Decree of the Council, Translator's Preface, Introduction

THE CATECHISM OF THE COUNCIL OF TRENT PUBLISHED BY COMMAND OF POPE PIUS THE FIFTH. TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH BY THE REV. J. DONOVAN, PROFESSOR, &c. ROYAL COLLEGE, MAYNOOTH. BALTIMORE : PUBLISHED BY LUCAS BROTHERS, NO. 170 MARKET STREET.

PRINTED BY JAMES YOUNG, BALTIMORE.

DECREE

OF THE COUNCIL OF TRENT.

THAT the faithful may approach the Sacraments with greater reverence and devotion, the Holy Synod commands all Bishops not only to explain, in a manner accommodated to the capacity of the receivers, the nature and use of the Sacraments, when they are to be administered by themselves ; but also to see that every Pastor piously and prudently do the same, in the vernacular language, should it be necessary and convenient. This exposition is to accord with a form to be prescribed by the Holy Synod for the administration of all the Sacraments, in a Catechism, WHICH BISHOPS WILL TAKE CARE TO HAVE FAITHFULLY TRANSLATED INTO THE VERNACULAR LANGUAGE, AND EXPOUNDED TO THE PEOPLE BY ALL PASTORS. Conc. Trid. Sess. 24. de Reform. c. 7

THE TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE.

THE ROMAN CATECHISM, of which an English translation is now submitted to the public, was composed by decree of the Council of Trent ; and the same venerable authority commands all Bishops “to take care that it be faithfully translated into the vernacular language, and expounded to the people by all pastors.”¹

The Fathers of the Council had examined with patient industry, and, in the exercise of their high prerogative, had defined, with unerring accuracy, the dogmas of faith which were then denied or disputed : but the internal economy of the Church, also, solicited and engaged their attention ; and accordingly, we find them employed in devising measures for the instruction of ignorance, the amelioration of discipline, and the reformation of morals.

Amongst the means suggested to their deliberative wisdom for the attainment of these important ends, the Roman Catechism has been deemed not the least judicious or effective. The ardour and industry of the “Reformers” were actively employed, not only in the publication of voluminous works, “to guard against which required, perhaps, little labour or circumspection ;” but, also, in composition of “innumerable smaller works, which, veiling their errors under the semblance of piety, deceived with incredible facility the simple and the incautious.”² To meet the mischievous activity of such men, and to rear the edifice of Christian knowledge on its only secure and solid basis, the instruction of its authorized teachers ; to afford the faithful a fixed standard of Christian belief, and to the Pastor a prescribed form of religious instruction ; to supply a pure and perennial fountain of living waters to refresh and invigorate at once the Pastor

and the flock, were amongst the important objects contemplated by the Fathers of Trent in the publication and translation of the Roman Catechism.¹

They, too, are amongst the objects, which were contemplated by those, who urged the present undertaking, and which influenced the Translator’s acceptance of the task. Coincidence of circumstances naturally suggests a concurrence of measures ; and it requires little discernment to discover the coincidence that exists between the present circumstances of this country and those which awakened and alarmed the vigilance of the Fathers of Trent. Ireland, indeed the Empire, has been inundated with pernicious tracts, teeming with vituperative misrepresentations of the dogmas of the Catholic faith, and loaded with unmeasured invective against the principles of Catholic morality.. “Innumerable smaller works, veiling their errors under the semblance of piety,” have been scattered with unsparing hand “amongst the ignorant and incautious :” efforts are still made (the object is avowed) “to promote the principles of the Reformation,” by unsettling the religious convictions of the people ; and we are fortified by the example of the Fathers of Trent in the hope, that an antidote eminently calculated to neutralize the poison, which has been so industriously diffused, to abate prejudice, instruct ignorance, promote piety, and confirm belief, will be found in a work containing a comprehensive summary of the dogmas of the Catholic faith, and a no less comprehensive epitome of the principles of Catholic morality

To another, and, happily, an increasing class of the community, the present volume cannot fail to prove a useful acquisition—to those who, anxious only for truth, desire to know the real principles of Catholics, could they arrive at a knowledge of them through the medium of a compendious and authoritative exposition. Whilst inquiry struggles to burst the bonds in which prejudice and interested misrepresentation have long bound up its freedom, and would still oppress its energies, it would not become Catholics to look on with indifference. We owe it to truth, to aid these growing efforts of enlightened reason : the voice of charity bids us assist the exertions of honest inquiry : we owe it to ourselves to co-operate in removing the load of obloquy under which we still labour ; and, if it were possible for us to be insensible to these claims, there is yet an obligation from which nothing can exempt us—it is due to religion to make her known as she really is. To these important ends we cannot, perhaps, contribute more effectually, than by placing within the reach

of all, a Work explanatory of Catholic doctrine, and universally acknowledged authority in the Catholic Church.¹

To the Pastor, upon whom devolves the duty of public instruction, the “Catechismus ad Parochos” presents peculiar advantages. In its pages he will discover a rich treasure of theological knowledge, admirably adapted to purposes of practical utility. The entire economy of religion he will there find developed to his view—the majesty of God, the nature of the divine essence—the attributes of the Deity, their transcendent operations—the creation of man, his unhappy fall—the promise of a Redeemer, the mysterious and merciful plan of redemption—the establishment of the Church, the marks by which it is to be known and distinguished—the awful sanction with which the Divine Law is fenced round, the rewards that await and animate the good, the punishments that threaten and awe the wicked—the nature, number and necessity of those supernatural aids instituted by the Divine goodness to support our weakness in the arduous conflict for salvation—the Law delivered in thunder on Sinai, embracing the various duties of man, under all the relations of his being—finally, the nature, necessity and conditions of that heavenly intercourse that should subsist between the soul and its Creator ; the exposition of that admirable prayer composed by the Son of God—all this, comprehending as it does, the whole substance of doctrinal and practical religion, and at once instructive to Pastor and people, the reader will find in the “Catechismus ad Parochos,” arranged in order, expounded with perspicuity, and sustained by convincing argument.

Besides a general index, one pointing out the adaptation of the several parts of the Catechism to the Gospel of the Sunday will, it is hoped, facilitate the duty of public instruction, and render this Catechism, what it was originally intended to be, the manual of Pastors.

Such are the nature and object of the present work : a brief sketch

of its history must enhance its worth, and may, it is hoped, prove acceptable to the learned reader.

It has already been observed, that the Roman Catechism owes its origin to the zeal and wisdom of the Fathers of Trent : the Decree of the Council for its commencement was passed in the twenty-fourth session ; and its composition was confided to individuals recommended, no doubt, by their superior piety, talents and learning. That, during the Council, a Congregation had been appointed for the execution of the work, is matter of historic evidence ;¹ but whether, before the close of the Council, the work had actually been commenced, is a point of interesting, but doubtful inquiry.² It is certain, however, that amongst those who, under the superintending care of the sainted Archbishop of Milan, were most actively employed in its composition, are to be numbered three learned Dominicans, Leonardo Marini, subsequently raised to the Archiepiscopal throne of Lanciano,³ Francisco Foreiro, the learned translator of Isaias,⁴ and Ægidius Foscarrari, Bishop of Modena,⁵ names not unknown to history and to literature.⁶ Whether to them exclusively belongs the completion of the Catechism, or whether they share the honour and the merit with others, is a question which, about the middle of the last century, enlisted the zeal and industry of contending writers. The Letters and Orations of Pogianus, published by Lagomarsini, seem however, to leave the issue of the contest no longer doubtful. Of these letters one informs us, that three Bishops were appointed by the Sovereign Pontiff to undertake the task :⁷ of the three Dominicans already mentioned, two only had been raised to the episcopal dignity ; and hence a fourth person, at least, must have been associated to their number and their labours. That four persons had been actually appointed by the Pontiff appears from the letter of Gratianus to Cardinal Commendon :⁸ and after much research, Lagomarsini has discovered that this fourth person was Muzio Calini, Archbishop of Zara.⁹ The erudite and accurate Tiraboschi has arrived at the

same conclusion : he expressly numbers Calini amongst the authors of the Roman Catechism.¹ The MSS. notes, to which Lagomarsini refers in proof of this opinion, mention, it is true, the names of Galesinus and Pogianus with that of Calini : Pogianus, it is universally acknowledged, had no share in the composition of the work ; and the passage, therefore, must have reference solely to its style. With this interpretation, the mention of Calini does not conflict ; the orations delivered by him in the Council of Trent prove, that in elegance of Latinity he was little inferior to Pogianus himself ; and the style, therefore, might also have employed the labour of his pen.

Other names are mentioned as possessing claims to the honour of having contributed to the composition of the Trent Catechism, amongst which are those of Cardinal Seripandus, Archbishop of Salerno, and legate at the Council to Pius the Fourth, Michael Medina, and Cardinal Antoniano, secretary to Pius the Fifth ; but Tiraboschi omits to notice their pretensions ; and my inquiries have not been rewarded with a single authority competent to impeach the justness of the omission. Their names, that of Medina excepted, he frequently introduces throughout his history ; in no instance, however, does he intimate that they had any share in the composition of the Roman Catechism ; and his silence, therefore, I am disposed to interpret as a denial of their claim.

The work, when completed,² was presented to Pius the Fifth, and was handed over by his holiness for revisal to a Congregation, over which presided the profound and judicious Cardinal Sirlet.³ The style, according to some, was finally retouched by Paulus Manutius ;⁴ according to others, and the opinion is more probable, it owes this last improvement to the classic pen of Pogianus.⁵ Its uniformity, (the observation is Lagomarsini’s) and its strong resemblance to that of the other works of Pogianus, depose in favour of the superiority of his claim.⁶ The work was put to press under the vigilant eye of the laborious and elegant Manutius,⁷ published by authority of Pius the Fifth, and by command of the Pontiff translated into the lan-

guages of Italy, France, Germany, and Poland.¹ To the initiated no apology is, I trust, necessary for this analysis of a controversy which the Translator could not, with propriety, pass over in silence, and on which so much of laborious research has been expended. To detail, however, the numerous approvals that hailed the publication of the work, recommended its perusal, and promoted its circulation, would, perhaps, rather fatigue the patience, than interest the curiosity of the reader.² Enough, that its merits were then, as they are now, recognised by the Universal Church ; and the place given amongst the masters of spiritual life to the devout A’Kempis, “second only,” says Fontenelle, “to the books of the canonical Scripture,” has been unanimously awarded to the Catechism of the Council of Trent, as a compendium of Catholic theology.

Thus, undertaken by decree of the Council of Trent, the result of the aggregate labours of the most distinguished of the Fathers who composed that august assembly, revised by the severe judgment, and polished by the classic taste of the first scholars of that classic age, the Catechism of the Council of Trent is stamped with the impress of superior worth, and challenges the respect and veneration of every reader.

In estimating so highly the merits of the original, it has not, however, escaped the Translator’s notice, that a work purely theological and didactic, treated in a severe, scholastic form, and, therefore, not recommended by the more ambitious ornaments of style, must prove uninviting to those who seek to be amused, rather than to be instructed. The judicious reader will not look for such recommendation : the character of the work precludes the idea : perspicuity, and an elaborate accuracy, are the leading features of the original ; and the Translator is, at least, entitled to the praise of not having aspired to higher excellencies. To express the entire meaning of the author, attending rather to the sense, than to the number of his words, is the rule by which the Roman Orator was guided in his translation of the celebrated orations of the two rival orators of Greece.³ From this general rule, however just, and favourable to elegance, the Trans-

lator has felt it a conscientious duty not unfrequently to depart, in the translation of a work, the phraseology of which is in so many instances, consecrated by ecclesiastical usage. Whilst, therefore, he has endeavoured to preserve the spirit, he has been unwilling to lose sight of the letter : studious to avoid a servile exactness, he has not felt himself at liberty to indulge the freedom of paraphrase : anxious to transfuse into the copy the spirit of the original, he has been no less anxious to render it an express image of that original. The reader, perhaps, will blame his severity : his fidelity, he trusts, may defy reproof ; and on it he rests his only claim to commendation.

By placing the work, in its present form, before the public, the Translator trusts he shall have rendered some service to the cause of religion : should this pleasing anticipation be realized, he will deem the moments of leisure devoted to it well spent, and the reward more than commensurate to his humble labours. MAYNOOTH COLLEGE. June 10th, 1829.

PREFACE TO

THE CATECHISM OF THE COUNCIL OF TRENT.

INTENTION OF THE COUNCIL—OBJECT AND AUTHORITY OF THE WORK—ITS USE AND DIVISION.

Insufficiency of human reason.SUCH is the nature of the human mind, so limited are its intellectual powers, that, although by means of diligent and laborious inquiry it has been enabled of itself to investigate and discover many divine truths ; yet guided solely by its own lights it could never know or comprehend most of those things by which eternal salvation, the principal end of man’s creation and Necessity of revelationformation to the image and likeness of God, is attained. “The invisible things of God, from the creation of the world, are,” as the Apostle teaches, “clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made : his eternal power also and divinity.”¹ But “the mystery which had been hidden from ages and generations” so far transcends the reach of man’s understanding, that were it not “manifested to his saints to whom God,” by the gift of faith, “would make known the riches of the glory of this mystery, amongst the Gentiles, which is Christ,”² it had never been given to human research to aspire to such wisdom.

Whence is so excellent a Gift of Faith derived.

And of authorized teachers.But, as “faith cometh by hearing,”³ the necessity of the assiduous labour and faithful ministry of a legitimate teacher, at all times, towards the attainment of eternal salvation is manifest, for it is written, “how shall they hear without a preacher ? And how shall they preach unless they be sent ?”⁴ And, indeed, never, from the very creation of the world, has God most merciful and benignant been wanting to his own ; but “at sundry times and in divers manners spoke, in times past, to the Fathers by the

Christ came into this World to teach the Faith, which the Apostles and their Successors afterwards propagated.

How the Words of the Pastors of the Church are to be received.

Prophets ;”¹ and pointed out, in a manner suited to the times and circumstances, a sure and direct path to the happiness of heaven. But, as he had foretold that he would give a teacher, “to be the light of the Gentiles and salvation to the ends of the earth ;”² “in these days he hath spoken to us by his Son,”³ whom also by a voice from heaven, “from the excellent glory,”⁴ he has commanded all to hear and to obey ; and the Son “hath given some apostles, and some prophets, and others evangelists, and others pastors and teachers,”⁵ to announce the word of life ; that we be not carried about like children with every wind of doctrine, but holding fast to the firm foundation of the faith, “may be built together into a habitation of God in the Holy The pastors of the Church to be heard.Ghost.”⁶ That none may receive the word of God from the ministers of the Church as the word of man, but as the word of Christ, what it really is ; the same Saviour has ordained that their ministry should be invested with such authority that he says to them ; “he that hears you, hears me ; and he that despises you, despises me ;”⁷ a declaration which he would not be understood to make to those only to whom his words were addressed, but likewise to all who, by legitimate succession, should discharge the ministry of the word, promising to be with them “all days, even to the consummation of the world.”⁸

The Truth having been already manifested, it is necessary now also that Pastors preach the Word of God.

Peculiar necessity of pastoral instruction in these days.As this preaching of the divine word should never be interrupted in the Church of God, so in these our days it becomes necessary to labour with more than ordinary zeal and piety to nurture and strengthen the faithful with sound and wholesome doctrine, as with the food of life : for “false prophets have gone forth into the world”⁹ “with various and strange doctrines”¹⁰ to corrupt the minds of the faithful ; of whom the Lord hath said “Activity of the “Reformers.”I sent them not, and they ran ; I spoke not to them, yet they prophesied.”¹¹ In this unholy work, to such extremes has their impiety, practised in all the arts of Satan, been carried, that it would seem almost impossible to confine it within bounds ; and did we not rely on the splendid promises of the Saviour, who declared that he had “built his Church on so solid a foundation, that the gates of hell should never prevail against it,”¹² we should be filled with most alarming apprehension lest, beset on every side by such a host of enemies, assailed by so many and such formidable engines, the Church of God should, in these days, fall beneath their combined efforts. To omit those illustrious

The Heretics have sought to corrupt the minds of Christians chiefly by means of Catechisms.

states which heretofore professed, in piety and holiness, the Catholic faith transmitted to them by their ancestors, but are now gone astray, wandering from the paths of truth, and openly declaring that their best claims of piety are founded on a total abandonment of the faith of their fathers : there is no region however remote, no place however securely guarded, no corner of the Christian republic, into which this pestilence has not sought secretly to insinuate itself. Those, who proposed to themselves to corrupt the minds of the faithful, aware that they could not hold immediate personal intercourse with all, and thus pour into their ears their poisoned doctrines, by adopting a different plan, disseminated error and impiety more easily and extensively. Besides those voluminous works, by which they sought the subversion of the Catholic faith ; to guard against which, however, containing, as they did, open heresy, required, perhaps, little labour or circumspection ; they also composed innumerable smaller books, which, veiling their errors under the semblance of piety, deceived with incredible facility the simple and the incautious.

The Holy Synod rightly decreed that the Pestilent Preachings and Writings of the False Prophets must be opposed.

I. — If. was necessary, after so many Written Treatises of Christian Doctrine, to put forward a New Catechism for Pastors, even by the care of the Oecumenical Council and the Authority of the Supreme Pontiff.

Object and authority of this workThe Fathers, therefore, of the general Council of Trent, anxious to apply some healing remedy to an evil of such magnitude, were not satisfied with having decided the more important points of Catholic doctrine against the heresies of our times, but deemed it further necessary to deliver some fixed form of instructing the faithful in the truths of religion from the very rudiments of Christian knowledge ; a form to be followed by those to whom are lawfully intrusted the duties of pastor and teacher. In works of this sort many, it is true, have already employed their pens, and earned the reputation of great piety and learning. The Fathers, however, deemed it of the first importance that a work should appear, sanctioned by the authority of the Holy Synod, from which pastors and all others on whom the duty of imparting instruction devolves, may draw with security precepts for the edification of the faithful ; that as there is “one Lord, one faith,”¹ there may also be one standard and prescribed form of propounding the dogmas of faith, and instructing Christians in all the duties of piety.

Its subject matter.As, therefore, the design of the work embraces a variety of matter, the Holy Synod cannot be supposed to have intended to comprise, in one volume, all the dogmas of Christianity, with that minuteness of detail to be found in the works of those who pro-

All the Dogmas of our Religion are not here fully discussed.

fess to treat of all the institutions and doctrines of religion. Such a task would be one of almost endless labour, and manifestly ill-suited to attain the proposed end. But, having undertaken to instruct pastors and such as have care of souls in those things that belong peculiarly to the pastoral office and are accommodated to the capacity of the faithful ; the Holy Synod intended that such things only should be treated of as might assist the pious zeal of pastors in discharging the duty of instruction, should they not be very familiar with the more abstruse questions of theological disputation.

Principal things to be observed by the Pastor in communicating instruction.Such being the nature and object of the present work, its order requires that, before we proceed to develope those things severally which comprise a summary of this doctrine, we premise a few observations explanatory of the considerations which should form the primary object of the pastor’s attention, and which he should keep continually before his eyes, in order to know to what end, as it were, all his views and labours and studies are to be directed, and how this end, which he proposes to himself, may be facilitated and attained.

When the Pastors of Souls are here taken to be instructed, what must form their Chief Consideration, that they may rightly discharge their duty.

First.The first is always to recollect that in this consists all Christian knowledge, or rather, to use the words of the Apostle, “this is eternal life, to know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.”¹ A teacher in the Church will, therefore, use his best endeavours that the faithful desire earnestly “to know Jesus Christ and him crucified,”² that they be firmly convinced, and with the most heart-felt piety and devotion believe, that “there is no other name under heaven given to men whereby they can be saved,”³ “for he is the propitiation for our sins.”⁴

Second.But as “by this we know that we have known him, if we keep his commandments,”⁵ the next consideration, and one intimately connected with the preceding, is—to press also upon their attention that their lives are not to be wasted in ease and indolence, but that “we are to walk even as Christ walked,”⁶ “and pursue,” with unremitting earnestness, “justice, godliness, faith, charity, patience, mildness ;”⁷ for, “he gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and might cleanse to himself a people acceptable, a pursuer of good works.”⁸ These things the Apostle commands pastors to speak and to exhort.

Third.But as our Lord and Saviour has not only declared, but has also proved by his own example, that “the Law and the Prophets

depend on love,”¹ and as, according to the Apostle, charity is the end of the commandments, and the fulfilment of the law,² it is unquestionably a paramount duty of the pastor, to use the utmost assiduity to excite the faithful to a love of the infinite goodness of God towards us ; that burning with a sort of divine ardour, they may be powerfully attracted to the supreme and all perfect good, to adhere to which is true and solid happiness, as is fully experienced by him who can say with the Prophet ; “What have I in heaven but thee ? and besides thee what do I desire upon earth ?”³ This, assuredly, is that more excellent way⁴ pointed out by the Apostle, when he refers all his doctrines and instructions to “charity which never faileth ;”⁵ for whatever is proposed by the pastor, whether it be the exercise of faith, of hope, or of some moral virtue ; the love of God should be so strongly insisted upon by him, as to show clearly that all the works of perfect Christian virtue can have no other origin, no other end than divine love.⁶

It is not enough that Pastors, while teaching, should look to these Two Ends, but they should accommodate themselves to each one's Capacity, and condition of life.

Fourth.But as in imparting instruction of any sort, the manner of communicating it is of considerable importance, so in conveying instruction to the people, it should be deemed of the greatest moment.—Age, capacity, manners and condition demand attention, that he, who instructs, may become all things to all men, and be able to gain all to Christ,⁷ and prove himself a faithful minister and steward,⁸ and, like a good and faithful servant, be found worthy to be placed by his Lord over many things.⁹ Nor let him imagine that those committed to his care are all of equal capacity or like dispositions, so as to enable him to apply the same course of instruction, to lead all to knowledge and piety ; for some are, “as it were new-born infants,” others grown up in Christ, and others in some sort, of full maturity. Hence the necessity of considering who they are that have occasion for milk, who for more solid food,¹¹ and of affording to each such nutriment of doctrine as may give spiritual increase, “until we all meet in the unity of faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God into a perfect man, into the measure of the age of the fulness of Christ.”¹² This the example of the Apostle points out to the observance of all, for, “he is a debtor to the Greek and the Barbarian, to the wise and to the unwise :”¹³ thus giving all who are called to this ministry, to understand that in announ-

cing the mysteries of faith, and inculcating the precepts of morality, the instruction is to be accommodated to the capacity and intelligence of the hearers ; that, whilst the minds of the strong are filled with spiritual food, the little ones be not suffered to perish with hunger, “asking for bread, whilst there is none to break it to them.”¹

Fifth.Nor should our zeal in communicating Christian knowledge be relaxed, because it is sometimes to be exercised in expounding matters apparently humble and unimportant, and, therefore, comparatively uninteresting to minds accustomed to repose in the contemplation of the more sublime truths of religion. If the wisdom of the eternal Father descended upon the earth in the meanness of our flesh, to teach us the maxims of a heavenly life, who is there whom the love of Christ does not compel² to become little in the midst of his brethren ; and, as a nurse fostering her children, so anxiously to wish for the salvation of his neighbour, that as the Apostle testifies of himself, he desires to deliver not only the Gospel of Jesus Christ to them, but even his own life for Where the doctrines of Christianity are contained.them.³

Since God has withdrawn his Visible Presence from us, Pastors will derive his Word from Scripture and Tradition.

But all the doctrines of Christianity, in which the faithful are to be instructed, are derived from the word of God, which includes Scripture and tradition. To the study of these, therefore, the pastor should devote his days and his nights, always keeping in mind the admonition of St. Paul to Timothy, which all who have the care of souls should consider as addressed to themselves ; “Attend to reading, to exhortation, and to doctrine,⁴ for all Scripture divinely inspired, is profitable to teach, to reprove, to correct, to instruct in justice, that the man of God may be perfect, furnished to every good work.”⁵

Division of the work.But as the truths revealed by Almighty God, are so many and so various, as to render it no easy task to comprehend them, or, having comprehended them, to retain so distinct a recollection of them as to be able to explain them with ease and promptitude when occasion may require ; our predecessors in the faith have very wisely reduced them to these four heads—The Apostle’s Creed—The Sacraments—The ten Commandments—and the First part.Lord’s Prayer. The Creed contains all that is to be held according to the discipline of the Christian faith, whether it regard the knowledge of God, the creation and government of the world ; or the redemption of man, the rewards of the good and the pu-

Second Part.nishments of the wicked. The doctrine of the seven Sacraments comprehends the signs, and, as it were, the instruments of grace. Third Part.The Decalogue, whatever has reference to the law, “the end whereof is charity.”¹ Finally, the Lord’s Prayer contains whatever can be the object of the Christian’s desires, or hopes, or prayers. The exposition, therefore, of these, as it were, common-places of sacred Scripture, includes almost every thing to be known by a Christian.

By what Method Parish-Priests may combine the Explanation of the Gospel with the Explanation of the Catechism.

Fourth Part.We, therefore, deem it proper to acquaint pastors that, whenever they have occasion, in the ordinary discharge of their duty, to expound any passage of the Gospel, or any other part of Scripture, they will find its substance under some one of the four heads already enumerated, to which they will recur, as the source from which their exposition is to be drawn. Thus, if the Gospel of the first Sunday of Advent is to be explained, “There shall be signs in the sun and in the moon, &c.”² whatever regards its explanation is contained under the article of the creed, “He shall come to judge the living and the dead,” and by imbodying the substance of that article in his exposition, the pastor will at once instruct his people in the creed and in the Gospel. Whenever, therefore, he has to communicate instruction and expound the Scriptures, he will observe the same rule of referring all to these four principal heads, which, as we have already observed, comprise the whole force and doctrine of Holy Scripture.

Application of the Catechism to the Gospel of the Sunday.He will, however, observe that order which he deems best suited to persons, times and circumstances. Walking in the footsteps of the Fathers, who to initiate men in Christ the Lord and instruct them in his discipline begin with the doctrine of faith, we have deemed it useful to explain first in order what appertains to faith.

What is here meant by Faith, and of its Necessity to Salvation.

Why it begins with the explanation of the Creed.As the word faith has a variety of meanings in the Sacred Scriptures, it may not be unnecessary to observe that here we speak of that faith by which we yield our entire assent to whatever has been revealed by Almighty God. That faith thus understood is necessary to salvation no man can reasonably doubtFaith, how understood here. ; particularly as the Sacred Scriptures declare that “Without faith it is impossible to please God.”³ For as the end proposed to man as his ultimate happiness is far above the reach of the human understanding, it was, therefore, necessary that it should be made known to him by Almighty God. This know-

Why it was called a Symbol.

When and Why the Twelve Heads of Faith were handed down by the Apostles.

ledge is nothing else than faith, by which we yield our unhesitating assent to whatever the authority of our Holy Mother the Church teaches us to have been revealed by Almighty God : for the faithful cannot doubt those things of which God, who is truth itself, is the author. Hence we see the great difference that exists between this faith which we give to God, and the credence which we yield to profane historians. But faith, though comprehensive, and differing in degree and dignity, [for we read in Scripture these words, “O thou of little faith, why didst thou doubt ?”¹ and “great is thy faith,”² and “Increase our faith,”³ also “Faith without works is dead”⁴ and “Faith which worketh by charity ;⁵”] is yet the same in kind, and the full force of its definition applies equally to all its degrees. Its fruit and advantages to us, we shall point out when explaining the articles of the Creed. The first, then, and most important points of Christian faith are those which the holy Apostles, the great leaders and teachers of the faith, men inspired by the Holy Ghost, have The Creed why composed by the Apostles.divided into the twelve articles of the Creed : for as they had received a command from the Lord to go forth “into the whole world,” “as his ambassadors, and preach the Gospel to every creature,”⁶ they thought proper to compose a form of Christian faith, “that all may speak and think the same thing ;”⁷ and that amongst those whom they should have called to the unity of faith, no schisms should exist ; but that they should be perfect in the same mind, and in the same spirit. This profession of Christian faith and hope, drawn up by themselves, the Apostles called a “symbol,” either because it was an aggregate of the combined sentiments of all ; or because, by it, as by a common sign and watch-word, they might easily distinguish false brethren, deserters from the faith, “unawares brought in,”⁸ “who adultered the word of God,”⁹ from those who had pledged an oath of fidelity to serve under the banner of Christ.