Class SX £EQO 
 
 Book 3la__ 
 
 COPYRIGHT DEPOSm 
 
THE 
 SACRAMENTS 
 
 A SERIES OF SHORT INSTRUCTIONS 
 
 BY 
 
 David J. Toomey, Ph. D., D. D. 
 
 BOSTON 
 THE PILOT PUBLISHING COMPANY 
 
 1916 
 

 Nihil Obstat 
 
 PATRICK J. WATERS, Ph. D. 
 
 Imprimatur 
 
 >J< WILLIAM, CARDINAL O'CONNELL 
 Archbishop of Boston. 
 
 f l C 
 Copyright 1916, By D. J. Toomey 
 
 APR 19 1916 
 
 ©CI.A427864 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Pafif© 
 
 THE SACRAMENTS: Their Nature and 
 
 Number 5 
 
 THE SACRAMENTS: Their Effects; Dispo- 
 sitions Required 13 
 
 BAPTISM: The Door of the Church 19 
 
 BAPTISM: Its Effects 27 
 
 BAPTISM: Its Ceremonies 32 
 
 BAPTISM: The Duties of Parents and 
 
 Sponsors 40 
 
 BAPTISM: The Promises 47 
 
 CONFIRMATION: Its Nature and Effects 53 
 CONFIRMATION: Its Necessity for Sal- 
 vation 60 
 
 CONFIRMATION: Its Effects 67 
 
 THE HOLY EUCHARIST: The Food of the 
 
 Soul; The Teaching of the Church 73 
 
 THE HOLY EUCHARIST: The Real Pres- 
 ence ; Christ's Promise 80 
 
 THE HOLY EUCHARIST: The Real Pres- 
 ence; Christ's Promise Fulfilled . .. 88 
 
 THE HOLY EUCHARIST: The Real Pres- 
 ence ; The Testimony of the Ages 96 
 
 THE HOLY EUCHARIST: Its Worship ... 105 
 THE HOLY EUCHARIST: Its Place in the 
 
 Church 112 
 
 THE HOLY EUCHARIST: Devotion to the 
 
 Blessed Sacrament 117 
 
 THE HOLY EUCHARIST: A Sacrament . . 123 
 THE HOLY EUCHARIST: Holy Commu- 
 nion 131 
 
CONTENTS-Continued. 
 
 THE HOLY EUCHARIST: The Necessity 
 
 of Receiving Holy Communion 139 
 
 THE HOLY EUCHARIST: The Disposi- 
 tions for Receiving Holy Communion . . . 144 
 THE HOLY EUCHARIST: Frequent Com- 
 munion 150 
 
 THE HOLY EUCHARIST: Thanksgiving 
 
 After Holy Communion 156 
 
 THE HOLY EUCHARIST: The Sacrifice of 
 
 the Mass 162 
 
 PENANCE : Its Necessity 171 
 
 PENANCE: The Power to Forgive Sins ... 177 
 
 PENANCE: Forgives All Sins 183 
 
 PENANCE: The Acts of the Penitent: Con- 
 trition 189 
 
 PENANCE: The Acts of the Penitent* Con- 
 fession 197 
 
 PENANCE: The Acts of the Penitent: Sat- 
 isfaction 203 
 
 EXTREME UNCTION: A Sacrament 208 
 
 EXTREME UNCTION: Object and Nature 214 
 EXTREME UNCTION: Effects and Neces- 
 sity 218 
 
 EXTREME UNCTION: Sick Calls 224 
 
 HOLY ORDERS : The Priesthood 232 ' 
 
 HOLY ORDERS : A Sacrament 239 
 
 MATRIMONY 
 MATRIMONY 
 MATRIMONY 
 MATRIMONY 
 MATRIMONY 
 
 A Sacred Contract 245 
 
 A Sacrament 252 
 
 Its Unity and Indissolubility 259 
 
 The Banns 265 
 
 The Impediments 272 
 
THE SACRAMENTS: Their 
 Nature and Number, 
 
 IUR Lord and Savior Jesus Christ be- 
 queathed to His Church as a le- 
 gfgfa gacy by which she was to carry 
 on His great mission of bringing 
 salvation to mankind the seven Sacra- 
 ments. These pledges of His love and 
 goodness He left to her alone, to be 
 guarded and dispensed by her. By the 
 Sacraments, according to the Council of 
 Trent, "all true justice either begins, or 
 being begun, is increased, or being lost, 
 is repaired." 
 
 They are the channels by which the 
 fruits of Christ's passion are brought to 
 us, and by which the supernatural virtues 
 are infused into our souls. They are the 
 means by which grace is either imparted 
 to us for the first time or regained after 
 it has been lost through our own fault, 
 or is increased. 
 
 By Baptism grace is first given to the 
 soul; by Penance it is recovered when it 
 has been lost; by all the other Sacraments 
 
THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 sanctifying grace is increased and special 
 graces are bestowed. 
 
 A Sacrament is a visible practical sign 
 of invisible grace instituted by Jesus 
 Christ for our justification. Or, in the 
 words of the small catechism, "a Sacra- 
 ment is an outward sign instituted by 
 Christ to give grace." 
 
 Three things then are required to con- 
 stitute a Sacrament: 
 
 (1) An outward sign. 
 
 (2) The institution of Christ. 
 
 (3) The power of giving grace. 
 
 By an "outward sign" is meant some- 
 thing which we can perceive by one or 
 other of our senses, and which makes 
 known to us something else which we do 
 not perceive. Thus if we see footprints 
 we know that someone has passed; or if 
 we see smoke coming out of a chimney we 
 are certain that there is a fire in the 
 house. In like manner the pouring of 
 water or the outward washing in baptism 
 is a sign of the inward cleansing of the 
 soul from original sin. 
 
 A Sacrament, therefore, is called an 
 outward or sensible sign, because it con- 
 
THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 gists of something which can be perceived 
 by one or other of our senses, and which 
 represents the invisible effect produced in 
 the soul. The outward part of the Sacrar 
 ment is generally divided into matter and 
 form. The matter is the thing used, to- 
 gether with the application of it to the 
 person who receives the Sacrament. The 
 form is the words accompanying the ap- 
 plication of the matter. 
 
 Thus in Baptism the pouring of water 
 on the head of the child constitutes the 
 matter, and the words "I baptize thee," 
 etc., the form of the Sacrament. 
 
 As the Sacraments are the channels of 
 divine grace and the means by which the 
 merits of Christ are applied to the soul, 
 our Lord alone has the power to institute 
 them. There is no natural connection or 
 proportion between the ceremony per- 
 formed and the grace conferred. Hence 
 the Sacraments derive their efficacy and 
 virtue from the choice and power of 
 Christ, who saw fit to choose them as the 
 means of conveying grace to our souls. 
 
 While there is no strict relation of 
 cause and effect between the ceremony 
 
THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 and the grace, in themselves, the institu- 
 tion of the Sacraments by Christ is emi- 
 nently fitting, for the use of outward signs 
 corresponds to our composite nature of 
 body and soul, of senses, intellect and 
 will. 
 
 The Sacraments, as external and sensi- 
 ble signs, form a bond or link of com- 
 munion between Christians and are a 
 mark of distinction between the Christian 
 and heretics. They are a necessary corol- 
 lary of a visible Church, an organic, hier- 
 archically constituted body. 
 
 The Sacraments are not mere empty 
 signs : they have the power to produce the 
 effects they signify. Thus in Baptism the 
 pouring of the water accompanied by the 
 word, "I baptize thee," etc., not only de- 
 notes the cleansing of the soul but really 
 cleanses it. The effect is due to the Sa- 
 crament as the appointed channel for con- 
 veying to us the merits of Christ, and not 
 to the dispositions of the recipient. 
 
 These dispositions, however, are strictly 
 required in order to remove obstacles to 
 the reception of divine grace and as con- 
 ditions without which the Sacraments will 
 
THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 not produce their effect; but they are not 
 the cause of the grace which we receive. 
 
 The sun, to illustrate this point, is the 
 cause of the light in a room, but if there 
 were no window the light would not enter, 
 no matter how brightly the sun were shin- 
 ing outside. The window, however, is not 
 the cause of the light; it is only a condi- 
 tion without which the light cannot enter. 
 But no matter how clear the glass may be, 
 no light will enter if there be none out- 
 side. So it is with the Sacraments. They 
 give grace which is the light and life of 
 the soul, but if the proper dispositions are 
 wanting, grace cannot enter the soul. 
 
 Again if the window be entirely covered 
 with black paint it will admit no light, 
 but if it be slightly tarnished or covered 
 with dust, the light will come in, but less 
 abundantly. So, too, the soul which is 
 blackened with the stain of mortal sin 
 cannot receive the grace of the Sacra- 
 ments; while grace enters but less abun- 
 dantly when the soul is stained by venial 
 sin. 
 
 There are seven Sacraments — Baptism, 
 Confirmation, Holy Eucharist, Penance, 
 
10 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 Extreme Unction, Holy Orders and Matri- 
 mony. 
 
 Since the Sacraments are free institu- 
 tions, Christ might have chosen any num- 
 ber, but as a matter of fact He chose 
 seven, neither more nor less, as the 
 Church teaches and has always taught. 
 The Council of Trent points out a certain 
 fitness why Christ should have instituted 
 only seven. The Sacraments, it says, sup- 
 ply the wants of our spiritual life, which 
 correspond to the wants of our physical 
 being. In order that the world may go 
 on, it is necessary that men should be 
 born ; that they should grow up ; that they 
 should have food and nourishment; that 
 they should be provided with medicine in 
 time of sickness; that they should have 
 help and support in old age; that there 
 should be rulers to preserve order, and 
 that one generation should succeed an- 
 other. 
 
 So it is in the spiritual life. We are born 
 to grace in Baptism; we are made strong 
 and perfect in Confirmation; we receive 
 food and nourishment in the Blessed 
 Eucharist; we have a sovereign remedy 
 
THE SACRAMENTS. 11 
 
 against sin in the Sacrament of Penance ; 
 we are protected and helped in last illness 
 by Extreme Unction; we are provided 
 with spiritual rulers by Holy Orders, and 
 in Matrimony God gives His blessing to 
 the union which is to furnish a succession 
 of children for the Church. 
 ^Many are the figures used in the Sacred 
 Writings to represent the Seven Sacra- 
 ments. Seven is a number which in the 
 Scriptures is mysterious. We find it in 
 the seven columns, which divine wisdom, 
 after building the house, placed to sustain 
 it; in those seven lamps, seen by the pro- 
 phet Zachary, always full of oil, and never 
 dim; in the seven washings which Naa- 
 man had to take in the Jordan in order 
 to be restored to perfect health; and in 
 the seven seals which, according to the 
 Apocalypse, closed the book which no man 
 could open. 
 
 In the Sacraments we have remedies 
 for all the ills of the soul. They are 
 sources of grace which infallibly heal all 
 who apply them to themselves with the 
 proper dispositions. Yet there are many 
 who neglect to approach these lifegiving 
 
11 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 fountains, or who bring to them the 
 wrong dispositions. Let us thank our Lord 
 for His goodness to us, and resolve to 
 make the best use of them. 
 
THE SACRAMENTS: Their 
 Effects; Dispositions Required. 
 
 © 
 
 HE Sacraments are the great means 
 of sanctification and consequently 
 of eternal salvation. They are the 
 divinely chosen channels of grace; 
 by their right use man is sanctified; by 
 them his sins are forgiven ; by them sanc- 
 tifying grace is increased. The living be- 
 liever, therefore, according to Catholic 
 doctrine, is a man redeemed from sin and 
 consecrated to God in mind and body. Such 
 a man has a cycle of Sacraments, embrac- 
 ing all the impdrtant events of life, and 
 reflecting the ever-recurring needs of his 
 earthly pilgrimage. And this cycle of Sac- 
 raments symbolically expresses the high 
 relation of each period of his life to the 
 atonement of Christ, and guarantees and 
 really imparts the divine energy which is 
 requisite to the beginning and the consum- 
 mation of sanctification. 
 
 In speaking more in detail of the effects 
 of the Sacraments we must remember that 
 they all either produce or increase sancti- 
 
14 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 fying or habitual grace in those who re- 
 ceive them with the proper dispositions; 
 that they all give sacramental grace ; 
 that three of them have a third and 
 special effect which is called a character. 
 
 The end of all God's gracious dealings 
 with us in the spiritual order is to restore 
 the soul to that likeness of Himself which 
 we lost in Adam, and to bring it back to 
 a state of friendship, adoption and holi- 
 ness, preparatory to a state of glory in 
 heaven. Hence it is not sufficient that He 
 should act on the soul. He must abide 
 within it, imprint upon it a fixed quality 
 by virtue of which it may be called holy, a 
 friend, a child, and an heir to Heaven. 
 This renovation of the soul is called habit- 
 ual or sanctifying grace, and the process 
 of being brought to this state is what we 
 mean by justification. Grace gives the 
 soul beauty, which makes it lovely in the 
 eyes of God. It is internal as health is. 
 
 All the Sacraments either give or in- 
 crease sanctifying or habitual grace, 
 which renews us, makes us holy, renders 
 us friends and acceptable servants of God. 
 Two of them, Baptism and Penance, give 
 
THE SACRAMENTS. 15 
 
 first grace; they produce sanctifying 
 grace in those who are destitute of it, and 
 are intended to bring man to a state of 
 grace, to raise the soul from the death of 
 sin to the life of grace. Hence they are 
 called Sacraments of the Dead. If, how- 
 ever, Penance is received by those who 
 already possess sanctifying grace, it in- 
 creases that grace. 
 
 The other Sacraments presuppose the 
 existence of the supernatural life of grace 
 as a disposition for their lawful reception. 
 They are intended to increase grace. Hence 
 they are called Sacraments of the Living. 
 
 A second effect of the Sacraments is 
 sacramental grace. Each of the Sacra- 
 ments has been instituted for some partic- 
 ular object which is different from that of 
 any of the other Sacraments. By sacra- 
 mental grace is meant a title to certain 
 actual graces which enable the recipient to 
 live up to the end of the Sacraments re- 
 ceived. Thus Confirmation gives a title to 
 actual graces to help us to profess our 
 faith in spite of opposition. The Sacra- 
 ment of Penance not only remits past 
 guilt, but also gives us a certain claim to 
 
16 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 actual grace to preserve us from a re- 
 lapse into sin. 
 
 Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Orders 
 produce a third effect which is called a 
 character. It is a spiritual mark or seal 
 which is indelibly impressed on the soul, 
 and which distinguishes those who have 
 received it from those who have not, and 
 fits them for the reception and perform- 
 ance of certain religious functions. 
 
 Baptism marks us as the children of 
 God and makes us capable of receiving the 
 other sacraments. Confirmation enrolls 
 us among the soldiers of Christ, and en- 
 ables us to fight in His service. Holy Or- 
 ders makes those who receive it ministers 
 of Christ and gives them power to per- 
 form their sacred duties. 
 
 This sacramental character can never 
 be effaced ; it will last for all eternity, and 
 will be a distinction and honor to those 
 who are saved, and a badge of shame and 
 confusion to the damned. Since these 
 three Sacraments imprint a character 
 they cannot be received more than once. 
 
 While the Sacraments, then, are of 
 themselves capable of producing grace, 
 
THE SACRAMENTS. 17 
 
 something is also required of the person 
 who receives them. And here enters a 
 distinction between the valid and the licit 
 or fruitful use of the Sacraments. A Sac- 
 rament is valid when the matter and form 
 instituted by Christ are duly applied by 
 the minister of the Sacrament to one who 
 is capable and willing to receive it. 
 
 A Sacrament is received licitly when 
 in addition to what is required for its valid 
 reception, there are, also, in the recipient 
 the dispositions required to obtain the 
 grace of the Sacrament. He who receives 
 Confirmation in the state of mortal sin 
 is validly confirmed, but instead of 
 receiving the grace of Confirmation 
 commits a sacrilege. If, however, he were 
 in a state of grace when he was confirmed, 
 he would receive the Sacrament both va- 
 lidly and licitly. In other words he would 
 be really confirmed and really receive the 
 grace attached to the Sacrament. 
 
 We should approach the Sacraments, as 
 Cardinal Bellarmine recommends, wil- 
 lingly, with faith and with repentance. 
 Our dispositions should be real, not 
 feigned. We cannot deceive God. It is 
 
18 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 useless to deceive the world; we only 
 wrong ourselves. 
 
 The effect of the Sacraments does not 
 depend on the qualities or disposition of 
 the minister conferring them. He must 
 be ordained; and if ordained, the proper 
 performance of the ceremonies is sufficient 
 for the Sacrament to produce the grace 
 which it was instituted to convey. This is 
 a merciful dispensation, otherwise there 
 would not no certainty, no security, no con- 
 fidence, but confusion and disorder 
 where the reception of one Sacrament 
 is necessary for the valid reception of 
 another. 
 
BAPTISM : The Door of The 
 Church. 
 
 ©APTISM is the Sacrament which we 
 must receive first ; it is the door of 
 the Church and the condition with- 
 out which no other Sacrament can 
 be received. Hence it is the most neces- 
 sary. All Catholics have received this Sac- 
 rament, and cannot, consequently, be bap- 
 tized again. Most of us received this Sac- 
 rament at an age when we were incapable 
 of understanding its dignity, the excel- 
 lence of the graces which it gives, and the 
 obligations it imposes. For that reason we 
 perhaps have never sufficiently reflected 
 upon it; nor have we thanked God, as we 
 should. 
 
 All the great teachers and doctors of 
 the Church have spoken at length of the 
 excellence of the Sacrament of Baptism 
 and on its obligations. The Roman Cate- 
 chism says that this is a matter of so great 
 importance that pastors can not explain 
 it too often to their flocks. 
 
 And such instruction is more necessary 
 
20 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 in our day when Protestantism is fast 
 lapsing into infidelity. Living in this at- 
 mosphere, our notions of the Sacraments 
 are apt to become loose and uncertain. The 
 need to refresh our minds and stir up our 
 hearts by recalling the sublime truths 
 which make up the edifice of our faith is 
 consequently evident. 
 
 Any consideration of the Sacrament of 
 Baptism will naturally be based upon three 
 points — its nature, its necessity and its 
 effects. 
 
 Baptism, a word derived from the 
 Greek, literally signifies "washing." The 
 Church has taken the term to denote the 
 sacramental action whereby a person is 
 washed from his sins and is made a Chris- 
 tian. It is defined as a Sacrament by which 
 we are cleansed of our sins and made 
 Christians, members of the Church, chil- 
 dren of God and heirs of Heaven. 
 
 St. Paul refers to it when he says (Titus 
 III), "According to His Mercy, He saved 
 us by the laver of regeneration and reno- 
 vation of the Holy Ghost." 
 
 The time of the institution of the Sacra- 
 ment of Baptism is somewhat uncertain. 
 
BAPTISM. 21 
 
 It is certain that its use was common and 
 thought absolutely necessary before 
 Christ ascended into Heaven, for after the 
 Resurrection our Savior commanded the 
 Apostles: "Go ye therefore, teach all na- 
 tions, baptizing them in the name of the 
 Father and of the Son and of the Holy 
 Ghost" (Matt. XXVIII). 
 
 It was probably instituted before the 
 Passion and at the time of our Lord's bap- 
 tism by John the Baptist in the Jordan. 
 Then it was that water received the su- 
 blime virtue of regenerating to spiritual 
 life. 
 
 "Our Savior wished to be baptized/' 
 says St. Gregory Nanzienzen, "to bury in 
 the waters the old Adam and to sanctify 
 the waters of the Jordan and give them 
 the virtue of sanctifying those who in 
 them were bapized." "Since Christ 
 bathed in the waters/' St. Augustine says, 
 "they have received the power to wash 
 away our sins." Again : "Christ was bap- 
 tized not that He needed to be cleansed 
 but by the contact of His holy Body to 
 give to water the virtue of cleansing souls 
 from sin." 
 
22 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 At the time of Christ's Baptism, as the 
 Roman Catechism observes, the three Per- 
 sons of the Trinity, in whose name Bap- 
 tism was given, manifested themselves — 
 the Father is recognized in the voice: 
 "This is My beloved Son" ; the Son is vis- 
 ibly present as man; the Holy Ghost is 
 seen in the form of a dove descending upon 
 our Lord. 
 
 Lastly the effect of the Sacrament is 
 manifest in the opening of the heavens; 
 the heavens are opened to signify that by 
 the virtue of Baptism we may enter there- 
 in. 
 
 Any water is the valid matter for Bap- 
 tism. It is required that it should be nat- 
 ural water. It does not matter whether 
 it be rain-water or seawater, hot or cold. 
 But it must be natural water. Hence we 
 cannot baptize with water which comes 
 from vines or trees or water distilled from 
 roses or other flowers. 
 
 Water is necessary for the validity of 
 Baptism. Our Savior has declared it in 
 express terms: "Unless a man be born 
 again of water and the Holy Ghost he can- 
 
BAPTISM. 23 
 
 not enter into the kingdom of God." 
 (John III.) 
 
 Any water is valid matter for the Sa- 
 crament, but water blessed with a special 
 rite is the proper matter for solemn Bap- 
 tism performed with all its ceremonies. 
 Ordinary water is used for private Bap- 
 tism. 
 
 How thankful we should be to God that 
 for a Sacrament so necessary as Baptism 
 He has chosen simple water as the matter. 
 It is most easily procured and conve- 
 niently applied. Moreover, water mani- 
 fests most admirably the effect of Bap- 
 tism, for as water washes away dirt 
 from the body, so Baptism takes away the 
 stains of sin on the soul; and as water is 
 most effectual in refreshing and cooling 
 the body, so by Baptism the heat of pas- 
 sion is in great measure subdued. 
 
 The form of Baptism is, "I baptize thee 
 in the name of the Father and of the Son 
 and of the Holy Ghost." These words must 
 be pronounced distinctly at the same 
 time as the water is poured, and by the 
 same person who does the pouring ; other- 
 wise Baptism is null and void. Omission 
 
24 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 or substantial garbling of the words, the 
 total separation of the form from the mat- 
 ter, or the pouring of the water by one 
 person and the pronunciation of the words 
 by another renders the Baptism useless. 
 
 The matter may be applied in three 
 ways — by immersion, by infusion and by 
 aspersion, according as the person is 
 dipped in the water or has water poured 
 on him or has water sprinkled on him. 
 Any one of the three is valid, but that by 
 infusion is the one used by the Church. 
 
 The water should be poured on the 
 bared head three times and in such a way 
 that it may flow over and wet the skin, 
 and the minister must have the intention 
 of baptizing. 
 
 Any person can validly administer this 
 Sacrament whether cleric or layman, 
 Catholic or infidel, man or woman, but the 
 ordinary minister is a Bishop or priest 
 who alone has a right to baptize in vir- 
 tue of his orders. A deacon may be com- 
 missioned for the purpose. Except in case 
 of necessity no one else may baptize and 
 no one beneath the rank of a deacon can 
 ever do so solemnly. 
 
BAPTISM. 25 
 
 In cases of necessity the following order 
 should be observed: A woman must not 
 baptize if a man is at hand, nor a layman 
 if a cleric is near, nor a simple cleric if a 
 priest may be had. When Baptism is given 
 by a layman the person who best under- 
 stands how to perform the ceremony 
 should be generally preferred in practice. 
 
 Baptism is absolutely necessary to sal- 
 vation for all. "Except a man be born of 
 water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter 
 into the kingdom of Heaven." 
 
 Children who die unbaptized cannot en- 
 ter into the beatific vision. They 
 do not go to Hell or Purgatory. The 
 precise nature of the state to which they 
 are consigned is not known. We must bow 
 our intelligence and will to the wisdom of 
 God, knowing as we do "that He hath done 
 all things well." 
 
 The case of adults is somewhat differ- 
 ent. For them the actual reception of the 
 Sacrament is not of absolute necessity, for 
 if without any fault of theirs they cannot 
 receive it, perfect contrition, which in- 
 cludes the desire for Baptism, suffices for 
 salvation. 
 
26 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 Martyrdom, also, which is the greatest 
 act of love for God, has always been 
 held to supply the place of Baptism. Hence 
 we may say that there are three kinds of 
 Baptism — Baptism of water, Baptism of 
 desire and Baptism of blood. 
 
 The thought of the necessity of Baptism 
 should make us zealous for the Baptism 
 of all in whose salvation we take an inter- 
 est, since otherwise they cannot enter the 
 Kingdom of Heaven. We should see to it 
 that it is not deferred or entirely ne- 
 glected. 
 
BAPTISM : Its Effects. 
 
 ©APTISM is absolutely necessary in 
 order to be saved; is an absolute 
 condition for salvation. Pitiable, 
 then, is the lot of those who by 
 their own fault or neglect or misfortune 
 never receive this Sacrament. Happy and 
 grateful should we be that God has marked 
 us out as the objects of His mercy by giv- 
 ing us this incomparable blessing. And in 
 order that we may understand the singular 
 grace which God has bestowed on us, we 
 shall consider its wonderful effects. 
 
 By Baptism we were raised up from the 
 depth of misery into which the human 
 race was thrown by Adam's fall. We are 
 all Adam's children and heirs of his diso- 
 bedience, of his sin and of his punish- 
 ment. Our nature was tainted in its very 
 source, for, when at the suggestion of the 
 serpent Adam sinned, the consequences of 
 his sin fell not upon himself only, but 
 reached to his farthest posterity. 
 
 As poison thrown into a stream at its 
 source will vitiate all the waters flowing 
 
28 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 therefrom, so the poison of Adam's sin 
 was disseminated through the stream of 
 life as it passed from generation to gene- 
 ration. And this taint is what we call 
 original sin. 
 
 With original sin on our soul we come 
 into the world. There is no spiritual 
 soundness in us. The understanding, the 
 will, liberty, memory and desire are de- 
 ranged by this inherited soul-disease. 
 "Error and darkness are created with sin- 
 ners" (Eccl. xi, 16). Error and dark- 
 ness and falsehood — these are the herit- 
 age of sinners. 
 
 St. Augustine says that as in the begin- 
 ning of creation all was darkness upon the 
 face of the earth, so in the soul of man all 
 is darkness and error until it is washed in 
 the waters of Baptism. The will became 
 so weak and helpless as not only not to be 
 able to do any work meritorious of eternal 
 life, but not even to follow a holy thought. 
 Man, in the beginning, was created with- 
 out any defect, but sin placed him in a 
 deplorable state. Therefore St. Augustine 
 likens man to a broken vessel. 
 
 We are born with free will, but it is in- 
 
BAPTISM. t9 
 
 clined to sin. Baptism restores the equili- 
 brium and strengthens the will against 
 sin. Our memory is filled with pictures 
 of extravagance or folly or corruption. 
 Our desires are like the untrained horse. 
 In this state we are not lovely, not agree- 
 able to God ; we are a disgusting sight to 
 His chaste and searching eye. 
 
 We are "by nature the children of 
 wrath" (Eph. ii). God, notwithstanding 
 His mercy and goodness, cannot love us so 
 long as we are stained with original sin. 
 Dying in this state our destination is other 
 than heaven. 
 
 This was our origin, our state, our pros- 
 pects until Baptism cleansed us. "I will 
 pour upon you clean water and you shall 
 be cleansed from all your filthiness" (Eze- 
 chiel XXXVI, 25). By Baptism our sins 
 were taken away, our minds enlightened, 
 our wills strengthened, our past redeemed, 
 and our souls made lovely and beautiful. 
 
 How we would thank a physician who 
 had cured us ; a surgeon who had cut away 
 the cause of our ailment; one who had 
 delivered us by prompt assistance from 
 certain death or from the loss of reputa- 
 
30 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 tion and honor. These are mere worldly 
 benefits. 
 
 Shall we withhold our gratitude from 
 God who has delivered us when we were 
 as yet incapable of asking His grace, who 
 has healed us, who has saved us from 
 eternal death, who has ransomed us from 
 the slavery of the devil and restored us to 
 His favor? 
 
 By Baptism God restored us to a state 
 of grace ; sin is washed away. Sanctifying 
 grace fills and beautifies the soul, which 
 becomes the friend and child of God. Bap- 
 tism makes us members of the Church; 
 places us in the family of the elect and 
 entitles us to the full enjoyment of its 
 privileges and makes us share in the Com- 
 munion of Saints. 
 
 We become "the domestics of God and 
 the fellow citizens of the saints." From 
 children of wrath we become the children 
 of God, loved like children and having the 
 familiarity and the rights of children. We 
 are the brothers of Jesus ; we who were the 
 heirs of sin and death, are made heirs of 
 heaven, according to St. Paul (Rom. VIII). 
 
 Lastly we receive grace — that grace 
 
BAPTISM. 31 
 
 which has made apostles, martyrs, confes- 
 sors and virgins; that grace which won 
 from God all those heroic virtues of the 
 saints, their miracles and their ecstasies; 
 that grace which gained for them an eter- 
 nal crown. 
 
 That grace can become for us a source 
 of every blessing. Hence St. Gregory says 
 that Baptism has made new him that was 
 old, made divine him that was human. 
 Have we not, then, every reason to thank 
 God all the days of our lives ? 
 
 Since such is the exalted position to 
 which God has raised us, let us consider 
 everything else in comparison as dirt com- 
 pared to gold. We should keep before our 
 minds always the day of our Baptism and 
 keep it holy in the Church and in the fam- 
 ily. Since we are children of a King, we 
 should act as becomes our rank, with high- 
 mindedness and nobility of character; we 
 should scorn what is mean. Gratitude, in- 
 terest and principle demand this so im- 
 periously that it seems unnatural that we 
 could ever act otherwise. 
 
BAPTISM : Its Ceremonies. 
 
 (0 
 
 HEN a king is to be crowned great 
 preparations are made for the 
 event, and the rites which accom- 
 pany and follow the coronation give 
 a solemn character which makes a deep 
 and lasting impression on all who are 
 privileged to be present. They go home 
 with a profound conviction of the dignity 
 and authority of the king. 
 
 In like manner, in order to impress upon 
 our minds awe for the Sacraments and to 
 give us an exalted idea of their work, the 
 Church has ordained the beautiful cere- 
 monies with which each is to be adminis- 
 tered and which give great solemnity to 
 the occasion and serve as outward ex- 
 pressions of those inward dispositions 
 that are required. These rites present 
 the mysteries of faith in a way that ap- 
 peals to the senses. 
 
 The Church, from the very beginning, 
 has invested the simple original act of 
 Baptism with a richness of symbolical cer- 
 emonies in order to instil more deeply in- 
 
BAPTISM. 33 
 
 to the minds of her children the idea of 
 this Sacrament and to emphasize by var- 
 ious emblems the exalted nature of the 
 newness of life in Christ. These ceremo- 
 nies are taken either from the Scriptures 
 or from some important truth of religion. 
 Some of them represent the dispositions 
 for receiving Baptism; others its benefi- 
 cial effects ; others, still, its obligations. 
 
 The ceremonies either precede, accom- 
 pany or follow the essential act of Bap- 
 tism. 
 
 Those which immediately precede Bap- 
 tism are many and varied. They came 
 down from the earliest antiquity ; and can 
 be traced so far back as to make it prob- 
 able that they were instituted by the 
 Apostles. 
 
 The child, according to the ritual, is to 
 be brought to the door of the Church and 
 kept there, if practicable, to signify that 
 he is yet outside the Church ; a name of a 
 saint is given whom he is to invoke as his 
 protector and to imitate as his model. He 
 is asked what he seeks; and he answers 
 Faith, which gives life everlasting. He is 
 reminded that if he wishes to enter into 
 
34 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 eternal life he must keep the Command- 
 ments: "Thou shalt love the Lord, thy 
 God, with thy whole soul and thy whole 
 mind, and thy neighbor as thyself." 
 
 The priest breathes three times on the 
 face of the one about to be baptized to 
 indicate that the new spiritual life which 
 the soul is to receive is represented by the 
 breath, after the manner God breathed on 
 Adam when He infused his soul. 
 
 The sign of the cross is then made on 
 the forehead and on the breast, while the 
 priest says : "Receive the sign of the cross 
 upon thy forehead and in thy heart; re- 
 ceive the faith of the heavenly Command- 
 ments, and let thy manners be such that 
 thou mayest now be the temple of God." 
 
 The sign of the cross is made on the 
 forehead to give us to understand that we 
 are to make open profession of the faith 
 of a crucified God and never to be ashamed 
 of His cross, and on the heart to teach us 
 that we are always to have Christ cruci- 
 fied in our hearts. 
 
 After this there follow some prayers for 
 the person being baptized to beg God to 
 dispose his soul for the grace of Baptism, 
 
BAPTISM. 35 
 
 that he may not receive it in vain. The 
 priest then blesses some salt and places 
 a grain of it on the tongue to signify that 
 by Baptism the soul is seasoned by 
 grace to keep it from the corruption of 
 sin; that it may acquire a relish for holy 
 things ; that prudence, of which salt is an 
 emblem, may guide all its actions. 
 
 The priest then proceeds to the solemn 
 prayers and exorcisms used of old by the 
 Church to cast out from the soul the devil 
 under whose power we were born by orig- 
 inal sin. He signs the forehead with the 
 sign of the cross and bids, through Jesus 
 Christ, the evil one never to dare to vio- 
 late it. 
 
 All these ceremonies are supposed to 
 take place in the vestibule of the church 
 to signify that the person to be bap- 
 tized is not worthy to enter into the 
 church until the devil is cast out of his 
 soul. After these ceremonies the priest 
 reaches forth one end of his stole, or lays 
 it upon the infant, and so leads him into 
 the church, saying, "Enter into the tem- 
 ple of God that thou mayest enter with 
 Christ into life everlasting/' 
 
36 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 Within the church the priest, jointly 
 with the party to be baptized or the spons- 
 ors, recites aloud the Apostles' Creed and 
 the Lord's prayer, for faith is the first 
 and fundamental obligation of a Christian. 
 
 The priest then reads another exorcism, 
 commanding the devil to depart in the 
 name and by the power of the Holy Trin- 
 ity. He next wets his finger with spittle 
 and touches the ears. This he does in imi- 
 tation of Christ who cured with His spit- 
 tle the man that was deaf and dumb, and 
 to signify the opening of the inner ears 
 of the soul, in order that he may be no 
 longer deaf to the divine promises, threats 
 and warnings, but that he, like a good 
 sheep, may readily recognize the voice of 
 the great Shepherd and learn to distin- 
 guish it from false voices — "My sheep 
 know My voice" — and may not be drawn 
 away by the call of the world. 
 
 Following a practice as ancient as the 
 Church, the priest then asks the person to 
 be baptized whether he is willing to re- 
 nounce the devil with all his works and 
 pomps, since he cannot serve two masters, 
 
BAPTISM. 37 
 
 and he is about to choose Christ for his 
 Master. 
 
 The priest next anoints with chrism the 
 breast and shoulders to signify that grace 
 will strengthen the soul as oil does the 
 body; that it will fortify the heart with 
 heavenly courage to act manfully and do 
 one's duty in all things; and that it will 
 make one strong to bear all the adversities 
 and crosses of this mortal life. 
 
 The person to be baptized is questioned 
 concerning the principal articles of faith, 
 for faith is a condition for the lawful and 
 worthy reception of Baptism. Then to 
 continue the ancient custom of giving Bap- 
 tism to no adults but those who were per- 
 fectly willing and follow the example of 
 our Savior who was wont to ask those who 
 came to be cured by Him what they de- 
 sired, the priest asks : "Wilt thou be bap- 
 tized?" On receiving an affirmative an- 
 swer he baptizes the person by pouring 
 water on the head three times in the form 
 of a cross, saying, "I baptize thee in the 
 name of the Father and of the Son and of 
 the Holy Ghost." 
 
 The newly baptized is then anointed 
 
38 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 with chrism on the top of the head in the 
 form of a cross to signify that every Chris- 
 tian is by Baptism made a partaker with 
 Christ and has a share in His kingdom and 
 grace, and that he is also in a certain 
 manner a king and a priest. 
 
 Then a white linen cloth is placed on 
 the person baptized to signify the purity 
 and innocence which are received in Bap- 
 tism and which, he is admonished, he must 
 take care to preserve until death. 
 
 A lighted candle is placed in the hand 
 of the person baptized, to recall the para- 
 ble of the two virgins who took their 
 lamps and went forth to meet the bride- 
 groom, and he is admonished to keep the 
 light of faith ever burning by the oil of 
 good works ; that whenever the Lord shall 
 come, he may be found with his lamp 
 burning and may enter with Him into the 
 eternal life of His heavenly kingdom. 
 
 The priest in conclusion bids the person 
 "Go in peace, and the Lord be with you, 
 Amen." And well may the new Christian 
 be dismissed in peace, for he who came 
 burdened with the weight of sin goes away 
 laden with the treasures of grace. "The 
 
BAPTISM. 39 
 
 Lord be with you" is a prayer, that forti- 
 fied by Baptism he may press forward 
 from virtue to virtue and bear ever on- 
 ward to the home of his eternity. 
 
BAPTISM : The Duties of Par- 
 ents and Sponsors. 
 
 IprlNY instruction on the Sacrament of 
 3L4,1 Baptism would be incomplete if we 
 W&a did not speak of the parents and 
 the sponsors. 
 
 Since Baptism is absolutely necessary 
 for salvation, parents should see to it that 
 their children are baptized as soon as pos- 
 sible after birth. In many countries the 
 custom is to bring the child to the church 
 the day it is born. The parent who defers 
 the baptism of his child is taking its salva- 
 tion into his own hands, and will have to 
 answer to God if the child dies without 
 receiving the Sacrament. 
 
 Among some parents there seems to be 
 a tendency to put off Baptism until the 
 child is some months old. Surely these 
 parents know little of the importance of 
 the Sacrament of Baptism and of its 
 graces and blessings. One is tempted to 
 doubt whether or not they have any real 
 love for their offspring when they deliber- 
 ately defer, to suit their convenience or 
 
BAPTISM. 41 
 
 preconceived ideas, the great gift of 
 Christ's faith. 
 
 Parents and, in fact, all lay people, 
 should know how to administer the Sacra- 
 ment of Baptism in case of necessity. It 
 is a simple thing. The person who is to 
 baptize pours ordinary water on the head 
 of the infant, and while pouring it says: 
 "I baptize thee in the name of the Father 
 and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost." It 
 is not necessary to use holy water ; water 
 from the faucet answers the purpose. Nor 
 should any prayers be added. 
 
 Simple as is private Baptism, it is 
 strange what mistakes are made. Not in- 
 frequently the priest is told on inquiring 
 about a private Baptism that the person 
 who is supposed to have baptized the in- 
 fant said only the Lord's Prayer or the 
 Hail Mary. Of course, in such a case there 
 is no Baptism. Such occurrences make 
 clear the necessity of constant instruction 
 on matters that should have been learned 
 in the penny Catechism. 
 
 The father should, if at all possible, be 
 present at the Baptism, and have ready 
 the necessary information for the Bap- 
 
42 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 tismal record. It is confusing and annoy- 
 ing at times to find sponsors who are un- 
 able to answer the questions of the priest 
 regarding the date of birth of the child 
 and the names of parents. If the father is 
 unable to attend, he should make sure that 
 the sponsors are familiar with the required 
 information. 
 
 In due time, therefore, the child must 
 be brought to the parish church of the 
 parents. This is the law of the Church, 
 and parents should obey it. It seems un- 
 necessary to point out that parents should 
 know to what parish they belong, since 
 parish lines are so clearly drawn. Yet it 
 frequently happens that people, living in 
 a place for even a year, take so little in- 
 terest in their church that they do not 
 take the trouble to ascertain in what par- 
 ish they are. 
 
 An effort should be made to conform to 
 parish regulations. For the good order 
 of the parish an hour is fixed for Baptism, 
 and at that time the child should be 
 brought to the Church. Yet in this again 
 many persons show neglect and careless- 
 ness. Although the hour is announced 
 
BAPTISM. 43 
 
 Sunday after Sunday from the altar, no 
 attention is paid to it. 
 
 The choice of sponsors is an important 
 matter. They are not required for private 
 Baptism, but for the solemn administra- 
 tion of the Sacrament they must be pres- 
 ent. There must be at least one, and there 
 cannot be more than two. 
 
 The custom is very ancient, and dates 
 from the beginning of the Church. It is 
 spoken of frequently by St. Augustine 
 and Tertullian. 
 
 Sponsors, or godparents, are chosen that 
 they may present to the Church the per- 
 son who is to be baptized, and be wit- 
 nesses to his Baptism and give him a 
 name. They answer in his name and are 
 sureties for his performance of the prom- 
 ises which they make for him. 
 
 They are therefore obliged to see, so 
 far as in them lies, that their godchildren 
 are brought up in the true Faith and in 
 the fear and love of God; that they are 
 instructed in Christian doctrine and that 
 they make good those promises which they 
 have made in their name. 
 
 It is evident from this that no one should 
 
44 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 be chosen to act as sponsor who is in- 
 capable of understanding and fulfilling the 
 obligations assumed. Some parents in 
 choosing godparents do not seem to real- 
 ize the office of sponsors. Hence they 
 choose persons totally unfitted. Young 
 children should not act as godparents. 
 Neither should Protestant friends be asked 
 to stand for a child. 
 
 The child baptized becomes the spiritual 
 child of the godparents, who contract with 
 him a spiritual affinity or relationship 
 which forms an impediment that pre- 
 vents them from marrying either the child 
 or its parents. The sponsors, therefore, 
 should exercise in their behalf the care 
 and solicitude of parents ; they are securi- 
 ties before God and the Church, and if the 
 parents fail in their duty the sponsors are 
 responsible before God and the Church 
 for the child's welfare. 
 
 Sponsors should not, then, consider 
 their presence at Baptism a mere matter 
 of form. They assume serious obligations 
 toward God and the child. Hence they 
 should know the duties of a sponsor, and 
 resolve to live up to them. No one should 
 
BAPTISM. 45 
 
 be chosen for a sponsor who is not a sin- 
 cere, good-living, serious-minded Catholic. 
 
 Sponsors should acquaint themselves 
 with the ceremonies of Baptism, and 
 should learn the prayers and answers, and 
 should conduct themselves with dignity 
 and seriousness becoming the great Sacra- 
 ment. 
 
 The sponsors should stand, presenting 
 the child, near the officiating clergyman. 
 They should answer slowly, distinctly and 
 intelligibly all the questions, and perform 
 their part of the ceremony with readiness 
 and without confusion, reflecting mean- 
 while on their great obligations, and re- 
 solving that they will ever remain faithful 
 to them and zealously endeavor to dis- 
 charge them. 
 
 The parents, when present, ought to 
 stand behind the sponsors, not gazing 
 about or talking and lounging, but behav- 
 ing as reverent and thankful witnesses of 
 the Sacrament which confers such great 
 blessings on their offspring. 
 
 Others who may be present should be 
 recollected, going back in thought to the 
 days of Christ and the Apostles, from 
 
46 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 whom these ceremonies have descended as 
 a legacy. All should think of the happy 
 day when they themselves were baptized 
 and consider seriously what promises were 
 then made and how they have observed 
 them. 
 
BAPTISM: The Promises. 
 
 Vf^l HEN the Hebrews were delivered out 
 vjy of Egypt they made a covenant 
 llll with God, by which they agreed to 
 serve Him, while He promised to 
 protect them. When we are baptized 
 we are brought out of a state of bondage, 
 delivered from the yoke of a tyranny more 
 hateful than any which men can endure in 
 this world, and we make a contract with 
 God by the promises given for us by our 
 sponsors. 
 
 God in His mercy delivers us from the 
 slavery of sin and of the devil. From reb- 
 els and enemies He makes us His friends 
 and children, partakers of His gifts, and 
 imparts to us His graces. He promises us, 
 if we remain faithful, the crown of eter- 
 nal life. 
 
 We, on our part, swear to God undying 
 faithfulness; we promise in the face of 
 heaven and earth, in the presence of God 
 and of His angels, to belong to God alone, 
 to be all to Him, to serve Him only, and 
 consequently to renounce all that is op- 
 
48 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 posed to Him and that He hates; we re- 
 nounce the devil and all his works and 
 pomps. 
 
 Of all the promises which we can make 
 to God or to man, none can be of greater 
 consequence and importance, none which 
 we should be more anxious to keep, than 
 those which we make to God in Baptism. 
 The Holy Fathers, in that admirable spirit 
 of discernment which God gave them, 
 have been able to see and have pointed 
 out in the strongest terms the strict obli- 
 gations imposed on us by these promises. 
 
 St. Ambrose calls them a "contract of 
 Faith." As men when they make mutual 
 contracts give their plighted word and 
 agree to forfeit their goods if they are 
 found faithless, so in Baptism there is a 
 contract between God and us. And as in 
 every contract there are reciprocal obliga- 
 tions and promises, so in Baptism there 
 are mutual agreements and pledges. 
 
 God delivers us from sin and its conse- 
 quences, makes us His children in grace 
 and promises us His glory. We renounce 
 Satan with all his works and pomps and 
 if we are so unfortunate as to become re- 
 
BAPTISM. 4* 
 
 creant, we incur the pain of eternal dam* 
 nation. 
 
 St. Jerome and Paulinus, speaking of 
 these promises, say that they are an oath 
 of fidelity made by the creature to his 
 Creator as to a Sovereign. When any one 
 is raised by a king to a high dignity, or 
 when, as in this country, a man is exalted 
 by the choice of the people to a position 
 of trust, he is required to swear fidelity 
 to the duties of his position; he takes an 
 oath of allegiance, promising to enter into 
 no league with the enemies of the state, 
 but to serve it to the best of his ability. 
 
 There is no dignity greater or more glo- 
 rious than that to which a Christian is 
 raised, for he enters into alliance with the 
 persons of the Blessed Trinity, becoming 
 the son of the Father, the brother, co-heir 
 and member of the Son, Jesus Christ, and 
 the temple of the Holy Ghost. Therefore 
 he must swear fidelity to God, his Sover- 
 eign, who has raised him so high ; he must 
 swear that he will not recognize or serve, 
 but that he will always hate and oppose, 
 the enemies of God — the devil, the world 
 and the flesh. 
 
50 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 St. Thomas regards the promises made 
 by us in Baptism as so many solemn vows. 
 Every Christian is a religious whose life 
 should be modeled on the rule of that reli- 
 gion which Christ Himself established, to 
 which the Blessed Virgin and the Apostles 
 belonged, which extends to the ends of 
 the earth, and embraces all ranks of 
 Christians ; of which the rule is the Gospel 
 and the habit Christ, according to the 
 word of the Apostle, "for whoever have 
 been baptized in Christ, have put on 
 Christ." (Gal. III). 
 
 St. Augustine goes further yet and adds 
 that the promises of Baptism are not only 
 vows but the greatest of all vows, and in- 
 violable, incapable of dispensation, for 
 there is no power in heaven or on earth 
 that can dispense from them. 
 
 The circumstances which accompany 
 these promises give them a most im- 
 posing character. They are not made to 
 men, but to God, and in a solemn manner, 
 in the presence of those who are His repre- 
 sentatives on earth; to God who is not 
 satisfied with words but requires works; 
 who will severely punish those who are 
 
BAPTISM. SI 
 
 found wanting. They are made in the 
 Church, which is the house of God, before 
 heaven and earth, in the presence of the 
 angels who are witnesses of our vows. 
 
 The observance of these promises is the 
 greatest glory and greatest happiness of a 
 Christian both in this world and in the 
 next. These promises are made by a mis- 
 erable man who was first a slave of the 
 devil and who was ransomed by the sacri- 
 fice of the life and of the honor, and by 
 the shedding of the precious blood of 
 Christ. Man is the slave who makes a 
 contract with his liberator, a servant with 
 his master, a creature with his Creator — 
 circumstances which increase infinitely 
 and render stricter the obligation. 
 
 These are our promises. No power on 
 earth nor in heaven can free us from them. 
 We are enrolled in the service of God ; not 
 to fight in it is to become a rebel, a de- 
 serter, an apostate, to merit death — not 
 the death of the body but the everlasting 
 death of the soul. 
 
 ~ In Baptism we make three promises : to 
 renounce the devil, to renounce his works, 
 to renounce his pomps. These promises 
 
52 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 have been exacted from the beginning of 
 the Church. We cannot serve two mas- 
 ters. Christ Himself has said it. In choos- 
 ing one we must renounce the other. We 
 cannot be the temple of the Holy Ghost 
 and the temple of idols, for there is no 
 communion between Christ and Belial. We 
 must belong wholly to Christ in body 
 and in soul. Him alone we must love and 
 serve. He suffers no division of service 
 or love. 
 
 By the works of Satan are understood 
 all sins, particularly pride which is prev- 
 alent, but is generally unheeded. And all 
 sin includes thoughts and desires, words, 
 deeds and omissions. 
 
 By the pomps of Satan are meant, ac- 
 cording to St. Augustine, unlawful de- 
 sires, vanity and all those things which 
 are generally done in the world of which 
 the devil is prince and lord. It means to 
 seek the pleasures of the body, to thirst 
 for high places and honors. Pomp is ex- 
 travagance and luxury at the expense of 
 decency, charity and justice. 
 
CONFIRMATION: Its Nature 
 and Effects. 
 
 G~ IONFIRMATION follows Baptism and 
 j is its complement. It increases 
 
 H| within us the grace we received in 
 Baptism, and makes us perfect 
 Christians by imparting to us the Holy 
 Ghost with the abundance of His graces. 
 It completes what was begun in Baptism 
 of which it is, as it were, the perfection. 
 
 The grace of Baptism is one of regener- 
 ation which makes us children of God; 
 that of Confirmation is one of strength and 
 courage which elevates us to the dignity 
 of perfect Christians. 
 
 Confirmation is so called because its end 
 is to confirm and fortify us in the Faith 
 of Jesus Christ. 
 
 An explanation of the nature and effects 
 of this Sacrament is necessary and always 
 timely. On account of the ignorance which 
 prevails among some people concerning 
 this Sacrament, its reception is often ne- 
 glected, and even when received, it does 
 
54 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 not produce the results which, in the Prov- 
 idence of God, it should. Those who have 
 not received it ought to know something 
 about its excellence. Those who have been 
 confirmed should review what they were 
 taught concerning the Sacrament and 
 thank God unceasingly for the grace He 
 has given them. 
 
 Confirmation is a Sacrament instituted 
 by Jesus Christ, which, by the imposition 
 of the Bishop's hands and the anointing 
 with Holy Chrism, confers the Holy 
 Ghost with the plenitude of His gifts and 
 imparts to the person confirmed special 
 strength and virtue to confess with con- 
 stancy the Faith of Christ. 
 
 It is a Sacrament: this is of faith. It 
 is not a simple ceremony of repeating our 
 baptismal vows when we have come to the 
 use of reason ; but a Sacrament instituted 
 by Christ and handed down to us by the 
 Apostles. From the Scriptures and tradi- 
 tion we know that the Sacrament of Con- 
 firmation was administered from the very 
 beginning of Christianity. It was always 
 considered a Sacrament. The so-called 
 
CONFIRMATION. 55 
 
 reformers of the sixteenth century were 
 the first to deny it. 
 
 Confirmation is conferred only on per- 
 sons who have been baptized. If it is ad- 
 ministered to an unbaptized or an invalidly 
 baptized person it produces no effect. 
 
 There is a great difference between Con- 
 firmation and Baptism, with which here- 
 tics have tried to confound it. Confirma- 
 tion is the perfection and complement of 
 Baptism. The matter and form of the 
 Sacraments of Confirmation and Baptism 
 are different; the ordinary ministers are 
 not the same; and the effects of the two 
 are different. 
 
 By Baptism we are born to a supernat- 
 ural life of grace ; hence in Baptism we re- 
 ceive a spirit of regeneration, of purity 
 and innocence, of simplicity and candor by 
 which we become, St. Peter says in the 
 second chapter of his first Epistle, as 
 "new-born babes." 
 
 In Confirmation we receive a spirit of 
 strength and courage which gives new 
 vigor to faith and the other theological 
 virtues which were infused by the Sacra- 
 ment of Baptism. From children Confir- 
 
56 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 mation makes us perfect, supernatural 
 men, capable always of giving testimony 
 to the Faith of Christ even in face of per- 
 secution and death. 
 
 Birth in the body is the first of the gifts 
 we obtain from nature, and is the founda- 
 tion of all those we subsequently receive. 
 If, however, a child after its birth does not 
 grow, it will soon either die or live a mis- 
 erable, sickly, imperfect life, and will be 
 a very imperfect man. So the supernat- 
 ural birth, which is given in Baptism, is 
 the first supernatural favor bestowed on 
 us in this life, and is the foundation of all 
 others that follow. 
 
 But if we made no further progress and 
 remained undeveloped into men by Confir- 
 mation, we should be like helpless children 
 when assaulted by the world, the flesh and 
 the devil, and we should easily lose the 
 grace of Baptism, thereby being deprived 
 of its fruits. Hence, Christ has instituted 
 the Sacrament of Confirmation to give us 
 the strength and the supernatural weapons 
 necessary to defend ourselves successfully 
 against all attacks aimed to rob us of our 
 birth-right. 
 
CONFIRMATION. 57 
 
 The matter of the Sacrament of Confir- 
 mation is the anointing with Chrism to- 
 gether with the imposition of hands. 
 
 In the Scriptures we read that St. Peter 
 and St. John went into Samaria to confirm 
 by the imposition of hands, the Christians 
 who had already been baptized. 
 
 The Bishop first raises his hands over 
 all those who are to be confirmed and next 
 anoints each one individually with Holy 
 Chrism which is a mixture of olive oil 
 and balsam, and is blessed every year by 
 the Bishop on Holy Thursday. 
 
 As in the other Sacraments, the matter 
 is figurative of the operation of the Sacra- 
 ment. Oil of olives has certain character- 
 istic qualities — it penetrates every part of 
 that upon which it is laid ; it softens and 
 strengthens, — which fitly represent the 
 similar effects of the Holy Spirit on our 
 souls. The balsam which is mixed with it 
 sends forth a sweet smell and possesses 
 qualities which preserves things from cor- 
 ruption. 
 
 So it represents the Christian virtues 
 which the Sacrament of Confirmation en- 
 ables one to acquire, for these, like bal- 
 
58 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 sam, have a powerful influence in preserv- 
 ing us from the corruption to which we 
 are exposed by contact with the foul touch 
 of the world, and give forth a sweet odor 
 to all who come within the atmosphere of 
 our influence. As St. Paul says in the sec- 
 ond Epistle to the Corinthians, "We are 
 the good odor of Christ." 
 
 Holy Chrism is put upon our foreheads 
 in the form of a cross to signify by the 
 anointing the principal and most visible 
 part of the body that we should always 
 profess our faith boldly and openly, and 
 never be ashamed of the cross of Christ, 
 but proud of it. 
 
 The form of the Sacrament consists of 
 the words pronounced by the Bishop while 
 he extends his hands and while he anoints 
 the forehead of each candidate for Confir- 
 mation. The Bishop next gives a slight 
 blow on the cheek, saying, "Peace be with 
 you," to signify that we must, by the help 
 of the grace given us in this Sacrament, 
 bear all wrongs patiently and always pos- 
 sess the peace of Christ. 
 
 The ordinary minister of the Sacrament 
 of Confirmation is the Bishop. This is 
 
CONFIRMATION. 5* 
 
 clearly seen from the fact that St. Peter 
 and St. John, and not the Disciples, went 
 into Samaria to confirm those whom the 
 Disciples had baptized. Moreover, the 
 Bishops, who are the generals of the 
 Christian army, and not deacons and 
 priests, who are inferior officers, must 
 muster soldiers into the service of Christ. 
 
 Yet a priest may confirm with the per- 
 mission of the Pope provided he uses 
 chrism blessed by a Bishop. This permis- 
 sion is granted in the Eastern Church and 
 in distant mission fields. 
 
 It is related in the life of the great St. 
 Charles Borromeo, Archbishop of Milan, 
 that, when in the visitation of his large 
 diocese he found many grown persons who 
 had never been confirmed, he wept bitter 
 tears of regret and he multiplied himself, 
 as it were, by his wonderful activity, so as 
 to give all a fair opportunity to receive this 
 Sacrament. Why the saint wept over those 
 who were not confirmed, and was anxious 
 that all should receive the Sacrament is 
 explained by the great importance of the 
 Sacrament and its wonderful graces. 
 
CONFIRMATION : Its Neces- 
 sity for Salvation. 
 
 © 
 
 HERE can be no doubt of the import- 
 ance of receiving the Sacrament of 
 Confirmation, but the question nat- 
 urally arises, is it necessary to re- 
 ceive the Sacrament of Confirmation in 
 order to be saved ? The Roman Catechism 
 and theologians generally answer that the 
 reception of this Sacrament is not of such 
 strict obligation that, without it, one may 
 not be saved, as is the case with Baptism 
 for all and Penance for those who have 
 committed grievous sin after Baptism. 
 
 Nevertheless, though Confirmation is 
 not absolutely necessary for salvation, it 
 should not be neglected ; for it is a means 
 of great sanctity by which God pours forth 
 in abundance His graces and gifts. That, 
 says the Roman Catechism, which has 
 been proposed for our justification ought 
 to be desired by all and be received with 
 the greatest solicitude. They, then, should 
 be confirmed who need spiritual increase 
 
CONFIRMATION. 61 
 
 of grace and wish to become perfect 
 Christians. Who does not feel this neces- 
 sity? 
 
 If, then, we cannot be full grown Chris- 
 tians until we are confirmed, there is cer- 
 tainly a duty devolving upon us to receive 
 it; to neglect it when we have favorable 
 opportunity for its reception is a sin. As 
 parents take care of the children born tc 
 them until they have grown strong and 
 old enough to look out for themselves, so 
 the Church in which we have been born 
 again by Baptism does not neglect us but 
 watches over us until we have been devel- 
 oped by grace from "new born babes" in- 
 to perfect men. 
 
 Hence parents should understand how 
 necessary it is that they have their chil- 
 dren receive Confirmation. They should 
 manifest deep solicitude and make every 
 effort to bring about its reception. Parents 
 take extreme care of the bodies of their 
 children. They grieve and are sorrowful 
 when their children suffer any bodily af- 
 fliction or remain sickly and puny ; they do 
 not spare trouble or expense to have the 
 corporal defect removed or diminished. If 
 
62 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 the result had been due to their negligence, 
 they would not forgive themselves. And 
 in this they are right. 
 
 If, then, we cannot neglect without sin 
 the development of the body, we cannot 
 without greater sin neglect the growth of 
 the better part of our children's nature, 
 the soul. 
 
 There is a lamentable indifference in 
 this respect, but indifference does not take 
 away the sin. So impressed by this act 
 were the Fathers of the early Church that 
 they often imposed severe penance on all 
 parents who neglected to have their chil- 
 dren confirmed. 
 
 The solicitude we should have for the 
 reception of the Sacrament of Confirma- 
 tion is clear from another source. This 
 Sacrament strengthens us, by the grace it 
 confers, to resist the snares, temptations 
 and assaults of our spiritual enemies. 
 
 This life is justly described as a warfare 
 in which, without hope of peace or truce, 
 we must fight against the devil, the world 
 and the flesh. Hence, "we take unto us 
 the armor of God, that we may be able 
 to resist in the evil day and to stand in all 
 
CONFIRMATION. 63 
 
 things perfect," says St. Paul in his epistle 
 to the Ephesians. 
 
 And again, "Be strengthened in the 
 Lord and in the might of His power. Put 
 you on the armor of God that you may be 
 able to stand against the snares of the 
 devil." And the "armor of God" of which 
 St. Paul speaks is certainly the Sacrament 
 of Confirmation. 
 
 The Sacrament of Baptism makes us 
 followers of Christ and members of His 
 household. Confirmation puts arms into 
 our hands and makes us soldiers. Baptism 
 helps us wonderfully but it leaves us dis- 
 armed. 
 
 He certainly would not be a wise man 
 who, living under the protection of a pow- 
 erful king, would go disarmed into the field 
 of battle. He would be considered a fool 
 and a doomed victim of his folly who would 
 go unarmed on a long journey through for- 
 ests and dangerous passes where he knew 
 he would encounter fierce enemies, who 
 would attack him and seek to rob him of 
 his treasures, and to murder him. 
 
 The same may be said of a Christian 
 who, exposed as he is in this life to con- 
 
64 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 tinual temptations of the devil, the world 
 and the flesh, would neglect to strengthen 
 and arm himself with the Sacrament which 
 Christ has prepared for us and which is 
 offered us by the Church. He would cer- 
 tainly be culpable because he would expose 
 himself to the evident danger of being con- 
 quered and slain. 
 
 The first Christians were most anxious 
 to receive Confirmation and, because prac- 
 tically all of them received it, few indeed 
 gave away before the fury of their per- 
 secutors. 
 
 We are in an age and a country where 
 the grace of Confirmation is especially ne- 
 cessary. On all sides insidious attacks are 
 made on our Faith. We live in an atmos- 
 phere redolent with infidelity. We are told 
 that all revealed religion is a failure, that 
 our moral standards are a result of the 
 ignorance of the dark ages. All that we 
 hold dear is ridiculed. At no time was 
 the aid given by Confirmation more im- 
 peratively needed than today. 
 
 This Sacrament confers, like all the 
 others, Sanctifying Grace. But since it 
 presupposes the grace of Baptism which 
 
CONFIRMATION. 65 
 
 has been regained by the Sacrament of 
 Penance, it augments Sanctifying Grace. 
 Hence this is a Sacrament of the living 
 and should be received in the state of 
 grace. The effect of this Sacrament is to 
 give us the Holy Ghost in His plenitude 
 and to strengthen our Faith. 
 
 The Apostles were a timid set of men. 
 When our Lord was seized in the Garden 
 of Gethsemane they ran away and denied 
 any acquaintance with Him. Peter, the 
 chief of Apostles, perjured himself and in 
 open court swore that he knew Him not. 
 But our Savior Himself promised them the 
 Holy Ghost and bade them not to begin 
 the great undertaking which He had con- 
 fided to them until they had received the 
 Paraclete. 
 
 And how wonderful was the change in 
 them after they had received the Holy 
 Ghost. They went forth into the world 
 braving every danger, overcoming every 
 obstacle, everywhere proving themselves 
 worthy disciples of their Master by their 
 wonderful example of perseverance and of 
 courage. 
 
 In Confirmation we receive the same 
 
66 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 Holy Ghost that the Apostles received on 
 the day of Pentecost, with all His gifts 
 and graces undiminished by time and dis- 
 tribution. The only difference is that on 
 Pentecost the Holy Ghost came down vis- 
 ibly upon the Apostles ; upon us He comes 
 invisibly but gives us the same powerful 
 help against all our enemies, to conquer 
 human respect, to overcome persecution, 
 open and concealed, to resist the devil and 
 to check the flesh. 
 
CONFIRMATION: Its Effects. 
 
 c 
 
 HREE principal effects flow from the 
 Sacrament of Confirmation; it in- 
 creases sanctifying grace, it con- 
 fers a special sacramental grace 
 and it imprints a character. 
 
 In Confirmation we receive an increase 
 of sanctifying grace, which renders our 
 souls beautiful and acceptable in the eyes 
 of God. An increase of sanctifying grace 
 is to the soul what an increase of comeli- 
 ness would be to the body which health 
 and care tend to beautify and strengthen. 
 Confirmation gives a special sacra- 
 mental grace. In order to understand this 
 we must consider the distinction between 
 sanctifying and sacramental grace. This 
 distinction will help us to understand the 
 effects produced by the different Sacra- 
 ments and will show better the harmony 
 of parts and the richness of detail which 
 distinguish the doctrines of the Catholic 
 Church. Sanctifying grace is a general 
 quality given to the soul which renders it 
 holy and dear to God; sacramental 
 
68 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 grace is a special quality which tends to 
 embellish and strengthen the soul in some 
 particular way for some special end. 
 
 Like Baptism, Confirmation imprints on 
 the soul an indelible mark called a char- 
 acter, which no power can ever efface; 
 which will remain with us forever as an 
 additional badge of glory in Heaven or as 
 an added sign of ignominy in Hell. Be- 
 cause this character is indelible, the Sacra- 
 ment can be received only once. The marks 
 of other Sacraments may be effaced and 
 replaced by repetition but not so in those 
 Sacraments which confer a character. 
 
 Since, therefore, Confirmation can be 
 received but once, the importance of re- 
 ceiving it well cannot be exaggerated. It 
 is a fact to which most spiritual directors 
 bear witness that from a bad Confirmation 
 and a bad First Communion, we can trace 
 all the subsequent deviations of many 
 from the right road. Their sin was con- 
 cealed for a time but the disease by being 
 long hidden comes out all the more dread- 
 fully afterwards. 
 
 A stream long pent up, if at last it 
 bursts its bounds, sweeps away with re- 
 
CONFIRMATION. 69 
 
 sistless force every obstacle in its path. 
 Parents should remember that the vices 
 of their matured sons and daughters were 
 sown in youth. At first these vices were 
 but seeds, and might easily have been de- 
 stroyed; but now that they have grown 
 to frightful proportions their eradication 
 is a matter of great difficulty and almost 
 hopeless. 
 
 In Confirmation we receive the gifts and 
 fruits of the Holy Ghost. The gifts of the 
 Holy Ghost are wisdom, understanding, 
 counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and 
 fear of the Lord. We receive wisdom to 
 give us a relish for the things of God, 
 and to direct our whole life and all our ac- 
 tions to His honor and glory ; understand- 
 ing to enable us to know more clearly the 
 mysteries of faith; counsel to warn us 
 of the deceits of the devil, and of the 
 dangers of salvation; fortitude to 
 strengthen us to do the will of God in all 
 things ; knowledge to enable us to discover 
 the will of God in all things; piety to 
 make us love God as a Father and obey 
 Him because we love Him; fear of the 
 Lord to fill us with a dread of sin. 
 
70 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 The fruits of the Holy Ghost are, as it 
 were, the offspring of His gifts. They are 
 charity, joy, peace, patience, benignity, 
 goodness, long-suffering, mildness, faith, 
 modesty, continency and chastity. 
 
 If the Sacrament does not produce in 
 us the wonderful fruits which belong to 
 it, it is because we have not received it 
 worthily, or, having received it well, have 
 lost its graces. 
 
 For the worthy reception of the Sacra- 
 ment of Confirmation, three things are ne- 
 cessary. 
 
 The receiver should be sufficiently in- 
 structed according to his age and mental 
 capacity in the necessary knowledge of 
 Christian Doctrine, for, otherwise, he can- 
 not have a proper understanding of what 
 he is doing, nor those devout affections of 
 the soul towards God which prepare the 
 soul for receiving the graces of the Sacra- 
 ments. Moreover, the duty which faith 
 imposes upon us requires that we should 
 be instructed in those parts of Christian 
 Doctrine which each one ought to know 
 according to his state in life, his age and 
 his capacity. 
 
CONFIRMATION. 71 
 
 We must be in a state of grace, for the 
 Holy Scriptures (Wisdom 1, 4) assures us 
 that the Holy Spirit of Wisdom will not 
 enter into a malicious soul nor dwell in a 
 body subject to sin. It would, therefore, 
 be a sacrilege for a person who knows him- 
 self to be in a state of mortal sin to pre- 
 sume to receive the Sacrament without 
 taking the necessary measures to put his 
 soul in the state of grace and to be recon- 
 ciled with God. 
 
 We should have an ardent desire of re- 
 ceiving the Holy Ghost with the abundance 
 of His graces, and spend some time in 
 prayer and preparation. Thus, the Apos- 
 tles prepared themselves during the ten 
 days between the Ascension of our Lord 
 and the descent of the Holy Ghost on Pen- 
 tecost; "All these were persevering with 
 one mind in prayer, with the women and 
 the Mother of Jesus and with His breth- 
 ren." (Acts 1-14). If the Apostles, by 
 the special inspiration of God, gave them- 
 selves up to prayerful preparation for the 
 coming of the Holy Ghost, how much more 
 ought we to do so. Our Savior assures 
 us that "Your Father from Heaven will 
 
72 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 give the good spirit to them that ask 
 Him." (Luke, XI-13). 
 
 From these dispositions which are re- 
 quired for the proper reception of Confir- 
 mation, parents may conclude how strictly 
 they are bound to instruct their children, 
 and to assist those who are preparing 
 them for this Sacrament. 
 
 If we have lost the grace of this Sacra- 
 ment, we must not despair, but strive to 
 make amends for the effect of our sin by a 
 good confession which will cause these 
 graces to revive. 
 
 Confirmation imposes on us the obliga- 
 tion of confessing before men our faith in 
 Jesus Christ, even at the peril of our lives, 
 and of never blushing for His Gospel or 
 cowering before human respect. The grace 
 of Confirmation which enables us to fulfil 
 this great duty of Christ's children is cer- 
 tainly necessary in this day of infidelity 
 and religious indifference, of rationalism 
 and materialism. 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST : The 
 
 Food of The Soul; The Teach- 
 ing of The Church. 
 
 HUS far we have considered the na- 
 ture and effects of the Sacraments 
 of Baptism and Confirmation, and 
 we have marvelled at the wonders 
 of God's mercy and wisdom as displayed in 
 these Sacraments. By Baptism we are 
 born again spiritually and become one of 
 the family and household of God, princes 
 of the Kingdom of Heaven. By Confir- 
 mation, the complement of Baptism, we 
 were transformed from spiritual childhood 
 to spiritual manhood, from a child of 
 Christ into a man of God, from an inno- 
 cent but helpless infancy to a strong man- 
 hood. 
 
 We come now to another Sacrament, the 
 Holy Eucharist, the greatest and most ex- 
 cellent of all the Sacraments; that Sacra- 
 ment which contains and gives to us really, 
 truly and substantially Jesus Christ Him- 
 self. 
 
 By Baptism we are born into the 
 
74 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 Church; by Confirmation we become full 
 grown men of God, able to defend our- 
 selves against our enemies, to overcome 
 all obstacles, to endure every kind of suf- 
 fering; we are made soldiers of Jesus 
 Christ. But a man, be he ever so robust, 
 cannot live without food. No soldier, how- 
 ever handsomely accoutred, however 
 orave, but needs food to preserve his 
 strength and sustain his courage. Other- 
 wise he becomes weak and is easily 
 defeated. 
 
 God regenerates us in Baptism, He per- 
 fects our spiritual growth in Confirmation, 
 and He gives us food in the Most Holy 
 Sacrament of the Eucharist. Protestants 
 say that we have been left a mere remem- 
 brance of Christ, His sufferings and death. 
 How poor, how mean, they would make 
 the bounty of God! 
 
 According to them, He would have done 
 more for the Jews than for the Christians ; 
 He would have bestowed upon them the 
 marks of His favor, while He would have 
 left us orphans, deprived of His graces 
 and rendered poor indeed. 
 
 If the contention of Protestantism were 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 75 
 
 true, where would we find any superiority 
 in the lot of the Christians over that of 
 the Jews ? There would be, rather, a mani- 
 fest inferiority, for while they witnessed 
 many miracles, we would witness none; 
 while they were blessed with His sacred 
 presence and counselled by God Himself, 
 He would be a complete stranger to us; 
 while they had authorized and reliable 
 teachers whom they might follow, we 
 would be left to the uncertainty of our own 
 wandering reason. 
 
 According to Protestant theology, our 
 Savior would have come and gone forever 
 without telling us distinctly His will, with- 
 out declaring definitely His truth, without 
 teaching us even the delight of His pres- 
 ence which even the Jews in the 
 Temple enjoyed, without any miracle to 
 correspond to the magnificent ones of the 
 old law. 
 
 The Catholic Church owns to a simpli- 
 fication of the outward observance imposed 
 upon us, but her doctrine is richer because 
 the reality has replaced the shadow, so 
 that there is greater faith required to be- 
 lieve, greater strength and constancy to 
 
76 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 practice, while there are immensely 
 greater graces and favors conferred upon 
 us. And in that sense we must under- 
 stand that we are worshippers now in 
 spirit and in truth. We alone can say "we 
 believe in the love which God has for us." 
 (John IV, 16). 
 
 That we may proceed with order, let 
 us first understand and recall the doc- 
 trine of the Church on the Eucharist. This 
 doctrine may be summed up in three great 
 dogmas, — the Real Presence, the Sacra- 
 ment and the Sacrifice. 
 
 We believe that in this Sacrament there 
 are contained, after the words of Conse- 
 cration, the Body and Blood, Soul and Di- 
 vinity of Jesus Christ, who is really, truly 
 and substantially present and not merely 
 as a sign, a figure or representation. We 
 say, "after the words of Consecration" to 
 offset the error of those people who hold 
 that the Body of Christ is everywhere, as 
 in the omnipresence of the Divinity, and, 
 therefore, is in the bread and wine before 
 Consecration, and of those Protestants who 
 declare that Christ is only present during 
 the act of Communion and not in the ele- 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 77 
 
 ments immediately after Consecration; 
 "truly/' to exclude any more figurative 
 presence ; "really," not merely in the soul 
 of the communicant or as apprehended by 
 faith; "substantially," in themselves, not 
 merely in effect or power. 
 
 A necessary corollary of the Real Pres- 
 ence is the dogma of Transubstantiation, 
 by which the Church declares that the 
 whole substance of the bread is changed 
 into the whole substance of the Body of 
 Christ, and the whole substance of the 
 wine into the whole substance of His 
 Blood. 
 
 The substance of a thing is that which 
 lies under its sensible appearance. Hence 
 we do not know its existence by the senses 
 but by reason. All we see, feel, taste, 
 smell, hear, belong to the thing, but they 
 are not the thing itself. They are called 
 its accidents because they may or may not 
 be in the thing without its ceasing to be. 
 Thus bread has a certain form, taste, color, 
 yet these qualities do not make up our idea 
 of bread. They might be changed and yet 
 our idea of bread remains. 
 
 Now the miracle of the Holy Eucharist 
 
78 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 is just the reverse of this. The substance 
 of bread by the words of Consecration is 
 changed into the substance of the Body of 
 Christ but the appearance of bread still 
 remains. This is what we mean when we 
 say the substance is changed but the acci- 
 dents remain. 
 
 Jesus Christ is present under the ap- 
 pearance of bread and wine and under 
 each part of each species after the Conse- 
 cration, and remains as long as the species 
 remain uncorrupted. 
 
 The Blessed Eucharist is a true Sacra- 
 ment even under one species. This has 
 been taught against by those who maintain 
 that the Catholic Church mutilates this 
 Sacrament by denying the chalice to the 
 laity. The Holy Eucharist is moreover, a 
 real, true sacrifice, though mystic and un- 
 bloody, of the Body and Blood of Christ. 
 
 Therefore in the Holy Eucharist we have 
 three great points of belief, the Real Pres- 
 ence of Jesus Christ, the reality of the 
 Sacrament, the reality of the Sacrifice. 
 These are three distinct ideas and we honor 
 these three mysteries in different, distinct 
 ways. We honor the Real Presence by ado- 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 79 
 
 ration and worship, as when we visit and 
 kneel before the Tabernacle ; we honor the 
 Sacrifice by being present at Mass and tak- 
 ing part in it; we honor the Sacrament by 
 receiving Holy Communion. 
 
 Sin made a triple wound in our soul. 
 It caused us to forget God ; the Holy Euch- 
 arist soothes this first wound by Christ's 
 real Presence, which induces and obliges 
 us to remember Him. In sinning we of- 
 fend God grievously and rob Him of His 
 glory; His glory is restored by the Mass, 
 a sacrifice of inestimable value. Our own 
 nature was weakened and corrupted ; Holy 
 Communion cures this third wound, and 
 heals and strengthens us. 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST : The 
 
 Real Presence; Christ's 
 Promise. 
 
 IN speaking of the Real Presence our 
 object is not to settle any doubt in 
 the mind of Catholics nor to give 
 any direct proof of it, for the doc- 
 trine is founded on the authority of an 
 infallible God and all the analogies of the 
 Christian religion imperatively demand it. 
 Our purpose is to reply to the objections 
 of our enemies and to explain the meaning 
 of those parts of the Testament which 
 bear evidence to the truth of this great 
 Catholic doctrine. 
 
 The first great font of our belief is found 
 in the sixth chapter of St. John's gospel, 
 which is generally divided by Catholic 
 theologians into three parts. The first 
 part, from the first to the twenty-sixth 
 verse, is a historical narrative of the won- 
 derous miracle whereby our Savior fed five 
 thousand persons with five loaves, of His 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 81 
 
 walking on the sea and of the search for 
 Him by the crowds the next day. 
 
 At the twenty-sixth verse Christ's dis- 
 course begins. With the story of the effect 
 it produces on the Jews, it occupies the rest 
 of the chapter, which contains seventy-two 
 verses. The chapter pictures, according to 
 Cardinal Wiseman, a striking counterpart 
 to the whole of our Redeemer's life; it 
 opens midst the wonder and admiration 
 and the reverence of the multitude, and it 
 closes with the scoffs and persecution of 
 the Jews, the desertion of His disciples 
 and the vacillating perplexity of the chosen 
 twelve. 
 
 Christ and His Apostles always adapted 
 their sermons to the circumstances of time, 
 persons and place. They were always care- 
 ful to draw the lessons from the miracles 
 which they had performed. This practice 
 we note in Christ's talk to the Samaritan 
 woman at the well ; in the cure of a long 
 languishing man, (Jo.V) ; in the casting 
 out of a devil (Mat. XII, 44) ; in the restor- 
 ing of sight to the man who had been born 
 blind. (John IX, 39). 
 
 No more favorable opportunity could be 
 
82 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 desired for propounding the doctrine of 
 the Real Presence than the event narrated 
 in the sixth chapter of St. John, for the 
 miracle itself reminds one strongly of the 
 Holy Eucharist, and compels the thinking 
 man to connect the discourse occasioned by 
 it with that Sacrament. It is almost in- 
 comprehensible and in apparent oppo- 
 sition to the laws of matter ; for the feed- 
 ing of five thousand persons with five 
 loaves is as contradictory as the presence 
 of Christ's body on thousands of altars at 
 the same time. And it was accompanied 
 by the same outward acts which our Lord 
 afterwards used in the institution of the 
 Eucharist. 
 
 A thoughtful comparison of St. John 
 VI. and Mat. XIV, with Luke XXII., 19 and 
 Mark VI-36 will create the strongest pre- 
 sumption in favor of the Catholic interpre- 
 tation of the sixth chapter of St. John. 
 This presumption is strengthened by the 
 fact that this chapter has always been re- 
 garded as referring to the Eucharist and 
 as establishing the Real Presence. It would 
 certainly be strange if the truth should 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 83 
 
 have been found by the so-called reform- 
 ers of sixteenth century. 
 
 The natural and obvious meaning of this 
 chapter refers to the Eucharist and the 
 Real Presence. Our Savior refers in the 
 first place to the manna, the bread from 
 Heaven, which was given to the Jews in 
 the desert, and promises a better bread 
 than that which was only a figure of what 
 he was to give. 
 
 Now if our Savior, in speaking of this 
 manna, did not allude to the Holy Euch- 
 arist, which has the appearance of 
 bread, of what could He have been think- 
 ing? If simply to Himself, His illustra- 
 tions were senseless and unintelligible. 
 When we compare things there must be 
 some similarity which suggests the compa- 
 rison. If this chapter refers to the Blessed 
 Eucharist, this comparison is natural and 
 apt, otherwise it is ridiculous and foolish. 
 The subsequent institution of the Eucha- 
 rist under the form of bread and wine con- 
 forms strictly to this promise. 
 
 In all that follows the impression deep- 
 ens that our Savior speaks of the Euch- 
 arist, for after leaving us to think of the 
 
84 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 Eucharist He proceeds to strengthen 
 our first impressions. If He were speaking 
 of His person and of faith in Him, His lan- 
 guage is most unreasonable. He would be 
 subverting all rules of speech, for in no in- 
 stance in the Sacred Scriptures are eating 
 and drinking flesh and blood used in the 
 sense of spiritual refreshment. If Christ 
 were speaking of Himself, His flesh and 
 blood were not the objects of faith, but 
 His divine person, in which were hyposta- 
 tically united the divinity and humanity. 
 
 Moreover, in the language of the Scrip- 
 tures, to eat one's flesh when used figur- 
 atively means to calumniate and griev- 
 ously injure that person. Again Christ 
 speaks in the future. This would be pre- 
 posterous if He spoke simply of His person, 
 because having been from the beginning 
 and to be for all eternity, He would natur- 
 ally say "I give/ 9 not "I shall give." There 
 is no relation whatsoever between His per- 
 son and bread and wine. 
 
 Christ could not have been speaking of 
 His presence by a sign, for then His words 
 would be meaningless. If there were noth- 
 ing in the Eucharist but a sign and a sym- 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 85 
 
 bol, how would bread, which would then be 
 only blessed bread, realize all that our 
 Savior says of it? He declares it to be bet- 
 ter than manna ; yet manna was a miracu- 
 lous bread which came down from Heaven, 
 while the Eucharist would simply be com- 
 mon bread blessed by man. He says that 
 it is to ensure immortality; but if it be 
 simply a symbol, how could it have such 
 efficiency? If Christ wished to speak of 
 the Holy Eucharist simply as a symbol, 
 having no inherent virtue, He took the ut- 
 most pains to be misunderstood. 
 
 The manner in which the Jews under- 
 stood Christ confirms all this. They un- 
 derstood His words in the sense that He 
 meant to give them His real flesh to eat, 
 but, as they could not understand how this 
 could be done and would not in the 
 simplicity of faith believe it upon His 
 w r ord, they therefore strove among them- 
 selves, saying, "How can this Man give us 
 His flesh to eat?" 
 
 From this text and from what follows 
 we have a most convincing proof of the 
 Real Presence; and that the literal, plain 
 and obvious sense of Christ's words, in 
 
86 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 which the Jews understood Him, was the 
 very sense and meaning which He in- 
 tended. It is evident from the murmur- 
 ings of the Jews that they understood Him 
 in the literal sense as promising to give 
 them His real flesh to eat, and that His 
 own words compelled them so to under- 
 stand Him. 
 
 If, therefore, the literal sense which re- 
 fers to the Real Presence had not been His 
 meaning, and if He were speaking only in 
 a figurative sense, then the Jews were mis- 
 taken as to His true meaning, and He him- 
 self had led them into their mistake. He 
 was bound then to undeceive them. In- 
 stead He confirms their first impression 
 in the strongest language. He allows them 
 to go away with this impression in their 
 minds and when they were gone, instead 
 of explaining Himself more clearly to the 
 chosen twelve, He reiterates His instruc- 
 tions in the same uncompromising terms 
 and exacts faith in the only sense which 
 His words would admit. 
 
 If Christ had some other meaning be- 
 sides that which the words naturally sig- 
 nify, it is most probable that the theolo- 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 87 
 
 gian, St. John, would have made some ex- 
 planation to reveal the true and hidden 
 meaning of our Savior, as he has in so 
 many other instances. Everything, then, in 
 this chapter of St. John — the words of our 
 Savior, the conduct of the Jews, the nar- 
 rative of St. John — shows conclusively 
 that our Savior made a promise of the 
 Real Presence of His Body in the Sacra- 
 ment of the Holy Eucharist subsequently 
 to be instituted. 
 
 In the Catholic explanation of this chap- 
 ter, everything is consistent from first to 
 last. In the interpretation of Protestant- 
 ism, everything is unnatural and forced, 
 contradictory and repugnant to the rules 
 of language and to the dictates of common 
 sense and unworthy of Christ. 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST : The 
 
 Real Presence; Christ's 
 Promise Fulfilled. 
 
 ^jlAVING considered at length the 
 JL|| promise of the Eucharist we shall 
 J\f^ now examine the words and cir- 
 cumstances in which this promise 
 is fulfilled and the Eucharist which Christ 
 had promised in such splendid terms was 
 instituted. 
 
 The institution of the Holy Eucharist 
 is recorded in Matthew XXVI., 26-28, Mark 
 XIV, 22-24, Luke XXII, 19-20, and I Corin- 
 thians XI, 23-25. We have seen that the 
 words in St. John's Gospel were spoken 
 some time before the institution of the 
 Holy Eucharist; that they created a pro- 
 found impression on the minds of the 
 Apostles, whom our Savior took every pos- 
 sible means to persuade that He was going 
 to bless them with His real presence, and 
 they believed the words of their Master 
 and were persuaded that He then prom- 
 ised to give them a heavenly, life-giving 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 89 
 
 bread, and that this divine bread was His 
 "very flesh for the life of the world." 
 
 From that day forward the Apostles 
 lived in expectation of the fulfilment of 
 that promise, of the reception of this heav- 
 enly food. In the meantime, they saw Him 
 perform miracles of all kinds. Nature was 
 in everything obedient to His word. At 
 length the desired day came. They were 
 celebrating the anniversary of the passage 
 of the Jews through the Red Sea and 
 were eating the Paschal Lamb which was 
 immolated and eaten in every family. 
 "And whilst they were at supper, Jesus 
 took bread and blessed and broke and gave 
 to His disciples and said, Take ye and eat. 
 This is My Body/ And taking the chalice 
 He gave thanks and gave to them, saying, 
 'Drink ye all of this ; for this is My Blood 
 of the New Testament which shall be shed 
 for many unto the remission of sins/ 
 (Matt. XXVI.) 
 
 The impression which these words must 
 have made upon the Apostles is quite evi- 
 dent. They could not possibly consider 
 what our Blessed Savior here did and said 
 except in the light of the fulfilment of the 
 
90 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 promise He had made sometime before. 
 He had promised to give them a heavenly 
 bread ; He had, in the strongest terms, as- 
 sured them again and again that this di- 
 vine bread was His very flesh and blood, 
 Hence, they firmly believed that it was so, 
 because He, whom they knew to be the 
 Son of God had said it. 
 
 When, therefore, at the Last Supper He 
 fulfilled that promise they were prepared 
 to receive this heavenly food of His Body 
 and Blood. They expected it, and as such, 
 they received it from His hands. Though 
 while they received they might have cer- 
 tain difficulties, yet all these were obviated 
 by their belief in His Divinity and by the 
 numberless miracles which they had seen 
 Him perform. They were convinced that 
 He was able to do whatever He pleased 
 and to fulfil whatever He promised. 
 
 Our Lord and His disciples were keeping 
 the feast of the Pasch by eating the lamb 
 which was a striking type of Christ Him- 
 self. Christ was about to institute some- 
 thing to take the place of that sacrifice and 
 to fulfil it. It is unreasonable to suppose 
 that under such circumstances He would 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 91 
 
 substitute figure for figure, shadow for 
 shadow. We naturally expect reality in 
 place of figure and substance instead of 
 shadow. 
 
 The Last Supper was our Savior's last 
 act with His disciples before His death. 
 He was making His last will and testa- 
 ment. He is God infinite in power and 
 wisdom. "Having loved His own, He loved 
 them until the end." We naturally look 
 for some external display of love. He was 
 laying down a precept for perpetual ob- 
 servance. Surely then He would not speak 
 ambiguously; He knew that His words 
 would be taken literally by the greater 
 number of those who would believe in Him. 
 He knew that they would cause the gift to 
 be worshipped as God, and He purposely 
 selected His words, yet He neither indi- 
 cated Himself nor inspired the evangelists 
 to indicate that He was speaking figura- 
 tively. 
 
 From all this it is quite clear that the 
 literal interpretation is the true one, and 
 that when our Lord declared that which 
 He gave to his disciples to be His Body, it 
 was truly His Body; and that which He 
 
92 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 said was His Blood was truly His Blood. 
 "Hence," we conclude with Bossuet, 
 "the Real Presence is solidly established 
 by the words in which Christ instituted 
 the Eucharist, which we understand in 
 their very obvious and natural sense. Now 
 we cannot be called to account for this any 
 more than a traveler who follows the high 
 road. It is for those who follow obscure 
 paths and have recourse to the metaphor- 
 ical sense to justify their conduct." 
 
 The Scripture is to be taken in its literal 
 sense unless it is evident that it is to be 
 understood in another sense. This is so 
 clear that it needs no explanation. Not 
 only is there no argument to prove that 
 our Lord's words are to be taken figura- 
 tively, but there are many indisputable 
 proofs that they are to be taken in their 
 obvious meaning. 
 
 Protestants seek to establish a met- 
 aphorical interpretation, on the ground 
 that it evades a stupendous mystery. If 
 such a plea were admissible, then the re- 
 velation of any mystery would be impos- 
 sible, for every time a mystery would be 
 revealed, we would be in the position of 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 93 
 
 having to explain away the natural mean- 
 ing as a figure of speech. 
 
 There is nothing in this passage which 
 would lead us to interpret figuratively and 
 to believe that our Savior, when He said 
 of the bread, "This is My Body," gave to 
 the sign the name of the thing signified, 
 as for instance, a picture is called by the 
 person whom it represents, a map by the 
 country it describes. For bread is not an 
 obvious or intelligible representation of a 
 person's body. There is no relation of si- 
 milarity between them. And this is the 
 reason why all the parallel passages in 
 which a figurative sense is universally ad- 
 mitted are completely valueless. 
 
 So true is this that even Luther was 
 forced to admit, "I would that someone 
 could persuade me that there is in the 
 Eucharist nothing but bread and wine ; he 
 would bind me by a great benefit. I have 
 labored hard in this matter, and I saw that 
 in this way I could molest the Papacy. But 
 I see clearly that I am caught and there is 
 no way of escape; the text of the Gospel 
 is too clear." 
 
 On the contrary, we have every reason 
 
94 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 to believe that Christ intended His words 
 to be taken in a literal sense. The met- 
 aphorical sense is absolutely obscure, for, 
 when a term is used figuratively, the figure 
 is at once discovered by the natural simi- 
 larity of the object or by usage, or from 
 the context or from the declaration of the 
 speaker. But none of these conditions are 
 verified in the narrative of the Last 
 Supper. 
 
 Metaphors are used to add vivacity to 
 the expression and consequently the figur- 
 ative term of a comparison is always gen- 
 eral. In the present case it is impossible 
 to determine the figure or metaphor if 
 such is intended. Protestants have tried 
 since the sixteenth century but have not 
 succeeded in finding it. Again the cir- 
 cumstances of the festival of the Jewish 
 Passover and the institution of the Blessed 
 Sacrament which was to take its place, 
 show that our Lord intended to speak lit- 
 erally. 
 
 To sum up : These words should be taken 
 in the sense in which they were understood 
 by the Apostles and by the Church from 
 time immemorial. But both the Apostles 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 95 
 
 and the Universal Church have always 
 taken them in the literal sense. That the 
 Apostles so understood them is clear from 
 the fact that St. Paul, who relates the in- 
 stitution of the Blessed Sacrament, does 
 not warn us of the figurative sense. It is 
 an indisputable fact that the Church in 
 all ages has understood these words in 
 their literal and obvious sense. 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST : The 
 Real Presence; The Testi- 
 mony of The Ages. 
 
 X— IN the previous instruction we con- 
 eluded from the narrative of the 
 
 ggggj Last Supper that Jesus Christ must 
 be really and substantially present 
 in the Blessed Sacarment. Now we shall 
 show that even if all the Scriptures had 
 perished, if every text, on which we have 
 grounded our proofs, were contested as 
 spurious and rejected as unauthentic, we 
 should still have an invincible argument 
 from the tradition of the Universal 
 Church. This argument from tradition 
 we might develop either in a special 
 or a general form, but on account of our 
 limited space we shall have to confine our- 
 selves to the general form which is more 
 readily understood and appreciated. 
 
 The special proofs, therefore, we shall 
 not consider in detail, but pass over with 
 the simple statement that all the Councils, 
 all the Bishops, writers and doctors of the 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 97 
 
 Church, down to the time of the Refor- 
 mation, unanimously attest the doctrine of 
 the Real Presence. And those who seek 
 to overthrow this great dogma can pro- 
 duce only a few texts which are easily 
 explained and are of little account in face 
 of the uniform character of all written 
 documents previous to the Reformation. 
 
 The very accusations against the first 
 Christians point to the belief of the early 
 Church in the dogma of the Real Pres- 
 ence, for these calumnies must have had 
 some foundation. They were accused of 
 eating human flesh and of slaughtering 
 children for a sacrifice. But leaving aside 
 these special instances, we shall take up 
 the general argument. 
 
 All Christians must accept what the 
 Apostles believed and taught; but it is 
 quite clear that the Apostles believed and 
 taught the Real Presence. Now the Apos- 
 tles must have taught this doctrine if all 
 Christians at the time of the Reformation 
 believed in the Real Presence; for this 
 universal belief must have come down 
 from the Apostles. This fact is incon- 
 testable. 
 
98 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 No one will deny that, at the time of 
 the Reformation, all Christendom believed 
 in the Real Presence, as explained and 
 taught by the Catholic Church. In fact, 
 Luther himself admitted all her articles of 
 belief and he only rejected them because 
 his first error logically forced him so to 
 do. His inconsistency brought him, as it 
 has brought all Protestantism, into direct 
 contradiction with tradition and Scrip- 
 ture. Hence we have the strange exam- 
 ples of Luther wishing that the Scrip- 
 tures were not so clear on the Real Pres- 
 ence and of Claude obliged to admit that, 
 to be a Protestant, he must reject all tradi- 
 tion and all history. 
 
 If, then, the doctrine of the Real Pres- 
 ence was universally admitted and be- 
 lieved by the Christians in the six- 
 teenth century, at the time of the so- 
 called Reformation, this doctrine must 
 have come down from the Apostles. Other- 
 wise its origin and existence are inexplic- 
 able. If the Apostles had delivered a con- 
 trary belief, the doctrine of the Church to 
 have become what it was in the sixteenth 
 century must have undergone a change. 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 99 
 
 But there is no ground for asserting that 
 such a change took place. A change would 
 have to have come about either gradually 
 or suddenly, and either supposition is un- 
 tenable. 
 
 It could not have been made suddenly, 
 for it would have had to be made all over 
 the world at the same time. All the books 
 and writings and ceremonies would have 
 been altered the same way and at 
 the same moment. In a word, the world 
 should have gone to sleep believing one 
 thing and should have awakened believing 
 the contrary, no one protesting or even 
 noticing the change. But all history is 
 silent as to such a change. 
 
 Nor could the change have come about 
 gradually, for a change of belief on a point 
 of such vast importance, a change of be- 
 lief in the Eucharist, as a type of Christ, 
 to a belief in the Eucharist, as containing 
 the Body and Blood of Christ, could never 
 have been made without protests and dis- 
 cussions everywhere. 
 
 Moreover, it would be possible to as- 
 sign the time at which the change was 
 made. But those who claim that such a 
 
100 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 change occurred cannot point to any pe- 
 riod in history when such discussions and 
 protestations took place. They are obliged 
 to admit that when Berengarius in the 
 ninth and tenth centuries attemped to 
 question and shake the faith of the 
 Church, he was universally condemned. 
 The whole Christian world rose up against 
 him and his heresy did not extend beyond 
 a few, nor survive even himself. 
 
 No period can be assigned as the time 
 when a Catholic doctrine which is so 
 strange and extraordinary was introduced. 
 For if a change had come about it must 
 have taken place from the first to the 
 fourth century, or from the fourth cen- 
 tury to the ninth century, or from the 
 ninth century to the sixteenth century. 
 But it is impossible to find any proof for 
 such a change in any of these periods. 
 
 The Protestants claim that during the 
 first centuries Christianity existed in all 
 its purity; from the fourth to the ninth 
 centuries, there were sects without num- 
 bers, Arians, Nestorians, Eutychians, who 
 were deadly enemies of the Church. Any 
 change occurring at that time must have 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 101 
 
 been either by heretics or by Catholics. If 
 by heretics they would have been taunted 
 for the change by the Catholics. If by the 
 Catholics, the accusation would have come 
 from the heretics. 
 
 It cannot be maintained that this change 
 of belief took place from the ninth to the 
 sixteenth century, for it was during this 
 time that the Greeks became Schismatics, 
 that the Oriental Church reunited and sep- 
 arated a second time from the Latin 
 Church. If during that time any change 
 had been made, objections would have 
 certainly been raised on one side or the 
 other. Moreover, it cannot be supposed 
 that the change could have been made by 
 the concurrence of both parties, or if made 
 by one party, it would have been admitted 
 and believed by the other. 
 
 The Greek Church still exists and there 
 are remains in the East of the earlier here- 
 sies. We have the writings of their doc- 
 tors, their prayer books, their Catechisms 
 and their liturgical books and observances. 
 Yet on the doctrine of the Eucharist they 
 agree exactly with the belief and doctrine 
 of the Catholic Church. 
 
102 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 The Apostles must then have transmit- 
 ted the doctrine of the Eucharist which 
 we hold and teach. Otherwise a change 
 must have taken place, of which, some 
 proof or vestige would remain. This we 
 have shown not to be the case. 
 
 To sum up, therefore, the proofs of the 
 Real Presence : the words of the Consecra- 
 tion pronounced by our Savior at the Last 
 Supper and recorded in Matthew XXVI, 
 Mark XII, Luke XXII, 1 Corinthian, XI, 
 are the foundation proofs. The words 
 taken by themselves are clear and con- 
 vincing proof of the Real Presence, as 
 was admitted even by Martin Luther. But 
 if those words are taken in their ante- 
 cedents, and in their effects and conse- 
 quences, the proof is overwhelming. 
 
 In their antecendents — there are innu- 
 merable figures of the Eucharist in the Old 
 Testament and they suppose it, in as much 
 as Christianity was in all things to abolish 
 the shadow and the figure and leave us the 
 reality. Moreover, our Savior promised 
 this mystery solemnly on the occasion de- 
 scribed in the sixth chapter of St. John's 
 Epistle. 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 103 
 
 In their effects and consequences — the 
 action and the doctrine of the Apostles 
 show us that Jesus at the Last Supper, 
 meant to give us this Sacrament. The 
 Church and the immense majority of even 
 dissident Christians admit this doctrine 
 and act consistently with their beliefs. If 
 the Real Presence is not admitted, the fig- 
 ures of the Old Testament were never real- 
 ized ; our Savior's own promise was absurd 
 and never fulfilled ; His conduct at the Last 
 Supper is deserving of censure, since at 
 the most solemn moment of His life, He 
 deceives His Apostles; He who came to 
 enlighten the world plunged His Apostles 
 and all His followers into error and idol- 
 atry. 
 
 Believing the Real Presence, the conduct 
 of God in the Old Testament and of Jesus 
 Christ in the New is perfectly rational, 
 full of power, magnificence, wisdom, good- 
 ness; otherwise the doctrine of the Apos- 
 tles and the faith of the Church are incom- 
 prehensible. We possess in the Eucharist 
 a treasure which demonstrates the full 
 measure of God's goodness towards us. 
 History no longer remains a painful 
 
104 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 enigma and the Scriptures a deceit. If the 
 doctrine of the Real Presence be not true, 
 truth in this world is unattainable, Chris- 
 tianity is a delusion. 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST : Its 
 Worship. 
 
 rJQplAITH teaches us firmly to believe in 
 IJl^I the Real Presence of our Lord Jesus 
 ffijjl And this same Lord, whose Pres- 
 ence in the Eucharist we believe, is God, 
 the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, 
 who for us and for our salvation was born 
 into the world and taking to Himself our 
 lowly nature dwelt amongst us and died 
 for us. 
 
 Since Christ is present, therefore, in the 
 Blessed Sacrament and since He is God, it 
 follows, as a necessary and inevitable con- 
 sequence, that Christ in the Eucharist 
 must be worshipped as God dwelling with 
 us, and we must give to Him the homage 
 of our adoration. His being we do not per- 
 ceive; His presence we do not feel; but 
 faith tells us He is there and we must 
 adore Him. 
 
 If we were not to believe in the Real 
 Presence and yet adore the Blessed Sacra- 
 ment, we would be like idolaters; and if, 
 
106 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 believing in His divine Presence, we did 
 not worship and adore Him, we would be 
 impious. Our devotion, then, to the 
 Blessed Sacrament will be in proportion to 
 the intensity of our faith in the Real Pres- 
 ence. Coldness and indifference to the 
 Holy Eucharist betoken a corresponding: 
 weakness of faith in our hearts. 
 
 Some allege as a reason, or rather, an 
 excuse for their coldness that they can not 
 realize the presence of Christ, since they 
 cannot see Him. They say that if they 
 had but lived in His day, had seen Him and 
 conversed with Him, then indeed their 
 hearts would have burned within them. 
 Yet those who lived in our Savior's time 
 have left us in the history of our Lord's 
 Passion a sufficient testimony to the im- 
 pression which His life and miracles made 
 upon their hearts. 
 
 If His humanity is hidden from us in the 
 Eucharist His divinity was veiled under 
 His humanity during His life, and if the 
 stupendous miracles attest that His divi- 
 nity, though veiled, was no less real, so the 
 proofs of reason and the teaching of faith 
 and the miracles, which in the history of 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 107 
 
 the Church have illustrated his teaching 
 and strengthened those proofs, are to us 
 more than sufficient evidence that His hu- 
 manity is really, truly and substantially 
 present though we cannot see it naturally 
 or perceive it with the senses. 
 
 If we believe, therefore, firmly and 
 adore profoundly, we shall be numbered 
 with those blessed of our Savior who have 
 believed though they have not seen. 
 
 The Council of Trent specifies the quali- 
 ties of the worship to be rendered to our 
 Savior. This worship must be internal, 
 external and public. Tradition is very ex- 
 plicit on this point, as may be seen from 
 the liturgies. St. Chrysostom says that the 
 angels are present here and adore, where- 
 fore, then, do we hesitate ; and, again, that 
 as the Magi came in reverence and fear 
 adoring Him, so should we. They saw 
 Him in the manger, His divinity hidden 
 under His poverty, His misery, His help- 
 less state of infancy; we see Him on the 
 altar; so we also should adore. And St. 
 Augustine says that no one should take 
 this food unless he has first adored it. 
 
 The Liturgies confirm by act what we 
 
108 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 gather from the words of the Fathers; 
 according to all the Liturgies, the Host 
 and the chalice are elevated after the Con- 
 secration in order that we may adore 
 Christ present. 
 
 Protestants themselves see the logic of 
 our adoration. They do not adore Christ 
 in the Eucharist because they do not be- 
 lieve in His Presence. We would not be 
 consistent unless we adored Him. As, on 
 the contrary, it would be idolatry to adore 
 the Blessed Sacrament if Christ were not 
 really present. Hence, Clausen after 
 Zwingle, Calvin and Beza, declares adora- 
 tion of the Blessed Sacrament to be a log- 
 ical and necessary consequence of our 
 Catholic Doctrine of the Real Presence. 
 And therefore, his followers were very 
 much incensed against Luther, because in 
 his later days, he called the Eucharist the 
 adorable Sacrament, thereby clearly im- 
 plying the Real Presence. 
 
 The Council of Trent justly condemns 
 and anathematizes him who denies that 
 Christ in the Eucharist is to be adored as 
 God, for, it observes, we believe that same 
 God to be present whom God the Father 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 109 
 
 introduced into the world, whose coming 
 the angels announced, whom the Magi 
 prostrating themselves adored, whom the 
 Apostles, as the Gospel relates, adored in 
 Gallilee. 
 
 This adoration should be both internal 
 and external, since in the Blessed Sacra- 
 ment, God is present in an external 
 and sensible way. This. external worship 
 must be, moreover, public, because the 
 Blessed Sacrament is a family treasure, 
 belonging to the whole Church, possessed 
 by us all. 
 
 The greatest object of the Catholic de- 
 votion is the Blessed Sacrament, since in it 
 we have God really present. The Eucharist 
 is the centre of Catholic worship, from 
 which all others radiate and to which they 
 all refer. Hence, we pay worship of the 
 most splendid kind to the Blessed Sacra- 
 ment, such worship as we pay only to 
 God. 
 
 The Council of Trent says there is, 
 therefore, no room for doubt that all the 
 faithful of Christ according to the custom 
 ever received in the Catholic Church 
 
110 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 should venerate the most Blessed Sacra- 
 ment with the same supreme worship 
 which belongs to the one true God. Nor, 
 because it was instituted by our Lord to be 
 received as food, ought it on that account 
 to be any the less an object of devotion, 
 for we believe that in it is present that 
 same God whom when the eternal Father 
 brought into the world, He said, "Let all 
 the angels of God adore Him." 
 
 When our Lord was about to die for us 
 He instituted the Holy Eucharist. And in 
 the last words He spoke before ascending 
 into Heaven, as related by St. Matthew, 
 when He promised to be with His Dis- 
 ciples all days even to the consummation 
 of the world, He refers not merely to the 
 coming of the Holy Ghost who was to 
 abide with them forever, but to His own 
 real though invisible Presence with them 
 in the Blessed Sacrament. 
 
 As in the temple at Jerusalem and in 
 the tabernacle in the wilderness there was 
 a divine Presence which Moses and the 
 priests could have recourse to in times of 
 difficulty and trouble, so God is really pres- 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST. Ill 
 
 ent in the Blessed Sacrament within reach 
 of the faithful that they may present 
 themselves before Him with their requests 
 and in their troubles. 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST : Its 
 Place In The Church. 
 
 ^=7|ESUS CHRIST is our Savior; 
 v^l through Him alone we receive 
 H H God's mercies and graces. Through 
 His merits only may we hope to do 
 God's will here and enjoy His blessedness 
 hereafter. There are others, indeed, in 
 whose help we may place our confidence, 
 for whose assistance we may anxiously 
 apply ; but they can help us only through 
 Christ. They are like the moon and the 
 stars, which reflect a light not their own 
 but borrowed from the sun. 
 
 Hence, with beautiful aptness our Sa- 
 vior has been called in the Holy Scriptures 
 the Sun of Justice, and our Blessed Lady 
 has been likened to the moon and the 
 Saints to the stars. Devotion, therefore, 
 to our Blessed Savior is the one we must 
 esteem above all others. As in the Blessed 
 Sacrament we possess our Savior really, 
 truly and substantially, in all His life and 
 power — a way in which we enjoy neither 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 113 
 
 the presence of the Blessed Virgin nor of 
 the Saints — devotion to the Blessed Sacra- 
 ment should be our greatest delight. That 
 devotion alone can give us salvation, since 
 it is directed to the Author and Source of 
 all salvation. 
 
 St. Thomas Aquinas refers everything 
 in Christianity and in the Church to the 
 Blessed Sacrament as its center. He 
 teaches that all the grace we receive be- 
 fore we are participators in this queen of 
 Sacraments we receive only in proportion 
 as we implicitly desire to receive Holy 
 Communion; that the Blessed Sacrament 
 is both the augmentation and perfection 
 of the spiritual life within us; that the 
 passion of our Lord is the fountain, origin 
 and principle of the Blessed Sacrament. 
 
 This devotion is the life of the Church. 
 Without it we are cold and helpless. Pri- 
 vate devotion at home is doubtless good. 
 "The still, domestic oratory," says Car- 
 dinal Wiseman, "with its little tokens of 
 piety, is very composing and soothing, but 
 the great and generous thoughts of Cath- 
 olic heroism and sanctity are inspired at 
 
114 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 the altar, where the adorable Sacrament 
 reposes." 
 
 Devotion, then, to the Blessed Sacra- 
 ment should hold the most prominent place 
 in the heart of every Catholic. It should 
 pervade his whole life, since it is a mark 
 of love and loyalty to his Lord and Savior. 
 In it he should find consolation, encourage- 
 ment and strength in the daily strife 
 which he must wage to keep his soul clean 
 and unsullied and pleasing in the sight of 
 God. To Christ and the Blessed Sacra- 
 ment the devout Catholic will bring his 
 successes and his failures, his doubts and 
 his misgivings. To his Lord, present in 
 the tabernacle, he will come daily to offer 
 his thanksgiving for the graces and bless- 
 ings which flow into his life from the great 
 White Throne above; to ask help in the 
 difficulties that beset him. 
 
 There should be no need to urge Cath- 
 olics to have great devotion to the Blessed 
 Sacrament, for it is the center of the life 
 of the Church and should be the most im- 
 portant thing in the life of the individual. 
 The devotion is so easily practised. Where 
 is the town or city today which has not 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 115 
 
 its Catholic Church that is easy of access 
 to everyone? There the Blessed Sacra- 
 ment is kept; there Christ waits for His 
 children to come to Him, that He help 
 them, make life easier, strengthen them, 
 heal the wounds that the cruel world in- 
 flicts on their souls. Yet how few, com- 
 paratively, pay a visit daily or even less 
 often to the Blessed Sacrament. 
 
 True, there are many who daily visit the 
 Blessed Sacrament, not only once but even 
 more often, good souls whose love for their 
 Master leads them to His feet to learn 
 there the secret of perfection. There are 
 thousands upon thousands, however, who 
 enter the Church only on Sundays to at- 
 tend the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. They 
 show little realization of the meaning of 
 the great doctrine of the Real Presence. 
 
 Nowadays there is absolutely no excuse 
 for such indifference. It is safe to say that 
 there is scarcely a Catholic today who 
 does not pass a Catholic Church daily, who 
 could not spend at least five minutes be- 
 fore the Blessed Sacrament. In season and 
 out of season, the priest tells his flock of 
 the priceless value of devotion to the 
 
116 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 Blessed Sacrament. Everything in the 
 Church points to its preeminence, but in 
 spite of it all the majority of Catholics 
 maintain an indifference that is impossible 
 to explain. 
 
 There is also a simpler devotion to the 
 Blessed Sacrament which unfortunately 
 in our days seems to be dying out. Time 
 was when no Catholic passed the Church 
 without making some sign of recognition 
 of the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. 
 Unfortunately, it is getting altogether too 
 common to notice Catholics pass the 
 Church, either walking or in the street 
 cars, and ignore entirely the fact that 
 Christ is present therein. It surely takes 
 no effort for a man to raise his hat when 
 passing a Catholic Church. It is a custom 
 that should not be permitted to die out. 
 
 The excellence of Devotion to the 
 Blessed Sacrament cannot too often be in- 
 sisted upon. It is the maintenance of 
 Catholic life and of Catholic activity. The 
 Catholic who does not believe it, is Cath- 
 olic only in name. There is no excuse for 
 the man or woman who is not devout to 
 the Blessed Sacrament. 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST : De- 
 votion To The Blessed 
 Sacrament. 
 
 X 
 
 N the Blessed Sacrament Christ lives 
 in His Church and is the soul of 
 her life. From His Sacred Pres- 
 ence radiate all her power and 
 energy. He is the centre of her worship ; 
 to Him are referred all her homage and 
 devotion. In her adoration of Her divine 
 Spouse, the Church employs various forms. 
 A common practice in Catholic countries 
 is that of attending the Blessed Sacrament 
 when it is carried through the streets to 
 the sick, and of joining in the more solemn 
 processions of the Blessed Sacrament on 
 the Feast of Corpus Christi and at other 
 times. The former is not practised in this 
 country, but the latter, with the breaking 
 down of prejudice and bigotry, is growing 
 every year. 
 
 There is no devotion to the Blessed Sac- 
 rament more natural and simple than that 
 of escorting the priest who bears the body 
 
118 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 of our Lord. Were our Lord again visibly 
 upon earth He would be attended wher- 
 ever He went by crowds of the faithful, 
 who out of reverence and love would be 
 anxious to be near Him and to show Him 
 every sign of honor. So, because it is Our 
 Lord who is present in the Blessed Sacra- 
 ment, it is but natural for us to show Him 
 the same reverence and love, though we 
 cannot see Him with our outward eyes. 
 
 Another form of this devotion is the 
 visit to the Blessed Sacrament. 
 
 It was the favorite practice of 
 the saints. Nearly every great saint had 
 a strong devotion to the Blessed Sacra- 
 ment which he manifested by his constant 
 visits to the Tabernacle. 
 
 There is no need to speak at length of 
 this practice which is filled with graces and 
 blessings not only to the individual, but the 
 Church at large. Every Catholic is fami- 
 liar with it. 
 
 Visits to the Blessed Sacrament, how- 
 ever, may be classed as private devotions. 
 Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, on 
 the other hand, is a public and solemn de- 
 votion. When we pay a visit to our Lord 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 119 
 
 we go secretly, while in Benediction Christ 
 sits, as it were, on His throne to receive 
 public homage. 
 
 Hence, wherever the Blessed Sacrament 
 is publicly exposed, it is with all the out- 
 ward reverence and pomp that circum- 
 stances permit. The altar is adorned with 
 lights and flowers ; there is music and in- 
 cense. When the Blessed Sacrament is ex- 
 posed for any considerable length of time 
 persons watch or kneel in adoration before 
 it. Let unbelievers object that God is not 
 honored by such outward displays; the 
 Catholic heart knows that it does honor 
 Him. 
 
 After the example of the wise men and 
 Mary Magdalene and others, Catholics 
 have in all ages shown their love for the 
 Blessed Sacrament by offering the best 
 they can procure to honor Christ's pres- 
 ence. Mere external display is not suffi- 
 cient, however. It must be accompanied 
 by real inward devotion. It cannot be de- 
 nied but that outward display tends to in- 
 crease devotion. 
 
 The object of Exposition of the Blessed 
 Sacrament is to move men's minds to re- 
 
120 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 member that it is Christ Himself who is 
 really present. Man's mind is so centred 
 on earthly things that it is extremely dif- 
 ficult to touch him except through the 
 senses. Hence the need of external dis- 
 play. And all this is found in the Exposi- 
 tion of the Blessed Sacrament. 
 
 The flowers are symbolical of those 
 living beings who adorn the altar of God 
 by serving at it in the fullness of youth 
 and piety, and whose sweetness and fra- 
 grance have no higher end than to be sacri- 
 ficed in God's service and glory. The in- 
 cense is emblematic of those prayers of 
 the Saints which ascend to Heaven as a 
 sweet smelling odor; while the practise of 
 excluding the external light and covering 
 the images and figures is intended to con- 
 centrate and direct attention towards that 
 which is upon the altar and make it like 
 the Lord in Heaven, the sun and centre of 
 light and glory to the surrounding sanc- 
 tuary. 
 
 There are two forms of Exposition. 
 When the Blessed Sacrament is exposed 
 for a very short time as, for example, after 
 Mass and Vespers, or at a short evening 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 121 
 
 service, it is called Benediction, because 
 the benediction or blessing which is always 
 given at the end of every Exposition of the 
 Blessed Sacrament by the priest making 
 the sign of the cross with the Blessed 
 Sacrament over the people becomes, in 
 such short exposition, the most important 
 part, as it were, of the service. Benedic- 
 tion is therefore a short and less solemn 
 form of exposition. 
 
 The most solemn form of Exposition is 
 the Forty Hours' Devotion. It is a devo- 
 tion that was first instituted at Milan in 
 1534, and was thence introduced into 
 Rome through the instrumentality of St. 
 Philip Neri. It received the formal sanc- 
 tion of Pope Clement VIII in 1592. It took 
 its name from the custom of portioning 
 out the whole year among the churches of 
 any large town, where there were a suffi- 
 cient number of them, into classes of eight 
 and forty hours, during which time the 
 Blessed Sacrament was solemnly exposed 
 in each church in succession. 
 
 The Exposition takes place in the Forty 
 Hours Prayer with more solemnity than at 
 any other time. It begins and ends with a 
 
122 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 High Mass and procession, and is con- 
 ducted under special regulations and ac- 
 companied with particular prayers. It was 
 instituted as a means of making a more 
 general and solemn supplication to God in 
 times of sickness and national calamity. 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST 
 
 Sacrament. 
 
 c 
 
 HE Holy Eucharist is, as we have 
 seen, the centre of Catholic Wor- 
 ship. It is, also, a Sacrament, the 
 food by which the life of grace 
 is developed in the soul of the individual. 
 The Holy Eucharist, as a Sacrament, may 
 be thus defined: The Sacrament of the 
 Body and Blood of Christ under the spe- 
 cies of bread and wine, instituted as food 
 for spiritual nourishment. It is third 
 among the Sacraments, but by far exceeds 
 them all in dignity, for, while the other 
 Sacraments contain grace, the Eucharist 
 contains Jesus Christ Himself, the Author 
 of all graces. 
 
 Again the other Sacraments look to the 
 Eucharist as to their end. Baptism, Con- 
 firmation and Penance more or less pre- 
 pare for its reception; Extreme Unction 
 removes whatever may impede its effects 
 in the soul of the dying ; Matrimony signi- 
 fies its special grace of union between 
 Christ and His Church; Holy Orders con- 
 fer the power of consecration. 
 
124 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 The other Sacraments exist only during 
 the act of administration ; the Holy Euch- 
 arist exists from the moment of Conse- 
 cration and as long as the species remain 
 uncorrupted. In the other Sacraments, 
 the substance of the matter is always the 
 same, but in the Eucharist it is changed 
 by the words of Consecration. 
 
 This Sacrament has various names. It 
 is called the Holy Eucharist, because, at its 
 institution, our Lord gave thanks to His 
 Father, and because it is our chief act of 
 thanksgiving to God. It is called Holy 
 Communion, because, by it, we are joined 
 together in Communion with Christ and 
 with one another, as St. Paul says (1 Cor. 
 X. 17), "We, being many, are one bread 
 and one body, all that partake of one 
 bread." 
 
 It is called the Most Holy, because of its 
 great dignity. It is called the Holy Host, 
 because it contains Jesus Christ who is 
 the Victim for our salvation. And it is 
 called the Viaticum, because it supports 
 us on our way at the end of our journey 
 through this life. 
 
 This Sacrament consists of two species, 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 125 
 
 — the Body of Christ under the appear- 
 ance of bread and the Blood of Christ un- 
 der the appearance of wine. And yet the 
 Sacrament is one, for the two species have 
 but one object, the perfect nourishment, 
 strengthening and refreshment of the 
 soul. 
 
 This spiritual refreshment is the grace 
 which the Holy Eucharist, as a Sacra- 
 ment, signifies and effects. With respect 
 to the past, the Eucharist represents the 
 passion and death of Christ; It is the Body 
 broken and the Blood shed set before us, 
 "As often," says St. Paul, (1 Cor. X. 17) 
 "as ye shall eat this Bread and drink the 
 chalice, ye shall show the death of the 
 Lord till He come." 
 
 "The bread," says the Roman Catechism 
 "made of many grains, and wine pressed 
 out from many clusters of grapes, declare 
 that we, though many are most closely 
 bound together by the bond of this Divine 
 Mystery and made, as it were, one body; 
 further it promises and prefigures the 
 union with God in the beatific vision." 
 
 It is most fitting that Christ our Lord 
 should have employed for the matter of 
 
126 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 this Sacrament something different from 
 His Body and Blood, for we could not ex- 
 pect that God would appear to us either in 
 His glorified or natural state, since His 
 veiled Presence gives us the opportunity to 
 exercise our faith, and overcomes our hu- 
 mility, our unwillingness and fear to ap- 
 proach Him. 
 
 Christ is present wholly and entirely, 
 Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, under each 
 species. For, in His glorified state, there 
 could be no separation between His human- 
 ity and His Divinity, His Body and His 
 Blood. Hence, though we receive Holy 
 Communion under but one species, we re- 
 ceive Jesus Christ whole and entire. 
 
 The effects of the Blessed Sacrament 
 are much more admirable than those pro- 
 duced by the other Sacraments. Well has 
 our Savior said, in speaking of this food, 
 that as the Eternal Father had sent Him 
 and He lived for the Father, so will the 
 Christian live for Christ who eats Him. 
 "As the living Father hath sent Me and 
 I live by the Father and he who eateth 
 Me will live by Me." (John VI) . 
 
 As if, to use the interpretations of the 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 127 
 
 Fathers, Christ had said : "As the Father 
 by an eternal generation communicates to 
 Me His divinity, His power, His goodness, 
 His life, so to that soul which, in this Sacra- 
 ment, eats My Body and drinks of My 
 Blood, I will communicate, in due propor- 
 tion, My divinity, make him participant of 
 My holiness and of My virtues." 
 
 The Holy Eucharist, in common with the 
 other Sacraments, confers sanctifying 
 grace, but more abundantly, because it con- 
 tains the Author of grace Himself. "In 
 this sacred banquet," the Church says, 
 "the soul is filled with grace." Its special 
 effect, which distinguished it from other 
 Sacraments, is the gift of spiritual nour- 
 ishment. 
 
 Our Lord instituted it under the species 
 of bread and wine to signify that it pro- 
 duces in the soul all the effects that mate- 
 rial food produces in the body. "My flesh 
 is meat indeed and My blood is drink in- 
 deed." Material nourishment benefits the 
 body by becoming one with it; it is not 
 simply conveyed to the stomach, but it 
 spreads throughout the body, loses its own 
 nature and becomes one with the body. 
 
128 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 So in the Blessed Sacrament, as Christ 
 says, "He that eateth My Flesh and drink- 
 eth My Blood dwelleth in Me and I in him." 
 As material bread restores, preserves and 
 strengthens the body, so the Bread of Life 
 nourishes the soul. It gives health to the 
 soul, not indeed by taking away mortal sin 
 and restoring to life the soul that was dead 
 by sin, — and in this it is like material food 
 which gives strength to a body that is 
 weakened but does not give it life — but it 
 restores the soul in this sense, that it re- 
 mits venial sin and gives back what is lost 
 every day by our daily faults, as corporal 
 food restores that which the body loses by 
 exertion. And this is accomplished by en- 
 kindling the fervor of charity, which is op- 
 posed to venial sin. 
 
 The Blessed Eucharist strengthens the 
 soul against future mortal sin. As the body 
 is protected against death by natural food 
 so the soul is kept from the death of 
 sin by this spiritual food. "He that eat- 
 eth of this Bread shall never die." This 
 preservative effect is accomplished by the 
 abundance of grace which gives a title to 
 a copious supply of actual graces ; by pro- 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 129, 
 
 ducing spiritual delights which sustain the 
 soul in periods of temptation; by putting 
 to flight the demons who tempt us, for 
 this Sacrament, besides being the very 
 presence of Christ, is a remembrance of 
 His Passion which the devils dread; by 
 diminishing, hindering and weakening our 
 unruly appetites ; by impressing on us the 
 mind and spirit, the humility, the sweet- 
 ness, the charity and all the virtues of 
 Jesus Christ, and making us participate in 
 His life. "He that eateth Me shall live 
 by Me." (John VI), 
 
 As this divine Sacrament not only re- 
 stores what we have lost but gives us far 
 more, it causes us to grow in grace. We 
 are led thereby from grace to grace, are 
 made more and more perfect until we 
 reach the end of our journey, the Beatific 
 Vision; just as we read that the Prophet 
 Elias was supported by that mysterious 
 food the angel gave him forty days and 
 forty nights until he came to Horeb, the 
 mountain of God. 
 
 For this reason, that it conveys eternal 
 life according to the promise of Christ 
 Himself, "He that eateth My Flesh and 
 
130 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 drinketh My Blood has life everlasting," 
 we call the Blessed Sacrament the "Pledge 
 of Future Glory." In the Holy Eucharist 
 we see God under the veil of Sacramental 
 species ; in Heaven we shall see Him face 
 to face. 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST : 
 
 Holy Communion. 
 
 rjpjrlOR the reception of Holy Communion 
 \X-\\ certain dispositions are required 
 in regard to the body and in regard 
 to the soul. 
 
 It is needless to say that the commun- 
 icant's dress and person should present 
 nothing unseemly or disorderly and that 
 the whole demeanor should be modest and 
 respectful. 
 
 Those who are to receive Holy Commun- 
 ion should be fasting from midnight from 
 everything, however minute, that is taken 
 as food or drink. This fasting begins from 
 midnight because, in the Church, the nat- 
 ural day is reckoned from that time, and 
 the purpose of the fast is that the body of 
 our Lord shall be the first food to pass 
 the lips. 
 
 Anything, however small, taken as food 
 or drink breaks the fast. The fast, how- 
 ever, is not broken by that which is swal- 
 lowed unconsciously by us or by respira- 
 
132 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 tion or saliva; for instance, we need not 
 fear that we have broken the fast because 
 we have unconsciously let a drop of water 
 go down the throat in washing out the 
 mouth, or in walking in the rain, nor need 
 we trouble ourselves if we swallow a drop 
 of blood from the gums or lips or nose or a 
 piece of nail or hair, because they are not 
 to be considered as food or drink. 
 
 In olden times the fast was continued 
 for six hours after communicating, but this 
 custom has died out. Reverence, however, 
 demands abstinence from food until the 
 sacramental species are absorbed. 
 
 There are certain exceptions, however, 
 to the law of fasting. Persons who are 
 dangerously sick or on the point of death 
 may receive Communion without fasting 
 and may continue to do so as long as the 
 danger lasts. 
 
 If the priest after the Consecration is 
 unable to finish the Mass, and there is no 
 priest at hand who is fasting, one who is 
 not fasting must complete the Sacrifice. If 
 a priest discovers that the chalice which 
 he has consecrated is not wine, he is bound 
 to reconsecrate and consume. Should the 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 133 
 
 Blessed Sacrament be in danger of profa- 
 nation it may be consumed without fast- 
 ing. 
 
 Certain dispositions are also required of 
 the soul. The Blessed Sacrament as the 
 food of the soul presupposes spiritual life 
 in the communicant, for food is of no ben- 
 efit to the dead. Hence, a state of grace, 
 or a prudent judgment of being in such a 
 state, is the first requisite for Holy Com- 
 munion. He who receives, while conscious 
 of mortal sin, commits a grievous sacri- 
 lege. 
 
 As food given to a person who is griev- 
 ously ill instead of being of benefit aggra- 
 vates the disease and hastens death, so 
 Communion, received by a person in the 
 state of mortal sin, renders more miserable 
 the state of the soul and insures its eternal 
 death. Throughout the Scripture, it is 
 recorded that Almighty God, jealous of 
 His honor and of the respect due to holy 
 things, never fails to punish sacrilege with 
 a particular severity. 
 
 If God so punished men for the 
 profanation of inanimate creatures which 
 are consecrated to His service, what will 
 
134 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 be the punishment for the unworthy com- 
 municant who has outraged the Holy of 
 Holies? 
 
 St. Paul tells us that this sin is the 
 cause of many severe temporal punish- 
 ments. After showing the greatness of the 
 sin and the dreadful punishment afflicted 
 for it on the soul, the Apostle immediately 
 adds "therefore are there many infirm and 
 weak among you and many sleep" (1 Cor. 
 XL, 30), to show that grievous infirmities 
 and untimely deaths are the final decrees 
 of this sin. He declares the punishment 
 with regard to the next life in the striking 
 words. "He that eateth and drinketh un- 
 worthy, eateth and drinketh judgment to 
 himself" (I. Cor. XL, 20). 
 
 The example of Judas, the first that 
 ever made an unworthy Communion, is a 
 striking instance of the truth of this, for 
 immediately after receiving the bread from 
 the hands of Christ "Satan entered into 
 him" and "he immediately went out" and 
 agreed with the chief priests to betray His 
 Master into their hands that night. This 
 he did and received his thirty pieces of sil- 
 ver. Soon after, tormented by his guilty 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 135 
 
 conscience, he went to the chief priests 
 and acknowledged his guilt, gave them 
 back the money, and, in despair, went 
 and hanged himself with a halter (Mat- 
 thew XXVII, 5), "And being hanged, he 
 burst asunder in his midst; and all his 
 bowels gushed out" (Acts L, 18). 
 
 The greatness of the guilt of an unwor- 
 thy Communion appears not only from the 
 punishment it receives, but also from the 
 very nature of the offense. To receive Holy 
 Communion unworthily is to receive it 
 when a person knows that he is in the 
 state of sin and at enmity with God; and 
 that his soul is loathsome and hideous in 
 the sight of God. 
 
 Now since this Holy Sacrament was 
 designed that it might unite us with Jesus 
 Christ and that by it He might come and 
 dwell in our soul, according to His words, 
 "He that eateth My Flesh and drinketh My 
 Blood abideth in Me and I in him" (John 
 VI), to receive in a state of sin is to bring 
 Christ into a soul which is loathsome and 
 hideous to Him, an object of His horror 
 and detestation, and to send the Author 
 of life into a dead soul, to force, in a 
 
136 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 manner, the Holy of Holies to take up His 
 abode in a place of corruption. This is a 
 grievous injury and affront. 
 
 The great guilt also appears from the 
 decision passed on it by the Scriptures. 
 St. Paul says, "Whosoever shall eat this 
 Bread or drink the Chalice of the Lord un- 
 worthily shall be guilty of the Body and 
 Blood of the Lord" (1 Cor. XL, 2). 
 
 To be guilty of a man's blood is to mur- 
 der him, and to be guilty of his body seems 
 to be capable of no other sense than to 
 murder him in a cruel and barbaric way by 
 tormenting his body by a painful and ling- 
 ering death. The unworthy communicant, 
 like Judas, betrays Jesus Christ into the 
 hands of His enemies, while he brings Him 
 into a soul where Satan reigns as master, 
 and he betrays Him, too, with a kiss, while 
 in appearance he pretends to honor Him. 
 
 The Jews scourged Jesus, crowned Him 
 with thorns and crucified Him; the un- 
 worthy communicant does Him an injury 
 more grievous, more saddening to His Sac- 
 red Heart than all these sufferings, for 
 Holy Writ tells us that those who commit 
 any mortal sin after Baptism "Crucify 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 137 
 
 again to themselves the Son of God and 
 make a mockery of Him" (Heb. VI, 6). 
 How much more do they so do who make 
 an unworthy Communion. In some ways 
 they are more guilty than the Jews, for 
 according to St. Paul, if the Jews had 
 known it, they never would have crucified 
 the Lord of Glory (1 Cor. 11, 8). The 
 unworthy communicant knows Him to be 
 the Lord of Glory and the Son of God and 
 injures Him in so atrocious a manner. 
 
 Those then who receive Holy Commu- 
 nion in the state of mortal sin commit an 
 atrocious crime. What of those who ap 
 proach the alter knowing that they have 
 venial sins on their souls? Do they com- 
 mit a sacrilege ? The Church's teaching is 
 that they receive Christ worthily, for ve- 
 nial sin does not destroy the primary effect 
 of the Sacrament, sanctifying grace, al- 
 though it prevents the full effects 
 of the Sacrament and it would be highly 
 unbecoming to receive Communion with 
 affection for venial sin without any desire 
 to overcome it. 
 
 Our Lord taught this lesson when He 
 washed the feet of His Disciples before 
 
138 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 He gave them the Holy Eucharist and 
 said: "He that is clean needeth naught 
 save to wash his feet." The Apostles were 
 cleansed from sin but they needed to have 
 their souls purified from the stains re- 
 ceived by daily contact with earthly 
 things. This lesson was figured by the 
 manna which fell not upon the ground but 
 on a bed of dew or a whitened surface 
 which had preceded it. 
 
 Venial sin, or rather the presence of 
 venial sin, does not then make the 
 Communion sacrilegious, but it does hinder 
 that copious flow of grace which comes 
 from the Holy Eucharist to those souls 
 that are better prepared to receive it. And 
 if we are sometimes astonished and pained 
 to see in ourselves how little good comes 
 from frequent Communion, we may find 
 the explanation in some secret attachment 
 to venial sin which acts like a barrier to 
 the waters of grace. 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST : The 
 
 Necessity of Receiving 
 Holy Communion. 
 
 W 
 
 E have seen that the Blessed Sacra- 
 ment contains the Body and Blood, 
 Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, 
 really, truly and substantially, and 
 that He is received and consumed by those 
 who communicate. We have seen the dis- 
 positions required for Holy Communion 
 and the terrible crime they commit who 
 receive unworthily. But we must not, out 
 of fear, hold aloof and like the Jews before 
 Sinai refuse to approach. 
 
 St. Paul, after describing to the Corin- 
 thians the terrible punishment of an un- 
 worthy Communion, does not end by ex- 
 horting them to abstain, but rather to ap- 
 proach after having sought to obtain the 
 right dispositions. It is our duty to re- 
 ceive the Blessed Sacrament frequently. 
 
 Holy Communion is, by divine precept, 
 necessary for salvation, where it is at all 
 possible, for all adults, and it is probable 
 
140 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 that the implicit desire of receiving the 
 Blessed Sacrament is absolutely necessary 
 for all. Our Lord says: "Except ye eat 
 the Flesh of the Son of man and drink 
 His Blood, ye shall not have life in you." 
 These words clearly indicate a direct pre- 
 cept which obliges under the terrible pen- 
 alty of eternal reprobation. 
 
 The will of Christ that we should ap- 
 proach Holy Communion is evidenced by 
 the fact that this Sacrament was instituted 
 by Him as spiritual food and refreshment, 
 as the species of bread and wine show. 
 As the natural life of the body cannot be 
 sustained without its proper nourishment, 
 so neither can that of the soul. Without 
 this food the soul starves and dies of 
 exhaustion. 
 
 By other divine precepts we are bound 
 to live perfectly (Matthew V, 48), to love 
 God with our whole heart, (Matt. XXII 37) 
 and to work out our salvation (Luke XIII 
 24). Hence we are bound by the same 
 precept to use, to this end, the means or- 
 dained by Christ; and of all these means 
 the Holy Eucharist is the most important 
 and the most necessary. 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 141 
 
 By it we are united to Christ as He Him- 
 self says : "He who eateth My Flesh and 
 drinketh My Blood abideth in Me and I in 
 him;" "I am the Bread which came down 
 from Heaven, so that whoever eats of It 
 shall not die;" "Except ye eat the Flesh 
 of the Son of man and drink His Blood, ye 
 shall not have life in you," meaning that 
 union with our Lord is a necessary condi- 
 tion to salvation. As Christ says (John 
 XV. 6) . "For if a man abide not in Me, he 
 is cast off as a branch that is withered." 
 
 Hence this Sacrament is justly regarded 
 as the consummation of the spiritual life, 
 the end of the Sacraments, and so a desire 
 to receive it is included in Baptism, which 
 is the entrance to the Sacraments, the be- 
 ginning of the life of grace. 
 
 There is a two-fold obligation of receiv- 
 ing Holy Communion, one common, the 
 other accidental. All adults are bound to 
 receive Communion at least once a year, 
 as was first decreed by the Council of the 
 Lateran, and later confirmed by the Coun- 
 cil of Trent. The Sacred Canons say that 
 we must receive at least once a year, and 
 that at Easter time. This fixes the mini- 
 
142 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 mum, so that we are bound by a common 
 precept to communicate once in a year, 
 and that at Easter time. 
 
 We are accidentally bound to receive 
 Holy Communion whenever we are in 
 proximate danger of death, on the occa- 
 sion of receiving other Sacraments or 
 when exposed to great temptation. 
 
 We must not be discouraged by our fre- 
 quent falls after Communion. We would 
 become much worse if we did not commun- 
 icate. Where Communion is not frequently 
 received, the horror of sin becomes less, 
 soon diminishes and love for God dies. The 
 lamp of faith gives a feeble and uncertain 
 light. The precept, then, of Holy Com- 
 munion is to receive at least once a year 
 and that during Easter time, under pain 
 of excommunication. 
 
 "How strange that God should be 
 obliged to order us," says St. Augustine, 
 "how strange that the Church should be 
 obliged to urge us to Communion, the Sac- 
 rament of love. There are some here 
 who have, perhaps, been urged in vain. 
 You have not life in you. You are as a 
 branch and withered ; a little longer delay 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 143 
 
 and you will be cast into the fire to be 
 burned. These are the words of God and 
 they will not pass away." 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST : The 
 
 Dispositions For Receiving 
 
 Holy Communion. 
 
 ~"|S the same food affects different peo- 
 j pie in different ways, so the effects 
 m J^ of Holy Communion differ accord- 
 ing to the dispositions of those re- 
 ceiving it. As St. Thomas puts it in his 
 beautiful Eucharistic hymn, "The Blessed 
 Sacrament is death to the wicked, life to 
 the good." 
 
 Actual devotion is not absolutely neces- 
 sary as a proximate preparation for Holy 
 Communion, but its absence is a sign of 
 irreverence to our Lord and causes the soul 
 to lose the special graces and more abun- 
 dant blessings of the Sacrament. St. Greg- 
 ory tells us that in early times there was 
 a custom which was calculated to awaken 
 communicants to a realization of the great 
 act they were about to perform. The dea- 
 con turned to them and said: "Come for- 
 ward with faith and fear and love." It is 
 by the exercise of these three virtues 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 145 
 
 that we should prepare ourselves for Holy 
 Communion. 
 
 We should approach the altar with great 
 firmness of faith. Faith is the first move- 
 ment of the soul towards God, as St. Paul 
 says (Heb. XI. 6) : "For he that cometh 
 to God must believe that He is, and is a 
 rewarder to them that seek Him." As in 
 this Sacrament God has manifested so 
 magnificently His wisdom and made it the 
 center and the compendium of all His 
 graces, no tribute is more becoming and 
 just than that of Faith. 
 
 That which is particularly due to a wise 
 man is that his words should be believed. 
 Jesus Christ coming in the Sacrament sur- 
 rounded by so many marks of wisdom 
 should receive from us the submission of 
 perfect faith. This faith we should have 
 for all the divine mysteries, but it is es- 
 pecially necessary in him who receives the 
 Blessed Sacrament, which is called the 
 mystery of faith, for of all other myster- 
 ies, it most completely bewilders and 
 humbles reason, contradicts the senses and 
 is most repugnant to man's pride and self- 
 sufficiency. 
 
146 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 Faith, then, according to St. Thomas, 
 ought to be one of the greatest dispositions 
 of a Christian about to receive Holy Com- 
 munion. He says we should approach in 
 the plenitude of faith. St. John Chrysos- 
 tom makes the same recommendation. 
 
 Since we believe that, in this Sacra- 
 ment, we receive the most Holy Body, the 
 precious Blood, the Soul and Divinity of 
 Jesus Christ, we cannot but feel senti- 
 ments of profound humility, of holy fear. 
 This God, in whose presence the stars are 
 not pure, the columns of Heaven tremble, 
 the angels cover their faces, allows Him- 
 self not only to be adored by us as by the 
 shepherds and the wise men of old, but 
 deigns even to enter into our bodies. 
 
 The more we consider this fact, the more 
 humble should we become. St. John the 
 Baptist was sanctified in his mother's 
 womb before his birth, and lived in the 
 desert the life of an angel rather than that 
 of a man. He was called by the Savior 
 Himself a prophet and more than a pro- 
 phet, the greatest man born of woman; 
 and yet the Baptist declared he was not 
 worthy to lose the latchet of Christ's shoe. 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 147 
 
 And when Christ came to be baptized by 
 him, he was filled with astonishment and 
 drew back, saying : "I should be baptized by 
 Thee and Thou comest to me." (Matthew 
 III, 14). 
 
 Since none of us have even a small por- 
 tion of the saintliness of St. John, who con- 
 sidered himself unworthy to pour a little 
 water on the head of our Savior, how much 
 more reason have we to humble ourselves, 
 since we are to receive His Body and 
 Blood? 
 
 St. Peter, on seeing a miracle wrought 
 by Christ's words, was amazed and terri- 
 fied, and exclaimed: "Lord depart from 
 me, for I am a sinner," as if holiness and 
 sin could not remain together. 
 
 With how much more truth can we 
 not confess that we are sinners, unworthy, 
 ignorant, weak and ungrateful. Truly we 
 may say with the Centurion : "Lord, I am 
 not worthy that Thou shouldst enter under 
 my roof." 
 
 Finally, we must approach with senti- 
 ments of love. This is the most impor- 
 tant, the most necessary, the most fitting 
 disposition of all, for Christ is worthy of 
 
148 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 our love and is a true devoted lover of our 
 souls. Love can be repaid only by love. 
 Love strengthens union. Christ has 
 sought and invented the most perfect me- 
 dium of union, and we cannot be so un- 
 grateful as not to meet him half way. 
 
 It is characteristic of love to love the 
 object of one's affections generously and 
 with prodigality. So Christ in the Blessed 
 Sacrament prompted by His great love 
 has given us everything, His Body, His 
 Soul and His Divinity, Himself with all 
 that He is and all that He has. As the 
 sun lights and warms the earth more ef- 
 fectively by its own light than by the re- 
 flected light from the moon and the stars, 
 so Christ in the Blessed Sacrament gives 
 His graces more abundantly than by all 
 the other Sacraments. 
 
 The desire for Holy Communion is the 
 best proof that we have of His love. As 
 our Lord says: "Blessed are they who 
 hunger and thirst after justice/' that is 
 wish to unite themselves with God. The 
 Blessed Virgin says in the sublime can- 
 ticle of the Magnificat, "He has filled the 
 hungry with good things." 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 149 
 
 These are the dispositions and senti- 
 ments we should have for Holy Commu- 
 nion. 
 
 In our preparation for Holy Communion 
 and in exciting these dispositions, we 
 should follow the advice of St. Francis de 
 Sales, who says: "Commence the evening 
 before to prepare yourself with many as- 
 pirations and sentiments of love, going to 
 repose a little earlier, to rise in better sea- 
 son. If you wake in the night, at once 
 fill your heart and your mouth with some 
 pious words, by means of which your soul 
 may be prepared to receive the Spouse 
 who, waking while you sleep, is prepared 
 to load you with a thousand graces and 
 favors if, on your part, you are ready to 
 receive Him." 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST 
 
 Frequent Communion. 
 
 ^w* E have seen that, by divine precept, 
 vl/ we must receive Holy Communion 
 at least once a year, and that dur- 
 ing Easter time. But this is the 
 minimum that is expected of us as Cath- 
 olics. It is sad that there are some Cath- 
 olics so negligent as to receive Holy Com- 
 munion but once a year, especially in view 
 of the practice of the saints of all ages 
 and of the marvellous effects which are 
 then produced. There is no means so well 
 adapted to restore amongst Catholics the 
 happy days of the primitive Church as fre- 
 quent Communion. 
 
 The first days of the Church were not 
 without some evils, but they were compar- 
 atively few and insignificant. But then 
 instances of heroic virtues were common. 
 It was the golden age of Christianity, and 
 the reason is to be found in this practice 
 of the primitive Church. 
 
 The first Christians regarded the 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 151 
 
 Blessed Sacrament as the daily bread of 
 the children of God; they partook of it 
 every day, and dreaded nothing so much 
 as to be deprived of it. 
 
 This practice Pius X, of holy memory, 
 revived and exhorted the faithful to imi- 
 tate. 
 
 In fact, before him the Council of Trent 
 expressed a desire that all the faithful who 
 hear Mass should receive Holy Communion 
 not only spiritually but sacramentally. 
 
 The falling off in Holy Communion was 
 due, in a great measure, to the teaching 
 of the Jansenists, whose errors, although 
 condemned and refuted, caused a certain 
 coldness in this regard in some parts of 
 the Catholic world. Pius X, Pope of the 
 Blessed Sacrament, pointed out the ad- 
 vantages of daily Communion and urged 
 the faithful to practice it. 
 
 Nothing could be more conformable to 
 Catholic doctrine than daily Communion. 
 But there are those who excuse them- 
 selves for one pretext or another. There 
 are some whose consciences are over-deli- 
 cate and who hold back from motives of 
 
152 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 fear, while there are others in whom there 
 is an attachment to sin. 
 
 In one case the fear of God is exagger- 
 ated; in the other the love of the world 
 holds too great sway. The former abstain 
 lest, by approaching too near to the 
 majesty of God, they should offend Him, 
 and, like the Jews, who came with Judas 
 to apprehend our Lord, be struck to the 
 earth. The latter do not wish to go to 
 Holy Communion because they would 
 have to abandon their evil ways and to 
 relinquish that which they love too well. 
 
 Those who are restrained by fear from 
 Holy Communion say that in order to com- 
 municate daily or even frequently they 
 should be better than they are. But in or- 
 der to be better they must communicate 
 of tener. Holy Communion is not a reward 
 or a recompense. It is a means, a Sacra- 
 ment. God is not unreasonable, and He 
 does not expect impossibilities. All that 
 is necessary on our part is careful 
 preparation, and, of course, freedom from 
 mortal sin. 
 
 It is no excuse to say that by frequent 
 Communion we become no better, that we 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 153 
 
 are always relapsing into the same faults, 
 that the effect is lessened by frequency: 
 for, by staying away, we become no better ; 
 in fact, we become worse. The truth is 
 our pride is touched, our patience ex- 
 hausted, and we wish to give up 
 the struggle. But we must not judge by 
 feeling. Holy Communion does not make 
 us incapable of sin, but it does preserve us 
 from it. 
 
 We eat every day : if we did not eat we 
 would die. Even so with Holy Com- 
 munion, as St. Ambrose has well said: 
 "Every day I sin and every day I need a 
 remedy." In the life of St. Frances of 
 Rome, we read that our Blessed Lord said 
 to the Saint: "Daughter, the faults you 
 commit instead of keeping you from Com- 
 munion should urge you to it, since that 
 is the remedy for them." An early doctor 
 of the Church says that he who commu- 
 nicates often is more humble than other 
 communicants, for he knows and wishes 
 to correct his faults. 
 
 As to the effect, it is quite true that the 
 imagination is not struck so forcibly, but 
 this is not religion. We must judge the 
 
154 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 result as following from the direction of 
 the will. St. Alphonsus says : "Do not de- 
 ceive yourself by thinking you have more 
 devotion when you communicate less fre- 
 quently. He who eats seldom has a bet- 
 ter appetite, but is not as strong and 
 healthy as another who takes his meals 
 with regularity." 
 
 Distractions or the fear of becoming too 
 familiar with holy things or of scandaliz- 
 ing people are not reasons for infrequent 
 Communion. Distractions can certainly 
 be overcome if they are voluntary. If 
 they are involuntary, they are not in the 
 least culpable. If by familiarity is meant 
 negligence and routine, it is, of course, 
 better not to communicate frequently, but 
 this can be overcome, for it is wilful. If, 
 however, by familiarity we mean intimacy 
 or greater confidence in God, frequent 
 Communion is not something to be feared. 
 
 As for scandalizing people, we must not 
 pay attention to mere human respect. If 
 we do our best and do not make frequent 
 Communions a pretext for thinking our- 
 selves superior to others and neglecting 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 155 
 
 our other duties, we have no need to mind 
 what others may say or think of us. 
 
 If we were to examine all the excuses 
 that are offered, we would find that 
 in many cases, the real reason would lie 
 in the fact that those who make these 
 excuses do not really wish to communicate 
 more frequently. They would have to 
 change their lives, and they could not en- 
 joy the world as they do now. They wish 
 something of God but they will not take 
 the means. They do not wish to become 
 perfect. They are like those to whom our 
 Lord refers in the parable of the King's 
 Supper who made excuses for absenting 
 themselves. 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST : 
 
 Thanksgiving After Holy 
 
 Communion. 
 
 I NE of the principal reasons," says 
 St. Teresa, "why so many receive 
 7f§M so little profit from Communion, 
 even frequent, is that, after hav- 
 ing received this Divine Guest they neglect 
 to entertain Him, to thank Him for His 
 coming, to take advantage of His pres- 
 ence." 
 
 "Entertain our Savior cordially," says 
 this saint, "negotiate with Him about the 
 affairs of your soul. Our Savior loves to 
 be thus treated by us. Negligence at this 
 time, when not a moment should be lost, 
 may prove fatal." 
 
 These wise and devout words strike at 
 an abuse all too common among the faith- 
 ful. It is the height of ingratitude. No 
 one would dare to leave the presence of 
 the great and powerful of earth in this un- 
 seemly way, and yet Catholics depart from 
 the presence of the Lord of Hosts hastily 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 157 
 
 and abruptly, after being honored by the 
 greatest gift bestowed on mankind. 
 
 Even before Mass is finished impatience 
 may be seen in the eyes and movements of 
 those who have just taken the Lord into 
 their bosoms. There are of course reasons 
 for haste in special cases, but only seldom. 
 Hardly has the bowed head been raised 
 from the pew-rail after a short and 
 thoughtless thanksgiving, when they are 
 impatient for the street and the things of 
 the world. Once the Holy Sacrifice is over, 
 there is a rush for the door, and alas ! the 
 very leaders in that flight from the Real 
 Presence of our Lord, are very often they 
 who have the strongest reasons for re- 
 maining in grateful prayer. 
 
 What has the world done for us, or what 
 can it promise us that we are impatient of 
 the society of our God and so eager for 
 passing interests, friends and acquaint- 
 ances ! 
 
 Well may it be said with Jeremias that : 
 "Heaven and earth should stand amazed 
 that the people should leave the springs 
 of living water to slake their thirst from 
 
158 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 broken and muddy cisterns." Our friends 
 and acquaintances, even business asso- 
 ciates would justly resent such conduct. 
 Thoughtlessness is doubtless responsible 
 for this evil and thankless custom, and we 
 cannot too soon take thought of who God 
 is and what we are, and change it for the 
 better. 
 
 The story of Judas horrifies us, the first 
 follower of Christ to make a bad Com- 
 munion. We remember his despairing re- 
 morse, his awful punishment, the execra- 
 tion in which his name is held. 
 
 St. John Chrysostom makes on that pas- 
 sage in the Gospels a comment which 
 should leave a warning impression upon 
 all. He says that Judas communicated 
 with all the other Apostles, but while the 
 others remained in their places devout, 
 softened and surprised at the great proof 
 of the Lord's affection for them, Judas 
 alone made haste to depart. He had re- 
 ceived the grace of the Holy Eucharist. 
 He had heard the warning to him that 
 came from the lips of Christ, but he went 
 out immediately. The devil entered into 
 him and he betrayed his Lord. What a 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 159 
 
 terrible lesson there is in that haste to 
 leave the presence of God. St. John Chrys- 
 ostom significantly remarks: "They imi- 
 tate Judas who, having communicated, de- 
 part from the church without returning 
 thanks, without making a thanksgiving." 
 
 We should, when it is at all practicable, 
 spend at least a quarter of an hour in 
 thanksgiving, making acts of faith and 
 adoration, thanksgiving and praise to our 
 Lord. We should employ this holy inter- 
 val in offering ourselves wholly to Him 
 who gives Himself entirely to us, in telling 
 Him all our necessities and griefs, and in 
 begging for ourselves and others the 
 graces of which we and they stand in need, 
 repeating what Jacob said to the Angel of 
 the Lord : "I will not let thee go until thou 
 hast blessed me." 
 
 What an opportunity of a lifetime, what 
 a succession of opportunities ! The Omni- 
 potent, the Redeemer of mankind, the Holy 
 Spirit that guides the Church are within 
 us in the Holy Eucharist. "Ask and you 
 shall receive" the Lord generously says to 
 us, and His promise holds especially good 
 on such happy occasions. 
 
160 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 Christ has died for us ; He has given us 
 life, spiritual and physical, He has even 
 given Himself to us as food and life to our 
 souls. Can any thanksgiving after Holy 
 Communion be too long to express our 
 gratitude for these great gifts ? 
 
 Jesus, entering the womb of Mary, made 
 her the Temple of the Living God. When 
 she went to the house of Zachary His com- 
 ing presanctified John the Baptist. When 
 years later He entered the house of Peter, 
 the disciple's mother-in-law was cured of 
 her sickness. His presence in the house of 
 Jairus brought the man's daughter back 
 from the dead. Zaccheus welcoming Him 
 was from a sinner made a saint. His visit 
 to the tomb of Lazarus brought Lazarus 
 back to life, made Mary and Martha His 
 most ardent disciples. 
 
 So will His coming into our hearts bring 
 spiritual life and blessings immeasureable, 
 if we receive Him worthily and with that 
 thankfulness which is His right and our 
 highest duty. He will give our souls 
 strength and energy, an undying attach- 
 ment to His law, to His Person, an enthu- 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 161 
 
 siasm as of fire for the Coming of His 
 Kingdom. When a Catholic receives Holy 
 Communion worthily and with devotion 
 and remains in God's church for the 
 thanksgiving which is His due, He says to 
 us and our Household, as He did to Zac- 
 cheus (Luke XIX) : "Today salvation has 
 come to this house from God." 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST : The 
 Sacrifice of The Mass. 
 
 v^FJE have considered the Holy Eu- 
 
 vly charist as a Sacrament, and it now 
 
 llllj remains for us briefly to treat it as 
 
 a Sacrifice; for it is not only the 
 
 Bread of Life for all the faithful, but the 
 
 principal act of worship of Christianity. 
 
 By a sacrifice is meant the offering to 
 God, the destruction or change of some 
 outward and sensible thing by a proper 
 minister to acknowledge God's supreme 
 dominion over life and death. It is clear, 
 then, that a sacrifice can be offered to God 
 alone. As an offering, sacrifice comes un- 
 der the category of religious actions, such 
 as genuflections, incense, prayer and 
 praise. As an outward sign, it has some- 
 thing in common with the Sacraments. 
 
 Its distinctive quality, however, lies in 
 the fact that the thing offered signifies 
 by its destruction the supreme dominion 
 of God and acknowledges that the wor- 
 shipper owes his whole being to God and 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 163 
 
 is ready to offer Him his life. In token of 
 this, he offers the life or being of some- 
 thing else, not that the destruction of 
 something else which is not himself is nec- 
 essary, for the idea of sacrifice is even 
 better fulfilled by one's own life, as in the 
 case of the Sacrifice of the Cross. A de- 
 struction, however, or such a change as 
 shall be the same as destruction is essen- 
 tial. Hence, in all the ancient sacrifices, 
 the thing offered was destroyed. 
 
 Divine institution is necessary for true 
 and effective sacrifice. The victim and 
 the priest must be chosen by God, as St. 
 Paul says (Heb. V, 4) : "For no man doth 
 take the honor to himself but he that is 
 called by God as Aaron was." Sacrifice 
 is a necessary part of true religion. All 
 other outward acts by which we testify 
 our respect for one another, such as un- 
 covering the head, bowing, kneeling or the 
 like, are daily used towards men as well as 
 towards God. 
 
 The exterior worship of God demands 
 that there should be some particular form 
 or rite to express the sovereign homage 
 which we give to the Deity. This is 
 
164 THE SACRAMFNTS 
 
 sacrifice. All nations that acknowledge 
 a supreme being, true or false, consider 
 sacrifice as essential to the worship due to 
 him. Hence, by the light of nature itself 
 it is regarded as a necessary part of reli- 
 gion. 
 
 From the beginning of the world sacri- 
 fice has been offered by the holy servants 
 of God as an essential part of their reli- 
 gion and accepted by Him as an agreeable 
 homage from their hands. Almighty God, 
 in revealing to His chosen people the man- 
 ner in which they should worship Him, ex- 
 pressly instituted various sacrifices. These 
 He so strictly claimed as the worship due 
 to Himself alone that He commanded the 
 person to be destroyed who should dare 
 to give it to another. 
 
 Religion may be defined as the spiritual 
 relation between God and man. All reli- 
 gion may be summed up in two points: 
 sacrifice and the Sacraments. God, hav- 
 ing established an external religion, in- 
 stituted visible channels of grace; it was 
 becoming that He should also establish an 
 external means of the creature's approach 
 to Him ; that it may return, come back to 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 165 
 
 Him. Man, by his very nature, tends to- 
 wards God by his intelligence and his will, 
 and this he does partially and relatively, 
 or unreservedly and absolutely. 
 
 Various sacrifices are mentioned in the 
 Old Testament. Who has not read of the 
 offerings of Abel and Cain, of Melchise- 
 dech "bringing forth bread and wine, for 
 he was priest of the most high God" and 
 of Aaron, who was high priest during the 
 Exodus of the children of Israel from 
 Egypt? God chose Moses to be Mediator 
 between Himself and the people, and 
 through him made known His law. This 
 law sets forth two classes of sacrifices : the 
 bloody sacrifice, when animals were slain, 
 and the unbloody, when flour, bread and 
 wine were offered up. 
 
 God enjoined these upon His people that 
 they might never forget that He was their 
 sovereign Lord, to whom they owed every- 
 thing, and to keep before their minds His 
 promise of the Redeemer. It was by virtue 
 of the future Sacrifice of the Cross that 
 their sins were forgiven. 
 
 These rites, by divine injunction 
 obligatory on the chosen people, were 
 
166 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 abrogated with the coming of Christ, as 
 they were only figures and reminders of 
 the supreme Sacrifice of Christ on Calvary. 
 They passed away, as the Old Law gave 
 place to the New. 
 
 The Sacrifice of the New Law is that of 
 Jesus Christ the Son of God, who offered 
 Himself on the Cross to His heavenly 
 Father for sinners (Heb. IX., 14). By this 
 offering of infinite worth Christ redeemed 
 mankind and gained for us grace and sal- 
 vation. This Sacrifice was infinitely per- 
 fect and satisfactory because Christ was 
 God, and "by his own blood entered once 
 into the holies, having obtained eternal re- 
 demption." (Heb. IX., 12). 
 
 As the sacrifices of the Old Law, though 
 but figures, were enjoined upon the people, 
 so our Lord instituted the Sacrifice of the 
 New Law, a continuation of the Sacrifice 
 of the Cross, to be a perpetual, daily offer- 
 ing of Himself upon the altar of God. Thus 
 is Christ ever present in the Holy Sacrifice 
 of the Mass, that we may participate in its 
 graces and blessings. 
 
 The Old Testament contains many plain 
 references and figures of the Sacrifice of 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 167 
 
 the Mass. There is the action of Melchise- 
 dech, already noted, and the prophecy of 
 Malachias. The Psalms also bear witness 
 (CIX) : 'Thou art a priest forever 
 according to the order of Melchisedech," 
 showing the perpetuity of Holy Mass. It 
 is prefigured in the bread and wine offered 
 by Melchisedech, for in the fullness of 
 time, Christ at the L<ast Supper instituted 
 the Sacrifice of the Mass under the ap- 
 pearances of bread and wine. 
 
 The prophet Malachias (I., 10-11) indi- 
 cates it in a striking sentence to the Jews 
 of his time: "I have no pleasure in you, 
 saith the Lord of Hosts, and I will not re- 
 ceive a gift from your hand ; for, from the 
 rising of the sun even to the going down, 
 my name is great among the Gentiles, and 
 in every place there is a sacrifice, and there 
 is offered in my name a clean oblation." 
 What could give a plainer reference to the 
 sacrifice of the New Law, the Holy Mass, 
 which goes on without interruption 
 throughout the whole day in every part of 
 the world ? 
 
 The story of Christ's institution of the 
 Sacrifice of the Mass is told in a most clear 
 
168 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 and touching manner in the Gospel account 
 of the Last Supper. On that occasion, He 
 offered Himself to His heavenly Father 
 under the appearances of bread and wine 
 and commanded His Apostles thenceforth 
 to do the same in commemoration of Him. 
 
 The Last Supper was the first Sacrifice 
 of the Mass and was essentially the same 
 as that which is offered up daily on our 
 altars. It is the perpetual sacrifice of the 
 New Testament. Through the priest, 
 Christ offers Himself in an unbloody man- 
 ner under the appearances of bread and 
 wine. The only difference between the 
 Sacrifice of the Cross and that of the Mass 
 is in the manner of the offering — the lat- 
 ter is made in an unbloody manner. There 
 is the same High Priest and the same Vic- 
 tim, Christ Himself. 
 
 That the Mass has been celebrated from 
 Apostolic times is clear from the words of 
 St. Paul, who writes in his epistle to the 
 Hebrews, XIIL, 10: "We (Christians) 
 have an altar, whereof they have no power 
 to eat who serve the tabernacle," that is to 
 say, the Jews. An altar supposes a sacri- 
 fice, which must be the one instituted by 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 169 
 
 Christ. The testimony of the ages shows 
 the existence of the Mass from earliest 
 times. 
 
 To go fully into the ceremonies, the ends 
 and graces of the Holy Sacrifice is beside 
 our purpose. Such a treatise must neces- 
 sarily be lengthy, and does not properly 
 come within our scope. 
 
 On Calvary Christ was the Victim for 
 the whole world. In the Mass He is the 
 Victim for us in particular and for every 
 individual among us. 
 
 The Holy Sacrifice is the apex of Christ- 
 ian worship, the most pious and real, 
 wherein truly God is adored in spirit and 
 in truth. 
 
 The Mass is the ever recurring lesson of 
 humility ; the humility of God who for us 
 and our salvation debased Himself to our 
 frame, the humility of God's servants who 
 recognize in the Victim on the altar an in- 
 vitation to confess their own sins and 
 weaknesses, our helplessness before the 
 majesty of the Divine. It is a living me- 
 morial and reminder of God's infinite love 
 for man. As in the Sacrifice on the Cross 
 He revealed that love by the giving up of 
 
170 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 His only begotten Son, so in the Mass He 
 continues to show His transcendent gener- 
 osity. As a consequence the Mass is an 
 urgent exhortation to devout thanksgiving 
 and a reminder of that charity of which 
 St. Paul speaks, and a source of hope of a 
 happy eternity with Him. 
 
PENANCE: Its Necessity. 
 
 y^ HE Old Testament records how in- 
 ^J flexible was the wrath of God to- 
 wards sinners ; in His treatment of 
 the fallen angels, toward our First 
 Parents, towards the thousands who sinned 
 against him and whose punishment is set 
 down in that inexorable record. Once sin 
 had been committed, reconciliation with 
 God was long and painful and demanded 
 from the repentant sinner great individual 
 effort and contrition. For the most part 
 mankind was left to its own unaided 
 efforts. 
 
 Without enlarging at this time on the 
 marvellous victory for mankind that 
 Christ gained upon the Cross, we may well 
 be stricken with awe, like the Disciples on 
 the day of the Transfiguration, at the mag- 
 nificence of that victory over sin. 
 
 "Behold I bring you good tidings of 
 great joy" said the Angels on the first 
 Christmas morning. The same great mes- 
 sage to mankind rang out from Calvary 
 
172 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 when our Savior paid for us the Great 
 Price. 
 
 Man is born into the world with the 
 stain of Original Sin upon him, and this 
 with all sins committed before Baptism, is 
 taken away by Baptism. But it is in the 
 long journey, the fearful life-long war, 
 from the time when human beings come 
 to the age of reason until death, that 
 temptation is let loose upon us, that the 
 passions rebel, that the world allures, that 
 the soul of man is surrounded by spiritual 
 perils. 
 
 Our blessed Lord knew mankind in all 
 its phases, its weakness, its proneness to 
 sin, its pitiable condition, and out of the 
 depths of His boundless love for the chil- 
 dren of men, He instituted Penance, the 
 Sacrament of mercy and forgiveness, a 
 Sacrament not given to the holiest and 
 greatest of men under the Old Law, but ex- 
 tended to us so graciously and freely — 
 merely the telling of our sins to one of His 
 duly authorized priests with due contri- 
 tion, and receiving in turn complete for- 
 giveness and His friendship. 
 
 Christ foresaw what would be the lot of 
 
PENANCE. 17S 
 
 man after He had redeemed him and pro- 
 vided for the battle against sin with the 
 bounty of God. St. Peter once asked Him if 
 it were enough for one man to forgive an- 
 other seven times — one man to another — 
 and the Lord replied: "Yea, and seventy 
 times seven times." But when it came to 
 the forgiveness of man by his offended 
 God, even that great charity did not sat- 
 isfy His love. Forgiveness was to have no 
 limits. He forgives man as often as he i& 
 sincerely sorry, asks pardon and promises 
 to sin no more. 
 
 In view of the great boon which Christ 
 gave man in Baptism, it seems almost im- 
 possible that he should turn from his Bene- 
 factor, lose His friendship and associate 
 himself with His enemies. Yet, unfortu- 
 nately, man falls again and again. Christ 
 knew man's nature, his fickleness, and 
 weakness, and in loving pity instituted the 
 Sacrament of Penance. 
 
 There is another quality of mortal sin, 
 which makes it terrible and immeasurably 
 hateful in the sight of God — its deliberate 
 malice. Even among men the hardest of- 
 fence to forgive is that committed deliber- 
 
174 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 ately and with malice. And mortal sin is 
 deliberate malice against our beneficent 
 and loving God. But, through the bound- 
 less merits of Him who became man "for 
 us men and for our salvation/' who suf- 
 fered that awful Passion, who died in 
 agony on the Cross between two thieves, 
 the same God who punished sinful man so 
 implacably from the Fall to the Christian 
 era, forgives this malice and receives 
 us again and again into His friendship. 
 
 In the Sacrament of Penance the priest 
 is the minister of God, empowered by 
 Christ with the faculty of absolving. Pen- 
 ance deals exclusively with sins committed 
 after Baptism, offences done by those who 
 have knowledge, reflection and due consent 
 of the will. When the penitent is rightly 
 prepared and confesses entirely, sincerely 
 and plainly, the words of the priest are the 
 decree of Christ's forgiveness. Christ 
 speaks through the mouth of the priest, 
 exercising the power given by the Lord 
 when He gave the Apostles the power of 
 binding and loosing, and in them and 
 through them to every priest in lawful suc- 
 cession to the end of time. 
 
PENANCE. 175 
 
 For more than fifteen hundred years 
 from the date of that great commission 
 of mercy and forgiveness, no one denied 
 the existence and power of the Sacrament 
 of Penance. But in the Sixteenth Century 
 there arose men who for their own pur- 
 poses and mainly because they were rebels 
 against Christ and His law, put forth the 
 preposterous statement that no priest, 
 since he is a mere man, can forgive sins. 
 They made much use of that sneering 
 query of Christ's enemies in His pub- 
 lic life : "Who but God can forgive sins ?" 
 
 'TKe whole Christian world for fifteen 
 centuries had known that the power to 
 forgive sins is Christ's; that Christ gave 
 this, His power, to the Apostles and their 
 successors in the priesthood until the end 
 of time, just as He gave the power to cele- 
 brate the Sacrifice of the Mass to the Apos- 
 tles and their successors until the end of 
 time, as long as there were faithful on 
 earth. The Church was not instituted for 
 those who lived in Christ's time merely ; it 
 was like the Redemption for all men, the 
 universal dispensation of the New Law. So 
 
176 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 the priest in the tribunal of Penance pro- 
 nounces a real absolution of sins because 
 he is Christ's accredited representative, 
 not for the reason that he is a human be- 
 ing, but because Christ invested him per- 
 sonally with that mighty spiritual power 
 as he invested the Apostles with it twenty 
 centuries ago. 
 
PENANCE: The Power To 
 Forgive Sins. 
 
 W 
 
 HEN we seriously consider all that 
 Christ has done for mankind, we 
 cannot put aside the thought of the 
 ingratitude that has been the only 
 return for His goodness towards us. It 
 seems incredible that man, once he had 
 been purified in the saving waters of Bap- 
 tism and made a friend of God, a brother 
 of Christ and heir to Heaven, would turn 
 from the source of all grace, and join the 
 enemies of the Most High. 
 
 If there were among men the gratitude 
 that should exist, there would be no need 
 of the Sacrament of Penance. But unfor- 
 tunately man soon forgets his benefactor ; 
 he tires of restraint, and takes the easiest 
 way, which leads to perdition. Christ's yoke 
 he finds at times to be galling, and he de- 
 liberately casts it from him by mortal sin. 
 Happily for him Christ's charity knows no 
 bounds, and His knowledge of poor fallen 
 human nature takes account of man's 
 
178 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 weakness, of his proneness to things of the 
 senses, and of the difficulties that beset 
 him on all sides. 
 
 And in His love for man, He prepares a 
 Sacrament which would blot out the sins 
 committed after Baptism, and would en- 
 able man to recover grace and friendship 
 with God. He entrusts to His ministers the 
 power to forgive in His name all sins into 
 which man might fall after Baptism. This 
 power he gave to His Apostles, when after 
 His resurrection, He breathed upon them 
 and said: "As the Father hath sent me, I 
 also send you. Receive ye the Holy Ghost; 
 whose sins you shall forgive they are for- 
 given them; whose sins you shall retain, 
 they are retained" John XX, 21-23. 
 
 This power was something special; it 
 was not a commission to remit sin by the 
 Sacrament of Baptism, for there is no men- 
 tion of Baptism here. Baptism had already 
 been instituted, while in the passage 
 quoted Christ gives the Holy Ghost for a 
 special end — the forgiving of sins. 
 
 By Baptism, moreover, sins are not re- 
 tained. Christ's words refer to all sinners, 
 consequently also to those who have been 
 
PENANCE. 179 
 
 baptized. Baptism however, cannot be ad- 
 ministered more than once. 
 
 It cannot be said that, by the words of 
 St. John's gospel, Christ commissioned His 
 Apostles to declare to the faithful that 
 their sins were forgiven them if they were 
 truly contrite. Such a mission would be as 
 useless as it would be ineffectual. If by 
 his own acts the penitent had already ob- 
 tained forgiveness of his sins, the priest 
 would have no occasion to forgive or re- 
 tain. The ministry of the priest would be 
 an empty form. 
 
 The power given to the Apostles has all 
 the marks of a Sacrament ; there is the out- 
 ward sign, in the act of absolution ; grace, 
 for, by the remission of sin, sanctifying 
 grace is communicated to the soul ; and the 
 institution of Christ contained in the pas- 
 sage above quoted. It cannot be doubted, 
 that Christ intended, by the words rec- 
 orded by St. John, to institute a new Sac- 
 rament by which sins committed after 
 Baptism were to be remitted. If He did 
 not, we should be no better off than the 
 people of the Old Law, for if we sin after 
 Baptism, it would still be necessary for us 
 
180 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 to elicit acts of perfect contrition. That 
 He did institute the Sacrament of Penance 
 in these words has been the universal be- 
 lief of the Church. It is a matter of Faith. 
 The Council of Trent says so explicitly 
 (Sess, XIV, Chap. 1.) : 
 
 "The Lord then principally instituted the 
 Sacrament of Penance, when, being raised 
 from the dead, He breathed upon His Dis- 
 ciples, saying: 'Receive ye the Holy Ghost, 
 whose sins you shall forgive, they are for- 
 given them, and whose sins you shall re- 
 tain, they are retained/ By which action 
 so signal and words so clear the consent 
 of all the Fathers has ever understood 
 (Can. Ill) that the power of forgiving and 
 retaining sins was communicated to the 
 Apostles and their lawful successors for 
 the reconciling of the faithful who have 
 fallen after Baptism. 
 
 "And the Catholic Church with great 
 reason repudiated and condemned as here- 
 tics the Novatians who of old obstinately 
 denied that power of forgiving. Where- 
 fore, this holy synod, approving of and re- 
 ceiving as most true this meaning of those 
 words of our Lord, condemns the fanciful 
 
PENANCE. 181 
 
 interpretation of those who, in opposition 
 to the institution of this Sacrament, 
 falsely wrest those words to the power of 
 preaching the word of God and of an- 
 nouncing the Gospel of Christ." 
 
 The power conferred upon the Apostles 
 to forgive sins committed after Baptism 
 did not cease with the Apostles, but was 
 transmitted as part of their ministry to 
 the Bishops and priests of the Church, who 
 exercised this divine inheritance by hear- 
 ing the confession of sins and granting 
 pardon for them as ministers of God and 
 in His name. 
 
 It is clear that Christ intended that this 
 power should continue and should be exer- 
 cised in the Church for all time. This in- 
 tention is manifested in the mission He 
 gave His Apostles when He said, "as the 
 Father hath sent Me, I also send you." 
 Christ came as the Redeemer of all man- 
 kind and as long as there would be sinners 
 who need reconciliation with God there 
 must be those who have the power to re- 
 concile. 
 
 It has always been believed by the Uni- 
 versal Church that the power of forgiving 
 
182 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 sins was not an extraordinary gift limited 
 to the early ages of the Church but was 
 an ordinary power of the priesthood of 
 Christ. The Bishops and priests of the 
 Church, as successors of the Apostles, have 
 inherited this power and they have always 
 exercised it from the beginning. 
 
PENANCE : Forgives All Sins. 
 
 B~ ~"|LL sins committed after Baptism can 
 be forgiven in the Sacrament of 
 WHMm Penance. The words by which 
 Christ conferred the power of for- 
 giving sin are general and admit no ex- 
 ception. "Whose sins you shall forgive they 
 are forgiven them." The Church has al- 
 ways taught that if the penitent is prop- 
 erly disposed, every sin without exception 
 may be removed by the Sacrament of Pen- 
 ance. And this is according to right rea- 
 son, for were a sin not forgivable such 
 an impossibility would exist either on the 
 part of God or on the part of the sinner. 
 But who is there who will dare to set limits 
 to the power and goodness of God ? Cer- 
 tainly God can remit sin; the Creator can 
 forgive His creature; the Lord His ser- 
 vant. And He is willing to do so, provided 
 the sinner come to Him in humble sorrow 
 and ask pardon for his offence. He Him- 
 self has promised that no matter how 
 black a man's soul may be on account of 
 sin, it shall be washed whiter than snow. 
 
184 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 The impossibility then can only be on the 
 part of the sinner who resists God's 
 grace. 
 
 The Sacrament of Penance is the ordi- 
 nary means of salvation for all those who 
 have fallen into mortal sin after being bap- 
 tized; for it is instituted by God for the 
 remission of sins which render salvation 
 impossible. Its ministers have received 
 power not only to remit but also to retain 
 sins and their judgment is ratified in 
 heaven. 
 
 Penance is a means instituted by Christ 
 for the forgiveness of sins committed after 
 Baptism, just as Baptism is intended to 
 remove original sin and all actual sins com- 
 mitted before Baptism. As the unbaptized 
 cannot obtain any forgiveness without 
 Baptism, so those who commit grievous 
 sins after Baptism receive pardon only 
 through the Sacrament of Penance. This 
 is the teaching of the Council of Trent 
 and is a matter of faith. 
 
 The Sacrament of Penance is the ordi- 
 nary means of salvation for all who fall in- 
 to mortal sins after baptism, but it can be 
 supplied by perfect contrition which pro- 
 
PENANCE. 185 
 
 ceeds from perfect love of God and in- 
 cludes the will to do all that is necessary 
 for salvation. It includes, therefore, the 
 wish to receive the Sacrament of Penance 
 if it were possible. Mortal sins which are 
 thus forgiven, however, must be submitted 
 to the tribunal of penance. 
 
 Besides remitting sin, Penance remits 
 the eternal punishment due to them. It 
 restores sanctifying grace and increases it. 
 
 The power of forgiving sins is a judicial 
 one and in its exercise demands a judicial 
 act, for forgiving and retaining, loosing 
 and binding are judicial acts ; consequently 
 the Apostles and their successors are 
 judges. Hence, in the administering of 
 the Sacrament of Penance the Church ob- 
 serves a certain judicial form in giving ab- 
 solution or its refusal, satisfaction or pun- 
 ishment. 
 
 In order to pass sentence the judge 
 must know the case, which in this instance 
 is sin. He must, therefore, know the sins 
 of the penitent, which implies, except in 
 extraordinary cases, that he must learn 
 them from the penitent himself; for 
 sins are for the most part secret, and 
 
186 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 thoughts and desires can be learned only 
 by self -accusation. 
 
 A judge is to render a decision in pro- 
 portion to the offence; consequently he 
 must know what the offence is. It is 
 but natural to conclude that Christ Him- 
 self intended that the penitent should ac- 
 cuse himself. What we infer from reason 
 is confirmed by tradition which through- 
 out the ages in both Eastern and Western 
 Churches shows that Confession has al- 
 ways been in use in the Church of God and 
 has been considered necessary for the re- 
 mission of sin. This is a matter of faith, 
 for the Council of Trent has defined the 
 doctrine of the Church on Confession 
 against the reformers of the sixteenth 
 century, "if anyone deny that sacramental 
 Confession is of divine institution or that 
 it is necessary for salvation, let him be 
 anathema." 
 
 Our Lord, in instituting the Sacrament 
 of Penance, conferred on the priest 
 through the Apostles everything neces- 
 sary for its highest usefulness to the sin- 
 ner and for the salvation of souls, and no 
 quality more strongly disposes erring 
 
PENANCE. 187 
 
 human beings to absolute sincerity than 
 the fact that, under the seal of confession, 
 their faults are a matter between their 
 merciful God and themselves. This confi- 
 dence should certainly be fostered by a 
 Sacrament instituted for all humanity, for 
 "He knoweth our frame." 
 
 There is always a singular mercifulness, 
 a universal fitness, a divine beauty and in- 
 sight into human nature in God's institu- 
 tions under the New Law. Penance is a 
 monument of divine forgiveness and love 
 of God for His children. Besides the union 
 of faith, it supplies a union of the members 
 of the Church. It is heart speaking to 
 heart, binding the faithful to their confes- 
 sors by the cords of Adam. 
 
 Far from being the odious and unnatural 
 thing confession is thought by Protest- 
 ants, it is one of the greatest sources of 
 joy and consolation to the Christian soul. 
 Converts have recorded again and again 
 the wonder and inestimable benefits of 
 confession to them individually after the 
 desolation and loneliness of the various 
 sects. 
 
 It is of the greatest benefit to the indi- 
 
188 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 vidual even from a natural standpoint. 
 Every sincere Catholic knows and appre- 
 ciates the relief that comes when the sins, 
 whatever they be, are lifted from the soul 
 and the balm and encouragement of the 
 priest are imparted, healing and strength- 
 ening both. 
 
 Confession is not merely a protection 
 from sin; it also brings us numerous 
 graces. Its value to the family and society 
 at large can not be estimated. It works 
 for morality and good order ; it influences 
 men and women for the right as no other 
 agency can. It brings home to the human 
 heart the continual miracle of Christ's love 
 for mankind and His pity for human weak- 
 ness and frailty. Not content with re- 
 deeming man upon the Cross and applying 
 the fruits of that Redemption in the Holy 
 Sacrifice of the Mass through the world, 
 not content with raising him to the super- 
 natural life by Baptism, as the Good Shep- 
 herd, He seeks His lost sheep through the 
 Church He established, and brings them 
 back to the fold in the Sacrament of 
 Penance. 
 
PENANCE : The Acts of The 
 Penitent; Contrition. 
 
 y+~> HE Sacrament of Penance consists 
 \*J of the absolution by the priest and 
 the acts of the penitent, which are 
 contrition, confession and satisfac- 
 tion. The former we have treated at 
 length in a previous instruction, and it 
 now remains for us to consider the peni- 
 tent's acts, the first of which is contri- 
 tion. Contrition is defined by the Council 
 of Trent, Sess. XIV., Can. 4, as a sorrow 
 of mind and a detestation of sin that has 
 been committed, with the purpose of not 
 sinning again. 
 
 St. Thomas in speaking of contrition 
 says that the beginning of all sin is pride, 
 by which man following his senses turns 
 away from the divine Commandments, and 
 therefore that which destroys sin must 
 turn man away from sins and back to God. 
 In other words, it must make man aban- 
 don all affection for sin. 
 In order to procure the remission of 
 
190 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 his sins the sinner must have contrition 
 for them. It is not necessary that he 
 should detest them precisely with a view 
 of removing them ; it is sufficient that he 
 be sorry for them for some supernatural 
 motive. 
 
 Contrition is a necessary condition for 
 the remission of sin. This is clear from 
 many passages in the Old and New Testa- 
 ment. "Now, therefore/' saith the Lord, 
 "be converted to Me with all your heart, 
 in fasting and in weeping and in mourn- 
 ing. And rend your hearts, and not your 
 garments, and turn to the Lord, your God ; 
 for He is gracious and merciful, patient 
 and rich in mercy and ready to repent of 
 the evil" Joel XI, 12-13. "Unless you 
 shall do penance you shall all likewise 
 perish" Luke XIII., 3. "Be penitent, 
 therefore, and be converted, that your sins 
 may be blotted out" Acts III., 19. This 
 fact is also confirmed by the writings of 
 the Fathers and the canons of the Coun- 
 cil of Trent. 
 
 Reason itself seems to demand this, for 
 sin is an injury to God, and the servant 
 who offends his master, or the friend who 
 
PENANCE. 191 
 
 injures a friend, if he wishes to obtain 
 pardon, should be sorry for his fault. If he 
 is not, pardon is justly denied him. If, 
 therefore, without sorrow man cannot ob- 
 tain pardon from his fellowman, it seems 
 quite reasonable that God should demand 
 contrition from the sinner. 
 
 Contrition is necessary not only as a dic- 
 tate of reason, but also on account of a 
 direct precept of God, for a virtue 
 which is necessary for obtaining sal- 
 vation is without doubt commanded by 
 God; and this conclusion is found in the 
 words of the Holy Scripture which com- 
 mands sinners to do penance. 
 
 Contrition in order to obtain forgiveness 
 of sins must contain sorrow and a detesta- 
 tion of sins committed. 
 
 Detestation is an act of the will by which 
 a sinner wishes that his sin had not been 
 committed. It is not a mere wish but an 
 efficacious desire which removes all affec- 
 tion for sin. It is a hatred for sin and a 
 keen regret that it has been committed. It 
 is an act of the free will, while sorrow in 
 itself is not free inasmuch as it does not 
 depend on free will. Sin is something that 
 
192 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 is past and a man can exercise free will 
 in regard to it only in hating and despising 
 it. Detestation only is not sufficient. There 
 must be sorrow and this sorrow adds to 
 detestation sadness which considers the 
 evil of sin as something present. 
 
 The blessed in heaven detest sin but 
 have no sorrow, for sin is something past 
 to them. On earth, however, sin is al- 
 ways in some way present because it is 
 either not forgiven or it is doubtful if it is 
 forgiven or its effects still remain. There- 
 fore, he who detests sin must necessarily 
 be sorry for his own sin. Sorrow and de- 
 testation are not two distinct acts but con- 
 stitute one moral act. 
 
 The third element of contrition is the 
 purpose of not sinning again. This reso- 
 lution cannot be separated from sorrow 
 and detestation, for a sinner cannot be 
 said to detest and hate his sin if he is in- 
 different about committing sin in the fu- 
 ture. The sinner who asks pardon of God 
 for an injury done to Him and is at the 
 same time ready to offend Him again, does 
 Him a new injury. 
 
 The sorrow that we should have for our 
 
PENANCE. 193 
 
 sins should be interior, supernatural, uni- 
 versal and sovereign. It should be inte- 
 rior; it should come from the heart and 
 not merely from the lips. The priest may 
 be deceived by external signs but God, 
 who sees the heart is not deceived. Again 
 contrition must proceed from the source 
 which begot sin and this was the heart or 
 the will. It should be supernatural, that 
 is prompted by the grace of God and ex- 
 cited by motives which spring from faith. 
 In other words, we should be sorry because 
 God has made known to us the malice of 
 sin ; because it is displeasing to God. Our 
 sorrow should be universal, that it, it 
 should extend to all mortal sins without ex- 
 ception, for all mortal sins, even those 
 omitted in confession through forgetful- 
 ness, gravely offend God and deprive us of 
 divine friendship. It should be sovereign, 
 that is, we should detest sin more than 
 any other evil in the world. Otherwise the 
 sinner would be prepared to commit sin 
 to avoid some other evil. 
 
 Contrition, as we have seen, is neces- 
 sary for obtaining remission of our sins. 
 But what kind of contrition is necessary ? 
 
194 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 Must it be perfect as was required in the 
 Old Law ? By perfect contrition we mean 
 that which fills us with sorrow and hatred 
 for sin because it offends God, who is in- 
 finitely good in Himself and worthy of all 
 love. Imperfect contrition, or attrition as 
 it is also called, is that by which we hate 
 what offends God because by it we lose 
 heaven and deserve hell or because sin is so 
 hateful in itself. 
 
 Since contrition by its very nature tends 
 to remove sin, that contrition is perfect 
 which of itself is capable of doing this. 
 The internal perfection of the act of any 
 virtue depends upon the perfection of the 
 motive. Now there are two motives of 
 contrition, the goodness of God in itself, 
 which is the object of charity, and the 
 good of a rational creature, which leads us 
 to detest sin either on account of the fault 
 itself or on account of the penalty. The 
 latter proceeds from fear or hope; the 
 former considers the evil either as an in- 
 jury to God Himself, and then the sorrow 
 proceeds from love, or as against reason, 
 in which case the sorrow may be elicited 
 
PENANCE. 195 
 
 from motives of other virtues. 
 
 Contrition perfected by charity always 
 remits sin although the Sacrament of Pen- 
 ance be not actually received. This is 
 gathered from various passages of the Old 
 and New Testament: "I love them that 
 love Me," Prov. VIII, 17. "He that loveth 
 Me shall be loved of my Father ; and I will 
 love him and manifest myself to Him." 
 
 In the Old Law there must have been 
 some contrition which infallibly remitted 
 sins, for we know that sin was pardoned. 
 This contrition could have been only per- 
 fect contrition which surely has not lost its 
 efficiency in the New Law. This is con- 
 firmed by the Fathers of the Church and 
 by the teachings of the Council of Trent. 
 Perfect contrition which of itself is cap- 
 able of remitting sins requires no deter- 
 mined grade of intensity or duration of 
 time. 
 
 In the Old Law perfect contrition was 
 necessary for the remission of sin. In 
 the New Law attrition is sufficient with 
 the Sacrament of Penance. This is the 
 teaching of the universal Church, and de- 
 fined by the Council of Trent. For pen- 
 
196 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 ance is a Sacrament instituted by Christ 
 and elevates by its own power the sinner 
 into a state of grace. But if perfect con- 
 trition were necessary the Sacrament 
 would not accomplish its end, for by per- 
 fect contrition the sins would be forgiven 
 before absolution which would then never 
 be efficacious. 
 
 Since, then, God has rendered the way 
 back to Him so easy after straying away 
 from His grace, we ought to seek to find 
 Him and to show our appreciation of His 
 goodness. If, unfortunately, we fall into 
 mortal sin, we should take advantage of 
 this great Sacrament to repent and to seek 
 again the friendship and love of God. 
 
PENANCE : The Acts of The 
 Penitent; Confession. 
 
 HFylONFESSION is the telling of our sins 
 jVAj to a duly authorized priest for the 
 l&i purpose of obtaining forgiveness. 
 The necessity of Confession follows 
 from the very nature of the Sacrament, 
 which consists in the absolution by the 
 priest and the acts of the penitent. In or- 
 der to absolve from sin the priest must 
 know what the sins are, for the power he 
 has is judicial and its exercise a judicial 
 act. Since the judgment of the priest deals 
 to a great extent with internal thoughts 
 and desires which can be learned only by 
 self -accusation, it follows that Christ in in- 
 stituting the Sacrament of Penance must 
 have intended self -accusation. 
 
 Confession must be humble, sincere and 
 entire. It is humble when we accuse our- 
 
198 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 selves of all our sins with a deep sense of 
 shame and sorrow for having offended 
 God. It is sincere when we tell our sins 
 honestly and truthfully, neither exagger- 
 ating nor excusing them. Our confession 
 is entire when it extends to all mortal 
 sins according to their number and spe- 
 cies. "If any one assert that in the Sacra- 
 ment of Penance it is not necessary by 
 divine institution for the remission of sins 
 to confess each and every mortal sin which 
 Dne can remember after due and careful 
 examination, also secret sins and those 
 against the two last Commandments of 
 God and those circumstances which alter 
 the nature of a sin, let him be anathema." 
 Council of Trent, Session 14, Canon 7. 
 
 Since the confessor is to pass judgment 
 he must know the nature of the sin, which 
 is determined by its species, for sins 
 against the same Commandment may be- 
 long to different species. He must also 
 know the number of sins, for the number 
 influences the sentence of a judge. God, 
 however, does not expect impossibilities 
 and when we speak of the number we 
 mean the number one remembers. If, 
 
PENANCE. 199 
 
 however, without our fault we forget to 
 confess a mortal sin, our confession is 
 nevertheless worthy and the sin is for- 
 given, but it must be told in Confession if 
 it comes again to our mind. 
 
 Since Confession is so important, every 
 one should strive to make it as well as he 
 can, and for this purpose he should do five 
 things: he should examine his conscience, 
 excite sorrow for his sins, make a firm 
 resolution never more to offend God, con- 
 fess his sins exactly to the priest and ac- 
 cept the penance the priest gives him. 
 
 In preparing to go to Confession we 
 should pray to the Holy Ghost for the light 
 to know our sins and to understand the 
 displeasure they give to God, and for the 
 grace to have great sorrow for our sins. 
 After having called to mind how long it 
 is since our last Confession and whether 
 we went to Communion and said our pen- 
 ance, we should go over the Command- 
 ments of God and of the Church to see 
 what sins we have committed. 
 
 And here it would be well to remark 
 that this examination of conscience should 
 be made if possible without a prayer book, 
 
200 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 which very often causes confusion and 
 scruples. We should strive to bring our 
 sins to our minds simply and directly, not 
 seeking to analyze nor tabulate them. 
 
 After we have examined our conscience 
 we should seek to stir up sorrow for our 
 sins, for sorrow is the most essential part 
 of the Sacrament of Penance. And this 
 sorrow will naturally lead us to make a 
 firm resolution never to sin again. Now 
 this purpose does not mean that we will 
 not sin in the future. In fact we may be 
 almost sure that we shall fall again. It 
 means now that we are determined not to 
 offend God. 
 
 After having made this preparation we 
 go into the confessional and tell our sins. 
 Here we should remember to be brief. We 
 should tell only our own sins, avoiding de- 
 tails and unimportant circumstances. We 
 should tell the number as near as possible, 
 how many a day, a week or a month, and 
 the circumstances changing the species. 
 It is needless to say that we should not 
 knowingly conceal any sin, for thereby we 
 commit a sacrilege and our sins are not 
 forgiven. When the priest gives us our 
 
PENANCE. 201 
 
 penance we should listen attentively and 
 say it as soon as possible. 
 
 If on leaving the confessional we dis- 
 cover we have forgotten a sin we should 
 not go back but wait until the next time, 
 for the sin has been forgiven, but we 
 should confess it if we remember it when 
 next we go to Confession. 
 
 If we have had the misfortune wilfully 
 to conceal a mortal sin we must go back 
 to our last worthy confession and tell 
 everything we have done since that time. 
 
 Here it would be well to say a few words 
 in regard to the manner of making our 
 confession. On entering the confessional 
 we should kneel and make the sign of the 
 Cross and, while waiting for the priest to 
 open the slide, should seek to excite real 
 sorrow for our sins. When the priest opens 
 the slide we should say "Bless me, Father, 
 for I have sinned." We should then tell 
 the time of our last confession, whether 
 we said our penance and went to Holy 
 Communion. After that we should con- 
 fess our sins, mortal sins first and what- 
 ever venial sins we wish to tell. When 
 we have told all our sins we should say, 
 
202 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 "For these and all the sins of my past life 
 I beg pardon of God and penance and abso- 
 lution of you, Father, if you judge me 
 worthy/' 
 
 If the priest questions us we should an- 
 swer truthfully and clearly. When we 
 have finished we should listen to the ad- 
 vice of the priest and should not argue 
 with him, for the priest is the judge. While 
 the priest is giving us absolution we should 
 renew our act of contrition. 
 
 In going to Confession we should not 
 approach the tribunal of penance with a 
 feeling that it is a task to be over with as 
 soon as possible. We should go to the 
 priest as to a friend who will counsel, ad- 
 vise and guide us; a physician who will 
 heal our infirmities and prescribe for the 
 future; as a father to whose heart our 
 interests and our eternal welfare are as 
 dear as life itself. We should have no he- 
 sitancy in telling our sins just as they are 
 without striving to color or minimize them. 
 And having finished our confession we 
 should thank God to whose infinite good- 
 ness we owe this new proof of love. 
 
PENANCE : The Acts of The 
 Penitent; Satisfaction. 
 
 ATISFACTION, or, as it is called, 
 penance, is the performance of cer- 
 tain penitential works imposed by 
 the confessor particularly as a rem- 
 edy against repetition and as means of a 
 reparation but chiefly as a punishment for 
 sin. The priest gives us a penance after 
 Confession that we may satisfy God for 
 the temporal punishment due to our sins, 
 for God does not remit all the temporal 
 punishment when He remits sin itself and 
 the eternal punishment to it. This is quite 
 clear from the words of the Prophet 
 Nathan to David: "The Lord also hath 
 taken away thy sin; thou shalt not die. 
 Nevertheless, because thou hast given oc- 
 casion to the enemies of the Lord to blas- 
 pheme, for this thing, the child that is 
 born to thee, shall surely die." (2 Kings 
 XII, 13-14). 
 
 The justice of God demands satisfaction 
 by some penalty for our rebellion against 
 Him and for our sinful attachment to His 
 creatures. This penance is slight indeed in 
 comparison with the offence for which it is 
 
204 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 intended to satisfy. From the earliest 
 times it has been imposed in Confession. 
 The ancient custom of public penance in 
 the Church bears out this. 
 
 The Sacrament of Penance by the abso- 
 lution of the priest remits the sin itself 
 and the eternal punishment due to it, but 
 it does not remit all the temporal punish- 
 ment. After the offence has been con- 
 doned the damage still remains to be re- 
 paired, and this is done by penance on 
 earth or sufferings in purgatory, or both. 
 Penance on earth is very acceptable in the 
 sight of God, for it turns us from creatures 
 to God as our last end. The Sacrament of 
 Penance therefore differs from Baptism, 
 which takes away both the temporal and 
 eternal punishment due to sin. 
 
 God requires temporal punishment as a 
 satisfaction for sin to teach us the great 
 evil of sin and to keep us from falling 
 again and this satisfaction should be ren- 
 dered as soon as possible, inasmuch as 
 there is always the danger of forgetting. 
 The penance given by the confessor is an 
 integral part of the Sacrament and as 
 such ought not be postponed too long. The 
 
PENANCE. 205 
 
 chief means by which we satisfy God are 
 prayer, fasting, alms-giving, the spiritual 
 and corporal works of mercy and the pa- 
 tient sufferings of the ills of life. 
 
 In the work of satisfaction we are aided 
 by indulgences. An indulgence is defined 
 as a remission in whole or in part of the 
 temporal punishment due to sin. It is, 
 therefore, not a pardon of sin or a license 
 to commit sin. It can be gained only by 
 one who is in the state of grace. The 
 man whose soul is stained with mortal sin 
 cannot gain an indulgence, for he is an 
 enemy of God. There are two kinds of in- 
 dulgences, Plenary and Partial. A Plen- 
 ary Indulgence is the full remission of the 
 temporal punishment due to our sin. A 
 Partial Indulgence is a remission of the 
 part of the temporal punishment due to sin. 
 
 The Church, by means of indulgences, 
 remits the temporal punishment due to sin 
 by applying to us the merits of Jesus 
 Christ and the superabundant satisfac- 
 tion of the saints which are her spiritual 
 treasury. 
 
 Indulgences are granted outside the Sac- 
 rament of Penance. In the Sacrament of 
 
206 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 Penance the temporal punishment is 
 changed to a lighter penance; by indul- 
 gences it is remitted by the application of 
 the satisfaction of Christ and of the saints, 
 entrusted to the Church's keeping. That 
 there exists in the Church a treasury of 
 good works is quite evident, for every good 
 work has a two-fold value, one of satisfac- 
 tion, the other of merit. 
 
 It is also quite clear that Christ and 
 the saints did not need all the value of 
 their good works and sufferings and these 
 superabundant works are the common pos- 
 session of the Church. The Church, 
 through her head, has the power to apply 
 these to individuals and thus to remit the 
 temporal punishment due to sin, for this 
 power must be contained in the mission 
 given by Christ to binding and loosing. 
 
 The Church has always exercised this 
 power, as we see in the second epistle to 
 the Corinthians Chapter 2, verse 10 : "To 
 whom you have pardoned anything, I also. 
 For what I have pardoned, if I have par- 
 doned anything, for your sakes have I done 
 it, in the person of Christ." Here it is 
 evidently not a case of remission of sin, for 
 
PENANCE. 207 
 
 the apostle doubts whether there was any- 
 thing to pardon, that is, whether the sin- 
 ner himself had not already rendered sat- 
 isfaction to God's justice. The Fathers 
 of the Church speak constantly of this 
 practice. In the writings of St. Cyprian 
 we learn that from the earliest times ec- 
 clesiastical penances were shortened by the 
 prayers of the martyrs. 
 
 When we speak of a Plenary Indulgence 
 we mean the remission of all the temporal 
 punishment due to sin which has already 
 been remitted. A Partial Indulgence im- 
 plies the remission before God of the tem- 
 poral punishment due to sin as would be 
 expiated by a certain public penance. 
 
 Indulgences are of immense value not 
 only because they remit temporal punish- 
 ment but because they encourage the sin- 
 ner to turn to God and promote the fre- 
 quent use of the Sacraments and the per- 
 formance of good works. To gain an in- 
 dulgence we must be in the state of grace 
 and perform the works enjoined. In order 
 to gain a Plenary Indulgence we must go 
 to Confession and Communion and pray 
 for the intention of the Holy Father. 
 
EXTREME UNCTION 
 A Sacrament. 
 
 W 
 
 E must all die. Nothing can save us 
 from this general law. Great and 
 small, rich and poor must all one 
 day pass through the valley of 
 death, for we were not created for this 
 world only. We are destined to enjoy a 
 better life, to dwell in a heavenly mansion. 
 This world is a place of probation, where 
 we are on trial. According to our actions 
 we shall receive reward or punishment. 
 
 This life, therefore, and all that per- 
 tains to it, is important only in its relation 
 to eternity. It is only a preparation for 
 death and that religion is the best, the 
 truest and the most adapted to our wants 
 which teaches us the way to prepare for 
 death and places at our disposal the means 
 which help us to live the life of the 
 righteous and to die the death of the just. 
 And certainly, in this regard, there can 
 be no comparison between our holy reli- 
 
EXTREME UNCTION. 209 
 
 gion and the sects. Protestantism is vague 
 and undecided in its belief, inconsistent 
 in its practice and without the means of 
 assisting its followers to live a holy life 
 and to die a good death. It does not pro- 
 duce, nor does it care to produce, saints, 
 and rightly so, for it has choked up the 
 channels of grace by rejecting the Sacra- 
 ments. 
 
 Hence, with Protestantism, death is a 
 fearful thing, without consolation or alle- 
 viation. Its ministers have nothing to give 
 to the dying. They have no power to for- 
 give, no authority to command and direct, 
 no helps to offer. They can do nothing that 
 any one else might not do as well. 
 
 In the Church, however, it is different. 
 Her teachings are determined and un- 
 changeable. The obligations she imposes 
 are specified and remain ever the same in 
 essence, however their circumstantial re- 
 lations to the faith may change. The 
 means of pardon and of salvation exist and 
 are distributed without stint to all appli- 
 cants. There is a Sacrament for every im- 
 portant state of this mortal life ; there 
 is a Sacrament for the dying. When a 
 
210 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 Catholic's last hour is come, he sends for 
 the priest who can forgive him, can in- 
 struct him, can console him and strengthen 
 him. This is the end, the virtue of the 
 Sacrament of Extreme Unction. 
 
 Extreme Unction, says the Catechism, 
 is the anointing of the body with holy oil 
 accompanied with prayer of the priest and 
 gives grace to die well. It is called Ex- 
 treme Unction or last anointing because it 
 is the last anointing administered by the 
 Church to her children. There are several 
 occasions on which anointing is used as a 
 symbol of spiritual benefits conveyed to 
 the soul. Thus, in Baptism, the child is 
 anointed immediately before and imme- 
 diately after the essential parts of the 
 Sacrament. Thus, too, anointing with oil is 
 used in administering Confirmation and 
 Holy Orders. 
 
 But these anointings all precede Ex- 
 treme Unction, which in consequence is 
 called the last anointing. The other Sac- 
 raments in which anointing takes place 
 were intended for persons in health. Ex- 
 treme Unction was instituted by our Lord 
 
EXTREME UNCTION. 211 
 
 to strengthen the dying in their passage 
 out of this world into eternity. 
 
 Extreme Unction is a Sacrament, as is 
 clear from the epistle of St. James, the 
 fifth chapter, the fourteenth verse: — "Is 
 any man sick among you ? Let him bring 
 in the priests of the Church and let them 
 pray over Him, anointing him with oil in 
 the name of the Lord. And the prayer of 
 faith shall save the sick man and the Lord 
 shall raise him up; and if he be in sins, 
 they shall be forgiven him." 
 
 Here we have verified all the conditions 
 of a Sacrament : there is the outward sign, 
 the anointing with oil ; there is an inward 
 spiritual grace given, the saving of the 
 sick man and the forgiveness of his sins, 
 and, lastly there is the institution of 
 Christ as the means by which grace is 
 received. This we must admit unless we 
 choose to allege that the Apostle decided 
 to make a Sacrament or a means of grace 
 without any authority from his heavenly 
 Master. This text was so conclusive that 
 Luther, to destroy its force, rejected the 
 whole epistle and declared it not to be 
 part of the Scriptures. 
 
212 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 There are those who deny that Extreme 
 Unction is a Sacrament, but, instead of 
 rejecting, as did Luther, the whole epistle 
 of St. James, they strive to explain away 
 its meaning, and claim that the anointing 
 of the Sacrament by Elders was the way 
 of miraculously curing them in primitive 
 times. The natural inference would, then, 
 be that no Christian died in those days. 
 
 We have mention of the existence of 
 this Sacrament among the first Christ- 
 ians. Of the early days there are not 
 many writings extant; but the celebrated 
 Origen, who was born in the century after 
 the Apostles, after speaking of a humble 
 confession of sins as a means of obtaining 
 pardon for them, adds to it the anointing 
 with oil prescribed by St. James. 
 
 St. John Chrysostom, who lived in the 
 fourth century, speaking of the power of 
 the priest in remitting sins, says he exer- 
 cises it when he is called on to perform 
 the rite mentioned by St. James. The 
 testimony of Pope Innocent I, in the same 
 age expressly mentioned the matter, the 
 minister and the subject of this Sacra- 
 ment. 
 
EXTREME UNCTION. 213 
 
 If the text from St. James does not point 
 out a Sacrament, how came the Sacrament 
 to exist? The Catholic Church did not 
 invent it, could not have invented it, for it 
 must be remembered that the Nestorians 
 broke away from the Communion of the 
 Church in 431, and the Eutychians in 451 ; 
 that these rival sects exist in numerous 
 congregations throughout the East at the 
 present day, yet they as well as the 
 Greeks, Armenians and other schismatics 
 maintain, in belief and practice, Extreme 
 Unction as one of the seven Sacraments. 
 All this tends to show that the Sacrament 
 of Extreme Unction must have come down 
 from apostolic times. 
 
EXTREME UNCTION : Object 
 and Nature. 
 
 Q 
 
 XTREME Unction we have seen, is a 
 Sacrament instituted by Christ. 
 Our consideration now is con- 
 cerned with its nature and the way 
 in which we should receive it. As its name 
 implies, the matter of Extreme Unction is 
 oil, blessed by the Bishop and applied by 
 the priest. If we were convinced that the 
 Sacraments were not instituted by Christ 
 we would be forced to admit that they are 
 very admirable inventions. Their matter 
 and their form and their ceremonies, as 
 well as the whole system, inspire the 
 greatest admiration. Everything is so ap- 
 propriate. 
 
 Thus in Extreme Unction oil is most ap- 
 propriately the matter, for it has a 
 strengthening, healing, soothing effect, 
 such as the effect of this Sacrament should 
 be. By oil consecration is performed and 
 by this Sacrament our body like a defiled 
 
EXTREME UNCTION. 215 
 
 temple is purged and reconsecrated to God 
 forever. The eyes, the nostrils, the mouth, 
 the hands, the feet are anointed, because 
 by all these organs which are so closely 
 connected with our senses we offend God. 
 
 All, perhaps, have been perverted from 
 their true end; by all these avenues sin 
 enters into the soul and by all these grace 
 must be carried back. The words of the 
 form are short but expressive, — "By this 
 holy anointing and of His own most tender 
 mercy may the Lord forgive thee what- 
 ever thou hast committed/' etc., mention- 
 ing the sense with which the anointed part 
 is closely connected. This is the essence 
 of the Sacrament; there are prayers and 
 ceremonies before and after this essential 
 part that precede as a preparation and fol- 
 low as a thanksgiving. It would be well 
 for every Catholic to read these prayers 
 and reflect upon them. 
 
 None but a priest can administer ' the 
 Sacrament of Extreme Unction. Any 
 priest can validly administer this Sacra- 
 ment. All those who have been baptized 
 and have come to the use of reason and 
 
216 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 are in danger of death by sickness are the 
 proper subjects for this Sacrament. 
 
 Baptism, as we have already seen, is the 
 gate of the other Sacraments, and conse- 
 quently must be received before them, and 
 as Extreme Unction is instituted as a rem- 
 edy for the effects of sin, it can only be re- 
 ceived by those who have in a greater or 
 less degree incurred its guilt. In order to 
 receive the Sacrament of Extreme Unction 
 a person must be in danger of death by 
 sickness. Hence infants and those who 
 have never had the use of reason are in- 
 capable of receiving Extreme Unction. 
 Soldiers going into battle, or criminals 
 about to be executed, or sailors on a peril- 
 ous voyage cannot receive Extreme Unc- 
 tion because though they are in danger of 
 death it is not from sickness. No one 
 should attempt, therefore, to receive this 
 Sacrament who is not dangerously ill. 
 
 At the same time, however, it is well to 
 remark that Extreme Unction should not 
 be delayed until the person has come to 
 the last extremity. Among certain people 
 there seems to be an idea that the giving 
 of Extreme Unction means sure death, 
 
EXTREME UNCTION. 217 
 
 hence they wait until there is absolutely 
 no hope of recovery, and as a consequence 
 the person is either unconscious or has 
 died before the priest can reach him. 
 
EXTREME UNCTION : Effects 
 and Necessity. 
 
 © 
 
 HE Disciples came one day to show 
 our Savior the buildings of the 
 Temple, we read in Matthew, 
 twenty-fourth chapter, second 
 verse, and Jesus said: "A stone shall not 
 be left upon a stone." So all the things 
 of this world must perish, the wonders of 
 nature and the inventions of art all must 
 pass away and with them we also. The 
 temple of our body, however beautiful it 
 may be, must one day be turned into dust. 
 We must all die. Nothing can preserve us. 
 "It is determined for all men once to die." 
 The subject of Extreme Unction natur- 
 ally recalls this great fact and reminds us 
 of the way we should die, of the prepara- 
 tion for death, of the graces which are 
 given us and the dispositions with which 
 we should receive them. The Sacrament of 
 Extreme Unction has three principal ef- 
 fects : It strengthens a sick person against 
 the temptations of the devil and the horror 
 
EXTREME UNCTION. 219 
 
 of death ; it confirms his faith and confid- 
 ence in God and by that means fortifies 
 him against the attacks of the evil one ; it 
 excites in one's heart the desire and the 
 hope of possessing God and thus fortifies 
 him against the fear of death. 
 
 The more ardent this desire and the 
 firmer this hope the less man fears to die. 
 Hence it is often called the Sacrament of 
 Hope. 
 
 Extreme Unction also effaces the 
 traces of sin together with the sins them- 
 selves if there are still any to be expiated. 
 Hence the Sacrament is called by the 
 Fathers of the Church and the Council of 
 Trent the perfection and completion of 
 Penance. By the traces or remains of sin 
 is understood a weakness or languor of 
 soul which continues even after the sin 
 has been forgiven, produces a lingering at- 
 tachment to the things of earth and pre- 
 vents us from having a taste for spiritual 
 things. 
 
 Extreme Unction removes that weak- 
 ness by turning us from the world and 
 making us desire Heaven. It also remits 
 venial sin and even those mortal sins 
 
220 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 which have not been forgotten or which 
 the sick person is unable to confess, pro- 
 vided, however, that there be sincere and 
 true contrition. If possible, recourse must 
 previously be had to the Sacrament of Pen- 
 ance, for Extreme Unction is a Sacra- 
 ment of the living and ought to be re- 
 ceived in the state of grace. The Sacra- 
 ment of Extreme Unction not infrequently 
 restores health to the sick, if it is consist- 
 ent with the will of God and our salva- 
 tion. This effect is not so rare as we 
 might imagine. 
 
 Extreme Unction is one of the Sacra- 
 ments of the living, not merely in the doc- 
 trinal sense, but also in the practical sense. 
 It was instituted for the dangerously sick. 
 In the Providence and mercy of God it has 
 a two-fold function: to give strength and 
 healing to both soul and body. Many a 
 man and woman now walking this earth in 
 good health has been annointed, some of 
 them, more than once, and they believe 
 that God cured them through this great 
 Sacrament. And rightly, as Christ insti- 
 tuted it for sickness of the body as well 
 as that of the soul. What is more common 
 
EXTREME UNCTION. 221 
 
 in cases of severe and baffling sickness 
 than to send for a specialist or transport 
 the patient hundreds of miles to some far- 
 famed surgeon. And here at hand is the 
 Great Physician, our divine Lord, un- 
 called. 
 
 We are not free to receive or defer the 
 Sacrament of Extreme Unction. We are 
 obliged by precept to receive it. The words 
 of St. James clearly indicate a precept in 
 this regard. In order worthily to receive 
 Extreme Unction we must be in a state 
 of grace or try to be in a state of grace 
 when on account of the advanced stages 
 of sickness confession is impossible. If 
 the person is at all conscious he should 
 try to make some sign to indicate that he 
 is sorry for his sins. 
 
 There is abroad, almost universal, the 
 dangerous error that the administration of 
 Extreme Unction means the death of the 
 stricken one. The fear of death has been a 
 powerful agent in spreading this error; 
 unfounded hope is another. At times it 
 seems that the priest who brings the Holy 
 Oil for the Sick is looked upon as the fore- 
 runner of death. 
 
222 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 One of the very potent reasons why Ex- 
 treme Unction has come to be dreaded so 
 unreasonably is that in numberless cases 
 those whose duty it was to guard the inter- 
 ests of the sick, failed to summon a priest 
 until the patient was at death's door, until 
 the touch of death was already on the un- 
 fortunate's forehead. They never gave the 
 Sacrament a chance to be efficacious for 
 the body and, perhaps, for the soul. Co- 
 operation of the faithful with the grace 
 of the Sacraments is a mighty force for 
 good. Yet sometimes wives, husbands, 
 children in unreasoning dread and blindest 
 affection, stand positively in the way of 
 that cooperation at the very time when 
 those they love need it most. 
 
 The sick person should have faith, for 
 Extreme Unction is a Sacrament of the 
 Church, instituted by Christ for this spec- 
 ial purpose. St. James calls it the grace 
 of faith. Our Savior always required some 
 expression of faith before He worked a 
 miracle ; so, too, in this Sacrament without 
 faith there can be no grace. It should be 
 received with sentiments of piety and de- 
 
EXTREME UNCTION. 223 
 
 votion of union with our Lord and confor- 
 mity to His holy will. 
 
 There should be a union of intention 
 with that of the Church. The priest 
 is like the good Samaritan, who is pour- 
 ing oil on our wounds to heal them and 
 asking pardon of God for all our sins. All 
 our thoughts should be upon God and not 
 on country or friends. In other words, 
 we should prepare ourselves to come into 
 the presence of our Creator. 
 
EXTREME UNCTION: Sick 
 Calls. 
 
 y+*s HE best, bravest, wisest men and 
 Vl/ women who ever lived feared 
 death: the death of the body, the 
 tearing asunder of soul and body; 
 but particularly, the death of the soul, the 
 eternal death. They were extraordinarily 
 careful to prepare for both. Though they 
 dreaded the final struggle, the inevitable 
 moment, they would have been amazed 
 that one who called himself a friend would 
 keep the crucial news a secret from the 
 one of all the world most concerned. 
 
 Often it is not the end of life that is so 
 terrible to the sick as the suddenness of 
 the realization, the unpreparedness. And 
 in how many families the relatives of 
 one mortally ill conspire to keep the truth 
 from the patient! The pretext may be 
 what is miscalled love, a dread to be the 
 heralds of death news; sometimes, too, it 
 is pure selfishness, a longing to put off the 
 evil day as long as possible, a false encour- 
 
EXTREME UNCTION. 225 
 
 agement that is nothing less than trait- 
 orous. 
 
 What matters it, if we be accused of 
 cold-heartedness. Real cold-heartedness 
 consists in concealing truth of vital im- 
 portance from one in the greatest need of 
 it. Nor is there any ignoring the fact that 
 a death in the family is a sorrow often be- 
 yond description; that stricken relatives 
 and friends hope on until the very last. A 
 priest who has seen death lay its cold 
 finger on those dearest to him on earth, 
 who has followed the course of sickness 
 in hundreds of families, who has soothed 
 the dying with all that God's graces gives 
 and all that human nature in the time of 
 desperate need calls to his heart and lips, 
 is of all men the most commiserate, for 
 generally he knows more about the pass- 
 ing soul than any one else in the world, 
 and what need there is for every aid that 
 can be given. 
 
 There is no lack, even in this sorrowful 
 world, of sympathy and charity, but there 
 is all too much that is ill-directed. The 
 most pitiful of these is the sympathy or 
 charity that by dread, delay or other mo- 
 
226 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 tives, closes the gates of Heaven for souls 
 for whom Christ died. 
 
 Preparedness for the coming of the 
 priest into the sick room, includes not mer- 
 ely that quietness of manner and due an- 
 nouncement of the visit to the patient, but 
 also those small yet important material 
 preparations that bring a consolation in 
 themselves. If you consider the Sacra- 
 ments you will note that our Lord selected 
 common, ordinary material things, added 
 to which the divine grace gives spiritual 
 power. He took water for Baptism, bread 
 and wine for the Holy Eucharist and so on. 
 So there are certain ordinary things 
 needed for the administration of Sacra- 
 ments to the sick. 
 
 The room wherein the mysteries of 
 God's grace are soon to be enacted is to 
 become a temple of God. Mere worldly 
 decorations ought to be removed. There 
 should be a table large enough to hold 
 what is needed, covered with a spotless 
 cloth, and on this the crucifix, two blessed 
 candles and a vase with holy water. The 
 afflicted person looks forth from the bed of 
 pain and feels already in these prepara- 
 
EXTREME UNCTION. 227 
 
 tions a sense of real encouragement, some- 
 thing of that feeling that has occurred he- 
 fore during heartfelt prayer before the 
 Blessed Sacrament. When such duties are 
 carefully and in good time performed, 
 fulfilment diffuses good on all sides. The 
 sick person is quiet and collected — in brief, 
 in a proper frame of mind for the great 
 gifts soon to be presented ; the priest sees 
 everything ready for the orderly and 
 proper administration of the Sacraments 
 and is enabled to give his best efforts to 
 giving all the consolation and encourage- 
 ment in his power, being relieved of dis- 
 tractions and the interruptions caused by 
 delay. It would be easy to depict a sick 
 call where everything is wrong; priests 
 in any parish behold such scenes daily. But 
 perhaps it is better to describe, as has been 
 attempted, what the proper settings for 
 sick calls ought to be. 
 
 Once the requisite preparations for the 
 priest's coming have been made, the du- 
 ties of others in the room and the house 
 can be summed up as silence and prayer. 
 The minister of Christ is present and on 
 most such occasions he brings our Blessed 
 
228 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 Lord with him. It is no time for tears or 
 groans or unrestrained emotion; it is em- 
 phatically the time for sincere prayer that 
 the will of God may be done and a strug- 
 gling soul assisted. 
 
 When the Sacraments have been admin- 
 istered and the priest has gone to other 
 duties, the sick person should be allowed 
 absolute quiet and peace. It is a very 
 sacred hour with the tranquil figure on 
 that bed; an hour of thanksgiving and 
 communion with God. Do not lightly in- 
 terrupt those holy thoughts. Do not 
 hasten to bring back to worldly cares that 
 child of God who may be soon to leave 
 earth forever. How often does it happen 
 that one who in sickness has been impa- 
 tient, hard to manage and provocative of 
 sadness and a feeling of helplessness, 
 changes after the administration of the 
 Sacraments to a different, a more patient 
 being. 
 
 There is no occasion in life where tact 
 has not its function ; one of its most impor- 
 tant fields is the sick room ; and tact in the 
 sick room may be defined as a judicious 
 combination of common sense, merciful- 
 
EXTREME UNCTION. 229 
 
 ness and patience. This is a duty whose 
 faithful performance is very dear to God. 
 Read in the Gospels how divinely merciful 
 He was to the afflicted. They who have 
 the opportunity to follow Him in caring 
 for the sick, ought to be thankful ; it is a 
 great opportunity. 
 
 Health is natural; sickness a veritable 
 rack of agony to most men and women. 
 What we sometimes take for patience is 
 nothing but sheer weakness. Much can 
 be done to alleviate all this unhappiness. 
 Pious books adapted to the individual who 
 is sick are useful. The word "adapted" is 
 used here advisedly, for not every pious 
 book is suitable to every patient. Prayer 
 in common with the sick assists much also, 
 aiding them to think of God and the world 
 to come. 
 
 The near relatives of a seriously sick 
 man or woman face a work for which they 
 are not always equipped. They are kind 
 and unkind by turns ; they perhaps grieve 
 or excite the patient unnecessarily. In a 
 way the latter is living in the dim quiet 
 world of the sick room and the former a 
 part of the other world outside. After the 
 
230 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 administration of the Sacraments perse- 
 verance in grace is of the utmost impor- 
 tance. Excitement therefore and anything 
 that would turn the thoughts of the 
 stricken from God should be avoided with 
 the utmost care. 
 
 Another thing is to be remembered ; it is 
 not always what you think will benefit, 
 cheer or encourage the sick that are 
 needed; not always your practices of 
 prayer of devotion, but the things that 
 will be efficacious with the individual be- 
 fore you. Unshaken patience is the need- 
 ful thing. Often in sickness, brief or long, 
 new traits of character come out, and a 
 wise recognition of these matters accom- 
 plishes much for what all Catholics wish 
 most devoutly for those united by the 
 bonds of affection — the salvation of the 
 soul. 
 
 When God wills not health of the body 
 but transition to eternal life, and the last 
 hours begin, the relatives and friends 
 should unite in the prayers for the dying. 
 Blessed candles are to be lighted, as they 
 represent the faith of the departing soul 
 
EXTREME UNCTION. 231 
 
 received in Baptism and maintained to the 
 end of life. And when the eyes we have 
 looked on so often in life are closed for 
 the last time, the duty of family and 
 friends does not cease. Rather it contin- 
 ues. The departed should be remembered 
 often in prayer and care should be taken 
 to have Masses celebrated for the departed 
 soul ; not in the first few weeks while grief 
 and loss are poignant, but in the days and 
 years that follow. Remember that soul as 
 you, in like case, would have others re- 
 member you. 
 
HOLY ORDERS : The Priest- 
 hood. 
 
 ~]F all the Sacraments of the Church 
 none are more closely related to the 
 7[$m interests of society than Holy Or- 
 ders and Matrimony. By marriage 
 the human race is propagated and pre- 
 served; by Holy Orders the priesthood is 
 perpetuated and a body of men set apart 
 for the purpose of carrying on Christ's 
 work on earth. 
 
 The priesthood in the Church was insti- 
 tuted by Christ Himself to teach His doc- 
 trines, to distribute His grace through the 
 Sacraments and to offer sacrifice. The 
 priest is a medium between the people and 
 God. Like Moses, he is the representative 
 of God before the people and the represen- 
 tative of the people before God. He is the 
 instrument of Christ, by which Christ's 
 mediation is brought to mankind. 
 
 In a general sense the whole Christian 
 people is a priesthood, as St. Peter notes 
 in his epistle, (Chap. II, 5-9), on 
 
HOLY ORDERS. 233 
 
 account of their intimate union with 
 Christ, in whose nature and prerogatives 
 they partake in a wonderful manner. As 
 by this union with Christ our identity is 
 not merged in His, so the fact we all par- 
 take to a certain degree in the priesthood 
 of Christ does not do away with the neces- 
 sity of a special priesthood. Divines, 
 therefore, distinguish between the internal 
 and the external priesthood ; the former is 
 common to all Christians ; the latter is re- 
 served to a chosen body. 
 
 Against Protestantism, which maintains 
 there is no priesthood, Catholics hold that 
 there is and ought to be a priesthood in 
 the New Law. 
 
 That there is such a priesthood is clear 
 from the testimony of St. Paul. The Apos- 
 tle in the Epistle to the Hebrews tells us 
 that a priest is "one ordained for men in 
 things pertaining to God," and his office is 
 "to offer gifts and sacrifices." (Heb. V. 1.) 
 And in this the Apostle gives us the mean- 
 ing of the word as used in root languages, 
 in which we find the notion of setting 
 apart those who are to act on man's behalf 
 
234 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 before God. Of these a certain sacred- 
 ness was demanded. 
 
 A priesthood we have — the priesthood 
 of Christ, who acting through His repre- 
 sensatives preaches, baptizes, consecrates 
 and absolves. 
 
 Protestants deny the existence of a 
 priesthood and say that it detracts from 
 the mediation of Christ, who, they remind 
 us, is the sole mediator. Yet for this very 
 reason Catholics affirm the existence of 
 the priesthood. We believe in a living 
 Christ, whose work was not finished when 
 He ascended into heaven but will be con- 
 tinued in the world until "He come" again. 
 To continue visibly the mission of Christ 
 is the work of the priesthood. 
 
 The Christian priesthood in no way de- 
 tracts from the mediation of Christ, for 
 it does not act independently of Christ's 
 mediation ; for from that great fact comes 
 its whole reason for being. As the priest- 
 hood of the Old Law typified Christ's me- 
 diation, so that of the New Law carries 
 that mediation to men that they may en- 
 joy its blessings. Hence, they do not in- 
 
HOLY ORDERS. 235 
 
 terfere in any way with Christ's work of 
 saving man. 
 
 The priesthood of Christ is different 
 from that of the Old and New Laws, for 
 His priesthood flows from His very nature. 
 Those who discharge an office which re- 
 fers directly to God and who present to 
 Him the offerings of man may be called 
 priests, as was Melchisedech. But Christ's 
 priestly office is the direct consequence of 
 the union of two natures in His divine per- 
 son, whereby He is the mediator between 
 God and man. 
 
 By this union He became by nature the 
 real representative between God and man ; 
 all earthly priests are such only by office 
 or appointment. Only through this con- 
 junction of God and man can any accept- 
 able offering be rendered by men to God. 
 As Christ is the only channel through 
 which graces flow from God to man, so He 
 is the only medium through which worship 
 ascends from man to his Creator. Christ 
 is the great High Priest who is our 
 Mediator by nature. 
 
 The Church is a divine and human insti- 
 tution. Accordingly, for the exercise of 
 
236 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 public functions, for teaching and for ad- 
 ministering the Sacraments a divine inter- 
 nal calling is required. But as the divine 
 invisible nature of the Church is connected 
 with the human outward form, so this 
 calling must be outwardly discerned and 
 recognized. Hence, the public exercise of 
 ecclesiastical functions is authorized by a 
 Sacrament, an outward act to be per- 
 formed by men according to the institu- 
 tion of Christ and signifying and giving 
 grace. 
 
 The Council of Trent (Sess. 23, Chap. 3) 
 says : "Since it is clear from the testimony 
 of the Scriptures, from apostolic tradition 
 and from the unanimous consent of the 
 Fathers that by sacred ordination, which 
 is administered by words and external 
 signs, grace is conferred, no one must 
 doubt but that order is truly and properly 
 one of the seven Sacraments of Holy 
 Church, for the Apostle says : I admonish 
 you to stir up the grace that is in you 
 by the imposition of my hands." 
 
 Hence the Church does not accept a 
 priest unless he first receive external con- 
 secration, unless he receive through the 
 
HOLY ORDERS. 237 
 
 imposition of the hands of the Bishop 
 the Holy Ghost. The nature of the 
 Church as a visible body demands an or- 
 dination originating with Christ, the foun- 
 tain head, and perpetuated in uninter- 
 rupted succession from the Apostles down 
 to our day. 
 
 The priest as a teacher is a necessity in 
 the New Law. Men need to be taught. 
 There is no period in the history of the 
 world when men could be left to them- 
 selves. Even philosophy makes use of tra- 
 dition in order that reason may be exer- 
 cised and developed. Adam was taught by 
 God in the beginning. After that men 
 steadily declined because they had no 
 teacher. After the deluge revelation was 
 renewed, but in a short time it perished 
 everywhere except among the Jews, who 
 had teachers. Amidst persecutions and 
 attacks from all sides the Church has alone 
 stood, upheld by her body of teachers. 
 
 We have proved the existence and truth 
 of the Sacraments. But they cannot be 
 administered by everyone; there must be 
 some body of men to administer them. 
 
 What we have thus far concluded from 
 
238 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 reason and analogy is clearly confirmed 
 by the Scriptures. The Lord chose twelve 
 Apostles and seventy-two Disciples and 
 sent them into the world. And in doing 
 so He said : "As the Father hath sent Me, 
 so I also send you." John XX, 21. Their 
 mission was then identical with Christ's. 
 
 "The Holy Ghost has placed you as Bish- 
 ops to rule the Church of God." Acts XX, 
 28. 
 
 We could quote numerous texts showing 
 that Christ instituted a priesthood in His 
 Church. 
 
 Hence we conclude that Christ going 
 from the world did not desert it. His vis- 
 ible presence was taken away; but His 
 spirit remained with us and His priests 
 and His agents for the manifestation and 
 action of this spirit. We believe in a liv- 
 ing Christ. And in this the mercy of God 
 and His providence are splendidly ex- 
 hibited. 
 
HOLY ORDERS: A Sacrament. 
 
 v^FlE have seen that in the Catholic 
 vl/ Church there should and does ex- 
 ggggj ist a priesthood, and in the present 
 instruction we shall show that it is 
 perpetuated by a Sacrament. The priest- 
 hood is a divine institution, and hence sup- 
 poses a Sacrament. This follows by anal- 
 ogy the plan of God in instituting the 
 other Sacraments, which are marks of 
 God's special love for His children. In the 
 Sacraments God gives help in proportion 
 and relation to all our wants. 
 
 We come into the world with sin on our 
 souls ; Baptism takes away that stain. We 
 grow up and are exposed to all kinds of 
 dangers, which follow us through life; 
 against these we are strengthened by Con- 
 firmation. Unfortunately we frequently 
 fall into sin, and we have two Sacraments, 
 Penance and the Eucharist, the one to 
 give us back spiritual life and the other 
 to nourish and strengthen that life. When 
 we are about to die we have a special 
 Sacrament. 
 
240 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 Those who marry and thus enter into 
 the new state of life and assume new duties 
 have a Sacrament which gives them the 
 necessary graces to fulfil those obligations. 
 Those who become priests are set apart 
 and form a separate class and assume new 
 and stupendous obligations and are en- 
 trusted with a weighty mission. 
 
 Certainly, then, since God has instituted 
 a Sacrament for every other state of life, 
 He has not neglected to do so for those 
 who are to continue His mission here on 
 earth, to preach, to sanctify and represent 
 Him in all things before the people. 
 
 The priests of the New Law are of a 
 higher order than those of the Old Law. 
 Yet the Jewish priests were anointed, es- 
 pecially appointed. The priesthood of the 
 New Law fulfils what was foreshadowed 
 in the Old, and cannot be less than it. 
 
 Christ means anointed. Those who take 
 His place among men ought likewise to be 
 consecrated for such a lofty office. 
 
 What is a presumption from analogy 
 is confirmed by the testimony of Scrip- 
 ture, of Tradition and by the definition 
 of the Church. 
 
HOLY ORDERS. 241 
 
 The Scriptures clearly show that Christ 
 conferred a true priesthood on His Apos- 
 tles. At the Last Supper, as we have seen, 
 He gave them the power to change bread 
 and wine into His Body and Blood, in other 
 words, to offer sacrifice, which is the office 
 of a priest. He also commissioned them to 
 forgive or retain sins in His name, that is, 
 to sanctify others, to reconcile sinners to 
 God. And this, too, is the office of a priest. 
 The Apostles, then, received a twofold mis- 
 sion from Christ — first to offer sacrifice, 
 and to sanctify the faithful by the admin- 
 istration of the Blessed Eucharist, and 
 secondly, to reconcile sinners by the Sacra- 
 ment of Penance. 
 
 The inward sanctification of the faith- 
 ful is a constant preparation for death and 
 their eternal destiny. The ministry is 
 exercised by teaching and precept, and is 
 called jurisdiction, as distinguished from 
 internal sanctification, which is termed 
 orders. 
 
 That the priesthood was intended by 
 Christ to be perpetual is clear from the 
 commission given the Apostles at the Last 
 Supper : "Do this for a commemoration of 
 
242 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 Me." These words were addressed not 
 only to the Apostles but to their succes- 
 sors, for it is question of an institution 
 that is to remain in the Church until the 
 end of time. The same argument holds for 
 the power of forgiving sins. 
 
 Tradition, reflected in the writings of the 
 Fathers, states the mind of all Christen- 
 dom to be that Christ instituted Holy 
 Orders by which His priesthood was to 
 be continued until time shall be no more. 
 
 And Holy Orders Christ made a Sacra- 
 ment, whereby the priestly office and the 
 grace necessary to discharge it are con- 
 ferred. We read in 2 Tim. I, 6, 7: "I ad- 
 monish thee that thou stir up the grace of 
 God which is in thee by the imposition 
 of my hands. For God hath not given us 
 the spirit of fear, but of power, and of 
 love, and of sobriety." In this passage 
 we have all the requisites of a Sacrament. 
 There is the outward sign in the imposi- 
 tion of hands; there is the grace which 
 results therefrom; and there is the insti- 
 tution of Christ, for He alone could attach 
 inward grace to an outward ceremony. 
 
 The teaching of the Church is contained 
 
HOLY ORDERS. 243 
 
 in the Council of Trent, which (Sess. 
 XXIII, Can. 3) anathematizes those who 
 deny that Orders are a Sacrament. 
 
 In Holy Orders there are various de- 
 grees. This follows from the twofold 
 power vested in the Church — jurisdiction 
 and orders. 
 
 As regards jurisdiction the principal de- 
 grees are Pope, Bishops and priests. 
 
 According to orders there are many divi- 
 sions of which the priesthood is the sum- 
 mit. There are eight orders. Tonsure is 
 only an introduction to the clerical life. 
 Minor Orders are four in number, corres- 
 ponding to offices that flourished in the 
 early Church. They are perhaps of divine 
 institution but they are not Sacraments. 
 They are porter, lector, exorcist and 
 acolyte. 
 
 There are four Major Orders — subdea- 
 conship, deaconship, priesthood and epis- 
 copate. Subdeaconship is probably not a 
 Sacrament. The diaconate is a Sacrament, 
 but differs from the priesthood. The dea- 
 con is the minister to the Bishop and has 
 an exalted office. He can preach with 
 authority ; he can baptize solemnly and he 
 
244 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 can expose the Blessed Sacrament for Ben- 
 ediction. Formerly he could distribute 
 Holy Communion. 
 
 The priesthood is different in essence 
 and form from the deaconship, but not 
 from the episcopate. The latter, while dis- 
 tinct from it, is the development and com- 
 pletion of the priesthood. The priesthood, 
 however, is not the complement of the dia- 
 conate, for the essence of the priesthood 
 is to offer sacrifice and to administer the 
 Sacraments. This power the deacon has 
 not. 
 
 To receive Holy Orders validly a person 
 must be of the male sex (1 Cor. XI, 7) ; 
 he must have been baptized and must 
 intend to receive the Sacrament. 
 
 To receive it licitly a person must be in 
 the state of grace ; he must have a special 
 call from God (Heb. V, 4) ; he must be 
 free from canonical impediments and he 
 must have the fixed purpose of continuing 
 chaste and single. 
 
MATRIMONY : A Sacred Con- 
 tract. 
 
 jPjlMONG the many evils which Protest- 
 s' I, antism has brought upon modern 
 WM society is the degradation of mar- 
 riage. The innovators of the six- 
 teenth century were not content with 
 sweeping away all faith. They abolished 
 the Sacrifice of the Mass and their 
 churches became meeting houses. They 
 denied the divine institution of the Sacra- 
 ments, and would have left us poor, indeed. 
 They secularized marriage and rejected the 
 Catholic doctrine which declares it to be a 
 Sacrament. The social disorders which to- 
 day affect society are the fruits of their 
 endeavors. Protestantism in its very in- 
 fancy witnessed the consequences which 
 logically grow from its teachings. 
 
 The Church, on the contrary, clung to 
 the Faith, the Scriptures, the Sacra- 
 ments and the true principles of Divine 
 Worship, of right government and social 
 order. This has been especially the case 
 
246 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 with regard to marriage. She saved mod- 
 ern society from a return to paganism. 
 Throughout the centuries, in the midst of 
 the most trying persecutions, she opposed 
 the passions of men. Neither threats nor 
 promises, neither violence nor intrigue, 
 caused her in a single instance to act con- 
 trary to the teachings of her Divine Mas- 
 ter. She lost England rather than permit 
 the polygamy of Henry VIII. 
 
 Fortunately, Protestant society, guided 
 by the impulse which it had received and 
 still receives from the Church, has not ac- 
 cepted all the dreadful consequences of the 
 conduct and the teachings of its chiefs. 
 Every student of history knows that "the 
 Church was the force which prevented the 
 current of sensuality from overflowing 
 with its violence, with all its caprices, from 
 bringing about the most profound disor- 
 ganization, from corrupting the character 
 of European civilization and precipitating 
 it into that abyss in which the nations of 
 Asia have been for so many centuries." 
 
 In view of the loose teaching that exists 
 outside the Church concerning marriage it 
 is imperative that Catholics should be well 
 
MATRIMONY. 247 
 
 informed of its importance and meaning. 
 It is the most important social relation 
 that Catholics can contract, in its es- 
 sence, its permanence, its consequences 
 and obligations. 
 
 Matrimony is a Sacrament by which a 
 contract of marriage is blessed and sancti- 
 fied. As a Sacrament it was instituted by 
 our Lord Jesus Christ when He was on 
 earth. As a contract or state of life it 
 dates from the beginning of the world. As, 
 then, the Sacrament is founded on this 
 contract and cannot be separated from it r 
 it is necessary first to consider matrimony 
 as a contract before considering it as a 
 Sacrament. 
 
 Marriage as a contract is defined : a law- 
 ful union of a man and woman by which 
 they give themselves up to one another for 
 mutual society and the begetting of chil- 
 dren. As men bind themselves to one an- 
 other by contracts of different objects, so 
 the essential part in matrimony as a con- 
 tract is that man and woman bind them- 
 selves to one another. In order that this 
 contract may be valid, it is necessary that 
 it should be made by persons who are not 
 
248 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 legally hindered from making it. It should 
 be voluntary and be expressed by words or 
 outward signs to signify that the contract- 
 ing parties actually, then and there, bind 
 themselves with the intention of living as 
 man and wife. Hence, the mere promise 
 or intention to bind themselves hereafter 
 to one another does not constitute a con- 
 tract of marriage. 
 
 The contract of matrimony was insti- 
 tuted by God Himself when He made man. 
 We read in the first chapter of Genesis 
 that "God created man in His own image 
 . . . male and female He created them 
 and God blessed them and said 'Increase 
 and multiply and fill the earth/ " In this 
 passage the primary end of this union of 
 man and woman in marriage is indicated. 
 
 Further on, a more particular account of 
 the creation of Eve, the first woman, is 
 given and the second end of marriage is 
 referred to : "And the Lord said : it is not 
 good for man to be alone ; let Us make him 
 a help like unto himself." And a little 
 further on: "for Adam there was not 
 found a helper like himself. Then the 
 Lord cast a deep sleep upon Adam; and 
 
MATRIMONY. 249 
 
 when he was fast asleep He took one of 
 his ribs and filled up flesh for it. And the 
 Lord built the rib which he took from 
 Adam into a woman ; and brought her to 
 Adam. And Adam said : This now is bone 
 of my bone and flesh of my flesh; she 
 shall be called a woman because she was 
 taken out of man. Wherefore a man shall 
 leave father and mother and cleave to his 
 wife ; and they shall be two in one flesh." 
 (Gen. II, 18-24). 
 
 Our Lord Himself refers to this account 
 showing that marrying was a divine insti- 
 tution. (Matt. 19, 5). These two, then, 
 were the ends of marriage before the fall 
 of man. After the fall, when the flesh 
 was no longer obedient to the spirit, a 
 third and subsidiary end of marriage nat- 
 urally came about, that, through it, man 
 might more easily avoid offending God. As 
 St. Paul says: (I Cor. 7, 2). "To avoid 
 fornication let every man have his own 
 wife and let every woman have her own 
 husband." 
 
 To render this contract still more sacred, 
 Jesus Christ has raised it to the dignity of 
 a Sacrament, attaching to it the grace to 
 
250 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 make more secure that indissoluble union 
 and to sanctify those who contract it. He 
 has made it the image and sign of His 
 intimate union with His Church. In the 
 New Law marriage has become the source 
 of spiritual blessing for those who receive 
 it with Christian dispositions. 
 
 Speaking of the attitude of Protestant- 
 ism towards the Sacrament of Matrimony, 
 Balmes justly observes: "Misled by their 
 hatred against the Roman Church and ex- 
 asperated by their rage for innovation in 
 all things, the Protestants thought they 
 had made a great reform in secularizing 
 marriage and in rejecting the Catholic doc- 
 trine which declared it a real Sacrament. 
 This is not the place to enter upon a dog- 
 matic discussion of this matter. I shall 
 content myself with observing that by de- 
 priving marriage of the august seal of a 
 Sacrament Protestantism showed that it 
 had little knowledge of the human heart. 
 
 "To consider marriage not a simple 
 civil contract but as a real Sacrament was 
 to place it under the august shade of reli- 
 gion and to raise it above the stormy at- 
 mosphere of the passions. And who can 
 
MATRIMONY. 251 
 
 doubt that this was absolutely necessary 
 to restrain the most active, capricious and 
 violent passion of the heart of man? The 
 civil laws are insufficient to produce such 
 an effect. Motives are required which, be- 
 ing drawn from a higher source, exert a 
 more efficacious influence." 
 
MATRIMONY : A Sacrament. 
 
 GJHRIST perfected the law, strength- 
 j ened its weak points, confirmed its 
 virtues and pointed out to Chris- 
 tians a new and more exalted line 
 of conduct as the aim of their aspirations 
 and as the matter of their duty. He came 
 to teach a holier life and to give the helps 
 which might render it possible. 
 
 And therefore He said: "Be ye perfect 
 as your Heavenly Father is perfect/' 
 Hence He restrained our liberty in many 
 particulars and what the hardness of Jew- 
 ish hearts rendered tolerable He con- 
 demned and prohibited. As regards mar- 
 riage He suppressed polygamy and divorce 
 and many abuses that were tolerated 
 among the Jews. 
 
 Marriage was in a degraded state among 
 the Gentiles; woman was held as a mere 
 chattel. Even among the Jews its first 
 glory was gone; and we read in the Old 
 Testament practices of the Jews which 
 astonish us. Our Lord came to establish 
 a new kingdom. He wished to raise 
 
MATRIMONY. 253 
 
 woman from her state of inferiority and 
 bondage, to give back to marriage its prim- 
 itive honor and to revive its obligations. 
 And that men might be equal to these 
 new responsibilities, He gave new and 
 abundant graces, sanctifying, habitual and 
 actual, and raised marriage to the dignity 
 of a Sacrament. 
 
 The so-called reformers, in rejecting 
 Matrimony as a Sacrament, declared also 
 that the obligations introduced by our Sa- 
 vior, and, till then, held by all Christians, 
 were not real. They admit in theory and 
 practice divorce. Luther expressly sanc- 
 tioned polygamy and his example was fol- 
 lowed by the principal promoters of Prot- 
 estantism. For proof we have but to re- 
 call the infamous decision in favor of 
 Philip, Landgrave of Hesse. 
 
 Thus, Protestantism, which boasts of 
 having purified the world and brought 
 back the fair faith of the primitive 
 Church, carried us back to the days before 
 Christ. 
 
 If Catholics were mistaken in regarding 
 Matrimony as a Sacrament and polygamy 
 and divorce as prohibited their error was 
 
254 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 at least on the side of religion, and the 
 morality of the social order. If the 
 Church had not given a strong and endur- 
 ing impulse to society and had not, by her 
 existence in the world and her teachings 
 and practices, maintained this impulse, 
 Christendom would now be groaning un- 
 der the horrors of paganism. 
 
 At the birth of Protestantism the whole 
 World believed that Matrimony was a Sac- 
 rament. This belief had always existed in 
 the Oriental as well as the Latin Church. 
 The Patriarchs and Bishops of both 
 Churches assembled at the Council of Flor- 
 ence, declared this an article of faith with- 
 out dispute or hesitation. In that Council 
 there were differences regarding details, 
 but none whatever concerning the fact 
 that Matrimony was a Sacrament. 
 
 This belief of the Universal Church is 
 based on the soundest arguments. As we 
 have seen, Christ restored the obligations 
 of Matrimony to their primitive state. We 
 are told (John II) that Christ went with 
 His Disciples to the marriage feast of 
 Cana, and, in this fact the Fathers of the 
 Church, almost without exception, find a 
 
MATRIMONY. 255 
 
 proof that Matrimony is a Sacrament. The 
 general opinion of the Fathers is that as 
 Christ sanctified water for washing away 
 sins by being Himself baptized in the Jor- 
 dan, so He sanctified marriage and raised 
 it to the dignity of a Sacrament by Him- 
 self assisting at the marriage at Cana 
 where He worked His first miracle. 
 
 St. Paul, in his epistle to the Ephesians 
 (IV, 32) says: "This is a great Sacra- 
 ment; but I speak in Christ and in the 
 Church." The context shows clearly that 
 by this St. Paul declares Matrimony to be 
 a Sacrament. For to constitute a Sacra- 
 ment it is required that there should be a 
 sensible sign of a sacred thing and an ef- 
 ficacious sign of sanctifying grace insti- 
 tuted by Christ to last forever. All these 
 conditions are verified in Matrimony as ex- 
 pounded by St. Paul in this passage. 
 
 In the contract we have a sensible sign 
 of a sacred thing; for this contract signi- 
 fies, the Apostle tells us, the union of 
 Christ with the Church — His natural 
 union with her through His incarnation 
 and His spiritual union with her through 
 charity. As St. Jerome remarks : "As man 
 
256 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 leaves his father and mother and cleaves 
 to his wife, so Christ left the bosom of His 
 Father and came upon earth to be united 
 with the Church, and to be made one body 
 with her through His Incarnation. ,, 
 
 This sign is not merely speculative, but 
 practical, and producing grace. No one 
 can doubt but that the union of Christ with 
 the Church is supernatural, and consists 
 in the communication to her of His grace 
 as we have it stated by St. Paul (Eph. V, 
 25) : "Christ loved the Church and deliv- 
 ered Himself up for it, that He might sanc- 
 tify it, cleansing it by a laver of water in 
 the word of life, that He might present it 
 to Himself a glorious Church, not having 
 spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but 
 that it should be holy and without blem- 
 ish." 
 
 This comparison would not be appropri- 
 ate unless the union by marriage were also 
 supernatural and strengthened by grace. 
 For the Apostle in the preceding verse ex- 
 acts from the wife perfect obedience, and 
 from the husband supernatural love. 
 "Therefore, as the Church is subject to 
 Christ, so also let the wives be to their 
 
MATRIMONY. 257 
 
 husbands in all things. Husbands, love 
 your wives, as Christ also loved the Church 
 
 and delivered Himself up for it " 
 
 To have this supernatural affection, to pay 
 this perfect obedience, the grace of God is 
 necessary continually, and such grace as is 
 required is conveyed only through the Sac- 
 rament. 
 
 The designs of Christ are the same for 
 the Christians of one period as for those 
 in another; consequently the sign is for- 
 ever. 
 
 It would be easy to multiply extracts 
 from the Fathers, but this is unnecessary. 
 It is enough to state that the Church has 
 never varied. What she holds now she 
 has always held. If any variations were 
 possible, it would certainly have militated 
 against the Sacrament; for thus the pas- 
 sions of men are inclined. 
 
 When Protestantism was born the whole 
 Christian world acknowledged Matrimony 
 to be a Sacrament. As every man is sup- 
 posed innocent until proven guilty, so 
 every witness is regarded as truthful un- 
 til proved a liar ; every right is held sacred 
 until clearly disproved. The leaders of 
 
258 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 Protestantism content themselves with as- 
 serting that the Church went wrong and 
 that Matrimony was falsely believed to be 
 a Sacrament. The presumption, however, 
 is in our favor and our doctrine should be 
 admitted until clearly refuted. Protest- 
 ants, far from advancing proof against the 
 Catholic doctrine, content themselves with 
 bare assertions. 
 
MATRIMONY : Its Unity and 
 Indissolubility. 
 
 fpylALVIN, one of the lights of the so- 
 \JL| called Reformation, says that the 
 Pfa state of marriage is no better or 
 holier than that of the farmer, the 
 mason, the shoe maker and the barber, 
 which states are certainly not Sacraments. 
 Starting from such premises, it is not as- 
 tonishing that he and his followers should 
 deny the sacredness of marriage and rec- 
 ognize divorce and even polygamy. 
 
 The Church, on the contrary, has al- 
 ways held that marriage is one and that 
 it is a contract between two, and that the 
 obligations thus incurred no dispensation 
 can remove, even her power being insuf- 
 ficient, when the marriage has been con- 
 summated, to break the contract. All that 
 she can do is to judge and decide whether 
 under certain circumstances the contract 
 is valid or invalid. 
 
 Marriage, in the beginning, was one. 
 Afterwards, however, a change was af- 
 
260 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 fected, and men were permitted to retain 
 several wives or even exchange them 
 almost at pleasure. This was a deviation 
 of the law as first established. But God, 
 on account of circumstances, tolerated it 
 to prevent greater evils. We read that 
 the patriarchs and saints of the Old Law 
 had several wives. 
 
 All this, however, was changed with the 
 coming of Christ, who restored the primi- 
 tive law and forbade polygamy among His 
 followers. Various are the passages in 
 the New Testament in which Christ and 
 the Apostles insist upon the unity of Mat- 
 rimony. The Church, following the teach- 
 ing of her divine Master, has always for- 
 bidden polygamy and preserved monog- 
 amy in Christendom. Luther, however, 
 declared that it was not an obligation, and 
 his disciples, following his doctrine, per- 
 mitted Philip, Landgrave of Hesse, to have 
 two wives. 
 
 The Christian doctrine on this point, 
 while very simple and direct, would have 
 proved of little value if the Church had 
 not applied it with invincible firmness ; for 
 the passions of men rebelled against it 
 
MATRIMONY. 261 
 
 and would have undoubtedly overridden 
 it had they not met an impregnable bar- 
 rier which did not leave them the most dis- 
 tant hope of victory. 
 
 Marriage is not only one but is also 
 indissoluble. The bond therein contracted 
 cannot be rent asunder so that the man 
 and the woman are free to contract other 
 nuptials. Under given conditions, a sepa- 
 ration from bed and board is permitted, 
 but the bond cannot be broken under any 
 condition, not even by the Church. This 
 is expressly stated by the Council of 
 Trent, thereby disproving the constant 
 cry of heretics that the Church is ever 
 appropriating to herself unlimited power 
 and prerogatives. 
 
 The Catholic doctrine regarding the in- 
 dissolubility of marriage hardly needs the 
 decision of the Church to enforce it on 
 our reason ; for this fact is clear from the 
 nature and end of marriage and from the 
 expressed law of Almighty God as con- 
 tained in the Scriptures. 
 
 Whether we consider marriage as a nat- 
 ural contract, as a civil contract, or as a 
 Sacrament, it stands to reason that it must 
 
262 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 be indissoluble. As a natural contract, 
 marriage is the means ordained by 
 nature herself for the propagation of 
 mankind and the proper education of the 
 children, and for the mutual help and com- 
 fort of the married couple during their 
 mortal pilgrimage. From this fact it is 
 manifest that, by the very nature of mar- 
 riage, its bonds should be indissoluble. 
 Otherwise, the end for which it was insti- 
 tuted, the rearing of children and the mu- 
 tual help of husband and wife, cannot be 
 attained. 
 
 The nature of marriage as a civil con- 
 tract likewise supposes its indissolubility; 
 for, unless the bond of marriage be abso- 
 lutely unbreakable society could not sub- 
 sist. Society supposes order, and with 
 marriage broken at will, the children would 
 be neglected, dissensions would arise and 
 confusion as regards property would 
 ensue. 
 
 The indissolubility of marriage follows 
 from the fact that it is a Sacrament, for 
 the Sacrament of Marriage is a sacred 
 sign and symbol of the union of Christ 
 with His Church. Now this would not be 
 
MATRIMONY. 263 
 
 true if the union between man and wife 
 were not like that of Christ and the 
 Church, indissoluble, for we know that 
 Christ will be with His Church until the 
 end of time. 
 
 By marriage man and woman are two 
 in one flesh, and this identity between 
 married people renders their union perma- 
 nent and unassailable. God Himself, how- 
 ever, has by law established the indissolu- 
 bility in marriage. This is clear from the 
 words of Christ and of His Apostles. We 
 read in the nineteenth chapter of St. Mat- 
 thew, sixth verse, "Therefore now they 
 are not two, but one flesh. What there- 
 fore God has joined together let no man 
 put asunder." 
 
 And in the sixteenth chapter of St. 
 Luke, the eighteenth verse, it is written: 
 "Every one that putteth away his wife 
 and marrieth another committeth adul- 
 tery, and he that marrieth her that is put 
 away from her husband committeth 
 adultery/' 
 
 St. Paul writes in the seventh chapter 
 to the Romans, second verse: "For the 
 woman that hath a husband whilst her 
 
264 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 husband liveth is bound to the law. But 
 if her husband be dead she is loosed from 
 the law of her husband/' 
 
 And again in the first epistle to the 
 Corinthians, tenth and eleventh verses, he 
 says : "But to them who are married, not 
 I, but the Lord commandeth, that the wife 
 depart not from her husband. And if she 
 depart, that she remain unmarried or be 
 reconciled to her husband. And let not 
 the husband put away his wife." 
 
 These passages from the Scripture are 
 clear and admit no exceptions. Divorce 
 was unheard of until the Reformation. 
 The evils that have followed in its train 
 not only to the individual but to the nation 
 show how God punishes those who break 
 His law in this matter. 
 
MATRIMONY : The Banns. 
 
 y^ HE Church has ever been distin- 
 V-^ guished by the care and circum- 
 spection with which she ad- 
 ministers the Sacraments. She 
 thinks with her Divine Master that pearls 
 should not be thrown to the swine; she 
 dreads the profanation of a Sacrament 
 and, in this, she differs from the sects 
 which regard Matrimony as a mere con- 
 tract to be entered into and broken at will. 
 The offspring of this carelessness of the 
 sects is divorce, which is gnawing at the 
 very vitals of society. Marriage among 
 some Protestants has fallen from the high 
 plane to which Christ raised it, and has 
 become a mere byword, a matter of little 
 importance. The Church, on the contrary, 
 has, from the beginning, taken measures 
 to ensure good Christian marriages. She 
 takes precaution to prevent the celebra- 
 tion of what may afterwards be found to 
 be an invalid contract. She is solicitous 
 that the contracts of her children should 
 
266 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 be irreproachable and unsuspected and 
 therefore she has instituted the Banns. 
 
 When two persons intend to marry their 
 intention is signified to the parish priest, 
 and this intention is published from the 
 altar by their pastor during divine service 
 on three different Sundays or holy days, 
 that all who may know of any lawful im- 
 pediment wherefore the marriage should 
 not take place may, in the name of God, 
 declare it. This publication of marriage 
 intention is called Banns. 
 
 The Banns did not come into universal 
 use before the twelfth century, and were 
 first instituted and made a law for the 
 Universal Church by Innocent III. in one 
 of the Councils of the Lateran, 1215. The 
 regulation was, however, not strictly en- 
 forced, and it was more particularly en- 
 acted and its obligations renewed in the 
 Council of Trent. Since that time it has 
 been received and observed as a weighty 
 precept, the violation of which constitutes 
 a sin. 
 
 The reasons for this discipline are 
 many. It is aimed principally against 
 clandestine marriages, which the Church 
 
MATRIMONY. 267 
 
 has always discouraged and condemned. 
 Secret marriages have given rise to so 
 many abuses that the Church has at all 
 times opposed them. In the past they 
 have brought about serious complications 
 by which innocent parties have been irrep- 
 arably wronged. They open the way for 
 scandal. The scanty testimony on which 
 they rest would prevent ecclesiastical trib- 
 unals from giving any satisfactory deci- 
 sion on the validity of a marriage thus 
 contracted if the question ever arose, and 
 would be made a pretext to break the 
 bonds of Matrimony at will. To such pro- 
 portions the abuse had grown that the 
 Council of Trent devoted a great deal of 
 its attention to rendering clandestine mar- 
 riage impossible. The publication of the 
 Banns is the most effectual way of pre- 
 venting clandestine marriages. 
 
 By the publication of the Banns it is pos- 
 sible to discover any lawful impediment to 
 the marriage, and in a matter of such im- 
 portance, all interested may be able to sat- 
 isfy themselves that they have acted pru- 
 dently and wisely. 
 
 The wisdom of this practice is especially 
 
268 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 clear in these days. Our crowded centres 
 of population and the constant moving 
 about of the people make it difficult to ob- 
 tain the intimate knowledge of persons 
 that was common in other days. It often 
 happens that the parties about to be mar- 
 ried know very little of each other; their 
 acquaintance very often is of exceedingly 
 short duration. Of the antecedents of the 
 first party, the second knows absolutely 
 nothing, and vice-versa. 
 
 And how often adventurers, or disrepu- 
 table men and women cause untold sorrow 
 and disgrace to unsuspecting people. 
 Scarcely a day passes that we do not read 
 of such sad incidents. 
 
 The hurry that is characteristic of our 
 national life is also manifest in the matter 
 of marriage. How often we see the old 
 adage "Marry in haste, repent at leisure" 
 verified. The Banns do away with all this 
 unseemly haste, and, where there is con- 
 sciousness of inability to marry rightly, 
 make the guilty party think twice before 
 wronging the other. 
 
 The law which commands these publica- 
 tions obliges under pain of sin. At times, 
 
MATRIMONY. 269 
 
 however, circumstances render the public- 
 ation of the Banns either impossible or ex- 
 ceedingly inconvenient. In such cases the 
 Church dispenses from them but only after 
 searching examination. When, however, 
 a dispensation is obtained for reasons that 
 do not exist, those who allege them are 
 guilty of sin. 
 
 This is clear from the terms in which 
 the law is laid down by the Councils and 
 the reasons for which it was enacted. 
 When there are sound and valid reasons 
 why the observance of the law should not 
 be enforced in particular cases, application 
 should be made to the Bishop of the dio- 
 cese through the pastor, and the Bishop 
 may dispense from one or all of the publi- 
 cations. 
 
 In regard to dispensations, the parties 
 should consult their pastor, who will give 
 them the necessary advice. Here it is well 
 to note that dispensations are granted only 
 on the payment of a certain sum of money. 
 To remove any misunderstanding on this 
 point it is well to note that the money is 
 not received as a payment for the dispen- 
 sation. It is exacted for two reasons ; first 
 
270 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 that the dispensation may be rendered less 
 easy to obtain, for men are unfortunately 
 more apt to be swayed by motives of self- 
 interest than by motives of conscience, and 
 the Church makes the observance of her 
 laws surer by imposing an alms. 
 
 Second, every dispensation from the gen- 
 eral law requires some good work in return 
 as a kind of compensation. For instance, 
 if one gets a dispensation from fasting, he 
 is generally bound to do something instead 
 by way of penance, to say more prayers or 
 give alms. In the case of a dispensation 
 the alms is the good work by which the 
 observance of the law is made complete. 
 
 For Catholics the proper and best way 
 to go about their being married is to have 
 the Banns published. It is the wisest and 
 most prudent course. 
 
 A word to parents, concerning the com- 
 pany their children keep with a view to 
 marriage, would not be out of place here. 
 Parents cannot exercise too much care in 
 this regard. They should not accept as 
 visitors to their homes persons of whom 
 they know scarcely anything. Nor should 
 they permit too great familiarity. This 
 
MATRIMONY. 271 
 
 is especially true of marriageable daugh- 
 ters. 
 
 The carelessness and crass ignorance of 
 some parents are astounding. They have a 
 right to know, and should know, those with 
 whom their children associate, and, if they 
 do not, they should take the trouble to as- 
 certain the facts before it is too late. 
 
MATRIMONY: The Impedi- 
 ments. 
 
 ffi 
 
 ARRIAGE is of so great importance 
 not only to the individual but to 
 the Church and the State that it is 
 necessary to take every precaution 
 that it be established on a secure footing 
 and may not become prejudicial either to 
 the contracting parties or to the Church 
 or State. For this reason the Church, has 
 from the earliest ages, annexed certain 
 conditions to the valid celebration of mar- 
 riage, failing which the marriage is ren- 
 dered null and void or those who contract 
 it commit grievous sin. 
 
 The Church does not claim authority to 
 dissolve the bond of marriage. She holds 
 that this contract, like all others where 
 the interest of the third party is con- 
 cerned, is of its nature beyond the reach 
 of authority as regards annulling any of 
 its obligations. On the other hand, the in- 
 terests of religion and society require that 
 
MATRIMONY. 273 
 
 its dissolution should be independent of the 
 Will of the parties themselves. 
 
 The Church, however, holds different 
 principles with regard to the antecedents 
 of marriage. She cannot undo and she 
 makes no attempt to nullify, but she can 
 prevent, and for this reason she has legis- 
 lated and made certain conditions neces- 
 sary for the valid and lawful celebration 
 of the marriage. 
 
 The Church has authority to prevent 
 marriage in certain circumstances, to make 
 its validity dependent on the fulfilment of 
 certain conditions which she may deter- 
 mine. This right flows from the very 
 nature of the Sacrament of Matrimony. 
 Marriage, by being raised to the dignity of 
 a Sacrament, did not cease to be a con- 
 tract; but by becoming a sacred contract, 
 it was taken from the control of the civil 
 power, and made subject to ecclesiastical 
 authority only. 
 
 All contracts are regulated by author- 
 ity; and States have from the beginning 
 claimed and exercised the right of making 
 laws concerning the drawing up and ful- 
 filment of contracts. They have imposed 
 
274 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 certain conditions which they consider ne- 
 cessary and indispensable to the validity 
 of a contract. 
 
 This power the Church claims in regard 
 to marriage, which, as a sacred contract, 
 has been taken from the control of the 
 State and subjected to her alone. In some 
 cases, she has thought well to declare that, 
 without the fulfilment of certain specified 
 conditions the marriage is null and void 
 and no marriage at all in the sight of 
 God and of His Church. In other cases, 
 she has placed conditions whose violation 
 has only the effect of rendering the mar- 
 riage illicit and sinful in those who know- 
 ingly contract it, but which is valid in 
 itself. 
 
 In the former case there is no marriage ; 
 in the latter, there is a real marriage but 
 contracted in sin. 
 
 We may illustrate the effect of these 
 conditions by the reception of the Blessed 
 Sacrament. If a man receive by mistake 
 a host that was not consecrated he would 
 appear to receive but would not actually 
 receive any Sacrament. If he received in 
 mortal sin the consecrated host he would 
 
MATRIMONY. 275 
 
 receive the Sacrament but his act would 
 be sinful and sacrilegious. 
 
 Likewise in marriage. There are two 
 kinds of impediments: impediments that 
 make marriage impossible, and impedi- 
 ments that do not invalidate but render 
 marriage illicit, or as they are called in 
 canon law, diriment and prohibitory im- 
 pediments. 
 
 It is well to note here that not only are 
 there impediments of this character estab- 
 lished by the authority of the Church, but 
 there are some which are imposed by the 
 law of nature itself and others declared by 
 the direct command of God Himself. From 
 the impediments arising from the natural 
 and divine laws there is no dispensation, 
 for from these laws no power, not even 
 that of the Church, can make exemption. 
 
 We shall not attempt in this instruction 
 to go into detail regarding the impediments 
 that render a marriage null and void. We 
 Shall merely enumerate them, leaving in- 
 dividual cases to the judgment of the 
 priest to whom such cases are to be 
 brought. 
 
 Some of these impediments affect the 
 
276 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 consent while others affect the persons 
 themselves. As regards the consent, a 
 marriage is rendered null if the person is 
 not conscious, or is without the use of 
 reason. Hence a mad or crazy person can- 
 not contract marriage, because such a per- 
 son cannot be said to be free. 
 
 It is also void when there is a capital or 
 substantial error with regard to a person, 
 since in such a case the will is wanting. It 
 is null when a person is married under the 
 influence of violence, unjustly used and so 
 strong as to take away moral liberty. 
 
 A person already validly married, whose 
 partner still lives, cannot contract another 
 marriage validly. Nor can such persons 
 as are impotent. Neither can they who 
 have been ordained Bishops, priests, dea- 
 cons and subdeacons, nor those who have 
 made a solemn vow of chastity in some 
 approved religious order, either of men or 
 women. 
 
 They cannot marry who are related 
 within the forbidden degrees of blood re- 
 lationship and affinity. This impediment 
 exists to the fourth degree in collateral 
 line except in cases of affinity contracted 
 
MATRIMONY. 277 
 
 by unlawful relations, in which case the 
 impediment exists only to the second de- 
 gree. In spiritual affinity the impediment 
 exists only between the sponsors and the 
 child and the sponsors and the parents of 
 the child. 
 
 It is forbidden under pain of nullity to 
 marry an unbaptized person. In case of 
 abduction the marriage is null. The crime 
 of adultery with the promise of marriage 
 is a diriment impediment; likewise where 
 both have conspired to murder one of the 
 parties married, or where adultery and 
 homicide are united. 
 
 Until Easter, 1908, in this country all 
 marriages contracted between Catholics or 
 a Catholic and a baptized Protestant, 
 whether before a minister or a justice of 
 the peace were considered valid, although 
 illicit. In that year, however, Pius X, of 
 holy memory, placed a new, essential con- 
 dition affecting the validity of marriage. 
 By this legislation no marriage of Cath- 
 olics is valid which is not contracted in 
 the presence of the parish priest or a priest 
 delegated by him and two witnesses. All 
 marriages otherwise contracted are not 
 
278 THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 only illicit but invalid. This is an essential 
 condition for a valid marriage, and affects 
 Catholics only. 
 
 The prohibitory impediments to mar- 
 riage have the effect not of rendering the 
 contract invalid but of making it illicit and 
 sinful. It is forbidden to contract mar- 
 riage without its having been duly pub- 
 lished or lawfully and justly dispensed 
 therefrom; to marry a heretic and to 
 marry in forbidden times. 
 
 It is also forbidden to marry a person 
 when one is under a mutual promise of 
 marriage to another. In this case it is 
 unlawful and a sin of injustice, because it 
 is a manifest injury done to the person to 
 whom marriage had been promised. This 
 is a thing which is too little considered. 
 One is astounded at the levity with which 
 persons bind themselves by promises and 
 break them on the most frivolous pretence 
 and in the most shameful circumstances. 
 
 A person who has bound himself to God 
 by a simple private vow of chastity is for- 
 bidden to contract marriage until dis- 
 pensed. 
 
 Lastly there is an impediment to which 
 
MATRIMONY. 279 
 
 very little attention is paid in these days, 
 and that is the consent of the parents. In 
 this country, especially, young people 
 think they have no need whatsoever of the 
 consent of their parents. In other times 
 much stress was laid upon this. It is, how- 
 ever, subject to much variation and is to 
 be judged according to particular cases. 
 
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