The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1906-03-17
ITS SACREDNESS
The Character fan Oath Briefly
Considered.
In Itself One Of the 0ravsst Of
Actions,

of Valleyfield. Quebec. 1t possesses a
sacred character, and man only uses
1t because he is essentially religious
being and wishes to unite himself
closely to his God. In pronouncing it,
he. in effect. directly calls upon his
Creator and Master. He calls upon
Him. and. In a certain sense. forces
Him to descend amongst the interests
of the world. and obliges Him to app
pear as an irrefutab!e witness or as
bond of absolute necessity. In that
man binds his conscience in the most
serious and the most terrible manner,
since he speaks intermingling his testi-
mony Or promise with the word of God
Himself. whom he calls upon as his
witness.
In order that the oath may preserve
the character of religious and sacred
act binding the conscience, it is not
indispensable that it should be adj
ministered with all the legal solemnity,
or with the aid Of certain judicial
formula defined by the laws. 1t suf-
fees. as it often happens, at least in
an implicit manner and with our own
intentions, that we call upon God by
His own or by that of one of His
creatures, that we consider as coming
from Him. to bear witness, in the pres
cnce. of his fellowmen. to the facts
which we attest or the engagements
which we undertake.
1t would, therefore, be an error, and
it is probably a very common one to
believe that there is no real oath bind
ing upon the conscience only that TAX
en- in the presence Of magistrates and
by the authority of the laws and with
certain recognized expressions.
1t is God Himself who established
and sanctioned the use Of the oath, as
We may see in many places in the
Sacred Scriptures: Thou shalt fear
the Lord thy God and serve but Him
alone and swear by His name." (Deut.
vi, 49, Lord" says holy King Ed
ward. who then shall be found worthy
to inhabit Thy house?" And he an
swered: "He who shall have sworn
not to deceive his neighbor" Ps.
xiv.)
The Church herself uses the oath in
her most solemn acts; she exacts it
from her pastors before their conse-
Grafton; she submits it to the faithful
when she calls upon them to give evil
dence.
1t is, therefore. an established fact
that the oath is in itself an act of re-
ligion: that it is of q nature to give
honor and glory to God, and that it
offers, as st. Paul says (Heb. vi. 2e).
"the greatest certainty that we can
obtain truthfulness Of a word
By this right it is the base of. all
social order in the actual state of hu-
mainly. 1t is a necessary instrument
in the hands of men to maintain the
observance of justice to give to all the
highest possible ' guarantee against
weakness or human malice, the but too
logical consequence of the original
fall.
But, in order that the oath could at
tain an end so elevated and so inn
.portant to common security, to swear
honestly, there are certain essential
conditions, without which it would de-
viate from its end, to become a source
of the gravest disorders. These con-
ditions the Holy Ghost points out to
us in the following terms:
"You shall swear by the Lord. but
with truth, with judgment and with
Justice" Ger. w., 81 These words
comprise, in short, all that is neces-
sary for the rectitude and holiness Of
the oath. II the oath be without truth,
says ST.. Thomas. 1t is false; if it is
without justice, 1t is pernicious: If ii
be without Judgment, it is indiscreet
In the first place, it is necessary to
swear with truth, that is to say, that
truth should be the groundwork and
principle of the oath, that 1t should be
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