The Washington times., 1921-03-24

my HOtners milk. nave Tndoc
her history and theology the study
of my life. What motive can l have
in misleading you? No temporal re-
ward. since / seek not your money.
but your soul, for which Jesus Christ
died. l could not hope for an eternal
reward by deceiving you. for l would
thereby purchase for myself eternal
condemnation by gaining proselytcs
at the expense of truth. This.
friendly reader is my only motive: l
feel in the depths OF my heart that. IN
possessing Catholic faith, 1 hold a
treasure compared with which all
things earthly are but dross. In
stead of wishing to bury this treas
ure in my breast ] long to share II
with you, especially as / lose no part
of my spiritual riches by communi-
eating them to others.
Were a 1.-THE of accusations which
are brought against the venerable
mother church true, I would not be
attached to her ministry. nor even
her communion, for a single day. i
know these charges to be false. The
longer I know her the more i admire
and venerate her. Every day she de-
velops before me new spiritual
charms"
CROSS Is REVERED.
catholics abstain from the use OF
flesh meat on Friday-the day conse-
Grated to our Saviour's sufferings-
not because the eating Of flesh meat
is sinful in itself" says the Cardinal
in the opening chapter Of ''The Faith
of Our Fathers" on THE Trinity"
but as an act Of salutary mortifica-
ton. Loving children would be
prompted by filial tenderness to COM
memorate the anniversary of their
fathers death rather by prayer and
fasting than by feasting. Even so we
abstain on Fridays from flesh meat
that we may in q small measure tes-
tify our practical sympathy for our
dear Lord by the modification OF our
body"
"The cross is held in highest rever-
ence by Catholics" he continues, "be-
cause it was the instrument OF our
Saviour's crucifixion. We do not. II
course, attach any intrinsic virtue to
the cross; this would be sinful and
idolatrous Our veneration is re-
ferred to Him who died upon it."
In the chapter on "Unity OF the
Church" the Cardinal writes: with
all due respect for my dissenting
brethren, truth compels me to say
that this unity of doctrine and gov
ernment of the Catholic Church is not
to be found in the Protestant sects'
taken collectively or separately. That
the various Protestant denominations
differ from one another not only in
minor details, but in most essential
principles of faith, is evident to eV-
eryone convefsant with the doctrines
Of the different creeds. The multi
plicity Of sects in this country. with
he
scandal of Christianity and the great
est obstacle to the conversion OF the
heather.
He writes as follows on 1.-The Holi-
ness of the Church," I'VE are invited
to lead holy lives, not only because
our divine Founder, Jesus Christ, was
holy, but also because we bear His
sweet and venerable name. We are
called Christians. That is name we
would not exchange for all the high
sounding titles of prince or emperor"
In the same chapter he again writes
"The church constantly allures hsi
children to holiness by placing before
their minds the incarnation. life and
death of our Savior" He also says
The moral law which the Catholic
Church inculcates in her children Is
the highest and holiest standard OF
perfection ever presented to any peo-
pie and furnishes the strongest incen'
tive virtue.
Not only are Catholics instructed
in church on Sunday. but they are
exhorted to peruse the Word of God
and manuals of devotion at home"
All through his writings the Cardi
nal lauds the work of the Catholic
nuns. The following from THE Faith
of Our Fathers is illustrative Of the
opinion he had of the sisters:
"Who is a stranger to the church q
consecrated virgins, those sisters OF
various orders who in every large city
f Christendom are daily reclaiming q
degraded women from life OF shame
and bringing them back to the sweet
influence OF religion; who snatch the
abandoned offspring OF sin from tenn
poral and spiritual death, and make
them pious and useful members OF
society. becoming more than their
mothers to them; who rescue children
from ignorance and instil into their
minds the knowledge and love of
Godg
POINTS OF RESEMBLANCE.
In writing OF "The Holiness OF the
Church His Eminence says further:
1T must not be imagined that 1 am
attempting TO prove that all Catho-
lies are holy. I am sorry to confess
that corruption of morals is too often
found among processing Catholics. We
cannot close our eyes to the painful
fact that too many of them, far from
living up to the teachings of their
church.. are sources or melancholy
scandal l also admit that the sin
of Catholics Is more heinous in the
sight of God than that Of their sep
arated brethren, because they abuse
more grace"
Following are terse paragraphs from
"The Faith OF Our Fathers"
"The Catholic Church has been con-
stantly engaged in a double warfare;
one foreign, the other domestic-in
foreign war against paganism and
in1delity; in civil strife against here
sy and schism fomented by her own
rebellious children"
1.-THE so-called Reformation OF the
Sixteenth Century bears many points
OF resemblance to the great Arian
heresy in the early centuries OF the
church. Both schisms originated with
priests impatient with the yoke Of