in the\nafternoon, and remained in the sepulchre till Sunday morning.\n\n*90 Q. How long did Christ stay on earth after His resurrection?\nA. Christ stayed on earth forty days after His resurrection, to show\nthat He was truly risen from the dead, and to instruct His Apostles.\n\nAfter Our Lord's resurrection He remained on earth forty days: but you\nmust not think He was visible all that time. No. He did not appear to\neverybody, but only to certain persons, and not all the time to them\neither. He appeared to His Apostles and others in all about nine times;\nat least, we know for certain that He appeared nine times, though He may\nhave appeared oftener. He showed that \"He was truly risen,\" for He ate\nwith His Apostles and conversed with them. (Luke 24:42). It was after\nthe resurrection that He breathed on them and gave them the power to\nforgive sins. (John 20).\n\n91 Q. After Christ had remained forty days on earth, whither did He go?\nA. After forty days Christ ascended into Heaven, and the day on which He\nascended into Heaven is called Ascension Day.\n\nOne day He was on a mountain with His Apostles and disciples; and as He\nwas talking to them He began to rise up slowly and quietly, just as you\nhave sometimes seen a balloon soar up into the air without noise. Higher\nand higher He ascended; and as they gazed up at Him, the clouds opened\nto receive Him, then closed under Him: and that was the last of Our\nLord's mission as man upon earth. The Ascension took place forty days\nafter the resurrection. (Acts 1).\n\n*92 Q. Where is Christ in Heaven?\nA. In Heaven Christ sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.\n\n*93 Q. What do you mean by saying that Christ sits at the right hand of\nGod?\nA. When I say that Christ sits at the right hand of God, I mean that\nChrist as God is equal to His Father in all things, and that as man He\nis in the highest place in Heaven next to God.\n\n\n\nLesson 9\nON THE HOLY GHOST AND HIS DESCENT UPON THE APOSTLES\n\n\n94 Q. Who is the Holy Ghost?\nA. The Holy Ghost is the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity.\n\n*95 Q. From whom does the Holy Ghost proceed?\nA. The Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and the Son.\n\n*96 Q. Is the Holy Ghost equal to the Father and the Son?\nA. The Holy Ghost is equal to the Father and the Son, being the same\nLord and God as they are.\n\n97 Q. On what day did the Holy Ghost come down upon the Apostles?\nA. The Holy Ghost came down upon the Apostles ten days after the\nAscension of Our Lord; and the day on which He came down upon the\nApostles is called Whit-Sunday or Pentecost.\n\nWe have seen already that the Apostles fled and were very much afraid\nwhen Our Lord was taken prisoner. Even Peter, the chief of the Apostles,\nwho said he would die rather than leave Our Lord, shamefully denied Him;\nand St. John, the beloved disciple, stood near the Cross, but offered no\nresistance to Our Lord's enemies. After the Crucifixion of Our Lord, the\nApostles, afraid of being put to death, shut themselves up in a room.\nTen days after Our Lord's Ascension they were praying as usual in their\nroom, when suddenly they heard the sound as it were of a great wind, and\nthen they saw tongues the shape of our own, but all on fire, coming, and\none tongue resting on the head of each Apostle present. (Acts 2).\n\nThis was the Holy Ghost coming to them. The Holy Ghost, being a pure\nspirit without a body, can take any form He pleases. He sometimes came\nin the form of a dove; so when you see a dove painted in a church near\nthe altar, it is there to represent the Holy Ghost. You could not paint\na spirit, so angels and God Himself are generally represented in\npictures as they at some time appeared to men.\n\n\"Whit-Sunday,\" or White-Sunday; probably so called because in the early\nages of the Church converts were baptized on the day before, and after\ntheir Baptism wore white robes or garments as a mark of the soul's\npurity after Baptism.\n\n\"Pentecost\" means the fiftieth day, because the feast comes fifty days\nafter the resurrection of Our Lord. After His resurrection He remained\nforty days upon earth, and ten days after He ascended into Heaven the\nHoly Ghost came, thus making the fifty days.\n\nAfter the Holy Ghost came down upon the Apostles they were no longer\ntimid men. They went forth boldly into the streets and preached Christ\ncrucified, telling the people how the Son of God--the true Messias\npromised--had been put to death. Many who heard them believed and were\nbaptized. The first time St. Peter preached to the people three thousand\nwere converted (Acts 2:41); so that when all the Apostles preached the\nnumber of Christians increased rapidly, and the Christian religion was\nsoon carried to distant parts of the world.\n\nAt the time Our Lord was put to death the Jews were celebrating a great\nfeast in Jerusalem. The Jews were not like us in this respect. We have\nmany churches, and in all of them sacrifice, that is, the Holy Mass, is\noffered. The Jews had only one temple where sacrifice could be offered,\nand that was in Jerusalem. They had synagogues or meeting houses\nthroughout the land in which they assembled to pray and hear the Holy\nScriptures read; but they could not offer sacrifice in them. Three times\na year they went to Jerusalem to celebrate their great feasts. One of\nthese feasts was called the Pasch, or Passover, and it was during the\ncelebration of that feast that Our Lord was put to death; so that there\nwere many persons from all parts of the nation present at the sad\nexecution. I must now tell you why they celebrated the Pasch. We\ngenerally celebrate a feast to commemorate--to remind us of--some great\nevent; and the Jews celebrated this feast to remind them of their\ndeliverance from the slavery of the Egyptians, in which their ancestors\nhad been suffering for about two hundred years. At the end of that time\nGod sent Moses to deliver them. You should know, then, who Moses was and\nwhat he did to deliver his people, and you should know also something of\nthe history of his people--the Israelites--and how they came to be in\nEgypt.\n\nAt the time I am now going to speak of the old patriarch Jacob,\nAbraham's grandson, had eleven sons--for Benjamin, the twelfth son, was\nborn afterwards--and the youngest was called Joseph. Joseph was the\nfavorite of his father, and his brothers were jealous of him. The\nbrothers were shepherds, and used to take their flocks to feed at a\ngreat distance from home, and did not return for a long time. One day\nthe father sent Joseph to his brothers to see if all were well. They\nhated Joseph because his father loved him best; and when they saw him\ncoming they agreed never to let him return to his father. (Gen. 37).\nThey intended to kill him. While they were debating about how they\nshould put him to death--he was then only sixteen years old--some\nmerchants passed on their way to Egypt; so, instead of killing him, they\nsold him as a slave to the merchants. Then they took Joseph's coat and\ndipped it in the blood of a kid, and sent it to their poor old father,\nsaying they had found it, and making him believe that some wild beast on\nthe way had eaten Joseph. When the merchants arrived in Egypt, Potiphar,\none of the king's officers, bought Joseph, and brought him as a slave to\nhis own house. While there, Joseph was falsely accused of a great crime,\nand cast into prison. While Joseph was in prison the king had a dream.\n(Gen. 41). He saw in the dream seven fat cows coming up out of a river,\nfollowed by seven lean cows; and the lean cows ate up the fat cows. He\nsaw also seven fat ears of corn and seven lean ears of corn; and the\nseven lean ears ate up the seven fat ears. The king was very much\ntroubled, and called together all his wise men to tell him what the\ndream meant, but they could not. Then the king heard of Joseph, and sent\nfor him. Now Joseph was a very good young man, and God showed him the\nmeaning; so he told the king that the seven fat ears of corn and the\nseven fat cows meant seven years of great abundance in Egypt, and that\nthe seven lean ears and the seven lean cows meant seven years of famine\nthat would follow, and all the abundance of the previous seven years\nwould be consumed. So he advised the king to build great barns during\nthe years of plenty, and gather up all the corn everywhere to save it\nfor the years of famine. The king was delighted at Joseph's wisdom, and\nmade him after himself the most powerful in the kingdom, giving him\ncharge of everything, so that Joseph himself might do what he had\nadvised. Now it happened years after this that there was a famine in the\ncountry where Joseph's father lived, and he sent all his sons down into\nEgypt to buy corn. (Gen. 42). They did not know their brother Joseph,\nbut he knew them; and after forgiving them for what they had done to\nhim, he sent them home with an abundance of corn. Afterwards Joseph's\nfather and brothers left their own country and came to live near Joseph\nin Egypt. The king gave them good land (Gen. 47), and they lived there\nin peace and happiness. Learn from this beautiful history of Joseph how\nGod protects those that love and serve Him no matter where they are or\nin what danger they may be placed; and how He even turns the evil deeds\nof their enemies into blessings for them.\n\nAfter the death of Joseph and his brothers, their descendants became\nvery numerous, and the new king of the Egyptians began to persecute\nthem. (Ex. 2). He imposed upon them the hardest works, and treated them\nmost cruelly. He ordered that all their male infants should, as soon as\nborn, be thrown into the River Nile. Now about that time Moses was born.\n(Ex. 2). His mother did not obey the king's order, but hid him for about\nthree months. When she could conceal him no longer she made a little\ncradle of rushes, and covering it over with pitch or tar to keep out the\nwater, placed him in it, and then laid it in the tall grass by the edge\nof the river, sending his little sister to watch what would become of\nhim. Just then the king's daughter came down to bathe, and seeing the\nlittle child, ordered one of her servants to bring him to her. At that\nmoment Moses' little sister, pretending not to know him, ran up and\nasked the king's daughter if she wished to procure a nurse for him. The\nking's daughter replied in the affirmative and permitted her to bring\none; so Moses' own mother was brought and engaged to be his nurse: but\nhe was not known as her son, but as the adopted son of the king's\ndaughter. When Moses grew up he was an officer in the king's army; but\nbecause he took the part of his persecuted countrymen he offended the\nking, and had to fly from the palace. He then went into another country\nand became a shepherd.\n\nDuring all this time the persecuted Israelites were praying to the true\nGod to be delivered from the slavery of the Egyptians, who were\nidolaters. One day Moses saw a bush burning; and as he came near to look\nat it, he heard a voice telling him not to come too near, and bidding\nhim take off his shoes, for he was on holy ground. (Ex. 3). It was God\nwho thus appeared and spoke to him, and He ordered him to take off his\nshoes as a mark of respect and reverence. When we want to show our\nrespect for any person or place, we take off our hats; but the people of\nthat country, instead of their hats, took off their shoes. It was the\ncustom of the country and did not seem strange to them.\n\nThen God told Moses that He was going to send him to deliver His people\nfrom the Egyptians and lead them back to their own country; and He sent\nAaron, the brother of Moses, with him. Then Moses said to God, the king\nof Egypt will not let the people go, and what can I do? God gave Moses\ntwo signs or miracles to show the king, so that he could know that Moses\nwas really sent by Him. He gave him power to change a rod into a\nserpent, and back again into a rod; power also to bring a disease\ninstantly upon his hand, and to heal it instantly. (Ex. 4). Do these,\nsaid Almighty God, in the presence of the king. Then Moses and Aaron\nwent to the king and did as God commanded them; and when the rod of\nAaron became a serpent, the king's magicians--that is, men who do\napparently wonderful things by sleight of hand or the power of the\ndevil--cast their rods upon the ground, and they also became\nserpents--not that their rods were changed into serpents, but the devil,\nwho was helping them, took away instantly their rods and put real\nserpents in their place--but Aaron's serpent swallowed them up. (Ex. 7).\nAfter these signs the king would not let the people go with Moses; for\nGod permitted the king's heart to be hardened, so that all the Egyptians\nmight see the great work God was going to do for His people.\n\nThen God sent the ten plagues upon the Egyptians, while the\nIsraelites--God's people--suffered nothing from these plagues.\n\nThe first plague was blood. All the water in the land was converted into\nblood. (Ex. 7). The king then sent for Moses and promised that if he\nwould take away the plague he would allow all the people to depart.\nMoses prayed to God, and the plague was removed. But after it was taken\naway the king's heart was hardened again and he would not keep his\npromise. Just as people in sickness, distress, or danger sometimes\npromise God they will lead better lives if only He will help them, and\nwhen they are saved they do not keep their promises, so did Pharao; and\ntherefore God sent another plague. The second plague was frogs. Great\nnumbers of them came out of the rivers and lakes, and filled all the\nhouses of the Egyptians, and crawled into their food, beds, etc. Again\nthe king sent for Moses and did as before; and again Moses prayed, and\nall the frogs went back into the waters or died. (Ex. 8). But the king\nagain hardened his heart and did not keep his promise. The third plague\nwas sciniphs (Ex. 8)--very small flies, that filled the land. Imagine\nour country filled with mosquitoes so numerous that you could scarcely\nwalk through them; it would be a dreadful plague. As it is, two or three\nmight cause you considerable annoyance, and pain: what then if there\nwere millions doubly venomous, because sent to punish you? So these\nlittle flies must have greatly punished the Egyptians. The fourth plague\nwas flies that filled the land and covered everything, to the great\ndisgust of the people. The fifth plague was murrain--a disease that\nbroke out among the cattle. The sixth plague was a disease--boils--that\nbroke out on men and beasts, so that scarcely anyone could move on\naccount of the pains and suffering. The seventh plague was hail, that\nfell in large pieces and destroyed all their crops. The eighth plague\nwas locusts. These are very destructive little animals. They look\nsomething like our grasshoppers, but are about two or three times their\nsize. They fly and come in millions. They come to this country in great\nnumbers--almost a plague--every fifteen or twenty-five years, and the\nfarmers fear them very much. They eat up every green blade or leaf, and\nthus destroy all the crops and trees. When the locusts came upon Egypt,\nMoses, at the king's request, prayed, and God sent a strong wind that\nswept them into the sea, where they perished in the water. The ninth\nplague was a horrible darkness for three days in all the land of Egypt.\nThe tenth plague, the last, was the most terrible of all--the killing of\nthe firstborn in all the land of Egypt. (Ex. 12). God instructed Moses\nto tell the Israelites in the land that on a certain night they were to\ntake a lamb in each family, kill it, and sprinkle its blood on the\ndoorposts of their houses. They were then to cook the lamb and eat it\nstanding, with their garments ready as for a journey. (Ex. 12). The lamb\nwas called the paschal lamb, and was, after that, to be eaten every\nyear, at about what is with us Easter-time, in commemoration of this\nevent. That night God sent an angel through all the land, and he killed\nthe firstborn of man and beast in all the houses of the Egyptians. That\nis, he killed the eldest son in the house; and if the father was the\nfirstborn in his father's family, he was killed also; and the same for\nthe beasts. This was a terrible punishment. In the house of every\nEgyptian there were some dead but not one in the houses of the\nIsraelites; for when the angel saw the blood of the lamb on the\ndoorposts, he passed over and did not enter into their houses, so that\nthis event, called Passover or Pasch, was kept always as a great feast\nby God's people. This paschal lamb was a figure of our blessed Lord, for\nas its blood saved the Israelites from death, so Our Lord's blood saved\nand still saves us from eternal death in Hell.\n\nAfter that dreadful night Pharao allowed the people to depart with\nMoses; but when they had gone as far as the Red Sea, he was sorry he let\nthem go, and set out with a great army to bring them back. There the\npeople stood, with the sea before them and Pharao and his army coming\nbehind them; but God provided for them a means of escape. At God's\ncommand, Moses stretched his rod over the sea, and the waters divided\nand stood like great walls on either side and all the people passed\nthrough the opening in the waters, on the dry bed of the sea. (Ex. 14).\n\nPharao attempted to follow them, but when he and his army were on the\ndry bed of the sea, between the two walls of water, God allowed the\nwaters to close over them, and they were all drowned. Then the\nIsraelites began the great journey through the desert, in which they\ntravelled for forty years. During all that time God fed them with manna.\nHe Himself, as a guide, went with them in a cloud, that shaded them from\nthe heat of the sun during the day and was a light for them at night.\nBut you will ask: Was the desert so large that it took forty years to\ncross it? No, but these people, notwithstanding all God had done for\nthem, sinned against Him in the desert; so He permitted them to wander\nabout through it till a new generation of people grew up, who were to be\nled into the promised land by Josue, the successor of Moses. From this\nwe may learn a lesson for ourselves: God will always punish those who\ndeserve it, even though He loves them and may often have done great\nthings to save them; but He will wait for His own time to punish.\n\nThe Israelites then, as I have said, went from every part of the land up\nto the Temple in Jerusalem to celebrate the Pasch each year. It was\nduring one of these celebrations that Our Lord was put to death, and\nduring another feast that St. Peter preached to the people after Our\nLord's death. He spoke only in one language, and yet all his hearers\nunderstood, for each heard his own language spoken. (Acts 2:6). This was\ncalled the gift of tongues, and was given to the Apostles when the Holy\nGhost came upon them. For example, if each of you came from a different\ncountry and understood the language only of the country from which you\ncame, and I gave the instructions only in English, then if everyone\nthought I was speaking his language--German, French, Spanish, Italian,\netc.--and understood me, I would have what is called the gift of\ntongues, and it would be a great miracle, as it was when bestowed upon\nthe Apostles.\n\nIn the first ages of the Church God performed more miracles than He does\nnow, because they are not now so necessary. These miracles were\nperformed only to make the Church better known, and to prove that she\nwas the true Church, with her power and authority from God. That can now\nbe known and seen in Christian countries without miracles. These special\ngifts, like the gift of tongues, were given also to some of the early\nChristians by the Holy Ghost, when they received Confirmation; but they\nwere not a part of or necessary for Confirmation, but only to show the\npower of the true religion. Those who heard St. Peter preach, when they\nwent back to their own countries told what they had seen and heard, and\nthus their countrymen were prepared to receive the Gospel when the\nApostles came to preach it.\n\n*98 Q. How did the Holy Ghost come down upon the Apostles?\nA. The Holy Ghost came down upon the Apostles in the form of tongues of\nfire.\n\n99 Q. Who sent the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles?\nA. Our Lord Jesus Christ sent the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles.\n\n100 Q. Why did Christ send the Holy Ghost?\nA. Christ sent the Holy Ghost to sanctify His Church, to enlighten and\nstrengthen the Apostles, and to enable them to preach the Gospel.\n\n\"Sanctify,\" to make more holy by the grace which He would give to the\nmembers of the Church. \"To enlighten.\" The Apostles did not understand\nvery well everything Our Lord taught while He was with them; but after\nthe Holy Ghost came upon them they understood perfectly, and remembered\nmany things which Our Lord said to them, and understood the true meaning\nof all. The prophets foretold that when the Messias, Christ, would come,\nHe would bring all the world under His power. The prophets meant in a\nspiritual sense; but most of the people understood that He was to be a\ngreat general, with powerful armies, who would subdue all the nations of\nthe earth, and bring them under the authority of the Jews. We know they\nthought that the great kingdom He was to establish upon earth would be a\ntemporal kingdom, from many of their sayings and actions. One day the\nmother of two of Our Lord's Apostles came to ask Him if, when He had\nestablished His kingdom upon the earth, He would give her sons honorable\npositions in it, and place them high in authority. (Matt. 20:20). Our\nLord told her she did not understand what she was asking. This shows\nthat even some of the Apostles--much less the people--did not understand\nthe full nature of Our Lord's mission upon earth, nor of His kingdom,\nthe Church. Often too, when He preached to the people, the Apostles\nasked Him on His return what His sermon meant (Luke 8:9). But after the\nHoly Ghost came, they were enlightened, and understood all without\ndifficulty. \"Strengthen.\" I told you already that before the Holy Ghost\ncame they were timid and afraid of being arrested, but that afterwards\nthey went out boldly, and taught all they had learned from Our Lord.\nThey were often taken prisoners and scourged, but it mattered not--they\nwere firm in their faith, and could suffer anything for Christ after\nthey had been enlightened and strengthened by the Holy Ghost. Finally,\nthey were all, with the exception of St. John, put to death for their\nholy faith. St. Peter and St. Paul were crucified at Rome about the year\n65, that is, about thirty-two years after the death of Our Lord. St.\nJames was beheaded by order of King Herod. St. John lived the longest,\nand was the only one of the Apostles who was not put to death, though he\nwas cast into a large vessel of boiling oil, but was miraculously saved.\n\nCertainly by dying for their faith the Apostles showed that they were\nnot impostors or hypocrites. They must really have believed what they\ntaught, otherwise they would not have laid down their lives for it. They\nwere certain of what they taught, as we saw when speaking of St. Thomas.\n\n*101 Q. Will the Holy Ghost abide with the Church forever?\nA. The Holy Ghost will abide with the Church forever, and guide it in\nthe way of holiness and truth.\n\n\"Abide\" means to stay with us.\n\n\n\nLesson 10\nON THE EFFECTS OF THE REDEMPTION\n\n\n102 Q. Which are the chief effects of the redemption?\nA. The chief effects of the redemption are two: the satisfaction of\nGod's justice by Christ's sufferings and death, and the gaining of grace\nfor men.\n\nAn effect is that which is caused by something else. If you place a\ndanger signal on a broken railroad track the effect will be preventing\nthe wreck of the train, and the cause will be your placing the signal.\nMany effects may flow from one cause. In our example, see all the good\neffects that may follow your placing the signal--the cars are not\nbroken, the passengers are not killed, the rails are not torn out of\ntheir places, etc. Thus the redemption had two effects, namely, to\nsatisfy God for the offense offered Him by the sins of men, and to merit\ngrace to be used for our benefit.\n\n103 Q. What do you mean by grace?\nA. By grace I mean a supernatural gift of God bestowed on us, through\nthe merits of Jesus Christ, for our salvation.\n\n\"Supernatural,\" that is, above nature. \"A gift\"; something, therefore,\nthat God does not owe us. He owes us nothing, strictly speaking. Health,\ntalents, and such things are natural gifts, and belong to our nature as\nmen; but grace is something above our nature, given to our soul. God\ngives it to us on account of the love He has for His Son, Our Lord, who\nmerited it for us by dying for us. \"Merits.\" A merit is some excellence\nor goodness which entitles one to honor or reward. Grace is a help we\nget to do something that will be pleasing to God. When there is anything\nin our daily works that we cannot do alone, we naturally look for help;\nfor example, to lift some heavy weight is only a natural act, not a\nsupernatural act, and the help we need for it is only natural help. But\nif we are going to do something above and beyond our nature, and cannot\ndo it alone, we must not look for natural, but for supernatural help;\nthat is, the help must always be like the work to be done. Therefore all\nspiritual works need spiritual help, and spiritual help is grace.\n\n104 Q. How many kinds of grace are there?\nA. There are two kinds of grace: sanctifying grace and actual grace.\n\n105 Q. What is sanctifying grace?\nA. Sanctifying grace is that grace which makes the soul holy and\npleasing to God.\n\n\"Sanctifying,\" that is, making us holy by cleansing, purifying our\nsouls. Sin renders the soul ugly and displeasing to God, and grace\npurifies it. Suppose I have something bright and beautiful given to me,\nand take no care of it, but let it lie around in dusty places until it\nbecomes tarnished and soiled, loses all its beauty, and appears black\nand ugly. To restore its beauty I must clean and polish it. Thus the\nsoul blackened by sin must be cleaned by God's grace. If the soul is in\nmortal sin--altogether blackened--then sanctifying grace brings back its\nbrightness and makes it pleasing to God; but if the soul is already\nbright, though stained or darkened a little by venial sin, then grace\nmakes it still brighter.\n\n*106 Q. What do you call those graces or gifts of God by which we\nbelieve in Him, hope in Him, and love Him?\nA. Those graces or gifts of God by which we believe in Him, and hope in\nHim, and love Him, are called the divine virtues of faith, hope, and\ncharity.\n\n\"Virtues.\" Virtue is the habit of doing good. The opposite to virtue is\nvice, which is the habit of doing evil. We acquire a habit bad or good\nwhen we do the same thing very frequently. We then do it easily and\nalmost without thinking; as a man, for instance, who has the habit of\ncursing curses almost without knowing it, though that does not excuse\nhim, but makes his case worse, by showing that he must have cursed very\noften to acquire the habit. If, however, he is striving to overcome the\nbad habit, and should unintentionally curse now and then, it would not\nbe a sin, since he did not wish to curse, and was trying to overcome the\nvice. One act does not make a virtue or a vice. A person who gives alms\nonly once cannot be said to have the virtue of charity. A man who curses\nonly once a year cannot be said to have the vice of cursing. Faith,\nhope, and charity are infused by God into our souls, and are therefore\ncalled infused virtues, to distinguish them from the virtues we acquire.\n\n107 Q. What is faith?\nA. Faith is a divine virtue by which we firmly believe the truths which\nGod has revealed.\n\n\"A divine virtue\" is one that is heavenly or holy. Faith is the habit of\nalways believing all that God has revealed and the Church teaches.\n\"Firmly,\" that is, without the slightest doubt. \"Revealed,\" that is,\nmade known to us. Revelation is the collection of all the truths that\nGod has made known to us. But why do we believe? Because we clearly see\nand know the truth of what is revealed? No, but because God reveals it;\nwe believe it though we cannot see it or even understand it. If we see\nit plainly, then we believe it rather because we see it than because God\nmakes it known to us. Suppose a friend should come and tell you the\nchurch is on fire. If he never told you lies, and had no reason for\ntelling you any now, you would believe him--not because you know of the\nfire, but because he tells you; but afterwards, when you see the church\nor read of the fire in the papers, you have proof of what he told you,\nbut you believed it just as firmly when he told you as you do\nafterwards. In the same way God tells us His great truths and we believe\nthem; because we know that since God is infinitely true He cannot\ndeceive us or be deceived. But if afterwards by studying and thinking we\nfind proof that God told us the truth, we do not believe with any\ngreater faith, for we always believed without doubting, and we study\nchiefly that we may have arguments to prove the truth of God's\nrevelations to others who do not believe. Suppose some person was\npresent when your friend came and said the church is burning, and that\nthat person would not believe your friend. What would you do? Why,\nconvince him that what your friend said was true by showing him the\naccount of the fire in the papers. Thus learning does not change our\nfaith, which, as I have said, is not acquired by study, but is infused\ninto our souls by God. The little boy who hears what God taught, and\nbelieves it firmly because God taught it, has as good a faith as his\nteacher who has studied all the reasons why he should believe.\n\n108 Q. What is hope?\nA. Hope is a divine virtue by which we firmly trust that God will give\nus eternal life and the means to obtain it.\n\n\"Eternal\"--that is, everlastings life--life without end. \"Means\"--that\nis, His grace, because without God's grace we cannot do any supernatural\nthing.\n\n109 Q. What is charity?\nA. Charity is a divine virtue by which we love God above all things for\nHis own sake, and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God.\n\nThe virtue of charity makes us \"love God,\" because He is so good and\nbeautiful, wise and powerful in Himself; therefore for His own sake and\nwithout any other consideration. \"Above all things,\" in such a way that\nwe would rather lose anything than offend Him. But someone may say, he\nthinks he loves his parents more than God. Well, let us see. To repeat\nan example already given, suppose his parents told him to steal, and he\nknew stealing to be a sin; if he would not steal, that would show, would\nit not, that he loved God more than his parents, for he would rather\noffend his parents than God. That is the kind of love we must have for\nGod; not mere feeling, but the firm belief that God is the best of all,\nand when we have to choose between offending God and losing something,\nbe it goods or friends, we would rather lose anything than offend God.\n\n\"Neighbor.\" Not merely the person living near us, but all men of every\nkind and nation--even our enemies. The people who lived at the time of\nOur Lord in His country used to dispute about just what persons were to\nbe considered their neighbors; so one day they asked Our Lord, and He\nanswered them by telling them the following. Said He: (Luke 10:30) A man\nwas once going down from Jerusalem, and on the way robbers beat him,\nrobbed him, and left him on the wayside dying. First one man came by,\nlooked at the wounded man, and passed on; then another came and did the\nsame; finally a third man came, who was of a different religion and\nnationality from the wounded man. But he did not consider these things.\nHe dressed the poor man's wounds, placed him upon his horse and brought\nhim to an inn or hotel, and paid the innkeeper to take care of him.\n\"Now,\" said Our Lord, \"which of these three was neighbor to the wounded\nman?\" And they answered rightly, \"The man that helped him.\" Our Lord, by\nthis example, wished to teach them and us that everybody is our neighbor\nwho is in distress of any kind and needs our help. Neighbor, therefore,\nmeans every human being, no matter where he lives or what his color,\nlearning, manners, etc., for every human being in the world is a child\nof God and has been redeemed by Our Lord. Therefore every child of God\nis my neighbor, and even more--he is my brother; for God is his father\nand mine also, and if he is good enough for God to love, he should be\ngood enough for me.\n\n\"As ourselves.\" Not with as much love, but with the same kind of love;\nthat is, we are to follow the rule laid down by Our Lord: \"Do unto\nothers as you would have others do unto you.\" Never do to anyone what\nyou would not like to have done to yourself; and always do for another\njust what you would wish another to do for you, if you were in the same\nposition. Our neighbor is our equal and gifted with all the gifts that\nwe ourselves have. When we come into the world we are all equal. We have\na body and a soul, with the power to develop them. Money, learning,\nwealth, fame, and all else that makes up the difference between men in\nthe world are acquired in the world; and when men die, they go out of\nthe world without any of these things, just as they came into it. The\nreal difference between them in the next world will depend upon the\nthings they have done, good or bad, while here. We should love our\nneighbor also on another account: namely, that he is one day to be in\nHeaven with us; and if he is to be with us for all eternity, why should\nwe hate him now? On the other hand, if our neighbor is to be in Hell on\naccount of his bad life, why should we hate him? We should rather pity\nhim, for he will have enough to suffer without our hatred.\n\n110 Q. What is actual grace?\nA. Actual grace is that help of God which enlightens our mind and moves\nour will to shun evil and do good.\n\n\"Actual.\" Sanctifying grace continues with us, but when grace is given\njust so that we may do a good act or avoid a bad one, it is called\nactual grace. Suppose, for example, I see a poor man and am able to aid\nhim. When my conscience tells me to give him assistance, I am just then\nreceiving an actual grace, which moves me and helps me to do that good\nact; and just as soon as I give the help, the actual grace ceases,\nbecause no longer needed. It was given for that one good act, and now\nthat the act is done, the actual grace has produced its effect. Again, a\nboy is going to Mass on Sunday and meets other boys who try to persuade\nhim to remain away from Mass and go to some other place. When he hears\nhis conscience telling him to go to Mass by all means, he is receiving\njust then an actual grace to avoid the mortal sin of missing Mass, and\nthe grace lasts just as long as the temptation. Sacramental grace is\nsanctifying grace--given in the Sacraments--which contains for us a\nright to actual graces when we need them. These actual graces are given\nto help us to fulfill the end for which each of the Sacraments was\ninstituted. They are different for each Sacrament, and are given just\nwhen we need them; that is, just when we are tempted against the object\nor end for which the Sacrament was instituted.\n\n*111 Q. Is grace necessary for salvation?\nA. Grace is necessary for salvation, because without grace we can do\nnothing to merit Heaven.\n\n*112 Q. Can we resist the grace of God?\nA. We can and unfortunately often do resist the grace of God.\n\nGrace is a gift, and no one is obliged to take a gift; but if God offers\na gift and we refuse to take it, we offend and insult Him. To insult God\nis to sin. Therefore to refuse to accept, or to make bad use of the\ngrace God gives us, is to sin.\n\n*113 Q. What is the grace of perseverance?\nA. The grace of perseverance is a particular gift of God which enables\nus to continue in the state of grace till death.\n\n\"Perseverance\" here does not mean perseverance in our undertakings, but\nperseverance in grace--never in mortal sin, always a friend of God. Now,\nif God keeps us from all sin till the day of our death and takes us\nwhile we are His friends, then He gives us what we call the gift of\nfinal perseverance. We cannot, strictly speaking, merit this great\ngrace, but only pray for it; so anyone who commits mortal sin may be\ntaken just in that state and be lost for all eternity.\n\n\n\nLesson 11\nON THE CHURCH\n\n\nBefore speaking of the Church I wish to give you a short account of the\ntrue religion before the coming of Our Lord. When Adam was created in a\nstate of grace, God communicated with him freely; he knew God even\nbetter than we do now. But after their sin our parents fell from the\nfriendship of God. Cain--one of Adam's sons--murdered his brother Abel,\nand for this he and his posterity were cursed by God, and all his\ndescendants became very wicked. (Gen. 4:11). The other children of Adam\nremained faithful to God as long as they kept away from the children of\nCain; but just as soon as they associated and intermarried with them,\nthey also became wicked. This should teach us to avoid evil company, for\nthere is always more likelihood that the good will become bad than that\nthe bad will be converted by the good. You know the old saying, that if\nyou take a basket of good apples and place a bad one among them, in a\nshort time they will be spoiled.\n\nAfter the deluge Noe and his family settled once more upon the land, and\nfor a time their descendants remained faithful to God; but later they\nbecame wicked and undertook to build a great tower (Gen. 11), which they\nthought would reach up to Heaven. They believed, perhaps, that if ever\nthere should be another deluge upon the earth, they could take refuge in\nthe tower. But God was displeased with their conduct and prevented them\nfrom completing the tower by confusing their tongues or language so that\nthey could not understand one another. Then those who spoke the same\nlanguage went to live in the same part of the country, and thus the\nhuman race was scattered over the earth, and the different nations had\ndifferent languages.\n\nAfter a time they were all losing the knowledge of the true God and\nbeginning to worship idols. God did not wish that the whole human race\nshould forget Him, so He selected Abraham to be the father and head of\none chosen people who should always worship the true God. He sent\nAbraham from his own country into another, and promised him great\nthings, and renewed to him the promises of the Redeemer first made to\nAdam and Eve. After the death of Abraham, God raised up, from time to\ntime, prophets to tell the people His holy will, to warn them of their\nsins and the punishment they would receive, and to remind them of the\npromised Messias. Prophets are men that God inspires to tell the future.\nThey tell what will happen often hundreds of years after their own\ndeath. They do not guess at these things, but tell them with certainty.\nAt times, statesmen can foresee that there will be a war in a country at\na certain time; but they are not prophets, because they only guess at\nsuch things, or know them by natural signs; and very often things thus\nforetold do not occur. True prophecy is the foretelling of something\nwhich could not be known by any means but inspiration from God.\n\nNeither are persons who call themselves fortune-tellers prophets, but\nonly sinful people, who for money tell lies or guess at the future. It\nis a great sin to go to them or listen to them, as we shall see later in\nanother question.\n\nAt the time promised, God sent His Son--Our Lord--to redeem the world\nand save all men. He came to save all men, and yet He remained upon\nearth only thirty-three years. We can easily understand that by His\ndeath He could save all those who lived before He did; but how were they\nto be saved who should live after Him, down to the end of the world? How\nwas His grace to be given to them? How were they to know of Him, or of\nwhat He taught? All this was to be accomplished by His Church.\n\n114 Q. Which are the means instituted by Our Lord to enable men at all\ntimes to share in the fruits of the Redemption?\nA. The means instituted by Our Lord to enable men at all times to share\nin the fruits of the Redemption are the Church and the Sacraments.\n\nOur Lord instituted the Church to carry on the work He Himself was doing\nupon the earth--teaching the ignorant, visiting the sick, helping the\npoor, forgiving sins, etc. He commanded all men to hear the Church\nteaching, just as they would hear Himself. But suppose some persons\nshould establish a false Church and claim that it was the true Church of\nOur Lord, how could people know the true Church from false churches?\nWhen a man invents anything to be sold, what does he do that people may\nknow the true article--say a pen? Why, he puts his trademark upon it.\nNow the trademark is a certain sign which shows that the article bearing\nit is the genuine article; and if others use the trademark on imitation\narticles, they are liable to be punished by law. Now Our Lord did the\nsame. He gave His Church four marks or characteristics to distinguish it\nfrom all false churches. He said, \"My Church will be one; it will be\nholy; it will be catholic; it will be apostolic; and if any church has\nnot these four marks, you may be sure it is not My Church.\" Some false\nchurch may seem to have one or two, but never all the marks; so when you\nfind even one of the marks wanting, you will know it is not the true\nChurch established by Christ. Therefore, all the religions that claim to\nbe the true religion cannot be so. If one man says a thing is white and\nanother says it is black, or if one says a thing is true and another\nsays it is false, they cannot both be right. Only one can be right, and\nif we wish to know the truth we have to find out which one it is. So\nwhen one religion says a thing is true and another religion says the\nsame thing is false, one of them must be wrong, and it is our duty to\nfind out the one that is right. Therefore, of all the religions claiming\nto be the true religion of Our Lord, only one can be telling the truth,\nand that one is the religion or Church that can show the four given\nmarks. The Roman Catholic Church is the only one that can show these\nmarks, and is, therefore, the only true Church, as we shall see in the\nnext lesson.\n\n\"Fruits of His redemption\"--that is, to receive the grace merited by Our\nLord when He redeemed us by His death.\n\n115 Q. What is the Church?\nA. The Church is the congregation of all those who profess the faith of\nChrist, partake of the same Sacraments, and are governed by their lawful\npastors under one visible head.\n\n\"Congregation.\" Not the building, therefore; because if Mass was offered\nup in an open field, with the people kneeling about, it would still be\nthe church of that place. The buildings that we use for churches might\nhave been used for anything else--a public hall, theater, or school, for\nexample; but when these buildings we call churches are blessed or\nconsecrated, they become holy. They are holy also because the Gospel is\npreached in them, the Sacraments are administered in them, and the Holy\nSacrifice of the Mass is offered in them. But they are holy especially\nbecause Our Lord dwells in them in the tabernacle, where He lives and\nsees and hears just as truly as He did when He was man upon earth.\n\nIn the early ages the Christians had no churches--they met secretly in\nprivate houses. Later, when the cruel pagan emperors began to persecute\nand put to death the Christians, they made large tunnels under ground\nand in these places they heard Mass and received the Sacraments. These\nunderground churches were called the catacombs, and some of them may\nstill be seen at Rome. In these catacombs, too, the Christians buried\ntheir dead, especially the bodies of the holy martyrs. On their\ntombs--generally of stone--Mass was celebrated.\n\nIn every altar the table, or flat part on which the priest celebrates\nMass, should be of stone; but if the altar is made of wood, then at\nleast the part just in front of the tabernacle must be of stone and\nlarge enough to hold say two chalices--that is, about ten or twelve\ninches square. In this stone are placed some relics of the holy martyrs.\nA piece is cut out of the stone and the relic placed in the opening.\nThen the bishop puts the little piece of stone back into its place over\nthe relic, seals the opening, blesses the stone, and gives it to the\nChurch. This is called the altar stone. You cannot see it because it is\ncovered with the altar cloth; but unless it is in the altar the priest\ncannot say Mass. This stone reminds us of the stone tombs of the saints\nupon which Mass was celebrated.\n\nThe Church--that is, the Christians--was persecuted for about three\nhundred years after the death of Our Lord. These persecutions took place\nat ten different times and under ten different Roman emperors. Orders\nwere given to put to death all the Christians wherever they could be\nfound. Some were cast into prison, some exiled, some taken to the Roman\nColiseum--an immense building constructed for public amusements--where\nthey were put to death in the most terrible manner in the presence of\nthe emperor and people assembled to witness these fearful scenes. Some\nwere stripped of their clothing and left standing alone while savage\nbeasts, wild with hunger, were let loose upon them. Sometimes by a\nmiracle of God the animals would not harm them, and then the Christians\nwere either put to death by the sword, mangled by some terrible machine,\nor burned. In these dreadful sufferings the Christians remained faithful\nand firm, though they could have saved their lives by denying Our Lord\nor offering sacrifice to idols. The few who through fear did deny their\nfaith are now forgotten and unknown; while those who remained steadfast\nare honored as saints in Heaven and upon earth; the Church sings their\npraises and tells every year of their holy lives and triumph over all\ntheir enemies.\n\nEven some pagans who came to see the Christians put to death were so\ntouched by their patience, fortitude, courage, and constancy, that they\nalso declared themselves anxious to become Christians, and were put to\ndeath, thus becoming martyrs baptized in their own blood. How many\nlessons we may learn from all this: (1) How very respectful we should be\nin the Church, which is holy for all the reasons I have given. (2) What\na shame it is for us not to hear Mass when we can do so easily. Our\nchurches are never very far from us, and generally well lighted,\nventilated, furnished with seats and every convenience, and in these\nrespects unlike the dark, damp, underground churches of the early\nChristians. Moreover, we may attend our churches freely and without the\nleast danger to our lives; while the Christians of the early ages were\nconstantly in dread and danger of being seized and put to death. Even at\nthe present day, in many countries where holy missionaries are trying to\nteach the true religion, their converts sometimes have to go great\ndistances to hear Mass, and even then it is not celebrated in\ncomfortable churches, but probably on the slope of a rugged mountain or\nin some lonely valley or wood where they may not be seen, for they fear\nif they are captured--as often happens--both they and their priest will\nbe put to death. You can read in the account of foreign missions that\nalmost every year some priests and many people are martyred for their\nfaith. Is it not disgraceful, then, to see some Catholics giving up\ntheir holy faith and the practice of their religion so easily--sometimes\nfor a little money, property, or gain; or even for a bad habit, or for\nirreligious companions and friends? What answer will they make on the\nday of judgment when they stand side by side with those who died for the\nfaith?\n\n\"All those who profess the faith,\" etc. The Pope, bishops, priests, and\npeople all taken together are the Church, and each congregation or\nparish is only a part of the Church.\n\n\"Partake\"--that is, receive. \"Lawful pastors\"--that is, each priest in\nhis own parish, each bishop in his own diocese, and the Pope throughout\nthe world. \"Visible head\"--that is, one who can be seen, for invisible\nmeans cannot be seen.\n\n116 Q. Who is the invisible head of the Church?\nA. Jesus Christ is the invisible head of the Church.\n\n\"Invisible head.\" If, for example, a merchant of one country wishes to\nestablish a branch of his business in another, he remains in the new\ncountry long enough to establish the branch business, and then\nappointing someone to take his place, returns to his own country. He is\nstill the head of the new establishment, but its invisible head for the\npeople of that country, while its visible head is the agent or\nrepresentative he has placed in charge to carry on the business in his\nname and interest. When Our Lord wished to establish His Church He came\nfrom Heaven; and when about to return to Heaven appointed St. Peter to\ntake His place upon earth and rule the Church as directed. You see,\ntherefore, that Our Lord, though not on earth, is still the real head\nand owner of the Church, and whatever His agent or vicar--that is, our\nHoly Father, the Pope--does in the Church, he does it with the authority\nof Our Lord Himself.\n\n117 Q. Who is the visible head of the Church?\nA. Our Holy Father the Pope, the Bishop of Rome, is the vicar of Christ\non earth and the visible head of the Church.\n\nThe \"Bishop of Rome\" is always Pope. If the Bishop of New York, or of\nBaltimore, or of Boston, became Pope, he would become the Bishop of Rome\nand cease to be the Bishop of New York, Baltimore, or Boston, because\nSt. Peter, the first Pope, was Bishop of Rome; and therefore only the\nbishops of Rome are his lawful successors--the true Popes--the true\nvisible heads of the Church. The bishops of the other dioceses of the\nworld are the lawful successors of the other Apostles who taught and\nestablished churches throughout the world. The bishops of the world are\nsubject to the Pope, just as the other Apostles were subject to St.\nPeter, who was appointed their chief, by Our Lord Himself.\n\n\"Vicar\"--that is, one who holds another's place and acts in his name.\n\n*118 Q. Why is the Pope, the Bishop of Rome, the visible head of the\nChurch?\nA. The Pope, the Bishop of Rome, is the visible head of the Church\nbecause he is the successor of St. Peter, whom Christ made the chief of\nthe Apostles and the visible head of the Church.\n\n\"Of Rome.\" That is why we are called Roman Catholics; to show that we\nare united to the real successor of St. Peter, and are therefore members\nof the true apostolic Church.\n\n*119 Q. Who are the successors of the other Apostles?\nA. The successors of the other Apostles are the bishops of the holy\nCatholic Church.\n\nWe know the Apostles were bishops, because they could make laws for the\nChurch, consecrate other bishops, ordain priests, and give\nConfirmation--powers that belong only to bishops, and are still\nexercised by them.\n\n*120 Q. Why did Christ found the Church?\nA. Christ founded the Church to teach, govern, sanctify, and save all\nmen.\n\n\"Teach\" religion. \"Govern\" in things that regard salvation. \"Sanctify,\"\nmake good. \"Save\" all who wish to be saved.\n\n*121 Q. Are all bound to belong to the Church?\nA. All are bound to belong to the Church, and he who knows the Church to\nbe the true Church and remains out of it, cannot be saved.\n\nAnyone who knows the Catholic religion to be the true religion and will\nnot embrace it cannot enter into Heaven. If one not a Catholic doubts\nwhether the church to which he belongs is the true Church, he must\nsettle his doubt, seek the true Church, and enter it; for if he\ncontinues to live in doubt, he becomes like the one who knows the true\nChurch and is deterred by worldly considerations from entering it.\n\nIn like manner one who, doubting, fears to examine the religion he\nprofesses lest he should discover its falsity and be convinced of the\ntruth of the Catholic faith, cannot be saved.\n\nSuppose, however, that there is a non-Catholic who firmly believes that\nthe church to which he belongs is the true Church, and who has\nnever--even in the past--had the slightest doubt of that fact--what will\nbecome of him?\n\nIf he was validly baptized and never committed a mortal sin, he will be\nsaved; because, believing himself a member of the true Church, he was\ndoing all he could to serve God according to his knowledge and the\ndictates of his conscience. But if ever he committed a mortal sin, his\nsalvation would be very much more difficult. A mortal sin once committed\nremains on the soul till it is forgiven. Now, how could his mortal sin\nbe forgiven? Not in the Sacrament of Penance, for the Protestant does\nnot go to confession; and if he does, his minister--not being a true\npriest--has no power to forgive sins. Does he know that without\nconfession it requires an act of perfect contrition to blot out mortal\nsin, and can he easily make such an act? What we call contrition is\noften only imperfect contrition--that is, sorrow for our sins because we\nfear their punishment in Hell or dread the loss of Heaven. If a\nCatholic--with all the instruction he has received about how to make an\nact of perfect contrition and all the practice he has had in making such\nacts--might find it difficult to make an act of perfect contrition after\nhaving committed a mortal sin, how much difficulty will not a Protestant\nhave in making an act of perfect contrition, who does not know about\nthis requirement and who has not been taught to make continued acts of\nperfect contrition all his life. It is to be feared either he would not\nknow of this necessary means of regaining God's friendship, or he would\nbe unable to elicit the necessary act of perfect contrition, and thus\nthe mortal sin would remain upon his soul and he would die an enemy of\nGod.\n\nIf, then, we found a Protestant who never committed a mortal sin after\nBaptism, and who never had the slightest doubt about the truth of his\nreligion, that person would be saved; because, being baptized, he is a\nmember of the Church, and being free from mortal sin he is a friend of\nGod and could not in justice be condemned to Hell. Such a person would\nattend Mass and receive the Sacraments if he knew the Catholic Church to\nbe the only true Church.\n\nI am giving you an example, however, that is rarely found, except in the\ncase of infants or very small children baptized in Protestant sects. All\ninfants rightly baptized by anyone are really children of the Church, no\nmatter what religion their parents may profess. Indeed, all persons who\nare baptized are children of the Church; but those among them who deny\nits teaching, reject its Sacraments, and refuse to submit to its lawful\npastors, are rebellious children known as heretics.\n\nI said I gave you an example that can scarcely be found, namely, of a\nperson not a Catholic, who really never doubted the truth of his\nreligion, and who, moreover, never committed during his whole life a\nmortal sin. There are so few such persons that we can practically say\nfor all those who are not visibly members of the Catholic Church,\nbelieving its doctrines, receiving its Sacraments, and being governed by\nits visible head, our Holy Father, the Pope, salvation is an extremely\ndifficult matter.\n\nI do not speak here of pagans who have never heard of Our Lord or His\nholy religion, but of those outside the Church who claim to be good\nChristians without being members of the Catholic Church.\n\n\n\nLesson 12\nON THE ATTRIBUTES AND MARKS OF THE CHURCH\n\n\nAn attribute is any characteristic or quality that a person or thing may\nbe said to have. All good qualities are good attributes, and all bad\nqualities are bad attributes. All perfections or imperfections are\nattributes. If I can say of you that you are good, then goodness is one\nof your attributes. If I can say you are beautiful, then beauty is one\nof your attributes. We have seen already that the Church has four marks;\nbut besides these it has three attributes, which flow from its marks. It\nis easier to see the marks of the Church than its attributes. It is\neasier to see, for instance, that the Church is one than that it is\nindefectible.\n\n*122 Q. Which are the attributes of the Church?\nA. The attributes of the Church are three: authority, infallibility, and\nindefectibility.\n\n*123 Q. What do you mean by the authority of the Church?\nA. By the authority of the Church I mean the right and power which the\nPope and the bishops, as the successors of the Apostles, have to teach\nand govern the faithful.\n\nAuthority is the power which one person has over another, so as to be\nable to exact obedience. A teacher has authority over his scholars,\nbecause they must obey him; but the teacher need not obey the scholars,\nbecause they have no authority over him. God alone has authority of\nHimself and from Himself All others who have authority receive it from\nGod, either directly or through someone else. The Pope has authority\nfrom God Himself, and the priests get theirs through their bishops.\nTherefore, to resist or disobey lawful authority is to resist and\ndisobey God Himself. If one of you were placed in charge of the class in\nmy absence, he would have lawful authority, and the rest of you should\nobey him--not on account of himself, but on account of the authority he\nhas. Thus the President of the United States, the governor, the mayor,\netc., are only ordinary citizens before their election; but after they\nhave been elected and placed in office they exercise lawful authority\nover us, and we are bound as good citizens and as good Catholics to\nrespect and obey them.\n\n*124 Q. What do you mean by the infallibility of the Church?\nA. By the infallibility of the Church I mean that the Church cannot err\nwhen it teaches a doctrine of faith or morals.\n\n\"Infallibility.\" When we say Church is infallible, we mean that it\ncannot make a mistake or err in what it teaches; that the Pope, the head\nof the Church, is infallible when he teaches ex cathedra--that is, as\nthe successor of St. Peter, the vicar of Christ. Cathedra signifies a\nseat, ex stands for \"out of\"; therefore, ex cathedra means out of the\nchair or office of St. Peter, because chair is sometimes used for\noffice. Thus we say the presidential chair is opposed to this or that,\nwhen we intend to say the president, or the one in that office, is\nopposed to it. The cathedral is the church in which the bishop usually\nofficiates, so called on account of the bishop's cathedra, or throne,\nbeing in it.\n\n*125 Q. When does the Church teach infallibly?\nA. The Church teaches infallibly when it speaks through the Pope and\nbishops united in general council, or through the Pope alone when he\nproclaims to all the faithful a doctrine of faith or morals.\n\nBut how will we know when the Pope speaks ex cathedra, when he is\nspeaking daily to people from all parts of the world? To speak ex\ncathedra or infallibly, three things are required:\n\n(1) He must speak as the head of the whole Church, not as a private\nperson; and in certain forms of words by which we know he is speaking ex\ncathedra.\n\n(2) What he says must hold good for the whole Church--that is, for all\nthe faithful, and not merely for this or that particular person or\ncountry.\n\n(3) He must speak on matters of faith or morals--that is, when the Holy\nFather tells all the faithful that they are to believe a certain thing\nas a part of their faith; or when he tells them that certain things are\nsins, they must believe him and avoid what he declares to be sin. He\ncould not make a mistake in such things. He could not say that Our Lord\ntaught us to believe and do such and such, if Our Lord did not so teach,\nbecause Our Lord promised to be with His Church for all time, and to\nsend the Holy Ghost, who would teach it all truth and abide with it\nforever. If then the Church could make mistakes in teaching faith and\nmorals, the Holy Ghost could not be with it, and Our Lord did not tell\nthe truth--to say which would be blasphemy. But remember, the Pope is\nnot infallible unless he is teaching faith or morals; that is, what we\nbelieve or do in order to save our souls. If the Holy Father wrote a\nbook on astronomy, mathematics, grammar, or even theology, he could make\nmistakes as other men do, because the Holy Ghost has not promised to\nguide him in such things. Nevertheless, whatever the Pope teaches on\nanything you may be pretty sure is right. The Pope is nearly always a\nvery learned man of many years' experience. He has with him at Rome\nlearned men from every part of the world, so that we may say he has the\nexperience of the whole world. Other rulers cannot and need not know as\nmuch as the Holy Father, because they have not to govern the world, but\nonly their own country. Moreover, there is no government in the whole\nworld as old as the Church, no nation that can show as many rulers\nwithout change; so we may say the Pope has also the experience of all\nthe Popes who preceded him, from St. Peter down to our present Holy\nFather, Pius XI--two hundred and sixty-one popes. Therefore, considering\nall this, we should have the very greatest respect for the opinions and\nadvice of the Holy Father on any subject. We should not set up our\nlimited knowledge and experience against his, even if we think that we\nknow better than he does about certain political events taking place in\nour country, for we are not sure that we do. The Holy Father knows the\npast history of nations; he knows the nature of mankind; he knows that\nwhat takes place in one nation may, and sometimes does, take place in\nanother under the same circumstances. Thus the Holy Father has greater\nforesight than we have, and we should be thankful when he warns us\nagainst certain dangers in politics or other things. He does not teach\npolitics; but as everything we do is either good or bad, every statesman\nor politician must consider whether what he is about to do be right or\nwrong, just or unjust. It is the business and duty of the Holy Father to\ndeclare against the evil or unjust actions of either individuals or\nnations, and for that reason he seems at times to interfere in politics\nwhen he is really teaching morals. At times, too, governments try to\ndeprive the Church or the Holy Father of their rights; and when he\ndefends himself against such injustice and protests against it, his\nenemies cry out that he is interfering with the government.\n\nYou understand now what the infallibility of the Pope implies, and that\nit does not mean, as the enemies of the Church say, that the Pope cannot\nsin, cannot be mistaken in anything. The Pope can sin just the same as\nanyone else; he could be a very bad man if he wanted to be so, and take\nthe punishment God would inflict for his sins. Could he not be very\nangry, entirely neglect prayer, or pray with willful distraction; could\nhe not be proud, covetous, etc.? And these are sins. Therefore he could\nsin; and hence he has to go to confession and seek forgiveness just as\nwe do. Therefore remember this: whether the Pope be a bad man or a good\nman in his private life, he must always tell the truth when he speaks ex\ncathedra, because the Holy Ghost is guiding him and will not permit him\nto err or teach falsehood in faith or morals.\n\nWe have examples in the Bible (Numbers 22, 23) where God sometimes makes\neven bad men foretell the truth. Once He gave an ass the power to speak,\nthat it might protest against the wrongdoing of its wicked and cruel\nrider.\n\nWe have seen how governments interfere with the rights of the Holy\nFather, and thus he has need of his temporal power that he may be\naltogether independent of any government. Now let me explain to you what\nis meant by the Temporal Power of the Pope. Well, then, the Holy Father\nshould have some city or states, not belonging to any government, in\nwhich he would be the chief and only ruler. Up to the year 1870 the Holy\nFather did have such states: they were called the Papal States, and the\npower he had over them--just like that of any other ruler--was called\nthe temporal power. Now how did he get those states and how did he lose\nthem? He got them in the most just manner, and held possession of them\nfor about a thousand years.\n\nHundreds of years ago the people of Rome and the surrounding countries\nelected the Pope their sole ruler. He was already their spiritual ruler,\nand they made him also their temporal ruler. Then the Pope protected and\ngoverned them as other rulers do. Later, kings and princes added other\nlands, and thus by degrees the possessions of the Pope became quite\nextended.\n\nHow did he lose these possessions? The Italian government took them from\nhim in the most unjust manner. Besides the lands, they deprived the\nChurch of other property donated to it by its faithful children. No\nruler in the world had a more just claim or better right to his\npossessions than the Holy Father, and a government robbed him of them as\na thief might take forcibly from you whatever had been justly given to\nyou, when he found you were unable to defend yourself against him.\n\nBut has the Holy Father need of his temporal power? Yes, the Holy Father\nhas need of some temporal power. He must be free and independent in\ngoverning the Church. He must be free to say what he wishes to all\nCatholics throughout the world, and free to hear whatever they have to\nsay to him. But if the Pope is under another ruler he cannot be free.\nThat ruler may cast him into prison, and not allow him to communicate\nwith the bishops of the world. At least, he can say nothing about the\ninjustice of the ruler who is over him. Therefore the Pope must have\nsome possessions of his own, that he may not be afraid of the injustice\nof any ruler, and may speak out the truth boldly to the whole world,\ndenouncing bad rulers and praising good ones as they deserve.\n\nMind, I do not say what possessions the Holy Father should have but\nsimply that he should have some, in which he would be altogether\nindependent. In justice he should have all that was taken from him. We\nhave a good example here in the United States to illustrate the need of\nthe independence of the Pope. You know every State in the United States\nis a little government in itself, with its own governor, legislature,\nlaws, etc. Now over all these little governments or States we have the\ngovernment of the United States, with the President at its head. In the\nbeginning the members of the United States Government assembled to\ntransact the business of the nation sometimes in one State and sometimes\nin another--sometimes in New York and sometimes in Pennsylvania, etc.\nBut they soon found that in order to be independent of every State and\njust to all, they must have some territory or possessions of their own\nnot under the power of any State. So some of the States granted them\nWashington and the country about it for ten miles square--now called the\nDistrict of Columbia--which the United States government could freely\nperform its duties. In a similar manner the Holy Father is over all the\ngovernments of the world in matters of religion--in matters of justice\nand right; and just as the United States government has to decide\nbetween the rights of one State and the rights of another, so the Holy\nFather has sometimes to decide between the rights of one government and\nthe rights of another, and must, in order to be just with all, be free\nand independent of all.\n\nAgain, the temporal power of the Pope is very useful to the Church; for\nwith the money and goods received from his possessions the Holy Father\ncan educate priests and teachers, print books, etc., for the foreign\nmissions. He can also support churches, school, and institutions in poor\ncountries, and especially where the missionaries are laboring for the\nconversion of the native heathens.\n\nWhen the Holy Father had his own possessions he could do much that he\ncannot now do for the conversion of pagan nations. At present he must\ndepend entirely upon the charitable offerings of the faithful for all\ngood works, even for his own support. The offering we make once a year\nfor the support of the Holy Father is called \"Peter's pence,\" because it\nbegan by everyone sending yearly a penny to the Pope, the successor of\nSt. Peter.\n\n*126 Q. What do you mean by the indefectibility of the Church?\nA. By the indefectibility of the Church I mean that the Church, as\nChrist founded it, will last till the end of time.\n\nTherefore indefectibility means that the Church can never change any of\nthe doctrines that Our Lord taught, nor ever cease to exist. When we say\nit is infallible, we mean that it cannot teach error while it lasts; but\nwhen we say it is indefectible, we mean that it will last forever and be\ninfallible forever, and also that it will always remain the same as Our\nLord founded it. There are two things that you must clearly understand\nand not confound, namely, the two kinds of laws in the Church--those\nwhich Our Lord gave it and those which it made itself. The laws that Our\nLord gave it can never change. For example, the Church could not abolish\none of the Sacraments, leaving only six; neither could it add a new one,\nmaking eight. But when, for example, the Church declares that on a\ncertain day we cannot eat flesh meat, it makes the law itself, and can\nchange it when it wishes. Our Lord left His Church free to make certain\nlaws, just as they would be needed. It has always exercised this power,\nand made laws to suit the circumstances of the place or times. Even now\nit does away with some of its old laws that are no longer useful, and\nmakes new ones that are more necessary. But the doctrines, the truths of\nfaith or morals, the things we must believe and do to save our souls, it\nnever changes and never can change: it may regulate some things in the\napplication of the divine laws, but the laws themselves can never change\nin substance.\n\n*127 Q. In whom are these attributes found in their fullness?\nA. These attributes are found in their fullness in the Pope, the visible\nhead of the Church, whose infallible authority to teach bishops,\npriests, and people in matters of faith or morals will last to the end\nof the world.\n\n128 Q. Has the Church any marks by which it may be known?\nA. The Church has four marks by which it may be known: it is one; it is\nholy; it is catholic; it is apostolic.\n\n*129 Q. How is the Church one?\nA. The Church is one because all its members agree in one faith, are all\nin one communion, and are all under one head.\n\nThe Catholic Church is \"one,\" first in government and second in\ndoctrine. In government every pastor has a certain parish or territory\nin which all the people belong to his congregation--they form his flock.\nHe has to take care only of these, to teach them, give them the\nSacraments, etc. He has not to be responsible for those outside his\nparish. Then over the pastor we have the bishop, who looks after a\ncertain number of pastors; then comes the archbishop over a certain\nnumber of bishops; next comes the primate, who is head of all the\narchbishops in the country; and over all the primates of the world we\nhave the Holy Father. Thus, when the Holy Father speaks to the bishops,\nthe bishops speak to the priests, and the priests to the people. The\nChurch is therefore one in government, like a great army spread over the\nworld. We can go up step by step from the lowest member of the Church to\nthe highest--the Holy Father; and from him to Our Lord Himself, who is\nthe invisible head of all. This regular body of priests, bishops,\narchbishops, etc., so arranged, one superior to the other, is called the\nhierarchy of the Church.\n\nThe Church is one also in doctrine--that is, every one of the three\nhundred million of Catholics in the world believes exactly the same\ntruths. If any Catholic denies only one article of faith, though he\nbelieves all the rest, he ceases to be a Catholic, and is cut off from\nthe Church. If, for example, you would not believe Matrimony or Holy\nOrders a Sacrament, or that Our Lord is present in the Holy Eucharist,\nyou would not be a Catholic, though you believed all the other teachings\nof the Church.\n\nTherefore the Church is one both in government and teaching or doctrine.\nNow, has any other Church claiming to be Christ's Church that mark? No.\nThe Protestant religions are not one either in government or belief. The\nProtestants of England have no authority over the Protestants of\nAmerica, and those of America have nothing to say over those of Germany\nor France. So every country is independent, and they have no chief head.\nNeither are they one in belief. In the same country there are many kinds\nof Protestants--Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Methodists, etc., who do\nnot believe the same thing. Even those who attend the same church and\nprofess the same religion do not all believe the same. Everyone, they\nsay, has a right to interpret the Holy Scriptures according to his own\nviews, so they take many different meanings out of the very same words.\nThere must be some chief person to tell the true meaning of the Holy\nScriptures when there is a dispute about it; but they have no such\nchief, and the result is they are never done disputing.\n\nThe United States has a constitution and laws. Now, suppose every\ncitizen was allowed to construe the laws to suit himself, without any\nregard for the rights of others, what a fine state of affairs we should\nsoon have. But the wise makers of the constitution and laws of the\nUnited States did not leave us in such danger. They appointed judges to\ninterpret or explain the laws and give the correct meaning when disputes\narise. Then in Washington there is a chief judge for the whole United\nStates; and when he says the words of the law mean this or that, every\ncitizen must abide by his decision, and there is no appeal from it. Just\nin the same way Our Lord made laws for all men, and while He was upon\nearth He explained them Himself. He never left all men free to take\ntheir own meaning out of them. He appointed judges--the bishops; and a\nchief judge for the whole world--the Pope. The Holy Ghost guides him, as\nwe have seen above, so that he cannot make mistakes in the meaning of\nChrist's laws; and when he says, this is what the words of Our Lord in\nHis law signify, no one who is a true Christian can refuse to believe,\nor can appeal from his decision.\n\n*130 Q. How is the Church holy?\nA. The Church is holy because its founder, Jesus Christ, is holy;\nbecause it teaches a holy doctrine, invites all to a holy life, and\nbecause of the eminent holiness of so many thousands of its children.\n\nProtestant religions have not holy doctrines if we examine them closely.\nThey teach, for example, that faith without good works will save us, and\nthus take away the motives for doing good; that marriage is not binding\nfor life--the husband and wife may for some causes separate, or get a\ndivorce, and marry again. This would leave the children without the care\nof their proper parents, sometimes without a home, and nearly always\nwithout religious instruction. The same persons might separate again and\nmarry another time, and thus there would be nothing but confusion and\nimmorality in society. Again, some of their doctrines teach that we\ncannot help sinning; so everyone could excuse himself for his sins by\nsaying he could not help them, which you can easily see would lead to\nthe worst of consequences. Lastly, their doctrines have never made one\nsaint--acknowledged as such from miracles performed. Protestants are so\ncalled because, when their ancestors rebelled against the Church about\nthree hundred years ago, the Church made certain laws and they protested\nagainst them, separated from the Church, and formed a new religion of\ntheir own.\n\n*131 Q. How is the Church catholic or universal?\nA. The Church is catholic or universal because it subsists in all ages,\nteaches all nations, and maintains all truth.\n\n\"Subsists\" means to have existence.\n\n\"Catholic.\" The word catholic signifies universal. The Church is\nuniversal in three ways, viz.: in time, in place, and in doctrine. It is\nuniversal in time; for from the day Our Lord commissioned His Apostles\nto preach to the whole world down to the present, it has existed,\ntaught, and labored in every age. It is universal in place; that is, it\nis not confined to one part of the world, but teaches throughout the\nentire world. It is universal in doctrine, for it teaches the same\ndoctrines and administers the same Sacraments everywhere; and its\ndoctrines are suited to all classes of men--to the ignorant as well as\nthe learned, to the poor as well as the rich. It teaches by the voice of\nits priests and bishops, and all, civilized or uncivilized, to whom its\nvoice reaches, can learn its doctrines, receive its Sacraments, and\npractice its devotions.\n\nIt has converted all the pagan nations that have ever been converted,\nand the title catholic belongs to the Roman Catholic Church alone. All\nProtestant churches that claim this title do so unjustly. They are not\nuniversal in time, and cannot be called the Church of all ages, because\nthey were established only three hundred or four hundred or less years\nago. They are not catholic in place, because they are mostly confined to\nparticular countries. They are not universal in doctrine, because what\nthey teach in one country they reject in another; and even in the same\ncountry, what they teach at one time they reject at another. Wherever it\nis possible for civilized people to go, there you will find a priest\nsaying Mass in just the same way you see him saying it here. It is a\ngreat consolation for one in a strange country to enter a church and\nhear Mass, perceiving no difference in the vestments, ceremonies, or\nlanguage of the priest. A little altar boy from the United States could\nserve Mass in any part of the world. See, therefore, the great advantage\nthe Church has in using the Latin language instead of the vernacular or\nordinary language of the people. If the Church used the usual language\nof the people, the Mass would seem different in every country; while\nnatives would understand the words of the priest, strangers would not.\n\nThe Latin language is now what we call a dead language; that is, it is\nnot the common language of any country; and because it is a dead\nlanguage does not change: another reason why the Church uses it, that\nnothing may change in its divine service. The prayers used in the Church\nare exactly the same today as they were when they were written many\ncenturies ago. The living languages--that is, those in use, such as\nEnglish, French, German, etc., are always changing a little--new words\nare being added, and the meaning of old ones changed. The Church uses\nthe same language all over the world to show that it is not the Church\nof any particular country, but the true Church of all men everywhere.\n\nAgain, using only one language, the Church can hold its great councils,\ncall together all the bishops of the world, that they may condemn errors\nor make wise laws. When the Holy Father addresses them in Latin they can\nall understand and answer him. If, therefore, the Church did not use the\nsame language everywhere how could this be done, unless everyone present\nunderstood all the languages of the world--which is a thing nearly\nimpossible. But someone might say, if the Mass was said in English we\ncould follow it better. You can follow just as well in Latin, for in\nnearly all prayerbooks you have besides the Latin said by the priest the\nmeaning of it in English on the same page, or you have the English\nalone.\n\n*132 Q. How is the Church apostolic?\nA. The Church is apostolic because it was founded by Christ on His\nApostles and is governed by their lawful successors, and because it has\nnever ceased, and never will cease, to teach their doctrine.\n\n\"Apostolic,\" which means that the Church was founded at the time of the\nApostles, and has been the same ever since. Since the time of St. Peter,\nthe first Pope, there have been 261 Popes. You can go back from our\npresent Holy Father, Pius XI, to Benedict XV, who was before him, to\nPius X, who was before him, to Leo XIII, before him, and so on one by\none till you come to St. Peter himself, who lived at the time of Our\nLord. Thus the Church is apostolic in its origin or beginning.\n\nIt is also apostolic in its teaching; for all the doctrines it teaches\nnow were taught by the Apostles. The Church does not make new doctrines,\nbut it teaches its truths more clearly and distinctly when someone\ndenies them. For example it would not be necessary for you to prove\nyourself good and honest till somebody said you were bad and dishonest.\nYou prove your honesty when it is denied, but both you and your friends\nbelieved it always, though you did not declare it till it was denied. In\njust the same way the Church always believed that Our Lord is the Son of\nGod; that there are seven Sacraments; that the Pope is infallible, etc.\nThese truths and all the others were believed by the Apostles, and the\nChurch proclaimed them in a special manner when they were denied. Then\nit called together in council all its bishops, and they, with the Holy\nFather, proclaimed these truths--not as new doctrines, but as truths\nalways believed by the Church, and now defined because denied.\n\nProtestants have not for their churches the mark apostolic. How could\ntheir churches be founded by the Apostles, when the Apostles were dead\nmore than fourteen hundred years before there were any Protestant\nchurches? What is more, they have changed the teachings of the Apostles;\nand so they have not the mark apostolic either in their origin or\nteaching.\n\nBut they say the Catholic Church fell into error and made mistakes, and\nthat God wished reformers to correct these errors. How could the Church\nfall into error when Our Lord promised to remain always with it, and to\nsend the Holy Ghost to guide and teach it forever? And, secondly, if God\nsent the Protestants to correct the mistakes of the Catholic Church,\nwhat proof do they give us that they have such power from God? When, as\nwe have seen, God sends anyone to do a special work, He always gives him\npower to prove his mission. When He sent Moses, He gave him signs--the\nplagues of Egypt. When He sent His prophets, they called down fire and\nrain from Heaven. (3 Kings 18). But Protestants have shown us no signs\nand performed no miracles; therefore we cannot believe their assertion\nthat God sent them to correct the Catholic Church. Neither can we\nbelieve that Our Lord broke His promise to stay with the Church. We\nshall see the whole truth of the matter if we go back to the\nestablishment of the Protestant religion and consider the life of Luther\nand the others who founded it.\n\nLuther, then a young man, while out one day saw his friend killed at his\nside by a stroke of lightning. Much affected by that sad event, Luther\nbecame a priest in the order of the Augustinians. He was a learned man\nand a great preacher, but very proud. The Holy Father was completing St.\nPeter's Church in Rome, and about that time granted an indulgence to\nthose giving alms for the purpose, just as pastors now offer Masses for\nthose who contribute means to build a new church, or hospital, asylum,\netc.\n\nThe Holy Father sent Dominican priests to preach about this indulgence\nand collect this money. Then Luther, when he found that he, a great\npreacher, was not appointed, was probably jealous. He first began to\npreach against the abuses of indulgences: but pride made him go further,\nand soon he began to preach against the doctrine of indulgences, and\nthus became a heretic. Then he was condemned by the Pope, and cut off\nfrom the Church. Being proud, he would not submit, but began to form a\nnew religion, now called Protestant. But how did he get the people to\nfollow him? Oh, very easily. Then, as now, there were plenty of bad and\nindifferent Catholics. At that time the Church was rich and had much\nproperty and lands; because when rich Catholics died they often left to\nthe Church property for its own support and the support of its\ninstitutions. Even during their lifetime kings and princes sometimes\ngave the Church large donations of lands and money. The Church then was\nsupported by these gifts and the income or rents of the lands, and did\nnot need to look for collections from the people, as it has to do now.\nHere, then, is how Luther got many to follow him. He told greedy princes\nthat if they came with him they could become rich by seizing the\nproperty of all the churches, and the greedy princes, glad of an excuse,\nwent with him. Then he told the people--the bad Catholics--that fasting\nwas too severe; going to confession too hard; hearing Mass every Sunday\ntoo difficult; and if they renounced their faith and embraced his new\nreligion he would do away with all these things: so they also followed\nhim. He himself broke his solemn vows made to God, and the people easily\nfollowed his example.\n\nThose attending the Protestant churches in our times are generally rich\nand refined people, but you must not think that the first Protestants of\nthree hundred years ago were just like them. No. Many of them were from\nthe lowest and worst--I do not say poorest--classes in society; and when\nthey got an excuse, they went about destroying churches and\ninstitutions, burning beautiful statues, paintings, music, books, and\nworks of art that the Church had collected and preserved for centuries.\nThis you may read in any of the histories of the Church and times. The\nProtestants of the present day praise all these works of art now; but if\ntheir ancestors had had their way every beautiful work of art would have\nbeen destroyed.\n\nSome persons say they would not be members of the Catholic Church\nbecause so many poor people attend it. Then they do not want to belong\nto the Church of Our Lord, because His Church is the Church of both poor\nand rich. When St. John the Baptist sent his disciples to ask Our Lord\nif He were really the Messias, Our Lord did not say yes or no, but told\nthem to relate to John what they had heard and seen (Matt. 11:5),\nnamely, that He (Christ) cured the blind, the lame, and the deaf, and\npreached to the poor. Therefore Our Lord gave preaching to the poor as a\nproof that He is the true Redeemer; and since Our Lord Himself had the\npoor in His congregation, the Church everywhere must have the poor among\nits members, for it must do what Our Lord did. So if you see a church to\nwhich the poor people never go, in which they are not welcome, you have\ngood reason to suspect it is not the Church of Our Lord--not the true\nChurch. Again, poverty and riches belong only to this world and make a\ndistinction only here. The one who is poorest in this world's goods may\nbe richest in God's grace. Indeed, if most Protestants studied the early\nhistory of their religion they would not be proud, but ashamed of it.\nHow little they would think of their ancestors who gave up God for some\nworldly gain, while the Catholic martyrs gave up everything, even their\nlives, rather than forsake God and the true religion.\n\n133 Q. In which church are these attributes and marks found?\nA. These attributes and marks are found in the Holy Roman Catholic\nChurch alone.\n\nWe have seen that some religions may seem to have one or two of the\nmarks; but the Catholic Church alone has them all, and is consequently\nthe only true Church of Christ. The other religions are not one--that\nis, united over the world; they give no proof of holiness, never having\nhad any great saints whom God acknowledged as such by performing\nmiracles for them. They are not catholic, because they have not taught\nin all ages and nations. They are not apostolic, because established\nhundreds of years after the Apostles. They are not infallible, for they\nhave now declared things to be false which they formerly declared to be\ntrue; they are not indefectible--they are not as Our Lord founded them,\nfor He never founded them; and they are constantly making changes in\ntheir beliefs and practices.\n\nThe marks of the Church are necessary also because the Church must be a\nvisible Church, that all men may be able to see and know it; for Our\nLord said, \"He that will not hear the Church, let him be to thee as the\nheathen and the publican.\" (Matt. 18:17). Heathens were those who\nworshipped false gods. Publicans were men who gathered the taxes from\nthe Jews for the Romans; they were generally very cruel to the people,\nand were much hated and despised by them. Therefore Our Lord meant: if\nanyone will not obey the Church, you should avoid him as you avoid the\nheathens and the publicans, whom you despise. Now no one can be blamed\nfor not obeying a church that is invisible and unknown. Therefore the\ntrue Church must be a visible body and easily known to all who earnestly\nseek it as the Church of Christ. But if some shut their eyes and refuse\nto look at the light of truth, ignorance will not excuse them; they must\nbe blamed and fall under the sentence of Our Lord.\n\n*134 Q. From whom does the Church derive its undying life and infallible\nauthority?\nA. The Church derives its undying life and infallible authority from the\nHoly Ghost, the spirit of truth, who abides with it forever.\n\n*135 Q. By whom is the Church made and kept One, Holy, and Catholic?\nA. The Church is made and kept One, Holy, and Catholic by the Holy\nGhost, the spirit of love and holiness, who unites and sanctifies its\nmembers throughout the world.\n\n\n\nLesson 13\nON THE SACRAMENTS IN GENERAL\n\n\nThis lesson does not speak of any Sacrament in particular, but upon all\nthe Sacraments taken together. It explains what we find in all the\nSacraments.\n\n136 Q. What is a Sacrament?\nA. A Sacrament is an outward sign instituted by Christ to give grace.\n\nThree things are necessary to make a Sacrament. There must be: (1) \"An\noutward,\" that is, a visible, \"sign\"; (2) this sign must have been\ninstituted or given by Our Lord; (3) it must give grace. Now, a sign is\nthat which tells us that something else exists. Smoke indicates the\npresence of fire.\n\nA red light on a railroad tells that there is danger at the spot.\nTherefore, the outward signs in the Sacraments tell us that there is in\nthe Sacraments something we do not see and which they signify and\nimpart. For example, the outward sign in Baptism is the pouring of the\nwater on the head of the person to be baptized, and the saying of the\nwords. Water is generally used for cleaning purposes. Water, therefore,\nis used in Baptism as an outward sign to show that as the water cleans\nthe body, so the grace given in Baptism cleans the soul. It is not a\nmere sign, for at the very moment that the priest pours the water and\nsays the words of Baptism, by the pouring of the water and saying of the\nwords with the proper intention the soul is cleansed from Original Sin;\nthat is, the inward grace is given by the application of the outward\nsign. Again, in Confirmation the outward sign is the anointing with oil,\nthe Bishop's prayer, and the placing of his hands upon us. Now what\ninward grace is given in Confirmation? A grace which strengthens us in\nour faith. Oil, therefore, is used for the outward sign in this\nSacrament, because oil gives strength and light.\n\nIn olden times the gladiators--men who fought with swords as\nprize-fighters do now with their hands--used oil upon their bodies to\nmake them strong. Oil was used also to heal wounds. Thus in Confirmation\nthe application of this outward sign of strength gives the inward grace\nof light and strength. Moreover, oil easily spreads itself over anything\nand remains on it. A drop of water falling on paper dries up quickly;\nbut a drop of oil soaks in and spreads over it. So oil is used to show\nalso that the grace of Confirmation spreads out over our whole lives,\nand strengthens us in our faith at all times.\n\nAgain, in Penance we have the outward sign when the priest raises his\nhand and pronounces over us the words of absolution.\n\nIf we did not have these outward signs how could anyone know just at\nwhat time the graces are given? We can know now, for at the very moment\nthe outward sign is applied the grace is given; because it is the\napplication of the sign that by divine institution gives the grace, and\nthus the two must take place together.\n\n\"Institution by Christ\" is absolutely necessary because He gives all\ngrace, and He alone can determine the manner in which He wishes it\ndistributed. The Church can distribute His grace, but only in the way He\nwishes. Hence it cannot make new Sacraments or abolish old ones.\n\n137 Q. How many Sacraments are there?\nA. There are seven Sacraments: Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Eucharist,\nPenance, Extreme Unction, Holy Orders, and Matrimony.\n\nThe life of our soul is in many ways similar to the life of our body.\nOur bodies must first be born, then strengthened, then fed. When sick,\nwe must be cured: and when about to die, we must be taken care of. Then\nthere must be someone to rule others, and there must be persons to be\ngoverned. In like manner, we are spiritually born into a new life by\nBaptism, we are strengthened by Confirmation, fed with the Holy\nEucharist, and cured of the maladies of our souls by Penance. By Extreme\nUnction we are helped at the hour of death; by Holy Orders our spiritual\nrulers are appointed by God; and by Matrimony families, with a father at\nthe head and children to be ruled, are established. Thus we have our\nspiritual life similar in many things to our physical or bodily life.\n\n138 Q. Whence have the Sacraments the power of giving grace?\nA. The Sacraments have the power of giving grace from the merits of\nJesus Christ.\n\nOur Lord died to merit grace for us, and appointed the Sacraments as the\nchief means by which it was to be given.\n\n*139 Q. What grace do the Sacraments give?\nA. Some of the Sacraments give sanctifying grace, and others increase it\nin our souls.\n\nBaptism and Penance give this sanctifying grace when there is not any of\nit in the soul. But the other Sacraments are received while we are in a\nstate of grace, and they therefore increase the quantity of it in our\nsouls.\n\n*140 Q. Which are the Sacraments that give sanctifying grace?\nA. The Sacraments that give sanctifying grace are Baptism and Penance;\nand they are called Sacraments of the dead.\n\n\"Of the dead.\" Not of a dead person; for when a person is dead he cannot\nreceive any of the Sacraments. It is only while we live upon earth that\nwe are on trial, and can do good or evil, and merit grace. At death we\nreceive simply our reward or punishment for what we have done while\nliving. Therefore, Sacraments of the dead mean Sacraments given to a\ndead soul, that is, to a soul in mortal sin. When grace--its life--is\nall out of the soul it can do nothing to merit Heaven; and we say it is\ndead, because the dead can do nothing for themselves. If a person\nreceives--as many do--the Sacrament of Penance while his soul is not in\na state of mortal sin, what then? Then the soul--already\nliving--receives an increase of sanctifying grace, that is, greater\nspiritual life and strength.\n\n*141 Q. Why are Baptism and Penance called Sacraments of the dead?\nA. Baptism and Penance are called Sacraments of the dead because they\ntake away sin, which is the death of the soul, and give grace, which is\nits life.\n\n*142 Q. Which are the Sacraments that increase sanctifying grace in the\nsoul?\nA. The Sacraments that increase sanctifying grace in the soul are:\nConfirmation, Holy Eucharist, Extreme Unction, Holy Orders, and\nMatrimony; and they are called Sacraments of the living.\n\n*143 Q. Why are Confirmation, Holy Eucharist, Extreme Unction, Holy\nOrders, and Matrimony called Sacraments of the living?\nA. Confirmation, Holy Eucharist, Extreme Unction, Holy Orders, and\nMatrimony are called the Sacraments of the living because those who\nreceive them worthily are already living the life of grace.\n\n*144 Q. What sin does he commit who receives the Sacraments of the\nliving in mortal sin?\nA. He who receives the Sacraments of the living in mortal sin commits a\nsacrilege, which is a great sin, because it is an abuse of a sacred\nthing.\n\n\"Sacrilege.\" There are other ways besides the unworthy reception of the\nSacraments in which a person may commit sacrilege. You could commit it\nby treating any sacred thing with great disrespect. For example, by\nmaking common use of the sacred vessels used at the altar; by stealing\nfrom the church; by turning the church into a market, etc. You could\ncommit it also by willfully killing or wounding persons consecrated to\nGod, such as nuns, priests, bishops, etc. Therefore sacrilege can be\ncommitted by willfully abusing or treating with great irreverence any\nsacred person, sacred place, or sacred thing.\n\n*145 Q. Besides sanctifying grace, do the Sacraments give any other\ngrace?\nA. Besides sanctifying grace, the Sacraments give another grace, called\nsacramental.\n\n*146 Q. What is sacramental grace?\nA. Sacramental grace is a special help which God gives to attain the end\nfor which He instituted each Sacrament.\n\nFor example, what was the end for which Penance was instituted? To\nforgive sins and keep us out of sin. Therefore the sacramental grace\ngiven in Penance is a grace that will enable us to overcome temptation\nand avoid the sins we have been in the habit of committing. When a\nperson is ill the doctor's medicine generally produces two effects: one\nis to cure the disease and the other to strengthen the person so that he\nmay not fall back into the old condition. Well, it is just the same in\nthe Sacraments; the grace given produces two effects: one is to sanctify\nus and the other to prevent us from falling into the same sins. Again,\nConfirmation was instituted that we might become more perfect\nChristians, stronger in our faith. Therefore the sacramental grace of\nConfirmation will strengthen us to profess our faith when circumstances\nrequire it; or when we are tempted to doubt any revealed truth, it will\nhelp us to overcome the temptation. So in all the Sacraments we receive\nthe sacramental grace or special help given to attain the end for which\nthe Sacraments were separately instituted.\n\n147 Q. Do the Sacraments always give grace?\nA. The Sacraments always give grace, if we receive them with the right\ndispositions.\n\n\"Right dispositions\"; that is, if we do all that God and the Church\nrequire us to do when we receive them. For instance, in Penance the\nright disposition is to confess all our mortal sins as we know them, to\nbe sorry for them, and have the determination never to commit them\nagain. The right disposition for the Holy Eucharist is to be in a state\nof grace, and--except in special cases of sickness--fasting for one\nhour.\n\n148 Q. Can we receive the Sacraments more than once?\nA. We can receive the Sacraments more than once, except Baptism,\nConfirmation, and Holy Orders.\n\nBaptism is so important that if we do not receive it we cannot receive\nany other of the Sacraments. Now, to administer Baptism validly, that\nis, properly, everything must be done exactly as Our Lord intended and\nthe Church teaches. The proper kind of water and all the exact words\nmust be used. Also, the water must touch the body, that is, the head if\npossible. Now persons not knowing well how to baptize might neglect some\nof these things, and thus the person would not be baptized. The Church\nwishes to be certain that all its children are baptized; so when there\nis any doubt about the first Baptism, it baptizes again conditionally,\nthat is, the priest says in giving the Baptism over again: If you are\nnot baptized already, I baptize you now. Therefore if the person was\nrightly baptized the first time, the second ceremony has no effect,\nbecause the priest does not intend to give Baptism a second time. But if\nthe first Baptism was not rightly given, then the second takes effect.\nIn either case Baptism is given only once; for if the first was valid,\nthe second is not given; and if the first was invalid, the second is\ngiven.\n\nConverts to the Church are generally baptized conditionally, because\nthere is doubt about the validity of the Baptism they received.\n\nThe Sacraments may be given conditionally when we doubt if they were or\ncan be validly given.\n\n*149 Q. Why can we not receive Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders\nmore than once?\nA. We cannot receive Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders more than\nonce, because they imprint a character in the soul.\n\n\"A character.\" It is a spiritual character, and remains forever, so that\nwhether the person is in Heaven or Hell this mark will be seen. It will\nshow that those having it were Christians, who received Baptism,\nConfirmation, or Holy Orders. If they are in Heaven, these characters\nwill shine out to their honor, and will show how well they used the\ngrace God gave them. If they are in Hell, these characters will be to\ntheir disgrace, and show how many gifts and graces God bestowed upon\nthem, and how shamefully they abused all.\n\n*150 Q. What is the character which these Sacraments imprint in the\nsoul?\nA. The character which these Sacraments imprint in the soul is a\nspiritual mark which remains forever.\n\n*151 Q. Does this character remain in the soul even after death?\nA. This character remains in the soul even after death: for the honor\nand glory of those who are saved; for the shame and punishment of those\nwho are lost.\n\n\n\nLesson 14\nON BAPTISM\n\n\n152 Q. What is Baptism?\nA. Baptism is a Sacrament which cleanses us from Original Sin, makes us\nChristians, children of God, and heirs of Heaven.\n\n\"Christians,\" that is, members of the Church of Christ. \"Children of\nGod,\" that is, adopted children. All men are children of God by their\ncreation, but Christians are children of God, not merely by creation,\nbut also by grace and union with Our Lord. \"Heirs of Heaven.\" An heir is\none who inherits property, money, or goods at the death of another.\nThese things are left by a will or given by the laws of the State, when\nthe person dies without making a will. A will is a written statement in\nwhich a person declares what he wishes to have done, at his death, with\nwhatever he possesses--the charitable objects or the persons to whom he\nwishes to leave his goods. This will is called also the last testament.\nIt is signed by witnesses, and after the death of the testator is\ncommitted to the care of a person--called the executor--whose business\nit is to see that all stated in the will or testament is carried out.\nThere is an officer in the State to take these things in hand and settle\nthem according to law, when the amount left is large, and there is a\ndispute about it. You can understand better now why we call the Bible\nthe Old and the New Testament. When Our Lord died we were left an\ninheritance and spiritual property. The inheritance was Heaven, which we\nhad lost through the sin of Adam and regained by the death of Our Lord.\nThe spiritual property was God's grace, which He merited for us. The Old\nTestament contains the promise of what Our Lord would leave us at His\ndeath, and the New Testament shows that He kept His promise and did\nleave what He said. The Old Testament was written before He died, and\nthe New Testament after His death. The witnesses of these testaments\nwere the patriarchs, prophets, Apostles, and evangelists, who heard God\nmaking the promises through the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. The\nChurch is the executor of Christ's will, and it is its business to see\nthat all men receive what Christ left them, namely, God's grace and\nHeaven. It must also see that they are not cheated out of it by their\nenemies--the devil, the world, and the flesh.\n\n153 Q. Are actual sins ever remitted by Baptism?\nA. Actual sins and all the punishment due to them are remitted by\nBaptism, if the person baptized be guilty of any.\n\nWe know that Baptism remits Original Sin. But suppose a person is not\nbaptized till he is twenty-five or thirty years old; he has surely\ncommitted some sins since he was seven years of age--the time at which\nhe received the use of reason. Now the question asks, Are all his sins,\nthose he committed himself as well as the Original Sin, forgiven by\nBaptism? The answer is, Yes. All his sins are forgiven, so that he has\nnot to confess them. But he must be heartily sorry for them and have the\nfirm determination of never committing them again, just as in\nconfession. Moreover, that he may not have to confess these sins, we\nmust be absolutely certain that he was never baptized before. Besides\nremitting the sins themselves, Baptism remits all the temporal\npunishment due to them.\n\nIn the Sacrament of Penance the sinner is saved from the eternal\npunishment--that is, Hell--and from part of the temporal punishment. But\nalthough the sins have been forgiven, the sinner must make satisfaction\nto God for the insult offered by his sins.\n\nTherefore, he must suffer punishment in this world or in Purgatory. We\ncall this punishment temporal, because it will not last forever. You can\nmake this satisfaction to God while on earth, and thus avoid much of the\ntemporal punishment by prayers, fasting, gaining indulgences, alms, and\ngood works; and even by bearing your sufferings, trials, and afflictions\npatiently, and offering them up to God in satisfaction for your sins.\n\nIn Baptism both the eternal and temporal debt are washed away; so that\nif a person just baptized died immediately, he would go directly to\nHeaven, not to Purgatory: because persons go to Purgatory to pay off the\ntemporal debt. Neither could that person gain an indulgence, because\nindulgences are only to help us to pay the temporal debt. Neither could\nthat person receive the Sacrament of Penance, because Penance remits\nonly sin committed after Baptism, and that person had no sins to remit,\nbecause he died just after receiving Baptism. See, then, the goodness of\nOur Lord in instituting Baptism, to forgive everything and leave us as\nfree from guilt as our first parents were when God created them.\n\n154 Q. Is Baptism necessary to salvation?\nA. Baptism is necessary to salvation, because without it we cannot enter\ninto the kingdom of Heaven.\n\nThose who through no fault of theirs die without Baptism, though they\nhave never committed sin, cannot enter Heaven--neither will they go to\nHell. After the Last Judgment there will be no Purgatory. Where, then,\nwill they go? God in His goodness will provide a place of rest for them,\nwhere they will not suffer and will be in a state of natural peace; but\nthey will never see God or Heaven. God might have created us for a\npurely natural and material end, so that we would live forever upon the\nearth and be naturally happy with the good things God would give us. But\nthen we would never have known of Heaven or God as we do now. Such\nhappiness on earth would be nothing compared to the delights of Heaven\nand the presence of God; so that, now, since God has given us, through\nHis holy revelations, a knowledge of Himself and Heaven, we would be\nmiserable if left always upon the earth. Those, then, who die without\nBaptism do not know what they have lost, and are naturally happy; but we\nwho know all they have lost for want of Baptism know how very\nunfortunate they are.\n\nThink, then, what a terrible crime it is to willfully allow anyone to\ndie without Baptism, or to deprive a little child of life before it can\nbe baptized! Suppose all the members of a family but one little infant\nhave been baptized; when the Day of Judgment comes, while all the other\nmembers of a family--father, mother, and children--may go into Heaven,\nthat little one will have to remain out; that little brother or sister\nwill be separated from its family forever, and never, never see God or\nHeaven. How heartless and cruel, then, must a person be who would\ndeprive that little infant of happiness for all eternity--just that its\nmother or someone else might have a little less trouble or suffering\nhere upon earth.\n\n155 Q. Who can administer Baptism?\nA. The priest is the ordinary minister of Baptism; but in case of\nnecessity anyone who has the use of reason may baptize.\n\n\"Ordinary\"--that is, the one who has a right to baptize and generally\ndoes; others can baptize only in case of necessity.\n\n\"Priest\" and all above him--bishops, and the Pope; for they have all the\npower the priest has, and more besides. \"Minister\" is the name given\nhere to one who performs any of the sacred rites or ceremonies of the\nChurch. \"Necessity.\" When the ordinary minister cannot be had and when\nBaptism must be given; for if it is not absolutely necessary to give the\nBaptism, then you must wait for the ordinary minister.\n\n\"Anyone.\" Even persons not Catholics or not Christians may, in case of\nnecessity, baptize a person wishing to receive Baptism, if they know how\nto baptize and seriously wish to do what the Church of Christ does when\nit baptizes. You cannot baptize a person against his will. Neither can\nyou baptize an infant whose parents are unwilling to have the child\nbaptized, or when the child will not be brought up in the Catholic\nreligion. But if the child is dying, it can and should be baptized, even\nwithout the consent of the parents.\n\n\"Use of reason.\" Because the person must intend to do what Our Lord\nordered to be done in giving Baptism; and a little child could not\nunderstand, and could not therefore baptize.\n\n156 Q. How is Baptism given?\nA. Whoever baptizes should pour water on the head of the person to be\nbaptized, and say, while pouring the water: I baptize thee in the name\nof the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.\n\nWhen the priest baptizes in the church, he uses consecrated water--that\nis, water blessed for that purpose on Holy Saturday, and mixed with holy\noil. When he or any other, in case of necessity, baptizes in a private\nhouse, he may use plain, clean water, and he baptizes without the other\nceremonies used in the church. Remember, in Baptism you can use ordinary\nclean water, warm or cold. When the priest or anyone baptizes by simply\npouring the water and pronouncing the words of Baptism, we call it\nprivate Baptism. The Baptism given in church with all the ceremonies is\ncalled solemn Baptism. Any person baptized privately should be brought\nto the church afterwards to have the rest of the ceremonies performed.\n\nIt will increase your respect for the Sacrament to know what ceremonies\nare used in solemn Baptism, and what they signify. The following things\nmust be prepared: the holy oils, a little salt, a little pitcher or\nsomething similar to pour the water from, a vessel to receive the water\nwhen poured, some cotton, two stoles, one white and one purple, towels,\na white cloth, candle, and candlestick.\n\nAll being ready, the person holding the infant takes it on the right\narm, face up, and the priest, having learned the name it is to be given,\nbegins by asking the one to be baptized, \"What do you ask of the Church\nof God?\" And the godparents answer for the child, \"Faith.\" If the person\nreceiving Baptism is capable of answering for himself, he must do so.\nThen the priest exhorts the child to keep the Commandments and love God;\nthen he breathes three times upon it and bids the evil spirit depart. He\nnext prays for the child and puts a little salt into its mouth, as a\nsign of the wisdom that Faith gives, and again prays for the child. Then\nhe places the end of his stole over it as a sign that it is led into the\nChurch; for Baptism is given in a place called the baptistery, railed\noff from the church and near the door, because formerly the ceremony up\nto this point was performed outside the church, and at this part of the\nceremony the person was led in to be baptized. Then before Baptism the\nperson says the Creed and the Our Father; for when a grown person is to\nbe baptized he must first be instructed in all the truths of religion,\nand he must say the Creed to show that he believes them. Again the\npriest prays and places a little spittle on the ears and nose of the\nchild, using at the same time the words used by Our Lord when He spit\nupon the ground, and rubbing the spittle and clay upon the eyes of the\nblind man, healed him. (John 9:6). The priest next asks the child if it\nrenounces the devil and all his works and pomps--that is, vanities and\nempty shows; and having received the answer anoints it with holy oil on\nthe breast and back. Then he again asks for a profession of faith, and\nfinally baptizes it. After Baptism he anoints its head with holy chrism,\nplaces a white cloth upon it to signify the purity it received in\nBaptism, and as a sign that it must keep its soul free from sin. Then he\nplaces in its hand a lighted candle, to signify the light of faith it\nhas received in Baptism. We are baptized at the door of the church to\nshow that without Baptism we are out of the Church. We are often signed\nwith the Sign of the Cross to remind us that our salvation is due to the\nCross and Passion of Our Lord. The priest's stole is placed over us to\nshow that the Church takes us under its protection and shields us from\nthe power of the devil. We are anointed as a sign that we are freed from\nour sins and strengthened to fight for Christ. The white cloth or\ngarment is placed upon us to remind us of the glory of the Resurrection;\nthe light is placed in our hand to show that we should burn with\nChristian charity.\n\n*157 Q. How many kinds of Baptism are there?\nA. There are three kinds of Baptism: Baptism of water, of desire, and of\nblood.\n\n*158 Q. What is Baptism of water?\nA. Baptism of water is that which is given by pouring water on the head\nof the person to be baptized, and saying at the same time, I baptize\nthee in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.\n\n*159 Q. What is Baptism of desire?\nA. Baptism of desire is an ardent wish to receive Baptism, and to do all\nthat God has ordained for our salvation.\n\n\"Ardent wish\" by one who has no opportunity of being baptized--for no\none can baptize himself. He must be sorry for his sins and have the\ndesire of receiving the Baptism of water as soon as he can; just as a\nperson in mortal sin and without a priest to absolve him may, when in\ndanger of death, save his soul from Hell by an act of perfect contrition\nand the firm resolution of going to confession as soon as possible.\nBaptism of desire would be useful and necessary if there was no water at\nhand or no person to baptize; or if the one wishing to be baptized and\nthose about him did not know exactly how Baptism was to be given--which\nmight easily happen in pagan lands. One thing you must especially\nremember in giving Baptism in case of necessity: namely, that it would\nnot do for one person to pour the water and another to say the words.\nThe same person must do both, or the Baptism will not be valid. If you\nare called to baptize in case of necessity, be very careful to observe\nthe following points, otherwise the Baptism will not be valid: use clean\nwater and nothing but water--no other liquid would do. Say every one of\nthe exact words: \"I baptize thee in the name of the Father, and of the\nSon, and of the Holy Ghost.\" It would not do to say, \"I baptize thee in\nthe name of God\"; or, \"I baptize thee in the name of the Blessed\nTrinity\"; nor would it do to say simply, \"In the name of the Father, and\nof the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,\" without saying, \"I baptize thee.\"\nSay the words at the same time you pour the water, and be sure the water\ntouches the skin. It would not do to pour the water simply on the hair.\nYou must not sprinkle the water, but pour it upon the head.\n\nWhen you have followed the above instructions carefully and are sure you\nhave baptized properly, never under any circumstance repeat the Baptism\non the same person. It is a sin to try to baptize more than once when\nyou know Baptism can be given only once. The sight of the person dying\nand the fact that you are called for the first time may cause you to be\nsomewhat excited; but be calm, remember the importance of the Sacrament,\nand you will administer it as directed. Parents should not baptize their\nown children in case of necessity, if there is any other person present\nwho can validly do it. Remember those who administer Baptism contract a\nspiritual relationship with the person they baptize (not with his\nparents). If they wished, years afterwards, to marry the person they\nbaptized, they must make this relationship known to the priest.\n\nSponsors are not necessary in private Baptism. A person may be sponsor\nfor a child in Baptism without being present at the Baptism, provided\nsomeone else holds the child in his name and answers the questions he\nhimself would answer if he were present. Such a sponsor is said to stand\nfor the child by proxy, and he, and not the one who holds the child, is\nthen the real godparent when, at the request of the parents or priest he\nhas consented to be sponsor.\n\n*160 Q. What is Baptism of blood?\nA. Baptism of blood is the shedding of one's blood for the faith of\nChrist.\n\nBaptism of blood, called martyrdom, is received by those who were not\nbaptized with water, but were put to death for their Catholic faith.\nThis takes place even nowadays in pagan countries where the missionaries\nare trying to convert the poor natives. These pagans have to be\ninstructed before they are baptized. They do everything required of\nthem, let us suppose, and are waiting for the day of Baptism. Those who\nare being thus instructed are called Catechumens. Someday, while they\nare attending their instructions, the enemies of religion rush down upon\nthem and put them to death. They do not resist, but willingly suffer\ndeath for the sake of the true religion. They are martyrs then and are\nbaptized in their own blood; although, as we said above, blood would not\ndo for an ordinary Baptism even when we could not get water; so that if\na person drew blood from his own body and asked to be baptized with it,\nthe Baptism would not be valid. Neither would they be martyrs if put to\ndeath not for religion or virtue but for some other reason--say\npolitical.\n\n*161 Q. Is Baptism of desire or blood sufficient to produce the effects\nof Baptism of water?\nA. Baptism of desire or of blood is sufficient to produce the effects of\nthe Baptism of water, if it is impossible to receive the Baptism of\nwater.\n\n*162 Q. What do we promise in Baptism?\nA. In Baptism we promise to renounce the devil with all his works and\npomps.\n\n*163 Q. Why is the name of a saint given in Baptism?\nA. The name of a saint is given in Baptism in order that the person\nbaptized may imitate his virtues and have him for a protector.\n\nThe saint whose name we bear is called our patron saint. This saint has\na special love for us and a special care over us. People take the names\nof great men because they admire their good qualities or their great\ndeeds. So we take saints' names because we admire their Christian\nvirtues and great Christian deeds. We should, therefore, read the life\nof our patron saint and try to imitate his virtues, and the day on which\nthe Church celebrates the feast of our patron saint should be a great\nday for us also. The Church generally celebrates the saint's feast on\nthe day on which he died, that is, as we believe, the day on which he\nentered into Heaven.\n\n*164 Q. Why are godfathers and godmothers given in Baptism?\nA. Godfathers and godmothers are given in Baptism in order that they may\npromise in the name of the child what the child itself would promise if\nit had the use of reason.\n\n*165 Q. What is the obligation of a godfather and a godmother?\nA. The obligation of a godfather and a godmother is to instruct the\nchild in its religious duties if the parents neglect to do so or die.\n\nThis is a very important obligation, and we should be faithful in the\nfulfillment of it before God. Godfathers and godmothers are also called\nsponsors. The following persons cannot be sponsors: (1) All persons not\nCatholics, because they cannot teach the child the Catholic religion if\nthey do not know it themselves. (2) All persons who are publicly leading\nbad lives; for how can they give good examples and teach their godchild\nto be good when they themselves are public sinners? (3) All persons who\nare ignorant of their religion should not take upon themselves the\nduties of godparents. Therefore parents should select as sponsors for\ntheir children only good, practical Catholics--not Catholics merely in\nname, but those who live up to their faith, and who will be an example\nfor their children. To repeat what has already been said, godparents\ncontract a spiritual relationship with their godchild, and in the event\nof marriage, they must make known this relationship to the priest. The\ngodfather and the godmother do not contract a relationship between\nthemselves, or with the child's parents, but only with the child so that\nneither the godfather nor the godmother could later marry their godchild\nwithout first obtaining proper dispensation; that is, permission from\nthe Church granted by the bishop or Pope. With regard to names, parents\nshould never be induced by any motive to give their child some foolish\nor fancy name taken from books, places, or things. Above all, they\nshould never select the name of any enemy of the Church or unbeliever,\nbut the name of one of God's saints who will be a model for the child.\nWhatever name is taken, if it be not a saint's name, the name of some\nsaint should be given as a middle name. If this has been omitted in\nBaptism, it should be supplied in Confirmation, at which time a new name\ncan be added. Again, if a saint's name has been taken in Baptism it\nshould not be shortened or changed so as to mean nothing; as, for\nexample, Mazie, Miz, etc., for Mary. When your correct name is mentioned\nyour saint is honored, and I might say invoked, because it should remind\nyou of him. For that reason you should not have meaningless or foolish\npet names, known only to your family or your friends.\n\n\n\nLesson 15\nON CONFIRMATION\n\n\n166 Q. What is Confirmation?\nA. Confirmation is a Sacrament through which we receive the Holy Ghost\nto make us strong and perfect Christians and soldiers of Jesus Christ.\n\nIn Baptism we are made Christians, but we are not very strong in our\nfaith till the Holy Ghost comes in Confirmation. You remember how timid\nthe Apostles were before the coming of the Holy Ghost, and how firm and\ndetermined in their faith they were afterwards; and how fearlessly they\npreached even to those who crucified Our Lord. \"Soldiers,\" because we\nmust fight for our salvation against our three enemies, the devil, the\nworld, and the flesh. Our Lord is our great leader in this warfare, and\nwe must follow Him and fight as He directs. A soldier that fights as he\npleases and not as his general commands, will surely be beaten.\n\n167 Q. Who can administer Confirmation?\nA. The bishop is the ordinary minister of Confirmation.\n\n\"Ordinary,\" because in some very distant countries where on account of\nthe small number of Christians they have as yet no bishops, the Pope\nallows some priest to give Confirmation; but then he must use the holy\noil consecrated by a bishop, and cannot consecrate oil himself.\n\n168 Q. How does the bishop give Confirmation?\nA. The bishop extends his hands over those who are to be confirmed,\nprays that they may receive the Holy Ghost, and anoints the forehead of\neach with holy chrism in the form of a cross.\n\n*169 Q. What is holy chrism?\nA. Holy chrism is a mixture of olive oil and balm, consecrated by the\nbishop.\n\nThe oil signifies the strength we receive, and the balm that we should\nbe free from the corruption of sin, and give forth the sweetness of\nvirtue.\n\n170 Q. What does the bishop say in anointing the person he confirms?\nA. In anointing the person he confirms the bishop says: I sign thee with\nthe Sign of the Cross, and I confirm thee with the chrism of salvation,\nin the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.\n\n*171 Q. What is meant by anointing the forehead with chrism in the form\nof a cross?\nA. By anointing the forehead with chrism in the form of a cross is\nmeant, that the Christian who is confirmed must openly profess and\npractice his faith, never be ashamed of it, and rather die than deny it.\n\n\"Openly profess\"--that is, acknowledge that he is a Catholic when it is\nnecessary to do so. He need not proclaim it in the streets. \"Practice\"\nit without regard for what other people think, say, or do. \"Ashamed\" of\na religion so glorious as the Catholic religion? Would we not be proud\nto belong to a society of which kings and princes were members? Well, a\nfew centuries ago nearly all the kings, princes, and great men of the\nearth were Catholics. All the saints were Catholics. All the Popes were\nCatholics. At present over three hundred million people in the world are\nCatholics. This Church was founded when Christ Our Lord was on earth,\nand is nearly two thousand years old. All the other churches are only a\nfew hundred years old. We ought, therefore, to be proud of our religion,\nfor which and in which so many noble persons died. We should feel proud\nthat we are Catholics; while Protestants should feel ashamed in our\npresence, for they have deserted the true standard of Christ, and\nfollowed some other leader who set up a religion of his own in\nopposition to the true Church of Our Lord. They will not have the cross\nor crucifix, the standard of Christ, in their churches or houses or\nabout their persons, and yet they claim to be Christians redeemed by the\nCross. We are called upon to defend or profess our religion when we have\nto do what the Church and God require us to do: for example, hear Mass\non Sundays and holy days; abstain from the use of fleshmeat on Ash\nWednesday and the Fridays of Lent, fast on fast-days, and the like, when\nwe are among persons not Catholics.\n\n*172 Q. Why does the bishop give the person he confirms a slight blow on\nthe cheek?\nA. The bishop gives the person he confirms a slight blow on the cheek to\nput him in mind that he must be ready to suffer anything, even death,\nfor the sake of Christ.\n\n173 Q. To receive Confirmation worthily is it necessary to be in the\nstate of grace?\nA. To receive Confirmation worthily it is necessary to be in the state\nof grace.\n\n*174 Q. What special preparation should be made to receive Confirmation?\nA. Persons of an age to learn should know the chief mysteries of faith\nand the duties of a Christian, and be instructed in the nature and\neffects of this Sacrament.\n\nHow can one be a good soldier who does not know the rules and\nregulations of the army nor understand the commands of his general? How\ncan one be a good Christian who does not understand the laws of the\nChurch and the teachings of Christ? The \"nature\"--that is, understand\nthe Sacrament itself. \"Effects\"--that is, what it does in our souls.\n\n175 Q. Is it a sin to neglect Confirmation?\nA. It is a sin to neglect Confirmation, especially in these evil days\nwhen faith and morals are exposed to so many and such violent\ntemptations.\n\n\"Temptations\"--from the sayings and writings of the enemies of religion.\nTo neglect it when we have an opportunity of receiving it without any\nvery great difficulty would be a sin. When persons have been unfortunate\nenough to grow up without Confirmation, they should come at any time in\ntheir lives to receive it, and not be ashamed to do so on account of\ntheir age or condition in life.\n\n\n\nLesson 16\nON THE GIFTS AND FRUITS OF THE HOLY GHOST\n\n\n*176 Q. What are the effects of Confirmation?\nA. The effects of Confirmation are an increase of sanctifying grace, the\nstrengthening of our faith, and the gifts of the Holy Ghost.\n\n\"Increase,\" because we must be in a state of grace, that is, having\nalready sanctifying grace in our souls when we receive Confirmation.\n\"Strengthening,\" so that we have no doubt about the doctrines we\nbelieve.\n\n*177 Q. What are the gifts of the Holy Ghost?\nA. The gifts of the Holy Ghost are wisdom, understanding, counsel,\nfortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord.\n\n*178 Q. Why do we receive the gift of fear of the Lord?\nA. We receive the gift of fear of the Lord to fill us with a dread of\nsin.\n\nOn account of the goodness of God and the punishment He can inflict.\n\n*179 Q. Why do we receive the gift of piety?\nA. We receive the gift of piety to make us love God as a Father, and\nobey Him because we love Him.\n\n*180 Q. Why do we receive the gift of knowledge?\nA. We receive the gift of knowledge to enable us to discover the will of\nGod in all things.\n\n*181 Q. Why do we receive the gift of fortitude?\nA. We receive the gift of fortitude to strengthen us to do the will of\nGod in all things.\n\nSome know the will of God--what they should do--but they have not the\ncourage to follow the dictates of their conscience. For example, a\nperson goes with bad company: the gift of knowledge will teach him that\nhe should give it up; but the gift of fortitude will enable him to do\nwhat his conscience shows him to be right.\n\n*182 Q. Why do we receive the gift of counsel?\nA. We receive the gift of counsel to warn us of the deceits of the\ndevil, and of the dangers to salvation.\n\nThe devil is much wiser than we are, and has much more experience, being\namong the people of the world ever since the time of Adam--about 6,000\nyears. He could therefore easily deceive and overcome us if God Himself\nby the gift of counsel did not enable us to discover his tricks and\nexpose his plots. When at times we are tempted, our conscience warns us,\nand if we follow the warning we shall escape the sin. Counsel tells us\nwhen persons or places are dangerous for our salvation.\n\n*183 Q. Why do we receive the gift of understanding?\nA. We receive the gift of understanding to enable us to know more\nclearly the mysteries of faith.\n\n\"Mysteries,\" truths we could never know by reason, but only by the\nteaching of God; and the gift of understanding enables us to know better\nwhat His teaching means. The Apostles heard and knew what Our Lord\ntaught, but they did not fully understand the whole meaning till the\nHoly Ghost had come.\n\n*184 Q. Why do we receive the gift of wisdom?\nA. We receive the gift of wisdom to give us a relish for the things of\nGod and to direct our whole life and all our actions to His honor and\nglory.\n\n\"Relish,\" a liking for, a desire for.\n\n*185 Q. Which are the beatitudes?\nA. The beatitudes are:\n\n(1) Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.\n(2) Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the land.\n(3) Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.\n(4) Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice, for they\n    shall be filled.\n(5) Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.\n(6) Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God.\n(7) Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children\n    of God.\n(8) Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake, for\n    theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.\n\nThe beatitudes are part of a sermon Our Lord once preached to the people\non the Mount. (Matt. 5). When Our Lord wished to preach, the Jews would\nnot always allow Him to enter their synagogues or meeting houses; so He\npreached to the people in the open air. Sometimes He stood in a boat by\nthe seashore; sometimes on a little hill, with the people standing or\nsitting near Him. Did you ever think how you would have acted if you\nlived at that time and were present when Our Lord preached? How anxious\nyou would have been to get near to Him? How you would have pushed your\nway through the crowd and listened to every word? Why, then, do you\nsometimes pay so little attention in church or at instructions when the\nwords of Our Lord are repeated to you? Our Lord instituted a Church\nwhich, as we know, is sometimes called the kingdom of Heaven. In this\nsermon He laid down the condition for being good subjects of His\nkingdom; that is, He gives the virtues we should practice to be good\nchildren of the Church. He tells us what rewards we shall have for\npracticing these virtues and leading a holy life: namely, God's grace\nand blessing in this world and everlasting glory in Heaven.\n\n(1) \"Poor in spirit.\" One is poor in spirit if he does not set his heart\nupon riches and the goods of this world in such a way that he would be\nwilling to offend God in order to possess them, or rather than part with\nthem. Thus one who has no money but who would do anything to get it,\nwould be poor, but not poor in spirit, and therefore not among those Our\nLord calls blessed. If we are really poor and wish to be poor in spirit\nalso, we must be contented with our lot--with what God gives us--and\nnever complain against Him. No matter how poor, miserable, or afflicted\nwe may be, we could still be worse, since we can find others in a worse\ncondition than we are. We do not endure every species of misery, but\nonly this or that particular kind; and if the rest were added, how much\nworse our condition would be! The very greatest misery is to be in a\nstate of sin. If we are poor and in sin, our condition is indeed\npitiable, for we have no consolation; but if we are virtuous in poverty,\nbearing our trials in patience and resignation for the love of God, we\nhave the rich treasures of His grace and every assurance of future\nhappiness. On the other hand, if one is very rich and gives freely and\nplentifully to the poor and works of charity, and is willing to part\nwith riches rather than offend God, such a one is poor in spirit and can\nbe called blessed. It is a great mistake to risk our souls for things we\nmust leave to others at our death. Sometimes those who leave the\ngreatest inheritance are soonest forgotten and despised, because the\nmoney or property bequeathed gives rise to numerous lawsuits, quarrels\nand jealousies among the relatives, and thus becomes a very curse to\nthat family, whose members hate one another on its account. Or it may\nhappen that the heirs thoughtlessly enjoy and foolishly squander the\nwealth the man, now dead, has labored so hard to accumulate, while he,\nperhaps, is suffering in Hell for sins committed in securing it. Again,\nhow many children have been ruined through the wealth left them by their\nparents! Instead of using it for good purposes they have made it a means\nof sin; often lose their faith and souls on account of it; and in their\ningratitude never offer a prayer or give an alms for the soul of the\nparent, who in his anxiety to leave all to them left nothing in charity\nto the Church or the poor. Surely it is the greatest folly to set our\nhearts upon that which can be of no value to us after death. When a\nperson dies men ask: What wealth has he left behind? But God and the\nangels ask, What merits has he sent before him?\n\n(2) \"Possess the land\"--that is, the promised or holy land, which was a\nfigure of the Church. Therefore it means the meek shall be true members\nof Our Lord's Church here on earth and hereafter in Heaven, and be\nbeloved by all.\n\n(3) \"That mourn.\" Suffering is good for us if we bear it patiently. It\nmakes us more like Our Blessed Lord, who was called the Man of Sorrows.\n\n(4) \"Justice\"--that is, all kinds of virtue. \"Filled\"--that is, with\ngoodness and grace. In other words,\nif we ask and really wish to become virtuous, we shall become so. St.\nJoseph is called in Holy Scripture \"a just man,\" to show that he\npracticed every virtue.\n\n(5) If we are \"merciful\" to others, God will be merciful to us.\n\n(6) \"Clean of heart\"--that is, pure in thoughts, words, deeds, and\nlooks.\n\n(7) \"Peacemakers.\" If persons who try to make peace and settle disputes\nare called the children of God, those who, on the contrary, try to stir\nup dissensions should be called the children of the devil. Never tell\nthe evil you may hear of another, especially to the one of whom it was\nspoken; and never carry stories from one to another: it is contemptible,\nand sinful as well. If you have nothing good to say of the character of\nanother, be silent, unless your duty compels you to speak. Never be a\nchild of the devil by exciting jealousy, hatred, or revenge in anyone;\nbut on the contrary, make peace wherever you can, and be one of the\nchildren of God.\n\n(8) \"Suffer persecution.\" Therefore, when you are badly treated on\naccount of your piety or religion, remember you are like the martyrs of\nyour holy faith, suffering for virtue and truth, and that you will\nreceive your reward.\n\n*186 Q. Which are the twelve fruits of the Holy Ghost?\nA. The twelve fruits of the Holy Ghost are charity, joy, peace,\npatience, benignity, goodness, long-suffering, mildness, faith, modesty,\ncontinency, and chastity.\n\n\"Fruits,\" the things that grow from the gifts of the Holy Ghost.\n\"Charity,\" love of God and our neighbor, \"Peace\" with God and man and\nourselves. With God, because we are His friends. With man, because we\ndeal justly with all and are kind to all. With ourselves, because we\nhave a good conscience, that does not accuse us of sin. \"Benignity,\"\ndisposition to do good and show kindness. \"Long-suffering\"--same as\npatience. \"Modesty, continency, and chastity\" refer to purity in\nthoughts, words, looks, and actions.\n\n\n\nLesson 17\nON THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE\n\n\nWhen Our Blessed Lord redeemed us, He applied the benefits of the\nRedemption in the Sacrament of Baptism. By this Baptism He freed us from\nsin and the slavery of the devil; He restored us to God's grace; He\nreopened for us Heaven; made us once more children of God: in a word, He\nplaced us in the condition in which we were before our fall through the\nsin of our first parents. This was certainly a great kindness bestowed\nupon us, and one would think we would never forget it, and never more\nlose God's friendship by any fault of ours; especially when we had seen\nthe great miseries brought upon the world by sin, and had learned\nsomething of Hell where we would have been, and of Heaven which we would\nhave lost, if Our Lord had not redeemed us. Our Blessed Lord saw,\nhowever, that we would forget His benefits, and again, even after\nBaptism, go freely into the slavery of the devil. How, then, could we be\nsaved? We could not be baptized again, because Baptism can be given only\nonce. Our good Lord in His kindness instituted another Sacrament, by\nwhich we could once more be freed from sin if we had the misfortune to\nfall into it after Baptism--it is the Sacrament of Penance. It is called\nthe plank in a shipwreck. When sailors are shipwrecked and thrown\nhelplessly into the ocean, their only hope is some floating plank that\nmay bear them to the shore. So when we fall after Baptism we are thrown\ninto the great ocean of sin, where we must perish if we do not rest upon\nthe Sacrament of Penance, which will bring us once more in safety to the\nfriendship of God. How very thankful the poor shipwrecked sailors would\nbe to anyone who would offer them a plank while they are in danger! Do\nyou think they would refuse to use it? In like manner how thankful we\nshould be for the Sacrament of Penance, and how anxious we should be to\nuse it when we arc in danger of losing our souls!\n\nThe Sacrament of Penance shows the very great kindness of Our Lord. He\nmight have said: I saved them once, and I will not trouble Myself more\nabout them; if they want to sin again, let them perish. But no, He\nforgives us and saves us as often as we sincerely call on Him for help,\nbeing truly sorry for our sins. He left this power also to His Apostles,\nsaying to them: As often as any poor sinner shall come to you and show\nthat he is truly sorry for his sins, and has the determination not to\ncommit them again, and confesses them to you, I give you the power to\npardon his sins in the Sacrament of Penance. The forgiveness of your\nsins is the chief though not the only blessing you receive in the\nreception of this Sacrament, through which you derive so many and great\nadvantages from the exhortation, instruction, or advice of your\nconfessor.\n\nIs it not a great benefit to have a friend to whom you can go with the\ntrials of your mind and soul, your troubles, temptations, sins, and\nsecrets? You have that friend--the priest in the confessional. He is\nwilling to help you, for he consecrated his life to God to help men to\nsave their souls. He is able to help you, for he understands your\ndifficulties, sins, and temptations, and the means of overcoming them.\nHe has made these things the study of his life, and derives still\ngreater knowledge of them from hearing the sad complaints of so many\nrelating their secret sorrows or afflictions, and begging his advice.\n\nThen you are sure that whatever you tell him in the confessional will\nnever be made known to others, even if the priest has to die to conceal\nit. You might tell your secrets to a friend, and if you afterwards\noffended him he would probably reveal all you told him. The priest asks\nno reward for the service he gives you in the confessional, but loves to\nhelp you, because he has pledged himself to God to do so, and would sin\nif he did not. Some enemies of our holy religion have tried to make\npeople believe that Catholics have to pay the priest in confession for\nforgiving their sins; but every Catholic, even the youngest child who\nhas been to confession, knows this to be untrue, and a base calumny\nagainst our holy religion; even those who assert it do not believe it\nthemselves. The good done in the confessional will never be known in\nthis world. How many persons have been saved from sin, suicide, death,\nand other evils by the advice and encouragement received in confession!\nHow many persons who have fallen into the lowest depths of sin have by\nthe Sacrament of Penance been raised up and made to lead good,\nrespectable lives--a blessing to themselves, their families, and\nsociety!\n\n187 Q. What is the Sacrament of Penance?\nA. Penance is a Sacrament in which the sins committed after Baptism are\nforgiven.\n\nOne who has never been baptized could not go to confession and receive\nabsolution, nor indeed any of the Sacraments.\n\n*188 Q. How does the Sacrament of Penance remit sin, and restore the\nsoul to the friendship of God?\nA. The Sacrament of Penance remits sin and restores the friendship of\nGod to the soul by means of the absolution of the priest.\n\n\"Absolution\" means the words the priest says at the time he forgives the\nsins. Absolve means to loose or free. When ministers or ambassadors are\nsent by our government to represent the United States in England,\nFrance, Germany, or other countries, whatever they do there officially\nis done by the United States. If they make an agreement with the\ngovernments to which they are sent, the United States sanctions it, and\nthe very moment they sign the agreement it is signed and sanctioned by\nthe authority of our government whose representatives they are, and\ntheir official action becomes the action of the United States itself.\nBut when their term of office expires, though they remain in the foreign\ncountries, they have no longer any power to sign agreements in the name\nand with the authority of the United States.\n\nYou see, therefore, that it is the power that is given them, and not\ntheir own, that they exercise. In like manner Our Lord commissioned His\npriests and gave them the power to forgive sins, and whatever they do in\nthe Sacrament of Penance He Himself does. At the very moment the priest\npronounces the words of absolution on earth his sentence is ratified in\nHeaven and the sins of the penitent are blotted out.\n\nIt may increase your veneration for the Sacrament to know the precise\nmanner in which absolution is given. After the confession and giving of\nthe penance, the priest first prays for the sinner, saying: \"May\nAlmighty God have mercy on you, and, your sins being forgiven, bring you\nto life everlasting. Amen.\" Then, raising his right hand over the\npenitent, he says: \"May the Almighty and merciful Lord grant you pardon,\nabsolution, and remission of your sins. Amen.\" Then he continues: \"May\nOur Lord Jesus Christ absolve you, and I, by His authority, absolve you\nfrom every bond of excommunication and interdict, as far as I have power\nand you stand in need. Then I absolve you from your sins, in the name of\nthe Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.\" At these last\nwords he makes the Sign of the Cross over the penitent. In conclusion he\ndirects to God a prayer in behalf of the penitent in the following\nwords: \"May the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the merits of the\nBlessed Virgin Mary and of all the saints, and whatsoever good you may\nhave done or evil you may have suffered, be to you unto the remission of\nyour sins, the increase of grace, and the recompense of everlasting\nlife. Amen.\" Then the priest says, \"God bless you,\" \"Go in peace,\" or\nsome other expression showing his delight at your reconciliation with\nGod.\n\n*189 Q. How do you know that the priest has the power of absolving from\nthe sins committed after Baptism?\nA. I know that the priest has the power of absolving from sins committed\nafter Baptism, because Jesus Christ granted that power to the priests of\nHis Church when He said: \"Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose sins you\nshall forgive, they are forgiven them; whose sins you shall retain, they\nare retained.\"\n\nEvery Christian knows Our Lord Himself had power to forgive sins:--(1)\nbecause He was God, and (2) because He often did forgive them while on\nearth, and proved that He did by performing some miracle; as, for\nexample (Mark 2; John 5), when He cured the poor men who had been sick\nand suffering for many years, He said to them, \"Thy sins are forgiven\nthee; arise, take up thy bed, and walk,\" and the men did so. Since Our\nLord had the power Himself, He could give it to His Apostles if He\nwished, and He did give it to them and their successors. For if He did\nnot, how could we and all others who, after Baptism, have fallen into\nsin be cleansed from it? This Sacrament of Penance was for all time, and\nso He left the power with His Church, which is to last as long as there\nis a living human being upon the earth. Our Lord promised to His\nApostles before His death this power to forgive sins (Matt. 18:18), and\nHe gave it to them after His resurrection (John 20:23), when He appeared\nto them and breathed on them, and said: \"Whose sins you shall forgive,\nthey are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are\nretained.\"\n\n*190 Q. How do the priests of the Church exercise the power of forgiving\nsins?\nA. The priests of the Church exercise the power of forgiving sins by\nhearing the confession of sins, and granting pardon for them as\nministers of God and in His name.\n\nThe power to forgive sins implies the obligation of going to confession;\nbecause, as most sins are secret, how could the Apostles know what sins\nto forgive and what sins to retain--that is, not to forgive--unless they\nwere told by the sinner what sins he had committed? They could not see\ninto his heart as God can, and know his sins; and so if the sinner\nwished his sins forgiven, he had to confess them to the Apostles or\ntheir successors. Therefore, since we have the Sacrament of Penance, we\nmust also have confession.\n\n191 Q. What must we do to receive the Sacrament of Penance worthily?\nA. To receive the Sacrament of Penance worthily we must do five things:\n\n(1) We must examine our conscience.\n(2) We must have sorrow for our sins.\n(3) We must make a firm resolution never more to offend God.\n(4) We must confess our sins to the priest.\n(5) We must accept the penance which the priest gives us.\n\nWhen we are about to go to confession the first thing we should do is to\npray to the Holy Ghost to give us light to know and remember all our\nsins; to fully understand how displeasing they are to God, and to have a\ngreat sorrow for them, which includes the resolution of never committing\nthem again. The next thing we should do is:\n\n(1) \"Examine our conscience\"; and first of all we find out how long a\ntime it is since our last confession, and whether we made a good\nconfession then and received Holy Communion and performed our penance.\nThe best method of examining is to take the Commandments and go over\neach one in our mind, seeing if we have broken it, and in what way; for\nexample: First. \"I am the Lord thy God; thou shalt not have strange gods\nbefore Me.\" Have I honored God? Have I said my prayers morning and\nnight; have I said them with attention and devotion? Have I thanked God\nfor all His blessings? Have I been more anxious to please others than to\nplease God, or offended Him for the sake of others? Second \"Thou shalt\nnot take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.\" Have I cursed? Have I\ntaken God's name in vain or spoken without reverence of holy things?\nThird. \"Remember thou keep holy the Sabbath day.\" Have I neglected to\nhear Mass through my own fault on Sundays and holy days of obligation?\nHave I kept others from Mass? Have I been late, and at what part of the\nMass did I come in? Have I been willfully distracted at Mass or have I\ndistracted others? Have I done servile work without necessity? Fourth.\n\"Honor thy father and thy mother.\" Have I been disobedient to parents or\nothers who have authority over me--to spiritual or temporal superiors,\nteachers, etc.? Have I slighted or been ashamed of parents because they\nwere poor or uneducated? Have I neglected to give them what help I could\nwhen they were in need of it? Have I spoken of them with disrespect or\ncalled them names that were not proper? Fifth. \"Thou shalt not kill.\"\nHave I done anything that might lead to killing? Have I been angry or\nhave I tried to take revenge? Have I borne hatred or tried to injure\nothers? Have I given scandal? Sixth. \"Thou shalt not commit adultery.\"\nHave I indulged in any bad thoughts, looked at any bad pictures or\nobjects, listened to any bad conversation, told or listened to bad or\nimmodest jokes or stories, or, in general, spoken of bad things? Have I\ndone any bad actions or desired to do any while alone or with others?\nSeventh. \"Thou shalt not steal.\" Have I stolen anything myself or helped\nor advised others to steal? Have I received anything or part of anything\nthat I knew to be stolen? Do I owe money and not pay it when I can? Have\nI bought anything with the intention of never paying for it or at least\nknowing I never could pay for it? Have I made restitution when told to\ndo so by my confessor; or have I put it off from time to time? Have I\nfailed to give back what belonged to another? Have I found anything and\nnot tried to discover its owner, or have I kept it in my possession\nafter I knew to whom it belonged? Have I cheated in business or at\ngames? Eighth. \"Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.\"\nHave I told lies or injured anyone by my talk? Have I told the faults of\nothers without any necessity? It is not allowed to tell the faults of\nothers--even when you tell the truth about them--unless some good comes\nof the telling. Ninth. \"Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife.\" This\ncan come into our examination on the Sixth Commandment. Tenth. \"Thou\nshalt not covet thy neighbor's goods.\" This can come into our\nexamination on the Seventh Commandment.\n\nAfter examining yourself on the Commandments of God, examine yourself on\nthe Commandments of the Church.\n\nFirst. \"To hear Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation.\" This has\nbeen considered in the examination on the Third Commandment. Second \"To\nfast and abstain on the days appointed.\" Have I knowingly eaten meat on\nAsh Wednesday or the Fridays of Lent, or not done some chosen penance on\nthe other Fridays of the year, or not fasted on Ash Wednesday or Good\nFriday, unless I had good reason not to do so on account of poor health\nor other reason? Third. \"To confess at least once a year.\" Is it over a\nyear, and how much over it, since I have been to confession? Fourth. \"To\nreceive Holy Eucharist during the Easter time.\" Did I go to Holy\nCommunion between the first Sunday of Lent and Trinity Sunday? If not, I\nhave committed a mortal sin. Fifth. \"To contribute to the support of our\npastors.\" Have I helped the church and reasonably paid my share of its\nexpenses--given to charity and the like, or have I made others pay for\nthe light, heat, and other things that cost money in the church, and\nshared in their benefits without giving according to my means? Have I\nkept what was given me for the church or other charity, or stolen from\nthe church and not stated that circumstance when I confessed that I\nstole? Sixth. \"Not to marry persons who are not Catholics, or who are\nrelated to us within the third degree of kindred, or privately without\nwitnesses, nor to solemnize marriage at forbidden times.\" Have I\nanything to tell on this Commandment?\n\nAfter examining yourself on the Commandments of God and of His Church,\nexamine yourself on the capital sins, especially on \"Pride.\" Have I been\nimpudent and stubborn, vain about my dress, and the like? Have I\ndespised others simply on account of poverty or something they could not\nhelp? \"Gluttony.\" Have I ever taken intoxicating drink to excess or\nbroken a promise not to take it? Have I knowingly caused others to be\nintoxicated? \"Sloth.\" Have I wasted my time willfully and neglected to\ndo my duty at school or elsewhere? After examining yourself on the\nCommandments and capital sins, examine yourself on the duties of your\nstate of life. If you are at school, how have you studied? You should\nstudy not alone to please your parents or teachers, but for the sake of\nlearning. If you are at work, have you been faithful to your employer,\nand done your work well and honestly?\n\nThe above method is generally recommended as the best in the examination\nof conscience. But you need not follow these exact questions; you can\nask yourself any questions you please: the above questions are given\nonly as examples of what you might ask, and to show you how to question\nyourself. It is useless to take any list of sins in a prayerbook and\nexamine yourself by it, confessing the sins just as they are given. If\nyou do take such a list and find in it some questions or sins that you\ndo not understand, do not trouble yourself about them. In asking\nyourself the questions, if you find you have sinned against a\nCommandment, stop and consider how many times. There are few persons who\nsin against all the Commandments. Some sin against one and some against\nanother. Find out the worst sin you have and the one you have most\nfrequently committed, and be sure of telling it.\n\n(2) \"Have sorrow for our sins.\" After examining your conscience and\nfinding out the sins you have committed, the next thing is to be sorry\nfor them. The sorrow is the most essential part in the whole Sacrament\nof Penance. In this Sacrament there are, as you know, three parts:\ncontrition, confession, and satisfaction--and contrition is the most\nimportant part. When, therefore, we are preparing for confession, we\nshould spend just as much time, and even more, in exciting ourselves to\nsorrow for our sins as in the examination of our conscience. Some\npersons forget this and spend all their time examining their conscience.\nWe should pray for sorrow if we think we have none. Remember the act of\ncontrition made at confession is not the sorrow, but only an outward\nsign by which we make known to the priest that we have the sorrow in our\nhearts, and therefore we must have the sorrow before making the\nconfession--or at least, before receiving the absolution. Now what kind\nof sorrow must we have? Someone might say, I am not truly sorry because\nI cannot cry. If some of my friends died, I would be more sorry for that\nthan for my sins. Do not make any such mistakes. The true and necessary\nkind of sorrow for sin is to know that by sin you have offended God, and\nnow feel that it was very wrong, and that you have from this moment the\nfirm determination never to offend Him more. If God adds to this a\nfeeling that brings tears to your eyes, it is good, but not necessary.\n\n(3) Remember real sorrow for sin supposes and contains \"a firm\nresolution\" never to sin again. How can you say to God, \"O my God, I am\nheartily sorry,\" etc., if you are waiting only for the next opportunity\nto sin? How can we be sorry for the past if we are going to do the same\nin the future? Do you think the thief would be sorry for his past thefts\nif he had his mind made up to steal again as soon as he had the chance?\nAh, but you will say, nearly all persons sin again after confession. I\nknow that; but when they were making their confession they thought they\nnever would, and really meant never to sin again; but when temptation\ncame, they forgot the good resolution, did not use God's help, and fell\ninto sin again. I mean, therefore, that at the time you make the act of\ncontrition you must really mean what you say and promise never to sin,\nand take every means you can to keep that promise. If you do fall\nafterwards, renew your promise as quickly as possible and make a greater\neffort than before. Be on your guard against those things that make you\nbreak your promise, and then your act of contrition will be a good one.\nA person may be afraid that he will fall again, but being afraid does\nnot make his contrition worthless as long as he wishes, hopes, and\nintends never to sin again. We should always be afraid of falling into\nsin, and we will fall into it if we depend upon ourselves alone, and not\non the help which God gives us in His grace.\n\n(4) \"Confess our sins.\" Having made the necessary preparation, you will\nnext go into the confessional; and while you are waiting for the priest\nto hear you, you should say the Confiteor. When the priest turns to you,\nbless yourself and say: \"Bless me, father, for I have sinned. It is a\nmonth or a week (or whatever time it may be) since my last confession,\nand I have since committed these sins.\" Then tell your sins as you found\nthem in examining yourself. In confession you must tell only such things\nas are sins. You must not tell all the details and a long story with\nevery sin. For example, if a boy should confess that he went to see a\nfriend, and after that met another friend, and when he came home he was\nasked what had kept him, and he told a lie. Now, the going to see the\nfriend and the meeting of the other friend, and all the rest, was not a\nsin: the sin was telling the lie, and that was all that should have been\nconfessed. Therefore, tell only the sins. Then tell only your own sins,\nand be very careful not to mention anyone's name--even your own--in\nconfession. Be brief, and do not say, I broke the First Commandment or\nthe Second by doing so and so; tell the sin simply as it is, and the\npriest himself will know what Commandment you violated. Again, when you\nhave committed a sin several times a day do not multiply that by the\nnumber of days since your last confession and say to the priest, I have\ntold lies, for example, four hundred and forty-two times. Such things\nonly confuse you and make you forget your sins. Simply say, I am in the\nhabit of telling lies, about so many, three or four--or whatever number\nit may be--times a day. Never say \"sometimes\" or \"often\" when you are\ntelling the number of your sins. Sometimes might mean ten or it might\nmean twenty times. How then can the priest know the number by that\nexpression? Give the number as nearly as you can, and if you do not know\nthe whole number give the number of times a day, etc. Never say \"maybe\"\nI did so and so; because maybe you did not, and the priest cannot judge.\nTell what you consider your worst sin first, then if there be any sin\nyou are ashamed to tell or do not know how to tell, say to the priest:\n\"Father, I have a sin I am ashamed to tell, or a sin I do not know how\nto tell\"; and then the priest will ask you some questions and help you\nto tell it. But never think of going away from the confessional with\nsome sin that you did not tell. The devil sometimes tempts people to do\nthis, because he does not like to see them in a state of grace and\nfriends of God. When you are committing the sin, he makes you believe it\nis not a great sin, and that you can tell it in confession; but after\nyou have committed it he makes you believe that it is a most terrible\nsin, and that if you tell it, the priest will scold you severely. So it\nis concealed and the person leaves the confessional with a new sin upon\nhis soul--that of sacrilege. When Judas was tempted to betray Our Lord,\nhe thought thirty pieces of silver a great deal of money; and then,\nafter he had committed the sin, he cared nothing for the money, but went\nand threw it away, and thought his sin so dreadful that he hanged\nhimself, dying in despair.\n\nIt is not necessary to tell the priest the exact words you said in\ncursing or in bad conversation, unless he asks you; but simply say,\nFather, I cursed so many times. Do not speak too loud in the\nconfessional, but loud enough for the priest to hear you. If you are\ndeaf, do not go into the confessional while others are near, but wait\ntill all have been heard and then go in last, or ask the priest to hear\nyou someplace else.\n\n(5) Listen attentively to hear what \"penance\" the priest gives you, and\nsay the act of contrition while he pronounces the words of absolution;\nand above all, never leave the confessional till the priest closes the\nlittle door or tells you to go. If the priest does not say at what\nparticular time you are to say your penance, say it as soon as you can.\n\nWhen you have, told all your sins, you will say: \"For these and all the\nsins of my whole life, especially any I have forgotten, I am heartily\nsorry, and ask pardon and penance.\" Listen to the priest's advice, and\nanswer simply any question he may ask you. If you should forget a mortal\nsin in confession and remember it the same day or evening, or while you\nare still in the church, it will not be necessary to wait and go to\nconfession again. It is forgiven already, because it was included in\nyour forgotten sins; but you must tell it the next time you go to\nconfession, saying before your regular confession: In my last confession\nI forgot this sin. Of course if you tried to forget your sins your\nconfession would be invalid. It is only when you examine your conscience\nwith all reasonable care, and then after all forget some sins, that such\nforgotten sins are forgiven.\n\nNever talk or quarrel for places while waiting for confession, and never\ncheat another out of his turn in going to confession. It is unjust, it\nmakes the person angry, and lessens his good disposition for confession.\nIt creates confusion, and annoys the priest who hears the noise. If you\nare in a hurry, ask the others to allow you to go first; and if they\nwill not be contented and wait, and if you cannot wait, go some other\ntime, unless you are in the state of mortal sin. In this case you should\ngo to confession that day, no matter what the inconvenience. Spend your\ntime while waiting in praying for pardon and sorrow. Never keep the\npriest waiting for you in the confessional; pass in as soon as he is\nprepared to hear you.\n\n192 Q. What is the examination of conscience?\nA. The examination of conscience is an earnest effort to recall to mind\nall the sins we have committed since our last worthy confession.\n\n\"Worthy confession,\" because if we made bad confessions we must tell how\noften we made them, and whether we received Holy Communion after them or\nnot, and also all the sins we told in the bad confessions, and all\nothers committed since the good confession. If, for example, a boy made\na good confession in January, and in confession in February concealed a\nmortal sin and went to confession after that every month to December, he\nwould have to go back to his last good confession, and repeat all the\nsins committed since January, and also say that he had gone to\nconfession once a month and made bad confessions all these times.\n\n*193 Q. How can we make a good examination of conscience?\nA. We can make a good examination of conscience by calling to memory the\nCommandments of God, the precepts of the Church, the seven capital sins,\nand the particular duties of our state in life, to find out the sins we\nhave committed.\n\n*194 Q. What should we do before beginning the examination of\nconscience?\nA. Before beginning the examination of conscience we should pray to God\nto give us light to know our sins and grace to detest them.\n\n\n\nLesson 18\nON CONTRITION\n\n\n195 Q. What is contrition or sorrow for sin?\nA. Contrition or sorrow for sin is a hatred of sin and a true grief of\nthe soul for having offended God, with a firm purpose of sinning no\nmore.\n\n\"Offended\"--that is, done something to displease Him.\n\n*196 Q. What kind of sorrow should we have for our sins?\nA. The sorrow we should have for our sins should be interior,\nsupernatural, universal, and sovereign.\n\n*197 Q. What do you mean by saying that our sorrow should be interior?\nA. When I say that our sorrow should be interior, I mean that it should\ncome from the heart, and not merely from the lips.\n\n\"Interior\"--that is, we must really have the sorrow in our hearts. A\nboy, for example, might cry in the confessional and pretend to the\npriest to be very sorry, and the priest might be deceived and absolve\nhim; but God, who sees into our hearts, would know that he was not\nreally sorry, but only pretending, that his sorrow was not interior, but\nexterior; and God therefore would withhold His forgiveness and would not\nblot out the sins, and the boy would have a new sin of sacrilege upon\nhis soul; because it is a sacrilege to allow the priest to give you\nabsolution if you know you have not the right disposition, and you are\nnot trying to do all that is required for a good confession. So you\nunderstand you might deceive the priest and receive absolution, but God\nwould not allow the absolution to take effect, and the sins would\nremain; for if the priest knew your dispositions as God did, or as you\nknow them, he would not give you absolution till your dispositions\nchanged.\n\n*198 Q. What do you mean by saying that our sorrow should be\nsupernatural?\nA. When I say that our sorrow should be supernatural, I mean that it\nshould be prompted by the grace of God, and excited by motives which\nspring from faith, and not by merely natural motives.\n\n\"Supernatural\"--that is, we must be sorry for the sin on account of some\nreason that God has made known to us. For example, either because our\nsin is displeasing to God, or because we have lost Heaven by it, or\nbecause we fear to be punished for it in Hell or Purgatory. But if we\nare sorry for our sin only on account of some natural motive, then our\nsorrow is not of the right kind. If a man was sorry for stealing only\nbecause he was caught and had to go to prison for it, his sorrow would\nonly be natural. Or if a boy was sorry for telling lies only because he\ngot a whipping for it, his sorrow would only be natural. Or if a man was\nsorry for being intoxicated because he lost his situation and injured\nhis health, he would not have the necessary kind of sorrow. These\npersons must be sorry for stealing, lying, or being intoxicated because\nall these are sins against God--things forbidden by Him and worthy of\nHis punishment. If we are sorry for having offended God on account of\nHis own goodness, our contrition is said to be perfect. If we are sorry\nfor the sins because by them we are in great danger of being punished by\nGod, or because we have lost Heaven by them, and without any regard for\nGod's own goodness, then our contrition is said to be imperfect.\nImperfect contrition is called attrition.\n\n*199 Q. What do you mean by saying that our sorrow should be universal?\nA. When I say that our sorrow should be universal, I mean that we should\nbe sorry for our mortal sins without exception.\n\n\"Universal.\" If a person committed ten mortal sins, and was sorry for\nnine, but not for the tenth, then none of the sins would be forgiven. If\nyou committed a thousand mortal sins, and were sorry for all but one,\nnone would be forgiven. Why? Because you can never have God's grace and\nmortal sin in the soul at the same time. Now this mortal sin will be on\nyour soul till you are sorry for it, and while it is on your soul God's\ngrace will not come to you. Again, you cannot be half sorry for having\noffended God; either you must be entirely sorry, or not sorry at all.\nTherefore you cannot be sorry for only part of your mortal sins.\n\n*200 Q. What do you mean when you say that our sorrow should be\nsovereign?\nA. When I say that our sorrow should be sovereign I mean that we should\ngrieve more for having offended God than for any other evil that can\nbefall us.\n\n201 Q. Why should we be sorry for our sins?\nA. We should be sorry for our sins, because sin is the greatest of evils\nand an offense against God our Creator, Preserver, and Redeemer, and\nbecause it shuts us out of Heaven and condemns us to the eternal pains\nof Hell.\n\nWe consider an evil great in proportion to the length of time we have to\nbear it. To be blind is certainly a misfortune; but it is a greater\nmisfortune to be blind for our whole life than for one day. Sin,\ntherefore, is the greatest of all evils; because the misfortune it\nbrings upon us lasts not merely for a great many years, but for all\neternity. Even slight sufferings would be terrible if they lasted\nforever, but the sufferings for mortal sin are worse than we can\ndescribe or imagine, and they are forever. The greatest evils in this\nworld will not last forever, and are small when compared with sin. Sin\nmakes us ungrateful to God, who gives us our existence.\n\n\"Our Preserver,\" because if God ceased to watch over us and provide for\nus, even for a short time, we would cease to exist.\n\n\"Our Redeemer,\" who suffered so much for us.\n\n*202 Q. How many kinds of contrition are there?\nA. There are two kinds of contrition: perfect contrition and imperfect\ncontrition.\n\n*203 Q. What is perfect contrition?\nA. Perfect contrition is that which fills us with sorrow and hatred for\nsin because it offends God, who is infinitely good in Himself and worthy\nof all love.\n\nIt can be a very hard thing to have perfect contrition, but we should\nalways try to have it, so that our contrition may be as perfect as\npossible. This perfect contrition is the kind of contrition we must have\nif our mortal sins are to be forgiven if we are in danger of death and\ncannot go to confession. Imperfect contrition with the priest's\nabsolution will blot out our mortal sins.\n\n*204 Q. What is imperfect contrition?\nA. Imperfect contrition is that by which we hate what offends God\nbecause by it we lose Heaven and deserve Hell; or because sin is so\nhateful in itself.\n\n*205 Q. Is imperfect contrition sufficient for a worthy confession?\nA. Imperfect contrition is sufficient for a worthy confession, but we\nshould endeavor to have perfect contrition.\n\n206 Q. What do you mean by a firm purpose of sinning no more?\nA. By a firm purpose of sinning no more I mean a fixed resolve not only\nto avoid all mortal sin, but also its near occasions.\n\n\"Fixed.\" Not for a certain time, but for all the future.\n\n207 Q. What do you mean by the near occasions of sin?\nA. By the near occasions of sin I mean all the persons, places and\nthings that may easily lead us into sin.\n\n\"Occasions.\" There are many kinds of occasions of sin. First, we have\nvoluntary and necessary occasions, or those we can avoid and those we\ncannot avoid. For example: if a companion uses immodest conversation we\ncan avoid that occasion, because we can keep away from him; but if the\none who sins is a member of our own family, always living with us, we\ncannot so easily avoid that occasion. Second, near and remote occasions.\nAn occasion is said to be \"near\" when we usually fall into sin by it.\nFor instance, if a man gets intoxicated almost every time he visits a\ncertain place, then that place is a \"near occasion\" of sin for him; but\nif he gets intoxicated only once out of every fifty times or so that he\ngoes there, then it is said to be a \"remote occasion.\" Now, it is not\nenough to avoid the sins: we must also avoid the occasions. If we have a\nfirm purpose of amendment, if we desire to do better, we must be\nresolved to avoid everything that will lead us to sin. It is not enough\nto say, I will go to that place or with that person, but I will never\nagain commit the same sins. No matter what you think now, if you go into\nthe occasion, you will fall again; because Our Lord, who cannot speak\nfalsely, says: \"He who loves the danger will perish in it.\" Now the\noccasion of sin is always \"the danger\"; and if you go into it, Our\nLord's words will come true, and you will fall miserably. Take away the\ncause, take away the occasion, and then the sin will cease of itself.\nLet us suppose the plaster in your house fell down, and you found that\nit fell because there was a leak in the water-pipe above, and the water\ncoming through wet the plaster and made it fall. What is the first thing\nyour father would do in that case? Why, get a plumber and stop up the\nleak in the pipe before putting up the plaster again. Would it not be\nfoolish to engage a plasterer to repair the ceiling while the pipe was\nstill leaking? Everyone would say that man must be out of his mind: the\nplaster will fall down as often as he puts it up, and it matters not\neither how well he puts it up. If he wants it to stay up, he must first\nmend the pipe--take away the cause of its falling. Now the occasion of\nsin is like the leak in the pipe--in the case of sin, it will very\nlikely cause you to fall every time. Stop up the leak, take away the\noccasion, and then you will not fall into sin--at least not so\nfrequently.\n\n\"The persons\" are generally bad companions, and though they may not be\nbad when alone, they are bad when with us, and thus we become also bad\ncompanions for them, and occasions of sin.\n\n\"The places.\" Liquor saloons, low theaters, dance halls, and all places\nwhere we may see or hear anything against faith or morals.\n\n\"Things.\" Bad books, pictures, and the like.\n\n\n\nLesson 19\nON CONFESSION\n\n\n208 Q. What is Confession?\nA. Confession is the telling of our sins to a duly authorized priest,\nfor the purpose of obtaining forgiveness.\n\n\"Duly authorized\"--one sent by the bishop of the diocese in which you\nare.\n\n\"Forgiveness.\" You might tell a priest all your sins while in ordinary\nconversation with him, but that would not be confession, because you\nwould not be telling them to have them pardoned. If a person has lost\nthe use of his speech, he can make his confession by writing his sins on\na paper and giving it to the priest in the confessional. If the priest\nreturns the paper the penitent must be careful to destroy it afterwards.\nAlso, if you have a poor memory you may write down the sins you wish to\nconfess, and read them from the paper in the confessional; then you also\nmust be careful to destroy the paper after confession. If a person whose\nlanguage the priest does not understand is dying, or is obliged to make\nhis yearly confession, he must tell what he can by signs, show that he\nis sorry for his sins, and thus receive absolution. In a word, the\npriest would act with him as he would with one who had lost the use of\nhis speech and power to write.\n\n209 Q. What sins are we bound to confess?\nA. We are bound to confess all our mortal sins, but it is well also to\nconfess our venial sins.\n\n\"Bound\"--obliged in such a way that our confession would be bad if we\ndid not tell them.\n\n\"Well,\" because we should tell all the sins we can remember; but if we\ndid not tell a venial sin after we had told a mortal sin, our confession\nwould not be bad. Or if we committed a little venial sin after\nconfession, that should not keep us from Holy Communion; because the\nHoly Communion itself would blot out that and any other venial sin we\nmight have upon our souls: so that you should never let anything keep\nyou away, unless you are certain you have committed a mortal sin after\nthe confession, or have broken your fast.\n\n*210 Q. What are the chief qualities of a good confession?\nA. The chief qualities of a good confession are three: it must be\nhumble, sincere, and entire.\n\n*211 Q. When is our confession humble?\nA. Our confession is humble when we accuse ourselves of our sins, with a\ndeep sense of shame and sorrow for having offended God.\n\n*212 Q. When is our confession sincere?\nA. Our confession is sincere when we tell our sins honestly and\ntruthfully, neither exaggerating nor excusing them.\n\n\"Exaggerating.\" You must never tell in confession a sin you did not\ncommit, any more than conceal one you did commit. You must tell just the\nsins committed, and no more or less; and if you are in doubt whether you\nhave committed the sin, or whether the thing done was a sin, then you\nmust tell your doubts to the priest: but do not say you committed such\nand such sins when you do not know whether you did or not, or only\nbecause you think it likely that you did.\n\n*213 Q. When is our confession entire?\nA. Our confession is entire when we tell the number and kinds of our\nsins and the circumstances which change their nature.\n\n\"Number\"--the exact number, if you know it; as, for example, when we\nmiss Mass we can generally tell exactly the number of times. But when we\ntell lies, for instance, we may not know the exact number: then we say\nhow often in the day, or that it is a habit with us, etc.\n\n\"Kinds\"--whether they are cursing, or stealing, or lying, etc.\n\n\"Circumstances which change their nature.\" In the case of stealing, for\nexample, you need not tell whether it was from a grocery, a bakery, or\ndry-goods store you stole, for that circumstance does not change the\nnature of the sin: you have simply to tell the amount you took. But if\nyou stole from a church you would have to tell that, because that is a\ncircumstance that gives the sin of stealing a new character, and makes\nit sacrilegious stealing. Or if you stole from a poor beggar all he\npossessed in the world, so that you left him starving, that would be a\ncircumstance making your sin worse, and so you would have to tell it.\nTherefore you have to tell any circumstance that really makes your sin\nmuch worse or less than it seems; all other circumstances you need not\ntell: they will only confuse you, and make you forget your sins and\nwaste the priest's time.\n\n214 Q. What should we do if we cannot remember the number of our sins?\nA. If we cannot remember the number of our sins, we should tell the\nnumber as nearly as possible, and say how often we have sinned in a day,\na week, or a month and how long the habit or practice has lasted.\n\n*215 Q. Is our confession worthy if, without our fault, we forget to\nconfess a mortal sin?\nA. If without our fault we forget to confess a mortal sin, our\nconfession is worthy, and the sin is forgiven; but it must be told in\nconfession if it again comes to our mind.\n\n216 Q. Is it a grievous offense willfully to conceal a mortal sin in\nconfession?\nA. It is a grievous offense willfully to conceal a mortal sin in\nconfession, because we thereby tell a lie to the Holy Ghost, and make\nour confession worthless.\n\n\"A lie to the Holy Ghost.\" God sees every sin we commit, and in His\npresence we present ourselves to the priest in the confessional, and\ndeclare that we are confessing all. If, then, we willfully conceal a sin\nthat we are bound to confess, God is a witness to our sacrilegious lie.\nIf I see you in some place to which you were forbidden to go, and you,\nknowing that I saw you, positively deny that you were there, your guilt\nwould be doubly great, for, besides the sin of disobedience committed by\ngoing to the forbidden place, you also resist the known truth, and\nendeavor to prove that I, when I declare I saw you, am telling what is\nuntrue. In a similar manner, concealing a sin in confession is\nequivalent to denying before God that we are guilty of it. Besides, it\nis a great folly to conceal a sin, because it must be confessed sooner\nor later, and the longer we conceal it the deeper will be our sense of\nshame for the sacrileges committed. Again, why should one be ashamed to\nconfess to the priest what he has not been ashamed to do before God,\nunless he has greater respect for the priest than he has for the\nAlmighty God--an absurdity we cannot believe. Moreover, the shame you\nexperience in telling your sins is a kind of penance for them. Do you\nnot suppose Our Lord knew, when He instituted the Sacrament of Penance,\nthat people would be ashamed to confess? Certainly He did; and that act\nof humility is pleasing to God, and is a kind of punishment for your\nsins, and probably takes away some of the punishment you would have to\nsuffer for them. Often, too, the thought of having to confess will keep\nyou from committing the sin. There is another thought that should\nencourage us to gladly make a full confession of all our sins, and it is\nthis: it is easier to tell them to the priest alone than to have them\nexposed, unforgiven, before the whole world on the Day of Judgment. Do\nnot imagine that your confessor will think less of you on account of\nyour sins. The confessor does not think of your sins after he leaves the\nconfessional. How could he remember all the confessions he hears--often\nhundreds in a single month? And what is more--he does not even wish to\nrecall the sinful things heard in the confessional, because he wishes to\nkeep his own mind pure, and his soul free from every stain. The priest\nis always better pleased to hear the confession of a great sinner or of\none who has been a long time from the Sacraments, than of one who goes\nfrequently or who has little to tell. He is not glad, of course, that\nthe sinner has committed great sins, but he is glad that since he has\nhad the misfortune to sin so much, he has now the grace and courage to\nseek forgiveness. Our Lord once said (Luke 15:7) while preaching, that\nthe angels and saints in Heaven rejoice more at seeing one sinner doing\npenance than they do over ninety-nine good persons who did not need to\ndo penance. The greater the danger to which a person has been exposed,\nthe more thankful he and his friends are for escape or recovery from it.\nIf your brother fell into the ocean and was rescued just as he was going\ndown for the last time, you would feel more grateful than if he was\nrescued from some little pond into which he had slipped, and in which\nthere was scarcely any danger of his being drowned. So, also, the nearer\nwe are to losing our, souls and going to Hell, the more delighted the\nangels and saints are when we are saved. One who has escaped great\ndanger will more carefully avoid similar accidents in the future: in\nlike manner, the sinner, after having escaped the danger of eternal\ndeath by the pardon of his sins, should never again risk his salvation.\n\n217 Q. What must he do who has willfully concealed a mortal sin in\nconfession?\nA. He who has willfully concealed a mortal sin in confession must not\nonly confess it, but must also repeat all the sins he has committed\nsince his last worthy confession.\n\n\"Willfully.\" Remember, forgetting is not the same as concealing; but if\nyou should willfully neglect to examine your conscience or make any\neffort to know your sins before going to confession, then forgetting\nwould be equivalent to concealing. Without any preparation your\nconfession could hardly be a good one. When you are in doubt whether an\naction is sinful or not, or whether you have confessed it before, you\nshould not leave the confessional with the doubt upon your mind.\n\nIt is a foolish practice, however, to be always disturbing your\nconscience by thinking of past sins, especially of those that occurred\nvery early in your life. Sometimes it is dangerous; because if, while\nthinking of your past sins, you should take pleasure in them, you would\ncommit a new sin similar to the past sins in which you take delight.\n\nIt is best, therefore, not to dwell in thought upon any particular past\nsin with the time, place, and circumstances of its commission; but\nsimply to remember in general that you have in the past sinned against\nthis or that Commandment or virtue.\n\nThe past is no longer under our control, while the future is, and\nbecomes for us, therefore, the all-important portion of our lives. Not\nunfrequently it may be an artifice of the devil to keep us so occupied\nwith past deeds that we may not attend to the dangers of the future. Do\nnot, then, after your confession spend your time in thinking of the sins\nyou confessed, but of how you will avoid them in the future. When a\nwound is healed up, nobody thinks of opening it again to see if it has\nhealed properly; so when the wounds made in our souls by sin are healed\nup by the absolution, we should not open them again.\n\nThis is the rule with regard to our ordinary confessions; but we should\nsometimes make a general confession. What is a general confession? It is\nthe confession of the sins of our whole life or of a portion--say one,\ntwo or five, etc., years--of our life. A general confession may be\nnecessary, useful, or hurtful. It is necessary, as you know, when our\npast confessions were bad. It is useful, though not necessary, on\nspecial occasions in our lives; for example, in the time of a retreat or\nmission; in the time of preparation for First Communion, Confirmation,\nMatrimony, etc., or in preparing for death. It is very useful also for\npersons about to change their state of life; for such as are about to\nbecome priests or religious, etc. It is useful because it gives us a\nbetter knowledge of the state of our souls, as we see their condition\nnot merely for a month or two, but for our whole lifetime. We are\nlooking at them as God will look at them in the Last Judgment,\nconsidering all the good and evil we have ever done, and comparing the\namount of the one with the amount of the other. We resolve to increase\nthe good and diminish the evil in our future lives. We promise to do\npenance for the past and to avoid sin for the future; and thus we are\nbenefited in general confession by this judgment of ourselves, as we may\ncall it.\n\nGeneral confession is hurtful to scrupulous persons. Scrupulous persons\nare those who think almost everything they do is a sin. They are always\ndissatisfied with their confessions, and fear to approach the\nSacraments. Their conscience is never at ease, and they are forever\nunhappy. It is very wrong for them to think and act in this manner, and\nthey must use every means in their power to overcome their scruples.\n\nOur Lord in His goodness never intended to make us unhappy by\ninstituting the Sacraments, but on the contrary to make us happy, and\nset our minds and consciences at ease in the reception of His grace.\nScrupulous persons must do exactly whatever their confessor advises, no\nmatter what they themselves may think. Such persons, as you can plainly\nsee, should not make general confessions, because their consciences\nwould be more disturbed than pacified by them.\n\nYou prepare for general confession as you would for any other, except\nthat you take a longer time for it, and do not pay so much attention to\nyour more trifling sins.\n\n218 Q. Why does the priest give us a penance after confession?\nA. The priest gives us a penance after confession, that we may satisfy\nGod for the temporal punishment due to our sins.\n\n\"Penance.\" The little penance the priest gives may not fully satisfy\nGod, but shows by our accepting it that we are willing to do penance.\nWhat, for example, is a penance of five \"Our Fathers\" compared with the\nguilt of one mortal sin, for which we would have to suffer in Hell for\nall eternity? Then think of the penances performed by the Christians\nmany centuries ago, in the early ages of the Church. There were four\nstages of penance. The churches were divided into four parts by railings\nand gates. The first railing across the church was at some distance from\nthe altar, the second was a little below the middle of the church, and\nthe third was near the door. Those who committed great sins had to stand\nclad in coarse garments near the entrance of the church, and beg the\nprayers of those who entered. After they had done this kind of penance\nfor a certain time, they were allowed to come into the church as far as\nthe second railing. They were allowed to hear the sermon, but were not\npermitted to be present at the Mass. After doing sufficient penance,\nthey were allowed to remain for Mass, but could not receive Holy\nCommunion. When they had performed all the penance imposed upon them,\nthey were allowed to receive the Sacraments and enjoy all the rights and\nprivileges of faithful children of the Church. These penances lasted for\nmany days and sometimes for years, according to the gravity of the sins\ncommitted. The sins for which these severe penances were performed were\ngenerally sins that had been committed publicly, and hence the penance,\namendment, and reparation had also to be public.\n\n\"Temporal Punishment.\" Every sin has two punishments attached to it, one\ncalled the eternal and the other the temporal. Let me explain by an\nexample. If I, turning highway robber, waylay a man, beat him and steal\nhis watch, I do him, as you see, a double injury, and deserve a double\npunishment for the twofold crime of beating and robbing him. He might\npardon me for the injuries caused by the beating, but that would not\nfree me from the obligation of restoring to him his watch or its value,\nfor the fact that he forgives me for the act of stealing does not give\nme the right to keep what justly belongs to him. Now, when we sin\nagainst God we in the first place insult Him, and secondly rob Him of\nwhat is deservedly His due; namely, the worship, respect, obedience,\nlove, etc., that we owe Him as our Creator, Preserver, and Redeemer.\n\nIn the Sacrament of Penance God forgives the insult offered by sinning,\nbut requires us to make restitution for that of which the sin has\ndeprived Him. In every sin there is an act of turning away from God and\nan act of turning to some creature in His stead. If a soldier pledged to\ndefend his country deserts his army in time of war, he is guilty of a\ndishonorable, contemptible act; but if, besides deserting his own army,\nhe goes over to aid the enemy, he becomes guilty of another and still\ngreater crime--he becomes a traitor for whom the laws of nations reserve\ntheir severest penalties. By sin we, who in Baptism and Confirmation\nhave promised to serve God and war against His enemies, desert Him and\ngo over to them; for Our Blessed Lord has said: He that is not with Me\nis against Me.\n\nWe pay the temporal debt due to our sins, that is, make the restitution,\nby our penances upon earth, or by our suffering in Purgatory, or by both\ncombined.\n\nThe penances performed upon earth are very acceptable and pleasing to\nGod; and hence we should be most anxious to do penance here that we may\nhave less to suffer in Purgatory. St. Augustine, who had been a great\nsinner, often prayed that God might send him many tribulations while on\nearth, that he might have less to endure in Purgatory. Therefore, after\nperforming the penance the priest gives you in the confessional, it is\nwise to impose upon yourself other light penances in keeping with your\nage and condition, but never undertake severe penances or make religious\nvows and promises without consulting your confessor. In every case be\ncareful first of all to perform the penance imposed upon you in the\nreception of the Sacrament. The penance given in confession has a\nspecial value, which none of the penances selected by yourself could\nhave.\n\nIf you forget to say your penance, your confession is not on that\naccount worthless; but as the penance is one of the parts of the\nSacrament, namely, the satisfaction, you should say it as soon as\npossible, and in the manner your confessor directs. If you cannot\nperform the penance imposed by your confessor, you should inform him of\nthat fact, and ask him to give you another in its stead.\n\nIndulgences also are a means of satisfying for this temporal punishment.\nSometimes God inflicts the temporal punishment in this world by sending\nus misfortunes or sufferings, especially such as are brought on by the\nsins committed.\n\n*219 Q. Does not the Sacrament of Penance remit all punishment due to\nsin?\nA. The Sacrament of Penance remits the eternal punishment due to sin,\nbut it does not always remit the temporal punishment which God requires\nas satisfaction for our sins.\n\nRemember that Baptism differs from Penance in this respect, that\nalthough they both remit sin, Penance does not take away all the\ntemporal punishment, while Baptism takes away all the punishment, both\neternal and temporal; so that if we died immediately after Baptism we\nwould go directly to Heaven, while if we died immediately after Penance\nwe would generally go to Purgatory to make satisfaction for the temporal\ndebt.\n\n*220 Q. Why does God require a temporal punishment as a satisfaction for\nsin?\nA. God requires a temporal punishment as a satisfaction for sin to teach\nus the great evil of sin, and to prevent us from failing again.\n\n*221 Q. Which are the chief means by which we satisfy God for the\ntemporal punishment due to sin?\nA. The chief means by which we satisfy God for the temporal punishment\ndue to sin are: prayer, fasting, almsgiving, all spiritual and corporal\nworks of mercy, and the patient suffering of the ills of life.\n\n\"Chief,\" but not the only means. \"Fasting,\" especially the fasts imposed\nby the Church--in Lent for instance. Lent is the forty days before\nEaster Sunday during which we fast and pray to prepare ourselves for the\nresurrection of Our Lord, and also to remind us of His own fast of forty\ndays before His Passion. \"Almsgiving\"--that is, money or goods given to\nthe poor. \"Spiritual\" works of mercy are those good works we do for\npersons' souls. \"Corporal\" works of mercy are those we do for their\nbodies. \"Ills of life\"--sickness or poverty or misfortune, especially\nwhen we have not brought them upon ourselves by sin.\n\n*222 Q. Which are the chief spiritual works of mercy?\nA. The chief spiritual works of mercy are seven: to admonish the sinner,\nto instruct the ignorant, to counsel the doubtful, to comfort the\nsorrowful, to bear wrongs patiently, to forgive all injuries, and to\npray for the living and the dead.\n\n\"To admonish the sinner.\" If we love our neighbor we should help him in\nhis distress, even when it is an inconvenience to us. We should help him\nalso to correct his faults, we should point them out and warn him of\nthem. We are obliged to do so in the following circumstances: First.\nWhen his fault is a mortal sin. Second. When we have some authority or\ninfluence over him. Third. When there is reason to believe that our\nwarning will make him better instead of worse. If our advice only makes\nhim worse, then we should not say anything to him about his fault, but\nkeep out of his company ourselves. \"Ignorant\" especially in their\nreligion. \"Doubtful\" about something in religion which you can explain\nand make clear to them. \"Comfort,\" saying kind words of encouragement to\nthem. \"Wrongs,\" things not deserved; for example, persons talking ill\nabout us, accusing us falsely, etc.; but if the false accusations, etc.,\nare going to give scandal, then we must defend ourselves against them.\nIf, for instance, lies were told about the father of a family, and it\nwere likely all his children would believe them and lose their respect\nfor his authority, then he must let them know the truth. But when we\npatiently suffer wrongs that injure only ourselves, and that are known\nonly to God and ourselves, God sees our sufferings and rewards us. What\nmatters it what people think we are if God knows all our doings and is\npleased with them? \"Living\"--especially for the conversion of sinners,\nor for those who are on their deathbed. \"The dead\"--those suffering in\nPurgatory, especially if we have ever caused them to sin.\n\n*223 Q. Which are the chief corporal works of mercy?\nA. The chief corporal works of mercy are seven: to feed the hungry, to\ngive drink to the thirsty, to clothe the naked, to ransom the captive,\nto harbor the harborless, to visit the sick, and to bury the dead.\n\n\"Ransom the captive\"--that is, chiefly those who while teaching or\ndefending the true religion in pagan lands are taken prisoners by the\nenemies of our faith. You have perhaps heard of the Crusades or read\nabout them in your history. Now let me briefly tell you what they were\nand why they were commenced. About the year 570, that is, about thirteen\nhundred years ago, when the Christian religion was spread over nearly\nthe whole world, a man named Mahomet was born in Arabia. He pretended to\nbe a great prophet sent from God, and gathered many followers about him.\nHe told them his religion must be spread by the sword. He plundered\ncities and towns, and divided the spoils with his followers. He told\nthem that all who died fighting for him would certainly go to Heaven. In\na short time his followers became very numerous; for his religion was an\neasy and profitable one, allowing them to commit sin without fear of\npunishment, and giving them share of his plunder. Many others not\ninfluenced by these motives joined his religion for fear of being put to\ndeath. His followers were afterwards called by the general name of\nSaracens. They took possession of the Holy Land, of the City of\nJerusalem, of the tomb of Our Lord, and of every spot rendered dear to\nChristians by Our Saviour's life and labors there. They persecuted the\nChristians who went to visit the Holy Land, and put many of them to\ndeath. When the news of these dreadful crimes reached Europe, the\nChristian kings and princes, at the request of the Pope, raised large\narmies and set out for the East to war against the Saracens and recover\nthe Holy Land. Eight of these expeditions, or Crusades, as they are\ncalled, went out during two hundred years, that is, from 1095 to 1272.\nThose who took part in them are called Crusaders, from the word cross,\nbecause every soldier wore a red cross upon his shoulder.\n\nSome of these expeditions were successful, and some were not; but, on\nthe whole, they prevented the Saracens from coming to Europe and taking\npossession of it. Many of the Christian soldiers and many of the\npilgrims who visited the Holy Land were taken prisoners by the Saracens\nand held, threatened with death, till the Christians in Europe paid\nlarge sums of money as a ransom for their liberty. To free these\ncaptives was a great act of charity, and is one of the corporal works of\nmercy. Ransom means to pay money for another's freedom. Even now there\nare sometimes captives in pagan lands.\n\nA pilgrim is one who goes on a journey to visit some holy place for the\npurpose of thus honoring God. He would not be a pilgrim if he went\nmerely through curiosity. He must go with the holy intention of making\nhis visit an act of worship. In our time pilgrimages to the Holy Land,\nto Rome, and other places are quite frequent. \"To harbor\"--that is, to\ngive one who has no home a place of rest. A harbor is an inlet of the\nocean where ships can rest and be out of danger; so we can also call the\nhome or place of rest given to the homeless a harbor. \"Sick,\" especially\nthe sick poor and those who have no friends. \"To bury\" those who are\nstrangers and have no friends. All Christians are bound to perform these\nworks of mercy in one way or another. We have been relieved to some\nextent of doing the work ourselves by the establishment of institutions\nwhere these things are attended to by communities of holy men or women\ncalled religious. They take charge of asylums for the orphans, homes for\nthe aged and poor, hospitals for the sick, etc., while many devote\nthemselves to teaching in colleges, academies, and schools. But if these\ngood religious do the work for us, we are obliged on our part to give\nthem the means to carry it on. Therefore we should contribute according\nto our means to charitable institutions, and indeed to all institutions\nthat promote the glory of God and the good of our religion. To explain\nmore fully, religious are self-sacrificing men and women who, wishing to\nfollow the evangelical counsels, dedicate their lives to the service of\nGod. They live together in communities approved by the Church, under the\nrule and guidance of their superiors. Their day is divided between\nprayer, labor, and good works, more time being given to one or other of\nthese according to the special end or aim of the community. The houses\nin which they live are called convents or monasteries, and the societies\nof which they are members are called religious orders, communities, or\ncongregations. In some of these religious communities of men all the\nmembers are priests, in others some are priests and some are brothers,\nand in others still all are brothers. Priests belonging to the religious\norders are called the regular clergy, to distinguish them from the\nsecular clergy or priests who live and labor in the parishes to which\nthey are assigned by their bishops. Sisters and nuns mean almost the\nsame thing, but we generally call those nuns who live under a more\nsevere rule and never leave the boundaries of their convent. In like\nmanner friars, monks, and brothers lead almost the same kind of life,\nexcept that the monks practice greater penances and live under stricter\nrules. A hermit is a holy man who lives alone in some desert or lonely\nplace, and spends his life in prayer and mortification. In the early\nages of the Church there were many of these hermits, or Fathers of the\ndesert, but now religious live together in communities.\n\nThe members of religious orders of men or women take three vows, namely,\nof poverty, chastity, and obedience. These orders were founded by holy\npersons for some special work approved of by the Church. Thus the\nDominicans were founded by St. Dominic, and their special work was to\npreach the Gospel and convert heretics or persons who had fallen away\nfrom the Faith. The Jesuit Fathers were organized by St. Ignatius\nLoyola, and their work is chiefly teaching in colleges, and giving\nretreats and missions. So also have the Redemptorists, Franciscans,\nPassionists, etc., their special works, chiefly the giving of missions.\nIn a word, every community, of either men or women, must perform the\nparticular work for which it was instituted.\n\nBut why, you will ask, are there different religious orders? In the\nfirst place, all persons are not fitted for the same kind of work: some\ncan teach, others cannot; some can bear the fatigue of nursing the sick,\nand others cannot. Secondly, when Our Lord was on earth He performed\nevery good work and practiced every virtue perfectly. He fasted, prayed,\nhelped the needy, comforted the sorrowful, healed the sick, taught the\nignorant, defended the oppressed, admonished sinners, etc. It would be\nimpossible for any one community to imitate Our Lord in all His works,\nso each community takes one or more particular works of Our Lord, and\ntries to imitate Him as perfectly as possible in these at least. Some\ncommunities devote their time to prayer; others attend the sick; others\nteach, etc.; and thus when all unite their different works the combined\nresult is a more perfect imitation of Our Lord's life upon earth.\n\n\n\nLesson 20\nON THE MANNER OF MAKING A GOOD CONFESSION\n\n\n*224 Q. What should we do on entering the confessional?\nA. On entering the confessional we should kneel, make the Sign of the\nCross, and say to the priest: \"Bless me, Father\"; then add, \"I confess\nto Almighty God, and to you, Father, that I have sinned.\"\n\n*225 Q. Which are the first things we should tell the priest in\nconfession?\nA. The first things we should tell the priest in confession are the,\ntime of our last confession and whether we said the penance and went to\nHoly Communion.\n\n*226 Q. After telling the time of our last confession and Communion,\nwhat should we do?\nA. After telling the time of our last confession and Communion we should\nconfess all the mortal sins we have since committed, and all the venial\nsins we may wish to mention.\n\n\"We may wish.\" We should tell every real sin we have never confessed. If\nwe have no mortal sin to confess, it is well to tell some kind of mortal\nsin we have committed in our past life, though confessed before. We\nshould do this because when we have only very small sins to confess\nthere is always danger that we may not be truly sorry for them, and\nwithout sorrow there is no forgiveness. But when we add to our\nconfession some mortal sin that we know we are sorry for, then our\nsorrow extends to all our sins, and makes us certain that our confession\nis a good one. If you should hear the sin of another person while you\nare waiting to make your own confession, you must keep that sin secret\nforever. If the person in the confessional is speaking too loud, you\nshould move away so as not to hear; and if you cannot move, hold your\nhands on your ears so that you may not hear what is being said.\n\n*227 Q. What must we do when the confessor asks us questions?\nA. When the confessor asks us questions, we must answer them truthfully\nand clearly.\n\n*228 Q. What should we do after telling our sins?\nA. After telling our sins we should listen with attention to the advice\nwhich the confessor may think proper to give.\n\nThe priest in the confessional acts as judge, father, teacher, and\nphysician. As judge he listens to your accusations against yourself, and\npasses sentence according to your guilt or innocence. As a father and\nteacher he loves you, and tries to protect you from your enemies by\nwarning you against them, and teaching you the means to overcome them.\nBut above all, he is a physician, who will treat your soul for its ills\nand restore it to spiritual health. He examines the sins you have\ncommitted, discovers their causes, and then prescribes the remedies to\nbe used in overcoming them. When anything goes amiss with our bodily\nhealth we speedily have recourse to the physician, listen anxiously to\nwhat he has to say, and use the remedies prescribed. In the very same\nway we must follow the priest's advice if we wish our souls to be cured\nof their maladies. Just as a person who is unwell would not go one day\nto one physician and the next day to another, so a penitent should not\nchange confessors without a good reason; and if you have any choice to\nmake let it be made in the beginning, and let it rest on worthy motives.\nIn a short time your confessor will understand the state of your soul,\nas the physician who frequently examines you does the state of your\nbody. He will know all the temptations, trials, and difficulties with\nwhich you have to contend. He will see whether you are becoming better\nor worse; whether you are resisting your bad habits or falling more\ndeeply into them; also, whether the remedies given are suited to you,\nand whether you are using them properly. All this your confessor will\nknow, and it will save you the trouble of always repeating, and him the\ntrouble of always asking. Thus the better your confessor knows you and\nall the circumstances of your life, the more will he be able to help\nyou; for besides the forgiveness of your sins there are many other\nbenefits derived from the Sacrament of Penance.\n\nBut if at any time there should be danger of your making a bad\nconfession to your own confessor--on account of some feeling of false\nshame--then go to any confessor you please; for it is a thousand times\nbetter to seek another confessor than run the risk of making a\nsacrilegious confession.\n\nNever be so much attached to any one confessor that you would remain\naway from the Sacraments a long time rather than go to another in his\nabsence.\n\nYou should not consider the person in the confessional, but the power he\nexercises. You should be anxious concerning only this fact: Is there a\npriest there who was sent by Our Lord? Is there a minister of Christ\nthere who has power to pardon my sins? If so, I will humbly go to him,\nno matter who he is or what his dispositions.\n\n*229 Q. How should we end our confession?\nA. We should end our confession by saying, \"I also accuse myself of all\nthe sins of my past life,\" telling, if we choose, one or several of our\npast sins.\n\n*230 Q. What should we do while the priest is giving us absolution?\nA. While the priest is giving us absolution, we should from our heart\nrenew the Act of Contrition.\n\nAll, especially children, should know this act well before going to\nconfession.\n\n\n\nLesson 21\nON INDULGENCES\n\n\n231 Q. What is an indulgence?\nA. An indulgence is the remission in whole or in part of the temporal\npunishment due to sin.\n\nI have explained before what the temporal punishment is; namely, the\ndebt which we owe to God after He has forgiven our sins, and which we\nmust pay in order that satisfaction be made. It is, as I said, the value\nof the watch we must return after we have been pardoned for the act of\nstealing. I said this punishment must be blotted out by our penance.\nNow, the Church gives us an easy means of so doing, by granting us\nindulgences. She helps us by giving us a share in the merits of the\nBlessed Virgin and of the saints. All this we have explained when\nspeaking in the Creed of the communion of saints.\n\n*232 Q. Is an indulgence a pardon of sin, or a license to commit sin?\nA. An indulgence is not a pardon of sin, nor a license to commit sin,\nand one who is in a state of mortal sin cannot gain an indulgence.\n\nIf you are in a state of mortal sin you lose the merit of any good works\nyou perform. God promises to reward us for good works, and if we are in\nthe state of grace when we do the good works, God will keep His promise\nand give us the reward; but if we are in mortal sin, we have no right or\nclaim to any reward for good works, because we are enemies of God. For\nthis reason alone we should never remain even for a short time in mortal\nsin, since it is important for us to have all the merit we can. Even\nwhen we will not repent and return to Him, God rewards us for good works\ndone by giving us some temporal blessings or benefits here upon earth.\nHe never allows any good work to go unrewarded any more than He allows\nan evil deed to go unpunished. Although God is so good to us we\nnevertheless lose very much by being in a state of mortal sin; for God's\ngrace is in some respects like the money in a bank: the more grace we\nreceive and the better we use it, the more He will bestow upon us. When\nyou deposit money in a savings bank, you get interest for it; and when\nyou leave the interest also in the bank, it is added to your capital,\nand thus you get interest for the interest. So God not only gives us\ngrace to do good, but also grace for doing the good, or, in other words,\nHe gives us grace for using His grace.\n\n233 Q. How many kinds of indulgences are there?\nA. There are two kinds of indulgences--plenary and partial.\n\n234 Q. What is a plenary indulgence?\nA. A plenary indulgence is the full remission of the temporal punishment\ndue to sin.\n\n\"Full remission\"; so that if you gained a plenary indulgence and died\nimmediately afterwards, you would go at once to Heaven. Persons go to\nPurgatory, as you know, to have the temporal punishment blotted out; but\nif you have no temporal punishment to make satisfaction for, there is no\nPurgatory for you. Gaining a plenary indulgence requires proper\ndispositions, as you may understand from its very great advantages. To\ngain it we must not only hate sin and be heartily sorry even for our\nvenial sins, but we must not have a desire for even venial sin. We\nshould always try to gain a plenary indulgence, for in so doing we\nalways gain at least part of it, or a partial indulgence, greater or\nless according to our dispositions.\n\n235 Q. What is a partial indulgence?\nA. A partial indulgence is the remission of a part of the temporal\npunishment due to sin.\n\n*236 Q. How does the Church by means of indulgences remit the temporal\npunishment due to sins?\nA. The Church by means of indulgences remits the temporal punishment due\nto sin by applying to us the merits of Jesus Christ, and the\nsuperabundant satisfactions of the Blessed Virgin Mary and of the\nsaints, which merits and satisfactions are its spiritual treasury.\n\n\"Superabundant\" means more than was necessary. (See explanation of\ncommunion of saints in the \"Creed.\")\n\n237 Q. What must we do to gain an indulgence?\nA. To gain an indulgence we must be in a state of grace and perform the\nworks enjoined.\n\n\"Works\"--to visit certain churches or altars; to give alms; to say\ncertain prayers, etc. For a plenary indulgence it is required in\naddition to go to confession and Holy Communion, and to pray for the\nintention of our Holy Father the Pope; for this last requirement it is\nsufficient to recite one Our Father and one Hail Mary. Now, what does\npraying for the intention of the Pope or bishop or anyone else mean? It\ndoes not mean that you are to pray for the Pope himself, but for\nwhatever he is praying for or wishes you to pray for. For instance, on\none day the Holy Father may be praying for the success of some missions\nthat he is establishing in pagan lands; on another, he may be praying\nthat the enemies of the Church may not succeed in their plans against\nit; on another, he may be praying for the conversion of some nation, and\nso on; whatever he is praying for or wishes you to pray for is called\nhis intention.\n\nThere are three basic ways of gaining a partial indulgence. A partial\nindulgence can be gained by: 1) raising one's heart to God amidst the\nduties and trials of life and making a pious invocation, even only\nmentally; 2) giving of oneself or one's goods to those in need; 3)\nvoluntarily depriving oneself of something pleasing, in a spirit of\npenance.\n\nA partial indulgence is also granted for reciting various well-known\nprayers, such as the acts of faith, hope, charity and contrition, and\nfor performing certain acts of devotion, such as making a Spiritual\nCommunion.\n\nTo gain an indulgence you must also have the intention of gaining it.\nThere are many prayers that we sometimes say to which indulgences are\nattached, and we do not know it. How can we gain them? By making a\ngeneral intention every morning while saying our prayers to gain all the\nindulgences we can during the day, whether we know them or not. For\nexample, there is a partial indulgence granted us every time we devoutly\nmake the Sign of the Cross or devoutly use an article of devotion, such\nas a crucifix or scapular, properly blessed by any priest. Many may not\nknow of these indulgences; but if they have the general intention\nmentioned above, they will gain the indulgence every time they perform\nthe work. In the same way, by having this intention all those who are in\nthe habit of going to confession every two weeks are able to gain a\nplenary indulgence when they fulfill the other prescribed conditions for\ngaining a plenary indulgence, even when they do not know that they are\ngaining the indulgence.\n\nSince partial indulgences were formerly designated by specific amounts\nof time, you sometimes see printed after a little prayer: An indulgence\nof forty days, or, an indulgence of one hundred days, or of a year, etc.\nWhat does that mean? Does it mean that a person who said that prayer\nwould get out of Purgatory forty days sooner than he would have if he\nhad not said it? No. I told you how the early Christians were obliged to\ndo public penance for their sins; to stand at the door of the church and\nbeg the prayers of those entering. Sometimes their penance lasted for\nforty days, sometimes for one hundred days, and sometimes for a longer\nperiod. By an indulgence of forty days the Church granted the remission\nof as much of the temporal punishment as the early Christians would have\nreceived for doing forty days' public penance. Just how much of the\ntemporal punishment God blotted out for forty days' public penance we do\nnot know; but whatever it was, God blotted out just the same for one who\ngained an indulgence of forty days by saying a little prayer to which\nthe indulgence was attached. But why, you may wonder, did the early\nChristians do such penances? Because in those days their faith was\nstronger than ours, and they understood better than we do the malice of\nsin and the punishment it deserves. Later the Christians grew more\ncareless about their religion and the service of God. The Church,\ntherefore, wishing to save its children, made it easier for them to do\npenance. If it had continued to impose the public penances, many would\nnot have performed them, and thus would have lost their souls.\n\n\n\nLesson 22\nON THE HOLY EUCHARIST\n\n\n238 Q. What is the Holy Eucharist?\nA. The Holy Eucharist is the Sacrament which contains the body and\nblood, soul and divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ under the appearances\nof bread and wine.\n\nWhen we say \"contains,\" we mean the Sacrament which is the body and\nblood, etc. The Holy Eucharist is the same living body of Our Lord which\nHe had upon earth; but it is in a new form, under the appearances of\nbread and wine. Therefore Our Lord in the tabernacle can see and hear\nus.\n\n*239 Q. When did Christ institute the Holy Eucharist?\nA. Christ instituted the Holy Eucharist at the Last Supper, the night\nbefore He died.\n\n\"Last Supper,\" on Holy Thursday night. (See Explanation of the Passion,\nLesson 8, Question 78.)\n\n*240 Q. Who were present when Our Lord instituted the Holy Eucharist?\nA. When Our Lord instituted the Holy Eucharist the twelve Apostles were\npresent.\n\n*241 Q. How did Our Lord institute the Holy Eucharist?\nA. Our Lord instituted the Holy Eucharist by taking bread, blessing,\nbreaking, and giving to His Apostles, saying: \"Take ye and eat. This is\nMy body\"; and then by taking the cup of wine, blessing and giving it,\nsaying to them: \"Drink ye all of this. This is My blood which shall be\nshed for the remission of sins. Do this for a commemoration of Me.\"\n\n\"Eucharist\" means thanks. Hence this Sacrament is called Eucharist,\nbecause Our Lord gave thanks before changing the bread and wine into His\nbody and blood, and because the offering of it to God is the most solemn\nact of thanksgiving. \"Do this\"--that is, the same thing I am doing,\nnamely, changing bread and wine into My body and blood.\n\"Commemoration\"--that is, to remind you of Me, that you may continue to\ndo the same till the end of time.\n\n*242 Q. What happened when Our Lord said, \"This is My body, this is My\nblood\"?\nA. When Our Lord said, \"This is My body,\" the substance of the bread was\nchanged into the substance of His body. When He said, \"This is My\nblood,\" the substance of the wine was changed into the substance of His\nblood.\n\n\"Substance\" literally means that which stands underneath. Underneath\nwhat? Underneath the outward appearances or qualities--such as color,\ntaste, figure, smell, etc.--that are perceptible to our senses.\nTherefore we never see the substance of anything. Of this seat, for\ninstance, I see the color, size, and shape; I feel the hardness, etc.;\nbut I do not see the substance, namely, the wood of which it is made.\nWhen the substance of anything is changed, the outward appearances\nchange with it. But not so in the Holy Eucharist; for by a miracle the\nappearances of bread and wine remain the same after the substance has\nbeen changed as they were before. As the substance alone is changed in\nthe Holy Eucharist, and as I cannot see the substance, I cannot see the\nchange. I am absolutely certain, however, that the change takes place,\nbecause Our Lord said so; and I believe Him, because He could not\ndeceive me. He is God, and God could not tell a lie, because He is\ninfinite truth. This change is a great miracle, and that is the reason\nwe cannot understand it, though we believe it. Once at a marriage in\nCana of Galilee (John 2) Our Lord changed water into wine. The people\nwere poor, and Our Lord, His Blessed Mother, and the Apostles were\npresent at the wedding when the wine ran short; and our Blessed Lady,\nalways so kind to everyone, wishing to spare these poor people from\nbeing shamed before their friends, asked Our Lord to perform the\nmiracle, and at her request He did so, and changed many vessels of water\ninto the best of wine. In that miracle Our Lord changed the substance of\nthe water into the substance of the wine. Why, then, could He not change\nin the same way and by the same power the substance of bread and wine\ninto the substance of His own body and blood? When He changed the water\ninto wine, besides changing the substance, He changed everything else\nabout it; so that it had no longer the appearance of water, but everyone\ncould see that it was wine. But in changing the bread and wine into His\nbody and blood He changes only the substance, and leaves everything else\nunchanged so that it still looks and tastes like bread and wine; even\nafter the change has taken place and you could not tell by looking at it\nthat it was changed. You know it only from your faith in the words of\nour divine Lord, when He tells you it is changed.\n\nAgain, it is much easier to change one thing into another than to make\nit entirely out of nothing. Anyone who can create out of nothing can\nsurely change one thing into another. Now Our Lord, being God, created\nthe world out of nothing; and He could therefore easily change the\nsubstance of bread into the substance of flesh. I have said Our Lord's\nbody in the Holy Eucharist is a living body, and every living body\ncontains blood; and that is why we receive both the body and the blood\nof Our Lord under the appearance of the bread alone. The priest receives\nthe body and blood of Our Lord under the appearance of both bread and\nwine, while the people receive it only under the appearance of bread.\nThe early Christians used to receive it as the priest does--under the\nappearance of bread and under the appearance of wine; but the Church had\nto make a change on account of circumstances. First, all the people had\nto drink from the same chalice or cup, and some would not like that, and\nshow disrespect for the Blessed Sacrament by refusing it. Then there was\ngreat danger of spilling the precious blood, passing it from one to\nanother; and finally, some said that Christ's blood was not in His body\nunder the appearance of bread. This was false; and to show that it was\nfalse, and for the other reasons, the Church after that gave Holy\nCommunion to the people under the appearance of bread alone. The Church\nalways believes and teaches the same truths. It always believed that the\nHoly Eucharist under the appearance of bread contained also Our Lord's\nblood; but it taught it more clearly when it was denied.\n\n*243 Q. Is Jesus Christ whole and entire both under the form of bread\nand under the form of wine?\nA. Jesus Christ is whole and entire both under the form of bread and\nunder the form of wine.\n\n*244 Q. Did anything remain of the bread and wine after their substance\nhad been changed into the substance of the body and blood of Our Lord?\nA. After the substance of the bread and wine had been changed into the\nsubstance of the body and blood of Our Lord there remained only the\nappearances of bread and wine.\n\n245 Q. What do you mean by the appearances of bread and wine?\nA. By the appearances of bread and wine I mean the figure, the color,\nthe taste, and whatever appears to the senses.\n\n\"Senses\"--that is, eyes, ears, etc. Thus we have the sense of seeing,\nthe sense of hearing, the sense of tasting, the sense of smelling, the\nsense of feeling.\n\nThe Holy Eucharist is the body of Our Lord just as long as the\nappearances of bread and wine remain, and when they go away Our Lord's\nbody goes also. For example, if a church, tabernacle and all, was buried\nby a great earthquake, and after many years the people succeeded in\ngetting at the tabernacle and opening it, and then found in the\nciborium--that is, the vessel in which the Blessed Sacrament is kept in\nthe tabernacle--only black dust, Our Lord would not be there, although\nHe was there when the church was buried. He would not be there, because\nthere was no longer the appearance of bread there: it had all been\nchanged into ashes by time, and Our Lord left it when the change took\nplace. But if the appearance of bread had remained unchanged, He would\nbe there even after so many years.\n\nWhen we receive Holy Communion, the appearance of bread remains for\nabout fifteen or twenty minutes after we receive, and then it changes or\ndisappears. Therefore during these fifteen or twenty minutes that the\nappearance remains Our Lord Himself is really with us; and for that\nreason we should remain about twenty minutes after Mass on the day we\nreceive, making a thanksgiving, speaking to Our Lord, and listening to\nHim speaking to our conscience. What disrespect some people show Our\nLord by rushing out of the church immediately after Mass and Holy\nCommunion, sometimes beginning to talk or look around before making any\nthanksgiving! When you receive Holy Communion, after returning to your\nseat you need not immediately begin to read your prayerbook, but may bow\nyour head and speak to Our Lord while He is present with you. After the\nappearances of bread vanish, Our Lord's bodily presence goes also, but\nHe remains with us by His grace as long as we do not fall into mortal\nsin.\n\n*246 Q. What is this change of the bread and wine into the body and\nblood of Our Lord called?\nA. This change of the bread and wine into the body and blood of Our Lord\nis called Transubstantiation.\n\n\"Transubstantiation\"--that is, the changing of one substance into\nanother substance; for example, the changing of the wood in a seat into\nstone.\n\n*247 Q. How was the substance of the bread and wine changed into the\nsubstance of the body and blood of Christ?\nA. The substance of the bread and wine was changed into the substance of\nthe body and blood of Christ by His almighty power.\n\n*248 Q. Does this change of bread and wine into the body and blood of\nChrist continue to be made in the Church?\nA. This change of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ\ncontinues to be made in the Church by Jesus Christ through the ministry\nof His priests.\n\n249 Q. When did Christ give His priests the power to change bread and\nwine into His body and blood?\nA. Christ gave His priests the power to change bread and wine into His\nbody and blood when He said to His Apostles, \"Do this in commemoration\nof Me.\"\n\n250 Q. How do the priests exercise this power of changing bread and wine\ninto the body and blood of Christ?\nA. The priests exercise this power of changing bread and wine into the\nbody and blood of Christ through the words of consecration in the Mass,\nwhich are the words of Christ: \"This is My body; this is My blood.\"\n\n\"Consecration.\" At what part of the Mass are the words of consecration\npronounced? Just before the Elevation; that is, just before the priest\nholds up the Host and the chalice, while the altar boy rings the bell.\n\nWhen the priest is going to say Mass he prepares everything necessary in\nthe sacristy--the place or room near the altar where the sacred vessels\nand vestments are kept, and where the priest vests. He takes the\nchalice--that is, the long silver or gold goblet--out of its case; then\nhe covers it with a long, narrow, white linen cloth called a\npurificator. Over this he places a small silver or gold plate called the\npaten, on which he places a host--that is, a thin piece of white bread\nprepared for Mass, perfectly round, and about the size of the bottom of\na small drinking glass. He then covers this host with a white card,\ncalled a pall, after which he covers the chalice and all with a square\ncloth or veil that matches the vestments. Then he puts on his own\nvestments as follows: Over his shoulders the amice, a square, white\ncloth. Next the alb, a long white garment reaching down to his feet. He\ndraws it about his waist with the cincture, or white cord. He places on\nhis left arm the maniple, a short, narrow vestment. Around his neck he\nplaces the stole, a long, narrow vestment with a cross on each end. Over\nall he places the chasuble, or large vestment with the cross on the\nback. Lastly, he puts on his cap or biretta. Before going further I must\nsay something about the color and signification of the vestments. There\nare five colors used, namely, white, red, green, violet, and black.\nWhite signifies innocence, and is used on the feasts of Our Lord, of the\nBlessed Virgin, and of some saints. Red signifies love, and is used on\nthe feasts of the Holy Ghost and of the martyrs. Green signifies hope,\nand is used on Sundays from the Epiphany to Pentecost, unless some feast\nrequiring another color falls on Sunday. Violet signifies penance, and\nis used in Advent and Lent. Black signifies sorrow, and is used on Good\nFriday and in Masses for the dead. As regards the vestments themselves:\nthe amice signifies preparation to resist the attacks of the devil; the\nalb is the symbol of innocence; the cincture of charity; the maniple of\npenance; the stole of immortality; and the chasuble of love, by which we\nare enabled to bear the light burden Our Lord is pleased to lay upon us.\n\nVested as described, when the candles have been lighted on the altar,\nthe priest takes the covered chalice in his hand and goes to the altar,\nwhere, after arranging everything, he begins Mass. After saying many\nprayers, he uncovers the chalice, and the acolyte or altar boy brings up\nwine and water, and the priest puts some into the chalice. Then he says\na prayer, and offers to God the bread and wine to be consecrated. This\nis called the offertory of the Mass, and takes place after the boy\npresents the wine and water. Immediately after the Sanctus the priest\nbegins what is called the Canon of the Mass, and soon after comes to the\ntime of consecration, and has before him on the paten the white bread,\nor host, and in the chalice wine. Remember, it is only bread and wine as\nyet. After saying some prayers the priest bends down over the altar and\npronounces the words of consecration, namely, \"This is My body,\" over\nthe bread; and \"This is My blood,\" over the wine. Then there is no\nlonger the bread the priest brought out and the wine the boy gave, upon\nthe altar, but instead of both the body and blood of Our Lord. After the\nwords of consecration, the priest genuflects or kneels before the altar\nto adore Our Lord, who just came there at the words of consecration; he\nnext holds up the body of Our Lord--the Host--for the people also to see\nand adore it; he then replaces it on the altar and again genuflects. He\ndoes just the same with the chalice. This is called the Elevation. The\naltar boy then rings the bell to call the people's attention to it, for\nit is the most solemn part of the Mass. After more prayers the priest\ntakes and consumes, that is, swallows, the sacred Host and drinks the\nprecious blood from the chalice. Then the people come up to the altar to\nreceive Holy Communion. But where does the priest get Holy Communion for\nthem if he himself took all he consecrated? He opens the tabernacle, and\nthere, in a large, beautiful vessel he has small Hosts. He consecrates a\nlarge number of these small hosts sometimes while he is consecrating the\nlarger one for himself. When they are consecrated, he places them in the\ntabernacle, where they are kept with the sanctuary lamp burning before\nthem, till at the different Masses they have all been given out to the\npeople. Then he consecrates others at the next Mass, and does as before.\nThe size of the Host does not make the slightest difference, as Our Lord\nis present whole and entire in the smallest particle of the Host. A\nlittle piece that you could scarcely see would be the body of Our Lord.\nHowever, the particle that is given to the people is about the size of a\ntwenty-five-cent piece, so that they can swallow it before it melts. In\nreceiving Holy Communion you must never let it entirely dissolve in your\nmouth, for if you do not swallow it you will not receive Holy Communion\nat all.\n\nHere I might tell you what Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament is. The\npriest sometimes consecrates at the Mass two large hosts, one he\nconsumes himself, as I have told you, and the other he places in the\ntabernacle in a little gold case. When it is time for Benediction, he\nplaces this little case--made of glass and gold, about the size of a\nwatch--in the gold or silver monstrance which you see on the altar at\nBenediction. It is made to represent rays of light coming from the\nBlessed Sacrament. After the choir sings, the priest says the prayer and\ngoes up and blesses the people with the Blessed Sacrament; that is, when\nhe holds up the monstrance over the people Our Lord Himself blesses\nthem. Should we not be very anxious, therefore, to go to Benediction? If\nthe bishop came to the church, we would all be anxious to receive his\nblessing; and if our Holy Father the Pope came, everybody would rush to\nthe church. But what are they compared to Our Lord Himself? And yet when\nHe comes to give His blessing, many seem to care little about it.\nBecause Our Lord in His goodness is pleased to give us His blessing\noften, we are indifferent about it. The holy teachers and fathers of the\nChurch tell us that if we could see the sanctuary at Mass and\nBenediction as it really is, we would see it filled with angels all\nbowed down, adoring Our Lord. These good angels must be very much\ndispleased at those who are so indifferent at Mass or Benediction as not\nto pay any attention; and above all, at those who stay away. The large\nsilk cloak the priest wears at Benediction is called the cope, and the\nlong scarf that is placed over his shoulders the humeral, or Benediction\nveil. At the words of consecration, you must know, the priest does not\nsay \"This is Christ's body,\" but \"This is My body\"; for at the altar the\npriest is there in the place of Our Lord Himself. It is Our Lord who\noffers up the sacrifice, and the priest is His instrument. That is why\nthe priest wears vestments while saying Mass or performing his sacred\nduties, to remind him that he is, as it were, another person; that he is\nnot acting in his own name or right, but in the name and place of our\nBlessed Lord.\n\nI have given you in a general way a description of the Mass: let me now\nmention its particular parts by their proper names, and tell you what\nthey are. At the foot of the altar the priest says the Confiteor, a\npsalm, and other prayers as a preparation. Then he ascends the altar\nsteps--praying as he goes--and says the Introit, which is some portion\nof the Holy Scripture suitable to the feast of the day. He next says the\nKyrie Eleison, which means: Lord, have mercy on us. He then says the\nGloria, or hymn of praise, though not in all Masses. After the Gloria he\nsays the Collect, which is a collection of prayers in which the priest\nprays for the needs of the Church and of its children. This is followed\nby the Epistle, which is a part of the Holy Scripture. Then the\nMass-book is removed to the other side of the altar, and the priest\nreads the Gospel--that is, some portion of the Gospel written by the\nevangelists. After the Gospel the priest, except in some Masses, says\nthe Creed, which is a profession of his faith in the mysteries of our\nreligion. After this the priest uncovers the chalice, and offers up the\nbread and wine which is to be consecrated. This is called the Offertory\nof the Mass. The offertory is followed by the Lavabo, or washing of the\npriest's hands: first, that the priest's hands may be purified to touch\nthe Sacred Host; and, second, to signify the purity of soul he must have\nto offer the Holy Sacrifice. After saying some prayers in secret he says\nthe Preface, which is a solemn hymn of praise and thanksgiving. The\nPreface ends with the Sanctus. The Sanctus is followed by the Canon of\nthe Mass. Canon means a rule; so this part of the Mass is called the\nCanon, because it never changes. The Epistle, Gospel, prayers, etc., are\ndifferent on the different feasts, but the Canon of the Mass is always\nthe same. The Canon is the part of the Mass from the Sanctus down to the\ntime the priest again covers the chalice. After the Canon the priest\nsays the Post-Communion, or prayer after Communion; then he gives the\nblessing and goes to the other side of the altar, and ends Mass by\nsaying the last Gospel.\n\nDuring the Mass the priest frequently makes the Sign of the Cross,\ngenuflects or bends the knee before the altar, strikes his breast, etc.\nWhat do all these ceremonies mean? By the cross the priest is reminded\nof the death of Our Lord; he genuflects as an act of humility, and he\nstrikes his breast to show his own unworthiness. You will understand all\nthe ceremonies of the altar if you remember that Our Lord--the King of\nkings--is present on it, and the priest acts in His presence as the\nservants in a king's palace would act when approaching their king or in\nhis presence, showing their respect by bowing, kneeling, etc. You will\nsee this more clearly if you watch the movements of the priest at the\naltar while the Blessed Sacrament is exposed.\n\n\n\nLesson 23\nON THE END FOR WHICH THE HOLY EUCHARIST WAS INSTITUTED\n\n\n251 Q. Why did Christ institute the Holy Eucharist?\nA. Christ instituted the Holy Eucharist:\n\n(1) To unite us to Himself and to nourish our souls with His divine\n    life.\n(2) To increase sanctifying grace and all the virtues in our souls.\n(3) To lessen our evil inclinations.\n(4) To be a pledge of everlasting life.\n(5) To fit our bodies for a glorious resurrection.\n(6) To continue the sacrifice of the Cross in His Church.\n\n\"To nourish.\" The Holy Eucharist does to our souls what natural food\ndoes to our bodies. It strengthens them and makes up for the losses we\nhave sustained by sin, etc. \"A pledge,\" because it does not seem\nprobable that a person who all during life had been fed and nourished\nwith the sacred body of Our Lord should after death be buried in Hell.\n\"To fit our bodies,\" because Our Lord has promised that if we eat His\nflesh and drink His blood, that is, receive the Holy Eucharist, He will\nraise us up on the last day, or Day of Judgment. (John 6:55).\n\n*252 Q. How are we united to Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist?\nA. We are united to Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist by means of Holy\nCommunion.\n\n253 Q. What is Holy Communion?\nA. Holy Communion is the receiving of the body and blood of Christ.\n\nHoly Communion is therefore the receiving of the Sacrament of Holy\nEucharist.\n\n254 Q. What is necessary to make a good Communion?\nA. To make a good Communion it is necessary to be in a state of\nsanctifying grace, to be fasting for one hour, and to have a right\nintention.\n\n\"Fasting\"--that is, not having taken any food or drink for one hour\nbefore the time of Communion. (Water and true medicine do not break the\nfast and may be taken at any time.) What, then, are you to do, if,\nwithout thinking, you break your fast? Do not go to Communion at that\nMass; you can remain in church and receive Communion at the following\nMass. Never, never, on any account, go to Holy Communion when you have\nbroken your fast. Never let fear or shame or anything else make you do\nsuch a thing. It is no shame to break your fast by mistake; but it is a\ngreat sin to knowingly go to Communion after breaking your fast.\n\n\"A right intention\"--holy and spiritual motive, such as, to obey Our\nLord's command, to receive strength to resist temptation, or to be\nunited with Our Lord.\n\n255 Q. Does he who receives Communion in mortal sin receive the body and\nblood of Christ?\nA. He who receives Communion in mortal sin receives the body and blood\nof Christ, but does not receive His grace, and he commits a great\nsacrilege.\n\n\"The body and blood,\" because the appearance of bread and wine is there\nafter consecration, and he receives it. He who receives the Holy\nEucharist in mortal sin receives Our Lord into a filthy soul. If a great\nand highly-esteemed friend was coming to visit your house, would you not\ntake care to have everything clean and neat, and pleasing to him? And\nthe greater the dignity of the person coming, the more careful you would\nbe. But what are all the persons of dignity in the world--kings or\npopes--compared with Our Lord, who leaves the beauties of Heaven to come\nto visit our soul? and the purest we can make it is not pure enough for\nHim. But He is kind to us, and is satisfied with our poor preparation if\nHe sees we are doing our very best. But oh, what a shame to receive Him\ninto our soul without any preparation! and more horrible still, to fill\nit with vile sins, that we know are most disgusting to Him! No wonder,\ntherefore, that receiving Holy Communion unworthily is so great a crime,\nand so deserving of God's punishment. Why should not the heavenly Father\npunish us for treating His beloved Son with such shameful disrespect and\ncontempt?\n\n*256 Q. Is it enough to be free from mortal sin, to receive plentifully\nthe graces of Holy Communion?\nA. To receive plentifully the graces of Holy Communion it is not enough\nto be free from mortal sin, but we should be free from all affection to\nvenial sin, and should make acts of lively faith, of firm hope and\nardent love.\n\n*257 Q. What is the fast necessary for Holy Communion?\nA. The fast necessary for Holy Communion is the abstaining for one hour\nfrom everything which is taken as food or drink.\n\n{T.N.: The reprint book, upon which this e-text is based, contains the\nstatement, \"published . . . with minor revisions to conform with the new\nregulations on fasting and indulgences, etc.\"}\n\n\"Food or drink.\" If you swallowed a button, for example, it would not\nbreak your fast, because it is not food or drink.\n\n*258 Q. Is anyone ever allowed to receive Holy Communion when not\nfasting?\nA. Anyone in danger of death is allowed to receive Communion when not\nfasting.\n\n\"Not fasting.\" But then the Holy Communion is called by another name; it\nis called the Viaticum, and the priest uses a different prayer in giving\nit to the sick person. When a person dies, he goes, as it were, on a\njourney from this world to the next. Now, when persons are going on a\njourney they must have food to strengthen them. Our Lord wished,\ntherefore, that all His children who had to go on this most important of\nall journeys--from this world to the next--should be first strengthened\nby this sacred food, His own body and blood. The Latin word for road or\nway is via, and Viaticum therefore means food for the way. Not only are\npersons in danger of death allowed to receive when not fasting, but they\nare obliged to receive; and the priest is obliged under pain of sin to\nbring Holy Communion to the dying at any hour of the day or night.\n\nWhen I speak of a great journey from this world to the next, from earth\nto Heaven, you must not understand me to mean that it is a great many\nmiles from earth to Heaven, or that it takes a long time to go to the\nnext world. No. We cannot measure the distance, nor does it take time to\nget there. The instant we die, no matter where that happens, our soul is\nin the next world, and judged by God.\n\n*259 Q. When are we bound to receive Holy Communion?\nA. We are bound to receive Holy Communion, under pain of mortal sin,\nduring the Easter time and when in danger of death.\n\n*260 Q. Is it well to receive Holy Communion often?\nA. It is well to receive Holy Communion often, as nothing is a greater\naid to a holy life than often to receive the Author of all graces and\nthe Source of all good.\n\n*261 Q. What should we do after Holy Communion?\nA. After Holy Communion we should spend some time in adoring Our Lord,\nin thanking Him for the graces we have received and in asking Him for\nthe blessings we need.\n\n\n\nLesson 24\nON THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS\n\n\n262 Q. When and where are the bread and wine changed into the body and\nblood of Christ?\nA. The bread and wine are changed into the body and blood of Christ at\nthe consecration in the Mass.\n\n263 Q. What is the Mass?\nA. The Mass is the unbloody sacrifice of the body and blood of Christ.\n\nThe Holy Sacrifice is called Mass probably from the words the priest\nsays at the end when he turns to the people and says, \"Ite Missa est\";\nthat is, when he tells them the Holy Sacrifice is over.\n\n*264 Q. What is a sacrifice?\nA. A sacrifice is the offering of an object by a priest to God alone,\nand the consuming of it to acknowledge that He is the Creator and Lord\nof all things.\n\n\"Sacrifice.\" From the very earliest history of man we find people--for\nexample, Abel, Noe, etc.--offering up sacrifice to God; that is, taking\nsomething and offering it to God, and then destroying it to show that\nthey believed God to be the Master of life and death, and the Supreme\nLord of all things. These offerings were sometimes plants or fruits, but\nmost frequently animals.\n\nWhen men lost the knowledge of the true God and began to worship idols\nof wood and stone, they began or continued to offer sacrifice to these\nfalse gods. Very often, too, they sacrificed human beings to please, as\nthey imagined, these gods. They believed there was a god for\neverything--a god for the ocean, a god for thunder, a god for wind, for\nwar, etc.; and when anything happened that frightened or injured the\npeople, they believed that some of these gods were offended, and offered\nup sacrifice to pacify them. They had a temple in Rome called the\nPantheon, or temple of all the gods, and here they kept the idols of all\nthe gods they could think of or know. At Athens, they were afraid of\nneglecting any god whom they might thus give offense, and so they had an\naltar for the unknown god. When St. Paul came to preach, he saw this\naltar to the unknown god, and told them that was the God he came to\npreach about. (Acts 17). He preached to them the existence of the true\nGod, and showed them that there is only one God and not many gods.\n\nThey did not have these idols of wood and stone in their temples for the\nsame reason that we have images in our churches, because they believed\nthat the idols were really gods, and offered sacrifice to them, whereas\nwe know that our images are the works of men. Near the city of Jerusalem\nthere was a great idol named Molech, to which parents offered their\ninfants in sacrifice. We know, too, from the history of this country\nthat the Indians used to send a beautiful young girl in a white canoe\nover the falls of Niagara every year, as a sacrifice offered to the god\nof the falls. Even yet human sacrifices are offered up on savage\nislands. Sometimes certain animals were selected to be heathen gods. The\npeople who worship idols, animals, or other things of that kind as gods\nare called pagans, idolaters, or heathens.\n\nThe Israelites, who worshipped the true God and offered Him sacrifices\nbecause He made known to them by revelation that they should do so, had\nfour kinds of sacrifice. They offered one for sin, another in\nthanksgiving for benefits received, another as an act of worship, and\nanother to beg God's blessing. It is just for these four ends or objects\nwe offer up the one Christian sacrifice of the holy Mass. In the\nbeginning the head of the family offered sacrifice--as Noe did when he\ncame out of the Ark--but after God gave His laws to Moses He appointed\npriests to offer up the sacrifices. Aaron, the brother of Moses, was the\nfirst priest appointed, and after him his descendants were priests. When\nOur Lord came and instituted a new sacrifice He established the\npriesthood of the New Law, and appointed His own priests, namely, the\nApostles, with St. Peter as their chief, and after them their lawfully\nappointed successors, the bishops of the world, with the Pope as their\nchief. The sacrifices of the Old Law were figures of the sacrifice of\nthe New Law, and were to cease at its institution; and when the ancient\nsacrifices ceased the ancient priesthood was at an end.\n\n265 Q. Is the Mass the same sacrifice as that of the Cross?\nA. The Mass is the same sacrifice as that of the Cross.\n\nBut how is the Mass a sacrifice? It is a sacrifice because at the Mass\nthe body and blood of Our Lord are offered to His heavenly Father at the\nconsecration, and afterwards consumed by the priest. In offering up the\nbody and blood of Our Lord the bread and wine are consecrated\nseparately, and kept separate on the altar at Mass to signify their\nseparation at Our Lord's death in the sacrifice of the Cross, when His\nsacred blood flowed from His body. The Holy Eucharist is also a\nSacrament, because it has the three things necessary to constitute a\nSacrament; namely, (1) The outward sign--that is, the appearance of\nbread and wine. (2) The inward grace; for it is Jesus Christ Himself,\nthe Author and Dispenser of all graces. (3) It was instituted by Our\nLord.\n\nThe Holy Eucharist is therefore both a sacrifice and a Sacrament. It is\na sacrifice when offered at Mass, and a Sacrament when we receive it and\nwhen it is reserved in the tabernacle.\n\n*266 Q. How is the Mass the same sacrifice as that of the Cross?\nA. The Mass is the same sacrifice as that of the Cross because the\noffering and the priest are the same--Christ Our Blessed Lord; and the\nends for which the sacrifice of the Mass is offered are the same as\nthose of the sacrifice of the Cross.\n\nOn the Cross the offering was the body and blood of Our Lord; the one\nwho offered it was Our Lord; the reason for which He offered it was that\nHe might atone for sin; the one to whom He offered it was His heavenly\nFather. Now, at Mass it is the same. The object offered is Our Lord's\nbody and blood, the one suffering is Our Lord Himself, through the\npriest; it is offered for sin, and it is offered to the heavenly Father.\nAll things are the same, except that the blood of Our Lord is not shed,\nand Our Lord does not die again.\n\n*267 Q. What are the ends for which the sacrifice of the Cross was\noffered?\nA. The ends for which the sacrifice of the Cross was offered were:\nfirst, to honor and glorify God; second, to thank Him for all the graces\nbestowed on the whole world; third, to satisfy God's justice for the\nsins of men; fourth, to obtain all graces and blessings.\n\n*268 Q. Is there any difference between the sacrifice of the Cross and\nthe sacrifice of the Mass?\nA. Yes; the manner in which the sacrifice is offered is different. On\nthe Cross Christ really shed His blood and was really slain; in the Mass\nthere is no real shedding of blood nor real death, because Christ can\ndie no more; but the sacrifice of the Mass, through the separate\nconsecration of the bread and the wine, represents His death on the\nCross.\n\n269 Q. How should we assist at Mass?\nA. We should assist at Mass with great interior recollection and piety\nand with every outward mark of respect and devotion.\n\nIf you were admitted into the presence of a king or of the Holy Father\nyou would be careful not to show any indifference or disrespect in his\npresence. You would not be guilty of looking around or of talking idly\nto those near you. Your eyes would be constantly fixed on the great\nperson present. So should you be at Mass, for there you are admitted\ninto the presence of the King of kings, our divine Lord. Your whole\nattention, therefore, should be reverently given to Him, and to no\nother. How displeasing it must be to Him to have some in His presence\nwho care so little for Him and who insult Him without thought or regard!\nIf we acted in the presence of any prince as we sometimes act in the\npresence of Our Lord on the altar, we should be turned out of his house,\nwith orders not to come again. But Our Lord suffers all patiently and\nmeekly, though He will not allow any of this disrespect to go unpunished\nin this world or in the next. Knowing this, some holy persons offer up\ntheir prayers and Holy Communions in reparation for these insults, and\ntry to atone for all the insults offered to Our Lord in the Blessed\nSacrament. They have united in holy society for this purpose, called the\nApostleship of Prayer, or League of the Sacred Heart, now established in\nmany parishes. If you do not belong to such a society, you should make\nsuch an offering yourself privately.\n\nIn the Old Law the people brought to the temple whatever they wished the\npriests to offer up for them--sometimes a lamb, sometimes a dove,\nsometimes fruit, etc. The offering or sacrifice was theirs, and they\noffered it up by the hands of the priests. In the early ages of the\nChurch the Christians brought to the priests the bread and wine to be\nconsecrated and offered up at Mass. Now as the bread and wine used at\nthe Mass must be of a particular kind, namely, wheaten bread and wine of\nthe grape, there was some danger of the people not bringing the proper\nkind: so instead of the people bringing these things themselves, the\npriests began to buy them, and the people gave him money for his own\nsupport; and thus you have the origin of offering money to the priest\nfor celebrating Mass for your intention. The money is not to pay for the\nMass, because you could not buy any sacred thing without committing sin.\nThe priest may use the money also for the candles burned, the vestments\nand sacred vessels, etc., used at the Mass. To buy a holy thing for\nmoney is the sin of simony--so called after Simon, a magician, who tried\nto bribe the Apostles to give him Confirmation when he was unworthy of\nit. To buy religious articles before they are blessed is not simony, nor\neven after they are blessed, if you pay only for the material of which\nthey are made; but if you tried to buy the blessing, it would be simony.\nWhen the Holy Mass is offered, the fruits or benefits of it are divided\ninto four classes. The first benefit comes to the priest who celebrates\nthe Mass; the second, to the one for whom he offers the Mass; the third\nbenefit to those who are present at it; and the fourth to all the\nfaithful throughout the world.\n\n*270 Q. Which is the best manner of hearing Mass?\nA. The best manner of hearing Mass is to offer it to God with the priest\nfor the same purpose for which it is said, to meditate on Christ's\nsufferings and death, and to go to Holy Communion.\n\nThat is, to offer it up for whatever intention the priest is offering\nit--for the dead, for the conversion of sinners, for the good of others,\netc.; but especially for the four ends of which I have already\nspoken--to worship God, thank Him, etc. \"Christ's death,\" of which it\nreminds us. \"Holy Communion,\" if we are in a state of grace, and have\nprepared to receive Communion.\n\nYou should go to Holy Communion as often as possible, and you should try\nevery day to make yourself more worthy of that great Sacrament. Think of\nit! To receive your God and Saviour into your soul, and to be united\nwith Him, as the word communion means! The early Christians used to go\nto Communion very frequently. The Church requires us to go to Holy\nCommunion at least once a year, but we should not be satisfied with\ndoing merely what is necessary to avoid mortal sin. Do we try to keep\naway from persons we love? Then if we really love Our Lord should we not\ndesire to receive Him? All good Catholics should go to Holy Communion at\nleast once a week, on Sunday. Persons wishing to lead truly holy lives\nshould go to Communion more often, or even every day.\n\nWhen we cannot go really to Communion we can merit God's grace by making\na spiritual Communion. What is a spiritual Communion? It is an earnest\ndesire to receive Communion. You prepare yourself as if you were really\ngoing to Communion; you try to imagine yourself going up, receiving the\nBlessed Sacrament, and returning to your place. Then you thank God for\nall His blessings to you as you would have done had you received. This\nis an act of devotion, and one very pleasing to God, as many holy\nwriters tell us.\n\nI cannot leave this lesson on the Holy Eucharist without telling you\nsomething of the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, now so\nuniversally practiced and so closely connected with the devotion to the\nBlessed Sacrament. The Church grants many indulgences, and Our Lord\nHimself promises many rewards to those who honor the Sacred Heart. But\nwhat do we mean by the Sacred Heart? We mean the real natural heart of\nOur Lord, to which His divinity is united as it is to His whole body.\nBut why do we adore this real, natural heart of Our Lord? We adore it\nbecause love is said to be in the heart, and we wish to return Our Lord\nlove, and gratitude for the great love He has shown to us in dying for\nus, and in instituting the Sacraments, especially the Holy Eucharist, by\nwhich He can remain with us in His sacred humanity. When Our Lord\nappeared to Saint Margaret Mary He said: \"Behold this Heart, that has\nloved men so ardently, and is so little loved in return.\" The first\nFriday of every month and the whole month of June are dedicated to the\nSacred Heart.\n\n\n\nLesson 25\nON EXTREME UNCTION AND HOLY ORDERS\n\n\n\"Unction\" means the anointing or rubbing with oil or ointment. \"Extreme\"\nmeans last. Therefore Extreme Unction means the last anointing. It is\ncalled the \"last\" because other unctions or anointings are received\nbefore it. We are anointed at Baptism on three parts of the body--on the\nbreast, the back, and the head. We are anointed on the forehead at\nConfirmation; and when priests are ordained they are anointed on the\nhands. The last time we are anointed is just before death, and it is\ntherefore very properly called the last anointing, or Extreme Unction.\nBut if the person should not die after being anointed would it still be\ncalled Extreme Unction? Yes; because at the time it was given it was\nthought to be the last. It sometimes happens that persons receive\nExtreme Unction several times in their lives, because they could receive\nit every time they were in danger of death by sickness. Suppose a person\nshould die immediately after being anointed in Baptism or Confirmation,\nwould the anointing in Baptism or Confirmation then become Extreme\nUnction? No. Because Extreme Unction is in itself a separate and\ndistinct Sacrament--a special anointing with prayers for the sick. Oil\nis used in Extreme Unction--as in Confirmation--as a sign of strength;\nfor as the priest applies the holy oil in the Sacrament, the grace of\nthe Sacrament is taking effect upon the soul. This Sacrament was\ninstituted as much for the body as for the soul, as all the prayers said\nby the priest while administering it indicate. It is given generally\nafter a person has made his confession and received the Viaticum, and\nwhen his soul is already in a state of grace; showing that it is in a\nspecial way intended for the body. It must be given only in sickness;\nfor although one might be in danger of death if the danger did not come\nfrom within, but from without, he could not be anointed. A soldier in\nbattle, persons being shipwrecked, firemen working at a great fire,\netc., could not be anointed, although they are in very great danger of\ndeath; because the danger is not from within themselves, but from\nwithout. If, however, these persons were so frightened that there was\ndanger of their dying from the fright, they could then be anointed.\n\n271 Q. What is the Sacrament of Extreme Unction?\nA. Extreme Unction is the Sacrament which, through the anointing and\nprayer of the priest, gives health and strength to the soul, and\nsometimes to the body, when we are in danger of death from sickness.\n\n\"Anointing.\" In this Sacrament the priest anoints all our senses--the\neyes, the ears, the nose, the mouth, the hands, and the feet--and at the\nsame time prays God to forgive the poor sick person all the sins he has\ncommitted by any of these. The eyes, by looking at bad objects or\npictures; the ears, by listening to bad conversation; the nose, by\nindulging too much in sensual pleasures; the mouth, by cursing, lying,\nbad conversation, backbiting, etc.; the hands, by stealing, fighting, or\ndoing sinful things; the feet, by carrying us to do wrong or to bad\nplaces. I told you already most of our sins are committed for our body,\nand the senses are the chief instruments. \"Strength to the body,\" if it\nis for our spiritual welfare. If God foresees, as He foresees all\nthings, that after our sickness we shall lead better lives and do\npenance for our sins, then He may be pleased to restore us to health,\nand give us an opportunity of making up for our past faults. But if He\nforesees that after our sickness we would again lead bad lives, and fall\nperhaps into greater sins, then He will likely take us when we are\nprepared, and will not restore us again to health. As He always knows\nand does what is best for His children, we must in sickness always be\nresigned to His holy will, and be satisfied with what He sees fit to do\nwith us.\n\n*272 Q. When should we receive Extreme Unction?\nA. We should receive Extreme Unction when we are in danger of death from\nsickness, or from a wound or accident.\n\n*273 Q. Should we wait until we are in extreme danger before we receive\nExtreme Unction?\nA. We should not wait until we are in extreme danger before we receive\nExtreme Unction, but if possible we should receive it whilst we have the\nuse of our senses.\n\nWe should always be glad to receive the grace of the Sacraments. When,\ntherefore, we are sufficiently ill to be anointed--when there is any\ndanger of death--we should send for the priest at once. If the sick\nperson has any chance of recovering, the Sacrament will help him and\nhasten the recovery; but if the priest is sent for just when the person\nis in the last agony of death, the person could not recover except by a\nmiracle, and God does not perform miracles for ordinary reasons. If you\nare in doubt whether the person is sick enough to receive the last\nSacraments, do not be the judge yourself, send for the priest and let\nhim judge; and then all the responsibility is removed from you in case\nthe person should die without the Sacraments. Very often persons are\nnear death, and their relatives do not know it. The priest, like the\ndoctor, has experience in these cases, and can judge of the danger.\nAgain, do not foolishly believe, as some seem to do, that if the priest\ncomes to anoint the sick person it will frighten him by making him think\nhe is going to die. It has never been known that the priest killed\nanyone by coming to see him; and if these same persons who are now sick\nreceive the Sacraments in the church from the very same priest, why\nshould they be afraid to receive them from him in their house? And if\nthey are so near death that a little fright would kill them, then they\nare surely sick enough to receive the Sacraments. The sick person who is\nafraid that Extreme Unction will kill him or hasten his death shows that\nhe has not the proper faith and confidence in God's grace. They who do\nnot wish to receive Holy Communion or the Holy Viaticum in their houses\ndo not want Our Lord to visit them. How ungrateful they are! When Our\nLord was on earth the people carried the sick out into the streets to\nlay them near Him that He might cure them. Now, He does not require us\nto do that, but comes Himself to the sick in the most humble manner, and\nthey refuse to receive Him. See how ungrateful, therefore, and how\nwanting in faith and devotion such persons are! If the sick person is\none who has been careless about his religion, and has for some time\nneglected to receive the Sacraments, do not wait for him to ask for the\npriest or for his consent to send for him. Few persons ever believe they\nare so near death as they really are: they are afraid to think of their\npast lives, and do not like to send for the priest, or at least they put\noff doing so, frequently till it is too late. The devil tempts them to\nput off the reception of the Sacraments, in hopes that they may die\nwithout them, and be his forever. In these cases speak to the sick man\nquietly and gently, and ask him if he would not like to have the priest\ncome and say a few prayers for his recovery. Do not say anything about\nthe Sacraments if you are afraid he will refuse. Simply bring the priest\nto the sick man, and he will attend to all the rest. Even if the person\nshould refuse--if he has been baptized in the Catholic religion--send\nfor the priest and explain to him the circumstances and dispositions of\nthe sick man. It would be terrible to let such persons die without the\nSacraments if there is any possibility of their receiving them. Even\nwhen they refuse to see the priest it generally happens that after he\nhas once visited them, talked to them, and explained the benefits of the\nSacraments, they are better pleased than anyone else to see him coming\nagain.\n\nSometimes it is God's goodness that sends sickness to such persons, to\nbring them back to His worship and the practice of their religion. What\ndoes a good father generally do with an unruly child? He advises and\nwarns it, and when words have no effect, punishes it with the rod, not\nbecause he wishes to see it suffer, but for its good, that it may give\nup its evil habits and become an obedient, loving child. In like manner\nGod warns sinners by their conscience, by sermons they hear, by\naccidents or deaths around about them, etc.; and when none of these\nthings have any effect on them, He sends them some affliction--He brings\nthem to a bed of sickness. He punishes them, as it were, with a rod.\nThis He does, not that He may see them suffer, but for their good; that\nthey may understand He is their Master, the only one who can give them\nhealth; that all the doctors and all the friends and money in the world\ncould not save them if He determined that they should die. Then they\ncome to know that the world is not their friend; then they see things as\nthey really are, and begin to think of the next world, of eternity, etc.\nThus they again turn to God and to the practices of religion. Many\npersons who reform and begin to lead good lives in sickness would never\nhave changed if God had left them always in good health. But you must\nnot think that all who are sick are so on account of sin. Sometimes very\nholy persons are in a state of sickness, and then it is sent them that\nthey may bear it patiently, and have great merit before God for their\nsufferings, and thus become more holy. Again, very small children who\nhave never sinned are sick, and then it is perhaps that their parents\nmay have merit for patiently taking care of them. I say that God\nsometimes sends sickness to persons living in sin for the purpose of\nbringing them back to a better way of living, and in that case their\nsickness is for them a great mercy from God, who might have allowed them\nto continue in sin till His judgments and condemnation came suddenly\nupon them.\n\n274 Q. Which are the effects of the Sacrament of Extreme Unction?\nA. The effects of Extreme Unction are: first, to comfort us in the pains\nof sickness and to strengthen us against temptations; second, to remit\nvenial sins and to cleanse our soul from the remains of sin; third, to\nrestore us to health when God sees fit.\n\n*275 Q. What do you mean by the remains of sin?\nA. By the remains of sin I mean the inclination to evil and the weakness\nof the will, which are the result of our sins and which remain after our\nsins have been forgiven.\n\n\"Remains of sin\"--that is, chiefly the bad habits we have acquired by\nsin. If a person does a thing very often, he soon begins to do it very\neasily, and it becomes, as we say, a habit. So, too, a person who sins\nvery much soon begins to sin easily. This Sacrament therefore takes away\nthe ease in sinning and the desire for past sins acquired by frequently\ncommitting them.\n\n*276 Q. How should we receive the Sacrament of Extreme Unction?\nA. We should receive the Sacrament of Extreme Unction in a state of\ngrace and with lively faith and resignation to the will of God.\n\n*277 Q. Who is the minister of the Sacrament of Extreme Unction?\nA. The priest is the minister of the Sacrament of Extreme Unction.\n\nThe Sacraments that the priest administers in the house are the\nSacraments for the sick; namely, Penance, Viaticum, or Holy Communion,\nand Extreme Unction. The other Sacraments may be administered there in\nspecial cases of necessity. You should know what things are to be\nprepared when the priest comes to administer the Sacraments in your\nhouse. They are as follows: A small table covered with a clean white\ncloth, and on it a crucifix and one or two lighted candles in\ncandlesticks; some holy water in a small vessel, with a sprinkler which\nyou can make by tying together a few leaves or small pieces of palm; a\nglass of clean water, a tablespoon, and a napkin for the sick person to\nhold under the chin while receiving; also a piece of white cotton\nwadding, if the priest should ask for it.\n\nThen you may have ready in another place near at hand some water, a\ntowel, and a piece of bread or lemon for purifying the priest's fingers;\nbut these things are not always necessary: still, it would be better to\nhave them ready in case the priest should require them, so as not to\nkeep him waiting. Every good Catholic family should have all these\nthings put away carefully in the house. It would be well, though it is\nnot necessary, to keep a special spoon, napkin, etc., for that purpose\nalone. Sometimes persons are taken ill very suddenly in the night, and\nwhen the priest comes they have none of the things they should have; and\nif their neighbors are as careless as themselves, they will not have\nthem either: so the priest is delayed in giving the Sacraments, or is\nobliged to administer them in a way that is always disrespectful to Our\nLord. If we would make such preparations for the coming of a friend to\nour house, why should we be so careless when Our Lord comes? If a friend\ncomes when we are not prepared to receive him, we feel very much\nashamed, and make a thousand excuses for our want of thought. Therefore\nprovide the things necessary for the administration of these Sacraments\nin your house, and keep them though they may be seldom if ever required\nin your family.\n\nWhen Our Lord comes to visit your house receive Him with all possible\nrespect and reverence. Some good Catholics have the very praiseworthy\npractice of meeting the priest at the door with a lighted candle when he\ncarries the Blessed Sacrament, and of going before him to the sickroom.\nThis can be done where there is only one family living in the house, or\nat least in the apartment. All who can do this should do it, because it\nis in keeping with the wish of the Church. In olden times, and even now\nin Catholic countries, the priest brings the Blessed Sacrament in\nprocession to the sick. He goes vested as for Benediction, accompanied\nby altar boys with lighted candles and bells. The people kneel by the\nway as Our Lord passes. Our Lord is carried in procession always in the\nchurch and on the feast of Corpus Christi, on Holy Thursday, and during\nthe Devotion of Forty Hours. The Church would like to have this solemn\nprocession in honor of Our Lord every time the Blessed Sacrament is\nbrought from one place to another. But this cannot always be done in the\nstreets, because there are many persons not Catholics who would insult\nOur Lord while passing along; and in order to prevent this, the priest\nbrings the Blessed Sacrament to the dying without any outward display.\nBut we should always remember the very great respect due to Our Lord,\nand do all we can to show it when possible.\n\n278 Q. What is the Sacrament of Holy Orders?\nA. Holy Orders is a Sacrament by which bishops, priests, and other\nministers of the Church are ordained and receive the power and grace to\nperform their sacred duties.\n\n\"Other ministers,\" means deacons and subdeacons, properly so-called.\nWhen a young man goes to study for the priesthood--after he has\ndiscovered that God has called him to that sacred office--he passes\nseveral years in learning what is necessary, and in fitting himself for\nhis sacred duties. After some time he receives what is called tonsure;\nthat is, on the day of ordination the bishop cuts a little hair from\nfive places on his head, to show that this young man is giving himself\nup to God. The tonsure is a mark of the clerical state, and in Catholic\ncountries it is made manifest by keeping a small circular spot on the\ncrown of the head shaved perfectly clean. It reminds the cleric or\npriest of having dedicated himself to God, and also of the crown of\nthorns worn by Our Blessed Saviour. For this reason some of the holy\nmonks shaved all the hair from their head, with the exception of a\nlittle ring, which resembles very much a wreath or crown of hair\nencircling the head. You often see them thus represented in holy\npictures.\n\nAfter the young student has received the tonsure and studied for a\nlonger time, he receives the four Minor Orders, by which he is permitted\nto touch the sacred vessels of the altar, and do certain things about\nthe church which laymen have not the right to do, especially to serve\nMass. After more preparation he becomes a subdeacon, and then he may\nwear vestments and assist the celebrant at Solemn Mass. At a Solemn Mass\nthere are three priests in vestments. The priest standing on the\nplatform of the altar and celebrating Mass is called the celebrant; the\none who stands just behind him, generally one step lower, is called the\ndeacon, and the one who stands behind the deacon and on the lower step\nis called the subdeacon. The one who directs the whole ceremony, and\ngives signs to the others when to stand, sit down, or kneel, is called\nthe Master of Ceremonies.\n\nWhen speaking of the Mass, I forgot to tell you something about the\ndifferent kinds of Masses--that is, different as far as the ceremonies\nare concerned, for they are all alike in value. First we have the Low\nMass, such as the priest says every day and at the early hours on\nSundays. It is called low, because there is no display in ceremony about\nit. Next we have the High Mass--called Missa Cantata (sung)--at which\nthe priest and choir sing in turn. Lastly, we have the Solemn High Mass,\nat which we have three ministers or priests, and singing by both\nministers and choir, as well as all the ceremonies prescribed by the\nChurch. When any of these Masses are said in black vestments they are\ncalled Requiem Masses, because the priest offers them for the rest or\nhappy repose of the soul of some dead person or persons, and the word\nrequiem means rest. Vespers is a portion of the Divine Office of the\nChurch. It is sung generally on Sunday afternoon or evening in the\nchurch, and is usually followed by Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.\nIt is not a mortal sin to stay from Vespers on Sundays, even willfully,\nbecause there is no law of the Church obliging you to attend.\nNevertheless all good Catholics will attend Vespers when possible.\n\nTo continue about the ministers of the Church: When the subdeacon is\nordained a deacon, he can wear still more of the priestly vestments, and\nalso baptize solemnly, preach, and give Holy Communion. After a time the\ndeacon is ordained a priest, and receives power to celebrate Mass and\nforgive sins. If afterwards the priest should be selected by the Holy\nFather to be a bishop, he is consecrated; and then he has power to\nadminister Confirmation and Holy Orders, ordaining priests and\nconsecrating bishops. Thus you see there are grades through which the\nministers of the Church must pass. First the tonsure, then Minor Orders,\nthen subdeaconship, then deaconship, then priesthood. Nuns, Sisters,\nBrothers, etc., are not, as some might think, ministers of the Church,\nbecause they have never received any of the Holy Orders.\n\nThe ordained ministers of the Church can perform the duties of any\noffice for which they have ever been ordained, but not the duties of any\noffice above that to which they have been ordained. For example, a\nsubdeacon cannot take the place of a deacon at Mass, nor a deacon the\nplace of a priest; but a priest may take either of their places, because\nhe has, at one time, been ordained to both these offices.\n\nAltar boys should never forget that they are enjoying a very great\nprivilege in being allowed to take the place of an ordained minister of\nthe Church, and serve Mass without being ordained acolytes.\n\nIn olden times princes and noblemen used to seek for this wonderful\nfavor, and count themselves happy if they secured it. Think of it! To\nstand so near our Blessed Lord that they are able to see His sacred body\nresting upon the altar, and to offer the wine, which a few minutes later\nis changed into His very blood!\n\n*279 Q. What is necessary to receive Holy Orders worthily?\nA. To receive Holy Orders worthily it is necessary to be in the state of\ngrace, to have the necessary knowledge, and a divine call to this sacred\noffice.\n\n\"Knowledge\"--that is, to be able to learn and to have learned all that a\npriest should know.\n\n\"Divine call,\" explained before in the explanation of vocation, a word\nthat means call. (See Lesson 6, Q. 51.)\n\n*280 Q. How should Christians look upon the priests of the Church?\nA. Christians should look upon the priests of the Church as the\nmessengers of God and the dispensers of His mysteries.\n\n\"Messengers.\" Our Lord said to His Apostles: \"As the Father sent Me, I\nalso send you.\" That is, as the heavenly Father sent His Beloved Son,\nOur Lord, into the world to save men's souls, so Our Lord sends His\nApostles and their successors through the world to save souls. God told\nthe priests of the Old Law that if they did not warn the people of\ncoming dangers they would be held responsible for the people; but if\nthey warned the people and the people did not heed, then the people\nwould be responsible for their own destruction. So, too, in the New Law\nthe priests warn you against sin, and if you do not heed the warning the\nloss of your soul will be upon yourself. Therefore you should take every\nwarning coming from the ministers of God as you would from Himself, for\nit is really God that warns you against sin, and the priests are only\nHis agents or instruments. \"Dispensers\"--that is, those who administer\nthe Sacraments.\n\n*281 Q. Who can confer the Sacrament of Holy Orders?\nA. Bishops can confer the Sacrament of Holy Orders.\n\n\"Confer\"--that is, give or administer. So can a cardinal, if he be a\nbishop, and so can the Holy Father, who is always a bishop, and called\nbishop of Rome, while Pope of the whole Church. It will be well here to\ngive some explanation about cardinals--who they are, and what they do.\nIn the United States the President has about him ten prominent men\nselected by himself, and called his Cabinet. They are his advisers; he\nconsults them on all important matters, and assigns to them various\nduties. The Holy Father, who is also a ruler--a spiritual ruler--not of\none country, but of the whole world, has also a Cabinet, but it is not\ncalled by that name: it is called the Sacred College of Cardinals. There\nare seventy cardinals, to whom the Pope assigns various works in helping\nhim to govern the Church. Some of these cardinals are in different parts\nof the world, as our own cardinals right here in America. There are\ncardinals in England, France, Germany, Canada, Spain, etc., but a\ncertain number always remain in Rome with the Holy Father. When a bishop\nis made cardinal he is raised in dignity in the Church, but he does not\nreceive any greater spiritual power than he had when only a bishop. The\ncardinals, owing to their high dignity, have many privileges which\nbishops have not. Their greatest privilege is to take part in the\nelection of a new Pope when the reigning Pope dies.\n\nThe Pope dresses in white, the cardinals in red, the bishops in purple,\nand the priests and other ministers in black. A \"Monsignor\" is also a\ntitle of dignity granted by our Holy Father to some worthy priests. It\ngives them certain privileges, and the right to wear purple like a\nbishop. The \"Vicar General\" is one who is appointed by the bishop in the\ndiocese, and shares his power. In the bishop's absence he acts as bishop\nin all temporal and worldly matters and also in some spiritual things,\nconcerning the diocese. A diocese is the extent of country over which a\nbishop is appointed to rule, as a parish is the extent over which a\npastor is appointed to administer the Sacraments and rule under the\ndirection of the bishop. Pastors are also called rectors. Pastor means a\nshepherd, and rector means a ruler; and as all pastors rule their\nflocks, pastor and rector mean about the same.\n\nAn archbishop is higher than a bishop, though he has no more spiritual\npower than a bishop. The district over which an archbishop rules\ncontains several dioceses with their bishops, and is called an\necclesiastical province. The bishops in the province are called\nsuffragan bishops, because subject in some things to the authority of\nthe archbishop, who is also called the metropolitan, because bishop of a\nmetropolis or chief city of the province over which he presides.\n\nThe archbishop can wear the pallium, a garment worn by the Pope, and\nsent by him to patriarchs, primates, and archbishops. It is a band of\nwhite wool, worn over the shoulders and around the neck after the manner\nof a stole. It has two strings of the same material and four black or\npurple crosses worked upon it. It is the symbol of the plenitude of\npastoral jurisdiction conferred by the Holy See. Morally speaking, it\nreminds the wearer how the good shepherd seeks the lost sheep and brings\nit home upon his shoulders, and how the loving pastor of souls should\nseek those spiritually lost and bring them back to the Church, the true\nfold of Christ.\n\n\n\nLesson 26\nON MATRIMONY\n\n\n282 Q. What is the Sacrament of Matrimony?\nA. The Sacrament of Matrimony is the Sacrament which unites a Christian\nman and woman in lawful marriage.\n\n\"Christian,\" because if they are not Christians they do not receive the\ngrace of the Sacrament.\n\n*283 Q. Can a Christian man and woman be united in lawful marriage in\nany other way than by the Sacrament of Matrimony?\nA. A Christian man and woman cannot be united in lawful marriage in any\nother way than by the Sacrament of Matrimony, because Christ raised\nmarriage to the dignity of a Sacrament.\n\n\"Lawful.\" Persons are lawfully married when they comply with all the\nlaws of God and of the Church relating to marriage. To marry unlawfully\nis a mortal sin, in which the persons must remain till the sin is\nforgiven. \"Sacrament.\" Before the coming of Our Lord persons were\nmarried as they are now, and even lawfully according to the laws of the\nOld Testament or old religion; but marriage did not give them any grace.\nNow it does give grace, because it is a Sacrament, and has been so since\nthe time of Our Lord. Before His coming it was only a contract, and when\nHe added grace to the contract it became a Sacrament.\n\n*284 Q. Can the bond of Christian marriage be dissolved by any human\npower?\nA. The bond of Christian marriage cannot be dissolved by any human\npower.\n\n\"Dissolved\"--that is, can married persons ever--for any cause--separate\nand marry again; that is, take another husband or wife while the first\nhusband or wife is living? Never, if they were really married.\nSometimes, for good reason, the Church permits husband and wife to\nseparate and live in different places; but they are still married.\nSometimes it happens, too, that persons are not really married although\nthey have gone through the ceremony and people think they are married,\nand they may think so themselves. The Church, however, makes them\nseparate, because it finds they are not really married at all--on\naccount of some impeding circumstance that existed at the time they\nperformed the ceremony. These circumstances or facts that prevent the\nmarriage from being valid are called \"Impediments to Marriage.\" Some of\nthem render the marriage altogether null, and some only make it\nunlawful. When persons make arrangements about getting married they\nshould tell the priest every circumstance that they think might be an\nimpediment. Here are the chief things they should tell the\npriest--privately, if possible. Whether both are Christians and\nCatholics; whether either has ever been solemnly engaged to another\nperson; whether they have ever made any vow to God with regard to\nchastity, the religious life, or the like; whether they are related and\nin what degree; whether either was ever married to any member of the\nother's family--say sister, brother, or cousin, etc.; whether either\never was a godparent in Baptism for the other or for any of the other's\nchildren; whether either was married before, and what proof can be given\nof the death of the first husband or wife; whether they really intend to\nget married; whether they are of lawful age; whether they are in good\nhealth or suffering from some sickness that might prevent their\nmarriage, etc. They should also state whether they live in the parish,\nand how long they have lived in it. They should give at least three\nweeks' notice before their marriage, except in special cases of\nnecessity. They should not presume to make final arrangements and invite\nfriends before they have made arrangements with their pastor; because if\nthere should be any delay on account of impediments it would cause them\ngreat inconvenience. Let me take an example of a fact that would render\nthe marriage invalid or null though the persons performing the ceremony\nmight not be aware of it. Suppose a woman's husband went to the war, and\nshe heard after a great many years that he had been killed in battle,\nand she, believing her first husband to be dead, married another man.\nBut the report of the first husband's death turns out to be false, and\nafter a time he returns. Then the Church tells the woman--and she knows\nit now herself--that the second marriage was invalid, that is, no\nmarriage, because it was performed while the first husband was still\nliving. She must leave the second man and go back to her husband. You\nsee in that case the Church was not dissolving or breaking the marriage\nbond, but only declaring that the woman and second man were not married\nfrom the very beginning, although they thought they were, being ignorant\nof the existing impediment, and the priest also being deceived performed\nthe ceremony in the usual manner. If it ever happens, therefore, that\nyou hear of the Church permitting persons, already apparently married,\nto separate and marry others, it is only when it discovers that their\nfirst marriage was invalid, and by its action it does not dissolve the\nbond of marriage, but simply declares that the marriage was null and\nvoid from the beginning, as you now easily understand. Thus persons\nmight unwittingly marry with existing impediments that would render\ntheir marriage invalid or illicit. Such things, however, happen very\nrarely, for the priest would discover the impediments in questioning the\npersons about to marry.\n\nProtestants and persons outside the Catholic Church teach that the\nmarriage bond can at times be dissolved, but such doctrines bring great\nevil upon society. When the father and mother separate and marry again,\nthe children of the first marriage are left to take care of themselves,\nor receive only such care as the law gives them. They are left without\nChristian instruction and the good influence of home. Then persons who\nare divorced once may be divorced a second or third time, and thus all\nsociety would be thrown into a state of confusion, and there would be\nscarcely any such thing as a family to be found. It is bad enough at\npresent, on account of divorces granted by the laws and upheld by\nProtestants; and only for the influence and good public opinion created\nby the teaching and opposition of the Catholic Church, it would be much\nworse. Again, if husbands and wives could separate for this or that\nfault, they would not be careful in making their choice of the person\nthey wish to marry, nor would their motives be always holy and worthy of\nthe Sacrament.\n\n285 Q. Which are the effects of the Sacrament of Matrimony?\nA. The effects of the Sacrament of Matrimony are: first, to sanctify the\nlove of husband and wife; second, to give them grace to bear with each\nother's weaknesses; third, to enable them to bring up their children in\nthe fear and love of God.\n\nThe union and love existing between a husband and wife should be like\nthe union and love existing between Our Lord and His Church. The grace\nof the Sacrament helps them to have such a love. \"Weaknesses\"--that is,\ntheir faults, bad dispositions, etc. \"Bring up their children.\" This is\ntheir most important duty, and parents receive grace to perform it, and\nwoe be to them if they abuse that grace! Children should remember that\ntheir parents have received this special grace from God to advise,\ndirect, and warn them of sin; and if they refuse to obey their parents\nor despise their direction, they are despising God's grace. Remember\nthat nothing teaches us so well as experience. Now your parents, even if\nGod gave them no special grace, have experience. They have been children\nas you are; they have been young persons as you are; they have received\nadvice from their parents and teachers as you do. If your parents are\nbad, it is because they have not heeded the advice given them. If they\nare good, it is because they have heeded and followed it. The years of\nyour youth quickly pass, and you will soon be thrown out into the world,\namong strangers to provide for yourselves, and will perhaps have no one\nto advise you. If you neglect to learn while you have the opportunity\nyou will be sorry for it in after life. If you waste your time in\nschool, you will leave it knowing very little, and an ignorant man can\nnever take any good position in the world; he can seldom be his own\nmaster and independent; he must always toil for others as a servant. God\ngives us our talents and opportunities that we may use them to the best\nof our ability, and He will hold us accountable for these. It is good\nand praiseworthy to raise ourselves and others in the world if we do so\nby lawful and proper means. You may have the opportunity of getting a\ngood position, and will not be able to take it because you are not\nsufficiently educated. Many young men live to be sorry for wasting time\nin school, and try to make up for it by studying at night. You cannot\nreally make up for lost time. Every moment God gives you He gives for\nsome particular work, and He will require an account from you, at the\nlast day, for the use you made of your time. Besides, you can learn with\ngreater ease while you are young. But what shall I say of neglecting to\nlearn your holy religion? If you neglect your school lessons you will\nnot be successful in the world as businessmen or professional men; but\nif you neglect your religious lessons, you will be miserable, not merely\nin this world, but in the next, and that for all eternity. Again, will\nyou not feel ashamed to say you are a Catholic when persons who are not\nCatholics ask you the meaning of something you believe or do, and you\nwill not be able to answer? When they tell falsehoods against your\nreligion, you will not, on account of your ignorance, be able to refute\nthem. Almost the only time you have to learn the truths and practices of\nyour holy religion is during the instructions at Sunday school or day\nschool, and after a few years you will not have this advantage. When you\ngrow up you may hear a sermon, and if you attend early Mass, only a\nshort instruction, on Sundays; and if you do not know your Catechism,\nyou will be less able to profit by the instructions given. Therefore the\ntime to learn is while you are young, have sufficient leisure, and good,\nwilling teachers to explain whatever you do not understand.\n\nWhen you attend Sunday school, bear in mind that your teachers have\nfrequently to sacrifice their time or pleasure for your sake, and that\nyou should not repay them for their kindness by acts of disobedience,\ndisrespect, and stubbornness. By spending your time in idleness, in\ngiving annoyance to your teacher, and in distracting others who are\nwilling to learn, you show a want of appreciation and gratitude for the\nblessings God has bestowed upon you, and please the devil exceedingly;\nand as God will hold you accountable for all His gifts, this one--the\nopportunity of learning your religion--will be no exception.\n\n286 Q. To receive the Sacrament of Matrimony worthily, is it necessary\nto be in the state of grace?\nA. To receive the Sacrament of Matrimony worthily it is necessary to be\nin the state of grace, and it is necessary also to comply with the laws\nof the Church.\n\n\"The laws,\" laws concerning marriage. Laws forbidding the solemnizing of\nmarriage at certain times, namely, Advent and Lent; laws forbidding\nmarriage with relatives, or with persons of a different religion or of\nno religion; laws with regard to age, etc.\n\n*287 Q. Who has the right to make laws concerning the Sacrament of\nmarriage?\nA. The Church alone has the right to make laws concerning the Sacrament\nof marriage, though the State also has the right to make laws concerning\nthe civil effects of the marriage contract.\n\n\"Civil effects\"--that is, laws with regard to the property of persons\nmarrying, with regard to the inheritance of the children, with regard to\nthe debts of husband and wife, etc.\n\n*288 Q. Does the Church forbid the marriage of Catholics with persons\nwho have a different religion or no religion at all?\nA. The Church does forbid the marriage of Catholics with persons who\nhave a different religion or no religion at all.\n\n*289 Q. Why does the Church forbid the marriage of Catholics with\npersons who have a different religion or no religion at all?\nA. The Church forbids the marriage of Catholics with persons who have a\ndifferent religion or no religion at all because such marriages\ngenerally lead to indifference, loss of faith, and to the neglect of the\nreligious education of the children.\n\nWe know that nothing has so bad an influence upon people as bad company.\nNow, when a Catholic marries one who is not a Catholic, he or she is\ncontinually associated with one who in most cases ignores the true\nreligion, or speaks at least with levity of its devotions and practices.\nThe Catholic party may resist this evil influence for a time, but will,\nif not very steadfast in the faith, finally yield to it, and, tired of\nnumerous disputes in defense of religious rights, will become more and\nmore indifferent, gradually give up the practice of religion, and\nprobably terminate with complete loss of faith or apostasy from the true\nreligion. We know that the children of Seth were good till they married\nthe children of Cain, and then they also became wicked; for, remember,\nthere is always more likelihood that the bad will pervert the good, than\nthat the good will convert the bad. Besides the disputes occasioned\nbetween husband and wife by the diversity of their religion, their\nfamilies and relatives, being also of different religions, will seldom\nbe at peace or on friendly terms with one another. Then the children can\nscarcely be brought up in the true religion; for the father may wish\nthem to attend one church, and the mother another, and to settle the\ndispute they will attend neither. Besides, if they have before them the\nevil example of a father or mother speaking disparagingly of the true\nreligion, or perhaps ridiculing all religion, it is not likely they will\nbe imbued with great respect and veneration for holy things. There is\nstill another reason why Catholics should dread mixed marriages. If the\none who is not a Catholic loses regard for his or her obligations,\nbecomes addicted to any vice, and is leading a bad life, the Catholic\nparty has no means of reaching the root of the evil, no hope that the\nperson may take the advice of the priest, or go to confession or do any\nof those things that could effect a change in the heart and life of a\nCatholic. For all these very good reasons and others besides, the Church\nopposes mixed marriages, as they are called when one of the persons is\nnot a Catholic. Neither does the Church want persons to become converts\nsimply for the sake of marrying a Catholic. Such conversions would not\nbe sincere, and would do no good, but rather make such converts\nhypocrites, and guilty of greater sin.\n\n*290 Q. Why do many marriages prove unhappy?\nA. Many marriages prove unhappy because they are entered into hastily\nand without worthy motives.\n\n\"Hastily\"--without knowing the person well or considering their\ncharacter or dispositions; without trying to discover whether they are\nsober, industrious, virtuous, and the like; whether they know and\npractice their religion, or whether, on the contrary, they are given to\nvices forbidden by good morals, and totally forgetful of their religious\nduties. In a word, those wishing to marry should look for enduring\nqualities in their lifelong companions, and not for characteristics that\nplease the fancy for the time being. They should, besides, truly love\neach other. Again, the persons should be nearly equals in education,\nsocial standing, etc., for it helps greatly to secure harmony between\nfamilies and unity of thought and action between themselves.\n\n\"Worthy motives.\" The motives are worthy when persons marry to fulfill\nthe end for which God instituted marriage. It would, for example, be an\nunworthy motive to marry solely for money, property, or other advantage,\nwithout any regard for the holiness and end of the Sacrament. There are\nmany motives that may present themselves to the minds of persons wishing\nto marry, and they will know whether they are worthy or unworthy, good\nor bad, if by serious consideration they weigh them well and value them\nby their desire to please God and lead a good life.\n\nEvery person's motive in getting married or in entering into any new\nstate of life should be that he may be able to serve God better in that\nstate than in any other.\n\n*291 Q. How should Christians prepare for a holy and happy marriage?\nA. Christians should prepare for a holy and happy marriage by receiving\nthe Sacraments of Penance and Holy Eucharist; by begging God to grant\nthem a pure intention and to direct their choice; and by seeking the\nadvice of their parents and the blessing of their pastors.\n\nThey should pray for a long time that they may make a good choice. They\nwould do well to read in the Holy Scripture, in the Book of Tobias (8),\nof the happy marriage of Tobias and Sara, and how they spent their time\nin prayer both before and after their marriage, and how God rewarded\nthem. Advice is very necessary, as marriage is to last for life, and is\nto make persons either happy or miserable. They should ask advice from\nprudent persons, and should try to learn something of the former life of\nthe one they wish to marry. They should know something about the family,\nwhether its members are respectable or not, etc. It is an injustice to\nparents for sons or daughters to marry into families that may have been\ndisgraced, or that may bring disgrace upon them. Sometimes, however,\nparents are unreasonable in this matter: they are proud or vain, and\nwant to suit themselves rather than their children. Sometimes, too, they\nforce marriage upon their children, or forbid it for purely worldly or\nselfish motives. In such cases, and indeed in all cases, the best one to\nconsult and ask advice from is your confessor. He has only your\nspiritual interests at heart, and will set aside all worldly motives. If\nyour parents are unreasonable, he will be a just judge in the matter,\nand tell you how to act.\n\nI have now explained all the Sacraments, but before finishing I must say\na word about the Holy Oils. We have seen that oil is used in the\nadministration of some Sacraments. There are three kinds of oil blessed\nby the bishop on Holy Thursday, namely, oil for anointing the sick,\ncalled \"oil of the infirm\"; oil to be used in Baptism and in the\nordination of priests, called \"oil of catechumens\" (catechumens are\nthose who are being instructed for Baptism); the third kind of oil is\nused also in Baptism, in Confirmation, and when the bishop blesses the\nsacred vessels, altars, etc.; it is called \"holy chrism.\" Therefore the\nSacraments in which oil is used are: Baptism, in which two kinds are\nused; Confirmation, Extreme Unction, and Holy Orders.\n\n\n\nLesson 27\nON THE SACRAMENTALS\n\n\n292 Q. What is a sacramental?\nA. A sacramental is anything set apart or blessed by the Church to\nexcite good thoughts and to increase devotion, and through these\nmovements of the heart to remit venial sin.\n\nIt is not the sacramental itself that gives grace, but the devotion, the\nlove of God, or sorrow for sin that it inspires. For example, a person\ncomes into the church and goes around the Stations of the Cross. The\nstations are a sacramental. In looking at one station he sees Our Lord\non trial before Pilate; in another he sees Him crowned with thorns; in\nanother, scourged; in another, carrying His Cross; in another,\ncrucified; in another, dead and laid in the tomb. Before all these\npictures he reflects on the sufferings of Our Saviour, and begins to\nhate sin, that caused them. Then he thinks, of his own sins, and begins\nto be sorry for them. This sorrow, caused by going around the stations,\nbrings him grace that remits venial sins. When we receive the Sacraments\nwe always get the grace of the Sacraments when we are rightly disposed;\nbut in using the sacramentals, the more devotion we have the more grace\nwe receive.\n\n\"Increase devotion.\" If we knelt down before a plain white wall we could\nnot pray with the devotion we would have kneeling before a crucifix. We\nsee the representation of the nails in the hands and feet, the blood on\nthe side, the thorns on the head; and all these must make us think of\nOur Lord's terrible sufferings. The picture of a friend hanging before\nus will often make us think of him when we would otherwise forget him.\nSo also will the pictures of Our Lord and of the saints keep them often\nin our minds.\n\n*293 Q. What is the difference between the Sacraments and the\nsacramentals?\nA. The difference between the Sacraments and the sacramentals is: first,\nthe Sacraments were instituted by Jesus Christ and the sacramentals were\ninstituted by the Church; second, the Sacraments give grace of\nthemselves when we place no obstacle in the way; the sacramentals excite\nin us pious dispositions, by means of which we may obtain grace.\n\nThe Church can increase or diminish the number of the sacramentals, but\nnot the number of the Sacraments.\n\n294 Q. Which is the chief sacramental used in the Church?\nA. The chief sacramental used in the Church is the Sign of the Cross.\n\n295 Q. How do we make the Sign of the Cross?\nA. We make the Sign of the Cross by putting the right hand to the\nforehead, then on the breast, and then to the left and right shoulders;\nsaying, In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy\nGhost. Amen.\n\nIt is important to make an exact cross, and to say all the words\ndistinctly. From carelessness and habit some persons do not make the\nSign of the Cross, though they often intend to bless themselves. They\nput the hand only to the forehead and breast, or forehead and chin, or\nforehead and shoulders, etc. Some do not even touch the forehead. All\nthese, it is true, are some signs and movements of the hand, but they\nare not the Sign of the Cross. Therefore, from childhood form the good\nhabit of blessing yourself correctly, and you will continue to do it\nproperly all your life.\n\n296 Q. Why do we make the Sign of the Cross?\nA. We make the Sign of the Cross to show that we are Christians and to\nprofess our belief in the chief mysteries of our religion.\n\nThe cross is the banner or standard of Christianity, just as the stars\nand stripes--the flag of the United States--is our civil standard, and\nshows to what nation we belong.\n\n*297 Q. How is the Sign of the Cross a profession of faith in the chief\nmysteries of our religion?\nA. The Sign of the Cross is a profession of faith in the chief mysteries\nof our religion because it expresses the mysteries of the Unity and\nTrinity of God and of the Incarnation and death of Our Lord.\n\n*298 Q. How does the Sign of the Cross express the mystery of the Unity\nand Trinity of God?\nA. The words: \"In the name\" express the Unity of God; the words that\nfollow, \"of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost\" express\nthe mystery of the Trinity.\n\n*299 Q. How does the Sign of the Cross express the mystery of the\nIncarnation and death of Our Lord?\nA. The Sign of the Cross expresses the mystery of the Incarnation by\nreminding us that the Son of God, having become man, suffered death on\nthe Cross.\n\nBesides these chief mysteries, we will find, if we think a little, that\nthe Sign of the Cross reminds us of many other things. It reminds us of\nthe sin of our first parents, which made the Cross necessary; it reminds\nus of the hatred God bears to sin, when such sufferings were endured to\nmake satisfaction for it; it reminds us of Christ's love, etc.\n\n300 Q. What other sacramental is in very frequent use?\nA. Another sacramental in very frequent use is holy water.\n\n301 Q. What is, holy water?\nA. Holy water is water blessed by the priest with solemn prayer to beg\nGod's blessing on those who use it, and protection from the power of\ndarkness.\n\nThe priest prays that those who use this water may not fall into sin;\nmay be free from the power of the devil and from bodily diseases, etc.\nTherefore when they do use the water they get the benefit of all these\nprayers, because the priest says: \"If they use it, God grant them all\nthese things.\"\n\n302 Q. Are there any other sacramentals besides the Sign of the Cross\nand holy water?\nA. Besides the Sign of the Cross and holy water there are many other\nsacramentals, such as blessed candles, ashes, palms, crucifixes, images\nof the Blessed Virgin and of the saints, rosaries, and scapulars.\n\n\"Candles,\" blessed on the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed\nVirgin (see Butler's Lives of the Saints, Feb. 2, Feast of the\nPurification). The Church blesses whatever it uses. Some say beautifully\nthat the wax of the candle gathered by the bees from sweet flowers\nreminds us of Our Lord's pure, human body, and that the flame reminds us\nof His divinity. Again, candles about the altar remind us of the angels,\nthose bright spirits ever about God's throne; they remind us, too, of\nthe persecution of the Christians in the first ages of the Church, when\nthey had to hear Mass and receive the Sacraments in dark places, where\nlights were necessary that priests and people might see. Again, lights\nare a beautiful ornament for the altar, and in keeping with holy things.\nLights are a sign of joy: hence the very old custom of lighting bonfires\nto express joy. So we have lights to express our joy at the celebration\nof the Holy Mass. Again, if we wish to honor any great person in the\nChurch or State, we illuminate the city for his reception. So, too, we\nilluminate our altars and churches for the reception of Our Lord, that\nwe may honor Him when He comes in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and is\npresent at Benediction.\n\n\"Ashes\" are placed on our heads by the priest on Ash Wednesday, while he\nsays: \"Remember, man, thou art but dust and unto dust thou shalt\nreturn.\" They are a sign of penance, and so we use them at the beginning\nof Lent.\n\n\"Palms,\" to remind us of Our Lord's coming in triumph into Jerusalem,\nwhen the people out of respect for Him threw palms, and even their\ngarments, beneath His feet on the way, singing His praises and wishing\nto make Him king. Yet these same people only one week later were among\nthose who crucified Him. Do we not also at times honor Our Lord, call\nHim our king, and shortly afterwards insult and, as far as we can,\ninjure Him by sin? Do we not say in the Our Father, \"Hallowed, or\npraised, be His name,\" and blaspheme it ourselves?\n\n\"Crucifix,\" if it has an image of Our Lord upon it; if not it is simply\na cross, because crucifix means fixed to the cross.\n\n\"Images\"--that is, statues, pictures, etc.\n\n\"Rosaries,\" called also the beads. The rosary or beads is a very old and\nvery beautiful form of prayer. In the beginning pious people, we are\ntold, used to say a certain number of prayers, and keep count of them on\na string with knots or beads. However that may be, the Rosary, as we now\nhave it, comes down to us from St. Dominic. He instructed the people by\nit, and converted many heretics. In the rosary beads here are\nfifty-three small beads on which we say the \"Hail Mary\" and six large\nbeads on which we say the \"Our Father.\" In saying the Rosary, before\nsaying the \"Our Father\" on the large beads, we think or meditate for a\nwhile on some event in the life of Our Lord, and these events we call\nMysteries of the Rosary. There are fifteen of these events taken in the\norder in which they occurred in the life of Our Lord; and hence there\nare fifteen Mysteries in the whole Rosary. First we have the five Joyful\nMysteries. (1) The Annunciation--that is, the angel Gabriel coming to\ntell the Blessed Virgin that she is to be the Mother of God. (2) The\nVisitation, when the Blessed Virgin went to visit her cousin St.\nElizabeth--the mother of St. John the Baptist, who was six months older\nthan Our Lord. Elizabeth said to her, \"Blessed art thou amongst women,\nand blessed is the Fruit of thy womb\"; and the Blessed Virgin answered\nher in the beautiful words of the Magnificat, that we sing at Vespers\nwhile the priest incenses the altar. (3) The Nativity, or birth of Our\nLord, which reminds us how He was born in a stable, in poverty and\nlowliness. (4) The Presentation of the child Jesus in the Temple.\nAccording to the law of Moses, the people were obliged to bring the\nfirst boy born in every family to the temple in Jerusalem and offer him\nto God. Then they gave some offering to buy him back, as it were, from\nGod. The Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph, who kept all the laws, took Our\nLord and offered Him in the temple--although He Himself was the Lord of\nthe temple. Nevertheless others did not know this, and the Blessed\nVirgin and St. Joseph observed the laws, though not bound to do so, that\ntheir neighbors might not be scandalized in seeing them neglect these\nthings. They did not know, as she did, that the little Infant was the\nSon of God, and need not keep the law of Moses or any law, because He\nwas the maker of the laws. We should learn from this never to give\nscandal; and even when we have good excuse for not observing the law, we\nshould observe it for the sake of good example to others; or at least,\nwhen we can, we should explain why we do not observe the law. (5) The\nfifth Joyful Mystery is the finding of the child Jesus in the temple.\nAll the men and boys, from twelve years of age upward, were obliged,\naccording to the Old Law, to go up to Jerusalem and offer sacrifice on\nthe great feasts. On one of these feasts the Blessed Virgin, St. Joseph,\nand Our Lord went to Jerusalem. When His parents and their friends were\nreturning home Our Lord was missing. He had not accompanied them from\nthe city. Then the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph went back to Jerusalem\nand sought Him with great sorrow for three days. At the end of that time\nthey found Him in the temple sitting with the doctors of the law asking\nthem questions. Our Lord obediently returned with His parents to\nNazareth. At thirty years of age He was baptized by John the Baptist in\nthe River Jordan. The baptism of John was not a Sacrament, did not give\ngrace of itself; but, like a sacramental, it disposed those who received\nit to be sorry for their sins and to receive the gift of faith and\nBaptism of Christ. The eighteen years from the time Our Lord went down\nto Nazareth after being found in the temple till His baptism is called\nHis hidden life, while all that follows His baptism is called His public\nlife. It is very strange that not a single word should be given in the\nHoly Scriptures about Our Lord during His youth--the very time young men\nare most anxious to be seen and heard. Our Lord knew all things and\ncould do all things when a young man, and yet for the sake of example He\nremained silent, living quietly with His parents and doing His daily\nwork for them. Thus you understand what is meant by the five Joyful\nMysteries of the Rosary: the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Nativity\nof Our Lord, the Presentation of the child Jesus in the temple, and the\nfinding of the child Jesus in the temple. You meditate on one of these\nbefore each decade (ten) of the beads.\n\nNext in order in the life of Our Lord come the five events called the\nSorrowful Mysteries, namely: (1) The agony in the garden, when Our Lord\nwent there to pray on Holy Thursday night, before He was taken prisoner.\nThere the blood came out through His body as perspiration does through\nours, and He was in dreadful anguish. The reason of His sorrow and\nanguish has already been given in the explanation of the Passion. (2)\nThe scourging of Our Lord at the pillar. This also has been explained.\nWhat terrible cruelty existed in the world before Christianity! In our\ntimes the brute beasts have more protection from cruel treatment than\nthe pagan slaves had then. The Church came to their assistance. It\ntaught that all men are God's children, that slaves as well as masters\nwere redeemed by Jesus Christ, and that masters must be kind and just to\ntheir slaves. Many converts from paganism through love for Our Lord and\nthis teaching of the Church, granted liberty to their slaves; and thus\nas civilization spread with the teaching of Christianity, slavery ceased\nto exist. It was not in the power of the Church, however, to abolish\nslavery everywhere, but she did it as soon as she could. Even at present\nshe is fighting hard to protect the poor Negroes of Africa against it,\nor at least to moderate its cruelty. (3) The third Sorrowful Mystery is\nthe crowning with thorns. (4) The carriage of the Cross to Calvary. It\nwas the common practice to make the prisoner at times carry his cross to\nthe place of execution, and over the cross they printed what he was put\nto death for. That is the reason they placed over Our Lord's cross\nI.N.R.I., which are the first letters of four Latin words meaning,\n\"Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.\" They pretended by this sign that\nOur Lord was put to death for calling Himself King of the Jews, and was\nthus a disturber of the public peace, and an enemy of the Roman emperor\nunder whose power they were. Our Lord did say that He was King of the\nJews, but He also said that He was not their earthly but their heavenly\nking. The real cause of their putting Our Lord to death was the jealousy\nof the Jewish priests and Pharisees. He rebuked them for their faults,\nand showed the good, sincere people what hypocrites these men were. (5)\nThe last of the Sorrowful Mysteries is the Crucifixion. At the foot of\nthe Cross our blessed Mother stood on the day of Crucifixion, and it\nmust have been a very sad sight for Our Lord. She was without anyone to\ntake care of her; for St. Joseph was dead, and her Son was soon to die.\nOur Lord asked St. John, one of His Apostles, to take care of her. St.\nJohn was dear to Christ, and on that account is called the beloved\ndisciple. He is known to us as St. John the Evangelist. He was the last\nof the Apostles to die. At one time he was cast into a cauldron of\nboiling oil, but was miraculously saved by God (see Butler's Lives of\nthe Saints, Dec. 27). He lived to be over a hundred years old, and while\non the island of Patmos wrote the Apocalypse or Revelations--the last\nbook of the New Testament--containing prophecies of what will happen at\nthe end of the world. The Blessed Virgin lived on earth about eleven\nyears after the Ascension of Our Lord. They buried her in a tomb, and\ntradition tells us that after her burial the angels carried her body to\nHeaven, where she now sits beside her Divine Son. This taking of her\nbody to Heaven is called the Assumption. This feast was celebrated in\nthe Church from a very early age. A very strong proof of the Assumption\nis that no persons ever claimed to have any part of the body of the\nBlessed Virgin as a relic. We have the bodies of some of the Apostles,\nespecially St. Peter, St. Paul, and St. James transmitted to us; and\ncertainly if it had been possible the first Christians would have\nendeavored to get some portion, at least, of the Blessed Virgin's body.\nSurely St. John, who knew her so well, would have given to the church he\nestablished some part of her body as a relic; but since her entire body\nwas taken to Heaven, it was never possible.\n\nAfter the Sorrowful Mysteries come the five Glorious Mysteries, and they\nare: (1) The Resurrection of Our Lord; (2) The Ascension of Our Lord;\n(3) The Coming of the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles; (4) The Assumption\nof the Blessed Virgin; and (5) The Coronation of the Blessed Virgin in\nHeaven. All but the last have been explained in foregoing parts of the\nCatechism. In this last Mystery we consider our Blessed Lady just after\nher entrance into Heaven, being received by her Divine Son, our Blessed\nLord, and being crowned Queen of Heaven over all the angels and saints.\nIn saying the Rosary we are, as I have told you before, to stop after\nmentioning the Mystery and think over the lesson it teaches, and thus\nexcite ourselves to love and devotion before saying the \"Our Father\" and\n\"Hail Marys\" in honor of it. Generally what we call the beads is only\none third of the Rosary; that is, we can only say five mysteries on the\nbeads unless we go over them three times. If you say your beads every\nday you will say the whole Rosary twice a week and have one day to\nspare.\n\nOn Sundays, except the Sundays of Advent and Lent, we should say always\nthe Glorious Mysteries. You see, the Mysteries run in the order in which\nthey happen in Our Lord's life. So on Monday we say the Joyful\nMysteries, on Tuesday the Sorrowful, and on Wednesday the Glorious. Then\nwe begin again on Thursday the Joyful, on Friday the Sorrowful, on\nSaturday the Glorious. In Advent we say the Joyful, and in Lent the\nSorrowful Mysteries on every day. In Eastertime we always say the\nGlorious mysteries.\n\nI have told you what the letters I.N.R.I. mean; now let me tell you what\nI.H.S. with a cross over them mean. You often see these letters on\naltars and on holy things. They are simply an abbreviation for Our\nLord's name, \"Jesus,\" as it was first written in Greek letters. Some\nalso take these letters for the first letters of the Latin words that\nmean: Jesus, Saviour of men. And as the cross is placed over these\nletters it can signify that He saved them by His death on the Cross.\n\n\"Scapulars.\" The scapular is a large broad piece of cloth worn by the\nmonks and priests of some of the religious orders. It extends from the\ntoes in front to the heels behind, and is wide enough to cover the\nshoulders. It is worn over the cassock or habit. It is called scapular\nbecause it rests on the shoulders. The scapular as we wear it is two\nsmall pieces of cloth fastened together by two pieces of braid or cord\nresting on the shoulders. It is made thus in imitation of the large\nscapular, and is to be worn under our ordinary garments. The brown\nscapular is called the Scapular of Mount Carmel. It was given, we are\ntold on good authority, to blessed Simon Stock by the Blessed Virgin\nherself, with wonderful promises in favor of those who wear it. The\nChurch grants many privileges and indulgences to those who wear the\nscapular.\n\nWe wear the scapular to indicate that we place ourselves under the\nspecial protection of the Blessed Virgin. We can tell to what army or\nnation a soldier belongs by the uniform he wears; so we can consider the\nscapular as the particular uniform of those who desire to serve the\nBlessed Virgin in some special manner. This wearing of the brown\nscapular is therefore a mark of special devotion to the Blessed Virgin\nMary. As it was first introduced among people by the Carmelite Fathers,\nor priests of the Order of Mount Carmel, this Scapular is called the\nScapular of Mount Carmel. We have also a red scapular in honor of Our\nLord's Passion; a white one in honor of the Holy Trinity; a blue one in\nhonor of the Immaculate Conception; and a black one in honor of the\nseven dolors of sorrows of the Blessed Virgin. When all these are joined\ntogether (not in one piece, but at the top only) and worn as one, they\nare called the five scapulars.\n\nThe seven dolors are seven chief occasions of sorrow in the life of our\nBlessed Lady. They are: (1) The circumcision of Our Lord, when she saw\nHis blood shed for the first time. (2) Her flight into Egypt to save the\nlife of the little Infant Jesus when Herod was seeking to kill Him. (3)\nThe three days she lost Him in Jerusalem. (4) When she saw Christ\ncarrying His Cross. (5) His death. (6) When He was taken down from the\nCross. (7) When He was laid in the sepulchre. There are beads called\nseven dolor beads constructed with seven medals bearing representations\nof these sorrows, and seven beads between each medal and the next. At\nthe medals we meditate on the dolor, and then in its honor say \"Hail\nMarys\" on the beads.\n\n\n\nLesson 28\nON PRAYER\n\n\n303 Q. Is there any other means of obtaining God's grace than the\nSacraments?\nA. There is another means of obtaining God's grace, and it is prayer.\n\n304 Q. What is prayer?\nA. Prayer is the lifting up of our minds and hearts to God to adore Him,\nto thank Him for His benefits, to ask His forgiveness, and to beg of Him\nall the graces we need whether for soul or body.\n\n\"Hearts,\" because the mere lifting up of the mind would not be prayer.\nOne who blasphemes Him might also lift up his mind. We lift up the mind\nto know God and the heart to love Him, and in so doing we serve Him--the\nthree things for which we were created. If we do not think of God we do\nnot pray. A parrot might be taught to say the \"Our Father,\" but it could\nnever pray, because it has no mind to lift up. A phonograph can be made\nto say the prayers, but not to pray, for it has neither mind nor heart.\nSo praying does not depend upon the words we say, but upon the way in\nwhich we say them. Indeed the best prayer, called meditation, is made\nwhen we do not speak at all, but simply think of God; of His goodness to\nus; of our sins against Him; of Hell, Purgatory, Heaven, death,\njudgment, of the end for which we were created, etc. This is the kind of\nprayer that priests and religious use most frequently. As you might like\nto meditate--for all who know how may meditate--let me explain to you\nthe method. First you try to remember that you are in the presence of\nGod. Then you take some subject, say the Crucifixion, to think about.\nYou try to make a picture of the scene in your own mind. You see Our\nLord on the Cross; two thieves, one on each side of Him, the one praying\nto Our Lord and the other cursing Him. You see the multitude of His\nenemies mocking Him. Over at some distance you behold our Blessed Mother\nstanding sorrowful with St. John and Mary Magdalen. Then you ask\nyourself--for you must imagine yourself there--to which side would you\ngo. Over to our Blessed Mother to try and console her, or over to the\nenemies to help them to mock? Then you think how sin was the cause of\nall this suffering, and how often you yourself have sinned; how you have\nmany a time gone over to the crowd and left the Blessed Mother. These\nthoughts will make you sorry for your sins, and you will form the good\nresolution never to sin again. You will thank God for these good\nthoughts and this resolution, and your meditation is ended. You can\nspend fifteen minutes, or longer if you wish, in such a meditation. The\nCrucifixion is only one of the many subjects you may select for\nmeditation. You could take any part of the \"Our Father,\" \"Hail Mary,\" or\n\"Creed,\" and even the questions in your Catechism. Mental prayer,\ntherefore, is the best, because in it we must think; we must pay\nattention to what we are doing, and lift up our minds and hearts to God;\nwhile in vocal prayer--that is, the prayer we say aloud--we may repeat\nthe words from pure habit, without any attention or lifting up of the\nmind or heart.\n\n305 Q. Is prayer necessary to salvation?\nA. Prayer is necessary to salvation, and without it no one having the\nuse of reason can be saved.\n\nWe mean here those who never pray during their whole lives, and not\nthose who sometimes neglect their prayers through a kind of\nforgetfulness.\n\n306 Q. At what particular times should we pray?\nA. We should pray particularly on Sundays and holy days, every morning\nand night, in all dangers, temptations, and afflictions.\n\n\"Sundays and holy days,\" because these are special days set apart by the\nChurch for the worship of God. In the \"morning\" we ask God's grace that\nwe may not sin during the day. At \"night\" we thank Him for all the\nbenefits received during the day, and also that we may be protected\nwhile asleep from every danger and accident. We should never, if\npossible, go to sleep in mortal sin; and if we have the misfortune to be\nin that state, we should make as perfect an act of contrition as we can,\nand promise to go to confession as soon as possible. So many accidents\nhappen that we are never safe, even in good health; fires, earthquakes,\nfloods, lightning, etc., might take us off at any moment. If you saw a\nman hanging by a very slender thread over a great precipice where he\nwould surely be dashed to pieces if the thread broke, and if you saw him\nthus risking his life willfully and without necessity, you would\npronounce him the greatest fool in the world. One who commits sin is a\ngreater fool. He suspends himself, as I have told you once before, over\nan abyss of eternal torments on the slender thread of his own life, that\nmay break at any moment. Do we tempt God and do to Him what we dare not\nto do to our fellowman because He is so merciful? Let us be careful. He\nis as just as He is merciful, and some sin will be our last, and then He\nwill cut the thread of life and allow us to fall into an eternity of\nsufferings. \"Dangers,\" whether of soul or body. \"Afflictions,\"\nsufferings or misfortunes of any kind; such as loss of health, death in\nthe family, etc.\n\n*307 Q. How should we pray?\nA. We should pray: first, with attention; second, with a sense of our\nown helplessness and dependence upon God; third, with a great desire for\nthe graces we beg of God; fourth, with trust in God's goodness; fifth,\nwith perseverance.\n\n\"Attention,\" thinking of what we are going to do. Before praying we\nshould think for a moment what prayer is. In it we are about to address\nAlmighty God, our Creator, and we are going to ask Him for\nsomething--and what is the particular thing we need and seek for? No one\nwould think of going to a store without first considering what he wanted\nto buy. He would make, too, all the necessary preparations for getting\nit. He would find out how much he wanted, and what it would cost, and\nbring with him sufficient money. He would never think of going in and\ntelling the storekeeper to give him anything. Now it is the same in\nprayer. When we have thought of what we want of God, from whom we can\nobtain it, and of the reasons why we need it and why God might be\npleased to grant it, we can then kneel down and pray for it. We should\npray to God just as a child begs favors from its parents. We should talk\nto Him in our own simple words, and tell Him the reasons why we ask and\nwhy we think He should grant our request. We should, however, be humble\nand patient in all our prayers. God does not owe us anything, and\nwhatever He gives is a free gift. We should not always read prayers at\nAlmighty God. If you wanted anything very badly from a friend, you would\nknow how to ask for it. You would never ask another to write out your\nrequest on paper, and then go and read it to your friend. Now, that is\njust what we do when we read the prayers that somebody else has written\nin a prayerbook. Try, therefore, to pray with your own prayers. Of\ncourse when the Church gives you certain prayers to say--as it does to\nits priests in the divine office--or recommends to you such prayers as\nthe \"Our Father,\" \"Hail Mary,\" and \"Creed,\" you should say them in\npreference to your own, because then the Church adds its petition to\nyours, and God is more likely to grant such prayers. I mean, therefore,\nthat we should not always pray from prayerbooks, and hurry through the\n\"Our Father\" that we may give more time to some printed prayer that\npleases us. Our prayer should be a conversation with God. We should,\nafter speaking to Him, listen to what He has to say to us, by our\nconscience, good thoughts, etc.\n\nI must warn you against some prayers that have been circulated by\nimpostors for the purpose of making money. They pretend that these\nprayers were found in some remarkable place or manner; that those who\ncarry them or say them will have most wonderful advantages--they will\nnever meet with accident; they will be warned of their death; they will\ngo directly to Heaven after death, etc. If there were any such wonderful\nprayers the Church would surely know of them and commend them to its\nchildren. When you find any prayers of the kind I mention, bring them to\nthe priest and ask his opinion before you use them yourself or give them\nto others. Never buy prayers or articles said to be blessed from persons\nunknown to you. Persons selling such things are frequently impostors,\nwho by suave manners and pious speeches unfortunately find Catholics who\nbelieve them. These persons--sometimes not Catholics themselves, or at\nleast very bad ones--laugh at the superstition and foolish practices of\nCatholics who believe everything they hear about pious books, prayers,\nor articles.\n\nIn the early ages of the Church, when the enemies of Christ found that\nthey could not refute His teaching, they began to circulate foolish\ndoctrines, pretending that they were taught by Christ, and thus they\nhoped to bring ridicule upon Christianity. So also in our time many\nthings are circulated as the teaching of the Catholic Church by the\nenemies of the Church, in hopes that by these falsehoods and foolish\ndoctrines they may bring disgrace and ridicule upon the true religion.\nBe on your guard against all impostors, remembering it is a safe rule\nnever to buy a religious article from or give money to persons going\nabout from door to door. If you have anything to give in alms, give it\nto some charitable institution or society connected with the Church, or\nput it in the poor-box, and then you will be sure it will do the good\nyou intend. Remember, too, that all the religious articles carried about\nfor sale do not come from Rome or the Holy Land, and you are deceived if\nyou think so, notwithstanding the assurance of their owners.\n\n\"A trust\"--with full confidence that God will grant our petitions if we\nreally need or deserve what we pray for. It is a fault with a great many\nto pray without the belief that their prayers will be answered. We\nshould pray with such faith and confidence that we would really be\ndisappointed if our prayer was not granted. Once when Our Lord was going\nabout doing good, a poor woman who had been suffering for twelve years\nwith a disease, and who, wishing to be healed, had uselessly spent all\nher money in seeking medical aid, came to follow Him. (Mark 5:25). She\ndid not ask Him to cure her, but said within herself, \"If I can but\ntouch the hem of His garment I know I shall be healed.\" So she made her\nway through the throng and followed Our Lord till she could touch His\ngarment without being seen. She succeeded in accomplishing her wishes,\ntouched His garment, and was instantly cured. Our Lord knew her desires\nand what she had done, and turning around told the people, praising her\ngreat faith and confidence, on account of which He had healed her. Such\nalso should be our confidence and trust when we pray to God for our\nneeds.\n\n\"Perseverance.\" We should continue to pray though God does not grant our\nrequest. Have you ever noticed a little child begging favors from its\nmother? See its persistence! Though often refused, it will return again\nand again with the same request, till the mother, weary of its\nimportunity, finally grants what it asks.\n\nSt. Monica prayed seventeen years for the conversion of her son St.\nAugustine. St. Augustine's father was a pagan, and Monica, his wife,\nprayed seventeen years for his conversion, and he became a Christian.\nJust about that time her son Augustine, who was attending school, fell\nin with bad companions and became a great sinner. She prayed seventeen\nyears more for him, and he reformed, became a great saint and learned\nbishop in the Church. See, then, the result of thirty-four years'\nprayer: Monica herself became a saint, her son became a saint, and her\nhusband died a Christian. If St. Monica had ceased praying after ten\nyears, Augustine might not have reformed. We never know when God is\nabout to grant our petition, and we may cease to pray just when another\nappeal would obtain the object of our prayer. So we should continue to\npray till God is pleased to grant our request. Some say their prayers\nare not heard when they mean to say their prayers are not granted; for\nGod always hears us. But why does He not always grant our request? There\nare many reasons: (1) We may not pray in the proper manner, namely, with\nattention, reverence, humility, patience, and perseverance; (2) We may\nask for things that God foresees will not be for our spiritual good.\nThis is true even for things that seem good to us, such as the removal\nof an affliction, temptation, or the like. It often happens that God\nshows us His greatest mercy in not granting our prayers. Suppose, for\nexample, a father held in his hand a bright and beautiful but very sharp\ninstrument, for which his child continually asked. Do you believe the\nfather would give it if he loved the child? Certainly not. The child\nthinks, no doubt, it would be benefitted by the possession of the\ninstrument, but the father sees the danger. As God is our loving Father,\nHe acts with us in the same manner. (3) Our prayers are not granted\nsometimes that we may learn to pray with proper dispositions, and God\nwithholds what He intends finally to give, that we may persevere in\nprayer and have greater merit. Have you ever observed a mother teaching\nher child to walk? What does she do? She goes at some distance from the\nchild and holds out an object that she knows will be pleasing to it, and\nthus tempts it to walk to her. When the child draws near she moves still\nfarther away, and keeps it walking for some time before giving the\nobject. This she does, not through unwillingness to give the article,\nbut in order to teach the child to walk, for she loves to see its\nefforts. When it falls, she lifts it up and makes it try again. So, too,\nGod teaches us to pray; and though He loves us, He withholds His gifts,\nthat we may pray the longer, and thereby afford Him greater pleasure.\n\n308 Q. Which are the prayers most recommended to us?\nA. The prayers most recommended to us are the Lord's Prayer, the Hail\nMary, the Apostles' Creed, the Confiteor, and the Acts of Faith, Hope,\nLove, and Contrition.\n\n309 Q. Are prayers said with distractions of any avail?\nA. Prayers said with willful distractions are of no avail.\n\n\"Distraction\"--that is, when we willingly and knowingly think of\nsomething else while saying our prayers. It would be better not to pray\nthan to pray with disrespect. If there is any time at which we cannot\npray well, we should postpone our prayer: for God does not require us to\nsay our prayers just at a particular time; but when we do pray, He\nrequires us to pray with reverence and respect. We would pray well\nalways if we reflected on the great privilege we enjoy in being allowed\nto pray.\n\n\n\nLesson 29\nON THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD\n\n\n310 Q. Is it enough to belong to God's Church in order to be saved?\nA. It is not enough to belong to the Church in order to be saved, but we\nmust also keep the Commandments of God and of the Church.\n\nWe call some commandments the Commandments of God and others the\ncommandments of the Church. We do so only to distinguish the\nCommandments that God gave to Moses from those that the Church made\nafterwards. They are all the commandments of God, for whatever laws or\ncommandments the Church makes, it makes them under the inspiration of\nthe Holy Ghost, and by God's authority. It would be a mortal sin to\nbreak the commandments of the Church, just as it would be to break the\nCommandments of God. You must remember that the Ten Commandments always\nexisted from the time of Adam, but they were not written till God gave\nthem to Moses. You know that it was always a sin to worship false gods,\nto blaspheme, to disobey parents, to kill, etc.; for you know Cain was\npunished by God for the murder of his brother Abel (Gen. 5), and that\ntook place while Adam was still alive.\n\nBefore the coming of Our Lord the Israelites, or God's chosen people,\nhad three kinds of laws. They had the civil laws for the government of\ntheir nation--just as we have our laws for the people of the United\nStates. They had their ceremonial laws for their services in the\ntemple--as we have our ceremonies for the Church. They had their moral\nlaws--such as the Commandments--teaching them what they must do to save\ntheir souls. Their civil laws were done away with when they ceased to be\na nation having a government of their own. Their ceremonial laws were\ndone away with when Our Lord came and established His Church; because\ntheir ceremonies were only the figures of ours. Their moral laws\nremained, and Our Lord explained them and made them more perfect.\nTherefore we keep the Commandments and moral laws as they were always\nkept by man. Fifty days after the Israelites left Egypt they came to the\nfoot of Mount Sinai. (Ex. 19). Here God commanded Moses to come up into\nthe mountain, and in the midst of fire and smoke, thunder and lightning,\nGod spoke to him and delivered into his hands the Ten Commandments\nwritten on two tablets of stone.\n\nEvery day while the Israelites were traveling in the desert God sent\nthem manna--a miraculous food that fell every morning. It was white, and\nlooked something like fine rice. It had any taste they wished it to\nhave. For instance, if they wished it to taste like fruit, it did taste\nso to them; but its usual taste was like that of flour and honey. (Ex.\n16).\n\nI said there is no difference between the Ten Commandments of God and\nthe six commandments of the Church; and there is no difference as far as\nthe sin of violating them is concerned. But they differ in this: the\nChurch can change the commandments it made itself, while it cannot\nchange those that God Himself gave directly.\n\n*311 Q. Which are the Commandments that contain the whole law of God?\nA. The Commandments which contain the whole law of God are these two:\nfirst, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, with thy\nwhole soul, with thy whole strength, and with thy whole mind; second,\nthou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.\n\n\"As thyself\"--that is, as explained elsewhere, with the same kind,\nthough not necessarily with the same degree, of love. First we must love\nourselves and do what is essential for our own salvation, because\nwithout our cooperation others cannot save us, though they may help us\nby their prayers and good works. Next to ourselves nature demands that\nwe love those who are related to us in the order of parents, children,\nhusbands, wives, brothers, etc., and help them in proportion to their\nneeds, and before helping strangers who are in no greater distress.\n\n*312 Q. Why do these two Commandments of the love of God and of our\nneighbor contain the whole law of God?\nA. These two Commandments of the love of God and of our neighbor contain\nthe whole law of God because all the other Commandments are given either\nto help us to keep these two, or to direct us how to shun what is\nopposed to them.\n\nOf the Ten Commandments the first three refer to Almighty God and the\nother seven to our neighbor. Thus all the Commandments may be reduced to\nthe two of the love of God and of the love of our neighbor. The First\nCommandment says you shall worship only the true God; the Second says\nyou shall respect His holy name; and the Third says you shall worship\nHim on a certain day. All these are contained therefore in this: Love\nGod all you possibly can, for if you do you will keep the first three of\nthe Commandments. The Fourth says: Honor your father--who in the sense\nof the Commandment can also be called your neighbor--that is, respect\nhim, help him in his needs. The Fifth says do not kill him; namely, your\nneighbor. The others say do not rob him of his goods; do not tell lies\nabout him; do not wish unjustly to possess his goods and do not covet\nhis wife. Thus it is clear that the last seven are all contained in\nthis: Love your neighbor, for if you do you will keep the last seven\nCommandments that refer to him.\n\n313 Q. Which are the Commandments of God?\nA. The Commandments of God are these ten:\n\n 1. I am the Lord thy God, Who brought thee out of the land of Egypt,\n    out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt not have strange gods before\n    Me. Thou shalt not make to thyself a graven thing, nor the likeness\n    of any thing that is in Heaven above, or in the earth beneath, nor\n    of those things that are in the waters under the earth. Thou shalt\n    not adore them, nor serve them.\n 2. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.\n 3. Remember thou keep holy the Sabbath Day.\n 4. Honor thy father and thy mother.\n 5. Thou shalt not kill.\n 6. Thou shalt not commit adultery.\n 7. Thou shalt not steal.\n 8. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.\n 9. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife.\n10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's goods.\n\n*314 Q. Who gave the Ten Commandments?\nA. God Himself gave the Ten Commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai, and\nChrist Our Lord confirmed them.\n\n\n\nLesson 30\nON THE FIRST COMMANDMENT\n\n\n315 Q. What is the First Commandment?\nA. The First Commandment is: \"I am the Lord thy God: thou shalt not have\nstrange gods before Me.\"\n\n\"Strange gods.\" The Israelites were surrounded on all sides by pagan\nnations who worshipped idols and false gods, and sometimes by mingling\nwith these people they fell into sin, and, forgetting the true God,\nworshipped their idols. Sometimes, too, they were at war with these\npagan nations, and when defeated were led captive into pagan countries\nand there fell into the sin of worshipping false gods. It was against\nthis sin that God cautioned His people in the First Commandment. From\nthis sin of idolatry among the Israelites we have an example of the evil\nresults of associating with persons not of the true religion. One would\nthink that the Israelites, knowing the true God, might have converted\ntheir pagan neighbors to the true religion by the influence of their\nteaching and example; but, on the contrary, they lost the true faith\nthemselves, as nearly always happens in such cases. How do we sometimes\nworship false or strange gods? By making dress, money, honor, society,\ncompany, or pleasure our god--that is, by giving up the worship of God\nand sinning for their sake, and thus making them god, at least for the\ntime being, by giving them our heart, mind, and service.\n\n*316 Q. How does the First Commandment help us to keep the great\nCommandment of the love of God?\nA. The First Commandment helps us to keep the great Commandment of the\nlove of God because it commands us to adore God alone.\n\n317 Q. How do we adore God?\nA. We adore God by faith, hope, and charity, by prayer and sacrifice.\n\n318 Q. How may the First Commandment be broken?\nA. The First Commandment may be broken by giving to a creature the honor\nwhich belongs to God alone; by false worship; and by attributing to a\ncreature a perfection which belongs to God alone.\n\n\"Creature\"--that is, anything created; anything but God Himself, for all\nother persons and things have been created. If one knelt before a king\nand adored him, he would be giving to a creature the honor due to God\nalone. \"False worship\"--that is, worshipping God not as He directs us by\nHis Church, but in some ways pleasing to ourselves. For example, to\nsacrifice animals to God would now be false worship; to offer now any of\nthe sacrifices commanded in the Old Law would be false worship, because\nall these were figures of the real sacrifice of the Cross and Mass, and\nwere to put the people in mind that one day Christ the promised Redeemer\nwould offer up the one great sacrifice of His own body and blood to blot\nout all the sins of the world. And now that we have the real sacrifice\nit would be sinful to use only figures, and it would be a false worship\ndispleasing to God. So, too, all those who leave the true Church to\npractice a religion of their own have a false worship, for they worship\nGod not as He wishes, but as they wish.\n\nHeaven is a reward, and when we see how the saints labored to secure it\nwe must be ashamed of the little we do for God. Take out of a whole\nyear--that is, 365 days or 8,760 hours--the time you give to the service\nof God, and you will find it very little. Even the time you spent at\nMass and prayers was filled with distraction and little of it entirely\ngiven to God. Since this is true for one year, what will it be for all\nthe years of your life? Think of them all and you will perceive that\nGod, who gave you all the time you had, and who on the last day will\ndemand an exact account of it, will find very little of it spent in His\nhonor or in His service. Even the time wasted in school and instructions\nwill all stand against you. Time lost is lost forever, and you can never\nmake it up. Next to grace, time is the most valuable thing God gives us,\nand we should use it well. \"Attributing to a creature a perfection\" etc.\nPersons who go to fortune tellers do this. Fortune tellers are persons\nwho pretend to know what is going to happen in the future. We know from\nour religion that only God Himself knows the future. Neither the angels\nnor saints, nor even the Blessed Virgin, know the future. Even they\ncould not tell your fortune unless God revealed it to them. So when you\ngo to a fortune teller you place the poor sinful person who is doing the\ndevil's work above the Blessed Virgin and all the saints and angels, and\nmake that wretch equal to God Himself. Surely this is a sin, even if you\ndo not believe these so-called fortune tellers, but go to them merely\nthrough curiosity or with others. Again, we pay these persons for\ntelling us some foolish nonsense, and thus encourage them to continue\ntheir sinful business. They doubtless laugh at the foolishness of those\nwho go to them or believe what they say and pay them generously. You\nmight with as much sense stop a man on the street, ask him to tell your\nfortune, and hand him your money, for he would know as much about it as\nso-called fortune tellers do. Rarely these sinful people might tell you\nsomething that has happened in your life; but if they do, they merely\nguess at it or are aided by the devil. The devil did not lose his\nintelligence when driven out of Heaven, and he uses it now for doing\nevil. He has vast experience, for he is as old as Adam, or older, and\nhas seen and known all the men that have lived in the world. He can move\nrapidly through the world and easily know what is visibly taking place,\nso that, strictly speaking, he could make known to his sinful agents\nwhat is present or past, but never the future. Thus some fortune\ntellers, clairvoyants, mindreaders, mediums, or whatever else they call\nthemselves, who are truly in league with the devil, may by his power\ntell you the past of your life to make you believe that they know also\nthe future. The past and present in your life you already know, and the\nfuture they cannot tell; therefore it is useless as well as sinful to go\nto them. I say only it is possible for some fortune tellers to employ\nthe assistance of the devil, for all of them, with very rare exception,\nare clever impostors who take your money for guessing at what they\nsuspect you will be most pleased to hear.\n\n*319 Q. Do those who make use of spells and charms, or who believe in\ndreams, in mediums, spiritists, fortune tellers, and the like, sin\nagainst the First Commandment?\nA. Those who make use of spells and charms, or who believe in dreams, in\nmediums, spiritists, fortune tellers, and the like, sin against the\nFirst Commandment, because they attribute to creatures perfections which\nbelong to God alone.\n\n\"Spells\" are certain words, the saying of which persons believe will\neffect for them something wonderful--a miraculous cure, for instance, or\nprotection from some evil. \"Charms\" are articles worn about the body for\nthe same purpose. They may be little black beans, little stones of a\ncertain shape, the teeth of animals, etc. In uncivilized countries the\ninhabitants use many of these charms. But you may ask, Are not these\nmedals, scapulars, etc., that we wear, also charms? No. These things are\nblessed and worn in honor of God, of His Blessed Mother, or of the\nsaints. We do not expect any help from the little piece of brass or\ncloth we wear, but from those in whose honor we wear it, and from the\nprayers said in the blessing for those who wear it. But they who wear\ncharms expect the help from the thing itself, which makes their conduct\nfoolish and sinful, since God alone can protect from evil. Again, such\nthings as medals, crosses, and scapulars are blessed by the Church and\nworn by its consent, and it could never allow all its children to do a\nsinful thing. It is good and praiseworthy, therefore, to wear the\nblessed sacramentals in God's honor; but even with these holy things we\nmust be careful not to go too far. It is true the Blessed Virgin will\nprotect those who wear her scapular; but it would be sinful willfully to\nexpose ourselves to danger without any necessity, because we wear a\nscapular. Thus it would be suicide for a boy who could not swim to\nplunge into deep water because, having his scapulars on, the Blessed\nVirgin ought to save him by a miracle. Again, it is wrong to look for\nmiracles from God when natural help will answer. Thus it would be wrong\nfor a man who broke his leg to refuse to have the doctors set it,\nbecause he wanted God alone to heal it. \"Dreams\" are caused by the mind\nbeing at work while the body is sleeping or at rest. The mind never\nsleeps; it is always awake and working. Thus when we are asleep the\nimagination, without the reason to guide it, mixes together a number of\nthings we have seen, heard, or thought of, and gives us strange scenes\nand pictures. Sometimes what we dream of seems to happen; but that is\nonly because we dream so much that it would be strange if none of the\nthings ever happened. We will generally dream about whatever was on our\nmind shortly before. We read in the Holy Scriptures that God at times\nmade known His will to certain persons by dreams; as when the king of\nEgypt dreamt of the great famine that was to come; or when the angel\nappeared in sleep to St. Joseph, telling him to take Our Lord into\nEgypt, where Herod the king could not kill him. (Matt. 2).\n\nThe dreams mentioned in the Holy Scripture were more frequently visions\nthan dreams. In a vision the things we see are really present, whereas\nin dreams they are not, but we imagine they are. God no longer makes use\nof dreams as a means of communicating with His creatures, because His\nChurch will make known to us His will. He sometimes, however, makes\nknown certain things to His holy servants on earth in a very special and\nprivate manner: as, for example, when Our Lord appeared to Saint\nMargaret Mary and told her He would like to have the devotion to the\nSacred Heart established. We must always believe what the Church tells\nus God has made known to it; but when holy people tell us that God\nrevealed special things to them, we are not obliged to believe what they\nsay, unless the Church confirms it. I say we are not obliged--that is,\nwe may if we please; but we would not be heretics and commit sin if we\ndid not believe all the revelations and wonderful things we find\nrecorded in the lives of saints, though they may all be true.\n\n\"Mediums and spiritists\" are persons who pretend they can talk with the\ndead in the other world, and learn where they are and what they are\ndoing. They have figures to move and apparently speak, and other\ncontrivances to deceive those who confide in them. Their work is all\ndeception and very sinful. If any of these things could be done, or if\nGod wished them to be known, He would give the power to the Church\nfounded by His divine Son, and not to a few sinful men or women here and\nthere. After a soul leaves the body its fate is hidden from us, and we\ncan say nothing with absolute certainty of its reward or punishment. No\none ever came back from the other world to give a minute account of its\ngeneral appearance or of what takes place there. All that is known about\nit the Church knows and tells us, and all over and above that is false\nor doubtful. By thinking a little you can see how all these dealings\nwith fortune tellers, etc., are giving to creatures what belongs to God\nalone.\n\n320 Q. Are sins against faith, hope, and charity also sins against the\nFirst Commandment?\nA. Sins against faith, hope, and charity are also sins against the First\nCommandment.\n\n321 Q. How does a person sin against faith?\nA. A person sins against faith, first, by not trying to know what God\nhas taught; second, by refusing to believe all that God has taught;\nthird, by neglecting to profess his belief in what God has taught.\n\n\"Not trying to know.\" Thus children who idle their time at Sunday school\nor religious instruction, and do not learn their Catechism, sin against\nfaith in the first way. In like manner grown persons who do not sometime\nor other endeavor to hear sermons or instructions, to attend missions or\nlearn from good books, sin against faith. \"Refusing to believe,\" as all\nthose do who leave the true religion, or who, knowing it, do not embrace\nit. \"Neglecting to profess.\" We may do this by not living up to the\npractice of our holy religion. We believe, for example, we should hear\nMass every Sunday and holy day; we should receive the Sacraments at\ncertain times in the year; but if we only believe these things and do\nnot do them, we neglect to profess our faith, neglect to show others\nthat we really believe all the Church teaches, and are anxious to\npractice it. Many know and believe what they should do, but never\npractice it. Such persons do great injury to the Church, for persons who\ndo not live up to their holy religion but act contrary to its teaching\ngive scandal to their neighbor. How many persons at present not\nCatholics would be induced to enter the true Church if they saw all\nCatholics virtuous, truthful, sober, honest, upright, and industrious!\nBut when they see Catholics--be they ever so few--cursing, quarrelling,\nbackbiting, drinking, lying, stealing, cheating, etc.--in a word,\nindulging in the same vices as those who claim to have no religion, what\nmust they think of the moral influence of Catholic faith? Thus they do\ngreat injustice to the Church and the cause of religion, and are working\nagainst our Blessed Lord when they should be working for Him.\n\nThe Christian religion spread very rapidly through the world in the\nfirst ages of its existence; and one of the chief reasons was the good\nexample given by the Christians; for pagans seeing the holy lives, the\nkindness and charity of their Christian neighbors, could not help\nadmiring and loving them, and wishing to be members of the Church that\nmade them so good and amiable. How many pagans do you think would be\nconverted nowadays by the lives of some who call themselves Catholics?\nNot many, I think. Besides this, the early Christians really labored to\ninstruct others in the Christian religion, and to make them converts.\nOften we find servants--even slaves--by their instructions converting\ntheir pagan masters and mistresses. They all felt that they were\nmissionaries working for Jesus Christ, and their influence reached where\nthe priest's influence could not reach, because they came in contact\nwith persons the priests never had an opportunity of seeing. If all\nCatholics had the same spirit, what good they could do! Their business\nor duty may often bring them into daily intercourse with persons not of\ntheir faith, and who never knew or perhaps heard any of the beautiful\ntruths of our holy religion. Yes, Catholics could do much good if they\nhad only the good will and knew their religion well. I do not mean that\nthey should be always discussing religion with everyone they meet. Let\nthem preach chiefly by the example of their own good lives, and when\nquestioned explain modestly and sincerely the truths they believe.\n\nIf you should be asked, for instance: Why do you not eat flesh-meat on\nFriday? you should be able to answer: \"Because I am a Christian and wish\nto keep always before my mind how our Blessed Lord suffered for me in\nHis holy flesh on that day; and anyone who claims to be a Christian,\nought, I think, to be glad to do what reminds him so regularly and well\nof Our Lord's Passion.\" Such an answer if given kindly and mildly would\nsilence and instruct your adversary; it might make him reflect, and\nmight, in time, bring him to the true religion. Sometimes a few words\nmake a great impression and bring about conversion. St. Francis Xavier\nwas a worldly young man, learned and ambitious, and he heard from St.\nIgnatius these words of Our Lord: \"What doth it profit a man if he gain\nthe whole world and suffer the loss of his own soul?\" He went home and\nkept thinking of them till they impressed him so strongly that he gave\nup the world, became a priest and by his labors and preaching in India,\nconverted to the true religion many thousand pagans. In the lives of the\nsaints there are many examples of a few words, by God's grace, bringing\nmen from a life of sin to a life of great holiness.\n\n*322 Q. How do we fail to try to know what God has taught?\nA. We fail to try to know what God has taught by neglecting to learn the\nChristian doctrine.\n\n*323 Q. Who are they who do not believe all that God has taught?\nA. They who do not believe all that God has taught are the heretics and\ninfidels.\n\nThere are many kinds of unbelievers: atheists, deists, infidels,\nheretics, apostates, and schismatics. An atheist is one who denies the\nexistence of God, saying there is no God. A deist is one who says he\nbelieves God exists, but denies that God ever revealed any religion.\nThese are also called freethinkers. An infidel properly means one who\nhas never been baptized--one who is not of the number of the faithful;\nthat is, those believing in Christ. Sometimes atheists are called\ninfidels. Heretics are those who were baptized and who claim to be\nChristians, but do not believe all the truths that Our Lord has taught.\nThey accept only a portion of the doctrine of Christ and reject the\nremainder, and hence they become rebellious children of the Church. They\nbelong to the true Church by being baptized, but do not submit to its\nteaching and are therefore outcast children, disinherited till they\nreturn to the true faith. A schismatic is one who believes everything\nthe Church teaches, but will not submit to the authority of its\nhead--the Holy Father. Such persons do not long remain only schismatics;\nfor once they rise up against the authority of the Church, they soon\nreject some of its doctrines and thus become heretics; and indeed, since\nVatican Council I, all schismatics are heretics.\n\n*324 Q. Who are they who neglect to profess their belief in what God has\ntaught?\nA. They who neglect to profess their belief in what God has taught are\nall those who fail to acknowledge the true Church in which they really\nbelieve.\n\nThere are some outside the Church who feel and believe that the Catholic\nChurch is the true Church, and yet they do not become Catholics, because\nthere are so many difficulties in the way. For example, they have been\nbrought up in another religion, and all their friends, relatives, or\nassociates are opposed to the Catholic religion. Their business, their\nsocial life, their worldly interests will all suffer if they become\nCatholics. So, although they feel they should at once embrace the true\nreligion, they keep putting off till death comes and finds them outside\nthe Church--and most probably guilty of other mortal sins. Such persons\ncannot be saved, for they reject all the graces God bestows upon them. A\nvery common fault with such people is to excuse this conduct by saying:\nOh! I was brought up in the Protestant religion, and everyone ought to\nlive in the religion in which he was brought up. Let me ask: If persons\nwere brought up with some bodily deformity that their parents neglected\nto have remedied while they were young, would they not use every means\nthemselves to have the deformity removed as soon as they became old\nenough to see and understand their misfortune? In like manner, if\nunfortunately parents bring up their children in a false religion--that\nis, with spiritual deformities, it is the duty of the children to\nembrace the true religion as soon as they know it. Again persons will\nsay: Oh, I believe one religion as good as another; we are all\nChristians, and all trying to serve God. If one religion is as good as\nanother, why did not Our Lord allow the old religions--false or true--to\nremain? If one man says a thing is black and another says it is white,\nthey cannot both be right, for a thing cannot be black and white at the\nsame time. Only one can be right; and, if we are anxious about the color\nof the object, we must try to find which one is right. Just in the same\nway all the religions that claim to be Christian contradict one another;\none says a thing is false and another says it is true: one says Our Lord\ntaught so and so and another says He did not. Now since it is very\nimportant for us to know which is right, we must find out which is\nreally the Church Our Lord established; and when we have found it we\nwill know that all the other pretended Christian religions must be\nfalse. Our Lord has given us marks by which we can know His Church, as\nwe saw while speaking of the marks of the Church; and the Roman Catholic\nChurch is the only Church that has all these marks. We say that we are\nRoman Catholics to show that we are in communion with the Church of\nRome, established by St. Peter, the chief of the Apostles.\n\n*325 Q. Can they who fail to profess their faith in the true Church in\nwhich they believe expect to be saved while in that state?\nA. They who fail to profess their faith in the true Church in which they\nbelieve cannot expect to be saved while in that state, for Christ has\nsaid: \"Whoever shall deny Me before men, I will also deny him before My\nFather who is in Heaven.\"\n\n326 Q. Are we obliged to make open profession of our faith?\nA. We are obliged to make open profession of our faith as often as God's\nhonor, our neighbor's spiritual good, or our own requires it.\n\"Whosoever,\" says Christ, \"shall confess Me before men, I will also\nconfess him before My Father who is in Heaven.\"\n\nIt is not necessary for us to proclaim in the streets that we are\nCatholics; neither need we tell our religion to impudent people that may\nask us only to insult us; but when a real need of professing our faith\npresents itself, then we must profess it. Suppose you are stopping in a\nhotel in which you are the only Catholic. If flesh-meat is placed before\nyou on a Friday in Lent you must quietly push it aside and ask for fish\nor other food; although by so doing you will show that you are a\nCatholic and make a silent profession of your faith. God's honor and\nyour own good require it, for you must keep the laws of God and of His\nChurch on every possible occasion. Suppose again there were in the same\nhotel some indifferent Catholics, socially your equals or inferiors, who\nthrough human respect were ashamed to go to Mass on Sunday; then you\nshould publicly go to Mass and even declare that you must go, for by so\ndoing you would encourage these indifferent Catholics to follow your\nexample. In that case your neighbor's good requires that you profess\nyour faith. In a word, you must keep up the practice of your religion\neven if by so doing you have to make an open profession of your faith\nand suffer for it. But suppose it is something that God or the Church\ndoes not command you to do but only recommends, such as blessing\nyourself before meals or some pious practice, you could in public omit\nsuch an action if you pleased without any sin or denial of faith,\nbecause you violate no law.\n\n327 Q. Which are the sins against hope?\nA. The sins against hope are presumption and despair.\n\n328 Q. What is presumption?\nA. Presumption is a rash expectation of salvation without making proper\nuse of the necessary means to obtain it.\n\nA person who goes on leading a bad life, and says when warned of his\ndanger that he is in no hurry to reform, that he will repent some day\nbefore he dies, is always living in and committing the sin of\npresumption. It is a great sin, for it is living in open defiance of\nAlmighty God. Such persons are very seldom given the opportunity to\nrepent at the last moment, and are, in most cases, called to judgment\nwhen they least expect it. We are all presumptuous sometimes. Do we not\noften, when we have fallen into a certain sin, easily repeat the act,\nsaying to ourselves, now that we will have to confess the sin committed,\nthe mention of the number of times will not make such difference for it\nwill not increase our shame and confusion? This is presumption; for we\ndo not know whether God will ever give us the opportunity of making a\nconfession. Again, one mortal sin is sufficient to keep our souls in\nHell for all eternity; what then will be our punishment for many mortal\nsins? Then there is another thing you should remember: God has fixed a\ncertain number of sins that He will suffer you to commit before He sends\nHis punishment. You do not know which sin will complete the number and\nbe the last. The very sin you are now about to commit may be that one,\nand the moment you have committed it, God will call you to judgment,\nwhether it be night or day, whether you are at home or in the\nstreets--though perhaps not immediately, but before you commit another\nsin. Such a thought alone should keep you from sinning. Moreover, after\nconfession you strongly resist the first temptation to mortal sin, but\nafter you have yielded to the first you scarcely make any more\nresistance, but easily yield again and again. You should therefore, to\nprevent this, go to confession just as soon as you possibly can after\nfalling into mortal sin. It is bad enough to commit mortal sin, but it\nis terrible to be living in that state day and night--always an enemy of\nGod--losing the merit of all the works you do and yet you must stay in\nthat state of sin till you go to confession and receive absolution.\nPeter the Apostle committed the sin of presumption. (Matt. 26). Our Lord\ntold him to watch and pray for he would be tempted and yield that night,\nbut Peter said: \"No Lord, I will never deny Thee.\" Instead of begging\nOur Lord's help and grace, he trusted to himself and fell miserably into\nsin. He went into dangerous company and that was another cause of his\nfall. But afterwards he saw his sin and folly and never ceased to repent\nof it.\n\n329 Q. What is despair?\nA. Despair is the loss of hope in God's mercy.\n\nDespair is a sin because by it you deny that God is infinitely\nmerciful--that He is merciful enough to forgive even your many and great\nsins if you are truly sorry for them. Judas committed the sin of\ndespair. After he had betrayed Our Lord, he went and hanged himself,\nthus committing, besides the sin of betraying his divine Master, two\nother great sins; namely, despair in God's mercy and suicide. If he had\ngone to Our Lord and confessed his sin, and implored pardon and promised\npenance, can we doubt that He would have forgiven even Judas, as He\nforgave Peter, and those that crucified Him, praying that His Father\nmight not punish them for their sins? Therefore, no matter what sins you\nhave committed, never lose confidence in God's mercy. See how Our Lord\npardoned the thief on the cross and Mary Magdalen and other sinners. Be\nsorry for your sins, and God will hear your prayers. Call upon the\nBlessed Virgin, your patron saint, and guardian angel to help you, and\nask others, especially good persons, to pray for you.\n\n*330 Q. How do we sin against the love of God?\nA. We sin against the love of God by all sin, but particularly by mortal\nsin.\n\n\n\nLesson 31\nTHE FIRST COMMANDMENT--ON THE HONOR AND INVOCATION OF SAINTS\n\n\n331 Q. Does the First Commandment forbid the honoring of the saints?\nA. The First Commandment does not forbid the honoring of the saints, but\nrather approves of it; because by honoring the saints, who are the\nchosen friends of God, we honor God Himself.\n\nThink of the many helps God gives us to save our souls: an angel to be\nalways with us upon earth; a saint always praying for us in Heaven, and\nbesides these all the graces, the Sacraments, the Masses, the prayers,\netc. If then we lose our soul, surely we cannot say, God did not give us\nsufficient help. \"Invocation\" means calling upon them to help us.\nEveryone is pleased when his friends are honored. Who is not glad to\nhear his parents praised or see them respected? By praying to the\nsaints, instead of dishonoring God--as Protestants say we do--we really\nhonor Him more than by praying directly to Himself We show that we\nbelieve in His great dignity, His awful majesty and our own nothingness.\nIf a poor person wanted to obtain a favor from the President of the\nUnited States, would he go directly to the President himself? No. He\nwould find someone who had influence with the President, and ask him to\nobtain the favor. Why, the very persons that say we should not use the\ninfluence of saints do themselves use the influence of others to obtain\nfavors. They never go to an enemy of the one from whom they desire the\nfavor, but to some of his friends, knowing that a person will often\ngrant a favor for a friend's sake that he would not grant for the sake\nof others. Now we do exactly the same when we pray to the saints. They\nare the special friends of God. They fasted, prayed, preached, labored,\nor suffered death for His honor and glory. He showed them great favors\nwhile they were upon earth. He performed miracles at their request. Will\nHe deny them now, when they are always present with Him in Heaven--where\nthey could not possibly sin? He loves to grant them favors; and, as they\ndo not need any for themselves, He grants them for others through their\nintercession. Again men are honored by the praises of their fellowman. A\ngreat general is honored by having all his countrymen praise him; so,\ntoo, God wants His saints honored, for their great spiritual deeds, by\nthe praise of the children of the Church. God is not annoyed by being\nasked for favors. Nothing can trouble Him, for all is done by an act of\nHis will. He loses nothing by giving, for He is infinite. By praying to\nthe saints for help we confess that we are too unworthy to present\nourselves to God and address Him--to come before His awful Majesty, and\nthat we will wait here in the humble attitude of prayer while you, holy\nsaints, His dearest friends, go into His presence and ask for us the\nfavors and graces we require.\n\n332 Q. Does the First Commandment forbid us to pray to the saints?\nA. The First Commandment does not forbid us to pray to the saints.\n\nWe do not pray to them as to God. We never say to them, \"Give us this or\nthat,\" but always, \"Obtain it for us.\" In all the litanies you cannot\nfind one petition where we say, even to the Blessed Virgin: \"Have mercy\non us,\" but, \"Pray for us,\" or, \"Intercede for us.\"\n\n333 Q. What do we mean by praying to the saints?\nA. By praying to the saints we mean the asking of their help and\nprayers.\n\n*334 Q. How do we know that the saints hear us?\nA. We know that the saints hear us, because they are with God, who makes\nour prayers known to them.\n\n*335 Q. Why do we believe that the saints will help us?\nA. We believe that the saints will help us because both they and we are\nmembers of the same Church, and they love us as their brethren.\n\n*336 Q. How are the saints and we members of the same Church?\nA. The saints and we are members of the same Church, because the Church\nin Heaven and the Church on earth are one and the same Church, and all\nits members are in communion with one another.\n\n*337 Q. What is the communion of the members of the Church called?\nA. The communion of the members of the Church is called the communion of\nsaints.\n\n*338 Q. What does the communion of saints mean?\nA. The communion of saints means the union which exists between the\nmembers of the Church on earth with one another and with the blessed in\nHeaven and with the suffering souls in Purgatory.\n\n*339 Q. What benefits are derived from the communion of saints?\nA. The following benefits are derived from the communion of saints: the\nfaithful on earth assist one another by their prayers and good works,\nand they are aided by the intercession of the saints in Heaven, while\nboth the saints in Heaven and the faithful on earth help the souls in\nPurgatory.\n\n340 Q. Does the First Commandment forbid us to honor relics?\nA. The First Commandment does not forbid us to honor relics, because\nrelics are the bodies of the saints or objects directly connected with\nthem or with Our Lord.\n\n\"Relic\" means a thing left. Relics are pieces of the body--bones, etc.\nPieces of saints' clothing, writing, etc., are also called relics.\nPieces of the True Cross, the nails that pierced Christ's hands, etc.,\nare relics of Our Lord's Passion. We have no relic of Our Lord's Body\nbecause He took it into Heaven with Him when He ascended. All relics of\nthe saints must be examined at Rome, by those whom the Holy Father has\nappointed for that work. They must be marked and accompanied by the\ntestimony of the Cardinals, or others who examined them, to show that\nthey are true relics. It would be superstitious to use anything as a\nrelic unless we were sure of its being genuine.\n\n341 Q. Does the First Commandment forbid the making of images?\nA. The First Commandment does forbid the making of images if they are\nmade to be adored as gods, but it does not forbid the making of them to\nput us in mind of Jesus Christ, His Blessed Mother, and the saints.\n\nProtestants and others say that Catholics break the First Commandment by\nhaving images in their churches, because the First Commandment says:\n\"Thou shalt not make graven images or the likeness of anything upon the\nearth,\" etc. Now, if that is exactly what the Commandment means, then\nthey break it also, because they make the images of generals, statesmen,\nwriters, etc., and place them in their parks. They also take photographs\nof their relatives and friends and hang them on the walls of their\nhomes. They do this, they say, and we believe them, to show their\nrespect and veneration for the persons represented, and not to worship\ntheir images. Now we do no more. We simply place in our churches the\nimages of saints to show our respect and veneration for the persons they\nrepresent, and not to worship the images themselves. So if we break the\nFirst Commandment, they who make any picture or statue break it also.\nCan our accusers not see that they and every citizen do the very thing\nfor which they reproach us? On Decoration Day they place flowers around\nthe statue of Washington and other great men. Does anyone believe that\nthey are trying to honor the piece of metal or stone, or that the metal\nor stone statue knows that it is being honored? Certainly not. They do\nso to honor Washington or whomsoever the statue represents; and for the\nsame reason Catholics place flowers and lights around the statues and\nimages of saints. Every child knows that the wood in the statue might as\nwell have been a pillar in the Church, and that its selection for a\nstatue was merely accidental, and hence he knows that the statue cannot\nhear or see him, and so he prays not to the statue but to the person it\nrepresents. Again if you can offer a person insult by dishonoring his\nimage, may we not honor him by treating it with respect? What greater\ninsult, for instance, could be offered to your deceased father and\nyourself than to burn him in effigy, or contemptuously trample his\npicture under foot in your presence? Thus they who treat the images of\nChrist or His saints with disrespect dishonor Christ and His saints.\n\nAgain we may learn our religion by our sight as well as by our hearing,\nand may be led by these visible objects to a knowledge of the invisible\nthings they represent. Let us take an example. A poor ignorant man\nenters a Catholic church, and sees hanging there a picture of St.\nVincent de Paul. He can learn the life of the saint from that picture\nalmost as well as if he read it in a book. He sees the saint dressed in\na cassock, and that tells him St. Vincent was a priest. He sees him\nsurrounded by little ragged children and holding some of them in his\narms; that tells him the saint took care of poor children and orphans,\nand founded homes and asylums for them. He sees on the saint's table a\nhuman skull, and that tells him St. Vincent frequently meditated upon\ndeath and what follows it. He sees beside the skull a little lash or\nwhip, and that tells him the saint was a man who practiced penance and\nmortification. Thus you have another reason why the true Church is very\nproperly called Catholic; because its teaching suits all classes of\npersons. The ignorant can know what it teaches as well as the learned;\nfor if they cannot read they can listen to its priests, watch its\nceremonies, and study its pictures, by all of which it teaches. The\nProtestant religion, on the contrary, is not adapted to the needs of\nevery class, for it teaches that all must find their doctrines in the\nBible, and understand them according to their lights, giving their own\ninterpretation to the passages of the sacred text; and thus we come to\nhave a variety of Protestant denominations, all claiming the Bible for\ntheir guide, though following different paths. If every Protestant has\nthe right to take his own meaning out of the Holy Scripture, what right\nhave Protestant ministers to preach the meaning they have found, and\ncompel others to accept it? The Bible alone is not sufficient. It must\nbe explained by the Church that teaches us also the traditions that have\ncome down to us from the Apostles. If the Bible alone were the rule of\nour faith, what would become of all those who could not read the Bible?\nWhat would become of those who lived before the Apostles wrote the New\nTestament? for they did not write in the first years of their ministry,\nneither did they commit to writing all the truths they taught, because\nOur Lord did not command them to write, but to preach; and He Himself\nnever wrote any of His doctrines. Again Catholics are accused of\nsuperstition for keeping the relics of saints. Yet when General Grant\ndied and was buried in New York, many citizens of every denomination,\nanxious to have a relic of the great man they loved and admired,\nsecured, even at a cost, small pieces of wood from his house, of cloth\nfrom his funeral car, a few leaves or a little sand from his tomb. Now,\nif it was not superstition to keep these relics, why should it be\nsuperstition to keep the relics of the saints?\n\nEven God Himself honored the relics of saints, for He has often\nperformed or granted miracles through their use. We read in the Bible (4\nKings 13:21)--and it is the word of God--that once some persons who were\nburying a dead man, seeing their enemies coming upon them, hastily cast\nthe body into a tomb and fled. It was the tomb of the holy prophet\nEliseus, and when the dead body touched the bones of this great servant\nof God, the dead man came to life and stood erect. Here is at least one\nmiracle that God performed through the relics of a saint.\n\nGod does not forbid the mere making of images, but only the making of\nthem as gods. He gave the Commandments to Moses and afterwards told him\nto make images; namely, angels of gold for the temple. (Ex. 25:18). Now,\nGod does not change His mind or contradict Himself as men do. Whatever\nHe does is done forever. Therefore if He commanded Moses by the First\nCommandment not to make any images, He could not tell him later to make\nsome. It is not the mere making, therefore, that God forbids, but the\nadoring. What He insists upon is: \"You shall not adore or serve the\nimages you make.\" This is very clear if we consider the history of the\nIsraelites, to whom God first gave the law. They were the only nation in\nthe whole world that knew and worshipped the true God, and often, as I\ntold you, they fell into idolatry and really worshipped images. When\nMoses delayed on the mountain with God, and they thought he was not\ncoming back, they made a golden calf and adored it as a god. (Ex. 32).\n\nThe Israelites fell into idolatry chiefly by associating with persons\nnot of the true religion. Let us learn from their sins never to run the\nrisk of weakening or losing our faith by making bosom friends and steady\ncompanions of those not of the true religion or of no religion at all.\nYou are not, however, to treat any person with contempt or to despise\nanyone, but to look upon all as the children of God, and pray for those\nnot of the true religion, that they may be converted and saved.\n\n342 Q. Is it right to show respect to the pictures and images of Christ\nand His saints?\nA. It is right to show respect to the pictures and images of Christ and\nHis saints, because they are the representations and memorials of them.\n\n343 Q. Is it allowed to pray to the crucifix or to the images and relics\nof the saints?\nA. It is not allowed to pray to the crucifix or images and relics of the\nsaints, for they have no life, nor power to help us, nor sense to hear\nus.\n\n344 Q. Why do we pray before the crucifix and the images and relics of\nthe saints?\nA. We pray before the crucifix and the images and relics of the saints\nbecause they enliven our devotion by exciting pious affections and\ndesires, and by reminding us of Christ and of the saints, that we may\nimitate their virtues.\n\n\n\nLesson 32\nFROM THE SECOND TO THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT\n\n\n345 Q. What is the Second Commandment?\nA. The Second Commandment is: Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord\nthy God in vain.\n\n\"In vain\"--that is, without necessity.\n\n346 Q. What are we commanded by the Second Commandment?\nA. We are commanded by the Second Commandment to speak with reverence of\nGod and of the saints, and of all holy things, and to keep our lawful\noaths and vows.\n\nA very common sin against this Commandment is to use the words and\nsayings of Holy Scripture in a worldly or bad sense. The Church forbids\nus to use the words and sayings of Holy Scripture to convey any meaning\nbut the one God intended them to convey, or at least to use them in any\nbut a sacred sense.\n\n347 Q. What is an oath?\nA. An oath is the calling upon God to witness the truth of what we say.\n\nWe declare a thing to be so or not, and call God to be our witness that\nwe are speaking truly. This is one of the most solemn acts that men can\nperform in the presence of their fellowman. All the nations of the earth\nregard an oath as a most sacred thing, and one who swears falsely is the\nvilest of men--a perjurer. God is infinite truth and hates lies. What a\nfrightful thing then to call Him to sanction a lie!\n\n*348 Q. When may we take an oath?\nA. We may take an oath when it is ordered by lawful authority or\nrequired for God's honor or for our own or our neighbor's good.\n\nAn oath is generally taken in a court of law when the judge wishes to\nfind out the truth of the case. We may be a witness against one who is\nguilty, or in defense of an innocent person, and in such cases a lie\nwould have most evil consequences. The judge has a right, therefore, to\nmake us take an oath that we will testify truly. Officers of the law,\nmagistrates, judges, etc., take an oath when entering upon their duties\nthat they will perform them faithfully.\n\n*349 Q. What is necessary to make an oath lawful?\nA. To make an oath lawful it is necessary that what we swear be true,\nand that there be a sufficient cause for taking an oath.\n\n350 Q. What is a vow?\nA. A vow is a deliberate promise made to God to do something that is\npleasing to Him.\n\n\"Deliberate\"--that is, with full consent and freedom. If we are forced\nto make it, it is not valid. \"To God,\" not to another; though we may vow\nto God that we will do something in honor of the Blessed Virgin, or of\nthe saints, or for another. \"Something pleasing,\" because if we promise\nsomething that is forbidden by God or displeasing to Him, it is not a\nvow. A solemn promise, for instance, to kill your neighbor or steal his\ngoods could not be a vow. You would commit a sin by making such a vow,\nand another by keeping it, for if you promise something you cannot do\nwithout committing sin then you must not keep that promise. We have an\nexample in the life of St. John the Baptist. King Herod was leading a\nsinful life, and St. John rebuked him for it. The wife of the king's\nbrother--Herodias was her name--hated St. John for this, and she sought\nto have him killed. Once when the king had a great feast and all his\nnotables were assembled, this woman's daughter danced before them, and\nthe king was so pleased with her that he vowed to give her whatever she\nasked. He should have said, if it is something pleasing to God, but he\ndid not. Her mother made her ask for the head of John the Baptist. The\nking was sad, but because he had made the vow or promise he thought he\nhad to keep it, and ordered St. John to be beheaded and his head brought\nto her. (Matt. 14). He was not bound to keep any such vow, and sinned by\ndoing so.\n\nAgain, they also commit sin who become members of such secret societies\nas the freemasons or similar organizations, promising to do whatever\nthey are ordered without knowing what may be ordered; for they sin not\nonly by obeying sinful commands, but by the very fact of being in a\nsociety in which they are exposed to the danger of being forced to sin.\nSuch secret societies are forbidden by the Church because they strive to\nundermine its authority, and make their rules superior to its teaching.\nThey also influence those in authority to persecute the Church and its\nministers, and do not hesitate to recommend even assassination at times\nfor the accomplishment of their ends. Therefore the Church forbids\nCatholics to join societies of which (1) the objects are unlawful, (2)\nwhere the means used are sinful, or (3) where the rights of our\nconscience and liberty are violated by rash or dangerous oaths.\n\nThe Church does not oppose associations founded on law and justice; but\non the contrary, has always encouraged and still encourages every\norganization that tends to benefit its members spiritually and\ntemporally, and opposes only societies that have not a legitimate end.\nTherefore you may understand that labor unions and benefit societies in\nwhich persons are leagued together for their own protection or the\nprotection of their interests are not secret societies, though they may\nconduct their meetings in secret.\n\n351 Q. Is it a sin not to fulfill our vows?\nA. Not to fulfill our vows is a sin, mortal or venial according to the\nnature of the vow and the intention we had in making it.\n\n\"Vows\"--that is, lawful vows. When a man who is in the habit of getting\nintoxicated vows not to take liquor for a certain time, he generally\nintends to bind himself only under venial sin; that is, if he breaks\nthat pledge or promise it will be a venial and not a mortal sin; but he\ncan make it a mortal sin by intending, when he takes the pledge, that if\nhe breaks it he will be guilty of mortal sin.\n\n352 Q. What is forbidden by the Second Commandment?\nA. The Second Commandment forbids all false, rash, unjust, and\nunnecessary oaths, blasphemy, cursing, and profane words.\n\n\"Rash\"--swearing a thing is true or false without knowing for certain\nwhether it is or not. \"Blasphemy\" is not the same as cursing or taking\nGod's name in vain. It is worse. It is to say or do something very\ndisrespectful to God. To say that He is unjust, cruel or the like, is to\nblaspheme. We can blaspheme also by actions. To defy God by a sign or\naction, to dare Him to strike us dead, etc., would be blasphemy. We have\na terrible example of blasphemy related in the life of Julian the\nApostate. An apostate is one who renounces and gives up his religion,\nnot one who merely neglects it. Julian was a Roman emperor and had been\na Catholic, but apostatized. Then in his great hatred for Our Lord he\nwished to falsify His prophecies and prove them untrue. Our Lord had\nsaid that of the temple of Jerusalem there would not be left a stone\nupon a stone. To make this false Julian began to rebuild the temple. In\nmaking the preparation he cleared away the ruins of the old building,\nnot leaving a single stone upon a stone, and thus was instrumental\nhimself in verifying the words of Our Lord; for while the ruins remained\nthere were stones upon stones. He wished to defy God, but when he began\nto build, fire came forth from the earth and drove back the workmen, and\na strong wind scattered the materials. Afterwards Julian was wounded in\nbattle, an arrow having pierced his breast. He drew it out, and throwing\na handful of his blood toward heaven, said: \"Thou hast conquered, O\nGalilean,\" meaning Our Lord. This was a horrible blasphemy--throwing his\nblood in defiance, and calling the Son of God a name which he thought\nwould be insulting (see Fredet's Modern History, Life of Julian).\nTherefore we can blaspheme by actions or words, doing or saying things\nintended to insult Almighty God. \"Profane words\"--that is, bad, but\nespecially irreverent and irreligious words.\n\n353 Q. What is the Third Commandment?\nA. The Third Commandment is: Remember thou keep holy the Sabbath day.\n\n*354 Q. What are we commanded by the Third Commandment?\nA. By the Third Commandment we are commanded to keep holy the Lord's Day\nand the holy days of obligation, on which we are to give our time to the\nservice and worship of God.\n\n\"Holy days\" we are bound to keep holy just in the same manner we do\nSundays--that is, by hearing Mass and refraining from servile works.\nThose who after hearing Mass must attend to business or work on those\ndays should make this known to their confessor, that he may judge if\nthey have a sufficient excuse for engaging in servile works, and thus\nthey will avoid the danger of sinfully violating an important law. There\nmust always be a good reason for working on a holy day. Those who are so\nsituated that they can readily refrain from servile work on holy days\nmust do so. And, where it is possible, the same opportunity must be\nafforded to their servants.\n\n\"Of obligation,\" because there are some holy days not of obligation. We\ncelebrate them, but we are not bound under pain of mortal sin to hear\nMass or keep from servile works on such days. For example, St. Patrick's\nDay is not a holy day of obligation. The great feast of Corpus Christi\nis not a holy day of obligation. Not satisfied with doing only what the\nChurch obliges us to do on Sundays and holy days, those who really love\nGod will endeavor to do more than the bare works commanded. Sunday is a\nday of rest and prayer. While we may take innocent and useful amusement,\nwe should not join in any public or noisy entertainments. We may rest\nand recreate ourselves, but we should avoid every place where vulgar and\nsometimes sinful amusements, scenes, or plays are presented. Even in\ntaking lawful recreation we may serve God and please Him if we take it\nto strengthen our bodies that we may be enabled to do the work He has\nassigned to us in this world.\n\nSunday is well spent by those who, after hearing Mass, devote some part\nof the day to good works, such as pious reading, teaching in Sunday\nschool, bringing relief to the poor and sick, visiting the Blessed\nSacrament, attending Vespers, Rosary, etc. Not that I mean they should\ndo nothing but pray on Sundays; but they should not give the whole day\nto useless enjoyment or idleness, and forget God. Some begrudge God even\nthe half-hour they are obliged to give to Mass on Sundays: they stand\nnear the door, ready to be the first out, and perhaps were the last in;\nor they come late, and do not give the full time necessary to hear the\nentire Mass. Others spend the whole day in reading newspapers,\nmagazines, or useless--I will not say sinful--books. It is not a sin to\nread newspapers, etc., on Sunday; but to give the whole time to them,\nand never read anything good and instructive, is a willful waste of\ntime--and waste of time is sinful. There should be in every family,\naccording to its means, one or more good Catholic newspapers or\nmagazines. Not all papers that bear the name of Catholic are worthy of\nit. A truly Catholic paper is one that teaches or defends Catholic\ntruth, and warns us against its enemies, their snares, deceptions, etc.;\none, too, that tells us what is being done in the interests of religion,\neducation, etc. Besides such a paper there should be a few standard good\nbooks in every family such as the New Testament, the Imitation of\nChrist, a large and full catechism of Christian doctrine, etc. On the\nother hand, all the books in your house need not be books treating of\nreligion or piety. Any book that is not against faith or morals may be\nkept and read. A book may not be bad in itself, but it may be bad for\nyou, either because it is suggestive of evil, or you misunderstand it,\nand take evil out of it. In such a case you should not read it. At the\npresent time there are so many bad books that persons should be very\ncareful as to what they read.\n\nNot only should we keep Sunday well ourselves, but we should endeavor to\nhave it so kept by others. We must be careful, however, not to fall into\nthe mistake of some who wish the Sunday to be kept as the Pharisees of\nold kept the Sabbath, telling us we must not walk, ride, sail, or take\nany exercise or enjoyment on that day. This is not true, for Our Lord\nrebuked the Pharisees for such excessive rigor; God made the Sunday for\nour benefit, and if we had to keep it as they say we must, it would be\nmore of a punishment than a benefit.\n\n355 Q. How are we to worship God on Sundays and holy days of obligation?\nA. We are to worship God on Sundays and holy days of obligation by\nhearing Mass, by prayer, and by other good works.\n\n*356 Q. Are the Sabbath day and the Sunday the same?\nA. The Sabbath day and the Sunday are not the same. The Sabbath is the\nseventh day of the week, and is the day which was kept holy in the Old\nLaw; the Sunday is the first day of the week, and is the day which is\nkept holy in the New Law.\n\n\"Old Law\" means the law that God gave to the Jews, the New Law, the law\nthat Our Lord gave to Christians.\n\n*357 Q. Why does the Church command us to keep the Sunday holy instead\nof the Sabbath?\nA. The Church commands us to keep the Sunday holy instead of the Sabbath\nbecause on Sunday Christ rose from the dead, and on Sunday He sent the\nHoly Ghost upon the Apostles.\n\nWe keep Sunday instead of Saturday also to teach that the Old Law is not\nnow binding upon us, but that we must keep the New Law, which takes its\nplace.\n\n358 Q. What is forbidden by the Third Commandment?\nA. The Third Commandment forbids all unnecessary servile work and\nwhatever else may hinder the due observance of the Lord's day.\n\n359 Q. What are servile works?\nA. Servile works are those which require labor rather of body than of\nmind.\n\n\"Servile\"--that is, work which was formerly done by the slaves.\nTherefore writing, reading, studying, etc., are not servile, because\nthey were not the works of slaves.\n\n360 Q. Are servile works on Sunday ever lawful?\nA. Servile works are lawful on Sunday when the honor of God, the good of\nour neighbor, or necessity requires them.\n\n\"Honor of God\"; for example, erecting an altar that could not be erected\nat another time, so that the people may hear Mass on that day.\n\n\"Good of our neighbor\"--such as reconstructing a broken bridge that must\nbe used every day; or clearing away obstacles after a railroad accident,\nthat trains may not be delayed. \"Necessity\"--firemen endeavoring to\nextinguish a fire, sailors working on a ship at sea, etc.\n\n\n\nLesson 33\nFROM THE FOURTH TO THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT\n\n\n361 Q. What is the Fourth Commandment?\nA. The Fourth Commandment is: Honor thy father and thy mother.\n\n362 Q. What are we commanded by the Fourth Commandment?\nA. We are commanded by the Fourth Commandment to honor, love, and obey\nour parents in all that is not sin.\n\n\"In all that is not sin,\" because if our parents or superiors, being\nwicked, bid us do things that we know to be certainly sinful, then we\nmust not obey them under any circumstances. God will not excuse us for\ndoing wrong because we were commanded. But if, on the contrary, we are\nforced in spite of our resistance to do the sinful act, then not we but\nthey have to answer for the sin. If, however, you simply doubt about the\nsinfulness of the act, then you must obey; because you must always\nsuppose that your superiors know better than you the things that concern\ntheir duty. Even if they should be mistaken in the exercise of their\nauthority, God will reward your obedience. Besides obeying them, you\nmust also help and support your parents if they need your assistance.\nYou must not scoff at or despise them for their want of learning or\nrefinement, because they perhaps have made many sacrifices to give you\nthe advantages of which they in their youth were deprived. Do we not\nsometimes find persons of pretended culture ignorantly slighting their\nplain-mannered parents, or showing that they are ashamed of them or\nunwilling to recognize them before others, ungratefully forgetting that\nwhatever wealth or learning they themselves have came through the love\nand kindness of these same parents? Again, is it not sinful for the\nchildren, especially of such parents, to waste their time in school,\nknowing that they are being supported in idleness by the hard toil and\nmany sacrifices of a poor father? Never, then, be guilty of an unkind or\nungrateful act. No matter who they are or what their condition, never\nforget those who have helped you and been your temporal or spiritual\nbenefactors. If you cannot return the kindness to the one who helped\nyou, at least be as ready as he was to do good to another. It is told of\na great man that, wishing always to do good, he made it a rule never to\nstand looking at the effects of a disturbance, disaster, or accident\nunless he could do some good by being there.\n\nWherever you are, ask yourselves now and then, Why am I in this\nparticular place; what good am I doing here? etc. St. Aloysius when\nabout to perform any action used to ask himself, it is said, What has\nthis action to do with my eternal salvation? and St. Alphonsus de\nLiguori made a vow never to waste a moment of his time. These were some\nof the great heroes of the Church, and this is one of the reasons why\nthey could accomplish so much for God.\n\n363 Q. Are we bound to honor and obey others than our parents?\nA. We are bound to honor and obey our bishops, pastors, magistrates,\nteachers, and other lawful superiors.\n\n\"Magistrates\"--that is, civil rulers, like the president, governor,\nmayor, judges, etc.\n\n*364 Q. Have parents and superiors any duties towards those who are\nunder their charge?\nA. It is the duty of parents and superiors to take good care of all\nunder their charge and give them proper direction and example.\n\nIt is so much their duty that God will hold them responsible for it, and\npunish them for neglecting it; so that your parents are not free to give\nyou your own way. They have to do God's work, and, as His agents, punish\nyou when you deserve it. You should take their punishment as coming from\nGod Himself. They do not punish you because they wish to see you suffer,\nbut for your good. Think of the terrible responsibility of parents. Let\nus suppose that the parents of a family give bad example; their children\nfollow their example, and when they become heads of families their\nchildren also will grow up in wickedness: and thus we can go on for\ngenerations, and all those sins will be traced back to the first bad\nparents. What is true for bad example is true also for good example;\nthat is, the good done by the children will all be traced back to the\nparents. Sometimes you may be punished when you are not guilty; then\nthink of the times you were guilty and were not punished. Remember also\nhow Our Lord was falsely accused before Herod and Pilate, and yet He\nnever opened His lips to defend Himself, but suffered patiently. God\nsees your innocence and will reward you if you bear your trial\npatiently. Indeed, we are foolish not to bear all our sufferings\npatiently, for we have to bear them anyway, and we might just as well\nhave the reward that patient suffering will bring us. Those who suffer\nshould find comfort in this: by suffering they are made more like Our\nLord and His blessed Mother. She lived on earth over sixty years, and\nduring all that time she seems never to have had any of those things\nthat bring worldly pleasure and happiness. She was left an orphan when\nquite young, and spent her early life in the temple, which was for her a\nkind of school; then she was married to a poor old carpenter, and must\nhave found it very hard at times to get a living. Our Lord was born\nwhile she was away from home in a strange place. After she had returned\nand had just settled down in her little dwelling, she had to fly with\nSt. Joseph into Egypt to save the life of the little Infant Jesus, whom\nthe king's officers were seeking to kill. In Egypt they were strangers,\namong people not of their own nationality or religion, and St. Joseph\nmust have found great difficulty in providing for them; yet they had to\nremain there for some time. Then when our divine Lord was grown to\nmanhood and could be a great comfort to His Mother, He was seized and\nput to death in her presence. Her most beloved and innocent Son put to\ndeath publicly as a criminal before all her neighbors! The same persons\nwho insulted Our Lord would not hesitate to insult and cruelly treat His\nblessed Mother also. At His death He left her no money or property for\nher support, but asked a friend, St. John, to receive her into his house\nand do Him the favor of taking care of her. She must have often felt\nthat she was a burden in that man's house; that she had no home of her\nown, but was living like a poor woman on the charity of kind friends,\nfor St. Joseph died before Our Lord's public life began. The Blessed\nMother was, however, obliged to remain upon earth for about eleven years\nafter Our Lord's Ascension. Thus we see her whole life was one of trials\nand sorrows. Now certainly Our Lord loved His Mother more than any other\nson could; and certainly also He, being God, could have made His blessed\nMother a queen upon the earth, rich and powerful among men, and free\nfrom every suffering or inconvenience. If, then, He sent her sorrows and\ntrials, it must have been because these were best for her, and because\nHe knew that for this suffering here upon earth her happiness and glory\nin Heaven would be much increased; and as He wished her to have all the\nhappiness and glory she was capable of possessing, He permitted her to\nsuffer. If, then, suffering was good for Our Lord's Mother, it is good\nalso for us; and when it comes we ought not to complain, but bear it\npatiently, as she did, and ask Our Lord to give us that grace.\n\n365 Q. What is forbidden by the Fourth Commandment?\nA. The Fourth Commandment forbids all disobedience, contempt, and\nstubbornness towards our parents or lawful superiors.\n\n\"Contempt.\" Showing by our words or actions that we disregard or despise\nthose placed over us. A man who is summoned to appear in court and does\nnot come is punished for \"contempt of court,\" because he shows that he\ndisregards the authority of the judge. A thing not very bad in itself\nmay become very bad if done out of contempt. For example, there would be\na great difference between eating a little more than the Church allows\non a fast-day, simply because you were hungry, and eating it because you\nwanted to show that you despised the law of fasting and the authority of\nthe Church. The first would be only a venial sin, but the latter mortal.\nSo for all your actions. An act which in itself might be a venial sin\ncould easily become a mortal sin if you did it through contempt.\n\"Stubbornness\"--that is, unwillingness to give in, even when you know\nyou are wrong and should yield. Those who obey slowly and do what they\nare ordered in a sulky manner are also guilty of stubbornness.\n\n366 Q. What is the Fifth Commandment?\nA. The Fifth Commandment is: Thou shalt not kill.\n\n367 Q. What are we commanded by the Fifth Commandment?\nA. We are commanded by the Fifth Commandment to live in peace and union\nwith our neighbor, to respect his rights, to seek his spiritual and\nbodily welfare, and to take proper care of our own life and health.\n\n\"Proper care of our own life.\" It is not our property, but God's. He\nlends it to us and leaves it with us as long as He pleases: nor does He\ntell us how long He will let us have the use of it. Thus suicide, or the\ntaking of one's own life, is a mortal sin, for by it we resist the will\nof God. One who in sound mind and full possession of reason causes his\nown death is guilty of suicide. But it is sometimes very difficult to\ndetermine whether the person was really sane at the time he committed\nthe act; hence, when there is any reasonable doubt on that point, the\nunfortunate suicide is usually given the benefit of it. It is also a sin\nto risk our lives uselessly or to continue in any habit that we are sure\nis injuring our health and shortening our lives.\n\nThus an habitual drunkard is guilty of sin against the Fifth\nCommandment, for besides his sin of drunkenness, he is hastening his own\ndeath. So, too, boys or girls who indulge in habits which their parents\nforbid are guilty of sin. For example, a boy is forbidden to smoke, and\nhe does smoke. Now to smoke is not in itself a sin, but it becomes a sin\nfor that boy, because in the first place he is disobedient, and secondly\nis injuring his health. Thus persons who indulge in sinful habits may\ncommit more than one kind of sin, for besides the sins committed by the\nhabits themselves, these vices may injure their health and bring\nsickness and disease upon their bodies.\n\n368 Q. What is forbidden by the Fifth Commandment?\nA. The Fifth Commandment forbids all willful murder, fighting, anger,\nhatred, revenge, and bad example.\n\nTherefore it forbids all that might lead to murder. So we can violate\nany of the Commandments by doing anything that leads to breaking them.\n\"Revenge\" is a desire to injure others because they injured you.\n\n369 Q. What is the Sixth Commandment?\nA. The Sixth Commandment is: Thou shalt not commit adultery.\n\n370 Q. What are we commanded by the Sixth Commandment?\nA. We are commanded by the Sixth Commandment to be pure in thought and\nmodest in all our looks, words, and actions.\n\nWe should be most careful about this Commandment, because almost every\nviolation of it is a mortal sin. For example, if you steal only a\nlittle, it is a venial sin; for in stealing the greatness of the sin\nwill depend upon the amount you steal; but if you do a real bad action,\nor think a real bad thought against the Sixth Commandment, it will be a\nmortal sin, no matter how short the time. Again, we have more\ntemptations against this Commandment, for we are tempted by our own\nbodies and we cannot avoid them: hence the necessity of being always\nguarded against this sin. It enters into our soul through our senses;\nthey are, as it were, the doors of our soul. It enters by our eyes\nlooking at bad objects or pictures; by our ears listening to bad\nconversation; by our tongue saying and repeating immodest words, etc. If\nthen, we guard all the doors of our soul, sin cannot enter. It would be\nfoolish to lock all the doors in your house but one, for one will\nsuffice to admit a thief, and we might as well leave them all open as\none. So, too, we must guard all the senses; for sin can enter by one\nonly as well as by all.\n\n371 Q. What is forbidden by the Sixth Commandment?\nA. The Sixth Commandment forbids all unchaste freedom with another's\nwife or husband: also all immodesty with ourselves or others in looks,\ndress, words, or actions.\n\n372 Q. Does the Sixth Commandment forbid the reading of bad and immodest\nbooks and newspapers?\nA. The Sixth Commandment does forbid the reading of bad and immodest\nbooks and newspapers.\n\nReading brings us into the company of those who wrote the book. Now we\nshould be just as careful to avoid a bad book as a bad man, and even\nmore so; for while we read we can stop to think, and read over again, so\nthat bad words read will often make more impression upon us than bad\nwords spoken to us. You should avoid not only bad, but useless books.\nYou could not waste all your time with an idle man without becoming like\nhim--an idler. So if you waste your time on useless books, your\nknowledge will be just like the books--useless. Many authors write only\nfor the sake of money, and care little whether their book is good or\nbad, provided it sells well. How many young people have been ruined by\nbad books, and how many more by foolish books! Boys, for example, read\nin some worthless book of desperate deeds of highway robbery or piracy,\nand are at once filled with the desire to imitate the hero of the tale.\nYoung girls, on the other hand, are equally infatuated by the wonderful\nfortunes and adventures of some young woman whose life has been so\nvividly described in a trashy novel. As the result of such reading,\nyoung persons lose the true idea of virtue and valor of true, noble\nmanhood and womanhood, and with their hearts and minds corrupted set up\nvice for their model.\n\nAgain, these books are filled with such terrible lies and unlikely\nthings that any sensible boy or girl should see their foolishness at\nonce. Think, for example, of a book relating how two boys defeated and\nkilled or captured several hundred Indians! Is that likely? The truth\nis, if two Indians shook their tomahawks at as many boys as you could\ncrowd into this building, every single one of them would run for his\nlife.\n\nLet me give you still another reason for not reading trashy books. Your\nminds can hold just so much good or evil information, and if you fill\nthem full of lies and nonsense you leave no room for true knowledge.\n\nDo not, therefore, get into the habit of reading foolish story-papers\nand cheap novels. Read good books in which you can find information that\nwill be useful to you all through your life.\n\nIf now and then you read story-books for amusement or rest from study,\nlet them be good story-books, written by good authors. Ask someone's\nadvice about the books you read--someone who is capable of giving such\nadvice: your pastor, your teachers, and frequently your parents and\nfriends. Learn all through your life to ask advice on every important\nmatter. How many mistakes in life would have been prevented if those\nmaking them had only asked advice from the proper persons and followed\nit. Your parents have traveled the road of life before you. Now it is\nknown to them and they can point out its dangers. To you the road is\nentirely new, and it will be only after you have traveled it and arrived\nnearly at its end in the latter days of your life that you also will be\nable to advise others how to pass through it in safety. This road can be\ntraveled only once, so be advised by those who have learned its many\ndangers by their own experience. You should be very glad that those of\nexperience are willing to teach you, and if you neglect their warnings\nyou will be very sorry for it someday.\n\n\n\nLesson 34\nFROM THE SEVENTH TO THE END OF THE TENTH COMMANDMENT\n\n\n373 Q. What is the Seventh Commandment?\nA. The Seventh Commandment is: Thou shalt not steal.\n\nStealing is one of those vices of which you have to be most careful.\nChildren should learn to have honest hearts, and never to take unjustly\neven the smallest thing; for some begin a life of dishonesty by stealing\nlittle things from their own house or from stores to which they are sent\nfor goods. A nut, a cake, an apple, a cent, etc., do not seem much, but\nnevertheless to take any of them dishonestly is stealing. Children who\nindulge in this trifling thievery seldom correct the habit in after life\nand grow up to be dishonest men and women. How do you suppose all the\nthieves now spending their miserable lives in prison began? Do you\nbelieve they were very honest--never having stolen even the slightest\nthing--up to a certain day, and at once became thieves by committing a\nhighway robbery? No; they began by stealing little things, then greater,\nand kept on till they made stealing their business and thus became\nprofessional thieves. Again, the little you steal each day does not seem\nmuch at the time, but if you put all the \"littles\" together you may soon\nhave something big, and almost before you know it--if you intend to\ncontinue stealing--you may have taken enough to make you guilty of\nmortal sin. If you intended to steal, for instance, only a small amount\nevery day for the whole year, you would at the end have stolen a large\namount and committed a mortal sin. There are many ways of violating the\nSeventh Commandment. Workmen who do not do a just day's work, or\nemployers who cheat their workmen out of wages earned; merchants who\ncharge unjust prices and seek unjust profits; dealers who give light\nweight or short measure or who misrepresent goods; those who speculate\nrashly or gamble with the money of others, and those who borrow with no\nintention or only slight hope of being able to pay back, all violate\nthis Commandment. You violate it also by not paying your just debts or\nby purchasing goods that you know you will never be able to pay for.\nMoreover, besides the injustice, it is base ingratitude not to pay your\ndebts when in your power to do so. The one who trusted or lent you\nhelped you in your need and did you a great favor, and yet when you can\nyou will not pay, and what is worse, frequently abuse and insult him for\nasking his own. Though such dishonest and ungrateful persons may escape\nin this world, they will not escape in the next, for Almighty God will\nmake them suffer for the smallest debt they owe.\n\nAgain, others often suffer for the dishonesty of those I have mentioned,\nfor when some good person who really intends to pay is in great need and\nwishes to borrow or be trusted, he is refused because others have been\ndishonest. Everyone should pay his debts, and even keep from buying\nthings that are not really necessary till he is thus enabled to pay what\nhe owes. You must pay your just debts even before you can give anything\nin charity.\n\n374 Q. What are we commanded by the Seventh Commandment?\nA. By the Seventh Commandment we are commanded to give to all men what\nbelongs to them and to respect their property.\n\n\"Respect their property\"--that is, acknowledge and respect their rights\nto their property and do nothing to violate these rights.\n\n375 Q. What is forbidden by the Seventh Commandment?\nA. The Seventh Commandment forbids all unjust taking or keeping what\nbelongs to another.\n\n\"Taking,\" either with your own hands or from the hands of another; for\nthe one who willingly and knowingly receives from a thief the whole or\npart of anything stolen becomes as bad as the thief. Even if you only\nhelp another to steal, and receive none of the stolen goods, you are\nguilty. There are several ways of sharing in the sin of another; namely,\nby ordering or advising him to do wrong; by praising him for doing wrong\nand thus encouraging him; by consenting to wrong when you should oppose\nit--for instance, a member of a society allowing an evil act to be done\nby the society when his vote would prevent it; again, by affording\nwrongdoers protection and means of escape from punishment for their evil\ndeeds. This does not mean that we should not defend the guilty. We\nshould defend them, but should not encourage them to do wrong by\noffering them a means of escape from just punishment. We share in\nanother's sin also by neglecting to prevent his bad action when it is\nour duty to do so. For example, if a police officer paid for guarding\nyour property should see a thief stealing it and not prevent him, he\nwould be as guilty as the thief. Your neighbor indeed might warn you\nthat the thief was stealing your goods, but he would not be bound in\njustice to do so, as the officer is, but only in charity, because it is\nnot his duty to guard your property. Parents who know that their\nchildren steal and do not prevent them or compel them to bring back what\nthey stole, but rather encourage them by being indifferent, are guilty\nof dishonesty as well as the children, and share in their sins of theft.\nBut suppose you did not know the thing was stolen when you received it,\nbut learned afterward that it was, must you then return it to the proper\nowner? Yes; just as soon as you know to whom it belongs you begin to sin\nby keeping it. But suppose you bought it not knowing that it was stolen,\nwould you still have to restore it? Yes, when the owner asks for it,\nbecause it belongs to him till he sells it or gives it away. If you have\nbought from a thief you have been cheated and must suffer the loss. Your\nmistake will make you more careful on the next occasion. Suppose you\nfind a thing, what must you do? Try to find its owner, and if you find\nhim give him what is his, and that without any reward for restoring it,\nunless he pleases to give you something, or unless you have been put to\nan expense by keeping it. If you cannot find the owner after sincerely\nseeking for him, then you may keep the thing found. But suppose you kept\nthe article so long before looking for the owner that it became\nimpossible for you to restore it to him, either because he had died or\nremoved to parts unknown during your delay--what then? Then you must\ngive the article or its value to his children or others who have a right\nto his goods; and if no one who has such a right can be found, you must\ngive it to the poor, for you have it unjustly--since you did not look\nfor the owner when it was possible to find him--and therefore cannot\nkeep it.\n\n376 Q. Are we bound to restore ill-gotten goods?\nA. We are bound to restore ill-gotten goods, or the value of them, as\nfar as we are able; otherwise we cannot be forgiven.\n\n\"Ill-gotten\"--that is, unjustly gotten. \"Value.\" It sometimes happens\nthat persons lose or destroy the article stolen, and therefore cannot\nreturn it. What must be done in such cases? They must give the owner the\nvalue of it. However, when you have stolen anything and have to restore\nit, you need not go to the owner and say, \"Here is what I stole from\nyou.\" It is only necessary that he gets what is his own or its value. He\nneed not even know that it is being restored to him, unless he knows you\nstole it; and then it would be better for your own good name to let him\nknow that you are making amends for the injustice done. Therefore, no\none need have any excuse for not restoring what he has unjustly, because\nhe has only to see that it is returned in some way to its owner, or to\nthose who have the next right to it, or to the poor. But you must\nremember you cannot make restitution by giving to the poor if you can\nrestore to the proper owner. You must restore by giving to the poor only\nwhen the owner cannot be found or reached. Some persons do not like the\nduty of restoring to the proper owner, and think they satisfy their\nobligation by giving the ill-gotten goods to the poor; but they do not.\nYou cannot give even in charity the goods of another without being\nguilty of dishonesty. If you wish to be charitable, give from your own\ngoods. It is a sin to delay making restitution after you are able to\nrestore. You must restore just as soon as you can, because the longer\nyou keep the owner out of his property and its benefits, the greater the\ninjury you do him and the greater the sin. One who, after being told by\nhis confessor to make restitution, and promising to do so, still delays\nor keeps putting off, runs the risk of being guilty of sacrilege by\nreceiving the Sacraments without proper dispositions. But suppose a\nperson cannot restore; suppose he lost the thing stolen and has not the\nvalue of it. What must he do? He must have the firm resolution of\nrestoring as soon as he possibly can; and without this good resolution\nhe could not be absolved from his sins--even if he had not the real\nmeans of restoring. The good intention and resolution will suffice till\nhe has really the means; but this intention must be serious, otherwise\nthere will be no forgiveness.\n\n377 Q. Are we obliged to repair the damage we have unjustly caused?\nA. We are bound to repair the damage we have unjustly caused.\n\n378 Q. What is the Eighth Commandment?\nA. The Eighth Commandment is: Thou shalt not bear false witness against\nthy neighbor.\n\nEither in a court, while we are acting as witnesses, or by telling lies\nabout him at any other time.\n\n379 Q. What are we commanded by the Eighth Commandment?\nA. We are commanded by the Eighth Commandment to speak the truth in all\nthings, and to be careful of the honor and reputation of everyone.\n\n\"Reputation.\" If it be a sin to steal a man's money, which we can\nrestore to him, it is certainly a much greater sin to steal his good\nname, which we can never restore, and especially as we have nothing to\ngain from injuring his character. It is a sin to tell evil things about\nanother--his sins, vices, etc.--even when they are true. The only thing\nthat will excuse us from telling another's fault is the necessity to do\nso in which we are placed, or the good we can do to the person himself\nor others by exposing faults. How shall you know when you have injured\nthe character of another? You have injured another's character if you\nmade others think less of him than they did before. If you have exposed\nsome crime that he really committed, your sin is called detraction; if\nyou accuse him of one he did not commit, your sin is calumny; and if you\nmaliciously circulate these reports to injure his character, your sin is\nslander. But how shall you make reparation for injuring the character of\nanother? If you have told lies about him, you must acknowledge to those\nwith whom you have talked that you have told what was untrue about him,\nand you must even compensate him for whatever loss he has suffered by\nyour lies: for example, the loss of his situation by your accusing him\nof dishonesty. But if what you said of him was true, how are you to act?\nAt every opportunity say whatever good you can of him in the presence of\nthose before whom you have spoken the evil.\n\n380 Q. What is forbidden by the Eighth Commandment?\nA. The Eighth Commandment forbids all rash judgments, backbiting,\nslanders, and lies.\n\n\"Rash judgment\"--that is, having in your mind and really believing that\na person is guilty of a certain sin when you have no reason for thinking\nso, and no evidence that he is guilty. \"Backbiting\"--that is, talking\nevil of persons behind their backs. You would not like your neighbor to\nbackbite you, and you have no right to do to him what you would not wish\nhim to do to you. Besides, everyone hates and fears a backbiter; because\nas he brings to you a bad story about another, he will in the same\nmanner bring to someone else a bad story about you. It is certainly an\nhonor to be able to say of a person: \"He never has a bad word of\nanyone\"; while on the other hand, he must be a despicable creature who\nnever speaks of others except to censure or revile them. Never listen to\na backbiter, detractor, or slanderer--it is sinful. Another way of\ninjuring your neighbor is revealing the secrets he has confided to you.\nYou will tell one friend perhaps and caution him not to repeat it to\nanother; but if you cannot keep the secret yourself, how can you expect\nothers to keep it? Again you may injure your neighbor by reading his\nletters without his consent when you have no authority to do so. This is\nconsidered a crime in the eyes even of the civil law, and anyone who\nopens and reads the letters of another can be punished by imprisonment.\nIt is a kind of theft, for it is stealing secrets and information that\nyou have no right to know. It is dishonorable to read another's letter\nwithout his consent, even when you find it open. To carry to persons the\nevil things said about them by others so as to bring about disputes\nbetween them is very sinful. The Holy Scripture (Rom. 1:29) calls this\nclass of sinners whisperers, and says that they will not enter into\nHeaven--that is, as long as they continue in the habit. If ever, then,\nyou hear one person saying anything bad about another, never go and tell\nit to the person of whom it was said. If you do, you will be the cause\nof all the sin that follows from it--of the anger, hatred, revenge, and\nprobably murder itself, as sometimes happens.\n\n*381 Q. What must they do who have lied about their neighbor and\nseriously injured his character?\nA. They who have lied about their neighbor and seriously injured his\ncharacter must repair the injury done as far as they are able, otherwise\nthey will not be forgiven.\n\n382 Q. What is the Ninth Commandment?\nA. The Ninth Commandment is: Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife.\n\n383 Q. What are we commanded by the Ninth Commandment?\nA. We are commanded by the Ninth Commandment to keep ourselves pure in\nthought and desire.\n\n384 Q. What is forbidden by the Ninth Commandment?\nA. The Ninth Commandment forbids unchaste thoughts, desires of another's\nwife or husband, and all other unlawful impure thoughts and desires.\n\n*385 Q. Are impure thoughts and desires always sins?\nA. Impure thoughts and desires are always sins, unless they displease us\nand we try to banish them.\n\n386 Q. What is the Tenth Commandment?\nA. The Tenth Commandment is: Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's goods.\n\n\"Covet\" means to long for or desire inordinately or unlawfully. If I\nshould desire, for example, my friend to be killed by an accident, in\norder that I might become the owner of his gold watch, I would be\ncoveting it. But if I desired to have it justly--that is, to be able to\npurchase it, or another similar to it, that would not be covetousness.\n\n387 Q. What are we commanded by the Tenth Commandment?\nA. By the Tenth Commandment we are commanded to be content with what we\nhave, and to rejoice in our neighbor's welfare.\n\n388 Q. What is forbidden by the Tenth Commandment?\nA. The Tenth Commandment forbids all desires to take or keep wrongfully\nwhat belongs to another.\n\n\n\nLesson 35\nON THE FIRST AND SECOND COMMANDMENTS OF THE CHURCH\n\n\n389 Q. Which are the chief commandments of the Church?\nA. The chief commandments of the Church are six:\n\n1. To hear Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation.\n2. To fast and abstain on the days appointed.\n3. To confess at least once a year.\n4. To receive the Holy Eucharist during the Easter time.\n5. To contribute to the support of our pastors.\n6. Not to marry persons who are not Catholics, or who are related to us\n   within the third degree of kindred, nor privately without witnesses,\n   nor to solemnize marriage at forbidden times.\n\n390 Q. Is it a mortal sin not to hear Mass on a Sunday or a holy day of\nobligation?\nA. It is a mortal sin not to hear Mass on a Sunday or a holy day of\nobligation, unless we are excused for a serious reason. They also commit\na mortal sin, who, having others under their charge, hinder them from\nhearing Mass, without a sufficient reason.\n\n\"Serious reason\"--that is, a very good reason, such as sickness,\nnecessity of taking care of the sick, great danger of death, etc. Some\npersons when they go to the country in the summer believe themselves\nexcused from hearing Mass because the church is a little further from\nthem or the Mass at more inconvenient times than in the city. When they\nare in the country they are bound by the same obligations as the\nCatholics who live in that parish the whole year round, and they must go\nto Mass as these do, even if it is more inconvenient than in the city.\nPersons who have it in their power to select their own summer resort,\nshould not, without great necessity, select a place where there is no\nCatholic church, and where they will be deprived of Mass and the\nSacraments for several months, and where there is danger of their dying\nwithout the Sacraments. Some excuse themselves from going to Mass\nbecause they are too tired to rise in the morning. They should be\nashamed to give such an excuse. Was our Blessed Lord not tired when He\ncarried His Cross? He was tired, for He fell under it several times. And\nwhere was He going? To Calvary, to offer up the bloody sacrifice of the\nCross for you. Will you plead fatigue as an excuse when you come to be\njudged by Him? Others again have a great habit of coming late for Mass.\nNo matter at what hour the Mass may be, they will always be late; and I\nam afraid these persons will also be too late to enter Heaven. By coming\nlate they show disrespect to Our Lord and distract others; and to avoid\ndoing so, they should, when late, take a place in the rear of the\nchurch. When you are very late for one Mass, you should wait for the\nnext--at least, for as much of the next as you did not hear in the\nfirst. You should not, however, begrudge a little extra time to God. To\nhear Mass properly, you should be in your place a few minutes before the\npriest comes out, and make up your mind what blessing you will ask, or\nfor what intention you desire to hear the Mass.\n\n\"Having others under their charge.\" Some parents are very careless about\ntheir children attending Mass, especially on holy days. Now, they must\nremember that in such neglect the sin will be theirs as well as the\nchildren's. Again, masters and mistresses do not at times give their\nworkmen and servants sufficient opportunity to hear Mass, above all on\nholy days. All masters and mistresses must remember that they are bound\nnot only to give their servants an opportunity to hear Mass, but they\nare bound as far as they conveniently can to see that they embrace the\nopportunity, just as they should see to their children in such matters.\nCatholics having in their employ others, such as engineers, drivers,\nconductors, etc., must make some arrangement between their men by which\nthey will be able to attend Mass on Sundays and holy days. The same\nholds good for companies and corporations having under their charge a\nlarge force of men who are obliged by circumstances to work on Sundays.\n\n*391 Q. Why were holy days instituted by the Church?\nA. Holy days were instituted by the Church to recall to our minds the\ngreat mysteries of religion and the virtues and rewards of the saints.\n\nFor just the same reason that the government has legal holidays. What\nwould the people of this country know or think at the present time about\nthe Declaration of Independence, and all connected with it, if they did\nnot celebrate from childhood every year, on the Fourth of July, the\ngreat day on which their forefathers claimed to be free and independent\nfrom the nation that was persecuting them? The Fourth of July keeps\nalive in our memory the struggles of our ancestors of one hundred years\nor more ago--their great battles, their sufferings and triumph, the\nblessings they secured for us, and for which we praise them. In like\nmanner, the feast of the Resurrection of Our Lord keeps us in mind of\nthe sad condition in which we were before Our Lord redeemed us, and how\nHe liberated us from the slavery of the devil and secured for us so many\nwonderful blessings. Again, what would we remember about George\nWashington if we did not celebrate his birthday? That holiday keeps\nbefore our minds the life and actions of that great man and all he did\nfor our benefit. So, too, when we celebrate every year the feast of a\nsaint in the Church, it keeps before our minds his works and all that he\ndid for God and the Church, and makes us anxious to imitate his virtues.\nOn every day in the year the Church honors some mystery of our holy\nfaith or some saint by saying Mass all over the world in honor of the\nfeast, and by obliging the priests and bishops to say the divine office\nfor the same purpose. The feast-day of a saint is generally the day on\nwhich he died; because that is considered the day on which he entered\ninto Heaven--the day on which he was born into the new world.\n\nThe \"divine office\" is a collection of prayers, hymns, lessons, and\npsalms which every priest and bishop must read every day of his life. As\nit is said each day in honor of some particular mystery or saint, the\ngreater part of it differs for each day. The prayers are to God, asking\nsome grace or blessing in honor of the saint--generally such graces as\nwere granted to the saint. The hymns are in the saint's honor; the\nlessons are parts of the Holy Scripture, or an account of the saint's\nlife; and the psalms are those beautiful poems that King David composed\nand sang to God. The divine office is the prayer of the universal Church\nfor its children, and if a priest neglects to say it he commits a mortal\nsin. It takes about an hour to say the whole divine office, but it is\nnot intended to be said all at once. It is so divided that it is said at\nthree times in the day. The part called \"Matins\" and \"Lauds\" is said\nvery early in the morning and before Mass. The part called \"Little\nHours\" is said later in the day; and the part called \"Vespers\" and\n\"Compline\" is said in the afternoon. See, therefore, how anxious the\nChurch is for the good of its children, when it makes its bishops,\npriests, and religious pray daily for all the faithful, and send up in\none voice the same prayer to the throne of God.\n\n*392 Q. How should we keep the holy days of obligation?\nA. We should keep the holy days of obligation as we should keep the\nSunday.\n\n393 Q. What do you mean by fast-days?\nA. By fast-days I mean days on which we are allowed but one full meal.\n\nAccording to the traditional Catholic method of fasting, one may eat\n\"one full meal\" each day with meat included, plus two smaller meatless\nmeals, both of which together do not equal the one full meal. No eating\nbetween meals is allowed, although drinking beverages such as coffee and\ntea are allowed and are not considered to break the fast. (Milk, juice,\nand soft drinks are also considered not to break the fast, although they\nare in fact foods and mitigate the effects of the fast and work contrary\nto its intent because they satisfy one's hunger to some extent, since\nthey have food value.) They, therefore, who follow the above regulations\nobey the Catholic method of fasting. Today the prescribed days of fast\nfor the whole Church are Ash Wednesday and Good Friday (these are also\ndays of abstinence). However the Church today says that the meaning of\nthe law of fasting during Lent remains, although the extent of the\nobligation has been changed. In other words, Lent remains as a season of\npenance in the Church, but how it is to be observed is greatly up to the\nindividual, though no one may think himself excused from all penance\nwhatsoever, and those who are in the fasting age group should still\npractice the Church's form of fasting, since fasting is a primary and\nvery efficacious form of penance.\n\nThose who, for sufficient reasons, are excused from the obligation of\nfasting, are not on that account freed from the law of abstinence, for\nall who have reached their fourteenth birthday are bound to abstain from\nflesh-meat on days when it is forbidden--Ash Wednesday and the Fridays\nof Lent. The following persons are excused from fasting: (1) those who\nare not yet twenty-one or who have begun their sixtieth year (from their\n59th birthday onward); (2) those whose infirmity, condition, or\noccupation renders it impossible or dangerous for them to fast. If you\nthink you should be excused from fasting or abstaining, state your\nreasons to your confessor and ask his advice. On a fast-day, therefore,\nyou have to look both to the quantity and the kind of food, while on a\nday of abstinence--as the Fridays in Lent other than Good Friday--you\nhave to look only to the kind.\n\n394 Q. What do you mean by days of abstinence?\nA. By days of abstinence I mean days on which we are forbidden to eat\nflesh-meat, but are allowed the usual amount of food.\n\n395 Q. Why does the Church command us to fast and abstain?\nA. The Church commands us to fast and abstain in order that we may\nmortify our passions and satisfy for our sins.\n\n\"Mortify our passions,\" keep our bodies under control, do bodily\npenance. Remember it is our bodies that generally lead us into sin; if\ntherefore we punish the body by fasting and mortification, we atone for\nthe sin, and thus God wipes out a part of the temporal punishment due to\nit.\n\n*396 Q. Why does the Church command us to abstain from flesh-meat on Ash\nWednesday and the Fridays of Lent and to abstain from flesh-meat or do\nsome other chosen penance on the other Fridays of the year?\nA. The Church commands us to abstain, from flesh-meat on Ash Wednesday\nand the Fridays of Lent and to abstain from flesh-meat or do some other\nchosen penance on the other Fridays of the year in honor of the day on\nwhich Our Saviour died.\n\n\n\nLesson 36\nON THE THIRD, FOURTH, FIFTH, AND SIXTH COMMANDMENTS OF THE CHURCH\n\n\n397 Q. What is meant by the command of confessing at least once a year?\nA. By the command of confessing at least once a year is meant that we\nare obliged, under pain of mortal sin, to go to confession within the\nyear.\n\n\"Within the year\"--that is, the time between your confessions must never\nbe longer than a year, or, at least not longer than the period between\nthe beginning of one Eastertime and the end of the next. All persons who\nhave attained the age of reason are bound to comply with this precept,\nand parents should remind their children of it.\n\n*398 Q. Should we confess only once a year?\nA. We should confess frequently, if we wish to lead a good life.\n\nSome seem to think that they need not go to confession if they have not\ncommitted sin since their last confession. Two graces are given in\npenance, as you already know: one, to take away the sins confessed, and\nthe other, to strengthen us against temptation and enable us to keep our\ngood resolutions. Now, as we are always tempted, we should go frequently\nto confession to get the grace to resist. The saints used to go to\nconfession very frequently, sometimes every day. They used to go when\ntempted, to obtain the grace to resist and to expose their temptations\nto their confessor and ask his advice. Again the Holy Scripture tells us\nthat the just man falls seven times; and \"just man\" in Holy Scripture\nmeans a very good man, that is, one doing for God, his neighbor, and\nhimself what he ought to do. St. Joseph is called in the Scripture a\n\"just man,\" and he was the foster-father of Our Lord. Now, if the good\nman falls seven times, he must arise after each fall; for if he did not\nget up after the first fall, he could not fall the second time. This\nteaches us that we all commit some kind of sin, at least, and have\nalways something to confess if we only examine our conscience closely.\nIt teaches us also that when we have the misfortune to fall into sin, we\nshould rise as quickly as possible.\n\n*399 Q. Should children go to confession?\nA. Children should go to confession when they are old enough to commit\nsin, which is commonly about the age of seven years.\n\n\"To commit sin\"--that is, when they know the difference between good and\nevil.\n\n400 Q. What sin does he commit who neglects to receive Communion during\nthe Easter time?\nA. He who neglects to receive Communion during the Easter time commits a\nmortal sin.\n\n401 Q. What is the Easter time?\nA. The Easter time is, in this country, the time between the first\nSunday of Lent and Trinity Sunday, inclusive.\n\nTrinity Sunday is the eighth Sunday after Easter. Therefore the whole\nEaster-time is from the first Sunday of Lent--that is, seven weeks\nbefore Easter--to Trinity Sunday, eight weeks after it, or fifteen weeks\nin all; and anyone who does not go to Holy Communion sometime during\nthese fifteen weeks commits mortal sin.\n\n402 Q. Are we obliged to contribute to the support of our pastors?\nA. We are obliged to contribute to the support of our pastors, and to\nbear our share in the expenses of the Church and school.\n\nAnd any charitable institution connected with the Church. The Holy Land\nwas divided among the tribes of Israel, who were the descendants of the\ntwelve sons of Jacob. Now, one of these twelve tribes was made up\nentirely of priests and persons who served in the temple of God, called\nLevites. They received none of the land, but were to be supported by the\nother eleven tribes. All the people were obliged by the law to give what\nthey called first-fruits, and tithes--that is, one tenth of their income\nin goods or money each year to the temple for its support and the\nsupport of those who served it. In the New Law no definite amount is\nassigned, but every Christian is left free to give what he can to God's\nChurch according to his generosity. But if God left you free, should you\ntherefore be stingy with Him? Moreover, all that we have comes from God,\nand should we return Him the least and the worst? For every alms you\ngive for God's sake He can send you a hundred blessings; and what you\nrefuse to give to His Church or poor He can take from you in a thousand\nways, by sending misfortunes. We read in the Bible (Gen. 4) that Adam's\nsons, Cain and Abel, both offered sacrifice to God. Abel's sacrifice was\npleasing, but Cain's was not. Why? Because, as we are told, Cain did not\noffer to God the best he had, but likely the worst; or at least, he\noffered his sacrifice with a bad disposition. Then when he saw that his\nbrother's sacrifice was pleasing to God, being filled with jealousy, he\nkilled him; and in punishment God marked him and condemned him to be a\nwanderer on the face of the earth. We are told he was always afraid of\nbeing killed by everyone he saw. See, then, what comes of being\nunwilling to be generous with God. What we give Him He does not need,\nbut by giving, we worship and thank Him. Do not people in the world\noften give presents to those who have done them a favor, that they may\nthus show their gratitude? Now, God is always doing us favors, and why\nshould we not show our gratitude to Him by giving generously in His\nhonor? When we give to the orphans, etc., we give to Him; for He says:\n\"Whatsoever you give to these little ones you give to Me.\" Again, when\nOur Lord tells what will happen on the Day of Judgment (Matt. 25:31,\netc.), He says, the Judge will divide all the people of the world into\ntwo bodies; the good He will place on His right hand and the wicked on\nHis left. Then He will praise the good for what they did and welcome\nthem to Heaven; but to the wicked He will say, \"Depart from Me, because\nwhen I was hungry you gave Me not to eat; when I was thirsty you gave Me\nnot to drink; you clothed Me not,\" etc. And then the wicked shall ask,\nwhen did we see You in want and not relieve You? He will tell them that\nHe considered the poor just the same as Himself; and as they did nothing\nfor His poor, they did nothing for Him.\n\n*403 Q. What is the meaning of the commandment not to marry within the\nthird degree of kindred?\nA. The meaning of the commandment not to marry within the third degree\nof kindred is that no one is allowed to marry another within the third\ndegree of blood relationship.\n\n\"Third Degree.\" What relatives are in the third degree? Brother and\nsister are in the first degree; first cousins are in the second degree;\nsecond cousins are in the third degree. Therefore all who are second\ncousins or in nearer relationship cannot be married without a\ndispensation from the Church allowing them to do so. A dispensation\ngranted by the Church is a permission to do something which its law\nforbids. Since it made the law, it can also dispense from the observance\nof it. The Church could not give permission to do anything that God's\nlaw forbids. It could not, for example, give permission to a brother and\nsister to marry, because it is not alone the law of the Church but God's\nlaw also that forbids that. But God's law does not forbid first or\nsecond cousins to get married; but the Church's law forbids it, and thus\nit can in special cases dispense from such laws. God's law is called\nalso the natural law. You must be very careful not to confound the\nmarriage laws that the Church makes with the marriage laws that the\nState makes. When the State makes laws contrary to the laws of God or of\nthe Church, you cannot obey such laws without committing grievous sin.\nFor instance, the State allows divorce; it allows persons to marry again\nif the husband or wife has been sentenced to imprisonment for life; it\ndoes not recognize all the impediments to marriage laid down by the\nChurch. Such laws as these Catholics cannot comply with; but when the\nState makes laws which regard only the civil effects of marriage, such\nas refer to the property of the husband or wife, the inheritance of the\nchildren, etc., laws, in a word, which are not opposed either to the\nlaws of God or of His Church, then you may and must obey them; for the\nauthorities of the government are our lawful superiors, and must be\nobeyed in all that is not sin. What we have said with regard to the\nmarriage laws is true for all the rest. Thus the civil court might, on\naccount of some technicality, free you legally from the payment of a\ndebt; but that would not free you in conscience from paying what you\njustly owe. Again, the court might legally decide in your favor in an\nunjust suit; but that would not give you the right in conscience to keep\nwhat you have thus fraudulently or unjustly obtained.\n\n*404 Q. What is the meaning of the command not to marry privately?\nA. The command not to marry privately means that none should marry\nwithout the blessing of God's priests or without witnesses.\n\nIf persons wishing to be married suspect that there is any impediment\nexisting between them, they should express their doubts and the reasons\nfor them to the priest.\n\nHere it is well for you to know that if any Catholic goes to be married\nbefore a Protestant minister, he is, by the laws of the Church in the\nUnited States, excommunicated. [In 1966 the penalty of excommunication\nfor this offense was lifted by the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine\nof the Faith. Yet it remains a mortal sin for a Catholic to attempt to\nmarry outside the Catholic Church, and such a \"marriage\" will be\ninvalid.] You must know excommunication means cut off from the communion\nof the Church and the body of the faithful; cut off from the Sacraments\nand from a share in all the holy Masses and public prayers offered by\nthe Church throughout the world. It is a punishment the Church inflicts\nupon its disobedient children who will not repent but persist in\nwrongdoing. If they die willfully excommunicated, they die in mortal\nsin, and no Mass or funeral prayers can be publicly offered for them;\nnor can they be buried in consecrated ground. Besides the\nexcommunicated, there are others who cannot be buried in consecrated\nground: namely, infants or others who have not been baptized; those who\ndeliberately committed suicide; those who have publicly lived sinful\nlives and evidently died in that public sin; and all persons who are not\nCatholics. If a Catholic who is not publicly a sinner dies suddenly, we\ncannot judge that he is in mortal sin; and hence such a one may be\nburied in consecrated ground.\n\nIt is the desire of the Church that all its faithful children should be\nburied in the ground which it has blessed for their remains; and\nwherever it is possible Catholics must have their own burying ground.\n\n*405 Q. What is the meaning of the precept not to solemnize marriage at\nforbidden times?\nA. The meaning of the precept not to solemnize marriage at forbidden\ntimes is that during Lent and Advent the marriage ceremony should not be\nperformed with pomp or a nuptial Mass.\n\nPersons may be married at these times quietly, wherever it is not\npositively forbidden by the laws of the diocese.\n\n*406 Q. What is the nuptial Mass?\nA. The nuptial Mass is a Mass appointed by the Church to invoke a\nspecial blessing upon the married couple.\n\nIt is a Mass especially for them and cannot be said for anyone else. At\nthe most solemn parts of the Mass the priest turns to them and prays\nthat God may bless their union.\n\n*407 Q. Should Catholics be married at a nuptial Mass?\nA. Catholics should be married at a nuptial Mass, because they thereby\nshow greater reverence for the holy Sacrament and bring richer blessings\nupon their wedded life.\n\nThe Church wishes to give to the marriage of its children observing its\nlaws all the solemnity possible, and to impress its dignity and sanctity\nso deeply upon their minds that they may never forget the solemn promise\nmade at the altar of God. The thought of that day will keep them from\nsin. On the other hand, the Church shows its great displeasure when\nCatholics do not keep its laws, but marry persons not of their own\nreligion. At a mixed marriage the couple cannot be married in the\nchurch, nor even in the sacristy; the priest cannot wear a surplice or\nstole or any of the sacred vestments of the Church; he cannot use holy\nwater, or the Sign of the Cross; he cannot bless the ring or even use\nthe Church's language--Latin. Everything is done in the coldest manner,\nto remind Catholics that they are doing what is displeasing to their\nmother the Church.\n\nAgain the Church wishes its children to prepare for the Sacrament of\nMatrimony just as they would prepare for any other Sacrament--Penance,\nHoly Eucharist, Holy Orders, etc. Imagine a boy going up for First\nCommunion laughing, talking, or gazing about him, without any thought of\nthe great Sacrament he is about to receive; thinking only of how he\nappears in his new clothing, of those who are present, etc., and\nspending all his time of preparation not in purifying his soul, but in\nadorning his body! Think of him returning from Holy Communion and\nimmediately forgetting Our Lord! Now, Matrimony is deserving of all the\nrespect due to a Sacrament, and hence the Church wishes all its children\nto be married at Mass; or at least in the morning. It does not like them\nto marry in the evening, and go to the reception of the Sacrament as\nthey would to a place of vain amusement. For on such occasions they\ncannot show the proper respect in the church, and possibly turn the\nceremony into an occasion of sin for all who attend; for they often seem\nto forget the holiness of the place and the respect due to the presence\nof Our Lord upon the altar. Indeed it should be remembered, at whatever\ntime the marriage takes place, that conduct, dress, and all else must be\nin keeping with the dignity of the place and the holiness of the\nSacrament, and the women should not come into the Church with uncovered\nheads.\n\n\n\nLesson 37\nON THE LAST JUDGMENT AND THE RESURRECTION, HELL, PURGATORY, AND HEAVEN\n\n\n408 Q. When will Christ judge us?\nA. Christ will judge us immediately after our death, and on the last\nday.\n\n\"Immediately.\" In the very room and on the very spot where we die, we\nshall be judged in an instant, and even before those around us are sure\nthat we are really dead. When we have a trial or judgment in one of our\ncourts, we see the judge listening, the lawyers defending or trying to\ncondemn, and the witnesses for or against the person accused. We are in\nthe habit of imagining something of the same kind to take place in the\njudgment of God. We see Almighty God seated on His throne; our angel and\npatron saint giving their testimony about us--good or bad--and then we\nhear the Judge pronounce sentence. This takes place, but not in the way\nwe imagine, for God needs no witnesses: He knows all. An example will\nprobably make you understand better what really takes place. If you are\nwalking over a very muddy road on a dark night, you cannot see the\nspattered condition of your clothing; but if you come suddenly into a\nstrong light you will see at a glance the state in which you are. In the\nsame way the soul during our earthly life does not see its own\ncondition; but when it comes into the bright light of God's presence, it\nsees in an instant its own state and knows what its sentence will be. It\ngoes immediately to its reward or punishment. This judgment at the\nmoment of our death will settle our fate forever. The general judgment\nwill not change, but only repeat, the sentence before the whole world.\nOh, how we should prepare for that awful moment! See that poor sick man\nslowly breathing away his life. All his friends are kneeling around him\npraying; now he becomes unconscious; now the death rattle sounds in his\nthroat; now the eyes are fixed and glassy. A few minutes more and that\npoor soul will stand in the awful presence of God, to give an account of\nthat man's whole life--of every thought, word, and deed. All he has done\non earth will be spread out before him like a great picture. He will,\ntowards the end of his life, have altogether forgotten perhaps what he\nthought, said, or did on a certain day and hour--the place he was in and\nthe sin committed, etc.; but at that moment of judgment he will remember\nall. How he will wish he had been good! How, then, can we be so careless\nnow about a matter of such importance, when we are absolutely certain\nthat we too shall be judged, and how soon we know not. When you are\nabout to be examined on what you have learned in school or instructions\nin six months or a year, how anxious you are in making the necessary\npreparation, and how you fear you might not pass, but be kept back for a\nwhile! How delighted you would be to hear that a very dear friend, and\none who knew you well, was to be your examiner! Prepare in the same way\nfor the examination you have to stand at the end of your life. Every day\nyou can make a preparation by examining your conscience on the sins you\nhave committed; by making an act of contrition for them, and resolving\nto avoid them for the future. You should never go to sleep without some\npreparation for judgment. But above all, try to become better acquainted\nwith your Examiner--Our Lord Jesus Christ; try by your prayers and good\nworks to become His special friend, and when your judgment comes you\nwill be pleased rather than afraid to meet Him.\n\n409 Q. What is the judgment called which we have to undergo immediately\nafter death?\nA. The judgment we have to undergo immediately after death is called the\nParticular Judgment.\n\n\"Particular,\" because one particular person is judged.\n\n410 Q. What is the judgment called which all men have to undergo on the\nlast day?\nA. The judgment which all men have to undergo on the last day is called\nthe General Judgment.\n\n\"General,\" because every creature gifted with intelligence will be\njudged on that day--the angels of Heaven, the devils of Hell, and all\nmen, women, and children that have ever lived upon the earth. The Holy\nScripture gives us a terrible account of that awful day. (Matt. 24-25).\nOn some day--we know not when, it might be tomorrow for all we know--the\nworld will be going on as usual, some going to school, others to\nbusiness; some seeking pleasure, others suffering pain; some in health,\nothers in sickness, etc. Suddenly they will feel the earth beginning to\nquake and tremble; they will see the ocean in great fury, and will be\nterrified at its roar as, surging and foaming, it throws its mighty\nwaves high in the air. Then the sun will grow red and begin to darken; a\nhorrid glare will spread over the earth, beginning to burn up. Then,\nsays the Holy Scripture, men will wither away for fear of what is\ncoming; they will call upon the mountains to fall and hide them; they\nwill be rushing here and there, not knowing what to do. Money will be of\nno value then; dress, wealth, fame, power, learning, and all else will\nbe useless, for at that moment all men will be equal. Then shall be\nheard the sound of the angel's great trumpet calling all to judgment.\nThe dead shall come forth from their graves, and the demons rush from\nHell. Then all shall see our Blessed Lord coming in the clouds of Heaven\nin great power and majesty surrounded by countless angels bearing His\nshining Cross before Him. He will separate the good from the wicked; He\nwill welcome the good to Heaven and condemn the wicked to Hell. The sins\ncommitted shall be made public before all present. Imagine your feelings\nwhile you are standing in that great multitude, waiting for the\nseparation of the good from the bad. To which side will you be sent? Our\nLord is coming, not with the mild countenance of a saviour, but with the\nsevere look of a judge. As He draws nearer and nearer to you, you see\nsome of your dear friends, whom you thought good enough upon earth, sent\nover to the side of the wicked; you see others that you deemed foolish\nsent with the good, and you become more anxious every instant about the\nuncertainty of your own fate. You see fathers and mothers sent to\nopposite sides, brothers and sisters, parents and children, separated\nforever. Oh, what a terrible moment of suspense! How you will wish you\nhad been better and always lived a friend of God! The side you will be\non depends upon what you do now, and you can be on the better side if\nyou wish. Do, then, in your life what you would wish to have done at\nthat terrible moment. Learn to judge yourself frequently. Say this, or\nsomething similar, to yourself. \"Now I have lived twelve, fifteen,\ntwenty, or more years; if that judgment came today, on which side should\nI be? Probably on the side of the wicked. If then I spend the rest of my\nlife as I have lived in the past, on the last day I shall surely be with\nthe wicked. If my good deeds and bad deeds were counted today, which\nwould be more numerous? What, then, must I do? It will not be enough for\nme simply to be better for the future--I must try also to make amends\nfor the past. If a man wishing to complete a journey on a certain time,\nby walking a fixed number of miles each day, falls behind a great deal\non one day, he must not only walk the usual number of miles the next,\nbut must make up for the distance lost on the previous day. So in our\njourney through this life we must do our duty each day for the future,\nand, as far as we can, make up for what we have neglected in the past.\n\n*411 Q. Why does Christ judge men immediately after death?\nA. Christ judges men immediately after death to reward or punish them\naccording to their deeds.\n\n412 Q. What are the rewards or punishments appointed for men's souls\nafter the Particular Judgment?\nA. The rewards or punishments appointed for men's souls after the\nParticular Judgment are Heaven, Purgatory, and Hell.\n\n413 Q. What is Hell?\nA. Hell is a state to which the wicked are condemned, and in which they\nare deprived of the sight of God for all eternity, and are in dreadful\ntorments.\n\n\"Deprived of the sight of God.\" This is called the pain of loss, while\nthe other sufferings the damned endure are called the pain of\nsense--that is, of the senses. The pain of loss causes the unfortunate\nsouls more torment than all their other sufferings; for as we are\ncreated for God alone, the loss of Him--our last end--is the most\ndreadful evil that can befall us. This the damned realize, and know that\ntheir souls will be tortured by a perpetual yearning never to be\nsatisfied. This is aggravated by the thought of how easily they might\nhave been saved, and how foolishly they threw away their happiness and\nlost all for some miserable pleasure or gratification, so quickly ended.\n\nBesides this remorse, they suffer most frightful torments in all their\nsenses. The worst sufferings you could imagine would not be as bad as\nthe sufferings of the damned really are; for Hell must be the opposite\nof Heaven, and since we cannot, as St. Paul says, imagine the happiness\nof Heaven, neither can we imagine the misery of Hell. Sometimes you will\nfind frightful descriptions of Hell in religious books that tell of the\nhorrible sights, awful sounds, disgusting stenches, and excruciating\npains the lost souls endure. Now, all these descriptions are given\nrather to make people think of the torments of Hell than as an accurate\naccount of them. No matter how terrible the description may be, it is\nnever as bad as the reality. We know that the damned are continually\ntormented in all their senses, but just in what way we do not know. We\nknow that there is fire in Hell, but it is entirely different from our\nfire; it neither gives light nor consumes what it burns, and it causes\ngreater pain than the fire of earth, for it affects both body and soul.\nWe know that the damned will never see God and there will never be an\nend to their torments. Now, all this is contained in the following: Hell\nis the absence of everything good and the presence of everything evil,\nand it will last forever. Now, a priest coming out to preach on Hell\nwould not say to the people: \"Hell is the absence of everything good and\nthe presence of everything evil, and it will last forever,\" and then\nstep down from the altar and say no more. He must give a fuller\nexplanation to those who are unable to think for themselves. He must\npoint out some of the evils present in Hell and some of the good things\nabsent, and thus teach the people how to meditate on these dreadful\ntruths. If, then, you bear in mind that there is nothing good in Hell\nand it will last forever, and often think of these two points, you will\nhave a holy fear of the woeful place and a deep sorrow for your sins\nwhich expose you to the danger of suffering its torments.\n\nIt should be enough, therefore, for you to remember: there is nothing\ngood in Hell, and it will last forever. Think of anything good you\nplease and it cannot be found in Hell. Is light good? Yes. Then it is\nnot in Hell. Is hope good? Yes. Then it is not in Hell. Is true\nfriendship good? Yes. Then it is not in Hell. There the damned hate one\nanother. There the poor sufferers curse forever those who led them into\nsin. Hence, persons should try to bring back to a good life everyone\nthey may have led into sin or scandalized by bad example.\n\n414 Q. What is Purgatory?\nA. Purgatory is the state in which those suffer for a time who die\nguilty of venial sins, or without having satisfied for the punishment\ndue to their sins.\n\n\"Punishment\"--that is, temporal punishment, already explained to you.\nAfter the general judgment there will be Heaven and Hell, but no\nPurgatory, for there will be no men living or dying upon the earth in\nits present condition to go there. All will be dead and judged and sent\nto their final abodes. Those in Purgatory are the friends of God; and\nknowing Him as they do now, they would not go into His holy presence\nwith the slightest stain upon their souls; still they are anxious for\ntheir Purgatory to be ended that they may be with God. They suffer, we\nare told, the same pains of sense as the damned; but they suffer\nwillingly, for they know that it is making them more pleasing to God,\nand that one day it will all be over and He will receive them into\nHeaven. Their salvation is sure, and that thought makes them happy. If,\ntherefore, you believe any of your friends are in Purgatory, you should\nhelp them all you can, and try by your prayers and good works to shorten\ntheir time of suffering. They will help you--though they cannot help\nthemselves--by their prayers. And oh, when they are admitted into\nHeaven, how they will pray for those that have helped them out of\nPurgatory! If you do this great charity, God will, when you die, put in\nsome good person's heart to pray for you while you suffer in Purgatory.\nThere must be a Purgatory, for one who dies with the slightest stain of\nsin upon his soul cannot enter Heaven, and yet God would not send him to\nHell for so small a sin. But why does God punish those He loves? Why\ndoes He not forgive everything? He punishes because He is infinitely\njust and true. He warned them that if they did certain things they would\nbe punished; and they did them, and God must keep His promise. Moreover\nHe is just, and must give to everyone exactly what he deserves.\n\n*415 Q. Can the faithful on earth help the souls in Purgatory?\nA. The faithful on earth can help the souls in Purgatory by their\nprayers, fasts, almsdeeds; by indulgences, and by having Masses said for\nthem.\n\n*416 Q. If everyone is judged immediately after death, what need is\nthere of a general judgment?\nA. There is need of a general judgment, though everyone is judged\nimmediately after death, that the providence of God, which, on earth,\noften permits the good to suffer and the wicked to prosper, may in the\nend appear just before all men.\n\n\"Providence of God.\" Sometimes here on earth we see a good man always in\nwant, out of employment, sickly, unsuccessful in all his undertakings,\nwhile his neighbor, who is a very bad man, is wealthy and prosperous,\nand seems to have every pleasure. Why this is so we cannot understand\nnow, but God's reason for it will be made known to us on the Day of\nJudgment. Sometimes the wicked do good actions here on earth--help the\npoor, or contribute to some charity, for instance; and as God on account\nof their wickedness cannot reward them in the next world, He rewards\nthem chiefly in this world by temporal goods and pleasures. For all\ntheir good deeds they get their reward in this world, and for the evil\ntheir punishment in the next. The good man who suffers gets all his\nreward in the next world, that even his sufferings here atone partly for\nthe evil he has done.\n\nA second reason for a general judgment is to show the crimes of sinners\nand the justice of their punishment; also that the saints may have all\ntheir good works made known before the world and receive the glory they\ndeserve. On earth these saints were sometimes considered fools and\ntreated as criminals, falsely accused, etc., and now the whole truth\nwill stand out before the world. But above all, the general judgment is\nfor the honor and glory of Our Lord. At His first coming into the world\nHe was poor and weak; many would not believe Him the Son of God, and\ninsulted Him as an impostor. He was falsely accused, treated shamefully,\nand was put to death, many believing Him guilty of some crime. Now He\nwill appear before all as He really is--their Lord and Master, their\nCreator and Judge. How they will tremble to look upon Him whom they have\ncrucified! How all those who have denied Him, blasphemed Him, persecuted\nHis Church, and the like, will fear when they see Him there as Judge!\nHow they will realize the terrible mistake worldlings made!\n\n417 Q. Will our bodies share in the reward or punishment of our souls?\nA. Our bodies will share in the reward or punishment of our souls,\nbecause through the Resurrection they will again be united to them.\n\n*418 Q. In what state will the bodies of the just rise?\nA. The bodies of the just will rise glorious and immortal.\n\nWe honor the dead body and treat it with great respect because it was\nthe dwelling place of the soul and was often nourished with the\nSacraments; also because it will rise in glory and be united with the\nsoul in the presence of God forever. For these reasons we use incense\nand holy water when the body is to be buried, and even bless the ground\nin which it is laid. \"Faithful departed\" means all those who died in a\nstate of grace and who are in Heaven or Purgatory. They may be in\nPurgatory, and so we pray for them. We pray that they may \"rest in\npeace\"--that is be in Heaven, where they will have no sufferings.\n\n*419 Q. Will the bodies of the damned also rise?\nA. The bodies of the damned will also rise, but they will be condemned\nto eternal punishment.\n\n420 Q. What is Heaven?\nA. Heaven is the state of everlasting life in which we see God face to\nface, are made like unto Him in glory, and enjoy eternal happiness.\n\nThe most delightful place we could possibly imagine as Heaven would not\nbe near what it really is. Everything that is good is there and forever,\nand we shall never tire of its joys. All the pleasures and beauties of\nearth are as nothing compared with Heaven; and though we think we can\nimagine its beauty and happiness now, we shall see how far we have been\nfrom the real truth if ever we reach this heavenly home.\n\n\"God face to face\"--that is, as He is. We shall not see Him with the\neyes of the body, but of the soul. That we may see with our natural\neyes, two things are necessary: first, an object to look at, and\nsecondly, light to see it. Now, to see God in Heaven we need a special\nlight, which is called the \"light of glory.\" God Himself gives us this\nlight and thus enables us to see Him as He is. This beautiful vision of\nGod in Heaven is called the \"beatific vision,\" and thus our whole life\nin Heaven--our joy and happiness--consists in the enjoyment of the\nbeatific vision.\n\n*421 Q. What words should we bear always in mind?\nA. We should bear always in mind these words of Our Lord and Saviour\nJesus Christ: \"What doth it profit a man if he gain the whole world and\nsuffer the loss of his own soul, or what exchange shall a man give for\nhis soul? For the Son of man shall come in the glory of His Father with\nHis angels: and then will He render to every man according to his\nworks.\"\n\nWhat does it benefit the poor creatures in Hell to have been rich, or\nbeautiful, or learned, or powerful? If they had been good, it was all\nthat was necessary to escape all their sufferings. Is there anything on\nearth that they would not give to be released? Why, then, did they sell\ntheir souls for so little while on earth? The present is the only time\nyou have to merit Heaven and escape Hell. The past you cannot recall,\nand of the future you are not sure. Then use the present well and decide\ndaily whether you wish to be in Heaven or in Hell.\n\n\nNOTE--Wherever in the foregoing pages explanations have been omitted\nafter certain questions or answers it is because the matter they contain\nhas been explained in some preceding question, or is to be explained in\nsome following question, or is clear enough in itself without\nexplanation. The explanations of such questions or answers can be easily\nfound by referring to the index.\n\n\n\n\nQUESTIONS ON THE EXPLANATIONS\n\n\nThe Lord's Prayer\n\n  1. Who made the Lord's Prayer?\n  2. Why do we say \"our\" and not \"my\" Father?\n  3. Why do we call God \"Father\"?\n  4. What person of the Blessed Trinity is meant by \"Father\" in the\n     Lord's Prayer?\n  5. Was God called \"Father\" before the time of Our Lord? Why?\n  6. Why do we say \"Who art in Heaven,\" if God is everywhere?\n  7. What does \"hallowed\" mean?\n  8. What do we ask for by \"Thy kingdom come\"?\n  9. What does \"Thy kingdom\" mean here?\n 10. Who do God's will in Heaven?\n 11. What do we ask for by \"our daily bread\"?\n 12. Why do we say \"daily\"?\n 13. What do \"trespasses\" mean?\n 14. What do we mean by \"as we forgive those who trespass against us\"?\n 15. What example did Our Lord give?\n 16. What is temptation?\n 17. Does God tempt us to sin?\n 18. Is it a sin to be tempted?\n 19. Are there any tempters besides the devil?\n 20. Should we seek temptation?\n 21. What does \"Amen\" mean?\n 22. What does \"Christian\" mean?\n 23. What makes us Christian?\n 24. What does \"doctrine\" mean?\n\n\nThe Angelical Salutation\n\n 25. How many parts in the Hail Mary?\n 26. What part did the Angel Gabriel make?\n 27. When did he make it?\n 28. How did Mary know what the angel's words meant?\n 29. What part of the Hail Mary did St. Elizabeth make?\n 30. Who was St. Elizabeth's son?\n 31. Why is Mary called \"blessed amongst women\"?\n 32. What part of the Hail Mary did the Church make?\n 33. What does \"hail\" mean?\n 34. Why do we say \"full of grace\"?\n 35. Why is Mary called \"holy\"?\n 36. Why do we need Mary's prayer at the hour of death?\n 37. What is the Angelus?\n 38. What does \"the Word\" mean?\n 39. What does \"made flesh\" mean in the third part of the Angelus?\n 40. What is the Litany of the Blessed Virgin?\n 41. Are there other litanies besides the Litany of the Blessed Virgin?\n\n\nThe Apostles' Creed\n\n 42. What is a creed?\n 43. Who were the Apostles?\n 44. Were the Apostles bishops or priests?\n 45. How do you know?\n 46. Who were the disciples of Our Lord?\n 47. Why did the Apostles make the creed?\n 48. How many articles or parts in the Apostles' Creed?\n 49. What does \"Creator\" mean?\n 50. By what names is Our Lord called?\n 51. How many sons had God the Father?\n 52. Why do we say \"died\" instead of \"was killed\"?\n 53. Why do we say \"He was buried\"?\n 54. Is Limbo the same as Purgatory? Why?\n 55. Who were in Limbo at the time Our Lord was crucified?\n 56. Name some good men who lived before Christ.\n 57. Did Our Lord's body descend into Limbo?\n 58. Was Our Lord three full days in the holy sepulchre?\n 59. How can you prove they could not put Our Lord to death unless He\n     permitted it?\n 60. Why do we say \"right hand of God\" when God has no hands?\n 61. What do you mean by \"judge the living and the dead\"?\n 62. Who are \"the living\"?\n 63. Who are \"the dead\" mentioned here?\n 64. What are ghosts?\n 65. Are there any?\n 66. What do you mean by the \"Church Militant\"?\n 67. Who are its members?\n 68. Who are the enemies of our salvation?\n 69. Why does the devil wish to keep us out of Heaven?\n 70. What do we mean when we say \"the world\" is one of our spiritual\n     enemies?\n 71. Have all the saints their bodies in Heaven?\n 72. Who are in Heaven in their bodies at present?\n 73. What is meant by our \"concupiscence\"?\n 74. Which tempts us most to sin, our soul or our body? Why?\n 75. Why did God leave concupiscence in us?\n 76. What do we mean by \"the Church Suffering\"?\n 77. Who are its members?\n 78. Why are souls in Purgatory?\n 79. What do you mean by \"the Church Triumphant\"?\n 80. Who are its members?\n 81. Are there any saints in Heaven whose names we do not know?\n 82. Who are saints?\n 83. What is the difference between a saint and an angel?\n 84. Why does the Church canonize holy persons?\n 85. Does canonization make the person a saint?\n 86. How does the Church canonize a saint?\n 87. Explain the \"communion of saints.\"\n 88. What is the difference between beatification and canonization?\n 89. How is the resurrection of the body possible?\n 90. What is death?\n 91. What does \"life everlasting\" mean?\n 92. How many fathers had Our Lord? Who were they?\n 93. How many mothers had He?\n 94. Of what religion was Pontius Pilate?\n 95. Are all in Heaven saints?\n\n\nThe Confiteor and Acts\n\n 96. In how many ways can we sin?\n 97. What should we think of when we say the Confiteor?\n 98. What is the substance of the \"act of faith\"?\n 99. Why do we find different acts of faith?\n100. What is the substance of the \"act of hope\"?\n101. What is the substance of the \"act of love\"?\n102. Do an \"act of love\" and an \"act of charity\" mean the same?\n103. How do you show that they are the same?\n104. What makes us help others?\n105. How may we be charitable to our neighbor?\n106. What is the substance of the \"act of contrition\"?\n107. What does \"grace\" at meals mean?\n108. Why should we say grace at meals?\n109. Why should we be content with our food?\n110. Is the Apostles' Creed an act of faith?\n111. Did John the Baptist institute the Sacrament of Baptism?\n112. In giving Baptism, can one pour the water and another say the\n     words?\n\n\nCATECHISM\n\n\nLesson 1\n\n113. What is a catechism?\n114. What does our Catechism contain?\n115. Why should we learn the Catechism?\n116. What do we mean by the \"end of man\"?\n117. For what end was man created?\n118. In what respect are all men equal?\n119. What is \"woman\"?\n120. In the first question, what does \"world\" mean?\n121. What is a creature?\n122. Is every invisible thing a spirit?\n123. Of what use is reason to us?\n124. What makes man different from all other animals?\n125. Have any brute animals reason?\n126. How do you know brute animals have not reason?\n127. Can we learn all truths by our reason alone?\n128. What is revelation?\n129. What is \"free will\" in man?\n130. Have brute animals \"free will\"?\n131. Why is it necessary for us to know God?\n132. What does \"worship\" mean?\n133. How do we know when we love God above all?\n134. Does the Apostles' Creed contain all the truths we must believe?\n135. Name some truths not mentioned in it.\n136. Is a tree a creature?\n\n\nLesson 2\n\n137. What is a spirit?\n138. What does \"infinite\" mean?\n139. Why does God watch over us?\n140. Why is it necessary for God to watch over us?\n141. Why must God be \"just\" as well as \"merciful\"?\n\n\nLesson 3\n\n142. What does \"supreme\" mean?\n143. When are two persons said to be equal?\n144. From whom does authority come?\n145. Is there any difference in the ages of God the Father and God the\n     Son?\n146. Do first, second, and third in the Blessed Trinity mean that one\n     person was before the other?\n147. Why must we believe mysteries?\n148. Must we understand everything we believe?\n\n\nLesson 4\n\n149. How may the things God created be classed?\n150. Why did God create angels?\n151. If angels have no bodies, how can they appear?\n152. Are the angels all equal in dignity?\n153. How many classes of angels are there?\n154. What did the Archangel Michael do?\n155. What did the Archangel Gabriel do?\n156. Who gave the angels their names?\n157. What are the duties of the angels?\n158. What does our angel guardian do for us?\n159. How do you know that the angels offer our prayers and good works to\n     God?\n160. Give a short history of Tobias.\n161. What do we mean by \"Jacob's ladder\"?\n162. Are there other guardian angels besides the guardian angels of\n     persons?\n163. Name some persons to whom angels appeared.\n164. Were angels ever sent to punish men?\n165. If God watches over us, why should angels guard us?\n166. What was the devil's name before he was cast out of Heaven?\n167. Why was he cast out?\n168. Is the Blessed Virgin only a creature? Why?\n\n\nLesson 5\n\n169. How did God create Eve?\n170. What relation was Eve to Adam?\n171. Were Adam and Eve created at the same time?\n172. What was the \"Garden of Paradise\"?\n173. How did Adam commit his first sin?\n174. How was Eve tempted to disobey God?\n175. In what way do we sometimes imitate Eve's conduct?\n176. Why does the devil tempt us?\n177. What were the effects of Adam's sin?\n178. Why do we suffer for the sin of our first parents?\n179. What did Adam lose by his sin?\n180. What do you mean when you say Adam's will was weakened by sin?\n181. Can we always overcome temptation if we wish?\n182. Why was the Blessed Virgin preserved from Original Sin?\n\n\nLesson 6\n\n183. How is sin divided?\n184. In what ways can we commit actual sin?\n185. What is a sin of omission? Give an example.\n186. How is Heaven a reward?\n187. How can we merit it?\n188. Are all religions equally good? Why?\n189. What do you mean by a person's \"vocation\"?\n190. How are we to know our vocation?\n191. How should parents act with regard to their children's vocation?\n192. When is a soul said to be dead?\n193. How can we judge whether a thing is sinful or not?\n194. What is a material sin?\n195. Why is it wrong to judge others guilty of sin?\n196. Why does venial sin lessen the love of God in our hearts?\n197. Why are pride, covetousness, etc., called \"capital sins\"?\n198. What is meant by our \"predominant\" or \"ruling\" sin?\n199. What is pride?\n200. Why should we take care of our bodies?\n201. What sins follow pride?\n202. What is covetousness?\n203. What sins follow covetousness?\n204. What is lust?\n205. What sins follow lust?\n206. What is gluttony?\n207. What kind of sin is drunkenness?\n208. How can we commit gluttony by eating?\n209. How can we commit gluttony by drinking?\n210. What sins does the drunkard commit?\n211. What three great sins should you always guard against?\n212. Why are drunkenness, dishonesty, and impurity so dangerous?\n213. What is envy?\n214. How do we commit the sin of sloth?\n215. How can we best destroy sin in our souls?\n216. Should we cease striving to be good, if we seem to be making no\n     improvement? Why?\n\n\nLesson 7\n\n217. What does \"incarnation\" mean?\n218. What does \"redemption\" mean?\n219. Who are slaves?\n220. How were we in slavery by the sin of Adam?\n221. What price did Our Lord pay to redeem us?\n222. Did Our Lord leave us any means of being redeemed more than once?\n223. What does \"abandon\" mean?\n224. Has Heaven really gates?\n225. What are the \"gates of Heaven\"?\n226. Is Our Lord now in Heaven as God or as man?\n227. Who was Our Lord's foster-father?\n228. What is a foster-father?\n229. How many years from the time Adam sinned till the Redeemer came?\n230. Why did God allow so long a time to pass before redeeming us?\n231. What was the Deluge?\n232. When and why did God send it?\n233. Who were saved from the Deluge? How?\n234. What animals did Noe have in the Ark?\n235. What were the \"clean animals\"? Name some.\n236. Why did he have more \"clean\" than \"unclean\" animals?\n237. How long did Noe spend in making the Ark?\n238. How old was Adam when he died?\n239. Who was the oldest man?\n240. What was his age?\n241. How did the Deluge come upon the earth?\n242. How long did the Ark float upon the waters?\n243. How did Noe learn that the waters were going down?\n244. What was the condition of men before the coming of Our Lord?\n245. When and to whom did God promise the Redeemer?\n246. What did the prophets foretell about Christ?\n247. Why was the Redeemer not welcomed by all when He came?\n248. What day of the year is Annunciation Day?\n249. How could the good people of the Old Law be saved by the merits of\n     Christ, when Christ was not yet born?\n250. In what kind of a stable was Our Lord born?\n251. Why did the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph go to Bethlehem before\n     the birth of Our Lord?\n252. Who were the Magi?\n253. What brought them to Bethlehem?\n254. Why did King Herod wish to find the Infant Jesus?\n255. On what feast do we commemorate the adoration of the Magi?\n256. At what time of the year is the Epiphany?\n257. What is the feast of \"Holy Innocents\"?\n258. When does it come?\n259. Give a short history of Our Lord's life.\n260. What do we mean by His \"hidden life\"?\n261. What do we mean by His \"public life\"?\n262. How old was Our Lord when He began His public life?\n263. What do we know of Our Lord's hidden life?\n264. Why did He lead a hidden life for so many years?\n265. Does \"mankind\" mean men or women?\n266. Had Our Lord any brothers or sisters?\n267. What did the Angel Gabriel say at the Annunciation?\n\n\nLesson 8\n\n268. What do you mean by Our Lord's \"Passion\"?\n269. When did it begin and when did it end?\n270. Give an account of Our Lord's Passion.\n271. Where was Gethsemani or the Garden of Olives?\n272. Who went into it with Our Lord?\n273. What did Our Lord do in this garden?\n274. What else happened there?\n275. What caused Our Lord's sufferings in the garden?\n276. Why could Christ's body suffer greater pain than ours?\n277. What do we mean by the \"agony in the garden\"?\n278. Who betrayed Our Lord?\n279. How did the Jews act unjustly in the trial of Our Lord?\n280. What was the \"scourging at the pillar\"?\n281. What was the \"crowning with thorns\"?\n282. What happened at the death of Our Lord?\n283. Where was Calvary?\n284. Why were no criminals put to death in Jerusalem?\n285. How was the temple of Jerusalem divided?\n286. What was the \"Holy of Holies\"?\n287. What was the \"Ark of the Covenant,\" and what did it contain?\n288. Of what were the ark and its contents figures?\n289. What was the veil of the temple?\n290. Why was this veil rent asunder at the death of Our Lord?\n291. What does Calvary mean?\n292. Why was Our Lord crucified between thieves?\n293. Why do we call one of these the \"penitent thief\"?\n294. Why did Christ suffer more than was necessary?\n295. What is a sepulchre?\n296. How was Our Lord buried?\n297. What did the Jews count the beginning and the end of their day?\n298. Was the Jewish religion ever the true religion?\n299. What is a miracle?\n300. What does a miracle prove?\n301. What miracles did Our Lord perform?\n302. What was His greatest?\n303. What are the qualities of a glorified body?\n304. Show that Our Lord's body had all these qualities.\n305. What was the \"Transfiguration of Our Lord\"? Describe it.\n306. Who were present at it?\n307. What happened on the way to Emmaus?\n308. What benefit is derived from Thomas the Apostle doubting the\n     resurrection of Our Lord?\n309. Will all who rise on the last day have glorified bodies?\n310. What does the \"stigmata of Our Lord\" mean?\n311. Did anyone ever have it?\n312. Was Our Lord visible to everyone during the forty days after His\n     resurrection?\n313. About how many times and to whom did He appear during the forty\n     days?\n314. Describe Our Lord's Ascension.\n315. Did Christ always live at Bethlehem?\n\n\nLesson 9\n\n316. Did the Holy Ghost ever appear?\n317. When and under what forms?\n318. What does Whitsunday mean?\n319. What does Pentecost mean?\n320. What effect did the coming of the Holy Ghost have upon the\n     Apostles?\n321. How many temples had the Jews?\n322. What was a \"synagogue\"?\n323. What was done in the synagogues?\n324. How did the synagogues differ from the temple?\n325. What did the feast of the Pasch or Passover commemorate?\n326. Give a short history of Moses.\n327. How did the Israelites come to be in Egypt?\n328. Give an account of their sufferings in Egypt.\n329. How were they delivered or liberated?\n330. Give a short account of Joseph and his family.\n331. Why did Joseph's brothers wish to put him to death?\n332. What did they do to hide their crime?\n333. What did the King of Egypt dream?\n334. What did his dream mean?\n335. What do we learn from the life of Joseph in Egypt?\n336. How was Moses saved on the bank of the Nile?\n337. What was the \"burning bush\" that Moses saw?\n338. Why did God command Moses to remove his shoes before coming to the\n     \"burning bush\"?\n339. Who went with Moses to deliver the Israelites?\n340. What signs did God give to Moses to show King Pharao?\n341. What did the king's magicians do?\n342. What were \"the ten plagues of Egypt\"?\n343. Describe each plague.\n344. Why did God send them?\n345. What was the \"Paschal Lamb\"?\n346. Of what was it a figure?\n347. What happened to the Israelites and Egyptians at the Red Sea?\n348. How long were the Israelites in the desert?\n349. What was the \"manna\"?\n350. Why were the Israelites so long in the desert?\n351. What do you mean by the \"gift of tongues\"?\n352. Why did God perform more miracles in the first ages of the Church\n     than now?\n353. How and where was St. Peter put to death?\n354. How did the other Apostles die?\n355. St. Paul?\n356. What did the Apostles prove by suffering death for their faith?\n\n\nLesson 10\n\n357. What do we mean by an effect?\n358. What does \"supernatural\" mean?\n359. What is merit?\n360. What is a virtue?\n361. What is a vice?\n362. Does habit excuse us for the sins committed through it?\n363. When will habit excuse us for the sin?\n364. Why do we believe revealed truths?\n365. Who is our neighbor?\n366. What example did Our Lord give to explain this?\n367. How do we love our neighbor as ourselves?\n368. Why should we love our neighbor?\n369. Can we merit the grace of perseverance?\n\n\nLesson 11\n\n370. When did men begin to speak different languages?\n371. Who were the prophets?\n372. Give a short history of religion before the time of Christ.\n373. What are the chief works of the Church?\n374. Why are our churches holy?\n375. What are the catacombs, and why were they made?\n376. What are altar stones?\n377. Why are relics placed in them?\n378. How many general persecutions of the Church were there?\n379. Tell what you know of these persecutions.\n380. What lessons do we learn from the sufferings of the early\n     Christians?\n381. Who are \"lawful pastors\"?\n382. Could anyone be Pope without being Bishop of Rome?\n383. What does \"vicar\" mean?\n384. Why are Catholics called Roman?\n385. How could a Protestant be saved?\n\n\nLesson 12\n\n386. What is an attribute?\n387. What is authority?\n388. Why is it sinful to resist lawful authority?\n389. What does \"cathedra\" mean?\n390. Why is the bishop's church called cathedral?\n391. How do we know when the Pope speaks \"ex cathedra\"?\n392. What is required that the Pope may so speak?\n393. Is the Pope infallible in everything he says?\n394. What do you mean by \"faith and morals\"?\n395. How many Popes from St. Peter to Pius XI?\n396. Why should we have the greatest respect for the opinions of the\n     Holy Father on any subject?\n397. Why must the Pope sometimes speak on political matters?\n398. Can the Pope commit sin?\n399. What do we mean by the \"temporal power\" of the Pope?\n400. How did he acquire it, and how did he lose it?\n401. Why has he need of it?\n402. How is the \"temporal power\" useful to the Church?\n403. What is \"Peter's pence\"?\n404. Does the Church change its doctrines?\n405. How can you show that the Church is one in government and doctrine?\n406. What is the hierarchy of the Church?\n407. Could a person be a Catholic and not believe all the Church\n     teaches?\n408. Why are Protestants so called?\n409. Why does the Church use Latin as its language?\n410. Why does the Church define some truths?\n411. Does the Church by defining truths make new doctrines?\n412. Give a short history of Luther.\n413. Why was he cut off from the true Church?\n414. Why did many follow him?\n415. How did the first Protestants act towards the Church?\n416. What foolish excuses do some give for not becoming Catholics?\n417. Why must the true Church be visible?\n418. Who are heathens?\n419. Who were the \"publicans\" mentioned by Our Lord?\n\n\nLesson 13\n\n420. What three things are necessary to make a Sacrament?\n421. What is the outward sign in Baptism?\n422. Why is water used in Baptism?\n423. What is the outward sign in Confirmation?\n424. Why is oil used in Confirmation?\n425. What is the use of the outward sign in the Sacraments?\n426. In what ways does the life of the soul resemble the life of the\n     body?\n427. What does a \"Sacrament of the dead\" mean?\n428. In what ways can we commit sacrilege?\n429. What is the sacramental grace given in Penance?\n430. What are the \"right dispositions\" for Penance, for Holy Eucharist?\n431. What is conditional Baptism, and when is it given?\n432. Can all the Sacraments be given conditionally?\n433. What is the outward sign in Matrimony?\n434. Can a bishop give all the Sacraments?\n435. Can a priest?\n436. Can a person receive all the Sacraments?\n437. Can any of the Sacraments be given to the dead?\n\n\nLesson 14\n\n438. What is an heir?\n439. Why is the Bible called the Old and New Testament?\n440. What does the Old Testament contain?\n441. What does the New Testament show?\n442. What is the difference between Baptism and Penance in the remission\n     of the guilt and punishment?\n443. Could a person gain an indulgence immediately after Baptism? Why?\n444. What does the \"temporal punishment\" for sin mean?\n445. Where will persons go who have never sinned and who die without\n     Baptism?\n446. What do we mean by \"the ordinary minister\" of a Sacrament?\n447. Can you baptize an infant when its parents are unwilling?\n448. What is private Baptism?\n449. How is it given?\n450. What ceremonies are used in solemn Baptism?\n451. What do they signify?\n452. What is the baptistery?\n453. What do we mean by the \"pomps\" of the devil?\n454. What is martyrdom?\n455. Who are catechumens?\n456. What is necessary that persons may be really martyrs?\n457. What is meant by \"patron saint\"?\n458. On what day is a saint's feast kept by the Church?\n459. What does \"sponsors\" mean? Who are sponsors by proxy?\n460. With whom do godparents contract relationship?\n461. What names should be given in Baptism?\n\n\nLesson 15\n\n462. What does balm in the chrism signify?\n463. Why should we be proud of the Catholic religion?\n464. When are we required to profess our religion?\n\n\nLesson 16\n\n465. Why is the devil wiser than we are?\n466. Who made the Beatitudes?\n467. Where did Our Lord generally preach?\n468. What do the Beatitudes teach?\n469. How is a person \"poor in spirit\"?\n470. How can the rich be \"poor in spirit\"?\n471. Explain the other Beatitudes.\n\n\nLesson 17\n\n472. How does the institution of Penance show the goodness of Our Lord?\n473. What is absolution?\n474. How do you know Our Lord could forgive sins?\n475. How does the power to forgive sins imply the obligation of going to\n     confession?\n476. How do we prepare for confession?\n477. What is the best method of examining our conscience?\n478. What is the most important part of the Sacrament of Penance?\n479. What kind of sorrow should we have for our sins?\n480. When should you say the penance given in confession?\n\n\nLesson 18\n\n481. When is our contrition perfect?\n482. What is attrition?\n483. How many kinds of occasions of sin are there?\n484. Why must we avoid occasions of sin?\n\n\nLesson 19\n\n485. Who is a \"duly authorized\" priest?\n486. How can a dumb man make his confession?\n487. What can one do who cannot remember his sins in confession?\n488. How can persons whose language the priest cannot understand confess\n     if they are in danger of death?\n489. Is it wrong to accuse ourselves of sins we have not committed?\n490. Why is it foolish to conceal sins in confession?\n491. How were the ancient Christian churches divided?\n492. How did the early Christians do penance?\n493. Explain the temporal and eternal punishment for sin.\n494. Is your confession worthless if you forget to say your penance?\n495. What is Lent?\n496. What is almsgiving?\n497. How can we distinguish between spiritual and corporal works of\n     mercy?\n498. When are we obliged to admonish the sinner?\n499. What were the Crusades?\n500. Why were they commenced?\n501. How many Crusades were there?\n502. How long did they last?\n503. Why were those who took part in these expeditions called Crusaders?\n504. What is a pilgrim?\n505. How have we been relieved from doing many of the works of mercy\n     ourselves?\n506. Who are religious?\n507. What is a hermit?\n508. What is a general confession?\n509. When and why should we make it?\n510. Who are scrupulous persons?\n\n\nLesson 20\n\n511. When is it well to add to our confession a sin of our past life?\n512. What duties does the priest perform in the confessional?\n513. Show how he is judge, father, teacher, and physician.\n514. Why is it well to confess always to the same priest?\n515. Can you have half your sins forgiven?\n516. When will perfect contrition blot out mortal sin?\n\n\nLesson 21\n\n517. How does God reward us for good works done in a state of mortal\n     sin?\n518. Is it easy to gain a plenary indulgence? Why?\n519. What works are generally enjoined for indulgences?\n520. What does praying for a \"person's intention\" mean?\n521. How can we have the intention of gaining an indulgence?\n522. What does \"an indulgence of 40 days,\" etc., mean?\n523. Why did the early Christians do more severe penance than we do?\n524. Are indulgences attached to anything but prayers?\n\n\nLesson 22\n\n525. What does \"Eucharist\" mean?\n526. What is the difference between Holy Eucharist and Holy Communion?\n527. What did Our Lord do at the marriage in Cana?\n528. Is Our Lord's body in the Holy Eucharist living or dead?\n529. How do you know you receive both the body and the blood of Our Lord\n     under the appearance of bread alone?\n530. Why does the Church not give the Holy Eucharist to the people under\n     the appearance of wine also?\n531. Could it do so? Did it ever do it?\n532. How long does Our Lord remain in the Holy Communion?\n533. What is the ciborium?\n534. At what part of the Mass are the words of consecration said?\n535. What are the parts of the Mass?\n536. What is the sacristy?\n537. What does the priest prepare for Mass?\n538. What is the chalice?\n539. What is the paten?\n540. What is the purificator?\n541. What is the pall?\n542. What is the host?\n543. Where does the priest get the host?\n544. What are the different vestments used at Mass called?\n545. What do they signify?\n546. What is the \"Offertory\" in the Mass?\n547. When does the \"Canon\" of the Mass begin?\n548. What is the \"Elevation\" in the Mass?\n549. Where does the priest get the Blessed Sacrament he gives to the\n     people?\n550. What is the tabernacle?\n551. What is Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament?\n552. What is the monstrance used at Benediction?\n553. Why should we be anxious to attend Benediction?\n554. What is the cope?\n555. What is the humeral, or Benediction veil?\n556. Why does the priest wear vestments?\n557. What do their colors signify?\n558. Can Holy Communion be given in the afternoon?\n559. What is the Holy Eucharist called when received by a person who is\n     not fasting?\n560. Can the priest say Mass in the evening? Why?\n561. Why does the priest genuflect, etc., during Mass?\n\n\nLesson 23\n\n562. What should we do if we break our fast before Holy Communion?\n563. When is Holy Communion called the \"Viaticum\"?\n564. Who offered the first Sacrifice of the Holy Mass?\n\n\nLesson 24\n\n565. When is the Holy Eucharist a sacrifice?\n566. When a Sacrament?\n567. What was the temple of the Pantheon in Rome?\n568. Who are pagans, idolaters, heathens?\n569. How many kinds of sacrifice had the Israelites?\n570. How is the Mass a sacrifice?\n571. What is the league of the Sacred Heart?\n572. Why was it established?\n573. What was the origin of offering the priest money for celebrating\n     Mass for your intention?\n574. What is the sin of simony?\n575. Why is it so called?\n576. How are the fruits of the Mass divided?\n577. What is a spiritual Communion?\n578. How is it made?\n\n\nLesson 25\n\n579. What does \"unction\" mean?\n580. How often in their lives are Catholics anointed?\n581. Is it called Extreme Unction even when the person recovers after\n     receiving it?\n582. What parts of the body are anointed in Extreme Unction?\n583. When should the priest be sent for in cases of sickness?\n584. What should you do if the sick Catholic does not wish or refuses to\n     see the priest?\n585. How is sickness a benefit to some?\n586. What Sacraments are never given in the Church?\n587. What things should you prepare when the priest is coming to give\n     the Viaticum or Extreme Unction in your house?\n588. How is the Blessed Sacrament carried to the sick in Catholic\n     countries?\n589. Who are the \"other ministers of the Church,\" besides bishops and\n     priests?\n590. What is the tonsure?\n591. Of what does the tonsure remind the priest?\n592. What are the duties and privileges of these other ministers of the\n     Church?\n593. How many kinds of Masses are there?\n594. Do they differ in value, one being better than another?\n595. Who is meant by the \"celebrant\" of the Mass?\n596. What does the \"master of ceremonies\" do?\n597. What is a Requiem Mass?\n598. Why is it so called?\n599. What is Vespers?\n600. Is it a mortal sin to be willingly absent from Vespers?\n601. Will Vespers take the place of Mass on Sundays for those who do not\n     attend Mass?\n602. Who are cardinals?\n603. What are their duties?\n604. Who is a monsignor?\n605. Who is a vicar general?\n606. What is a diocese?\n607. What is a parish?\n608. Does \"rector\" and \"pastor\" mean the same?\n609. What do we mean by \"Suffragan Bishops\"?\n610. What is the pallium?\n611. Who can wear it?\n\n\nLesson 26\n\n612. When are persons lawfully married?\n613. When was marriage first instituted?\n614. What sin is it to marry unlawfully?\n615. What are \"impediments to marriage\"?\n616. What things should persons tell the priest when they are making\n     arrangements for marriage?\n617. Can persons marry invalidly without knowing it?\n618. What evils follow divorce?\n619. Why should children study?\n620. What is meant by the \"civil effects of marriage\"?\n621. What are the chief evils of \"mixed marriage\"?\n622. What is a \"mixed marriage\"?\n623. When are motives for marriage \"worthy\"?\n624. How should persons make a choice for marriage?\n625. How are parents sometimes guilty of injustice to their children in\n     case of marriage?\n626. What is holy oil?\n627. When is it blessed?\n628. Can a priest bless it in case of necessity?\n629. How many kinds of holy oil are there?\n630. For what are they used?\n631. In the administration of what Sacraments is oil used?\n632. Can persons receive the Sacrament of Matrimony more than once?\n633. Where and at what time of the day should Catholics be married?\n634. What is balm?\n635. Was there any Sacrament of Matrimony before the time of Our Lord?\n636. Were the people of the Old Law validly married?\n637. How did their marriage differ from Christian marriage?\n\n\nLesson 27\n\n638. Can the Church change the number of sacramentals? Why?\n639. Why is it necessary to bless yourself properly?\n640. When are candles blessed in the Church?\n641. Of what do candles on the altar remind us?\n642. When are ashes blessed in the Church?\n643. Of what do they remind us?\n644. Of what do the palms remind us?\n645. What is the difference between a cross and a crucifix?\n646. What is the Rosary?\n647. How do we say the beads?\n648. What is meant by \"Mysteries of the Rosary\"?\n649. How many Mysteries of the Rosary are there?\n650. How are they divided?\n651. Name the different Mysteries of the Rosary.\n652. What is the Magnificat?\n653. Who baptized Our Lord?\n654. Was the baptism of John the Baptist a Sacrament? Why?\n655. To whom did Our Lord give an example by His hidden or private life?\n656. What did the Church do for slaves?\n657. What do the letters \"I.N.R.I.\" over the Cross mean?\n658. Did Our Lord claim to be king of the Jews?\n659. Why was Our Lord put to death?\n660. With whom did the Blessed Virgin live after the death of Our Lord?\n661. Who was St. John the Evangelist?\n662. What is the Apocalypse?\n663. About how long did the Blessed Virgin live on earth after the\n     Ascension of Our Lord?\n664. What is meant by the \"Assumption\" of the Blessed Virgin?\n665. What proof have we of it?\n666. On what days are the different Mysteries of the Rosary said?\n667. What does \"I.H.S.\" with a cross over it mean?\n668. What is the scapular, and why do we wear it?\n669. What is the brown scapular called?\n670. How many kinds of scapular are there?\n671. What are the \"seven dolors\" of the Blessed Virgin? Name them.\n672. What are the seven dolor beads?\n673. What are \"religious orders\"?\n674. What vows do the members of religious orders take?\n675. Why were religious orders founded?\n676. Why are there different kinds of religious orders?\n\n\nLesson 28\n\n677. How many kinds of prayer are there?\n678. What is \"meditation\"?\n679. What should we do before praying?\n680. What do you know of St. Monica?\n681. Of St. Augustine?\n682. Why does God not always grant our prayers?\n683. If prayer is necessary for salvation, how can infants be saved who\n     die without having prayed?\n\n\nLesson 29\n\n684. Were people obliged to keep the Commandments before the time of\n     Moses?\n685. How many kinds of laws had the Israelites?\n686. When were these laws abolished?\n687. How were the Commandments given to Moses?\n688. What was manna?\n689. What is the difference between the Commandments of God and the\n     commandments of the Church?\n690. What does \"love thy neighbor as thyself\" mean?\n\n\nLesson 30\n\n691. How did the Israelites come to worship false gods?\n692. How do we sometimes worship strange gods?\n693. What are \"fortune tellers\"?\n694. Why is going to fortune tellers a sin?\n695. What are spells, charms?\n696. Are medals, scapulars, etc., worn about us charms?\n697. What are dreams?\n698. Did God ever use them to make known His will?\n699. Why does He not use them now?\n700. What are mediums and spiritists?\n701. How do bad Catholics do injury to the Church?\n702. Why did the Christian religion spread so rapidly?\n703. Who are atheists, deists, infidels, heretics, apostates, and\n     schismatics?\n704. Are all religions equally true?\n705. Why is presumption a great sin?\n706. How are we frequently presumptuous?\n707. Are heretics Christians?\n\n\nLesson 31\n\n708. What help does God give us to save our souls?\n709. How do we honor God by praying to the saints?\n710. What is a relic?\n711. Have we any relics of Our Lord's body? Why?\n712. Why does the Catholic religion suit all classes of persons?\n713. Why are there so many kinds of Protestants?\n714. Does the Bible contain all the truths of our religion?\n715. How did God honor the relics of saints? Give an example.\n716. When did the Jewish religion cease to be the true religion?\n\n\nLesson 32\n\n717. Is it a sin to use the words of Scripture in a bad sense?\n718. What is a perjurer?\n719. Why was John the Baptist put to death?\n720. Why is it sinful to be a member of a secret society?\n721. When is an oath rash?\n722. What is the difference between blasphemy and cursing?\n723. Can we blaspheme by action?\n724. Tell what happened to Julian the Apostate.\n725. Are there any holy days not of obligation?\n726. How is the Sunday well kept?\n727. What is a real Catholic newspaper?\n728. What books should be found in every Catholic family?\n729. What is meant by the Old Law?\n730. What by the New?\n731. Are we bound to keep an unlawful oath?\n\n\nLesson 33\n\n732. What do we mean by \"magistrates\"?\n733. What should we remember when we are unjustly punished?\n734. How does suffering make us more like to Our Lord and His Blessed\n     Mother?\n735. Why did the Blessed Virgin suffer so many trials upon earth?\n736. What is contempt?\n737. What is stubbornness?\n738. Why is suicide a mortal sin?\n739. What is revenge?\n740. Why should we be most careful about the Sixth Commandment?\n741. Why should we guard against bad reading?\n742. Why should we seek advice?\n\n\nLesson 34\n\n743. In how many ways may we violate the Seventh Commandment?\n744. Why is it unkind and ungrateful not to pay our debts?\n745. Is the receiver of stolen goods as bad as the thief?\n746. In how many ways may we share in the sin of another?\n747. If you bought an article not knowing that it was stolen, would you\n     be obliged to give it up to its owner?\n748. What must you do with anything you find?\n749. What must you do if you have lost or destroyed the article you\n     stole?\n750. Can we always make restitution by giving to the poor?\n751. Is it a sin to delay making restitution?\n752. What must a person do who cannot restore?\n753. What will excuse us for telling another's faults?\n754. How can you know when you have injured the character of another?\n755. What is detraction?\n756. What is calumny?\n757. What is slander?\n758. How can you make reparation for injuring another's character?\n759. Are you bound to do so?\n760. What is \"rash judgment\"?\n761. What is backbiting?\n762. Is it sinful to listen to backbiting, slander, etc?\n763. Why is it wrong to tell another's secrets or read another's\n     letters?\n764. What does \"covet\" mean?\n\n\nLesson 35\n\n765. What is meant by a \"serious reason\" for missing Mass?\n766. What excuse do some give for not hearing Mass?\n767. Why is it wrong to come late for Mass?\n768. On what day do we keep a saint's feast?\n769. What is the \"divine office\"?\n770. How is it divided?\n771. Who are excused from fasting?\n772. Who are obliged to abstain from flesh-meat on fast-days and days of\n     abstinence?\n773. Is every fast-day a day of abstinence?\n\n\nLesson 36\n\n774. Why should we go to confession even when we have not committed sin\n     since our last confession?\n775. When is Trinity Sunday?\n776. How was the Holy Land divided?\n777. Who were the \"Levites\" in the Old Law?\n778. What were \"first fruits\" and tithes in the Old Law?\n779. Why was Cain's sacrifice displeasing to God?\n780. What relations are within the third degree of kindred?\n781. What is a \"dispensation\" granted by the Church?\n782. What is meant by the \"natural law\"?\n783. When can we obey the laws that the State makes with regard to\n     marriage?\n784. What is \"excommunication\"?\n785. What effect has it?\n786. Who are excluded from Christian burial?\n787. How does the Church show its displeasure when Catholics marry\n     persons not Catholics?\n788. How should persons prepare for marriage?\n789. Are women ever allowed in the Church with their heads uncovered?\n790. Can the priest say a \"nuptial Mass\" for a husband or wife after\n     their death?\n\n\nLesson 37\n\n791. Where will the particular judgment be held?\n792. How will it take place?\n793. Will the sentence given at the particular judgment be changed at\n     the general judgment?\n794. How can we daily prepare for judgment?\n795. Who will be judged at the general judgment?\n796. How will the general judgment take place?\n797. What do we mean by the \"pain of loss\"?\n798. What by the \"pain of sense\" that the damned suffer?\n799. Why can we not imagine the sufferings of Hell?\n800. How does the fire of Hell differ from our fire?\n801. Will there be a Purgatory after the general judgment?\n802. Why must there be a Purgatory now?\n803. If God loves those in Purgatory, why does He punish them?\n804. Why do we show respect to the bodies of the dead?\n805. What does \"faithful departed\" mean?\n806. What does \"rest in peace\" mean?\n807. What does \"seeing God face to face\" mean, if God has no face?\n808. What is the beatific vision?\n809. Of what does our happiness in Heaven consist?\n810. How long will Purgatory last?\n\n\n\n\nGENERAL INDEX\n\n\nA\n                                                        QUESTION\nAbsolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188\nAcolyte  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250\nActual grace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110\nAdoration of the Magi  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  76\nAdvice necessary and useful  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372\nAgony in the garden  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  78\nAlb  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250\nAlms to the Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 402\nAlmsgiving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221\nAltar boys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278\nAltars and altar stones  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115\nAmice  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250\nAncient Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218\nAngels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  35\nAngelus  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .The Angelical Salutation\nAnger  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  59\nAnnunciation Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  64\nApocalypse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302\nApostles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Apostles' Creed\nApostate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323\nApostolicity of the Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132\nApparitions of Our Lord  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  90\nArchbishop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281\nArk of Noe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  72\nArk of the Covenant  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  81\nAscension of Our Lord  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  91\nAshes  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302\nAssumption of the Blessed Virgin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302\nAtheist  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323\nAttributes of the Church . . . . . . . . . . .  Lesson 12, title\nAttrition  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198\nAuthority  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123\n\n\nB\n\nBackbiting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380\nBad company  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114\nBad example  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364\nBaptism of blood and desire  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154\nBaptism in case of necessity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159\nBaptism of St. John  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302\nBeads  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302\nBearing wrongs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223\nBeatific vision  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 420\nBeatification  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Apostles' Creed\nBeatitudes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185\nBenediction of the Blessed Sacrament . . . . . . . . . . . . 250\nBenefits of the Sacrament of Penance . . . . .  Lesson 17, title\nBiretta  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250\nBirth of Christ  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  75\nBishop of Rome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117\nBlasphemy  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352\nBlessed Sacrament carried to the sick  . . . . . . . . . . . 277\nBloody sweat of Our Lord . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  78\nBody of Our Lord . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  64\nBody of the Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121\nBreaking the fast for Communion  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254\nBurial of Our Lord . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  88\nBurning bush . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  97\n\n\nC\n\nCain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  Lesson 11, title\nCain's sacrifice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 402\nCall of Abraham  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114\nCalumny  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379\nCalvary  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  81\nCandles, why used  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302\nCanonization of saints . . . . . . . . . . . The Apostles' Creed\nCanonical penance  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218\nCapital sins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  59\nCaravansary  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  75\nCardinals  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281\nCarrying stories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185\nCatacombs  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154\nCatechumens  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115\nCatechism  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lesson 1, title\nCathedral  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124\nCatholic books and newspapers  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354\nCatholicity of the Church  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131\nCauses of unhappy marriage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290\nCelebrant of Mass  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278\nCensus-taking in olden times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  75\nChalice  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250\nChanging water into wine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242\nCharacter in Baptism, etc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149\nCharitable institutions  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213\nCharity  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Act of Love\nCharms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319\nChasuble . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250\nChoice of persons in marriage  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291\nChurch, Militant, Triumphant, Suffering  . . The Apostles' Creed\nChurch instituted by Christ  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114\nChurches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115\nCiborium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245\nCincture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250\nCities of ancient times  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  75\nColor of the vestments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250\nCommunion  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242\nCommunion of saints  . . . . . . . . . . . . The Apostles' Creed\nCommandments of God  . . . . . . . . . . . . .  Lesson 29, title\nConcealing sins in confession  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191\nConcupiscence  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  40\nCondition of the world before Christ . . . . . . . . . . . .  72\nConfession necessary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190\nConfessor's duties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228\nConfusion of tongues . . . . . . . . . . . . .  Lesson 11, title\nConsecrated ground . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 404\nConsecration in the Mass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250\nContempt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365\nContrition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191\nConverts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289\nCope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250\nCoronation of the Blessed Virgin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302\nCorporal works of mercy  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223\nCovetousness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  59\nCreation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Apostles' Creed\nCreation of Adam and Eve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  39\nCrowning with thorns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  78\nCrucifixion  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  78\nCrucifix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302\nCruelty of the Romans  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  78\nCrusades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223\n\n\nD\n\nDanger of living in sin  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272\nDay of the Jews  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  88\nDays of abstinence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 394\nDeacon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278\nDead body  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  59\nDead souls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141\nDeath  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Apostles' Creed\nDeath of St. John the Baptist  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350\nDebts  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377\nDefinition of Dogma of Faith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114\nDegrees of kindred . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403\nDeist  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323\nDeliverance of the Jews  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  95\nDeluge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  72\nDescent of the Holy Ghost  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  97\nDespair  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329\nDetraction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379\nDevil  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  38\nDiocese  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281\nDisciples  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Apostles' Creed\nDisciples on the way to Emmaus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  89\nDishonest persons  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373\nDispensations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 402\nDisrespect to parents  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362\nDistraction at prayer  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309\nDivine Office  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391\nDivision of the Holy Land  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403\nDivorce or separation in marriage  . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284\nDoubt of Thomas the Apostle  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  89\nDreams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319\nDress at weddings  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407\nDress of the hierarchy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281\nDrunkenness  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  59\nDuty to parents  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364\n\n\nE\n\nEgyptian bondage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  97\nElevation in the Mass  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250\nEnd of man . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lesson 1, title\nEnvy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  59\nEpiphany . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  Lesson 36, title\nEquality among all men . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  22\nEternity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Apostles' Creed\nEvils of divorce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284\nEvil effects of scandal  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321\nExamination of conscience  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191\nExample of Our Lord  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  76\nEx cathedra  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124\nExcommunication  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 404\nExcuses for not embracing the true religion  . . . . . . . . 324\nExcuses for not attending Mass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390\nExtreme Unction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  Lesson 25, title\nExtreme Unction, to whom it can be given . . .  Lesson 25, title\n\n\nF\n\nFaith  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107\nFaithful departed  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418\nFall of the angels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  38\nFall of Adam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  43\nFalse worship  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318\nFast-days  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393\nFeasts of the Jews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  97\nFeasts of the Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391\nFinal perseverance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113\nFinding of Our Lord in the Temple  . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302\nFirst Protestants  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132\nFlight into Egypt  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  76\nForgiveness of sins  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188\nForgiveness of injuries  . . . . . . . . . . . The Lord's Prayer\nFortune tellers  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318\nFoster-father  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  63\nFraternal correction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222\nFree will in man . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5\nFrequent Communion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270\nFruits of the Mass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269\n\n\nG\n\nGates of Heaven  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  60\nGeneral confession . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217\nGift of tongues  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  97\nGladiators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  Lesson 25, title\nGlorified bodies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  89\nGluttony . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  59\nGod, our Father  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Lord's Prayer\nGods of the pagans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264\nGolden calf  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341\nGratitude to benefactors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362\nGuardian angel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  36\n\n\nH\n\nHasty marriages  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290\nHeaven . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 420\nHeaven a reward  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  51\nHeirs of Heaven  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152\nHell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413\nHelp to salvation  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331\nHeretics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323\nHerod  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  76\nHidden life of Christ  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  76\nHierarchy  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129\nHistory of the Israelites in Egypt . . . . . . . . . . . . .  97\nHoly days  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354\nHoly Ghost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Apostles' Creed\nHoly Innocents' feast  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  76\nHoly of holies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  81\nHoly oils  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291\nHoly Orders  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278\nHoly Sepulchre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  88\nHoly water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292\nHoliness of the Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130\nHonoring the saints  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331\nHow to meditate  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304\nHuman sacrifice  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264\nHumeral, or Benediction veil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250\n\n\nI\n\n\"I.H.S.\" with a cross  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302\nImages in the churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341\nImmaculate Conception  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  50\nImpediments to marriage  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284\nImpurity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 370\nIncarnation  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lesson 7, title\nIndefectibility of the Church  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125\nIndifferentism in religion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  51\nIndulgences  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231\nInfallibility of the Pope  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124\nInfidel  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323\nInjuring the character of others . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379\n\"I.N.R.I.\" on the Cross  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302\nInstinct of animals  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5\nIntention at Mass  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269\nIntention of the Pope  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237\nIntention to gain indulgences  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239\nInterpretation of the Holy Scriptures  . . . . . . . . . . . 129\n\n\nJ\n\nJacob, father of the twelve tribes . . . . . . . . . . . . .  97\nJacob's vision and the ladder  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  36\nJehova . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Lord's Prayer\nJohn the Evangelist  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302\nJoseph in Egypt  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  97\nJourney of the Israelites in the desert  . . . . . . . . . .  97\nJudgment, particular and general . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408\nJulian the Apostate  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352\nJustice of God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  20\n\n\nK\n\nKinds of indulgences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237\nKinds of Masses  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278\nKinds of scapulars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302\nKingdom of God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Lord's Prayer\nKnowledge of God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6\n\n\nL\n\nLate-coming to Mass  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390\nLatin language in the Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131\nLawful marriage  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283\nLaws made by the Church  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126\nLaws of the Jews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  Lesson 29, title\nLeague of the Sacred Heart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269\nLent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221\nLevites  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 402\nLife of Christ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  76\nLife of the Blessed Virgin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364\nLimbo  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Apostles' Creed\nLitanies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  The Angelical Salutation\nLives of the early Christians  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321\nLost time  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285\nLouise Lateau  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  89\nLove of our neighbor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109\nLucifer or Satan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  38\nLust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  59\nLuther . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132\n\n\nM\n\nMagi or Wise Men . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  76\nMagistrates  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363\nMahomet  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213\nMan  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Apostles' Creed\nManiple  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250\nManna  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310\nManner of confessing our sins  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191\nManner of examining our conscience . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191\nManner of giving absolution  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188\nMarks of the Church  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114\nMarriage at Cana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242\nMarriage before a Protestant minister  . . . . . . . . . . . 404\nMaster of Ceremonies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278\nMeaning of forty days' indulgence  . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237\nMeditation or mental prayer  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304\nMercy of God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  20\nMerit  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103\nMinister of Baptism  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155\nMinisters of the Church  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278\nMinor Orders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278\nMiracles, true and false . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  89\nMixed marriages  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289\nMolech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264\nMonks  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213\nMonsignor  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281\nMoses  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  97\nMurder of infants or abortion  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154\nMystery  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  31\nMysteries of the Rosary  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302\n\n\nN\n\nNames in Baptism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163\nNames of Our Lord  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  66\nNatural state of man . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154\nNecessary servile works  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360\nNecessity of religious instruction . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285\nNeighbor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109\nNewspapers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354\nNoe's Ark  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  72\nNuns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223\n\n\nO\n\nOath . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347\nObedience to parents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284\nObservance of Sunday . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354\nOccasion of sin  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207\nOffertory in the Mass  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250\nOffering called \"stipend\" for Mass . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269\nOstensorium or monstrance  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250\nOutward signs of the Sacraments  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136\n\n\nP\n\nPalestine  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  75\nPall for the chalice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250\nPallium  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281\nPalms  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302\nPantheon in Rome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264\nParadise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  40\nParish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281\nParts of the Divine Office . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391\nParts of the Mass  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250\nPasch  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  97\nPaschal lamb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  97\nPassage of the Red Sea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  97\nPassion of Our Lord  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  78\nPassover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  Lesson 17, title\nPastor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281\nPaten  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250\nPatron saint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163\nPayment of debts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373\nPenance given in confession  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218\nPenitent thief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  82\nPenitents of the early ages  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218\nPentecost  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  97\nPerfection of God  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5\nPersecution of the Christians  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115\nPersons excluded from Christian burial . . . . . . . . . . . 404\nPeter's pence  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125\nPharao's dream . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  97\nPilgrim  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223\nPlagues of Egypt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  97\nPledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351\nPlenary indulgence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234\nPoor in the true Church  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132\nPope in politics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125\nPrayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304\nPreaching of Our Lord  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185\nPredominant sin  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  59\nPreparation for confession . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191\nPresence of God at our prayers . . . . . . . . . . . . Confiteor\nPresentation in the temple . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302\nPreservation of creatures by God . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  17\nPresumption  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328\nPriests  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264\nPride  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  59\nPromise of the Redeemer  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  60\nProof of the assumption of the Blessed Virgin  . . . . . . . 302\nProphets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  Lesson 11, title\nProvidence of God  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 416\nPublic life of Christ  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  76\nPublic profession of faith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326\nPurgatory  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 414\nPurificator  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250\nPurpose of amendment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191\n\n\nQ\n\nQualities of a good prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307\n\n\nR\n\nRash judgment  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380\nReading bad books or papers  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372\nReading good books or papers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354\nReading the letters of others  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380\nReal presence in the Holy Eucharist  . . . . . . . . . . . . 238\nReason . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5\nReceiving stolen goods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375\nRector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281\nRedeemer promised  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  72\nRedemption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lesson 7, title\nRelics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340\nReligious orders and communities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302\nRespect at Mass  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269\nRespect in church  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115\n\"Rest in peace\"  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418\nRestitution  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375\nResurrection of Our Lord . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  89\nResurrection of the body . . . . . . . . . . The Apostles' Creed\nRevelation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5\nRevenge  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368\nRosary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302\n\n\nS\n\nSabbath of the Jews  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  88\nSacramental grace  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146\nSacramentals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292\nSacraments in which oil is used  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291\nSacraments of the dead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140\nSacraments of the living . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143\nSacred Heart of Jesus  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270\nSacrifice  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264\nSacrilege  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144\nSaints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Apostles' Creed\nSalvation out of the Catholic Church . . . . . . . . . . . . 121\nSanctifying grace  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105\nSaracens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223\nScandal  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413\nScapulars  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302\nSchismatic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323\nScourging at the pillar  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  78\nScrupulous persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217\nSecret societies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350\nSecrets  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380\nSeven dolors of the Blessed Virgin . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302\nSeven dolor beads  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302\nSickness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273\nSign of the Cross  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295\nSimony . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269\nSin, Original, actual, mortal, venial  . . . . . . . .  Lesson 6\nSins against faith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321\nSlander  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379\nSlavery  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lesson 7, title\nSloth  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  59\nSoul like to God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5\nSoul, importance of saving one's . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8\nSpells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319\nSpirit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5\nSpiritual Communion  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270\nSpiritual life resembles bodily life . . . . . . . . . . . . 137\nSpiritual works of mercy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222\nSponsors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165\nSponsors by proxy  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159\nSpread of the Protestant religion  . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132\nSt. Joseph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  63\nSt. Joseph's Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  74\nSt. Monica and St. Augustine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307\nSt. Patrick's Day  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  74\nStable at Bethlehem  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  75\nState laws for marriage  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403\nStealing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375\nStigmata of Our Lord . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  89\nStole  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250\nStrange gods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315\nSub-deacon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278\nSufferings of the damned . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413\nSuicide  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367\nSupernatural gifts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103\n\n\nT\n\nTemple of Jerusalem  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  81\nTemporal power of the Pope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135\nTemporal punishment  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218\nTemptation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Lord's Prayer\nTestament, Old and New . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153\nThanksgiving after Communion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245\nThings prepared for Mass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250\nThings prepared for Viaticum and Extreme Unction . . . . . . 277\nTime given to God's service  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318\nTime valuable in youth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322\nTithes and first-fruits in the Old Law . . . . . . . . . . . 402\nTobias . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  36\nTonsure  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278\nTower of Babel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  Lesson 11, title\nTransfiguration of Our Lord  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  89\nTransubstantiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242\nTwo natures in Christ  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  65\n\n\nU\n\nUnity of the Church  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129\nUnworthy Communion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255\nUse of sacramentals  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292\nUsing the sayings of Holy Scripture in a profane sense . . . 340\n\n\nV\n\nVeil of the temple . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  81\nVespers  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278\nVestments, their names and signification . . . . . . . . . . 250\nViaticum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258\nVicar general  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281\nVice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106\nVirtue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106\nVisibility of the Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133\nVisible and invisible head of the Church . . . . . . . . . . 116\nVisitation of the Blessed Virgin . . .  The Angelical Salutation\nVocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  51\nVow  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350\n\n\nW\n\nWarning against impostors  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307\nWays of sharing in another's sin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375\nWhitsunday . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  97\nWho offered sacrifice in ancient times . . . . . . . . . . . 264\nWho cannot be sponsors at Baptism  . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165\nWhy children should study  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285\nWhy God does not always grant our prayers  . . . . . . . . . 307\nWhy holy days were instituted  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391\nWhy sickness is sometimes sent . . . . . . . .  Lesson 25, title\nWhy there are different religious orders . . . . . . . . . . 302\nWoman with issue of blood  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307\nWorks necessary to gain indulgences  . . . . . . . . . . . . 237\nWorld  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1\nWorship of God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9","title":"An explanation of the Baltimore catechism of Christian doctrine : $b for the use of Sunday-school teachers and advanced classes","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":142400}