The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1903-02-07

Ing the wears 40 10 ~. LII AOOo -
appointed provost (dean) of the Chap
ter of Stafford. a position which he held
till 1897, when he resigned. Like many
other venerable servants of COO, the
"old provost" as he was famlharly
called, wished to die in apostolic pow
erty, and he himself designated the
priests who were respectively to sing
his REQUIEM Mass with special in1unc-
tions against any panegyrlc-pot re-
quests being religiously fulllleu'
----~<r-esr,-<>
The Meaning, Necessity and lmpor-
tance of Sacraments..
The sacraments taken in general may
be defined as the channels through
which the graces purchased by the pas
sion and death of Christ are coEVeyeu
to the souls of men. ,,,
! In order that soul may actualiy
benefit by those graces it is aosolutely
necessary that that soul must feceiEe
them. They must be applied to II De
| fore they can and in order that tney
NAV effect in it the changes which
Christ has ordained. 1t is not enough
that Christ purchased" those graces
| for us. They must be also applled
as well as purchased" before they
can do our soul any good. Although
this truth is simple, clear ana lnte!-
ligible even to the ignorant, yet, 1t Is
a fact that there is much false teach
ing at the present day on this impor-
tant and essential point. How otten Is
not openly preached, especially in the
public squares of our large cities: That
1--WE are all washed in the blood OF the
lamb; Christ died for us ALL; ana
therefore I'VE are all saved!
This doctrine is very misleading, ana
therefore calls for the earnest conslo,
Grafton and study of every Woulupe
sincere Christian.
1t cannot be denied that there is
good deal of true Catholic doctrine
taught by the various bodies OF Chris
tians outside the one true fold, Dut'
unfortunately this is rendered Almost
if not altogether useless by the many
false teachings that are mixed up WIN
it. This is especially the case with re-
gard to the present subject, and lit
tie reasoning will enable even an un-
educated man to see where the false-
hood comes in.
preacher speaks truth when he
! says that Christ died for us air; put
he is altogether wrong when ne auos
that therefore I'VE are all washed IN
the Blood of the Lamb" I'VE are all
cleansed." 1t does not follow, by any
means. Neither does it necessarily fol-
: low if he adds the necessity OF repen-
, tance as the only condition required.
A man may truly believe that Christ
died for us ALL" he may also repent,
but he cannot therefore conclude that
for these reasons he is actually
washed in the Blood of the Lamb D.
!, that he is actually 'cleansed." Mucn
, less can he conclude that he is
saved" as we hear so often preached.
That Christ died for US alr' is GER
tain. That he purchased graces SUI
ficient and superabundant to cleanse
all human souls of every possible sin,
is equally certain. That he purchased
all the graces necessary to save all
. men, and that He would have all men
saved by means of those .graces, is no
, less certain. But, although He died
for us all and purchased by His pas
sion and Death, graces sufficient to
wash away the sins of the whole
world, and that He ardently wished
that all men should be saved: yet it
does not follow from all this that
therefore we are "cleansed' or
) washed in the Blood of the Lamb, u
, or. much less, already saved
The true teaching is that it is not
, enough that Christ died for us and
| purchased graces sufficient to save US.
: but that also those graces must be ac-
tually applied to our souls-must en-
ter the very essence of our souls, in
order to cleanse them and enable US
to work out our salvation. 1t is only
/ when the soul thus receives" those
graces that the passion and death OF
: Christ and the graces which He SO
, dearly purchased can be of any "real
benefit" For all practical purposes
then, it is of no benefit to any indi-
7 vidual soul that Christ died for it at
, all, and that He purchased all the
graces necessary to cleanse it and save
it eternally, unless and until those
same graces are actually conveyed, ap-
piled, given to that soul.
hungry man may purchase a good
dinner; he may pay for it-and pay
, for it ten times over, but it does not
follow that his hunger is appeaSed. He
shall have something more to do with
the dinner. He shall have to eat it.
A man may purchase a box OF
matches to light-let us say, f1re-he
may pay for them. But that far will
not make the fire light. He shall have
: to strike a match and actually apply
it to the fire. 1t is not difficult the1
to see how true is the Catholic teacfa
ing that because Christ died for us
all,'' it does mot by any means follow
that we are therefore washed in the
: Blood of the Lamb" that I'VE are
cleansed" and much less does it fol-
low that we are saved" All these
' conclusions that we are cleansed, etc.
are most clearly false and hereucal
= Each and every soul then must actually
receive the graces purchased for it by
4 | Christ before any of those graceS car
do it any good. They must be applied
to the soul.
4 These truths show us at glance the
: necessity, the Importance and the value
/ of the holy sacraments which are tht
means, the channels through which
Christ has ordained to convey and ap-
@ ply to our souls the graces which He
f has purchased to cleanse us and save
q US and bring us to life everlasting.
+ We shall see that such is what th'
q sacraments do for us, as we conside
them separately.
:, = Let US take baptism, which is th'
: first. 1t is a sacrament which cleanse
us from original sin and makes III
Christian children of God and heirs t.
:, the kingdom of heaven.
We see that it is through it we re
: ceiye the very first graces we all neeC
= that which washes away original sil
= the sin we have inherited through ou
II first parents. AS it was on account o
q this sin we lost our right to heaven
z as soon as it is washed away through
: baptism that sacrament at one an
the same time makes us Christians an
restores to us the right to that eterna
/ kingdom which we had lost.
/ This was the first thing Christ ha
4, to do for US, the first grace He had t
% purchase for us; the first thing W
e absolutely needed. Therefore we Sc
l. that the sacrament, the channe
st through which that grace is eonveye
Y to the soul is the first and most neces
It sary of all the sacraments. 1t is no