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<b>LESSON FIRST ON THE END OF MAN</b><br><b>Q. 1. Who made the world?</b> A. God made the world. <b>Q. 2. Who is God?</b> A. God is the Creator of heaven and earth, and of all things. <b>Q. 3. What is man?</b> A. Man is a creature composed of body and soul, and made to the image and likeness of God. <b>Q. 6. Why did God make you?</b> A. God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in the next. <b>Q. 9. What must we do to save our souls?</b> A. To save our souls, we must worship God by faith, hope, and charity; that is, we must believe in Him, hope in Him, and love Him with all our heart. <b>Q. 10. How shall we know the things which we are to believe?</b> A. We shall know the things which we are to believe from the Catholic Church, through which God speaks to us. <b>Q. 11. Where shall we find the chief truths which the Church teaches?</b> A. We shall find the chief truths which the Church teaches in the Apostles’ Creed. <b>Q. 12. Say the Apostles’ Creed.</b> A. I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified; died, and was buried. He descended into hell: the third day He arose again from the dead: He ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. <b>LESSON SECOND ON GOD AND HIS PERFECTIONS</b><br><b>Q. 13. What is God?</b> A. God is a spirit infinitely perfect. <b>Q. 14. Had God a beginning?</b> A. God had no beginning; He always was and He always will be. <b>Q. 15. Where is God?</b> A. God is everywhere. <b>Q. 16. If God is everywhere, why do we not see Him?</b> A. We do not see God, because He is a pure spirit and cannot be seen with bodily eyes. <b>Q. 17. Does God see us?</b> A. God sees us and watches over us. <b>Q. 18. Does God know all things?</b> A. God knows all things, even our most secret thoughts, words, and actions. <b>Q. 19. Can God do all things?</b> A. God can do all things, and nothing is hard or impossible to Him. <b>Q. 20. Is God just, holy, and merciful?</b> A. God is all just, all holy, all merciful, as He is infinitely perfect. <b>LESSON THIRD ON THE UNITY AND TRINITY OF GOD</b><br><b>Q. 21. Is there but one God?</b> A. Yes; there is but one God. <b>Q. 22. Why can there be but one God?</b> A. There can be but one God, because God, being supreme and infinite, cannot have an equal. <b>Q. 23. How many Persons are there in God?</b> A. In God there are three Divine Persons, really distinct, and equal in all things--the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. <b>Q. 24. Is the Father God?</b> A. The Father is God and the first Person of the Blessed Trinity. <b>Q. 25. Is the Son God?</b> A. The Son is God and the second Person of the Blessed Trinity. <b>Q. 26. Is the Holy Ghost God?</b> A. The Holy Ghost is God and the third Person of the Blessed Trinity. <b>Q. 27. What is the Blessed Trinity?</b> A. The Blessed Trinity is one God in three Divine Persons. <b>Q. 29. Are the three Divine Persons one and the same God?</b> A. The three Divine Persons are one and the same God, having one and the same Divine nature. <b>LESSON FOURTH ON THE ANGELS AND OUR FIRST PARENTS</b><br><b>Q. 34. Which are the chief creatures of God?</b> A. The chief creatures of God are men and angels. <b>Q. 35. What are angels?</b> A. Angels are bodiless spirits created to adore and enjoy God in heaven. <b>Q. 39. Who were the first man and woman?</b> A. The first man and woman were Adam and Eve. <b>Q. 40. Were Adam and Eve innocent and holy when they came from the hand of God?</b> A. Adam and Eve were innocent and holy when they came from the hand of God. <b>Q. 43. Did Adam and Eve remain faithful to God?</b> A. Adam and Eve did not remain faithful to God; but broke His command by eating the forbidden fruit. <b>Q. 44. What befell Adam and Eve on account of their sin?</b> A. Adam and Eve, on account of their sin, lost innocence and holiness, and were doomed to misery and death. <b>Q. 45. What evil befell us through the disobedience of our first parents?</b> A. Through the disobedience of our first parents we all inherit their sin and punishment, as we should have shared in their happiness if they had remained faithful. <b>Q. 47. What is the sin called which we inherit from our first parents?</b> A. The sin which we inherit from our first parents is called original sin. <b>Q. 50. Was any one ever preserved from original sin?</b> A. The Blessed Virgin Mary, through the merits of her Divine Son, was preserved free from the guilt of original sin, and this privilege is called her Immaculate Conception. <b>LESSON FIFTH ON SIN AND ITS KINDS</b><br><b>Q. 51. Is original sin the only kind of sin?</b> A. Original sin is not the only kind of sin; there is another kind of sin, which we commit ourselves, called actual sin. <b>Q. 52. What is actual sin?</b> A. Actual sin is any wilful thought, word, deed or omission contrary to the law of God. <b>Q. 53. How many kinds of actual sin are there?</b> A. There are two kinds of actual sin--mortal and venial. <b>Q. 54. What is mortal sin?</b> A. Mortal sin is a grievous offense against the law of God. <b>Q. 57. What is venial sin?</b> A. Venial sin is a slight offense against the law of God in matters of less importance; or in matters of great importance it is an offense committed without sufficient reflection or full consent of the will. <b>Q. 59. Which are the chief sources of sin?</b> A. The chief sources of sin are seven: Pride, Covetousness, Lust, Anger, Gluttony, Envy, and Sloth; and they are commonly called capital sins. <b>LESSON SIXTH ON THE INCARNATION AND REDEMPTION</b><br><b>Q. 60. Did God abandon man after he fell into sin?</b> A. God did not abandon man after he fell into sin, but promised him a Redeemer, who was to satisfy for man’s sin and reopen to him the gates of heaven. <b>Q. 61. Who is the Redeemer?</b> A. Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is the Redeemer of mankind. <b>Q. 62. What do you believe of Jesus Christ?</b> A. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the second Person of the Blessed Trinity, true God and true man. <b>Q. 69. What do you mean by the Incarnation?</b> A. By the Incarnation I mean that the Son of God was made man. <b>Q. 70. How was the Son of God made man?</b> A. The Son of God was conceived and made man by the power of the Holy Ghost, in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary. <b>Q. 74. On what day was the Son of God conceived and made man?</b> A. The Son of God was conceived and made man on Annunciation day--the day on which the Angel Gabriel announced to the Blessed Virgin Mary that she was to be the Mother of God. <b>Q. 75. On what day was Christ born?</b> A. Christ was born on Christmas day in a stable at Bethlehem, over nineteen hundred years ago. <b>LESSON SEVENTH ON OUR LORD’S PASSION, DEATH, RESURRECTION, AND ASCENSION</b><br><b>Q. 78. What did Jesus Christ suffer?</b> A. Jesus Christ suffered a bloody sweat, a cruel scourging, was crowned with thorns, and was crucified. <b>Q. 79. On what day did Christ die?</b> A. Christ died on Good Friday. <b>Q. 83. Why did Christ suffer and die?</b> A. Christ suffered and died for our sins. <b>Q. 89. On what day did Christ rise from the dead?</b> A. Christ rose from the dead, glorious and immortal, on Easter Sunday, the third day after His death. <b>Q. 91. After Christ had remained forty days on earth, whither did He go?</b> A. After forty days Christ ascended into heaven, and the day on which He ascended into heaven is called Ascension day. <b>LESSON EIGHTH ON THE HOLY GHOST AND HIS DESCENT UPON THE APOSTLES</b><br><b>Q. 94. Who is the Holy Ghost?</b> A. The Holy Ghost is the third Person of the Blessed Trinity. <b>Q. 97. On what day did the Holy Ghost come down upon the Apostles?</b> A. The Holy Ghost came down upon the Apostles ten days after the Ascension of our Lord; and the day on which He came down upon the Apostles is called Whitsunday, or Pentecost. <b>Q. 99. Who sent the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles?</b> A. Our Lord Jesus Christ sent the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles. <b>Q. 100. Why did Christ send the Holy Ghost?</b> A. Christ sent the Holy Ghost to sanctify His Church, to enlighten and strengthen the Apostles, and to enable them to preach the Gospel. <b>LESSON NINTH ON THE EFFECTS OF THE REDEMPTION</b><br><b>Q. 102. Which are the chief effects of the Redemption?</b> A. The chief effects of the Redemption are two: The satisfaction of God’s justice by Christ’s sufferings and death, and the gaining of grace for men. <b>Q. 103. What do you mean by grace?</b> A. By grace I mean a supernatural gift of God bestowed on us, through the merits of Jesus Christ, for our salvation. <b>Q. 104. How many kinds of grace are there?</b> A. There are two kinds of grace, sanctifying grace and actual grace. <b>Q. 105. What is sanctifying grace?</b> A. Sanctifying grace is that grace which makes the soul holy and pleasing to God. <b>Q. 110. What is actual grace?</b> A. Actual grace is that help of God which enlightens our mind and moves our will to shun evil and do good. <b>Q. 107. What is Faith?</b> A. Faith is a Divine virtue by which we firmly believe the truths which God has revealed. <b>Q. 108. What is Hope?</b> A. Hope is a Divine virtue by which we firmly trust that God will give us eternal life and the means to obtain it. <b>Q. 109. What is Charity?</b> A. Charity is a Divine virtue by which we love God above all things for His own sake, and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God. <b>LESSON TENTH ON THE CHURCH</b><br><b>Q. 114. Which are the means instituted by our Lord to enable men at all times to share in the fruits of the Redemption?</b> A. The means instituted by our Lord to enable men at all times to share in the fruits of His Redemption are the Church and the Sacraments. <b>Q. 115. What is the Church?</b> A. The Church is the congregation of all those who profess the faith of Christ, partake of the same Sacraments, and are governed by their lawful pastors under one visible Head. <b>Q. 116. Who is the invisible Head of the Church?</b> A. Jesus Christ is the invisible Head of the Church. <b>Q. 117. Who is the visible Head of the Church?</b> A. Our Holy Father the Pope, the Bishop of Rome, is the Vicar of Christ on earth, and the visible Head of the Church. <b>Q. 128. Has the Church any marks by which it may be known?</b> A. The Church has four marks by which it may be known: it is One; it is Holy; it is Catholic; it is Apostolic. <b>Q. 133. In which Church are these marks found?</b> A. These marks are found in the Holy Roman Catholic Church alone. <b>LESSON ELEVENTH ON THE SACRAMENTS IN GENERAL</b><br><b>Q. 136. What is a Sacrament?</b> A. A Sacrament is an outward sign instituted by Christ to give grace. <b>Q. 137. How many Sacraments are there?</b> A. There are seven Sacraments: Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unction, Holy Orders, and Matrimony. <b>Q. 138. Whence have the Sacraments the power of giving grace?</b> A. The Sacraments have the power of giving grace from the merits of Jesus Christ. <b>Q. 147. Do the Sacraments always give grace?</b> A. The Sacraments always give grace, if we receive them with the right dispositions. <b>Q. 148. Can we receive the Sacraments more than once?</b> A. We can receive the Sacraments more than once, except Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders. <b>LESSON TWELFTH ON BAPTISM</b><br><b>Q. 152. What is Baptism?</b> A. Baptism is a Sacrament which cleanses us from original sin, makes us Christians, children of God, and heirs of heaven. <b>Q. 153. Are actual sins ever remitted by Baptism?</b> A. Actual sins and all the punishment due to them are remitted by Baptism, if the person baptized be guilty of any, and is rightly disposed. <b>Q. 154. Is Baptism necessary to salvation?</b> A. Baptism is necessary to salvation, because without it we cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven. <b>Q. 155. Who can administer Baptism?</b> A. The priest is the ordinary minister of Baptism; but in case of necessity any one who has the use of reason may baptize. <b>Q. 156. How is Baptism given?</b> A. Whoever baptizes should pour water on the head of the person to be baptized, and say, while pouring the water: I baptize thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. <b>LESSON THIRTEENTH ON CONFIRMATION</b><br><b>Q. 166. What is Confirmation?</b> A. Confirmation is a Sacrament through which we receive the Holy Ghost to make us strong and perfect Christians and soldiers of Jesus Christ. <b>Q. 167. Who administers Confirmation?</b> A. The bishop is the ordinary minister of Confirmation. <b>Q. 168. How does the bishop give Confirmation?</b> A. The bishop extends his hands over those who are to be confirmed, prays that they may receive the Holy Ghost, and anoints the forehead of each with holy chrism in the form of a cross. <b>Q. 170. What does the bishop say in anointing the person he confirms?</b> A. In anointing the person he confirms the bishop says: I sign thee with the sign of the cross, and I confirm thee with the chrism of salvation, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. <b>Q. 173. To receive Confirmation worthily is it necessary to be in the state of grace?</b> A. To receive Confirmation worthily it is necessary to be in the state of grace. <b>Q. 174. What is a state of grace?</b> A. A state of grace is freedom from mortal sin. <b>Q. 175. Is it a sin to neglect Confirmation?</b> A. It is a sin to neglect Confirmation, especially in these evil days when faith and morals are exposed to so many and such violent temptations. <b>LESSON FOURTEENTH ON THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE</b><br><b>Q. 187. What is the Sacrament of Penance?</b> A. Penance is a Sacrament in which the sins committed after Baptism are forgiven. <b>Q. 191. What must we do to receive the Sacrament of Penance worthily?</b> A. To receive the Sacrament of Penance worthily we must do five things: 1. We must examine our conscience. 2. We must have sorrow for our sins. 3. We must make a firm resolution never more to offend God. 4. We must confess our sins to the priest. 5. We must accept the penance which the priest gives us. <b>Q. 192. What is the examination of conscience?</b> A. The examination of conscience is an earnest effort to recall to mind all the sins we have committed since our last worthy confession. <b>LESSON FIFTEENTH ON CONTRITION</b><br><b>Q. 195. What is contrition, or sorrow for sin?</b> A. Contrition, or sorrow for sin, is a hatred of sin and a true grief of the soul for having offended God, with a firm purpose of sinning no more. <b>Q. 201. Why should we be sorry for our sins?</b> A. We should be sorry for our sins, because sin is the greatest of evils and an offense against God our Creator, Preserver, and Redeemer, and because mortal sin shuts us out of heaven and condemns us to the eternal pains of hell. <b>Q. 206. What do you mean by a firm purpose of sinning no more?</b> A. By a firm purpose of sinning no more I mean a fixed resolve not only to avoid all mortal sin, but also its near occasions. <b>Q. 207. What do you mean by the near occasions of sin?</b> A. By the near occasions of sin I mean all the persons, places, and things that may easily lead us into sin. <b>LESSON SIXTEENTH ON CONFESSION</b><br><b>Q. 208. What is Confession?</b> A. Confession is the telling of our sins to a duly authorized priest, for the purpose of obtaining forgiveness. <b>Q. 209. What sins are we bound to confess?</b> A. We are bound to confess all our mortal sins, but it is well also to confess our venial sins. <b>Q. 214. What should we do if we cannot remember the number of our sins?</b> A. If we cannot remember the number of our sins, we should tell the number as nearly as possible. <b>Q. 216. Is it a grievous offense wilfully to conceal a mortal sin in Confession?</b> A. It is a grievous offense wilfully to conceal a mortal sin in Confession, because we thereby tell a lie to the Holy Ghost, and make our Confession worthless. <b>Q. 217. What must he do who has wilfully concealed a mortal sin in Confession?</b> A. He who has wilfully concealed a mortal sin in Confession must not only confess it, but must also repeat all the sins he has committed since his last worthy Confession. <b>Q. 218. Why does the priest give us a penance after Confession?</b> A. The priest gives us a penance after Confession that we may satisfy God for the temporal punishment due to our sins. <b>LESSON SEVENTEENTH ON INDULGENCES</b><br><b>Q. 231. What is an Indulgence?</b> A. An Indulgence is the remission in whole or in part of the temporal punishment due to sin. <b>Q. 233. How many kinds of Indulgences are there?</b> A. There are two kinds of Indulgences--Plenary and Partial. <b>Q. 234. What is a Plenary Indulgence?</b> A. A Plenary Indulgence is the full remission of the temporal punishment due to sin. <b>Q. 235. What is a Partial Indulgence?</b> A. A Partial Indulgence is the remission of a part of the temporal punishment due to sin. <b>Q. 237. What must we do to gain an Indulgence?</b> A. To gain an Indulgence we must be in the state of grace and perform the works enjoined. <b>LESSON EIGHTEENTH ON THE HOLY EUCHARIST</b><br><b>Q. 238. What is the Holy Eucharist?</b> A. The Holy Eucharist is the Sacrament which contains the body and blood, soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ under the appearances of bread and wine. <b>Q. 245. What do you mean by the appearances of bread and wine?</b> A. By the appearances of bread and wine I mean the figure, the color, the taste, and whatever appears to the senses. <b>Q. 249. When did Christ give His priests the power to change bread and wine into His body and blood?</b> A. Christ gave His priests the power to change bread and wine into His body and blood when He said to the Apostles, Do this for a commemoration of Me. <b>Q. 250. How do the priests exercise this power of changing bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ?</b> A. The priests exercise this power of changing bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ through the words of consecration in the Mass, which are the words of Christ: This is My body; this is My blood. <b>LESSON NINTEENTH ON THE ENDS FOR WHICH THE HOLY EUCHARIST WAS INSTITUTED</b><br><b>Q. 251. Why did Christ institute the Holy Eucharist?</b> A. Christ instituted the Holy Eucharist: 1. To unite us to Himself and to nourish our soul with His body and blood. 2. To increase sanctifying grace and all virtues in our soul. 3. To lessen our evil inclinations. 4. To be a pledge of everlasting life. 5. To fit our bodies for a glorious resurrection. 6. To continue the sacrifice of the cross in His Church. <b>Q. 253. What is Holy Communion?</b> A. Holy Communion is the receiving of the body and blood of Christ. <b>Q. 254. What is necessary to make a good Communion?</b> A. To make a good Communion it is necessary to be in the state of grace and to be fasting for one hour from food and all drinks, except water. [This answer has been changed to match the current canon law regarding fasting before Holy Communion.] <b>Q. 255. Does he who receives Communion in mortal sin receive the body and blood of Christ?</b> A. He who receives Communion in mortal sin receives the body and blood of Christ, but does not receive His grace, and he commits a great sacrilege. <b>LESSON TWENTIETH ON THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS</b><br><b>Q. 262. When are the bread and wine changed into the body and blood of Christ?</b> A. The bread and wine are changed into the body and blood of Christ at the consecration in the Mass. <b>Q. 263. What is the Mass?</b> A. The Mass is the unbloody sacrifice of the body and blood of Christ. <b>Q. 265. Is the Mass the same sacrifice as that of the cross?</b> A. The Mass is the same sacrifice as that of the cross. <b>Q. 269. How should we assist at Mass?</b> A. We should assist at Mass with great interior recollection and piety, and with every outward mark of respect and devotion. <b>LESSON TWENTY-FIRST ON EXTREME UNCTION AND HOLY ORDERS</b><br><b>Q. 271. What is the Sacrament of Extreme Unction?</b> A. Extreme Unction is the Sacrament which, through the anointing and prayer of the priest, gives health and strength to the soul, and sometimes to the body, when we are in danger of death from sickness. <b>Q. 274. Which are the effects of the Sacrament of Extreme Unction?</b> A. The effects of Extreme Unction are: 1st, to comfort us in the pains of sickness and to strengthen us against temptation; 2d, to remit venial sins and to cleanse our soul from the remains of sin; 3d, to restore us to health, when God sees fit. <b>Q. 278. What is the Sacrament of Holy Orders?</b> A. Holy Orders is a Sacrament by which bishops, priests, and other ministers of the Church are ordained and receive the power and grace to perform their sacred duties. <b>LESSON TWENTY-SECOND ON MATRIMONY</b><br><b>Q. 282. What is the Sacrament of Matrimony?</b> A. The Sacrament of Matrimony is the Sacrament which unites a Christian man and woman in lawful marriage. <b>Q. 285. Which are the effects of the Sacrament of Matrimony?</b> A. The effects of the Sacrament of Matrimony are: 1st, to sanctify the love of husband and wife; 2d, to give them grace to bear with each other’s weaknesses; 3d, to enable them to bring up their children in the fear and love of God. <b>Q. 286. To receive the Sacrament of matrimony worthily is it necessary to be in the state of grace?</b> A. To receive the Sacrament of Matrimony worthily it is necessary to be in the state of grace, and it is necessary also to comply with the laws of the Church. <b>LESSON TWENTY-THIRD ON THE SACRAMENTALS</b><br><b>Q. 292. What is a sacramental?</b> A. A sacramental is anything set apart or blessed by the Church to excite good thoughts and to increase devotion, and through these movements of the heart to remit venial sin. <b>Q. 294. Which is the chief sacramental used in the Church?</b> A. The chief sacramental used in the Church is the sign of the cross. <b>Q. 295. How do we make the sign of the cross?</b> A. We make the sign of the cross by putting the right hand to the forehead, then on the breast, and then to the left and right shoulders, saying, In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. <b>Q. 296. Why do we make the sign of the cross?</b> A. We make the sign of the cross to show that we are Christians and to profess our belief in the chief mysteries of our religion. <b>Q. 300. What other sacramental is in very frequent use?</b> A. Another sacramental in very frequent use is holy water. <b>Q. 301. What is holy water?</b> A. Holy water is water blessed by the priest with solemn prayer to beg God’s blessing on those who use it, and protection from the powers of darkness. <b>Q. 302. Are there other sacramentals besides the sign of the cross and holy water?</b> A. Besides the sign of the cross and holy water there are many other sacramentals, such as blessed candles, ashes, palms, crucifixes, images of the Blessed Virgin and of the saints, rosaries and scapulars. <b>LESSON TWENTY-FOURTH ON PRAYER</b><br><b>Q. 303. Is there any other means of obtaining God’s grace than the Sacraments?</b> A. There is another means of obtaining God’s grace, and it is prayer. <b>Q. 304. What is prayer?</b> A. Prayer is the lifting up of our minds and hearts to God to adore Him, to thank Him for His benefits, to ask His forgiveness, and to beg of Him all the graces we need, whether for soul or body. <b>Q. 305. Is prayer necessary to salvation?</b> A. Prayer is necessary to salvation, and without it no one having the use of reason can be saved. <b>Q. 306. At what particular times should we pray?</b> A. We should pray particularly on Sundays and holydays, every morning and night, in all dangers, temptations, and afflictions. <b>Q. 308. Which are the prayers most recommended to us?</b> A. The prayers most recommended to us are the Lord’s Prayer, the Hail Mary, the Apostles’ Creed, the Confiteor, and the Acts of Faith, Hope, Love and Contrition. <b>Q. 309. Are prayers said with distractions of any avail?</b> A. Prayers said with wilful distractions are of no avail. <b>LESSON TWENTY-FIFTH ON THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD</b><br><b>Q. 310. Is it enough to belong to God’s Church in order to be saved?</b> A. It is not enough to belong to the Church in order to be saved, but we must also keep the Commandments of God and of the Church. <b>Q. 313. Which are the Commandments of God?</b> A. The Commandments of God are these ten: 1. I am the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not have strange gods before Me. 2. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. 3. Remember thou keep holy the Sabbath day. 4. Honor thy father and thy mother. 5. Thou shalt not kill. 6. Thou shalt not commit adultery. 7. Thou shalt not steal. 8. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. 9. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife. 10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s goods. <b>LESSON TWENTY-SIXTH ON THE FIRST COMMANDMENT</b><br><b>Q. 315. What is the first Commandment?</b> A. The first Commandment is: I am the Lord thy God: thou shalt not have strange gods before Me. <b>Q. 317. How do we adore God?</b> A. We adore God by faith, hope, and love, by prayer and sacrifice. <b>Q. 318. How may the first Commandment be broken?</b> A. The first Commandment may be broken by giving to a creature the honor which belongs to God alone; by false worship; and by attributing to a creature a perfection which belongs to God alone. <b>Q. 320. Are sins against faith, hope, and charity also sins against the first Commandment?</b> A. Sins against faith, hope, and charity are also sins against the first Commandment. <b>Q. 321. How does a person sin against faith?</b> A. A person sins against faith: 1st, by not trying to know what God has taught; 2d, by refusing to believe all that God has taught; 3d, by neglecting to profess his belief in what God has taught. <b>Q. 326. Are we obliged to make open profession of our faith?</b> A. We are obliged to make open profession of our faith as often as God’s honor, our neighbor’s spiritual good, or our own requires it. <b>Q. 327. Which are the sins against hope?</b> A. The sins against hope are presumption and despair. <b>Q. 328. What is presumption?</b> A. Presumption is a rash expectation of salvation without making proper use of the necessary means to obtain it. <b>Q. 329. What is despair?</b> A. Despair is the loss of hope in God’s mercy. <b>LESSON TWENTY-SEVENTH THE FIRST COMMANDMENT--ON THE HONOR AND INVOCATION OF SAINTS</b><br><b>Q. 331. Does the first Commandment forbid the honoring of the saints?</b> A. The first Commandment does not forbid the honoring of the saints, but rather approves of it, because by honoring the saints, who are the chosen friends of God, we honor God Himself. <b>Q. 332. Does the first Commandment forbid us to pray to the saints?</b> A. The first Commandment does not forbid us to pray to the saints. <b>Q. 333. What do we mean by praying to the saints?</b> A. By praying to the saints we mean the asking of their help and prayers. <b>Q. 340. Does the first Commandment forbid us to honor relics?</b> A. The first Commandment does not forbid us to honor relics, because relics are the bodies of the saints or objects directly connected with them or with our Lord. <b>Q. 341. Does the first Commandment forbid the making of images?</b> A. The first Commandment does forbid the making of images if they are made to be adored as gods, but it does not forbid the making of them to put us in mind of Jesus Christ, His Blessed Mother, and the saints. <b>Q. 342. Is it right to show respect to the pictures and images of Christ and His saints?</b> A. It is right to show respect to the pictures and images of Christ and His saints, because they are the representations and memorials of them. <b>Q. 343. Is it allowed to pray to the crucifix or to the images and relics of the saints?</b> A. It is not allowed to pray to the crucifix or images and relics of the saints, for they have no life, nor power to help us, nor sense to hear us. <b>Q. 344. Why do we pray before the crucifix and the images and relics of the saints?</b> A. We pray before the crucifix and images and relics of the saints because they enliven our devotion by exciting pious affections and desires, and by reminding us of Christ and of the saints, that we may imitate their virtues. <b>LESSON TWENTY-EIGHTH FROM THE SECOND TO THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT</b><br><b>Q. 345. What is the second Commandment?</b> A. The second Commandment is: Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. <b>Q. 346. What are we commanded by the second Commandment?</b> A. We are commanded by the second Commandment to speak with reverence of God and of the saints, and of all holy things, and to keep our lawful oaths and vows. <b>Q. 347. What is an oath?</b> A. An oath is the calling upon God to witness the truth of what we say. <b>Q. 350. What is a vow?</b> A. A vow is a deliberate promise made to God to do something that is pleasing to Him. <b>Q. 351. Is it a sin not to fulfill our vows?</b> A. Not to fulfill our vows is a sin, mortal or venial, according to the nature of the vow and the intention we had in making it. <b>Q. 352. What is forbidden by the second Commandment?</b> A. The second Commandment forbids all false, rash, unjust, and unnecessary oaths, blasphemy, cursing, and profane words. <b>Q. 353. What is the third Commandment?</b> A. The third Commandment is: Remember thou keep holy the Sabbath day. <b>Q. 355. How are we to worship God on Sundays and holydays of obligation?</b> A. We are to worship God on Sundays and holydays of obligation by hearing Mass, by prayer, and by other good works. <b>Q. 358. What is forbidden by the third Commandment?</b> A. The third Commandment forbids all unnecessary servile work and whatever else may hinder the due observance of the Lord’s day. <b>Q. 359. What are servile works?</b> A. Servile works are those which require labor rather of body than of mind. <b>Q. 360. Are servile works on Sunday ever lawful?</b> A. Servile works are lawful on Sunday when the honor of God, the good of our neighbor, or necessity requires them. <b>LESSON TWENTY-NINTH FROM THE FOURTH TO THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT</b><br><b>Q. 361. What is the fourth Commandment?</b> A. The fourth Commandment is: Honor thy father and thy mother. <b>Q. 362. What are we commanded by the fourth Commandment?</b> A. We are commanded by the fourth Commandment to honor, love, and obey our parents in all that is not sin. <b>Q. 363. Are we bound to honor and obey others than our parents?</b> A. We are also bound to honor and obey our bishops, pastors, magistrates, teachers, and other lawful superiors. <b>Q. 365. What is forbidden by the fourth Commandment?</b> A. The fourth Commandment forbids all disobedience, contempt, and stubbornness towards our parents or lawful superiors. <b>Q. 366. What is the fifth Commandment?</b> A. The fifth Commandment is: Thou shalt not kill. <b>Q. 367. What are we commanded by the fifth Commandment?</b> A. We are commanded by the fifth Commandment to live in peace and union with our neighbor, to respect his rights, to seek his spiritual and bodily welfare, and to take proper care of our own life and health. <b>Q. 368. What is forbidden by the fifth Commandment?</b> A. The fifth Commandment forbids all wilful murder, fighting, anger, hatred, revenge, and bad example. <b>Q. 369. What is the sixth Commandment?</b> A. The sixth Commandment is: Thou shalt not commit adultery. <b>Q. 370. What are we commanded by the sixth Commandment?</b> A. We are commanded by the sixth Commandment to be pure in thought and modest in all our looks, words, and actions. <b>Q. 371. What is forbidden by the sixth Commandment?</b> A. The sixth commandment forbids all unchaste freedom with another’s wife or husband; also all immodesty with ourselves or others in looks, dress, words, or actions. <b>Q. 372. Does the sixth Commandment forbid the reading of bad and immodest books and newspapers?</b> A. The sixth Commandment does forbid the reading of bad and immodest books and newspapers. <b>LESSON THIRTIETH FROM THE SEVENTH TO THE END OF THE TENTH COMMANDMENT</b><br><b>Q. 373. What is the seventh Commandment?</b> A. The seventh Commandment is: Thou shalt not steal. <b>Q. 374. What are we commanded by the seventh Commandment?</b> A. By the seventh Commandment we are commanded to give to all men what belongs to them and to respect their property. <b>Q. 375. What is forbidden by the seventh Commandment?</b> A. The seventh Commandment forbids all unjust taking or keeping what belongs to another. <b>Q. 376. Are we bound to restore ill-gotten goods?</b> A. We are bound to restore ill-gotten goods, or the value of them, as far as we are able; otherwise we cannot be forgiven. <b>Q. 377. Are we obliged to repair the damage we have unjustly caused?</b> A. We are bound to repair the damage we have unjustly caused. <b>Q. 378. What is the eighth Commandment?</b> A. The eighth Commandment is: Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. <b>Q. 379. What are we commanded by the eighth Commandment?</b> A. We are commanded by the eighth Commandment to speak the truth in all things, and to be careful of the honor and reputation of every one. <b>Q. 380. What is forbidden by the eighth Commandment?</b> A. The eighth Commandment forbids all rash judgments, backbiting, slanders, and lies. <b>Q. 382. What is the ninth Commandment?</b> A. The ninth Commandment is: Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife. <b>Q. 383. What are we commanded by the ninth Commandment?</b> A. We are commanded by the ninth Commandment to keep ourselves pure in thought and desire. <b>Q. 384. What is forbidden by the ninth Commandment?</b> A. The ninth Commandment forbids unchaste thoughts, desires of another’s wife or husband, and all other unlawful impure thoughts and desires. <b>Q. 386. What is the tenth Commandment?</b> A. The tenth Commandment is: Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s goods. <b>Q. 387. What are we commanded by the tenth Commandment?</b> A. By the tenth Commandment we are commanded to be content with what we have, and to rejoice in our neighbor’s welfare. <b>Q. 388. What is forbidden by the tenth Commandment?</b> A. The tenth Commandment forbids all desires to take or keep wrongfully what belongs to another. <b>LESSON THIRTY-FIRST ON THE FIRST AND SECOND COMMANDMENTS OF THE CHURCH</b><br><b>Q. 389. Which are the chief commandments of the Church?</b> A. The chief commandments of the Church are six: 1. To hear Mass on Sundays and holydays of obligation. 2. To fast and abstain on the days appointed. 3. To confess at least once a year. 4. To receive the Holy Eucharist during the Easter time. 5. To contribute to the support of our pastors. 6. Not to marry persons who are not Catholics, or who are related to us within the third degree of kindred, nor privately without witnesses, nor to solemnize marriage at forbidden times. <b>Q. 390. Is it a mortal sin not to hear Mass on a Sunday or a holyday of obligation?</b> A. It is a mortal sin not to hear Mass on a Sunday or a holyday of obligation unless we are excused for a serious reason. They also commit a mortal sin who, having others under their charge, hinder them from hearing Mass, without a sufficient reason. <b>Q. 393. What do you mean by fast-days?</b> A. By fast-days I mean days on which we are allowed but one full meal. <b>Q. 394. What do you mean by days of abstinence?</b> A. By days of abstinence, I mean days on which we are forbidden to eat flesh-meat, but are allowed the usual number of meals. <b>Q. 395. Why does the Church command us to fast and abstain?</b> A. The Church commands us to fast and abstain in order that we may mortify our passions and satisfy for our sins. <b>LESSON THIRTY-SECOND ON THE THIRD, FOURTH, FIFTH AND SIXTH COMMANDMENTS OF THE CHURCH</b><br><b>Q. 397. What is meant by the command of confessing at least once a year?</b> A. By the command of confessing at least once a year is meant that we are obliged, under pain of mortal sin, to go to Confession within the year. <b>Q. 400. What sin does he commit who neglects to receive Communion during the Easter time?</b> A. He who neglects to receive Communion during the Easter time commits a mortal sin. <b>Q. 401. What is the Easter time?</b> A. The Easter time is, in this country, the time between the first Sunday of Lent and Trinity Sunday. <b>Q. 402. Are we obliged to contribute to the support of our pastors?</b> A. We are obliged to contribute to the support of our pastors, and to bear our share in the expenses of the Church and school. <b>LESSON THIRTY-THIRD ON THE LAST JUDGMENT AND THE RESURRECTION, HELL, PURGATORY, AND HEAVEN</b><br><b>Q. 408. When will Christ judge us?</b> A. Christ will judge us immediately after our death, and on the last day. <b>Q. 409. What is the judgment called which we have to undergo immediately after death?</b> A. The judgment we have to undergo immediately after death is called the Particular Judgment. <b>Q. 410. What is the judgment called which all men have to undergo on the last day?</b> A. The judgment which all men have to undergo on the last day is called the General Judgment. <b>Q. 412. What are the rewards or punishments appointed for men’s souls after the Particular Judgment?</b> A. The rewards or punishments appointed for men’s souls after the Particular Judgment are Heaven, Purgatory, and Hell. <b>Q. 413. What is Hell?</b> A. Hell is a state to which the wicked are condemned, and in which they are deprived of the sight of God for all eternity, and are in dreadful torments. <b>Q. 414. What is Purgatory?</b> A. Purgatory is a state in which those suffer for a time who die guilty of venial sins, or without having satisfied for the punishment due to their sins. <b>Q. 417. Will our bodies share in the reward or punishment of our souls?</b> A. Our bodies will share in the reward or punishment of our souls, because through the resurrection they will again be united to them. <b>Q. 420. What is Heaven?</b> A. Heaven is the state of everlasting life in which we see God face to face, are made like unto Him in glory, and enjoy eternal happiness. (Source: Baltimore Catechism #1)
<b>LESSON FIRST ON THE END OF MAN</b><br><b>Q. 1. Who made the world?</b> A. God made the world. <b>Q. 2. Who is God?</b> A. God is the Creator of heaven and earth, and of all things. <b>Q. 3. What is man?</b> A. Man is a creature composed of body and soul, and made to the image and likeness of God. <b>Q. 4. Is this likeness in the body or in the soul?</b> A. This likeness is chiefly in the soul. <b>Q. 5. How is the soul like to God?</b> A. The soul is like God because it is a spirit that will never die, and has understanding and free will. <b>Q. 6. Why did God make you?</b> A. God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in the next. <b>Q. 7. Of which must we take more care, our soul or our body?</b> A. We must take more care of our soul than of our body. <b>Q. 8. Why must we take more care of our soul than of our body?</b> A. We must take more care of our soul than of our body, because in losing our soul we lose God and everlasting happiness. <b>Q. 9. What must we do to save our souls?</b> A. To save our souls we must worship God by faith, hope, and charity; that is, we must believe in Him, hope in Him, and love Him with all our heart. <b>Q. 10. How shall we know the things which we are to believe?</b> A. We shall know the things which we are to believe from the Catholic Church, through which God speaks to us. <b>Q. 11. Where shall we find the chief truths which the Church teaches?</b> A. We shall find the chief truths which the Church teaches in the Apostles' Creed. <b>Q. 12. Say the Apostles' Creed.</b> A. I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified; died, and was buried. He descended into hell: the third day He arose again from the dead: He ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. <b>LESSON SECOND ON GOD AND HIS PERFECTIONS</b><br><b>Q. 13. What is God?</b> A. God is a spirit infinitely perfect. <b>Q. 14. Had God a beginning?</b> A. God had no beginning; He always was and He always will be. <b>Q. 15. Where is God?</b> A. God is everywhere. <b>Q. 16. If God is everywhere, why do we not see Him?</b> A. We do not see God, because He is a pure spirit and cannot be seen with bodily eyes. <b>Q. 17. Does God see us?</b> A. God sees us and watches over us. <b>Q. 18. Does God know all things?</b> A. God knows all things, even our most secret thoughts, words, and actions. <b>Q. 19. Can God do all things?</b> A. God can do all things, and nothing is hard or impossible to Him. <b>Q. 20. Is God just, holy, and merciful?</b> A. God is all just, all holy, all merciful, as He is infinitely perfect. <b>LESSON THIRD ON THE UNITY AND TRINITY OF GOD</b><br><b>Q. 21. Is there but one God?</b> A. Yes; there is but one God. <b>Q. 22. Why can there be but one God?</b> A. There can be but one God, because God, being supreme and infinite, cannot have an equal. <b>Q. 23. How many Persons are there in God?</b> A. In God there are three Divine Persons, really distinct, and equal in all things--the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. <b>Q. 24. Is the Father God?</b> A. The Father is God and the first Person of the Blessed Trinity. <b>Q. 25. Is the Son God?</b> A. The Son is God and the second Person of the Blessed Trinity. <b>Q. 26. Is the Holy Ghost God?</b> A. The Holy Ghost is God and the third Person of the Blessed Trinity. <b>Q. 27. What do you mean by the Blessed Trinity?</b> A. By the Blessed Trinity I mean one God in three Divine Persons. <b>Q. 28. Are the three Divine Persons equal in all things?</b> A. The three Divine Persons are equal in all things. <b>Q. 29. Are the three Divine Persons one and the same God?</b> A. The three Divine Persons are one and the same God, having one and the same Divine nature and substance. <b>Q. 30. Can we fully understand how the three Divine Persons are one and the same God?</b> A. We cannot fully understand how the three Divine Persons are one and the same God, because this is a mystery. <b>Q. 31. What is a mystery?</b> A. A mystery is a truth which we cannot fully understand. <b>LESSON FOURTH ON CREATION</b><br><b>Q. 32. Who created heaven and earth, and all things?</b> A. God created heaven and earth, and all things. <b>Q. 33. How did God create heaven and earth?</b> A. God created heaven and earth from nothing by His word only; that is, by a single act of His all-powerful will. <b>Q. 34. Which are the chief creatures of God?</b> A. The chief creatures of God are angels and men. <b>Q. 35. What are angels?</b> A. Angels are pure spirits without a body, created to adore and enjoy God in heaven. <b>Q. 36. Were the angels created for any other purpose?</b> A. The angels were also created to assist before the throne of God and to minister unto Him; they have often been sent as messengers from God to man; and are also appointed our guardians. <b>Q. 37. Were the angels, as God created them, good and happy?</b> A. The angels, as God created them, were good and happy. <b>Q. 38. Did all the angels remain good and happy?</b> A. All the angels did not remain good and happy; many of them sinned and were cast into hell, and these are called devils or bad angels. <b>LESSON FIFTH ON OUR FIRST PARENTS AND THE FALL</b><br><b>Q. 39. Who were the first man and woman?</b> A. The first man and woman were Adam and Eve. <b>Q. 40. Were Adam and Eve innocent and holy when they came from the hand of God?</b> A. Adam and Eve were innocent and holy when they came from the hand of God. <b>Q. 41. Did God give any command to Adam and Eve?</b> A. To try their obedience God commanded Adam and Eve not to eat of a certain fruit which grew in the garden of Paradise. <b>Q. 42. Which were the chief blessings intended for Adam and Eve had they remained faithful to God?</b> A. The chief blessings intended for Adam and Eve, had they remained faithful to God, were a constant state of happiness in this life and everlasting glory in the next. <b>Q. 43. Did Adam and Eve remain faithful to God?</b> A. Adam and Eve did not remain faithful to God; but broke His command by eating the forbidden fruit. <b>Q. 44. What befell Adam and Eve on account of their sin?</b> A. Adam and Eve, on account of their sin, lost innocence and holiness, and were doomed to sickness and death. <b>Q. 45. What evil befell us on account of the disobedience of our first parents?</b> A. On account of the disobedience of our first parents, we all share in their sin and punishment, as we should have shared in their happiness if they had remained faithful. <b>Q. 46. What other effects followed from the sin of our first parents?</b> A. Our nature was corrupted by the sin of our first parents, which darkened our understanding, weakened our will, and left in us a strong inclination to evil. <b>Q. 47. What is the sin called which we inherit from our first parents?</b> A. The sin which we inherit from our first parents is called original sin. <b>Q. 48. Why is this sin called original?</b> A. This sin is called original because it comes down to us from our first parents, and we are brought into the world with its guilt on our soul. <b>Q. 49. Does this corruption of our nature remain in us after original sin is forgiven?</b> A. This corruption of our nature and other punishments remain in us after original sin is forgiven. <b>Q. 50. Was any one ever preserved from original sin?</b> A. The Blessed Virgin Mary, through the merits of her Divine Son, was preserved free from the guilt of original sin, and this privilege is called her Immaculate Conception. <b>LESSON SIXTH ON SIN AND ITS KINDS</b><br><b>Q. 51. Is original sin the only kind of sin?</b> A. Original sin is not the only kind of sin; there is another kind of sin, which we commit ourselves, called actual sin. <b>Q. 52. What is actual sin?</b> A. Actual sin is any wilful thought, word, deed, or omission contrary to the law of God. <b>Q. 53. How many kinds of actual sin are there?</b> A. There are two kinds of actual sin--mortal and venial. <b>Q. 54. What is mortal sin?</b> A. Mortal sin is a grievous offense against the law of God. <b>Q. 55. Why is this sin called mortal?</b> A. This sin is called mortal because it deprives us of spiritual life, which is sanctifying grace, and brings everlasting death and damnation on the soul. <b>Q. 56. How many things are necessary to make a sin mortal?</b> A. To make a sin mortal three things are necessary: a grievous matter, sufficient reflection, and full consent of the will. <b>Q. 57. What is venial sin?</b> A. Venial sin is a slight offense against the law of God in matters of less importance, or in matters of great importance it is an offense committed without sufficient reflection or full consent of the will. <b>Q. 58. Which are the effects of venial sin?</b> A. The effects of venial sin are the lessening of the love of God in our heart, the making us less worthy of His help, and the weakening of the power to resist mortal sin. <b>Q. 59. Which are the chief sources of sin?</b> A. The chief sources of sin are seven: Pride, Covetousness, Lust, Anger, Gluttony, Envy, and Sloth; and they are commonly called capital sins. <b>LESSON SEVENTH ON THE INCARNATION AND REDEMPTION</b><br><b>Q. 60. Did God abandon man after he fell into sin?</b> A. God did not abandon man after he fell into sin, but promised him a Redeemer, who was to satisfy for man's sin and reopen to him the gates of heaven. <b>Q. 61. Who is the Redeemer?</b> A. Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is the Redeemer of mankind. <b>Q. 62. What do you believe of Jesus Christ?</b> A. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the second Person of the Blessed Trinity, true God and true man. <b>Q. 63. Why is Jesus Christ true God?</b> A. Jesus Christ is true God because He is the true and only Son of God the Father. <b>Q. 64. Why is Jesus Christ true man?</b> A. Jesus Christ is true man because He is the Son of the Blessed Virgin Mary and has a body and soul like ours. <b>Q. 65. How many natures are there in Jesus Christ?</b> A. In Jesus Christ there are two natures, the nature of God and the nature of man. <b>Q. 66. Is Jesus Christ more than one person?</b> A. No, Jesus Christ is but one Divine Person. <b>Q. 67. Was Jesus Christ always God?</b> A. Jesus Christ was always God, as He is the second Person of the Blessed Trinity, equal to His Father from all eternity. <b>Q. 68. Was Jesus Christ always man?</b> A. Jesus Christ was not always man, but became man at the time of His Incarnation. <b>Q. 69. What do you mean by the Incarnation?</b> A. By the Incarnation I mean that the Son of God was made man. <b>Q. 70. How was the Son of God made man?</b> A. The Son of God was conceived and made man by the power of the Holy Ghost, in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary. <b>Q. 71. Is the Blessed Virgin Mary truly the Mother of God?</b> A. The Blessed Virgin Mary is truly the Mother of God, because the same Divine Person who is the Son of God is also the Son of the Blessed Virgin Mary. <b>Q. 72. Did the Son of God become man immediately after the sin of our first parents?</b> A. The Son of God did not become man immediately after the sin of our first parents, but was promised to them as a Redeemer. <b>Q. 73. How could they be saved who lived before the Son of God became man?</b> A. They who lived before the Son of God became man could be saved by believing in a Redeemer to come, and by keeping the commandments. <b>Q. 74. On what day was the Son of God conceived and made man?</b> A. The Son of God was conceived and made man on Annunciation day--the day on which the Angel Gabriel announced to the Blessed Virgin Mary that she was to be the Mother of God. <b>Q. 75. On what day was Christ born?</b> A. Christ was born on Christmas day in a stable at Bethlehem, over nineteen hundred years ago. <b>Q. 76. How long did Christ live on earth?</b> A. Christ lived on earth about thirty-three years, and led a most holy life in poverty and suffering. <b>Q. 77. Why did Christ live so long on earth?</b> A. Christ lived so long on earth to show us the way to heaven by His teachings and example. <b>LESSON EIGHTH ON OUR LORD'S PASSION, DEATH, RESURRECTION, AND ASCENSION</b><br><b>Q. 78. What did Jesus Christ suffer?</b> A. Jesus Christ suffered a bloody sweat, a cruel scourging, was crowned with thorns, and was crucified. <b>Q. 79. On what day did Christ die?</b> A. Christ died on Good Friday. <b>Q. 80. Why do you call that day "good" on which Christ died so sorrowful a death?</b> A. We call that day "good" on which Christ died because by His death He showed His great love for man, and purchased for him every blessing. <b>Q. 81. Where did Christ die?</b> A. Christ died on Mount Calvary. <b>Q. 82. How did Christ die?</b> A. Christ was nailed to the Cross and died on it between two thieves. <b>Q. 83. Why did Christ suffer and die?</b> A. Christ suffered and died for our sins. <b>Q. 84. What lessons do we learn from the sufferings and death of Christ?</b> A. From the sufferings and death of Christ we learn the great evil of sin, the hatred God bears to it, and the necessity of satisfying for it. <b>Q. 85. Where did Christ's soul go after His death?</b> A. After Christ's death His soul descended into hell. <b>Q. 86. Did Christ's soul descend into the hell of the damned?</b> A. The hell into which Christ's soul descended was not the hell of the damned, but a place or state of rest called Limbo, where the souls of the just were waiting for Him. <b>Q. 87. Why did Christ descend into Limbo?</b> A. Christ descended into Limbo to preach to the souls who were in prison--that is, to announce to them the joyful tidings of their redemption. <b>Q. 88. Where was Christ's body while His soul was in Limbo?</b> A. While Christ's soul was in Limbo His body was in the holy sepulchre. <b>Q. 89. On what day did Christ rise from the dead?</b> A. Christ rose from the dead, glorious and immortal, on Easter Sunday, the third day after His death. <b>Q. 90. How long did Christ stay on earth after His resurrection?</b> A. Christ stayed on earth forty days after His resurrection to show that He was truly risen from the dead, and to instruct His Apostles. <b>Q. 91. After Christ had remained forty days on earth whither did He go?</b> A. After forty days Christ ascended into heaven, and the day on which He ascended into heaven is called Ascension day. <b>Q. 92. Where is Christ in heaven?</b> A. In heaven Christ sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. <b>Q. 93. What do you mean by saying that Christ sits at the right hand Of God?</b> A. When I say that Christ sits at the right hand of God I mean that Christ as God is equal to His Father in all things, and that as man He is in the highest place in heaven next to God. <b>LESSON NINTH ON THE HOLY GHOST AND HIS DESCENT UPON THE APOSTLES</b><br><b>Q. 94. Who is the Holy Ghost?</b> A. The Holy Ghost is the third Person of the Blessed Trinity. <b>Q. 95. From whom does the Holy Ghost proceed?</b> A. The Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and the Son. <b>Q. 96. Is the Holy Ghost equal to the Father and the Son?</b> A. The Holy Ghost is equal to the Father and the Son, being the same Lord and God as They are. <b>Q. 97. On what day did the Holy Ghost come down upon the Apostles?</b> A. The Holy Ghost came down upon the Apostles ten days after the Ascension of our Lord; and the day on which He came down upon the Apostles is called Whitsunday, or Pentecost. <b>Q. 98. How did the Holy Ghost come down upon the Apostles?</b> A. The Holy Ghost came down upon the Apostles in the form of tongues of fire. <b>Q. 99. Who sent the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles?</b> A. Our Lord Jesus Christ sent the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles. <b>Q. 100. Why did Christ send the Holy Ghost?</b> A. Christ sent the Holy Ghost to sanctify His Church, to enlighten and strengthen the Apostles, and to enable them to preach the Gospel. <b>Q. 101. Will the Holy Ghost abide with the Church forever?</b> A. The Holy Ghost will abide with the Church forever, and guide it in the way of holiness and truth. <b>LESSON TENTH ON THE EFFECTS OF THE REDEMPTION</b><br><b>Q. 102. Which are the chief effects of the Redemption?</b> A. The chief effects of the Redemption are two: The satisfaction of God's justice by Christ's sufferings and death, and the gaining of grace for men. <b>Q. 103. What do you mean by grace?</b> A. By grace I mean a supernatural gift of God bestowed on us, through the merits of Jesus Christ, for our salvation. <b>Q. 104. How many kinds of grace are there?</b> A. There are two kinds of grace, sanctifying grace and actual grace. <b>Q. 105. What is sanctifying grace?</b> A. Sanctifying grace is that grace which makes the soul holy and pleasing to God. <b>Q. 106. What do you call those graces or gifts of God by which we believe in Him, hope in Him, and love Him?</b> A. Those graces or gifts of God by which we believe in Him, and hope in Him, and love Him, are called the Divine virtues of Faith, Hope, and Charity. <b>Q. 107. What is Faith?</b> A. Faith is a Divine virtue by which we firmly believe the truths which God has revealed. <b>Q. 108. What is Hope?</b> A. Hope is a Divine virtue by which we firmly trust that God will give us eternal life and the means to obtain it. <b>Q. 109. What is Charity?</b> A. Charity is a Divine virtue by which we love God above all things for His own sake, and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God. <b>Q. 110. What is actual grace?</b> A. Actual grace is that help of God which enlightens our mind and moves our will to shun evil and do good. <b>Q. 111. Is grace necessary to salvation?</b> A. Grace is necessary to salvation, because without grace we can do nothing to merit heaven. <b>Q. 112. Can we resist the grace of God?</b> A. We can and unfortunately often do resist the grace of God. <b>Q. 113. What is the grace of perseverance?</b> A. The grace of perseverance is a particular gift of God which enables us to continue in the state of grace till death. <b>LESSON ELEVENTH ON THE CHURCH</b><br><b>Q. 114. Which are the means instituted by our Lord to enable men at all times to share in the fruits of the Redemption?</b> A. The means instituted by our Lord to enable men at all times to share in the fruits of His Redemption are the Church and the Sacraments. <b>Q. 115. What is the Church?</b> A. The Church is the congregation of all those who profess the faith of Christ, partake of the same Sacraments, and are governed by their lawful pastors under one visible head. <b>Q. 116. Who is the invisible Head of the Church?</b> A. Jesus Christ is the invisible Head of the Church. <b>Q. 117. Who is the visible Head of the Church?</b> A. Our Holy Father the Pope, the Bishop of Rome, is the Vicar of Christ on earth and the visible Head of the Church. <b>Q. 118. Why is the Pope, the Bishop of Rome, the visible Head of the Church?</b> A. The Pope, the Bishop of Rome, is the visible Head of the Church because he is the successor of St. Peter, whom Christ made the chief of the Apostles and the visible Head of the Church. <b>Q. 119. Who are the successors of the other Apostles?</b> A. The successors of the other Apostles are the bishops of the Holy Catholic Church. <b>Q. 120. Why did Christ found the Church?</b> A. Christ founded the Church to teach, govern, sanctify, and save all men. <b>Q. 121. Are all bound to belong to the Church?</b> A. All are bound to belong to the Church, and he who knows the Church to be the true Church and remains out of it cannot be saved. <b>LESSON TWELFTH ON THE ATTRIBUTES AND MARKS OF THE CHURCH</b><br><b>Q. 122. Which are the attributes of the Church?</b> A. The attributes of the Church are three: authority infallibility, and indefectibility. <b>Q. 123. What do you mean by the authority of the Church?</b> A. By the authority of the Church I mean the right and power which the Pope and the bishops, as the successors of the Apostles, have to teach and to govern the faithful. <b>Q. 124. What do you mean by the infallibility of the Church?</b> A. By the infallibility of the Church I mean that the Church cannot err when it teaches a doctrine of faith or morals. <b>Q. 125. When does the Church teach infallibly?</b> A. The Church teaches infallibly when it speaks through the Pope and the bishops, united in general council, or through the Pope alone when he proclaims to all the faithful a doctrine of faith or morals. <b>Q. 126. What do you mean by the indefectibility of the Church?</b> A. By the indefectibility of the Church I mean that the Church, as Christ founded it, will last till the end of time. <b>Q. 127. In whom are these attributes found in their fullness?</b> A. These attributes are found in their fullness in the Pope, the visible Head of the Church, whose infallible authority to teach bishops, priests, and people in matters of faith or morals will last till the end of the world. <b>Q. 128. Has the Church any marks by which it may be known?</b> A. The Church has four marks by which it may be known: it is One; it is Holy; it is Catholic; it is Apostolic. <b>Q. 129. How is the Church One?</b> A. The Church is One because all its members agree in one faith, are all in one communion, and are all under one Head. <b>Q. 130. How is the Church Holy?</b> A. The Church is Holy because its founder, Jesus Christ, is holy; because it teaches a holy doctrine; invites all to a holy life; and because of the eminent holiness of so many thousands of its children. <b>Q. 131. How is the Church Catholic or universal?</b> A. The Church is Catholic or universal because it subsists in all ages, teaches all nations, and maintains all truth. <b>Q. 132. How is the Church Apostolic?</b> A. The Church is Apostolic because it was founded by Christ on His Apostles, and is governed by their lawful successors, and because it has never ceased, and never will cease, to teach their doctrine. <b>Q. 133. In which Church are these attributes and marks found?</b> A. These attributes and marks are found in the Holy Roman Catholic Church alone. <b>Q. 134. From whom does the Church derive its undying life and infallible authority?</b> A. The Church derives its undying life and infallible authority from the Holy Ghost, the spirit of truth, who abides with it forever. <b>Q. 135. By whom is the Church made and kept One, Holy, and Catholic?</b> A. The Church is made and kept One, Holy, and Catholic by the Holy Ghost, the spirit of love and holiness, who unites and sanctifies its members throughout the world. <b>LESSON THIRTEENTH ON THE SACRAMENTS IN GENERAL</b><br><b>Q. 136. What is a Sacrament?</b> A. A Sacrament is an outward sign instituted by Christ to give grace. <b>Q. 137. How many Sacraments are there?</b> A. There are seven Sacraments: Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unction, Holy Orders, and Matrimony. <b>Q. 138. Whence have the Sacraments the power of giving grace?</b> A. The Sacraments have the power of giving grace from the merits of Jesus Christ. <b>Q. 139. What grace do the Sacraments give?</b> A. Some of the Sacraments give sanctifying grace, and others increase it in our souls. <b>Q. 140. Which are the Sacraments that give sanctifying grace?</b> A. The Sacraments that give sanctifying grace are Baptism and Penance; and they are called Sacraments of the dead. <b>Q. 141. Why are Baptism and Penance called Sacraments of the dead?</b> A. Baptism and Penance are called Sacraments of the dead, because they take away sin, which is the death of the soul, and give grace, which is its life. <b>Q. 142. Which are the Sacraments that increase sanctifying grace in our soul?</b> A. The Sacraments that increase sanctifying grace in our soul are: Confirmation, Holy Eucharist, Extreme Unction, Holy Orders, and Matrimony; and they are called Sacraments of the living. <b>Q. 143. Why are Confirmation, Holy Eucharist, Extreme Unction, Holy Orders, and Matrimony called Sacraments of the living?</b> A. Confirmation, Holy Eucharist, Extreme Unction, Holy Orders, and Matrimony are called Sacraments of the living, because those who receive them worthily are already living the life of grace. <b>Q. 144. What sin does he commit who receives the Sacraments of the living in mortal sin?</b> A. He who receives the Sacraments of the living in mortal sin commits a sacrilege, which is a great sin, because it is an abuse of a sacred thing. <b>Q. 145. Besides sanctifying grace do the Sacraments give any other grace?</b> A. Besides sanctifying grace the Sacraments give another grace, called sacramental. <b>Q. 146. What is sacramental grace?</b> A. Sacramental grace is a special help which God gives, to attain the end for which He instituted each Sacrament. <b>Q. 147. Do the Sacraments always give grace?</b> A. The Sacraments always give grace, if we receive them with the right dispositions. <b>Q. 148. Can we receive the Sacraments more than once?</b> A. We can receive the Sacraments more than once, except Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders. <b>Q. 149. Why can we not receive Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders more than once?</b> A. We cannot receive Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders more than once, because they imprint a character in the soul. <b>Q. 150. What is the character which these Sacraments imprint in the soul?</b> A. The character which these Sacraments imprint in the soul is a spiritual mark which remains forever. <b>Q. 151. Does this character remain in the soul even after death?</b> A. This character remains in the soul even after death: for the honor and glory of those who are saved; for the shame and punishment of those who are lost. <b>LESSON FOURTEENTH ON BAPTISM</b><br><b>Q. 152. What is Baptism?</b> A. Baptism is a Sacrament which cleanses us from original sin, makes us Christians, children of God, and heirs of heaven. <b>Q. 153. Are actual sins ever remitted by Baptism?</b> A. Actual sins and all the punishment due to them are remitted by Baptism, if the person baptized be guilty of any. <b>Q. 154. Is Baptism necessary to salvation?</b> A. Baptism is necessary to salvation, because without it we cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven. <b>Q. 155. Who can administer Baptism?</b> A. The priest is the ordinary minister of Baptism; but in case of necessity any one who has the use of reason may baptize. <b>Q. 156. How is Baptism given?</b> A. Whoever baptizes should pour water on the head of the person to be baptized, and say, while pouring the water: I baptize thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. <b>Q. 157. How many kinds of Baptism are there?</b> A. There are three kinds of Baptism: Baptism of water, of desire, and of blood. <b>Q. 158. What is Baptism of water?</b> A. Baptism of water is that which is given by pouring water on the head of the person to be baptized, and saying at the same time: I baptize thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. <b>Q. 159. What is Baptism of desire?</b> A. Baptism of desire is an ardent wish to receive Baptism, and to do all that God has ordained for our salvation. <b>Q. 160. What is Baptism of blood?</b> A. Baptism of blood is the shedding of one's blood for the faith of Christ. <b>Q. 161. Is Baptism of desire or of blood sufficient to produce the effects of Baptism of water?</b> A. Baptism of desire or of blood is sufficient to produce the effects of the Baptism of water, if it is impossible to receive the Baptism of water. <b>Q. 162. What do we promise in Baptism?</b> A. In Baptism we promise to renounce the devil with all his works and pomps. <b>Q. 163. Why is the name of a saint given in Baptism?</b> A. The name of a saint is given in Baptism in order that the person baptized may imitate his virtues and have him for a protector. <b>Q. 164. Why are godfathers and godmothers given in Baptism?</b> A. Godfathers and godmothers are given in Baptism in order that they may promise, in the name of the child, what the child itself would promise if it had the use of reason. <b>Q. 165. What is the obligation of a godfather and a godmother?</b> A. The obligation of a godfather and a godmother is to instruct the child in its religious duties, if the parents neglect to do so or die. <b>LESSON FIFTEENTH ON CONFIRMATION</b><br><b>Q. 166. What is Confirmation?</b> A. Confirmation is a Sacrament through which we receive the Holy Ghost to make us strong and perfect Christians and soldiers of Jesus Christ. <b>Q. 167. Who administers Confirmation?</b> A. The bishop is the ordinary minister of Confirmation. <b>Q. 168. How does the bishop give Confirmation?</b> A. The bishop extends his hands over those who are to be confirmed, prays that they may receive the Holy Ghost, and anoints the forehead of each with holy chrism in the form of a cross. <b>Q. 169. What is holy chrism?</b> A. Holy chrism is a mixture of olive-oil and balm, consecrated by the bishop. <b>Q. 170. What does the bishop say in anointing the person he confirms?</b> A. In anointing the person he confirms the bishop says: I sign thee with the sign of the cross, and I confirm thee with the chrism of salvation, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. <b>Q. 171. What is meant by anointing the forehead with chrism in the form of a cross?</b> A. By anointing the forehead with chrism in the form of a cross is meant, that the Christian who is confirmed must openly profess and practice his faith, never be ashamed of it, and rather die than deny it. <b>Q. 172. Why does the bishop give the person he confirms a slight blow on the cheek?</b> A. The bishop gives the person he confirms a slight blow on the cheek, to put him in mind that he must be ready to suffer everything, even death, for the sake of Christ. <b>Q. 173. To receive Confirmation worthily is it necessary to be in the state of grace?</b> A. To receive Confirmation worthily it is necessary to be in the state of grace. <b>Q. 174. What special preparation should be made to receive Confirmation?</b> A. Persons of an age to learn should know the chief mysteries of faith and the duties of a Christian, and be instructed in the nature and effects of this Sacrament. <b>Q. 175. Is it a sin to neglect Confirmation?</b> A. It is a sin to neglect Confirmation, especially in these evil days when faith and morals are exposed to so many and such violent temptations. <b>LESSON SIXTEENTH ON THE GIFTS AND FRUITS OF THE HOLY GHOST</b><br><b>Q. 176. Which are the effects of Confirmation?</b> A. The effects of Confirmation are an increase of sanctifying grace, the strengthening of our faith, and the gifts of the Holy Ghost. <b>Q. 177. Which are the gifts of the Holy Ghost?</b> A. The gifts of the Holy Ghost are Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety and Fear of the Lord. <b>Q. 178. Why do we receive the gift of Fear of the Lord?</b> A. We receive the gift of Fear of the Lord to fill us with a dread of sin. <b>Q. 179. Why do we receive the gift of Piety?</b> A. We receive the gift of Piety to make us love God as a Father and obey Him because we love Him. <b>Q. 180. Why do we receive the gift of Knowledge?</b> A. We receive the gift of Knowledge to enable us to discover the will of God in all things. <b>Q. 181. Why do we receive the gift of Fortitude?</b> A. We receive the gift of Fortitude to strengthen us to do the will of God in all things. <b>Q. 182. Why do we receive the gift of Counsel?</b> A. We receive the gift of Counsel to warn us of the deceits of the devil, and of the dangers to salvation. <b>Q. 183. Why do we receive the gift of Understanding?</b> A. We receive the gift of Understanding to enable us to know more clearly the mysteries of faith. <b>Q. 184. Why do we receive the gift of Wisdom?</b> A. We receive the gift of Wisdom to give us a relish for the things of God, and to direct our whole life and all our actions to His honor and glory. <b>Q. 185. Which are the Beatitudes?</b> A. The Beatitudes are: 1. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 2. Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the land. 3. Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. 4. Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice, for they shall be filled. 5. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. 6. Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God. 7. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. 8. Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. <b>Q. 186. Which are the twelve fruits of the Holy Ghost?</b> A. The twelve fruits of the Holy Ghost are Charity, Joy, Peace, Patience, Benignity, Goodness, Long-suffering, Mildness, Faith, Modesty, Continency, and Chastity. <b>LESSON SEVENTEENTH ON THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE</b><br><b>Q. 187. What is the Sacrament of Penance?</b> A. Penance is a Sacrament in which the sins committed after Baptism are forgiven. <b>Q. 188. How does the Sacrament of Penance remit sin, and restore to the soul the friendship of God?</b> A. The Sacrament of Penance remits sins and restores the friendship of God to the soul by means of the absolution of the priest. <b>Q. 189. How do you know that the priest has the power of absolving from the sins committed after Baptism?</b> A. I know that the priest has the power of absolving from the sins committed after Baptism, because Jesus Christ granted that power to the priests of His Church when He said: "Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; whose sins you shall retain, they are retained." <b>Q. 190. How do the priests of the Church exercise the power of forgiving sins?</b> A. The priests of the Church exercise the power of forgiving sins by hearing the confession of sins, and granting pardon for them as ministers of God and in His name. <b>Q. 191. What must we do to receive the Sacrament of Penance worthily?</b> A. To receive the Sacrament of Penance worthily we must do five things: 1. We must examine our conscience. 2. We must have sorrow for our sins. 3. We must make a firm resolution never more to offend God. 4. We must confess our sins to the priest. 5. We must accept the penance which the priest gives us. <b>Q. 192. What is the examination of conscience?</b> A. The examination of conscience is an earnest effort to recall to mind all the sins we have committed since our last worthy confession. <b>Q. 193. How can we make a good examination of conscience?</b> A. We can make a good examination of conscience by calling to memory the commandments of God, the precepts of the Church, the seven capital sins, and the particular duties of our state in life, to find out the sins we have committed. <b>Q. 194. What should we do before beginning the examination of conscience?</b> A. Before beginning the examination of conscience we should pray to God to give us light to know our sins and grace to detest them. <b>LESSON EIGHTEENTH ON CONTRITION</b><br><b>Q. 195. What is contrition, or sorrow for sin?</b> A. Contrition, or sorrow for sin, is a hatred of sin and a true grief of the soul for having offended God, with a firm purpose of sinning no more. <b>Q. 196. What kind of sorrow should we have for our sins?</b> A. The sorrow we should have for our sins should be interior, supernatural, universal, and sovereign. <b>Q. 197. What do you mean by saying that our sorrow should be interior?</b> A. When I say that our sorrow should be interior, I mean that it should come from the heart, and not merely from the lips. <b>Q. 198. What do you mean by saying that our sorrow should be supernatural?</b> A. When I say that our sorrow should be supernatural, I mean that it should be prompted by the grace of God, and excited by motives which spring from faith, and not by merely natural motives. <b>Q. 199. What do you mean by saying that our sorrow should be universal?</b> A. When I say that our sorrow should be universal, I mean that we should be sorry for all our mortal sins without exception. <b>Q. 200. What do you mean when you say that our sorrow should be sovereign?</b> A. When I say that our sorrow should be sovereign, I mean that we should grieve more for having offended God than for any other evil that can befall us. <b>Q. 201. Why should we be sorry for our sins?</b> A. We should be sorry for our sins, because sin is the greatest of evils and an offense against God our Creator, Preserver, and Redeemer, and because it shuts us out of heaven and condemns us to the eternal pains of hell. <b>Q. 202. How many kinds of contrition are there?</b> A. There are two kinds of contrition: perfect contrition and imperfect contrition. <b>Q. 203. What is perfect contrition?</b> A. Perfect contrition is that which fills us with sorrow and hatred for sin, because it offends God, who is infinitely good in Himself and worthy of all love. <b>Q. 204. What is imperfect contrition?</b> A. Imperfect contrition 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. <b>Q. 205. Is imperfect contrition sufficient for a worthy confession?</b> A. Imperfect contrition is sufficient for a worthy confession, but we should endeavor to have perfect contrition. <b>Q. 206. What do you mean by a firm purpose of sinning no more?</b> A. By a firm purpose of sinning no more I mean a fixed resolve not only to avoid all mortal sin, but also its near occasions. <b>Q. 207. What do you mean by the near occasions of sin?</b> A. By the near occasions of sin I mean all the persons, places, and things that may easily lead us into sin. <b>LESSON NINETEENTH ON CONFESSION</b><br><b>Q. 208. What is Confession?</b> A. Confession is the telling of our sins to a duly authorized priest, for the purpose of obtaining forgiveness. <b>Q. 209. What sins are we bound to confess?</b> A. We are bound to confess all our mortal sins, but it is well also to confess our venial sins. <b>Q. 210. Which are the chief qualities of a good Confession?</b> A. The chief qualities of a good Confession are three: it must be humble, sincere, and entire. <b>Q. 211. When is our Confession humble?</b> A. Our Confession is humble, when we accuse our selves of our sins, with a deep sense of shame and sorrow for having offended God. <b>Q. 212. When is our Confession sincere?</b> A. Our Confession is sincere, when we tell our sins honestly and truthfully, neither exaggerating nor excusing them. <b>Q. 213. When is our Confession entire?</b> A. Our Confession is entire, when we tell the number and kinds of our sins and the circumstances which change their nature. <b>Q. 214. What should we do if we cannot remember the number of our sins?</b> A. If we cannot remember the number of our sins, we should tell the number as nearly as possible, and say how often we may have sinned in a day, a week, or a month, and how long the habit or practice has lasted. <b>Q. 215. Is our Confession worthy if, without our fault, we forget to confess a mortal sin?</b> A. If without our fault we forget to confess a mortal sin, our Confession is worthy, and the sin is forgiven; but it must be told in Confession if it again comes to our mind. <b>Q. 216. Is it a grievous offense wilfully to conceal a mortal sin in Confession?</b> A. It is a grievous offense wilfully to conceal a mortal sin in Confession, because we thereby tell a lie to the Holy Ghost, and make our Confession worthless. <b>Q. 217. What must he do who has wilfully concealed a mortal sin in Confession?</b> A. He who has wilfully concealed a mortal sin in Confession must not only confess it, but must also repeat all the sins he has committed since his last worthy Confession. <b>Q. 218. Why does the priest give us a penance after Confession?</b> A. The priest gives us a penance after Confession, that we may satisfy God for the temporal punishment due to our sins. <b>Q. 219. Does not the Sacrament of Penance remit all punishment due to sin?</b> A. The Sacrament of Penance remits the eternal punishment due to sin, but it does not always remit the temporal punishment which God requires as satisfaction for our sins. <b>Q. 220. Why does God require a temporal punishment as a satisfaction for sin?</b> A. God requires a temporal punishment as a satisfaction for sin, to teach us the great evil of sin and to prevent us from falling again. <b>Q. 221. Which are the chief means by which we satisfy God for the temporal punishment due to sin?</b> A. The chief means by which we satisfy God for the temporal punishment due to sin are: Prayer, Fasting, Almsgiving, all spiritual and corporal works of mercy, and the patient suffering of the ills of life. <b>Q. 222. Which are the chief spiritual works of mercy?</b> A. The chief spiritual works of mercy are seven: To admonish the sinner, to instruct the ignorant, to counsel the doubtful, to comfort the sorrowful, to bear wrongs patiently, to forgive all injuries, and to pray for the living and the dead. <b>Q. 223. Which are the chief corporal works of mercy?</b> A. The chief corporal works of mercy are seven: To feed the hungry, to give drink to the thirsty, to clothe the naked, to ransom the captive, to harbor the harborless, to visit the sick, and to bury the dead. <b>LESSON TWENTIETH ON THE MANNER OF MAKING A GOOD CONFESSION</b><br><b>Q. 224. What should we do on entering the confessional?</b> A. On entering the confessional we should kneel, make the sign of the Cross, and say to the priest, Bless me, Father; then add, I confess to Almighty God and to you, Father, that I have sinned. <b>Q. 225. Which are the first things we should tell the priest in Confession?</b> A. The first things we should tell the priest in Confession are the time of our last Confession, and whether we said the penance and went to Holy Communion. <b>Q. 226. After telling the time of our last Confession and Communion what should we do?</b> A. After telling the time of our last Confession and Communion we should confess all the mortal sins we have since committed, and all the venial sins we may wish to mention. <b>Q. 227. What must we do when the confessor asks us questions?</b> A. When the confessor asks us questions we must answer them truthfully and clearly. <b>Q. 228. What should we do after telling our sins?</b> A. After telling our sins we should listen with attention to the advice which the confessor may think proper to give. <b>Q. 229. How should we end our Confession?</b> A. We should end our Confession by saying, I also accuse myself of all the sins of my past life, telling, if we choose, one or several of our past sins. <b>Q. 230. What should we do while the priest is giving us absolution?</b> A. While the priest is giving us absolution we should from our heart renew the Act of Contrition. <b>LESSON TWENTY-FIRST ON INDULGENCES</b><br><b>Q. 231. What is an Indulgence?</b> A. An Indulgence is the remission in whole or in part of the temporal punishment due to sin. <b>Q. 232. Is an Indulgence a pardon of sin, or a license to commit sin?</b> A. An Indulgence is not a pardon of sin, nor a license to commit sin, and one who is in a state of mortal sin cannot gain an Indulgence. <b>Q. 233. How many kinds of Indulgences are there?</b> A. There are two kinds of Indulgences--Plenary and Partial. <b>Q. 234. What is a Plenary Indulgence?</b> A. A Plenary Indulgence is the full remission of the temporal punishment due to sin. <b>Q. 235. What is a Partial Indulgence?</b> A. A Partial Indulgence is the remission of a part of the temporal punishment due to sin. <b>Q. 236. How does the Church by means of Indulgences remit the temporal punishment due to sin?</b> A. 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 satisfactions of the Blessed Virgin Mary and of the saints; which merits and satisfactions are its spiritual treasury. <b>Q. 237. What must we do to gain an Indulgence?</b> A. To gain an Indulgence we must be in the state of grace and perform the works enjoined. <b>LESSON TWENTY-SECOND ON THE HOLY EUCHARIST</b><br><b>Q. 238. What is the Holy Eucharist?</b> A. The Holy Eucharist is the Sacrament which contains the body and blood, soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ under the appearances of bread and wine. <b>Q. 239. When did Christ institute the Holy Eucharist?</b> A. Christ instituted the Holy Eucharist at the Last Supper, the night before He died. <b>Q. 240. Who were present when our Lord instituted the Holy Eucharist?</b> A. When our Lord instituted the Holy Eucharist the twelve Apostles were present. <b>Q. 241. How did our Lord institute the Holy Eucharist?</b> A. Our Lord instituted the Holy Eucharist by taking bread, blessing, breaking, and giving to His Apostles, saying: Take ye and eat. This is My body; and then by taking the cup of wine, blessing and giving it, saying to them: Drink ye all of this. This is My blood which shall be shed for the remission of sins. Do this for a commemoration of Me. <b>Q. 242. What happened when our Lord said, This is My body; this is My blood?</b> A. When our Lord said, This is My body, the substance of the bread was changed into the substance of His body; when He said, This is My blood, the substance of the wine was changed into the substance of His blood. <b>Q. 243. Is Jesus Christ whole and entire both under the form of bread and under the form of wine?</b> A. Jesus Christ is whole and entire both under the form of bread and under the form of wine. <b>Q. 244. Did anything remain of the bread and wine after their substance had been changed into the substance of the body and blood of our Lord?</b> A. After the substance of the bread and wine had been changed into the substance of the body and blood of our Lord there remained only the appearances of bread and wine. <b>Q. 245. What do you mean by the appearances of bread and wine?</b> A. By the appearances of bread and wine I mean the figure, the color, the taste, and whatever appears to the senses. <b>Q. 246. What is this change of the bread and wine into the body and blood of our Lord called?</b> A. This change of the bread and wine into the body and blood of our Lord is called Transubstantiation. <b>Q. 247. How was the substance of the bread and wine changed into the substance of the body and blood of Christ?</b> A. The substance of the bread and wine was changed into the substance of the body and blood of Christ by His almighty power. <b>Q. 248. Does this change of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ continue to be made in the Church?</b> A. This change of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ continues to be made in the Church by Jesus Christ through the ministry of His priests. <b>Q. 249. When did Christ give His priests the power to change bread and wine into His body and blood?</b> A. Christ gave His priests the power to change bread and wine into His body and blood when He said to the Apostles, Do this in commemoration of Me. <b>Q. 250. How do the priests exercise this power of changing bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ?</b> A. The priests exercise this power of changing bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ through the words of consecration in the Mass, which are the words of Christ: This is My body; this is My blood. <b>LESSON TWENTY-THIRD ON THE ENDS FOR WHICH THE HOLY EUCHARIST WAS INSTITUTED</b><br><b>Q. 251. Why did Christ institute the Holy Eucharist?</b> A. Christ instituted the Holy Eucharist: 1. To unite us to Himself and to nourish our soul with His divine life. 2. To increase sanctifying grace and all virtues in our soul. 3. To lessen our evil inclinations. 4. To be a pledge of everlasting life. 5. To fit our bodies for a glorious resurrection. 6. To continue the sacrifice of the Cross in His Church. <b>Q. 252. How are we united to Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist?</b> A. We are united to Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist by means of Holy Communion. <b>Q. 253. What is Holy Communion?</b> A. Holy Communion is the receiving of the body and blood of Christ. <b>Q. 254. What is necessary to make a good Communion?</b> A. To make a good Communion it is necessary to be in the state of sanctifying grace, to have a right intention, and to obey the laws of fasting. (See Q. 257.) <b>Q. 255. Does he who receives Communion in mortal sin receive the body and blood of Christ?</b> A. He who receives Communion in mortal sin receives the body and blood of Christ, but does not receive His grace, and he commits a great sacrilege. <b>Q. 256. Is it enough to be free from mortal sin to receive plentifully the graces of Holy Communion?</b> A. To receive plentifully the graces of Holy Communion it is not enough to be free from mortal sin, but we should be free from all affection to venial sin, and should make acts of faith, hope, and love. <b>Q. 257. What is the fast necessary for Holy Communion?</b> A. The fast necessary for Holy Communion is to abstain from all food, beverages, and alcoholic drinks for one hour before Holy Communion. Water may be taken at any time. The sick may take food, non-alcoholic drinks, and any medicine up to Communion time. [This answer has been changed to match the current canon law.] <b>Q. 258. Is any one ever allowed to receive Holy Communion when not fasting?</b> A. Any one in danger of death is allowed to receive Holy Communion when not fasting or when it is necessary to save the Blessed Sacrament from insult or injury. <b>Q. 259. When are we bound to receive Holy Communion?</b> A. We are bound to receive Holy Communion, under pain of mortal sin, during the Easter time and when in danger of death. <b>Q. 260. Is it well to receive Holy Communion often?</b> A. It is well to receive Holy Communion often, as nothing is a greater aid to a holy life than often to receive the Author of all grace and the Source of all good. <b>Q. 261. What should we do after Holy Communion?</b> A. After Holy Communion we should spend some time in adoring our Lord, in thanking Him for the grace we have received, and in asking Him for the blessings we need. <b>LESSON TWENTY-FOURTH ON THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS</b><br><b>Q. 262. When and where are the bread and wine changed into the body and blood of Christ?</b> A. The bread and wine are changed into the body and blood of Christ at the Consecration in the Mass. <b>Q. 263. What is the Mass?</b> A. The Mass is the unbloody sacrifice of the body and blood of Christ. <b>Q. 264. What is a sacrifice?</b> A. A sacrifice is the offering of an object by a priest to God alone, and the consuming of it to acknowledge that He is the Creator and Lord of all things. <b>Q. 265. Is the Mass the same sacrifice as that of the Cross?</b> A. The Mass is the same sacrifice as that of the Cross. <b>Q. 266. How is the Mass the same sacrifice as that of the Cross?</b> A. The Mass is the same sacrifice as that of the Cross because the offering and the priest are the same--Christ our Blessed Lord; and the ends for which the sacrifice of the Mass is offered are the same as those of the sacrifice of the Cross. <b>Q. 267. What were the ends for which the sacrifice of the Cross was offered?</b> A. The ends for which the sacrifice of the Cross was offered were: 1st, To honor and glorify God; 2d, To thank Him for all the graces bestowed on the whole world; 3d, To satisfy God's justice for the sins of men; 4th, To obtain all graces and blessings. <b>Q. 268. Is there any difference between the sacrifice of the Cross and the sacrifice of the Mass?</b> A. Yes; the manner in which the sacrifice is offered is different. On the Cross Christ really shed His blood and was really slain; in the Mass there is no real shedding of blood nor real death, because Christ can die no more; but the sacrifice of the Mass, through the separate consecration of the bread and the wine, represents His death on the Cross. <b>Q. 269. How should we assist at Mass?</b> A. We should assist at Mass with great interior recollection and piety and with every outward mark of respect and devotion. <b>Q. 270. Which is the best manner of hearing Mass?</b> A. The best manner of hearing Mass is to offer it to God with the priest for the same purpose for which it is said, to meditate on Christ's sufferings and death, and to go to Holy Communion. <b>LESSON TWENTY-FIFTH ON EXTREME UNCTION AND HOLY ORDERS</b><br><b>Q. 271. What is the Sacrament of Extreme Unction?</b> A. Extreme Unction is the Sacrament which, through the anointing and prayer of the priest, gives health and strength to the soul, and sometimes to the body, when we are in danger of death from sickness. <b>Q. 272. When should we receive Extreme Unction?</b> A. We should receive Extreme Unction when we are in danger of death from sickness, or from a wound or accident. <b>Q. 273. Should we wait until we are in extreme danger before we receive Extreme Unction?</b> A. We should not wait until we are in extreme danger before we receive Extreme Unction, but if possible we should receive it whilst we have the use of our senses. <b>Q. 274. Which are the effects of the Sacrament of Extreme Unction?</b> A. The effects of Extreme Unction are: 1st, To comfort us in the pains of sickness and to strengthen us against temptation; 2d, To remit venial sins and to cleanse our soul from the remains of sin; 3d, To restore us to health, when God sees fit. <b>Q. 275. What do you mean by the remains of sin?</b> A. By the remains of sin I mean the inclination to evil and the weakness of the will which are the result of our sins, and which remain after our sins have been forgiven. <b>Q. 276. How should we receive the Sacrament of Extreme Unction?</b> A. We should receive the Sacrament of Extreme Unction in the state of grace, and with lively faith and resignation to the will of God. <b>Q. 277. Who is the minister of the Sacrament of Extreme Unction?</b> A. The priest is the minister of the Sacrament of Extreme Unction. <b>Q. 278. What is the Sacrament of Holy Orders?</b> A. Holy Orders is a Sacrament by which bishops, priests, and other ministers of the Church are ordained and receive the power and grace to perform their sacred duties. <b>Q. 279. What is necessary to receive Holy Orders worthily?</b> A. To receive Holy Orders worthily it is necessary to be in the state of grace, to have the necessary knowledge and a divine call to this sacred office. <b>Q. 280. How should Christians look upon the priests of the Church?</b> A. Christians should look upon the priests of the Church as the messengers of God and the dispensers of His mysteries. <b>Q. 281. Who can confer the Sacrament of Holy Orders?</b> A. Bishops can confer the Sacrament of Holy Orders. <b>LESSON TWENTY-SIXTH ON MATRIMONY</b><br><b>Q. 282. What is the Sacrament of Matrimony?</b> A. The Sacrament of Matrimony is the Sacrament which unites a Christian man and woman in lawful marriage. <b>Q. 283. Can a Christian man and woman be united in lawful marriage in any other way than by the Sacrament of Matrimony?</b> A. A Christian man and woman cannot be united in lawful marriage in any other way than by the Sacrament of Matrimony, because Christ raised marriage to the dignity of a Sacrament. <b>Q. 284. Can the bond of Christian marriage be dissolved by any human power?</b> A. The bond of Christian marriage cannot be dissolved by any human power. <b>Q. 285. Which are the effects of the Sacrament of Matrimony?</b> A. The effects of the Sacrament of Matrimony are: 1st, To sanctify the love of husband and wife; 2d, To give them grace to bear with each other's weaknesses; 3d, To enable them to bring up their children in the fear and love of God. <b>Q. 286. To receive the Sacrament of matrimony worthily is it necessary to be in the state of grace?</b> A. To receive the Sacrament of Matrimony worthily it is necessary to be in the state of grace, and it is necessary also to comply with the laws of the Church. <b>Q. 287. Who has the right to make laws concerning the Sacrament of marriage?</b> A. The Church alone has the right to make laws concerning the Sacrament of marriage, though the state also has the right to make laws concerning the civil effects of the marriage contract. <b>Q. 288. Does the Church forbid the marriage of Catholics with persons who have a different religion or no religion at all?</b> A. The Church does forbid the marriage of Catholics with persons who have a different religion or no religion at all. <b>Q. 289. Why does the Church forbid the marriage of Catholics with persons who have a different religion or no religion at all?</b> A. The Church forbids the marriage of Catholics with persons who have a different religion or no religion at all, because such marriages generally lead to indifference, loss of faith, and to the neglect of the religious education of the children. <b>Q. 290. Why do many marriages prove unhappy?</b> A. Many marriages prove unhappy because they are entered into hastily and without worthy motives. <b>Q. 291. How should Christians prepare for a holy and happy marriage?</b> A. Christians should prepare for a holy and happy marriage by receiving the Sacraments of Penance and Holy Eucharist; by begging God to grant them a pure intention and to direct their choice; and by seeking the advice of their parents and the blessing of their pastors. <b>LESSON TWENTY-SEVENTH ON THE SACRAMENTALS</b><br><b>Q. 292. What is a sacramental?</b> A. A sacramental is anything set apart or blessed by the Church to excite good thoughts and to increase devotion, and through these movements of the heart to remit venial sin. <b>Q. 293. What is the difference between the Sacraments and the sacramentals?</b> A. The difference between the Sacraments and the sacramentals is: 1st, The Sacraments were instituted by Jesus Christ and the sacramentals were instituted by the Church; 2d, The Sacraments give grace of themselves when we place no obstacle in the way; the sacramentals excite in us pious dispositions, by means of which we may obtain grace. <b>Q. 294. Which is the chief sacramental used in the Church?</b> A. The chief sacramental used in the Church is the sign of the Cross. <b>Q. 295. How do we make the sign of the Cross?</b> A. We make the sign of the Cross by putting the right hand to the forehead, then on the breast, and then to the left and right shoulders, saying, In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. <b>Q. 296. Why do we make the sign of the Cross?</b> A. We make the sign of the Cross to show that we are Christians and to profess our belief in the chief mysteries of our religion. <b>Q. 297. How is the sign of the Cross a profession of faith in the chief mysteries of our religion?</b> A. The sign of the Cross is a profession of faith in the chief mysteries of our religion because it expresses the mysteries of the Unity and Trinity of God and of the Incarnation and death of our Lord. <b>Q. 298. How does the sign of the Cross express the mystery of the Unity and Trinity of God?</b> A. The words, In the name, express the Unity of God; the words that follow, of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, express the mystery of the Trinity. <b>Q. 299. How does the sign of the Cross express the mystery of the Incarnation and death of our Lord?</b> A. The sign of the Cross expresses the mystery of the Incarnation by reminding us that the Son of God, having become man, suffered death on the cross. <b>Q. 300. What other sacramental is in very frequent use?</b> A. Another sacramental in very frequent use is holy water. <b>Q. 301. What is holy water?</b> A. Holy water is water blessed by the priest with solemn prayer to beg God's blessing on those who use it, and protection from the powers of darkness. <b>Q. 302. Are there other sacramentals besides the sign of the Cross and holy water?</b> A. Besides the sign of the Cross and holy water there are many other sacramentals, such as blessed candles, ashes, palms, crucifixes, images of the Blessed Virgin and of the saints, rosaries, and scapulars. <b>LESSON TWENTY-EIGHTH ON PRAYER</b><br><b>Q. 303. Is there any other means of obtaining God's grace than the Sacraments?</b> A. There is another means of obtaining God's grace, and it is prayer. <b>Q. 304. What is prayer?</b> A. Prayer is the lifting up of our minds and hearts to God to adore Him, to thank Him for His benefits, to ask His forgiveness, and to beg of Him all the graces we need whether for soul or body. <b>Q. 305. Is prayer necessary to salvation?</b> A. Prayer is necessary to salvation, and without it no one having the use of reason can be saved. <b>Q. 306. At what particular times should we pray?</b> A. We should pray particularly on Sundays and holydays, every morning and night, in all dangers, temptations, and afflictions. <b>Q. 307. How should we pray?</b> A. We should pray: 1st, With attention; 2d, With a sense of our own helplessness and dependence upon God; 3d, With a great desire for the graces we beg of God; 4th, With trust in God's goodness; 5th, With perseverance. <b>Q. 308. Which are the prayers most recommended to us?</b> A. The prayers most recommended to us are the Lord's Prayer, the Hail Mary, the Apostles' Creed, the Confiteor, and the Acts of Faith, Hope, Love, and Contrition. <b>Q. 309. Are prayers said with distractions of any avail?</b> A. Prayers said with wilful distractions are of no avail. <b>LESSON TWENTY-NINTH ON THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD</b><br><b>Q. 310. Is it enough to belong to God's Church in order to be saved?</b> A. It is not enough to belong to the Church in order to be saved, but we must also keep the Commandments of God and of the Church. <b>Q. 311. Which are the Commandments that contain the whole law of God?</b> A. The Commandments which contain the whole law of God are these two: 1st, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, with thy whole soul, with thy whole strength, and with thy whole mind; 2d, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. <b>Q. 312. Why do these two Commandments of the love of God and of our neighbor contain the whole law of God?</b> A. These two Commandments of the love of God and of our neighbor contain the whole law of God because all the other Commandments are given either to help us to keep these two, or to direct us how to shun what is opposed to them. <b>Q. 313. Which are the Commandments of God?</b> A. The Commandments of God are these ten: 1. I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt not have strange gods before Me. Thou shalt not make to thyself a graven thing, nor the likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, nor of those things that are in the waters under the earth. Thou shalt not adore them, nor serve them. 2. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. 3. Remember thou keep holy the Sabbath day. 4. Honor thy father and thy mother. 5. Thou shalt not kill. 6. Thou shalt not commit adultery. 7. Thou shalt not steal. 8. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. 9. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife. 10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's goods. <b>Q. 314. Who gave the Ten Commandments?</b> A. God Himself gave the Ten Commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai, and Christ our Lord confirmed them. <b>LESSON THIRTIETH ON THE FIRST COMMANDMENT</b><br><b>Q. 315. What is the first Commandment?</b> A. The first Commandment is: I am the Lord thy God: thou shalt not have strange gods before Me. <b>Q. 316. How does the first Commandment help us to keep the great Commandment of the love of God?</b> A. The first Commandment helps us to keep the great Commandment of the love of God because it commands us to adore God alone. <b>Q. 317. How do we adore God?</b> A. We adore God by faith, hope, and charity, by prayer and sacrifice. <b>Q. 318. How may the first Commandment be broken?</b> A. The first Commandment may be broken by giving to a creature the honor which belongs to God alone; by false worship; and by attributing to a creature a perfection which belongs to God alone. <b>Q. 319. Do those who make use of spells and charms, or who believe in dreams, in mediums, spiritists, fortune-tellers, and the like, sin against the first Commandment?</b> A. Those who make use of spells and charms, or who believe in dreams, in mediums, spiritists, fortunetellers and the like, sin against the first Commandment, because they attribute to creatures perfections which belong to God alone. <b>Q. 320. Are sins against faith, hope and charity also sins against the first Commandment?</b> A. Sins against faith, hope, and charity are also sins against the first Commandment. <b>Q. 321. How does a person sin against faith?</b> A. A person sins against faith: 1st, by not trying to know what God has taught; 2d, by refusing to believe all that God has taught; 3d, by neglecting to profess his belief in what God has taught. <b>Q. 322. How do we fail to try to know what God has taught?</b> A. We fail to try to know what God has taught by neglecting to learn the Christian doctrine. <b>Q. 323. Who are they who do not believe all that God has taught?</b> A. They who do not believe all that God has taught are the heretics and infidels. <b>Q. 324. Who are they who neglect to profess their belief in what God has taught?</b> A. They who neglect to profess their belief in what God has taught are all those who fail to acknowledge the true Church in which they really believe. <b>Q. 325. Can they who fail to profess their faith in the true Church in which they believe expect to be saved while in that state?</b> A. They who fail to profess their faith in the true Church in which they believe cannot expect to be saved while in that state, for Christ has said: "Whoever shall deny Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven." <b>Q. 326. Are we obliged to make open profession of our faith?</b> A. We are obliged to make open profession of our faith as often as God's honor, our neighbor's spiritual good, or our own requires it. "Whosoever," says Christ, "shall confess Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven." <b>Q. 327. Which are the sins against hope?</b> A. The sins against hope are presumption and despair. <b>Q. 328. What is presumption?</b> A. Presumption is a rash expectation of salvation without making proper use of the necessary means to obtain it. <b>Q. 329. What is despair?</b> A. Despair is the loss of hope in God's mercy. <b>Q. 330. How do we sin against the love of God?</b> A. We sin against the love of God by all sin, but particularly by mortal sin. <b>LESSON THIRTY-FIRST THE FIRST COMMANDMENT--ON THE HONOR AND INVOCATION OF SAINTS</b><br><b>Q. 331. Does the first Commandment forbid the honoring of the saints?</b> A. The first Commandment does not forbid the honoring of the saints, but rather approves of it; because by honoring the saints, who are the chosen friends of God, we honor God Himself. <b>Q. 332. Does the first Commandment forbid us to pray to the saints?</b> A. The first Commandment does not forbid us to pray to the saints. <b>Q. 333. What do we mean by praying to the saints?</b> A. By praying to the saints we mean the asking of their help and prayers. <b>Q. 334. How do we know that the saints hear us?</b> A. We know that the saints hear us, because they are with God, who makes our prayers known to them. <b>Q. 335. Why do we believe that the saints will help us?</b> A. We believe that the saints will help us because both they and we are members of the same Church, and they love us as their brethren. <b>Q. 336. How are the saints and we members of the same Church?</b> A. The saints and we are members of the same Church, because the Church in heaven and the Church on earth are one and the same Church, and all its members are in communion with one another. <b>Q. 337. What is the communion of the members of the Church called?</b> A. The communion of the members of the Church is called the communion of saints. <b>Q. 338. What does the communion of saints mean?</b> A. The communion of saints means the union which exists between the members of the Church on earth with one another, and with the blessed in heaven and with the suffering souls in purgatory. <b>Q. 339. What benefits are derived from the communion of saints?</b> A. The following benefits are derived from the communion of saints:--the faithful on earth assist one another by their prayers and good works, and they are aided by the intercession of the saints in heaven, while both the saints in heaven and the faithful on earth help the souls in purgatory. <b>Q. 340. Does the first Commandment forbid us to honor relics?</b> A. The first Commandment does not forbid us to honor relics, because relics are the bodies of the saints, or objects directly connected with them or with our Lord. <b>Q. 341. Does the first Commandment forbid the making of images?</b> A. The first Commandment does forbid the making of images if they are made to be adored as gods, but it does not forbid the making of them to put us in mind of Jesus Christ, His Blessed Mother, and the saints. <b>Q. 342. Is it right to show respect to the pictures and images of Christ and His saints?</b> A. It is right to show respect to the pictures and images of Christ and His saints, because they are the representations and memorials of them. <b>Q. 343. Is it allowed to pray to the crucifix or to the images and relics of the saints?</b> A. It is not allowed to pray to the crucifix or images and relics of the saints, for they have no life, nor power to help us, nor sense to hear us. <b>Q. 344. Why do we pray before the crucifix and the images and relics of the saints?</b> A. We pray before the crucifix and images and relics of the saints because they enliven our devotion by exciting pious affections and desires, and by reminding us of Christ and of the saints, that we may imitate their virtues. <b>LESSON THIRTY-SECOND FROM THE SECOND TO THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT</b><br><b>Q. 345. What is the second Commandment?</b> A. The second Commandment is: Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. <b>Q. 346. What are we commanded by the second Commandment?</b> A. We are commanded by the second Commandment to speak with reverence of God and of the saints, and of all holy things, and to keep our lawful oaths and vows. <b>Q. 347. What is an oath?</b> A. An oath is the calling upon God to witness the truth of what we say. <b>Q. 348. When may we take an oath?</b> A. We may take an oath when it is ordered by lawful authority or required for God's honor or for our own or our neighbor's good. <b>Q. 349. What is necessary to make an oath lawful?</b> A. To make an oath lawful it is necessary that what we swear to, be true, and that there be a sufficient cause for taking an oath. <b>Q. 350. What is a vow?</b> A. A vow is a deliberate promise made to God to do something that is pleasing to Him. <b>Q. 351. Is it a sin not to fulfill our vows?</b> A. Not to fulfill our vows is a sin, mortal or venial, according to the nature of the vow and the intention we had in making it. <b>Q. 352. What is forbidden by the second Commandment?</b> A. The second Commandment forbids all false, rash, unjust, and unnecessary oaths, blasphemy, cursing, and profane words. <b>Q. 353. What is the third Commandment?</b> A. The third Commandment is: Remember thou keep holy the Sabbath day. <b>Q. 354. What are we commanded by the third Commandment?</b> A. By the third Commandment we are commanded to keep holy the Lord's day and the holydays of obligation, on which we are to give our time to the service and worship of God. <b>Q. 355. How are we to worship God on Sundays and holydays of obligation?</b> A. We are to worship God on Sundays and holydays of obligation by hearing Mass, by prayer, and by other good works. <b>Q. 356. Are the Sabbath day and the Sunday the same?</b> A. The Sabbath day and the Sunday are not the same. The Sabbath is the seventh day of the week, and is the day which was kept holy in the Old Law; the Sunday is the first day of the week, and is the day which is kept holy in the New Law. <b>Q. 357. Why does the Church command us to keep the Sunday holy instead of the Sabbath?</b> A. The Church commands us to keep the Sunday holy instead of the Sabbath because on Sunday Christ rose from the dead, and on Sunday He sent the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles. <b>Q. 358. What is forbidden by the third Commandment?</b> A. The third Commandment forbids all unnecessary servile work and whatever else may hinder the due observance of the Lord's day. <b>Q. 359. What are servile works?</b> A. Servile works are those which require labor rather of body than of mind. <b>Q. 360. Are servile works on Sunday ever lawful?</b> A. Servile works are lawful on Sunday when the honor of God, the good of our neighbor, or necessity requires them. <b>LESSON THIRTY-THIRD FROM THE FOURTH TO THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT</b><br><b>Q. 361. What is the fourth Commandment?</b> A. The fourth Commandment is: Honor thy father and thy mother. <b>Q. 362. What are we commanded by the fourth Commandment?</b> A. We are commanded by the fourth Commandment to honor, love, and obey our parents in all that is not sin. <b>Q. 363. Are we bound to honor and obey others than our parents?</b> A. We are also bound to honor and obey our bishops, pastors, magistrates, teachers, and other lawful superiors. <b>Q. 364. Have parents and superiors any duties towards those who are under their charge?</b> A. It is the duty of parents and superiors to take good care of all under their charge and give them proper direction and example. <b>Q. 365. What is forbidden by the fourth Commandment?</b> A. The fourth Commandment forbids all disobedience, contempt, and stubbornness towards our parents or lawful superiors. <b>Q. 366. What is the fifth Commandment?</b> A. The fifth Commandment is: Thou shalt not kill. <b>Q. 367. What are we commanded by the fifth Commandment?</b> A. We are commanded by the fifth Commandment to live in peace and union with our neighbor, to respect his rights, to seek his spiritual and bodily welfare, and to take proper care of our own life and health. <b>Q. 368. What is forbidden by the fifth Commandment?</b> A. The fifth Commandment forbids all wilful murder, fighting, anger, hatred, revenge, and bad example. <b>Q. 369. What is the sixth Commandment?</b> A. The sixth Commandment is: Thou shalt not commit adultery. <b>Q. 370. What are we commanded by the sixth Commandment?</b> A. We are commanded by the sixth Commandment to be pure in thought and modest in all our looks, words, and actions. <b>Q. 371. What is forbidden by the sixth Commandment?</b> A. The sixth commandment forbids all unchaste freedom with another's wife or husband; also all immodesty with ourselves or others in looks, dress, words, or actions. <b>Q. 372. Does the sixth Commandment forbid the reading of bad and immodest books and newspapers?</b> A. The sixth Commandment does forbid the reading of bad and immodest books and newspapers. <b>LESSON THIRTY-FOURTH FROM THE SEVENTH TO THE END OF THE TENTH COMMANDMENT</b><br><b>Q. 373. What is the seventh Commandment?</b> A. The seventh Commandment is: Thou shalt not steal. <b>Q. 374. What are we commanded by the seventh Commandment?</b> A. By the seventh Commandment we are commanded to give to all men what belongs to them and to respect their property. <b>Q. 375. What is forbidden by the seventh Commandment?</b> A. The seventh Commandment forbids all unjust taking or keeping what belongs to another. <b>Q. 376. Are we bound to restore ill-gotten goods?</b> A. We are bound to restore ill-gotten goods, or the value of them, as far as we are able; otherwise we cannot be forgiven. <b>Q. 377. Are we obliged to repair the damage we have unjustly caused?</b> A. We are bound to repair the damage we have unjustly caused. <b>Q. 378. What is the eighth Commandment?</b> A. The eighth Commandment is: Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. <b>Q. 379. What are we commanded by the eighth Commandment?</b> A. We are commanded by the eighth Commandment to speak the truth in all things and to be careful of the honor and reputation of every one. <b>Q. 380. What is forbidden by the eighth Commandment?</b> A. The eighth Commandment forbids all rash judgments, backbiting, slanders, and lies. <b>Q. 381. What must they do who have lied about their neighbor and seriously injured his character?</b> A. They who have lied about their neighbor and seriously injured his character must repair the injury done as far as they are able, otherwise they will not be forgiven. <b>Q. 382. What is the ninth Commandment?</b> A. The ninth Commandment is: Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife. <b>Q. 383. What are we commanded by the ninth Commandment?</b> A. We are commanded by the ninth Commandment to keep ourselves pure in thought and desire. <b>Q. 384. What is forbidden by the ninth Commandment?</b> A. The ninth Commandment forbids unchaste thoughts, desires of another's wife or husband, and all other unlawful impure thoughts and desires. <b>Q. 385. Are impure thoughts and desires always sins?</b> A. Impure thoughts and desires are always sins, unless they displease us and we try to banish them. <b>Q. 386. What is the tenth Commandment?</b> A. The tenth Commandment is: Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's goods. <b>Q. 387. What are we commanded by the tenth Commandment?</b> A. By the tenth Commandment we are commanded to be content with what we have, and to rejoice in our neighbor's welfare. <b>Q. 388. What is forbidden by the tenth Commandment?</b> A. The tenth Commandment forbids all desires to take or keep wrongfully what belongs to another. <b>LESSON THIRTY-FIFTH ON THE FIRST AND SECOND COMMANDMENTS OF THE CHURCH</b><br><b>Q. 389. Which are the chief commandments of the Church?</b> A. The chief commandments of the Church are six: 1. To hear Mass on Sundays and holydays of obligation. 2. To fast and abstain on the days appointed. 3. To confess at least once a year. 4. To receive the Holy Eucharist during the Easter time. 5. To contribute to the support of our pastors. 6. Not to marry persons who are not Catholics, or who are related to us within the third degree of kindred, nor privately without witnesses, nor to solemnize marriage at forbidden times. <b>Q. 390. Is it a mortal sin not to hear Mass on a Sunday or a holyday of obligation?</b> A. It is a mortal sin not to hear Mass on a Sunday or a holyday of obligation, unless we are excused for a serious reason. They also commit a mortal sin who, having others under their charge, hinder them from hearing Mass, without a sufficient reason. <b>Q. 391. Why were holydays instituted by the Church?</b> A. Holydays were instituted by the Church to recall to our minds the great mysteries of religion and the virtues and rewards of the saints. <b>Q. 392. How should we keep the holydays of obligation?</b> A. We should keep the holydays of obligation as we should keep the Sunday. <b>Q. 393. What do you mean by fast-days?</b> A. By fast-days I mean days on which we are allowed but one full meal. <b>Q. 394. What do you mean by days of abstinence?</b> A. By days of abstinence I mean days on which we are forbidden to eat flesh-meat, but are allowed the usual number of meals. <b>Q. 395. Why does the Church command us to fast and abstain?</b> A. The Church commands us to fast and abstain, in order that we may mortify our passions and satisfy for our sins. <b>Q. 396. Why does the Church command us to abstain from flesh-meat on Fridays?</b> A. The Church commands us to abstain from flesh-meat on Fridays, in honor of the day on which our Saviour died. <b>LESSON THIRTY-SIXTH ON THE THIRD, FOURTH, FIFTH AND SIXTH COMMANDMENTS OF THE CHURCH</b><br><b>Q. 397. What is meant by the command of confessing at least once a year?</b> A. By the command of confessing at least once a year is meant that we are obliged, under pain of mortal sin, to go to confession within the year. <b>Q. 398. Should we confess only once a year?</b> A. We should confess frequently, if we wish to lead a good life. <b>Q. 399. Should children go to Confession?</b> A. Children should go to Confession when they are old enough to commit sin, which is commonly about the age of seven years. <b>Q. 400. What sin does he commit who neglects to receive Communion during the Easter time?</b> A. He who neglects to receive Communion during the Easter time commits a mortal sin. <b>Q. 401. What is the Easter time?</b> A. The Easter time is, in this country, the time between the first Sunday of Lent and Trinity Sunday. <b>Q. 402. Are we obliged to contribute to the support of our pastors?</b> A. We are obliged to contribute to the support of our pastors, and to bear our share in the expenses of the church and school. <b>Q. 403. What is the meaning of the commandment not to marry within the third degree of kindred?</b> A. The meaning of the commandment not to marry within the third degree of kindred is that no one is allowed to marry another within the third degree of blood relationship. <b>Q. 404. What is the meaning of the command not to marry privately?</b> A. The command not to marry privately means that none should marry without the blessing of God's priests or without witnesses. <b>Q. 405. What is the meaning of the precept not to solemnize marriage at forbidden times?</b> A. The meaning of the precept not to solemnize marriage at forbidden times is that during Lent and Advent the marriage ceremony should not be performed with pomp or a nuptial Mass. <b>Q. 406. What is the nuptial Mass?</b> A. A nuptial Mass is a Mass appointed by the Church to invoke a special blessing upon the married couple. <b>Q. 407. Should Catholics be married at a nuptial Mass?</b> A. Catholics should be married at a nuptial Mass, because they thereby show greater reverence for the holy Sacrament and bring richer blessings upon their wedded life. <b>LESSON THIRTY-SEVENTH ON THE LAST JUDGMENT AND THE RESURRECTION, HELL, PURGATORY, AND HEAVEN</b><br><b>Q. 408. When will Christ judge us?</b> A. Christ will judge us immediately after our death, and on the last day. <b>Q. 409. What is the judgment called which we have to undergo immediately after death?</b> A. The judgment we have to undergo immediately after death is called the Particular Judgment. <b>Q. 410. What is the judgment called which all men have to undergo on the last day?</b> A. The judgment which all men have to undergo on the last day is called the General Judgment. <b>Q. 411. Why does Christ judge men immediately after death?</b> A. Christ judges men immediately after death to reward or punish them according to their deeds. <b>Q. 412. What are the rewards or punishments appointed for men's souls after the Particular Judgment?</b> A. The rewards or punishments appointed for men's souls after the Particular Judgment are Heaven, Purgatory, and Hell. <b>Q. 413. What is Hell?</b> A. Hell is a state to which the wicked are condemned, and in which they are deprived of the sight of God for all eternity, and are in dreadful torments. <b>Q. 414. What is Purgatory?</b> A. Purgatory is a state in which those suffer for a time who die guilty of venial sins, or without having satisfied for the punishment due to their sins. <b>Q. 415. Can the faithful on earth help the souls in Purgatory?</b> A. The faithful on earth can help the souls in Purgatory by their prayers, fasts, alms-deeds; by indulgences, and by having Masses said for them. <b>Q. 416. If every one is judged immediately after death, what need is there of a General Judgment?</b> A. There is need of a General Judgment, though every one is judged immediately after death, that the providence of God, which, on earth, often permits the good to suffer and the wicked to prosper, may in the end appear just before all men. <b>Q. 417. Will our bodies share in the reward or punishment of our souls?</b> A. Our bodies will share in the reward or punishment of our souls, because through the resurrection they will again be united to them. <b>Q. 418. In what state will the bodies of the just rise?</b> A. The bodies of the just will rise glorious and immortal. <b>Q. 419. Will the bodies of the damned also rise?</b> A. The bodies of the damned will also rise, but they will be condemned to eternal punishment. <b>Q. 420. What is Heaven?</b> A. Heaven is the state of everlasting life in which we see God face to face, are made like unto Him in glory, and enjoy eternal happiness. <b>Q. 421. What words should we bear always in mind?</b> A. We should bear always in mind these words of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ: "What doth it profit a man if he gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his own soul, or what exchange shall a man give for his soul? For the Son of man shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and then will He render to every man according to his works." (Source: Baltimore Catechism #2)
<b>THE LORD’S PRAYER.</b><br><b>Q. 1. Say the Lord’s Prayer.</b> A. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen. <b>Q. 2. Who made the Lord’s Prayer?</b> A. Our Lord Himself made the Lord’s Prayer for the use of His disciples and of all the faithful. <b>Q. 3. Why is the “Our Father” the most excellent of all Prayers?</b> A. The “Our Father” is the most excellent of all prayers because Our Lord Himself made it and because its petitions ask for all we can need for soul or body. <b>Q. 4. How is the Lord’s Prayer divided?</b> A. The Lord’s Prayer is divided into seven requests or petitions. Three of these petitions refer to God’s honor and glory, and the remaining four to our corporeal or spiritual wants. <b>Q. 5. Whom do we address as “Our Father” when we say the Lord’s Prayer?</b> A. When we say “Our Father” in the Lord’s Prayer we address Almighty God, Father, Son and Holy Ghost united in the adorable Trinity. <b>Q. 6. Why do we say “our” and not “my” Father?</b> A. We say “our” and not “my” Father to remind us that through our creation and redemption, we are all members of the great human family of which God is the Father; and that we should pray for and help one another. <b>Q. 7. Why do we call God Father?</b> A. We call God Father because He does for us what a good father should do for his children. He gives us our existence; He protects us; He provides for us and teaches us; and because the name of “Father” fills us with love and reverence for him, and with confidence in Him. <b>Q. 8. Why do we say “Who art in heaven” if God be everywhere?</b> A. We say “who art in heaven” to put us in mind (1) that heaven is our true home for which we were created; (2) that in heaven we shall see God face to face as He is; (3) that heaven is the place where God will be for all eternity, with the blessed. <b>Q. 9. What does “Hallowed be Thy Name” mean?</b> A. Hallowed means set apart for a holy or sacred use, and thus comes to mean treated or praised as holy or sacred. “Thy name” means God Himself and all relating to Him, and by this petition we ask that God may be known, loved and served by all. <b>Q. 10. What do we ask for in the petition: “Thy kingdom come”?</b> A. In the petition “Thy kingdom come” we ask (1) that God may reign in the souls of all men by His grace, so that they may attain eternal salvation; (2) that the true Church--Christ’s kingdom--may spread upon earth till all men embrace the true religion. <b>Q. 11. Who do God’s Will in heaven?</b> A. In heaven the Angels and Saints do God’s Will perfectly. They never disobey, or even wish to disobey Him. In the petition, “Thy Will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” we pray that all God’s creatures may imitate the Angels and Saints in heaven by never offending Him. <b>Q. 12. What do we ask for by “our daily bread”?</b> A. In the petition for “our daily bread” we ask not merely for bread, but for all that we need for the good of our body or soul. <b>Q. 13. Why do we say “daily”?</b> A. We say “daily” to teach us that we are not to be avaricious but only prudent in providing for our wants; and that we are to have great confidence in the providence of God. <b>Q. 14. What do “trespasses” mean?</b> A. “Trespasses” mean here injuries done or offenses given to another, and when God is the person offended, “trespasses” mean sins. <b>Q. 15. What do you mean by “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us”?</b> A. In this petition we declare to God that we have forgiven all who have injured or offended us, and ask Him to reward us by pardoning our sins. <b>Q. 16. When may we be said to forgive those who trespass against us?</b> A. We may be said to forgive our enemies when we act, and, as far as possible, feel toward them as if they had never injured us. <b>Q. 17. What is temptation?</b> A. A temptation is anything that incites, provokes, or urges us to offend God. <b>Q. 18. What is the best means of overcoming temptation?</b> A. The best means of overcoming temptation is to resist its very beginning, by turning our attention from it; by praying for help to resist it; and by doing the opposite of what we are tempted to do. <b>Q. 19. Does God tempt us to sin?</b> A. God does not tempt us to sin; but He permits us to be tempted to try our fidelity or punish our pride; and to give us an opportunity of meriting rewards for ourselves by overcoming the temptations. <b>Q. 20. Can we always resist temptation?</b> A. We can always resist temptation if we wish, for God always gives us sufficient grace and never permits us to be tempted above our strength. <b>Q. 21. Is it a sin to be tempted?</b> A. It is not a sin to be tempted, because we cannot prevent it. It is sinful only to consent or yield to the temptation or needlessly expose ourselves to it. <b>Q. 22. From what do our temptations come?</b> A. Our temptations come either from the devil, our spiritual enemy, or from the world; that is, the wicked persons, places, or things in the world; or from the flesh; that is, our body with its strong passions and evil inclinations. <b>Q. 23. Should we seek temptation for the sake of overcoming it?</b> A. We must not expose ourselves to temptation, but, on the contrary, carefully avoid it, yet resist it bravely when it assails us. <b>Q. 24. From what evil do we ask to be delivered?</b> A. We ask to be delivered from every evil of body and mind, but particularly to be delivered from sin, which is the greatest of all evils. <b>Q. 25. What does “Amen” mean?</b> A. “Amen” means so be it; and expresses a desire that the petition may be granted. <b>Q. 26. What does Christian mean?</b> A. A Christian is a baptized person who professes to believe all that Christ has taught, and to do all that He has commanded as necessary for our salvation. <b>THE ANGELICAL SALUTATION.</b><br><b>Q. 27. Say the Angelical Salutation.</b> A. Hail Mary, full of grace! the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. <b>Q. 28. What is a salutation?</b> A. A salutation is the customary words or actions by which the people of a country greet one another. <b>Q. 29. Why is this salutation called Angelical?</b> A. This salutation is called Angelical because it was given by an angel. <b>Q. 30. What does “hail” mean?</b> A. “Hail” means, I wish you health. It is an exclamation of respectful greeting. <b>Q. 31. How is the “Hail Mary” divided?</b> A. The “Hail Mary” is divided into two parts. The first part, made by the Angel Gabriel and St. Elizabeth, contains the praises of the Mother of God; and the second part, added by the Church, begs her intercession for sinners. <b>Q. 32. Why is the “Hail Mary” usually placed after the Lord’s Prayer?</b> A. The “Hail Mary” is usually placed after the Our Father because it is an inspired prayer, the most excellent after the Lord’s Prayer, and also that the Blessed Mother may, by her powerful intercession, aid us in obtaining what we ask. <b>Q. 33. Who was St. Elizabeth?</b> A. St. Elizabeth was the mother of St. John the Baptist and the cousin of the Blessed Virgin. <b>Q. 34. What answer did the Blessed Virgin make to the words of St. Elizabeth?</b> A. The Blessed Virgin answered St. Elizabeth in the words of the beautiful Magnificat. <b>Q. 35. What is the Magnificat?</b> A. The Magnificat is the splendid canticle or hymn in which the Blessed Virgin praises God and returns Him thanks for the great things He has done for her. It is usually sung at Vespers in the Church. <b>Q. 36. Why do we address Mary as “full of grace”?</b> A. We address Mary as “full of grace” because she was never guilty of the slightest sin; was endowed with every virtue, and blessed with a constant increase of grace in her soul. <b>Q. 37. Why do we say “the Lord is with thee”?</b> A. We say “the Lord is with thee,” for besides being with her as He is with all His creatures on account of His presence everywhere; and as He is with the good on account of their virtue, He is with Mary in a very special manner on account of her dignity as Mother of His Son. <b>Q. 38. Why is Mary called “blessed amongst women”?</b> A. Mary is called “blessed amongst women” on account of her personal holiness, her great dignity as Mother of God, and her freedom from original sin. <b>Q. 39. Why is Mary called “holy”?</b> A. Mary is called “holy” because one full of grace and endowed with every virtue must be holy. <b>Q. 40. Why do we need Mary’s prayers at the hour of death?</b> A. We need Mary’s prayers at the hour of death because at that time our salvation is in greatest danger, and our spiritual enemies most anxious to overcome us. <b>Q. 41. Why do we say the “Hail Mary”?</b> A. We say the “Hail Mary” to put us in mind of the Incarnation, and to show our devotion to the Mother of God, and our confidence in her assistance. <b>Q. 42. In what form of prayer is the “Hail Mary” most frequently repeated?</b> A. The “Hail Mary” is most frequently repeated in the recitation of the rosary or beads. <b>Q. 43. What is the Angelus?</b> A. The Angelus is a prayer giving a brief history of the Incarnation. <b>Q. 44. Say the Angelus.</b> A. The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary. And she conceived of the Holy Ghost. Hail Mary, &c. Behold the handmaid of the Lord. Be it done unto me according to Thy Word. Hail Mary, &c. And the Word was made flesh. And dwelt among us. Hail Mary, &c. Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God! That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. Let us pray: Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts that we to whom the Incarnation of Christ Thy Son was made known by the message of an angel, may, by His Passion and cross, be brought to the glory of His resurrection, through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen. <b>Q. 45. At what time is the Angelus usually said?</b> A. The Angelus is said in the evening, it memory of the Incarnation; in the morning, in memory of the Resurrection, and at noon in memory of the Passion of Our Lord. <b>Q. 46. What does “the Word was made flesh” mean in the Angelus?</b> A. “The Word” means the second person of the Blessed Trinity, and “made flesh” means became man. <b>Q. 47. What is the Litany of the Blessed Virgin?</b> A. The Litany is a form of prayer in which we address our Blessed Lady by many beautiful titles, such as Mother of God, Virgin Most Pure, Refuge of Sinners, &c., asking her after each to pray for us. <b>Q. 48. Are there any other Litanies in use besides the Litany of the Blessed Virgin?</b> A. Besides the Litany of the Blessed Virgin there are other Litanies in use, especially the Litany of the Saints, the Litany of the Holy Name of Jesus, the Litany of the Sacred Heart, &c. <b>THE APOSTLES’ CREED.</b><br><b>Q. 49. Say the Apostles’ Creed.</b> A. I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified; died, and was buried. He descended into hell: the third day He arose again from the dead: He ascended into heaven, sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. <b>Q. 50. What is a creed?</b> A. A creed is a summary or list of the chief truths we believe or profess to believe. It is a compendium of doctrine. <b>Q. 51. Why is this creed called the Apostles’?</b> A. This creed is called the Apostles’ because it came down to us from the Apostles, and also to distinguish it from longer creeds in use in the Church, such as the Nicene Creed, which is said in the Mass; the Athanasian Creed, which is said in the priests’ divine Office, and the Creed of Pope Pius IV, which is used on solemn occasions. <b>Q. 52. Do all these creeds teach the same doctrines?</b> A. All these creeds teach the same doctrines, for the longer creeds are only a fuller explanation of the truths contained in the Apostles’ Creed. <b>Q. 53. Who were the Apostles?</b> A. The Apostles were the twelve men selected by Our Lord to be the first bishops of His Church. <b>Q. 54. How do you know the Apostles were bishops?</b> A. I know the Apostles were bishops because they could administer the Sacraments of Confirmation and Holy Orders and make laws for the Church, as we learn from Holy Scripture, and these powers belong to bishops alone. <b>Q. 55. Who were the disciples of Our Lord?</b> A. The disciples were the seventy-two chosen followers of Our Lord, whom He sent to preach and perform good works in every city and place whither He Himself was to come. The Apostles also are frequently called “the disciples.” <b>Q. 56. Why did the Apostles leave us a creed?</b> A. The Apostles left us a creed that all who wished to become Christians might have a standard of the truths they must know and believe before receiving Baptism. <b>Q. 57. How many articles or parts in the Apostles’ Creed?</b> A. There are twelve articles or parts in the Apostles’ Creed. They refer to God the Father in the works of creation; to God the Son in the works of redemption; to God the Holy Ghost in the works of sanctification; and each article contradicts one or more false doctrines on these subjects. <b>Q. 58. What does Creation mean?</b> A. To create means to produce out of nothing. God alone has this power, and He alone can be called “Creator.” <b>Q. 59. Had Jesus Christ more than one Father?</b> A. God the Father, the First Person of the Blessed Trinity, is the only real and true Father of Jesus Christ, as the Blessed Virgin is His true Mother. St. Joseph, whom we also call His father, was only His foster-father or guardian upon earth. <b>Q. 60. By what names is Our Lord called?</b> A. Our Lord is called by many names, such as Our Saviour, Our Redeemer, Jesus Christ, Son of God; Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, the Messias, Son of David, Lamb of God and others to be found in the litanies. Each name recalls to our mind some benefit received or prophesy fulfilled. <b>Q. 61. Of what religion was Pontius Pilate?</b> A. Pontius Pilate was a pagan; that is, a worshiper of false gods. <b>Q. 62. Why do we say “died” instead of “was put to death”?</b> A. We say “died” to show that Our Lord gave up His life willingly; for how could He be put to death against His will, who could always restore His life as He did at His resurrection? <b>Q. 63. What is death?</b> A. Death in man is caused by the separation of the soul from the body, for Adam was made a living being by the union of his soul and body. <b>Q. 64. Why do we say of Christ “He was buried”?</b> A. We say that “He was buried” to show that He was really dead. <b>Q. 65. Did “hell” always mean only that state in which the damned are punished?</b> A. The word “hell” was sometimes used to signify the grave or a low place. In the Apostles’ Creed it means Limbo. <b>Q. 66. Is Limbo the same place as Purgatory?</b> A. Limbo is not the same place as Purgatory, because the souls in Purgatory suffer, while those in Limbo do not. <b>Q. 67. Who were in Limbo when Our Lord descended into it?</b> A. There were in Limbo when Our Lord descended into it the souls of all those who died the friends of God, but could not enter heaven till the Ascension of Our Lord. <b>Q. 68. Name some holy persons who died before Christ ascended into heaven.</b> A. Among the holy persons who died before Christ ascended into heaven, we may mention: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, the Prophets, St. Ann, St. John the Baptist, and St. Joseph. <b>Q. 69. What do we mean by “Judge the living and the dead”?</b> A. By the “living” we mean all those who shall be alive upon the earth at the last day, and by the “dead” those who have died before that time. Or the “living” may also mean those who are in a state of grace; and the “dead” those who are in mortal sin. <b>Q. 70. How many branches or parts of the Church are there?</b> A. There are three branches or parts of the Church, called the Church Militant, the Church Suffering, and the Church Triumphant. <b>Q. 71. What do we mean by the “Church Militant”?</b> A. By the “Church Militant” or “fighting Church” we mean all the faithful who are still upon earth struggling for their salvation by warring against their spiritual enemies. <b>Q. 72. What do we mean by the “Church Suffering”?</b> A. By the “Church Suffering” we mean the faithful in Purgatory, who are being purified from the last stains and consequences of their sins. <b>Q. 73. What do we mean by the “Church Triumphant”?</b> A. By the “Church Triumphant” we mean all the faithful now in heaven, rejoicing with God that they have defeated their spiritual enemies and attained their salvation. <b>Q. 74. Explain the “Communion of Saints.”</b> A. The “Communion of Saints” means that the members of the three branches of the Church can help one another. We can assist the souls in Purgatory by our prayers and good works, while the Saints in heaven intercede for us. <b>Q. 75. Does the “Communion of Saints” mean anything else?</b> A. The “Communion of Saints” means also that we all share in the merits of Our Lord and in the superabundant satisfaction of the Blessed Virgin and of the Saints, as well as in the prayers and good works of the Church and of the faithful. <b>Q. 76. Have the Saints their bodies in heaven?</b> A. The Saints have not yet their bodies in heaven, as they will have them after the resurrection on the last day. Our Divine Lord and His blessed Mother are the only persons whose bodies are now in heaven. <b>Q. 77. Are there Saints in heaven whose names we do not know?</b> A. There are many Saints in heaven whose names we do not know, because all who are admitted into heaven are truly Saints. <b>Q. 78. To whom do we usually give the name of “Saints”?</b> A. We usually apply the name of “Saints” to those only whom the Church has Canonized. <b>Q. 79. What is the Canonization of a Saint?</b> A. Canonization is a solemn ceremony by which the Church declares that a certain person, now dead, was remarkable for extraordinary holiness while on earth, and is now in heaven worthy of our veneration. <b>Q. 80. How does the Canonization of a Saint take place?</b> A. In the Canonization of a Saint (1) the accounts of the person’s holy life, heroic virtue, and miracles are collected and sent to the Holy See; (2) those accounts are examined by the Holy Father or his cardinals, and, if found to be true and sufficient, (3) the Saint is Canonized or perhaps only beatified. <b>Q. 81. What is the difference between the honors conferred on a person by beatification and Canonization?</b> A. Beatification limits the honor to be given to the beatified by restricting it to certain places or persons; whereas Canonization is the highest honor and permits all to venerate the Saint everywhere. <b>Q. 82. Why does the Church Canonize Saints?</b> A. The Church Canonizes Saints (1) to honor them, and (2) to make us certain that they are in heaven, and may, therefore, be invoked in our prayers. <b>Q. 83. Can the Church err in the Canonization of a Saint?</b> A. The Church cannot err in matters of faith or morals, and the Canonization of a Saint is a matter of faith and morals. <b>Q. 84. What is the difference between a Saint and an Angel?</b> A. The Saints lived upon the earth in bodies like our own. The Angels never inhabited the earth, though they visit it and remain for a time with us. They have not now and never will have bodies. <b>Q. 85. Through what means may we obtain the “forgiveness of sins”?</b> A. We may obtain the “forgiveness of sins” especially through the Sacraments of Baptism and Penance. <b>Q. 86. What do we mean by the “resurrection of the body”?</b> A. By the “resurrection of the body” we mean that the bodies of the dead shall be restored to life, rise again on the last day, and be united to the souls from which they were separated by death. <b>Q. 87. How is the resurrection possible when the bodies are reduced to ashes and mingled with the soil?</b> A. The resurrection is possible to God, who can do all things, and who, having created the bodies out of nothing in the beginning, can easily collect and put together their scattered parts by an act of His all-powerful will. <b>Q. 88. What does “life everlasting” mean?</b> A. “Life everlasting” means endless happiness in heaven; as endless misery in hell may be called “everlasting death.” <b>Q. 89. Is the Apostles’ Creed an act of faith?</b> A. The Apostles’ Creed is an act of faith, because by it we profess our belief in the truths it contains. <b>THE CONFITEOR.</b><br><b>Q. 90. Say the Confiteor and verses after it.</b> A. I confess to Almighty God, to blessed Mary, ever Virgin, to blessed Michael the Archangel, to blessed John the Baptist, to the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and to all the Saints, that I have sinned exceedingly in thought, word and deed, through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault. Therefore, I beseech blessed Mary, ever Virgin, blessed Michael the Archangel, blessed John the Baptist, the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and all the Saints, to pray to the Lord our God for me. May the Almighty God have mercy on me, and forgive me my sins, and bring me to ever-lasting life. Amen. May the Almighty and merciful Lord grant me pardon, absolution, and remission of all my sins. Amen. <b>Q. 91. What does “Confiteor” mean?</b> A. “Confiteor” is the first word of this prayer in Latin, and means “I Confess.” <b>Q. 92. How is the Confiteor divided?</b> A. The Confiteor is divided into two parts. In the first part we acknowledge our sins in the presence of God and of His Saints and Angels. In the second part we beg the Saints and Angels to aid us in obtaining forgiveness. <b>Q. 93. What should we bear in mind in saying any prayer, and especially the Confiteor?</b> A. While saying any prayer, and especially the Confiteor, we should bear in mind that we are in the presence of God, and of His Saints and Angels, who see us and hear us, though we can not see or hear them. <b>AN ACT OF FAITH.</b><br><b>Q. 94. Say the Act of Faith.</b> A. O my God! I firmly believe that Thou art one God in three Divine persons, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; I believe that Thy Divine Son became man, and died for our sins, and that He will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe these and all the truths which the Holy Catholic Church teaches, because Thou hast revealed them, who canst neither deceive nor be deceived. <b>Q. 95. Give the substance of an Act of Faith.</b> A. The substance of an Act of Faith is: I believe all that God has revealed and the Catholic Church teaches. <b>Q. 96. Why do we find Acts of Faith of different lengths?</b> A. We find Acts of Faith of different lengths, because some state more fully than others what God has revealed and the Church teaches. <b>AN ACT OF HOPE.</b><br><b>Q. 97. Say the Act of Hope.</b> A. O my God! relying on Thy infinite goodness and promises, I hope to obtain pardon of my sins, the help of Thy grace, and life ever-lasting, through the merits of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Redeemer. <b>Q. 98. Give the substance of an Act of Hope.</b> A. The substance of an Act of Hope is: I hope for heaven and the means to obtain it. <b>AN ACT OF LOVE.</b><br><b>Q. 99. Say the Act of Love.</b> A. O my God! I love Thee above all things, with my whole heart and soul, because Thou art all-good and worthy of all love. I love my neighbor as myself for the love of Thee. I forgive all who have injured me, and ask pardon of all whom I have injured. <b>Q. 100. Give the substance of an Act of Love.</b> A. The substance of an Act of Love is: I love God above all things for His own sake, and my neighbor as myself for the love of God. <b>Q. 101. How do we show that we love God above all things?</b> A. We show that we love God above all things by keeping His commandments and by never offending Him for any person or thing. <b>Q. 102. What does loving your neighbor as yourself mean?</b> A. Loving my neighbor as myself does not mean that I must love him as much as myself; but that I must love him with the same kind of love, that is, I must never do to my neighbor what I would not wish my neighbor to do to me; but, on the contrary, do unto others as I would have others do unto me. <b>Q. 103. Do an “Act of Love” and an “Act of Charity” mean the same thing?</b> A. An “Act of Love” and “Act of Charity” do mean the same thing, because Charity means love, or it means an act of kindness that comes from love. <b>Q. 104. How may all persons show Charity to their neighbor?</b> A. All persons may show Charity to their neighbor by never injuring his character and by always speaking well of him. <b>Q. 105. Are we bound to make Acts of Faith, Hope and Love?</b> A. We are bound from time to time during our lives to make Acts of Faith, Hope and Love; otherwise we risk our salvation. <b>AN ACT OF CONTRITION.</b><br><b>Q. 106. What does “Contrition” mean?</b> A. “Contrition” means a state of grief or deep sorrow for our sins. <b>Q. 107. Say the Act of Contrition.</b> A. O my God! I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all my sins, because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell, but most of all because they offend Thee, my God, who art all-good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace, to confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life. <b>Q. 108. Give the substance of an Act of Contrition.</b> A. The substance of an Act of Contrition is: I am sorry for my sins, because they have offended God, and I will never sin again. <b>Q. 109. Why do we find Acts of Hope, Love, and Contrition of different lengths?</b> A. We find Acts of Hope, Love, and Contrition of different lengths, because some explain more fully than others what we hope for, why we love God and why we are sorry for our sins. <b>THE BLESSINGS WITH MEALS.</b><br><b>Q. 110. Say the Blessing before Meals.</b> A. Bless us, O Lord! and these Thy gifts, which we are about to receive from Thy bounty, through Christ Our Lord. Amen. <b>Q. 111. Say the Grace after Meals.</b> A. We give Thee thanks for all Thy benefits, O Almighty God, who livest and reignest for ever; and may the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen. <b>Q. 112. What does “Grace” at meals mean?</b> A. “Grace” at meals means the thanks we offer God for the food we are about to receive or have just taken. <b>Q. 113. Why should we say “Grace” at meals.</b> A. We should say “Grace” at meals to show our gratitude to God, who has given us all we possess and daily supplies our wants. <b>Q. 114. Is it wrong to despise or waste our food?</b> A. It is wrong to despise or waste our food, because we thereby slight the goodness of God, who owes us nothing. <b>Q. 115. Is it a sin to neglect “Grace” at meals?</b> A. It is not a sin to neglect “Grace” at meals, but only a mark of our ingratitude; for if we are to thank God for all His gifts we should do so especially at the time they are given. <b>THE MANNER IN WHICH A LAY PERSON IS TO BAPTIZE IN CASE OF NECESSITY.</b><br><b>Q. 116. What do you mean here by a “lay person”?</b> A. By a “lay person” I mean here any one who is not a priest. All such persons and those not dedicated to the service of the Altar, taken together, are called the “laity,” as all those who have received sacred orders or who are dedicated to the service of the Altar, taken together, are called the “clergy.” <b>Q. 117. What is meant by “in case of necessity?”</b> A. In “case of necessity” means here that a person not baptized is in danger of death and there is no priest present to administer the Sacrament. <b>Q. 118. How is Baptism given by a “lay person”?</b> A. Whoever baptizes must: Pour common water on the head or face of the person to be baptized, and say while pouring it: “I baptize thee, in the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” <b>Q. 119. What else is to be observed?</b> A. In baptizing: (1) The water must touch the skin and flow; (2) the same person who pours the water must say the words; (3) parents should not baptize their own children, if there be any other person present who knows how to baptize; (4) a man, if he be present and knows how to administer the Sacrament, should baptize in preference to a woman; (5) the person baptizing must have the intention of doing what the Church does; (6) he must not repeat the baptism after giving it once correctly. <b>Q. 120. What is this baptism called?</b> A. The baptism given in case of necessity is called private baptism to distinguish it from solemn baptism, which is given in the church with all the ceremonies proper to it. <b>Q. 121. What do you mean by either sex?</b> A. “Either sex” means man or woman; boy or girl; any person competent to baptize. <b>Q. 122. When may we say one “has reached the use of reason”?</b> A. We may say one “has reached the use of reason” when he knows the difference between good and bad or right and wrong. Persons acquire this knowledge at about the age of seven years. <b>CATECHISM.</b><br><b>Q. 123. What is a Catechism?</b> A. A Catechism is a book in the form of questions and answers treating of any subject, especially of religion. <b>Q. 124. Of what subject does our Catechism treat?</b> A. Our Catechism treats of religion; that is, of the truths we must believe and of the things we must do to serve God. <b>Q. 125. Why is it important for us to learn the Catechism?</b> A. It is important for us to learn the Catechism because it teaches us how to serve God: and unless we serve God in this world we can not be saved in the next; therefore, our knowledge of the Catechism affects our whole existence. <b>LESSON FIRST. ON THE END OF MAN.</b><br><b>Q. 126. What do we mean by the “end of man”?</b> A. By the “end of man” we mean the purpose for which he was created: namely, to know, love, and serve God. <b>Q. 127. How do you know that man was created for God alone?</b> A. I know that man was created for God alone because everything in the world was created for something more perfect than itself: but there is nothing in the world more perfect than man; therefore, he was created for something outside this world, and since he was not created for the Angels, he must have been created for God. <b>Q. 128. In what respect are all men equal?</b> A. All men are equal in whatever is necessary for their nature and end. They are all composed of a body and soul; they are all created to the image and likeness of God; they are all gifted with understanding and free will; and they have all been created for the same end--God. <b>Q. 129. Do not men differ in many things?</b> A. Men differ in many things, such as learning, wealth, power, etc.; but these things belong to the world and not man’s nature. He came into this world without them and he will leave it without them. Only the consequences of good or evil done in this world will accompany men to the next. <b>Q. 130. Who made the world?</b> A. God made the world. <b>Q. 131. What does “world” mean in this question?</b> A. In this question “world” means the universe; that is, the whole creation; all that we now see or may hereafter see. <b>Q. 132. Who is God?</b> A. God is the Creator of heaven and earth, and of all things. <b>Q. 133. What is man?</b> A. Man is a creature composed of body and soul, and made to the image and likeness of God. <b>Q. 134. Does “man” in the Catechism mean all human beings?</b> A. “Man” in the Catechism means all human beings, either men or women, boys, girls, or children. <b>Q. 135. What is a creature?</b> A. A creature is anything created, whether it has life or not; body or no body. Every being, person, or thing except God Himself may be called a creature. <b>Q. 136. Is this likeness in the body or in the soul?</b> A. This likeness is chiefly in the soul. <b>Q. 137. How is the soul like to God?</b> A. The soul is like to God because it is a spirit that will never die, and has understanding and free will. <b>Q. 138. Is every invisible thing a spirit?</b> A. Every spirit is invisible--which means can not be seen; but every invisible thing is not a spirit. The wind is invisible, and it is not a spirit. <b>Q. 139. Has a spirit any other quality?</b> A. A spirit is also indivisible; that is, it can not be divided into parts, as we divide material things. <b>Q. 140. What do the words “will never die” mean?</b> A. By the words “will never die” we mean that the soul, when once created, will never cease to exist, whatever be its condition in the next world. Hence we say the soul is immortal or gifted with immortality. <b>Q. 141. Why then do we say a soul is dead while in a state of mortal sin?</b> A. We say a soul is dead while in a state of mortal sin, because in that state it is as helpless as a dead body, and can merit nothing for itself. <b>Q. 142. What does our “understanding” mean?</b> A. Our “understanding” means the “gift of reason,” by which man is distinguished from all other animals, and by which he is enabled to think and thus acquire knowledge and regulate his actions. <b>Q. 143. Can we learn all truths by our reason alone?</b> A. We can not learn all truths by our reason alone, for some truths are beyond the power of our reason and must be taught to us by God. <b>Q. 144. What do we call the truths God teaches us?</b> A. Taken together, we call the truths God teaches us revelation, and we call the manner by which He teaches them also revelation. <b>Q. 145. What is “Free Will”?</b> A. “Free Will” is that gift of God by which we are enabled to choose between one thing and another; and to do good or evil in spite of reward or punishment. <b>Q. 146. Have brute animals “understanding” and “free will”?</b> A. Brute animals have not “understanding” and “free will.” They have not “understanding” because they never change their habits or better their condition. They have not “free will” because they never show it in their actions. <b>Q. 147. What gift in animals supplies the place of reason?</b> A. In animals the gift of “instinct” supplies the place of reason in guiding their actions. <b>Q. 148. What is instinct?</b> A. “Instinct” is a gift by which all animals are impelled to follow the laws and habits that God has given to their nature. <b>Q. 149. Have men as well as brutes “instinct”?</b> A. Men have “instinct,” and they show it when placed in sudden danger, when they have not time to use their reason. A falling man instantly grasps for something to support him. <b>Q. 150. Why did God make you?</b> A. God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in the next. <b>Q. 151. Why is it necessary to know God?</b> A. It is necessary to know God because without knowing Him we cannot love Him; and without loving Him we cannot be saved. We should know Him because He is infinitely true; love Him because He is infinitely beautiful; and serve Him because He is infinitely good. <b>Q. 152. Of which must we take more care, our soul or our body?</b> A. We must take more care of our soul than of our body. <b>Q. 153. Why must we take more care of our soul than of our body?</b> A. We must take more care of our soul than of our body, because in losing our soul we lose God and everlasting happiness. <b>Q. 154. What must we do to save our souls?</b> A. To save our souls, we must worship God by faith, hope, and charity; that is, we must believe in Him, hope in Him, and love Him with all our heart. <b>Q. 155. What does “worship” mean?</b> A. “Worship” means to give divine honor by acts such as the offering of prayer or sacrifice. <b>Q. 156. How shall we know the things which we are to believe?</b> A. We shall know the things which we are to believe from the Catholic Church, through which God speaks to us. <b>Q. 157. What do we mean by the “Church, through which God speaks to us”?</b> A. By the “Church, through which God speaks to us,” we mean the “teaching Church”; that is, the Pope, Bishops, and priests, whose duty it is to instruct us in the truths and practices of our religion. <b>Q. 158. Where shall we find the chief truths which the Church teaches?</b> A. We shall find the chief truths which the Church teaches in the Apostles’ Creed. <b>Q. 159. If we shall find only the “chief truths” in the Apostles’ Creed, where shall we find the remaining truths?</b> A. We shall find the remaining truths of our Faith in the religious writings and preachings that have been sanctioned by the authority of the Church. <b>Q. 160. Name some sacred truths not mentioned in the Apostles’ Creed.</b> A. In the Apostles’ Creed there is no mention of the Real Presence of Our Lord in the Holy Eucharist, nor of the Infallibility of the Pope, nor of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, nor of some other truths that we are bound to believe. <b>Q. 161. Say the Apostles’ Creed.</b> A. I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified; died, and was buried. He descended into hell: the third day He arose again from the dead: He ascended into heaven, sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty: from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. <b>LESSON SECOND. ON GOD AND HIS PERFECTIONS.</b><br><b>Q. 162. What is a perfection?</b> A. A perfection is any good quality a thing should have. A thing is perfect when it has all the good qualities it should have. <b>Q. 163. What is God?</b> A. God is a spirit infinitely perfect. <b>Q. 164. What do we mean when we say God is “infinitely perfect”?</b> A. When we say God is “infinitely perfect” we mean there is no limit or bounds to His perfection; for He possesses all good qualities in the highest possible degree and He alone is “infinitely perfect.” <b>Q. 165. Had God a beginning?</b> A. God had no beginning; He always was and He always will be. <b>Q. 166. Where is God?</b> A. God is everywhere. <b>Q. 167. How is God everywhere?</b> A. God is everywhere whole and entire as He is in any one place. This is true and we must believe it, though we cannot understand it. <b>Q. 168. If God is everywhere, why do we not see Him?</b> A. We do not see God, because He is a pure spirit and cannot be seen with bodily eyes. <b>Q. 169. Why do we call God a “pure spirit”?</b> A. We call God a pure spirit because He has no body. Our soul is a spirit, but not a “pure” spirit, because it was created for union with our body. <b>Q. 170. Why can we not see God with the eyes of our body?</b> A. We cannot see God with the eyes of our body because they are created to see only material things, and God is not material but spiritual. <b>Q. 171. Does God see us?</b> A. God sees us and watches over us. <b>Q. 172. Is it necessary for God to watch over us?</b> A. It is necessary for God to watch over us, for without His constant care we could not exist. <b>Q. 173. Does God know all things?</b> A. God knows all things, even our most secret thoughts, words, and actions. <b>Q. 174. Can God do all things?</b> A. God can do all things, and nothing is hard or impossible to Him. <b>Q. 175. When is a thing said to be “impossible”?</b> A. A thing is said to be “impossible” when it cannot be done. Many things that are impossible for creatures are possible for God. <b>Q. 176. Is God just, holy, and merciful?</b> A. God is all just, all holy, all merciful, as He is infinitely perfect. <b>Q. 177. Why must God be “just” as well as “merciful”?</b> A. God must be just as well as merciful because He must fulfill His promise to punish those who merit punishment, and because He cannot be infinite in one perfection without being infinite in all. <b>Q. 178. Into what sins will the forgetfulness of God’s justice lead us?</b> A. The forgetfulness of God’s justice will lead us into sins of presumption. <b>Q. 179. Into what sins will the forgetfulness of God’s mercy lead us?</b> A. The forgetfulness of God’s mercy will lead us into sins of despair. <b>LESSON THIRD. ON THE UNITY AND TRINITY OF GOD.</b><br><b>Q. 180. What does “unity,” and what does “trinity” mean?</b> A. “Unity” means being one, and “trinity” means three-fold or three in one. <b>Q. 181. Can we find an example to fully illustrate the mystery of the Blessed Trinity?</b> A. We cannot find an example to fully illustrate the mystery of the Blessed Trinity, because the mysteries of our holy religion are beyond comparison. <b>Q. 182. Is there but one God?</b> A. Yes; there is but one God. <b>Q. 183. Why can there be but one God?</b> A. There can be but one God because God, being supreme and infinite, cannot have an equal. <b>Q. 184. What does “supreme” mean?</b> A. “Supreme” means the highest in authority; also the most excellent or greatest possible in anything. Thus in all things God is supreme, and in the Church the Pope is supreme. <b>Q. 185. When are two persons said to be equal?</b> A. Two persons are said to be equal when one is in no way greater than or inferior to the other. <b>Q. 186. How many persons are there in God?</b> A. In God there are three Divine persons, really distinct, and equal in all things--the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. <b>Q. 187. What do “divine” and “distinct” mean?</b> A. “Divine” means pertaining to God, and “distinct” means separate; that is, not confounded or mixed with any other thing. <b>Q. 188. Is the Father God?</b> A. The Father is God and the first Person of the Blessed Trinity. <b>Q. 189. Is the Son God?</b> A. The Son is God and the second Person of the Blessed Trinity. <b>Q. 190. Is the Holy Ghost God?</b> A. The Holy Ghost is God and the third Person of the Blessed Trinity. <b>Q. 191. Do “first,” “second,” and “third” with regard to the persons of the Blessed Trinity mean that one person existed before the other or that one is greater than the other?</b> A. “First,” “second,” and “third” with regard to the persons of the Blessed Trinity do not mean that one person was before the other or that one is greater than the other; for all the persons of the Trinity are eternal and equal in every respect. These numbers are used to mark the distinction between the persons, and they show the order in which the one proceeded from the other. <b>Q. 192. What do you mean by the Blessed Trinity?</b> A. By the Blessed Trinity I mean one God in three Divine Persons. <b>Q. 193. Are the three Divine Persons equal in all things?</b> A. The three Divine Persons are equal in all things. <b>Q. 194. Are the three Divine Persons one and the same God?</b> A. The three Divine Persons are one and the same God, having one and the same Divine nature and substance. <b>Q. 195. What do we mean by the “nature” and “substance” of a thing?</b> A. By the “nature” of a thing we mean the combination of all the qualities that make the thing what it is. By the “substance” of a thing we mean the part that never changes, and which cannot be changed without destroying the nature of the thing. <b>Q. 196. Can we fully understand how the three Divine Persons are one and the same God?</b> A. We cannot fully understand how the three Divine Persons are one and the same God, because this is a mystery. <b>Q. 197. What is a mystery?</b> A. A mystery is a truth which we cannot fully understand. <b>Q. 198. Is every truth which we cannot understand a mystery?</b> A. Every truth which we cannot understand is not a mystery; but every revealed truth which no one can understand is a mystery. <b>Q. 199. Should we believe truths which we cannot understand?</b> A. We should and often do believe truths which we cannot understand when we have proof of their existence. <b>Q. 200. Give an example of truths which all believe, though many do not understand them.</b> A. All believe that the earth is round and moving, though many do not understand it. All believe that a seed planted in the ground will produce a flower or tree often with more than a thousand other seeds equal to itself, though many cannot understand how this is done. <b>Q. 201. Why must a divine religion have mysteries?</b> A. A divine religion must have mysteries because it must have supernatural truths and God Himself must teach them. A religion that has only natural truths, such as man can know by reason alone, fully understand and teach, is only a human religion. <b>Q. 202. Why does God require us to believe mysteries?</b> A. God requires us to believe mysteries that we may submit our understanding to Him. <b>Q. 203. By what form of prayer do we praise the Holy Trinity?</b> A. We praise the Holy Trinity by a form of prayer called the Doxology, which has come down to us almost from the time of the Apostles. <b>Q. 204. Say the Doxology.</b> A. The Doxology is: “Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.” <b>Q. 205. Is there any other form of the Doxology?</b> A. There is another form of the Doxology, which is said in the celebration of the Mass. It is called the “Gloria in excelsis” or “Glory be to God on high,” &c., the words sung by the Angels at the birth of Our Lord. <b>LESSON FOURTH. ON CREATION.</b><br><b>Q. 206. What is the difference between making and creating?</b> A. “Making” means bringing forth or forming out of some material already existing, as workmen do. “Creating” means bringing forth out of nothing, as God alone can do. <b>Q. 207. Has everything that exists been created?</b> A. Everything that exists except God Himself has been created. <b>Q. 208. Who created heaven and earth, and all things?</b> A. God created heaven and earth, and all things. <b>Q. 209. From what do we learn that God created heaven and earth and all things?</b> A. We learn that God created heaven and earth and all things from the Bible or Holy Scripture, in which the account of the Creation is given. <b>Q. 210. Why did God create all things?</b> A. God created all things for His own glory and for their or our good. <b>Q. 211. Did God leave all things to themselves after He had created them?</b> A. God did not leave all things to themselves after He had created them; He continues to preserve and govern them. <b>Q. 212. What do we call the care by which God preserves and governs the world and all it contains?</b> A. We call the care by which God preserves and governs the world and all it contains His providence. <b>Q. 213. How did God create heaven and earth?</b> A. God created heaven and earth from nothing by His word only; that is, by a single act of His all-powerful will. <b>Q. 214. Which are the chief creatures of God?</b> A. The chief creatures of God are angels and men. <b>Q. 215. How may God’s creatures on earth be divided?</b> A. God’s creatures on earth may be divided into four classes: (1) Things that exist, as air; (2) Things that exist, grow and live, as plants and trees; (3) Things that exist, grow, live and feel, as animals; (4) Things that exist, grow, live, feel and understand, as man. <b>Q. 216. What are angels?</b> A. Angels are pure spirits without a body, created to adore and enjoy God in heaven. <b>Q. 217. If Angels have no bodies, how could they appear?</b> A. Angels could appear by taking bodies to render themselves visible for a time; just as the Holy Ghost took the form of a dove and the devil took the form of a serpent. <b>Q. 218. Name some persons to whom Angels appeared.</b> A. Angels appeared to the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph; also to Abraham, Lot, Jacob, Tobias and others. <b>Q. 219. Were the angels created for any other purpose?</b> A. The angels were also created to assist before the throne of God and to minister unto Him; they have often been sent as messengers from God to man; and are also appointed our guardians. <b>Q. 220. Are all the Angels equal in dignity?</b> A. All the Angels are not equal in dignity. There are nine choirs or classes mentioned in the Holy Scripture. The highest are called Seraphim and the lowest simply Angels. The Archangels are one class higher than ordinary Angels. <b>Q. 221. Mention some Archangels and tell what they did.</b> A. The Archangel Michael drove Satan out of heaven; the Archangel Gabriel announced to the Blessed Virgin that she was to become the Mother of God. The Archangel Raphael guided and protected Tobias. <b>Q. 222. Were Angels ever sent to punish men?</b> A. Angels were sometimes sent to punish men. An Angel killed 185,000 men in the army of a wicked king who had blasphemed God; an Angel also slew the first-born in the families of the Egyptians who had persecuted God’s people. <b>Q. 223. What do our guardian Angels do for us?</b> A. Our guardian Angels pray for us, protect and guide us, and offer our prayers, good works and desires to God. <b>Q. 224. How do we know that Angels offer our prayers and good works to God?</b> A. We know that Angels offer our prayers and good works to God because it is so stated in Holy Scripture, and Holy Scripture is the Word of God. <b>Q. 225. Why did God appoint guardian Angels if He watches over us Himself?</b> A. God appointed guardian Angels to secure for us their help and prayers, and also to show His great love for us in giving us these special servants and faithful friends. <b>Q. 226. Were the angels, as God created them, good and happy?</b> A. The angels, as God created them, were good and happy. <b>Q. 227. Did all the angels remain good and happy?</b> A. All the angels did not remain good and happy; many of them sinned and were cast into hell, and these are called devils or bad angels. <b>Q. 228. Do we know the number of good and bad Angels?</b> A. We do not know the number of the good or bad Angels, but we know it is very great. <b>Q. 229. What was the devil’s name before he fell, and why was he cast out of heaven?</b> A. Before he fell, Satan, or the devil, was called Lucifer, or light-bearer, a name which indicates great beauty. He was cast out of heaven because through pride he rebelled against God. <b>Q. 230. How do the bad Angels act toward us?</b> A. The bad Angels try by every means to lead us into sin. The efforts they make are called temptations of the devil. <b>Q. 231. Why does the devil tempt us?</b> A. The devil tempts us because he hates goodness, and does not wish us to enjoy the happiness which he himself has lost. <b>Q. 232. Can we by our own power overcome the temptations of the devil?</b> A. We cannot by our own power overcome the temptations of the devil, because the devil is wiser than we are; for, being an Angel, he is more intelligent, and he did not lose his intelligence by falling into sin any more than we do now. Therefore, to overcome his temptations we need the help of God. <b>LESSON FIFTH. ON OUR FIRST PARENTS AND THE FALL.</b><br><b>Q. 233. Who were the first man and woman?</b> A. The first man and woman were Adam and Eve. <b>Q. 234. Are there any persons in the world who are not the descendants of Adam and Eve?</b> A. There are no persons in the world now, and there never have been any, who are not the descendants of Adam and Eve, because the whole human race had but one origin. <b>Q. 235. Do not the differences in color, figure, &c., which we find in distinct races indicate a difference in first parents?</b> A. The differences in color, figure, &c., which we find in distinct races do not indicate a difference in first parents, for these differences have been brought about in the lapse of time by other causes, such as climate, habits, etc. <b>Q. 236. Were Adam and Eve innocent and holy when they came from the hand of God?</b> A. Adam and Eve were innocent and holy when they came from the hand of God. <b>Q. 237. What do we mean by saying Adam and Eve “were innocent” when they came from the hand of God?</b> A. When we say Adam and Eve “were innocent” when they came from the hand of God we mean they were in the state of original justice; that is, they were gifted with every virtue and free from every sin. <b>Q. 238. How was Adam’s body formed?</b> A. God formed Adam’s body out of the clay of the earth and then breathed into it a living soul. <b>Q. 239. How was Eve’s body formed?</b> A. Eve’s body was formed from a rib taken from Adam’s side during a deep sleep which God caused to come upon him. <b>Q. 240. Why did God make Eve from one of Adam’s ribs?</b> A. God made Eve from one of Adam’s ribs to show the close relationship existing between husband and wife in their marriage union which God then instituted. <b>Q. 241. Could man’s body be developed from the body of an inferior animal?</b> A. Man’s body could be developed from the body of an inferior animal if God so willed; but science does not prove that man’s body was thus formed, while revelation teaches that it was formed directly by God from the clay of the earth. <b>Q. 242. Could man’s soul and intelligence be formed by the development of animal life and instinct?</b> A. Man’s soul could not be formed by the development of animal instinct; for, being entirely spiritual, it must be created by God, and it is united to the body as soon as the body is prepared to receive it. <b>Q. 243. Did God give any command to Adam and Eve?</b> A. To try their obedience, God commanded Adam and Eve not to eat of a certain fruit which grew in the garden of Paradise. <b>Q. 244. What was the Garden of Paradise?</b> A. The Garden of Paradise was a large and beautiful place prepared for man’s habitation upon earth. It was supplied with every species of plant and animal and with everything that could contribute to man’s happiness. <b>Q. 245. Where was the Garden of Paradise situated?</b> A. The exact place in which the Garden of Paradise--called also the Garden of Eden--was situated is not known, for the deluge may have so changed the surface of the earth that old landmarks were wiped out. It was probably some place in Asia, not far from the river Euphrates. <b>Q. 246. What was the tree bearing the forbidden fruit called?</b> A. The tree bearing the forbidden fruit was called “the tree of knowledge of good and evil.” <b>Q. 247. Do we know the name of any other tree in the garden?</b> A. We know the name of another tree in the Garden called the “tree of life.” Its fruit kept the bodies of our first parents in a state of perfect health. <b>Q. 248. Which were the chief blessings intended for Adam and Eve had they remained faithful to God?</b> A. The chief blessings intended for Adam and Eve, had they remained faithful to God, were a constant state of happiness in this life and everlasting glory in the next. <b>Q. 249. Did Adam and Eve remain faithful to God?</b> A. Adam and Eve did not remain faithful to God, but broke His command by eating the forbidden fruit. <b>Q. 250. Who was the first to disobey God?</b> A. Eve was the first to disobey God, and she induced Adam to do likewise. <b>Q. 251. How was Eve tempted to sin?</b> A. Eve was tempted to sin by the devil, who came in the form of a serpent and persuaded her to break God’s command. <b>Q. 252. Which were the chief causes that led Eve into sin?</b> A. The chief causes that led Eve into sin were: (1) She went into the danger of sinning by admiring what was forbidden, instead of avoiding it; (2) She did not fly from the temptation at once, but debated about yielding to it. Similar conduct on our part will lead us also into sin. <b>Q. 253. What befell Adam and Eve on account of their sin?</b> A. Adam and Eve, on account of their sin, lost innocence and holiness, and were doomed to sickness and death. <b>Q. 254. What other evils befell Adam and Eve on account of their sin?</b> A. Many other evils befell Adam and Eve on account of their sin. They were driven out of Paradise and condemned to toil. God also ordained that henceforth the earth should yield no crops without cultivation, and that the beasts, man’s former friends, should become his savage enemies. <b>Q. 255. Were we to remain in the Garden of Paradise forever if Adam had not sinned?</b> A. We were not to remain in the Garden of Paradise forever even if Adam had not sinned, but after passing through the years of our probation or trial upon earth we were to be taken, body and soul, into heaven without suffering death. <b>Q. 256. What evil befell us on account of the disobedience of our first parents?</b> A. On account of the disobedience of our first parents, we all share in their sin and punishment, as we should have shared in their happiness if they had remained faithful. <b>Q. 257. Is it not unjust to punish us for the sin of our first parents?</b> A. It is not unjust to punish us for the sin of our first parents, because their punishment consisted in being deprived of a free gift of God; that is, of the gift of original justice to which they had no strict right and which they wilfully forfeited by their act of disobedience. <b>Q. 258. But how did the loss of the gift of original justice leave our first parents and us in mortal sin?</b> A. The loss of the gift of original justice left our first parents and us in mortal sin because it deprived them of the Grace of God, and to be without this gift of Grace which they should have had was to be in mortal sin. As all their children are deprived of the same gift, they, too, come into the world in a state of mortal sin. <b>Q. 259. What other effects followed from the sin of our first parents?</b> A. Our nature was corrupted by the sin of our first parents, which darkened our understanding, weakened our will, and left in us a strong inclination to evil. <b>Q. 260. What do we mean by “our nature was corrupted”?</b> A. When we say “our nature was corrupted” we mean that our whole being, body and soul, was injured in all its parts and powers. <b>Q. 261. Why do we say our understanding was darkened?</b> A. We say our understanding was darkened because even with much learning we have not the clear knowledge, quick perception and retentive memory that Adam had before his fall from grace. <b>Q. 262. Why do we say our will was weakened?</b> A. We say our will was weakened to show that our free will was not entirely taken away by Adam’s sin, and that we have it still in our power to use our free will in doing good or evil. <b>Q. 263. In what does the strong inclination to evil that is left in us consist?</b> A. This strong inclination to evil that is left in us consists in the continual efforts our senses and appetites make to lead our souls into sin. The body is inclined to rebel against the soul, and the soul itself to rebel against God. <b>Q. 264. What is this strong inclination to evil called, and why did God permit it to remain in us?</b> A. This strong inclination to evil is called concupiscence, and God permits it to remain in us that by His grace we may resist it and thus increase our merits. <b>Q. 265. What is the sin called which we inherit from our first parents?</b> A. The sin which we inherit from our first parents is called original sin. <b>Q. 266. Why is this sin called original?</b> A. This sin is called original because it comes down to us from our first parents, and we are brought into the world with its guilt on our soul. <b>Q. 267. Does this corruption of our nature remain in us after original sin is forgiven?</b> A. This corruption of our nature and other punishments remain in us after original sin is forgiven. <b>Q. 268. Was any one ever preserved from original sin?</b> A. The Blessed Virgin Mary, through the merits of her Divine Son, was preserved free from the guilt of original sin, and this privilege is called her Immaculate Conception. <b>Q. 269. Why was the Blessed Virgin preserved from original sin?</b> A. The Blessed Virgin was preserved from original sin because it would not be consistent with the dignity of the Son of God to have His Mother, even for an instant, in the power of the devil and an enemy of God. <b>Q. 270. How could the Blessed Virgin be preserved from sin by her Divine Son, before her Son was born?</b> A. The Blessed Virgin could be preserved from sin by her Divine Son before He was born as man, for He always existed as God and foresaw His own future merits and the dignity of His Mother. He therefore by His future merits provided for her privilege of exemption from original sin. <b>Q. 271. What does the “Immaculate Conception” mean?</b> A. The Immaculate Conception means the Blessed Virgin’s own exclusive privilege of coming into existence, through the merits of Jesus Christ, without the stain of original sin. It does not mean, therefore, her sinless life, perpetual virginity or the miraculous conception of Our Divine Lord by the power of the Holy Ghost. <b>Q. 272. What has always been the belief of the Church concerning this truth?</b> A. The Church has always believed in the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin and to place this truth beyond doubt has declared it an Article of Faith. <b>Q. 273. To what should the thoughts of the Immaculate Conception lead us?</b> A. The thoughts of the Immaculate Conception should lead us to a great love of purity and to a desire of imitating the Blessed Virgin in the practice of that holy virtue. <b>LESSON SIXTH. ON SIN AND ITS KINDS.</b><br><b>Q. 274. How is sin divided?</b> A. (1) Sin is divided into the sin we inherit called original sin, and the sin we commit ourselves, called actual sin. (2) Actual sin is sub-divided into greater sins, called mortal, and lesser sins, called venial. <b>Q. 275. In how many ways may actual sin be committed?</b> A. Actual sin may be committed in two ways: namely, by wilfully doing things forbidden, or by wilfully neglecting things commanded. <b>Q. 276. What is our sin called when we neglect things commanded?</b> A. When we neglect things commanded our sin is called a sin of omission. Such sins as wilfully neglecting to hear Mass on Sundays, or neglecting to go to Confession at least once a year, are sins of omission. <b>Q. 277. Is original sin the only kind of sin?</b> A. Original sin is not the only kind of sin; there is another kind of sin, which we commit ourselves, called actual sin. <b>Q. 278. What is actual sin?</b> A. Actual sin is any wilful thought, word, deed, or omission contrary to the law of God. <b>Q. 279. How many kinds of actual sin are there?</b> A. There are two kinds of actual sin--mortal and venial. <b>Q. 280. What is mortal sin?</b> A. Mortal sin is a grievous offense against the law of God. <b>Q. 281. Why is this sin called mortal?</b> A. This sin is called mortal because it deprives us of spiritual life, which is sanctifying grace, and brings everlasting death and damnation on the soul. <b>Q. 282. How many things are necessary to make a sin mortal?</b> A. To make a sin mortal, three things are necessary: a grievous matter, sufficient reflection, and full consent of the will. <b>Q. 283. What do we mean by “grievous matter” with regard to sin?</b> A. By “grievous matter” with regard to sin we mean that the thought, word or deed by which mortal sin is committed must be either very bad in itself or severely prohibited, and therefore sufficient to make a mortal sin if we deliberately yield to it. <b>Q. 284. What does “sufficient reflection and full consent of the will” mean?</b> A. “Sufficient reflection” means that we must know the thought, word or deed to be sinful at the time we are guilty of it; and “full consent of the will” means that we must fully and wilfully yield to it. <b>Q. 285. What are sins committed without reflection or consent called?</b> A. Sins committed without reflection or consent are called material sins; that is, they would be formal or real sins if we knew their sinfulness at the time we committed them. Thus to eat flesh meat on a day of abstinence without knowing it to be a day of abstinence or without thinking of the prohibition, would be a material sin. <b>Q. 286. Do past material sins become real sins as soon as we discover their sinfulness?</b> A. Past material sins do not become real sins as soon as we discover their sinfulness, unless we again repeat them with full knowledge and consent. <b>Q. 287. How can we know what sins are considered mortal?</b> A. We can know what sins are considered mortal from Holy Scripture; from the teaching of the Church, and from the writings of the Fathers and Doctors of the Church. <b>Q. 288. Why is it wrong to judge others guilty of sin?</b> A. It is wrong to judge others guilty of sin because we cannot know for certain that their sinful act was committed with sufficient reflection and full consent of the will. <b>Q. 289. What sin does he commit who without sufficient reason believes another guilty of sin?</b> A. He who without sufficient reason believes another guilty of sin commits a sin of rash judgment. <b>Q. 290. What is venial sin?</b> A. Venial sin is a slight offense against the law of God in matters of less importance, or in matters of great importance it is an offense committed without sufficient reflection or full consent of the will. <b>Q. 291. Can we always distinguish venial from mortal sin?</b> A. We cannot always distinguish venial from mortal sin, and in such cases we must leave the decision to our confessor. <b>Q. 292. Can slight offenses ever become mortal sins?</b> A. Slight offenses can become mortal sins if we commit them through defiant contempt for God or His law; and also when they are followed by very evil consequences, which we foresee in committing them. <b>Q. 293. Which are the effects of venial sin?</b> A. The effects of venial sin are the lessening of the love of God in our heart, the making us less worthy of His help, and the weakening of the power to resist mortal sin. <b>Q. 294. How can we know a thought, word or deed to be sinful?</b> A. We can know a thought, word or deed to be sinful if it, or the neglect of it, is forbidden by any law of God or of His Church, or if it is opposed to any supernatural virtue. <b>Q. 295. Which are the chief sources of sin?</b> A. The chief sources of sin are seven: Pride, Covetousness, Lust, Anger, Gluttony, Envy, and Sloth, and they are commonly called capital sins. <b>Q. 296. What is pride?</b> A. Pride is an excessive love of our own ability; so that we would rather sinfully disobey than humble ourselves. <b>Q. 297. What effect has pride on our souls?</b> A. Pride begets in our souls sinful ambition, vainglory, presumption and hypocrisy. <b>Q. 298. What is covetousness?</b> A. Covetousness is an excessive desire for worldly things. <b>Q. 299. What effect has covetousness on our souls?</b> A. Covetousness begets in our souls unkindness, dishonesty, deceit and want of charity. <b>Q. 300. What is lust?</b> A. Lust is an excessive desire for the sinful pleasures forbidden by the Sixth Commandment. <b>Q. 301. What effect has lust on our souls?</b> A. Lust begets in our souls a distaste for holy things, a perverted conscience, a hatred for God, and it very frequently leads to a complete loss of faith. <b>Q. 302. What is anger?</b> A. Anger is an excessive emotion of the mind excited against any person or thing, or it is an excessive desire for revenge. <b>Q. 303. What effect has anger on our soul?</b> A. Anger begets in our souls impatience, hatred, irreverence, and too often the habit of cursing. <b>Q. 304. What is gluttony?</b> A. Gluttony is an excessive desire for food or drink. <b>Q. 305. What kind of a sin is drunkenness?</b> A. Drunkenness is a sin of gluttony by which a person deprives himself of the use of his reason by the excessive taking of intoxicating drink. <b>Q. 306. Is drunkenness always a mortal sin?</b> A. Deliberate drunkenness is always a mortal sin if the person be completely deprived of the use of reason by it, but drunkenness that is not intended or desired may be excused from mortal sin. <b>Q. 307. What are the chief effects of habitual drunkenness?</b> A. Habitual drunkenness injures the body, weakens the mind, leads its victim into many vices and exposes him to the danger of dying in a state of mortal sin. <b>Q. 308. What three sins seem to cause most evil in the world?</b> A. Drunkenness, dishonesty and impurity seem to cause most evil in the world, and they are therefore to be carefully avoided at all times. <b>Q. 309. What is envy?</b> A. Envy is a feeling of sorrow at another’s good fortune and joy at the evil which befalls him; as if we ourselves were injured by the good and benefited by the evil that comes to him. <b>Q. 310. What effect has envy on the soul?</b> A. Envy begets in the soul a want of charity for our neighbor and produces a spirit of detraction, back-biting and slander. <b>Q. 311. What is sloth?</b> A. Sloth is a laziness of the mind and body, through which we neglect our duties on account of the labor they require. <b>Q. 312. What effect has sloth upon the soul?</b> A. Sloth begets in the soul a spirit of indifference in our spiritual duties and a disgust for prayer. <b>Q. 313. Why are the seven sources of sin called capital sins?</b> A. The seven sources of sin are called capital sins because they rule over our other sins and are the causes of them. <b>Q. 314. What do we mean by our predominant sin or ruling passion?</b> A. By our predominant sin, or ruling passion, we mean the sin into which we fall most frequently and which we find it hardest to resist. <b>Q. 315. How can we best overcome our sins?</b> A. We can best overcome our sins by guarding against our predominant or ruling sin. <b>Q. 316. Should we give up trying to be good when we seem not to succeed in overcoming our faults?</b> A. We should not give up trying to be good when we seem not to succeed in overcoming our faults, because our efforts to be good will keep us from becoming worse than we are. <b>Q. 317. What virtues are opposed to the seven capital sins?</b> A. Humility is opposed to pride; generosity to covetousness; chastity to lust; meekness to anger; temperance to gluttony; brotherly love to envy, and diligence to sloth. <b>LESSON SEVENTH. ON THE INCARNATION AND REDEMPTION.</b><br><b>Q. 318. What does “incarnation” mean, and what does “redemption” mean?</b> A. “Incarnation” means the act of clothing with flesh. Thus Our Lord clothed His divinity with a human body. “Redemption” means to buy back again. <b>Q. 319. Did God abandon man after he fell into sin?</b> A. God did not abandon man after he fell into sin, but promised him a Redeemer, who was to satisfy for man’s sin and reopen to him the gates of heaven. <b>Q. 320. What do we mean by the “gates of heaven”?</b> A. By the “gates of heaven” we mean the divine power by which God keeps us out of heaven or admits us into it, at His pleasure. <b>Q. 321. Who is the Redeemer?</b> A. Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is the Redeemer of mankind. <b>Q. 322. What does the name “Jesus” signify and how was this name given to Our Lord?</b> A. The name “Jesus” signifies Saviour or Redeemer, and this name was given to Our Lord by an Angel who appeared to Joseph and said: “Mary shall bring forth a Son; and thou shalt call His name Jesus.” <b>Q. 323. What does the name “Christ” signify?</b> A. The name “Christ” means the same as Messias, and signifies Anointed; because, as in the Old Law, Prophets, High Priests and Kings were anointed with oil; so Jesus, the Great Prophet, High Priest and King of the New Law, was anointed as man with the fullness of divine power. <b>Q. 324. How did Christ show and prove His divine power?</b> A. Christ showed and proved His divine power chiefly by His miracles, which are extraordinary works that can be performed only by power received from God, and which have, therefore, His sanction and authority. <b>Q. 325. What, then, did the miracles of Jesus Christ prove?</b> A. The miracles of Jesus Christ proved that whatever He said was true, and that when He declared Himself to be the Son of God He really was what He claimed to be. <b>Q. 326. Could not men have been deceived in the miracles of Christ?</b> A. Men could not have been deceived in the miracles of Christ because they were performed in the most open manner and usually in the presence of great multitudes of people, among whom were many of Christ’s enemies, ever ready to expose any deceit. And if Christ performed no real miracles, how, then, could He have converted the world and have persuaded sinful men to give up what they loved and do the difficult things that the Christian religion imposes? <b>Q. 327. Could not false accounts of these miracles have been written after the death of Our Lord?</b> A. False accounts of these miracles could not have been written after the death of Our Lord; for then neither His friends nor His enemies would have believed them without proof. Moreover, the enemies of Christ did not deny the miracles, but tried to explain them by attributing them to the power of the devil or other causes. Again, the Apostles and the Evangelists who wrote the accounts suffered death to testify their belief in the words and works of Our Lord. <b>Q. 328. Did Jesus Christ die to redeem all men of every age and race without exception?</b> A. Jesus Christ died to redeem all men of every age and race without exception; and every person born into the world should share in His merits, without which no one can be saved. <b>Q. 329. How are the merits of Jesus Christ applied to our souls?</b> A. The merits of Jesus Christ are applied to our souls through the Sacraments, and especially through Baptism and Penance, which restore us to the friendship of God. <b>Q. 330. What do you believe of Jesus Christ?</b> A. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the second Person of the Blessed Trinity, true God and true man. <b>Q. 331. Cannot we also be called the Children of God, and therefore His sons and daughters?</b> A. We can be called the Children of God because He has adopted us by His grace or because He is the Father who has created us; but we are not, therefore, His real Children; whereas, Jesus Christ, His only real and true Son, was neither adopted nor created, but was begotten of His Father from all eternity. <b>Q. 332. Why is Jesus Christ true God?</b> A. Jesus Christ is true God because He is the true and only Son of God the Father. <b>Q. 333. Why is Jesus Christ true man?</b> A. Jesus Christ is true man because He is the Son of the Blessed Virgin Mary and has a body and soul like ours. <b>Q. 334. Who was the foster father or guardian of Our Lord while on earth?</b> A. St. Joseph, the husband of the Blessed Virgin, was the foster-father or guardian of Our Lord while on earth. <b>Q. 335. Is Jesus Christ in heaven as God or as man?</b> A. Since His Ascension Jesus Christ is in heaven both as God and as man. <b>Q. 336. How many natures are there in Jesus Christ?</b> A. In Jesus Christ there are two natures, the nature of God and the nature of man. <b>Q. 337. Is Jesus Christ more than one person?</b> A. No. Jesus Christ is but one Divine Person. <b>Q. 338. From what do we learn that Jesus Christ is but one person?</b> A. We learn that Jesus Christ is but one person from Holy Scripture and from the constant teaching of the Church, which has condemned all those who teach the contrary. <b>Q. 339. Was Jesus Christ always God?</b> A. Jesus Christ was always God, as He is the second person of the Blessed Trinity, equal to His Father from all eternity. <b>Q. 340. Was Jesus Christ always man?</b> A. Jesus Christ was not always man, but became man at the time of His Incarnation. <b>Q. 341. What do you mean by the Incarnation?</b> A. By the Incarnation I mean that the Son of God was made man. <b>Q. 342. How was the Son of God made man?</b> A. The Son of God was conceived and made man by the power of the Holy Ghost, in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary. <b>Q. 343. Is the Blessed Virgin Mary truly the Mother of God?</b> A. The Blessed Virgin Mary is truly the Mother of God, because the same Divine Person who is the Son of God is also the Son of the Blessed Virgin Mary. <b>Q. 344. Did the Son of God become man immediately after the sin of our first parents?</b> A. The Son of God did not become man immediately after the sin of our first parents, but was promised to them as a Redeemer. <b>Q. 345. How many years passed from the time Adam sinned till the time the Redeemer came?</b> A. About 4,000 years passed from the time Adam sinned till the time the Redeemer came. <b>Q. 346. What was the moral condition of the world just before the coming of Our Lord?</b> A. Just before the coming of Our Lord the moral condition of the world was very bad. Idolatry, injustice, cruelty, immorality and horrid vices were common almost everywhere. <b>Q. 347. Why was the coming of the Redeemer so long delayed?</b> A. The coming of the Redeemer was so long delayed that the world--suffering from every misery--might learn the great evil of sin and know that God alone could help fallen man. <b>Q. 348. When was the Redeemer promised to mankind?</b> A. The Redeemer was first promised to mankind in the Garden of Paradise, and often afterward through Abraham and his descendants, the patriarchs, and through numerous prophets. <b>Q. 349. Who were the prophets?</b> A. The prophets were inspired men to whom God revealed the future, that they might with absolute certainty make it known to the people. <b>Q. 350. What did the prophets foretell concerning the Redeemer?</b> A. The prophets, taken together, foretold so accurately all the circumstances of the birth, life, death, resurrection and glory of the Redeemer that no one who carefully studied their writings could fail to recognize Him when He came. <b>Q. 351. Have all these prophecies concerning the Redeemer been fulfilled?</b> A. All the prophecies concerning the Redeemer have been fulfilled in every point by the circumstances of Christ’s birth, life, death, resurrection and glory; and He is, therefore, the Redeemer promised to mankind from the time of Adam. <b>Q. 352. Where shall we find these prophecies concerning the Redeemer?</b> A. We shall find these prophecies concerning the Redeemer in the prophetic books of the Bible or Holy Scripture. <b>Q. 353. If the Redeemer’s coming was so clearly foretold, why did not all recognize Him when He came?</b> A. All did not recognize the Redeemer when He came, because many knew only part of the prophecies; and taking those concerning His glory and omitting those concerning His suffering, they could not understand His life. <b>Q. 354. How could they be saved who lived before the Son of God became man?</b> A. They who lived before the Son of God became man could be saved by believing in a Redeemer to come, and by keeping the Commandments. <b>Q. 355. On what day was the Son of God conceived and made man?</b> A. The Son of God was conceived and made man on Annunciation Day--the day on which the Angel Gabriel announced to the Blessed Virgin Mary that she was to be the Mother of God. <b>Q. 356. On what day was Christ born?</b> A. Christ was born on Christmas Day, in a stable at Bethlehem, over nineteen hundred years ago. <b>Q. 357. Why did the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph go to Bethlehem just before the birth of Our Lord?</b> A. The Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph went to Bethlehem in obedience to the Roman Emperor, who ordered all his subjects to register their names in the towns or cities of their ancestors. Bethlehem was the City of David, the royal ancestor of Mary and Joseph, hence they had to register there. All this was done by the Will of God, that the prophecies concerning the birth of His Divine Son might be fulfilled. <b>Q. 358. Why was Christ born in a stable?</b> A. Christ was born in a stable because Joseph and Mary were poor and strangers in Bethlehem, and without money they could find no other shelter. This was permitted by Our Lord that we might learn a lesson from His great humility. <b>Q. 359. In giving the ancestors or forefathers of Our Lord, why do the Gospels give the ancestors of Joseph, who was only Christ’s foster-father, and not the ancestors of Mary, who was Christ’s real parent?</b> A. In giving the ancestors of Our Lord, the Gospels give the ancestors of Joseph: (1) Because the ancestors of women were not usually recorded by the Jews; and (2) Because Mary and Joseph were members of the same tribe, and had, therefore, the same ancestors; so that, in giving the ancestors of Joseph, the Gospels give also those of Mary; and this was understood by those for whom the Gospels were intended. <b>Q. 360. Had Our Lord any brothers or sisters?</b> A. Our Lord had no brothers or sisters. When the Gospels speak of His brethren they mean only His near relations. His Blessed Mother Mary was always a Virgin as well before and at His birth as after it. <b>Q. 361. Who were among the first to adore the Infant Jesus?</b> A. The shepherds of Bethlehem, to whom His birth was announced by Angels; and the Magi or three wise men, who were guided to His crib by a miraculous star, were among the first to adore the Infant Jesus. We recall the adoration of the Magi on the feast of the Epiphany, which means appearance or manifestation, namely, of Our Saviour. <b>Q. 362. Who sought to kill the Infant Jesus?</b> A. Herod sought to kill the Infant Jesus because he thought the influence of Christ--the new-born King--would deprive him of his throne. <b>Q. 363. How was the Holy Infant rescued from the power of Herod?</b> A. The Holy Infant was rescued from the power of Herod by the flight into Egypt, when St. Joseph--warned by an Angel--fled hastily into that country with Jesus and Mary. <b>Q. 364. How did Herod hope to accomplish his wicked designs?</b> A. Herod hoped to accomplish his wicked designs by murdering all the infants in and near Bethlehem. The day on which we commemorate the death of these first little martyrs, who shed their blood for Christ’s sake, is called the feast of Holy Innocents. <b>Q. 365. How may the years of Christ’s life be divided?</b> A. The years of Christ’s life may be divided into three parts: (1) His childhood, extending from His birth to His twelfth year, when He went with his parents to worship in the Temple of Jerusalem. (2) His hidden life, which extends from His twelfth to His thirtieth year, during which time He dwelt with His parents at Nazareth. (3) His public life, extending from His thirtieth year--or from His baptism by St. John the Baptist to His death; during which time He taught His doctrines and established His Church. <b>Q. 366. Why is Christ’s life thus divided?</b> A. Christ’s life is thus divided to show that all classes find in Him their model. In childhood He gave an example to the young; in His hidden life an example to those who consecrate themselves to the service of God in a religious state; and in His public life an example to all Christians without exception. <b>Q. 367. How long did Christ live on earth?</b> A. Christ lived on earth about thirty-three years, and led a most holy life in poverty and suffering. <b>Q. 368. Why did Christ live so long on earth?</b> A. Christ lived so long on earth to show us the way to heaven by His teachings and example. <b>LESSON EIGHTH. ON OUR LORD’S PASSION, DEATH, RESURRECTION, AND ASCENSION.</b><br><b>Q. 369. What do we mean by Our Lord’s Passion?</b> A. By Our Lord’s Passion we mean His dreadful sufferings from His agony in the garden till the moment of His death. <b>Q. 370. What did Jesus Christ suffer?</b> A. Jesus Christ suffered a bloody sweat, a cruel scourging, was crowned with thorns, and was crucified. <b>Q. 371. When did Our Lord suffer the “bloody sweat”?</b> A. Our Lord suffered the “bloody sweat” while drops of blood came forth from every pore of His body, during His agony in the Garden of Olives, near Jerusalem, where He went to pray on the night His Passion began. <b>Q. 372. Who accompanied Our Lord to the Garden of Olives on the night of His Agony?</b> A. The Apostles Peter, James and John, the same who had witnessed His transfiguration on the mount, accompanied Our Lord to the Garden of Olives, to watch and pray with Him on the night of His agony. <b>Q. 373. What do we mean by the transfiguration of Our Lord?</b> A. By the transfiguration of Our Lord we mean the supernatural change in His appearance when He showed Himself to His Apostles in great glory and brilliancy in which “His face did shine as the sun and His garments became white as snow.” <b>Q. 374. Who were present at the transfiguration?</b> A. There were present at the transfiguration--besides the Apostles Peter, James and John, who witnessed it--the two great and holy men of the Old Law, Moses and Elias, talking with Our Lord. <b>Q. 375. What caused Our Lord’s agony in the garden?</b> A. It is believed Our Lord’s agony in the garden was caused: (1) By his clear knowledge of all He was soon to endure; (2) by the sight of the many offenses committed against His Father by the sins of the whole world; (3) by His knowledge of men’s ingratitude for the blessings of redemption. <b>Q. 376. Why was Christ cruelly scourged?</b> A. Christ was cruelly scourged by Pilate’s orders, that the sight of His bleeding body might move His enemies to spare His life. <b>Q. 377. Why was Christ crowned with thorns?</b> A. Christ was crowned with thorns in mockery because He had said He was a King. <b>Q. 378. Could Christ, if He pleased, have escaped the tortures of His Passion?</b> A. Christ could, if He pleased, have escaped the tortures of His Passion, because He foresaw them and had it in His power to overcome His enemies. <b>Q. 379. Was it necessary for Christ to suffer so much in order to redeem us?</b> A. It was not necessary for Christ to suffer so much in order to redeem us, for the least of His sufferings was more than sufficient to atone for all the sins of mankind. By suffering so much He showed His great love for us. <b>Q. 380. Who betrayed Our Lord?</b> A. Judas, one of His Apostles, betrayed Our Lord, and from His sin we may learn that even the good may become very wicked by the abuse of their free will. <b>Q. 381. How was Christ condemned to death?</b> A. Through the influence of those who hated Him, Christ was condemned to death, after an unjust trial, at which false witnesses were induced to testify against Him. <b>Q. 382. On what day did Christ die?</b> A. Christ died on Good Friday. <b>Q. 383. Why do you call that day “good” on which Christ died so sorrowful a death?</b> A. We call that day good on which Christ died because by His death He showed His great love for man, and purchased for him every blessing. <b>Q. 384. How long was Our Lord hanging on the cross before He died?</b> A. Our Lord was hanging on the Cross about three hours before He died. While thus suffering, His enemies stood around blaspheming and mocking Him. By His death He proved Himself a real mortal man, for He could not die in His divine nature. <b>Q. 385. What do we call the words Christ spoke while hanging on the Cross?</b> A. We call the words Christ spoke while hanging on the Cross “the seven last words of Jesus on the Cross.” They teach us the dispositions we should have at the hour of death. <b>Q. 386. Repeat the seven last words or sayings of Jesus on the Cross.</b> A. The seven last words or sayings of Jesus on the Cross are: (1) “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do,” in which He forgives and prays for His enemies. (2) “Amen, I say to thee, this day thou shalt be with Me in Paradise,” in which He pardons the penitent sinner. (3) “Woman, behold thy Son”--”Behold thy Mother,” in which He gave up what was dearest to Him on earth, and gave us Mary for our Mother. (4) “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” from which we learn the suffering of His mind. (5) “I thirst,” from which we learn the suffering of His body. (6) “All is consummated,” by which He showed the fulfillment of all the prophecies concerning Him and the completion of the work of our redemption. (7) “Father, into Thy hands I commend my spirit,” by which He showed His perfect resignation to the Will of His Eternal Father. <b>Q. 387. What happened at the death of Our Lord?</b> A. At the death of Our Lord there were darkness and earthquake; many holy dead came forth from their graves, and the veil concealing the Holy of Holies, in the Temple of Jerusalem, was torn asunder. <b>Q. 388. What was the Holy of Holies in the temple?</b> A. The Holy of Holies was the sacred part of the Temple, in which the Ark of the Covenant was kept, and where the high priest consulted the Will of God. <b>Q. 389. What was the “Ark of the Covenant”?</b> A. The Ark of the Covenant was a precious box in which were kept the tablets of stone bearing the written Commandments of God, the rod which Aaron changed into a serpent before King Pharao, and a portion of the manna with which the Israelites were miraculously fed in the desert. The Ark of the Covenant was a figure of the Tabernacle in which we keep the Holy Eucharist. <b>Q. 390. Why was the veil of the Temple torn asunder at the death of Christ?</b> A. The veil of the Temple was torn asunder at the death of Christ because at His death the Jewish religion ceased to be the true religion, and God no longer manifested His presence in the Temple. <b>Q. 391. Why did the Jewish religion, which up to the death of Christ had been the true religion, cease at that time to be the true religion?</b> A. The Jewish religion, which, up to the death of Christ, had been the true religion, ceased at that time to be the true religion, because it was only a promise of the redemption and figure of the Christian religion, and when the redemption was accomplished and the Christian religion established by the death of Christ, the promise and the figure were no longer necessary. <b>Q. 392. Were all the laws of the Jewish religion abolished by the establishment of Christianity?</b> A. The moral laws of the Jewish religion were not abolished by the establishment of Christianity, for Christ came not to destroy these laws, but to make them more perfect. Its ceremonial laws were abolished when the Temple of Jerusalem ceased to be the House of God. <b>Q. 393. What do we mean by moral and ceremonial laws?</b> A. By “moral” laws we mean laws regarding good and evil. By “ceremonial” laws we mean laws regulating the manner of worshipping God in Temple or Church. <b>Q. 394. Where did Christ die?</b> A. Christ died on Mount Calvary. <b>Q. 395. Where was Mount Calvary, and what does the name signify?</b> A. Mount Calvary was the place of execution, not far from Jerusalem; and the name signifies the “place of skulls.” <b>Q. 396. How did Christ die?</b> A. Christ was nailed to the Cross, and died on it between two thieves. <b>Q. 397. Why was Our Lord crucified between thieves?</b> A. Our Lord was crucified between thieves that His enemies might thus add to His disgrace by making Him equal to the worst criminals. <b>Q. 398. Why did Christ suffer and die?</b> A. Christ suffered and died for our sins. <b>Q. 399. How was Our Lord’s body buried?</b> A. Our Lord’s body was wrapped in a clean linen cloth and laid in a new sepulchre or tomb cut in a rock, by Joseph of Arimathea and other pious persons who believed in Our Divine Lord. <b>Q. 400. What lessons do we learn from the sufferings and death of Christ?</b> A. From the sufferings and death of Christ we learn the great evil of sin, the hatred God bears to it, and the necessity of satisfying for it. <b>Q. 401. Whither did Christ’s soul go after His death?</b> A. After Christ’s death His soul descended into hell. <b>Q. 402. Did Christ’s soul descend into the hell of the damned?</b> A. The hell into which Christ’s soul descended was not the hell of the dammed, but a place or state of rest called Limbo, where the souls of the just were waiting for Him. <b>Q. 403. Why did Christ descend into Limbo?</b> A. Christ descended into Limbo to preach to the souls who were in prison--that is, to announce to them the joyful tidings of their redemption. <b>Q. 404. Where was Christ’s body while His soul was in Limbo?</b> A. While Christ’s soul was in Limbo His body was in the holy sepulchre. <b>Q. 405. On what day did Christ rise from the dead?</b> A. Christ rose from the dead, glorious and immortal, on Easter Sunday, the third day after His death. <b>Q. 406. Why is the Resurrection the greatest of Christ’s miracles?</b> A. The Resurrection is the greatest of Christ’s miracles because all He taught and did is confirmed by it and depends upon it. He promised to rise from the dead and without the fulfillment of that promise we could not believe in Him. <b>Q. 407. Has any one ever tried to disprove the miracle of the resurrection?</b> A. Unbelievers in Christ have tried to disprove the miracle of the resurrection as they have tried to disprove all His other miracles; but the explanations they give to prove Christ’s miracles false are far more unlikely and harder to believe than the miracles themselves. <b>Q. 408. What do we mean when we say Christ rose “glorious” from the dead?</b> A. When we say Christ rose “glorious” from the dead we mean that His body was in a glorified state; that is, gifted with the qualities of a glorified body. <b>Q. 409. What are the qualities of a glorified body?</b> A. The qualities of a glorified body are: (1) Brilliancy, by which it gives forth light; (2) Agility, by which it moves from place to place as rapidly as an angel; (3) Subtility, by which material things cannot shut it out; (4) Impassibility, by which it is made incapable of suffering. <b>Q. 410. Was Christ three full days in the tomb?</b> A. Christ was not three full days, but only parts of three days in the tomb. <b>Q. 411. How long did Christ stay on earth after His resurrection?</b> A. Christ stayed on earth forty days after His resurrection, to show that He was truly risen from the dead, and to instruct His apostles. <b>Q. 412. Was Christ visible to all and at all times during the forty days He remained on earth after His resurrection?</b> A. Christ was not visible to all nor at all times during the forty days He remained on earth after His resurrection. We know that He appeared to His apostles and others at least nine times, though He may have appeared oftener. <b>Q. 413. How did Christ show that He was truly risen from the dead?</b> A. Christ showed that He was truly risen from the dead by eating and conversing with His Apostles and others to whom He appeared. He showed the wounds in His hands, feet and side, and it was after His resurrection that He gave to His Apostles the power to forgive sins. <b>Q. 414. After Christ had remained forty days on earth, whither did He go?</b> A. After forty days Christ ascended into heaven, and the day on which he ascended into heaven is called Ascension Day. <b>Q. 415. Where did the ascension of Our Lord take place?</b> A. Christ ascended into heaven from Mount Olivet, the place made sacred by His agony on the night before His death. <b>Q. 416. Who were present at the ascension and who ascended with Christ?</b> A. From various parts of Scripture we may conclude there were about 125 persons--though traditions tell us there was a greater number--present at the Ascension. They were the Apostles, the Disciples, the pious women and others who had followed Our Blessed Lord. The souls of the just who were waiting in Limbo for the redemption ascended with Christ. <b>Q. 417. Why is the paschal candle which is lighted on Easter morning extinguished at the Mass on Ascension Day?</b> A. The paschal candle which is lighted on Easter morning signifies Christ’s visible presence on earth, and it is extinguished on Ascension Day to show that He, having fulfilled all the prophecies concerning Himself and having accomplished the work of redemption, has transferred the visible care of His Church to His Apostles and returned in His body to heaven. <b>Q. 418. Where is Christ in heaven?</b> A. In heaven Christ sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. <b>Q. 419. What do you mean by saying that Christ sits at the right hand of God?</b> A. When I say that Christ sits at the right hand of God I mean that Christ as God is equal to His Father in all things, and that as man He is in the highest place in heaven next to God. <b>LESSON NINTH. ON THE HOLY GHOST AND HIS DESCENT UPON THE APOSTLES.</b><br><b>Q. 420. Who is the Holy Ghost?</b> A. The Holy Ghost is the third Person of the Blessed Trinity. <b>Q. 421. Did the Holy Ghost ever appear?</b> A. The Holy Ghost appeared at times under the form of a dove, and again under the form of tongues of fire; for, being a pure spirit without a body, He can take any form. <b>Q. 422. Is the Holy Ghost called by other names?</b> A. The Holy Ghost is called also the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, the Spirit of Truth and other names given in Holy Scripture. <b>Q. 423. From whom does the Holy Ghost proceed?</b> A. The Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and the Son. <b>Q. 424. Is the Holy Ghost equal to the Father and the Son?</b> A. The Holy Ghost is equal to the Father and the Son, being the same Lord and God as they are. <b>Q. 425. On what day did the Holy Ghost come down upon the Apostles?</b> A. The Holy Ghost came down upon the Apostles ten days after the Ascension of our Lord; and the day on which He came down upon the Apostles is called Whitsunday, or Pentecost. <b>Q. 426. Why is the day on which the Holy Ghost came down upon the Apostles called Whitsunday?</b> A. The day on which the Holy Ghost came down upon the Apostles is called Whitsunday or White Sunday, probably because the Christians who were baptized on the eve of Pentecost wore white garments for some time afterward, as a mark of the purity bestowed upon their souls by the Sacrament of Baptism. <b>Q. 427. Why is this feast called also Pentecost?</b> A. This feast is called also Pentecost because Pentecost means the fiftieth; and the Holy Ghost came down upon the Apostles fifty days after the resurrection of Our Lord. <b>Q. 428. How did the Holy Ghost come down upon the Apostles?</b> A. The Holy Ghost came down upon the Apostles in the form of tongues of fire. <b>Q. 429. What did the form of tongues of fire denote?</b> A. The form of tongues of fire denoted the sacred character and divine authority of the preaching and teaching of the Apostles, by whose words and fervor all men were to be converted to the love of God. <b>Q. 430. Who sent the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles?</b> A. Our Lord Jesus Christ sent the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles. <b>Q. 431. Did the Apostles know that the Holy Ghost would come down upon them?</b> A. The Apostles knew that the Holy Ghost would come down upon them; for Christ promised His Apostles that after His Ascension He would send the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of Truth, to teach them all truths and to abide with them forever. <b>Q. 432. Has any one ever denied the existence of the Holy Ghost?</b> A. Some persons have denied the existence of the Holy Ghost; others have denied that He is a real person equal to the Father and the Son; but all these assertions are shown to be false by the words of Holy Scripture and the infallible teaching of the Church. <b>Q. 433. What are the sins against the Holy Ghost which Our Lord said will not be forgiven either in this world or in the next?</b> A. The sins against the Holy Ghost which Our Lord said will not be forgiven either in this world or in the next, are sins committed out of pure malice, and greatly opposed to the mercy of God, and are, therefore, seldom forgiven. <b>Q. 434. Why did Christ send the Holy Ghost?</b> A. Christ sent the Holy Ghost to sanctify His Church, to enlighten and strengthen the Apostles, and to enable them to preach the Gospel. <b>Q. 435. How was the Church sanctified through the coming of the Holy Ghost?</b> A. The Church was sanctified through the coming of the Holy Ghost by receiving those graces which Christ had merited for His ministers, the bishops and priests, and for the souls of all those committed to their care. (Source: Baltimore Catechism #3)
<b>Q. 436. How were the Apostles enlightened through the coming of the Holy Ghost?</b> A. The Apostles were enlightened through the coming of the Holy Ghost by receiving the grace to remember and understand in its true meaning all that Christ had said and done in their presence. <b>Q. 437. How were the Apostles strengthened through the coming of the Holy Ghost?</b> A. The Apostles were strengthened through the coming of the Holy Ghost by receiving the grace to brave every danger, even death itself, in the performance of their sacred duties. <b>Q. 438. What does “Apostle,” and what does “Gospel” mean?</b> A. “Apostle” means a person sent, and “Gospel” means good tidings or news. Hence the name “Gospel” is given to the inspired history of Our Lord’s life and works upon earth. <b>Q. 439. Name the Apostles.</b> A. The Apostles were: Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James, Thaddeus, Simon, and Judas Iscariot, in whose place Mathias was chosen. <b>Q. 440. Was St. Paul an Apostle?</b> A. St. Paul was an Apostle, but as he was not called till after the Ascension of Our Lord he is not numbered among the twelve. He is called the Apostle of the Gentiles; that is, of all those who were not of the Jewish religion or members of the Church of the Old Law. <b>Q. 441. How did St. Paul become an Apostle?</b> A. While on his way to persecute the Christians St. Paul was miraculously converted and called to be an Apostle by Our Lord Himself, who spoke to him. St. Paul was called Saul before his conversion. <b>Q. 442. Who were the Evangelists?</b> A. St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke and St. John are called Evangelists, because they wrote the four Gospels bearing their names, and Evangelia is the Latin name for Gospels. St. Mark and St. Luke were not Apostles, but St. Matthew and St. John were both Apostles and Evangelists. <b>Q. 443. Why did not the Apostles fully understand when Christ Himself taught them?</b> A. The Apostles did not fully understand when Christ Himself taught them because during His stay with them on earth they were only preparing to become Apostles; and their minds were yet filled with many worldly thoughts and desires that were to be removed at the coming of the Holy Ghost. <b>Q. 444. Will the Holy Ghost abide with the Church forever?</b> A. The Holy Ghost will abide with the Church forever, and guide it in the way of holiness and truth. <b>Q. 445. What benefit do we derive from the knowledge that the Holy Ghost will abide with the Church forever?</b> A. From the knowledge that the Holy Ghost will abide with the Church forever we are made certain that the Church can never teach us falsehood, and can never be destroyed by the enemies of Our Faith. <b>Q. 446. What visible power was given to the Apostles through the coming of the Holy Ghost?</b> A. Through the coming of the Holy Ghost the Apostles received the “gift of tongues,” by which they could be understood in every language, though they preached in only one. <b>Q. 447. Why did such wonderful gifts accompany Confirmation, or the coming of the Holy Ghost, in the first ages of the Church?</b> A. Such wonderful gifts accompanied Confirmation in the first ages of the Church to prove the power, truth and divine character of Christianity to those who otherwise might not believe, and to draw the attention of all to the establishment of the Christian Church. <b>Q. 448. Why are these signs not continued everywhere at the present time?</b> A. These signs are not continued everywhere at the present time, because now that the Church is fully established and its divine character and power proved in other ways, such signs are no longer necessary. <b>Q. 449. Were such powers as the “gift of tongues” a part of the Sacrament of Confirmation?</b> A. Such powers as the “gift of tongues” were not a part of the Sacrament of Confirmation, but they were added to it by the Holy Ghost when necessary for the good of the Church. <b>LESSON TENTH. ON THE EFFECTS OF THE REDEMPTION.</b><br><b>Q. 450. What is an effect?</b> A. An effect is that which is caused by something else, as smoke, for example, is an effect of fire. <b>Q. 451. What does redemption mean?</b> A. Redemption means the buying back of a thing that was given away or sold. <b>Q. 452. What did Adam give away by his sin, and what did Our Lord buy back for him and us?</b> A. By his sin Adam gave away all right to God’s promised gifts of grace in this world and of glory in the next, and Our Lord bought back the right that Adam threw away. <b>Q. 453. Which are the chief effects of the Redemption?</b> A. The chief effects of the Redemption are two: The satisfaction of God’s justice by Christ’s sufferings and death, and the gaining of grace for men. <b>Q. 454. Why do we say “chief effects”?</b> A. We say “chief effects” to show that these are the most important but not the only effects of the Redemption--for all the benefits of our holy religion and of its influence upon the world are the effects of the redemption. <b>Q. 455. Why did God’s justice require satisfaction?</b> A. God’s justice required satisfaction because it is infinite and demands reparation for every fault. Man in his state of sin could not make the necessary reparation, so Christ became man and made it for him. <b>Q. 456. What do you mean by grace?</b> A. By grace I mean a supernatural gift of God bestowed on us, through the merits of Jesus Christ, for our salvation. <b>Q. 457. What does “supernatural” mean?</b> A. Supernatural means above or greater than nature. All gifts such as health, learning or the comforts of life, that affect our happiness chiefly in this world, are called natural gifts, and all gifts such as blessings that affect our happiness chiefly in the next world are called supernatural or spiritual gifts. <b>Q. 458. What do you mean by “merit”?</b> A. Merit means the quality of deserving well or ill for our actions. In the question above it means a right to reward for good deeds done. <b>Q. 459. How many kinds of grace are there?</b> A. There are two kinds of grace, sanctifying grace and actual grace. <b>Q. 460. What is the difference between sanctifying grace and actual grace?</b> A. Sanctifying grace remains with us as long as we are not guilty of mortal sin; and hence, it is often called habitual grace; but actual grace comes to us only when we need its help in doing or avoiding an action, and it remains with us only while we are doing or avoiding the action. <b>Q. 461. What is sanctifying grace?</b> A. Sanctifying grace is that grace which makes the soul holy and pleasing to God. <b>Q. 462. What do you call those graces or gifts of God by which we believe in Him, hope in Him, and love Him?</b> A. Those graces or gifts of God by which we believe in Him, and hope in Him, and love Him, are called the Divine virtues of Faith, Hope, and Charity. <b>Q. 463. What do you mean by virtue and vice?</b> A. Virtue is the habit of doing good, and vice is the habit of doing evil. An act, good or bad, does not form a habit; and hence, a virtue or a vice is the result of repeated acts of the same kind. <b>Q. 464. Does habit excuse us from the sins committed through it?</b> A. Habit does not excuse us from the sins committed through it, but rather makes us more guilty by showing how often we must have committed the sin to acquire the habit. If, however, we are seriously trying to overcome a bad habit, and through forgetfulness yield to it, the habit may sometimes excuse us from the sin. <b>Q. 465. What is Faith?</b> A. Faith is a Divine virtue by which we firmly believe the truths which God has revealed. <b>Q. 466. What is Hope?</b> A. Hope is a Divine virtue by which we firmly trust that God will give us eternal life and the means to obtain it. <b>Q. 467. What is Charity?</b> A. Charity is a Divine virtue by which we love God above all things for His own sake, and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God. <b>Q. 468. Why are Faith, Hope and Charity called virtues?</b> A. Faith, Hope and Charity are called virtues because they are not mere acts, but habits by which we always and in all things believe God, hope in Him, and love Him. <b>Q. 469. What kind of virtues are Faith, Hope and Charity?</b> A. Faith, Hope and Charity are called infused theological virtues to distinguish them from the four moral virtues--Prudence, Justice, Fortitude and Temperance. <b>Q. 470. Why do we say the three theological virtues are infused and the four moral virtues acquired?</b> A. We say the three theological virtues are infused; that is, poured into our souls, because they are strictly gifts of God and do not depend upon our efforts to obtain them, while the four moral virtues--Prudence, Justice, Fortitude and Temperance--though also gifts of God, may, as natural virtues, be acquired by our own efforts. <b>Q. 471. Why do we believe God, hope in Him, and love Him?</b> A. We believe God and hope in Him because He is infinitely true and cannot deceive us. We love Him because He is infinitely good and beautiful and worthy of all love. <b>Q. 472. What mortal sins are opposed to Faith?</b> A. Atheism, which is a denial of all revealed truths, and heresy, which is a denial of some revealed truths, and superstition, which is a misuse of religion, are opposed to Faith. <b>Q. 473. Who is our neighbor?</b> A. Every human being capable of salvation of every age, country, race or condition, especially if he needs our help, is our neighbor in the sense of the Catechism. <b>Q. 474. Why should we love our neighbor?</b> A. We should love our neighbor because he is a child of God, redeemed by Jesus Christ, and because he is our brother created to dwell in heaven with us. <b>Q. 475. What is actual grace?</b> A. Actual grace is that help of God which enlightens our mind and moves our will to shun evil and do good. <b>Q. 476. Is grace necessary to salvation?</b> A. Grace is necessary to salvation, because without grace we can do nothing to merit heaven. <b>Q. 477. Can we resist the grace of God?</b> A. We can, and unfortunately often do, resist the grace of God. <b>Q. 478. Is it a sin knowingly to resist the grace of God?</b> A. It is a sin, knowingly, to resist the grace of God, because we thereby insult Him and reject His gifts without which we cannot be saved. <b>Q. 479. Does God give His grace to every one?</b> A. God gives to everyone He creates sufficient grace to save his soul; and if persons do not save their souls, it is because they have not used the grace given. <b>Q. 480. What is the grace of perseverance?</b> A. The grace of perseverance is a particular gift of God which enables us to continue in the state of grace till death. <b>Q. 481. Can we merit the grace of final perseverance or know when we possess it?</b> A. We cannot merit the grace of final perseverance, or know when we possess it, because it depends entirely upon God’s mercy and not upon our actions. To imagine we possess it would lead us into the sin of presumption. <b>Q. 482. Can a person merit any supernatural reward for good deeds performed while he is in mortal sin?</b> A. A person cannot merit any supernatural reward for good deeds performed while he is in mortal sin; nevertheless, God rewards such good deeds by giving the grace of repentance; and, therefore, all persons, even those in mortal sin, should ever strive to do good. <b>Q. 483. Does God reward anything but our good works?</b> A. God rewards our good intention and desire to serve Him, even when our works are not successful. We should make this good intention often during the day, and especially in the morning. <b>LESSON ELEVENTH. ON THE CHURCH.</b><br><b>Q. 484. How was the true religion preserved from Adam till the coming of Christ?</b> A. The true religion was preserved from Adam till the coming of Christ by the patriarchs, prophets and other holy men whom God appointed and inspired to teach His Will and Revelations to the people, and to remind them of the promised Redeemer. <b>Q. 485. Who were the prophets, and what was their chief duty?</b> A. The prophets were men to whom God gave a knowledge of future events connected with religion, that they might foretell them to His people and thus give proof that the message came from God. Their chief duty was to foretell the time, place and circumstances of Our Saviour’s coming into the world, that men might know when and where to look for Him, and might recognize Him when He came. <b>Q. 486. How could they be saved who lived before Christ became man?</b> A. They who lived before Christ became man could be saved by belief in the Redeemer to come and by keeping the Commandments of God. <b>Q. 487. Was the true religion universal before the coming of Christ?</b> A. The true religion was not universal before the coming of Christ. It was confined to one people--the descendants of Abraham. All other nations worshipped false gods. <b>Q. 488. Which are the means instituted by Our Lord to enable men at all times to share in the fruits of the Redemption?</b> A. The means instituted by Our Lord to enable men at all times to share in the fruits of His Redemption are the Church and the Sacraments. <b>Q. 489. What is the Church?</b> A. The Church is the congregation of all those who profess the faith of Christ, partake of the same Sacraments, and are governed by their lawful pastors under one visible Head. <b>Q. 490. How may the members of the Church on earth be divided?</b> A. The members of the Church on earth may be divided into those who teach and those who are taught. Those who teach, namely, the Pope, bishops and priests, are called the Teaching Church, or simply the Church. Those who are taught are called the Believing Church, or simply the faithful. <b>Q. 491. What is the duty of the Teaching Church?</b> A. The duty of the Teaching Church is to continue the work Our Lord began upon earth, namely, to teach revealed truth, to administer the Sacraments and to labor for the salvation of souls. <b>Q. 492. What is the duty of the faithful?</b> A. The duty of the faithful is to learn the revealed truths taught; to receive the Sacraments, and to aid in saving souls by their prayers, good works and alms. <b>Q. 493. What do you mean by “profess the faith of Christ”?</b> A. By “profess the faith of Christ” we mean, believe all the truths and practice the religion He has taught. <b>Q. 494. What do we mean by “lawful pastors”?</b> A. By “lawful pastors” we mean those in the Church who have been appointed by lawful authority and who have, therefore, a right to rule us. The lawful pastors in the Church are: Every priest in his own parish; every bishop in his own diocese, and the Pope in the whole Church. <b>Q. 495. Who is the invisible Head of the Church?</b> A. Jesus Christ is the invisible Head of the Church. <b>Q. 496. Who is the visible Head of the Church?</b> A. Our Holy Father the Pope, the Bishop of Rome, is the Vicar of Christ on earth and the visible Head of the Church. <b>Q. 497. What does “vicar” mean?</b> A. Vicar is a name used in the Church to designate a person who acts in the name and authority of another. Thus a Vicar Apostolic is one who acts in the name of the Pope, and a Vicar General is one who acts in the name of the bishop. <b>Q. 498. Could any one be Pope without being Bishop of Rome?</b> A. One could not be Pope without being Bishop of Rome, and whoever is elected Pope must give up his title to any other diocese and take the title of Bishop of Rome. <b>Q. 499. Why is the Pope, the Bishop of Rome, the visible Head of the Church?</b> A. The Pope, the Bishop of Rome, is the visible Head of the Church because he is the successor of St. Peter, whom Christ made the chief of the Apostles and the visible Head of the Church. <b>Q. 500. Why are Catholics called “Roman”?</b> A. Catholics are called Roman to show that they are in union with the true Church founded by Christ and governed by the Apostles under the direction of St. Peter, by divine appointment the Chief of the Apostles, who founded the Church of Rome and was its first bishop. <b>Q. 501. By what name is a bishop’s diocese sometimes called?</b> A. A bishop’s diocese is sometimes called his see. The diocese of Rome, on account of its authority and dignity, is called the Holy See, and its bishop is called the Holy Father or Pope. Pope means father. <b>Q. 502. What do we call the right by which St. Peter or his successor has always been the head of the Church and of all its bishops?</b> A. We call the right by which St. Peter or his successor has always been the head of the Church, and of all its bishops, the Primacy of St. Peter or of the Pope. Primacy means holding first place. <b>Q. 503. How is it shown that St. Peter or his successor has always been the head of the Church?</b> A. It is shown that St. Peter or his successor has always been the head of the Church: (1) From the words of Holy Scripture, which tell how Christ appointed Peter Chief of the Apostles and head of the Church. (2) From the history of the Church, which shows that Peter and his successors have always acted and have always been recognized as the head of the Church. <b>Q. 504. How do we know that the rights and privileges bestowed on St. Peter were given also to his successors--the Popes?</b> A. We know that the rights and privileges bestowed on St. Peter were given also to his successors, the Popes, because the promises made to St. Peter by Our Lord were to be fulfilled in the Church till the end of time, and as Peter was not to live till the end of time, they are fulfilled in his successors. <b>Q. 505. Did St. Peter establish any Church before he came to Rome?</b> A. Before he came to Rome, St. Peter established a Church at Antioch and ruled over it for several years. <b>Q. 506. Who are the successors of the other Apostles?</b> A. The successors of the other Apostles are the Bishops of the Holy Catholic Church. <b>Q. 507. How do we know that the bishops of the Church are the successors of the Apostles?</b> A. We know that the bishops of the Church are the successors of the Apostles because they continue the work of the Apostles and give proof of the same authority. They have always exercised the rights and powers that belonged to the Apostles in making laws for the Church, in consecrating bishops and ordaining priests. <b>Q. 508. Why did Christ found the Church?</b> A. Christ founded the Church to teach, govern, sanctify, and save all men. <b>Q. 509. Are all bound to belong to the Church?</b> A. All are bound to belong to the Church, and he who knows the Church to be the true Church and remains out of it cannot be saved. <b>Q. 510. Is it ever possible for one to be saved who does not know the Catholic Church to be the true Church?</b> A. It is possible for one to be saved who does not know the Catholic Church to be the true Church, provided that person: (1) has been validly baptized; (2) firmly believes the religion he professes and practices to be the true religion, and (3) dies without the guilt of mortal sin on his soul. <b>Q. 511. Why do we say it is only possible for a person to be saved who does not know the Catholic Church to be the true Church?</b> A. We say it is only possible for a person to be saved who does not know the Catholic Church to be the true Church, because the necessary conditions are not often found, especially that of dying in a state of grace without making use of the Sacrament of Penance. <b>Q. 512. How are such persons said to belong to the Church?</b> A. Such persons are said to belong to the “soul of the church”; that is, they are really members of the Church without knowing it. Those who share in its Sacraments and worship are said to belong to the body or visible part of the Church. <b>Q. 513. Why must the true Church be visible?</b> A. The true Church must be visible because its founder, Jesus Christ, commanded us under pain of condemnation to hear the Church; and He could not in justice command us to hear a Church that could not be seen and known. <b>Q. 514. What excuses do some give for not becoming members of the true Church?</b> A. The excuses some give for not becoming members of the true church are: (1) They do not wish to leave the religion in which they were born; (2) There are too many poor and ignorant people in the Catholic Church; (3) One religion is as good as another if we try to serve God in it, and be upright and honest in our lives. <b>Q. 515. How do you answer such excuses?</b> A. (1) To say that we should remain in a false religion because we were born in it is as untrue as to say we should not heal our bodily diseases because we were born with them; (2) To say there are too many poor and ignorant in the Catholic Church is to declare that it is Christ’s Church; for He always taught the poor and ignorant and instructed His Church to continue the work; (3) To say that one religion is as good as another is to assert that Christ labored uselessly and taught falsely; for He came to abolish the old religion and found the new in which alone we can be saved as He Himself declared. <b>Q. 516. Why can there be only one true religion?</b> A. There can be only one true religion, because a thing cannot be false and true at the same time, and, therefore, all religions that contradict the teaching of the true Church must teach falsehood. If all religions in which men seek to serve God are equally good and true, why did Christ disturb the Jewish religion and the Apostles condemn heretics? <b>LESSON TWELFTH. ON THE ATTRIBUTES AND MARKS OF THE CHURCH.</b><br><b>Q. 517. What is an attribute?</b> A. An attribute is any characteristic or quality that a person or thing may be said to have. All perfections or imperfections are attributes. <b>Q. 518. What is a mark?</b> A. A mark is a given and known sign by which a thing can be distinguished from all others of its kind. Thus a trademark is used to distinguish the article bearing it from all imitations of the same article. <b>Q. 519. How do we know that the Church must have the four marks and three attributes usually ascribed or given to it?</b> A. We know that the Church must have the four marks and three attributes usually ascribed or given to it from the words of Christ given in the Holy Scripture and in the teaching of the Church from its beginning. <b>Q. 520. Can the Church have the four marks without the three attributes?</b> A. The Church cannot have the four marks without the three attributes, because the three attributes necessarily come with the marks and without them the marks could not exist. <b>Q. 521. Why are both marks and attributes necessary in the Church?</b> A. Both marks and attributes are necessary in the Church, for the marks teach us its external or visible qualities, while the attributes teach us its internal or invisible qualities. It is easier to discover the marks than the attributes; for it is easier to see that the Church is one than that it is infallible. <b>Q. 522. Which are the attributes of the Church?</b> A. The attributes of the Church are three: authority, infallibility, and indefectibility. <b>Q. 523. What is authority?</b> A. Authority is the power which one person has over another so as to be able to justly exact obedience. Rulers have authority over their subjects, parents over their children, and teachers over their scholars. <b>Q. 524. From whom must all persons derive whatever lawful authority they possess?</b> A. All persons must derive whatever lawful authority they possess from God Himself, from whom they receive it directly or indirectly. Therefore, to disobey our lawful superiors is to disobey God Himself, and hence such disobedience is always sinful. <b>Q. 525. What do you mean by the authority of the Church?</b> A. By the authority of the Church I mean the right and power which the Pope and the Bishops, as the successors of the Apostles, have to teach and to govern the faithful. <b>Q. 526. What do you mean by the infallibility of the Church?</b> A. By the infallibility of the Church I mean that the Church can not err when it teaches a doctrine of faith or morals. <b>Q. 527. What do we mean by a “doctrine of faith or morals”?</b> A. By a doctrine of faith or morals we mean the revealed teaching that refers to whatever we must believe and do in order to be saved. <b>Q. 528. How do you know that the Church can not err?</b> A. I know that the Church can not err because Christ promised that the Holy Ghost would remain with it forever and save it from error. If, therefore, the Church has erred, the Holy Ghost must have abandoned it and Christ has failed to keep His promise, which is a thing impossible. <b>Q. 529. Since the Church can not err, could it ever be reformed in its teaching of faith or morals?</b> A. Since the Church can not err, it could never be reformed in its teaching of faith or morals. Those who say the Church needed reformation in faith or morals accuse Our Lord of falsehood and deception. <b>Q. 530. When does the Church teach infallibly?</b> A. The Church teaches infallibly when it speaks through the Pope and Bishops united in general council, or through the Pope alone when he proclaims to all the faithful a doctrine of faith or morals. <b>Q. 531. What is necessary that the Pope may speak infallibly or ex-cathedra?</b> A. That the Pope may speak infallibly, or ex-cathedra, (1) He must speak on a subject of faith or morals; (2) He must speak as the Vicar of Christ and to the whole Church; (3) He must indicate by certain words, such as, we define, we proclaim, &c., that he intends to speak infallibly. <b>Q. 532. Is the Pope infallible in everything he says and does?</b> A. The Pope is not infallible in everything he says and does, because the Holy Ghost was not promised to make him infallible in everything, but only in matters of faith and morals for the whole Church. Nevertheless, the Pope’s opinion on any subject deserves our greatest respect on account of his learning, experience and dignity. <b>Q. 533. Can the Pope commit sin?</b> A. The Pope can commit sin and he must seek forgiveness in the Sacrament of Penance as others do. Infallibility does not prevent him from sinning, but from teaching falsehood when he speaks ex-cathedra. <b>Q. 534. What does ex-cathedra mean?</b> A. “Cathedra” means a seat, and “ex” means out of. Therefore, ex-cathedra means speaking from the seat or official place held by St. Peter and his successors as the head of the whole Church. <b>Q. 535. Why is the chief Church in a diocese called a Cathedral?</b> A. The chief Church in a diocese is called a Cathedral because the bishop’s cathedra, that is, his seat or throne, is erected in it, and because he celebrates all important feasts and performs all his special duties in it. <b>Q. 536. How many Popes have governed the Church from St. Peter to Pius XI.?</b> A. From St. Peter to Pius XI., 261 Popes have governed the Church; and many of them have been remarkable for their zeal, prudence, learning and sanctity. <b>Q. 537. What does anti-pope mean, and who were the anti-popes?</b> A. Anti-pope means a pretended pope. The anti-popes were men who by the aid of faithless Christians or others unlawfully seized and claimed the papal power while the lawful pope was in prison or exile. <b>Q. 538. Why must the Pope sometimes warn us on political and other matters?</b> A. The Pope must sometimes warn us on political and other matters, because whatever nations or men do is either good or bad, just or unjust, and wherever the Pope discovers falsehood, wickedness or injustice he must speak against it and defend the truths of faith and morals. He must protect also the temporal rights and property of the Church committed to his care. <b>Q. 539. What do we mean by the “temporal power” of the Pope?</b> A. By the temporal power of the Pope we mean the right which the Pope has as a temporal or ordinary ruler to govern the states and manage the properties that have rightfully come into the possession of the Church. <b>Q. 540. How did the Pope acquire and how was he deprived of the temporal power?</b> A. The Pope acquired the temporal power in a just manner by the consent of those who had a right to bestow it. He was deprived of it in an unjust manner by political changes. <b>Q. 541. How was the temporal power useful to the Church?</b> A. The temporal power was useful to the Church (1) because it gave the Pope the complete independence necessary for the government of the Church and for the defense of truth and virtue. (2) It enabled him to do much for the spread of the true religion by giving alms for the establishment and support of Churches and schools in poor or pagan countries. <b>Q. 542. What name do we give to the offerings made yearly by the faithful for the support of the Pope and the government of the Church?</b> A. We call the offerings made yearly by the faithful for the support of the Pope and government of the Church “Peter’s pence.” It derives its name from the early custom of sending yearly a penny from every house to the successor of St. Peter, as a mark of respect or as an alms for some charity. <b>Q. 543. What do you mean by the indefectibility of the Church?</b> A. By the indefectibility of the Church I mean that the Church, as Christ founded it, will last till the end of time. <b>Q. 544. What is the difference between the infallibility and indefectibility of the Church?</b> A. When we say the Church is infallible we mean that it can never teach error while it lasts; but when we say the Church is indefectible, we mean that it will last forever and be infallible forever; that it will always remain as Our Lord founded it and never change the doctrines He taught. <b>Q. 545. Did Our Lord Himself make all the laws of the Church?</b> A. Our Lord Himself did not make all the laws of the Church. He gave the Church also power to make laws to suit the needs of the times, places or persons as it judged necessary. <b>Q. 546. Can the Church change its laws?</b> A. The Church can, when necessary, change the laws it has itself made, but it cannot change the laws that Christ has made. Neither can the Church change any doctrine of faith or morals. <b>Q. 547. In whom are these attributes found in their fullness?</b> A. These attributes are found in their fullness in the Pope, the visible Head of the Church, whose infallible authority to teach bishops, priests, and people in matters of faith or morals will last to the end of the world. <b>Q. 548. Has the Church any marks by which it may be known?</b> A. The Church has four marks by which it may be known: it is One; it is Holy; it is Catholic; it is Apostolic. <b>Q. 549. How is the Church One?</b> A. The Church is One because all its members agree in one faith, are all in one communion, and are all under one head. <b>Q. 550. How is it evident that the Church is one in government?</b> A. It is evident that the Church is one in government, for the faithful in a parish are subject to their pastors, the pastors are subject to the bishops of their dioceses, and the bishops of the world are subject to the Pope. <b>Q. 551. What is meant by the Hierarchy of the Church?</b> A. By the Hierarchy of the Church is meant the sacred body of clerical rules who govern the Church. <b>Q. 552. How is it evident that the Church is one in worship?</b> A. It is evident that the Church is one in worship because all its members make use of the same sacrifice and receive the same Sacraments. <b>Q. 553. How is it evident that the Church is one in faith?</b> A. It is evident the Church is one in faith because all Catholics throughout the world believe each and every article of faith proposed by the Church. <b>Q. 554. Could a person who denies only one article of our faith be a Catholic?</b> A. A person who denies even one article of our faith could not be a Catholic; for truth is one and we must accept it whole and entire or not at all. <b>Q. 555. Are there any pious beliefs and practices in the Church that are not articles of faith?</b> A. There are many pious beliefs and practices in the Church that are not articles of faith; that is, we are not bound under pain of sin to believe in them; yet we will often find them useful aids to holiness, and hence they are recommended by our pastors. <b>Q. 556. Of what sin are persons guilty who put firm belief in religious or other practices that are either forbidden or useless?</b> A. Persons who put a firm belief in religious or other practices that are forbidden or useless are guilty of the sin of superstition. <b>Q. 557. Where does the Church find the revealed truths it is bound to teach?</b> A. The Church finds the revealed truths it is bound to teach in the Holy Scripture and revealed traditions. <b>Q. 558. What is the Holy Scripture or Bible?</b> A. The Holy Scripture or Bible is the collection of sacred, inspired writings through which God has made known to us many revealed truths. Some call them letters from Heaven to earth, that is, from God to man. <b>Q. 559. What is meant by the Canon of the Sacred Scriptures?</b> A. The Canon of Sacred Scriptures means the list the Church has prepared to teach us what sacred writings are Holy Scripture and contain the inspired word of God. <b>Q. 560. Where does the Church find the revealed traditions?</b> A. The Church finds the revealed traditions in the decrees of its councils; in its books of worship; in its paintings and inscriptions on tombs and monuments; in the lives of its Saints; the writings of its Fathers, and in its own history. <b>Q. 561. Must we ourselves seek in the Scriptures and traditions for what we are to believe?</b> A. We ourselves need not seek in the Scriptures and traditions for what we are to believe. God has appointed the Church to be our guide to salvation and we must accept its teaching us our infallible rule of faith. <b>Q. 562. How do we show that the Holy Scriptures alone could not be our guide to salvation and infallible rule of faith?</b> A. We show that the Holy Scripture alone could not be our guide to salvation and infallible rule of faith: (1) Because all men cannot examine or understand the Holy Scripture; but all can listen to the teaching of the Church; (2) Because the New Testament or Christian part of the Scripture was not written at the beginning of the Church’s existence, and, therefore, could not have been used as the rule of faith by the first Christians; (3) Because there are many things in the Holy Scripture that cannot be understood without the explanation given by tradition, and hence those who take the Scripture alone for their rule of faith are constantly disputing about its meaning and what they are to believe. <b>Q. 563. How is the Church Holy?</b> A. The Church is Holy because its founder, Jesus Christ, is holy; because it teaches a holy doctrine; invites all to a holy life; and because of the eminent holiness of so many thousands of its children. <b>Q. 564. How is the Church Catholic or universal?</b> A. The Church is Catholic or universal because it subsists in all ages, teaches all nations, and maintains all truth. <b>Q. 565. How do you show that the Catholic Church is universal in time, in place, and in doctrine?</b> A. (1) The Catholic Church is universal in time, for from the time of the Apostles to the present it has existed, taught and labored in every age; (2) It is universal in place, for it has taught throughout the whole world; (3) It is universal in doctrine, for it teaches the same everywhere, and its doctrines are suited to all classes of persons. It has converted all the pagan nations that have ever been converted. <b>Q. 566. Why does the Church use the Latin language instead of the national language of its children?</b> A. The Church uses the Latin language instead of the national language of its children: (1) To avoid the danger of changing any part of its teaching in using different languages; (2) That all its rulers may be perfectly united and understood in their communications; (3) To show that the Church is not an institute of any particular nation, but the guide of all nations. <b>Q. 567. How is the Church Apostolic?</b> A. The Church is Apostolic because it was founded by Christ on His Apostles, and is governed by their lawful successors, and because it has never ceased, and never will cease, to teach their doctrine. <b>Q. 568. Does the Church, by defining certain truths, thereby make new doctrines?</b> A. The Church, by defining, that is, by proclaiming certain truths, articles of faith, does not make new doctrines, but simply teaches more clearly and with greater effort truths that have always been believed and held by the Church. <b>Q. 569. What, then, is the use of defining or declaring a truth an article of faith if it has always been believed?</b> A. The use of defining or declaring a truth an article of faith, even when it has always been believed, is: (1) To clearly contradict those who deny it and show their teaching false; (2) To remove all doubt about the exact teaching of the Church, and to put an end to all discussion about the truth defined. <b>Q. 570. In which Church are these attributes and marks found?</b> A. These attributes and marks are found in the Holy Roman Catholic Church alone. <b>Q. 571. How do you show that Protestant Churches have not the marks of the true Church?</b> A. Protestant Churches have not the marks of the true Church, because: (1) They are not one either in government or faith; for they have no chief head, and they profess different beliefs; (2) They are not holy, because their doctrines are founded on error and lead to evil consequences; (3) They are not catholic or universal in time, place or doctrine. They have not existed in all ages nor in all places, and their doctrines do not suit all classes; (4) They are not apostolic, for they were not established for hundreds of years after the Apostles, and they do not teach the doctrines of the Apostles. <b>Q. 572. From whom does the Church derive its undying life and infallible authority?</b> A. The Church derives its undying life and infallible authority from the Holy Ghost, the spirit of truth, who abides with it forever. <b>Q. 573. By whom is the Church made and kept One, Holy, and Catholic?</b> A. The Church is made and kept One, Holy, and Catholic by the Holy Ghost, the spirit of love and holiness, who unites and sanctifies its members throughout the world. <b>LESSON THIRTEENTH. ON THE SACRAMENTS IN GENERAL.</b><br><b>Q. 574. What is a Sacrament?</b> A. A Sacrament is an outward sign instituted by Christ to give grace. <b>Q. 575. Are these three things, namely: An outward or visible sign, the institution of that sign by Christ, and the giving of grace through the use of that sign, always necessary for the existence of a Sacrament?</b> A. These three things, namely: An outward or visible sign, the institution of that sign by Christ, and the giving of grace through the use of that sign, are always necessary for the existence of a Sacrament, and if any of the three be wanting there can be no Sacrament. <b>Q. 576. Why does the Church use numerous ceremonies or actions in applying the outward signs of the Sacraments?</b> A. The Church uses numerous ceremonies or actions in applying the outward signs of the Sacraments to increase our reverence and devotion for the Sacraments, and to explain their meaning and effects. <b>Q. 577. How many Sacraments are there?</b> A. There are seven Sacraments: Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unction, Holy Orders, and Matrimony. <b>Q. 578. Were all the Sacraments instituted by Our Lord?</b> A. All the Sacraments were instituted by Our Lord, for God alone has power to attach the gift of grace to the use of an outward or visible sign. The Church, however, can institute the ceremonies to be used in administering or giving the Sacraments. <b>Q. 579. How do we know there are seven Sacraments and no more or less?</b> A. We know there are seven Sacraments and no more or less because the Church always taught that truth. The number of the Sacraments is a matter of faith, and the Church cannot be mistaken in matters of faith. <b>Q. 580. Why have the Sacraments been instituted?</b> A. The Sacraments have been instituted as a special means through which we are to receive the grace merited for us by Christ. As Christ is the giver of the grace, He has the right to determine the manner in which it shall be given, and one who refuses to make use of the Sacraments will not receive God’s grace. <b>Q. 581. Do the Sacraments recall in any way the means by which Our Lord merited the graces we receive through them?</b> A. The Sacraments recall in many ways the means by which Our Lord merited the graces we receive through them. Baptism recalls His profound humility; Confirmation His ceaseless prayer; Holy Eucharist His care of the needy; Penance His mortified life; Extreme Unction His model death; Holy Orders His establishment of the priesthood, and Matrimony His close union with the Church. <b>Q. 582. Give, for example, the outward sign in Baptism and Confirmation.</b> A. The outward sign in Baptism is the pouring of the water and the saying of the words of Baptism. The outward sign in Confirmation is the anointing with oil, the saying of the words of Confirmation and the placing of the bishop’s hands over the person he confirms. <b>Q. 583. What is the use of the outward signs in the Sacraments?</b> A. Without the outward signs in the Sacraments we could not know when or with what effect the grace of the Sacraments enters into our souls. <b>Q. 584. Does the outward sign merely indicate that grace has been given, or does the use of the outward sign with the proper intention also give the grace of the Sacrament?</b> A. The outward sign is not used merely to indicate that grace has been given, for the use of the outward sign with the proper intention also gives the grace of the Sacrament. Hence the right application of the outward sign is always followed by the gift of internal grace if the Sacrament be administered with the right intention and received with the right dispositions. <b>Q. 585. What do we mean by the “right intention” for the administration of the Sacraments?</b> A. By the right intention for the administration of the Sacraments we mean that whoever administers a Sacrament must have the intention of doing what Christ intended when He instituted the Sacrament and what the Church intends when it administers the Sacrament. <b>Q. 586. Is there any likeness between the thing used in the outward sign and the grace given in each Sacrament?</b> A. There is a great likeness between the thing used in the outward sign and the grace given in each Sacrament; thus water is used for cleansing; Baptism cleanses the soul; Oil gives strength and light; Confirmation strengthens and enlightens the soul; Bread and wine nourish; the Holy Eucharist nourishes the soul. <b>Q. 587. What do we mean by the “matter and form” of the Sacraments?</b> A. By the “matter” of the Sacraments we mean the visible things, such as water, oil, bread, wine, &c., used for the Sacraments. By the “form” we mean the words, such as “I baptize thee,” “I confirm thee,” &c., used in giving or administering the Sacraments. <b>Q. 588. Do the needs of the soul resemble the needs of the body?</b> A. The needs of the soul do resemble the needs of the body; for the body must be born, strengthened, nourished, healed in affliction, helped at the hour of death, guided by authority, and given a place in which to dwell. The soul is brought into spiritual life by Baptism; it is strengthened by Confirmation; nourished by the Holy Eucharist; healed by Penance; helped at the hour of our death by Extreme Unction; guided by God’s ministers through the Sacrament of Holy Orders, and it is given a body in which to dwell by the Sacrament of Matrimony. <b>Q. 589. Whence have the Sacraments the power of giving grace?</b> A. The Sacraments have the power of giving grace from the merits of Jesus Christ. <b>Q. 590. Does the effect of the Sacraments depend on the worthiness or unworthiness of the one who administers them?</b> A. The effect of the Sacraments does not depend on the worthiness or unworthiness of the one who administers them, but on the merits of Jesus Christ, who instituted them, and on the worthy dispositions of those who receive them. <b>Q. 591. What grace do the Sacraments give?</b> A. Some of the Sacraments give sanctifying grace, and others increase it in our souls. <b>Q. 592. When is a Sacrament said to give, and when is it said to increase, grace in our souls?</b> A. A Sacrament is said to give grace when there is no grace whatever in the soul, or in other words, when the soul is in mortal sin. A Sacrament is said to increase grace when there is already grace in the soul, to which more is added by the Sacrament received. <b>Q. 593. Which are the Sacraments that give sanctifying grace?</b> A. The Sacraments that give sanctifying grace are Baptism and Penance; and they are called Sacraments of the dead. <b>Q. 594. Why are Baptism and Penance called Sacraments of the dead?</b> A. Baptism and Penance are called Sacraments of the dead because they take away sin, which is the death of the soul, and give grace, which is its life. <b>Q. 595. May not the Sacrament of Penance be received by one who is in a state of grace?</b> A. The Sacrament of Penance may be and very often is received by one who is in a state of grace, and when thus received it increases--as the Sacraments of the living do--the grace already in the soul. <b>Q. 596. Which are the Sacraments that increase sanctifying grace in our soul?</b> A. The Sacraments that increase sanctifying grace in our souls are: Confirmation, Holy Eucharist, Extreme Unction, Holy Orders, and Matrimony; and they are called Sacraments of the living. <b>Q. 597. What do we mean by Sacraments of the dead and Sacraments of the living?</b> A. By the Sacraments of the dead we mean those Sacraments that may be lawfully received while the soul is in a state of mortal sin. By the Sacraments of the living we mean those Sacraments that can be lawfully received only while the soul is in a state of grace--i.e., free from mortal sin. Living and dead do not refer here to the persons, but to the condition of the souls; for none of the Sacraments can be given to a dead person. <b>Q. 598. Why are Confirmation, Holy Eucharist, Extreme Unction, Holy Orders, and Matrimony called Sacraments of the living?</b> A. Confirmation, Holy Eucharist, Extreme Unction, Holy Orders, and Matrimony are called Sacraments of the living because those who receive them worthily are already living the life of grace. <b>Q. 599. What sin does he commit who receives the Sacraments of the living in mortal sin?</b> A. He who receives the Sacraments of the living in mortal sin commits a sacrilege, which is a great sin, because it is an abuse of a sacred thing. <b>Q. 600. In what other ways besides the unworthy reception of the Sacraments may persons commit sacrilege?</b> A. Besides the unworthy reception of the Sacraments, persons may commit sacrilege by the abuse of a sacred person, place or thing; for example, by wilfully wounding a person consecrated to God; by robbing or destroying a Church; by using the sacred vessels of the Altar for unlawful purposes, &c. <b>Q. 601. Besides sanctifying grace do the Sacraments give any other grace?</b> A. Besides sanctifying grace the Sacraments give another grace, called sacramental grace. <b>Q. 602. What is sacramental grace?</b> A. Sacramental grace is a special help which God gives, to attain the end for which He instituted each Sacrament. <b>Q. 603. Is the Sacramental grace independent of the sanctifying grace given in the Sacraments?</b> A. The Sacramental grace is not independent of the sanctifying grace given in the Sacraments; for it is the sanctifying grace that gives us a certain right to special helps--called Sacramental grace--in each Sacrament, as often as we have to fulfill the end of the Sacrament or are tempted against it. <b>Q. 604. Give an example of how the Sacramental grace aids us, for instance, in Confirmation and Penance.</b> A. The end of Confirmation is to strengthen us in our faith. When we are tempted to deny our religion by word or deed, the Sacramental Grace of Confirmation is given to us and helps us to cling to our faith and firmly profess it. The end of Penance is to destroy actual sin. When we are tempted to sin, the Sacramental Grace of Penance is given to us and helps us to overcome the temptation and persevere in a state of grace. The sacramental grace in each of the other Sacraments is given in the same manner, and aids us in attaining the end for which each Sacrament was instituted and for which we receive it. <b>Q. 605. Do the Sacraments always give grace?</b> A. The Sacraments always give grace, if we receive them with the right dispositions. <b>Q. 606. What do we mean by the “right dispositions” for the reception of the Sacraments?</b> A. By the right dispositions for the reception of the Sacraments we mean the proper motives and the fulfillment of all the conditions required by God and the Church for the worthy reception of the Sacraments. <b>Q. 607. Give an example of the “right dispositions” for Penance and for the Holy Eucharist.</b> A. The right dispositions for Penance are: (1) To confess all our mortal sins as we know them; (2) To be sorry for them, and (3) To have the determination never to commit them or others again. The right dispositions for the Holy Eucharist are: (1) To know what the Holy Eucharist is; (2) To be in a state of grace, and (3)--except in special cases of sickness--to be fasting from midnight. <b>Q. 608. Can we receive the Sacraments more than once?</b> A. We can receive the Sacraments more than once, except Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders. <b>Q. 609. Why can we not receive Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders more than once?</b> A. We cannot receive Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders more than once, because they imprint a character in the soul. <b>Q. 610. What is the character which these Sacraments imprint in the soul?</b> A. The character which these Sacraments imprint in the soul is a spiritual mark which remains forever. <b>Q. 611. Does this character remain in the soul even after death?</b> A. This character remains in the soul even after death; for the honor and glory of those who are saved; for the shame and punishment of those who are lost. <b>Q. 612. Can the Sacraments be given conditionally?</b> A. The Sacraments can be given conditionally as often as we doubt whether they were properly given before, or whether they can be validly given now. <b>Q. 613. What do we mean by giving a Sacrament conditionally?</b> A. By giving a Sacrament conditionally we mean that the person administering the Sacrament intends to give it only in case it has not been given already or in case the person has the right dispositions for receiving it, though the dispositions cannot be discovered. <b>Q. 614. Give an example of how a Sacrament is given conditionally.</b> A. In giving Baptism, for instance, conditionally--or what we call conditional Baptism--the priest, instead of saying absolutely, as he does in ordinary Baptism: “I baptize thee,” &c., says: “If you are not already baptized, or if you are capable of being baptized, I baptize thee,” &c., thus stating the sole condition on which he intends to administer the Sacrament. <b>Q. 615. Which of the Sacraments are most frequently given conditionally?</b> A. The Sacraments most frequently given conditionally are Baptism, Penance and Extreme Unction; because in some cases it is difficult to ascertain whether these Sacraments have been given before or whether they have been validly given, or whether the person about to receive them has the right dispositions for them. <b>Q. 616. Name some of the more common circumstances in which a priest is obliged to administer the Sacraments conditionally.</b> A. Some of the more common circumstances in which a priest is obliged to administer the Sacraments conditionally are: (1) When he receives converts into the Church and is not certain of their previous baptism, he must baptize them conditionally. (2) When he is called--as in cases of accident or sudden illness--and doubts whether the person be alive or dead, or whether he should be given the Sacraments, he must give absolution and administer Extreme Unction conditionally. <b>Q. 617. What is the use and effect of giving the Sacraments conditionally?</b> A. The use of giving the Sacraments conditionally is that there may be no irreverence to the Sacraments in giving them to persons incapable or unworthy of receiving them; and yet that no one who is capable or worthy may be deprived of them. The effect is to supply the Sacrament where it is needed or can be given, and to withhold it where it is not needed or cannot be given. <b>Q. 618. What is the difference between the powers of a bishop and of a priest with regard to the administration of the Sacraments?</b> A. The difference between the powers of a bishop and of a priest with regard to the administration of the Sacraments is that a bishop can give all the Sacraments, while a priest cannot give Confirmation or Holy Orders. <b>Q. 619. Can a person receive all the Sacraments?</b> A. A person cannot, as a rule, receive all the Sacraments; for a woman cannot receive Holy Orders, and a man who receives priesthood is forbidden to receive the Sacrament of Matrimony. <b>LESSON FOURTEENTH. ON BAPTISM.</b><br><b>Q. 620. When was baptism instituted?</b> A. Baptism was instituted, very probably, about the time Our Lord was baptized by St. John, and its reception was commanded when after His resurrection Our Lord said to His Apostles: “All power is given to Me in heaven and in earth. Going, therefore, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” <b>Q. 621. What is Baptism?</b> A. Baptism is a Sacrament which cleanses us from original sin, makes us Christians, children of God, and heirs of heaven. <b>Q. 622. What were persons called in the first ages of the Church who were being instructed and prepared for baptism?</b> A. Persons who were being instructed and prepared for baptism, in the first ages of the Church, were called catechumens, and they are frequently mentioned in Church history. <b>Q. 623. What persons are called heirs?</b> A. All persons who inherit or come lawfully into the possession of property or goods at the death of another, are called heirs. <b>Q. 624. Why, then, are we the heirs of Christ?</b> A. We are the heirs of Christ because at His death we came into the possession of God’s friendship, of grace, and of the right to enter heaven, provided we comply with the conditions Our Lord has laid down for the gaining of this inheritance. <b>Q. 625. What conditions has Our Lord laid down for the gaining of this inheritance?</b> A. The conditions Our Lord has laid down for the gaining of this inheritance are: (1) That we receive, when possible, the Sacraments He has instituted; and (2) That we believe and practice all He has taught. <b>Q. 626. Did not St. John the Baptist institute the Sacrament of Baptism?</b> A. St. John the Baptist did not institute the Sacrament of Baptism, for Christ alone could institute a Sacrament. The baptism given by St. John had the effect of a Sacramental; that is, it did not of itself give grace, but prepared the way for it. <b>Q. 627. Are actual sins ever remitted by Baptism?</b> A. Actual sins and all the punishment due to them are remitted by Baptism, if the person baptized be guilty of any. <b>Q. 628. That actual sins may be remitted by baptism, is it necessary to be sorry for them?</b> A. That actual sins may be remitted by baptism it is necessary to be sorry for them, just as we must be when they are remitted by the Sacrament of Penance. <b>Q. 629. What punishments are due to actual sins?</b> A. Two punishments are due to actual sins: one, called the eternal, is inflicted in hell; and the other, called the temporal, is inflicted in this world or in purgatory. The Sacrament of Penance remits or frees us from the eternal punishment and generally only from part of the temporal. Prayer, good works and indulgences in this world and the sufferings of purgatory in the next remit the remainder of the temporal punishment. <b>Q. 630. Why is there a double punishment attached to actual sins?</b> A. There is a double punishment attached to actual sins, because in their commission there is a double guilt: (1) Of insulting God and of turning away from Him; (2) Of depriving Him of the honor we owe Him, and of turning to His enemies. <b>Q. 631. Is Baptism necessary to salvation?</b> A. Baptism is necessary to salvation, because without it we cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven. <b>Q. 632. Where will persons go who--such as infants--have not committed actual sin and who, through no fault of theirs, die without baptism?</b> A. Persons, such as infants, who have not committed actual sin and who, through no fault of theirs, die without baptism, cannot enter heaven; but it is the common belief they will go to some place similar to Limbo, where they will be free from suffering, though deprived of the happiness of heaven. <b>Q. 633. Who can administer Baptism?</b> A. A priest is the ordinary minister of baptism; but in case of necessity anyone who has the use of reason may baptize. <b>Q. 634. What do we mean by the “ordinary minister” of a Sacrament?</b> A. By the “ordinary minister” of a Sacrament we mean the one who usually does administer the Sacrament, and who has always the right to do so. <b>Q. 635. Can a person who has not himself been baptized, and who does not even believe in the Sacrament of baptism, give it validly to another in case of necessity?</b> A. A person who has not himself been baptized, and who does not even believe in the Sacrament of baptism, can give it validly to another in case of necessity, provided: (1) He has the use of reason; (2) Knows how to give baptism, and (3) Intends to do what the Church intends in the giving of the Sacrament. Baptism is so necessary that God affords every opportunity for its reception. <b>Q. 636. Why do the consequences of original sin, such as suffering, temptation, sickness, and death, remain after the sin has been forgiven in baptism?</b> A. The consequences of original sin, such as suffering, temptation, sickness and death, remain after the sin has been forgiven in baptism: (1) To remind us of the misery that always follows sin; and (2) To afford us an opportunity of increasing our merit by bearing these hardships patiently. <b>Q. 637. Can a person ever receive any of the other Sacraments without first receiving baptism?</b> A. A person can never receive any of the other Sacraments without first receiving baptism, because baptism makes us members of Christ’s Church, and unless we are members of His Church we cannot receive His Sacraments. <b>Q. 638. How is Baptism given?</b> A. Whoever baptizes should pour water on the head of the person to be baptized, and say, while pouring the water: “I baptize thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” <b>Q. 639. If water cannot be had, in case of necessity, may any other liquid be used for baptism?</b> A. If water cannot be had, in case of necessity or in any case, no other liquid can be used, and the baptism cannot be given. <b>Q. 640. If it is impossible, in case of necessity, to reach the head, may the water be poured on any other part of the body?</b> A. If it is impossible, in case of necessity, to reach the head, the water should be poured on whatever part of the body can be reached; but then the baptism must be given conditionally; that is, before pronouncing the words of baptism, you must say: “If I can baptize thee in this way, I baptize thee in the name of the Father,” &c. If the head can afterward be reached, the water must be poured on the head and the baptism repeated conditionally by saying: “If you are not already baptized, I baptize thee in the name,” &c. <b>Q. 641. Is the baptism valid if we say: “I baptize thee in the name of the Holy Trinity,” without naming the Persons of the Trinity?</b> A. The baptism is not valid if we say: “I baptize thee in the name of the Holy Trinity,” without naming the Persons of the Trinity; for we must use the exact words instituted by Christ. <b>Q. 642. Is it wrong to defer the baptism of an infant?</b> A. It is wrong to defer the baptism of an infant, because we thereby expose the child to the danger of dying without the Sacrament. <b>Q. 643. Can we baptize a child against the wishes of its parents?</b> A. We cannot baptize a child against the wishes of its parents; and if the parents are not Catholics, they must not only consent to the baptism, but also agree to bring the child up in the Catholic religion. But if a child is surely dying, we may baptize it without either the consent or permission of its parents. <b>Q. 644. How many kinds of Baptism are there?</b> A. There are three kinds of Baptism: Baptism of water, of desire, and of blood. <b>Q. 645. What is Baptism of water?</b> A. Baptism of water is that which is given by pouring water on the head of the person to be baptized, and saying at the same time, “I baptize thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” <b>Q. 646. In how many ways was the baptism of water given in the first ages of the Church?</b> A. In the first ages of the Church, baptism of water was given in three ways, namely, by immersion or dipping, by aspersion or sprinkling, and by infusion or pouring. Although any of these methods would be valid, only the method of infusion or pouring is now allowed in the Church. <b>Q. 647. What are the chief ceremonies used in solemn baptism, and what do they signify?</b> A. The chief ceremonies used in solemn baptism are: (1) A profession of faith and renouncement of the devil to signify our worthiness; (2) The placing of salt in the mouth to signify the wisdom imparted by faith; (3) The holding of the priest’s stole to signify our reception into the Church; (4) The anointing to signify the strength given by the Sacrament; (5) The giving of the white garment or cloth to signify our sinless state after baptism; and (6) The giving of the lighted candle to signify the light of faith and fire of love that should dwell in our souls. <b>Q. 648. Should one who, in case of necessity, has been baptized with private baptism, be afterwards brought to the Church to have the ceremonies of solemn baptism completed?</b> A. One who, in case of necessity, has been baptized with private baptism should afterwards be brought to the Church to have the ceremonies of solemn baptism completed, because these ceremonies are commanded by the Church and bring down blessings upon us. <b>Q. 649. Is solemn baptism given with any special kind of water?</b> A. Solemn baptism is given with consecrated water; that is, water mixed with holy oil and blessed for baptism on Holy Saturday and on the Saturday before Pentecost. It is always kept in the baptismal font in the baptistry--a place near the door of the Church set apart for baptism. <b>Q. 650. What is Baptism of desire?</b> A. Baptism of desire is an ardent wish to receive Baptism, and to do all that God has ordained for our salvation. <b>Q. 651. What is Baptism of blood?</b> A. Baptism of blood is the shedding of one’s blood for the faith of Christ. <b>Q. 652. What is the baptism of blood most commonly called?</b> A. The baptism of blood is most commonly called martyrdom, and those who receive it are called martyrs. It is the death one patiently suffers from the enemies of our religion, rather than give up Catholic faith or virtue. We must not seek martyrdom, though we must endure it when it comes. <b>Q. 653. Is Baptism of desire or of blood sufficient to produce the effects of Baptism of water?</b> A. Baptism of desire or of blood is sufficient to produce the effects of the Baptism of water, if it is impossible to receive the Baptism of water. <b>Q. 654. How do we know that the baptism of desire or of blood will save us when it is impossible to receive the baptism of water?</b> A. We know that baptism of desire or of blood will save us when it is impossible to receive the baptism of water, from Holy Scripture, which teaches that love of God and perfect contrition can secure the remission of sins; and also that Our Lord promises salvation to those who lay down their life for His sake or for His teaching. <b>Q. 655. What do we promise in Baptism?</b> A. In Baptism we promise to renounce the devil, with all his works and pomps. <b>Q. 656. What do we mean by the “pomps” of the devil?</b> A. By the pomps of the devil we mean all worldly pride, vanities and vain shows by which people are enticed into sin, and all foolish or sinful display of ourselves or of what we possess. <b>Q. 657. Why is the name of a saint given in Baptism?</b> A. The name of a saint is given in Baptism in order that the person baptized may imitate his virtues and have him for a protector. <b>Q. 658. What is the Saint whose name we bear called?</b> A. The saint whose name we bear is called our patron saint--to whom we should have great devotion. <b>Q. 659. What names should never be given in baptism?</b> A. These and similar names should never be given in baptism: (1) The names of noted unbelievers, heretics or enemies of religion and virtue; (2) the names of heathen gods, and (3) nick-names. <b>Q. 660. Why are godfathers and godmothers given in Baptism?</b> A. Godfathers and godmothers are given in Baptism in order that they may promise, in the name of the child, what the child itself would promise if it had the use of reason. <b>Q. 661. By what other name are godfathers and godmothers called?</b> A. Godfathers and godmothers are usually called sponsors. Sponsors are not necessary at private baptism. <b>Q. 662. Can a person ever be sponsor when absent from the baptism?</b> A. A person can be sponsor even when absent from the baptism, provided he has been asked and has consented to be sponsor, and provided also some one answers the questions and touches the person to be baptized in his name. The absent godfather or godmother is then said to be sponsor by proxy and becomes the real godparent of the one baptized. <b>Q. 663. With whom do godparents, as well as the one baptizing, contract a relationship?</b> A. Godparents, as well as the one baptizing, contract a spiritual relationship with the person baptized (not with his parents), and this relationship is an impediment to marriage that must be made known to the priest in case of their future marriage with one another. The godfather and godmother contract no relationship with each other. <b>Q. 664. What questions should persons who bring a child for baptism be able to answer?</b> A. Persons who bring a child for baptism should be able to tell: (1) The exact place where the child lives; (2) The full name of its parents, and, in particular, the maiden name, or name before her marriage, of its mother; (3) The exact day of the month on which it was born; (4) Whether or not it has received private baptism, and (5) Whether its parents be Catholics. Sponsors must know also the chief truths of our religion. <b>Q. 665. What is the obligation of a godfather and a godmother?</b> A. The obligation of a godfather and a godmother is to instruct the child in its religious duties, if the parents neglect to do so or die. <b>Q. 666. Can persons who are not Catholics be sponsors for Catholic children?</b> A. Persons who are not Catholics cannot be sponsors for Catholic children, because they cannot perform the duties of sponsors; for if they do not know and profess the Catholic religion themselves, how can they teach it to their godchildren? Moreover, they must answer the questions asked at baptism and declare that they believe in the Holy Catholic Church and in all it teaches; which would be a falsehood on their part. <b>Q. 667. What should parents chiefly consider in the selection of sponsors for their children?</b> A. In the selection of sponsors for their children parents should chiefly consider the good character and virtue of the sponsors, selecting model Catholics to whom they would be willing at the hour of death to entrust the care and training of their children. <b>Q. 668. What dispositions must adults or grown persons, have that they may worthily receive baptism?</b> A. That adults may worthily receive baptism: (1) They must be willing to receive it; (2) they must have faith in Christ; (3) they must have true sorrow for their sins, and (4) they must solemnly renounce the devil and all his works; that is, all sin. <b>Q. 669. What is the ceremony of churching?</b> A. The ceremony of churching is a particular blessing which a mother receives at the Altar, as soon as she is able to present herself in the Church after the birth of her child. In this ceremony the priest invokes God’s blessing on the mother and child, while she on her part returns thanks to God. <b>LESSON FIFTEENTH. ON CONFIRMATION.</b><br><b>Q. 670. What is Confirmation?</b> A. Confirmation is a Sacrament through which we receive the Holy Ghost to make us strong and perfect Christians and soldiers of Jesus Christ. <b>Q. 671. When was Confirmation instituted?</b> A. The exact time at which Confirmation was instituted is not known. But as this Sacrament was administered by the Apostles and numbered with the other Sacraments instituted by Our Lord, it is certain that He instituted this Sacrament also and instructed His Apostles in its use, at some time before His ascension into heaven. <b>Q. 672. Why is Confirmation so called?</b> A. Confirmation is so called from its chief effect, which is to strengthen or render us more firm in whatever belongs to our faith and religious duties. <b>Q. 673. Why are we called soldiers of Jesus Christ?</b> A. We are called soldiers of Jesus Christ to indicate how we must resist the attacks of our spiritual enemies and secure our victory over them by following and obeying Our Lord. <b>Q. 674. May one add a new name to his own at Confirmation?</b> A. One may and should add a new name to his own at Confirmation, especially when the name of a saint has not been given in Baptism. <b>Q. 675. Who administers Confirmation?</b> A. The bishop is the ordinary minister of Confirmation. <b>Q. 676. Why do we say the bishop is the “ordinary minister” of Confirmation?</b> A. We say the bishop is the ordinary minister of Confirmation because in some foreign missions, where bishops have not yet been appointed, the Holy Father permits one of the priests to administer Confirmation with the Holy Oil blessed by the bishop. <b>Q. 677. How does the bishop give Confirmation?</b> A. The bishop extends his hands over those who are to be confirmed, prays that they may receive the Holy Ghost, and anoints the forehead of each with holy chrism in the form of a cross. <b>Q. 678. In Confirmation, what does the extending of the bishop’s hands over us signify?</b> A. In Confirmation, the extending of the bishop’s hands over us signifies the descent of the Holy Ghost upon us and the special protection of God through the grace of Confirmation. <b>Q. 679. What is holy chrism?</b> A. Holy chrism is a mixture of olive-oil and balm, consecrated by the bishop. <b>Q. 680. What do the oil and balm in Holy Chrism signify?</b> A. In Holy Chrism, the oil signifies strength, and the balm signifies the freedom from corruption and the sweetness which virtue must give to our lives. <b>Q. 681. How many holy oils are used in the Church?</b> A. Three holy oils are used in the Church, namely, the oil of the sick, the oil of catechumens, and holy chrism. <b>Q. 682. What constitutes the difference between these oils?</b> A. The form of prayer or blessing alone constitutes the difference between these oils; for they are all olive oil, but in the Holy Chrism, balm is mixed with the oil. <b>Q. 683. When and by whom are the holy oils blessed?</b> A. The holy oils are blessed at the Mass on Holy Thursday by the bishop, who alone has the right to bless them. After the blessing they are distributed to the priests of the diocese, who must then burn what remains of the old oils and use the newly blessed oils for the coming year. <b>Q. 684. For what are the holy oils used?</b> A. The holy oils are used as follows: The oil of the sick is used for Extreme Unction and for some blessings; the oil of catechumens is used for Baptism and Holy Orders. Holy Chrism is used at Baptism and for the blessing of some sacred things, such as altars, chalices, church-bells, &c., which are usually blessed by a bishop. <b>Q. 685. What does the bishop say in anointing the person he confirms?</b> A. In anointing the person he confirms the bishop says: “I sign thee with the sign of the cross, and I confirm thee with the chrism of salvation, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” <b>Q. 686. What is meant by anointing the forehead with chrism in the form of a cross?</b> A. By anointing the forehead with chrism in the form of a cross is meant that the Christian who is confirmed must openly profess and practice his faith, never be ashamed of it; and rather die than deny it. <b>Q. 687. When must we openly profess and practice our religion?</b> A. We must openly profess and practice our religion as often as we cannot do otherwise without violating some law of God or of His Church. <b>Q. 688. Why have we good reason never to be ashamed of the Catholic faith?</b> A. We have good reason never to be ashamed of the Catholic Faith because it is the Old Faith established by Christ and taught by His Apostles; it is the Faith for which countless Holy Martyrs suffered and died; it is the Faith that has brought true civilization, with all its benefits, into the world, and it is the only Faith that can truly reform and preserve public and private morals. <b>Q. 689. Why does the bishop give the person he confirms a slight blow on the cheek?</b> A. The bishop gives the person he confirms a slight blow on the cheek, to put him in mind that he must be ready to suffer everything, even death, for the sake of Christ. <b>Q. 690. Is it right to test ourselves through our imagination of what we would be willing to suffer for the sake of Christ?</b> A. It is not right to test ourselves through our imagination of what we would be willing to suffer for the sake of Christ, for such tests may lead us into sin. When a real test comes we are assured God will give to us, as He did to the Holy Martyrs, sufficient grace to endure it. <b>Q. 691. To receive Confirmation worthily is it necessary to be in the state of grace?</b> A. To receive Confirmation worthily it is necessary to be in the state of grace. <b>Q. 692. What special preparation should be made to receive Confirmation?</b> A. Persons of an age to learn should know the chief mysteries of faith and the duties of a Christian, and be instructed in the nature and effects of this Sacrament. <b>Q. 693. Why should we know the chief mysteries of faith and the duties of a Christian before receiving Confirmation?</b> A. We should know the Chief Mysteries of Faith and the duties of a Christian before receiving Confirmation because as one cannot be a good soldier without knowing the rules of the army to which he belongs and understanding the commands of his leader, so one cannot be a good Christian without knowing the laws of the Church and understanding the commands of Christ. <b>Q. 694. Is it a sin to neglect Confirmation?</b> A. It is a sin to neglect Confirmation, especially in these evil days when faith and morals are exposed to so many and such violent temptations. <b>Q. 695. What do we mean by “these evil days”?</b> A. By “these evil days” we mean the present age or century in which we are living, surrounded on all sides by unbelief, false doctrines, bad books, bad example and temptation in every form. <b>Q. 696. Is Confirmation necessary for salvation?</b> A. Confirmation is not so necessary for salvation that we could not be saved without it, for it is not given to infants even in danger of death; nevertheless, there is a divine command obliging all to receive it, if possible. Persons who have not been confirmed in youth should make every effort to be confirmed later in life. <b>Q. 697. Are sponsors necessary in Confirmation?</b> A. Sponsors are necessary in Confirmation, and they must be of the same good character as those required at Baptism, for they take upon themselves the same duties and responsibilities. They also contract a spiritual relationship, which, however, unlike that in Baptism, is not an impediment to marriage. <b>LESSON SIXTEENTH. ON THE GIFTS AND FRUITS OF THE HOLY GHOST.</b><br><b>Q. 698. Which are the effects of Confirmation?</b> A. The effects of Confirmation are an increase of sanctifying grace, the strengthening of our faith, and the gifts of the Holy Ghost. <b>Q. 699. Which are the gifts of the Holy Ghost?</b> A. The gifts of the Holy Ghost are Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety, and Fear of the Lord. <b>Q. 700. Why do we receive the gift of Fear of the Lord?</b> A. We receive the gift of Fear of the Lord to fill us with a dread of sin. <b>Q. 701. Why do we receive the gift of Piety?</b> A. We receive the gift of Piety to make us love God as a Father, and obey Him because we love Him. <b>Q. 702. Why do we receive the gift of Knowledge?</b> A. We receive the gift of Knowledge to enable us to discover the will of God in all things. <b>Q. 703. Why do we receive the gift of Fortitude?</b> A. We receive the gift of Fortitude to strengthen us to do the will of God in all things. <b>Q. 704. Why do we receive the gift of Counsel?</b> A. We receive the gift of Counsel to warn us of the deceits of the devil, and of the dangers to salvation. <b>Q. 705. How is it clear that the devil could easily deceive us if the Holy Ghost did not aid us?</b> A. It is clear that the devil could easily deceive us if the Holy Ghost did not aid us, for just as our sins do not deprive us of our knowledge, so the devil’s sin did not deprive him of the great intelligence and power which he possessed as an angel. Moreover, his experience in the world extends over all ages and places, while ours is confined to a few years and to a limited number of places. <b>Q. 706. Why do we receive the gift of Understanding?</b> A. We receive the gift of Understanding to enable us to know more clearly the mysteries of faith. <b>Q. 707. Why do we receive the gift of Wisdom?</b> A. We receive the gift of Wisdom to give us a relish for the things of God, and to direct our whole life and all our actions to His honor and glory. <b>Q. 708. Which are the Beatitudes?</b> A. The Beatitudes are: 1. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 2. Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the land. 3. Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. 4. Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice, for they shall be filled. 5. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. 6. Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God. 7. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. 8. Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. <b>Q. 709. What are the Beatitudes and why are they so called?</b> A. The Beatitudes are a portion of Our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount, and they are so called because each of them holds out a promised reward to those who practice the virtues they recommend. <b>Q. 710. Where did Our Lord usually preach?</b> A. Our Lord usually preached wherever an opportunity of doing good by His Words presented itself. He preached at times in the synagogues or meeting-houses but more frequently in the open air--by the seashore or on the mountain, and often by the wayside. <b>Q. 711. What is the meaning and use of the Beatitudes in general?</b> A. (1) In general the Beatitudes embrace whatever pertains to the perfection of Christian life, and they invite us to the practice of the highest Christian virtues; (2) In different forms they all promise the same reward, namely, sanctifying grace in this life and eternal glory in the next; (3) They offer us encouragement and consolation for every trial and affliction. <b>Q. 712. What does the first Beatitude mean by the “poor in spirit”?</b> A. The first Beatitude means by the “poor in spirit” all persons, rich or poor, who would not offend God to possess or retain anything that this world can give; and who, when necessity or charity requires it, give willingly for the glory of God. It includes also those who humbly submit to their condition in life when it cannot be improved by lawful means. <b>Q. 713. Who are the mourners who deserve the consolation promised in the third Beatitude?</b> A. The mourners who deserve the consolation promised in the third Beatitude are they who, out of love for God, bewail their own sins and those of the world; and they who patiently endure all trials that come from God or for His sake. <b>Q. 714. What lessons do the other Beatitudes convey?</b> A. The other Beatitudes convey these lessons: The meek suppress all feelings of anger and humbly submit to whatever befalls them by the Will of God; and they never desire to do evil for evil. The justice after which we should seek is every Christian virtue included under that name, and we are told that if we earnestly desire and seek it we shall obtain it. The persecuted for justice’ sake are they who will not abandon their faith or virtue for any cause. <b>Q. 715. Who may be rightly called merciful?</b> A. The merciful are they who practice the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, and who aid by word or deed those who need their help for soul or body. <b>Q. 716. Why are the clean of heart promised so great a reward?</b> A. The clean of heart, that is, the truly virtuous, whose thoughts, desires, words and works are pure and modest, are promised so great a reward because the chaste and sinless have always been the most intimate friends of God. <b>Q. 717. What is the duty of a peacemaker?</b> A. It is the duty of a peacemaker to avoid and prevent quarrels, reconcile enemies, and to put an end to all evil reports of others or evil speaking against them. As peacemakers are called the children of God, disturbers of peace should be called the children of the devil. <b>Q. 718. Why does Our Lord speak in particular of poverty, meekness, sorrow, desire for virtue, mercy, purity, peace and suffering?</b> A. Our Lord speaks in particular of poverty, meekness, sorrow, desire for virtue, mercy, purity, peace and suffering because these are the chief features in His own earthly life; poverty in His birth, life and death; meekness in His teaching; sorrow at all times. He eagerly sought to do good, showed mercy to all, recommended chastity, brought peace, and patiently endured suffering. <b>Q. 719. Which are the twelve fruits of the Holy Ghost?</b> A. The twelve fruits of the Holy Ghost are Charity, Joy, Peace, Patience, Benignity, Goodness, Long-suffering, Mildness, Faith, Modesty, Continency, and Chastity. <b>Q. 720. Why are charity, joy, peace, &c., called fruits of the Holy Ghost?</b> A. Charity, joy, peace, &c., are called fruits of the Holy Ghost because they grow in our souls out of the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost. <b>LESSON SEVENTEENTH. ON THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE.</b><br><b>Q. 721. What is the Sacrament of Penance?</b> A. Penance is a Sacrament in which the sins committed after Baptism are forgiven. <b>Q. 722. Has the word Penance any other meaning?</b> A. The word Penance has other meanings. It means also those punishments we inflict upon ourselves as a means of atoning for our past sins; it means likewise that disposition of the heart in which we detest and bewail our sins because they were offensive to God. <b>Q. 723. How does the institution of the Sacrament of Penance show the goodness of Our Lord?</b> A. The institution of the Sacrament of Penance shows the goodness of Our Lord, because having once saved us through Baptism, He might have left us to perish if we again committed sin. <b>Q. 724. What are the natural benefits of the Sacrament of Penance?</b> A. The natural benefits of the Sacrament of Penance are: It gives us in our confessor a true friend, to whom we can go in all our trials and to whom we can confide our secrets with the hope of obtaining advice and relief. <b>Q. 725. How does the Sacrament of Penance remit sin, and restore to the soul the friendship of God?</b> A. The Sacrament of Penance remits sin and restores the friendship of God to the soul by means of the absolution of the priest. <b>Q. 726. What is Absolution?</b> A. Absolution is the form of prayer or words the priest pronounces over us with uplifted hand when he forgives the sins we have confessed. It is given while we are saying the Act of Contrition after receiving our Penance. <b>Q. 727. Does the priest ever refuse absolution to a penitent?</b> A. The priest must and does refuse absolution to a penitent when he thinks the penitent is not rightly disposed for the Sacrament. He sometimes postpones the absolution till the next confession, either for the good of the penitent or for the sake of better preparation--especially when the person has been a long time from confession. <b>Q. 728. What should a person do when the priest has refused or postponed absolution?</b> A. When the priest has refused or postponed absolution, the penitent should humbly submit to his decision, follow his instructions, and endeavor to remove whatever prevented the giving of the absolution and return to the same confessor with the necessary dispositions and resolution of amendment. <b>Q. 729. Can the priest forgive all sins in the Sacrament of Penance?</b> A. The priest has the power to forgive all sins in the Sacrament of Penance, but he may not have the authority to forgive all. To forgive sins validly in the Sacrament of Penance, two things are required: (1) The power to forgive sins which every priest receives at his ordination, and (2) the right to use that power which must be given by the bishop, who authorizes the priest to hear confessions and pass judgment on the sins. <b>Q. 730. What are the sins called which the priest has no authority to absolve?</b> A. The sins which the priest has no authority to absolve are called reserved sins. Absolution from these sins can be obtained only from the bishop, and sometimes only from the Pope, or by his special permission. Persons having a reserved sin to confess cannot be absolved from any of their sins till the priest receives faculties or authority to absolve the reserved sin also. <b>Q. 731. Why is the absolution from some sins reserved to the Pope or bishop?</b> A. The absolution from some sins is reserved to the Pope or bishop to deter or prevent, by this special restriction, persons from committing them, either on account of the greatness of the sin itself or on account of its evil consequences. <b>Q. 732. Can any priest absolve a person in danger of death from reserved sins without the permission of the bishop?</b> A. Any priest can absolve a person in danger of death from reserved sins without the permission of the bishop, because at the hour of death the Church removes these restrictions in order to save, if possible, the soul of the dying. <b>Q. 733. How do you know that the priest has the power of absolving from the sins committed after Baptism?</b> A. I know that the priest has the power of absolving from the sins committed after Baptism, because Jesus Christ granted that power to the priests of His Church when He said: “Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.” <b>Q. 734. How do we know that Our Lord, while on earth, had the power to forgive sins?</b> A. We know that Our Lord, while on earth, had the power to forgive sins: (1) because He was always God, and; (2) because He frequently did forgive sins and proved their forgiveness by miracles. Since He had the power Himself, He could give it to His Apostles. <b>Q. 735. Was the power to forgive sins given to the apostles alone?</b> A. The power to forgive sins was not given to the apostles alone, because it was not given for the benefit merely of those who lived at the time of the apostles, but for all who, having grievously sinned, after Baptism, should need forgiveness. Since, therefore, Baptism will be given till the end of time, and since the danger of sinning after it always remains the power to absolve from such sins must also remain in the Church till the end of time. <b>Q. 736. When was the Sacrament of Penance instituted?</b> A. The Sacrament of Penance was instituted after the resurrection of Our Lord, when He gave to His apostles the power to forgive sins, which He had promised to them before His death. <b>Q. 737. Are the enemies of our religion right when they say man cannot forgive sins?</b> A. The enemies of our religion are right when they say man cannot forgive sins if they mean that he cannot forgive them by his own power, but they are certainly wrong if they mean that he cannot forgive them even by the power of God, for man can do anything if God gives him the power. The priest does not forgive sins by his own power as man, but by the authority he receives as the minister of God. <b>Q. 738. How do the priests of the Church exercise the power of forgiving sins?</b> A. The priests of the Church exercise the power of forgiving sins by hearing the confession of sins, and granting pardon for them as ministers of God and in His name. <b>Q. 739. How does the power to forgive sins imply the obligation of going to confession?</b> A. The power to forgive sins implies the obligation of going to confession because as sins are usually committed secretly, the priest could never know what sins to forgive and what not to forgive, unless the sins committed were made known to him by the persons guilty of them. <b>Q. 740. Could God not forgive our sins if we confessed them to Himself in secret?</b> A. Certainly, God could forgive our sins if we confessed them to Himself in secret, but He has not promised to do so; whereas He has promised to pardon them if we confess them to His priests. Since He is free to pardon or not to pardon, He has the right to establish a Sacrament through which alone He will pardon. <b>Q. 741. What must we do to receive the Sacrament of Penance worthily?</b> A. To receive the Sacrament of Penance worthily we must do five things: 1. We must examine our conscience. 2. We must have sorrow for our sins. 3. We must make a firm resolution never more to offend God. 4. We must confess our sins to the priest. 5. We must accept the penance which the priest gives us. <b>Q. 742. What should we pray for in preparing for confession?</b> A. In preparing for confession we should pray to the Holy Ghost to give us light to know our sins and to understand their guilt; for grace to detest them; for courage to confess them and for strength to keep our resolutions. <b>Q. 743. What faults do many commit in preparing for confession?</b> A. In preparing for confession many commit the faults: (1) of giving too much time to the examination of conscience and little or none in exciting themselves to true sorrow for the sins discovered; (2) of trying to recall every trifling circumstance, instead of thinking of the means by which they will avoid their sins for the future. <b>Q. 744. What, then, is the most important part of the preparation for confession?</b> A. The most important part of the preparation for confession is sincere sorrow for the sins committed and the firm determination to avoid them for the future. <b>Q. 745. What is the chief reason that our confessions do not always amend our way of living?</b> A. The chief reason that our confessions do not always amend our way of living is our want of real earnest preparation for them and the fact that we have not truly convinced ourselves of the need of amendment. We often confess our sins more from habit, necessity or fear than from a real desire of receiving grace and of being restored to the friendship of God. <b>Q. 746. What faults are to be avoided in making our confession?</b> A. In making our confession we are to avoid: (1) Telling useless details, the sins of others, or the name of any person; (2) Confessing sins we are not sure of having committed; exaggerating our sins or their number; multiplying the number of times a day by the number of days to get the exact number of habitual sins; (3) Giving a vague answer, such as “sometimes,” when asked how often; waiting after each sin to be asked for the next; (4) Hesitating over sins through pretented modesty and thus delaying the priests and others; telling the exact words in each when we have committed several sins of the same kind, cursing, for example; and, lastly, leaving the confessional before the priest gives us a sign to go. <b>Q. 747. Is it wrong to go to confession out of your turn against the will of others waiting with you?</b> A. It is wrong to go to confession out of our turn against the will of others waiting with us, because (1) it causes disorder, quarreling and scandalous conduct in the Church; (2) it is unjust, makes others angry and lessens their good dispositions for confession; (3) it annoys and distracts the priest by the confusion and disorder it creates. It is better to wait than go to confession in an excited and disorderly manner. <b>Q. 748. What should a penitent do who knows he cannot perform the penance given?</b> A. A penitent who knows he cannot perform the penance given should ask the priest for one that he can perform. When we forget the penance given we must ask for it again, for we cannot fulfill our duty by giving ourselves a penance. The penance must be performed at the time and in the manner the confessor directs. <b>Q. 749. What is the examination of conscience?</b> A. The examination of conscience is an earnest effort to recall to mind all the sins we have committed since our last worthy confession. <b>Q. 750. When is our confession worthy?</b> A. Our confession is worthy when we have done all that is required for a good confession, and when, through the absolution, our sins are really forgiven. <b>Q. 751. How can we make a good examination of conscience?</b> A. We can make a good examination of conscience by calling to memory the commandments of God, the precepts of the Church, the seven capital sins, and the particular duties of our state in life, to find out the sins we have committed. <b>Q. 752. What should we do before beginning the examination of conscience?</b> A. Before beginning the examination of conscience we should pray to God to give us light to know our sins and grace to detest them. <b>LESSON EIGHTEENTH. ON CONTRITION.</b><br><b>Q. 753. What is contrition, or sorrow for sin?</b> A. Contrition, or sorrow for sin, is a hatred of sin and a true grief of the soul for having offended God, with a firm purpose of sinning no more. <b>Q. 754. Give an example of how we should hate and avoid sin.</b> A. We should hate and avoid sin as one hates and avoids a poison that almost caused his death. We may not grieve over the death of our soul as we do over the death of a friend, and yet our sorrow may be true; because the sorrow for sin comes more from our reason than from our feelings. <b>Q. 755. What kind of sorrow should we have for our sins?</b> A. The sorrow we should have for our sins should be interior, supernatural, universal, and sovereign. <b>Q. 756. What do you mean by saying that our sorrow should be interior?</b> A. When I say that our sorrow should be interior, I mean that it should come from the heart, and not merely from the lips. <b>Q. 757. What do you mean by saying that our sorrow should be supernatural?</b> A. When I say that our sorrow should be supernatural, I mean that it should be prompted by the grace of God, and excited by motives which spring from faith, and not by merely natural motives. <b>Q. 758. What do we mean by “motives that spring from faith” and by “merely natural motives” with regard to sorrow for sin?</b> A. By sorrow for sin from “motives that spring from faith,” we mean sorrow for reasons that God has made known to us, such as the loss of heaven, the fear of hell or purgatory, or the dread of afflictions that come from God in punishment for sin. By “merely natural motives” we mean sorrow for reasons made known to us by our own experience or by the experience of others, such as loss of character, goods or health. A motive is whatever moves our will to do or avoid anything. <b>Q. 759. What do you mean by saying that our sorrow should be universal?</b> A. When I say that our sorrow should be universal, I mean that we should be sorry for all our mortal sins without exception. <b>Q. 760. Why cannot some of our mortal sins be forgiven while the rest remain on our souls?</b> A. It is impossible for any of our mortal sins to be forgiven unless they are all forgiven, because as light and darkness cannot be together in the same place, so sanctifying grace and mortal sin cannot dwell together. If there be grace in the soul, there can be no mortal sin, and if there be mortal sin, there can be no grace, for one mortal sin expels all grace. <b>Q. 761. What do you mean when you say that our sorrow should be sovereign?</b> A. When I say that our sorrow should be sovereign, I mean that we should grieve more for having offended God than for any other evil that can befall us. <b>Q. 762. Why should we be sorry for our sins?</b> A. We should be sorry for our sins because sin is the greatest of evils and an offense against God our Creator, Preserver, and Redeemer, and because it shuts us out of heaven and condemns us to the eternal pains of hell. <b>Q. 763. How do we show that sin is the greatest of all evils?</b> A. We show that sin is the greatest of evils because its effects last the longest and have the most terrible consequences. All the misfortunes of this world can last only for a time, and we escape them at death, whereas the evils caused by sin keep with us for all eternity and are only increased at death. <b>Q. 764. How many kinds of contrition are there?</b> A. There are two kinds of contrition; perfect contrition and imperfect contrition. <b>Q. 765. What is perfect contrition?</b> A. Perfect contrition is that which fills us with sorrow and hatred for sin, because it offends God, who is infinitely good in Himself and worthy of all love. <b>Q. 766. When will perfect contrition obtain pardon for mortal sin without the Sacrament of Penance?</b> A. Perfect contrition will obtain pardon for mortal sin without the Sacrament of Penance when we cannot go to confession, but with the perfect contrition we must have the intention of going to confession as soon as possible, if we again have the opportunity. <b>Q. 767. What is imperfect contrition?</b> A. Imperfect contrition 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. <b>Q. 768. What other name is given to imperfect contrition and why is it called imperfect?</b> A. Imperfect contrition is called attrition. It is called imperfect only because it is less perfect than the highest grade of contrition by which we are sorry for sin out of pure love of God’s own goodness and without any consideration of what befalls ourselves. <b>Q. 769. Is imperfect contrition sufficient for a worthy confession?</b> A. Imperfect contrition is sufficient for a worthy confession, but we should endeavor to have perfect contrition. <b>Q. 770. What do you mean by a firm purpose of sinning no more?</b> A. By a firm purpose of sinning no more I mean a fixed resolve not only to avoid all mortal sin, but also its near occasions. <b>Q. 771. What do you mean by the near occasions of sin?</b> A. By the near occasions of sin I mean all the persons, places and things that may easily lead us into sin. <b>Q. 772. Why are we bound to avoid occasions of sin?</b> A. We are bound to avoid occasions of sin because Our Lord has said: “He who loves the danger will perish in it”; and as we are bound to avoid the loss of our souls, so we are bound to avoid the danger of their loss. The occasion is the cause of sin, and you cannot take away the evil without removing its cause. (Source: Baltimore Catechism #3)
<b>Q. 773. Is a person who is determined to avoid the sin, but who is unwilling to give up its near occasion when it is possible to do so, rightly disposed for confession?</b> A. A person who is determined to avoid the sin, but who is unwilling to give up its near occasion when it is possible to do so, is not rightly disposed for confession, and he will not be absolved if he makes known to the priest the true state of his conscience. <b>Q. 774. How many kinds of occasions of sin are there?</b> A. There are four kinds of occasions of sin: (1) Near occasions, through which we always fall; (2) remote occasions, through which we sometimes fall; (3) voluntary occasions or those we can avoid; and (4) involuntary occasions or those we cannot avoid. A person who lives in a near and voluntary occasion of sin need not expect forgiveness while he continues in that state. <b>Q. 775. What persons, places and things are usually occasions of sin?</b> A. (1) The persons who are occasions of sin are all those in whose company we sin, whether they be bad of themselves or bad only while in our company, in which case we also become occasions of sin for them; (2) the places are usually liquor saloons, low theaters, indecent dances, entertainments, amusements, exhibitions, and all immoral resorts of any kind, whether we sin in them or not; (3) the things are all bad books, indecent pictures, songs, jokes and the like, even when they are tolerated by public opinion and found in public places. <b>LESSON NINETEENTH. ON CONFESSION.</b><br><b>Q. 776. What is Confession?</b> A. Confession is the telling of our sins to a duly authorized priest, for the purpose of obtaining forgiveness. <b>Q. 777. Who is a duly authorized priest?</b> A. A duly authorized priest is one sent to hear confessions by the lawful bishop of the diocese in which we are at the time of our confession. <b>Q. 778. Is it ever allowed to write our sins and read them to the priest in the confessional or give them to him to read?</b> A. It is allowed, when necessary, to write our sins and read them to the priest, as persons do who have almost entirely lost their memory. It is also allowed to give the paper to the priest, as persons do who have lost the use of their speech. In such cases the paper must, after the confession, be carefully destroyed either by the priest or the penitent. <b>Q. 779. What is to be done when persons must make their confession and cannot find a priest who understands their language?</b> A. Persons who must make their confession and who cannot find a priest who understands their language, must confess as best they can by some signs, showing what sins they wish to confess and how they are sorry for them. <b>Q. 780. What sins are we bound to confess?</b> A. We are bound to confess all our mortal sins, but it is well also to confess our venial sins. <b>Q. 781. Why is it well to confess also the venial sins we remember?</b> A. It is well to confess also the venial sins we remember (1) because it shows our hatred of all sin, and (2) because it is sometimes difficult to determine just when a sin is venial and when mortal. <b>Q. 782. What should one do who has only venial sins to confess?</b> A. One who has only venial sins to confess should tell also some sin already confessed in his past life for which he knows he is truly sorry; because it is not easy to be truly sorry for slight sins and imperfections, and yet we must be sorry for the sins confessed that our confession may be valid--hence we add some past sin for which we are truly sorry to those for which we may not be sufficiently sorry. <b>Q. 783. Should a person stay from confession because he thinks he has no sin to confess?</b> A. A person should not stay from confession because he thinks he has no sin to confess, for the Sacrament of Penance, besides forgiving sin, gives an increase of sanctifying grace, and of this we have always need, especially to resist temptation. The Saints, who were almost without imperfection, went to confession frequently. <b>Q. 784. Should a person go to Communion after confession even when the confessor does not bid him go?</b> A. A person should go to Communion after confession even when the confessor does not bid him go, because the confessor so intends unless he positively forbids his penitent to receive Communion. However, one who has not yet received his first Communion should not go to Communion after confession, even if the confessor by mistake should bid him go. <b>Q. 785. Which are the chief qualities of a good Confession?</b> A. The chief qualities of a good Confession are three: it must be humble, sincere, and entire. <b>Q. 786. When is our Confession humble?</b> A. Our Confession is humble when we accuse ourselves of our sins, with a deep sense of shame and sorrow for having offended God. <b>Q. 787. When is our Confession sincere?</b> A. Our Confession is sincere when we tell our sins honestly and truthfully, neither exaggerating nor excusing them. <b>Q. 788. Why is it wrong to accuse ourselves of sins we have not committed?</b> A. It is wrong to accuse ourselves of sins we have not committed, because, by our so doing, the priest cannot know the true state of our souls, as he must do before giving us absolution. <b>Q. 789. When is our Confession entire?</b> A. Our Confession is entire when we tell the number and kinds of our sins and the circumstances which change their nature. <b>Q. 790. What do you mean by the “kinds of sin?”</b> A. By the “kinds of sin,” we mean the particular division or class to which the sins belong; that is, whether they be sins of blasphemy, disobedience, anger, impurity, dishonesty, &c. We can determine the kind of sin by discovering the commandment or precept of the Church we have broken or the virtue against which we have acted. <b>Q. 791. What do we mean by “circumstances which change the nature of sins?”</b> A. By “circumstances which change the nature of sins” we mean anything that makes it another kind of sin. Thus to steal is a sin, but to steal from the Church makes our theft sacrilegious. Again, impure actions are sins, but a person must say whether they were committed alone or with others, with relatives or strangers, with persons married or single, &c., because these circumstances change them from one kind of impurity to another. <b>Q. 792. What should we do if we cannot remember the number of our sins?</b> A. If we cannot remember the number of our sins, we should tell the number as nearly as possible, and say how often we may have sinned in a day, a week, or a month, and how long the habit or practice has lasted. <b>Q. 793. Is our Confession worthy if, without our fault, we forget to confess a mortal sin?</b> A. If without our fault we forget to confess a mortal sin, our Confession is worthy, and the sin is forgiven; but it must be told in Confession if it again comes to our mind. <b>Q. 794. May a person who has forgotten to tell a mortal sin in confession go to Holy Communion before going again to confession?</b> A. A person who has forgotten to tell a mortal sin in confession may go to communion before again going to confession, because the forgotten sin was forgiven with those confessed, and the confession was good and worthy. <b>Q. 795. Is it a grievous offense wilfully to conceal a mortal sin in Confession?</b> A. It is a grievous offense wilfully to conceal a mortal sin in Confession, because we thereby tell a lie to the Holy Ghost, and make our Confession worthless. <b>Q. 796. How is concealing a sin telling a lie to the Holy Ghost?</b> A. Concealing a sin is telling a lie to the Holy Ghost, because he who conceals the sin declares in confession to God and the priest that he committed no sins but what he has confessed, while the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of Truth, saw him committing the sin he now conceals and still sees it in his soul while he denies it. <b>Q. 797. Why is it foolish to conceal sins in confession?</b> A. It is foolish to conceal sins in confession: (1) Because we thereby make our spiritual condition worse; (2) We must tell the sin sometime if we ever hope to be saved; (3) It will be made known on the day of judgment, before the world, whether we conceal it now or confess it. <b>Q. 798. What must he do who has wilfully concealed a mortal sin in Confession?</b> A. He who has wilfully concealed a mortal sin in Confession must not only confess it, but must also repeat all the sins he has committed since his last worthy Confession. <b>Q. 799. Must one who has wilfully concealed a mortal sin in confession do more than repeat the sins committed since his last worthy confession?</b> A. One who has wilfully concealed a mortal sin in confession must, besides repeating all the sins he has committed since his last worthy confession, tell also how often he has unworthily received absolution and Holy Communion during the same time. <b>Q. 800. Why does the priest give us a penance after Confession?</b> A. The priest gives us a penance after Confession, that we may satisfy God for the temporal punishment due to our sins. <b>Q. 801. Why should we have to satisfy for our sins if Christ has fully satisfied for them?</b> A. Christ has fully satisfied for our sins and after our baptism we were free from all guilt and had no satisfaction to make. But when we wilfully sinned after baptism, it is but just that we should be obliged to make some satisfaction. <b>Q. 802. Is the slight penance the priest gives us sufficient to satisfy for all the sins confessed?</b> A. The slight penance the priest gives us is not sufficient to satisfy for all the sins confessed: (1) Because there is no real equality between the slight penance given and the punishment deserved for sin; (2) Because we are all obliged to do penance for sins committed, and this would not be necessary if the penance given in confession satisfied for all. The penance is given and accepted in confession chiefly to show our willingness to do penance and make amends for our sins. <b>Q. 803. Does not the Sacrament of Penance remit all punishment due to sin?</b> A. The Sacrament of Penance remits the eternal punishment due to sin, but it does not always remit the temporal punishment which God requires as satisfaction for our sins. <b>Q. 804. Why does God require a temporal punishment as a satisfaction for sin?</b> A. God requires a temporal punishment as a satisfaction for sin to teach us the great evil of sin and to prevent us from falling again. <b>Q. 805. Which are the chief means by which we satisfy God for the temporal punishment due to sin?</b> A. The chief means by which we satisfy God for the temporal punishment due to sin are: Prayer, Fasting, Almsgiving; all spiritual and corporal works of mercy, and the patient suffering of the ills of life. <b>Q. 806. What fasting has the greatest merit?</b> A. The fasting imposed by the Church on certain days of the year, and particularly during Lent, has the greatest merit. <b>Q. 807. What is Lent?</b> A. Lent is the forty days before Easter Sunday, during which we do penance, fast and pray to prepare ourselves for the resurrection of Our Lord; and also to remind us of His own fast of forty days before His Passion. <b>Q. 808. What do we mean by “almsgiving”?</b> A. By almsgiving we mean money, goods, or assistance given to the poor or to charitable purposes. The law of God requires all persons to give alms in proportion to their means. <b>Q. 809. What “ills of life” help to satisfy God for sin?</b> A. The ills of life that help to satisfy God for sin are sickness, poverty, misfortune, trial, affliction, &c., especially, when we have not brought them upon ourselves by sin. <b>Q. 810. How did the Christians in the first ages of the Church do Penance?</b> A. The Christians in the first ages of the Church did public penance, especially for the sins of which they were publicly known to be guilty. Penitents were excluded for a certain time from Mass or the Sacrament, and some were obliged to stand at the door of the Church begging the prayers of those who entered. <b>Q. 811. What were these severe Penances of the First Ages of the Church called?</b> A. These severe penances of the first ages of the Church were called canonical penances, because their kind and duration were regulated by the Canons or laws of the Church. <b>Q. 812. How can we know spiritual from corporal works of mercy?</b> A. We can know spiritual from corporal works of mercy, for whatever we do for the soul is a spiritual work, and whatever we do for the body is a corporal work. <b>Q. 813. Which are the chief spiritual works of mercy?</b> A. The chief spiritual works of mercy are seven: To admonish the sinner, to instruct the ignorant, to counsel the doubtful, to comfort the sorrowful, to bear wrongs patiently, to forgive all injuries, and to pray for the living and the dead. <b>Q. 814. When are we bound to admonish the sinner?</b> A. We are bound to admonish the sinner when the following conditions are fulfilled: (1) When his fault is a mortal sin; (2) When we have authority or influence over him, and (3) When there is reason to believe that our warning will not make him worse instead of better. <b>Q. 815. Who are meant by the “ignorant” we are to instruct, and the “doubtful” we are to counsel?</b> A. By the ignorant we are to instruct and the doubtful we are to counsel, are meant those particularly who are ignorant of the truths of religion and those who are in doubt about matters of faith. We must aid such persons as far as we can to know and believe the truths necessary for salvation. <b>Q. 816. Why are we advised to bear wrong patiently and to forgive all injuries?</b> A. We are advised to bear wrongs patiently and to forgive all injuries, because, being Christians, we should imitate the example of Our Divine Lord, who endured wrongs patiently and who not only pardoned but prayed for those who injured Him. <b>Q. 817. If, then, it be a Christian virtue to forgive all injuries, why do Christians establish courts and prisons to punish wrongdoers?</b> A. Christians establish courts and prisons to punish wrongdoers, because the preservation of lawful authority, good order in society, the protection of others, and sometimes even the good of the guilty one himself, require that crimes be justly punished. As God Himself punishes crime and as lawful authority comes from Him, such authority has the right to punish, though individuals should forgive the injuries done to themselves personally. <b>Q. 818. Why is it a work of mercy to pray for the living and the dead?</b> A. It is a work of mercy to aid those who are unable to aid themselves. The living are exposed to temptations, and while in mortal sin they are deprived of the merit of their good works and need our prayers. The dead can in no way help themselves and depend on us for assistance. <b>Q. 819. Which are the chief corporal works of mercy?</b> A. The chief corporal works of mercy are seven: To feed the hungry, to give drink to the thirsty, to clothe the naked, to ransom the captive, to harbor the harborless, to visit the sick, and to bury the dead. <b>Q. 820. How may we briefly state the corporal works of mercy?</b> A. We may briefly state the corporal works of mercy by saying that we are obliged to help the poor in all their forms of want. <b>Q. 821. How are Christians aided in the performance of works of mercy?</b> A. Christians are aided in the performance of works of mercy through the establishment of charitable institutions where religious communities of holy men or women perform these duties for us, provided we supply the necessary means by our almsgiving and good works. <b>Q. 822. Who are religious?</b> A. Religious are self-sacrificing men and women who, wishing to follow more closely the teachings of Our Lord, dedicate their lives to the service of God and religion. They live together in societies approved by the Church, under a rule and guidance of a superior. They keep the vows of chastity, poverty and obedience, and divide their time between prayer and good works. The houses in which they dwell are called convents or monasteries, and the societies in which they live are called religious orders, communities or congregations. <b>Q. 823. Are there any religious communities of priests?</b> A. There are many religious communities of priests, who, besides living according to the general laws of the Church, as all priests do, follow certain rules laid down for their community. Such priests are called the regular clergy, because living by rules to distinguish them from the secular clergy who live in their parishes under no special rule. The chief work of the regular clergy is to teach in colleges and give missions and retreats. <b>Q. 824. Why are there so many different religious communities?</b> A. There are many different religious communities (1) because all religious are not fitted for the same work, and (2) because they desire to imitate Our Lord’s life on earth as perfectly as possible; and when each community takes one of Christ’s works and seeks to become perfect in it, the union of all their works continues as perfectly as we can the works He began upon earth. <b>LESSON TWENTIETH. ON THE MANNER OF MAKING A GOOD CONFESSION.</b><br><b>Q. 825. What should we do on entering the confessional?</b> A. On entering the confessional we should kneel, make the sign of the Cross, and say to the priest, “Bless me, father”; then add, “I confess to Almighty God and to you, father, that I have sinned.” <b>Q. 826. Which are the first things we should tell the priest in Confession?</b> A. The first things we should tell the priest in Confession are the time of our last Confession, and whether we said the penance and went to Holy Communion. <b>Q. 827. Should we tell anything else in connection with our last confession?</b> A. In connection with our last confession we should tell also what restrictions--if any--were placed upon us with regard to our occasions of sin, and what obligations with regard to the payment of debts, restitution, injuries done to others and the like, we were commanded to fulfill. <b>Q. 828. After telling the time of our last Confession and Communion what should we do?</b> A. After telling the time of our last Confession and Communion we should confess all the mortal sins we have since committed, and all the venial sins we may wish to mention. <b>Q. 829. What is a general confession?</b> A. A general confession is the telling of the sins of our whole life or a great part of it. It is made in the same manner as an ordinary confession, except that it requires more time and longer preparation. <b>Q. 830. When should a General Confession be made?</b> A. A general confession (1) is necessary when we are certain that our past confessions were bad; (2) it is useful on special occasions in our lives when some change in our way of living is about to take place; (3) it is hurtful and must not be made when persons are scrupulous. <b>Q. 831. What are the signs of scruples and the remedy against them?</b> A. The signs of scruples are chiefly: (1) To be always dissatisfied with our confessions; (2) To be self-willed in deciding what is sinful and what is not. The chief remedy against them is to follow exactly the advice of the confessor without questioning the reason or utility of his advice. <b>Q. 832. What must we do when the confessor asks us questions?</b> A. When the confessor asks us questions we must answer them truthfully and clearly. <b>Q. 833. What should we do after telling our sins?</b> A. After telling our sins we should listen with attention to the advice which the confessor may think proper to give. <b>Q. 834. What duties does the priest perform in the confessional?</b> A. In the confessional the priest performs the duties (1) of a judge, by listening to our self-accusations and passing sentence upon our guilt or innocence; (2) Of a father, by the good advice and encouragement he gives us; (3) Of a teacher, by his instructions, and (4) Of a physician, by discovering the afflictions of our soul and giving us the remedies to restore it to spiritual health. <b>Q. 835. Why is it beneficial to go always if possible to the same confessor?</b> A. It is beneficial to go always, if possible, to the same confessor, because our continued confessions enable him to see more clearly the true state of our soul and to understand better our occasions of sin. <b>Q. 836. Should we remain away from confession because we cannot go to our usual confessor?</b> A. We should not remain away from confession because we cannot go to our usual confessor, for though it is well to confess to the same priest, it is not necessary to do so. One should never become so attached to a confessor that his absence or the great inconvenience of going to him would become an excuse for neglecting the Sacraments. <b>Q. 837. How should we end our Confession?</b> A. We should end our Confession by saying, “I also accuse myself of all the sins of my past life,” telling, if we choose, one or several of our past sins. <b>Q. 838. What should we do while the priest is giving us absolution?</b> A. While the priest is giving us absolution we should from our heart renew the Act of Contrition. <b>LESSON TWENTY-FIRST. ON INDULGENCES.</b><br><b>Q. 839. What is an Indulgence?</b> A. An Indulgence is the remission in whole or in part of the temporal punishment due to sin. <b>Q. 840. What does the word “indulgence” mean?</b> A. The word indulgence means a favor or concession. An indulgence obtains by a very slight penance the remission of penalties that would otherwise be severe. <b>Q. 841. Is an Indulgence a pardon of sin, or a license to commit sin?</b> A. An Indulgence is not a pardon of sin, nor a license to commit sin, and one who is in a state of mortal sin cannot gain an Indulgence. <b>Q. 842. How do good works done in mortal sin profit us?</b> A. Good works done in mortal sin profit us by obtaining for us the grace to repent and sometimes temporal blessings. Mortal sin deprives us of all our merit, nevertheless God will bestow gifts for every good deed as He will punish every evil deed. <b>Q. 843. How many kinds of Indulgences are there?</b> A. There are two kinds of Indulgences--Plenary and Partial. <b>Q. 844. What is Plenary Indulgence?</b> A. A Plenary Indulgence is the full remission of the temporal punishment due to sin. <b>Q. 845. Is it easy to gain a Plenary Indulgence?</b> A. It is not easy to gain a Plenary Indulgence, as we may understand from its great privilege. To gain a Plenary Indulgence, we must hate sin, be heartily sorry for even our venial sins, and have no desire for even the slightest sin. Though we may not gain entirely each Plenary Indulgence we seek, we always gain a part of each; that is, a partial indulgence, greater or less in proportion to our good dispositions. <b>Q. 846. Which are the most important Plenary Indulgences granted by the Church?</b> A. The most important Plenary Indulgences granted by the Church are (1) The Indulgences of a jubilee which the Pope grants every twenty-five years or on great occasions by which he gives special faculties to confessors for the absolution of reserved sins; (2) The Indulgence granted to the dying in their last agony. <b>Q. 847. What is a Partial Indulgence?</b> A. A Partial Indulgence is the remission of part of the temporal punishment due to sin. <b>Q. 848. How long has the practice of granting Indulgences been in use in the Church, and what was its origin?</b> A. The practice of granting Indulgences has been in use in the Church since the time of the apostles. It had its origin in the earnest prayers of holy persons, and especially of the martyrs begging the Church for their sake to shorten the severe penances of sinners, or to change them into lighter penances. The request was frequently granted and the penance remitted, shortened or changed, and with the penance remitted the temporal punishment corresponding to it was blotted out. <b>Q. 849. How do we show that the Church has the power to grant Indulgences?</b> A. We show that the Church has the power to grant Indulgences, because Christ has given it power to remit all guilt without restriction, and if the Church has power, in the Sacrament of penance, to remit the eternal punishment--which is the greatest--it must have power to remit the temporal or lesser punishment, even outside the Sacrament of Penance. <b>Q. 850. How do we know that these Indulgences have their effect?</b> A. We know that these Indulgences have their effect, because the Church, through her councils, declares Indulgences useful, and if they have no effect they would be useless, and the Church would teach error in spite of Christ’s promise to guide it. <b>Q. 851. Have there ever existed abuses among the faithful in the manner of using Indulgences?</b> A. There have existed, in past ages, some abuses among the faithful in the manner of using Indulgences, and the Church has always labored to correct such abuses as soon as possible. In the use of pious practices we must be always guided by our lawful superiors. <b>Q. 852. How have the enemies of the Church made use of the abuse of Indulgences?</b> A. The enemies of the Church have made use of the abuse of Indulgences to deny the doctrine of Indulgences, and to break down the teaching and limit the power of the Church. Not to be deceived in matters of faith, we must always distinguish very carefully between the abuses to which a devotion may lead and the truths upon which the devotion rests. <b>Q. 853. How does the Church by means of Indulgences remit the temporal punishment due to sin?</b> A. 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 satisfactions of the Blessed Virgin Mary and of the saints; which merits and satisfactions are its spiritual treasury. <b>Q. 854. What do we mean by the “superabundant satisfaction of the Blessed Virgin and the Saints”?</b> A. By the superabundant satisfaction of the Blessed Virgin and the saints, we mean all the satisfaction over and above what was necessary to satisfy for their own sins. As their good works were many and their sins few--the Blessed Virgin being sinless--the satisfaction not needed for themselves is kept by the Church in a spiritual treasury to be used for our benefit. <b>Q. 855. Does the Church, by granting Indulgences, free us from doing Penance?</b> A. The Church, by granting Indulgences, does not free us from doing penance, but simply makes our penance lighter that we may more easily satisfy for our sins and escape the punishments they deserve. <b>Q. 856. Who has the power to grant Indulgences?</b> A. The Pope alone has the power to grant Indulgences for the whole Church; but the bishops have power to grant partial Indulgences in their own diocese. Cardinals and some others, by the special permission of the Pope, have the right to grant certain Indulgences. <b>Q. 857. Where shall we find the Indulgences granted by the Church?</b> A. We shall find the Indulgences granted by the Church in the declarations of the Pope and of the Sacred Congregation of Cardinals. These declarations are usually put into prayer books and books of devotion or instruction. <b>Q. 858. What must we do to gain an Indulgence?</b> A. To gain an Indulgence we must be in the state of grace and perform the works enjoined. <b>Q. 859. Besides being in a state of grace and performing the works enjoined, what else is necessary for the gaining of an Indulgence?</b> A. Besides being in a state of grace and performing the works enjoined, it is necessary for the gaining of an Indulgence to have at least the general intention of gaining it. <b>Q. 860. How and why should we make a general intention to gain all possible Indulgences each day?</b> A. We should make a general intention at our morning prayers to gain all possible Indulgences each day, because several of the prayers we say and good works we perform may have Indulgences attached to them, though we are not aware of it. <b>Q. 861. What works are generally enjoined for the gaining of Indulgences?</b> A. The works generally enjoined for the gaining of Indulgences are: The saying of certain prayers, fasting, and the use of certain articles of devotion; visits to Churches or altars, and the giving of alms. For the gaining of Plenary Indulgences it is generally required to go to confession and Holy Communion and pray for the intention of the Pope. <b>Q. 862. What does praying for a person’s intention mean?</b> A. Praying for a person’s intention means praying for whatever he prays for or desires to obtain through prayer--some spiritual or temporal favors. <b>Q. 863. What does an Indulgence of forty days mean?</b> A. An Indulgence of forty days means that for the prayer or work to which an Indulgence of forty days is attached, God remits as much of our temporal punishment as He remitted for forty days’ canonical penance. We do not know just how much temporal punishment God remitted for forty days’ public penance, but whatever it was, He remits the same now when we gain an Indulgence of forty days. The same rule applies to Indulgences of a year or any length of time. <b>Q. 864. Why did the Church moderate its severe penances?</b> A. The Church moderated its severe penances, because when Christians--terrified by persecution--grew weaker in their faith, there was danger of some abandoning their religion rather than submit to the penances imposed. The Church, therefore, wishing to save as many as possible, made the sinner’s penance as light as possible. <b>Q. 865. To what things may Indulgences be attached?</b> A. Plenary or Partial Indulgences may be attached to prayers and solid articles of devotion; to places such as churches, altars, shrines, &c., to be visited; and by a special privilege they are sometimes attached to the good works of certain persons. <b>Q. 866. When do things lose the Indulgences attached to them?</b> A. Things lose the Indulgences attached to them: (1) When they are so changed at once as to be no longer what they were; (2) When they are sold. Rosaries and other indulgenced articles do not lose their indulgences, when they are loaned or given away, for the indulgence is not personal but attached to the article itself. <b>Q. 867. Will a weekly Confession suffice to gain during the week all Indulgences to which Confession is enjoined as one of the works?</b> A. Weekly confession will suffice to gain during the week all Indulgences to which confession is enjoined as one of the works, provided we continue in a state of grace, perform the other works enjoined and have the intention of gaining these Indulgences. <b>Q. 868. How and when may we apply Indulgences for the benefit of the souls in Purgatory?</b> A. We may apply Indulgences for the benefit of the souls in Purgatory by way of intercession; whenever this application is mentioned and permitted by the Church in granting the Indulgence; that is, when the Church declares that the Indulgence granted is applicable to the souls of the living or the souls in Purgatory; so that we may gain it for the benefit of either. <b>LESSON TWENTY-SECOND. ON THE HOLY EUCHARIST.</b><br><b>Q. 869. What does the word Eucharist strictly mean?</b> A. The word Eucharist strictly means pleasing, and this Sacrament is so called because it renders us most pleasing to God by the grace it imparts, and it gives us the best means of thanking Him for all His blessings. <b>Q. 870. What is the Holy Eucharist?</b> A. The Holy Eucharist is the Sacrament which contains the body and blood, soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ under the appearances of bread and wine. <b>Q. 871. What do we mean when we say the Sacrament which contains the Body and Blood?</b> A. When we say the Sacrament which contains the Body and Blood, we mean the Sacrament which is the Body and Blood, for after the Consecration there is no other substance present in the Eucharist. <b>Q. 872. When is the Holy Eucharist a Sacrament, and when is it a sacrifice?</b> A. The Holy Eucharist is a Sacrament when we receive it in Holy Communion and when it remains in the Tabernacle of the Altar. It is a sacrifice when it is offered up at Mass by the separate Consecration of the bread and wine, which signifies the separation of Our Lord’s blood from His body when He died on the Cross. <b>Q. 873. When did Christ institute the Holy Eucharist?</b> A. Christ instituted the Holy Eucharist at the Last Supper, the night before He died. <b>Q. 874. Who were present when our Lord instituted the Holy Eucharist?</b> A. When Our Lord instituted the Holy Eucharist, the twelve Apostles were present. <b>Q. 875. How did our Lord institute the Holy Eucharist?</b> A. Our Lord instituted the Holy Eucharist by taking bread, blessing, breaking, and giving to His Apostles, saying: “Take ye and eat. This is my body”; and then, by taking the cup of wine, blessing and giving it, saying to them: “Drink ye all of this. This is my blood which shall be shed for the remission of sins. Do this for a commemoration of me.” <b>Q. 876. What happened when our Lord said, “This is my body; this is my blood”?</b> A. When Our Lord said, “This is my body,” the substance of the bread was changed into the substance of His body; when He said, “This is my blood,” the substance of the wine was changed into the substance of His blood. <b>Q. 877. How do we prove the Real Presence, that is, that Our Lord is really and truly present in the Holy Eucharist?</b> A. We prove the Real Presence--that is, that Our Lord is really and truly present in the Holy Eucharist--(1) By showing that it is possible to change one substance into another; (2) By showing that Christ did change the substance of bread and wine into the substance of His body and blood; (3) By showing that He gave this power also to His Apostles and to the priests of His Church. <b>Q. 878. How do we know that it is possible to change one substance into another?</b> A. We know that it is possible to change one substance into another, because (1) God changed water into blood during the plagues of Egypt; (2) Christ changed water into wine at the marriage of Cana; (3) Our own food is daily changed into the substance of our flesh and blood; and what God does gradually, He can also do instantly by an act of His will. <b>Q. 879. Are these changes exactly the same as the changes that take place in the Holy Eucharist?</b> A. These changes are not exactly the same as the changes that take place in the Holy Eucharist, for in these changes the appearance also is changed, but in the Holy Eucharist only the substance is changed while the appearance remains the same. <b>Q. 880. How do we show that Christ did change bread and wine into the substance of His body and blood?</b> A. We show that Christ did change bread and wine into the substance of His body and blood: (1) From the words by which He promised the Holy Eucharist; (2) From the words by which He instituted the Holy Eucharist; (3) From the constant use of the Holy Eucharist in the Church since the time of the Apostles; (4) From the impossibility of denying the Real Presence in the Holy Eucharist, without likewise denying all that Christ has taught and done; for we have stronger proofs for the Holy Eucharist than for any other Christian truth. <b>Q. 881. Is Jesus Christ whole and entire both under the form of bread and under the form of wine?</b> A. Jesus Christ is whole and entire both under the form of bread and under the form of wine. <b>Q. 882. How do we know that under the appearance of bread we receive also Christ’s blood; and under the appearance of wine we receive also Christ’s body?</b> A. We know that under the appearance of bread we receive also Christ’s blood, and under the appearance of wine we receive also Christ’s body; because in the Holy Eucharist we receive the living body of Our Lord, and a living body cannot exist without blood, nor can living blood exist without a body. <b>Q. 883. Is Jesus Christ present whole and entire in the smallest portion of the Holy Eucharist, under the form of either bread or wine?</b> A. Jesus Christ is present whole and entire in the smallest portion of the Holy Eucharist under the form of either bread or wine; for His body in the Eucharist is in a glorified state, and as it partakes of the character of a spiritual substance, it requires no definite size or shape. <b>Q. 884. Did anything remain of the bread and wine after their substance had been changed into the substance of the body and blood of our Lord?</b> A. After the substance of the bread and wine had been changed into the substance of the body and blood of Our Lord, there remained only the appearances of bread and wine. <b>Q. 885. What do you mean by the appearances of bread and wine?</b> A. By the appearances of bread and wine I mean the figure, the color, the taste, and whatever appears to the senses. <b>Q. 886. What is this change of the bread and wine into the body and blood of our Lord called?</b> A. This change of the bread and wine into the body and blood of Our Lord is called Transubstantiation. <b>Q. 887. What is the second great miracle in the Holy Eucharist?</b> A. The second great miracle in the Holy Eucharist is the multiplication of the presence of Our Lord’s body in so many places at the same time, while the body itself is not multiplied--for there is but one body of Christ. <b>Q. 888. Are there not, then, as many bodies of Christ as there are tabernacles in the world, or as there are Masses being said at the same time?</b> A. There are not as many bodies of Christ as there are tabernacles in the world, or as there are Masses being said at the same time; but only one body of Christ, which is everywhere present whole and entire in the Holy Eucharist, as God is everywhere present, while He is but one God. <b>Q. 889. How was the substance of the bread and wine changed into the substance of the body and blood of Christ?</b> A. The substance of the bread and wine was changed into the substance of the body and blood of Christ by His almighty power. <b>Q. 890. Does this change of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ continue to be made in the Church?</b> A. This change of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ continues to be made in the Church by Jesus Christ through the ministry of His priests. <b>Q. 891. When did Christ give His priests the power to change bread and wine into His body and blood?</b> A. Christ gave His priests the power to change bread and wine into His body and blood when He said to the Apostles, “Do this in commemoration of Me.” <b>Q. 892. What do the words “Do this in commemoration of Me” mean?</b> A. The words “Do this in commemoration of Me” mean: Do what I, Christ, am doing at My last supper, namely, changing the substance of bread and wine into the substance of My body and blood; and do it in remembrance of Me. <b>Q. 893. How do the priests exercise this power of changing bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ?</b> A. The priests exercise this power of changing bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ through the words of consecration in the Mass, which are words of Christ: “This is my body; this is my blood.” <b>Q. 894. At what part of the Mass does the Consecration take place?</b> A. The Consecration in the Mass takes place immediately before the elevation of the Host and Chalice, which are raised above the head of the priest that the people may adore Our Lord who has just come to the altar at the words of Consecration. <b>LESSON TWENTY-THIRD. ON THE ENDS FOR WHICH THE HOLY EUCHARIST WAS INSTITUTED.</b><br><b>Q. 895. Why did Christ institute the Holy Eucharist?</b> A. Christ instituted the Holy Eucharist: 1. To unite us to Himself and to nourish our soul with His divine life. 2. To increase sanctifying grace and all virtues in our soul. 3. To lessen our evil inclinations. 4. To be a pledge of everlasting life. 5. To fit our bodies for a glorious resurrection. 6. To continue the sacrifice of the Cross in His Church. <b>Q. 896. Has the Holy Eucharist any other effect?</b> A. The Holy Eucharist remits venial sins by disposing us to perform acts of love and contrition. It preserves us from mortal sin by exciting us to greater fervor and strengthening us against temptation. <b>Q. 897. How are we united to Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist?</b> A. We are united to Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist by means of Holy Communion. <b>Q. 898. What is Holy Communion?</b> A. Holy Communion is the receiving of the body and blood of Christ. <b>Q. 899. Is it not beneath the dignity of Our Lord to enter our bodies under the appearance of ordinary food?</b> A. It is not beneath the dignity of Our Lord to enter our bodies under the appearance of ordinary food any more than it was beneath His dignity to enter the body of His Blessed Mother and remain there as an ordinary child for nine months. Christ’s dignity, being infinite, can never be diminished by any act on His own or on our part. <b>Q. 900. Why does not the Church give Holy Communion to the people as it does to the priest under the appearance of wine also?</b> A. The Church does not give Holy Communion to the people as it does to the priest under the appearance of wine also, to avoid the danger of spilling the Precious Blood; to prevent the irreverence some might show if compelled to drink out of a chalice used by all, and lastly, to refute those who denied that Our Lord’s blood is present under the appearance of bread also. <b>Q. 901. What is necessary to make a good Communion?</b> A. To make a good Communion it is necessary to be in the state of sanctifying grace and to fast according to the laws of the Church. <b>Q. 902. What should a person do who, through forgetfulness or any other cause, has broken the fast necessary for Holy Communion?</b> A. A person who through forgetfulness or any other cause has broken the fast necessary for Holy Communion, should again fast and receive Holy Communion the following morning if possible, without returning to confession. It is not a sin to break one’s fast, but it would be a mortal sin to receive Holy Communion after knowingly breaking the fast necessary for it. <b>Q. 903. Does he who receives Communion in mortal sin receive the body and blood of Christ?</b> A. He who receives Communion in mortal sin receives the body and blood of Christ, but does not receive His grace, and he commits a great sacrilege. <b>Q. 904. Is it enough to be free from mortal sin to receive plentifully the graces of Holy Communion?</b> A. To receive plentifully the graces of Holy Communion it is not enough to be free from mortal sin, but we should be free from all affection to venial sin, and should make acts of lively faith, of firm hope, and ardent love. <b>Q. 905. What is the fast necessary for Holy Communion?</b> A. The fast necessary for Holy Communion is the abstaining from food, alcoholic drinks and non-alcoholic drinks for one hour before Holy Communion. Water does not break the fast. [This response is modified for the current canon law.] <b>Q. 906. Does medicine taken by necessity or food taken by accident break the fast for Holy Communion?</b> A. Medicine does not break the fast; food taken by accident within one hour before Communion breaks the fast. <b>Q. 907. Is any one ever allowed to receive Holy Communion when not fasting?</b> A. To protect the Blessed Sacrament from insult or injury, or when in danger of death, Holy Communion may be received without fasting. <b>Q. 908. Is the Holy Communion called by any other name when given to one in danger of death?</b> A. When the Holy Communion is given to one in danger of death, it is called Viaticum, and is given with its own form of prayer. In giving Holy Communion the priest says: “May the body of Our Lord Jesus Christ guard your soul to eternal life.” In giving Holy Viaticum he says: “Receive, brother (or sister), the Viaticum of the body of Our Lord Jesus Christ, which will guard you from the wicked enemy and lead you into eternal life.” <b>Q. 909. When are we bound to receive Holy Communion?</b> A. We are bound to receive Holy Communion, under pain of mortal sin, during the Easter time and when in danger of death. <b>Q. 910. Is it well to receive Holy Communion often?</b> A. It is well to receive Holy Communion often, as nothing is a greater aid to a holy life than often to receive the Author of all grace and the Source of all good. <b>Q. 911. How shall we know how often we should receive Holy Communion?</b> A. We shall know how often we shall receive Holy Communion only from the advice of our confessor, by whom we must be guided, and whom we must strictly obey in this as well as in all matters concerning the state of our soul. <b>Q. 912. What is a spiritual Communion?</b> A. A spiritual communion is an earnest desire to receive Communion in reality, by which desire we make all preparations and thanksgivings that we would make in case we really received the Holy Eucharist. Spiritual Communion is an act of devotion that must be pleasing to God and bring us blessings from Him. <b>Q. 913. What should we do after Holy Communion?</b> A. After Holy Communion we should spend some time in adoring Our Lord, in thanking Him for the grace we have received, and in asking Him for the blessings we need. <b>Q. 914. What length of time should we spend in thanksgiving after Holy Communion?</b> A. We should spend sufficient time in Thanksgiving after Holy Communion to show due reverence to the Blessed Sacrament; for Our Lord is personally with us as long as the appearance of bread and wine remains. <b>Q. 915. What should we be particular about when receiving Holy Communion?</b> A. When receiving Holy Communion we should be particular: (1) About the respectful manner in which we approach and return from the altar; (2) About our personal appearance, especially neatness and cleanliness; (3) About raising our head, opening our mouth and putting forth the tongue in the proper manner; (4) About swallowing the Sacred Host; (5) About removing it carefully with the tongue, in case it should stick to the mouth, but never with the finger under any circumstances. <b>LESSON TWENTY-FOURTH. ON THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS.</b><br><b>Q. 916. When and where are the bread and wine changed into the body and blood of Christ?</b> A. The bread and wine are changed into the body and blood of Christ at the Consecration in the Mass. <b>Q. 917. What is the Mass?</b> A. The Mass is the unbloody sacrifice of the body and blood of Christ. <b>Q. 918. Why is this Sacrifice called the Mass?</b> A. This Sacrifice is called the “Mass” very probably from the words “Ite Missa est,” used by the priest as he tells the people to depart when the Holy Sacrifice is ended. <b>Q. 919. What is a sacrifice?</b> A. A sacrifice is the offering of an object by a priest to God alone, and the consuming of it to acknowledge that He is the Creator and Lord of all things. <b>Q. 920. Is the Mass the same sacrifice as that of the Cross?</b> A. The Mass is the same sacrifice as that of the Cross. <b>Q. 921. How is the Mass the same sacrifice as that of the Cross?</b> A. The Mass is the same sacrifice as that of the Cross because the offering and the priest are the same--Christ our Blessed Lord; and the ends for which the sacrifice of the Mass is offered are the same as those of the sacrifice of the Cross. <b>Q. 922. What were the ends for which the sacrifice of the Cross was offered?</b> A. The ends for which the sacrifice of the Cross was offered were: 1st, To honor and glorify God; 2nd, To thank Him for all the graces bestowed on the whole world; 3rd, To satisfy God’s justice for the sins of men; 4th, To obtain all graces and blessings. <b>Q. 923. How are the fruits of the Mass distributed?</b> A. The fruits of the Mass are distributed thus: The first benefit is bestowed on the priest who says the Mass; the second on the person for whom the Mass is said, or for the intention for which it is said; the third on those who are present at the Mass, and particularly on those who serve it, and the fourth on all the faithful who are in communion with the Church. <b>Q. 924. Are all Masses of equal value in themselves or do they differ in worth?</b> A. All Masses are equal in value in themselves and do not differ in worth, but only in the solemnity with which they are celebrated or in the end for which they are offered. <b>Q. 925. How are Masses distinguished?</b> A. Masses are distinguished thus: (1) When the Mass is sung by a bishop, assisted by a deacon and sub-deacon, it is called a Pontifical Mass; (2) When it is sung by a priest, assisted by a deacon and sub-deacon, it is called a Solemn Mass; (3) When sung by a priest without deacon and sub-deacon, it is called a Missa Cantata or High Mass; (4) When the Mass is only read in a low tone it is called a low or private Mass. <b>Q. 926. For what end or intention may Mass be offered?</b> A. Mass may be offered for any end or intention that tends to the honor and glory of God, to the good of the Church or the welfare of man; but never for any object that is bad in itself, or in its aims; neither can it be offered publicly for persons who are not members of the true Church. <b>Q. 927. Explain what is meant by Requiem, Nuptial and Votive Masses.</b> A. A Requiem Mass is one said in black vestments and with special prayers for the dead. A Nuptial Mass is one said at the marriage of two Catholics, and it has special prayers for their benefit. A Votive Mass is one said in honor of some particular mystery or saint, on a day not set apart by the Church for the honor of that mystery or saint. <b>Q. 928. From what may we learn that we are to offer up the Holy Sacrifice with the priest?</b> A. We may learn that we are to offer up the Holy Sacrifice with the priest from the words used in the Mass itself; for the priest, after offering up the bread and wine for the Sacrifice, turns to the people and says: “Orate Fratres,” &c., which means: “Pray, brethren, that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God the Father Almighty,” and the server answers in our name: “May the Lord receive the sacrifice from thy hands to the praise and glory of His own name, and to our benefit and that of all His Holy Church.” <b>Q. 929. From what did the custom of making an offering to the priest for saying Mass arise?</b> A. The custom of making an offering to the priest for saying Mass arose from the old custom of bringing to the priest the bread and wine necessary for the celebration of Mass. <b>Q. 930. Is it not simony, or the buying of a sacred thing, to offer the priest money for saying Mass for your intention?</b> A. It is not simony, or the buying of a sacred thing, to offer the priest money for saying Mass for our intention, because the priest does not take the money for the Mass itself, but for the purpose of supplying the things necessary for Mass and for his own support. <b>Q. 931. Is there any difference between the sacrifice of the Cross and the sacrifice of the Mass?</b> A. Yes; the manner in which the sacrifice is offered is different. On the Cross Christ really shed His blood and was really slain; in the Mass there is no real shedding of blood nor real death, because Christ can die no more; but the sacrifice of the Mass, through the separate consecration of the bread and the wine, represents His death on the Cross. <b>Q. 932. What are the chief parts of the Mass?</b> A. The chief parts of the Mass are: (1) The Offertory, at which the priests offers to God the bread and wine to be changed at the Consecration; (2) The Consecration, at which the substance of the bread and wine are changed into the substance of Christ’s body and blood; (3) The Communion, at which the priest receives into his own body the Holy Eucharist under the appearance of both bread and wine. <b>Q. 933. At what part of the Mass does the Offertory take place, and what parts of the Mass are said before it?</b> A. The Offertory takes place immediately after the uncovering of the chalice. The parts of the Mass said before it are: The Introit, Kyrie, Gloria, Prayers, Epistle, Gospel and Creed. The Introit, Prayers, Epistle and Gospel change in each Mass to correspond with the feast celebrated. <b>Q. 934. What is the part of the Mass called in which the Words of Consecration are found?</b> A. The part of the Mass in which the words of Consecration are found is called the Canon. This is the most solemn part of the Mass, and is rarely and but slightly changed in any Mass. <b>Q. 935. What follows the Communion of the Mass?</b> A. Following the Communion of Mass, there are prayers of thanksgiving, the blessing of the people, and the saying of the last Gospel. <b>Q. 936. What things are necessary for Mass?</b> A. The things necessary for Mass are: (1) An altar with linen covers, candles, crucifix, altar stone and Mass book; (2) A Chalice with all needed in its use, and bread of flour from wheat and wine from the grape; (3) Vestments for the priest, and (4) An acolyte or server. <b>Q. 937. What is the altar stone, and of what does it remind us?</b> A. The altar stone is that part of the altar upon which the priest rests the Chalice during Mass. This stone contains some holy relics sealed up in it by the bishop, and if the altar is of wood this stone is inserted just in front of the Tabernacle. The altar stone reminds us of the early history of the Church, when the martyrs’ tombs were used for altars by the persecuted Christians. <b>Q. 938. What lesson do we learn from the practice of using martyrs’ tombs for altars?</b> A. From the practice of using martyrs’ tombs for altars we learn the inconvenience, sufferings and dangers the early Christians willingly underwent for the sake of hearing Mass. Since the Mass is the same now as it was then, we should suffer every inconvenience rather than be absent from Mass on Sundays or holy days. <b>Q. 939. What things are used with the chalice during Mass?</b> A. The things used with the chalice during Mass are: (1) The purificator or cloth for wiping the inside; (2) The paten or small silver plate used in handling the host; (3) The pall or white card used for covering the chalice at Mass; (4) The corporal or linen cloth on which the chalice and host rest. <b>Q. 940. What is the host?</b> A. The host is the name given to the thin wafer of bread used at Mass. This name is generally applied before and after Consecration to the large particle of bread used by the priest, though the small particles given to the people are also called by the same name. <b>Q. 941. Are large and small hosts consecrated at every Mass?</b> A. A large host is consecrated at every Mass, but small hosts are consecrated only at some Masses at which they are to be given to the people or placed in the Tabernacle for the Holy Communion of the faithful. <b>Q. 942. What vestments does the priest use at Mass and what do they signify?</b> A. The vestments used by the priest at Mass are: (1) The Amice, a white cloth around the shoulders to signify resistance to temptation; (2) The Alb, a long white garment to signify innocence; (3) The Cincture, a cord about the waist, to signify chastity; (4) The Maniple or hanging vestment on the left arm, to signify penance; (5) The Stole or long vestment about the neck, to signify immortality; (6) The Chasuble or long vestment over all, to signify love and remind the priest, by its cross on front and back, of the Passion of Our Lord. <b>Q. 943. How many colors of vestments are used, and what do the colors signify?</b> A. Five colors of vestments are used, namely, white, red, green, violet or purple, and black. White signifies innocence and is used on the feasts of Our Blessed Lord, of the Blessed Virgin, and of some saints. Red signifies love, and is used on the feasts of the Holy Ghost, and of martyrs. Green signifies hope, and is generally used on Sundays from Epiphany to Pentecost. Violet signifies penance, and is used in Lent and Advent. Black signifies sorrow, and is used on Good Friday and at Masses for the dead. Gold is often used for white on great feasts. <b>Q. 944. What is the Tabernacle and what is the Ciborium?</b> A. The Tabernacle is the house-shaped part of the altar where the sacred vessels containing the Blessed Sacrament are kept. The Ciborium is the large silver or gold vessel which contains the Blessed Sacrament while in the Tabernacle, and from which the priest gives Holy Communion to the people. <b>Q. 945. What is the Ostensorium or Monstrance?</b> A. The Ostensorium or Monstrance is the beautiful wheel-like vessel in which the Blessed Sacrament is exposed and kept during the Benediction. <b>Q. 946. How should we assist at Mass?</b> A. We should assist at Mass with great interior recollection and piety and with every outward mark of respect and devotion. <b>Q. 947. Which is the best manner of hearing Mass?</b> A. The best manner of hearing Mass is to offer it to God with the priest for the same purpose for which it is said, to meditate on Christ’s sufferings and death, and to go to Holy Communion. <b>Q. 948. What is important for the proper and respectful hearing of Mass?</b> A. For the proper and respectful hearing of Mass it is important to be in our place before the priest comes to the altar and not to leave it before the priest leaves the altar. Thus we prevent the confusion and distraction caused by late coming and too early leaving. Standing in the doorways, blocking up passages and disputing about places should, out of respect for the Holy Sacrifice, be most carefully avoided. <b>Q. 949. What is Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, and what vestments are used at it?</b> A. Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament is an act of divine worship in which the Blessed Sacrament, placed in the ostensorium, is exposed for the adoration of the people and is lifted up to bless them. The vestments used at Benediction are: A cope or large silk cloak and a humeral or shoulder veil. <b>Q. 950. Why does the priest wear special vestments and use certain ceremonies while performing his sacred duties?</b> A. The priest wears special vestments and uses certain ceremonies while performing his sacred duties: (1) To give greater solemnity and to command more attention and respect at divine worship; (2) To instruct the people in the things that these vestments and ceremonies signify; (3) To remind the priest himself of the importance and sacred character of the work in which he is the representative of Our Lord Himself. Hence we should learn the meaning of the ceremonies of the Church. <b>Q. 951. How do we show that the ceremonies of the Church are reasonable and proper?</b> A. We show that the ceremonies of the Church are reasonable and proper from the fact that all persons in authority, rulers, judges and masters, require certain acts of respect from their subjects, and as we know Our Lord is present on the altar, the Church requires definite acts of reverence and respect at the services held in His honor and in His presence. <b>Q. 952. Are there other reasons for the use of ceremonies?</b> A. There are other reasons for the use of ceremonies: (1) God commanded ceremonies to be used in the old law, and (2) Our Blessed Lord Himself made use of ceremonies in performing some of His miracles. <b>Q. 953. How are the persons who take part in a Solemn Mass or Vespers named?</b> A. The persons who take part in a Solemn Mass or Vespers are named as follows: The priest who says or celebrates the Mass is called the celebrant; those who assist him as deacon and sub-deacon are called the ministers; those who serve are called acolytes, and the one who directs the ceremonies is called the master of ceremonies. If the celebrant be a bishop, the Mass or Vespers is called Pontifical Mass or Pontifical Vespers. <b>Q. 954. What is Vespers?</b> A. Vespers is a portion of the divine office or daily prayer of the Church. It is sung in Churches generally on Sunday afternoon or evening, and is usually followed by Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. <b>Q. 955. Can one satisfy for neglecting Mass on Sunday by hearing Vespers on the same day?</b> A. One cannot satisfy for neglecting Mass on Sunday by hearing Vespers on the same day, because there is no law of the Church obliging us under pain of sin to attend Vespers, while there is a law obliging us under pain of mortal sin to hear Mass. <b>LESSON TWENTY-FIFTH. ON EXTREME UNCTION AND HOLY ORDERS.</b><br><b>Q. 956. What is the Sacrament of Extreme Unction?</b> A. Extreme Unction is the Sacrament which, through the anointing and prayer of the priest, gives health and strength to the soul, and sometimes to the body, when we are in danger of death from sickness. <b>Q. 957. Why is this Sacrament called Extreme Unction?</b> A. Extreme means last, and Unction means an anointing or rubbing with oil, and because Catholics are anointed with oil at Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Orders, the last Sacrament in, which oil is used is called Extreme Unction, or the last Unction or anointing. <b>Q. 958. Is this Sacrament called Extreme Unction if the person recovers after receiving it?</b> A. This Sacrament is always called Extreme Unction, even if it must be given several times to the same person, for Extreme Unction is the proper name of the Sacrament, and it may be given as often as a person recovering from one attack of sickness is in danger of death by another. In a lingering illness it may be repeated after a month or six weeks, if the person slightly recovers and again relapses into a dangerous condition. <b>Q. 959. To whom may Extreme Unction be given?</b> A. Extreme Unction may be given to all Christians dangerously ill, who have ever been capable of committing sin after baptism and who have the right dispositions for the Sacrament. Hence it is never given to children who have not reached the use of reason, nor to persons who have always been insane. <b>Q. 960. What are the right dispositions for Extreme Unction?</b> A. The right dispositions for Extreme Unction are: (1) Resignation to the Will of God with regard to our recovery; (2) A state of grace or at least contrition for sins committed, and (3) A general intention or desire to receive the Sacrament. This Sacrament is never given to heretics in danger of death, because they cannot be supposed to have the intention necessary for receiving it, nor the desire to make use of the Sacrament of Penance in putting themselves in a state of grace. <b>Q. 961. When and by whom was Extreme Unction instituted?</b> A. Extreme Unction was instituted at the time of the apostles, for James the Apostle exhorts the sick to receive it. It was instituted by Our Lord Himself--though we do not know at what particular time--for He alone can make a visible act a means of grace, and the apostles and their successors could never have believed Extreme Unction a Sacrament and used it as such unless they had Our Lord’s authority for so doing. <b>Q. 962. When should we receive Extreme Unction?</b> A. We should receive Extreme Unction when we are in danger of death from sickness, or from a wound or accident. <b>Q. 963. What parts of the body are anointed in Extreme Unction?</b> A. The parts of the body anointed in Extreme Unction are: The eyes, the ears, the nose or nostrils, the lips, the hands and the feet, because these represent our senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch, which are the means through which we have committed most of our sins. <b>Q. 964. What things should be prepared in the sick-room when the priest is coming to give the last Sacraments?</b> A. When the priest is coming to give the last Sacraments, the following things should be prepared: A table covered with a white cloth; a crucifix; two lighted candles in candlesticks; holy water in a small vessel, with a small piece of palm for a sprinkler; a glass of clean water; a tablespoon and a napkin or cloth, to be placed under the chin of the one receiving the Viaticum. Besides these, if Extreme Unction also is to be given, there should be some cotton and a small piece of bread or lemon to purify the priest’s fingers. <b>Q. 965. What seems most proper with regard to the things necessary for the last Sacraments?</b> A. It seems most proper that the things necessary for the last Sacraments should be carefully kept in every Catholic family, and should never, if possible, be used for any other purpose. <b>Q. 966. What else is to be observed about the preparation for the administration of the last Sacraments?</b> A. The further preparation for the administration of the last Sacraments requires that out of respect for the Sacraments, and in particular for the presence of Our Lord, everything about the sick-room, the sick person and even the attendants, should be made as neat and clean as possible. Especially should the face, hands and feet of the one to be anointed be thoroughly clean. <b>Q. 967. Should we wait until we are in extreme danger before we receive Extreme Unction?</b> A. We should not wait until we are in extreme danger before we receive Extreme Unction, but if possible we should receive it whilst we have the use of our senses. <b>Q. 968. What should we do in case of serious illness if the sick person will not consent or is afraid to receive the Sacraments, or, at least, wishes to put off their reception?</b> A. In case of serious illness, if the sick person will not consent, or is afraid to receive the Sacraments, or, at least, wishes to put off their reception, we should send for the priest at once and let him do what he thinks best in the case, and thus we will free ourselves from the responsibility of letting a Catholic die without the last Sacraments. <b>Q. 969. Which are the effects of the Sacrament of Extreme Unction?</b> A. The effects of Extreme Unction are: 1st, To comfort us in the pains of sickness and to strengthen us against temptations; 2d, To remit venial sins and to cleanse our soul from the remains of sin; 3d, To restore us to health, when God sees fit. <b>Q. 970. Will Extreme Unction take away mortal sin if the dying person is no longer able to confess?</b> A. Extreme Unction will take away mortal sin if the dying person is no longer able to confess, provided he has the sorrow for his sins that would be necessary for the worthy reception of the Sacrament of Penance. <b>Q. 971. How do we know that this Sacrament, more than any other, was instituted to benefit the body?</b> A. We know that this Sacrament more than any other was instituted to benefit the body (1) From the words of St. James exhorting us to receive it; (2) It is given when the soul is already purified by the graces of Penance and Holy Viaticum; (3) One of its chief objects is to restore us to health if it be for our spiritual good, as most of the prayers said in giving this Sacrament indicate. <b>Q. 972. Since Extreme Unction may restore us to health, should we not be glad to receive it?</b> A. Since Extreme Unction may restore us to health, we should be glad to receive it, and we should not delay its reception till we are so near death that God could restore us only by a miracle. Again, this Sacrament, like the others, gives sanctifying and sacramental grace, which we should be eager to obtain as soon as our sickness is sufficient to give us the privilege of receiving the last Sacraments. <b>Q. 973. What do you mean by the remains of sin?</b> A. By the remains of sin I mean the inclination to evil and the weakness of the will which are the result of our sins, and which remain after our sins have been forgiven. <b>Q. 974. How should we receive the Sacrament of Extreme Unction?</b> A. We should receive the Sacrament of Extreme Unction in the state of grace, and with lively faith and resignation to the will of God. <b>Q. 975. Who is the minister of the Sacrament of Extreme Unction?</b> A. The priest is the minister of the Sacrament of Extreme Unction. <b>Q. 976. What is the final preparation we should make for the reception of the last Sacraments?</b> A. The final preparation we should make for the reception of the last Sacraments consists in an earnest effort to be resigned to God’s Holy Will, to excite ourselves to true sorrow for our sins, to profit by the graces given us, to keep worldly thoughts from the mind, and to dispose ourselves as best we can for the worthy reception of the Sacraments and the blessings of a good death. <b>Q. 977. At what time should persons dangerously ill attend to the final arrangement of their temporal or worldly affairs?</b> A. Persons dangerously ill should attend to the final arrangement of their temporal or worldly affairs at the very beginning of their illness, that these things may not distract them at the hour of death, and that they may give the last hours of their life entirely to the care of their soul. <b>Q. 978. What is the Sacrament of Holy Orders?</b> A. Holy Orders is a Sacrament by which bishops, priests, and other ministers of the Church are ordained and receive the power and grace to perform their sacred duties. <b>Q. 979. Besides bishops and priests, who are the other ministers of the Church?</b> A. Besides bishops and priests, the other ministers of the Church are deacons and sub-deacons, who, while preparing for the priesthood, have received some of the Holy Orders, but who have not been ordained to the full powers of the priest. <b>Q. 980. Why is this Sacrament called Holy Orders?</b> A. This Sacrament is called Holy Orders because it is conferred by seven different grades or steps following one another in fixed order by which the sacred powers of the priesthood are gradually given to the one admitted to that holy state. <b>Q. 981. What are the grades by which one ascends to the priesthood?</b> A. The grades by which one ascends to the priesthood are (1) Tonsure, or the clipping of the hair by the bishop, by which the candidate for priesthood dedicates himself to the service of the altar; (2) The four minor orders, Porter, Reader, Exorcist, and Acolyte, by which he is permitted to perform certain duties that laymen should not perform; (3) Sub-deaconship, by which he takes upon himself the obligation of leading a life of perpetual chastity and of saying daily the divine office; (4) Deaconship, by which he receives power to preach, baptize, and give Holy Communion. The next step, priesthood, gives him power to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and forgive sins. These orders are not all given at once, but at times fixed by the laws of the Church. <b>Q. 982. Are not the different orders separate Sacraments?</b> A. These different orders are not separate Sacraments. Taken all together, some are a preparation for the Sacrament and the rest are but the one Sacrament of Holy Orders; as the roots, trunk and branches form but one tree. <b>Q. 983. What name is given to sub-deaconship, deaconship and priesthood?</b> A. Sub-deaconship, deaconship and priesthood are called major or greater orders, because those who receive them are bound for life to the service of the altar and they cannot return to the service of the world to live as ordinary laymen. <b>Q. 984. What double power does the Church possess and confer on her pastors?</b> A. The Church possesses and confers on her pastor, the power of orders and the power of jurisdiction; that is, the power to administer the Sacraments and sanctify the faithful, and the power to teach and make laws that direct the faithful to their spiritual good. A bishop has the full power of orders and the Pope alone has the full power of jurisdiction. <b>Q. 985. How do the pastors of the Church rank according to authority?</b> A. The pastors of the Church rank according to authority as follows: (1) Priests, who govern parishes or congregations in the name of their bishop; (2) Bishops, who rule over a number of parishes or a diocese; (3) Archbishops, who have authority over a number of dioceses or a province; (4) Primates, who have authority over the ecclesiastical or Church provinces of a nation; (5) Patriarchs, who have authority over a whole country; and last and highest, the Pope, who rules the Church throughout the world. <b>Q. 986. How do the prelates or higher officers of the Church rank in dignity?</b> A. The prelates or higher officers of the Church rank in dignity as they rank in authority, except that in dignity Cardinals are next to the Pope, and Vicars Apostolic, Monsignori, and others having titles follow bishops. Papal delegates and those specially appointed by the Pope rank according to the powers he has given them. <b>Q. 987. Who are Cardinals, what are their duties and how are they divided?</b> A. Cardinals are the members of the Supreme Council or Senate of the Church. Their duties are to advise and aid the Pope in the government of the Church, and to elect a new Pope when the reigning Pope dies. They are divided into committees called sacred congregations, each having, its special work to perform. All these congregations taken together are called the Sacred College of Cardinals, of which the whole number is seventy. <b>Q. 988. Who is a Monsignor?</b> A. A Monsignor is a worthy priest upon whom the Pope confers this title as a mark of esteem. It gives certain privileges and the right to wear purple like a bishop. <b>Q. 989. Who is a Vicar-General?</b> A. A Vicar-General is one who is appointed by the bishop to aid him in the government of his diocese. He shares the bishop’s power and in the bishop’s absence he acts for the bishop and with his authority. <b>Q. 990. Who is an Abbot?</b> A. An Abbot is one who exercises over a religious community of men authority similar in many things to that exercised by a bishop over his diocese. He has also certain privileges usually granted to bishops. <b>Q. 991. What is the pallium?</b> A. The pallium is a white woolen vestment worn by the Pope and sent by him to patriarchs, primates and archbishops. It is the symbol of the fullness of pastoral power, and reminds the wearer of the Good Shepherd, whose example he must follow. <b>Q. 992. What is necessary to receive Holy Orders worthily?</b> A. To receive Holy Orders worthily it is necessary to be in the state of grace, to have the necessary knowledge and a divine call to this sacred office. <b>Q. 993. What name is given to this divine call and how can we discover this call?</b> A. This divine call is named a vocation to the priestly or religious life. We can discover it in our constant inclination to such a life from the pure and holy motive of serving God better in it, together with our fitness for it, or, at least, our ability to prepare for it, also in our true piety and mastery over our sinful passions and unlawful desires. <b>Q. 994. How should we finally determine our vocation?</b> A. We should finally determine our vocation: (1) By leading a holy life that we may be more worthy of it; (2) By praying to the Holy Ghost for light on the subject; (3) By seeking the advice of holy and prudent persons and above all of our confessor. <b>Q. 995. What should parents and guardians bear in mind with regard to their children’s vocations?</b> A. Parents and guardians should bear in mind with regard to their children’s vocations: (1) That it is their duty to aid their children to discover their vocation; (2) That it is sinful for them to resist the Will of God by endeavoring to turn their children from their true vocation or to prevent them from following it by placing obstacles in their way, and, worst of all, to urge them to enter a state of life to which they have not been divinely called; (3) That in giving their advice they should be guided only by the future good and happiness of their children and not by any selfish or worldly motive which may lead to the loss of souls. <b>Q. 996. How should Christians look upon the priests of the Church?</b> A. Christians should look upon the priests of the Church as the messengers of God and the dispensers of His mysteries. <b>Q. 997. How do we know that the priests of the Church are the messengers of God?</b> A. We know that the priests of the Church are the messengers of God, because Christ said to His apostles, and through them to their successors: “As the Father hath sent Me, I also send you”; that is to say, to preach the true religion, to administer the Sacraments, to offer Sacrifice, and to do all manner of good for the salvation of souls. <b>Q. 998. When did the priests of the Church receive this threefold power to preach, to forgive sins and to consecrate bread and wine?</b> A. The priests of the Church received this three-fold power to preach, to forgive sins and to consecrate bread and wine, when Christ said to them, through the apostles: “Go teach all nations”; “Whose sins you shall forgive they are forgiven,” and “Do this for a commemoration of Me.” <b>Q. 999. Why should we show great respect to the priests and bishops of the Church?</b> A. We should show great respect to the priests and bishops of the Church: (1) Because they are the representatives of Christ upon earth, and (2) Because they administer the Sacraments without which we cannot be saved. Therefore, we should be most careful in what we do, say or think concerning God’s ministers. To show our respect in proportion to their dignity, we address the priest as Reverend, the bishop as Right Reverend, the archbishop as Most Reverend, and the Pope as Holy Father. <b>Q. 1000. Should we do more than merely respect the ministers of God?</b> A. We should do more than merely respect the ministers of God. We should earnestly and frequently pray for them, that they may be enabled to perform the difficult and important duties of their holy state in a manner pleasing to God. <b>Q. 1001. Who can confer the Sacrament of Holy Orders?</b> A. Bishops can confer the Sacrament of Holy Orders. <b>Q. 1002. How do we know that there is a true priesthood in the Church?</b> A. We know that there is a true priesthood in the Church: (1) Because in the Jewish religion, which was only a figure of the Christian religion, there was a true priesthood established by God; (2) Because Christ conferred on His apostles and not on all the faithful the power to offer Sacrifice, distribute the Holy Eucharist and forgive sins. <b>Q. 1003. But is there need of a special Sacrament of Holy Orders to confer these powers?</b> A. There is need of a special Sacrament of Holy Orders to confer these powers: (1) Because the priesthood which is to continue the work of the apostles must be visible in the Church, and it must therefore be conferred by some visible ceremony or outward sign; (2) because this outward sign called Holy Orders gives not only power but grace and was instituted by Christ, Holy Orders must be a Sacrament. <b>Q. 1004. Can bishops, priests and other ministers of the Church always exercise the power they have received in Holy Orders?</b> A. Bishops, priests and other ministers of the Church cannot exercise the power they have received in Holy Orders unless authorized and sent to do so by their lawful superiors. The power can never be taken from them, but the right to use it may be withdrawn for causes laid down in the laws of the Church, or for reasons that seem good to those in authority over them. Any use of sacred power without authority is sinful, and all who take part in such ceremonies are guilty of sin. <b>LESSON TWENTY-SIXTH. ON MATRIMONY.</b><br><b>Q. 1005. What is the Sacrament of Matrimony?</b> A. The Sacrament of Matrimony is the Sacrament which unites a Christian man and woman in lawful marriage. <b>Q. 1006. When are persons lawfully married?</b> A. Persons are lawfully married when they comply with all the laws of God and of the Church relating to marriage. To marry unlawfully is a mortal sin, and it deprives the souls of the grace of the Sacrament. <b>Q. 1007. When was marriage first instituted?</b> A. Marriage was first instituted in the Garden of Eden, when God created Adam and Eve and made them husband and wife, but it was not then a Sacrament, for their union did not confer any special grace. <b>Q. 1008. When was the contract of marriage raised to the dignity of a Sacrament?</b> A. The exact time at which the contract of marriages was raised to the dignity of a Sacrament is not known, but the fact that it was thus raised is certain from passages in the New Testament and from the constant teaching of the Church ever since the time of the apostles. Our Lord did not merely add grace to the contract, but He made the very contract a Sacrament, so that Christians cannot make this contract without receiving the Sacrament. <b>Q. 1009. What is the outward sign in the Sacrament of Matrimony, and in what does the whole essence of the marriage contract consist?</b> A. The outward sign in the Sacrament of matrimony is the mutual consent of the persons, expressed by words or signs in accordance with the laws of the Church. The whole essence of the marriage contract consists in the surrender by the persons of their bodies to each other and in declaring by word or sign that they make this surrender and take each other for husband and wife now and for life. <b>Q. 1010. What are the chief ends of the Sacrament of Matrimony?</b> A. The chief ends of the Sacrament of matrimony are: (1) To enable the husband and wife to aid each other in securing the salvation of their souls; (2) To propagate or keep up the existence of the human race by bringing children into the world to serve God; (3) To prevent sins against the holy virtue of purity by faithfully obeying the laws of the marriage state. <b>Q. 1011. Can a Christian man and woman be united in lawful marriage in any other way than by the Sacrament of Matrimony?</b> A. A Christian man and woman cannot be united in lawful marriage in any other way than by the Sacrament of Matrimony, because Christ raised marriage to the dignity of a sacrament. <b>Q. 1012. Were, then, all marriages before the coming of Christ unlawful and invalid?</b> A. All marriages before the coming of Christ were not unlawful and invalid. They were both lawful and valid when the persons contracting them followed the dictates of their conscience and the laws of God as they knew them; but such marriages were only contracts. Through their evil inclinations many forgot or neglected the true character of marriage till Our Lord restored it to its former unity and purity. <b>Q. 1013. What do we mean by impediments to marriage?</b> A. By impediments to marriage we mean certain restrictions, imposed by the law of God or of the Church, that render the marriage invalid or unlawful when they are violated in entering into it. These restrictions regard age, health, relationship, intention, religion and other matters affecting the good of the Sacrament. <b>Q. 1014. Can the Church dispense from or remove these impediments to marriage?</b> A. The Church can dispense from or remove the impediments to marriage that arise from its own laws; but it cannot dispense from impediments that arise from the laws of God and nature. Every lawmaker can change or excuse from the laws made by himself or his equals, but he cannot, of his own authority, change or excuse from laws made by a higher power. <b>Q. 1015. What is required that the Church may grant, when it is able, dispensations from the impediments to marriage or from other laws?</b> A. That the Church may grant dispensations from the impediments to marriage or from other laws, there must be a good and urgent reason for granting such dispensations. The Church does not grant dispensations without cause and merely to satisfy the wishes of those who ask for them. <b>Q. 1016. Why does the Church sometimes require the persons to whom dispensations are granted to pay a tax or fee for the privilege?</b> A. The Church sometimes requires the persons to whom dispensations are granted to pay a tax or fee for the privilege: (1) That persons on account of this tax be restrained from asking for dispensations and may comply with the general laws; (2) That the Church may not have to bear the expense of supporting an office for granting privileges to a few. <b>Q. 1017. What should persons who are about to get married do?</b> A. Persons who are about to get married should give their pastor timely notice of their intention, make known to him privately whatever they suspect might be an impediment to the marriage, and make sure of all arrangements before inviting their friends. <b>Q. 1018. What timely notice of marriage should be given to the priest, and why?</b> A. At least three weeks notice of marriage should be given to the priest, because, according to the laws of the Church, the names of the persons about to get married must be announced and their intended marriage published at the principal Mass in their parish for three successive Sundays. <b>Q. 1019. Why are the banns of matrimony published in the Church?</b> A. The banns of matrimony are published in the Church that any person who might know of any impediment to the marriage may have an opportunity to declare it privately to the priest before the marriage takes place and thus prevent an invalid or unlawful marriage. Persons who know of such impediments and fail to declare them in due time are guilty of sin. <b>Q. 1020. What things in particular should persons arranging for their marriage make known to the priest?</b> A. Persons arranging for their marriage should make known to the priest whether both are Christians and Catholics; whether either has been solemnly engaged to another person; whether they have ever made any vow to God with regard to chastity or the like; whether they are related and in what degree; whether either was ever married to any member of the other’s family and whether either was ever godparent in baptism for the other. <b>Q. 1021. What else must they make known?</b> A. They must also make known whether either was married before and what proof can be given of the death of the former husband or wife; whether they really intend to get married, and do so of their own will; whether they are of lawful age; whether they are sound in body or suffering from any deformity that might prevent their marriage, and lastly, whether they live in the parish in which they ask to be married, and if so, how long they have lived in it. <b>Q. 1022. What is particularly necessary that persons may do their duty in the marriage state?</b> A. That persons may do their duty in the marriage state, it is particularly necessary that they should be well instructed, before entering it, in the truths and duties of their religion for how will they teach their children these things if they are ignorant of them themselves? <b>Q. 1023. Can the bond of Christian marriage be dissolved by any human power?</b> A. The bond of Christian marriage cannot be dissolved by any human power. <b>Q. 1024. Does not a divorce granted by courts of justice break the bond of marriage?</b> A. Divorce granted by courts of justice or by any human power does not break the bond of marriage, and one who makes use of such a divorce to marry again while the former husband or wife lives commits a sacrilege and lives in the sin of adultery. A civil divorce may give a sufficient reason for the persons to live apart and it may determine their rights with regard to support, the control of the children and other temporal things, but it has no effect whatever upon the bond and spiritual nature of the Sacrament. <b>Q. 1025. Does not the Church sometimes allow husband and wife to separate and live apart?</b> A. The Church sometimes, for very good reasons, does allow husband and wife to separate and live apart; but that is not dissolving the bond of marriage, or divorce as it is called, for though separated they are still husband and wife, and neither can marry again till the other dies. <b>Q. 1026. Has not the Church sometimes allowed Catholics once married to separate and marry again?</b> A. The Church has never allowed Catholics once really married to separate and marry again, but it has sometimes declared persons apparently married free to marry again, because their first marriage was null; that is, no marriage on account of some impediment not discovered till after the ceremony. <b>Q. 1027. What evils follow divorce so commonly claimed by those outside the true Church and granted by civil authority?</b> A. The evils that follow divorce so commonly claimed by those outside the true Church and granted by civil authority are very many; but chiefly (1) A disregard for the sacred character of the Sacrament and for the spiritual welfare of the children; (2) The loss of the true idea of home and family followed by bad morals and sinful living. <b>Q. 1028. Which are the effects of the Sacrament of Matrimony?</b> A. The effects of the Sacrament of Matrimony are 1st, To sanctify the love of husband and wife; 2nd, To give them grace to bear with each other’s weaknesses; 3d, To enable them to bring up their children in the fear and love of God. <b>Q. 1029. What do we mean by bearing with each other’s weaknesses?</b> A. By bearing with each other’s weaknesses we mean that the husband and wife must be patient with each other’s faults, bad habits or dispositions, pardon them easily, and aid each other in overcoming them. <b>Q. 1030. How are parents specially fitted to bring up their children in the fear and love of God?</b> A. Parents are specially fitted to bring up their children in the fear and love of God (1) By the special grace they receive to advise and direct their children and to warn them against evil; (2) By the experience they have acquired in passing through life from childhood to the position of parents. Children should, therefore, conscientiously seek and accept the direction of good parents. <b>Q. 1031. To receive the Sacrament of Matrimony worthily is it necessary to be in the state of grace?</b> A. To receive the Sacrament of Matrimony worthily it is necessary to be in the state of grace, and it is necessary also to comply with the laws of the Church. <b>Q. 1032. With what laws of the Church are we bound to comply in receiving the Sacrament of Matrimony?</b> A. In receiving the Sacrament of matrimony we are bound to comply with whatever laws of the Church concern Matrimony; such as laws forbidding solemn marriage in Lent and Advent; or marriage with relatives or with persons of a different religion, and in general all laws that refer to any impediment to marriage. <b>Q. 1033. In how many ways may persons be related?</b> A. Persons may be related in four ways. When they are related by blood their relationship is called consanguinity; when they are related by marriage it is called affinity; when they are related by being god-parents in Baptism or Confirmation, it is called spiritual affinity; when they are related by adoption, it is called legal affinity. <b>Q. 1034. Who has the right to make laws concerning the Sacrament of marriage?</b> A. The Church alone has the right to make laws concerning the Sacrament of marriage, though the state also has the right to make laws concerning the civil effects of the marriage contract. <b>Q. 1035. What do we mean by laws concerning the civil effects of the marriage contract?</b> A. By laws concerning the civil effects of the marriage contract we mean laws with regard to the property or debts of the husband and wife, the inheritance of their children, or whatever pertains to their temporal affairs. All persons are bound to obey the laws of their country when these laws are not opposed to the laws of God. <b>Q. 1036. Does the Church forbid the marriage of Catholics with persons who have a different religion or no religion at all?</b> A. The Church does forbid the marriage of Catholics with persons who have a different religion or no religion at all. <b>Q. 1037. Why does the Church forbid the marriage of Catholics with persons who have a different religion or no religion at all?</b> A. The Church forbids the marriage of Catholics with persons who have a different religion, or no religion at all, because such marriages generally lead to indifference, loss of faith, and to the neglect of the religious education of the children. <b>Q. 1038. What are the marriages of Catholics with persons of a different religion called, and when does the Church permit them by dispensation?</b> A. The marriages of Catholics with persons of a different religion are called mixed marriages. The Church permits them by dispensation only under certain conditions and for urgent reasons; chiefly to prevent a greater evil. <b>Q. 1039. What are the conditions upon which the Church will permit a Catholic to marry one who is not a Catholic?</b> A. The conditions upon which the Church will permit a Catholic to marry one who is not a Catholic are: (1) That the Catholic be allowed the free exercise of his or her religion; (2) that the Catholic shall try by teaching and good example to lead the one who is not a Catholic to embrace the true faith; (3) that all the children born of the marriage shall be brought up in the Catholic religion. The marriage ceremony must not be repeated before a heretical minister. Without these promises, the Church will not consent to a mixed marriage, and if the Church does not consent the marriage is unlawful. <b>Q. 1040. What penalty does the Church impose on Catholics who marry before a Protestant minister?</b> A. Catholics who marry before a Protestant minister incur excommunication; that is, a censure of the Church or spiritual penalty which prevents them from receiving the Sacrament of Penance till the priest who hears their confession gets special faculties or permission from the bishop; because by such a marriage they make profession of a false religion in acknowledging as a priest one who has neither sacred power nor authority. <b>Q. 1041. How does the Church show its displeasure at mixed marriages?</b> A. The Church shows its displeasure at mixed marriages by the coldness with which it sanctions them, prohibiting all religious ceremony at them by forbidding the priest to use any sacred vestments, holy water or blessing of the ring at such marriages; by prohibiting them also from taking place in the Church or even in the sacristy. On the other hand, the Church shows its joy and approval at a true Catholic marriage by the Nuptial Mass and solemn ceremonies. <b>Q. 1042. Why should Catholics avoid mixed marriages?</b> A. Catholics should avoid mixed marriages (1) Because they are displeasing to the Church and cannot bring with them the full measure of God’s grace and blessing; (2) because the children should have the good example of both parents in the practice of their religion; (3) because such marriages give rise to frequent disputes on religious questions between husband and wife and between their relatives; (4) because the one not a Catholic, disregarding the sacred character of the Sacrament, may claim a divorce and marry again, leaving the Catholic married and abandoned. <b>Q. 1043. Does the Church seek to make converts by its laws concerning mixed marriages?</b> A. The Church does not seek to make converts by its laws concerning mixed marriages, but seeks only to keep its children from losing their faith and becoming perverts by constant company with persons not Catholics. The Church does not wish persons to become Catholics merely for the sake of marrying Catholics. Such conversions are, as a rule, not sincere, do no good, but rather make such converts hypocrites and guilty of greater sins, especially sins of sacrilege. <b>Q. 1044. Why do many marriages prove unhappy?</b> A. Many marriages prove unhappy because they are entered into hastily and without worthy motives. <b>Q. 1045. When are marriages entered into hastily?</b> A. Marriages are entered into hastily when persons do not sufficiently consider and investigate the character, habits and dispositions of the one they intend to marry. It is wise to look for lasting qualities and solid virtues in a life-long companion and not to be carried away with characteristics that please only for a time. <b>Q. 1046. When are motives for marriage worthy?</b> A. Motives for marriage are worthy when persons enter it for the sake of doing God’s will and fulfilling the end for which He instituted the Sacrament. Whatever is opposed to the true object of the Sacrament and the sanctification of the husband and wife must be an unworthy motive. <b>Q. 1047. How should Christians prepare for a holy and happy marriage?</b> A. Christians should prepare for a holy and happy marriage by receiving the Sacraments of Penance and Holy Eucharist; by begging God to grant them a pure intention and to direct their choice; and by seeking the advice of their parents and the blessing of their pastors. <b>Q. 1048. How may parents be guilty of great injustice to their children in case of marriage?</b> A. Parents may be guilty of great injustice to their children in case of marriage by seeking the gratification of their own aims and desires, rather than the good of their children, and thus for selfish and unreasonable motives forcing their children to marry persons they dislike or preventing them from marrying the persons chosen by the dictates of their conscience, or compelling them to marry when they have no vocation for such a life or no true knowledge of its obligations. <b>Q. 1049. May persons receive the Sacrament of Matrimony more than once?</b> A. Persons may receive the sacrament of Matrimony more than once, provided they are certain of the death of the former husband or wife and comply with the laws of the Church. <b>Q. 1050. Where and at what time of the day should Catholics be married?</b> A. Catholics should be married before the altar in the Church. They should be married in the morning, and with a Nuptial Mass if possible. <b>Q. 1051. What must never be forgotten by those who attend a marriage ceremony in the Church?</b> A. They who attend a marriage ceremony in the Church must never forget the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, and that all laughing, talking, or irreverence is forbidden then as at other times. Women must never enter into the presence of the Blessed Sacrament with uncovered heads, and their dress must be in keeping with the strict modesty that Our Lord’s presence demands, no matter what worldly vanity or social manners may require. <b>LESSON TWENTY-SEVENTH. ON THE SACRAMENTALS.</b><br><b>Q. 1052. What is a sacramental?</b> A. A sacramental is anything set apart or blessed by the Church to excite good thoughts and to increase devotion, and through these movements of the heart to remit venial sin. <b>Q. 1053. How do the Sacramentals excite good thoughts and increase devotion?</b> A. The Sacramentals excite good thoughts by recalling to our minds some special reason for doing good and avoiding evil; especially by reminding us of some holy person, event or thing through which blessings have come to us. They increase devotion by fixing our minds on particular virtues and by helping us to understand and desire them. <b>Q. 1054. Do the Sacramentals of themselves remit venial sins?</b> A. The Sacramentals of themselves do not remit venial sins, but they move us to truer devotion, to greater love for God and greater sorrow for our sins, and this devotion, love and sorrow bring us grace, and the grace remits venial sins. <b>Q. 1055. Why does the Church use Sacramentals?</b> A. The Church uses Sacramentals to teach the faithful of every class the truths of religion, which they may learn as well by their sight as by their hearing; for God wishes us to learn His laws by every possible means, by every power of soul and body. <b>Q. 1056. Show by an example how Sacramentals aid the ignorant in learning the truths of faith.</b> A. Sacramentals aid the ignorant in learning the truths of faith as children learn from pictures before they are able to read. Thus one who cannot read the account of Our Lord’s passion may learn it from the Stations of the Cross, and one who kneels before a crucifix and looks on the bleeding head, pierced hands and wounded side, is better able to understand Christ’s sufferings than one without a crucifix before him. <b>Q. 1057. What are the Stations or Way of the Cross?</b> (Source: Baltimore Catechism #3 / <b>Lesson ThirteentH. on The Sacraments In GeneraL.</b><br><b>Q. 574. what Is A Sacrament?</b>)
A. The Stations or Way of the Cross is a devotion instituted by the Church to aid us in meditating on Christ’s passion and death. Fourteen crosses or stations, each with a picture of some scene in the passion, are arranged at distances apart. By passing from one station to another and praying before each while we meditate upon the scene it represents, we make the Way of the Cross in memory of Christ’s painful journey during His passion, and we gain the indulgence granted for this pious exercise. <b>Q. 1058. Are prayers and ceremonies of the Church also Sacramentals?</b> A. Prayers and ceremonies of the Church are also Sacramentals because they excite good thoughts and increase devotion. Whatever the Church dedicates to a pious use or devotes to the worship of God may be called a Sacramental. <b>Q. 1059. On what ground does the Church make use of ceremonies?</b> A. The Church makes use of ceremonies (1) After the example of the Old Law, in which God described and commanded ceremonies; (2) after the example of Our Lord, who rubbed clay on the eyes of the blind to whom He wished to restore sight, though He might have performed the miracle without any external act; (3) on the authority of the Church itself, to whom Christ gave power to do whatever was necessary for the instruction of all men; (4) to add solemnity to religious acts. <b>Q. 1060. How may persons sin in using Sacramentals?</b> A. Persons may sin in using Sacramentals by using them in a way or for a purpose prohibited by the Church; also by believing that the use of Sacramentals will save us in spite of our sinful lives. We must remember that Sacramentals can aid us only through the blessing the Church gives them and through the good dispositions they excite in us. They have, therefore, no power in themselves, and to put too much confidence in their use leads to superstition. <b>Q. 1061. What is the difference between the Sacraments and the sacramentals?</b> A. The difference between the Sacraments and the sacramentals is: 1st. The Sacraments were instituted by Jesus Christ and the sacramentals were instituted by the Church; 2d. The Sacraments give grace of themselves when we place no obstacle in the way; the sacramentals excite in us pious dispositions, by means of which we may obtain grace. <b>Q. 1062. May the Church increase or diminish the number of Sacraments and Sacramentals?</b> A. The Church can never increase nor diminish the number of Sacraments, for as Christ Himself instituted them, He alone has power to change their number; but the Church may increase or diminish the number of the Sacramentals as the devotion of its people or the circumstances of the time and place require, for since the Church instituted them they must depend entirely upon its laws. <b>Q. 1063. Which is the chief sacramental used in the Church?</b> A. The chief sacramental used in the Church is the sign of the cross. <b>Q. 1064. How do we make the sign of the cross?</b> A. We make the sign of the cross by putting the right hand to the forehead, then on the breast, and then to the left and right shoulders, saying, “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, Amen.” <b>Q. 1065. What is a common fault with many in blessing themselves?</b> A. A common fault with many in blessing themselves is to make a hurried motion with the hand which is in no way a sign of the cross. They perform this act of devotion without thought or intention, forgetting that the Church grants an indulgence to all who bless themselves properly while they have sorrow for their sins. <b>Q. 1066. Why do we make the sign of the cross?</b> A. We make the sign of the cross to show that we are Christians and to profess our belief in the chief mysteries of our religion. <b>Q. 1067. How is the sign of the cross a profession of faith in the chief mysteries of our religion?</b> A. The sign of the cross is a profession of faith in the chief mysteries of our religion because it expresses the mysteries of the Unity and Trinity of God and of the Incarnation and death of our Lord. <b>Q. 1068. How does the sign of the cross express the mystery of the Unity and Trinity of God?</b> A. The words, “In the name,” express the Unity of God; the words that follow, “of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,” express the mystery of the Trinity. <b>Q. 1069. How does the sign of the cross express the mystery of the Incarnation and death of our Lord?</b> A. The sign of the cross expresses the mystery of the Incarnation by reminding us that the Son of God, having become man, suffered death on the cross. <b>Q. 1070. What other sacramental is in very frequent use?</b> A. Another sacramental in very frequent use is holy water. <b>Q. 1071. What is holy water?</b> A. Holy water is water blessed by the priest with solemn prayer to beg God’s blessing on those who use it, and protection from the powers of darkness. <b>Q. 1072. How does the water blessed on Holy Saturday, or Easter Water, as it is called, differ from the holy water blessed at other times?</b> A. The water blessed on Holy Saturday, or Easter Water, as it is called, differs from the holy water blessed at other times in this, that the Easter water is blessed with greater solemnity, the paschal candle, which represents Our Lord risen from the dead, having been dipped into it with a special prayer. <b>Q. 1073. Is water ever blessed in honor of certain saints?</b> A. Water is sometimes blessed in honor of certain saints and for special purposes. The form of prayer to be used in such blessings is found in the Roman Ritual--the book containing prayers and ceremonies for the administration of the Sacraments and of blessings authorized by the Church. <b>Q. 1074. Are there other sacramentals besides the sign of the cross and holy water?</b> A. Beside the sign of the cross and holy water there are many other sacramentals, such as blessed candles, ashes, palms, crucifixes, images of the Blessed Virgin and of the saints, rosaries, and scapulars. <b>Q. 1075. When are candles blessed in the Church and why are they used?</b> A. Candles are blessed in the Church on the feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin--February 2nd. They are used chiefly to illuminate and ornament our altars, as a mark of reverence for the presence of Our Lord and of joy at His coming. <b>Q. 1076. What praiseworthy custom is now in use in many places?</b> A. A praiseworthy custom now in use in many places is the offering by the faithful on the feast of the Purification of candles for the use of the altar during the year. It is pleasing to think we have candles burning in our name on the altar of God, and if the Jewish people yearly made offerings to their temple, faithful Christians should not neglect their altars and churches where God Himself dwells. <b>Q. 1077. When are ashes blessed in the Church and why are they used?</b> A. Ashes are blessed in the Church on Ash Wednesday. They are used to keep us in mind of our humble origin, and of how the body of Adam, our forefather, was formed out of the slime or clay of the earth; also to remind us of death, when our bodies will return to dust, and of the necessity of doing penance for our sins. These ashes are obtained by burning the blessed palms of the previous year. <b>Q. 1078. When are palms blessed and of what do they remind us?</b> A. Palms are blessed on Palm Sunday. They remind us of Our Lord’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem, when the people, wishing to honor Him and make Him king, strewed palm branches and even their own garments in His path, singing: Hosanna to the Son of David. <b>Q. 1079. What is the difference between a cross and a crucifix?</b> A. A cross has no figure on it and a crucifix has a figure of Our Lord. The word crucifix means fixed or nailed to the cross. <b>Q. 1080. What is the Rosary?</b> A. The Rosary is a form of prayer in which we say a certain number of Our Fathers and Hail Marys, meditating or thinking for a short time before each decade; that is, before each Our Father and ten Hail Marys, on some particular event in the life of Our Lord. These events are called mysteries of the Rosary. The string of beads on which these prayers are said is also called a Rosary. The ordinary beads are of five decades, or one-third of the whole Rosary. <b>Q. 1081. Who taught the use of the Rosary in its present form?</b> A. St. Dominic taught the use of the Rosary in its present form. By it he instructed his hearers in the chief truths of our holy religion and converted many to the true faith. <b>Q. 1082. How do we say the Rosary, or beads?</b> A. To say the Rosary or beads we bless ourselves with the cross, then say the Apostles’ Creed and the Our Father on the first large bead, then the Hail Mary on each of the three small beads, and then Glory be to the Father, &c. Then we mention or think of the first mystery we wish to honor, and say an Our Father on the large bead and a Hail Mary on each small bead of the ten that follow. At the end of every decade, or ten Hail Marys, we say “Glory be to the Father;” &c. Then we mention the next mystery and do as before, and so on to the end. <b>Q. 1083. How many mysteries of the Rosary are there?</b> A. There are fifteen mysteries of the Rosary arranged in the order in which these events occurred in the life of Our Lord, and divided into five joyful, five sorrowful, and five glorious mysteries. <b>Q. 1084. Say the five joyful mysteries of the Rosary.</b> A. The five joyful mysteries of the Rosary are: (1) The Annunciation--the Angel Gabriel telling the Blessed Virgin that she is to be the Mother of God; (2) the Visitation--the Blessed Virgin goes to visit her cousin, St. Elizabeth, the mother of St. John the Baptist; (3) the Nativity, or birth, of Our Lord; (4) the Presentation of the Child Jesus in the temple--His parents offered Him to God; (5) the finding of the Child Jesus in the temple--His parents had lost Him in Jerusalem for three days. <b>Q. 1085. Say the five sorrowful mysteries of the Rosary.</b> A. The five sorrowful mysteries of the Rosary are: (1) The Agony in the Garden--Our Lord was in dreadful anguish and bathed in a bloody sweat; (2) the Scourging at the Pillar--Christ was stripped of His garments and lashed in a cruel manner; (3) the Crowning with Thorns--He was mocked as a king by heartless men; (4) the Carriage of the Cross--from the place He was condemned to Calvary, the place of Crucifixion; (5) the Crucifixion--He was nailed to the cross amid the jeers and blasphemies of His enemies. <b>Q. 1086. Say the five glorious mysteries of the Rosary.</b> A. The five glorious mysteries of the Rosary are: (1) The Resurrection of Our Lord; (2) the Ascension of Our Lord; (3) The Coming of the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles; (4) the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin--after death she was taken body and soul into heaven; (5) the Coronation of the Blessed Virgin--on entering heaven she was made queen of all the Angels and Saints and placed in dignity next to her Divine Son, Our Blessed Lord. <b>Q. 1087. On what days, according to the pious custom of the faithful, are the different mysteries of the Rosary usually said?</b> A. According to the pious custom of the faithful, the different mysteries of the Rosary are usually said on the following days, namely: the joyful on Mondays and Thursdays, the sorrowful on Tuesdays and Fridays, and the glorious on Sundays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. <b>Q. 1088. What do the letters I.N.R.I. over the crucifix mean?</b> A. The letters I.N.R.I. over the crucifix are the first letters of four Latin words that mean Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. Our Lord did say He was king of the Jews, but He also said that He was not their temporal or earthly king, but their spiritual and heavenly king. <b>Q. 1089. To what may we attribute the desire of the Jews to put Christ to death?</b> A. We may attribute the desire of the Jews to put Christ to death to the jealously, hatred and ill-will of their priests and the Pharisees, whose faults He rebuked and whose hypocrisy He exposed. By their slanders and lies they induced the people to follow them in demanding Our Lord’s crucifixion. <b>Q. 1090. With whom did the Blessed Virgin live after the death of Our Lord?</b> A. After the death of Our Lord the Blessed Virgin lived for about eleven years with the Apostle St. John the Evangelist, called also the Beloved Disciple. He wrote one of the four Gospels, three Epistles, and the Apocalypse, or Book of Revelations--the last book of the Bible. He lived to the age of a hundred years or more and died last of all the apostles. <b>Q. 1091. What do we mean by the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, and why do we believe in it?</b> A. By the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin we mean that her body was taken up into heaven after her death. We believe in it: (1) Because the Church cannot teach error, and yet from an early age the Church has celebrated the Feast of the Assumption; (2) because no one ever claimed to have a relic of our Blessed Mother’s body, and surely the apostles, who knew and loved her, would have secured some relic had her body remained upon earth. <b>Q. 1092. What do the letters I.H.S. on an altar or sacred things mean?</b> A. The letters I.H.S. on an altar or sacred things mean the name Jesus; for it is in that way the Holy Name is written in the Greek language when some of the letters are left out. <b>Q. 1093. What is the scapular, and why is it worn?</b> A. The scapular is a long, broad piece of woolen cloth forming a part of the religious dress of monks, priests and sisters of some religious orders. It is worn over the shoulders and extends from the shoulders to the feet. The small scapular made in imitation of it, and consisting of two small pieces of cloth fastened together by strings, is worn by the faithful as a promise or proof of their willingness to practice some particular devotion, indicated by the kind of scapular they wear. <b>Q. 1094. How many kinds of scapulars are there in use among the faithful?</b> A. Among the faithful there are many kinds of scapulars in use, such as the brown scapular or scapular of Mount Carmel worn in honor of Our Lord’s passion; the white, in honor of the Holy Trinity; the blue, in honor of the Immaculate Conception; and the black, in honor of the seven dolors of the Blessed Virgin. When these are joined together and worn as one they are called the five scapulars. The brown scapular is best known and entitles its wearer to the greatest privileges and indulgences. <b>Q. 1095. What are the seven dolors of the Blessed Virgin?</b> A. The seven dolors of the Blessed Virgin are the chief sorrowful events in the life of Our Blessed Lady. They are (1) The Circumcision of Our Lord--when she saw His blood shed for the first time; (2) her flight into Egypt--to save the life of the Infant Jesus, when Herod sought to kill Him; (3) the three days she lost her Son in Jerusalem; (4) when she saw Him carrying the cross; (5) when she saw Him die; (6) when His dead body was taken down from the cross; (7) when it was laid in the sepulchre or tomb. <b>Q. 1096. What are the seven dolor beads, and how do we say them?</b> A. Seven dolor beads are beads constructed with seven medals, each bearing a representation of one of the seven dolors, and seven beads between each medal and the next. At each medal we meditate on the proper dolor and the say a Hail Mary on each of the bead following it. <b>Q. 1097. What is an Agnus Dei?</b> A. An Agnus Dei is a small piece of beeswax stamped with the image of a lamb and cross. It is solemnly blessed by the Pope with special prayers for those who carry it about their person in honor of Our Blessed Redeemer, whom we call the Lamb of God, Who taketh away the sins of the world. The wax is usually covered with silk or some fine material. <b>LESSON TWENTY-EIGHTH. ON PRAYER.</b><br><b>Q. 1098. Is there any other means of obtaining God’s grace than the Sacraments?</b> A. There is another means of obtaining God’s grace, and it is prayer. <b>Q. 1099. What is prayer?</b> A. Prayer is the lifting up of our minds and hearts to God, to adore Him, to thank Him for His benefits, to ask His forgiveness, and to beg of Him all the graces we need whether for soul or body. <b>Q. 1100. How many kinds of prayer are there?</b> A. There are two kinds of prayer: (1) Mental prayer, called meditation, in which we spend the time thinking of God or of one or more of the truths He has revealed, that by these thoughts we may be persuaded to lead holier lives; (2) vocal prayer, in which we express these pious thoughts in words. <b>Q. 1101. Why is mental prayer most useful to us?</b> A. Mental prayer is most useful to us because it compels us, while we are engaged in it, to keep our attention fixed on God and His holy laws and to keep our hearts and minds lifted up to Him. <b>Q. 1102. How can we make a meditation?</b> A. We can make a meditation (1) By remembering that we are in the presence of God; (2) by asking the Holy Ghost to give us grace to benefit by the meditation; (3) by reflecting seriously on some sacred truth regarding our salvation; (4) by drawing some good resolution from the thoughts we have had; and (5) by thanking God for the knowledge and grace bestowed on us through the meditation. <b>Q. 1103. Where may we find subjects or points for meditation?</b> A. We may find the subjects or points for meditation in the words of the Our Father, Hail Mary or Apostles’ Creed; also in the questions and answers of our Catechism, in the Holy Bible, and in books of meditation. <b>Q. 1104. Is prayer necessary to salvation?</b> A. Prayer is necessary to salvation, and without it no one having the use of reason can be saved. <b>Q. 1105. At what particular times should we pray?</b> A. We should pray particularly on Sundays and holy days, every morning and night, in all dangers, temptations, and afflictions. <b>Q. 1106. How should we pray?</b> A. We should pray: 1st. With attention; 2d. With a sense of our own helplessness and dependence upon God; 3d. With a great desire for the graces we beg of God; 4th. With trust in God’s goodness; 5th. With perseverance. <b>Q. 1107. What should our attention at prayer be?</b> A. Our attention at prayer should be threefold, namely, attention to the words, that we may say them correctly and distinctly; attention to their meaning, if we understand it, and attention to God, to whom the words are addressed. <b>Q. 1108. What should be the position of the body when we pray?</b> A. At prayer the most becoming position of the body is kneeling upright, but whether we pray kneeling, standing or sitting, the position of the body should always be one indicating reverence, respect and devotion. We may pray even lying down or walking, for Our Lord Himself says we should pray at all times. <b>Q. 1109. What should we do that we may pray well?</b> A. That we may pray well we should make a preparation before prayer: (1) By calling to mind the dignity of God, to whom we are about to speak, and our own unworthiness to appear in His presence; (2) by fixing upon the precise grace or blessing for which we intend to ask; (3) by remembering God’s power and willingness to give if we truly need and earnestly, humbly and confidently ask. <b>Q. 1110. Why does God not always grant our prayers?</b> A. God does not always grant our prayers for these and other reasons: (1) Because we may not pray in the proper manner; (2) that we may learn our dependence on Him, prove our confidence in Him, and merit rewards by our patience and perseverance in prayer. Prudent persons do not grant every request; why, then, should God do so? <b>Q. 1111. What assurance have we that God always hears and rewards our prayers, though He may not grant what we ask?</b> A. We have the assurance of Our Lord Himself that God always hears and rewards our prayers, though He may not grant what we ask; for Christ said: “Ask and it shall be given you,” and “if you ask the Father anything in My name, He will give it to you.” <b>Q. 1112. Which are the prayers most recommended to us?</b> A. The prayers most recommended to us are the Lord’s Prayer, the Hail Mary, the Apostles’ Creed, the Confiteor, and the Acts of Faith, Hope, Love, and Contrition. <b>Q. 1113. Are prayers said with distractions of any avail?</b> A. Prayers said with wilful distraction are of no avail. <b>Q. 1114. Why are prayers said with wilful distraction of no avail?</b> A. Prayers said with wilful distraction are of no avail because they are mere words, such as a machine might utter, and since there is no lifting up of the mind or heart with them they cannot be prayer. <b>Q. 1115. Do, then, the distractions which we often have at prayer deprive our prayers of all merit?</b> A. The distractions which we often have at prayer do not deprive our prayers of all merit, because they are not wilful when we try to keep them away, for God rewards our good intentions and the efforts we make to pray well. <b>Q. 1116. What, then, is a distraction?</b> A. A distraction is any thought that, during prayer, enters our mind to turn our thoughts and hearts from God and from the sacred duty we are performing. <b>Q. 1117. What are the fruits of prayer?</b> A. The fruits of prayer are: It strengthens our faith, nourishes our hope, increases our love for God, keeps us humble, merits grace and atones for sin. <b>Q. 1118. Why should we pray when God knows our needs?</b> A. We pray not to remind God or tell Him of what we need, but to acknowledge that He is the Supreme Giver, to adore and worship Him by showing our entire dependence upon Him for every gift to soul or body. <b>Q. 1119. What little prayers may we say even at work?</b> A. Even at work we may say little aspirations such as “My God, pardon my sins; Blessed be the Holy Name of Jesus; Holy Spirit, enlighten me; Holy Mary, pray for me,” &c. <b>Q. 1120. Did Our Lord Himself pray, and why?</b> A. Our Lord Himself very frequently prayed, often spending the whole night in prayer. He prayed before every important action, not that He needed to pray, but to set us an example of how and when we should pray. <b>Q. 1121. Why does the Church conclude most of its prayers with the words “through Jesus Christ Our Lord”?</b> A. The Church concludes most of its prayers with the words “through Jesus Christ Our Lord” because it is only through His merits that we can obtain grace, and because “there is no other name given to men whereby we must be saved.” <b>Q. 1122. Was any special promise made in favor of the united prayers of two or more persons?</b> A. A special promise was made in favor of the united prayers of two or more persons when Our Lord said: “Where there are two or three gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them.” Therefore, the united prayers of a congregation, sodality or family, and, above all, the public prayers of the whole Church, have great influence with God. We should join in public prayers out of true devotion, and not from habit, or, worse, to display our piety. <b>Q. 1123. What is the most suitable place for prayer?</b> A. The most suitable place for prayer is in the Church--the house of prayer--made holy by special blessings and, above all, by the Real Presence of Jesus dwelling in the Tabernacle. Still, Our Lord exhorts us to pray also in secret, for His Father, who seeth in secret, will repay us. <b>Q. 1124. For what should we pray?</b> A. We should pray (1) For ourselves, for the blessings of soul and body that we may be devoted servants of God; (2) for the Church, for all spiritual and temporal wants, that the true faith may be everywhere known and professed; (3) for our relatives, friends and benefactors, particularly for those we may in any way have injured; (4) for all men, for the protection of the good and conversion of the wicked, that virtue may flourish and vice disappear; (5) for our spiritual rulers, the Pope, our bishops, priests and religious communities, that they may faithfully perform their sacred duties; (6) for our country and temporal rulers, that they may use their power for the good of their subjects and for the honor and glory of God. <b>LESSON TWENTY-NINTH. ON THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD.</b><br><b>Q. 1125. Is it enough to belong to God’s Church in order to be saved?</b> A. It is not enough to belong to the Church in order to be saved, but we must also keep the Commandments of God and of the Church. <b>Q. 1126. Are not the commandments of the Church also commandments of God?</b> A. The commandments of the Church are also commandments of God, for they are made by His authority and under the guidance of the Holy Ghost; nevertheless, the Church can change or abolish its own commandments, while it cannot change or abolish the commandments given directly by God Himself. <b>Q. 1127. Which are the Commandments that contain the whole law of God?</b> A. The Commandments which contain the whole law of God are these two: 1st. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, with thy whole soul, with thy whole strength, and with thy whole mind; 2. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. <b>Q. 1128. Why do these two Commandments of the love of God and of our neighbor contain the whole law of God?</b> A. These two Commandments of the love of God and of our neighbor contain the whole law of God because all the other Commandments are given either to help us to keep these two, or to direct us how to shun what is opposed to them. <b>Q. 1129. Explain further how the two commandments of the love of God and of our neighbor contain the teaching of the whole ten commandments.</b> A. The two commandments of the love of God and of our neighbor contain the teaching of the whole ten commandments because the first three of the ten commandments refer to God and oblige us to worship Him alone, respect His name and serve Him as He wills, and these things we will do if we love Him; secondly, the last seven of the ten commandments refer to our neighbor and forbid us to injure him in body, soul, goods or reputation, and if we love him we will do him no injury in any of these, but, on the contrary, aid him as far as we can. <b>Q. 1130. Which are the Commandments of God?</b> A. The Commandments of God are these ten: 1. I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt not have strange gods before me. Thou shalt not make to thyself a graven thing, nor the likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, nor of those things that are in the waters under the earth. Thou shalt not adore them, nor serve them. 2. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. 3. Remember thou keep holy the Sabbath day. 4. Honor thy father and thy mother. 5. Thou shalt not kill. 6. Thou shalt not commit adultery. 7. Thou shalt not steal. 8. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. 9. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife. 10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s goods. <b>Q. 1131. What does the first commandment mean by a “graven thing” or “the likeness of anything” in heaven, in the earth or in the waters?</b> A. The first commandment means by a “graven thing” or “the likeness of anything” in heaven, in the earth or in the waters, the statue, picture or image of any creature in heaven or of any animal on land or in water intended for an idol and to be worshipped as a god. <b>Q. 1132. Who gave the Ten Commandments?</b> A. God Himself gave the Ten Commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai, and Christ our Lord confirmed them. <b>Q. 1133. How and when were the Commandments given to Moses?</b> A. The Commandments, written on two tables of stone, were given to Moses in the midst of fire and smoke, thunder and lightning, from which God spoke to him on the mountain, about fifty days after the Israelites were delivered from the bondage of Egypt and while they were on their journey through the desert to the Promised Land. <b>Q. 1134. What do we mean when we say Christ confirmed the Commandments?</b> A. When we say Christ confirmed the Commandments we mean that He strongly approved them, and gave us by His teaching a fuller and clearer knowledge of their meaning and importance. <b>Q. 1135. Was anyone obliged to keep the Commandments before they were given to Moses?</b> A. All persons, from the beginning of the world, were obliged to keep the Commandments, for it was always sinful to blaspheme God, murder, steal or violate any of the Commandments, though they were not written till the time of Moses. <b>Q. 1136. How many kinds of laws had the Jews before the coming of Our Lord?</b> A. Before the coming of Our Lord the Jews had three kinds of laws: (1) Civil laws, regulating the affairs of their nation; (2) ceremonial laws, governing their worship in the temple; (3) moral laws, guiding their religious belief and actions. <b>Q. 1137. To which of these laws did the Ten Commandments belong?</b> A. The Ten Commandments belong to the moral law, because they are a compendium or short account of what we must do in order to save our souls; just as the Apostles’ Creed is a compendium of what we must believe. <b>Q. 1138. When did the civil and ceremonial laws of the Jews cease to exist?</b> A. The civil laws of the Jews ceased to exist when the Jewish people, shortly before the coming of Christ, ceased to be an independent nation. The ceremonial laws ceased to exist when the Jewish religion ceased to be the true religion; that is, when Christ established the Christian religion, of which the Jewish religion was only a figure or promise. <b>Q. 1139. Why were not also the moral laws of the Jews abolished when the Christian religion was established?</b> A. The moral laws of the Jews could not be abolished by the establishment of the Christian religion because they regard truth and virtue and have been revealed by God, and whatever God has revealed as true must be always true, and whatever He has condemned as bad in itself must be always bad. <b>LESSON THIRTIETH. ON THE FIRST COMMANDMENT.</b><br><b>Q. 1140. What is the first Commandment?</b> A. The first Commandment is: I am the Lord thy God: thou shalt not have strange gods before me. <b>Q. 1141. What does the commandment mean by “strange gods”?</b> A. By strange gods the commandment means idols or false gods, which the Israelites frequently worshipped when, through their sins, they had abandoned the true God. <b>Q. 1142. How may we, in a sense, worship strange gods?</b> A. We, in a sense, may worship strange gods by giving up the salvation of our souls for wealth, honors, society, worldly pleasures, &c., so that we would offend God, renounce our faith or give up the practice of our religion for their sake. <b>Q. 1143. How does the first Commandment help us to keep the great Commandment of the love of God?</b> A. The first Commandment helps us to keep the great Commandment of the love of God because it commands us to adore God alone. <b>Q. 1144. How do we adore God?</b> A. We adore God by faith, hope, and charity, by prayer and sacrifice. <b>Q. 1145. By what prayers do we adore God?</b> A. We adore God by all our prayers, but in particular by the public prayers of the Church, and, above all, by the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. <b>Q. 1146. How may the first Commandment be broken?</b> A. The first Commandment make be broken by giving to a creature the honor which belongs to God alone; by false worship; and by attributing to a creature a perfection which belongs to God alone. <b>Q. 1147. What is the honor which belongs to God alone?</b> A. The honor which belongs to God alone is a divine honor, in which we offer Him sacrifice, incense or prayer, solely for His own sake and for His own glory. To give such honor to any creature, however holy, would be idolatry. <b>Q. 1148. How do we offer God false worship?</b> A. We offer God false worship by rejecting the religion He has instituted and following one pleasing to ourselves, with a form of worship He has never authorized, approved or sanctioned. <b>Q. 1149. Why must we serve God in the form of religion He has instituted and in no other?</b> A. We must serve God in the form of religion He has instituted and in no other, because heaven is not a right, but a promised reward, a free gift of God, which we must merit in the manner He directs and pleases. <b>Q. 1150. When do we attribute to a creature a perfection which belongs to God alone?</b> A. We attribute to a creature a perfection which belongs to God alone when we believe it possesses knowledge or power independently of God, so that it may, without His aid, make known the future or perform miracles. <b>Q. 1151. Do those who make use of spells and charms, or who believe in dreams, in mediums, spiritists, fortune-tellers, and the like, sin against the first Commandment?</b> A. Those who make use of spells and charms, or who believe in dreams, in mediums, spiritists, fortune-tellers, and the like, sin against the first Commandment, because they attribute to creatures perfections which belong to God alone. <b>Q. 1152. What are spells and charms?</b> A. Spells and charms are certain words, by the saying of which superstitious persons believe they can avert evil, bring good fortune or produce some supernatural or wonderful effect. They may be also objects or articles worn about the body for the same purpose. <b>Q. 1153. Are not Agnus Deis, medals, scapulars, &c., which we wear about our bodies also charms?</b> A. Agnus Deis, medals, scapulars, &c., which we wear about our bodies, are not charms, for we do not expect any help from these things themselves, but, through the blessing they have received from the Church, we expect help from God, the Blessed Mother, or the Saint in whose honor we wear them. On the contrary, they who wear charms expect help from the charms themselves, or from some evil spirit. <b>Q. 1154. What must we carefully guard against in all our devotions and religious practices?</b> A. In all our devotions and religious practices we must carefully guard against expecting God to perform miracles when natural causes may bring about what we hope for. God will sometimes miraculously help us, but, as a rule, only when all natural means have failed. <b>Q. 1155. What are dreams and why is it forbidden to believe in them?</b> A. Dreams are the thoughts we have in sleep, when our will is unable to guide them. It is forbidden to believe in them, because they are often ridiculous, unreasonable, or wicked, and are not governed by either reason or faith. <b>Q. 1156. Are bad dreams sinful in themselves?</b> A. Bad dreams are not sinful in themselves, because we cannot prevent them, but we may make them sinful (1) By taking pleasure in them when we awake, and (2) by bad reading or immodest books, thoughts, word or actions before going to sleep; for by any of these things we may make ourselves responsible for the bad dreams. <b>Q. 1157. Did not God frequently in the Old Law make use of dreams as a means of making known His will?</b> A. God did frequently in the Old Law make use of dreams as a means of making known His Will; but on such occasions He always gave proof that what He made known was not a mere dream, but rather a revelation or inspiration. He no longer makes use of such means, for He now makes known His will through the inspiration of His Church. <b>Q. 1158. What are mediums and spiritists?</b> A. Mediums and spiritists are persons who pretend to converse with the dead or with spirits of the other world. They pretend also to give this power to others, that they may know what is going on in heaven, purgatory or hell. <b>Q. 1159. What other practice is very dangerous to faith and morals?</b> A. Another practice very dangerous to faith and morals is the use of mesmerism or hypnotism, because it is liable to sinful abuses, for it deprives a person for a time of the control of his reason and will and places his body and mind entirely in the power of another. <b>Q. 1160. What are fortune tellers?</b> A. Fortune tellers are imposters who, learning the past, or guessing at it, pretend to know also the future and to be able to reveal it to anyone who pays for the knowledge. They pretend also to know whatever concerns things lost or stolen, and the secret thoughts, actions or intentions of others. <b>Q. 1161. How do we, by believing in spells, charms, mediums, spiritists and fortune tellers, attribute to creatures the perfections of God?</b> A. By believing in spells, charms, mediums, spiritists and fortune tellers we attribute to creatures the perfections of God because we expect these creatures to perform miracles, reveal the hidden judgments of God, and make known His designs for the future with regard to His creatures, things that only God Himself may do. <b>Q. 1162. Is it sinful to consult mediums, spiritists, fortune tellers and the like when we do not believe in them, but through mere curiosity to hear what they may say?</b> A. It is sinful to consult mediums, spiritists, fortune tellers and the like even when we do not believe in them, but through mere curiosity, to hear what they may say, (1) Because it is wrong to expose ourselves to the danger of sinning even though we do not sin; (2) because we may give scandal to others who are not certain that we go through mere curiosity; (3) because by our pretended belief we encourage these impostors to continue their wicked practices. <b>Q. 1163. Are sins against faith, hope, and charity also sins against the first Commandment?</b> A. Sins against faith, hope and charity are also sins against the first Commandment. <b>Q. 1164. How does a person sin against faith?</b> A. A person sins against faith: 1st, By not trying to know what God has taught; 2d, by refusing to believe all that God has taught; 3d, by neglecting to profess his belief in what God has taught. <b>Q. 1165. How do we fail to try to know what God has taught?</b> A. We fail to try to know what God has taught by neglecting to learn the Christian doctrine. <b>Q. 1166. What means have we of learning the Christian doctrine?</b> A. We have many means of learning the Christian doctrine: In youth we have Catechism and special instructions suited to our age; later we have sermons, missions, retreats, religious sodalities and societies through which we may learn. At all times, we have books of instruction, and, above all, the priests of the Church, ever ready to teach us. God will not excuse our ignorance if we neglect to learn our religion when He has given us the means. <b>Q. 1167. Should we learn the Christian doctrine merely for our own sake?</b> A. We should learn the Christian doctrine not merely for our own sake, but for the sake also of others who may sincerely wish to learn from us the truths of our holy faith. <b>Q. 1168. How should such instruction be given to those who ask it of us?</b> A. Such instruction should be given to those who ask it of us in a kind and Christian spirit, without dispute or bitterness. We should never attempt to explain the truths of our religion unless we are certain of what we say. When we are unable to answer what is asked we should send those who inquire to the priest or to others better instructed than ourselves. <b>Q. 1169. Who are they who do not believe all that God has taught?</b> A. They who do not believe all that God has taught are the heretics and infidels. <b>Q. 1170. Name the different classes of unbelievers and tell what they are.</b> A. The different classes of unbelievers are (1) Atheists, who deny there is a God; (2) Deists, who admit there is a God, but deny that He revealed a religion; (3) Agnostics, who will neither admit nor deny the existence of God; (4) Infidels, who have never been baptized, and who, through want of faith, refuse to be baptized; (5) Heretics, who have been baptized Christians, but do not believe all the articles of faith; (6) Schismatics, who have been baptized and believe all the articles of faith, but do not submit to the authority of the Pope; (7) Apostates, who have rejected the true religion, in which they formerly believed, to join a false religion; (8) Rationalists and Materialists, who believe only in material things. <b>Q. 1171. Will the denial of only one article of faith make a person a heretic?</b> A. The denial of only one article of faith will make a person a heretic and guilty of mortal sin, because the Holy Scripture says: “Whosoever shall keep the whole law but offend in one point is become guilty of all.” <b>Q. 1172. What is an article of faith?</b> A. An article of faith is a revealed truth so important and so certain that no one can deny or doubt it without rejecting the testimony of God. The Church very clearly points out what truths are articles of faith that we may distinguish them from pious beliefs and traditions, so that no one can be guilty of the sin of heresy without knowing it. <b>Q. 1173. Who are they who neglect to profess their belief in what God has taught?</b> A. They who neglect to profess their belief in what God has taught are all those who fail to acknowledge the true Church in which they really believe. <b>Q. 1174. How do persons who are members of the Church neglect to profess their belief?</b> A. Persons who are members of the Church neglect to profess their belief by living contrary to the teachings of the Church: that is, by neglecting Mass or the Sacraments, doing injury to their neighbor, and disgracing their religion by sinful and scandalous lives. <b>Q. 1175. What chiefly prevents persons who believe in the Church from becoming members of it?</b> A. A want of Christian courage chiefly prevents persons who believe in the Church from becoming members of it. They fear too much the opinion or displeasure of others, the loss of position or wealth, and, in general, the trials they may have to suffer for the sake of the true faith. <b>Q. 1176. What does Our Lord say of those who neglect the true religion for the sake of relatives or friends, or from fear of suffering?</b> A. Our Lord says of those who neglect the true religion for the sake of relatives or friends, or from fear of suffering: “He that loveth father or mother more than Me, is not worthy of Me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than Me, is not worthy of Me”; also: “And whosoever does not carry his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.” <b>Q. 1177. What excuse do some give for neglecting to seek and embrace the true religion?</b> A. Some give as an excuse for neglecting to seek and embrace the true religion that we should live in the religion in which we were born, and that one religion is as good as another if we believe we are serving God. <b>Q. 1178. How do we show that such an excuse is false and absurd?</b> A. We show that such an excuse is false and absurd because (1) It is false and absurd to say that we should remain in error after we have discovered it; (2) because if one religion is as good as another, Our Lord would not have abolished the Jewish religion, nor the apostles have preached against heresy. <b>Q. 1179. Can they who fail to profess their faith in the true Church in which they believe expect to be saved while in that state?</b> A. They who fail to profess their faith in the true Church in which they believe cannot expect to be saved while in that state, for Christ has said: “Whosoever shall deny me before men, I will also deny him before my Father who is in heaven.” <b>Q. 1180. Are we obliged to make open profession of our faith?</b> A. We are obliged to make open profession of our faith as often as God’s honor, our neighbor’s spiritual good or our own requires it. “Whosoever,” says Christ, “shall confess me before men, I will also confess him before my Father who is in heaven.” <b>Q. 1181. When does God’s honor, our neighbor’s spiritual good, or our own good require us to make an open profession of our faith?</b> A. God’s honor, our neighbor’s spiritual good, or our own good requires us to make an open profession of our faith as often as we cannot conceal our religion without violating some law of God or of His Church, or without giving scandal to others or exposing ourselves to the danger of sinning. Pious practices not commanded may often be omitted without any denial of faith. <b>Q. 1182. Which are the sins against hope?</b> A. The sins against hope are presumption and despair. <b>Q. 1183. What is presumption?</b> A. Presumption is a rash expectation of salvation without making proper use of the necessary means to obtain it. <b>Q. 1184. How may we be guilty of presumption?</b> A. We may be guilty of presumption (1) By putting off confession when in a state of mortal sin; (2) by delaying the amendment of our lives and repentance for past sins; (3) by being indifferent about the number of times we yield to any temptation after we have once yielded and broken our resolution to resist it; (4) by thinking we can avoid sin without avoiding its near occasion; (5) by relying too much on ourselves and neglecting to follow the advice of our confessor in regard to the sins we confess. <b>Q. 1185. What is despair?</b> A. Despair is the loss of hope in God’s mercy. <b>Q. 1186. How may we be guilty of despair?</b> A. We may be guilty of despair by believing that we cannot resist certain temptations, overcome certain sins or amend our lives so as to be pleasing to God. <b>Q. 1187. Are all sins of presumption and despair equally great?</b> A. All sins of presumption and despair are not equally great. They may be very slight or very great in proportion to the degree in which we deny the justice or mercy of God. <b>Q. 1188. How do we sin against the love of God?</b> A. We sin against the love of God by all sin, but particularly by mortal sin. <b>LESSON THIRTY-FIRST. THE FIRST COMMANDMENT--ON THE HONOR AND INVOCATION OF THE SAINTS.</b><br><b>Q. 1189. Does the first Commandment forbid the honoring of the saints?</b> A. The first Commandment does not forbid the honoring of the saints, but rather approves of it; because by honoring the saints, who are the chosen friends of God, we honor God Himself. <b>Q. 1190. What does “invocation” mean?</b> A. Invocation means calling upon another for help or protection, particularly when we are in need or danger. It is used specially with regard to calling upon God or the saints, and hence it means prayer. <b>Q. 1191. How do we show that by honoring the Saints we honor God Himself?</b> A. We honor the Saints because they honor God. Therefore, it is for His sake that we honor them, and hence by honoring them we honor Him. <b>Q. 1192. Give another reason why we honor God by honoring the Saints.</b> A. Another reason why we honor God by honoring the Saints is this: As we honor our country by honoring its heroes, so do we honor our religion by honoring its Saints. By honoring our religion we honor God, who taught it. Therefore, by honoring the Saints we honor God, for love of whom they became religious heroes in their faith. <b>Q. 1193. Does the first Commandment forbid us to pray to the saints?</b> A. The first Commandment does not forbid us to pray to the saints. <b>Q. 1194. Why does the first commandment not forbid us to pray to the Saints?</b> A. The first commandment does not forbid us to pray to the Saints, because if we are allowed to ask the prayers of our fellow-creatures upon earth we should be allowed also to ask the prayers of our fellow-creatures in heaven. Moreover, the Saints must have an interest in our welfare, because whatever tends to make us good, tends also to the glory of God. <b>Q. 1195. What do we mean by praying to the saints?</b> A. By praying to the saints we mean the asking of their help and prayers. <b>Q. 1196. Do we not slight God Himself by addressing our prayers to saints?</b> A. We do not slight God Himself by addressing our prayers to saints, but, on the contrary, show a greater respect for His majesty and sanctity, acknowledging, by our prayers to the saints, that we are unworthy to address Him for ourselves, and that we, therefore, ask His holy friends to obtain for us what we ourselves are not worthy to ask. <b>Q. 1197. How do we know that the saints hear us?</b> A. We know that the saints hear us, because they are with God, who makes our prayers known to them. <b>Q. 1198. Why do we believe that the saints will help us?</b> A. We believe that the saints will help us because both they and we are members of the same Church, and they love us as their brethren. <b>Q. 1199. How are the saints and we members of the same Church?</b> A. The saints and we are members of the same Church, because the Church in heaven and the Church on earth are one and the same Church, and all its members are in communion with one another. <b>Q. 1200. What is the communion of the members of the Church called?</b> A. The communion of the members of the Church is called the Communion of Saints. <b>Q. 1201. What does the communion of saints mean?</b> A. The communion of saints means the union which exists between the members of the Church on earth with one another, and with the blessed in Heaven, and with the suffering souls in Purgatory. <b>Q. 1202. What benefits are derived from the communion of saints?</b> A. The following benefits are derived from the communion of saints: the faithful on earth assist one another by their prayers and good works, and they are aided by the intercession of the saints in Heaven, while both the saints in Heaven and the faithful on earth help the souls in Purgatory. <b>Q. 1203. How can we best honor the Saints, and where shall we learn their virtues?</b> A. We can best honor the Saints by imitating their virtues, and we shall learn their virtues from the written accounts of their lives. Among the Saints we shall find models for every age, condition or state of life. <b>Q. 1204. Does the first Commandment forbid us to honor relics?</b> A. The first Commandment does not forbid us to honor relics, because relics are the bodies of the saints or objects directly connected with them or with our Lord. <b>Q. 1205. How many kinds or classes of relics are there?</b> A. There are three kinds or classes of relics: (1) The body or part of the body of a saint; (2) articles, such as clothing or books, used by the saint; (3) articles that have touched a relic of the body or other relic. <b>Q. 1206. What is there special about a relic of the true cross on which Our Lord Died, and also about the instruments of His Passion?</b> A. The relics of the true Cross and relics of the thorns, nails, &c., used in the Passion are entitled to a very special veneration, and they have certain privileges with regard to their use and the manner of keeping them that other relics have not. A relic of the true Cross is never kept or carried with other relics. <b>Q. 1207. What veneration does the Church permit us to give to relics?</b> A. The Church permits us to give relics a veneration similar to that we give images. We do not venerate the relics for their own sake, but for the sake of the persons they represent. The souls of canonized saints are certainly in heaven, and we are certain that their bodies also will be there. Therefore, we may honor their bodies because they are to be glorified in heaven and were sanctified upon earth. <b>Q. 1208. What care does the Church take in the examination and distribution of relics?</b> A. The Church takes the greatest care in the examination and distribution of relics. (1) The canonization or beatification of the person whose relic we receive must be certain; (2) the relics are sent in sealed packets, that must be opened only by the bishop of the diocese to which the relics are sent, and each relic or packet must be accompanied by a document or written paper proving its genuineness; (3) the relics cannot be exposed for public veneration until the bishop examines them and pronounces them authentic; that is, that they are what they are claimed to be. <b>Q. 1209. What should we be certain of before using any relic or giving it to another?</b> A. Before using any relic or giving it to another we should be certain that all the requirements of the Church concerning it have been fulfilled, and that the relic really is, as far as it is possible for any one to know, what we believe it to be. <b>Q. 1210. Has God Himself honored relics?</b> A. God Himself has frequently honored relics by permitting miracles to be wrought through them. There is an example given in the Bible, in the IV Book of Kings, where it is related that a dead man was restored to life when his body touched the bones, that is, the relics of the holy prophet Eliseus. <b>Q. 1211. Does the first Commandment forbid the making of images?</b> A. The first Commandment does forbid the making of images if they are made to be adored as gods, but it does not forbid the making of them to put us in mind of Jesus Christ, His Blessed Mother, and the saints. <b>Q. 1212. How do we show that it is only the worship and not the making of images that is forbidden by the first commandment?</b> A. We show that it is only the worship and not the making of images that is forbidden by the first commandment, (1) Because no one thinks it sinful to carve statues or make photographs or paintings of relatives or friends; (2) because God Himself commanded the making of images for the temple after He had given the first commandment, and God never contradicts Himself. <b>Q. 1213. Is it right to show respect to the pictures and images of Christ and His saints?</b> A. It is right to show respect to the pictures and images of Christ and His saints, because they are the representations and memorials of them. <b>Q. 1214. Have we in this country any civil custom similar to that of honoring the pictures and images of saints?</b> A. We have, in this country, a civil custom similar to that of honoring pictures and images of saints, for, on Decoration or Memorial Day, patriotic citizens place flowers, flags, or emblems about the statues of our deceased civil heroes, to honor the persons these statues represent; for just as we can dishonor a man by abusing his image, so we can honor him by treating it with respect and reverence. <b>Q. 1215. Is it allowed to pray to the crucifix or to the images and relics of the saints?</b> A. It is not allowed to pray to the crucifix or images and relics of the saints, for they have no life, nor power to help us, nor sense to hear us. <b>Q. 1216. Why do we pray before the crucifix and the images and relics of the saints?</b> A. We pray before the crucifix and the images and relics of the saints because they enliven our devotion by exciting pious affections and desires, and by reminding us of Christ and of the saints, that we may imitate their virtues. <b>LESSON THIRTY-SECOND. FROM THE SECOND TO THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT.</b><br><b>Q. 1217. What is the second Commandment?</b> A. The second Commandment is: Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. <b>Q. 1218. What do you mean by taking God’s name in vain?</b> A. By taking God’s name in vain I mean taking it without reverence, as in cursing or using in a light and careless manner, as in exclamation. <b>Q. 1219. What are we commanded by the second Commandment?</b> A. We are commanded by the second Commandment to speak with reverence of God and of the saints, and of all holy things, and to keep our lawful oaths and vows. <b>Q. 1220. Is it sinful to use the words of Holy Scripture in a bad or worldly sense?</b> A. It is sinful to use the words of Holy Scripture in a bad or worldly sense, to joke in them or ridicule their sacred meaning, or in general to give them any meaning but the one we believe God has intended them to convey. <b>Q. 1221. What is an oath?</b> A. An oath is the calling upon God to witness the truth of what we say. <b>Q. 1222. How is an oath usually taken?</b> A. An oath is usually taken by laying the hand on the Bible or by lifting the hand towards heaven as a sign that we call God to witness that what we are saying is under oath and to the best of our knowledge really true. <b>Q. 1223. What is perjury?</b> A. Perjury is the sin one commits who knowingly takes a false oath; that is, swears to the truth of what he knows to be false. Perjury is a crime against the law of our country and a mortal sin before God. <b>Q. 1224. Who have the right to make us take an oath?</b> A. All persons to whom the law of our country has given such authority have the right to make us take an oath. They are chiefly judges, magistrates and public officials, whose duty it is to enforce the laws. In religious matters bishops and others to whom authority is given have also the right to make us take an oath. <b>Q. 1225. When may we take an oath?</b> A. We may take an oath when it is ordered by lawful authority or required for God’s honor or for our own or our neighbor’s good. <b>Q. 1226. When may an oath be required for God’s honor or for our own or our neighbor’s good?</b> A. An oath may be required for God’s honor or for our own or our neighbor’s good when we are called upon to defend our religion against false charges; or to protect our own or our neighbor’s property or good name; or when we are required to give testimony that will enable the lawful authorities to discover the guilt or innocence of a person accused. <b>Q. 1227. Is it ever allowed to promise under oath, in secret societies or elsewhere, to obey another in whatever good or evil he commands?</b> A. It is never allowed to promise under oath, in secret societies or elsewhere, to obey another in whatever good or evil he commands, for by such an oath we would declare ourselves ready and willing to commit sin, if ordered to do so, while God commands us to avoid even the danger of sinning. Hence the Church forbids us to join any society in which such oaths are taken by its members. <b>Q. 1228. What societies in general are we forbidden to join?</b> A. In general we are forbidden to join (1) All societies condemned by the Church; (2) all societies of which the object is unlawful and the means used sinful; (3) societies in which the rights and freedom of our conscience are violated by rash or dangerous oaths; (4) societies in which any false religious ceremony or form of worship is used. <b>Q. 1229. Are trades unions and benefit societies forbidden?</b> A. Trades unions and benefit societies are not in themselves forbidden because they have lawful ends, which they can secure by lawful means. The Church encourages every society that lawfully aids its members spiritually or temporally, and censures or disowns every society that uses sinful or unlawful means to secure even a good end; for the Church can never permit anyone to do evil that good may come of it. <b>Q. 1230. Is it lawful to vow or promise strict obedience to a religious superior?</b> A. It is lawful to vow or promise strict obedience to a religious superior, because such superior can exact obedience only in things that have the sanction of God or of His Church. <b>Q. 1231. What is necessary to make an oath lawful?</b> A. To make an oath lawful it is necessary that what we swear to be true, and that there be a sufficient cause for taking an oath. <b>Q. 1232. What is a vow?</b> A. A vow is a deliberate promise made to God to do something that is pleasing to Him. <b>Q. 1233. Which are the vows most frequently made?</b> A. The vows most frequently made are the three vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, taken by persons living in religious communities or consecrated to God. Persons living in the world are sometimes permitted to make such vows privately, but this should never be done without the advice and consent of their confessor. <b>Q. 1234. What do the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience require?</b> A. The vows of poverty, chastity and obedience require that those who make them shall not possess or keep any property or goods for themselves alone; that they shall not marry or be guilty of any immodest acts, and that they shall strictly obey their lawful superiors. <b>Q. 1235. Has it always been a custom with pious Christians to make vows and promises to God?</b> A. It has always been a custom with pious Christians to make vows and promises to God; to beg His help for some special end, or to thank Him for some benefit received. They have promised pilgrimages, good works or alms and they have vowed to erect churches, convents, hospitals or schools. <b>Q. 1236. What is a pilgrimage?</b> A. A pilgrimage is a journey to a holy place made in a religious manner and for a religious purpose. <b>Q. 1237. Is it a sin not to fulfill our vows?</b> A. Not to fulfill our vows is a sin, mortal or venial, according to the nature of the vow and the intention we had in making it. <b>Q. 1238. Are we bound to keep an unlawful oath or vow?</b> A. We are not bound, but, on the contrary, positively forbidden to keep an unlawful oath or vow. We are guilty of sin in taking such an oath or making such a vow, and we would be guilty of still greater sin by keeping them. <b>Q. 1239. What is forbidden by the second Commandment?</b> A. The second Commandment forbids all false, rash, unjust, and unnecessary oaths, blasphemy, cursing, and profane words. <b>Q. 1240. When is an oath rash, unjust or unnecessary?</b> A. An oath is rash when we are not sure of the truth of what we swear; it is unjust when it injures another unlawfully; and it is unnecessary when there is no good reason for taking it. <b>Q. 1241. What is blasphemy, and what are profane words?</b> A. Blasphemy is any word or action intended as an insult to God. To say He is cruel or find fault with His works is blasphemy. It is a much greater sin than cursing or taking God’s name in vain. Profane words mean here bad, irreverent or irreligious words. <b>Q. 1242. What is the third Commandment?</b> A. The third Commandment is: Remember thou keep holy the Sabbath day. <b>Q. 1243. What are we commanded by the third Commandment?</b> A. By the third Commandment we are commanded to keep holy the Lord’s day and the holydays of obligation, on which we are to give our time to the service and worship of God. <b>Q. 1244. What are holydays of obligation?</b> A. Holydays of obligation are special feasts of the Church on which we are bound, under pain of mortal sin, to hear Mass and to keep from servile or bodily labors when it can be done without great loss or inconvenience. Whoever, on account of their circumstances, cannot give up work on holydays of obligation should make every effort to hear Mass and should also explain in confession the necessity of working on holydays. <b>Q. 1245. How are we to worship God on Sundays and holydays of obligation?</b> A. We are to worship God on Sundays and holydays of obligation by hearing Mass, by prayer, and by other good works. <b>Q. 1246. Name some of the good works recommended for Sunday.</b> A. Some of the good works recommended for Sunday are: The reading of religious books or papers, teaching Catechism, bringing relief to the poor or sick, visiting the Blessed Sacrament, attending Vespers, Rosary or other devotions in the Church; also attending the meetings of religious sodalities or societies. It is not necessary to spend the whole Sunday in such good works, but we should give some time to them, that for the love of God we may do a little more than what is strictly commanded. <b>Q. 1247. Is it forbidden, then, to seek any pleasure or enjoyment on Sunday?</b> A. It is not forbidden to seek lawful pleasure or enjoyment on Sunday, especially to those who are occupied during the week, for God did not intend the keeping of the Sunday to be a punishment, but a benefit to us. Therefore, after hearing Mass we may take such recreation as is necessary or useful for us; but we should avoid any vulgar, noisy or disgraceful amusements that turn the day of rest and prayer into a day of scandal and sin. <b>Q. 1248. Are the Sabbath day and the Sunday the same?</b> A. The Sabbath day and the Sunday are not the same. The Sabbath is the seventh day of the week, and is the day which was kept holy in the old law; the Sunday is the first day of the week, and is the day which is kept holy in the new law. <b>Q. 1249. What is meant by the Old and New Law?</b> A. The Old Law means the law or religion given to the Jews; the New Law means the law or religion given to Christians. <b>Q. 1250. Why does the Church command us to keep the Sunday holy instead of the Sabbath?</b> A. The Church commands us to keep the Sunday holy instead of the Sabbath because on Sunday Christ rose from the dead, and on Sunday He sent the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles. <b>Q. 1251. Do we keep Sunday instead of Saturday holy for any other reason?</b> A. We keep Sunday instead of Saturday holy also to teach that the Old Law is not now binding upon us, but that we must keep the New Law, which takes its place. <b>Q. 1252. What is forbidden by the third Commandment?</b> A. The third Commandment forbids all unnecessary servile work and whatever else may hinder the due observance of the Lord’s day. <b>Q. 1253. What are servile works?</b> A. Servile works are those which require labor rather of body than of mind. <b>Q. 1254. From what do servile works derive their name?</b> A. Servile works derive their name from the fact that such works were formerly done by slaves. Therefore, reading, writing, studying and, in general, all works that slaves did not perform are not considered servile works. <b>Q. 1255. Are servile works on Sunday ever lawful?</b> A. Servile works are lawful on Sundays when the honor of God, the good of our neighbor, or necessity requires them. <b>Q. 1256. Give some examples of when the honor of God, the good of our neighbor or necessity may require servile works on Sunday.</b> A. The honor of God, the good of our neighbor or necessity may require servile works on Sunday, in such cases as the preparation of a place for Holy Mass, the saving of property in storms or accidents, the cooking of meals and similar works. <b>LESSON THIRTY-THIRD. FROM THE FOURTH TO THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT.</b><br><b>Q. 1257. What is the fourth Commandment?</b> A. The fourth Commandment is: Honor thy father and thy mother. <b>Q. 1258. What does the word “honor” in this commandment include?</b> A. The word “honor” in this commandment includes the doing of everything necessary for our parents’ spiritual and temporal welfare, the showing of proper respect, and the fulfillment of all our duties to them. <b>Q. 1259. What are we commanded by the fourth Commandment?</b> A. We are commanded by the fourth Commandment to honor, love and obey our parents in all that is not sin. <b>Q. 1260. Why should we refuse to obey parents or superiors who command us to sin?</b> A. We should refuse to obey parents or superiors who command us to sin because they are not then acting with God’s authority, but contrary to it and in violation of His laws. <b>Q. 1261. Are we bound to honor and obey others than our parents?</b> A. We are also bound to honor and obey our bishops, pastors, magistrates, teachers, and other lawful superiors. <b>Q. 1262. Who are meant by magistrates?</b> A. By magistrates are meant all officials of whatever rank who have a lawful right to rule over us and our temporal possessions or affairs. <b>Q. 1263. Who are meant by lawful superiors?</b> A. By lawful superiors are meant all persons to whom we are in any way subject, such as employers or others under whose authority we live or work. <b>Q. 1264. What is the duty of servants or workmen to their employers?</b> A. The duty of servants or workmen to their employers is to serve them faithfully and honestly, according to their agreement, and to guard against injuring their property or reputation. <b>Q. 1265. Have parents and superiors any duties toward those who are under their charge?</b> A. It is the duty of parents and superiors to take good care of all under their charge and give them proper direction and example. <b>Q. 1266. If parents or superiors neglect their duty or abuse their authority in any particular, should we follow their direction and example in that particular?</b> A. If parents or superiors neglect their duty or abuse their authority in any particular we should not follow their direction or example in that particular, but follow the dictates of our conscience in the performance of our duty. <b>Q. 1267. What is the duty of employers to their servants or workmen?</b> A. The duty of employers to their servants or workmen is to see that they are kindly and fairly treated and provided for, according to their agreement, and that they are justly paid their wages at the proper time. <b>Q. 1268. What is forbidden by the fourth Commandment?</b> A. The fourth Commandment forbids all disobedience, contempt, and stubbornness towards our parents or lawful superiors. <b>Q. 1269. What is meant by contempt and stubbornness?</b> A. By contempt is meant wilful disrespect for lawful authority, and by stubbornness is meant wilful determination not to yield to lawful authority. <b>Q. 1270. What is the fifth Commandment?</b> A. The fifth Commandment is: Thou shalt not kill. <b>Q. 1271. What killing does this commandment forbid?</b> A. This commandment forbids the killing only of human beings. <b>Q. 1272. How do we know that this commandment forbids the killing only of human beings?</b> A. We know that this commandment forbids the killing only of human beings because, after giving this commandment, God commanded that animals be killed for sacrifice in the temple of Jerusalem, and God never contradicts Himself. <b>Q. 1273. What are we commanded by the fifth Commandment?</b> A. We are commanded by the fifth Commandment to live in peace and union with our neighbor, to respect his rights, to seek his spiritual and bodily welfare, and to take proper care of our own life and health. <b>Q. 1274. What sin is it to destroy one’s own life, or commit suicide, as this act is called?</b> A. It is a mortal sin to destroy one’s own life or commit suicide, as this act is called, and persons who wilfully and knowingly commit such an act die in a state of mortal sin and are deprived of Christian burial. It is also wrong to expose one’s self unnecessarily to the danger of death by rash or foolhardy feats of daring. <b>Q. 1275. Is it ever lawful for any cause to deliberately and intentionally take away the life of an innocent person?</b> A. It is never lawful for any cause to deliberately and intentionally take away the life of an innocent person. Such deeds are always murder, and can never be excused for any reason, however important or necessary. <b>Q. 1276. Under what circumstances may human life be lawfully taken?</b> A. Human life may be lawfully taken (1) In self-defense, when we are unjustly attacked and have no other means of saving our own lives; (2) in a just war, when the safety or rights of the nation require it; (3) by the lawful execution of a criminal, fairly tried and found guilty of a crime punishable by death when the preservation of law and order and the good of the community require such execution. <b>Q. 1277. What is forbidden by the fifth Commandment?</b> A. The fifth Commandment forbids all wilful murder, fighting, anger, hatred, revenge, and bad example. <b>Q. 1278. Can the fifth commandment be broken by giving scandal or bad example and by inducing others to sin?</b> A. The fifth commandment can be broken by giving scandal or bad example and inducing others to sin, because such acts may destroy the life of the soul by leading it into mortal sin. <b>Q. 1279. What is scandal?</b> A. Scandal is any sinful word, deed or omission that disposes others to sin, or lessens their respect for God and holy religion. <b>Q. 1280. Why are fighting, anger, hatred and revenge forbidden by the fifth commandment?</b> A. Fighting, anger, hatred and revenge are forbidden by the fifth commandment because they are sinful in themselves and may lead to murder. The commandments forbid not only whatever violates them, but also whatever may lead to their violation. <b>Q. 1281. What is the sixth Commandment?</b> A. The sixth Commandment is: Thou shalt not commit adultery. <b>Q. 1282. What are we commanded by the sixth Commandment?</b> A. We are commanded by the sixth Commandment to be pure in thought and modest in all our looks, words, and actions. <b>Q. 1283. It is a sin to listen to immodest conversation, songs or jokes?</b> A. It is a sin to listen to immodest conversation, songs or jokes when we can avoid it, or to show in any way that we take pleasure in such things. <b>Q. 1284. What is forbidden by the sixth Commandment?</b> A. The sixth Commandment forbids all unchaste freedom with another’s wife or husband; also all immodesty with ourselves or others in looks, dress, words, and actions. <b>Q. 1285. Why are sins of impurity the most dangerous?</b> A. Sins of impurity are the most dangerous (1) Because they have the most numerous temptations; (2) because, if deliberate, they are always mortal, and (3) because, more than other sins, they lead to the loss of faith. <b>Q. 1286. Does the sixth Commandment forbid the reading of bad and immodest books and newspapers?</b> A. The sixth Commandment does forbid the reading of bad and immodest books and newspapers. <b>Q. 1287. What should be done with immodest book and newspapers?</b> A. Immodest books and newspapers should be destroyed as soon as possible, and if we cannot destroy them ourselves we should induce their owners to do so. <b>Q. 1288. What books does the Church consider bad?</b> A. The Church considers bad all books containing teaching contrary to faith or morals, or that wilfully misrepresent Catholic doctrine and practice. <b>Q. 1289. What places are dangerous to the virtue of purity?</b> A. Indecent theaters and similar places of amusement are dangerous to the virtue of purity, because their entertainments are frequently intended to suggest immodest things. <b>LESSON THIRTY-FOURTH. FROM THE SEVENTH TO THE END OF THE TENTH COMMANDMENT.</b><br><b>Q. 1290. What is the seventh Commandment?</b> A. The seventh Commandment is: Thou shalt not steal. <b>Q. 1291. What sin is it to steal?</b> A. To steal is a mortal or venial sin, according to the amount stolen either at once or at different times. Circumstances may make the sin greater or less, and they should be explained in confession. <b>Q. 1292. Is stealing ever a sacrilege?</b> A. Stealing is a sacrilege when the thing stolen belongs to the Church and when the stealing takes place in the Church. <b>Q. 1293. What sins are equivalent to stealing?</b> A. All sins of cheating, defrauding or wronging others of their property; also all sins of borrowing or buying with the intention of never repaying are equivalent to stealing. <b>Q. 1294. In what other ways may persons sin against honesty?</b> A. Persons may sin against honesty also by knowingly receiving, buying or sharing in stolen goods; likewise by giving or taking bribes for dishonest purposes. <b>Q. 1295. What are we commanded by the seventh Commandment?</b> A. By the seventh Commandment we are commanded to give to all men what belongs to them and to respect their property. <b>Q. 1296. How may persons working for others be guilty of dishonesty?</b> A. Persons working for others may be guilty of dishonesty by idling the time for which they are paid; also by doing bad work or supplying bad material without their employer’s knowledge. <b>Q. 1297. In what other way may a person be guilty of dishonesty?</b> A. A person may be guilty of dishonesty in getting money or goods by false pretenses and by using either for purposes for which they were not given. <b>Q. 1298. What is forbidden by the seventh Commandment?</b> A. The seventh Commandment forbids all unjust taking or keeping what belongs to another. <b>Q. 1299. What must we do with things found?</b> A. We must return things found to their lawful owners as soon as possible, and we must also use reasonable means to find the owners if they are unknown to us. <b>Q. 1300. What must we do if we discover we have bought stolen goods?</b> A. If we discover we have bought stolen goods and know their lawful owners we must return the goods to them as soon as possible without demanding compensation from the owner for what we paid for the goods. <b>Q. 1301. Are we bound to restore ill-gotten goods?</b> A. We are bound to restore ill-gotten goods, or the value of them, as far as we are able; otherwise we cannot be forgiven. <b>Q. 1302. What must we do if we cannot restore all we owe, or if the person to whom we should restore be dead?</b> A. If we cannot restore all we owe, we must restore as much as we can, and if the person to whom we should restore be dead we must restore to his children or heirs, and if these cannot be found we may give alms to the poor. <b>Q. 1303. What must one do who cannot pay his debts and yet wishes to receive the Sacraments?</b> A. One who cannot pay his debts and yet wishes to receive the Sacraments must sincerely promise and intend to pay them as soon as possible, and must without delay make every effort to do so. <b>Q. 1304. Are we obliged to repair the damage we have unjustly caused?</b> A. We are bound to repair the damage we have unjustly caused. <b>Q. 1305. What is the eighth Commandment?</b> A. The eighth Commandment is: Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. <b>Q. 1306. What are we commanded by the eighth Commandment?</b> A. We are commanded by the eighth Commandment to speak the truth in all things, and to be careful of the honor and reputation of every one. <b>Q. 1307. What is a lie?</b> A. A lie is a sin committed by knowingly saying what is untrue with the intention of deceiving. To swear to a lie makes the sin greater, and such swearing is called perjury. Pretense, hypocrisy, false praise, boasting, &c., are similar to lies. <b>Q. 1308. How can we know the degree of sinfulness in a lie?</b> A. We can know the degree of sinfulness in a lie by the amount of harm it does and from the intention we had in telling it. <b>Q. 1309. Will a good reason for telling a lie excuse it?</b> A. No reason, however good, will excuse the telling of a lie, because a lie is always bad in itself. It is never allowed, even for a good intention to do a thing that is bad in itself. <b>Q. 1310. What is forbidden by the eighth Commandment?</b> A. The eighth Commandment forbids all rash judgments, backbiting, slanders, and lies. <b>Q. 1311. What are rash judgment, backbiting, slander and detraction?</b> A. Rash judgment is believing a person guilty of sin without a sufficient cause. Backbiting is saying evil things of another in his absence. Slander is telling lies about another with the intention of injuring him. Detraction is revealing the sins of another without necessity. <b>Q. 1312. Is it ever allowed to tell the faults of another?</b> A. It is allowed to tell the faults of another when it is necessary to make them known to his parents or superiors, that the faults may be corrected and the wrong doer prevented from greater sin. <b>Q. 1313. What is tale-bearing, and why is it wrong?</b> A. Tale-bearing is the act of telling persons what others have said about them, especially if the things said be evil. It is wrong, because it gives rise to anger, hatred and ill-will, and is often the cause of greater sins. <b>Q. 1314. What must they do who have lied about their neighbor and seriously injured his character?</b> A. They who have lied about their neighbor and seriously injured his character must repair the injury done as far as they are able, otherwise they will not be forgiven. <b>Q. 1315. What is the ninth Commandment?</b> A. The ninth Commandment is: Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife. <b>Q. 1316. What are we commanded by the ninth Commandment?</b> A. We are commanded by the ninth Commandment to keep ourselves pure in thought and desire. <b>Q. 1317. What is forbidden by the ninth Commandment?</b> A. The ninth Commandment forbids unchaste thoughts, desires of another’s wife or husband, and all other unlawful impure thoughts and desires. <b>Q. 1318. Are impure thoughts and desires always sins?</b> A. Impure thoughts and desires are always sins, unless they displease us and we try to banish them. <b>Q. 1319. What is the tenth Commandment?</b> A. The tenth Commandment is: Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s goods. <b>Q. 1320. What does covet mean?</b> A. Covet means to wish to get wrongfully what another possesses or to begrudge his own to him. <b>Q. 1321. What are we commanded by the tenth Commandment?</b> A. By the tenth Commandment we are commanded to be content with what we have, and to rejoice in our neighbor’s welfare. <b>Q. 1322. Should we not, then, try to improve our position in the world?</b> A. We should try to improve our position in the world, provided we can do so honestly and without exposing ourselves to greater temptation or sin. <b>Q. 1323. What is forbidden by the tenth Commandment?</b> A. The tenth Commandment forbids all desires to take or keep wrongfully what belongs to another. <b>Q. 1324. In what does the sixth commandment differ from the ninth, and the seventh differ from the tenth?</b> A. The sixth commandment differs from the ninth in this, that the sixth refers chiefly to external acts of impurity, while the ninth refers more to sins of thought against purity. The seventh commandment refers chiefly to external acts of dishonesty, while the tenth refers more to thoughts against honesty. <b>LESSON THIRTY-FIFTH. ON THE FIRST AND SECOND COMMANDMENTS OF THE CHURCH.</b><br><b>Q. 1325. Are not the commandments of the Church also commandments of God?</b> A. The commandments of the Church are also commandments of God, because they are made by His authority, and we are bound under pain of sin to observe them. <b>Q. 1326. What is the difference between the commandments of God and the Commandments of the Church?</b> A. The commandments of God were given by God Himself to Moses on Mount Sinai; the commandments of the Church were given on different occasions by the lawful authorities of the Church. The Commandments given by God Himself cannot be changed by the Church; but the commandments made by the Church itself may be changed by its authority as necessity requires. <b>Q. 1327. Which are the chief commandments of the Church?</b> A. The chief commandments of the Church are six: 1. To hear Mass on Sundays and holydays of obligation. 2. To fast and abstain on the days appointed. 3. To confess at least once a year. 4. To receive the Holy Eucharist during the Easter time. 5. To contribute to the support of our pastors. 6. Not to marry persons who are not Catholics, or who are related to us within the third degree of kindred, nor privately without witnesses, nor to solemnize marriage at forbidden times. <b>Q. 1328. Why has the Church made commandments?</b> A. The Church has made commandments to teach the faithful how to worship God and to guard them from the neglect of their religious duties. <b>Q. 1329. Is it a mortal sin not to hear Mass on a Sunday or a holyday of obligation?</b> A. It is a mortal sin not to hear Mass on a Sunday or a holyday of obligation, unless we are excused for a serious reason. They also commit a mortal sin who, having others under their charge, hinder them from hearing Mass, without a sufficient reason. <b>Q. 1330. What is a “serious reason” excusing one from the obligation of hearing Mass?</b> A. A “serious reason” excusing one from the obligation of hearing Mass is any reason that makes it impossible or very difficult to attend Mass, such as severe illness, great distance from the Church, or the need of certain works that cannot be neglected or postponed. <b>Q. 1331. Are children obliged, under pain of mortal sin, the same as grown persons, to hear Mass on Sundays and holydays of obligation?</b> A. Children who have reached the use of reason are obliged under pain of mortal sin, the same as grown persons, to hear Mass on Sundays and holydays of obligation; but if they are prevented from so doing by parents, or others, then the sin falls on those who prevent them. <b>Q. 1332. Why were holydays instituted by the church?</b> A. Holydays were instituted by the Church to recall to our minds the great mysteries of religion and the virtues and rewards of the saints. <b>Q. 1333. How many holydays of obligation are there in this country?</b> A. In this country there are six holydays of obligation, namely, (1) Feast of the Immaculate Conception (Dec. 8th); (2) Christmas (Dec. 25th); (3) Feast of the Circumcision of Our Lord (Jan. 1st); (4) Feast of the Ascension of Our Lord (forty days after Easter); (5) Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin (Aug. 15th); and (6) Feast of All Saints (Nov. 1st). <b>Q. 1334. How should we keep the holydays of obligation?</b> A. We should keep the holydays of obligation as we should keep the Sunday. <b>Q. 1335. Why are certain holydays called holydays of obligation?</b> A. Certain holydays are called holydays of obligation because on such days we are obliged under pain of mortal sin to hear Mass and keep from servile works as we do on Sundays. <b>Q. 1336. What should one do who is obliged to work on a holyday of obligation?</b> A. One who is obliged to work on a holyday of obligation should, if possible, hear Mass before going to work, and should also explain this necessity in confession, so as to obtain the confessor’s advice on the subject. <b>Q. 1337. What do you mean by fast-days?</b> A. By fast-days I mean days on which we are allowed but one full meal. <b>Q. 1338. Is it permitted on fast days to take any food besides the one full meal?</b> A. It is permitted on fast days, besides the one full meal, to take two other meatless meals, to maintain strength, according to each one’s needs. But together these two meatless meals should not equal another full meal. <b>Q. 1339. Who are obliged to fast?</b> A. All persons over 21 and under 59 years of age, and whose health and occupation will permit them to fast. <b>Q. 1340. Does the Church excuse any classes of persons from the obligation of fasting?</b> A. The Church does excuse certain classes of persons from the obligation of fasting on account of their age, the condition of their health, the nature of their work, or the circumstances in which they live. These things are explained in the Regulations for Lent, read publicly in the Churches each year. <b>Q. 1341. What should one do who doubts whether or not he is obliged to fast?</b> A. In doubt concerning fast, a parish priest or confessor should be consulted. <b>Q. 1342. When do fast days chiefly occur in the year?</b> A. Fast days chiefly occur in the year during Lent and Advent, on the Ember days and on the vigils or eves of some great feasts. A vigil falling on a Sunday is not observed. <b>Q. 1343. What do you mean by Lent, Advent, Ember days and the vigils of great feasts?</b> A. Lent is the seven weeks of penance preceding Easter. Advent is the four weeks of preparation preceding Christmas. Ember days are three days set apart in each of the four seasons of the year as special days of prayer and thanksgiving. Vigils are the days immediately preceding great feasts and spent in spiritual preparation for them. <b>Q. 1344. What do you mean by days of abstinence?</b> A. By days of abstinence I mean days on which no meat at all may be taken (complete abstinence) or on which meat may be taken only once a day (partial abstinence). This is explained in the regulations for Lent. All the Fridays of the year are days of abstinence except when a Holyday of obligation falls on a Friday outside of Lent. <b>Q. 1345. Are children and persons unable to fast bound to abstain on days of abstinence?</b> A. Children, from the age of seven years, and persons who are unable to fast are bound to abstain on days of abstinence, unless they are excused for sufficient reason. <b>Q. 1346. Why does the Church command us to fast and abstain?</b> A. The Church commands us to fast and abstain, in order that we may mortify our passions and satisfy for our sins. <b>Q. 1347. What is meant by our passions and what by mortifying them?</b> A. By our passions are meant our sinful desires and inclinations. Mortifying them means restraining them and overcoming them so that they have less power to lead us into sin. <b>Q. 1348. Why does the Church command us to abstain from flesh-meat on Fridays?</b> A. The Church commands us to abstain from flesh-meat on Fridays in honor of the day on which our Saviour died. <b>LESSON THIRTY-SIXTH. ON THE THIRD, FOURTH, FIFTH, AND SIXTH COMMANDMENTS OF THE CHURCH.</b><br><b>Q. 1349. What is meant by the command of confessing at least once a year?</b> A. By the command of confessing at least once a year is meant that we are obliged, under pain of mortal sin, to go to confession within the year. <b>Q. 1350. Should we confess only once a year?</b> A. We should confess frequently, if we wish to lead a good life. <b>Q. 1351. Should we go to confession at our usual time even if we think we have not committed sin since our last confession?</b> A. We should go to confession at our usual time even if we think we have not committed sin since our last confession, because the Sacrament of Penance has for its object not only to forgive sins, but also to bestow grace and strengthen the soul against temptation. <b>Q. 1352. Should children go to confession?</b> A. Children should go to confession when they are old enough to commit sin, which is commonly about the age of seven years. <b>Q. 1353. What sin does he commit who neglects to receive Communion during the Easter time?</b> A. He who neglects to receive Communion during the Easter time commits a mortal sin. <b>Q. 1354. What is the Easter time?</b> A. The Easter time is, in this country, the time between the first Sunday of Lent and Trinity Sunday. <b>Q. 1355. When is Trinity Sunday?</b> A. Trinity Sunday is the Sunday after Pentecost, or eight weeks after Easter Sunday; so that there are fourteen weeks in which one may comply with the command of the Church to receive Holy Communion between the first Sunday of Lent and Trinity Sunday. <b>Q. 1356. Are we obliged to contribute to the support of our pastors?</b> A. We are obliged to contribute to the support of our pastors, and to bear our share in the expense of the Church and school. <b>Q. 1357. Where did the duty of contributing to the support of the Church and clergy originate?</b> A. The duty of contributing to the support of the Church and clergy originated in the Old Law, when God commanded all the people to contribute to the support of the temple and of its priests. <b>Q. 1358. What does the obligation of supporting the Church and school imply?</b> A. The obligation of supporting the Church and school implies the duty of making use of the Church and school by attending religious worship in the one and by giving Catholic education in the other; because if the Church and school were not necessary for our spiritual welfare we would not be commanded to support them. <b>Q. 1359. Does the fifth commandment of the Church include the support only of our pastors and the Church and school?</b> A. The fifth commandment of the Church includes the support also of our holy father, the Pope, bishops, priests, missions, religious institutions and religion in general. <b>Q. 1360. What is the meaning of the commandment not to marry within the third degree of kindred?</b> A. The meaning of the commandment not to marry within the third degree of kindred is that no one is allowed to marry another within the third degree of blood relationship. <b>Q. 1361. Who are in the third degree of blood relationship?</b> A. Second cousins are in the third degree of blood relationship, and persons whose relationship is nearer than second cousins are in closer degrees of kindred. It is unlawful for persons thus related to marry without a dispensation or special permission of the Church. <b>Q. 1362. Are there other relationships besides blood relationship that render marriage unlawful without a dispensation?</b> A. There are other relationships besides blood relationship that render marriage unlawful without a dispensation, namely, the relationships contracted by marriage, which are called degrees of affinity, and the relationship contracted by being sponsors at Baptism, which is called spiritual affinity. <b>Q. 1363. What should persons about to marry do, if they suspect they are related to each other?</b> A. Persons about to marry, if they suspect they are related to each other, should make known the facts to the priest, that he may examine the degree of relationship and procure a dispensation if necessary. <b>Q. 1364. What is the meaning of the command not to marry privately?</b> A. The command not to marry privately means that none should marry without the blessing of God’s priests or without witnesses. <b>Q. 1365. What sin is it for Catholics to be married before the minister of another religion?</b> A. It is a mortal sin for Catholics to be married before the minister of another religion, and they who attempt to do so incur excommunication, and absolution from their sin is reserved to the bishop. <b>Q. 1366. What is the meaning of the precept not to solemnize marriage at forbidden times?</b> A. The meaning of the precept not to solemnize marriage at forbidden times is that during Lent and Advent the marriage ceremony should not be performed with pomp or a nuptial Mass. <b>Q. 1367. What is the nuptial Mass?</b> A. The nuptial Mass is a Mass appointed by the Church to invoke a special blessing upon the married couple. <b>Q. 1368. Should Catholics be married at a nuptial Mass?</b> A. Catholics should be married at a nuptial Mass, because they thereby show greater reverence for the holy Sacrament and bring richer blessings upon their wedded life. <b>Q. 1369. What restrictions does the Church place on the ceremonies of marriage when one of the persons is not a Catholic?</b> A. The Church places several restrictions on the ceremonies of marriage when one of the persons is not a Catholic. The marriage cannot take place in the church; the priest cannot wear his sacred vestments nor use holy water nor bless the ring nor the marriage itself. The Church places these restrictions to show her dislike for such marriages, commonly called mixed marriages. <b>Q. 1370. Why does the Church dislike mixed marriages?</b> A. The Church dislikes mixed marriages because such marriages are frequently unhappy, give rise to many disputes, endanger the faith of the Catholic member of the family, and prevent the religious education of the children. <b>LESSON THIRTY-SEVENTH. ON THE LAST JUDGMENT AND THE RESURRECTION, HELL, PURGATORY, AND HEAVEN.</b><br><b>Q. 1371. When will Christ judge us?</b> A. Christ will judge us immediately after our death, and on the last day. <b>Q. 1372. What is the judgment called which we have to undergo immediately after death?</b> A. The judgment we have to undergo immediately after death is called the Particular Judgment. <b>Q. 1373. Where will the particular judgment be held?</b> A. The particular judgment will be held in the place where each person dies, and the soul will go immediately to its reward or punishment. <b>Q. 1374. What is the judgment called which all men have to undergo on the last day?</b> A. The judgment which all men have to undergo on the last day is called the General Judgment. <b>Q. 1375. Will the sentence given at the particular judgment be changed at the general judgment?</b> A. The sentence given at the particular judgment will not be changed at the general judgment, but it will be repeated and made public to all. <b>Q. 1376. Why does Christ judge men immediately after death?</b> A. Christ judges men immediately after death to reward or punish them according to their deeds. <b>Q. 1377. How may we daily prepare for our judgment?</b> A. We may daily prepare for our judgment by a good examination of conscience, in which we will discover our sins and learn to fear the punishment they deserve. <b>Q. 1378. What are the rewards or punishments appointed for men’s souls after the Particular Judgment?</b> A. The rewards or punishments appointed for men’s souls after the Particular Judgment are Heaven, Purgatory, and Hell. <b>Q. 1379. What is Hell?</b> A. Hell is a state to which the wicked are condemned, and in which they are deprived of the sight of God for all eternity, and are in dreadful torments. <b>Q. 1380. Will the damned suffer in both mind and body?</b> A. The damned will suffer in both mind and body, because both mind and body had a share in their sins. The mind suffers the “pain of loss” in which it is tortured by the thought of having lost God forever, and the body suffers the “pain of sense” by which it is tortured in all its members and senses. <b>Q. 1381. What is Purgatory?</b> A. Purgatory is the state in which those suffer for a time who die guilty of venial sins, or without having satisfied for the punishment due to their sins. <b>Q. 1382. Why is this state called Purgatory?</b> A. This state is called Purgatory because in it the souls are purged or purified from all their stains; and it is not, therefore, a permanent or lasting state for the soul. <b>Q. 1383. Are the souls in Purgatory sure of their salvation?</b> A. The souls in Purgatory are sure of their salvation, and they will enter heaven as soon as they are completely purified and made worthy to enjoy that presence of God which is called the Beatific Vision. <b>Q. 1384. Do we know what souls are in Purgatory, and how long they have to remain there?</b> A. We do not know what souls are in Purgatory nor how long they have to remain there; hence we continue to pray for all persons who have died apparently in the true faith and free from mortal sin. They are called the faithful departed. <b>Q. 1385. Can the faithful on earth help the souls in Purgatory?</b> A. The faithful on earth can help the souls in Purgatory by their prayers, fasts, alms, deeds; by indulgences, and by having Masses said for them. <b>Q. 1386. Since God loves the souls in Purgatory, why does He punish them?</b> A. Though God loves the souls in Purgatory, He punishes them because His holiness requires that nothing defiled may enter heaven and His justice requires that everyone be punished or rewarded according to what he deserves. <b>Q. 1387. If every one is judged immediately after death, what need is there of a general judgment?</b> A. There is need of a general judgment, though every one is judged immediately after death, that the providence of God, which, on earth, often permits the good to suffer and the wicked to prosper, may in the end appear just before all men. <b>Q. 1388. What is meant by “the Providence of God”?</b> A. By “the Providence of God” is meant the manner in which He preserves, provides for, rules and governs the world and directs all things by His infinite Will. <b>Q. 1389. Are there other reasons for the general judgment?</b> A. There are other reasons for the general judgment, and especially that Christ Our Lord may receive from the whole world the honor denied Him at His first coming, and that all may be forced to acknowledge Him their God and Redeemer. <b>Q. 1390. Will our bodies share in the reward or punishment of our souls?</b> A. Our bodies will share in the reward or punishment of our souls, because through the resurrection they will again be united to them. <b>Q. 1391. When will the general resurrection or rising of all the dead take place?</b> A. The general resurrection or rising of all the dead will take place at the general judgment, when the same bodies in which we lived on earth will come forth from the grave and be united to our souls and remain united with them forever either in heaven or in hell. <b>Q. 1392. In what state will the bodies of the just rise?</b> A. The bodies of the just will rise glorious and immortal. <b>Q. 1393. Will the bodies of the damned also rise?</b> A. The bodies of the damned will also rise, but they will be condemned to eternal punishment. <b>Q. 1394. Why do we show respect for the bodies of the dead?</b> A. We show respect for the bodies of the dead because they were the dwelling-place of the soul, the medium through which it received the Sacraments, and because they were created to occupy a place in heaven. <b>Q. 1395. What is Heaven?</b> A. Heaven is the state of everlasting life in which we see God face to face, are made like unto Him in glory, and enjoy eternal happiness. <b>Q. 1396. In what does the happiness in heaven consist?</b> (Source: Baltimore Catechism #3)
A. The happiness in heaven consists in seeing the beauty of God, in knowing Him as He is, and in having every desire fully satisfied. <b>Q. 1397. What does St. Paul say of heaven?</b> A. St. Paul says of heaven, “That eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man what things God hath prepared for them that love Him.” (I. Cor. ii., 9.) <b>Q. 1398. Are the rewards in heaven and the punishments in hell the same for all who enter into either of these states?</b> A. The rewards of heaven and the punishments in hell are not the same for all who enter into either of these states, because each one’s reward or punishment is in proportion to the amount of good or evil he has done in this world. But as heaven and hell are everlasting, each one will enjoy his reward or suffer his punishment forever. <b>Q. 1399. What words should we bear always in mind?</b> A. We should bear always in mind these words of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ: “What doth it profit a man if he gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his own soul, or what exchange shall a man give for his soul? For the Son of man shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and then will He render to every man according to his works.” <b>Q. 1400. Name some of the more essential religious truths we must know and believe.</b> A. Some of the more essential religious truths we must know and believe are: (1) That there is but one God, and He will reward the good and punish the wicked. (2) That in God there are three Divine Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and these Divine Persons are called the Blessed Trinity. (3) That Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, became man and died for our redemption. (4) That the grace of God is necessary for our salvation. (5) That the human soul is immortal. (Source: Baltimore Catechism #3 / <b>Lesson ThirtY-SeventH. on The Last Judgment And The ResurrectioN, helL, purgatorY, and HeaveN.</b><br><b>Q. 1371. when Will Christ Judge Us?</b>)
LIVES OF THE SAINTS With Reflections for Every Day in the Year COMPILED FROM THE “LIVES OF THE SAINTS” BY REV. ALBAN BUTLER BENZIGER BROTHERS NEW YORK, CINCINNATI, CHICAGO PRINTERS TO THE HOLY APOSTOLIC SEE [1894] <i>Scanned, proofed and formatted at sacred-texts.com, December 2008, by John Bruno Hare. This text is in the public domain in the US because it was published prior to 1923. The saints from Rev. Butler’s section titled “Lives Of Certain Saints Contained In The Calendar Of Special Feasts For The United States And Of Some Others Recently Canonized” have been placed in their respective feast day in iPieta. </i> MICHAEL AUGUSTINE, Archbishop of New York New York, January 21. 1887 LIVES OF THE SAINTS. January 1.--THE CIRCUMCISION OF OUR LORD. CIRCUMCISION was a sacrament of the Old Law, and the first legal observance required by Almighty God of the descendants of Abraham. It was a sacrament of initiation in the service of God, and a promise and engagement to believe and act as He had revealed and directed. The law of circumcision continued in force until the death of Christ, and Our Saviour being born under the law, it became Him, Who came to teach mankind obedience to the law of God, to fulfil all justice, and to submit to it. Therefore He was circumcised that He might redeem them that were under the law, by freeing them from the servitude of it; and that those who were in the condition of servants before might be set at liberty, and receive the adoption of sons in Baptism, which, by Christ’s institution, succeeded to circumcision. On the day that the divine Infant was circumcised, He received the name of Jesus, which signifies SAVIOUR, which had been given Him by the angel before He was conceived. That name, so beautiful, so glorious, the divine Child does not wish to bear for one moment without fulfilling its meaning; even at the moment of His circumcision He showed Himself a SAVIOUR by shedding for us that blood a single drop of which is more than sufficient for the ransom and salvation of the whole world. Reflection.--Let us profit by the circumstance of the new year, and of the wonderful renewal wrought in the world by the great mystery of this day, to renew in our hearts an increase of fervor and of generosity in the service of God. May this year be one of fervor and of progress! It will go by rapidly, like that which has just ended. If God permits us to see its end, how glad and happy we shall be to have passed it holily! January 2.--ST. FULGENTIUS, Bishop. IN spite of family troubles and delicate health, Fulgentius was appointed at an early age procurator of his province at Carthage. This success, however, did not satisfy his heart. Levying the taxes proved daily more distasteful, and when he was twenty-two, St. Austin’s treatise on the Psalms decided him to enter religion. After six years of peace, his monastery was attacked by Arian heretics, and Fulgentius himself driven out destitute to the desert. He now sought the solitude of Egypt, but finding that country also in schism, he turned his steps to Rome. There the splendors of the imperial court only told him of the greater glory of the heavenly Jerusalem, and at the first lull in the persecution he resought his African cell. Elected bishop in 508, he was summoned forth to face new dangers, and was shortly after banished by the Arian king, Thrasimund, with fifty-nine orthodox prelates, to Sardinia. Though the youngest of the exiles, he was at once the mouthpiece of his brethren and the stay of their flocks. By his books and letters, which are still extant, he confounded both Pelagian and Arian heresiarchs, and confirmed the Catholics in Africa and Gaul. An Arian priest betrayed Fulgentius to the Numidians, and ordered him to be scourged. This was done. His hair and beard were plucked out, and he was left naked, his body one bleeding sore. Even the Arian bishop was ashamed of this brutality, and offered to punish the priest if the Saint would prosecute him. But Fulgentius replied, “A Christian must not seek revenge in this world. God knows how to right His servants’ wrongs. If I were to bring the punishment of man on that priest, I should lose my own reward with God. And it would be a scandal to many little ones that a Catholic and a monk, however unworthy he be, should seek redress from an Arian bishop.” On Thrasimund’s death the bishops returned to their flocks, and Fulgentius, having reestablished discipline in his see, retired to an island monastery, where after a year’s preparation he died in peace in the year 533. Reflection.--Each year may bring us fresh changes and trials; let us learn from St. Fulgentius to receive all that happens as from the hand of God, and appointed for our salvation. January 2.--ST. MACARIUS OF ALEXANDRIA. MACARIUS when a youth left his fruit-stall at Alexandria to join the great St. Antony. The patriarch, warned by a miracle of his disciple’s sanctity, named him the heir of his virtues. His life was one long conflict with self. “I am tormenting my tormentor,” replied he to one who met him bent double with a basket of sand in the heat of the day. “Whenever I am slothful and idle, I am pestered by desires for distant travel.” When he was quite worn out he returned to his cell. Since sleep at times overpowered him, he kept watch for twenty days and nights; being about to faint, he entered his cell and slept, but henceforth slept only at will. A gnat stung him; he killed it. In revenge for this softness he remained naked in a marsh till his body was covered with noxious bites and he was recognized only by his voice. Once when thirsty he received a present of grapes, but passed them untouched to a hermit who was toiling in the heat. This one gave them to a third, who handed them to a fourth; thus the grapes went the round of the desert and returned to Macarius, who thanked God for his brethren’s abstinence. Macarius saw demons assailing the hermits at prayer. They put their fingers into the mouths of some, and made them yawn. They closed the eyes of others, and walked upon them when asleep. They placed vain and sensual images before many of the brethren, and then mocked those who were captivated by them. None vanquished the devils effectually save those who by constant vigilance repelled them at once. Macarius visited one hermit daily for four months, but never could speak to him, as he was always in prayer; so he called him an “ angel on earth.” After being many years Superior, Macarius fled in disguise to St. Pachomius, to begin again as his novice; but St. Pachomius, instructed by a vision, bade him return to his brethren, who loved him as their father. In his old age, thinking nature tamed, he determined to spend five days alone in prayer. On the third day the cell seemed on fire, and Macarius came forth. God permitted this delusion, he said, lest he be ensnared by pride. At the age of seventy-three he was driven into exile and brutally outraged by the Arian heretics. He died A. D. 394. Reflection.--Prayer is the breath of the soul. But St. Macarius teaches us that mind and body must be brought to subjection before the soul is free to pray. January 3.--ST. GENEVIEVE, Virgin. GENEVIEVE was born at Nanterre, near Paris. St. Germanus, when passing through, specially noticed a little shepherdess, and predicted her future sanctity. At seven years of age she made a vow of perpetual chastity. After the death of her parents, Paris became her abode; but she often travelled on works of mercy, which, by the gifts of prophecy and miracles, she unfailingly performed. At one time she was cruelly persecuted: her enemies, jealous of her power, called her a hypocrite and tried to drown her; but St. Germanus having sent her some blessed bread as a token of esteem, the outcry ceased, and ever afterwards she was honored as a Saint. During the siege of Paris by Childeric, king of the Franks, Genevieve went out with a few followers and procured corn for the starving citizens. Nevertheless Childeric, though a pagan, respected her, and at her request spared the lives of many prisoners. By her exhortations again, when Attila and his Huns were approaching the city, the inhabitants, instead of taking flight, gave themselves to prayer and penance, and averted, as she had foretold, the impending scourge. Clovis, when converted from paganism by his holy wife, St. Clotilda, made Genevieve his constant adviser, and, in spite of his violent character, made a generous and Christian king. She died within a few weeks of that monarch, in 512, aged eighty-nine. A pestilence broke out at Paris in 1129, which in a short time swept off fourteen thousand persons, and, in spite of all human efforts, daily added to its victims. At length, on November 26th, the shrine of St. Genevieve was carried in solemn procession through the city. That same day but three persons died, the rest recovered, and no others were taken ill. This was but the first of a series of miraculous favors which the city of Paris has obtained through the relics of its patron Saint. Reflection.--Genevieve was only a poor peasant girl, but Christ dwelt in her heart. She was anointed with His Spirit, and with power; she went about doing good, and God was with her. January 4.--ST. TITUS, Bishop. TITUS was a convert from heathenism, a disciple of St. Paul, one of the chosen companions of the Apostles in his journey to the Council of Jerusalem, and his fellow-laborers in many apostolic missions. From the Second Epistle which St. Paul sent by the hand of Titus to the Corinthians we gain an insight into his character and understand the strong affection which his master bore him. Titus had been commissioned to carry out a twofold office needing much firmness, discretion, and charity. He was to be the bearer of a severe rebuke to the Corinthians, who were giving scandal and were wavering in their faith; and at the same time he was to put their charity to a further test by calling upon them for abundant alms for the church at Jerusalem. St. Paul meanwhile was anxiously awaiting the result. At Troas he writes, “I had no rest in my spirit, because I found not Titus, my brother.” He set sail to Macedonia. Here at last Titus brought the good news. His success had been complete. He reported the sorrow, the zeal, the generosity of the Christians, till the Apostle could not contain his joy, and sent back to them his faithful messenger with the letter of comfort from which we have quoted. Titus was finally left as a bishop in Crete, and here he, in turn, received the epistle which bears his name, and here at last he died in peace. The mission of Titus to Corinth shows us how well the disciple caught the spirit of his master. He knew how to be firm and to inspire respect. The Corinthians, we are told, “received him with fear and trembling.” He was patient and painstaking. St. Paul “gave thanks to God, Who had put such carefulness for them in the heart of Titus.” And these gifts were enhanced by a quickness to detect and call out all that was good in others, and by a joyousness which overflowed upon the spirit of St. Paul himself, who “abundantly rejoiced in the joy of Titus.” Reflection.--Saints win their empire over the hearts of men by their wide and affectionate sympathy. This was the characteristic gift of St. Titus, as it was of St. Paul, St-Francis Xavier, and many others. January 4.--ST. GREGORY, Bishop. ST. GREGORY was one of the principal senators of Autun, and continued from the death of his wife a widower till the age of fifty-seven, at which time, for his singular virtues, he was consecrated Bishop of Langres, which see he governed with admirable prudence and zeal thirty-three years, sanctifying his pastoral labors by the most profound humility, assiduous prayer, and extraordinary abstinence and mortification. An incredible number of infidels were converted by him from idolatry, and worldly Christians from their disorders. He died about the beginning of the year 541, but some days after the Epiphany. Out of devotion to St. Benignus, he desired to be buried near that Saint’s tomb at Dijon; this was executed by his virtuous son Tetricus, who succeeded him in his bishopric. January 5.--ST. SIMEON STYLITES. ONE winter’s day, about the year 401, the snow lay thick around Sisan, a little town in Cilicia. A shepherd boy, who could not lead his sheep to the fields on account of the cold, went to the church instead, and listened to the eight Beatitudes, which were read that morning. He asked how these blessings were to be obtained, and when he was told of the monastic life a thirst for perfection arose within him. He became the wonder of the world, the great St. Simeon Stylites. He was warned that perfection would cost him dear, and so it did. A mere child, he began the monastic life, and therein passed a dozen years in superhuman austerity. He bound a rope round his waist till the flesh was putrefied. He ate but once in seven days, and, when God led him to a solitary life, kept fasts of forty days. Thirty-seven years he spent on the top of pillars, exposed to heat and cold, day and night adoring the majesty of God. Perfection was all in all to St. Simeon; the means nothing, except in so far as God chose them for him. The solitaries of Egypt were suspicious of a life so new and so strange, and they sent one of their number to bid St. Simeon come down from his pillar and return to the common life. In a moment the Saint made ready to descend; but the Egyptian religious was satisfied with this proof of humility. “Stay,” he said, “and take courage; your way of life is from God.” Cheerfulness, humility, and obedience set their seal upon the austerities of St. Simeon. The words which God put into his mouth brought crowds of heathens to baptism and of sinners to penance. At last, in the year 460, those who watched below noticed that he had been motionless three whole days. They ascended, and found the old man’s body still bent in the attitude of prayer, but his soul was with God. Extraordinary as the life of St. Simeon may appear, it teaches us two plain and practical lessons: First, we must constantly renew within ourselves an intense desire for perfection. Secondly, we must use with fidelity and courage the means of perfection God points out. Reflection.--St. Augustine says: “This is the business of our life: by effort and by toil, by prayer and supplication, to advance in the grace of God, till we come to that height of perfection in which with clean hearts we may behold God.” January 6.--THE EPIPHANY OF OUR LORD. THE word Epiphany means “manifestation,” and it has passed into general acceptance throughout the universal Church, from the fact that Jesus Christ manifested to the eyes of men His divine mission on this day first of all, when a miraculous star revealed His birth to the kings of the East, who, in spite of the difficulties and dangers of a long and tedious journey through deserts and mountains almost impassable, hastened at once to Bethlehem to adore Him and to offer Him mystical presents, as to the King of kings, to the God of heaven and earth, and to a Man withal feeble and mortal. The second manifestation was when, going out from the waters of the Jordan after having received Baptism from the hands of St. John, the Holy Ghost descended on Him in the visible form of a dove, and a voice from heaven was heard, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased.” The third manifestation was that of His divine power, when at the marriage-feast of Cana He changed the water into wine, at the sight whereof His disciples believed in Him. The remembrance of these three great events, concurring to the same end, the Church has wished to celebrate in one and the same festival. Reflection.--Admire the almighty power of this little Child, Who from His cradle makes known His coming to the shepherds and magi--to the shepherds by means of His angel, to the magi by a star in the East. Admire the docility of these kings. Jesus is born; behold them at His feet. Let us be little, let us hide ourselves, and the divine strength will be granted to us. Let us be docile and quick in following divine inspirations, and we shall then become wise of the wisdom of God, powerful in His almighty power. January 7.--ST. LUCIAN, Martyr. ST. LUCIAN was born at Samosata in Syria. Having lost his parents in his youth, he distributed all his worldly goods, of which he inherited an abundant share, to the poor, and withdrew to Edessa, to live near a holy man named Macarius, who imbued his mind with a knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, and led him to the practice of the Christian virtues. Having become a priest, his time was divided between the external duties of his holy state, the performance of works of charity, and the study of sacred literature. He revised the books of the Old and New Testaments, expunging the errors which had found their way into the text either through the negligence of copyists or the malice of heretics, thus preparing the way for St. Jerome, who shortly after was to give to the world the Latin translation known as “The Vulgate.” Having been denounced as a Christian, Lucian was thrown into prison and condemned to the torture, which was protracted for twelve whole days. Some Christian visited him in prison, on the feast of the Epiphany, and brought bread and wine to him; while bound and chained down on his back, he consecrated the divine mysteries upon his own breast, and communicated the faithful who were present. He finished his glorious career in prison, and died with the words, “I am a Christian,” on his lips. Reflection.--If we would keep our faith pure, we must study its holy truths. We cannot detect falsehood till we know and love the truth; and to us the truth is not an abstraction, but a Person, Jesus Christ, God and Man. January 8.--ST. APOLLINARIS, THE APOLOGIST, Bishop. CLAUDIUS APOLLINARIS, Bishop of Hierapolis in Phrygia, was one of the most illustrious prelates of the second age. Notwithstanding the great encomiums bestowed on him by Eusebius, St. Jerome, Theodoret, and ethers, but little is known of his actions; and his writings, which then were held in great esteem, seem now to be all lost. He wrote many able treatises against the heretics, and pointed out, as St. Jerome testifies, from what philosophical sect each heresy derived its errors. Nothing rendered his name so illustrious, however, as his noble apology for the Christian religion which he addressed to the Emperor Marcus Aurelius, about the year 175, soon after the miraculous victory that prince had obtained over the Quadi by the prayers of the Christians. St. Apollinaris reminded the emperor of the benefit he had received from God through the prayers of his Christian subjects, and implored protection for them against the persecution of the pagans. Marcus Aurelius published an edict in which he forbade any one, under pain of death, to accuse a Christian on account of his religion; by a strange inconsistency, he had not the courage to abolish the laws then in force against the Christians, and, as a consequence, many of them suffered martyrdom, though their accusers were also put to death. The date of St. Apollinaris’ death is not known; the Roman Martyrology mentions him on the 8th of January. Reflection.--”Therefore I say unto you, all things whatsoever you ask when you pray, believe that you shall receive: and they shall come unto you.” January 9.--SS. JULIAN and BASILISSA, Martyrs. ST. JULIAN and St. Basilissa, though married, lived, by mutual consent, in perpetual chastity; they sanctified themselves by the most perfect exercises of an ascetic life, and employed their revenues in relieving the poor and the sick. For this purpose they converted their house into a kind of hospital, in which they sometimes entertained a thousand poor people. Basilissa attended those of her sex, in separate lodgings from the men; these were taken care of by Julian, who from his charity is named the Hospitalarian. Egypt, where they lived, had then begun to abound with examples of persons who, either in the cities or in the deserts, devoted themselves to the most perfect exercises of charity, penance, and mortification. Basilissa, after having stood seven persecutions, died in peace; Julian survived her many years and received the crown of a glorious martyrdom, together with Celsus, a youth, Antony, a priest, Anastasius, and Marcianilla, the mother of Celsus. Many churches and hospitals in the East, and especially in the West, bear the name of one or other of these martyrs. Four churches at Rome, and three out of five at Paris, which bear the name of St. Julian, were originally dedicated under the name of St. Julian, the Hospitalarian and martyr. In the time of St. Gregory the Great, the skull of St. Julian was brought out of the East into France, and given to Queen Brunehault; she gave it to the nunnery which she founded at Etampes; part of it is at present in the monastery of Morigny, near Etampes, and part in the church of the regular canonesses of St. Basilissa at Paris. Reflection.--God often rewards men for works that are pleasing in His sight by giving them grace and opportunity to do other works higher still. St. Augustine said, “I have never seen a compassionate and charitable man die a bad death.” January 10.--ST. WILLIAM, Archbishop. WILLIAM BERRUYER, of the illustrious family of the ancient Counts of Nevers, was educated by Peter the Hermit, Archdeacon of Soissons, his uncle by the mother’s side. From his infancy William learned to despise the folly and emptiness of the world, to abhor its pleasures, and to tremble at its dangers. His only delight was in exercises of piety and in his studies, in which he employed his whole time with indefatigable application. He was made canon, first of Soissons and afterwards of Paris; but he soon resolved to abandon the world, and retired into the solitude of Grandmont, where he lived with great regularity in that austere Order until finally he joined the Cistercians, then in wonderful odor of sanctity. After some time he was chosen Prior of the Abbey of Pontigny, and afterwards became Abbot of Chaalis. On the death of Henri de Sully, Archbishop of Bourges, William was chosen to succeed him. The announcement of this new dignity which had fallen on him overwhelmed him with grief, and he would not have accepted the office had not the Pope and his General, the Abbot of Citeaux, commanded him to do so. His first care in his new position was to conform his life to the most perfect rules of sanctity. He redoubled all his austerities, saying it was incumbent on him now to do penance for others as well as for himself. He always wore a hair-shirt under his religious habit, and never added to his clothing in winter or diminished it in summer; he never ate any flesh-meat, though he had it at his table for strangers. When he drew near his end, he was, at his request, laid on ashes in his hair-cloth, and in this posture expired on the 10th of January, 1209. His body was interred in his cathedral, and, being honored by many miracles, was taken up in 1217, and in the year following William was canonized by Pope Honorius III. Reflection.--The champions of faith prove the truth of their teaching no less by the holiness of their lives than by the force of their arguments. Never forget that to convert others we must first see to our own souls. January 11.--ST. THEODOSIUS, THE CENOBIARCH. THEODOSIUS was born in Cappadocia in 423. The example of Abraham urged him to leave his country, and his desire to follow Jesus Christ attracted him to the religious life. He placed himself under Longinus, a very holy hermit, who sent him to govern a monastery near Bethlehem. Unable to bring himself to command others, he fled to a cavern, where he lived in penance and prayer. His great charity, however, forbade him to refuse the charge of some disciples, who, few at first, became in time a vast number, and Theodosius built a large monastery and three churches for them. He became eventually Superior of the religious communities of Palestine. Theodosius accommodated himself so carefully to the characters of his subjects that his reproofs were loved rather than dreaded. But once he was obliged to separate from the communion of the others a religious guilty of a grave fault. Instead of humbly accepting his sentence, the monk was arrogant enough to pretend to excommunicate Theodosius in revenge. Theodosius thought not of indignation, nor of his own position, but meekly submitted to this false and unjust excommunication. This so touched the heart of his disciple that he submitted at once and acknowledged his fault. Theodosius never refused assistance to any in poverty or affliction; on some days the monks laid more than a hundred tables for those in want. In times of famine Theodosius forbade the alms to be diminished, and often miraculously multiplied the provisions. He also built five hospitals, in which he lovingly served the sick, while by assiduous spiritual reading he maintained himself in perfect recollection. He successfully opposed the Eutychian heresy in Jerusalem, and for this was banished by the emperor. He suffered a long and painful malady, and refused to pray to be cured, calling it a salutary penance for his former successes. He died at the age of a hundred and six. Reflection.--St. Theodosius, for the sake of charity, sacrificed all he most prized--his home for the love of God, and his solitude for the love of his neighbor. Can ours be true charity if it costs us little or nothing? January 12.--ST. AELRED, Abbot. “ONE thing thou lackest.” In these words God called Aelred from the court of a royal Saint, David of Scotland, to the silence of the cloister. He left the king, the companions of his youth, and a friend most dear, to obey the call. The conviction that in the world his soul was in danger alone enabled him to break such ties. Long afterwards the bitterness of the parting remained fresh in his soul, and he declared that, “though he had left his dear ones in the body to serve his Lord, his heart was ever with them.” He entered the Cistercian Order, and even there his yearning for sympathy showed itself in a special attraction to one among the brethren named Simon. This holy monk had left the world in his youth, and appeared as one deaf and dumb, so absorbed was he in God. One day Aelred, forgetting for the moment the rule of perpetual silence, spoke to him. At once he prostrated himself at his feet in token of his fault; but Simon’s look of pain and displeasure haunted him for many a year, and taught him to let no human feeling disturb for one moment his union with God. A certain novice once came to Aelred, saying that he must return to the world. But Aelred had begged his soul of God, and answered, “Brother, ruin not thyself; nevertheless thou canst not, even though thou wouldst.” However, he would not listen, and wandered among the hills, thinking all the while he was going far from the abbey. At sunset he found himself before a convent strangely like Rieveaux, and so it was. The first monk he met was Aelred, who fell on his neck, saying, “Son, why hast thou done so with me? Lo! I have wept for thee with many tears, and I trust in God that, as I have asked of Him, thou shalt not perish.” The world does not so love its friends. At the command of his superiors Aelred composed his great works, the Spiritual Friendship and the Mirror of Charity. In the latter he says that true love of God is only to be obtained by joining ourselves in all things to the Passion of Christ. He died in 1167, founder and Abbot of Rieveaux, the most austere monastery in England, and Superior of some three hundred monks. Reflection.--When a man has given himself to God, God gives back friendship with all His other gifts a hundredfold. Friends are then loved no longer for themselves only, but for God, and that with a love lively and tender; for God can easily purify feeling. It is not feeling, but self-love, which corrupts friendship. January 13.--ST. VERONICA OF MILAN. VERONICA’S parents were peasants of a village near Milan. From her childhood she toiled hard in the house and the field, and accomplished cheerfully every menial task. Gradually the desire for perfection grew within her; she became deaf to the jokes and songs of her companions, and sometimes, when reaping and hoeing, would hide her face and weep. Knowing no letters, she began to be anxious about her learning, and rose secretly at night to teach herself to read. Our Lady told her that other things were necessary, but not this. She showed Veronica three mystical letters which would teach her more than books. The first signified purity of intention; the second, abhorrence of murmuring or criticism; the third, daily meditation on the Passion. By the first she learned to begin her daily duties for no human motive, but for God alone; by the second, to carry out what she had thus begun by attending to her own affairs, never judging her neighbor, but praying for those who manifestly erred; by the third she was enabled to forget her own pains and sorrows in those of her Lord, and to weep hourly, but silently, over the memory of His wrongs. She had constant ecstasies, and saw in successive visions the whole life of Jesus, and many other mysteries. Yet, by a special grace, neither her raptures nor her tears ever interrupted her labors, which ended only with death. After three years’ patient waiting she was received as a lay-sister in the convent of St. Martha at Milan. The community was extremely poor, and Veronica’s duty was to beg through the city for their daily food. Three years after receiving the habit she was afflicted with secret but constant bodily pains, yet never would consent to be relieved of any of her labors, or to omit one of her prayers. By exact obedience she became a living copy of the rule, and obeyed with a smile the least hint of her Superior. She sought to the last the most hard and humbling occupations, and in their performance enjoyed some of the highest favors ever granted to a Saint. She died in 1497, on the day she had foretold, after a six months’ illness, aged fifty-two years, and in the thirtieth of her religious profession. Reflection.--When Veronica was urged in sickness to accept some exemption from her labors, her one answer was, “I must work while I can, while I have time.” Dare we, then, waste ours? January 14.--ST. HILARY OF POITIERS. ST. HILARY was a native of Poitiers in Aquitaine. Born and educated a pagan, it was not till near middle age that he embraced Christianity, moved thereto mainly by the idea of God presented to him in the Holy Scriptures. He soon converted his wife and daughter, and separated himself rigidly from all un-Catholic company. In the beginning of his conversion St. Hilary would not eat with Jews or heretics, nor salute them by the way; but afterwards, for their sake, he relaxed this severity. He entered Holy Orders, and in 353 was chosen bishop of his native city. Arianism, under the protection of the Emperor Constantius, was just then in the height of its power, and St. Hilary found himself called upon to support the orthodox cause in several Gallic councils, in which Arian bishops formed an overwhelming majority. He was in consequence accused to the emperor, who banished him to Phrygia. He spent his three years and more of exile in composing his great works on the Trinity. In 359 he attended the Council of Seleucia, in which Arians, semi-Arians, and Catholics contended for the mastery. With the deputies of the council he proceeded to Constantinople, and there so dismayed the heads of the Arian party that they prevailed upon the emperor to let him return to Gaul. He traversed Gaul, Italy, and Illyria, wherever he came discomfiting the heretics and procuring triumph of orthodoxy. After seven or eight years of missionary travel he returned to Poitiers, where he died in peace in 368. Reflection.--Like St. Hilary, we, too, are called to a lifelong contest with heretics; we shall succeed in proportion as we combine hatred of heresy, with compassion for its victims. January 15.--ST. PAUL, the First Hermit. ST. PAUL was born in Upper Egypt, about the year 230, and became an orphan at the age of fifteen. He was very rich and highly educated. Fearing lest the tortures of a terrible persecution might endanger his Christian perseverance, he retired into a remote village. But his pagan brother-in-law denounced him, and St. Paul, rather than remain where his faith was in danger, entered the barren desert, trusting that God would supply his wants. And his confidence was rewarded; for on the spot to which Providence led him he found the fruit of the palm-tree for food, and its leaves for clothing, and the water of a spring for drink. His first design was to return to the world when the persecution was over; but, tasting great delights in prayer and penance, he remained the rest of his life, ninety years, in penance, prayer, and contemplation. God revealed his existence to St. Antony, who sought him for three days. Seeing a thirsty she-wolf run through an opening in the rocks, Antony followed her to look for water, and found Paul. They knew each other at once, and praised God together. When St. Antony visited him, a raven brought him a loaf, and St. Paul said, “See how good God is! For sixty years this bird has brought me half a loaf every day; now thou art come, Christ has doubled the provision for His servants.” Having passed the night in prayer, at dawn of day Paul told Antony that he was about to die, and asked to be buried in the cloak given to Antony by St. Athanasius. Antony hastened to fetch it, and on his way back saw Paul rise to heaven in glory. He found his dead body kneeling as if in prayer, and two lions came and dug his grave. Paul died in his one hundred and thirteenth year. Reflection.--We shall never repent of having trusted in God, for He cannot fail those who lean on Him; nor shall We ever trust in ourselves without being deceived. January 16.--ST. HONORATUS, Archbishop. ST. HONORATUS was of a consular Roman family settled in Gaul. In his youth he renounced the worship of idols, and gained his elder brother, Venantius, to Christ. Convinced of the hollowness of the things of this world, they wished to renounce it with all its pleasures, but a fond pagan father put continual obstacles in their way. At length, taking with them St. Caprais, a holy hermit, for their director, they sailed from Marseilles to Greece, with the intention to live there unknown in some desert. Venantius soon died happily at Methone, and Honoratus, being also sick, was obliged to return with his conductor. He first led a hermitical life in the mountains near Frejus. Two small islands lie in the sea near that coast; on the smaller, now known as St. Honore, our Saint settled, and, being followed by others, he there founded the famous monastery of Lerins, about the year 400. Some of his followers he appointed to live in community; others, who seemed more perfect, in separate cells as anchorets. His rule was chiefly borrowed from that of St. Pachomius. Nothing can be more amiable than the description St. Hilary has given of the excellent virtues of this company of saints, especially of the charity, concord, humility, compunction, and devotion which reigned among them under the conduct of our holy abbot. He was, by compulsion, consecrated Archbishop of Arles in 426, and died, exhausted with austerities and apostolical labors, in 429. Reflection.--The soul cannot truly serve God while it is involved in the distractions and pleasures of the world. St. Honoratus knew this, and chose to be a servant of Christ his Lord. Resolve, in whatever state you are, to live absolutely detached from the world, and to separate yourself as much as possible from it. January 17.--ST. ANTONY, Patriarch of Monks. ST. ANTONY was born in the year 251, in Upper Egypt. Hearing at Mass the words, “If thou wilt be perfect, go, sell what thou hast, and give to the poor,” he gave away all his vast possessions. He then begged an aged hermit to teach him the spiritual life. He also visited various solitaries, copying in himself the principal virtue of each. To serve God more perfectly, Antony entered the desert and immured himself in a ruin, building up the door so that none could enter. Here the devils assaulted him most furiously, appearing as various monsters, and even wounding him severely; but his courage never failed, and he overcame them all by confidence in God and by the sign of the cross. One night, whilst Antony was in his solitude, many devils scourged him so terribly that he lay as if dead. A friend found him thus, and believing him dead carried him home. But when Antony came to himself he persuaded his friend to carry him, in spite of his wounds, back to his solitude. Here, prostrate from weakness, he defied the devils, saying, “I fear you not; you cannot separate me from the love of Christ.” After more vain assaults the devils fled, and Christ appeared to Antony in glory. His only food was bread and water, which he never tasted before sunset, and sometimes only once in two, three, or four days. He wore sackcloth and sheepskin, and he often knelt in prayer from sunset to sunrise. Many souls flocked to him for advice, and after twenty years of solitude he consented to guide them in holiness--thus founding the first monastery. His numerous miracles attracted such multitudes that he fled again into solitude, where he lived by manual labor. He expired peacefully at a very advanced age. St. Athanasius, his biographer, says that the mere knowledge of how St. Antony lived is a good guide to virtue. Reflection.--The more violent were the assaults of temptation suffered by St. Antony, the more firmly did he grasp his weapons, namely, mortification and prayer. Let us imitate him in this if we wish to obtain victories like his. January 18.--ST. PETER’S CHAIR AT ROME. ST. PETER having triumphed over the devil in the East, the latter pursued him to Rome in the person of Simon Magus. He who had formerly trembled at the voice of a poor maid now feared not the very throne of idolatry and superstition. The capital of the empire of the world, and the centre of impiety, called for the zeal of the Prince of Apostles. God had established the Roman Empire, and extended its dominion beyond that of any former monarchy, for the more easy propagation of His Gospel. Its metropolis was of the greatest importance for this enterprise. St. Peter took that province upon himself, and, repairing to Rome, there preached the faith and established his ecclesiastical chair. That St. Peter preached in Rome, founded the Church there, and died there by martyrdom under Nero, are facts the most incontestable, by the testimony of all writers of different countries who lived near that time; persons of unquestionable veracity, and who could not but be informed of the truth in a point so interesting and of its own nature so public and notorious. This is also attested by monuments of every kind; by the prerogatives, rights, and privileges which that church enjoyed from those early ages in consequence of this title. It was an ancient custom observed by churches to keep an annual festival of the consecration of their bishops. The feast of the Chair of St. Peter is found in ancient martyrologies. Christians justly celebrate the founding of this mother-church, the centre of Catholic communion, in thanksgiving to God for His mercies to His Church, and to implore His future blessings. Reflection.--As one of God’s greatest mercies to His Church, let us earnestly beg of Him to raise up in it zealous pastors, eminently replenished with His Spirit, with which He animated His apostles. January 19.--ST. CANUTUS, King, Martyr. ST. CANUTUS, King of Denmark, was endowed with excellent qualities of both mind and body. It is hard to say whether he excelled more in courage or in conduct and skill in war; but his singular piety eclipsed all his other endowments. He cleared the seas of pirates, and subdued several neighboring provinces which infested Denmark with their incursions. The kingdom of Denmark was elective till the year 1660, and, when the father of Canutus died, his eldest brother, Harold, was called to the throne. Harold died after reigning for two years, and Canutus was chosen to succeed him. He began his reign by a successful war against the troublesome, barbarous enemies of the state, and by planting the faith in the conquered provinces. Amid the glory of his victories he humbly prostrated himself at the foot of the crucifix, laying there his diadem, and offering himself and his kingdom to the King of kings. After having provided for the peace and safety of his country, he married Eltha, daughter of Robert, Earl of Flanders, who proved a spouse worthy of him. His next concern was to reform abuses at home. For thus purpose he enacted severe but necessary laws for the strict administration of justice, and repressed the violence and tyranny of the great, without respect to persons. He countenanced and honored holy men, and granted many privileges and immunities to the clergy. His charity and tenderness towards his subjects made him study by all possible ways to make them a happy people. He showed a royal munificence in building and adorning churches, and gave the crown which he wore, of exceeding great value, to a church in his capital and place of residence, where the kings of Denmark are yet buried. To the virtues which constitute a great king, Canutus added those which prove the great saint. A rebellion having sprung up in his kingdom, the king was surprised at church by the rebels. Perceiving his danger, he confessed his sins at the foot of the altar, and received Holy Communion. Stretching out his arms before the altar, the Saint fervently recommended his soul to his Creator; in this posture he was struck by a javelin thrown through a window, and fell a victim for Christ’s sake. Reflection.--The soul of a man is endowed with many noble powers, and feels a keen joy in their exercise; but the keenest joy we are capable of feeling consists in prostrating all our powers of mind and heart in humblest adoration before the majesty of God. January 20.--ST. SEBASTIAN, Martyr. ST. SEBASTIAN was an officer in the Roman army, esteemed even by the heathen as a good soldier, and honored by the Church ever since as a champion of Jesus Christ. Born at Narbonne, Sebastian came to Rome about the year 284, and entered the lists against the powers of evil. He found the twin brothers Marcus and Marcellinus in prison for the faith, and, when they were near yielding to the entreaties of their relatives, encouraged them to despise flesh and blood, and to die for Christ. God confirmed his words by miracle: light shone around him while he spoke; he cured the sick by his prayers; and in this divine strength he led multitudes to the faith, among them the Prefect of Rome, with his son Tiburtius. He saw his disciples die before him, and one of them came back from heaven to tell him that his own end was near. It was in a contest of fervor and charity that St. Sebastian found the occasion of martyrdom. The Prefect of Rome, after his conversion, retired to his estates in Campania, and took a great number of his fellow-converts with him to this place of safety. It was a question whether Polycarp the priest or St. Sebastian should accompany the neophytes. Each was eager to stay and face the danger at Rome, and at last the Pope decided that the Roman church could not spare the services of Sebastian. He continued to labor at the post of danger till he was betrayed by a false disciple. He was led before Diocletian, and, at the emperor’s command, pierced with arrows and left for dead. But God raised him up again, and of his own accord he went before the emperor and conjured him to stay the persecution of the Church. Again sentenced, he was at last beaten to death by clubs, and crowned his labors by the merit of a double martyrdom. Reflection.--Your ordinary occupations will give you opportunities of laboring for the faith. Ask help from St. Sebastian. He was not a priest nor a religious, but a soldier. January 21.--ST. AGNES, Virgin, Martyr. ST. AGNES was but twelve years old when she was led to the altar of Minerva at Rome and commanded to obey the persecuting laws of Diocletian by offering incense. In the midst of the idolatrous rites she raised her hands to Christ, her Spouse, and made the sign of the life-giving cross. She did not shrink when she was bound hand and foot, though the gyves slipped from her young hands, and the heathens who stood around were moved to tears. The bonds were not needed for her, and she hastened gladly to the place of her torture. Next, when the judge saw that pain had no terrors for her, he inflicted an insult worse than death: her clothes were stripped off, and she had to stand in the street before a pagan crowd; yet even this did not daunt her. “Christ,” she said, “will guard His own.” So it was. Christ showed, by a miracle, the value which He sets upon the custody of the eyes. Whilst the crowd turned away their eyes from the spouse of Christ, as she stood exposed to view in the street, there was one young man who dared to gaze at the innocent child with immodest eyes. A flash of light struck him blind, and his companions bore him away half dead with pain and terror. Lastly, her fidelity to Christ was proved by flattery and offers of marriage. But she answered, “Christ is my Spouse: He chose me first, and His I will be.” At length the sentence of death was passed. For a moment she stood erect in prayer, and then bowed her neck to the sword. At one stroke her head was severed from her body, and the angels bore her pure soul to Paradise. Reflection.--Her innocence endeared St. Agnes to Christ, as it has endeared her to His Church ever since. Even as penitents we may imitate this innocence of hers in our own degree. Let us strictly guard our eyes, and Christ, when He sees that we keep our hearts pure for love of Him, will renew our youth and give us back the years which the canker-worm has wasted. January 22.--ST. VINCENT, Martyr. ST. VINCENT was archdeacon of the church at Saragossa. Valerian, the bishop, had an impediment in his speech; thus Vincent preached in his stead, and answered in his name when both were brought before Dacian, the president, during the persecution of Diocletian. When the bishop was sent into banishment, Vincent remained to suffer and to die. First of all, he was stretched on the rack; and, when he was almost torn asunder, Dacian, the president, asked him in mockery “how he fared now.” Vincent answered, with joy in his face, that he had ever prayed to be as he was then. It was in vain that Dacian struck the executioners and goaded them on in their savage work. The martyr’s flesh was torn with hooks; he was bound in a chair of red-hot iron; lard and salt were rubbed into his wounds; and amid all this he kept his eyes raised to heaven, and remained unmoved. He was cast into a solitary dungeon, with his feet in the stocks; but the angels of Christ illuminated the darkness, and assured Vincent that he was near his triumph. His wounds were now tended to prepare him for fresh torments, and the faithful were permitted to gaze on his mangled body. They came in troops, kissed the open sores, and carried away as relics cloths dipped in his blood. Before the tortures could recommence, the martyr’s hour came, and he breathed forth his soul in peace. Even the dead bodies of the saints are precious in the sight of God, and the hand of iniquity cannot touch them, A raven guarded the body of Vincent where it lay flung upon the earth. When it was sunk out at sea the waves cast it ashore; and his relics are preserved to this day in the Augustinian monastery at Lisbon, for the consolation of the Church of Christ. Reflection.--Do you wish to be at peace amidst suffering and temptation? Then make it your principal endeavor to grow in habits of prayer and in union with Christ. Have confidence in Him. He will make you victorious over your spiritual enemies and over yourself. He will enlighten your darkness and sweeten your sufferings, and in your solitude and desolation He will draw nigh to you with His holy angels. January 23.--ST. RAYMUND OF PENNAFORT. BORN A. D. 1175, of a noble Spanish family, Raymund, at the age of twenty, taught philosophy at Barcelona with marvellous success. Ten years later his rare abilities won for him the degree of Doctor in the University of Bologna, and many high dignities. A tender devotion to our blessed Lady, which had grown up with him from childhood, determined him in middle life to renounce all his honors and to enter her Order of St. Dominic. There, again, a vision of the Mother of Mercy instructed him to cooperate with his penitent St. Peter Nolasco, and with James, King of Aragon, in founding the Order of Our Lady of Ransom for the Redemption of Captives. He began this great work by preaching a crusade against the Moors, and rousing to penance the Christians, enslaved in both soul and body by the infidel. King James of Aragon, a man of great qualities, but held in bond by a ruling passion, was bidden by the Saint to put away the cause of his sin. On his delay, Raymund asked for leave to depart from Majorca, since he could not live with sin. The king refused, and forbade, under pain of death, his conveyance by others. Full of faith, Raymund spread his cloak upon the waters, and, tying one end to his staff as a sail, made the sign of the cross and fearlessly stepped upon it. In six hours he was borne to Barcelona, where, gathering up his cloak dry, he stole into his monastery. The king, overcome by this miracle, became a sincere penitent and the disciple of the Saint till his death. In 1230, Gregory IX. summoned Raymund to Rome, made him his confessor and grand penitentiary, and directed him to compile “The Decretals,” a collection of the scattered decisions of the Popes and Councils. Having refused the archbishopric of Tarragona, Raymund found himself in 1238 chosen third General of his Order; which post he again succeeded in resigning, on the score of his advanced age. His first act when set free was to resume his labors among the infidels, and in 1256 Raymund, then eighty-one, was able to report that ten thousand Saracens had received Baptism. He died A. D. 1275. Reflection.--Ask St. Raymund to protect you from that fearful servitude, worse than any bodily slavery, which even one sinful habit tends to form. January 24.--ST. TIMOTHY, Bishop, Martyr. ST. TIMOTHY was a convert of St. Paul. He was born at Lystra in Asia Minor. His mother was a Jewess, but his father was a pagan; and though Timothy had read the Scriptures from his childhood, he had not been circumcised as a Jew. On the arrival of St. Paul at Lystra the youthful Timothy, with his mother and grandmother, eagerly embraced the faith. Seven years later, when the Apostle again visited the country, the boy had grown into manhood, while his good heart, his austerities and zeal had won the esteem of all around him; and holy men were prophesying great things of the fervent youth. St. Paul at once saw his fitness for the work of an evangelist. Timothy was forthwith ordained, and from that time became the constant and much-beloved fellow-worker of the Apostle. In company with St. Paul he visited the cities of Asia Minor and Greece--at one time hastening on in front as a trusted messenger, at another lingering behind to confirm in the faith some recently founded church. Finally, he was made the first Bishop of Ephesus; and here he received the two epistles which bear his name, the first written from Macedonia and the second from Rome, in which St. Paul from his prison gives vent to his longing desire to see his “dearly beloved son,” if possible, once more before his death. St. Timothy himself not many years after the death of St. Paul, won his martyr’s crown at Ephesus. As a child Timothy delighted in reading the sacred books, and to his last hour he would remember the parting words of his spiritual father, “Attende lectioni--Apply thyself to reading.” Reflection.--St. Paul, in writing to Timothy, a faithful and well-tried servant of God, and a bishop now getting on in years, addresses him as a child, and seems most anxious about his perseverance in faith and piety. The letters abound in minute personal instructions for this end. It is therefore remarkable what great stress the Apostle lays on the avoiding of idle talk, and on the application to holy reading. These are his chief topics. Over and over again he exhorts his son Timothy to “avoid tattlers and busybodies; to give no heed to novelties; to shun profane and vain babblings, but to hold the form of sound words; to be an example in word and conversation; to attend to reading, to exhortation, and to doctrine.” January 25.--THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. THE great apostle Paul, named Saul at his circumcision, was born at Tarsus, the capital of Silicia, and was by privilege a Roman citizen, to which quality a great distinction and several exemptions were granted by the laws of the empire. He was early instructed in the strict observance of the Mosaic law, and lived up to it in the most scrupulous manner. In his zeal for the Jewish law, which he thought the cause of God, he became a violent persecutor of the Christians. He was one of those who combined to murder St. Stephen, and in the violent persecution of the faithful which followed the martyrdom of the holy deacon, Saul signalized himself above others. By virtue of the power he had received from the high priest, he dragged the Christians out of their houses, loaded them with chains, and thrust them into prison. In the fury of his zeal he applied for a commission to take up all Jews at Damascus who confessed Jesus Christ, and bring them bound to Jerusalem, that they might serve as examples for the others. But God was pleased to show forth in him His patience and mercy. While on his way to Damascus, he and his party were surrounded by a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, and suddenly struck to the ground. And then a voice was heard saying, “Saul, Saul, why dost thou persecute Me?” And Saul answered, “Who art Thou, Lord?” and the voice replied, “I am Jesus, Whom thou dost persecute.” This mild expostulation of Our Redeemer, accompanied with a powerful interior grace, cured Saul’s pride, assuaged his rage, and wrought at once a total change in him. Wherefore, trembling and astonished, he cried out, “Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?” Our Lord ordered him to arise and to proceed on his way to the city, where he should be informed of what was expected from him. Saul, arising from the ground, found that, though his eyes were open, he saw nothing. He was led by hand into Damascus, where he was lodged in the house of a Jew named Judas. To this house came by divine appointment a holy man named Ananias, who, laying his hands on Saul, said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, Who appeared to thee on thy journey, hath sent me that thou mayest receive thy sight and be filled with the Holy Ghost.” Immediately something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he recovered his sight. Then he arose and was baptized; he stayed some few days with the disciples at Damascus, and began immediately to preach in the synagogues that Jesus was the Son of God. Thus a blasphemer and a persecutor was made an apostle, and chosen as one of God’s principal instruments in the conversion of the world. Reflection.--Listen to the words of the “Imitation of Christ,” and let them sink into your heart: “He who would keep the grace of God, let him be grateful for grace when it is given, and patient when it is taken away. Let him pray that it may be given back to him, and be careful and humble, lest he lose it.” January 26.--ST. POLYCARP, Bishop, Martyr. ST. POLYCARP, Bishop of Smyrna, was a disciple of St. John. He wrote to the Philippians, exhorting them to mutual love and to hatred of heresy. When the apostate Marcion met St. Polycarp at Rome, he asked the aged Saint if he knew him. “Yes,” St. Polycarp answered, “I know you for the first-born of Satan.” These were the words of a Saint most loving and most charitable, and specially noted for his compassion to sinners. He hated heresy, because he loved God and man so much. In 167, persecution broke out in Smyrna. When Polycarp heard that his pursuers were at the door, he said, “The will of God be done; “ and meeting them, he begged to be left alone for a little time, which he spent in prayer for “the Catholic Church throughout the world.” He was brought to Smyrna early on Holy Saturday; and, as he entered, a voice was heard from heaven, “Polycarp, be strong.” When the proconsul besought him to curse Christ and go free, Polycarp answered, “Eighty-six years I have served Him, and He never did me wrong; how can I blaspheme my King and Saviour?” When he threatened him with fire, Polycarp told him this fire of his lasted but a little, while the fire prepared for the wicked lasted forever. At the stake he thanked God aloud for letting him drink of Christ’s chalice. The fire was lighted, but it did him no hurt; so he was stabbed to the heart, and his dead body was burnt. “Then,” say the writers of his acts, “we took up the bones, more precious than the richest jewels or gold, and deposited them in a fitting place, at which may God grant us to assemble with joy to celebrate the birthday of the martyr to his life in heaven!” Reflection.--If we love Jesus Christ, we shall love the Church and hate heresy, which rends His mystical body, and destroys the souls for which He died. Like St. Polycarp, we shall maintain our constancy in the faith by love of Jesus Christ, Who is its author and its finisher. January 27.--ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. ST. JOHN was born at Antioch in 344. In order to break with a world which admired and courted him, he in 374 retired for six years to a neighboring mountain. Having thus acquired the art of Christian silence, he returned to Antioch, and there labored as priest, until he was ordained Bishop of Constantinople in 398. The effect of his sermons was everywhere marvellous. He was very urgent that his people should frequent the holy sacrifice, and in order to remove all excuse he abbreviated the long Liturgy until then in use. St. Nilus relates that St. John Chrysostom was wont to see, when the priest began the holy sacrifice, “many of the blessed ones coming down from heaven in shining garments, and with bare feet, eyes intent, and bowed heads, in utter stillness and silence, assisting at the consummation of the tremendous mystery.” Beloved as he was in Constantinople, his denunciations of vice made him numerous enemies. In 403 these procured his banishment; and although he was almost immediately recalled, it was not more than a reprieve. In 404 he was banished to Cucusus in the deserts of Taurus. In 407 he was wearing out, but his enemies were impatient. They hurried him off to Pytius on the Euxine, a rough journey of nigh 400 miles. He was assiduously exposed to every hardship, cold, wet, and semi-starvation, but nothing could overcome his cheerfulness and his consideration for others. On the journey his sickness increased, and he was warned that his end was nigh. Thereupon, exchanging his travel-stained clothes for white garments, he received Viaticum, and with his customary words, “Glory be to God for all things. Amen,” passed to Christ. Reflection.--We should try to understand that the most productive work in the whole day, both for time and eternity, is that involved in hearing Mass. St. John Chrysostom felt this so keenly that he allowed no consideration of venerable usage to interfere with the easiness of hearing Mass. January 28.--ST. CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA. ST. CYRIL became Patriarch of Alexandria in 412. Having at first thrown himself with ardor into the party politics of the place, God called him to a nobler conflict. In 428, Nestorius, Bishop of Constantinople, began to deny the unity of Person in Christ, and to refuse to the Blessed Virgin the title of “Mother of God.” He was strongly supported by disciples and friends throughout the East. As the assertion of the divine maternity of Our Lady was necessary to the integrity of the doctrine of the Incarnation, so, with St. Cyril, devotion to the Mother was the necessary complement of his devotion to the Son. St. Cyril, after expostulating in vain, accused Nestorius to Pope Celestine. The Pope commanded retraction, under pain of separation from the Church, and intrusted St. Cyril with the conduct of the proceedings. The appointed day, June 7, 431, found Nestorius and Cyril at Ephesus, with over 200 bishops. After waiting twelve days in vain for the Syrian bishops, the council with Cyril tried Nestorius, and deposed him from his see. Upon this the Syrians and Nestorians excommunicated St. Cyril, and complained of him to the emperor as a peace-breaker. Imprisoned and threatened with banishment, the Saint rejoiced to confess Christ by suffering. In time it was recognized that St. Cyril was right, and with him the Church triumphed. Forgetting his wrongs, and careless of controversial punctilio, Cyril then reconciled himself with all who would consent to hold the doctrine of the Incarnation intact. He died in 444. Reflection.--The Incarnation is the mystery of God’s dwelling within us, and therefore should be the dearest object of our contemplation. It was the passion of St. Cyril’s life; for it he underwent toil and persecution, and willingly sacrificed credit and friends. January 29.--ST. FRANCIS OF SALES. FRANCIS was born of noble and pious parents, near Annecy, 1566, and studied with brilliant success at Paris and Padua. On his return from Italy he gave up the grand career which his father had marked out for him in the service of the state, and became a priest. When the Duke of Savoy had resolved to restore the Church in the Chablais, Francis offered himself for the work, and set out on foot with his Bible and breviary and one companion, his cousin Louis of Sales. It was a work of toil, privation, and danger. Every door and every heart was closed against him. He was rejected with insult and threatened with death. But nothing could daunt or resist him, and ere long the Church burst forth into a second spring. It is stated that he converted 72,000 Calvinists. He was then compelled by the Pope to become Coadjutor Bishop of Geneva, and succeeded to the see in 1602. At times the exceeding gentleness with which he received heretics and sinners almost scandalized his friends, and one of them said to him, “Francis of Sales will go to Paradise, of course; but I am not so sure of the Bishop of Geneva: I am almost afraid his gentleness will play him a shrewd turn.” “Ah,” said the Saint, “I would rather account to God for too great gentleness than for too great severity. Is not God all love? God the Father is the Father of mercy; God the Son is a Lamb; God the Holy Ghost is a Dove--that is, gentleness itself. And are you wiser than God?” In union with St. Jane Frances of Chantal he founded at Annecy the Order of the Visitation, which soon spread over Europe. Though poor, he refused provisions and dignities, and even the great see of Paris. He died at Avignon, 1622. Reflection.--”You will catch more flies,” St. Francis used to say, “with a spoonful of honey than with a hundred barrels of vinegar. Were there anything better or fairer on earth than gentleness, Jesus Christ would have taught it us; and yet He has given us only two lessons to learn of Him--meekness and humility of heart.” January 30.--ST. BATHILDES, Queen. ST. BATHILDES was an Englishwoman, who was carried over whilst yet young into France, and there sold for a slave, at a very low price, to Erkenwald, mayor of the palace under King Clovis II. When she grew up, her master was so much taken with her prudence and virtue that he placed her in charge of his household. The renown of her virtues spread through all France, and King Clovis II. took her for his royal consort. This unexpected elevation produced no alteration in a heart perfectly grounded in humility and the other virtues; she seemed to become even more humble than before. Her new station furnished her the means of being truly a mother to the poor; the king gave her the sanction of his royal authority for the protection of the Church, the care of the poor, and the furtherance of all religious undertakings. The death of her husband left her regent of the kingdom. She at once forbade the enslavement of Christians, did all in her power to promote piety, and filled France with hospitals and religious houses. As soon as her son Clotaire was of an age to govern, she withdrew from the world and entered the convent of Chelles. Here she seemed entirely to forget her worldly dignity, and was to be distinguished from the rest of the community only by her extreme humility, her obedience to her spiritual superiors, and her devotion to the sick, whom she comforted and served with wonderful charity. As she neared her end, God visited her with a severe illness, which she bore with Christian patience until, on the 30th of January, 680, she yielded up her soul in devout prayer. Reflection.--In all that we do, let God and His holy will be always before our eyes, and our only aim and desire be to please Him. January 31.--ST. MARCELLA, Widow. ST. MARCELLA, whom St. Jerome called the glory of the Roman women, became a widow in the seventh month after her marriage. Having determined to consecrate the remainder of her days to the service of God, she rejected the hand of Cerealis, the consul, uncle of Gallus Caesar, and resolved to imitate the lives of the ascetics of the East. She abstained from wine and flesh-meat, employed all her time in pious reading, prayer, and visiting the churches, and never spoke with any man alone. Her example was followed by many who put themselves under her direction, and Rome was in a short time filled with monasteries. When the Goths under Alaric plundered Rome in 410, our Saint suffered severely at the hands of the barbarian, who cruelly scourged her in order to make her reveal the treasures which she had long before distributed in charity. She trembled only, however, for the innocence of her dear spiritual daughter, Principia, and falling at the feet of the cruel soldiers, she begged with many tears that they would offer no insult to that pure virgin. God moved them to compassion, and they conducted our Saint and her pupil to the Church of St. Paul, to which Alaric had granted the right of sanctuary, with that of St. Peter. St. Marcella, who survived this but a short time, closed her eyes by a happy death, in the arms of St. Principia, about the end of August, 410. February 1.--ST. BRIDGID, Abbess, and Patroness of Ireland. NEXT to the glorious St. Patrick, St. Bridgid, whom we may consider his spiritual daughter in Christ, has ever been held in singular veneration in Ireland. She was born about the year 453, at Fochard in Ulster. During her infancy, her pious father saw in a vision men clothed in white garments pouring a sacred unguent on her head, thus prefiguring her future sanctity. While yet very young, Bridgid consecrated her life to God, bestowed everything at her disposal on the poor, and was the edification of all who knew her. She was very beautiful, and fearing that efforts might be made to induce her to break the vow by which she had bound herself to God, and to bestow her hand on one of her many suitors, she prayed that she might become ugly and deformed. Her prayer was heard, for her eye became swollen, and her whole countenance so changed that she was allowed to follow her vocation in peace, and marriage with her was no more thought of. When about twenty years old, our Saint made known to St. Mel, the nephew and disciple of St. Patrick, her intention to live only to Jesus Christ, and he consented to receive her sacred vows. On the appointed day the solemn ceremony of her profession was performed after the manner introduced by St. Patrick, the bishop offering up many prayers, and investing Bridgid with a snow-white habit, and a cloak of the same color. While she bowed her head on this occasion to receive the veil, a miracle of a singularly striking and impressive nature occurred: that part of the wooden platform adjoining the altar on which she knelt recovered its original vitality, and put on all its former verdure, retaining it for a long time after. At the same moment Bridgid’s eye was healed, and she became as beautiful and as lovely as ever. Encouraged by her example, several other ladies made their vows with her, and in compliance with the wish of the parents of her new associates, the Saint agreed to found a religious residence for herself and them in the vicinity. A convenient site having been fixed upon by the bishop, a convent, the first in Ireland, was erected upon it; and in obedience to the prelate Bridgid assumed the superiority. Her reputation for sanctity became greater every day; and in proportion as it was diffused throughout the country the number of candidates for admission into the new monastery increased. The bishops of Ireland, soon perceiving the important advantages which their respective dioceses would derive from similar foundations, persuaded the young and saintly abbess to visit different parts of the kingdom, and, as an opportunity offered, introduce into each one the establishment of her institute. While thus engaged in a portion of the province of Connaught, a deputation arrived from Leinster to solicit the Saint to take up her residence in that territory; but the motives which they urged were human, and such could have no weight with Bridgid. It was only the prospect of the many spiritual advantages that would result from compliance with the request that induced her to accede, as she did, to the wishes of those who had petitioned her. Taking with her a number of her spiritual daughters, our Saint journeyed to Leinster, where they were received with many demonstrations of respect and joy. The site on which Kildare now stands appearing to be well adapted for a religious institute, there the Saint and her companions took up their abode. To the place appropriated for the new foundation some lands were annexed, the fruits of which were assigned to the little establishment. This donation indeed contributed to supply the wants of the community, but still the pious sisterhood principally depended for their maintenance on the liberality of their benefactors. Bridgid contrived, however, out of their small means to relieve the poor of the vicinity very considerably; and when the wants of these indigent persons surpassed her slender finances, she hesitated not to sacrifice for them the movables of the convent. On one occasion our Saint, imitating the burning charity of St. Ambrose and other great servants of God, sold some of the sacred vestments that she might procure the means of relieving their necessities. She was so humble that she sometimes attended the cattle on the land which belonged to her monastery. The renown of Bridgid’s unbounded charity drew multitudes of the poor to Kildare; the fame of her piety attracted thither many persons anxious to solicit her prayers or to profit by her holy example. In course of time the number of these so much increased that it became necessary to provide accommodation for them in the neighborhood of the new monastery, and thus was laid the foundation and origin of the town of Kildare. The spiritual exigencies of her community, and of those numerous strangers who resorted to the vicinity, having suggested to our Saint the expediency of having the locality erected into an episcopal see, she represented it to the prelates, to whom the consideration of it rightly belonged. Deeming the proposal just and useful, Conlath, a recluse of eminent sanctity, illustrious by the great things which God had granted to his prayers, was, at Bridgid’s desire, chosen the first bishop of the newly erected diocese. In process of time it became the ecclesiastical metropolis of the province to which it belonged, probably in consequence of the general desire to honor the place in which St. Bridgid had so long dwelt. After seventy years devoted to the practice of the most sublime virtues, corporal infirmities admonished our Saint that the time of her dissolution was nigh. It was now half a century since, by her holy vows, she had irrevocably consecrated herself to God, and during that period great results had been attained; her holy institute having widely diffused itself throughout the Green Isle, and greatly advanced the cause of religion in the various districts in which it was established. Like a river of peace, its progress was steady and silent; it fertilized every region fortunate enough to receive its waters, and caused it to put forth spiritual flowers and fruits with all the sweet perfume of evangelical fragrance. The remembrance of the glory she had procured to the Most High, as well as the services rendered to dear souls ransomed by the precious blood of her divine Spouse, cheered and consoled Bridgid in the infirmities inseparable from old age. Her last illness was soothed by the presence of Nennidh, a priest of eminent sanctity, over whose youth she had watched with pious solicitude, and who was indebted to her prayers and instructions for his great proficiency in sublime perfection. The day on which our abbess was to terminate her course, February 1, 523, having arrived, she received from the hands of this saintly priest the blessed body and blood of her Lord in the divine Eucharist, and, as it would seem, immediately after her spirit passed forth, and went to possess Him in that heavenly country where He is seen face to face and enjoyed without danger of ever losing Him. Her body was interred in the church adjoining her convent, but was some time after exhumed, and deposited in a splendid shrine near the high altar. In the ninth century, the country being desolated by the Danes, the remains of St. Bridgid were removed in order to secure them from irreverence; and, being transferred to Down-Patrick, were deposited in the same grave with those of the glorious St. Patrick. Their bodies, together with that of St. Columba, were translated afterwards to the cathedral of the same city, but their monument was destroyed in the reign of King Henry VIII. The head of St. Bridgid is now kept in the church of the Jesuits at Lisbon. Reflection.--Outward resemblance to Our Lady was St. Bridgid’s peculiar privilege; but all are bound to grow like her in interior purity of heart. This grace St. Bridgid has obtained in a wonderful degree for the daughters of her native land, and will never fail to procure for all her devout clients. February 1.--ST. IGNATIUS, Bishop, Martyr. ST. IGNATIUS, Bishop of Antioch, was the disciple of St. John. When Domitian persecuted the Church, St. Ignatius obtained peace for his own flock by fasting and prayer. But for his part he desired to suffer with Christ, and to prove himself a perfect disciple. In the year 107, Trajan came to Antioch, and forced the Christians to choose between apostasy and death. “Who art thou, poor devil,” the emperor said when Ignatius was brought before him, “who settest our commands at naught?” “Call not him ‘poor devil,’” Ignatius answered, “who bears God within him.” And when the emperor questioned him about his meaning, Ignatius explained that he bore in his heart Christ crucified for his sake. Thereupon the emperor condemned him to be torn to pieces by wild beasts at Rome. St. Ignatius thanked God, Who had so honored him, “binding him in the chains of Paul, His apostle.” He journeyed to Rome, guarded by soldiers, and with no fear except of losing the martyr’s crown. He was devoured by lions in the Roman amphitheatre. The wild beasts left nothing of his body, except a few bones, which were reverently treasured at Antioch, until their removal to the Church of St. Clement at Rome, in 637. After the martyr’s death, several Christians saw him in vision standing before Christ, and interceding for them. Reflection.--Ask St. Ignatius to obtain for you the grace of profiting by all you have to suffer, and rejoicing in it as a means of likeness to your crucified Redeemer. February 2.--THE PURIFICATION, COMMONLY CALLED CANDLEMAS-DAY. THE law of God, given by Moses to the Jews, ordained that a woman, after childbirth, should continue for a certain time in a state which that law calls unclean, during which she was not to appear in public, nor presume to touch anything consecrated to God. This term was of forty days upon the birth of a son, and double that time for a daughter. On the expiration of the term, the mother .vas to bring to the door of the tabernacle, or Temple, a lamb and a young pigeon, or turtle-dove, as an offering to God. These being sacrificed to Almighty God by the priest, the woman was cleansed of the legal impurity and reinstated in her former privileges. A young pigeon, or turtle-dove, by way of a sin-offering, was required of all, whether rich or poor; but as the expense of a lamb might be too great for persons in poor circumstances, they were allowed to substitute for it a second dove. Our Saviour having been conceived by the Holy Ghost, and His blessed Mother remaining always a spotless virgin, it is evident that she did not come under the law; but as the world was, as yet, ignorant of her miraculous conception, she submitted with great punctuality and exactness to every humbling circumstance which the law required. Devotion and zeal to honor God, by every observance prescribed by His law, prompted Mary to perform this act of religion, though evidently exempt from the precept. Being poor herself, she made the offering appointed for the poor; but; however mean in itself, it was made with a perfect heart, which is what God chiefly regards in all that is offered to Him. Besides the law which obliged the mother to purify herself, there was another which ordered that the first-born son should be offered to God, and that, after its presentation, the child should be ransomed with a certain sum of money, and peculiar sacrifices offered on the occasion. Mary complies exactly with all these ordinances. She obeys not only in the essential points of the law, but has strict regard to all the circumstances. She remains forty days at home; she denies herself, all this time, the liberty of entering the Temple; she partakes not of things sacred; and on the day of her purification she walks several miles to Jerusalem, with the world’s Redeemer in her arms. She waits for the priest at the gate of the Temple, makes her offerings of thanksgiving and expiation, presents her divine Son by the hands of the priest to His Eternal Father, with the most profound humility, adoration, and thanksgiving. She then redeems Him with five shekels, as the law appoints, and receives Him back again as a sacred charge committed to her special care, till the Father shall again demand Him for the full accomplishment of man’s redemption. The ceremony of this day was closed by a third mystery--the meeting in the Temple of the holy persons Simeon and Anne with Jesus and His parents. Holy Simeon, on that occasion, received into his arms the object of all his desires and sighs, and praised God for being blessed with the happiness of beholding the so-much-longed-for Messias. Re foretold to Mary her martyrdom of sorrow, and that Jesus brought redemption to those who would accept of it on the terms it was offered them; but a heavy judgment on all infidels who should obstinately reject it, and on Christians, also, whose lives were a contradiction to His holy maxims and example. Mary, hearing this terrible prediction, did not answer one word, felt no agitation of mind from the present, no dread for the future; but courageously and sweetly committed all to God’s holy will. Anne, also, the prophetess, who in her widowhood served God with great fervor, had the happiness to acknowledge and adore in this great mystery the Redeemer of the world. Simeon, having beheld Our Saviour, exclaimed: “Now dismiss Thy servant, O Lord, according to Thy word, because my eyes have seen Thy salvation.” This feast is called CANDLEMAS, because the Church blesses the candles to be borne in the procession of the day. Reflection.--Let us strive to imitate the humility of the ever-blessed Mother of God, remembering that humility is the path which leads to abiding peace and brings us near to the consolations of God. February 3.--ST. BLASE, Bishop and Martyr. ST. BLASE devoted the earlier years of his life to the study of philosophy, and afterwards became a physician. In the practice of his profession he saw so much of the miseries of life and the hollowness of worldly pleasures, that he resolved to spend the rest of his days in the service of God, and from being a healer of bodily ailments to be- come a physician of souls. The Bishop of Sebaste, in Armenia, having died, our Saint, much to the gratification of the inhabitants of that city, was appointed to succeed him. St. Blase at once began to instruct his people as much by his example as by his words, and the great virtues and sanctity of this servant of God were attested by many miracles. From all parts the people came flocking to him for the cure of bodily and spiritual ills. Agricolaus, Governor of Cappadocia and the Lesser Armenia, having begun a persecution by order of the Emperor Licinius, our Saint was seized and hurried off to prison. While on his way there, a distracted mother, whose only child was dying of a throat disease, threw herself at the feet of St. Blase and implored his intercession. Touched at her grief, the Saint offered up his prayers, and the child was cured; and since that time his aid has often been effectually solicited in cases of a similar disease. Refusing to worship the false gods of the heathens, St. Blase was first scourged; his body was then torn with hooks, and finally he was beheaded in the year 316. Reflection.--There is no sacrifice which, by the aid of grace, human nature is not capable of accomplishing. When St. Paul complained to God of the violence of the temptation, God answered, “My grace is sufficient for thee, for power is made perfect in infirmity.” February 4.--St. JANE OF VALOIS. BORN of the blood royal of France, herself a queen, Jane of Valois led a life remarkable for its humiliations even in the annals of the Saints. Her father, Louis XI., who had hoped for a son to succeed him, banished Jane from his palace, and, it is said, even attempted her life. At the age of five the neglected child offered her whole heart to God, and yearned to do some special service in honor of His blessed Mother. At the king’s wish, though against her own inclination, she was married to the Duke of Orleans. Towards an indifferent and unworthy husband her conduct was ever most patient and dutiful. Her prayers and tears saved him from a traitor’s death and shortened the captivity which his rebellion had merited. Still nothing could win a heart which was already given to another. When her husband ascended the throne as Louis XII., his first act was to repudiate by false representations one who through twenty-two years of cruel neglect had been his true and loyal wife. At the final sentence of separation, the saintly queen exclaimed, “God be praised Who has allowed this, that I may serve Him better than I have heretofore done.” Retiring to Bourges, she there realized her long-formed desire of founding the Order of the Annunciation, in honor of the Mother of God. Under the guidance of St. Francis of Paula, the director of her childhood, St. Jane was enabled to overcome the serious obstacles which even good people raised against the foundation of her new Order. In 1501 the rule of the Annunciation was finally approved by Alexander VI. The chief aim of the institute was to imitate the ten virtues practised by Our Lady in the mystery of the Incarnation, the superioress being called “Ancelle,” handmaid, in honor of Mary’s humility. St. Jane built and endowed the first convent of the Order in 1502. She died in heroic sanctity, 1505, and was buried in the royal crown and purple, beneath which lay the habit of her Order. Reflection.--During the lifetime of St. Jane, the Angelus was established in France. The sound of the thrice each day gave her hone in her sorrow, and fostered in her the desire still further to honor the Incarnation. How often might we derive grace from the same beautiful devotion, so enriched by the Church, yet neglected by so many Christians! February 5.--ST. AGATHA, Virgin, Martyr. ST. AGATHA was born in Sicily, of rich and noble parents--a child of benediction from the first, for she was promised to her parents before her birth, and consecrated from her earliest infancy to God. In the midst of dangers and temptations she served Christ in purity of body and soul, and she died for the love of chastity. Quintanus, who governed Sicily under the Emperor Decius, had heard the rumor of her beauty and wealth, and he made the laws against the Christians a pretext for summoning her from Palermo to Catania, where he was at the time. “O Jesus Christ!” she cried, as she set out on this dreaded journey, “all that I am is Thine; preserve me against the tyrant.” And Our Lord did indeed preserve one who had given herself so utterly to Him. He kept her pure and undefiled while she was imprisoned for a whole month under charge of an evil woman. He gave her strength to reply to the offer of her life and safety, if she would but consent to sin, “Christ alone is my life and my salvation.” When Quintanus turned from passion to cruelty, and cut off her breasts, Our Lord sent the Prince of His apostles to heal her. And when, after she had been rolled naked upon potsherds, she asked that her torments might be ended, her Spouse heard her prayer and took her to Himself. St. Agatha gave herself without reserve to Jesus Christ; she followed Him in virginal purity, and then looked to Him for protection. And down to this day Christ has shown His tender regard for the very body of St. Agatha. Again and again, during the eruptions of Mount Etna, the people of Catania have exposed her veil for public veneration, and found safety by this means; and in modern times, on opening the tomb in which her body lies waiting for the resurrection, they beheld the skin still entire, and felt the sweet fragrance which issued from this temple of the Holy Ghost. Reflection.--Purity is a gift of God: we can gain it and preserve it only by care and diligence in avoiding all that may prove an incentive to sin. February 5.--THE MARTYRS OF JAPAN. ABOUT forty years after St. Francis Xavier’s death a persecution broke out in Japan, and all Christian rites were forbidden under pain of death. A confraternity of martyrs was at once formed, the object of which was to die for Christ. Even the little children joined it. Peter, a Christian child six years old, was awakened early and told that he was to be beheaded, together with his father. Strong in grace, he expressed his joy at the news, dressed himself in his gayest clothing, and took the hand of the soldier who was to lead him to death. The headless trunk of his father first met his view; calmly kneeling down, he prayed beside the corpse, and, loosening his collar, prepared his neck for the stroke. Moved by this touching scene, the executioner threw down his sabre and fled. None but a brutal slave could be found for the murderous task; with unskilled and trembling hand he hacked the child to pieces, who at last died without uttering a single cry. Christians were branded with the cross, or all but buried alive, while the head and arms were slowly sawn off with blunt weapons. The least shudder under their anguish was interpreted it into apostasy. The obstinate were put to the most cruel deaths, but the survivors only envied them. Five noblemen were escorted to the stake by 40,000 Christians with flowers and lights, singing the litanies of Our Lady as they went. In the great martyrdom, at which thousands also assisted, the martyrs sent up a flood of melody from the fire, which only died away as one after another went to sing the new song in heaven. Later on, a more awful doom was invented. The victims were lowered into a sulphurous chasm, called the “mouth of hell,” near which no bird or beast could live. The chief of these, Paul Wiborg, whose family bad been already massacred for the faith, was thrice let down; thrice he cried, with a loud voice, “Eternal praise be to the ever-adorable Sacrament of the Altar.” The third time he went to his reward. Reflection.--If mere children face torture and death with joy for Christ, can we begrudge the slight penance He asks us to bear? February 5.--ST. PHILIP OF JESUS, Martyr, Patron of the City of Mexico. (From Rev. Butler’s section titled: “Lives Of Certain Saints Contained In The Calendar Of Special Feasts For The United States And Of Some Others Recently Canonized”) PHILIP DE LAS CASAS was born in the city of Mexico. Brought up piously, Philip at first showed little care for the pious teaching of his parents, but at last resolved to enter the Reformed Franciscan Convent of Santa Barbara at Pueblo. He was not yet weaned from the world and soon left the novitiate. Grieved at the inconstancy of his son, de las Casas sent him to the Philippine Islands on a business errand. In vain did Philip seek to satisfy his heart with pleasure. He could not but feel that God called him to a religious life. Gaining courage by prayer, he entered the Franciscan Convent of Our Lady of the Angels at Manila, and persevered, taking his vows in 1594. The richest cargo that he could have sent to Mexico would not have gratified his pious father as much as the tidings that Philip was a professed friar. Alonso de las Casas obtained from the Commissary of the Order directions that Philip should be sent to Mexico. He embarked on the St. Philip in July, 1596, with other religious. Storms drove the vessel to the coast of Japan, and it was wrecked while endeavoring to enter a port. Amid the storm Philip saw over Japan a white cross, in the shape used in that country, which after a time became blood-red, and remained so for some time. It was an omen of his coming victory. The commander of the vessel sent our Saint and two other religious to the emperor to solicit permission to continue their voyage, but they could not obtain an audience. He then proceeded to Macao, to a house of his Order, to seek the influence of the Fathers there; but the pilot of the vessel by idle boasts had excited the emperor’s fears of the Christians, and the heathen ruler resolved to exterminate the Catholic missionaries. In December, officers seized a number of the Franciscan Fathers, three Jesuits, and several of their young pupils. St. Philip was one of those arrested and heard with holy joy that sentence of death had been passed on them all. His left ear was cut off, and he offered this first-fruit of his blood to God for the salvation of that heathen land. The martyrs were taken to Nagasaki, where crosses had been erected on a high hill. When St. Philip was led to that on which he was to die, he knelt down and clasped it, exclaiming: “O happy ship! O happy galleon for Philip, lost for my gain! Loss--no loss for me, but the greatest of all gain!” He was bound to the cross, but the rest under him gave way, so that he was strangled by the cords. While repeating the holy name of Jesus he was the first of the happy band to receive the death-stroke. Miracles attested the power before God of these first martyrs of Japan. Pope Urban VIII. granted permission to say an Office and Mass in their honor, and Pope Pius IX. formally canonized them. St. Philip died at the age of twenty-five and his feast is celebrated February 5th. February 6.--ST. DOROTHY, Virgin, Martyr. ST. DOROTHY was a young virgin, celebrated at Caesarea, where she lived, for her angelic virtue. Her parents seem to have been martyred before her in the Diocletian persecution, and when the Governor Sapricius came to Caesarea he called her before him, and sent this child of martyrs to the home where they were waiting for her. She was stretched upon the rack, and offered marriage if she would consent to sacrifice, or death if she refused. But she replied that “Christ was her only Spouse, and death her desire.” She was then placed in charge of two women who had fallen away from the faith, in the hope that they might pervert her; but the fire of her own heart rekindled the flame in theirs, and led them back to Christ. When she was set once more on the rack, Sapricius himself was amazed at the heavenly look she wore, and asked her the cause of her joy. “Because,” she said, “I have brought back two souls to Christ, and because I shall soon be in heaven rejoicing with the angels.” Her joy grew as she was buffeted in the face and her sides burned with plates of red-hot iron. “Blessed be Thou,” she cried, when she was sentenced to be beheaded,--”blessed be Thou, O Thou Lover of souls! Who dost call me to Paradise, and invitest me to Thy nuptial chamber.” St. Dorothy suffered in the dead of winter, and it is said that on the road to her passion a lawyer called Theophilus, who had been used to calumniate and persecute the Christians, asked her, in mockery, to send him “apples or roses from the garden of her Spouse.” The Saint promised to grant his request, and, just before she died, a little child stood by her side bearing three apples and three roses. She bade him take them to Theophilus and tell him this was the present which he sought from the garden of her Spouse. St. Dorothy had gone to heaven, and Theophilus was still making merry over his challenge to the Saint when the child entered his room. He saw that the child was an angel in disguise, and the fruit and flowers of no earthly growth. He was converted to the faith, and then shared in the martyrdom of St. Dorothy. Reflection.--Do you wish to be safe in the pleasures and happy in the troubles of the world? Pray for heavenly desires, and say, with St. Philip, “Paradise, Paradise!” February 7.--ST. ROMUALD, Abbot. IN 976, Sergius, a nobleman of Ravenna, quarrelled with a relative about an estate, and slew him in a duel. His son Romuald, horrified at his father’s crime, entered the Benedictine monastery at Classe, to do a forty days’ penance for him. This penance ended in his own vocation to religion. After three years at Classe, Romuald went to live as a hermit near Venice, where he was joined by Peter Urseolus, Duke of Venice, and together they led a most austere life in the midst of assaults from the evil spirits. St. Romuald founded many monasteries, the chief of which was that at Camaldoli, a wild desert place, where he built a church, which he surrounded with a number of separate cells for the solitaries who lived under his rule. His disciples were hence called Camaldolese. He is said to have seen here a vision of a mystic ladder, and his white-clothed monks ascending by it to heaven. Among his first disciples were Sts. Adalbert and Boniface, apostles of Russia, and Sts. John and Benedict of Poland, martyrs for the faith. He was an intimate friend of the Emperor St. Henry, and was reverenced and consulted by many great men of his time. He once passed seven years in solitude and complete silence. In his youth St. Romuald was much troubled by temptations of the flesh. To escape them he had recourse to hunting, and in the woods first conceived his love for solitude. His father’s sin, as we have seen, first prompted him to undertake a forty days’ penance in the monastery, which he forthwith made his home. Some bad example of his fellow monks induced him to leave them and adopt the solitary mode of life. The penance of Urseolus, who had obtained his power wrongfully, brought him his first disciple; the temptations of the devil compelled him to his severe life; and finally the persecutions of others were the occasion of his settlement at Camaldoli, and the foundation of his Order. He died, as he had foretold twenty years before, alone, in his monastery of Val Castro, on the 19th of June, 1027. Reflection.--St. Romuald’s life teaches us that, if we only follow the impulse of the Holy Spirit, we shall easily find good everywhere, even on the most unlikely occasions. Our own sins, the sins of others, their ill will against us, or our own mistakes and misfortunes, are equally capable of leading us, with softened hearts, to the feet of God’s mercy and love. February 8.--ST. JOHN OF MATHA. THE life of St. John of Matha was one long course of self-sacrifice for the glory of God and the good of his neighbor. As a child, his chief delight was serving the poor; and he often told them he had come into the world for no other end but to wash their feet. He studied at Paris with such distinction that his professors advised him to become a priest, in order that his talents might render greater service to others; and, for this end, John gladly sacrificed his high rank and other worldly advantages. At his first Mass an angel appeared, clad in white, with a red and blue cross on his breast, and his hands reposing on the heads of a Christian and a Moorish captive. To ascertain what this signified, John repaired to St. Felix of Valois, a holy hermit living near Meaux, under whose direction he led a life of extreme penance. The angel again appeared, and they then set out for Rome, to learn the will of God from the lips of the Sovereign Pontiff, who told them to devote themselves to the redemption of captives. For this purpose they founded the Order of the Holy Trinity. The religious fasted every day, and gathering alms throughout Europe took them to Barbary, to redeem the Christian slaves. They devoted themselves also to the sick and prisoners in all countries. The charity of St. John in devoting his life to the redemption of captives was visibly blessed by God. On his second return from Tunis he brought back one hundred and twenty liberated slaves. But the Moors attacked him at sea, overpowered his vessel, and doomed it to destruction, with all on board, by taking away the rudder and sails, and leaving it to the mercy of the winds. St. John tied his cloak to the mast, and prayed, saying, “Let God arise, and let His enemies be scattered. O Lord, Thou wilt save the humble, and wilt bring down the eyes of the proud.” Suddenly the wind filled the small sail, and, without guidance, carried the ship safely in a few days to Ostia, the port of Rome, three hundred leagues from Tunis. Worn out by his heroic labors, John died in 1213, at the age of fifty-three. Reflection.--Let us never forget that our blessed Lord, bade us love our neighbor not only as ourselves, but as He loved us, Who afterwards sacrificed Himself for us. February 9.--ST. APOLLONIA AND THE MARTYRS OF ALEXANDRIA. AT Alexandria, in 249, the mob rose in savage fury against the Christians. Metras, an old man, perished first. His eyes were pierced with reeds, and he was stoned to death. A woman named Quinta was the next victim. She was led to a heathen temple and bidden worship. She replied by cursing the false god again and again, and she too was stoned to death. After this the houses of the Christians were sacked and plundered. They took the spoiling of their goods with all joy. St. Apollonia, an aged virgin, was the most famous among the martyrs. Her teeth were beaten out; she was led outside the city, a huge fire was kindled, and she was told she must deny Christ, or else be burned alive. She was silent for a while, and then, moved by a special inspiration of the Holy Ghost, she leaped into the fire and died in its flames. The same courage showed itself the next year, when Decius became emperor, and the persecution grew till it seemed as if the very elect must fall away. The story of Dioscorus illustrates the courage of the Alexandrian Christians, and the esteem they had for martyrdom. He was a boy of fifteen. To the arguments of the judge he returned wise answers: he was proof against torture. His older companions were executed, but Dioscorus was spared on account of his tender years; yet the Christians could not bear to think that he had been deprived of the martyr’s crown, except to receive it afterwards more gloriously. “Dioscorus,” writes Dionysius, Bishop of Alexandria at this time, “remains with us, reserved for some longer and greater combat.” There were indeed many Christians who came, pale and trembling, to offer the heathen sacrifices. But the judges themselves were struck with horror at the multitudes who rushed to martyrdom. Women triumphed over torture, till at last the judges were glad to execute them at once and put an end to the ignominy of their own defeat. (Source: Butlers Lives Of The Saints 1894 A.D.)
Reflection.--Many saints, who were not martyrs, have longed to shed their blood for Christ. We, too, may pray for some portion of their spirit; and the least suffering for the faith, borne with humility and courage, is the proof that Christ has heard our prayer. February 10.--ST. SCHOLASTICA, Abbess. OF this Saint but little is known on earth, save that she was the sister of the great patriarch St. Benedict, and that, under his direction, she founded and governed a numerous community near Monte Casino. St. Gregory sums up her life by saying that she devoted herself to God from her childhood, and that her pure soul went to God in the likeness of a dove, as if to show that her life had been enriched with the fullest gifts of the Holy Spirit. Her brother was accustomed to visit her every year, for “she could not be sated or wearied with the words of grace which flowed from his lips.” On his last visit, after a day passed in spiritual converse, the Saint, knowing that her end was near, said, “My brother, leave me not, I pray you, this night, but discourse with me till dawn on the bliss of those who see God in heaven.” St. Benedict would not break his rule at the bidding of natural affection; and then the Saint bowed her head on her hands and prayed; and there arose a storm so violent that St. Benedict could not return to his monastery, and they passed the night in heavenly conversation. Three days later St. Benedict saw in a vision the soul of his sister going up in the likeness of a dove into heaven. Then he gave thanks to God for the graces He had given her, and for the glory which had crowned them. When she died, St. Benedict, her spiritual daughters, and the monks sent by St. Benedict mingled their tears and prayed, “Alas! alas! dearest mother, to whom dost thou leave us now? Pray for us to Jesus, to Whom thou art gone.” They then devoutly celebrated holy Mass, “commending her soul to God;” and her body was borne to Monte Casino, and laid by her brother in the tomb he had prepared for himself.” And they bewailed her many days;” and St. Benedict said, “Weep not, sisters and brothers; for assuredly Jesus has taken her before us to be our aid and defence against all our enemies, that we may stand in the evil day and be in all things perfect.” She died about the year 543. Reflection.--Our relatives must be loved in and for God; otherwise the purest affection becomes inordinate and is so much taken from Him. February 11.--ST. SEVERINUS, Abbot of Agaunum. ST. SEVERINUS, of a noble family in Burgundy, was educated in the Catholic faith, at a time when the Arian heresy reigned in that country. He forsook the world in his youth, and dedicated himself to God in the monastery of Agaunum, which then only consisted of scattered cells, till the Catholic King Sigismund built there the great abbey of St. Maurice. St. Severinus was the holy abbot of that place, and had governed his community many years in the exercise of penance and charity, when, in 504, Clovis, the first Christian king of France, lying ill of a fever, which his physicians had for two years ineffectually endeavored to remove, sent his chamberlain to conduct the Saint to court; for it was said that the sick from all parts recovered their health by his prayers. St. Severinus took leave of his monks, telling them he should never see them more in this world. On his journey he healed Eulalius, Bishop of Nevers, who had been for some time deaf and dumb; also a leper, at the gates of Paris; and coming to the palace he immediately restored the king to perfect health, by putting on him his own cloak. The king, in gratitude, distributed large alms to the poor and released all his prisoners. St. Severinus, returning toward Agaunum, stopped at Chateau-Landon in Gatinois, where two priests served God in a solitary chapel, among whom he was admitted, at his request, as a stranger, and was soon greatly admired by them for his sanctity. He foresaw his death, which happened shortly after, in 507. The place is now an abbey of reformed canons regular of St. Austin. The Huguenots scattered the greater part of his relics when they plundered this church. Reflection.--God loads with His favor those who delight in exercising mercy. “According to thy ability be merciful: if thou hast much, give abundantly; if thou hast little, take care even so to bestow willingly a little.” February 12.--ST. BENEDICT OF ANIAN. BENEDICT was the son of Aigulf, Governor of Languedoc, and was born about 750. In his early youth he served as cup-bearer to King Pepin and his son Charlemagne, enjoying under them great honors and possessions. Grace entered his soul at the age of twenty, and he resolved to reek the kingdom of God with his whole heart. Without relinquishing his place at court, he lived there a most mortified life for three years; then a narrow escape from drowning made him vow to quit the world, and he entered the cloister of St. Seine. In reward for his heroic austerities in the monastic state, God bestowed upon him the gift of tears, and inspired him with a knowledge of spiritual things. As procurator, he was most careful of the wants of the brethren, and most hospitable to the poor and to guests. Declining to accept the abbacy, he built himself a little hermitage on the brook Anian, and lived some years in great solitude and poverty; but the fame of his sanctity drawing many souls around him, he was obliged to build a large abbey, and within a short time governed three hundred monks. He became the great restorer of monastic discipline throughout France and Germany. First, he drew up with immense labor a code of the rules of St. Benedict, his great namesake, which he collated with those of the chief monastic founders, showing the uniformity of the exercises in each, and enforced by his “Penitential” their exact observance; secondly, he minutely regulated all matters regarding food, clothing, and every detail of life; and thirdly, by prescribing the same for all, he excluded jealousies and insured perfect charity. In a Provincial Council held in 813, under Charlemagne, at which he was present, it was declared that all monks of the West should adopt the rule of St. Benedict. He died February 11, 821. Reflection.--The decay of monastic discipline and its restoration by St. Benedict prove that none are safe from loss of fervor, but that all can regain it by fidelity to grace. February 13.--ST. CATHERINE OF RICCI. ALEXANDRINA of Ricci was the daughter of a noble Florentine. At the age of thirteen she entered the Third Order of St. Dominic in the monastery of Prato, taking in religion the name of Catherine, after her patron and namesake of Siena. Her special attraction was to the Passion of Christ, in which she was permitted miraculously to participate. In the Lent of 1541, being then twenty-one years of age, she had a vision of the crucifixion so heart-rending that she was confined to bed for three weeks, and was only restored, on Holy Saturday, by an apparition of St. Mary Magdalene and Jesus risen. During twelve years she passed every Friday in ecstasy, She received the sacred stigmata, the wound in the left side, and the crown of thorns. All these favors gave her continual and intense suffering, and inspired her with a loving sympathy for the yet more bitter tortures of the Holy Souls. In their behalf she offered all her prayers and penances; and her charity toward them became so famous throughout Tuscany that after every death the friends of the deceased hastened to Catherine to secure her prayers. St. Catherine offered many prayers, fasts, and penances for a certain great man, and thus obtained his salvation. It was revealed to her that he was in purgatory; and such was her love of Jesus crucified that she offered to suffer all the pains about to be inflicted on that soul. Her prayer was granted. The soul entered heaven, and for forty days Catherine suffered indescribable agonies. Her body was covered with blisters, emitting heat so great that her cell seemed on fire. Her flesh appeared as if roasted, and her tongue like red-hot iron. Amid all she was calm and joyful, saying, “I long to suffer all imaginable pains, that souls may quickly see and praise their Redeemer.” She knew by revelation the arrival of a soul in purgatory, and the hour of its release. She held intercourse with the Saints in glory, and frequently conversed with St. Philip Neri at Rome without ever leaving her convent at Prato. She died, amid angels’ songs, in 1589. Reflection.--If we truly love Jesus crucified, we must long, as did St. Catherine, to release the Holy Souls whom He has redeemed but has left to our charity to set free. February 14.--ST. VALENTINE, Priest and Martyr. VALENTINE was a holy priest in Rome, who, with St. Marius and his family, assisted the martyrs in the persecution under Claudius II. He was apprehended, and sent by the emperor to the prefect of Rome, who, on finding all his promises to make him renounce his faith ineffectual, commanded him to be beaten with clubs, and afterward to be beheaded, which was executed on the 14th of February, about the year 270. Pope Julius I, is said to have built a church near Ponte Mole to his memory, which for a long time gave name to the gate now called Porta del Popolo, formerly Porta Valentini. The greater part of his relics are now in the Church of St. Praxedes. To abolish the heathens’ lewd superstitious custom of boys’ drawing the names of girls, in honor of their goddess Februata Juno, on the 15th of this month, several zealous pastors substituted the names of Saints in billets given on this day. Reflection.--In the cause of justice and truth, prudence should not be held in account; otherwise prudence is mere human respect. St. Paul says: “The wisdom of the flesh is death.” February 15.--STS. FAUSTINUS and JOVITA, Martyrs. FAUSTINUS and Jovita were brothers, nobly born, and zealous professors of the Christian religion, which they preached without fear in their city of Brescia, while, the bishop of that place lay concealed during the persecution. Their remarkable zeal excited the fury of the heathens against them, and procured them a glorious death for their faith at Brescia in Lombardy, under the Emperor Adrian. Julian, a heathen lord, apprehended them: and the emperor himself, passing through Brescia, when neither threats nor torments could shake their constancy, commanded them to be beheaded. They seem to have suffered about the year 121. The city of Brescia honors them as its chief patrons, possesses their relics, and a very ancient church in that city bears their names. Reflection.--The spirit of Christ is a spirit of martyrdom--at least of mortification and penance. It is always the spirit of the cross. The more we share in the suffering life of Christ, the greater share we inherit in His spirit, and in the fruit of His death. To souls mortified to their senses and disengaged from earthly things, God gives frequent foretastes of the sweetness of eternal life, and the most ardent desires of possessing Him in His glory. This is the spirit of martyrdom, which entitles a Christian to a happy resurrection and to the bliss of the life to come. February 16.--BLESSED JOHN DE BRITTO, Martyr. DON PEDRO II. of Portugal, when a child, had among his little pages a modest boy of rich and princely parents. Much had John de Britto--for so was he called--to bear from his careless-living companions, to whom his holy life was a reproach. A terrible illness made him turn for aid to St. Francis Xavier, a Saint so well loved by the Portuguese; and when, in answer to his prayers, he recovered, his mother vested him for a year in the dress worn in those days by the Jesuit Fathers. From that time John’s heart burned to follow the example of the Apostle of the Indies. He gained his wish. On December 17, 1662, he entered the novitiate of the Society at Lisbon; and eleven years later, in spite of the most determined opposition of his family and of the court, he left all to go to convert the Hindus of Madura. When Blessed John’s mother knew that her son was going to the Indies, she used all her influence to prevent him leaving his own country, and persuaded the Papal Nuncio to interfere. “God, Who called me from the world into religious life, now calls me from Portugal to India,” was the reply of the future martyr. “Not to answer the vocation as I ought, would be to provoke the justice of God. As long as I live, I shall never cease striving to gain a passage to India.” For fourteen years he toiled, preaching, converting, baptizing multitudes, at the cost of privations, hardships, and persecutions. At last, after being seized, tortured, and nearly massacred by the heathens, he was banished from the country. Forced to return to Portugal, John once more broke through every obstacle, and went back again to his labor of love. Like St. John the Baptist, he died a victim to the anger of a guilty woman, whom a convert king had put aside, and, like the Precursor, he was beheaded after a painful imprisonment. Reflection.--”It is a great honor, a great glory to serve; God, and to contemn all things for God. They will have a great grace who freely subject themselves to God’s most holy will.”--The Imitation of Christ. February 16.--ST. ONESIMUS, Disciple of St. Paul. HE was a Phrygian by birth, slave to Philemon, a person of note of the city of Colossae, converted to the faith by St. Paul. Having robbed his master and being obliged to fly, he providentially met with St. Paul, then a prisoner for the faith at Rome, who there converted and baptized him, and sent him with his canonical letter of recommendation to Philemon, by whom he was pardoned, set at liberty, and sent back to his spiritual father, whom he afterwards faithfully served. That apostle made him, with Tychicus, the bearer of his Epistle to the Colossians, and afterwards, as St. Jerome and other Fathers witness, a preacher of the Gospel and a bishop. He was crowned with martyrdom under Domitian in the year 95. Reflection.--With what excess of goodness does God communicate Himself to souls that open themselves to Him! With what caresses does He often visit them! With what a profusion of graces does He enrich and strengthen them! In our trials and temptations let us then offer our hearts to God, remembering, as St. Paul says, “To them that love God all things work together unto good.” February 17.--ST. FLAVIAN, Bishop, Martyr. FLAVIAN was elected Patriarch of Constantinople in 447. His short episcopate of two years was a time of conflict and persecution from the first. Chrysaphius, the emperor’s favorite, tried to extort a large sum of money from him on the occasion of his consecration. His fidelity in refusing this simoniacal betrayal of his trust brought on him the enmity of the most powerful man in the empire. A graver trouble soon arose. In 448 Flavian had to condemn the rising heresy of the monk Eutyches, who obstinately denied that Our Lord was in two perfect natures after His Incarnation. Eutyches drew to his cause all the bad elements which so early gathered about the Byzantine court. His intrigues were long baffled by the vigilance of Flavian; but at last he obtained from the emperor the assembly of a council at Ephesus, in August 449, presided over by his friend Dioscorus, Patriarch of Alexandria. Into this “robber council,” as it is called, Eutyches entered, surrounded by soldiers. The Roman legates could not even read the Pope’s letters; and at the first sign of resistance to the condemnation of Flavian, fresh troops entered with drawn swords, and, in spite of the protests of the legates, terrified most of the bishops into acquiescence. The fury of Dioscorus reached its height when Flavian appealed to the Holy See. Then it was that he so forgot his apostolic office as to lay violent hands on his adversary. St. Flavian was set upon by Dioscorus and others, thrown down, beaten, kicked, and finally carried into banishment. Let us contrast their ends. Flavian clung to the teaching of the Roman Pontiff, and sealed his faith with his blood. Dioscorus excommunicated the Vicar of Christ, and died obstinate and impenitent in the heresy of Eutyches. Reflection.--By his unswerving loyalty to the Vicar of Christ, Flavian held fast to the truth and gained the martyr’s crown. Let us learn from him to turn instinctively to that one true guide in all matters concerning our salvation. February 18.--ST. SIMEON, Bishop, Martyr. ST. SIMEON was the son of Cleophas, otherwise called Alpheus, brother to St. Joseph, and of Mary, sister to the Blessed Virgin. He was therefore nephew both to St. Joseph and to the Blessed Virgin, and cousin to Our Saviour. We cannot doubt but that he was an early follower of Christ, and that he received the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost, with the Blessed Virgin and the apostles. When the Jews massacred St. James the Lesser, his brother Simeon reproached them for their atrocious cruelty. St. James, Bishop of Jerusalem, being put to death in the year 62, twenty-nine years after Our Saviour’s Resurrection, the apostles and disciples met at Jerusalem to appoint him a successor. They unanimously chose St. Simeon, who had probably before assisted his brother in the government of that Church. In the year 66, in which Sts. Peter and Paul suffered martyrdom at Rome, the civil war began in Judea, by the seditions of the Jews against the Romans. The Christians in Jerusalem were warned by God of the impending destruction of that city. They therefore departed out of it the same year,--before Vespasian, Nero’s general, and afterwards emperor, entered Judea,--and retired beyond Jordan to a small city called Pella, having St. Simeon at their head. After the taking and burning of Jerusalem they returned thither again, and settled themselves amidst its ruins, till Adrian afterwards entirely razed it. The Church here flourished, and multitudes of Jews were converted by the great number of prodigies and miracles wrought in it. Vespasian and Domitian had commanded all to be put to death who were of the race of David. St. Simeon had escaped their searches; but, Trajan having given the same order, certain heretics and Jews accused the Saint, as being both of the race of David and a Christian, to Atticus, the Roman governor in Palestine. The holy bishop was condemned to be crucified. After having undergone the usual tortures during several days, which, though one hundred and twenty years old, he suffered with so much patience that he drew on him a universal admiration, and that of Atticus in particular, he died in 107. He must have governed the Church of Jerusalem about forty-three years. Reflection.--We bear the name of Christians, but are full of the spirit of worldlings, and our actions are infected with the poison of the world. We secretly seek ourselves, even when we flatter ourselves that God is our only aim; and whilst we undertake to convert the world, we suffer it to pervert us. When shall we begin to study to crucify our passions and die to ourselves, that we may lay a solid foundation of true virtue and establish its reign in our hearts? February 19.--ST. BARBATUS, Bishop. ST. BARBATUS was born in the territory of Benevento in Italy, toward the end of the pontificate of St. Gregory the Great, in the beginning of the seventh century. His parents gave him a Christian education, and Barbatus in his youth laid the foundation of that eminent sanctity which recommends him to our veneration. The innocence, simplicity, and purity of his manners, and his extraordinary progress in all virtues, qualified him for the service of the altar, to which he was assumed by taking Holy Orders as soon as the canons of the Church would allow it. He was immediately employed by his bishop in preaching, for which he had an extraordinary talent, and, after some time, made curate of St. Basil’s in Morcona, a town near Benevento. His parishioners were steeled in their irregularities, and they treated him as a disturber of their peace, and persecuted him with the utmost violence. Finding their malice conquered by his patience and humility, and his character shining still more bright, they had recourse to slanders, in which their virulence and success were such that he was obliged to withdraw his charitable endeavors among them. Barbatus returned to Benevento, where he was received with joy. When St. Barbatus entered upon his ministry in that city, the Christians themselves retained many idolatrous superstitions, which even their duke, Prince Romuald, authorized by his example, though son of Grimoald, King of the Lombards, who had edified all Italy by his conversion. They expressed a religious veneration for a golden viper, and prostrated themselves before it; they also paid superstitious honor to a tree, on which they hung the skin of a wild beast; and those ceremonies were closed by public games, in which the skin served for a mark at which bowmen shot arrows over their shoulders. St. Barbatus preached zealously against these abuses, and at length he roused the attention of the people by foretelling the distress of their city, and the calamities which it was to suffer from the army of the Emperor Constans, who, landing soon after in Italy, laid siege to Benevento. Ildebrand, Bishop of Benevento, dying during the siege, after the public tranquillity was restored St. Barbatus was consecrated bishop on the 10th of March, 663. Barbatus, being invested with the episcopal character, pursued and completed the good work which he had so happily begun, and destroyed every trace of superstition in the whole state. In the year 680 he assisted in a council held by Pope Agatho at Rome, and the year following in the Sixth General Council held at Constantinople against the Monothelites. He did not long survive this great assembly, for he died on the 29th of February, 682, being about seventy years old, almost nineteen of which he had spent in the episcopal chair. Reflection.--St. Augustine says: “When the enemy has been cast out of your hearts, renounce him, not only in word, but in work; not only by the sound of the lips, but in every act of your life.” February 20.--ST. EUCHERIUS, Bishop. THIS Saint was born at Orleans, of a very illustrious family. At his birth his parents dedicated him to God, and set him to study when he was but seven years old, resolving to omit nothing that could be done toward cultivating his mind or forming his heart. His improvement in virtue kept pace with his progress in learning: he meditated assiduously on the sacred writings, especially on St. Paul’s manner of speaking on the world and its enjoyments as mere empty shadows that deceive us and vanish away. These reflections at length sank so deep into his mind that he resolved to quit the world. To put this design in execution, about the year 714 he retired to the abbey of Jumiege in Normandy, where he spent six or seven years in the practice of penitential austerities and obedience. Suavaric, his uncle, Bishop of Orleans, having died, the senate and people, with the clergy of that city, begged permission to elect Eucherius to the vacant see. The Saint entreated his monks to screen him from the dangers that threatened him; but they preferred the public good to their private inclinations, and resigned him for that important charge. He was consecrated with universal applause in 721. Charles Martel, to defray the expenses of his wars and other undertakings, often stripped the churches of their revenues. St. Eucherius reproved these encroachments with so much zeal that, in the year 737, Charles banished him to Cologne. The extraordinary esteem which his virtue procured him in that city moved Charles to order him to be conveyed thence to a strong place in the territory of Liege. Robert, the governor of that country, was so charmed with his virtue that he made him the distributor of his large alms, and allowed him to retire to the monastery of Sarchinium, or St. Tron’s. Here prayer and contemplation were his whole employment till the year 743, in which he died, on the 20th of February. Reflection.--Nothing softens the soul and weakens piety so much as frivolous indulgence. God has revealed what high store He sets by “retirement” in these words: “I will lead her into solitude, and I will speak to her heart.” February 21.--ST. SEVERIANUS, Martyr, Bishop. IN the reign of Marcian and St. Pulcheria, the Council of Chalcedon, which condemned the Eutychian heresy, was received by St. Euthymius and by a great part of the monks of Palestine. But Theodosius, an ignorant Eutychian monk, and a man of a most tyrannical temper, under the protection of the Empress Eudoxia, widow of Theodosius the Younger, who lived at Jerusalem, perverted many among the monks themselves, and having obliged Juvenal, Bishop of Jerusalem, to withdraw, unjustly possessed himself of that important see, and, in a cruel persecution which he raised, filled Jerusalem with blood; then, at the head of a band of soldiers, he carried desolation over the country. Many, however, had the courage to stand their ground. No one resisted him with, greater zeal and resolution than Severianus, Bishop of Scythopolis, and his recompense was the crown of martyrdom; for the furious soldiers seized his person, dragged him out of the city, and massacred him, in the latter part of the year 452 or in the beginning of the year 453. Reflection.--With what floods of tears can we sufficiently bewail so grievous a misfortune, and implore the divine mercy in behalf of so many souls! How ought we to be alarmed at the consideration of so many dreadful examples of God’s inscrutable judgments, and tremble for ourselves! “Let him who stands beware lest he fall” “Hold fast what thou hast,” says the oracle of the Holy Ghost to every one of us, “lest another bear away thy crown.” February 22.--ST. PETER’S CHAIR AT ANTIOCH. THAT St. Peter, before he went to Rome, founded the see of Antioch is attested by many Saints. It was just that the Prince of the Apostles should take this city under his particular care and inspection, which was then the capital of the East, and in which the faith took so early and so deep root as to give birth in it to the name of Christians. St. Chrysostom says that St. Peter made’ there a long stay; St. Gregory the Great, that he was seven years Bishop of Antioch; not that he resided there all that time, but only that he had a particular care over that Church. If he sat twenty-five years at Rome, the date of his establishing his chair at Antioch must be within three years after Our Saviour’s Ascension; for in that supposition he must have gone to Rome in the second year of Claudius. In the first ages it was customary, especially in the East, for every Christian to keep the anniversary of his Baptism, on which he renewed his baptismal vows and gave thanks to God for his heavenly adoption: this they called their spiritual birthday. The bishops in like manner kept the anniversary of their own consecration, as appears from four sermons of St. Leo on the anniversary of his accession or assumption to the pontifical dignity; and this was frequently continued after their decease by the people, out of respect for their memory. St. Leo says we ought to celebrate the chair of St. Peter with no less joy than the day of his martyrdom; for as in this he was exalted to a throne of glory in heaven, so by the former he was installed head of the Church on earth. Reflection.--On this festival we are especially bound to adore and thank the Divine Goodness for the establishment and propagation of His Church, and earnestly to pray that in His mercy He preserve the same, and dilate its pale, that His name may be glorified by all nations, and by all hearts, to the boundaries of the earth, for His divine honor and the salvation of souls, framed to His divine image, and the price of His adorable blood. February 23.--ST. PETER DAMIAN. ST. PETER DAMIAN was born in 988, and lost both parents at an early age. His eldest brother, in whose hands he was left, treated him so cruelly that a younger brother, a priest, moved by his piteous state, sent him to the University of Parma, where he acquired great distinction. His studies were sanctified by vigils, fasts, and prayers, till at last, thinking that all this was only serving God by halves, he resolved to leave the world. He joined the monks at Font-Avellano, then in the greatest repute, and by his wisdom and sanctity rose to be Superior. He was employed on the most delicate and difficult missions, amongst others the reform of ecclesiastical communities, which was effected by his zeal. Seven Popes in succession made him their constant adviser, and he was at last created Cardinal Bishop of Ostia. He withstood Henry IV. of Germany, and labored in defence of Alexander II. against the Antipope, whom he forced to yield and seek for pardon. He was charged, as Papal Legate, with the repression of simony; again, was commissioned to settle discords amongst various bishops, and finally, in 1072, to adjust the affairs of the Church at Ravenna. He was laid low by a fever on his homeward journey, and died at Faenza, in a monastery of his order, on the eighth day of his sickness, whilst the monks chanted matins around him. Reflection.--The Saints studied, not in order to be accounted learned, but to become perfect. This only is wisdom and true greatness, to account ourselves as ignorant, and to adhere in all things to the teachings and instincts of the Church. February 23.-- ST. SERENUS, a Gardener, Martyr. SERENUS was by birth a Grecian. He quitted estate, friends, and country to serve God in celibacy, penance, and prayer. With this design he bought a garden in Sirmium in Pannonia, which he cultivated with his own hands, and lived on the fruits and herbs it produced. One day there came thither a woman, with her two daughters. Serenus, seeing them come up, advised them to withdraw, and to conduct themselves in future as decency required in persons of their sex and condition. The woman, stung at our Saint’s charitable remonstrance, retired in confusion, but resolved on revenging the supposed affront. She accordingly wrote to her husband that Serenus had insulted her. He, on receiving her letter, went to the emperor to demand justice, whereupon the emperor gave him a letter to the governor of the province to enable him to obtain satisfaction. The governor ordered Serenus to be immediately brought before him. Serenus, on hearing the charge, answered, “I remember that, some time ago, a lady came into my garden at an unseasonable hour, and I own I took the liberty to tell her it was against decency for one of her sex and quality to be abroad at such an hour.” This plea of Serenus having put the officer to the blush for his wife’s conduct, he dropped his prosecution. But the governor, suspecting by this answer that Serenus might be a Christian, began to question him, saying, “Who are you, and what is your religion?” Serenus, without hesitating one moment, answered, “I am a Christian. It seemed a while ago as if God rejected me as a stone unfit to enter His building, but He has the goodness to take me now to be placed in it; I am ready to suffer all things for His name, that I may have a part in His kingdom with His Saints” The governor, hearing this burst into rage and said, “Since you sought to elude by flight the emperor’s edicts, and have positively refused to sacrifice to the gods, I condemn you for these crimes to lose your head.” The sentence was no sooner pronounced than the Saint was carried off and beheaded, on the 23d of February, in 307. Reflection.--The garden affords a beautiful emblem of a Christian’s continual progress in the path of virtue. Plants always mount upwards, and never stop in their growth till they have attained to that maturity which the Author of nature has prescribed. So in a Christian, everything ought to carry him toward that perfection which the sanctity of his state requires; and every desire of his soul, every action of his life should be a step advancing to this in a direct line. February 24.--ST. MATTHIAS, Apostle. AFTER our blessed Lord’s Ascension His disciples met together, with Mary His mother and the eleven apostles, in an upper room at Jerusalem. The little company numbered no more than one hundred and twenty souls. They were waiting for the promised coining of the Holy Ghost, and they persevered in prayer. Meanwhile there was a solemn act to be performed on the part of the Church, which could not be postponed. The place of the fallen Judas must be filled up, that the elect number of the apostles might be complete. St. Peter, therefore, as Vicar of Christ, arose to announce the divine decree. That which the Holy Ghost had spoken by the mouth of David concerning Judas, he said, must be fulfilled. Of him it had been written, “His bishopric let another take.” A choice, therefore, was to be made of one among those who had been their companions from the beginning, who could bear witness to the Resurrection of Jesus. Two were named of equal merit, Joseph called Barsabas, and Matthias. Then, after praying to God, Who knows the hearts of all men, to show which of these He had chosen, they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Matthias, who was forthwith numbered with the apostles. It is recorded of the Saint, thus wonderfully elected to so high a vocation, that he was above all remarkable for his mortification of the flesh. It was thus that he made his election sure. Reflection.--Our ignorance of many points in St. Matthias’s life serves to fix the attention all the more firmly upon these two--the occasion of his call to the apostolate, and the fact of his perseverance. We then naturally turn in thought to our own vocation and our own end. February 25.--ST. TARASIUS. TARASIUS was born at Constantinople about the middle of the eighth century, of a noble family. His mother Eucratia, brought him up in the practice of the most eminent virtues. By his talents and virtue he gained the esteem of all, and was raised to the greatest honors of the empire, being made consul, and afterwards first secretary of state to the Emperor Constantine and the Empress Irene, his mother. In the midst of the court, and in its highest honors, he led a life like that of a religious man. Paul, Patriarch of Constantinople, the third of that name, though he had conformed in some respects to the then, reigning heresy, had several good qualities, and was not only beloved by the people for his charity to the poor, but highly esteemed by the whole court for his great prudence. Touched with remorse, he quitted the patriarchal see, and put on a religious habit in the monastery of Florus in Constantinople. Tarasius was chosen to succeed him by the unanimous consent of the court, clergy, and people. Finding it in vain to oppose his election, he declared that he could not in conscience accept of the government of a see which had been cut off from the Catholic communion, except on condition that a general council should be called to compose the disputes which divided the Church at that time in relation to holy images. This being agreed to, he was solemnly declared patriarch, and consecrated soon after, on Christmas Day. The council was opened on the 1st of August, in the Church of the Apostles at Constantinople, in 786; but, being disturbed by the violences of the Iconoclasts, it adjourned, and met again the year following in the Church of St. Sophia at Nice. The council, having declared the sense of the Church in relation to the matter in debate, which was found to be the allowing to holy pictures and images a relative honor, was closed with the usual acclamations and prayers for the prosperity of the emperor and empress; after which, synodal letters were sent to all the churches, and in particular to the Pope, who approved the council. The life of this holy patriarch was a model of perfection to his clergy and people. His table contained barely the necessaries of life; he allowed himself very little time for sleep, being always up the first and last in his family. Reading and prayer filled all his leisure hours. The emperor having become enamoured of Theodota, a maid of honor to his wife, the Empress Mary, was resolved to divorce the latter. He used all his efforts to gain the patriarch over to his desires, but St. Tarasius resolutely refused to countenance the iniquity. The holy man gave up his soul to God in peace on the 25th of February, 806, after having sat twenty-one years and two months. Reflection.--The highest praise which Scripture pronounces on the holy man Job is comprised in these words, “He was simple and upright.” February 26.--ST. PORPHYRY, Bishop. AT the age of twenty-five, Porphyry, a rich citizen of Thessalonica, left the world for one of the great religious houses in the desert of Scete. Here he remained five years, and then, finding himself drawn to a more solitary life, passed into Palestine, where he spent a similar period in the severest penance, till ill health obliged him to moderate his austerities. He then made his home in Jerusalem, and in spite of his ailments visited the Holy Places every day; thinking, says his biographer, so little of his sickness that he seemed to be afflicted in another body, and not his own. About this time God put it into his heart to sell all he had and give to the poor, and then in reward of the sacrifice restored him by a miracle to perfect health. In 393 he was ordained priest and intrusted with the care of the relics of the true cross; three years later, in spite of all the resistance his humility could make, he was consecrated Bishop of Gaza. That city was a hotbed of paganism, and Porphyry found in it an ample scope for his apostolic zeal. His labors and the miracles which attended them effected the conversion of many; and an imperial edict for the destruction of the pagan temples, obtained through the influence of St. John Chrysostom, greatly strengthened his hands. When St. Porphyry first went to Gaza, he found there one temple more splendid than the rest, in honor of the chief god. When the edict went forth to destroy all traces of heathen worship, St. Porphyry determined to put Satan to special shame where he had received special honor. A Christian church was built upon the site, and its approach was paved with the marbles of the heathen temple. Thus every worshipper of Jesus Christ trod the relics of idolatry and superstition underfoot each time he went to assist at the holy Mass. He lived to see his diocese for the most part clear of idolatry, and died in 420. Reflection.--All superstitious searching into secret things is forbidden by the First Commandment equally with the worship of any false god. Let us ask St. Porphyry for a great zeal in keeping this commandment, lest we be led away, as so many are, by a curious and prying mind. February 27.--ST. LEANDER, Bishop. ST. LEANDER was born of an illustrious family at Carthagena in Spain. He was the eldest of five brothers, several of whom are numbered among the Saints. He entered into a monastery very young, where he lived many years and attained to an eminent degree of virtue and sacred learning. These qualities occasioned his being promoted to the see of Seville; but his change of condition made little or no alteration in his method of life, though it brought on him a great increase of care and solicitude. Spain at that time was in possession of the Visigoths. These Goths, being infected with Arianism, established this heresy wherever they came; so that when St. Leander was made bishop it had reigned in Spain a hundred years. This was his great affliction; however, by his prayers to God, and by his most zealous and unwearied endeavors, he became the happy instrument of the conversion of that nation to the Catholic faith. Having converted, among others, Hermenegild, the king’s eldest son and heir apparent, Leander was banished by King Leovigild. This pious prince was put to death by his unnatural father, the year following, for refusing to receive Communion from the hands of an Arian bishop. But, touched with remorse not long after, the king recalled our Saint; and falling sick and finding himself past hopes of recovery, he sent for St. Leander, and recommended to him his son Recared. This son, by listening to St. Leander, soon became a Catholic, and finally converted the whole nation of the Visigoths. He was no less successful with respect to the Suevi, a people of Spain, whom his father Leovigild had perverted. St. Leander was no less zealous in the reformation of manners than in restoring the purity of faith; and he planted the seeds of that zeal and fervor which afterwards produced so many martyrs and Saints. This holy doctor of Spain died about the year 596, on the 27th of February, as Mabillon proves from his epitaph. The Church of Seville has been a metropolitan see ever since the third century. The cathedral is the most magnificent, both as to structure and ornament, of any in all Spain. February 28.--STS. ROMANUS and LUPICINUS, Abbots. ROMANUS at thirty-five years of age left his relatives and spent some time in the monastery of Ainay at Lyons, at the great church at the conflux of the Saone and Rhone which the faithful had built over the ashes of the famous martyrs of that city; for their bodies being burned by the pagans, their ashes were thrown into the Rhone, but a great part of them was gathered by the Christians and deposited in this place. Romanus a short time after retired into the forests of Mount Jura, between France and Switzerland, and fixed his abode at a place called Condate, at the conflux of the rivers Bienne and Aliere, where he found a spot of ground fit for culture, and some trees which furnished him with a kind of wild fruit. Here he spent his time in praying, reading, and laboring for his subsistence. Lupicinus, his brother, came to him some time after in company with others, who were followed by several more, drawn by the fame of the virtue and miracles of these two Saints. Their numbers increasing, they built several monasteries, and a nunnery called La Beaume, which no men were allowed ever to enter, and where St. Romanus chose his burial-place. The brothers governed the monks jointly and in great harmony, though Lupicinus was the more inclined to severity of the two. Lupicinus used no other bed than a chair or a hard board; never touched wine, and would scarcely ever suffer a drop either of oil or milk to be poured on his pottage. In summer his subsistence for many years was only hard bread moistened in cold water, so that he could eat it with a spoon. His tunic was made of various skins of beasts sewn together with a cowl; he used wooden shoes, and wore no stockings unless when he was obliged to go out of the monastery. St. Romanus died about the year 460, and St. Lupicinus survived him almost twenty years. February 29.--ST. OSWALD, Bishop. OSWALD was of a noble Saxon family, and was endowed with a very rare and beautiful form of body and with a singular piety of soul. He was brought up by his uncle, St. Odo, Archbishop of Canterbury, and was chosen, while still young, dean of the secular canons of Winchester, then very relaxed. His attempt to reform them was a failure; and he saw, with that infallible instinct which so often guides the Saints in critical times, that the true remedy for the corruptions of the clergy was the restoration of the monastic life. He therefore went to France and took the habit of St. Benedict, but returned, only to receive the news of Odo’s death. He found, however, a new patron in St. Dunstan, now metropolitan, through whose influence he was nominated to the see of Worcester. To these two Saints, together with Ethelwold of Winchester, the monastic revival of the tenth century is mainly due. Oswald’s first care was to deprive of their benefices the disorderly clerics, whom he replaced as far as possible by regulars, and himself founded seven religious houses. Considering that in the hearts of the secular canons there were yet some sparks of virtue, he would not at once expel them, but rather entrapped them by a holy artifice. Adjoining the cathedral he built a church in honor of the Mother of God, causing it to be served by a body of strict religious. He himself assisted at the divine Office in this church, and his example was followed by the people. The canons, finding themselves isolated and their cathedral deserted, chose rather to embrace the religious life than to continue not only to injure their own souls, but to be a mockery to their people by reason of the contrast offered by their worldliness to the regularity of their religious brethren. As Archbishop of York a like success attended St. Oswald’s efforts; and God manifested His approval of his zeal by discovering to him the relics of his great predecessor, St. Wilfrid, which he reverently translated to Worcester. He died February 29, 992. Reflection.--A soul without discipline is like a ship without a helm; she must inevitably strike unawares upon the rocks, founder on the shoals, or float unknowingly into the harbor of the enemy. March 1.--ST. DAVID, Bishop. ST. DAVID, son of Sant, Prince of Cardigan and of Non, was born in that country in the fifth century, and from his earliest years gave himself wholly to the service of God. He began his religious life under St. Paulinus, a disciple of St. Germanus, Bishop of Auxerre, who had been sent to Britain by Pope St. Celestine to stop the ravages of the heresy of Pelagius, at that time abbot, as it is said, of Bangor. On the reappearance of that heresy, in the beginning of the sixth century, the bishops assembled at Brevi, and, unable to address the people that came to hear the word of truth, sent for St. David from his cell to preach to them. The Saint came, and it is related that, as he preached, the ground beneath his feet rose and became a hill, so that he was heard by an innumerable crowd. The heresy fell under the sword of the Spirit, and the Saint was elected Bishop of Caerleon on the resignation of St. Dubricius; but he removed the see to Menevia, a lone and desert spot, where he might, with his monks, serve God away from the noise of the world. He founded twelve monasteries, and governed his Church according to the canons sanctioned in Rome. At last, when about eighty years of age, he laid himself down, knowing that his hour was come. As his agony closed, Our Lord stood before him in a vision, and the Saint cried out: “Take me up with Thee,” and so gave up his soul on Tuesday, March 1, 561. Reflection.--With whatever virtues a man may be endowed, he will discover, if he considers himself attentively, a sufficient depth of misery to afford cause for deep humility; but Jesus Christ says, “He that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” March 1.--ST. ALBINUS, Bishop. ST. ALBINUS was of an ancient and noble family in Brittany, and from his childhood was fervent in every exercise of piety. He ardently sighed after the happiness which a devout soul finds in being perfectly disengaged from all earthly things. Having embraced the monastic state at Tintillant, near Augers, he shone a perfect model of virtue, living as if in all things he had been without any will of his own; and his soul seemed so perfectly governed by the spirit of Christ as to live only for Him. At the age of thirty-five years he was chosen abbot, in 504, and twenty-five years afterwards Bishop of Angers. He everywhere restored discipline, being inflamed with a holy zeal for the honor of God. His dignity seemed to make no alteration either in his mortifications or in the constant recollection of his soul. Honored by all the world, even by kings, he was never affected with vanity. Powerful in works and miracles, he looked upon himself as the most unworthy and most unprofitable among the servants of God, and had no other ambition than to appear such in the eyes of others as he was in those of his own humility. In the third Council of Orleans, in 538, he procured the thirtieth canon of the Council of Epaone to be revived, by which those are declared excommunicated who presume to contract incestuous marriages in the first or second degree of consanguinity or affinity. He died on the 1st of March, in 549. Reflection.--With whatever virtues a man may be endowed, he will discover, if he considers himself attentively, a sufficient depth of misery to afford cause for deep humility; but Jesus Christ says, “He that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” March 1.--ST. GABRIEL OF THE SORROWFUL MOTHER. (From Rev. Butler’s section titled: “Lives Of Certain Saints Contained In The Calendar Of Special Feasts For The United States And Of Some Others Recently Canonized”) GABRIEL POSSENTI, born March 1, 1838, the eleventh of thirteen children, was reared in a home that was none the less pious because cultured. Inordinately vain and passionately devoted to the pleasures of the world, it is little wonder that his teachers and companions were incredulous when he announced that he would enter the Passionist Order immediately upon his graduation. His life in religion was one of love throughout--joyous love, made all the sweeter by the penances prescribed by his rule, which he fulfilled to the letter. There was nothing extraordinary about him except his fidelity to prayer, his love of mortification and his joyfulness of spirit. At the age of twenty-three, just as he was finishing his studies, he was stricken with consumption, of which he died at Isola on February 27, 1862. His feast is February 27. March 2.--ST. SIMPLICIUS, Pope. ST. SIMPLICIUS was the ornament of the Roman clergy under Sts. Leo and Hilarius, and succeeded the latter in the pontificate in 468. He was raised by God to comfort and support his Church amidst the greatest storms. All the provinces of the Western Empire, out of Italy, were fallen into the hands of barbarians. The emperors for many years were rather shadows of power than sovereigns, and, in the eighth year of the pontificate of Simplicius, Rome itself fell a prey to foreigners. Italy, by oppressions and the ravages of barbarians, was left almost a desert without inhabitants; and the imperial armies consisted chiefly of barbarians, hired under the name of auxiliaries. These soon saw that their masters were in their power. The Heruli demanded one third of the lands of Italy, and upon refusal chose for their leader Odoacer, one of the lowest extraction, but a resolute and intrepid man, who was proclaimed king of Rome in 476. He put to death Orestes, who was regent of the empire for his son Augustulus, whom the senate had advanced to the imperial throne. Odoacer spared the life of Augustulus, appointed him a salary of six thousand pounds of gold, and permitted him to live at full liberty near Naples. Pope Simplicius was wholly taken up in comforting and relieving the afflicted, and in sowing the seeds of the Catholic faith among the barbarians. The East gave his zeal no less employment and concern. Peter Cnapheus, a violent Eutychian, was made by the heretics Patriarch of Antioch; and Peter Mengus, one of the most profligate men, that of Alexandria. Acacius, the Patriarch of Constantinople, received the sentence of St. Simplicius against Cnapheus, but supported Mongus against him and the Catholic Church, and was a notorious changeling, double-dealer, and artful hypocrite, who often made religion serve his own private ends. St. Simplicius at length discovered his artifices, and redoubled his zeal to maintain the holy faith, which he saw betrayed on every side, whilst the patriarchal sees of Alexandria and Antioch were occupied by furious wolves, and there was not one Catholic king in the whole world. The emperor measured everything by his passions and human views. St. Simplicius, having sat fifteen years, eleven months, and six days, went to receive the reward of his labors in 483. He was buried in St. Peter’s on the 2d of March. Reflection.--”He that trusteth in God shall fare never the worse,” saith the Wise Man in the Book of Ecclesiasticus. March 3.--ST. CUNEGUNDES, Empress. ST. CUNEGUNDES was the daughter of Siegfried, the first Count of Luxemburg, and Hadeswige, his pious wife. They instilled into her from her cradle the most tender sentiments of piety, and married her to St. Henry, Duke of Bavaria, who, upon the death of the Emperor Otho III., was chosen king of the Romans, and crowned on the 6th of June, 1002. She was crowned at Paderborn on St. Laurence’s day. In the year 1014 she went with her husband to Rome, and received the imperial crown with him from the hands of Pope Benedict VIII. She had, by St. Henry’s consent, before her marriage made a vow of virginity. Calumniators afterwards made vile accusations against her, and the holy empress, to remove the scandal of such a slander, trusting in God to prove her innocence, walked over red-hot ploughshares without being hurt. The emperor condemned his too scrupulous fears and credulity, and from that time they lived in the strictest union of hearts, conspiring to promote in everything God’s honor and the advancement of piety. Going once to make a retreat in Hesse, she fell dangerously ill, and made a vow to found a monastery, if she recovered, at Kaffungen, near Cassel, in the diocese of Paderborn, which she executed in a stately manner, and gave it to nuns of the Order of St. Benedict. Before it was finished St. Henry died, in 1024. She earnestly recommended his soul to the prayers of others, especially to her blear nuns, and expressed her longing desire of joining them. She had already exhausted her treasures in founding bishoprics and monasteries, and in relieving the poor, and she had therefore little left now to give. But still thirsting to embrace perfect evangelical poverty, and to renounce all to serve God without obstacle, she assembled a great number of prelates to the dedication of her church of Kaffungen on the anniversary day of her husband’s death, 1025; and after the gospel was sung at Mass she offered on the altar a piece of the true cross, and then, putting off her imperial robes, clothed herself with a poor habit; her hair was cut off, and the bishop put on her a veil, and a ring as a pledge of her fidelity to her heavenly Spouse. After she was consecrated to God in religion, she seemed entirely to forget that she had been empress, and behaved as the last in the house, being persuaded that she was 30 before God. She prayed and read much, worked with her hands, and took a singular pleasure in visiting and comforting the sick. Thus she passed the last fifteen years of her life. Her mortifications at length reduced her to a very weak condition, and brought on her last sickness. Perceiving that they were preparing a cloth fringed with gold to cover her corpse after her death, she changed color and ordered it to be taken away; nor could she be at rest till she was promised she should be buried as a poor religious in her habit. She died on the 3d of March, 1040. Her body was carried to Bamberg and buried near that of her husband. She was solemnly canonized by Innocent III. in 1200. Reflection.--Detachment of the mind, at least, is needful to those who cannot venture on an effectual renunciation. “So likewise every one of you,” saith Jesus Christ, “that doth not renounce all that he possesseth, cannot be My disciple.” March 4.--ST. CASIMIR, King. CASIMIR, the second son of Casimir III., King of Poland was born A. D. 1458. From the custody of a most virtuous mother, Elizabeth of Austria, he passed to the guardianship of a devoted master, the learned and pious John Dugloss. Thus animated from his earliest years by precept and example, his innocence and piety soon ripened into the practice of heroic virtue. At the age of twenty-five, sick of a lingering illness, he foretold the hour of his death, and chose to die a virgin rather than take the life and health which the doctors held out to him in the married state. In an atmosphere of luxury and magnificence the young prince had fasted, worn a hair-shirt, slept upon the bare earth, prayed by night, and watched for the opening of the church doors at dawn. He had become so tenderly devoted to the Passion of Our Lord that at Mass he seemed quite rapt out of himself, and his charity to the poor and afflicted knew no bounds. His love for our blessed Lady he expressed in a long and beautiful hymn, familiar to us in our own tongue. The miracles wrought by his body after death fill a volume. The blind saw, the lame walked, the sick were healed, a dead girl was raised to life. And once the Saint in glory led his countrymen to battle, and delivered them by a glorious victory from the schismatic Russian hosts. One hundred and twenty-two years after his death the Saint’s tomb in the cathedral of Vienna was opened, that the holy body might be transferred to the rich marble chapel where it now lies. The place was damp, and the very vault crumbled away in the hands of the workmen; yet the Saint’s body, wrapped in robes of silk, was found whole and incorrupt, and emitted a sweet fragrance, which filled the church and refreshed all who were present. Under his head was found his hymn to Our Lady, which he had had buried with him. The following night three young men saw a brilliant light issuing from the open tomb and streaming through the windows of the chapel. Reflection.--Let the study of St. Casimir’s life make us increase in devotion to the most pure Mother of God--a sure means of preserving holy purity. March 5.--STS. ADRIAN and EUBULUS, Martyrs. IN the seventh year of Diocletian’s persecution, continued by Galerius Maximianus, when Firmilian, the most bloody governor of Palestine, had stained Caesarea with the blood of many illustrious martyrs, Adrian and Eubulus came out of the country called Magantia to Caesarea, in order to visit the holy confessors there. At the gates of the city they were asked, as others were, whither they were going, and upon what errand. They ingenuously confessed the truth, and were brought before the president, who ordered them to be tortured and their sides to be torn with iron hooks, and then condemned them to be exposed to wild beasts. Two days after, when the pagans at Caesarea celebrated the festival of the public Genius, Adrian was exposed to a lion, and not being despatched by that beast, but only mangled, was at length killed by the sword. Eubulus was treated in the same manner two days later. The judge offered him his liberty if he would sacrifice to idols; but the Saint preferred a glorious death, and was the last that suffered in this persecution at Caesarea, which had now continued twelve years, under three successive governors, Flavian, Urban, and Firmilian. Divine vengeance pursuing the cruel Firmilian, he was that same year beheaded for his crimes, by the emperor’s order, as his predecessor Urban had been two years before. Reflection.--It is in vain that we take the name of Christians, or pretend to follow Christ, unless we carry our crosses after Him. It is in vain that we hope to share in His glory, and in His kingdom, if we accept not the condition. We cannot arrive at heaven by any other road but that which Christ held, Who bequeathed His cross to all His elect as their portion and inheritance in this world. March 6.--ST. COLETTE, Virgin. AFTER a holy childhood, Colette joined a society of devout women called the Beguines; but not finding their state sufficiently austere, she entered the Third Order of St. Francis, and lived in a hut near her parish church of Corbie in Picardy. Here she had passed four years of extraordinary penance when St. Francis, in a vision, bade her undertake the reform of her Order, then much relaxed. Armed with due authority, she established her reform throughout a large part of Europe, and, in spite of the most violent opposition, founded seventeen convents of the strict observance. By the same wonderful prudence she assisted in healing the great schism which then afflicted the Church. The Fathers in council at Constance were in doubt how to deal with the three claimants to the tiara--John XXIII., Benedict XIII., and Gregory XII. At this crisis Colette, together with St. Vincent Ferrer, wrote to the Fathers to depose Benedict XIII., who alone refused his consent to a new election. This was done, and Martin V. was elected, to the great good of the Church. Colette equally assisted the Council of Basle by her advice and prayers; and when, later, God revealed to her the spirit of revolt that was rising, she warned the bishops and legates to retire from the council. St. Colette never ceased to pray for the Church, while the devils, in turn, never ceased to assault her. They swarmed round her as hideous insects, buzzing and stinging her tender skin. They brought into her cell the decaying corpses of public criminals, and assuming themselves monstrous forms struck her savage blows; or they would appear in the most seductive guise, and tempt her by many deceits to sin. St. Colette once complained to Our Lord that the demons prevented her from praying. “Cease, then,” said the devil to her, “your prayers to the great Master of the Church, and we will cease to torment you; for you torment us more by your prayers than we do you.” Yet the virgin of Christ triumphed alike over their threats and their allurements, and said she would count that day the unhappiest of her life in which she suffered nothing for her God. She died March 6, 1447, in a transport of intercession for sinners and the Church. Reflection.--One of the greatest tests of being a good Catholic is zeal for the Church and, devotion to Christ’s Vicar. March 7.--ST. THOMAS AQUINAS. ST. THOMAS was born of noble parents at Aquino in Italy, in 1226. At the age of nineteen he received the Dominican habit at Naples, where he was studying. Seized by his brothers on his way to Paris, he suffered a two years’ captivity in their castle of Rocca-Secca; but neither the caresses of his mother and sisters, nor the threats and stratagems of his brothers, could shake him in his vocation. While St. Thomas was in confinement at Rocca-Secca, his brothers endeavored to entrap him into sin, but the attempt only ended in the triumph of his purity. Snatching from the hearth a burning brand, the Saint drove from his chamber the wretched creature whom they had there concealed. Then marking a cross upon the wall, he knelt down to pray, and forthwith, being rapt in ecstasy, an angel girded him with a cord, in token of the gift of perpetual chastity which God had given him. The pain caused by the girdle was so sharp that St. Thomas uttered a piercing cry, which brought his guards into the room. But he never told this grace to any one save only to Father Raynald, his confessor, a little while before his death. Hence originated the Confraternity of the “Angelic Warfare,” for the preservation of the virtue of chastity. Having at length escaped, St. Thomas went to Cologne to study under Blessed Albert the Great, and after that to Paris, where for many years he taught philosophy and theology. The Church has ever venerated his numerous writings as a treasure-house of sacred doctrine; while in naming him the Angelic Doctor she has indicated that his science is more divine than human. The rarest gifts of intellect were combined in him with the tenderest piety. Prayer, he said, had taught him more than study. His singular devotion to the Blessed Sacrament shines forth in the Office and hymns for Corpus Christi, which he composed. To the words miraculously uttered by a crucifix at Naples, “Well hast thou written concerning Me, Thomas. What shall I give thee as a reward?” he replied, “Naught save Thyself, O Lord.” He died at Fossa-Nuova, 1274, on his way to the General Council of Lyons, to which Pope Gregory X. had summoned him. Reflection.--The knowledge of God is for all, but hidden treasures are reserved for those who have ever followed the Lamb. March 8.--ST. JOHN OF GOD. NOTHING in John’s early life foreshadowed his future sanctity. He ran away as a boy from his home in Portugal, tended sheep and cattle in Spain, and served as a soldier against the French, and afterwards against the Turks. When about forty years of age, feeling remorse for his wild life, he resolved to devote himself to the ransom of the Christian slaves in Africa, and went thither with the family of an exiled noble, which he maintained by his labor. On his return to Spain he sought to do good by selling holy pictures and books at low prices. At length the hour of grace struck. At Granada a sermon by the celebrated John of Avila shook his soul to its depths, and his expressions of self-abhorrence were so extraordinary that he was taken to the asylum as one mad. There he employed himself in ministering to the sick. On leaving he began to collect homeless poor, and to support them by his work and by begging. One night St. John found in the streets a poor man who seemed near death, and, as was his wont, he carried him to the hospital, laid him on a bed, and went to fetch water to wash his feet. When he had washed them, he knelt to kiss them, and started with awe: the feet were pierced, and the print of the nails bright with an unearthly radiance. He raised his eyes to look, and heard the words, “John, to Me thou doest all that thou doest to the poor in My name: I reach forth My hand for the alms thou givest; Me dost thou clothe, Mine are the feet thou dost wash.” And then the gracious vision disappeared, leaving St. John filled at once with confusion and consolation. The bishop became the Saint’s patron, and gave him the name of John of God. When his hospital was on fire, John was seen rushing about uninjured amidst the flames until he had rescued all his poor. After ten years spent in the service of the suffering, the Saint’s life was fitly closed. He plunged into the river Xenil to save a drowning boy, and died, 1550, of an illness brought on by the attempt, at the age of fifty-five. Reflection.--God often rewards men for works that are pleasing in His sight by giving them grace and opportunity to do other works higher still. St. John of God used to attribute his conversion, and the graces which enabled him to do such great works, to his self-denying charity in Africa. March 9.--ST. FRANCES OF ROME. FRANCES was born at Rome in 1384. Her parents were of high rank. They overruled her desire to become a nun, and at twelve years of age married her to Rorenzo Ponziano, a Roman noble. During the forty years of their married life they never had a disagreement. While spending her days in retirement and prayer, she attended promptly to every household duty, saying, “A married woman must leave God at the altar to find Him in her domestic cares;” and she once found the verse of a psalm in which she had been four times thus interrupted completed for her in letters of gold. Her ordinary food was dry bread. Secretly she would exchange with beggars good food for their hard crusts; her drink was water, and her cup a human skull. During the invasion of Rome, in 1413, Ponziano was banished, his estates confiscated, his house destroyed, and his eldest son taken as a hostage. Frances saw in these losses only the finger of God, and blessed His holy name. When peace was restored Ponziano recovered his estate, and Frances founded the Oblates. After her husband’s death, barefoot and with a cord about her neck she begged admission to the community, and was soon elected Superioress. She lived always in the presence of God, and amongst many visions was given constant sight of her angel guardian, who shed such brightness around him that the Saint could read her midnight Office by this light alone. He shielded her in the hour of temptation, and directed her in every good act. But when she was betrayed into some defect, he faded from her sight; and when some light words were spoken before her, he covered his face in shame. She died on the day she had foretold, March 9, 1440. Reflection.--God has appointed an angel to guard each one of us, to whose warnings we are bound to attend. Let us listen to his voice here, and we shall see him hereafter when he leads us before the throne of God. March 10.--THE FORTY MARTYRS OF SEBASTE. THE FORTY MARTYRS were soldiers quartered at Sebaste in Armenia, about the year 320. When their legion was ordered to offer sacrifice they separated themselves from the rest and formed a company of martyrs. After they had been torn by scourges and iron hooks they were chained together and led to a lingering death. It was a cruel winter, and they were condemned to lie naked on the icy surface of a pond in the open air till they were frozen to death. But they ran undismayed to the place of their combat, joyfully stripped off their garments, and with one voice besought God to keep their ranks unbroken. “Forty,” they cried, “we have come to combat: grant that forty may be crowned.” There were warm baths hard by, ready for any one amongst them who would deny Christ. The soldiers who watched saw angels descending with thirty-nine crowns, and, while he wondered at the deficiency in the number, one of the confessors lost heart, renounced his faith, and, crawling to the fire, died body and soul at the spot where he expected relief. But the soldier was inspired to confess Christ and take his place, and again the number of forty was complete. They remained steadfast while their limbs grew stiff and frozen, and died one by one. Among the Forty there was a young soldier who held out longest against the cold, and when the officers came to cart away the dead bodies they found him still breathing. They were moved with pity, and wanted to leave him alive in the hope that he would still change his mind. But his mother stood by, and this valiant woman could not bear to see her son separated from the band of martyrs. She exhorted him to persevere, and lifted his frozen body into the cart. He was just able to make a sign of recognition, and was borne away, to be thrown into the flames with the dead bodies of his brethren. Reflection.--All who live the life of grace are one in Christ. But besides this there are many specialties--of religion, of community life, or at least of aspirations in prayer, and pious works. Thank God if He has bound you to others by these spiritual ties; remember the character you have to support, and pray that the bond which unites you here may last for eternity. March 11.--ST. EULOGIUS, Martyr. ST. EULOGIUS was of a senatorian family of Cordova, at that time the capital of the Moors in Spain. Our Saint was educated among the clergy of the Church of St. Zoilus, a martyr who suffered with nineteen others under Diocletian. Here he distinguished himself, by his virtue and learning, and, being made priest, was placed at the head of the chief ecclesiastical school at Cordova. He joined assiduous watching, fasting, and prayer to his studies, and his humility, mildness, and charity gained him the affection and respect of every one. During the persecution raised against the Christians in the year 850, St. Eulogius was thrown into prison and there wrote his Exhortation to Martyrdom, addressed to the virgins Flora and Mary, who were beheaded the 24th of November, 851. Six days after their death Eulogius was set at liberty. In the year 852 several others suffered the like martyrdom. St. Eulogius encouraged all these martyrs to their triumphs, and was the support of that distressed flock. The Archbishop of Toledo dying in 858, St. Eulogius was elected to succeed him; but there was some obstacle that hindered him from being consecrated, though he did not outlive his election two months. A virgin, by name Leocritia, of a noble family among the Moors, had been instructed from her infancy in the Christian religion by one of her relatives, and privately baptized. Her father and mother used her very ill, and scourged her day and night to compel her to renounce the Faith. Having made her condition known to St. Eulogius and his sister Anulona, intimating that she desired to go where she might freely exercise her religion, they secretly procured her the means of getting away, and concealed her for some time among faithful friends. But the matter was at length discovered, and they were all brought before the cadi, who threatened to have Eulogius scourged to death. The Saint told him that his torments would be of no avail, for he would never change his religion. Whereupon the cadi gave orders that he should be carried to the palace and be presented before the king’s council. Eulogius began boldly to propose the truths of the Gospel to them. But, to prevent their hearing him, the council condemned him immediately to lose his head. As they were leading him to execution, one of the guards gave him a blow on the face, for having spoken against Mahomet; he turned the other cheek, and patiently received a second. He received the stroke of death with great cheerfulness, on the 11th of March, 859. St. Leocritia was beheaded four days after him, and her body thrown into the river Guadalquivir, but taken out by the Christians. Reflection.--Beg of God, through the intercession of these holy martyrs, the gift of perseverance. Their example will supply you with an admirable rule for obtaining this crowning gift. Remember that you have renounced the world and the devil once for all at your Baptism. Do not hesitate; do not look back; do not listen to suggestions against faith or virtue; but advance, day by day, along the road which you have chosen, to God Who is your portion forever. March 12.--ST. GREGORY THE GREAT. GREGORY was a Roman of noble birth, and while still young was governor of Rome. On his father’s death he gave his great wealth to the poor, turned his house on the Coelian Hill into a monastery, which now bears his name, and for some years lived as a perfect monk. The Pope drew him from his seclusion to make him one of the seven deacons of Rome; and he did great service to the Church for many years as what we now call Nuncio to the Imperial court at Constantinople. While still a monk the saint was struck with some boys who were exposed for sale in Rome, and heard with sorrow that they were pagans. “And of what race are they?” he asked. “They are Angles.” “Worthy indeed to be Angels of God,” said he. “And of what province?” “Of Deira,” was the reply. “Truly must we rescue them from the wrath of God. And what is the name of their king?” “He is called Ella.” “It is well,” said Gregory; “Alleluia must be sung in their land to God.” He at once got leave from the Pope, and had set out to convert the English when the murmurs of the people led the Pope to recall him. Still the Angles were not forgotten, and one of the Saint’s first cares as Pope was to send from his own monastery St. Augustine and other monks to England. On the death of Pope Pelagius II., Gregory was compelled to take the government of the Church, and for fourteen years his pontificate was a perfect model of ecclesiastical rule. He healed schisms; revived discipline; saved Italy by converting the wild Arian Lombards who were laying it waste; aided in the conversion of the Spanish and French Goths, who were also Arians; and kindled anew in Britain the light of the Faith, which the English had put out in blood. He set in order the Church’s prayers and chant, guided and consoled her pastors with innumerable letters, and preached incessantly, most effectually by his own example. He died A. D. 604, worn out by austerities and toils; and the Church reckons him one of her four great doctors, and reveres him as St. Gregory the Great. Reflection.--The champions of faith prove the truth of their teaching no less by the holiness of their lives than by the force of their arguments. Never forget that to convert others you must first see to your own soul. March 13.--ST. EUPHRASIA, Virgin. EUPHRASIA was the daughter of pious and noble parents. After the death of her father his widow withdrew privately with her little daughter into Egypt, where she was possessed of a very large estate. In that country she fixed her abode near a holy monastery of one hundred and thirty nuns. The young Euphrasia, at seven years of age, begged that she might be permitted to serve God in this monastery. The pious mother on hearing this wept for joy, and not long after presented her child to the abbess, who, taking up an image of Christ, gave it to Euphrasia. The tender virgin kissed it, saying, “By vow I consecrate myself to Christ”. Then the mother led her before an image of Our Redeemer, and lifting up her hands to heaven said, “Lord Jesus Christ, receive this child under your special protection. You alone doth she love and seek: to you doth she recommend herself”. Then leaving her in the hands of the abbess, she went out of the monastery weeping. Some time after this the good mother fell sick, and soon slept in peace. Upon the news of her death the Emperor Theodosius sent for the noble virgin to come to court, having promised her in marriage to a favorite young senator. But the virgin wrote him refusing the alliance, repeating her vow of virginity, and requesting that her estates should be sold and divided among the poor, and all her slaves set at liberty. The Emperor punctually executed all she desired, a little before his death in 395. St. Euphrasia was a perfect pattern of humility, meekness, and charity. If she found herself assaulted by any temptation, she immediately sought the advice of the abbess, who often enjoined her on such occasions some humbling and painful penitential labor, as sometimes to carry great stones from one place to another; which employment she once, under an obstinate assault, continued thirty days together with wonderful simplicity, till the devil, being vanquished by her humble obedience and chastisement of her body, left her in peace. She was favored with miracles both before and after her death, which happened in the year 410, the thirtieth of her age. March 14.--ST. MAUD, Queen THIS princess was daughter of Theodoric, a powerful Saxon count. Her parents placed her very young in the monastery of Erford, of which her grandmother Maud was then abbess. Our Saint remained in that house, an accomplished model of all virtues, till her parents married her to Henry, son of Otho, Duke of Saxony, in 913, who was afterwards chosen king of Germany. He was a pious and victorious prince, and very tender of his subjects. Whilst by his arms he checked the insolence of the Hungarians and Danes, and enlarged his dominions by adding to them Bavaria, Maud gained domestic victories over her spiritual enemies more worthy of a Christian and far greater in the eyes of Heaven. She nourished the precious seeds of devotion and humility in her heart by assiduous prayer and meditation. It was her delight to visit, comfort, and exhort the sick and the afflicted; to serve and instruct the poor, and to afford her charitable succor to prisoners. Her husband, edified by her example, concurred with her in every pious undertaking which she projected. After twenty-three years’ marriage God was pleased to call the king to himself, in 936. Maud, during his sickness, went to the church to pour forth her soul in prayer for him at the foot of the altar. As soon as she understood, by the tears and cries of the people, that he had expired, she called for a priest that was fasting to offer the holy sacrifice for his soul. She had three sons: Otho, afterwards emperor; Henry, Duke of Bavaria; and St. Brunn, Archbishop of Cologne. Otho was crowned king of Germany in 937, and emperor at Rome in 962, after his victories over the Bohemians and Lombards. The two oldest sons conspired to strip Maud of her dowry, on the unjust pretence that she had squandered the revenues of the state on the poor. The unnatural princes at length repented of their injustice, and restored to her all that had been taken from her. She then became more liberal in her alms than ever, and founded many churches, with five monasteries. In her last sickness she made her confession to her grandson William, the Archbishop of Mentz, who yet died twelve days before her, on his road home. She again made a public confession before the priests and monks of the place, received a second time the last sacraments, and, lying on a sack-cloth, with ashes on her head, died on the 14th of March in 968. Reflection.--The beginning of true virtue is most ardently to desire it, and to ask it of God with the utmost assiduity and earnestness. Fervent prayer, holy meditation, and reading pious books, are the principal means by which this virtue is to be constantly improved, and the interior life of the soul to be strengthened. March 15.--ST. ZACHARY, Pope. ST. ZACHARY succeeded Gregory III., in 741, and was a man of singular meekness and goodness. He loved the clergy and people of Rome to that degree that he hazarded his life for them on occasion of the troubles which Italy fell into by the rebellion of the Dukes of Spoleto and Benevento against King Luitprand. Out of respect to his sanctity and dignity, that king restored to the Church of Rome all the places which belonged to it, and sent back the captives without ransom. The Lombards were moved to tears at the devotion with which they heard him perform the divine service. The zeal and prudence of this holy Pope appeared in many wholesome regulations which he had made to reform or settle the discipline and peace of several churches. St. Boniface, the Apostle of Germany, wrote to him against a certain priest named Virgilius, that he labored to sow the seeds of discord between him and Odilo, Duke of Bavaria, and taught, besides, many errors. Zachary ordered that Virgilius should be sent to Rome, that his doctrine might be examined. It seems that he cleared himself; for we find this same Virgilius soon after made Bishop of Salzburg. Certain Venetian merchants having bought at Rome many slaves to sell to the Moors in Africa, St. Zachary forbade such an iniquitous traffic, and, paying the merchants their price, gave the slaves their liberty. He adorned Rome with sacred buildings, and with great foundations in favor of the poor and pilgrims, and gave every year a considerable sum to furnish oil for the lamps in St. Peter’s Church. He died in 752, in the month of March. March 16.--STS. ABRAHAM and MARY. ABRAHAM was a rich nobleman of Edessa. At his parents’ desire he married, but escaped to a cell near the city as soon as the feast was over. He walled up the cell-door, leaving only a small window through which he received his food. There for fifty years he sang God’s praises and implored mercy for himself and for all men. The wealth which fell to him on his parents’ death he gave to the poor. As many sought him for advice and consolation, the Bishop of Edessa, in spite of his humility, ordained him priest. St. Abraham was sent, soon after his ordination, to an idolatrous city which had hitherto been deaf to every messenger. He was insulted, beaten, and three times banished, but he returned each time with fresh zeal. For three years he pleaded with God for those souls, and in the end prevailed. Every citizen came to him for Baptism. After providing for their spiritual needs he went back to his cell more than ever convinced of the power of prayer. His brother died, leaving an only daughter, Mary, to the Saint’s care. He placed her in a cell near his own, and devoted himself to training her in perfection. After twenty years of innocence she fell, and fled in despair to a distant city, where she drowned the voice of conscience in sin. The Saint and his friend St. Ephrem prayed earnestly for her during two years. Then he went disguised to seek the lost sheep, and had the joy of bringing her back to the desert a true penitent. She received the gift of miracles, and her countenance after death shone as the sun. St. Abraham died five years before her, about 360. All Edessa came for his last blessing and to secure his relics. Reflection.--Oh, that we realized the omnipotence of prayer! Every soul was created to glorify God eternally; and it is in the power of every one to add by the salvation of his neighbor to the glory of God. Let us make good use of this talent of prayer, lest our brother’s blood be required of us at the last. March 17.--ST. PATRICK, Bishop, Apostle of Ireland. IF the virtue of children reflects an honor on their parents, much more justly is the name of St. Patrick rendered illustrious by the innumerable lights of sanctity with which the Church of Ireland shone during many ages, and by the colonies of Saints with which it peopled many foreign countries; for, under God, its inhabitants derived from their glorious apostle the streams of that eminent sanctity by which they were long conspicuous to the whole world. St. Patrick was born towards the close of the fourth century, in a village called Bonaven Taberniae, which seems to be the town of Kilpatrick, on the mouth of the river Clyde, in Scotland, between Dumbarton and Glasgow. He calls himself both a Briton and a Roman, or of a mixed extraction, and says his father was of a good family named Calphurnius, and a denizen of a neighboring city of the Romans, who not long after abandoned Britain, in 409. Some writers call his mother Conchessa, and say she was niece to St. Martin of Tours. In his sixteenth year he was carried into captivity by certain barbarians, who took him into Ireland, where he was obliged to keep cattle on the mountains and in the forests, in hunger and nakedness, amidst snow, rain, and ice. Whilst he lived in this suffering condition, God had pity on his soul, and quickened him to a sense of his duty by the impulse of a strong interior grace. The young man had recourse to Him with his whole heart in fervent prayer and fasting; and from that time faith and the love of God acquired continually new strength in his tender soul. After six months spent in slavery under the same master, St. Patrick was admonished by God in a dream to return to his own country, and informed that a ship was then ready to sail thither. He went at once to the sea-coast, though at a great distance, and found the vessel; but could not obtain his passage, probably for want of money. The Saint returned towards his hut, praying as he went; but the sailors, though pagans, called him back and took him on board. After three days’ sail they made land, but wandered twenty-seven days through deserts, and were a long while distressed for want of provisions, finding nothing to eat. Patrick had often spoken to the company on the infinite power of God; they therefore asked him why he did not pray for relief. Animated by a strong faith, he assured them that if they would address themselves with their whole hearts to the true God He would hear and succor them. They did so, and on the same day met with a herd of swine. From that time provisions never failed them, till on the twenty-seventh day they came info a country that was cultivated and inhabited. Some years afterwards he was again led captive, but recovered his liberty after two months. When he was at home with his parents, God manifested to him, by divers visions, that He destined him to the great work of the conversion of Ireland. The writers of his life say that after his second captivity he travelled into Gaul and Italy, and saw St. Martin, St. Germanus of Auxerre, and Pope Celestine, and that he received his mission and the apostolical benediction from this Pope, who died in 432. It is certain that he spent many years in preparing himself for his sacred calling. Great opposition was made against his episcopal consecration and mission, both by his own relatives and by the clergy. These made him great offers in order to detain him among them, and endeavored to affright him by exaggerating the dangers to which he exposed himself amidst the enemies of the Romans and Britons, who did not know God. All these temptations threw the Saint into great perplexities; but the Lord, Whose will he consulted by earnest prayer, supported him, and he persevered in his resolution. He forsook his family, sold his birthright and dignity, to serve strangers, and consecrated his soul to God, to carry His name to the ends of the earth. In this disposition he passed into Ireland, to preach the Gospel, where the worship of idols still generally reigned. He devoted himself entirely to the salvation of these barbarians. He travelled over the whole island, penetrating into the remotest corners, and_ such was the fruit of his preachings and sufferings that he baptized an infinite number of people. He ordained everywhere clergymen, induced women to live in holy widowhood and continence, consecrated virgins to Christ, and instituted monks. He took nothing from the many thousands whom he baptized, and often gave back the little presents which some laid on the altar, choosing rather to mortify the fervent than to scandalize the weak or the infidels. He gave freely of his own, however, both to pagans and Christians, distributed large alms to the poor in the provinces where he passed, made presents to the kings, judging that necessary for the progress of the Gospel, and maintained and educated many children, whom he trained up to serve at the altar. The happy success of his labors cost him many persecutions. A certain prince named Corotick, a Christian in name only, disturbed the peace of his flock. This tyrant, having made a descent into Ireland, plundered the country where St. Patrick had been just conferring confirmation on a great number of neophytes, who were yet in their white garments after Baptism. Corotick massacred many, and carried away others, whom he sold to the infidel Picts or Scots. The next day the Saint sent the barbarian a letter entreating him to restore the Christian captives, and at least part of the booty he had taken, that the poor people might not perish for want, but was only answered by railleries. The Saint, therefore, wrote with his own hand a letter. In it he styles himself a sinner and an ignorant man; he declares, nevertheless, that he is established Bishop of Ireland, and pronounces Corotick and the other parricides and accomplices separated from him and from Jesus Christ, Whose place he holds, forbidding any to eat with them, or to receive their alms, till they should have satisfied God by the tears of sincere penance, and restored the servants of Jesus Christ to their liberty. This letter expresses his most tender love for his flock, and his grief for those who had been slain, yet mingled with joy because they reign with the prophets, apostles, and martyrs. Jocelin assures us that Corotick was overtaken by the divine vengeance. St. Patrick held several councils to settle the discipline of the Church which he had planted. St. Bernard and the tradition of the country testify that St. Patrick fixed his metropolitan see at Armagh. He established some other bishops, as appears by his Council and other monuments. He not only converted the whole country by his preaching and wonderful miracles, but also cultivated this vineyard with so fruitful a benediction and increase from heaven as to render Ireland a most flourishing garden in the Church of God, and a country of Saints. Many particulars are related of the labors of St. Patrick, which we pass over. ‘in the first year of his mission he attempted to preach Christ in the general assembly of the kings and states of all Ireland, held yearly at Tara, the residence of the chief king, styled the monarch of the whole island, and the principal seat of the Druids, or priests, and their paganish rites. The son of Neill, the chief monarch, declared himself against the preacher; however, Patrick converted several, and, on his road to that place, the father of St. Benignus, his immediate successor in the see of Armagh. He afterwards converted and baptized the Icings of Dublin and Munster, and the seven sons of the king of Connaught, with the greatest part of their subjects, and before his death almost the whole island. He founded a monastery at Armagh; another called Domnach-Padraig, or Patrick’s Church; also a third, named Sabhal-Padraig; and filled the country with churches and schools of piety and learning, the reputation of which, for the three succeeding centuries, drew many foreigners into Ireland. He died and was buried at Down in Ulster. His body was found there in a church of his name in 1185, and translated to another part of the same church. Ireland is the nursery whence St. Patrick sent forth his missionaries and teachers. Glastonbury and Lindisfarne, Ripon and Malmesbury, bear testimony to the labors of Irish priests and bishops for the conversion of England. Iona is to this day the most venerated spot in Scotland. Columban, Fiacre, Gall, and many others evangelized the “rough places” of France and Switzerland. America and Australia, in modern times, owe their Christianity to the faith and zeal of the sons and daughters of St. Patrick. Reflection.--By the instrumentality of St. Patrick the Faith is now as fresh in Ireland, even in this cold nineteenth century, as when it was first planted. Ask him to obtain for you the special grace of his children--to prefer the loss of every earthly good to the least compromise in matters of faith. March 18.--ST. CYRIL OF JERUSALEM. CYRIL was born at or near the city of Jerusalem, about the year 315. He was ordained priest by St. Maximus, who gave him the important charge of instructing and preparing the candidates for Baptism. This charge he held for several years, and we still have one series of his instructions, given in the year 347 or 318. They are of singular interest as being the earliest record of the systematic teaching of the Church on the creed and sacraments, and as having been given in the church built by Constantine on Mount Calvary. They are solid, simple, profound; saturated with Holy Scripture; exact, precise, and terse; and, as a witness and exposition of the Catholic faith, invaluable. On the death of St. Maximus, Cyril was chosen Bishop of Jerusalem. At the beginning of his episcopate a cross was seen in the air reaching from Mount Calvary to Mount Olivet, and so bright that it shone at noonday. St. Cyril gave an account of it to the emperor; and the faithful regarded it as a presage of victory over the Arian heretics. While Cyril was bishop, the apostate Julian resolved to falsify the words of Our Lord by rebuilding the Temple at Jerusalem. He employed the power and resources of a Roman emperor; the Jews thronged enthusiastically to him and gave munificently. But Cyril was unmoved. “ The word of God abides,” he said; “one stone shall not be laid on another.” When the attempt was made, a heathen writer tells us that horrible flames came forth from the earth, rendering the place inaccessible to the scorched and scared workmen. The attempt was made again and again, and then abandoned in despair. Soon after, the emperor perished miserably in a war against the Persians, and the Church had rest. Like the other great bishops of his time, Cyril was persecuted, and driven once and again from his see; but on the death of the Arian Emperor Valens he returned to Jerusalem. He was present at the second General Council at Constantinople, and died in peace in 386, after a troubled episcopate of thirty-five years. Reflection.--”As a stout staff,” says St. John Chrysostom, “supports the trembling limbs of a feeble old man, so does faith sustain our vacillating mind, lest it be tossed about by sinful hesitation and perplexity.” March 19.--ST. JOSEPH, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin and Patron of the Universal Church. ST. JOSEPH was by birth of the royal family of David, but was living in humble obscurity as a carpenter when God raised him to the highest sanctity, and fitted him to be the spouse of His Virgin Mother, and foster-father and guardian of the Incarnate Word. Joseph, says the Holy Scripture, was a just man; he was innocent and pure, as became the husband of Mary; he was gentle and tender, as one worthy to be named the father of Jesus; he was prudent and a lover of silence, as became the master of the holy house; above all, he was faithful and obedient to divine calls. His conversation was with angels rather than with men. When he learned that Mary bore within her womb the Lord of heaven, he feared to take her as his wife; but an angel bade him fear not, and all doubts vanished. When Herod sought the life of the divine Infant, an angel told Joseph in a dream to fly with the Child and His Mother into Egypt. Joseph at once arose and obeyed. This sudden and unexpected flight must have exposed Joseph to many inconveniences and sufferings in so long a journey with a little babe and a tender virgin, the greater part of the way being through deserts and among strangers; yet he alleges no excuses, nor inquires at what time they were to return. St. Chrysostom observes that God treats thus all His servants, sending them frequent trials to clear their hearts from the rust of self-love, but intermixing seasons of consolation. “Joseph,” says he, “is anxious on seeing the Virgin with child; an angel removes that fear. He rejoices at the Child’s birth, but a great fear succeeds: the furious king seeks to destroy the Child, and the whole city is in an uproar to take away His life. This is followed by another joy, the adoration of the Magi; a new sorrow then arises: he is ordered to fly into a foreign unknown country, without help or acquaintance.” It is the opinion of the Fathers that upon their entering Egypt, at the presence of the child Jesus, all the oracles of that superstitious country were struck dumb, and the statues of their gods trembled and in many places fell to the ground. The Fathers also attribute to this holy visit the spiritual benediction poured on that country, which made it for many ages most fruitful in Saints. After the death of King Herod, of which St. Joseph was informed in another vision, God ordered him to return with the Child and His Mother into the land of Israel, which our Saint readily obeyed. But when he arrived in Judea, hearing that Archelaus had succeeded Herod in that part of the country, and apprehensive that he might be infected with his father’s vices, he feared on that account to settle there, as he would otherwise probably have done for the education of the Child; and therefore, being directed by God in another vision, he retired into the dominions of Herod Antipas, in Galilee, to his former habitation in Nazareth. St. Joseph, being a strict observer of the Mosaic law, in conformity to its direction annually repaired to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. Our Saviour, now in the twelfth year of His age, accompanied His parents thither. Having performed the usual ceremonies of the feast, they were returning with many of their neighbors and acquaintances towards Galilee; and never doubting but that Jesus was with some of the company, they travelled on for a whole day’s journey before they discovered that He was not with them. But when night came on and they could hear no tidings of Him among their kindred and acquaintance, they, in the deepest affliction, returned with the utmost speed to Jerusalem. After an anxious search of three days they found Him in the Temple, discoursing with the learned doctors of the law, and asking them such questions as raised the admiration of all that heard Him, and made them astonished at the ripeness of His understanding; nor were His parents less surprised on this occasion. When His Mother told Him with what grief and earnestness they had sought Him, and asked, “Son, why hast Thou thus dealt with us? behold Thy Father and I sought Thee in great affliction of mind,” she received for answer, “How is it that you sought Me? did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” But though thus staying in the Temple unknown to His parents, in all other things He was obedient to them, returning with them to Nazareth, and there living in all dutiful subjection to them. As no further mention is made of St. Joseph, he must have died before the marriage of Cana and the beginning of our divine Saviour’s ministry. We cannot doubt that he had the happiness of Jesus and Mary attending at his death, praying by him, assisting and comforting him in his last moments; whence he is particularly invoked for the great grace of a happy death and the spiritual presence of Jesus in that hour. Reflection.--St. Joseph, the shadow of the Eternal Father upon earth, the protector of Jesus in His home at Nazareth, and a lover of all children for the sake of the Holy Child, should be the chosen guardian and pattern of every true Christian family. March 20.--ST. WULFRAN, Archbishop. (Source: Butlers Lives Of The Saints 1894 A.D.)
His father was an officer in the armies of King Dagobert, and the Saint spent some years in the court of King Clotaire III. and of his mother, St. Bathildes, but occupied his heart only, on God, despising worldly greatness as empty and dangerous, and daily advancing in virtue. His estate of Maurilly he bestowed on the Abbey of Fontenelle, or St. Vandrille, in Normandy. He was chosen and consecrated Archbishop of Sens in 682, which diocese he governed two years and a half with great zeal and sanctity. A tender compassion for the blindness of the idolaters of Friesland, and the example of the English zealous preachers in those parts, moved him to resign his bishopric, with proper advice, and after a retreat at Fontenelle to enter Friesland in quality of a poor missionary priest. He baptized great multitudes, among them a son of King Radbod, and drew the people from the barbarous custom of sacrificing men to idols. On a certain occasion, one Ovon having been selected as a victim of a sacrifice to the heathen gods, St. Wulfran earnestly begged his life of King Radbod; but the people ran tumultuously to the palace, and would not suffer what they called a sacrilege. After many words they consented, but on condition that Wulfran’s God should save Ovon’s life. The Saint betook himself to prayer; the man, after hanging on the gibbet two hours, and being left for dead, fell to the ground by the breaking of the cord; being found alive he was given to the Saint, and became a monk and priest at Fontenelle. Wulfran also miraculously rescued two children from being drowned in honor of the idols. Radbod, who had been an eye-witness to this last miracle, promised to become a Christian; but as he was going to step into the baptismal font he asked where the great number of his ancestors and nobles were in the next world. The Saint replied that hell is the portion of all who die guilty of idolatry; at which the prince refused to be baptized, saying he would go with the greater number. This tyrant sent afterwards to St. Willibrord to treat with him about his conversion, but before the arrival of the Saint was found dead. St. Wulfran retired to Fontenelle that he might prepare himself for death, and expired there on the 20th of April, 720. Reflection.--In every age the Catholic Church is a missionary church. She has received the world for her inheritance, and in our own days many missioners have watered with their blood the lands in which they labored. Help the propagation of the faith by alms, and above all by prayers. You will quicken your own faith and gain a part in the merits of the glorious apostolate. March 21.--ST. BENEDICT, Abbot. ST. BENEDICT, blessed by grace and in name, was born of a noble Italian family about 480. When a boy he was sent to Rome, and there placed in the public schools. Scared by the licentiousness of the Roman youth, he fled to the desert mountains of Subiaco, and was directed by the Holy Spirit into a cave, deep, craggy, and almost inaccessible. He lived there for three years, unknown to any one save the holy monk Romanus, who clothed him with the monastic habit and brought him food. But the fame of his sanctity soon gathered disciples round him. The rigor of his rule, however, drew on him the hatred of some of the monks, and one of them mixed poison with the abbot’s drink; but when the Saint made the sign of the cross on the poisoned bowl, it broke and fell in pieces to the ground. After he had built twelve monasteries at Subiaco, he removed to Monte Casino, where he founded an abbey in which he wrote his rule and lived until death. By prayer he did all things: wrought miracles, saw visions, and prophesied. A peasant, whose boy had just died, ran in anguish to St. Benedict, crying out, “Give me back my son!” The monks joined the poor man in his entreaties; but the Saint replied, “Such miracles are not for us to work, but for the blessed apostles. Why will you lay upon me a burden which my weakness cannot bear? “ Moved at length by compassion he knelt down and, prostrating himself upon the body of the child, prayed earnestly. Then rising, he cried out, “Behold not, O Lord, my sins, but the faith of this man, who desireth the life of his son, and restore to the body that soul which Thou hast taken away.” Hardly had he spoken when the child’s body began to tremble, and taking it by the hand he restored it alive to its father. Six days before his death he ordered his grave to be opened, and fell ill of a fever. On the sixth day he requested to be borne into the chapel, and, having received the body and blood of Christ, with hands uplifted, and leaning on one of his disciples, he calmly expired in prayer on the 21st of March, 543. Reflection.--The Saints never feared to undertake any work, however arduous, for God, because, distrusting self, they relied for assistance and support wholly upon prayer. March 22.--ST. CATHARINE OF SWEDEN, Virgin. ST. CATHARINE was daughter of Ulpho, Prince of Nericia in Sweden, and of St. Bridget. The love of God seemed almost to prevent in her the use of her reason. At seven years of age she was placed in the nunnery of Risburgh, and educated in piety under the care of the holy abbess of that house. Being very beautiful, she was, by her father, contracted in marriage to Egard, a young nobleman of great virtue; but the virgin persuaded him to join with her in making a mutual vow of perpetual chastity. By her discourser he became desirous only of heavenly graces, arid, to draw them down upon his soul more abundantly, he readily acquiesced in the proposal. The happy couple, having but one heart and one desire, by a holy emulation excited each other to prayer, mortification, and works of charity. After the death of her father, St. Catharine, out of devotion to the Passion of Christ and to the relics of the martyrs, accompanied her mother in her pilgrimages and practices of devotion and penance. After her mother’s death at Rome, in 1373, Catharine returned to Sweden, and died abbess of Vadzstena, or Vatzen, on the 24th of March in 1381. For the last twenty-five years of her life she every day purified her soul by a sacramental confession of her sins. Reflection.--Whoever has to dwell in the world stands in need of great prudence; the Holy Scripture itself assures us that “the knowledge of the holy is prudence.” March 23.--STS. VICTORIAN AND OTHERS, Martyrs. HUNERIC, the Arian king of the Vandals in Africa, succeeded his father Genseric in 477. He behaved himself at first with moderation towards the Catholics, but in 480 he began a grievous persecution of the clergy and holy virgins, which in 484 became general, and vast numbers of Catholics were put to death. Victorian, one of the principal lords of the kingdom, had been made governor of Carthage, with the Roman title of Proconsul. He was the wealthiest subject of the king, who placed great confidence in him, and he had ever behaved with an inviolable fidelity. The king, after he had published his cruel edicts, sent a message to the proconsul, promising, if he would conform to his religion, to heap on him the greatest wealth and the highest honors which it was in the power of a prince to bestow. The proconsul, who amidst the glittering pomps of the world perfectly understood its emptiness, made this generous answer: “Tell the king that I trust in Christ. His Majesty may condemn me to any torments, but I shall never consent to renounce the Catholic Church, in which I have been baptized. Even if there were no life after this, I would never be ungrateful and perfidious to God, Who has granted me the happiness of knowing Him, and bestowed on me His most precious graces.” The tyrant became furious at this answer, nor can the tortures be imagined which he caused the Saint to endure. Victorian suffered them with joy, and amidst them finished his glorious martyrdom. The Roman Martyrology joins with him on this day four others who were crowned in the same persecution. Two brothers, who were apprehended for the faith, had promised each other, if possible, to die together; and they begged of God, as a favor, that they might both suffer the same torments. The persecutors hung them in the air with great weights at their feet. One of them, under the excess of pain, begged to be taken down for a little ease. His brother, fearing that this might move him to deny his faith, cried out from the rack, “God forbid, dear brother, that you should ask such a thing. Is this what we promised to Jesus Christ?” The other was so wonderfully encouraged that he cried out, “No, no; I ask not to be released; increase my tortures, exert all your cruelties till they are exhausted upon me.” They were then burned with red-hot plates of iron, and tormented so long that the executioners at last left them, saying, “Everybody follows their example! no one now embraces our religion.” This they said chiefly because, notwithstanding these brothers had been so long and so grievously tormented, there were no scars or bruises to be seen upon them. Two merchants of Carthage, who both bore the name of Frumentius, suffered martyrdom about the same time. Among many glorious confessors at that time, one Liberatus, an eminent physician, was sent into banishment with his wife. He only grieved to see his infant children torn from him. His wife checked his tears by these words: “Think no more of them: Jesus Christ Himself will have care of them and protect their souls.” Whilst in prison she was told that her husband had conformed. Accordingly, when she met him at the bar before judge, she upbraided him in open court for having basely abandoned God; but discovered by his answer that a cheat had been put upon her to deceive her into her ruin. Twelve young children, when dragged away by the persecutors, held their companions by the knees till they were torn away by violence. They were most cruelly beaten and scourged every day for a long time; yet by God’s grace every one of them persevered in the faith to the end of the persecution. March 24.--ST. SIMON, Infant Martyr. “HAIL, flowers of the martyrs!” the Church sings in her Office of the Holy Innocents, who were the first to die for Christ; and in every age mere children and infants have gloriously confessed His name. In 1472 the Jews in the city of Trent determined to vent their hate against the Crucified by slaying a Christian child at the coming Passover; and Tobias, one of their number, was deputed to entrap a victim. He found a bright, smiling boy named Simon playing outside his home, with no one guarding him. Tobias patted the little fellow’s cheek, and coaxed him to take his hand. The boy, who was not two years old, did so; but he began to call and cry for his mother when he found himself being led from home. Then Tobias gave him a bright coin to look at, and with many kind caresses silenced his grief, and conducted him securely to his house. At midnight on Holy Thursday the work of butchery began. Having gagged his mouth, they held his arms in the form of a cross, while they pierced his tender body with awls and bodkins in blasphemous mockery of the sufferings of Jesus Christ. After an hour’s torture the little martyr lifted his eyes to heaven and gave up his innocent soul. The Jews cast his body into the river; but their crime was discovered and punished, while the holy relics were enshrined in St. Peter’s Church at Trent, where they have worked many miracles. WILLIAM OF NORWICH is another of these children martyrs. His parents were simple country folk, but his mother was taught by a vision to expect a Saint in her son. As a boy be fasted thrice a week and prayed constantly, and he was only an apprentice twelve years of age, at a tanner’s in Norwich, when he won his crown. A little before Easter, 1137, he was enticed into a Jew’s house, and was there gagged, bound, and crucified in hatred of Christ. Five years passed before the body was found, when it was buried as a saintly relic in the cathedral churchyard. A rose-tree planted hard by flowered miraculously in midwinter, and many sick persons were healed at his shrine. [*1] Reflection.--Learn from the infant martyrs that, however weak you may be, you still can suffer for Christ’s sake. Footnotes ^123:1 It must not be thought that these singular and extraordinary instances establish the charge that the slaying of Christian children is part of the Jewish ritual. This accusation against the Jews has been proved to be false. March 25.--THE ANNUNCIATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY. THIS great festival takes its name from the happy tidings brought by the angel Gabriel to the Blessed Virgin, concerning the Incarnation of the Son of God. It commemorates the most important embassy that was ever known: an embassy sent by the King of kings, performed by one of the chief princes of His heavenly court; directed, not to the great ones of this earth, but to a poor, unknown virgin, who, being endowed with the most angelic purity of soul and body, being withal perfectly humble and devoted to God, was greater in His eyes than the mightiest monarch in the world. When the Son of God became man, He could have taken upon Him our nature without the cooperation of any creature; but He was pleased to be born of a woman. In the choice of her whom He raised to this most sublime of all dignities, He pitched upon the one who, by the riches of His grace and virtues, was of all others the most holy and the most perfect. The design of this embassy of the archangel is to give a Saviour to the world, a victim of propitiation to the sinner, a model to the just, a son to this Virgin, remaining still a virgin, and a new nature to the Son of God, the nature of man, capable of suffering pain and anguish in order to satisfy God’s justice for our transgressions. When the angel appeared to Mary and addressed her, the Blessed Virgin was troubled: not at the angel’s appearance, says St. Ambrose, for heavenly visions and a commerce with the blessed spirits had been familiar to her; but what alarmed her, he says, was the angel’s appearing in human form, in the shape of a young man. What might add to her fright on the occasion was his addressing her in words of praise. Mary, guarded by her modesty, is in confusion at expressions of this sort, and dreads the least appearance of deluding flattery. Such high commendations make her cautious how she answers, till in silence she has more fully considered of the matter: “She revolved in her mind,” says St. Luke, “what manner of salutation this should be.” Ah, what numbers of innocent souls have been corrupted for want of using the like precautions! The angel, to calm her, says: “Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favor before God.” He then informs her that she is to conceive and bring forth a Son Whose name shall be Jesus, Who shall be great, and the Son of the Most High, and possessed of the throne of David, her illustrious ancestor. Mary, out of a just concern to know how she may comply with the will of God without prejudice to her vow of virginity, inquires, “How shall this be?” Nor does she give her consent till the heavenly messenger acquaints her that it is to be a work of the Holy Ghost, who, in making her fruitful, will not intrench in the least upon her virginal purity. In submission, therefore, to God’s will, without any further inquiries, she expresses her assent in these humble but powerful words: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to Thy word” What faith and confidence does her answer express! what profound humility and perfect obedience! Reflection.--From the example of the Blessed Virgin in this mystery, how ardent a love ought we to conceive of purity and humility! The Holy Ghost is invited by purity to dwell in souls, but is chased away by the filth of the contrary vice. Humility is the foundation of a spiritual life. By it Mary was prepared for the extraordinary graces and all virtues with which she was enriched, and for the eminent dignity of Mother of God. March 26.--ST. LUDGER, Bishop. ST. LUDGER was born in Friesland about the year 743. His father, a nobleman of the first rank, at the child’s own request, committed him very young to the care of St. Gregory, the disciple of St. Boniface, and his successors in the government of the see of Utrecht. Gregory educated him in his monastery and gave him the clerical tonsure. Ludger, desirous of further improvement, passed over into England, and spent four years and a half under Alcuin, who was rector of a famous school at York. In 773 he returned home, and St. Gregory dying in 776, his successor, Alberic, compelled our Saint to receive the holy order of priesthood, and employed him for several years in preaching the Word of God in Friesland, where he converted great numbers, founded several monasteries, and built many churches. The pagan Saxons ravaging the country, Ludger travelled to Rome to consult Pope Adrian II, what course to take, and what he thought God required of him. He then retired for three years and a half to Monte Casino, where he wore the habit of the Order and conformed to the practice of the rule during his stay, but made no religious vows. In 787, Charlemagne overcame the Saxons and conquered Friesland and the coast of the Germanic Ocean as far as Denmark. Ludger, hearing this, returned into East Friesland, where he converted the Saxons to the Faith, as he also did the province of Westphalia. He founded the monastery of Werden, twenty-nine miles from Cologne. In 802, Hildebald, Archbishop of Cologne, not regarding his strenuous resistance, ordained him Bishop of Munster. He joined in his diocese five cantons of Friesland which he had converted, and also founded the monastery of Helmstad in the duchy of Brunswick. Being accused to the Emperor Charlemagne of wasting his income and neglecting the embellishment of churches, this prince ordered him to appear at court. The morning after his arrival the emperor’s chamberlain brought him word that his attendance was required. The Saint, being then at his prayers, told the officer that he would follow him as soon as he had finished them. He was sent for three several times before he was ready, which the courtiers represented as a contempt of his Majesty, and the emperor, with some emotion, asked him why he had made him wait so long, though he had sent for him so often. The bishop answered that though he had the most profound respect for his Majesty, yet God was infinitely above him; that whilst we are occupied with Him, it is our duty to forget everything else. This answer made such an impression on the emperor that he dismissed him with honor and disgraced his accusers. St. Ludger was favored with the gifts of miracles and prophecy. His last sickness, though violent, did not hinder him from continuing his functions to the very last day of his life, which was Passion Sunday, on which day he preached very early in the morning, said Mass towards nine, and preached again before night, foretelling to those that were about him that he should die the following night, and fixing upon the place in his monastery of Werden where he chose to be interred. He died accordingly on the 26th of March, at midnight. Reflection.--Prayer is an action so sublime and supernatural that the Church in her Canonical Hours teaches us to begin it by a fervent petition of grace to perform it well. What an insolence and mockery is it to join with this petition an open disrespect and a neglect of all necessary precautions against distractions! We ought never to appear before God, to tender Him our homages or supplications, without trembling, and without being deaf to all creatures and shutting all our senses to every object that can distract our minds from God. March 27.--ST. JOHN OF EGYPT. TILL he was twenty-five, John worked as a carpenter with his father. Then feeling a call from God, he left the world and committed himself to a holy solitary in the desert. His master tried his spirit by many unreasonable commands, bidding him roll the hard rocks, tend dead trees, and the like. John obeyed in all things with the simplicity of a child. After a careful training of sixteen years he withdrew to the top of a steep cliff to think only of God and his soul. The more he knew of himself, the more he distrusted himself. For the last fifty years, therefore, he never saw women, and seldom men. The result of this vigilance and purity was threefold: a holy joy and cheerfulness which consoled all who conversed with him; perfect obedience to superiors; and, in return for this, authority over creatures, whom he had forsaken for the Creator. St. Augustine tells us of his appearing in a vision to a holy woman, whose sight he had restored, to avoid seeing her face to face. Devils assailed him continually, but John never ceased his prayer. From his long communings with God, he turned to men with gifts of healing and prophecy. Twice each week he spoke through a window with those who came to him, blessing oil for their sick and predicting things to come. A deacon came to him in disguise, and he reverently kissed his hand. To the Emperor Theodosius he foretold his future victories and the time of his death. The three last days of his life John gave wholly to God: on the third he was found on his knees as if in prayer, but his soul was with the blessed. He died in 394. Reflection.--The Saints examine themselves by the perfections of God, and do penance. We judge our conduct by the standard of other men, and rest satisfied with it. Yet it is by the divine holiness alone that we shall be judged when we die. March 28.--ST. GONTRAN, King. ST. GONTRAN was the son of King Clotaire, and grandson of Clovis I. and St. Clotildis. Being the second son, whilst his brothers Charibert reigned at Paris, and Sigebert in Ostrasia, residing at Metz, he was crowned king of Orleans and Burgundy in 561, making Chalons his capital. When compelled to take up arms against his ambitious brothers and the Lombards, he made no other use of his victories, under the conduct of a brave general called Mommol, than to give peace to his dominions. The crimes in which the barbarous manners of his nation involved him he effaced by tears of repentance. The prosperity of his reign, both in peace and war, condemns those who think that human policy cannot be modelled by the maxims of the Gospel, whereas nothing can render a government more flourishing. He always treated the pastors of the Church with respect and veneration. He was the protector of the oppressed, and the tender parent of his subjects. He gave the greatest attention to the care of the sick. He fasted, prayed, wept, and offered himself to God night and day as a victim ready to be sacrificed on the altar of His justice, to avert His indignation which he believed he himself had provoked and drawn down upon his innocent people. He was a severe punisher of crimes in his officers and others, and, by many wholesome regulations, restrained the barbarous licentiousness of his troops; but no man was more ready to forgive offences against his own person. With royal magnificence he built and endowed many churches and monasteries. This good king died on the 23rd of March in 593, in the sixty-eighth year of his age, having reigned thirty-one years and some months. Reflection.--There is no means of salvation more reliable than the practice of mercy, since Our Lord has said it: “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall find mercy.” March 29.--STS. JONAS, BARACHISIUS, and their Companions, Martyrs. KING SAPOR, of Persia, in the eighteenth year of his reign, raised a bloody persecution against the Christians, and laid waste their churches and monasteries. Jonas and Barachisius, two brothers of the city Beth-Asa, hearing that several Christians lay under sentence of death at Hubaham, went thither to encourage and serve them. Nine of that number received the crown of martyrdom. After their execution, Jonas and Barachisius were apprehended for having exhorted them to die. The president entreated the two brothers to obey the king of Persia, and to worship the sun, moon, fire, and water. Their answer was, that it was more reasonable to obey the immortal King of heaven and earth than a mortal prince. Jonas was beaten with knotty clubs and with rods, and next set in a frozen pond, with a cord tied to his foot. Barachisius had two red-hot iron plates and two red-hot hammers applied under each arm, and melted lead dropped into his nostrils and eyes; after which he was carried to prison, and there hung up by one foot. Despite these cruel tortures, the two brothers remained steadfast in the Faith. New and more horrible torments were then devised under which at last they yielded up their lives, while their pure souls winged their flight to heaven, there to gain the martyr’s crown, which they had so faithfully won. Reflection.--Those powerful motives which supported the martyrs under the sharpest torments ought to inspire us with patience, resignation, and holy joy under sickness and all crosses or trials. Nothing is more heroic in the practice of Christian virtue, nothing more precious in the sight of God, than the sacrifice of patience, submission, constant fidelity, and charity in a state of suffering. March 30.--ST. JOHN CLIMACUS. JOHN made, while still young, such progress in learning that he was called the Scholastic. At the age of sixteen he turned from the brilliant future which lay before him, and retired to Mt. Sinai, where he put himself under the direction of a holy monk. Never was a novice more fervent, more unrelaxing in his efforts for self-mastery. After four years he took the vows, and an aged abbot foretold that he would some day be one of the greatest lights of the Church. Nineteen years later, on the death of his director, he withdrew into a deeper solitude, where he studied the lives and writings of the Saints, and was raised to an unusual height of contemplation. The fame of his holiness and practical wisdom drew crowds around him for advice and consolation. For his greater profit he visited the solitudes of Egypt. At the age of seventy-five he was chosen abbot of Mt. Sinai, and there “he dwelt in the mount of God, and drew from the rich treasure of his heart priceless riches of doctrine, which he poured forth with wondrous abundance and benediction.” He was induced by a brother abbot to write the rules by which he had guided his life; and his book called the Climax, or Ladder of Perfection, has been prized in all ages for its wisdom, its clearness, and its unction. At the end of four years he would no longer endure the honors and distractions of his office, and retired to his solitude, where he died, in 605. Reflection.--”Cast not from thee, my brother,” says the Imitation of Christ,” the sure hope of attaining to the spiritual life; still hast thou the time and the means.” March 31.--ST. BENJAMIN, Deacon, Martyr. ISDEGERDES, Son of Sapor III., put a stop to the cruel persecutions against the Christians in Persia, which had been begun by Sapor II., and the Church had enjoyed twelve years’ peace in that kingdom, when in 420 it was disturbed by the indiscreet zeal of Abdas, a Christian bishop, who burned down the Pyraeum, or Temple of Fire, the great divinity of the Persians. King Isdegerdes thereupon demolished all the Christian churches in Persia, put to death Abdas, and raised a general persecution against the Church, which continued forty years with great fury. Isdegerdes died the year following, in 421. But his son and successor, Varanes, carried on the persecution with greater inhumanity. The very recital of the cruelties he exercised on the Christian strikes us with horror. Among the glorious champions of Christ was St. Benjamin, a deacon. The tyrant caused him to be beaten and imprisoned. He had lain a year in the dungeon, when an ambassador from the emperor obtained his release on condition that he should never speak to any of the courtiers about religion. The ambassador passed his word in his behalf that he would not; but Benjamin, who was a minister of the Gospel, declared that he should miss no opportunity of announcing Christ. The king, being informed that he still preached the Faith in his kingdom, ordered him to be apprehended, caused reeds to be run in between the nails and the flesh, both of his hands and feet, and to be thrust into other most tender parts, and drawn out again, and this to be frequently repeated with violence. Lastly, a knotty stake was thrust into his bowels, to rend and tear them, in which torment he expired in the year 424. Reflection.--We entreat you, O most holy martyrs, who cheerfully suffered most cruel torments for God our Saviour and His love, on which account you are now most intimately and familiarly united to Him, that you pray to the Lord for us miserable sinners, covered with filth, that He infuse into us the grace of Christ, that it may enlighten our souls that we may love Him. April 1.--ST. HUGH, Bishop. IT was the happiness of this Saint to receive from his cradle the strongest impressions of piety by the example and care of his illustrious and holy parents. He was born at Chateau-neuf, in the territory of Valence in Dauphine, in 1053. His father, Odilo, who served his country in an honorable post in the army, labored by all the means in his power to make his soldiers faithful servants of their Creator, and by severe punishments to restrain vice. By the advice of his son, St. Hugh, he afterwards became a Carthusian monk, and died at the age of a hundred, having received Extreme Unction and Viaticum from the hands of his son. Our Saint likewise assisted, in her last moments, his mother, who had for many years, under his direction, served God in her own house, by prayer, fasting, and plenteous alms-deeds. Hugh, from the cradle, appeared to be a child of benediction. He went through his studies with great applause, and having chosen to serve God in an ecclesiastical state, he accepted a canonry in the cathedral of Valence. His great sanctity and learning rendered him an ornament of that church, and he was finally made Bishop of Grenoble. He set himself at once to reprove vice and to reform abuses, and so plentiful was the benediction of Heaven upon his labors that he had the comfort to see the face of his diocese in a short time exceedingly changed. After two years he privately resigned his bishopric, presuming on the tacit consent of the Holy See, and, putting on the habit of St. Bennet, he entered upon a novitiate in the austere abbey of Casa-Dei in Auvergne. There he lived a year, a perfect model of all virtues to that house of Saints, till Pope Gregory VII. commanded him, in virtue of holy obedience, to resume his pastoral charge. He earnestly solicited Pope Innocent II. for leave to resign his bishopric, that he might die in solitude, but was never able to obtain his request. God was pleased to purify his soul by a lingering illness before He called him to Himself. Some time before his death he lost his memory for everything but his prayers. He closed his penitential course on the 1st of April in 1132, wanting only two months of being Eighty years old, of which he had been fifty-two years bishop. Miracles attested the sanctity of his happy death, and he was canonized by Innocent II. in 1134. Reflection.--Let us learn from the example of the Saints to shun the tumult of the world as much as our circumstances will allow, and give ourselves up to the exercises of holy solitude, prayer, and pious reading. April 2.--ST. FRANCIS OF PAULA. AT the age of fifteen Francis left his poor home at Paula in Calabria, to live as a hermit in a cave by the sea-coast. In time disciples gathered round him, and with them, in 1436, he founded the “Minims,” so called to show that they were the least of monastic Orders. They observed a perpetual Lent, and never touched meat, fish, eggs, or milk. Francis himself made the rock his bed; his best garment was a hair-shirt, and boiled herbs his only fare. As his body withered his faith grew powerful, and he “did all things in Him Who strengthened him.” He cured the sick, raised the dead, averted plagues, expelled evil spirits, and brought sinners to penance. A famous preacher, instigated by a few misguided monks, set to work to preach against St. Francis and his miracles. The Saint took no notice of it, and the preacher, finding that he made no way with his hearers, determined to see this poor hermit and confound him in person. The Saint received him kindly, gave him a seat by the fire, and listened to a long exposition of his own frauds. He then quietly took some glowing embers from the fire, and closing his hands upon them unhurt, said, “Come, Father Anthony, warm yourself, for you are shivering for want of a little charity”. Father Anthony, falling at the Saint’s feet, asked for pardon, and then, having received his embrace, quitted him, to become his panegyrist and attain himself to great perfection. When the avaricious King Ferdinand of Naples offered him money for his convent, Francis told him to give it back to his oppressed subjects, and softened his heart by causing blood to flow from the ill-gotten coin. Louis XI. of France, trembling at the approach of death, sent for the poor hermit to ward off the foe whose advance neither his fortresses nor his guards could check. Francis went by the Pope’s command, and prepared the king for a holy death. The successors of Louis showered favors on the Saint, his Order spread throughout Europe, and his name was reverenced through the Christian world. He died at the age of ninety-one, on Good Friday, 1507, with the crucifix in his hand, and the last words of Jesus on his lips, “Into Thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.” Reflection.--Rely in all difficulties upon God. That which enabled St. Francis to work miracles will in proportion do wonders for yourself, by giving you strength and consolation. April 3.--ST. RICHARD OF CHICHESTER. RICHARD was born, 1197, in the little town of Wyche, eight miles from Worcester, England. He and his elder brother were left orphans when young, and Richard gave up the studies which he loved, to farm his brother’s impoverished estate. His brother, in gratitude for Richard’s successful care, proposed to make over to him all his lands; but he refused both the estate and the offer of a brilliant marriage, to study for the priesthood at Oxford. In 1235 he was appointed, for his learning and piety, chancellor of that University, and afterwards, by St. Edmund of Canterbury, chancellor of his diocese. He stood by that Saint in his long contest with the king, and accompanied him into exile. After St. Edmund’s death Richard returned to England to toil as a simple curate, but was soon elected Bishop of Chichester in preference to the worthless nominee of Henry III. The king in revenge refused to recognize the election, and seized the revenues of the see. Thus Richard found himself fighting the same 1 battle in which St. Edmund had died. He went to Lyons, was there consecrated by Innocent IV. in 1245, and returning to England, in spite of his poverty and the king’s hostility, exercised fully his episcopal rights, and thoroughly reformed his see. After two years his revenues were restored. Young and old loved St. Richard. He gave all he had, and worked miracles, to feed the poor and heal the sick; but when the rights or purity of the Church were concerned he was inexorable. A priest of noble blood polluted his office by sin; Richard deprived him of his benefice, and refused the king’s petition in his favor. On the other hand, when a knight violently put a priest in prison, Richard compelled the knight to walk round the priest’s church with the same log of wood on his neck to which he had chained the priest; and when the burgesses of Lewes tore a criminal from the church and hanged him, Richard made them dig up the body from its unconsecrated grave, and bear it back to the sanctuary they had violated. Richard died in 1253, while preaching, at the Pope’s command, a crusade against the Saracens. Reflection.--As a brother, as chancellor, and as bishop, St. Richard faithfully performed each duty of his state without a thought of his own interests. Neglect of duty is the first sign of that self-love which ends with the loss of grace. April 4.--ST. ISIDORE, Archbishop. ISIDORE was born of a ducal family, at Carthagena in Spain. His two brothers, Leander, Archbishop of Seville, Fulgentius, Bishop of Ecija, and his sister Florentina, are Saints. As a boy he despaired at his ill success in study, and ran away from school. Resting in his flight at a roadside spring, he observed a stone, which was hollowed out by the dripping water. This decided him to return, and by hard application he succeeded where he had failed. He went back to his master, and with the help of God became, even as a youth, one of the most learned men of the time. He assisted in converting Prince Recared, the leader of the Arian party; and with his aid, though at the constant peril of his own life, he expelled that heresy from Spain. Then, following a call from God, he turned a deaf ear to the entreaties of his friends, and embraced a hermit’s life. Prince Recared and many of the nobles and clergy of Seville went to persuade him to come forth, and represented the needs of the times, and the good he could do, and had already done, among the people. He refused, and, as far as we can judge, that refusal gave him the necessary opportunity of acquiring the virtue and the power which afterwards made him an illustrious Bishop and Doctor of the Church. On the death of his brother Leander he was called to fill the vacant see. As a teacher, ruler, founder, and reformer, he labored not only in his own diocese, but throughout Spain, and even in foreign countries. He died in Seville on April 4, 636, and within sixteen years of his death was declared a Doctor of the Catholic Church. Reflection.--The strength of temptation usually lies in the fact that its object is something flattering to our pride, soothing to our sloth, or in some way attractive to the meaner passions. St. Isidore teaches us to listen neither to the promptings of nature nor the plausible advice of friends when they contradict the voice of God. April 5.--ST. VINCENT FERRER. This wonderful apostle, the “Angel of the Judgment,” was born at Valencia in Spain, in 1350, and at the age of eighteen professed in the Order of St. Dominic. After a brilliant course of study he became master of sacred theology. For three years he read only the Scriptures, and knew the whole Bible by heart. He converted the Jews of Valencia, and their synagogue became a church. Grief at the great schism then afflicting the Church reduced him to the point of death; but Our Lord Himself in glory bade him go forth to convert sinners, “for My judgment is nigh.” This miraculous apostolate lasted twenty-one years. He preached throughout Europe, in the towns and villages of Spain, Switzerland, France, Italy, England, Ireland, Scotland. Everywhere tens of thousands of sinners were reformed; Jews, infidels, and heretics were converted. Stupendous miracles enforced his words. Twice each day the “ miracle bell “ summoned the sick, the blind, the lame to be cured. Sinners the most obdurate became Saints; speaking only his native Spanish, he was understood in all tongues. Processions of ten thousand penitents followed him in perfect order. Convents, orphanages, hospitals, arose in his path. Amidst all, his humility remained profound, his prayer constant. He always prepared for preaching by prayer. Once, however, when a person of high rank was to be present at his sermon he neglected prayer for study. The nobleman was not particularly struck by the discourse which had been thus carefully worked up; but coming again to hear the Saint, unknown to the latter, the second sermon made a deep impression on his soul. When St. Vincent heard of the difference, he remarked that in the first sermon it was Vincent who had preached, but in the second, Jesus Christ. He fell ill at Vannes in Brittany, and received the crown of everlasting glory in 1419. Reflection.--”Whatever you do,” said St. Vincent, “think not of yourself, but of God.” In this spirit he preached, and God spoke by him; in this spirit, if we listen, we shall hear the voice of God. April 6.--ST. CELESTINE, Pope. ST. CELESTINE was a native of Rome, and upon the demise of Pope Boniface he was chosen to succeed him, in September 422, by the wonderful consent of the whole city. His first official act was to confirm the condemnation of an African bishop who had been convicted of grave crimes. He wrote also to the bishops of the provinces of Vienne and Narbonne in Gaul, to correct several abuses, and ordered, among other things, that absolution or reconciliation should never be refused to any dying sinner who sincerely asked it; for repentance depends not so much on time as on the heart. He assembled a synod at Rome in 430, in which the writings of Nestorius were examined, and his blasphemies in maintaining in Christ a divine and a human person were condemned. The Pope pronounced sentence of excommunication against Nestorius, and deposed him. Being informed that Agricola, the son of a British bishop called Saverianus, who had been married before he was raised to the priesthood, had spread the seeds of the Pelagian heresy in Britain, St. Celestine sent thither St. Germanus of Auxerre, whose zeal and conduct happily prevented the threatening danger. He also sent St. Palladius, a Roman, to preach the Faith to the Scots, both in North Britain and in Ireland, and many authors of the life of St. Patrick say that apostle likewise received his commission to preach to the Irish from St. Celestine, in 431. This holy Pope died on the 1st of August, in 432, having reigned almost ten years. Reflection.--Vigilance is truly needful to those to whom the care of souls has been confided. “Blessed are the servants whom the Lord at His coming shall find watching.” April 7.--ST. HEGESIPPUS, a Primitive Father. HE was by birth a Jew, and belonged to the Church of Jerusalem, but travelling to Rome, he lived there nearly twenty years, from the pontificate of Anicetus to that of Eleutherius, in 177, when he returned into the East, where he died at an advanced age, probably at Jerusalem, in the year of Christ 180, according to the chronicle of Alexandria. He wrote in the year 133 a History of the Church in five books, from the Passion of Christ down to his own time, the loss of which work is extremely regretted. In it he gave illustrious proofs of his faith, and showed the apostolical tradition, and that though certain men had disturbed the Church by broaching heresies, yet down to his time no episcopal see or particular church had fallen into error. This testimony he gave after having personally visited all the principal churches, both of the East and the West. Reflection.--Do not approach our Blessed Mother with set prayers only. Be intimate with her; confide in her; commend to her every want and every project, small as well as great. It is a childlike reliance and a trustful appeal which she delights to reward. April 7.--BLESSED HERMAN JOSEPH OF STEINFELD. HERMAN from his earliest years was a devoted client of the Mother of God. As a little child he used to spend all his playtime in the church at Cologne before an image of Mary, where he received many favors. One bitter winter day, as little Herman was coming barefooted into church, his heavenly Mother appearing to him, asked him lovingly why his feet were bare in such cold weather. “Alas! dear Lady,” he said, “it is because my parents are so poor.” She pointed to a stone, telling him to look beneath it; there he found four silver pieces wherewith to buy shoes. He did not forget to return and thank her. She enjoined him to go to the same spot in all his wants and disappeared. Never did the supply fail him; but his comrades, moved by a different spirit, could find nothing. Once Our Lady stretched out her hand, and took an apple which the boy offered her in pledge of his love. Another time he saw her high up in the tribune, with the Holy Child and St. John; he longed to join them, but saw no way of doing so; suddenly he found himself placed by their side, and holding sweet converse with the Infant Jesus. At the age of twelve he entered the Premonstratensian house at Steinfeld, and there led an angelic life of purity and prayer. His fellow-novices, seeing what graces he received from Mary, called him Joseph; and when he shrank from so high an honor, Our Lady in a vision took him as her spouse, and bade him bear the name. Jealously she reproved the smallest faults in her betrothed, and once appeared to him as an old woman, to upbraid him for some slight want of devotion. As her dowry, she conferred on him the most cruel sufferings of mind and body, which were especially severe on the great feasts of the Church. But with the cross Mary brought him the grace to bear it bravely, and thus his heart was weaned from earthly things, and he was made ready for his early and saintly death, which took place about the year 1230. Reflection.--Do not approach our Blessed Mother with set prayers only. Be intimate with her; confide in her; commend to her every want and every project, small as well as great. It is a childlike reliance and a trustful appeal which she delights to reward. April 8.--ST. PERPETUUS, Bishop. ST. PERPETUUS was the eighth Bishop of Tours from St. Gatian, and governed that see above thirty years, from 461 to 491, when he died on the 8th of April. During all that time he labored by zealous sermons, many synods, and wholesome regulations, to lead souls to virtue. St. Perpetuus had a great veneration for the Saints, and respect for their relics, adorned their shrines, and enriched their churches. As there was a continual succession of miracles at the tomb of St. Martin, Perpetuus finding the church built by St. Bricius too small for the concourse of people that resorted thither, directed its enlargement. When the building was finished, the good bishop solemnized the dedication of this new church, and performed the translation of the body of St. Martin, on the 4th of July in 473. Our Saint made and signed his last will, which is still extant, on the 1st of March, 475, fifteen years before his death. By it he remits all debts that were owing to him; and having bequeathed to his church his library and several farms, and settled a fund for the maintenance of lamps, and the purchase of sacred vessels, as occasion might require, he declares the poor his heirs. He adds most pathetic exhortations to concord and piety; and bequeaths to his sister, Fidia Julia Perpetua, a little gold cross, with relics; he leaves legacies to several other friends and priests, begging of each a remembrance of him in their prayers. His ancient epitaph equals him to the great St. Martin. Reflection.--The smart of poverty, says a spiritual writer, is allayed even more by one word of true sympathy than by the alms we give. Alms coldly and harshly given irritate rather than soothe. Even when we cannot give, words of kindness are as a precious balm; and when we can give, they are the salt and seasoning of our alms. April 9.--ST. MARY OF EGYPT. AT the tender age of twelve, Mary left her father’s house that she might sin without restraint, and for seventeen years she lived in shame at Alexandria. Then she accompanied a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and entangled many in grievous sin. She was in that city on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, and went with the crowd to the church which contained the precious wood. The rest entered and adored; but Mary was invisibly held back. In that instant her misery and pollution burst upon her. Turning to the Immaculate Mother, whose picture faced her in the porch, she vowed thenceforth to do penance if she might enter and stand like Magdalen beside the Cross. Then she entered in. As she knelt before Our Lady on leaving the church, a voice came to her which said, “Pass over Jordan, and thou shalt find rest.” She went into the wilderness, and there, in 420, forty-seven years after, the Abbot Zosimus met her. She told him that for seventeen years the old songs and scenes had haunted her; ever since, she had had perfect peace. At her request he brought her on Holy Thursday the sacred body of Christ. She bade him return again after a year, and this time he found her corpse upon the sand, with an inscription saying “Bury here the body of Mary the sinner.” Reflection.--Blessed John Colombini was converted to God by reading St. Mary’s life. Let us, too, learn from her not to be content with confessing and lamenting our sins, but to fly from what leads us to commit them. April 9.--ST. JOHN THE ALMONER. ST. JOHN was married, but when his wife and two children died he considered it a call from God to lead a perfect life. He began to give away all he possessed in alms, and became known throughout the East as the Almoner. He was appointed Patriarch of Alexandria; but before he would take possession of his see he told his servants to go over the town and bring him a list of his lords--meaning the poor. They brought word that there were seventy-five hundred of them, and these he undertook to feed every day. On Wednesday and Friday in every week he sat on a bench before the church, to hear the complaints of the needy and aggrieved; nor would he permit his servants to taste food until their wrongs were redressed. The fear of death was ever before him, and he never spoke an idle word. He turned those out of church whom he saw talking, and forbade all detractors to enter his house. He left seventy churches in Alexandria, where he had found but seven. A merchant received from St. John five pounds weight of gold to buy merchandise. Having suffered shipwreck and lost all, he had again recourse to John, who said, “Some of your merchandise was ill-gotten,” and gave him ten pounds more; but the next voyage he lost ship as well as goods. John then said, “The ship was wrongfully acquired. Take fifteen pounds of gold, buy corn with it, and put it on one of my ships.” This time the merchant was carried by the winds without his own knowledge to England, where there was a famine; and he sold the corn for its weight in tin, and on his return he found the tin changed to finest silver. St. John died in Cyprus, his native place, about the year 619. Reflection.--What sacrifices can we make for the poor which will seem enough, when we reflect that mercy to them is our only means of repaying Jesus Christ, Who sacrificed His life for us? April 10.--ST. BADEMUS, Martyr. BADEMUS was a rich and noble citizen of Bethlapeta in Persia, who founded a monastery near that city, which he governed with great sanctity. He conducted his religious in the paths of perfection with sweetness, prudence, and charity. To crown his virtue, God permitted him, with seven of his monks, to be apprehended by the followers of King Sapor, in the thirty-sixth year of his persecution. He lay four months in a dungeon, loaded with chains, during which lingering martyrdom he every day received a number of stripes. But he triumphed over his torments by the patience and joy with which he suffered them for Christ. At the same time, a Christian lord named Nersan, Prince of Aria, was cast into prison because he refused to adore the sun. At first he showed some resolution; but at the sight of tortures his constancy failed him, and he promised to conform. The king, to try if his change was sincere, ordered Bademus to be introduced into the prison of Nersan, which was a chamber in the royal palace, and sent word to Nersan that if he would despatch Bademus, he should be restored to his liberty and former dignities. The wretch accepted the condition; a sword was put into his hand, and he advanced to plunge it into the breast of the abbot. But being seized with a sudden terror, he stopped short, and remained some time without being able to lift up his arm to strike. He had neither courage to repent, nor heart to accomplish his crime. He strove, however, to harden himself, and continued with a trembling hand to aim at the sides of the martyr. Fear, shame, remorse, and respect for the martyr made his strokes forceless and unsteady; and so great was the number of the martyr’s wounds, that the bystanders were in admiration at his invincible patience. After four strokes, the martyr’s head was severed from the trunk. Nersan a short time after, falling into public disgrace, perished by the sword. The body of St. Bademus was reproachfully cast out of the city by the infidels, but was secretly carried away and interred by the Christians. His disciples were released from their chains four years afterward, upon the death of King Sapor. St. Bademus suffered on the 10th of April in the year 376. Reflection.--Oh! what ravishing delights does the soul taste which is accustomed, by a familiar habit, to converse in the heaven of its own interior with the Three Persons of the adorable Trinity! Worldlings wonder how holy solitaries can pass their whole time buried in the most profound solitude and silence. But those who have had any experience of this happiness are surprised, with far greater reason, how it is possible that any souls which are created to converse eternally with God should here live in constant dissipation, seldom entertaining a devout thought of Him Whose charms and sweet conversation eternally ravish all the blessed. April 11.--ST. LEO THE GREAT. LEO was born at Rome. He embraced the sacred ministry, was made archdeacon of the Roman Church by St. Celestine, and under him and Sixtus III. had a large share in governing the Church. On the death of Sixtus, Leo was chosen Pope, and consecrated on St. Michael’s day, 440, amid great joy. It was a time of terrible trial. Vandals and Huns were wasting the provinces of the empire, and Nestorians, Pelagians, and other heretics wrought more grievous havoc among souls. Whilst Leo’s zeal made head against these perils, there arose the new heresy of Eutyches, who confounded the two natures of Christ. At once the vigilant pastor proclaimed the true doctrine of the Incarnation in his famous “tome;” but fostered by the Byzantine court, the heresy gained a strong hold amongst the Eastern monks and bishops. After three years of unceasing toil, Leo brought about its solemn condemnation by the Council of Chalcedon, the Fathers all signing his tome, and exclaiming, “Peter hath spoken by Leo.” Soon after, Attila with his Huns broke into Italy, and marched through its burning cities upon Rome. Leo went out boldly to meet him, and prevailed on him to turn back. Astonished to see the terrible Attila, the “Scourge of God,” fresh from the sack of Aquileia, Milan, Pavia, with the rich prize of Rome within his grasp, turn his great host back to the Danube at the Saint’s word, his chiefs asked him why he had acted so strangely. He answered that he saw two venerable personages, supposed to be Sts. Peter and Paul, standing behind Leo, and impressed by this vision he withdrew. If the perils of the Church are as great now as in St. Leo’s day, St. Peter’s solicitude is not less. Two years later the city fell a prey to the Vandals; but even then Leo saved it from destruction. He died A. D. 461, having ruled the Church twenty years. Reflection.--Leo loved to ascribe all the fruits of his unsparing labors to the glorious chief of the apostles, who, he often declared, lives and governs in his successors. April 12.--ST. JULIUS, Pope. ST. JULIUS was a Roman, and chosen Pope on the 6th of February in 337. The Arian bishops in the East sent to him three deputies to accuse St. Athanasius, the zealous Patriarch of Alexandria. These accusations, as the order of justice required, Julius imparted to Athanasius, who thereupon sent his deputies to Rome; when, upon an impartial hearing, the advocates of the heretics were confounded and silenced upon every article of their accusation. The Arians then demanded a council, and the Pope assembled one in Rome in 341. The Arians instead of appearing held a pretended council at Antioch in 341, in which they presumed to appoint one Gregory, an impious Arian, Bishop of Alexandria, detained the Pope’s legates beyond the time mentioned for their appearance; and then wrote to his Holiness, alleging a pretended impossibility of their appearing, on account of the Persian war and other impediments. The Pope easily saw through these pretences, and in a council at Rome examined the cause of St. Athanasius, declared him innocent of the things laid to his charge by the Arians, and confirmed him in his see. He also acquitted Marcellus of Ancyra, upon his orthodox profession of faith. He drew up and sent by Count Gabian to the Oriental Eusebian bishops, who had first demanded a council and then refused to appear in it, an excellent letter, which is looked upon as one of the finest monuments of ecclesiastical antiquity. Finding the Eusebians still obstinate, he moved Constans, Emperor of the West, to demand the concurrence of his brother Constantius in the assembling of a general council at Sardica in Illyricum. This was opened in May 347, and declared St. Athanasius and Marcellus of Ancyra orthodox and innocent, deposed certain Arian bishops, and framed twenty-one canons of discipline. St. Julius reigned fifteen years, two months, and six days, dying on the 12th of April, 352. April 13.--ST. HERMENEGILD, Martyr. LEOVIGILD, King of the Visigoths, had two sons, Hermenegild and Recared, who reigned conjointly with him. All three were Arians, but Hermenegild married a zealous Catholic, the daughter of Sigebert, King of France, and by her holy example was converted to the faith. His father, on hearing the news, denounced him as a traitor, and marched to seize his person. Hermenegild tried to rally the Catholics of Spain in his defence, but they were too weak to make any stand, and, after a two years fruitless struggle, he surrendered on the assurance of a free pardon. When safely in the royal camp, the king had him loaded with fetters and cast into a foul dungeon at Seville. Tortures and bribes were in turn employed to shake his faith, but Hermenegild wrote to his father that he held the crown as nothing, and preferred to lose sceptre and life rather than betray the truth of God. At length, on Easter night, an Arian bishop entered his cell, and promised him his father’s pardon if he would but receive Communion at his hands. Hermenegild indignantly rejected the offer, and knelt with joy for his depth-stroke. The same night a light streaming from his cell told the Christians who were watching near that the martyr had won his crown, and was keeping his Easter with the Saints in glory. Leovigild on his death-bed, though still an Arian, bade Recared seek out St. Leander, whom he had himself cruelly persecuted, and, following Hermenegild’s example, be received by him into the Church. Recared did so, and on his father’s death labored so earnestly for the extirpation of Arianism that he brought over the whole nation of the Visigoths to the Church. “Nor is it to be wondered,” says St. Gregory, “that he came thus to be a preacher of the true faith, seeing that he was brother of a martyr, whose merits did help him to bring so many into the lap of God’s Church.” Reflection.--St. Hermenegild teaches us that constancy and sacrifice are the best arguments for the Faith, and the surest way to win souls to God. April 14.--ST. BENEZET, or Little Bennet. ST. BENEZET kept his mother’s sheep in the country, and as a mere child was devoted to practices of piety. As many persons were drowned in crossing the Rhone, Benezet was inspired by God to build a bridge over that rapid river at Avignon. He obtained the approbation of the bishop, proved his mission by miracles, and began the work in 1177, which he directed during seven years. He died when the difficulty of the undertaking was over, in 1184. This is attested by public monuments drawn up at that time and still preserved at Avignon, where the story is in everybody’s mouth. His body was buried upon the bridge itself, which was not completely finished till four years after his decease, the structure whereof was attended with miracles from the first laying of the foundations till it was completed in 1188. Other miracles wrought after this at his tomb induced the city to build a chapel upon the bridge, in which his body lay nearly five hundred years. But in 1669 a greater part of the bridge falling down through the impetuosity of the waters, the coffin was taken up, and being opened in 1670 in presence of the grand vicar, during the vacancy of the archiepiscopal see, the body was found entire, without the least sign of corruption; even the bowels were perfectly sound, and the color of the eyes lively and sprightly, though, through the dampness of the situation, the iron bars about the coffin were much damaged with rust. The body was found in the same condition by the Archbishop of Avignon in 1674, when, accompanied by the Bishop of Orange and a great concourse of nobility, he performed the translation of it, with great pomp, into the Church of the Celestines, this Order having obtained of Louis XIV. the honor of being intrusted with the custody of his relics till such time as the bridge and chapel should be rebuilt. Reflection.--Let us pray for perseverance in good works. St. Augustine says, “When the Saints pray in the words which Christ taught, they ask for little else than the gift of perseverance.” April 15.--ST. PATERNUS, Bishop. ST. PATERNUS was born at Poitiers, about the year 482. His father, Patranus, with the consent of his wife, went into Ireland, where he ended his days in holy solitude. Paternus, fired by his example, embraced a monastic life in the abbey of Marnes. After some time, burning with a desire of attaining to the perfection of Christian virtue, he passed over to Wales, and in Cardiganshire founded a monastery called Llan-patern-vaur, or the church of the great Paternus. He made a visit to his father in Ireland, but being called back to his monastery of Marnes, he soon after retired with St. Scubilion, a monk of that house, and embraced an austere anchoretical life in the forests of Scicy, in the diocese of Coutances, near the sea, having first obtained leave of the bishop and of the lord of the place. This desert, which was then of great extent, but which has been since gradually gained upon by the sea, was anciently in great request among the Druids. St. Paternus converted to the faith the idolaters of that and many neighboring parts, as far as Bayeux, and prevailed upon them to demolish a pagan temple in this desert, which was held in great veneration by the ancient Gauls. In his old age he was consecrated Bishop of Avranches by Germanus, Bishop of Rouen. Some false brethren having created a division of opinion among the bishops of the province with respect to St. Paternus, he preferred retiring rather than to afford any ground for dissension, and, after governing his diocese for thirteen years, he withdrew to a solitude in France, and there ended his days about the year 550. Reflection.--The greatest sacrifices imposed by the love of peace will appear as naught if we call to mind the example of Our Saviour, and remember His words, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.” April 16.--EIGHTEEN MARTYRS OF SARAGOSSA, and ST. ENCRATIS, or ENGRATIA, Virgin, Martyr. ST. OPTATUS and seventeen other holy men received the crown of martyrdom on the same day, at Saragossa, under the cruel Governor Dacian, in the persecution of Diocletian, in 304. Two others, Caius and Crementius, died of their torments after a second conflict. The Church also celebrates on this day the triumph of St. Encratis, or Engratia, Virgin. She was a native of Portugal. Her father had promised her in marriage to a man of quality in Rousillon; but fearing the dangers and despising the vanities of the world, and resolving to preserve her virginity, in order to appear more agreeable to her heavenly Spouse and serve Him without hindrance, she stole from her father’s house and fled privately to Saragossa, where the persecution was hottest, under the eyes of Dacian. She even reproached him with his barbarities, upon which he ordered her to be long tormented in the most inhuman manner: her sides were torn with iron hooks, and one of her breasts was cut off, so that the inner parts of her chest were exposed to view, and part of her liver was pulled out. In this condition she was sent back to prison, being still alive, and died by the mortifying of her wounds, in 304. The relics of all these martyrs were found at Saragossa in 1389. Reflection.--Men do not pursue temporal goods at haphazard, or by fits and starts. Let us be as punctual and orderly in the service of God, not casting about for new paths, but perfecting our ordinary devotions. If we persevere in these, Paradise is ours. April 17.--ST. ANICETUS, Pope, Martyr. ST. ANICETUS succeeded St. Pius, and sat about eight years, from 165 to 173. If he did not shed his blood for the Faith, he at least purchased the title of martyr by great sufferings and dangers. He received a visit from St. Polycarp, and tolerated the custom of the Asiatics in celebrating Easter on the 14th day of the first moon after the vernal equinox, with the Jews. His vigilance protected his flock from the wiles of the heretics Valentine and Marcion, who sought to corrupt the faith in the capital of the world. The first thirty-six bishops at Rome, down to Liberius, and, this one excepted, all the popes to Symmachus, the fifty-second, in 498, are honored among the Saints; and out of two hundred and forty-eight popes, from St. Peter to Clement XIII. seventy-eight are named in the Roman Martyrology. In the primitive ages, the spirit of fervor and perfect sanctity, which is nowadays so rarely to be found, was conspicuous in most of the faithful, and especially in their pastors. The whole tenor of their lives breathed it in such a manner as to render them the miracles of the world, angels on earth, living copies of their divine Redeemer, the odor of whose virtues and holy law and religion they spread on every side. Reflection.--If, after making the most solemn protestations of inviolable friendship and affection for a fellow-creature, we should the next moment revile and contemn him, without having received any provocation or affront, and this habitually, would not the whole world justly call our protestations hypocrisy, and our pretended friendship a mockery? Let us by this rule judge if our love of God be sovereign, so long as our inconstancy betrays the insincerity of our hearts. April 18.--ST. APOLLONIUS, Martyr. MARCUS AURELIUS had persecuted the Christians, but his son Commodus, who in 180 succeeded him, showed himself favorable to them out of regard to his Empress Marcia, who was an admirer of the Faith. During this calm the number of the faithful was exceedingly increased, and many persons of the first rank, among them Apollonius, a Roman senator, enlisted themselves under the banner of the cross. He was a person very well versed both in philosophy and the Holy Scripture. In the midst of the peace which the Church enjoyed, he was publicly accused of Christianity by one of his own slaves. The slave was immediately condemned to have his legs broken, and to be put to death, in consequence of an edict of Marcus Aurelius, who, without repealing the former laws against convicted Christians, ordered by it that their accusers should be put to death. The slave being executed, the same judge sent an order to St. Apollonius to renounce his religion as he valued his life and fortune. The Saint courageously rejected such ignominious terms of safety, wherefore Perennis referred him to the judgment of the Roman senate, to give an account of his faith to that body. Persisting in his refusal to comply with the condition, the Saint was condemned by a decree of the Senate, and beheaded about the year 186. Refection.--It is the prerogative of the Christian religion to inspire men with such resolution, and form them to such heroism, that they rejoice to sacrifice their life to truth. This is not the bare force and exertion of nature, but the undoubted power of the Almighty, Whose strength is thus made perfect in weakness. Every Christian ought, by his manner, to bear witness to the sanctity of his faith. Such would be the force of universal good example, that no libertine or infidel could withstand it. April 19.--ST. ELPHEGE, Archbishop. ST. ELPHEGE was born in the year 954, of a noble Saxon family. He first became a monk in the monastery of Deerhurst, near Tewkesbury, England, and afterwards lived as a hermit near Bath, where he founded a community under the rule of St. Benedict, and became its first abbot. At thirty years of age he was chosen Bishop of Winchester, and twenty-two years later he became Archbishop of Canterbury. In 1011, when the Danes landed in Kent and took the city of Canterbury, putting all to fire and sword, St. Elphege was captured and carried off in the expectation of a large ransom. He was unwilling that his ruined church and people should be put to such expense, and was kept in a loathsome prison at Greenwich for seven months. While so confined some friends came and urged him to lay a tax upon his tenants to raise the sum demanded for his ransom. “What reward can I hope for,” said he, “if I spend upon myself what belongs to the poor? Better give up to the poor what is ours, than take from them the little which is their own.” As he still refused to give ransom, the enraged Danes fell upon him in a fury, beat him with the blunt sides of their weapons, and bruised him with stones until one, whom the Saint had baptized shortly before, put an end to his sufferings by the blow of an axe. He died on Easter Saturday, April 19, 1012, his last words being a prayer for his murderers. His body was first buried in St. Paul’s, London, but was afterwards translated to Canterbury by King Canute. A church dedicated to St. Elphege still stands upon the place of his martyrdom at Greenwich. Reflection.--Those who are in high positions should consider themselves as stewards rather than masters of the wealth or power intrusted to them for the benefit of the poor and weak. St. Elphege died rather than extort his ransom from the poor tenants of the Church lands. April 20.--ST. MARCELLINUS, Bishop. ST. MARCELLINUS was born in Africa, of a noble family; accompanied by Vincent and Domninus, he went over into Gaul, and there preached the Gospel, with great success, in the neighborhood of the Alps. He afterwards settled at Embrun, where he built a chapel in which he passed his nights in prayer, after laboring all the day in the exercise of his sacred calling. By his pious example as well as by his earnest words, he converted many of the heathens among whom he lived. He was afterwards made bishop of the people whom he had won over to Christ, but the date of his consecration is not positively known. Burning with zeal for the glory of God, he sent Vincent and Domninus to preach the faith in those parts which he could not visit in person. He died at Embrun about the year 374, and was there interred. St. Gregory of Tours, who speaks of Marcellinus in terms of highest praise, mentions many miracles as happening at his tomb. Reflection.--Though you may not be called upon to preach, at least endeavor to set a good example, remembering that deeds often speak louder than words. April 21.--ST. ANSELM, Archbishop. ANSELM was a native of Piedmont. When a boy of fifteen, being forbidden to enter religion, he for a while lost his fervor, left his home, and went to various schools in France. At length his vocation revived, and he became a monk at Bec in Normandy. The fame of his sanctity in this cloister led William Rufus, when dangerously ill, to take him for his confessor, and to name him to the vacant see of Canterbury. Now began the strife of Anselm’s life. With new health the king relapsed into his former sins, plundered the Church lands, scorned the archbishop’s rebukes, and forbade him to go to Rome for the pallium. Anselm went, and returned only to enter into a more bitter strife with William’s successor, Henry I. This sovereign claimed the right of investing prelates with the ring and crozier, symbols of the spiritual jurisdiction which belongs to the Church alone. The worldly prelates did not scruple to call St. Anselm a traitor for his defence of the Pope’s supremacy; on which the Saint rose, and with calm dignity exclaimed, “If any man pretends that I violate my faith to my king because I will not reject the authority of the Holy See of Rome, let him stand forth, and in the name of God I will answer him as I ought”. No one took up the challenge; and to the disappointment of the king, the barons sided with the Saint, for they respected his courage, and saw that his cause was their own. Sooner than yield, the archbishop went again into exile, till at last the king was obliged to submit to the feeble but inflexible old man. In the midst of his harassing cares, St. Anselm found time for writings which have made him celebrated as the father of scholastic theology; while in metaphysics and in science he had few equals. He is yet more famous for his devotion to our blessed Lady, whose Feast of the Immaculate Conception he was the first to establish in the West. He died in 1109. Reflection.--Whoever, like St. Anselm, contends for the Church’s rights, is fighting on the side of God against the tyranny of Satan. April 22.--ST. SOTER, Pope, Martyr. ST. SOTER was raised to the papacy upon the death of St. Anicetus, in 173. By the sweetness of his discourses he comforted all persons with the tenderness of a father, and assisted the indigent with liberal alms, especially those who suffered for the faith. He liberally extended his charities, according to the custom of his predecessors, to remote churches, particularly to that of Corinth, to which he addressed an excellent letter, as St. Dionysius of Corinth testifies in his letter of thanks, who adds that his letter was found worthy to be read for their edification on Sundays at their assemblies to celebrate the divine mysteries, together with the letter of St. Clement, pope. St. Soter vigorously opposed the heresy of Montanus, and governed the Church to the year 177. April 22.--ST. LEONIDES, Martyr. THE Emperor Severus, in the year 202, which was the tenth of his reign, raised a bloody persecution, which filled the whole empire with martyrs, but especially Egypt. The most illustrious of those who by their triumphs ennobled and edified the city of Alexandria was Leonides, father of the great Origen. He was a Christian philosopher, and excellently versed both in the profane and sacred sciences. He had seven sons, the eldest of whom was Origen, whom he brought up with abundance of care, returning God thanks for having blessed him with a son of such an excellent disposition for learning, and a very great zeal for piety. These qualifications endeared him greatly to his father, who, after his son was baptized, would come to his bedside while he was asleep, and, opening his bosom, kiss it respectfully, as being the temple of the Holy Ghost. When the persecution raged at Alexandria, under Laetus, governor of Egypt, in the tenth year of Severus, Leonides was cast into prison. Origen, who was then only seventeen years of age, burned with an incredible desire of martyrdom, and sought every opportunity of meeting with it. But his mother conjured him not to forsake her, and his ardor being redoubled at the sight of his father’s chains, she was forced to lock up all his clothes to oblige him to stay at home. So, not being able to do any more, he wrote a letter to his father in very moving terms, strongly exhorting him to look on the crown that was offered him with courage and joy, adding this clause, “Take heed, sir. that for our sakes you do not change your mind.” Leonides was accordingly beheaded for the faith in 202. His estates and goods being all confiscated, and seized for the emperor’s use, his widow was left with seven children to maintain in the poorest condition imaginable; but Divine Providence was both her comfort and support. April 23.--ST. GEORGE, Martyr. ST. GEORGE was born in Cappadocia, at the close of the third century, of Christian parents. In early youth he chose a soldier’s life, and soon obtained the favor of Diocletian, who advanced him to the grade of tribune. When, however, the emperor began to persecute the Christians, George rebuked him at once sternly and openly for his cruelty, and threw up his commission. He was in consequence subjected to a lengthened series of torments, and finally beheaded. There was something so inspiriting in the defiant cheerfulness of the young soldier, that every Christian felt a personal share in this triumph of Christian fortitude; and as years rolled on St. George became a type of successful combat against evil, the slayer of the dragon, the darling theme of camp song and story, until “so thick a shade his very glory round him made” that his real lineaments became hard to trace. Even beyond the circle of Christendom he was held in honor, and invading Saracens taught themselves to except from desecration the image of him they hailed as the “White-horsed Knight.” The devotion to St. George is one of the most ancient and widely spread in the Church. In the East, a church of St. George is ascribed to Constantine, and his name is invoked in the most ancient liturgies; whilst in the West, Malta, Barcelona, Valencia, Arragon, Genoa, and England have chosen him as their patron. Reflection.--”What shall I say of fortitude, without which neither wisdom nor justice is of any worth? Fortitude is not of the body, but is a constancy of soul; wherewith we are conquerors in righteousness, patiently bear all adversities, and in prosperity are not puffed up. This fortitude he lacks who is overcome by pride, anger, greed, drunkenness, and the like. Neither have they fortitude who when in adversity make shift to escape at their souls’ expense; wherefore the Lord saith, ‘Fear not those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul.’ In like manner those who are puffed up in prosperity and abandon themselves to excessive joviality cannot be called strong. For how can they be called strong who cannot hide and repress the heart’s emotion? Fortitude is never conquered, or if conquered, is not fortitude.”--St. Bruno. April 24.--ST. FIDELIS OF SIGMARINGEN. FIDELIS was born at Sigmaringen in 1577, of noble parents. In his youth he frequently approached the sacraments, visited the sick and the poor, and spent moreover many hours before the altar. For a time he followed the legal profession, and was remarkable for his advocacy of the poor and his respectful language towards his opponents. Finding it difficult to become both a rich lawyer and a good Christian, Fidelis entered the Capuchin Order, and embraced a life of austerity and prayer. Hair shirts, iron-pointed girdles, and disciplines were penances too light for his fervor; and being filled with a desire of martyrdom, he rejoiced at being sent to Switzerland by the newly-founded Congregation of Propaganda, and braved every peril to rescue souls from the diabolical heresy of Calvin. When preaching at Sevis he was fired at by a Calvinist, but the fear of death could not deter him from proclaiming divine truth. After his sermon he was waylaid by a body of Protestants headed by a minister, who attacked him and tried to force him to embrace their so-called reform. But he said, “I came to refute your errors, not to embrace them; I will never renounce Catholic doctrine, which is the truth of all ages, and I fear not death.” On this they fell upon him with their poignards, and the first martyr of Propaganda went to receive his palm. Reflection.--We delight in decorating the altars of God with flowers, lights, and jewels, and it is right to do so; but if we wish to offer to God gifts of higher value, let us, in imitation of St. Fidelis, save the souls who but for us would be lost; for so we shall offer Him, as it were, the jewels of paradise. April 25.--ST. MARK, Evangelist. ST. MARK was converted to the Faith by the Prince of the Apostles, whom he afterwards accompanied to Rome, acting there as his secretary or interpreter. When St. Peter was writing his first epistle to the churches of Asia, he affectionately joins with his own salutation that of his faithful companion, whom he calls “my son Mark.” The Roman people entreated St. Mark to put in writing for them the substance of St. Peter’s frequent discourses on Our Lord’s life. This the Evangelist did under the eye and with the express sanction of the apostle, and every page of his brief but graphic gospel so bore the impress of St. Peter’s character, that the Fathers used to name it “Peter’s Gospel”. St. Mark was now sent to Egypt to found the Church of Alexandria. Here his disciples became the wonder of the world for their piety and asceticism, so that St. Jerome speaks of St. Mark as the father of the anchorites, who at a later time thronged the Egyptian deserts. Here, too, he set up the first Christian school, the fruitful mother of many illustrious doctors and bishops. After governing his see for many years, St. Mark was one day seized by the heathen, dragged by ropes over stones, and thrown into prison. On the morrow the torture was repeated, and having been consoled by a vision of angels and the voice of Jesus, St. Mark went to his reward. It is to St. Mark that we owe the many slight touches which often give such vivid coloring to the Gospel scenes, and help us to picture to ourselves the very gestures and looks of our blessed Lord. It is he alone who notes that in the temptation Jesus was “with the beasts;” that He slept in the boat “on a pillow;” that He “embraced” the little children. He alone preserves for us the commanding words “Peace, be still!” by which the storm was quelled; or even the very sounds of His voice, the “Ephpheta” and “Talitha cumi,” by which the dumb were made to speak and the dead to rise. So, too, the “looking round about with anger,” and the “sighing deeply,” long treasured in the memory of the penitent apostle, who was himself converted by his Saviour’s look, are here recorded by his faithful interpreter. Reflection.--Learn from St. Mark to keep the image of the Son of man ever before your mind, and to ponder every syllable which fell from His lips. April 26.--STS. CLETUS and MARCELLINUS, Popes, Martyrs. ST. CLETUS was the third Bishop of Rome, and succeeded St. Linus, which circumstance alone shows his eminent virtue among the first disciples of St. Peter in the West. He sat twelve years, from 76 to 89. The canon of the Roman Mass, Bede, and other martyrologists, style him a martyr. He was buried near St. Linus, in the Vatican, and his relics still remain in that church. St. Marcellinus succeeded St. Coins in the bishopric of Rome in 296, about the time that Diocletian set himself up for a deity, and impiously claimed divine honors. In those stormy times of persecution Marcellinus acquired great glory. He sat in St. Peter’s chair eight years, three months, and twenty-five days, dying in 304, a year after the cruel persecution broke out, in which he gained much honor. He has been styled a martyr, though his blood was not shed in the cause of religion. Reflection.--It is a fundamental maxim of the Christian morality, and a truth which Christ has established in the clearest terms and in innumerable passages of the Gospel, that the cross or sufferings and mortification are the road to eternal bliss. They, therefore, who lead not here a crucified and mortified life are unworthy ever to possess the unspeakable joys of His kingdom. Our Lord Himself, our model and our head, walked in this path, and His great Apostle puts us in mind that He entered into bliss only by His blood and by the cross. April 27.--ST. ZITA, Virgin. ZITA lived for forty-eight years in the service of Fatinelli, a citizen of Lucca. During this time she rose each morning, while the household were asleep, to hear Mass, and then toiled incessantly till night came, doing the work of others as well as her own. Once Zita, absorbed in prayer, remained in church past the usual hour of her bread-making. She hastened home, reproaching herself with neglect of duty, and found the bread made and ready for the oven. She never doubted that her mistress or one of her servants had kneaded it, and going to them, thanked them; but they were astonished. No human being had made the bread. A delicious perfume rose from it, for angels had made it during her prayer. For years her master and mistress treated her as a mere drudge, while her fellow-servants, resenting her diligence as a reproach to themselves, insulted and struck her. Zita united these sufferings with those of Christ her Lord, never changing the sweet tone of her voice, nor forgetting her gentle and quiet ways. At length Fatinelli, seeing the success which attended her undertakings, gave her charge of his children and of the household. She dreaded this dignity more than the worst humiliation, but scrupulously fulfilled her trust. By her holy economy her master’s goods were multiplied, while the poor were fed at his door. Gradually her unfailing patience conquered the jealousy of her fellow-servants, and she became their advocate with their hot-tempered master, who dared not give way to his anger before Zita. In the end her prayer and toil sanctified the whole house, and drew down upon it the benediction of Heaven. She died in 1272, and in the moment of her death a bright star appearing above her attic showed that she had gained eternal rest. Reflection.--”What must I do to be saved?” said a certain one in fear of damnation. “Work and pray, pray and work,” a voice replied, “and thou shalt be saved.” The whole life of St. Zita teaches us this truth. April 27.--ST. TURRIBIUS, Archbishop of Lima. (From Rev. Butler’s section titled: “Lives Of Certain Saints Contained In The Calendar Of Special Feasts For The United States And Of Some Others Recently Canonized”) TURRIBIUS ALPHONSUS MOGROBEJO, whose feast the Church honors on April 27th, was born on the 6th of November, 1538, at Mayorga in the kingdom of Leon in Spain. Brought up in a pious family where devotion was hereditary, his youth was a model to all who knew him. All his leisure was given to devotion or to works of charity. His austerities were great, and he frequently made long pilgrimages on foot. The fame of Turribius as a master of canon and civil law soon reached the ears of King Philip II., who made him judge at Granada. About that time the see of Lima, in Peru, fell vacant, and among those proposed Philip found no one who seemed better endowed than our Saint with all the qualities that were required at that city, where much was to be done for religion. He sent to Rome the name of the holy judge, and the Sovereign Pontiff confirmed his choice. Turribius in vain sought to avoid the honor. The Pope, in reply, directed him to prepare to receive Holy Orders and be consecrated. Yielding at last by direction of his confessor, he was ordained priest and consecrated. He arrived at Lima in 1587, and entered on his duties. All was soon edification and order in his episcopal city. A model of all virtue himself, he confessed daily and prepared for Mass by long meditation. St. Turribius then began a visitation of his vast diocese, which he traversed three times, his first visitation lasting seven years and his second four. He held provincial councils, framing decrees of such wisdom that his regulations were adopted in many countries. Almost his entire revenues were bestowed on his creditors, as he styled the poor. While discharging with zeal his duties he was seized with a fatal illness during his third visitation, and died on the 23d of March, 1666, at Santa, exclaiming, as he received the sacred Viaticum: “I rejoiced in the things that were said to me: ‘We shall go into the house of the Lord.’” The proofs of his holy life and of the favors granted through his intercession induced Pope Innocent XI. to beatify him, and he was canonized by Pope Benedict XIII. in the year 1726. April 28.--ST. PAUL OF THE CROSS. THE eighty-one years of this Saint’s life were modelled on the Passion of Jesus Christ. In his childhood, when praying in church, a heavy bench fell on his foot, but the boy took no notice of the bleeding wound, and spoke of it as “a rose sent from God.” A few years later, the vision of a scourge with “love” written on its lashes assured him that his thirst for penance would be satisfied. In the hope of dying for the faith, he enlisted in a crusade against the Turks; but a voice from the Tabernacle warned him that he was to serve Christ alone, and that he should found a congregation in His honor. At the command of his bishop he began while a layman to preach the Passion, and a series of crosses tried the reality of his vocation. All his first companions, save his brother, deserted him; the Sovereign Pontiff refused him an audience; and it was only after a delay of seventeen years that the Papal approbation was obtained, and the first house of the Passionists was opened on Monte Argentario, the spot which Our Lady had pointed out. St. Paul chose as the badge of his Order a heart with three nails, in memory of the sufferings of Jesus, but for himself he invented a more secret and durable sign. Moved by the same holy impulse as Blessed Henry Suso, St. Jane Frances, and other Saints, he branded on his side the Holy Name, and its characters were found there after death. His heart beat with a supernatural palpitation, which was especially vehement on Fridays, and the heat at times was so intense as to scorch his shirt in the region of his heart. Through fifty years of incessant bodily pain, and amidst all his trials, Paul read the love of Jesus everywhere, and would cry out to the flowers and grass, “Oh! be quiet, be quiet,” as if they were reproaching him with ingratitude. He died whilst the Passion was being read to him, and so passed with Jesus from the cross to glory. April 28.--ST. VITALIS, Martyr. ST. VITALIS was a citizen of Milan, and is said to have been the father of Sts. Gervasius and Protasius. The divine providence conducted him to Ravenna, where he saw a Christian named Ursicinus, who was condemned to lose his head for his faith, standing aghast at the sight of death, and seeming ready to yield. Vitalis was extremely moved at this spectacle. He knew his double obligation of preferring the glory of God and the eternal salvation of his neighbor to his own corporal life: he therefore boldly and successfully encouraged Ursicinus to triumph over death, and after his martyrdom carried off his body, and respectfully interred it. The judge, whose name was Paulinus, being informed of this, caused Vitalis to be apprehended, stretched on the rack, and, after other torments, to be buried alive in a place called the Palm-tree, in Ravenna. His wife, Valeria, returning from Ravenna to Milan, was beaten to death by peasants, because she refused to join them in an idolatrous festival and riot. Reflection.--We are not all called to the sacrifice of martyrdom; but we are all bound to make our lives a continued sacrifice of ourselves to God, and to perform every action in this perfect spirit of sacrifice. Thus we shall both live and die to God, perfectly resigned to His holy will in all His appointments. April 29.--ST. PETER, Martyr. IN 1205 the glorious martyr Peter was born at Verona of heretical parents. He went to a Catholic school, and his Manichean uncle asked what he learnt. “The Creed,” answered Peter; “I believe in God, Creator of heaven and earth.” No persuasion could shake his faith, and at fifteen he received the habit from St. Dominic himself at Bologna. After ordination, he preached to the heretics of Lombardy, and converted multitudes. St. Peter was constantly obliged to dispute with heretics, and although he was able to confound them, still the devil took occasion thence to tempt him once against faith. Instantly he had recourse to prayer before an image of Our Lady, and heard a voice saying to him the words of Jesus Christ in the Gospel, “I have prayed for thee, Peter, that thy faith may not fail; and thou shalt confirm thy brethren in it.” Once when exhorting a vast crowd under the burning sun, the heretics defied him to procure shade. He prayed, and a cloud overshadowed the audience. In spite of his sanctity, he was foully slandered and even punished for immorality. He submitted humbly, but complained in prayer to Jesus crucified. The crucifix spoke, “And I, Peter, what did I do?” Every day, as he elevated at Mass the precious blood, he prayed, “Grant, Lord, that I may die for Thee, Who for me didst die.” His prayer was answered. The heretics, confounded by him, sought his life. Two of them attacked him as he was returning to Milan, and struck his head with an axe. St. Peter fell, commended himself to God, dipped his finger in his own blood, and wrote on the ground, “I believe in God, Creator of heaven and earth.” They then stabbed him in the side, and he received his crown. Reflection.--From a boy St. Peter boldly professed his faith among heretics. He spent his life in preaching the faith to heretics, and received the glorious and long-desired crown of martyrdom from heretics. We are surrounded by heretics. Are we courageous, firm, zealous, full of prayer for their conversion, unflinching in our profession of faith? April 29.--ST. HUGH, Abbot of Cluny. ST. HUGH was a prince related to the sovereign house of the dukes of Burgundy, and had his education under the tuition of his pious Mother, and under the care of Hugh, Bishop of Auxerre, his great-uncle. From his infancy he was exceedingly given to prayer and meditation, and his life was remarkably innocent and holy. One day, hearing an account of the wonderful sanctity of the monks of Cluny, under St. Odilo, he was so moved that he set out that moment, and going thither, humbly begged the monastic habit. After a rigid novitiate, he made his profession in 1039, being sixteen years old. His extraordinary virtue, especially his admirable humility, obedience, charity, sweetness, prudence, and zeal, gained him the respect of the whole community; and upon the death of St. Odilo, in 1049, though only twenty-five years old, he succeeded to the government of that great abbey, which he held sixty-two years. He received to the religious profession Hugh, Duke of Burgundy, and died on the twenty-ninth of April, in 1109, aged eighty-five. He was canonized twelve years after his death by Pope Calixtus II. April 30.--ST. CATHERINE OF SIENA. CATHERINE, the daughter of a humble tradesman, was raised up to be the guide and guardian of the Church in one of the darkest periods of its history, the fourteenth century. As a child, prayer was her delight. She would say the “Hail Mary” on each step as she mounted the stairs, and was granted in reward a vision of Christ in glory. When but seven years old, she made a vow of virginity, and afterwards endured bitter persecution for refusing to marry. Our Lord gave her His Heart in exchange for her own, communicated her with His own hands, and stamped on her body the print of His wounds. At the age of fifteen she entered the Third Order of St. Dominic, but continued to reside in her father’s shop, where she united a life of active charity with the prayer of a contemplative Saint. From this obscure home the seraphic virgin was summoned to defend the Church’s cause. Armed with Papal authority, and accompanied by three confessors, she travelled through Italy, reducing rebellious cities to the obedience of the Holy See, and winning hardened souls to God. In the face well-nigh of the whole world she sought out Gregory XI. at Avignon, brought him back to Rome, and by her letters to the kings and queens of Europe made good the Papal cause. She was the counsellor of Urban VI., and sternly rebuked the disloyal cardinals who had part in electing an antipope. Long had the holy virgin foretold the terrible schism which began ere she died. Day and night she wept and prayed for unity and peace. But the devil excited the Roman people against the Pope, so that some sought the life of Christ’s Vicar. With intense earnestness did St. Catherine beg Our Lord to prevent this enormous crime. In spirit she saw the whole city full of demons tempting the people to resist and even slay the Pope. The seditious temper was subdued by Catherine’s prayers; but the devils vented their malice by scourging the Saint herself, who gladly endured all for God and His Church. She died at Rome, in 1380, at the age of thirty-three. Reflection.--The seraphic St. Catherine willingly sacrificed the delights of contemplation to labor for the Church and the Apostolic See. How deeply do the troubles of the Church and the consequent loss of souls afflict us? How often do we pray for the Church and the Pope? May 1.--STS. PHILIP and JAMES, Apostles. PHILIP was one of the first chosen disciples of Christ. On the way from Judea to Galilee Our Lord found Philip, and said, “Follow Me”. Philip straightway obeyed; and then in his zeal and charity sought to win Nathaniel also, saying, “We have found Him of Whom Moses and the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth;” and when Nathaniel in wonder asked, “Can any good come out of Nazareth?” Philip simply answered, “Come and see,” and brought him to Jesus. Another characteristic saying of this apostle is preserved for us by St. John. Christ in His last discourse had spoken of His Father; and Philip exclaimed, in the fervor of his thirst for God, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough”. St. James the Less, the author of an inspired epistle, was also one of the Twelve. St. Paul tells us that he was favored by a special apparition of Christ after the Resurrection. On the dispersion of the apostles among the nations, St. James was left as Bishop of Jerusalem; and even the Jews held in such high veneration his purity, mortification, and prayer, that they named him the Just. The earliest of Church historians has handed down many traditions of St. James’s sanctity. He was always a virgin, says Hegesippus, and consecrated to God. He drank no wine, wore no sandals on his feet, and but a single garment on his body. He prostrated himself so much in prayer that the skin of his knees was hardened like a camel’s hoof. The Jews, it is said, used out of respect to touch the hem of his garment. He was indeed a living proof of his own words, “The wisdom that is from above first indeed is chaste, then peaceable, modest, full of mercy and good fruits.” He sat beside St. Peter and St. Paul at the Council of Jerusalem; and when St. Paul at a later time escaped the fury of the Jews by appealing to Caesar, the people took vengeance on James, and crying, “The just one hath erred,” stoned him to death. Reflection.--The Church commemorates on the same day Sts. Philip and James, whose bodies lie side by side at Rome. They represent to us two aspects of Christian holiness. The first preaches faith, the second works; the one holy aspirations, the other purity of heart. May 2.--ST. ATHANASIUS, Bishop. (Source: Butlers Lives Of The Saints 1894 A.D.)
ATHANASIUS was born in Egypt towards the end of the third century, and was from his youth pious, learned, and deeply versed in the sacred writings, as befitted one whom God had chosen to be the champion and defender of His Church against the Arian heresy. Though only a deacon he was chosen by his bishop to go with him to the Council of Nicaea, in 325, and attracted the attention of all by the learning and ability with which he defended the faith. A few months later, he became Patriarch of Alexandria, and for forty-six years he bore, often well-nigh alone, the whole brunt of the Arian assault. On the refusal of the Saint to restore Arius to Catholic communion, the emperor ordered the Patriarch of Constantinople to do so. The wretched heresiarch took an oath that he had always believed as the Church believes; and the patriarch, after vainly using every effort to move the emperor, had recourse to fasting and prayer, that God would avert from the Church the frightful sacrilege. The day came for the solemn entrance of Arius into the great church of Sancta Sophia. The heresiarch and his party set out glad and in triumph. But before he reached the church, death smote him swiftly and awfully, and the dreaded sacrilege was averted. St. Athanasius stood unmoved against four Roman emperors; was banished five times; was the butt of every insult, calumny, and wrong the Arians could devise, and lived in constant peril of death. Though firm as adamant in defence of the Faith, he was meek and humble, pleasant and winning in converse, beloved by his flock, unwearied in labors, in prayer, in mortifications, and in zeal for souls. In the year 373 his stormy life closed in peace, rather that his people would have it so than that his enemies were weary of persecuting him. He left to the Church the whole and ancient Faith, defended and explained in writings rich in thought and learning, clear, keen, and stately in expression. He is honored as one of the greatest of the Doctors of the Church. Reflection.--The Catholic Faith, says St. Augustine, is more precious far than all the riches and treasures of earth; more glorious and greater than all its honors, all its possessions. This it is which saves sinners, gives light to the blind, restores penitents, perfects the just, and is the crown of martyrs. May 3.--THE DISCOVERY OF THE HOLY CROSS. GOD having restored peace to His Church, by exalting Constantine the Great to the imperial throne, that pious prince, who had triumphed over his enemies by the miraculous power of the cross, was very desirous of expressing his veneration for the holy places which had been honored and sanctified by the presence and sufferings of our blessed Redeemer on earth, and accordingly resolved to build a magnificent church in the city of Jerusalem. St. Helen, the emperor’s mother, desiring to visit the holy places there, undertook a journey into Palestine in 326, though at that time near eighty years of age; and on her arrival at Jerusalem was inspired with a great desire to find the identical cross on which Christ had suffered for our sins. But there was no mark or tradition, even amongst the Christians, to show where it lay. The heathens, out of an aversion to Christianity, had done what they could to conceal the place where Our Saviour was buried, by heaping on it a great quantity of stones and rubbish, and building on it a temple to Venus. They had, moreover, erected a statue of Jupiter in the place where Our Saviour rose from the dead. Helen, to carry out her pious design, consulted every one at Jerusalem and near it whom she thought likely to assist her in finding out the cross; and was credibly informed that, if she could find out the sepulchre, she would likewise find the instruments of the punishment; it being the custom among the Jews to make a hole near the place where the body of a criminal was buried, and to throw into it whatever belonged to his execution. The pious empress, therefore, ordered the profane buildings to be pulled down, the statues to be broken in pieces, and the rubbish to be removed; and, upon digging to a great depth, the holy sepulchre, and near it three crosses, also the nails which had pierced Our Saviour’s body, and the title which had been fixed to His cross, were found. By this discovery they knew that one of the three crosses was that which they were in quest of, and that the others belonged to the two malefactors between whom Our Saviour had been crucified. But, as the title was found separate from the cross, it was difficult to distinguish which of the three crosses was that on which our divine Redeemer consummated His sacrifice for the salvation of the world. In this perplexity the holy Bishop Macarius, knowing that one of the principal ladies of the city lay extremely ill, suggested to the empress to cause the three crosses to be carried to the sick person, not doubting but God would discover which was the cross they sought for. This being done, St. Macarius prayed that God would have regard to their faith, and, after his prayer, applied the crosses singly to the patient, who was immediately and perfectly recovered by the touch of one of the three crosses, the other two having been tried without effect. St. Helen, full of joy at having found the treasure which she had so earnestly sought and so highly esteemed, built a church on the spot, and lodged the cross there with great veneration, having provided an extraordinarily rich case for it. She afterwards carried part of it to the Emperor Constantine, then at Constantinople, who received it with great veneration; another part she sent or rather carried to Rome, to be placed in the church which she had built there, called Of the Holy Cross of Jerusalem, where it remains to this day. The title was sent by St. Helen to the same church, and placed on the top of an arch, where it was found in a case of lead in 1492. The inscription in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin is in red letters, and the wood was whitened. Thus it was in 1492; but these colors are since faded. Also the words Jesus and Judaeorum are eaten away. The board is nine, but must have been twelve, inches long. The main part of the cross St. Helen inclosed in a silver shrine, and committed it to the care of St. Macarius, that it might be delivered down to posterity, as an object of veneration. It was accordingly kept with singular care and respect in the magnificent church which she and her son built in Jerusalem. St. Paulinus relates that, though chips were almost daily cut off from it and given to devout persons, yet the sacred wood suffered thereby no diminution. It is affirmed by St. Cyril of Jerusalem, twenty-five years after the discovery, that pieces of the cross were spread all over the earth; he compares this wonder to the miraculous feeding of five thousand men, as recorded in the Gospel. The discovery of the cross must have happened about the month of May, or early in the spring; for St. Helen went the same year to Constantinople, and from thence to Rome, where she died in the arms of her son on the 18th of August, 326. Reflection.--In every pious undertaking the beginning merely does not suffice. “Whoso shall persevere unto the end, he shall be saved.” May 4.--ST. MONICA. MONICA, the mother of St. Augustine, was born in 332. A girlhood of singular innocence and piety, she was given in marriage to Patritius, a pagan. She at once devoted herself to his conversion, praying for him always, and winning his reverence and love by the holiness of her life and her affectionate forbearance. She was rewarded by seeing him baptized a year before his death. When her son Augustine went astray in faith and manners her prayers and tears were incessant. She was once very urgent with a learned bishop that he would talk to her son in order to bring him to a better mind, but he declined, despairing of success with one at once so able and so headstrong. However, on witnessing her prayers and tears, he bade her be of good courage; for it might not be that the child of those tears should perish. By going to Italy, Augustine could for a time free himself from his mother’s importunities; but he could not escape from her prayers, which encompassed him like the providence of God. She followed him to Italy, and there by his marvellous conversion her sorrow was turned into joy. At Ostia, on their homeward journey, as Augustine and his mother sat at a window conversing of the life of the blessed, she turned to him and said, “Son, there is nothing now I care for in this life. What I shall now do or why I am here, I know not. The one reason I had for wishing to linger in this life a little longer was that I might see you a Catholic Christian before I died. This has God granted me superabundantly in seeing you reject earthly happiness to become His servant. What do I here?” A few days afterwards she had an attack of fever, and died in the year 387. Reflection.--It is impossible to set any bounds to what persevering prayer may do. It gives man a share in the Divine Omnipotence. St. Augustine’s soul lay bound in the chains of heresy and impurity, both of which had by long habit grown inveterate. They were broken by his mother’s prayers. May 5.--ST. PIUS V. A DOMINICAN friar from his fifteenth year, Michael Ghislieri, as a simple religious, as inquisitor, as bishop, and as cardinal, was famous for his intrepid defence of the Church’s faith and discipline, and for the spotless purity of his own life. His first care as Pope was to reform the Roman court and capital by the strict example of his household and the severe punishment of all offenders. He next endeavored to obtain from the Catholic powers the recognition of the Tridentine decrees, two of which he urgently enforced--the residence of bishops, and the establishment of diocesan seminaries. He revised the Missal and Breviary, and reformed the ecclesiastical music. Nor was he less active in protecting the Church without. We see him at the same time supporting the Catholic King of France against the Huguenot rebels, encouraging Mary Queen of Scots, in the bitterness of her captivity, and excommunicating her rival the usurper Elizabeth, when the best blood of England had flowed upon the scaffold, and the measure of her crimes was full. But it was at Lepanto that the Saint’s power was most manifest; there, in October, 1571, by the holy league which he had formed, but still more by his prayers to the great Mother of God, the aged Pontiff crushed the Ottoman forces, and saved Christendom from the Turk. Six months later, St. Pius died, having reigned but six years. St. Pius was accustomed to kiss the feet of his crucifix on leaving or entering his room. One day the feet moved away from his lips. Sorrow filled his heart, and he made acts of contrition, fearing that he must have committed some secret offence, but still he could not kiss the feet. It was afterwards found that they had been poisoned by an enemy. Reflection.--”Thy cross, O Lord, is the source of all blessings, the cause of all graces: by it the faithful find strength in weakness, glory in shame, life in death.”--St. Leo. May 6.--ST. JOHN BEFORE THE LATIN GATE. IN the year 95, St. John, who was the only surviving apostle, and governed all the churches of Asia, was apprehended at Ephesus, and sent prisoner to Rome. The Emperor Domitian did not relent at the sight of the venerable old man, but condemned him to be cast into a caldron of boiling oil. The martyr doubtless heard, with great joy, this barbarous sentence; the most cruel torments seemed to him light and most agreeable, because they would, he hoped, unite him forever to his divine Master and Saviour. But God accepted his will and crowned his desire; He conferred on him the honor and merit of martyrdom, but suspended the operation of the fire, as He had formerly preserved the three children from hurt in the Babylonian furnace. The seething oil was changed in his regard into an invigorating bath, and the Saint came out more refreshed than when he had entered the caldron. Domitian saw this miracle without drawing from it the least advantage, but remained hardened in his iniquity. However, he contented himself after this with banishing the holy apostle into the little island of Patmos. St. John returned to Ephesus, in the reign of Nerva, who by mildness, during his short reign of one year and four months, labored to restore the faded lustre of the Roman Empire. This glorious triumph of St. John happened without the gate of Rome called Latina. A church which since has always borne this title was consecrated in the same place in memory of this miracle, under the first Christian emperors. Reflection.--St. John suffered above the other Saints a martyrdom of love, being a martyr, and more than a martyr, at the foot of the cross of his divine Master. All his sufferings were by love and compassion imprinted in his soul, and thus shared by him. O singular happiness, to have stood under the cross of Christ! O extraordinary privilege, to have suffered martyrdom in the person of Jesus, and been eye-witness of all He did or endured! If nature revolt within us against suffering, let us call to mind those words of the divine Master: “Thou knowest not now wherefore; but thou shalt know hereafter.” May 7.--ST. STANISLAS, Bishop, Martyr. STANISLAS was born in answer to prayer when his parents were advanced in age. Out of gratitude they educated him for the Church, and from a holy priest he became in time Bishop of Cracow. Boleslas II. was then King of Poland--a prince of good disposition, but spoilt by a long course of victory and success. After many acts of lust and cruelty, he outraged the whole kingdom by carrying off the wife of one of his nobles. Against this public scandal the chaste and gentle bishop alone raised his voice. Having commended the matter to God, he went down to the palace and openly rebuked the king for his crime against God and his subjects, and threatened to excommunicate him if he persisted in his sin. To slander the Saint’s character, Boleslas suborned the nephews of one Paul, lately dead, to swear that their uncle had never been paid for land bought by the bishop for the Church. The Saint stood fearlessly before the king’s tribunal, though all his witnesses forsook him, and guaranteed to bring the dead man to witness for him within three days. On the third day, after many prayers and tears, he raised Paul to life, and led him in his grave-clothes before the king. Boleslas made a show for a while of a better life. Soon, however, he relapsed into the most scandalous excesses, and the bishop, finding all remonstrance useless, pronounced the sentence of excommunication. In defiance of the censure, on May 8, 1079, the king went down to a chapel where the bishop himself was saying Mass, and sent in three companies of soldiers to dispatch him at the altar. Each in turn came out, saying they had been scared by a light from heaven. Then the king rushed in and slew the Saint at the altar with his own hand. Reflection.--The safest correction of vice is a blameless life. Yet there are times when silence would make us answerable for the sins of others. At such times let us, in the name of God, rebuke the offender without fear. May 8.--THE APPARITION OF ST. MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL. IT is manifest, from the Holy Scriptures, that God is pleased to make frequent use of the ministry of the heavenly spirits in the dispensations of His providence in this world, and especially towards man. Hence the name of Angel (which is not properly a denomination of nature, but office) has been appropriated to them. The angels are all pure spirits; they are, by a property of their nature, immortal, as every spirit is. They have the power of moving or conveying themselves from place to place, and such is their activity that it is not easy for us to conceive it. Among the holy archangels, there are particularly distinguished in Holy Writ Sts. Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael. St. Michael, whom the Church honors this day, was the prince of the faithful angels who opposed Lucifer and his associates in their revolt against God. As the devil is the sworn enemy of God’s holy Church, St. Michael is its special protector against his assaults and stratagems. This holy archangel has ever been honored in the Christian Church as her guardian under God, and as the protector of the faithful; for God is pleased to employ the zeal and charity of the good angels and their leader against the malice of the devil. To thank His adorable goodness for this benefit of His merciful providence is this festival instituted by the Church in honor of the good angels, in which devotion she has been encouraged by several apparitions of this glorious archangel. Among others, it is recorded that St. Michael, in a vision, admonished the Bishop of Siponto to build a church in his honor on Mount Gargano, near Manfredonia, in the kingdom of Naples. When the Emperor Otho III. had, contrary to his word, put to death, for rebellion, Crescentius, a Roman senator, being touched with remorse he cast himself at the feet of St. Romuald, who, in satisfaction for his crime, enjoined him to walk barefoot, on a penitential pilgrimage, to St. Michael’s on Mount Gargano, which penance he performed in 1002. It is mentioned in particular of this special guardian and protector of the Church that, in the persecution of Antichrist, he will powerfully stand up in her defence: “At that time shall Michael rise up, the great prince, who standeth for the children of thy people.” Reflection.--St. Michael is not only the protector of the Church, but of every faithful soul. He defeated the devil by humility: we are enlisted in the same warfare. His arms were humility and ardent love of God: the same must be our weapons. We ought to regard this archangel as our leader under God: and, courageously resisting the devil in all his assaults, to cry out, Who can be compared to God? May 9.--ST. GREGORY NAZIANZEN. GREGORY was born of saintly parents, and was the chosen friend of St. Basil. They studied together at Athens, turned at the same time from the fairest worldly prospects, and for some years lived together in seclusion, self-discipline, and toil. Gregory was raised, almost by force, to the priesthood; and was in time made Bishop of Nazianzum by St. Basil, who had become Archbishop of Caesarea. When he was fifty years old, he was chosen, for his rare gifts and his conciliatory disposition, to be Patriarch of Constantinople, then distracted and laid waste by Arian and other heretics. In that city he labored with wonderful success. The Arians were so irritated at the decay of their heresy that they pursued the Saint with outrage, calumny, and violence, and at length resolved to take away his life. For this purpose they chose a resolute young man, who readily undertook the sacrilegious commission. But God did not allow him to carry it out. He was touched with remorse, and cast himself at the Saint’s feet, avowing his sinful intent. St. Gregory at once forgave him, treated him with all kindness, and received him amongst his friends, to the wonder and edification of the whole city, and to the confusion of the heretics, whose crime had served only as a foil to the virtue of the Saint. St. Jerome boasts that he had sat at his feet, and calls him his master and his catechist in Holy Scripture. But his lowliness, his austerities, the insignificance of his person, and above all his very success, drew down on him the hatred of the enemies of the Faith. He was persecuted by the magistrates, stoned by the rabble, and thwarted and deserted even by his brother bishops. During the second General Council he resigned his see, hoping thus to restore peace to the tormented city, and retired to his native town, where he died in 390. He was a graceful poet, a preacher at once eloquent and solid; and as a champion of the Faith so well equipped, so strenuous, and so exact, that he is called St. Gregory the Theologian. Reflection.--”We must overcome our enemies,” said St. Gregory, “by gentleness; win them over by forbearance. Let them be punished by their own conscience, not by our wrath. Let us not at once wither the fig-tree, from which a more skilful gardener may yet entice fruit.” May 10.--ST. ANTONINUS, Bishop. ANTONINUS, or Little Antony, as he was called from his small stature, was born at Florence in 1389. After a childhood of singular holiness, he begged to be admitted into the Dominican house at Fiesole; but the Superior, to test his sincerity and perseverance, told him he must first learn by heart the book of the Decretals, containing several hundred pages. This apparently impossible task was accomplished within twelve months; and Antoninus received the coveted habit in his sixteenth year. While still very young, he filled several important posts of his Order, and was consulted on questions of difficulty by the most learned men of his day; being known, for his wonderful prudence, as “the Counsellor.” He wrote several works on theology and history, and sat as Papal Theologian at the Council of Florence. In 1446 he was compelled to accept the archbishopric of that city; and in this dignity earned for himself the title of “the Father of the Poor,” for all he had was at their disposal. St. Antoninus never refused an alms which was asked in the name of God. When he had no money, he gave his clothes, shoes, or furniture. One day, being sent by the Florentines to the Pope, as he approached Rome a beggar came up to him almost naked, and asked him for an alms for Christ’s sake. Outdoing St. Martin, Antoninus gave him his whole cloak. When he entered the city, another was given him; by whom he knew not. His household consisted of only six persons; his palace contained no plate or costly furniture, and was often nearly destitute of the necessaries of life. His one mule was frequently sold for the relief of the poor, when it would be bought back for him by some wealthy citizen. He died embracing the crucifix, May 2d, 1459, often repeating the words, “To serve God is to reign.” Reflection.--”Alms-deeds,” says St. Augustine, “comprise every kind of service rendered to our neighbor who needs such assistance. He who supports a lame man bestows an alms on him with his feet; he who guides a blind man does him a charity with his eyes; he who carries an invalid or an old man upon his shoulders imparts to him an alms of his strength. Hence none are so poor but they may bestow an alms on the wealthiest man in the world.” May 11.--ST. MAMMERTUS, Archbishop. ST. MAMMERTUS, Archbishop of Vienne in Dauphin, was a prelate renowned for his sanctity, learning, and miracles. He instituted in his diocese the fasts and supplications called the Rogations, on the following occasions. Almighty God, to punish the sins of the people, visited them with wars and other public calamities, and awaked them from their spiritual lethargy by the terrors of earthquakes, fires, and ravenous wild beasts, which last were sometimes seen in the very market-place of cities. These evils the impious ascribed to blind chance; but religious and prudent persons considered them as tokens of the divine anger, which threatened their entire destruction. Amidst these scourges, St. Mammertus received a token of the divine mercy. A terrible fire happened in the city of Vienne, which baffled the efforts of men; but by the prayers of the good bishop the fire on a sudden went out. This miracle strongly affected the minds of the people. The holy prelate took this opportunity to make them sensible of the necessity and efficacy of devout prayer, and formed a pious design of instituting an annual fast and supplication of three days, in which all the faithful should join, with sincere compunction of heart, to appease the divine indignation by fasting, prayer, tears, and the confession of sins. The Church of Auvergne, of which St. Sidonius was bishop, adopted this pious institution before the year 475, and it became in a very short time a universal practice. St. Mammertus died about the year 477. Reflection.--”Know ye that the Lord will hear your prayers, if you continue with perseverance in fastings and prayers in the sight of the Lord” (Judith iv. 11). May 12.--ST. EPIPHANIUS, Archbishop. ST. EPIPHANIUS was born about the year 310, in Palestine. In his youth he began the study of the Holy Scriptures, embraced a monastic life, and went into Egypt to perfect himself in the exercises of that state, in the deserts of that country. He returned to Palestine about the year 333, and built a monastery near the place of his birth. His labors in the exercise of virtue seemed to some to surpass his strength; but his apology always was: “God gives not the kingdom of heaven but on condition that we labor; and all we can do bears no proportion to such a crown.” To his corporal austerities he added an indefatigable application to prayer and study. Most books then in vogue passed through his hands; and he improved himself very much in learning by his travels into many parts. Although the skilful director of many others, St. Epiphanius took the great St. Hilarion as his master in a spiritual life, and enjoyed the happiness of his direction and intimate acquaintance from the year 333 to 356. The reputation of his virtue made St. Epiphanius known to distant countries, and about the year 367 he was chosen Bishop of Salamis in Cyprus. But he still wore the monastic habit, and continued to govern his monastery in Palestine, which he visited from time to time. He sometimes relaxed his austerities in favor of hospitality, preferring charity to abstinence. No one surpassed him in tenderness and charity to the poor. The veneration which all men had for his sanctity exempted him from the persecution of the Arian Emperor Valens. In 376 he undertook a journey to Antioch in the hope of converting Vitalis, the Apollinarist bishop; and in 382 he accompanied St. Paulinus from that city to Rome, where they lodged at the house of St. Paula; our Saint in return entertained her afterward ten days in Cyprus in 385. The very name of an error in faith, or the shadow of danger of evil, affrighted him, and the Saint fell into some mistakes on certain occasions, which proceeded from zeal and simplicity. He was on his way back to Salamis, after a short absence, when he died in 403, having been bishop thirty-six years. Reflection.--”In this is charity: not as though we had loved God, but because He hath first loved us.” May 13.--ST. JOHN THE SILENT. JOHN was born of a noble family at Nicopolis, in Armenia, in the year 454; but he derived from the virtue of his parents a much more illustrious nobility than that of their pedigree. After their death, he built at Nicopolis a church in honor of the Blessed Virgin, as also a monastery, in which, with ten fervent companions, he shut himself up when only eighteen years of age, with a view of making the salvation and most perfect sanctification of his soul his only and earnest pursuit. Not only to shun the danger of sin by the tongue, but also out of sincere humility and contempt of himself, and the love of interior recollection and prayer, he very seldom spoke; and when obliged to, it was always in a very few words, and with great discretion. To his extreme affliction, when he was only twenty-eight years old, the Archbishop of Sebaste obliged him to quit his retreat, and ordained him Bishop of Colonian in Armenia, in 482. In this dignity John preserved always the same spirit, and, as much as was compatible with the duties of his charge, continued his monastic austerities and exercises. Whilst he was watching one night in prayer, he saw before him a bright cross formed in the air, and heard a voice which said to him, “If thou desirest to be saved, follow this light.” It seemed to move before him, and at length point out to the monastery of St. Sabas. Being satisfied what the sacrifice was which God required at his hands, he found means to abdicate the episcopal charge, and retired to the neighboring monastery of St. Sabas, which at that time contained one hundred and fifty fervent monks. St. John was then thirty-eight years old. After living there unknown for some years, fetching water, carrying stones, and doing other menial work, St. Sabas, judging him worthy to be promoted to the priesthood, presented him to the Patriarch Elias. St. John took the patriarch aside, and, having obtained from him a promise of secrecy, said, “Father, I have been ordained bishop; but on account of the multitude of my sins have fled, and am come into this desert to wait the visit of the Lord.” The patriarch was startled, but God revealed to St. Sabas the state of the affair, whereupon, calling for John, he complained to him of his unkindness in concealing the matter from him. Finding himself discovered, John wished to quit the monastery, nor could St. Sabas prevail on him to stay, but on a promise never to divulge the secret. In the year 503, St. John withdrew into a neighboring wilderness, but in 510 went back to the monastery, and confined himself for forty years to his cell. St. John, by his example and counsels, conducted many fervent souls to God, and continued to emulate, as much as this mortal state will allow, the glorious employment of the heavenly spirits in an uninterrupted exercise of love and praise, till he passed to their blessed company, soon after the year 558; having lived seventy-six years in the desert, which had only been interrupted by the nine years of his episcopal dignity. Reflection.--A love of Christian silence is a proof that a soul makes it her chiefest delight to be occupied on God, and finds no comfort like that of conversing with Him. This is the paradise of all devout souls. May 14.--ST. PACHOMIUS, Abbot. IN the beginning of the fourth century great levies of troops were made throughout Egypt for the service of the Roman emperor. Among the recruits was Pachomius, a young heathen, then in his twenty-first year. On his way down the Nile he passed a village, whose inhabitants gave him food and money. Marvelling at this kindness, Pachomius was told they were Christians, and hoped for a reward in the life to come. He then prayed God to show him the truth, and promised to devote his life to His service. On being discharged, he returned to a Christian village in Egypt, where he was instructed and baptized. Instead of going home, he sought Palemon, an aged solitary, to learn from him a perfect life, and with great joy embraced the most severe austerities. Their food was bread and water, once a day in summer, and once in two days in winter; sometimes they added herbs, but mixed ashes with them. They only slept one hour each night, and this short repose Pachomius took sitting upright without support. Three times God revealed to him that he was to found a religious order at Tabenna; and an angel gave him a rule of life. Trusting in God, he built a monastery, although he had no disciples; but vast multitudes soon flocked to him, and he trained them in perfect detachment from creatures and from self. One day a monk, by dint of great exertions, contrived to make two mats instead of the one which was the usual daily task, and set them both out in front of his cell, that Pachomius might see how diligent he had been. But the Saint, perceiving the vainglory which had prompted the act, said, “This brother has taken a great deal of pains from morning till night to give his work to the devil”. Then, to cure him of his delusion, Pachomius imposed on him as a penance to keep his cell for five months and to taste no food but bread and water. His visions and miracles were innumerable, and he read all hearts. His holy death occurred in 348. Reflection.--”To live in great simplicity,” said St. Pachomius, “and in a wise ignorance, is exceeding wise.” May 15.--STS. PETER and DIONYSIA. IN the Decian persecution the blood of the Christians flowed at Lampsacus, a city of Asia Minor. St. Peter was the first who was led before the proconsul and condemned to die for the name of Christ. Young though he was, he went joyfully to his torments. He was bound to a wheel by iron chains, and his bones were broken, but he raised his eyes to heaven with a smiling countenance and said, “I give Thee thanks, O Lord Jesus Christ, because Thou hast given me patience, and made me victorious over the tyrant.” The proconsul saw how little suffering availed, and ordered the martyr to be beheaded. But a little later, in the same city, the virgin Dionysia showed a like eagerness to suffer. St. Dionysia gained the crown which an apostate lost, and his history may teach us that those who lose Christ rather than suffer with Him lose all. With the strength that was left he cried out, “I never was a Christian. I sacrifice to the gods.” Therefore he was taken down, and he offered sacrifice. But he was possessed by the devil, whom he had chosen for his master. He fell to the earth in a fit, bit out his tongue, and so expired. He escaped a little pain, and instead he went to the endless torments of hell, and forfeited eternal rest. “O wretched man!” Dionysia cried, “why have you feared a little suffering and chosen eternal pain instead?” She was seized and led away to horrible outrage, but her angel guardian appeared by her side and protected the spouse of Christ. Escaping from prison, she still burned with the desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ. She threw herself upon the bodies of the martyrs, saying, “I would fain die with you on earth, that I may live with you in heaven.” And Christ, Who is the crown of virgins and the strength of martyrs, gave her the desire of her heart. Reflection.--The martyrs were even like us, with natures which shrank from suffering. They were patient under it because they looked to the eternal recompense, and endured as seeing Him Who is invisible. May 16.--ST. JOHN NEPOMUCEN. ST. JOHN was born, in answer to prayer, 1330, of poor parents, at Nepomuc in Bohemia. In gratitude they consecrated him to God; and his holy life as a priest led to his appointment as chaplain to the court of the Emperor Wenceslas, where he converted numbers by his preaching and example. Amongst those who sought his advice was the empress, who suffered much from her husband’s unfounded jealousy. St. John taught her to bear her cross with joy; but her piety only incensed the emperor, and he tried to extort her confessions from the Saint. He threw St. John into a dungeon, but gained nothing; then, inviting him to his palace, he promised him riches if he would yield, and threatened death if he refused. The Saint was silent. He was racked and burnt with torches; but no words, save Jesus and Mary, fell from his lips. At last set free, he spent his time in preaching, and preparing for the death he knew to be at hand. On Ascension Eve, May 16, Wenceslas, after a final and fruitless attempt to move his constancy, ordered him to be cast into the river, and that night the martyr’s hands and feet were bound, and he was thrown from the bridge of Prague. As he died, a heavenly light shining on the water discovered the body, which was buried with the honors due to a Saint. A few years later, Wenceslas was deposed by his own subjects, and died an impenitent and miserable death. In 1618 the Calvinist and Hussite soldiers of the Protestant Elector Frederick tried repeatedly to demolish the shrine of St. John at Prague. Each attempt was miraculously frustrated; and once the persons engaged in the sacrilege, among whom was an Englishman, were killed on the spot. In 1620 the imperial troops recovered the town by a victory which was ascribed to the Saint’s intercession, as he was seen on the eve of the battle, radiant with glory, guarding the cathedral. When his shrine was opened, three hundred and thirty years after his decease, the flesh had disappeared, and one member alone remained incorrupt, the tongue; thus still, in silence, giving glory to God. Reflection.--St. John, who by his invincible sacramental silence won his crown, teaches us to prefer torture and death to offending the Creator with our tongue. How many times each day do we forfeit grace and strength by sins of speech! May 17.--ST. PASCHAL BAYLON. FROM a child Paschal seems to have been marked out for the service of God; and amidst his daily labors he found time to instruct and evangelize the rude herdsmen who kept their flocks on the hills of Arragon. At the age of twenty-four he entered the Franciscan Order, in which, however, he remained, from humility, a simple lay-brother, and occupied himself, by preference, with the roughest and most servile tasks. He was distinguished by an ardent love and devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. He would spend hours on his knees before the tabernacle--often he was raised from the ground in the fervor of his prayer--and there, from the very and eternal Truth, he drew such stores of wisdom that, unlettered as he was, he was counted by all a master in theology and spiritual science. Shortly after his profession he was called to Paris on business connected with his Order. The journey was full of peril, owing to the hostility of the Huguenots, who were numerous at the time in the south of France; and on four separate occasions Paschal was in imminent danger of death at the hands of the heretics. But it was not God’s will that His servant should obtain the crown of martyrdom which, though judging himself all unworthy of it, he so earnestly desired, and he returned in safety to his convent, where he died in the odor of sanctity, May 15, 1592. As Paschal was watching his sheep on the mountainside, he heard the consecration bell ring out from a church in the valley below, where the villagers were assembled for Mass. The Saint fell on his knees, when suddenly there stood before him an angel of God, bearing in his hands the Sacred Host, and offering it for his adoration. Learn from this how pleasing to Jesus Christ are those who honor Him in this great mystery of His love; and how to them especially this promise is fulfilled: “I will not leave you orphans: I will come unto you “ (John xiv. 18) . Reflection.--St. Paschal teaches us never to suffer a day to pass without visiting Jesus in the narrow chamber where He, Whom the heaven itself cannot contain, abides day and night for our sake. May 18.--ST. VENANTIUS, Martyr. ST. VENANTIUS was born at Camerino in Italy, and at the age of fifteen was seized as a Christian and carried before a judge. As it was found impossible to shake his constancy either by threats or promises, he was condemned to be scourged, but was miraculously saved by an angel. He was then burnt with torches and hung over a low fire that he might be suffocated by the smoke. The judge’s secretary, admiring the steadfastness of the Saint, and seeing an angel robed in white, who trampled out the fire and again set free the youthful martyr, proclaimed his faith in Christ, was baptized with his whole family, and shortly after won the martyr’s crown himself. Venantius was then carried before the governor, who, unable to make him renounce his faith, cast him into prison with an apostate, who vainly strove to tempt him. The governor then ordered his teeth and jaws to be broken, and had him thrown into a furnace, from which the angel once more delivered him. The Saint was again led before the judge, who at sight of him fell headlong from his seat and expired, crying, “The God of Venantius is the true God; let us destroy our idols.” This circumstance being told to the governor, he ordered Venantius to be thrown to the lions; but these brutes, forgetting their natural ferocity, crouched at the feet of the Saint. Then, by order of the tyrant, the young martyr was dragged through a heap of brambles and thorns, but again God manifested the glory of His servant; the soldiers suffering from thirst, the Saint knelt on a rock and signed it with a cross, when immediately a jet of clear, cool water spurted up from the spot. This miracle converted many of those who beheld it, whereupon the governor had Venantius and his converts beheaded together in the year 250. The bodies of these martyrs are kept in the church at Camerino which bears the Saint’s name. Reflection.--Love of suffering marks the most perfect degree in the love of God. Our Lord Himself was consumed with the desire to suffer, because He burnt with the love of God. We must begin with patience and detachment. At last we shall learn to love the sufferings which conform us to the Passion of our Redeemer. May 19.--ST. PETER CELESTINE. AS a child, Peter had visions of our blessed Lady, and of the angels and saints. They encouraged him in his prayer, and chided him when he fell into any fault. His mother, though only a poor widow, put him to school, feeling sure that he would one day be a Saint. At the age of twenty, he left his home in Apulia to live in a mountain solitude. Here he passed three years, assaulted by the evil spirits and beset with temptations of the flesh, but consoled by angels’ visits. After this his seclusion was invaded by disciples, who refused to be sent away; and the rule of life which he gave them formed the foundation of the Celestine Order. Angels assisted in the church which Peter built; unseen bells rang peals of surpassing sweetness, and heavenly music filled the sanctuary when he offered the Holy Sacrifice. Suddenly he found himself torn from his loved solitude by his election to the Papal throne. Resistance was of no avail. He took the name of Celestine, to remind him of the heaven he was leaving and for which he sighed, and was consecrated at Aquila. After a reign of four months, Peter summoned the cardinals to his presence, and solemnly resigned his trust. St. Peter built himself a boarded cell in his palace, and there continued his hermit’s life; and when, lest his simplicity might be taken advantage of to distract the peace of the Church, he was put under guard, he said, “I desired nothing but a cell, and a cell they have given me.” There he enjoyed his former loving intimacy with the saints and angels, and sang the Divine praises almost continually. At length, on Whit-Sunday, he told his guards he should die within the week, and immediately fell ill. He received the last sacraments; and the following Saturday, as he finished the concluding verse of Lauds, “Let every spirit bless the Lord!” he closed his eyes to this world and opened them to the vision of God. Reflection.--”Whose,” says the Imitation of Christ, “withdraweth himself from acquaintances and friends, to him will God draw near with His holy angels.” May 20.--ST. BERNARDINE OF SIENA. IN 1408 St. Vincent Ferrer once suddenly interrupted his sermon to declare that there was among his hearers a young Franciscan who would be one day a greater preacher than himself, and would be set before him in honor by the Church. This unknown friar was Bernardine. Of noble birth, he had spent his youth in works of mercy, and had then entered religion. Owing to a defective utterance, his success as a preacher at first seemed doubtful, but, by the prayers of Our Lady, this obstacle was miraculously removed, and Bernardine began an apostolate which lasted thirty-eight years. By his burning words and by the power of the Holy Name of Jesus, which he displayed on a tablet at the end of his sermons, he obtained miraculous conversions, and reformed the greater part of Italy. But this success had to be exalted by the cross. The Saint was denounced as a heretic and his devotion as idolatrous. After many trials he lived to see his innocence proved, and a lasting memorial of his work established in a church. The Feast of the Holy Name commemorates at once his sufferings and his triumph. He died on Ascension Eve, 1444, while his brethren were chanting the antiphon, “Father, I have manifested Thy Name to men.” St. Bernardine, when a youth, undertook the charge of a holy old woman, a relation of his, who had been left destitute. She was blind and bedridden, and during her long illness could only utter the Holy Name. The Saint watched over her till she died, and thus learned the devotion of his life. Reflection.--Let us learn from the life of St. Bernardine the power of the Holy Name in life and death. May 21.--ST. HOSPITIUS, Recluse. ST. HOSPITIUS shut himself up in the ruins of an old tower near Villafranca, one league from Nice in Provence. He girded himself with a heavy iron chain and lived on bread and dates only. During Lent he redoubled his austerities, and, in order to conform his life more closely to that of the anchorites of Egypt, ate nothing but roots. For his great virtues Heaven honored him with the gifts of prophecy and of miracles. He foretold the ravages which the Lombards would make in Gaul. These barbarians, having come to the tower in which Hospitius lived, and seeing the chain with which he was bound, mistook him for some criminal who was there imprisoned. On questioning the Saint, he acknowledged that he was a great sinner and unworthy to live. Whereupon one of the soldiers lifted his sword to strike him; but God did not desert His faithful servant: the soldier’s arm stiffened and became numb, and it was not until Hospitius made the sign of the cross over it that the man recovered the use of it. The soldier embraced Christianity, renounced the world, and passed the rest of his days in serving God. When our Saint felt that his last hour was nearing, he took off his chain and knelt in prayer for a long time. Then, stretching himself on a little bank of earth, he calmly gave up his soul to God, on the 21st of May, 681. Reflection.--If we do not love penitence for its own sake, let us love it on account of our sins; for we should “work out our salvation in fear and trembling.” May 22.--ST. YVO, Confessor. ST. YVO HELORI, descended from a noble and virtuous family near Treguier, in Brittany, was born in 1253. At fourteen years of age he went to Paris, and afterwards to Orleans, to pursue his studies. His mother was won frequently to say to him that he ought so to live as became a Saint, to which his answer always was, that he hoped to be one. This resolution took deep root in his soul, and was a continual spur to virtue, and a check against the least shadow of any dangerous course. His time was chiefly divided between study and prayer; for his recreation he visited the hospitals, where he attended the sick with great charity, and comforted them under the severe trials of their suffering condition. He made a private vow of perpetual chastity; but this not being known, many honorable matches were proposed to him, which he modestly rejected as incompatible with his studious life. He long deliberated whether to embrace a religious or a clerical state; but the desire of serving his neighbor determined him at length in favor of the latter. He wished, out of humility, to remain in the lesser orders; but his bishop compelled him to receive the priesthood,--a step which cost him many tears, though he had qualified himself for that sacred dignity by the most perfect purity of mind and body, and by a long and fervent preparation. He was appointed ecclesiastical judge for the diocese of Rennes. St. Yvo protected the orphans and widows, defended the poor, and administered justice to all with an impartiality, application, and tenderness which gained him the good-will even of those who lost their causes. He was surnamed the advocate and lawyer of the poor. He built a house near his own for a hospital of the poor and sick; he washed their feet, cleansed their ulcers, served them at table, and ate himself only the scraps which they had left. He distributed his corn, or the price for which he sold it, among the poor immediately after the harvest. When a certain person endeavored to persuade him to keep it some months, that he might sell it at a better price, he answered, “I know not whether I shall be then alive to give it.” Another time the same person said to him, “I have gained a fifth by keeping my corn.” “But I,” replied the Saint, “a hundredfold by giving it immediately away.” During the Lent of 1303 he felt his strength failing him; yet, far from abating anything in his austerities, he thought himself obliged to redouble his fervor in proportion as he advanced nearer to eternity. On the eve of the Ascension he preached to his people, said Mass, being upheld by two persons, and gave advice to all who addressed themselves to him. After this he lay down on his bed, which was a hurdle of twigs plaited together, and received the last sacraments. From that moment he entertained himself with God alone, till his soul went to possess Him in His glory. His death happened on the 19th of May, 1303, in the fiftieth year of his age. Reflection.--St. Yvo was a Saint amidst the dangers of the world; but he preserved his virtue untainted only by arming himself carefully against them, by conversing assiduously with God in prayer and holy meditation, and by most watchfully shunning the snares of bad company. Without this precaution all the instructions of parents and all other means of virtue are ineffectual; and the soul is sure to split against this rock which does not steer wide of it. May 22.--ST. RITA OF CASCIA, WIDOW. (From Rev. Butler’s section titled: “Lives Of Certain Saints Contained In The Calendar Of Special Feasts For The United States And Of Some Others Recently Canonized”) ST. RITA OF CASCIA, whose feast is celebrated on May 22, was born at Rocca Porena, Italy, about the year 1386, and died at Cascia in the year 1456. Her parents opposed her desire to become a nun, and persuaded her to marry a man who, in a short time, lost his reputation on account of his cruelty. After being converted from his wicked ways, he was murdered by an enemy. Rita’s two sons then resolved to take revenge, but through her prayers they repented. After their death, she applied several times for admission into the Augustinian Convent at Cascia. Repeatedly refused until God Himself cleared away all obstacles, she entered the convent, made her profession and lived the life of a holy and devout Religious for forty-two years, “a shining example of every Christian virtue, pure as a lily, simple as a dove, and obedient as an angel.” That “God is wonderful in His Saints” is easily proved in the life of St. Rita, and, owing to her great number of miracles, she is often styled “The Saint of the Impossible.” May 23.--ST. JULIA, Virgin, Martyr. JULIA was a noble virgin of Carthage, who, when the city was token by Genseric in 439, was sold for a slave to a pagan merchant of Syria named Eusebius. Under the most mortifying employments of her station, by cheerfulness and patience she found a happiness and comfort which the world could not have afforded. All the time she was not employed in her master’s business was devoted to prayer and reading books of piety. Her master, who was charmed with her fidelity and other virtues, thought proper to carry her with him on one of his voyages to Gaul. Having reached the northern part of Corsica, he cast anchor, and went on shore to join the pagans of the place in an idolatrous festival. Julia was left at some distance, because she would not be defiled by the superstitious ceremonies which she openly reviled. Felix, the governor of the island, who was a bigoted pagan, asked who this woman was who dared to insult the gods. Eusebius informed him that she was a Christian, and that all his authority over her was too weak to prevail with her to renounce her religion, but that he found her so diligent and faithful he could not part with her. The governor offered him four of his best female slaves in exchange for her. But the merchant replied, “No; all you are worth will not purchase her; for I would freely lose the most valuable thing I have in the world rather than be deprived of her.” However, the governor, while Eusebius was drunk and asleep, took upon him to compel her to sacrifice to his gods. He offered to procure her liberty if she would comply. The Saint made answer that she was as free as she desired to be as long as she was allowed to serve Jesus Christ. Felix, thinking himself derided by her undaunted and resolute air, in a transport of rage caused her to be struck on the face, and the hair of her head to be torn off, and, lastly, ordered her to be hanged on a cross till she expired. Certain monks of the isle of Gorgon carried off her body; but in 763 Desiderius, King of Lombardy, removed her relics to Brescia, where her memory is celebrated with great devotion. Reflection.--St. Julia, whether free or a slave, whether in prosperity or in adversity, was equally fervent and devout. She adored all the sweet designs of Providence; and far from complaining, she never ceased to praise and thank God under all His holy appointments, making them always the means of her virtue and sanctification. God, by an admirable chain of events, raised her by her fidelity to the honor of the saints, and to the dignity of a virgin and martyr. May 24.--STS. DONATIAN and ROGATIAN, Martyrs. HERE lived at Nantes an illustrious young nobleman named Donatian, who, having received the holy Sacrament of Regeneration, led a most edifying life, and strove with much zeal to convert others to faith in Christ. His elder brother, Rogatian, was not able to resist the moving example of his piety and the force of his discourses, and desired to be baptized. But the bishop having withdrawn and concealed himself for fear of the persecution, he was not able to receive that sacrament, but was shortly after baptized in his blood; for he declared himself a Christian at a time when to embrace that sacred profession was to become a candidate for martyrdom. Donatian was impeached for professing himself a Christian, and for having withdrawn others, particularly his brother, from the worship of the gods. Donatian was therefore apprehended, and having boldly confessed Christ before the governor, was cast into prison and loaded with irons. Rogatian was also brought before the prefect, who endeavored first to gain him by flattering speeches, but finding him inflexible, sent him to prison with his brother. Rogatian grieved that he had not been able to receive the Sacrament of Baptism, and prayed that the kiss of peace which his brother gave him might supply it. Donatian also prayed for him that his faith might procure for him the effect of Baptism, and the effusion of his blood that of the Sacrament of Confirmation. They passed that night together in fervent prayer. They were the next day called for again by the prefect, to whom they declared that they were ready to suffer for the name of Christ whatever torments were prepared for them. By the order of the inhuman judge they were first stretched on the rack, afterwards their hands were pierced with lances, and lastly cut off, about the year 287. Reflection.--Three things are pleasing unto God and man: concord among brethren, the love of parents, and the union of man and wife. May 25.--ST. GREGORY VII. GREGORY VII., by name Hildebrand, was born in Tuscany, about the year 1013. He was educated in Rome. From thence he went to France, and became a monk at Cluny. Afterwards he returned to Rome, and for many years filled high trusts of the Holy See. Three great evils then afflicted the Church: simony, concubinage, and the custom of receiving investiture from lay hands. Against these three corruptions Gregory never ceased to contend. As legate of Victor II. he held a Council at Lyons, where simony was condemned. He was elected Pope in 1073, and at once called upon the pastors of the Catholic world to lay down their lives rather than betray the laws of God to the will of princes. Rome was in rebellion through the ambition of the Cenci. Gregory excommunicated them. They laid hands on him at Christmas during the midnight Mass, wounded him, and cast him into prison. The following day he was rescued by the people. Next arose his conflict with Henry IV., Emperor of Germany. This monarch, after openly relapsing into simony, pretended to depose the Pope. Gregory excommunicated the emperor. His subjects turned against him, and at last he sought absolution of Gregory at Canossa. But he did not persevere. He set up an antipope, and besieged Gregory in the castle of St. Angelo. The aged pontiff was obliged to flee, and on May 25, 1085, about the seventy-second year of his life and the twelfth year of his pontificate, Gregory entered into his rest. His last words were full of a divine wisdom and patience. As he was dying, he said, “I have loved justice and hated iniquity, therefore I die in exile.” His faithful attendant answered, “Vicar of Christ, an exile thou canst never be, for to thee God has given the Gentiles for an inheritance, and the uttermost ends of the earth for thy possession.” Reflection.--Eight hundred years are passed since St. Gregory died, and we see the same conflict renewed before our eyes. Let us learn from him to suffer any persecution from the world or the state, rather than betray the rights of the Holy See. May 26.--ST. PHILIP NERI. PHILIP was one of the noble line of Saints raised up by God in the sixteenth century to console and bless His Church. After a childhood of angelic beauty the Holy Spirit drew him away from Florence, the place of his birth, showed him the world, that he might freely renounce it, led him to Rome, modelled him in mind and heart and will, and then, as by a second Pentecost, came down in visible form and filled his soul with light and peace and joy. He would have gone to India, but God reserved him for Rome. There he went on simply from day to day, drawing souls to Jesus, exercising them in mortification and charity, and binding them together by cheerful devotions; thus, unconsciously to himself, under the hands of Mary, as he said, the Oratory grew up, and all Rome was pervaded and transformed by its spirit. His life was a continuous miracle, his habitual state an ecstasy. He read the hearts of men, foretold their future, knew their eternal destiny. His touch gave health of body; his very look calmed souls in trouble and drove away temptations. He was gay, genial, and irresistibly winning; neither insult nor wrong could dim the brightness of his joy. Philip lived in an atmosphere of sunshine and gladness which brightened all who came near him. “When I met him in the street,” says one, “he would pat my cheek and say, ‘Well, how is Don Pellegrino?’ and leave me so full of joy that I could not tell which way I was going.” Others said that when he playfully pulled their hair or their ears, their hearts would bound with joy. Marcio Altieri felt such overflowing gladness in his presence that he said Philip’s room was a paradise on earth. Fabrizio de Massimi would go in sadness or perplexity and stand at Philip’s door; he said it was enough to see him, to be near him. And long after his death it was enough for many, when troubled, to go into his room to find their hearts lightened and gladdened. He inspired a boundless confidence and love, and was the common refuge and consoler of all. A gentle jest would convey his rebukes and veil his miracles. The highest honors sought him out, but he put them from him. He died in his eightieth year, in 1595, and bears the grand title of Apostle of Rome. Reflection.--Philip wished his children to serve God, like the first Christians, in gladness of heart. He said this was the true filial spirit; this expands the soul, giving it liberty and perfection in action, power over temptations, and fuller aid to perseverance. May 26.--ST. AUGUSTINE, Apostle of England. Augustine was prior of the monastery of St. Andrew on the Coelian, and was appointed by St. Gregory the great chief of the missionaries whom he sent to England. St. Augustine and his companions, having heard on their journey many reports of the barbarism and ferocity of the pagan English, were afraid, and wished to turn back. But St. Gregory replied, “Go on, in God’s name! The greater your hardships, the greater your crown. May the grace of Almighty God protect you, and give me to see the fruit of your labor in the heavenly country! If I cannot share your toil, I shall yet share the harvest, for God knows that it is not good-will which is wanting.” The band of missionaries went on in obedience. Landing at Ebbsfleet, between Sandwich and Ramsgate, they met King Ethelbert and his thanes under a great oak-tree at Minster, and announced to him the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Instant and complete success attended their preaching. On Whit-Sunday, 596, King Ethelbert was baptized, and his example was followed by the greater number of his nobles and people. By degrees the Faith spread far and wide, and Augustine, as Papal Legate, set out on a visitation of Britain. He failed in his attempt to enlist the Britons of the west in the work of his apostolate through their obstinate jealousy and pride; but his success was triumphant from south to north. St. Augustine died after eight years of evangelical labors. The Anglo-Saxon Church, which he founded, is still famous for its learning, zeal, and devotion to the Holy See, while its calendar commemorates no less than 300 Saints, half of whom were of royal birth. Reflection.--The work of an apostle is the work of the right hand of God. He often chooses weak instruments for His mightiest purposes. The most sure augury of lasting success in missionary labor is obedience to superiors and diffidence in self. May 27.--ST. MARY MAGDALEN OF PAZZI. ST. MARY MAGDALEN OF PAZZI, of an illustrious house in Florence, was born in the year 1566, and baptized by the name of Catherine. She received her first Communion at ten years of age, and made a vow of virginity at twelve. She took great pleasure in carefully teaching the Christian doctrine to the ignorant. Her father, not knowing her vow, wished to give her in marriage, but she persuaded him to allow her to become a religious. It was more difficult to obtain her mother’s consent; but at last she gained it, and she was professed, being then eighteen years of age, in the Carmelite monastery of Santa Maria degli Angeli in Florence, May 17, 1584. She changed her name Catherine into that of Mary Magdalen on becoming a nun, and took as her motto, “To suffer or die; “ and her life henceforth was a life of penance for sins not her own, and of love of Our Lord, Who tried her in ways fearful and strange. She was obedient, observant of the rule, humble and mortified, and had a great reverence for the religious life. She loved poverty and suffering, and hungered after Communion. The day of Communion she called the day of love. The charity that burned in her heart led her in her youth to choose the house of the Carmelites, because the religious therein communicated every day. She rejoiced to see others communicate, even when she was not allowed to do so herself; and her love for her sisters grew when she saw them receive Our Lord. God raised her to high states of prayer, and gave her rare gifts, enabling her to read the thoughts of her novices, and filling her with wisdom to direct them aright. She was twice chosen mistress of novices, and then made superioress, when God took her to Himself, May 25, 1607. Her body is incorrupt. Reflection.--St. Mary Magdalen of Pazzi was so filled with the love of God that her sisters in the monastery observed it in her love of themselves, and called her “the Mother of Charity” and “the Charity of the Monastery.” May 27.--VENERABLE BEDE. VENERABLE BEDE, the illustrious ornament of the Anglo-Saxon Church and the first English historian, was consecrated to God at the age of seven, and intrusted to the care of St. Benedict Biscop at Wearmouth. He became a monk in the sister-house of Jarrow, and there trained no less than six hundred scholars, whom his piety, learning, and sweet disposition had gathered round him. To the toils of teaching and the exact observance of his rule he added long hours of private prayer, and the study of every branch of science and literature then known. He was familiar with Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. In the treatise which he compiled for his scholars, still extant, he threw together all that the world had then stored in history, chronology, physics, music, philosophy, poetry, arithmetic, and medicine. In his Ecclesiastical History he has left us beautiful lives of Anglo-Saxon Saints and holy Fathers, while his commentaries on the Holy Scriptures are still in use by the Church. It was to the study of the Divine Word that he devoted the whole energy of his soul, and at times his compunction was so overpowering that his voice would break with weeping, while the tears of his scholars mingled with his own. He had little aid from others, and during his later years suffered from constant illness; yet he worked and prayed up to his last hour. The Saint was employed in translating the Gospel of St. John from the Greek up to the hour of his death, which took place on Ascension Day, 735. “He spent that day joyfully,” writes one of his scholars. And in the evening the boy who attended him said, “Dear master, there is yet one sentence unwritten.” He answered, “Write it quickly.” Presently the youth said, “Now it is written”. He replied, “Good! thou hast said the truth--consummatum est; take my head into thy hands, for it is very pleasant to me to sit facing my old praying-place, and there to call upon my Father.” And so on the floor of his cell he sang, “Glory be to the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost;” and just as he said “Holy Ghost,” he breathed his last, and went to the realms above. Reflection.--”The more,” says the Imitation of Christ, “a man is united within himself and interiorly simple, so much the more and deeper things doth he understand without labor; for he receiveth the light of understanding from on high.” May 28.--ST. GERMANUS, Bishop. ST. GERMANUS, the glory of the Church of France in the sixth century, was born in the territory of Autun, about the year 469. In his youth he was conspicuous for his fervor. Being ordained priest, he was made abbot of St. Symphorian’s; he was favored at that time with the gifts of miracles and prophecy. It was his custom to watch the great part of the night in the church in prayer, whilst his monks slept. One night, in a dream, he thought a venerable old man presented him with the keys of the city of Paris, and said to him that God committed to his care the inhabitants of that city, that he should save them from perishing. Four years after this divine admonition, in 554, happening to be at Paris when that see became vacant on the demise of the Bishop Eusebius, he was exalted to the episcopal chair, though he endeavored by many tears to decline the charge. His promotion made no alteration in his mode of life. The same simplicity and frugality appeared in his dress, table, and furniture. His house was perpetually crowded with the poor and the afflicted, and he had always many beggars at his own table. God gave to his sermons a wonderful influence over the minds of all ranks of people; so that the face of the whole city was in a very short time quite changed. King Childebert, who till then had been an ambitious, worldly prince, was entirely converted by the sweetness and the powerful discourses of the Saint, and founded many religious institutions, and sent large sums of money to the good bishop, to be distributed among the indigent. In his old age St. Germanus lost nothing of that zeal and activity with which he had filled the great duties of his station in the vigor of his life; nor did the weakness to which his corporal austerities had reduced him make him abate anything in the mortifications of his penitential life, in which he redoubled his fervor as he approached nearer to the end of his course. By his zeal the remains of idolatry were extirpated in France. The Saint continued his labors for the conversion of sinners till he was called to receive the reward of them, on the 28th of May, 576, being eighty years old. Reflection.--”In the churches bless ye God the Lord. From Thy temple kings shall offer presents to Thee.” May 29.--ST. CYRIL, Martyr. ST. CYRIL suffered while still a boy at Caesarea in Cappadocia, during the persecutions of the third century. He used to repeat the name of Christ at all times, and confessed that the mere utterance of this name moved him strangely. He was beaten and reviled by his heathen father. But he bore all this with joy, increasing in the strength of Christ, Who dwelt within him, and drawing many of his own age to the imitation of his heavenly life. When his father in his fury turned him out of doors, he said he had lost little, and would receive a great recompense instead. Soon after, he was brought before the magistrate on account of his faith. No threats could make him show a sign of fear, and the judge, pitying perhaps his tender years, offered him his freedom, assured him of his father’s forgiveness, and besought him to return to his home and inheritance. But the blessed youth replied, “I left my home gladly, for I have a greater and a better which is waiting for me.” He was filled with the same heavenly desires to the end. He was taken to the fires as if for execution, and was then brought back and re-examined, but he only protested against the cruel delay. Led out to die, he hurried on the executioners, gazed unmoved at the flames which were kindled for him, and expired, hastening, as he said, to his home. Reflection.--Ask Our Lord to make all earthly joy insipid, and to fill you with the constant desire of heaven. This desire will make labor easy and suffering light. It will make you fervent and detached, and bring you even here a foretaste of that eternal joy and peace to which you are hastening. May 30.--ST. FELIX I., Pope and Martyr. ST. FELIX was a Roman by birth, and succeeded St. Dionysius in the government of the Church in 269. Paul of Samosata, the proud Bishop of Antioch, to the guilt of many enormous crimes added that of heresy, teaching that Christ was no more than a mere man, in whom the Divine Word dwelt by its operation and as in its temple, with many other gross errors concerning the capital mysteries of the Trinity and Incarnation. Three councils were held at Antioch to examine his cause, and in the third, assembled in 269, being clearly convicted of heresy, pride, and many scandalous crimes, he was excommunicated and deposed, and Domnus was substituted in his place. As Paul still kept possession of the episcopal house, our Saint had recourse to the Emperor Aurelian, who, though a pagan, gave an order that the house should belong to him to whom the bishops of Rome and Italy adjudged it. The persecution of Aurelian breaking out, St. Felix, fearless of danger, strengthened the weak, encouraged all, baptized the catechumens, and continued to exert himself in converting infidels to the Faith. He himself obtained the glory of martyrdom. He governed the Church five years, and passed to a glorious eternity in 274. Reflection.--The example of Our Saviour and of all His saints ought to encourage us under all trials to suffer with patience and even with joy. We shall soon begin to feel that it is sweet to tread in the steps of a God-man, and shall find that if we courageously take up our crosses, He will make them light by sharing the burden with us. May 30.-- ST. JOAN OF ARC. (From Rev. Butler’s section titled: “Lives Of Certain Saints Contained In The Calendar Of Special Feasts For The United States And Of Some Others Recently Canonized”) AT Domremy, on the Upper Meuse, was born on January 6, 1412, of pious parentage, the illustrious heroine of all time, St. Joan of Arc. Taught by her mother from earliest years to pray each night “O God, save France,” she could not help but conceive that ardent love for her country which later consumed her life. While the English were overrunning the north of France, their future conqueror, untutored in worldly wisdom, was peacefully tending her flock, and learning the wisdom of God at a wayside shrine. But hearing Voices from heaven and bidden by St. Michael, who appeared to her, to deliver her country from the enemy, she hastened to the King and convinced him of her divine mission. Scarcely did her banner, inscribed “Jesus, Mary,” appear on the battlefield than she raised the siege of Orleans and led Charles VII to be crowned at Rheims. Later, abandoned by her King, she fell into the hands of the English, who gave her a mock trial and burned her as a heretic. But the Maid of Orleans has at last come into her own, for with greater pomp than ever a king was crowned, and amid the acclamations of the whole world, on May 13, 1920, Pope Benedict XV. proclaimed her St. Joan of Arc. May 31.--ST. PETRONILLA, Virgin. AMONG the disciples of the apostles in the primitive age of saints this holy virgin shone as a bright star in the Church. She lived when Christians were more solicitous to live well than to write much: they knew how to die for Christ, but did not compile long books in which vanity has often a greater share than charity. Hence no particular account of her actions has been handed down to us. But how eminent her sanctity was we may judge from the lustre by which it was distinguished among apostles, prophets, and martyrs. She is said to have been a daughter of the apostle St. Peter; that St. Peter was married before his vocation to the apostleship we learn from the Gospel. St. Clement of Alexandria assures us that his wife attained to the glory of martyrdom, at which Peter himself encouraged her, bidding her to remember Our Lord. But it seems not certain whether St. Petronilla was more than the spiritual daughter of that apostle. She flourished at Rome, and was buried on the way to Ardea, where in ancient times a cemetery and a church bore her name. Reflection.--With the saints the great end for which they lived was always present to their minds, and they thought every moment lost in which they did not make some advances toward eternal bliss. How will their example condemn at the last day the trifling fooleries and the greatest part of the conversation and employments of the world, which aim at nothing but present amusements, and forget the only important affair--the business of eternity. June 1.--ST. JUSTIN, Martyr. ST. JUSTIN was born of heathen parents at Neapolis in Samaria, about the year 103. He was well educated, and gave himself to the study of philosophy, but always with one object, that he might learn the knowledge of God. He sought this knowledge among the contending schools of philosophy, but always in vain, till at last God himself appeased the thirst which He had created. One day, while Justin was walking by the seashore, meditating on the thought of God, an old man met him and questioned him on the subject of his doubts; and when he had made Justin confess that the philosophers taught nothing certain about God, he told him of the writings of the inspired prophets and of Jesus Christ Whom they announced, and bade him seek light and understanding through prayer. The Scriptures and the constancy of the Christian martyrs led Justin from the darkness of human reason to the light of faith. In his zeal for the Faith he travelled to Greece, Egypt, and Italy, gaining many to Christ. At Rome he sealed his testimony with his blood, surrounded by his disciples. “Do you think,” the prefect said to Justin, “that by dying you will enter heaven, and be rewarded by God?” “I do not think,” was the Saint’s answer; “I know.” Then, as now, there were many religious opinions, but only one certain--the certainty of the Catholic faith. This certainty should be the measure of our confidence and our zeal. Reflection.--We have received the gift of faith with little labor of our own. Let us learn how to value it from those who reached it after long search, and lived in the misery of a world which did not know God. Let us fear, as St. Justin did, the account we shall have to render for the gift of God. June 1.--ST. PAMPHILUS, Martyr. ST. PAMPHILUS was of a rich and honorable family, and a native of Berytus, in which city, at that time famous for its schools, he in his youth ran through the whole circle of the sciences, and was afterward honored with the first employments of the magistracy. After he began to know Christ, he could relish no other study but that of salvation, and renounced everything else that he might apply himself wholly to the exercise of virtue and the studies of the Holy Scriptures. This accomplished master in profane sciences, and this renowned magistrate, was not ashamed to become the humble scholar of Pierius, the successor of Origen, in the great catechetical school of Alexandria. He afterward made Caesarea, in Palestine, his residence, where, at his private expense, he collected a great library, which he bestowed on the church of that city. The Saint established there also a public school of sacred literature, and to his labors the Church was indebted for a most correct edition of the Holy Bible, which, with infinite care, he transcribed himself. But nothing was more remarkable in this Saint than his extraordinary humility. His paternal estate he at length distributed among the poor; towards his slaves and domestics his behavior was always that of a brother or a tender father. He led a most austere life, sequestered from the world and its company, and was indefatigable in labor. Such a virtue was his apprenticeship to the grace of martyrdom. In the year 307, Urbanus, the cruel governor of Palestine, caused him to be apprehended, and commanded him to be most inhumanly tormented. But the iron hooks which tore the martyr’s sides served only to cover the judge with confusion. After this, the Saint remained almost two years in prison. Urbanus, the governor, was himself beheaded by an order of the Emperor Maximinus, but was succeeded by Firmilian, a man not less barbarous than bigoted and superstitious. After several butcheries, he caused St. Pamphilus to be brought before him, and passed sentence of death upon him. His flesh was torn off to the very bones, and his bowels exposed to view, and the torments were continued a long time without intermission, but he never once opened his mouth so much as to groan. He finished his martyrdom by a slow fire, and died invoking Jesus, the Son of God. Reflection.--A cloud of witnesses, a noble army of martyrs, teach us by their constancy to suffer wrong with patience, and strenuously to resist evil. The daily trials we meet with from others or from ourselves are always sent us by God, Who sometimes throws difficulties in our way on purpose to reward our conquest; and sometimes, like a wise physician, restores us to our health by bitter potions. June 2.--STS. POTHINUS, Bishop, SANCTUS, ATTALUS, BLANDINA, and the other Martyrs of Lyons. AFTER the miraculous victory obtained by the prayer of the Christians under Marcus Aurelius, in 174, the Church enjoyed a kind of peace, though it was often disturbed in particular places by popular commotions, or by the superstitious fury of certain governors. This appears from the violent persecution which was raised three years after the aforesaid victory, at Vienne and Lyons, in 177, whilst St. Pothinus was Bishop of Lyons, and St. Irenaeus, who had been sent thither by St. Polycarp out of Asia, was a priest of that city. Many of the principal Christians were brought before the Roman governor. Among them was a slave, Blandina: and her mistress, also a Christian, feared that Blandina lacked strength to brave the torture. She was tormented a whole day through, but she bore it all with joy till the executioners gave up, confessing themselves outdone. Red-hot plates were held to the sides of Sanctus, a deacon of Vienne, till his body became one great sore, and he looked no longer like a man; but in the midst of his tortures he was “bedewed and strengthened by the stream of heavenly water which flows from the side of Christ.” Meantime, many confessors were kept in prison and with them were some who had been terrified into apostasy. Even the heathens marked the joy of martyrdom in the Christians who were decked for their eternal espousals, and the misery of the apostates. But the faithful confessors brought back those who had fallen, and the Church, “that Virgin Mother,” rejoiced when she saw her children live again in Christ. Some died in prison, the rest were martyred one by one, St. Blandina last of all, after seeing her younger brother put to a cruel death, and encouraging him to victory. Reflection.--In early times the Christians were called the children of joy. Let us seek the joy of the Holy Spirit to sweeten suffering, to temper earthly delight, till we enter into the joy of Our Lord. June 3.--ST. CLOTILDA, Queen. ST. CLOTILDA was daughter of Chilperic, younger brother to Gondebald, the tyrannical King of Burgundy, who put him and his wife, and his other brothers, except one, to death, in order to usurp their dominions. Clotilda was brought up in her uncle’s court, and, by a singular providence, was instructed in the Catholic religion, though she was educated in the midst of Arians. Her wit, beauty, meekness, modesty, and piety made her the adoration of all the neighboring kingdoms, and Clovis I., surnamed the Great, the victorious king of the Franks, demanded and obtained her in marriage. She honored her royal husband, studied to sweeten his warlike temper by Christian meekness, conformed herself to his humor in things that were indifferent, and, the better to gain his affections, made those things the subject of her discourse and praises in which she knew him to take the greatest delight. When she saw herself mistress of his heart she did not defer the great work of endeavoring to win him to God, but the fear of giving offence to his people made him delay his conversion. His miraculous victory over the Alemanni, and his entire conversion in 496, were at length the fruit of our Saint’s prayers. Clotilda, having gained to God this great monarch, never ceased to excite him to glorious actions for the divine honor; among other religious foundations, he built in Paris, at her request, about the year 511, the great church of Sts. Peter and Paul, now called St. Genevieve’s. This great prince died on the 27th of November, in the year 511, at the age of forty-five, having reigned thirty years. His eldest son, Theodoric, reigned at Rheims over the eastern parts of France, Clodomir reigned at Orleans, Childebert at Paris, and Clotaire I. at Soissons. This division produced wars and mutual jealousies, till in 560 the whole monarchy was reunited under Clotaire, the youngest of these brothers. The dissension in her family contributed more perfectly to wean Clotilda’s heart from the world. She spent the remaining part of her life in exercises of prayer, almsdeeds, watching, fasting, and penance, seeming totally to forget that she had been queen or that her sons sat on the throne. Eternity filled her heart and employed all her thoughts. She foretold her death thirty days before it happened. On the thirtieth day of her illness, she received the sacraments, made a public confession of her faith, and departed to the Lord on the 3d of June, in 545. Reflection.--St. Peter defines the mission of the Christian woman; to win the heart of those who believe not the word. June 4.--ST. FRANCIS CARACCIOLO. FRANCIS was born in the kingdom of Naples, of the princely family of Caracciolo. In childhood he shunned all amusements, recited the Rosary regularly, and loved to visit the Blessed Sacrament and to distribute his food to the poor. An attack of leprosy taught him the vileness of the human body and the vanity of the world. Almost miraculously cured, he renounced his home to study for the priesthood at Naples, where he spent his leisure hours in the prisons or visiting the Blessed Sacrament in unfrequented churches. God called him, when only twenty-five, to found an Order of Clerks Regular, whose rule was that each day one father fasted on bread and water, another took the discipline, a third wore a hair-shirt, while they always watched by turns in perpetual adoration before the Blessed Sacrament. They took the usual vows, adding a fourth--not to desire dignities. To establish his Order, Francis undertook many journeys through Italy and Spain, on foot and without money, content with the shelter and crusts given him in charity. Being elected general, he redoubled his austerities, and devoted seven hours daily to meditation on the Passion, besides passing most of the night praying before the Blessed Sacrament. Francis was commonly called the Preacher of Divine Love. But it was before the Blessed Sacrament that his ardent devotion was most clearly perceptible. In presence of his divine Lord his face usually emitted brilliant rays of light; and he often bathed the ground with his tears when he prayed, according to his custom, prostrate on his face before the tabernacle, and constantly repeating, as one devoured by internal fire, “The zeal of Thy house hath eaten me up.” He died of fever, aged forty-four, on the eve of Corpus Christi, 1608, saying, “Let us go, let us go to heaven!” When his body was opened after death, his heart was found as it were burnt up, and these words imprinted around it: “Zelus domus Tuae comedit me”--”The zeal of Thy house hath eaten me up.” Reflection.--It is for men, and not for angels, that our blessed Lord resides upon the altar. Yet angels throng our churches to worship Him while men desert Him. Learn from St. Francis to avoid such ingratitude, and to spend, as he did, every possible moment before the Most Holy Sacrament. June 5.--ST. BONIFACE, Bishop, Martyr. ST. BONIFACE was born at Crediton in Devonshire, England, in the year 680. Some missionaries staying at his father’s house spoke to him of heavenly things, and inspired him with a wish to devote himself, as they did, to God. He entered the monastery of Exminster, and was there trained for his apostolic work. His first attempt to convert the pagans in Holland having failed, he went to Rome to obtain the Pope’s blessing on his mission, and returned with authority to preach to the German tribes. It was a slow and dangerous task; his own life was in constant peril, while his flock was often reduced to abject poverty by the wandering robber bands. Yet his courage never flagged. He began with Bavaria and Thuringia, next visited Friesland, then passed on to Hesse and Saxony, everywhere destroying the idol temples and raising churches on their site. He endeavored, as far as possible, to make every object of idolatry contribute in some way to the glory of God; on one occasion, having cut down on immense oak which was consecrated to Jupiter, he used the tree in building a church, which he dedicated to the Prince of the Apostles. He was now recalled to Rome, consecrated Bishop by the Pope, and returned to extend and organize the rising German Church. With diligent care he reformed abuses among the existing clergy, and established religious houses throughout the land. At length, feeling his infirmities increase, and fearful of losing his martyr’s crown, Boniface appointed a successor to his monastery, and set out to convert a fresh pagan tribe. While St. Boniface was waiting to administer Confirmation to some newly-baptized Christians, a troop of pagans arrived, armed with swords and spears. His attendants would have opposed them, but the Saint said to his followers: “My children, cease your resistance; the long-expected day is come at last. Scripture forbids us to resist evil. Let us put our hope in God: He will save our souls.” Scarcely had he ceased speaking, when the barbarians fell upon him and slew him with all his attendants, to the number of fifty-two. Reflection.--St. Boniface teaches us how the love of Christ changes all things. It was for Christ’s sake that he toiled for souls, preferring poverty to riches, labor to rest, suffering to pleasure, death to life, that by dying he might live with Christ. June 6.--ST. NORBERT, Bishop. OF noble rank and rare talents, Norbert passed a most pious youth, and entered the ecclesiastical state. By a strange contradiction, his conduct now became a scandal to his sacred calling, and at the court of the Emperor Henry IV. he led, like many clerics of that age, a life of dissipation and luxury. One day, when he was thirty years of age, he was thrown half dead from his horse, and on recovering his senses, resolved upon a new life. After a severe and searching preparation, he was ordained priest, and began to expose the abuses of his Order. Silenced at first by a local council, he obtained the Pope’s sanction and preached penance to listening crowds in France and the Netherlands. In the wild vale of Premontre he gave to some trained disciples the rule of St. Austin, and a white habit to denote the angelic purity proper to the priesthood. The Canons Regular, or Premonstratensians, as they were called, were to unite the active work of the country clergy with the obligations of the monastic life. Their fervor renewed the spirit of the priesthood, quickened the faith of the people, and drove out heresy. A vile heretic, named Tankelin, appeared at Antwerp, in the time of St. Norbert, and denied the reality of the priesthood, and especially blasphemed the Blessed Eucharist. The Saint was sent for to drive out the pest. By his burning words he exposed the impostor and rekindled the faith in the Blessed Sacrament. Many of the apostates had proved their contempt for the Blessed Sacrament by burying it in filthy places. Norbert bade them search for the Sacred Hosts. They found them entire and uninjured, and the Saint bore them back in triumph to the tabernacle. Hence he is generally painted with the monstrance in his hand. In 1126 Norbert found himself appointed Bishop of Magdeburg; and there, at the risk of his life, he zealously carried on his work of reform, and died, worn out with toil, at the age of fifty-three. Reflection.--Reparation for the injuries offered to the Blessed Sacrament was the aim of St. Norbert’s great work of reform--in himself, in the clergy, and in the faithful. How much does our present worship repair for our own past irreverences, and for the outrages offered by others to the Blessed Eucharist. June 7.--ST. ROBERT OF NEWMINSTER. IN 1132 Robert was a monk at Whitby, England, when news arrived that thirteen religious had been violently expelled from the Abbey of St. Mary, in York, for having proposed to restore the strict Benedictine rule. He at once set out to join them, and found them on the banks of the Skeld, near Ripon, living in the midst of winter in a hut made of hurdles and roofed with turf. In the spring they affiliated themselves to St. Bernard’s reform at Clairvaux, and for two years struggled on in extreme poverty. At length the fame of their sanctity brought another novice, Hugh, Dean of York, who endowed the community with all his wealth, and thus laid the foundation of Fountains Abbey. In 1137 Raynulph, Baron of Morpeth, was so edified by the example of the monks at Fountains that he built them a monastery in Northumberland, called Newminster, of which St. Robert became abbot. The holiness of his life, even more than his words, guided his brethren to perfection, and within the next ten years three new communities went forth from this one house to become centres of holiness in other parts. The abstinence of St. Robert in refectory alone sufficed to maintain the mortified spirit of the community. One Easter Day, his stomach, weakened by the fast of Lent, could take no food, and he at last consented to try to eat some bread sweetened with honey. Before it was brought, he felt this relaxation would be a dangerous example for his subjects, and sent the food untouched to the poor at the gate. The plate was received by a young man of shining countenance, who straightway disappeared. At the next meal the plate descended empty, and by itself, to the abbot’s place in the refectory, proving that what the Saint sacrificed for his brethren had been accepted by Christ. At the moment of Robert’s death, in 1159, St. Godric, the hermit of Finchale, saw his soul, like a globe of fire, borne up by the angels in a pathway of light; and as the gates of heaven opened before them, a voice repeated twice, “Enter now, my friends.” Reflection.--Reason and authority prove that virtue aught to be practised. But facts alone prove that it is practised; and this is why examples have more power to move our souls, and why our individual actions are of such fearful importance for others as well as for ourselves. June 7.--ST. CLAUDE, Archbishop. THE province of Eastern Burgundy received great lustre from this glorious Saint. He was born at Salins, about the year 603, and was both the model and the oracle of the clergy of Besancon, when, upon the death of Archbishop Gervaise, about the year 683, he was chosen to be his successor. Fearing the obligations of that charge, he fled and hid himself, but was discovered and compelled to take it upon him. During seven years he acquitted himself of the pastoral functions with the zeal and vigilance of an apostle; but finding then an opportunity of resigning his see, which, out of humility and love of solitude, he had always sought, he retired to the great monastery of St. Oyend, and there took the monastic habit, in 690. Violence was used to oblige him soon after to accept the abbatial dignity. Such was the sanctity of his life, and his zeal in conducting his monks in the paths of evangelical perfection, that he deserved to be compared to the Antonines and Pachomiuses, and his monastery to those of ancient Egypt. Manual labor, silence, prayer, reading of pious books, especially the Holy Bible, fasting, watching, humility, obedience, poverty, mortification, and the close union of their hearts with God, made up the whole occupation of these fervent servants of God, and were the rich patrimony which St. Claude left to his disciples. He died in 703. June 8.--ST. MEDARD, Bishop. ST. MEDARD, one of the most illustrious prelates of the Church of France in the sixth century, was born of a pious and noble family, at Salency, about the year 457. From his childhood he evinced the most tender compassion for the poor. On one occasion he gave his coat to a destitute blind man, and when asked why he had done so, he answered that the misery of a fellow-member in Christ so affected him that he could not help giving him part of his own clothes. Being promoted to the priesthood in the thirty-third year of his age, he became a bright ornament of that sacred order. He preached the word of God with an unction which touched the hearts of the most hardened; and the influence of his example, by which he enforced the precepts which he delivered from the pulpit, seemed irresistible. In 530, Alomer, the thirteenth bishop of that country, dying, St. Medard was unanimously chosen to fill the see, and was consecrated by St. Remigius, who had baptized King Clovis in 496, and was then exceeding old. Our Saint’s new dignity did not make him abate anything of his austerities, and, though at that time seventy-two years old, he thought himself obliged to redouble his labors. Though his diocese was very wide, it seemed not to suffice for his zeal, which could not be confined; wherever he saw the opportunity of advancing the honor of God, and of abolishing the remains of idolatry, he overcame all obstacles, and by his zealous labors and miracles the rays of the Gospel dispelled the mists of idolatry throughout the whole extent of his diocese. What rendered this task more difficult and perilous was the savage and fierce disposition of the ancient inhabitants of Flanders, who were the most barbarous of all the nations of the Gauls and Franks. Our Saint, having completed this great work in Flanders, returned to Noyon, where he shortly after fell sick, and soon rested from his labors at an advanced age, in 545. The whole kingdom lamented his death as the loss of their common father and protector. His body was buried in his own cathedral, but the many miracles wrought at his tomb so moved King Clotaire that he translated the precious remains to Soissons. Reflection.--The Church takes delight in styling her founder “THE AMIABLE JESUS,” and He likewise says of Himself, “I am meek and humble of heart.” June 9.--STS. PRIMUS and FELICIANUS, Martyrs. THESE two martyrs were brothers, and lived in Rome, toward the latter part of the third century, for many years, mutually encouraging each other in the practice of all good works. They seemed to possess nothing but for the poor, and often spent both nights and days with the confessors in their dungeons, or at the places of their torments and execution. Some they encouraged to perseverance, others, who had fallen, they raised again, and they made themselves the servants of all in Christ, that all might attain to salvation through Him. Though their zeal was most remarkable, they had escaped the dangers of many bloody persecutions, and were grown old in the heroic exercises of virtue, when it pleased God to crown their labors with a glorious martyrdom. The pagans raised so great an outcry against them that they were both apprehended and put in chains. They were inhumanly scourged, and then sent to a town twelve miles from Rome to be further chastised, as avowed enemies to the gods. There they were cruelly tortured, first both together, afterward separately. But the grace of God strengthened them, and they were at length both beheaded on the 9th of June. Reflection.--A soul which truly loves God regards all the things of this world as nothing. The loss of goods, the disgrace of the world, torments, sickness, and other afflictions are bitter to the senses, but appear light to him that loves. If we cannot bear our trials with patience and silence, it is because we love God only in words. “One who is slothful and lukewarm complains of everything, and calls the lightest precepts hard,” says Thomas a Kempis. June 9.--ST. COLUMBA, or COLUMKILLE, Abbot. ST. COLUMBA, the apostle of the Picts, was born of a noble family, at Gartan, in the county of Tyrconnel, Ireland, in 521. From early childhood he gave himself to God. In all his labors--and they were many--his chief thought was heaven and how he should secure the way thither. The result was that he lay on the bare floor, with a stone for his pillow, and fasted all the year round; yet the sweetness of his countenance told of the holy soul’s interior serenity. Though austere, he was not morose; and, often as he longed to die, he was untiring in good works, throughout his life. After he had been made abbot, his zeal offended King Dermot; and in 565 the Saint departed for Scotland, where he founded a hundred religious houses and converted the Picts, who in gratitude gave him the island of Iona. There St. Columba founded his celebrated monastery, the school of apostolic missionaries and martyrs, and for centuries the last resting-place of Saints and kings. Four years before his death, our Saint had a vision of angels, who told him that the day of his death had been deferred four years, in answer to the prayers of his children; whereat the Saint wept bitterly, and cried out, “Woe is me that my sojourning is prolonged!” for he desired above all things to reach his true home. How different is the conduct of most men, who dread death above everything, instead of wishing “to be dissolved, and to be with Christ”! On the day of his peaceful death, in the seventy-seventh year of his age, surrounded in choir by his spiritual children, the 9th of June, 597, he said to his disciple Diermit, “This day is called the Sabbath, that is, the day of rest, and such will it truly be to me; for it will put an end to my labors.” Then, kneeling before the altar, he received the Viaticum, and sweetly slept in the Lord. His relics were carried to Down, and laid in the same shrine with the bodies of St. Patrick and St. Brigid. Reflection.--The thought of the world to come will always make us happy, and yet strict with ourselves in all our duties. The more perfect we become, the sooner shall we behold that for which St. Columba sighed. June 10.--ST. MARGARET OF SCOTLAND. (Source: Butlers Lives Of The Saints 1894 A.D.)
ST. MARGARET’S name signifies “pearl;” “a fitting name,” says Theodoric, her confessor and her first biographer, “for one such as she.” Her soul was like a precious pearl. A life spent amidst the luxury of a royal court never dimmed its lustre, or stole it away from Him who had bought it with His blood. She was the grand daughter of an English king; and in 1070 she became the bride of Malcolm, and reigned Queen of Scotland till her death in 1093. How did she become a Saint in a position where sanctity is so difficult? First, she burned with zeal for the house of God. She built churches and monasteries; she busied herself in making vestments; she could not rest till she saw the laws of God and His Church observed throughout her realm. Next, amidst a thousand cares, she found time to converse with God--ordering her piety with such sweetness and discretion that she won her husband to sanctity like her own. He used to rise with her at night for prayer; he loved to kiss the holy books she used, and sometimes he would steal them away, and bring them back to his wife covered with jewels. Lastly, with virtues so great, she wept constantly over her sins, and begged her confessor to correct her faults. St. Margaret did not neglect her duties in the world because she was not of it. Never was a better mother. She spared no pains in the education of her eight children, and their sanctity was the fruit of her prudence and her zeal. Never was a better queen. She was the most trusted counsellor of her husband, and she labored for the material improvement of the country. But, in the midst of the world’s pleasures, she sighed for the better country, and accepted death as a release. On her death-bed she received the news that her husband and her eldest son were slain in battle. She thanked God, Who had sent this last affliction as a penance for her sins. After receiving Holy Viaticum, she was repeating the prayer from the Missal, “O Lord Jesus Christ, Who by Thy death didst give life to the world, deliver me.” At the words “deliver me,” says her biographer, she took her departure to Christ, the Author of true liberty. Reflection.--All perfection consists in keeping a guard upon the heart. Wherever we are, we can make a solitude in our hearts, detach ourselves from the world, and converse familiarly with God. Let us take St. Margaret for our example and encouragement. June 11.--ST. BARNABAS, Apostle. WE read that in the first days of the Church, “the multitude of believers had but one heart and one soul; neither did any one say that aught of the things which he possessed was his own.” Of this fervent company, one only is singled out by name, Joseph, a rich Levite, from Cyprus. “He having land sold it, and brought the price and laid it at the feet of the apostles.” They now gave him a new name, Barnabas, the son of consolation. He was a good man, full of the Holy Ghost and of faith, and was soon chosen for an important mission to the rapidly-growing Church of Antioch. Here he perceived the great work which was to be done among the Greeks, so he hastened to fetch St. Paul from his retirement at Tarsus. It was at Antioch that the two Saints were called to the apostolate of the Gentiles, and hence they set out together to Cyprus and the cities of Asia Minor. Their preaching struck men with amazement, and some cried out, “The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men,” calling Paul Mercury, and Barnabas Jupiter. The Saints travelled together to the Council of Jerusalem, but shortly after this they parted. When Agabus prophesied a great famine, Barnabas, no longer rich, was chosen by the faithful at Antioch as most fit to bear, with St. Paul, their generous offerings to the Church of Jerusalem. The gentle Barnabas, keeping with him John, surnamed Mark, whom St. Paul distrusted, betook himself to Cyprus, where the sacred history leaves him; and here, at a later period, he won his martyr’s crown. Reflection.--St. Barnabas’s life is full of suggestions to us who live in days when once more the abundant alms of the faithful are sorely needed by the whole Church, from the Sovereign Pontiff to the poor children in our streets. June 12.--ST. JOHN OF ST. FAGONDEZ. ST. JOHN was born at St. Fagondez, in Spain. At an early age he held several benefices in the diocese of Burgos, till the reproaches of his conscience forced him to resign them all except one chapel, where he said Mass daily, preached, and catechised. After this he studied theology at Salamanca, and then labored for some time as a most devoted missionary priest. Ultimately he became a hermit of the Augustinian Order, in the same city. There his life was marked by a singular devotion to the Holy Mass. Each night after Matins he remained in prayer till the hour of celebration, when he offered the Adorable Sacrifice with the most tender piety, often enjoying the sight of Jesus in glory, and holding sweet colloquies with Him. The power of his personal holiness was seen in his preaching, which produced a complete reformation in Salamanca. He had a special gift of reconciling differences, and was enabled to put an end to the quarrels and feuds among noblemen, at that period very common and fatal. The boldness shown by St. John in reproving vice endangered his life. A powerful noble, having been corrected by the Saint for oppressing his vassals, sent two assassins to slay him. The holiness of the Saint’s aspect, however, caused by that peace which continually reigned in his soul, struck such awe into their minds that they could not execute their purpose, but humbly besought his forgiveness. And the nobleman himself, falling sick, was brought to repentance, and recovered his health by the prayers of the Saint whom he had endeavored to murder. He was also most zealous in denouncing those hideous vices which are a fruitful source of strife, and it was in defence of holy purity that he met his death. A lady of noble birth but evil life, whose companion in sin St. John had converted, contrived to administer a fatal poison to the Saint. After several months of terrible suffering, borne with unvarying patience, St. John went to his reward on June 11, 1479. Reflection.--All men desire peace, but those alone enjoy it who, like St. John, are completely dead to themselves, and love to bear all things for Christ. June 13.--ST. ANTONY OF PADUA. IN 1221 St. Francis held a general chapter at Assisi; when the others dispersed, there lingered behind, unknown and neglected, a poor Portuguese friar, resolved to ask for and to refuse nothing. Nine months later, Fra Antonio rose under obedience to preach to the religious assembled at Forli, when, as the discourse proceeded, “the Hammer of Heretics,” “the Ark of the Testament,” “the eldest son of St. Francis,” stood revealed in all his sanctity, learning, and eloquence before his rapt and astonished brethren. Devoted from earliest youth to prayer and study among the Canons Regular, Ferdinand de Bulloens, as his name was in the world, had been stirred, by the spirit and example of the first five Franciscan martyrs, to put on their habit and preach the Faith to the Moors in Africa. Denied a martyr’s palm, and enfeebled by sickness, at the age of twenty-seven he was taking silent but merciless revenge upon himself in the humblest offices of his community. From this obscurity he was now called forth, and for nine years France, Italy, and Sicily heard his voice, saw his miracles, and men’s hearts turned to God. One night, when St. Antony was staying with a friend in the city of Padua, his host saw brilliant rays streaming under the door of the Saint’s room, and on looking through the keyhole he beheld a little Child of marvellous beauty standing upon a book which lay open upon the table, and clinging with both arms round Antony’s neck. With an ineffable sweetness he watched the tender caresses of the Saint and his wondrous Visitor. At last the Child vanished, and Fra Antonio, opening the door, charged his friend, by the love of Him Whom he had seen, to “tell the vision to no man” as long as he was alive. Suddenly, in 1231, our Saint’s brief apostolate was closed, and the voices of children were heard crying along the streets of Padua, “Our father, St. Antony, is dead.” The following year, the church-bells of Lisbon rang without ringers, while at Rome one of its sons was inscribed among the Saints of God. Reflection.--Let us love to pray and labor unseen, and cherish in the secret of our hearts the graces of God and the growth of our immortal souls. Like St. Antony, let us attend to this, and leave the rest to God. June 14.--ST. BASIL THE GREAT. ST. BASIL was born in Asia Minor. Two of his brothers became bishops, and, together with his mother and sister, are honored as Saints. He studied with great success at Athens, where he formed with St. Gregory Nazianzen the most tender friendship. He then taught oratory; but dreading the honors of the world, he gave up all, and became the father of the monastic life in the East. The Arian heretics, supported by the court, were then persecuting the Church; and Basil was summoned from his retirement by his bishop to give aid against them. His energy and zeal soon mitigated the disorders of the Church, and his solid and eloquent words silenced the heretics. On the death of Eusebius, he was chosen Bishop of Caesarea. His commanding character, his firmness and energy, his learning and eloquence, and not less his humility and the exceeding austerity of his life, made him a model for bishops. When St. Basil was required to admit the Arians to Communion, the prefect, finding that soft words had no effect, said to him, “Are you mad, that you resist the will before which the whole world bows? Do you not dread the wrath of the emperor, nor exile, nor death?” “No,” said Basil calmly; “he who has nothing to lose need not dread loss of goods; you cannot exile me, for the whole earth is my home; as for death, it would be the greatest kindness you could bestow upon me; torments cannot harm me: one blow would end my frail life and my sufferings together.” “Never,” said the prefect, “has any one dared to address me thus.” “Perhaps,” suggested Basil, “you never before measured your strength with a Christian bishop.” The emperor desisted from his commands. St. Basil’s whole life was one of suffering. He lived amid jealousies and misunderstandings and seeming disappointments. But he sowed the seed which bore goodly fruit in the next generation, and was God’s instrument in beating back the Arian and other heretics in the East, and restoring the spirit of discipline and fervor in the Church. He died in 379, and is venerated as a Doctor of the Church. Reflection.--”Fear God,” says the Imitation of Christ, “and thou shalt have no need of being afraid of any man.” June 15.--STS. VITUS, CRESCENTIA, and MODESTUS, Martyrs. VITUS was a child nobly born, who had the happiness to instructed in the Faith, and inspired with the most perfect sentiments of his religion, by his Christian nurse, named Crescentia, and her faithful husband, Modestus. His father, Hylas, was extremely incensed when he discovered the child’s invincible aversion to idolatry; and finding him not to be overcome by stripes and such like chastisements, he delivered him up to Valerian, the governor, who in vain tried all his arts to work him into compliance with his father’s will and the emperor’s edicts. He escaped out of their hands, and, together with Crescentia and Modestus, fled into Italy. They there met with the crown of martyrdom in Lucania, in the persecution of Diocletian. The heroic spirit of martyrdom which we admire in St. Vitus was owing to the early impressions of piety which he received from the lessons and example of a virtuous nurse. Of such infinite importance is the choice of virtuous preceptors, nurses, and servants about children. Reflection.--What happiness for an infant to be formed naturally to all virtue, and for the spirit of simplicity, meekness, goodness, and piety to be moulded in its tender frame! Such a foundation being well laid, further graces are abundantly communicated, and a soul improves daily these seeds, and rises to the height of Christian virtue often without experiencing severe conflicts of the passions. June 16.--ST. JOHN FRANCIS REGIS. ST. JOHN FRANCIS REGIS was born in Languedoc, in 1597. From his tenderest years he showed evidences of uncommon sanctity by his innocence of life, modesty, and love of prayer. At the age of eighteen he entered the Society of Jesus. As soon as his studies were over, he gave himself entirely to the salvation of souls. The winter he spent in country missions, principally in mountainous districts; and in spite of the rigor of the weather and the ignorance and roughness of the inhabitants, he labored with such success that he gained innumerable souls to God both from heresy and from a bad life. The summer he gave to the towns. There his time was taken up in visiting hospitals and prisons, in preaching and instructing, and in assisting all who in any way stood in need of his services. In his works of mercy God often helped him by miracles. In November, 1637, the Saint set out for his second mission at Marthes. His road lay across valleys filled with snow and over mountains frozen and precipitous. In climbing one of the highest, a bush to which he was clinging gave way, and he broke his leg in the fall. By the help of his companion he accomplished the remaining six miles, and then, instead of seeing a surgeon, insisted on being taken straight to the confessional. There, after several hours, the curate of the parish found him still seated, and when his leg was examined the fracture was found to be miraculously healed. He was so inflamed with the love of God that he seemed to breathe, think, speak of that alone, and he offered up the Holy Sacrifice with such attention and fervor that those who assisted at it could not but feel something of the fire with which he burned. After twelve years of unceasing labor, he rendered his pure and innocent soul to his Creator, at the age of forty-four. Reflection.--When St. John Francis was struck in the face by a sinner whom he was reproving, he replied, “If you only knew me, you would give me much more than that” His meekness converted the man, and it is in this spirit that he teaches us to win souls to God. How much might we do if we could forget our own wants in remembering those of others, and put our trust in God! June 17.--ST. AVITUS, Abbot. ST. AVITUS was a native of Orleans, and, retiring into Auvergne, took the monastic habit, together with St. Calais, in the abbey of Menat, at that time very small, though afterward enriched by Queen Brunehault, and by St. Boner, Bishop of Clermont. The two Saints soon after returned to Miscy, a famous abbey situated a league and a half below Orleans. It was founded toward the end of the reign of Clovis I. by St. Euspicius, a holy priest, honored on the 14th of June, and his nephew St. Maximin or Mesnim, whose name this monastery, which is now of the Cistercian Order, bears. Many call St. Maximin the first abbot, others St. Euspicius the first, St. Maximin the second, and St. Avitus the third. But our Saint and St. Calais made not a long stay at Miscy, though St. Maximin gave them a gracious reception. In quest of a closer retirement, St. Avitus, who had succeeded St. Maximin, soon after resigned the abbacy, and with St. Calais lived a recluse in the territory now called Dunois, on the frontiers of La Perche. Others joining them, St. Calais retired into a forest in Maine, and King Clotaire built a church and monastery for St. Avitus and his companions. This is at present a Benedictine nunnery, called St. Avy of Chateaudun, and is situated on the Loire, at the foot of the hill on which the town of Chateaudun is built, in the diocese of Chartres. Three famous monks, Leobin, afterwards Bishop of Chartres, Euphronius, and Rusticus, attended our Saint to his happy death, which happened about the year 530. His body was carried to Orleans, and buried with great pomp in that city. June 18.--STS. MARCUS and MARCELLIANUS, Martyrs. MARCUS AND MARCELLIANUS were twin brothers of an illustrious family in Rome, who had been converted to the Faith in their youth and were honorably married. Diocletian ascending the imperial throne in 284, the heathens raised persecutions. These martyrs were thrown into prison, and condemned to be beheaded. Their friends obtained a respite of the execution for thirty days, that they might prevail on them to worship the false gods, Tranquillinus and Martia, their afflicted heathen parents, in company with their sons’ own wives and their little babes, endeavored to move them by the most tender entreaties and tears. St. Sebastian, an officer of the emperor’s household, coming to Rome soon after their commitment, daily visited and encouraged them. The issue of the conferences was the happy conversion of the father, mother, and wives, also of Nicostratus, the public register, and soon after of Chromatius, the judge, who set the Saints at liberty, and, abdicating the magistracy, retired into the country. Marcus and Marcellianus were hid by a Christian officer of the household in his apartments in the palace; but they were betrayed by an apostate, and retaken. Fabian, who had succeeded Chromatius, condemned them to be bound to two pillars, with their feet nailed to the same. In this posture they remained a day and a night, and on the following day were stabbed with lances. Reflection.--We know not what we are till we have been tried. It costs nothing to say we love God above all things, and to show the courage of martyrs at a distance from the danger; but that love is sincere which has stood the proof. “Persecution shows who is a hireling, and who a true pastor,” says St. Bernard. June 19.--ST. JULIANA FALCONIERI. JULIANA FALCONIERI was born in answer to prayer, in 1270. Her father built the splendid church of the Annunziata in Florence, while her uncle, Blessed Alexius, became one of the founders of the Servite Order. Under his care Juliana grew up, as he said, more like an angel than a human being. Such was her modesty that she never used a mirror or gazed upon the face of a man during her whole life. The mere mention of sin made her shudder and tremble, and once hearing a scandal related she fell into a dead swoon. Her devotion to the sorrows of Our Lady drew her to the Servants of Mary; and, at the age of fourteen, she refused an offer of marriage, and received the habit from St. Philip Benizi himself. Her sanctity attracted many novices, for whose direction she was bidden to draw up a rule, and thus with reluctance she became foundress of the “Mantellate.” She was with her children as their servant rather than their mistress, while outside her convent she led a life of apostolic charity, converting sinners, reconciling enemies, and healing the sick by sucking with her own lips their ulcerous sores. She was sometimes rapt for whole days in ecstasy, and her prayers saved the Servite Order when it was in danger of being suppressed. She was visited in her last hour by angels in the form of white doves, and Jesus Himself, as a beautiful child, crowned her with a garland of flowers. She wasted away through a disease of the stomach, which prevented her taking food. She bore her silent agony with constant cheerfulness, grieving only for the privation of Holy Communion. At last, when, in her seventieth year, she had sunk to the point of death, she begged to be allowed once more to see and adore the Blessed Sacrament. It was brought to her cell, and reverently laid on a corporal, which was placed over her heart. At this moment she expired, and the Sacred Host disappeared. After her death the form of the Host was found stamped upon her heart in the exact spot over which the Blessed Sacrament had been placed. Juliana died A. D. 1340. Reflection.--”Meditate often,” says St. Paul of the Cross, “on the sorrows of the holy Mother, sorrows inseparable from those of her beloved Son. If you seek the Cross, there you will find the Mother; and where the Mother is, there also is the Son.” June 20.--ST. SILVERIUS, Pope and Martyr. SILVERIUS was son of Pope Hermisdas, who had been married before he entered the ministry. Upon the death of St. Agapetas, after a vacancy of forty-seven days, Silverius, then subdeacon, was chosen Pope, and ordained on the 8th of June, 536. Theodora, the empress of Justinian, resolved to promote the sect of the Acephali. She endeavored to win Silverius over to her interest, and wrote to him, ordering that he should acknowledge Anthimus lawful bishop, or repair in person to Constantinople and reexamine his cause on the spot. Without the least hesitation or delay, Silverius returned her a short answer, by which he peremptorily gave her to understand that he neither could nor would obey her unjust demands and betray the cause of the Catholic faith. The empress, finding that she could expect nothing from him, resolved to have him deposed. Vigilius, archdeacon of the Roman Church, a man of address, was then at Constantinople. To him the empress made her application, and finding him taken by the bait of ambition, promised to make him Pope, and to bestow on him seven hundred pieces of gold, provided he would engage himself to condemn the Council of Chalcedon and receive to Communion the three deposed Eutychian patriarchs, Anthimus of Constantinople, Severus of Antioch, and Theodosius of Alexandria. The unhappy Vigilius having assented to these conditions, the empress sent him to Rome, charged with a letter to the general Belisarius, commanding him to drive out Silverius and to contrive the election of Vigilius to the pontificate. Vigilius urged the general to execute the project. The more easily to carry out this project the Pope was accused of corresponding with the enemy and a letter was produced which was pretended to have been written by him to the king of the Goths, inviting him into the city, and promising to open the gates to him. Silverius was banished to Patara in Lycia. The bishop of that city received the illustrious exile with all possible marks of honor and respect; and thinking himself bound to undertake his defence, repaired to Constantinople, and spoke boldly to the emperor, terrifying him with the threats of the divine judgments for the expulsion of a bishop of so great a see, telling him, “There are many kings in the world, but there is only one Pope over the Church of the whole world.” It must be observed that these were the words of an Oriental bishop, and a clear confession of the supremacy of the Roman See. Justinian appeared startled at the atrocity of the proceedings, and gave orders that Silverius should be sent back to Rome, but the enemies of the Pope contrived to prevent it, and he was intercepted on his road toward Rome and carried to a desert island, where he died on the 20th of June, 538.’ June 21.--ST. ALOYSIUS GONZAGA. ALOYSIUS, the eldest son of Ferdinand Gonzaga, Marquis of Castiglione, was born on the 9th of March, 1568. The first words he pronounced were the holy names of Jesus and Mary. When he was nine years of age he made a vow of perpetual virginity, and by a special grace was ever exempted from temptations against purity. He received his first Communion at the hands of St. Charles Borromeo. At an early age he resolved to leave the world, and in a vision was directed by our blessed Lady to join the Society of Jesus. The Saint’s mother rejoiced on learning his determination to become a religious, but his father for three years refused his consent. At length St. Aloysius obtained permission to enter the novitiate on the 25th of November, 1585. He took his vows after two years, and went through the ordinary course of philosophy and theology. He was wont to say he doubted whether without penance grace would continue to make head against nature, which, when not afflicted and chastised, tends gradually to relapse into its old state, losing the habit of suffering acquired by the labor of years. “I am a crooked piece of iron,” he said, “and am come into religion to be made straight by the hammer of mortification and penance.” During his last year of theology a malignant fever broke out in Rome; the Saint offered himself for the service of the sick, and he was accepted for the dangerous duty. Several of the brothers caught the fever, and Aloysius was of the number. He was brought to the point of death, but recovered, only to fall, however, into slow fever, which carried him off after three months. He died, repeating the Holy Name, a little after midnight between the 20th and 21st of June, on the octave-day of Corpus Christi, being rather more than twenty-three years of age. Reflection.--Cardinal Bellarmine, the Saint’s confessor, testified that he had never mortally offended God. Yet he chastised his body rigorously, rose at night to pray, and shed many tears for his sins. Pray that, not having followed his innocence, you may yet imitate his penance. June 22.--ST. PAULINUS OF NOLA. PAULINUS was of a family which boasted of a long line of senators, prefects, and consuls. He was educated with great care, and his genius and eloquence, in prose and verse, were the admiration of St. Jerome and St. Augustine. He had more than doubled his wealth by marriage, and was one of the foremost men of his time. Though he was the chosen friend of Saints, and had a great devotion to St. Felix of Nola, he was still only a catechumen, trying to serve two masters. But God drew him to Himself along the way of sorrows and trials. He received baptism, withdrew into Spain to be alone, and then, in consort with his holy wife, sold all their vast estates in various parts of the empire, distributing their proceeds so prudently that St. Jerome says East and West were filled with his alms. He was then ordained priest, and retired to Nola in Campania. There he rebuilt the Church of St. Felix with great magnificence, and served it night and day, living a life of extreme abstinence and toil. In 409 he was chosen bishop, and for more than thirty years so ruled as to be conspicuous in an age blessed with many great and wise bishops. St. Gregory the Great tells us that when the Vandals of Africa had made a descent on Campania, Paulinus spent all he had in relieving the distress of his people and redeeming them from slavery. At last there came a poor widow; her only son had been carried off by the son-in-law of the Vandal king. “Such as I have I give thee,” said the Saint to her; “we will go to Africa, and I will give myself for your son.” Having overborne her resistance, they went, and Paulinus was accepted in place of the widow’s son, and employed as gardener. After a time the king found out, by divine interposition, that his son-in-law’s slave was the great Bishop of Nola. He at once set him free, granting him also the freedom of all the townsmen of Nola who were in slavery. One who knew him well says he was meek as Moses, priestlike as Aaron, innocent as Samuel, tender as David, wise as Solomon, apostolic as Peter, loving as John, cautious as Thomas, keen-sighted as Stephen, fervent as Apollos. He died in 431. Reflection.--”Go to Campania,” writes St. Augustine; “there study Paulinus, that choice servant of God. With what generosity, with what still greater humility, he has flung from him the burden of this world’s grandeurs to take on him the yoke of Christ, and in His service how serene and unobtrusive his life!” June 23.--ST. ETHELDREDA, Abbess. BORN and brought up in the fear of God--her mother and three sisters are numbered among the Saints--Etheldreda had but one aim in life, to devote herself to His service in the religious state. Her parents, however, had other views for her, and, in spite of her tears and prayers, she was compelled to become the wife of Tonbercht, a tributary of the Mercian king. She lived with him as a virgin for three years, and at his death retired to the isle of Ely, that she might apply herself wholly to heavenly things. This happiness was but short-lived; for Egfrid, the powerful King of Northumbria, pressed his suit upon her with such eagerness that she was forced into a second marriage. Her life at his court was that of an ascetic rather than a queen: she lived with him not as a wife but as a sister, and, observing a scrupulous regularity of discipline, devoted her time to works of mercy and love. After twelve years, she retired with her husband’s consent to Coldingham Abbey, which was then under the rule of St. Ebba, and received the veil from the hands of St. Wilfrid. As soon as Etheldreda had left the court of her husband, he repented of having consented to her departure, and followed her, meaning to bring her back by force. She took refuge on a headland on the coast near Coldingham; and here a miracle took place, for the waters forced themselves a passage round the hill, barring the further advance of Egfrid. The Saint remained on this island refuge for seven days, till the king, recognizing the divine will, agreed to leave her in peace. God, Who by a miracle confirmed the Saint’s vocation, will not fail us if, with a single heart, we elect for Him. In 672 she returned to Ely, and founded there a double monastery. The nunnery she governed herself, and was by her example a living rule of perfection to her sisters. Some time after her death, in 679, her body was found incorrupt, and St. Bede records many miracles worked by her relics. Reflection.--The soul cannot truly serve God while it is involved in the distractions and pleasures of the world. Etheldreda knew this, and chose rather to be a servant of Christ her Lord than the mistress of an earthly court. Resolve, in whatever state you are, to live absolutely detached from the world, and to separate yourself as much as possible from it. June 24.--ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST. THE birth of St. John was foretold by an angel of the Lord to his father, Zachary, who was offering incense in the Temple. It was the office of St. John to prepare the way for Christ, and before he was born into the world he began to live for the Incarnate God. Even in the womb he knew the presence of Jesus and of Mary, and he leaped with joy at the glad coming of the son of man. In his youth he remained hidden, because He for Whom he waited was hidden also. But before Christ’s public life began, a divine impulse led St. John into the desert; there, with locusts for his food and haircloth on his skin, in silence and in prayer, he chastened his own soul. Then, as crowds broke in upon his solitude, he warned them to flee from the wrath to come, and gave them the baptism of penance, while they confessed their sins. At last there stood in the crowd One Whom St. John did not know, till a voice within told him that it was his Lord. With the baptism of St. John, Christ began His penance for the sins of His people, and St. John saw the Holy Ghost descend in bodily form upon Him. Then the Saint’s work was done. He had but to point his own disciples to the Lamb, he had but to decrease as Christ increased. He saw all men leave him and go after Christ. “I told you,” he said, “that I am not the Christ. The friend of the Bridegroom rejoiceth because of the Bridegroom’s voice. This my joy therefore is fulfilled.” St. John had been cast into the fortress of Machaerus by a worthless tyrant whose crimes be had rebuked, and he was to remain there till he was beheaded, at the will of a girl who danced before this wretched king. In this time of despair, if St. John could have known despair, some of his old disciples visited him. St. John did not speak to them of himself, but he sent them to Christ, that they might see the proofs of His mission. Then the Eternal Truth pronounced the panegyric of the Saint who had lived and breathed for Him alone: “Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist” Reflection.--St. John was great before God because he forgot himself and lived for Jesus Christ, Who is the source of all greatness. Remember that you are nothing; your own will and your own desires can only lead to misery and sin. Therefore sacrifice every day some one of your natural inclinations to the Sacred Heart of Our Lord, and learn little by little to lose yourself in Him. June 25.--ST. PROSPER OF AQUITAINE. ST. PROSPER was born at Aquitaine, in the year 403. His works show that in his youth he had happily applied himself to all the branches both of polite and sacred learning. On account of the purity and sanctity of his manners, he is called by those of his age a holy and venerable man. Our Saint does not appear to have been any more than a layman; but being of great virtue, and of extraordinary talents and learning, he wrote several works in which he ably refuted the errors of heresy. St. Leo the Great, being chosen Pope in 440, invited St. Prosper to Rome, made him his secretary, and employed him in the most important affairs of the Church. Our Saint crushed the Pelagian heresy, which began again to raise its head in that capital, and its final overthrow is said to be due to his zeal, learning, and unwearied endeavors. The date of his death is uncertain, but he was still living in 463. June 25.--ST WILLIAM OF MONTE-VERGINE. ST. WILLIAM, having lost his father and mother in his infancy, was brought up by his friends in great sentiments of piety; and at fifteen years of age, out of an earnest desire to lead a penitential life, he left Piedmont, his native country, made an austere pilgrimage to St. James’s in Galicia, and afterward retired into the kingdom of Naples, where he chose for his abode a desert mountain, and lived in perpetual contemplation and the exercises of most rigorous penitential austerities. Finding himself discovered and his contemplation interrupted, he changed his habitation and settled in a place called Monte-Vergine, situated between Nola and Benevento, in the same kingdom; but his reputation followed him, and he was obliged by two neighboring priests to permit certain fervent persons to live with him and to imitate his ascetic practices. Thus, in 1119, was laid the foundation of the religious congregation called de Monte-Vergine. The Saint died on the 25th of June, 1142. June 26.--STS. JOHN AND PAUL, Martyrs. THESE two Saints were both officers in the army under Julian the Apostate, and received the crown of martyrdom, probably in 362. They glorified God by a double victory; they despised the honors of the world, and triumphed over its threats and torments. They saw many wicked men prosper in their impiety, but were not dazzled by their example. They considered that worldly prosperity which attends impunity in sin is the most dreadful of all judgments; and how false and short-lived was this glittering prosperity of Julian, who in a moment fell into the pit which he himself had dug! But the martyrs, by the momentary labor of their conflict, purchased an immense weight of never-fading glory; their torments were, by their heroic patience and invincible virtue and fidelity, a spectacle worthy of God, Who looked down upon them from the throne of His glory, and held His arm stretched out to strengthen them, and to put on their heads immortal crowns in the happy moment of their victory. Reflection.--The Saints always accounted that they had done nothing for Christ so long as they had not resisted to blood, and by pouring forth the last drop completed their sacrifice. Every action of our lives ought to spring from this fervent motive, and we should consecrate ourselves to the divine service with our whole strength; we must always bear in mind that we owe to God all that we are, and, after all we can do, are unprofitable servants, and do only what we are bound to do. June 27.--ST. LADISLAS, King. LADISLAS the First, son of Bela, King of Hungary, was born in 1041. By the pertinacious importunity of the people he was compelled, much against his own inclination, to ascend the throne, in 1080. He restored the good laws and discipline which St. Stephen had established, and which seem to have been obliterated by the confusion of the times. Chastity, meekness, gravity, charity, and piety were from his infancy the distinguishing parts of his character; avarice and ambition were his sovereign aversion, so perfectly had the maxims of the Gospel extinguished in him all propensity to those base passions. His life in the palace was most austere; he was frugal and abstemious, but most liberal to the Church and the poor. Vanity, pleasure, or idle amusements had no share in his actions or time, because all his moments were consecrated to the exercises of religion and the duties of his station, in which he had only the divine will in view, and sought only God’s greater honor. He watched over a strict and impartial administration of justice, was generous and merciful to his enemies, and vigorous in the defence of his country and the Church. He drove the Huns out of his territories, and vanquished the Poles, Russians, and Tartars. He was preparing to command, as general-in-chief, the great expedition of the Christians against the Saracens for the recovery of the Holy Land, when God called him to Himself, on the 30th of July, 1095. Reflection.--The Saints filled all their moments with good works and great actions; and, whilst they labored for an immortal crown, the greatest share of worldly happiness of which this life is capable fell in their way without being even looked for by them. In their afflictions themselves virtue afforded them the most solid comfort, pointed out the remedy, and converted their tribulations into the greatest advantages. June 28.--ST. IRENAEUS, Bishop, Martyr. THIS Saint was born about the year 120. He was a Grecian, probably a native of Lesser Asia. His parents, who were Christians, placed him under the care of the great St. Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna. It was in so holy a school that he learned that sacred science which rendered him afterward a great ornament of the Church and the terror of her enemies. St. Polycarp cultivated his rising genius, and formed his mind to piety by precepts and example; and the zealous scholar was careful to reap all the advantages which were offered him by the happiness of such a master. Such was his veneration for his tutor’s sanctity that he observed every action and whatever he saw in that holy man, the better to copy his example and learn his spirit. He listened to his instructions with an insatiable ardor, and so deeply did he engrave them on his heart that the impressions remained most lively even to his old age. In order to confute the heresies of his age, this father made himself acquainted with the most absurd conceits of their philosophers, by which means he was qualified to trace up every error to its sources and set it in its full light. St. Polycarp sent St. Irenaeus into Gaul, in company with some priest; he was himself ordained priest of the Church of Lyons by St. Pothinus. St. Pothinus having glorified God by his happy death, in the year 177, our Saint was chosen the second Bishop of Lyons. By his preaching, he in a short time converted almost that whole country to the Faith. He wrote several works against heresy, and at last, with many others, suffered martyrdom about the year 202, under the Emperor Severus, at Lyons. Reflection.--Fathers and mothers, and heads of families, spiritual and temporal, should bear in mind that inferiors “will not be corrected by words” alone, but that example is likewise needful. June 29.--ST. PETER, Apostle. PETER was of Bethsaida in Galilee, and as he was fishing on the lake was called by Our Lord to be one of His apostles. He was poor and unlearned, but candid, eager, and loving. In his heart, first of all, grew up the conviction, and from his lips came the confession, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God;” and so Our Lord chose him, and fitted him to be the Rock of His Church, His Vicar on earth, the head and prince of His apostles, the centre and very principle of the Church’s oneness, the source of all spiritual powers, and the unerring teacher of His truth. All Scripture is alive with him; but after Pentecost he stands out in the full grandeur of his office. He fills the vacant apostolic throne; admits the Jews by thousands into the fold; opens it to the Gentiles in the person of Cornelius; founds, and for a time rules, the Church at Antioch, and sends Mark to found that of Alexandria. Ten years after the Ascension he went to Rome, the centre of the majestic Roman Empire, where were gathered the glories and the wealth of the earth and all the powers of evil. There he established his Chair, and for twenty-five years labored with St. Paul in building up the great Roman Church. He was crucified by order of Nero, and buried on the Vatican Hill. He wrote two Epistles, and suggested and approved the Gospel of St. Mark. Two hundred and sixty years after St. Peter’s martyrdom came the open triumph of the Church. Pope St. Sylvester, with bishops and clergy and the whole body of the faithful, went through Rome in procession to the Vatican Hill, singing the praises of God till the seven hills rang again. The first Christian emperor, laying aside his diadem and his robes of state, began to dig the foundations of St. Peter’s Church. And now on the site of that old church stands the noblest temple ever raised by man; beneath a towering canopy lie the great apostles, in death, as in life, undivided; and there is the Chair of St. Peter. All around rest the martyrs of Christ--Popes, Saints, Doctors, from east and west--and high over all, the words, “Thou art Peter, and on this Rock I will build My Church.” It is the threshold of the apostles and the centre of the world. Reflection.--Peter still lives on in his successors, and rules and feeds the flock committed to him. The reality of our devotion to him is the surest test of the purity of our faith. June 30.--ST. PAUL. ST. PAUL was born at Tarsus, of Jewish parents, and studied at Jerusalem, at the feet of Gamaliel. While still a young man, he held the clothes of those who stoned the proto-martyr Stephen; and in his restless zeal he pressed on to Damascus, “breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of Christ.” But near Damascus a light from heaven struck him to the earth. He heard a voice which said, “Why persecutest thou Me? “ He saw the form of Him Who had been crucified for his sins, and then for three days he saw nothing more. He awoke from his trance another man--a new creature in Jesus Christ. He left Damascus for a long retreat in Arabia, and then, at the call of God, he carried the Gospel to the uttermost limits of the world, and for years he lived and labored with no thought but the thought of Christ crucified, no desire but to spend and be spent for Him. He became the apostle of the Gentiles, whom he had been taught to hate, and wished himself anathema for his own countrymen, who sought his life. Perils by land and sea could not damp his courage, nor toil and suffering and age dull the tenderness of his heart. At last he gave blood for blood. In his youth he had imbibed the false zeal of the Pharisees at Jerusalem, the holy city of the former dispensation. With St. Peter he consecrated Rome, our holy city, by his martyrdom, and poured into its Church all his doctrine with all his blood. He left fourteen Epistles, which have been a fountain-head of the Church’s doctrine, the consolation and delight of her greatest Saints. His interior life, so far as words can tell it, lies open before us in these divine writings, the life of one who has died forever to himself and risen again in Jesus Christ. “In what,” says St. Chrysostom, “in what did this blessed one gain an advantage over the other apostles? How comes it that he lives in all men’s mouths throughout the world? Is it not through the virtue of his Epistles?” Nor will his work cease while the race of man continues. Even now, like a most chivalrous knight, he stands in our midst, and takes captive every thought to the obedience of Christ. Reflection.--St. Paul complains that all seek the things which are their own, and not the things which are Christ’s. See if these words apply to you, and resolve to give yourself without reserve to God. July 1.--ST. GAL, Bishop. ST. GAL was born at Clermont in Auvergne, about the year 489. His father was of the first houses of that province, and his mother was descended from the family of Vettius Apagatus, the celebrated Roman who suffered at Lyons for the faith of Christ. They both took special care of the education of their son, and, when he arrived at a proper age, proposed to have him married to the daughter of a respectable senator. The Saint, who had taken a resolution to consecrate himself to God, withdrew privately from his father’s house to the monastery of Cournon, near the city of Auvergne, and earnestly prayed to be admitted there amongst the monks; and having soon after obtained the consent of his parents, he with joy renounced all worldly vanities to embrace religious poverty. Here his eminent virtues distinguished him in a particular manner, and recommended him to Quintianus, Bishop of Auvergne, who promoted him to holy orders. The bishop dying in 527, St. Gal was appointed to succeed him, and in this new character his humility, charity, and zeal were conspicuous; above all, his patience in bearing injuries. Being once struck on the head by a brutal man, he discovered not the least emotion of anger or resentment, and by this meekness disarmed the savage of his rage. At another time, Evodius, who from a senator became a priest, having so far forgotten himself as to treat him in the most insulting manner, the Saint, without making the least reply, arose meekly from his seat and went to visit the churches of the city. Evodius was so touched by this conduct that he cast himself at the Saint’s feet, in the middle of the street, and asked his pardon. From this time they both lived on terms of the most cordial friendship. St. Gal was favored with the gift of miracles, and died about the year 553. July 2.--THE VISITATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN. THE angel Gabriel, in the mystery of the Annunciation, informed the Mother of God that her cousin Elizabeth had miraculously conceived, and was then pregnant with a son who was to be the precursor of the Messias. The Blessed Virgin out of humility concealed the wonderful dignity to which she was raised by the incarnation of the Son of God in her womb, but, in the transport of her holy joy and gratitude, determined she would go to congratulate the mother of the Baptist. “Mary therefore arose,” saith St. Luke, “and with haste went into the hilly country into a city of Judea, and entering into the house of Zachary, saluted Elizabeth.” What a blessing did the presence of the God-man bring to this house, the first which He honored in His humanity with His visit! But Mary is the instrument and means by which He imparts to it His divine benediction, to show us that she is a channel through which He delights to communicate to us His graces, and to en, courage us to ask them of Him through her intercession. At the voice of the Mother of God, but by the power and grace of her divine Son in her womb, Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost, and the Infant in her womb conceived so great a joy as to leap and exult. At the same time Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost, and by His infused light she understood the great mystery of the Incarnation which God had wrought in Mary, whom humility prevented from disclosing it even to a Saint, and an intimate friend. In raptures of astonishment Elizabeth pronounced her blessed above all other women, and cried out, “Whence is this to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” Mary, hearing her own praise, sunk the lower in the abyss of her nothingness, and in the transport of her humility, and melting in an ecstasy of love and gratitude, burst into that admirable canticle, the Magnificat. Mary stayed with her cousin almost three months, after which she returned to Nazareth. Reflection.--Whilst with the Church we praise God for the mercies and wonders which He wrought in this mystery, we ought to apply ourselves to the imitation of the virtues of which Mary sets us a perfect example. From her we ought particularly to learn the lessons by which we shall sanctify our visits and conversation, actions which are to so many Christians the sources of innumerable dangers and sins. July 3.--ST. HELIODORUS, Bishop. THIS Saint was born at Dalmatia, St. Jerome’s native country, and soon sought out that great Doctor, in order not only to follow his advice in matters relating to Christian perfection, but also to profit by his deep learning. The life of a recluse possessed peculiar attractions for him, but to enter a monastery it would be necessary to leave his spiritual master and director, and such a sacrifice he was not prepared to make. He remained in the world, though not of it, and, following the example of the holy anchorites, passed his time in prayer and devout reading. He accompanied St. Jerome to the East, but the desire to revisit his native land, and to see his parents once more, drew him back to Dalmatia, although St. Jerome tried to persuade him to remain. He promised to return as soon as he had fulfilled the duty he owed his parents. In the meantime, finding his absence protracted, and fearing that the love of family and attachment to worldly things might lure him from his vocation, St. Jerome wrote him an earnest letter, exhorting him to break entirely with the world and to consecrate himself to the service of God. But the Lord, Who disposes all things, had another mission for His servant. After the death of his mother, Heliodorus went to Italy, where he soon became noted for his eminent piety. He was made Bishop of Altino, and became one of the most distinguished prelates of an age fruitful in great men. He died about the year 290. July 4.--ST. BERTHA, Widow, Abbess. BERTHA was the daughter of Count Rigobert and Umana, related to one of the kings of Kent in England. In the twentieth year of her age she was married to Sigefroi, by whom she had five daughters, two of whom, Gertrude and Deotila, are Saints. After her husband’s death she put on the veil in the nunnery which she had built at Blangy in Artois, a little distance from Hesdin. Her daughters Gertrude and Deotila followed her example. She was persecuted by Roger, or Rotgar, who endeavored to asperse her with King Thierri III., to revenge his being refused Gertrude in marriage. But this prince, convinced of the innocence of Bertha, then abbess over her nunnery, gave her a kind reception and took her under his protection. On her return to Blangy, Bertha finished her nunnery and caused three churches to be built, one in honor of St. Omer, another she called after St. Vaast, and the third in honor of St. Martin of Tours. And then, after establishing a regular observance in her community, she left St. Deotila abbess in her stead, and shut herself in a cell, to pass the remainder of her days in prayer. She died about the year 725. A great part of her relics are kept at Blangy. July 5.--ST. PETER OF LUXEMBURG. PETER OF LUXEMBURG, descended both by his father and mother from the noblest families in Europe, was born in Lorraine, in the year 1369. When but a schoolboy, twelve years of age, he went to London as a hostage for his brother, the Count of St. Pol, who had been taken prisoner. The English were so won by Peter’s holy example that they released him at the end of the year, taking his word for the ransom. Richard II. now invited him to remain at the English court; but Peter returned to Paris, determined to have no master but Christ. At the early age of fifteen he was appointed, on account of his prudence and sanctity, Bishop of Metz, and made his public entry into his see barefoot and riding an ass. He governed his diocese with ail the zeal and prudence of maturity, and divided his revenues in three parts--for the Church, the poor, and his household. His charities often left him personally destitute, and he had but twenty pence left when he died. Created Cardinal of St. George, his austerities in the midst of a court were so severe that he was ordered to moderate them. Peter replied, “I shall always be an unprofitable servant, but I can at least obey.” Ten months after his promotion he fell sick of a fever, and lingered for some time in a sinking condition, his holiness increasing as he drew near his end. St. Peter, it was believed, never stained his soul by mortal sin; yet as he grew in grace his holy hatred of self became more and more intense. At length, when he had received the last sacraments, he forced his attendants each in turn to scourge him for his faults, and then lay silent till he died. But God was pleased to glorify His servant. Among other miracles is the following: On July 5, 1432, a child about twelve years old was killed by falling from a high tower, in the palace of Avignon, upon a sharp rock. The father, distracted with grief, picked up the scattered pieces of the skull and brains, and carried them in a sack, with the mutilated body of his son, to St. Peter’s shrine, and with many tears be- sought the Saint’s intercession. After a while the child returned to life, and was placed upon the altar for all to witness. In honor of this miracle the city of Avignon chose St. Peter as its patron Saint. He died in 1387, aged eighteen years. Reflection.--St. Peter teaches us how, by self-denial, rank, riches, the highest dignities, and all this world can give, may serve to make a Saint. July 6.--ST. GOAR, Priest. ST. GOAR was born of an illustrious family, at Aquitaine. From his youth he was noted for his earnest piety, and, having been raised to sacred orders, he converted many sinners by the fervor of his preaching and the force of his example. Wishing to serve God entirely unknown to the world, he went over into Germany, and settling in the neighborhood of Trier, he shut himself up in his cell, and arrived at such an eminent degree of sanctity as to be esteemed the oracle and miracle of the whole country. Sigebert, King of Austrasia, learning of the sanctity of Goar, wished to have him made Bishop of Metz, and for that purpose summoned him to court. The Saint, fearing the responsibilities of the office, prayed that he might be excused. He was seized with a fever, and died in 575. July 6.--ST. PALLADIUS, Bishop, Apostle of the Scots. THE name of Palladius shows this Saint to have been a Roman, and most authors agree that he was deacon of the Church of Rome. At least St. Prosper, in his chronicle, informs us that when Agricola, a noted Pelagian, had corrupted the churches of Britain by introducing that pestilential heresy, Pope Celestine, at the instance of Palladius the deacon, in 429, sent thither St. Germanus, Bishop of Auxerre, in quality of his legate, who, having ejected the heretics, brought back the Britons to the Catholic faith. In 431 Pope Celestine sent Palladius, the first bishop, to the Scots then believing in Christ. The Irish writers of the lives of St. Patrick say that St. Palladius had preached in Ireland a little before St. Patrick, but that he was soon banished by the King of Leinster, and returned to North Britain, where he had first opened his mission. There seems to be no doubt that he was sent to the whole nation of the Scots, several colonies of whom had passed from Ireland into North Britain, and possessed themselves of part of the country since called Scotland. After St. Palladius had left Ireland, he arrived among the Scots in North Britain, according to St. Prosper, in the consulate of Bassus and Antochius, in the year of Christ 431. He preached there with great zeal, and formed a considerable Church. The Scottish historians tell us that the Faith was planted in North Britain about the year 200, in the time of King Donald, when Victor was Pope of Rome. But they all acknowledge that Palladius was the first bishop in that country, and style him their first apostle. The Saint died at Fordun, fifteen miles from Aberdeen, about the year 450. Reflection.--St. Palladius surmounted every obstacle which a fierce nation had opposed to the establishment of the kingdom of Jesus Christ. Ought not our hearts to be impressed with the most lively sentiments of love and gratitude to our merciful God for having raised up such great and zealous men, by whose ministry the light of true faith has been conveyed to us? July 7.--ST. PANTAeNUS, Father of the Church. THIS learned father and apostolic man flourished in the second century. He was by birth a Sicilian, by profession a Stoic philosopher. His esteem for virtue led him into an acquaintance with the Christians, and being charmed with the innocence and sanctity of their conversation, he opened his eyes to the truth. He studied the Holy Scriptures under the disciples of the apostles, and his thirst after sacred learning brought him to Alexandria, in Egypt, where the disciples of St. Mark had instituted a celebrated school of the Christian doctrine. Pantaenus sought not to display his talents in that great mart of literature and commerce; but this great progress in sacred learning was after some time discovered, and he was drawn out of that obscurity in which his humility sought to bury itself. Being placed at the head of the Christian school some time before the year 179, by his learning and excellent manner of teaching he raised its reputation above all the schools of the philosophers, and the lessons which he read, and which were gathered from the flowers of the prophets and apostles, conveyed light and knowledge into the minds of all his hearers. The Indians who traded at Alexandria entreated him to pay their country a visit, whereupon he forsook his school and went to preach the Gospel to the Eastern nations. St. Pantaenus found some seeds of the faith already sown in the Indies, and a book of the Gospel of St. Matthew in Hebrew, which St. Bartholomew had carried thither. He brought it back with him to Alexandria, whither he returned after he had zealously employed some years in instructing the Indians in the faith. St. Pantaenus continued to teach in private till about the year 216, when he closed a noble and excellent life by a happy death. Reflection.--”Have a care that none lead you astray by a false philosophy,” says St. Paul, for philosophy without religion is a vain thing. July 8.--ST. ELIZABETH OF PORTUGAL. ELIZABETH was born in 1271. She was daughter of Pedro III. of Arragon, being named after her aunt, St. Elizabeth of Hungary. At twelve years of age she was given in marriage to Denis, King of Portugal, and from a holy child became a saintly wife. She heard Mass and recited the Divine Office daily, but her devotions were arranged with such prudence that they interfered with no duty of her state. She prepared for her frequent communions by severe austerities, fasting thrice a week, and by heroic works of charity. She was several times called on to make peace between her husband and her son Alphonso, who had taken up arms against him. Her husband tried her much, both by his unfounded jealousy and by his infidelity to herself. A slander affecting Elizabeth and one of her pages made the king determine to slay the youth, and he told a lime-burner to cast into his kiln the first page who should arrive with a royal message. On the day fixed the page was sent; but the boy, who was in the habit of hearing Mass daily, stopped on his way to do so. The king, in suspense, sent a second page, the very originator of the calumny, who, coming first to the kiln, was at once cast into the furnace and burned. Shortly after, the first page arrived from the church, and took back to the king the lime-burner’s reply that his orders had been fulfilled. Thus hearing Mass saved the page’s life and proved the queen’s innocence. Her patience, and the wonderful sweetness with which she even cherished the children of her rivals, completely won the king from his evil ways, and he became a devoted husband and a truly Christian king. She built many charitable institutions and religious houses, among others a convent of Poor Clares. After her husband’s death, she wished to enter their Order; but being dissuaded by her people, who could not do without her, she took the habit of the Third Order of St. Francis, and spent the rest of her life in redoubled austerities and almsgiving. She died at the age of sixty-five, while in the act of making peace between her children. Reflection.--In the Holy Sacrifice of the Altar St. Elizabeth daily found strength to bear with sweetness suspicion and cruelty; and by that same Holy Sacrifice her innocence was proved. What succor do we forfeit by neglect of daily Mass! July 9.--ST. EPHREM, Deacon. ST. EPHREM is the light and glory of the Syriac Church. A mere youth, he entered on the religious life at Nisibis, his native place. Long years of retirement taught him the science of the Saints, and then God called him to Edessa, there to teach what he had learned so well. He defended the Faith against heresies, in books which have made him known as the Prophet of the Syrians. Crowds hung upon his words. Tears used to stop his voice when he preached. He trembled and made his hearers tremble at the thought of God’s judgments; but he found in compunction and humility the way to peace, and he rested with unshaken confidence in the mercy of our blessed Lord. “I am setting out,” he says, speaking of his own death, “I am setting out on a journey hard and dangerous. Thee, O Son of God, I have taken for my Viaticum. When I am hungry, I will feed on Thee. The infernal fire will not venture near me, for it cannot bear the fragrance of Thy Body and Thy Blood.” His hymns won the hearts of the people, drove out the hymns of the Gnostic heretics, and gained for him the title which he bears in the Syriac Liturgy to this day--”the Harp of the Holy Ghost.” Passionate as he was by nature, from the time he entered religion no one ever saw him angry. Abounding in labors till the last, he toiled for the suffering poor at Edessa in the famine of 378, and there lay down to die in extreme old age. What was the secret of success so various and so complete? Humility, which made him distrust himself and trust God. Till his death, he wept for the slight sins committed in the thoughtlessness of boyhood. He refused the dignity of the priesthood. “I,” he told St. Basil, whom he went to see at the bidding of the Holy Spirit, “I am that Ephrem who has wandered from the path of heaven.” Then bursting into tears, he cried out, “O my father, have pity on a sinful wretch, and lead me on the narrow way.” Reflection.--Humility is the path which leads to abiding peace and brings us near to the consolations of God. July 10.--THE SEVEN BROTHERS, Martyrs, and ST. FELICITAS, their Mother. THE illustrious martyrdom of these Saints happened at Rome, under the Emperor Antoninus. The seven brothers were the sons of St. Felicitas, a noble, pious, Christian widow in Rome, who, after the death of her husband, served God in a state of continency and employed herself wholly in prayer, fasting, and works of charity. By the public and edifying example of this lady and her whole family many idolaters were moved to renounce the worship of their false gods, and to embrace the Faith of Christ. This excited the anger of the heathen priests, who complained to the emperor that the boldness with which Felicitas publicly practised the Christian religion drew many from the worship of the immortal gods, who were the guardians and protectors of the empire, and that, in order to appease these false gods, it was necessary to compel this lady and her children to sacrifice to them. Publius, the prefect of Rome, caused the mother and her sons to be apprehended and brought before him, and, addressing her, said, “Take pity on your children, Felicitas; they are in the bloom of youth, and may aspire to the greatest honors and preferments.” The holy mother answered, “Your pity is really impiety, and the compassion to which you exhort me would make me the most cruel of mothers.” Then turning herself towards her children, she said to them, “My sons, look up to heaven, where Jesus Christ with His Saints expects you. Be faithful in His love, and fight courageously for your souls.” Publius, being exasperated at this behavior, commanded her to be cruelly buffeted; he then called the children to him one after another, and used many artful speeches, mingling promises with threats to induce them to adore the gods. His arguments and threats were equally in vain, and the brothers were condemned to be scourged. After being whipped, they were remanded to prison, and the prefect, despairing to overcome their resolution, laid the whole process before the emperor. Antoninus gave an order that they should be sent to different judges, and be condemned to different deaths. Januarius was scourged to death with whips loaded with plummets of lead. The two next, Felix and Philip, were beaten with clubs till they expired. Sylvanus, the fourth, was thrown headlong down a steep precipice. The three youngest, Alexander, Vitalis, and Martialis, were beheaded, and the same sentence was executed upon the mother four months after. Reflection.--What afflictions do parents daily meet with from the disorders into which their children fall through their own bad example or neglect! Let them imitate the earnestness of St. Felicitas in forming to perfect virtue the tender souls which God hath committed to their charge, and with this Saint they will have the greatest of all comforts in them, and will by His grace count as many Saints in their family as they are blessed with children. July 11.--ST. JAMES, Bishop. THIS eminent Saint and glorious Doctor of the Syriac Church was a native of Nisibis, in Mesopotamia. In his youth, entering the world, he trembled at the sight of its vices and the slippery path of its pleasures, and he thought it the safer part to strengthen himself in retirement, that he might afterward be the better able to stand his ground in the field. He accordingly chose the highest mountain for his abode, sheltering himself in a cave in the winter, and the rest of the year living in the woods, continually exposed to the open air. Notwithstanding his desire to live unknown to men, he was discovered, and many were not afraid to climb the rugged rocks that they might recommend themselves to his prayers and receive the comfort of his spiritual advice. He was favored with the gifts of prophecy and miracles in an uncommon measure. One day, as he was travelling, he was accosted by a gang of beggars, with the view of extorting money from him under pretence of burying their companion, who lay stretched on the ground as if he were dead. The holy man gave them what they asked, and “offering up supplications to God as for a soul departed, he prayed that his Divine Majesty would pardon him the sins he had committed whilst he lived, and that he would admit him into the company of the Saints.” As soon as the Saint was gone by, the beggars, calling upon their companion to rise and take his share of the booty, were surprised to find him really dead. Seized with sudden fear and grief, they shrieked in the utmost consternation, and immediately ran after the man of God, cast themselves at his feet, confessed the cheat, begged forgiveness, and besought him by his prayers to restore their unhappy companion to life, which the Saint did. The most famous miracle of our Saint was that by which he protected his native city from the barbarians. Sapor II., the haughty King of Persia, besieged Nisibis with the whole strength of his empire, whilst our Saint was Bishop. The Bishop would not pray for the destruction of any one, but he implored the Divine Mercy that the city might be delivered from the calamities of so long a siege. Afterward, going to the top of a high tower, and turning his face towards the enemy, and seeing the prodigious multitude of men and beasts which covered the whole country, he said, “Lord, Thou art able by the weakest means to humble the pride of Thy enemies; defeat these multitudes by an army of gnats.” God heard the humble prayer of His servant. Scarce had the Saint spoken those words, when whole clouds of gnats and flies came pouring down upon the Persians, got into the elephants’ trunks and the horses’ ears and nostrils, which made them chafe and foam, throw their riders, and put the whole army into confusion and disorder. A famine and pestilence, which followed, carried off a great part of the army; and Sapor, after lying above three months before the place, set fire to all his own engines of war, and was forced to abandon the siege and return home with the loss of twenty thousand men. Sapor received a third foil under the walls of Nisibis, in 359, upon which he turned his arms against Amidus, took that strong city, and put the garrison and the greatest part of the inhabitants to the sword. The citizens of Nisibis attributed their preservation to the intercession of their glorious patron, St. James, although he had already gone to his reward. He died in 350. July 12.--ST. JOHN GUALBERT. ST. JOHN GUALBERT was born at Florence, A. D. 999. Following the profession of arms at that troubled period, he became involved in a blood-feud with a near relative. One Good Friday, as he was riding into Florence accompanied by armed men, he encountered his enemy in a place where neither could avoid the other. John would have slain him; but his adversary, who was totally unprepared to fight, fell upon his knees with his arms stretched out in the form of a cross, and implored him, for the sake of Our Lord’s holy Passion, to spare his life. St. John said to his enemy, “I cannot refuse what you ask in Christ’s name. I grant you your life, and I give you my friendship. Pray that God may forgive me my sin.” Grace triumphed. A humble and changed man, he entered the Church of St. Miniato, which was near; and whilst he prayed, the figure of our crucified Lord, before which he was kneeling, bowed its head toward him as if to ratify his pardon. Abandoning the world, he gave himself up to prayer and penance in the Benedictine Order. Later he was led to found the congregation called of Vallombrosa, from the shady valley a few miles from Florence, where he established his first monastery. Once the enemies of the Saint came to his convent of St. Salvi, plundered it, and set fire to it, and having treated the monks with ignominy, beat them and wounded them. St. John rejoiced. “Now,” he said, “you are true monks. Would that I myself had had the honor of being with you when the soldiers came, that I might have had a share in the glory of your crowns! “ He fought manfully against simony, and in many ways promoted the interest of the Faith in Italy. After a life of great austerity, he died whilst the angels were singing round his bed, July 11, 1073. Reflection.--The heroic act which merited for St. John Gualbert his conversion was the forgiveness of his enemy. Let us imitate him in this virtue, resolving never to revenge ourselves in deed, in word, or in thought. July 13.--ST. EUGENIUS, Bishop. THE episcopal see of Carthage had remained vacant twenty-four years, when, in 481, Huneric permitted the Catholics on certain conditions to choose one who should fill it. The people, impatient to enjoy the comfort of a pastor, pitched upon Eugenius, a citizen of Carthage, eminent for his learning, zeal, piety, and prudence. His charities to the distressed were excessive, and he refused himself everything that he might give all to the poor. His virtue gained him the respect and esteem even of the Arians; but at length envy and blind zeal got the ascendant in their breasts, and the king sent him an order never to sit on the episcopal throne, preach to the people, or admit into his chapel any Vandals, among whom several were Catholics. The Saint boldly answered that the laws of God commanded him not to shut the door of His church to any that desired to serve Him in it. Huneric, enraged at this answer, persecuted the Catholics in various ways. Many nuns were so cruelly tortured that they died on the rack. Great numbers of bishops, priests, deacons, and eminent Catholic laymen were banished to a desert filled with scorpions and venomous serpents. The people followed their bishops and priests with lighted tapers in their hands, and mothers carried their little babes in their arms and laid them at the feet of the confessors, all crying out with tears, “Going yourselves to your crowns, to whom do you leave us? Who will baptize our children? Who will impart to us the benefit of penance, and discharge us from the bonds of sin by the favor of reconciliation and pardon? Who will bury us with solemn supplications at our death? By whom will the Divine Sacrifice be made? “ The Bishop Eugenius was spared in the first storm, but afterwards was carried into the uninhabited desert country in the province of Tripolis, and committed to the guard of Antony, an inhuman Arian bishop, who treated him with the utmost barbarity. Gontamund, who succeeded Huneric, recalled our Saint to Carthage, opened the Catholic churches, and allowed all the exiled priests to return. After reigning twelve years, Gontamund died, and his brother Thrasimund was called to the crown. Under this prince St. Eugenius was again banished, and died in exile, on the 13th of July, 505, in a monastery which he built and governed, near Albi. Reflection.--”Alms shall be a great confidence before the Most High God to them that give it. Water quencheth a flaming fire, and alms resisteth sin.” July 14.--ST. BONAVENTURE. SANCTITY and learning raised Bonaventure to the Church’s highest honors, and from a child he was the companion of Saints. Yet at heart he was ever the poor Franciscan friar, and practised and taught humility and mortification. St. Francis gave him his name; for, having miraculously cured him of a mortal sickness, he prophetically exclaimed of the child, “O bona ventura!”--good luck. He is known also as the “Seraphic Doctor,” from the fervor of divine love which breathes in his writings. He was the friend of St. Thomas Aquinas, who asked him one day whence he drew his great learning. He replied by pointing to his crucifix. At another time St. Thomas found him in ecstasy while writing the life of St. Francis, and exclaimed, “Let us leave a Saint to write of a Saint.” They received the Doctor’s cap together. He was the guest and adviser of St. Louis, and the director of St. Isabella, the king’s sister. At the age of thirty-five he was made general of his Order; and only escaped another dignity, the Archbishopric of York, by dint of tears and entreaties. Gregory X. appointed him Cardinal Bishop of Albano. When the Saint heard of the Pope’s resolve to create him a Cardinal, he quietly made his escape from Italy. But Gregory sent him a summons to return to Rome. On his way, he stopped to rest himself at a convent of his Order near Florence; and there two Papal messengers, sent to meet him with the Cardinal’s hat, found him washing the dishes. The Saint desired them to hang the hat on a bush that was near, and take a walk in the garden until he had finished what he was about. Then taking up the hat with unfeigned sorrow, he joined the messengers, and paid them the respect due to their character. He sat at the Pontiff’s right hand, and spoke first at the Council of Lyons. His piety and eloquence won over the Greeks to Catholic union, and then his strength failed. He died while the Council was sitting, and was buried by the assembled bishops, A. D. 1274. Reflection.--”The fear of God,” says St. Bonaventure, “forbids a man to give his heart to transitory things, which are the true seeds of sin.” July 15.--ST. HENRY, Emperor. HENRY, Duke of Bavaria, saw in a vision his guardian, St. Wolfgang, pointing to the words “after six.” This moved him to prepare for death, and for six years he continued to watch and pray, when, at the end of the sixth year, he found the warning verified in his election as emperor. Thus trained in the fear of God, he ascended the throne with but one thought--to reign for His greater glory. The pagan Slavs were then despoiling the empire. Henry attacked them with a small force; but angels and Saints were seen leading his troops, and the heathen fled in despair. Poland and Bohemia, Moravia and Burgundy, were in turn annexed to his kingdom, Pannonia and Hungary won to the Church. With the Faith secured in Germany, Henry passed into Italy, drove out the Antipope Gregory, brought Benedict VIII. back to Rome, and was crowned in St. Peter’s by that Pontiff, in 1014. It was Henry’s custom, on arriving in any town, to spend his first night in watching in some church dedicated to our blessed Lady. As he was thus praying in St. Mary Major’s, the first night of his arrival in Rome, he “saw the Sovereign and Eternal Priest Christ Jesus” enter to say Mass. Sts. Laurence and Vincent assisted as deacon and sub-deacon. Saints innumerable filled the church, and angels sang in the choir. After the Gospel, an angel was sent by Our Lady to give Henry the book to kiss. Touching him lightly on the thigh, as the angel did to Jacob, he said, “Accept this sign of God’s love for your chastity and justice;” and from that time the emperor always was lame. Like holy David, Henry employed the fruits of his conquests in the service of the temple. The forests and mines of the empire, the best that his treasury could produce, were consecrated to the sanctuary. Stately cathedrals, noble monasteries, churches innumerable, enlightened and sanctified the once heathen lands. In 1022 Henry lay on his bed of death. He gave back to her parents his wife, St. Cunegunda, “a virgin still, as a virgin he had received her from Christ,” and surrendered his own pure soul to God. Reflection.--St. Henry deprived himself of many things to enrich the house of God. We clothe ourselves in purple and fine linen, and leave Jesus in poverty and neglect. July 16.--ST. SIMON STOCK. SIMON was born in the county of Kent, England, and left his home when he was but twelve years of age, to live as a hermit in the hollow trunk of a tree, whence he was known as Simon of the Stock. Here he passed twenty years in penance and prayer, and learned from Our Lady that he was to join an Order not then known in England. He waited in patience till the White Friars came, and then entered the Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. His great holiness moved his brethren in the general chapter held at Aylesford, near Rochester, in 1245, to choose him prior-general of the Order. In the many persecutions raised against the new religious, Simon went with filial confidence to the Blessed Mother of God. As he knelt in prayer in the White Friars’ convent at Cambridge, on July 16, 1251, she appeared before him and presented him with the scapular, in assurance of her protection. The devotion to the blessed habit spread quickly throughout the Christian world. Pope after Pope enriched it with indulgences, and miracles innumerable put their seal upon its efficacy. The first of them was worked at Winchester on a man dying in despair, who at once asked for the Sacraments, when the scapular was laid upon him by St. Simon Stock. In the year 1636, M. de Guge, a cornet in a cavalry regiment, was mortally wounded at the engagement of Tobin, a bullet having lodged near his heart. He was then in a state of grievous sin, but had time left him to make his confession, and with his own hands wrote his last testament. When this was done, the surgeon probed his wound, and the bullet was found to have driven his scapular into his heart. On its being withdrawn, he presently expired, making profound acts of gratitude to the Blessed Virgin, who had prolonged his life miraculously, and thus preserved him from eternal death. St. Simon Stock died at Bordeaux in 1265. Reflection.--To enjoy the privileges of the scapular, it is sufficient that it be received lawfully and worn devoutly. How, then, can any one fail to profit by a devotion so easy, so simple, and so wonderfully blessed? “He that shall overcome, shall thus be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels” (Apoc. iii. 5) . July 17.--ST. ALEXIUS. ST. ALEXIUS was the only son of parents pre-eminent among the Roman nobles for virtue, birth, and wealth. On his wedding-night, by God’s special inspiration, he secretly quitted Rome, and journeying to Edessa, in the far East, gave away all that he had brought with him, content thenceforth to live on alms at the gate of Our Lady’s church in that city. It came to pass that the servants of St. Alexius, whom his father sent in search of him, arrived at Edessa, and seeing him among the poor at the gate of Our Lady’s church, gave him an alms, not recognizing him. Whereupon the man of God, rejoicing, said, “I thank thee, O Lord, Who hast called me and granted that I should receive for Thy name’s sake an alms from my own slaves. Deign to fulfil in me the work Thou hast begun.” After seventeen years, when his sanctity was miraculously manifested by the Blessed Virgin’s image, he once more sought obscurity by flight. On his way to Tarsus contrary winds drove his ship to Rome. There no one recognized in the wan and tattered mendicant the heir of Rome’s noblest house; not even his sorrowing parents, who had vainly sent throughout the world in search of him. From his father’s charity he begged a mean corner of his palace as a shelter, and the leavings of his table as food. Thus he spent seventeen years, bearing patiently the mockery and ill-usage of his own slaves, and witnessing daily the inconsolable grief of his spouse and parents. At last, when death had ended this cruel martyrdom, they learned too late, from a writing in his own hand, who it was that they had unknowingly sheltered. God bore testimony to His servant’s sanctity by many miracles. He died early in the fifth century. Reflection.--We must always be ready to sacrifice our dearest and best natural affections in obedience to the call of our heavenly Father. “Call none your father upon earth, for one is your Father in heaven” (Matt. xxiii. 9). Our Lord has taught us this not by words only, but by His own example and by that of His Saints. July 18.--ST. CAMILLUS OF LELLIS. THE early years of Camillus gave no sign of sanctity. At the age of nineteen he took service with his father, an Italian noble, against the Turks, and after four years’ hard campaigning found himself, through his violent temper, reckless habits, and inveterate passion for gambling, a discharged soldier, and in such straitened circumstances that he was obliged to work as a laborer on a Capuchin convent which was then building. A few words from a Capuchin friar brought about his conversion, and he resolved to become a religious. Thrice he entered the Capuchin novitiate, but each time an obstinate wound in his leg forced him to leave. He repaired to Rome for medical treatment, and there took St. Philip as his confessor, and entered the hospital of St. Giacomo, of which he became in time the superintendent. The carelessness of the paid chaplains and nurses towards the suffering patients now inspired him with the thought of founding a congregation to minister to their wants. With this end he was ordained priest, and in 1586 his community of the Servants of the Sick was confirmed by the Pope. Its usefulness was soon felt, not only in hospitals, but in private houses. Summoned at every hour of the day and night, the devotion of Camillus never grew cold. With a woman’s tenderness he attended to the needs of his patients. He wept with them, consoled them, and prayed with them. He knew miraculously the state of their souls; and St. Philip saw angels whispering to two Servants of the Sick who were consoling a dying person. One day a sick man said to the Saint, “Father, may I beg you to make up my bed? it is very hard.” Camillus replied, “God forgive you, brother! You beg me! Don’t you know yet that you are to command me, for I am your servant and slave.” “Would to God,” he would cry, “that in the hour of my death one sigh or one blessing of these poor creatures might fall upon me!” His prayer was heard. He was granted the same consolations in his last hour which he had so often procured for others. In the year 1614 he died with the full use of his faculties, after two weeks’ saintly preparation, as the priest was reciting the words of the ritual, “May Jesus Christ appear to thee with a mild and joyful countenance!” Reflection.--St. Camillus venerated the sick as living images of Christ, and by ministering to them in this spirit did penance for the sins of his youth, led a life precious in merit, and from a violent and quarrelsome soldier became a gentle and tender Saint. July 19.--ST. VINCENT OF PAUL. ST. VINCENT was born in 1576. In after-years, when adviser of the queen and oracle of the Church in France, he loved to recount how, in his youth, he had guarded his father’s pigs. Soon after his ordination he was captured by corsairs, and carried into Barbary. He converted his renegade master, and escaped with him to France. Appointed chaplain-general of the galleys of France, his tender charity brought hope into those prisons where hitherto despair had reigned. A mother mourned her imprisoned son. Vincent put on his chains and took his place at the oar, and gave him to his mother. His charity embraced the poor, young and old, provinces desolated by civil war, Christians enslaved by the infidel. The poor man, ignorant and degraded, was to him the image of Him Who became as “a leper and no man.” “Turn the medal,” he said, “and you then will see Jesus Christ.” He went through the streets of Paris at night, seeking the children who were left there to die. Once robbers rushed upon him, thinking he carried a treasure, but when he opened his cloak, they recognized him and his burden, and fell at his feet. Not only was St. Vincent the saviour of the poor, but also of the rich, for he taught them to do works of mercy. When the work for the foundlings was in danger of failing from want of funds, he assembled the ladies of the Association of Charity. He bade his most fervent daughters be present to give the spur to the others. Then he said, “Compassion and charity have made you adopt these little creatures as your children. You have been their mothers according to grace, when their own mothers abandoned them. Cease to be their mothers, that you may become their judges; their life and death are in your hands. I shall now take your votes: it is time to pronounce sentence” The tears of the assembly were his only answer, and the work was continued. The Society of St. Vincent, the Priests of the Mission, and 25,000 Sisters of Charity still comfort the afflicted with the charity of St. Vincent of Paul. He died in 1660. Reflection.--Most people who profess piety ask advice of directors about their prayers and spiritual exercises. Few inquire whether they are not in danger of damnation from neglect of works of charity. July 20.--ST. MARGARET, Virgin and Martyr. ACCORDING to the ancient Martyrologies, St. Margaret suffered at Antioch in Pisidia, in the last general persecution. She is said to have been instructed in the Faith by a Christian nurse, to have been persecuted by her own father, a pagan priest, and, after many torments, to have gloriously finished her martyrdom by the sword. From the East, her veneration was exceedingly propagated in England, France, and Germany, in the eleventh century, during the holy wars. Her body is now kept at Monte-Fiascone in Tuscany. July 20.--ST. JEROME EMILIANI. ST. JEROME EMILIANI was a member of one of the patrician families of Venice, and, like many other Saints, in early life a soldier. He was appointed governor of a fortress among the mountains of Treviso, and whilst bravely defending his post, was made prisoner by the enemy. In the misery of his dungeon he invoked the great Mother of God, and promised, if she would set him free, to lead a new and a better life. Our Lady appeared, broke his fetters, and led him forth through the midst of his enemies. At Treviso he hung up his chains at her altar, dedicated himself to her service, and on reaching his home at Venice devoted himself to a life of active charity. His special love was for the deserted orphan children whom, in the times of the plague and famine, he found wandering in the streets. He took them home, clothed and fed them, and taught them the Christian truths. From Venice he passed to Padua and Verona, and in a few years had founded orphanages through Northern Italy. Some pious clerics and laymen, who had been his fellow-workers, fixed their abode in one of these establishments, and devoted themselves to the cause of education. The Saint drew up for them a rule of life and thus was founded the Congregation, which still exists, of the Clerks Regular of Somascha. St. Jerome died February 8, 1537, of an illness which he had caught in visiting the sick. Reflection.--Let us learn from St. Jerome to exert ourselves in behalf of the many hundred children whose souls are perishing around us for want of some one to show them the way to heaven. July 21.--ST. VICTOR, Martyr. THE Emperor Maximian, reeking with the blood of the Thebaean legion and many other martyrs, arrived at Marseilles, where the Church then flourished. The tyrant breathed here nothing but slaughter and fury, and his coming filled the Christians with fear and alarm. In this general consternation, Victor, a Christian officer in the troops, went about in the night-time from house to house, visiting the faithful and inspiring them with contempt of a temporal death and the love of eternal life. He was surprised in this, and brought before the prefects Asterius and Eutychius, who exhorted him not to lose the fruit of all his services and the favor of his prince for the worship of a dead man, as they called Jesus Christ. He answered that he renounced those recompenses if he could not enjoy them without being unfaithful to Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, Who vouchsafed to become man for our salvation, but Who raised Himself from the dead, and reigns with the Father, being God equally with Him. The whole court heard him with shouts of rage. Victor was bound hand and foot and dragged through the streets of the city, exposed to the blows and insults of the populace. He was brought back bruised and bloody to the tribunal of the prefects, who, thinking his resolution must have been weakened by his sufferings, pressed him again to adore their gods. But the martyr, filled with the Holy Ghost, expressed his respect for the emperor and his contempt for their gods. He was then hoisted on the rack and tortured a long time, until, the tormentors being at last weary, the prefect ordered him to be taken down and thrown into a dark dungeon. At midnight, God visited him by His angels; the prison was filled with a light brighter than that of the sun, and the martyr sung with the angels the praises of God. Three soldiers who guarded the prison, seeing this light, cast themselves at the martyr’s feet, asked his pardon, and desired Baptism. Victor instructed them as well as time would permit, sent for priests the same night, and, going with them to the seaside, had them baptized, and returned with them again to his prison. The next morning Maximian was informed of the conversion of the guards, and in a transport of rage sent officers to bring them all four before him. The three soldiers persevered in the confession of Jesus Christ, and by the emperor’s orders were forthwith beheaded. Victor, after having been exposed to the insults of the whole city and beaten with clubs and scourged with leather thongs, was carried back to prison, where he continued three days, recommending to God his martyrdom with many tears. After that term the emperor called him again before his tribunal, and commanded the martyr to offer incense to a statue of Jupiter. Victor went up to the profane altar, and by a kick of his foot threw it down. The emperor ordered the foot to be forthwith chopped off, which the Saint suffered with great joy, offering to God these first-fruits of his body. A few moments after, the emperor condemned him to be put under the grindstone of a hand-mill and crushed to death. The executioners turned the wheel, and when part of his body was bruised and crushed the mill broke down. The Saint still breathed a little, but his head was immediately ordered to be cut off. His and the other three bodies were thrown into the sea, but, being cast ashore, were buried by the Christians in a grotto hewn out of a rock. July 22.--ST. MARY MAGDALEN. Or the earlier life of Mary Magdalen we know only that she was “a woman who was a sinner.” From the depth of her degradation she raised her eyes to Jesus with sorrow, hope, and love. All covered with shame, she came In where Jesus was at meat, and knelt behind him. She said not a word, but bathed His feet with her tears, wiped them with the hair of her head, kissed them in humility, and at their touch her sins and her stain were gone. Then she poured on them the costly unguent prepared for far other uses; and His own divine lips rolled away her reproach, spoke her absolution, and bade her go in peace. Thenceforward she ministered to Jesus, sat at His feet, and heard His words. She was one of the family “whom Jesus so loved” that He raised her brother Lazarus from the dead. Once again, on the eve of His Passion, she brought the precious ointment, and, now purified and beloved, poured it on His head, and the whole house of God is still filled with the fragrance of her anointing. She stood with Our Lady and St. John at the foot of the cross, the representative of the many who have had much forgiven. To her first, after His blessed Mother, and through her to His apostles, Our Lord gave the certainty of His resurrection; and to her first He made Himself known, calling her by her name, because she was His. When the faithful were scattered by persecution the family of Bethany found refuge in Provence. The cave in which St. Mary lived for thirty years is still seen, and the chapel on the mountaintop, in which she was caught up daily, like St. Paul, to “visions and revelations of the Lord.” When her end drew near she was borne to a spot still marked by a “sacred pillar,” where the holy Bishop Maximin awaited her; and when she had received her Lord, she peacefully fell asleep in death. Reflection.--”Compunction of heart,” says St. Bernard, “is a treasure infinitely to be desired, and an unspeakable gladness to the heart. It is healing to the soul; it is remission of sins; it brings back again the Holy Spirit into the humble and loving heart.” July 23.--ST. APOLLINARIS, Bishop and Martyr. ST. APOLLINARIS was the first Bishop of Ravenna; he sat twenty years, and was crowned with martyrdom in the reign of Vespasian. He was a disciple of St. Peter, and made by him Bishop of Ravenna. St. Peter Chrysologus, the most illustrious among his successors, has left us a sermon in honor of our Saint, in which he often styles him a martyr; but adds, that though he frequently suffered for the Faith, and ardently desired to lay down his life for Christ, yet God preserved him a long time to His Church, and did not allow the persecutors to take away his life. So he seems to have been a martyr only by the torments he endured for Christ, which he survived at least some days. His body lay first at Classis, four miles from Ravenna, still a kind of suburb to that city, and its seaport till it was choked up by the sands. In the year 549 his relics were removed into a more secret vault in the same church. St. Fortunatus exhorted his friends to make pilgrimages to the tomb, and St. Gregory the Great ordered parties in doubtful suits at law to be sworn before it. Pope Honorius built a church under the name of Apollinaris in Rome, about the year 630. It occurs in all martyrologies, and the high veneration which the Church paid early to his memory is a sufficient testimony of his eminent sanctity and apostolic spirit. Reflection.--The virtue of the Saints was true and heroic, because humble and proof against all trials. Persevere in your good resolutions: it is not enough to begin well; you must so continue to the end. July 24.--ST. CHRISTINA, Virgin and Martyr. ST. CHRISTINA was the daughter of a rich and powerful magistrate named Urbain. Her father, who was deep in the practices of heathenism, had a number of golden idols, which our Saint destroyed, and distributed the pieces among the poor. Infuriated by this act, Urbain became the persecutor of his daughter; he had her whipped with rods and then thrown into a dungeon. Christina remained unshaken in her faith. Her tormentor then had her body torn by iron hooks, and fastened her to a rack beneath which a fire was kindled. But God watched over His servant and turned the flames upon the lookers-on. Christina was next seized, a heavy stone tied about her neck, and she was thrown into the lake of Bolsena, but she was saved by an angel, and outlived her father, who died of spite. Later, this martyr suffered the most inhuman torments under the judge who succeeded her father, and finally was thrown into a burning furnace, where she remained, unhurt, for five days. By the power of Christ she overcame the serpents among which she was thrown; then her tongue was cut out, and afterwards, being pierced with arrows, she gained the martyr’s crown at Tyro, a city which formerly stood on an island in the lake of Bolsena in Italy, but was long since swallowed up by the waters. Her relics are now at Palermo in Sicily. July 24.--ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. (From Rev. Butler’s section titled: “Lives Of Certain Saints Contained In The Calendar Of Special Feasts For The United States And Of Some Others Recently Canonized”) THE diocese of Cordova, in Spain, was the birthplace of this Saint, who won many thousands of souls to God. From his earliest years he was characterized by a modest behavior, prudent silence, and edifying meekness. His education was entrusted to the Jesuit Fathers, and later he entered the Order of St. Francis. Soon he excelled every one in the house in humility, obedience, fervor in prayer, and self-denial. In 1589 he sailed for South America to preach the Gospel to the Indians in Peru. While near shore the ship struck rocks, and there was danger of drowning. The captain hurried the officers and principal passengers into the only boat there was, and tried to induce the missionary to accompany them; but he refused to do so. Consoling the remaining passengers, he prayed fervently and alone kept up his hope in God’s mercy. At last rescuers arrived and all were taken off in safety. The missionary did not confine his ministry to Lima. He visited the forests and deserts inhabited by the Indians, and by degrees he won their trust and in this way baptized nine thousand Indians. He was then recalled to Lima, which at that time was like a godless Ninive. Francis preached to the hardened sinners, and the whole city became converted. Finally after a painful sickness his last words being, “God be praised!” his soul departed this earth on July 14, 1610. He was declared Blessed by Pope Clement X. in 1675, and canonized by Benedict XIII. in 1726. St. Francis’ feast is held July 24th. July 25.--ST. JAMES, Apostle. (Source: Butlers Lives Of The Saints 1894 A.D.)
AMONG the twelve, three were chosen as the familiar companions of our blessed Lord, and of these James was one. He alone, with Peter and John, was admitted to the house of Jairus when the dead maiden was raised to life. They alone were taken up to the high mountain apart, and saw the face of Jesus shining as the sun, and His garments white as snow; and these three alone witnessed the fearful agony in Gethsemane. What was it that won James a place among the favorite three? Faith, burning, impetuous, and outspoken, but which needed. purifying before the “Son of Thunder” could proclaim the gospel of peace. It was James who demanded fire from heaven to consume the inhospitable Samaritans, and who sought the place of honor by Christ in His Kingdom. Yet Our Lord, in rebuking his presumption, prophesied his faithfulness to death. When St. James was brought before King Herod Agrippa, his fearless confession of Jesus crucified so moved the public prosecutor that he declared himself a Christian on the spot. Accused and accuser were hurried off together to execution, and on the road the latter begged pardon of the Saint. The apostle had long since forgiven him, but hesitated for a moment whether publicly to accept as a brother one still unbaptized. God quickly recalled to him the Church’s faith, that the blood of martyrdom supplies for every sacrament, and, falling on his companion’s neck, he embraced him, with the words, “Peace be with thee!” Together then they knelt for the sword, and together received the crown. Reflection.--We must all desire a place in the kingdom of our Father; but can we drink the chalice which He holds out to each? Possumus, we must say with SL. James--”We can”--but only in the strength of Him Who has drunk it first for us. July 26.--ST. ANNE. ST. ANNE was the spouse of St. Joachim, and was chosen by God to be the mother of Mary, His own blessed Mother on earth. They were both of the royal house of David, and their lives were wholly occupied in prayer and good works. One thing only was wanting to their union.--they were childless, and this was held as a bitter misfortune among the Jews. At length, when Anne was an aged woman, Mary was born, the fruit rather of grace than of nature, and the child more of God than of man. With the birth of Mary the aged Anne began a new life: she watched her every movement with reverent tenderness, and felt herself hourly sanctified by the presence of her immaculate child. But she had vowed her daughter to God, to God Mary had consecrated herself again, and to Him Anne gave her back. Mary was three years old when Anne and Joachim led her up the Temple steps, saw her pass by herself into the inner sanctuary, and then saw her no more. Thus was Anne left childless in her lone old age, and deprived of her purest earthly joy just when she needed it most. She humbly adored the Divine Will, and began again to watch and pray, till God called her to unending rest with the Father and the Spouse of Mary in the home of Mary’s Child. Reflection.--St. Anne is glorious among the Saints, not only as the mother of Mary, but because she gave Mary to God. Learn from her to reverence a divine vocation as the highest privilege, and to sacrifice every natural tie, however holy, at the call of God. July 27.--ST. PANTALEON, Martyr. T. PANTALEON was physician to the Emperor Galerius Maximianus, and a Christian, but, deceived by often hearing the false maxims of the world applauded, was unhappily seduced into an apostasy. But a zealous Christian called Hermolaus awakened his conscience to a sense of his guilt, and brought him again into the fold of the Church. The penitent ardently wished to expiate his crime by martyrdom; and to prepare himself for the conflict, when Diocletian’s bloody persecution broke out at Nicomedia, in 303, he distributed all his possessions among the poor. Not long after this action he was taken up, and in his house were also apprehended Hermolaus, Hermippus, and Hermocrates. After suffering many torments, they were all condemned to lose their heads. St. Pantaleon suffered the day after the rest. His relics were translated to Constantinople, and there kept with great honor. The greatest part of them are now shown in the abbey of St. Denys near Paris, but his head is at Lyons. Reflection.--”With the elect thou shalt be elect, and with the perverse wilt be perverted.” July 28.--STS. NAZARIUS and CELSUS, Martyrs. T. NAZARIUS’s father was a heathen, and held a considerable post in the Roman army. His mother, Perpetua, was a zealous Christian, and was instructed by St. Peter, or his disciples, in the most perfect maxims of our holy faith. Nazarius embraced it with so much ardor that he copied in his life all the great virtues he saw in his teachers; and out of zeal for the salvation of others, he left Rome, his native city, and preached the Faith in many places with a fervor and disinterestedness becoming a disciple of the apostles. Arriving at Milan, he was there beheaded for the Faith, together with Celsus, a youth whom he carried with him to assist him in his travels. These martyrs suffered soon after Nero had raised the first persecution. Their bodies were buried separately in a garden without the city, where they were discovered and taken up by St. Ambrose, in 395. In the tomb of St. Nazarius, a vial of the Saint’s blood was found as fresh and red as if it had been spilt that day. The faithful stained handkerchiefs with some drops, and also formed a certain paste with it, a portion of which St. Ambrose sent to St. Gaudentius, Bishop of Brescia. St. Ambrose conveyed the bodies of the two martyrs into the new church .of the apostles, which he had just built. A woman was delivered of an evil spirit in their presence. St. Ambrose sent some of these relics to St. Paulinus of Nola, who received them with great respect, as a most valuable present, as he testifies. Reflection.--The martyrs died as the outcasts of the world, but are crowned by God with immortal honor. The glory of the world is false and transitory, and an empty bubble or shadow, but that of virtue is true, solid, and permanent, even in the eyes of men. July 29.--ST. MARTHA, Virgin. ST. JOHN tells us that “Jesus loved Martha and Mary and Lazarus,” and yet but few glimpses are vouchsafed us of them. First, the sisters are set before us with a word. Martha received Jesus into her house, and was busy in outward, loving, lavish service, while Mary sat in silence at the feet she had bathed with her tears. Then, their brother is ill, and they send to Jesus, “Lord, he whom Thou lovest is sick.” And in His own time the Lord came, and they go out to meet Him; and then follows that scene of unutterable tenderness and of sublimity unsurpassed: the silent waiting of Mary; Martha strong in faith, but realizing so vividly, with her practical turn of mind, the fact of death, and hesitating: “Canst Thou show Thy wonders in the grave?” And then once again, on the eve of His Passion, we see Jesus at Bethany. Martha, true to her character, is serving; Mary, as at first, pours the precious ointment, in adoration and love, on His divine head. And then we find the tomb of St. Martha, at Tarascon, in Provence. When the storm of persecution came, the family of Bethany, with a few companions, were put into a boat, without oars or sail, and borne to the coast of France. St. Mary’s tomb is at St. Baume; St. Lazarus is venerated as the founder of the Church of Marseilles; and the memory of the virtues and labors of St. Martha is still fragrant at Avignon and Tarascon. Reflection.--When Martha received Jesus into her house, she was naturally busy in preparations for such a Guest. Mary sat at His feet, intent alone on listening to His gracious words. Her sister thought that the time required other service than this, and asked our Lord to bid Mary help in serving. Once again Jesus spoke in defence of Mary. “Martha, Martha,” He said, “thou art lovingly anxious about many things; be not over-eager; do thy chosen work with recollectedness. Judge not Mary. Hers is the good part, the one only thing really necessary. Thine will be taken away, that something better be given thee.” The life of action ceases when the body is laid down; but the life of contemplation endures and is perfected in heaven. July 30.--ST. GERMANUS, Bishop. IN his youth Germanus gave little sign of sanctity. He was of noble birth, and at first practised the law at Rome. After a time the emperor placed him high in the army. But his one passion was the chase. He was so carried away as even to retain in his sports the superstitions of the pagan huntsmen. Yet it was revealed to the Bishop of Auxerre that Germanus would be his successor, and he gave him the tonsure almost by main force. Forthwith Germanus became another man, and, making ever his lands to the Church, adopted a life of humble penance. At that time the Pelagian heresy was laying waste England, and Germanus was chosen by the reigning Pontiff to rescue the Britons from the snare of Satan. With St. Lupus he preached in the fields and highways throughout the land. At last, near Verulam, he met the heretics face to face, and overcame them utterly with the Catholic and Roman faith. He ascribed this triumph to the intercession of St. Alban, and offered public thanks at his shrine. Towards the end of his stay, his old skill in arms won over the Picts and Scots the complete but bloodless “Alleluia” victory, so called because the newly-baptized Britons, led by the Saint, routed the enemy with the Paschal cry. Germanus visited England a second time with St. Severus. He died in 448, while interceding with the emperor for the people of Brittany. Reflection.--”Hold the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me in faith, and in the love which is in Christ Jesus” (II. Tim. i. 13). July 31.--ST. IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA. ST. IGNATIUS was born at Loyola in Spain, in the year 1491. He served his king as a courtier and a soldier till his thirtieth year. At that age, being laid low by a wound, he received the call of divine grace to leave the world. He embraced poverty and humiliation, that he might become more like to Christ, and won others to join him in the service of God. Prompted by their love for Jesus Christ, Ignatius and his companions made a vow to go to the Holy Land, but war broke out, and prevented the execution of their project. Then they turned to the Vicar of Jesus Christ, and placed themselves under his obedience. This was the beginning of the Society of Jesus. Our Lord promised St. Ignatius that the precious heritage of His Passion should never fail his Society, a heritage of contradictions and persecutions. St. Ignatius was cast into prison at Salamanca, on a suspicion of heresy. To a friend who expressed sympathy with him on account of his imprisonment, he replied, “It is a sign that you have but little love of Christ in your heart, or you would not deem it so hard a fate to be in chains for His sake. I declare to you that all Salamanca does not contain as many fetters, manacles, and chains as I long to wear for the love of Jesus Christ.” St. Ignatius went to his crown on the 31st July, 1556. Reflection.--Ask St. Ignatius to obtain for you the grace to desire ardently the greater glory of God, even though it may cost you much suffering and humiliation. August 1.--ST. PETER’S CHAINS. HEROD AGRIPPA, King of the Jews, having put to death St. James the Great in the year 44, in order to gain the affection and applause of his people, caused St. Peter, the prince of the sacred college, to be cast into prison. It was his intention to put him publicly to death after Easter. The whole Church at Jerusalem put up its prayers to God for the deliverance of the chief pastor of His whole flock, and God favorably heard them. The king took all precautions possible to prevent the escape of his prisoner. St. Peter lay fast asleep, on the very night before the day intended for his execution, when it pleased God to deliver him out of the hands of his enemies. He was guarded by sixteen soldiers, four of whom always kept sentry in their turns: two in the same dungeon with him, and two at the gate. He was fastened to the ground by two chains, and slept between the two soldiers. In the middle of the night, a bright light shone in the prison, and an angel appeared near him, and, striking him on the side, awaked him out of his sleep, and bade him instantly arise, gird his coat about him, put on his sandals and his cloak, and follow him. The apostle did so, for the chains had dropped off from his hands. Following his guide, he passed after him through the first and second wards of watches, and through the iron gate which led into the city, which opened to them of its own accord. The angel conducted him through one street, then, suddenly disappearing, left him to seek some asylum. The apostle went directly to the house of Mary the mother of John, surnamed Mark, where several disciples were met together, and were sending up their prayers to heaven for his deliverance. As he stood knocking without, a young woman, knowing Peter’s voice, ran in and informed the company that he was at the door; they concluded it must be his guardian angel, sent by God upon some extraordinary account, until, being let in, he related to them the whole manner of his miraculous escape; and having enjoined them to give notice thereof to St. James and the rest of the brethren, he withdrew to a place of more retirement and security, carrying, wherever he went, the heavenly blessing and life. Reflection.--This miracle affords a confirmation of the divine promise, “If two of you shall consent upon earth concerning anything whatsoever they shall ask, it shall be done to them by My Father Who is in heaven.” August 2.--ST. STEPHEN, Pope and Martyr. ST. STEPHEN was by birth a Roman, and, being promoted to holy orders, was made archdeacon under the holy Popes St. Cornelius and St. Lucius. The latter having suffered martyrdom, St. Stephen was chosen to succeed him, and was elected Pope on the 3d of May, 253. The controversy concerning the rebaptization of heretics gave St. Stephen much trouble. It is the teaching of the Catholic Church, that Baptism given in the name of the three persons of the Blessed Trinity is valid, though it be conferred by a heretic. St. Stephen suffered himself patiently to be traduced as a favorer of heresy in approving heretical baptism, not doubting but those great men who by mistaken zeal were led astray would, when the heat of the dispute had subsided, calmly open their eyes to the truth. Thus by his zeal he preserved the integrity of faith, and by his toleration and forbearance saved many souls. The persecutions becoming violent, he assembled the faithful together in the underground tombs of the martyrs, to celebrate Mass and to exhort them to remain true to Christ. On the 2d of August, 257, while seated in his pontifical chair, he was beheaded by the satellites of the emperor; and the chair is still shown, stained with his blood. August 2.--ST. ALPHONSUS LIGUORI. ST. ALPHONSUS was born of noble parents, near Naples, in 1696. His spiritual training was intrusted to the Fathers of the Oratory in that city, and from his boyhood Alphonsus was known as a most devout Brother of the Little Oratory. At the early age of sixteen he was made doctor in law, and he threw himself into this career with ardor and success. A mistake, by which he lost an important cause, showed him the vanity of human fame, and determined him to labor only for the glory of glory. He entered the priesthood, devoting himself to the most neglected souls; and to carry on this work he founded later the missionary Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer. At the age of sixty-six he became Bishop of St. Agatha, and undertook the reform of his diocese with the zeal of a Saint. He made a vow never to lose time, and, though his life was spent in prayer and work, he composed a vast number of books, filled with such science, unction, and wisdom that he has been declared one of the Doctors of the Church. St. Alphonsus wrote his first book at the age of forty-nine, and in his eighty-third year had published about sixty volumes, when his director forbade him to write more. Very many of these books were written in the half-hours snatched from his labors as missionary, religious superior, and Bishop, or in the midst of continual bodily and mental sufferings. With his left hand he would hold a piece of marble against his aching head while his right hand wrote. Yet he counted no time wasted which was spent in charity. He did not refuse to hold a long correspondence with a simple soldier who asked his advice, or to play the harpsichord while he taught his novices to sing spiritual canticles. He lived in evil times, and met with many persecutions and disappointments. For his last seven years he was prevented by constant sickness from offering the Adorable Sacrifice; but he received Holy Communion daily, and his love for Jesus Christ and his trust in Mary’s prayers sustained him to the end. He died in 1787, in his ninety-first year. Reflection.--Let us do with all our heart the duty of each day, leaving the result to God, as well as the care of the future. August 3.--THE FINDING OF ST. STEPHEN’S RELICS. THE second festival in honor of the holy protomartyr St. Stephen was instituted by the Church on the occasion of the discovery of his precious remains. His body lay long concealed, under the ruins of an old tomb, in a place twenty miles from Jerusalem, called Caphargamala, where stood a church which was served by a venerable priest named Lucian. In the year 415, on Friday, the 3d of December, about nine o’clock at night, Lucian was sleeping in his bed in the baptistery, where he commonly lay in order to guard the sacred vessels of the church. Being half awake, he saw a tall, comely old man of a venerable aspect, who approached him, and, calling him thrice by his name, bid him go to Jerusalem and tell Bishop John to come and open the tombs in which his remains and those of certain other servants of Christ lay, that through their means God might open to many the gates of His clemency. This vision was repeated twice. After the second time, Lucian went to Jerusalem and laid the whole affair before Bishop John, who bade him go and search for the relics, which, the Bishop concluded, would be found under a heap of small stones which lay in a field near his church. In digging up the earth here, three coffins or chests were found. Lucian sent immediately to acquaint Bishop John with this. He was then at the Council of Diospolis, and, taking along with him Eutonius, Bishop of Sebaste, and Eleutherius, Bishop of Jericho, came to the place. Upon the opening of St. Stephen’s coffin the earth shook, and there came out of the coffin such an agreeable odor that no one remembered to have ever smelled anything like it. There was a vast multitude of people assembled in that place, among whom were many persons afflicted with divers distempers, of whom seventy-three recovered their health upon the spot. They kissed the holy relics, and then shut them up. The Bishop consented to leave a small portion of them at Caphargamala; the rest were carried in the coffin with singing of psalms and hymns, to the Church of Sion at Jerusalem. The translation was performed on the 26th of December, on which day the Church hath ever since honored the memory of St. Stephen, commemorating the discovery of his relies on the 3d of August probably on account of the dedication of some church in his honor. Reflection.--St. Austin, speaking of the miracles of St. Stephen, addresses himself to his flock as follows: “Let us so desire to obtain temporal blessings by his intercession that we may merit, in imitating him, those which are eternal.” August 4.--ST. DOMINIC. ST. DOMINIC was born in Spain, in 1170. As a student, he sold his books to feed the poor in a famine, and offered himself in ransom for a slave. At the age of twenty-five he became superior of the Canons Regular of Osma, and accompanied his Bishop to France. There his heart was well-nigh broken by the ravages of the Albigensian heresy, and his life was henceforth devoted to the conversion of heretics and the defence of the Faith. For this end he established his threefold religious Order. The convent for nuns was founded first, to rescue young girls from heresy and crime. Then a company of apostolic men gathered around him, and became the Order of Friar Preachers. Lastly came the Tertiaries, persons of both sexes living in the world. God blessed the new Order, and France, Italy, Spain, and England welcomed the Preaching Friars. Our Lady took them under her special protection, and whispered to St. Dominic as he preached. It was in 1208, while St. Dominic knelt in the little chapel of Notre Dame de la Prouille, and implored the great Mother of God to save the Church, that Our Lady appeared to him, gave him the Rosary, and bade him go forth and preach. Beads in hand, he revived the courage of the Catholic troops, led them to victory against overwhelming numbers, and finally crushed the heresy. His nights were spent in prayer; and, though pure as a virgin, thrice before morning broke he scourged himself to blood. His words rescued countless souls, and three times raised the dead to life. At length, on August 6, 1221, at the age of fifty-one, he gave up his soul to God. Reflection.--”God has never,” said St. Dominic, “refused me what I have asked;” and he has left us the Rosary, that we may learn, with Mary’s help, to pray easily and simply in the same holy trust. August 5.--THE DEDICATION OF ST. MARY AD NIVES. THERE are in Rome three patriarchal churches, in which the Pope officiates on different festivals. These are the Basilics of St. John Lateran, St. Peter’s on the Vatican Hill, and St. Mary Major. This last is so called because it is, both in antiquity and dignity, the first church in Rome among those that are dedicated to God in honor of the Virgin Mary. The name of the Liberian Basilic was given it because it was founded in the time of Pope Liberius, in the fourth century; it was consecrated, under the title of the Virgin Mary, by Sixtus III., about the year 435. It is also called St. Mary ad Nives, or at the snow, from a popular tradition that the Mother of God chose this place for a church under her invocation by a miraculous snow that fell upon this spot in summer, and by a vision in which she appeared to a patrician named John, who munificently founded and endowed this church in the pontificate of Liberius. The same Basilic has sometimes been known by the name of St. Mary ad Praesepe, from the holy crib or manger of Bethlehem, in which Christ was laid at His birth. It resembles an ordinary manger, is kept in a case of massive silver, and in it lies an image of a little child, also of silver. On Christmas Day the holy Manger is taken out of the case, and exposed. It is kept in a sumptuous subterraneous chapel in this church. Reflection.--To render our supplications the more efficacious, we ought to unite them in spirit to those of all fervent penitents and devout souls, in invoking this advocate for sinners. August 6.--THE TRANSFIGURATION OF OUR LORD. OUR divine Redeemer, being in Galilee about a year before His sacred Passion, took with Him St. Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, Sts. James and John, and led them to a retired mountain. Tradition assures us that this was Mount Thabor, which is exceedingly high and beautiful, and was anciently covered with green trees and shrubs, and was very fruitful. It rises something like a sugar-loaf, in a vast plain in the middle of Galilee. This was the place in which the Man-God appeared in His glory. Whilst Jesus prayed, He suffered that glory which was always due to His sacred humility, and of which, for our sake, He deprived it, to diffuse a ray over His whole body. His face was altered and shone as the sun, and His garments became white as snow. Moses and Elias were seen by the three apostles in His company on this occasion, and were heard discoursing with Him of the death which He was to suffer in Jerusalem. The three apostles were wonderfully delighted with this glorious vision, and St. Peter cried out to Christ, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. Let us make three tents: one for Thee, one for Moses, and one for Elias”. Whilst St. Peter was speaking, there came, on a sudden, a bright shining cloud from heaven, an emblem of the presence of God’s majesty, and from out of this cloud was heard a voice which said, “This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased; hear ye Him”. The apostles that were present, upon hearing this voice, were seized with a sudden fear, and fell upon the ground; but Jesus, going to them, touched them, and bade them to rise. They immediately did so, and saw no one but Jesus standing in his ordinary state. This vision happened in the night. As they went down the mountain early the next morning, Jesus bade them not to tell any one what they had seen till He should be risen from the dead. Reflection.--From the contemplation of this glorious mystery we ought to conceive a true idea of future happiness; if this once possess our souls, we will think nothing of any difficulties or labors we can meet with here, but regard with great indifference all the goods and evils of this life, provided we can but secure our portion in the kingdom of God’s glory. August 7.--ST. CAJETAN. CAJETAN was born at Vicenza, in 1480, of pious and noble parents, who dedicated him to our blessed Lady. From childhood he was known as the Saint, and in later years as “the hunter of souls”. A distinguished student, he left his native town to seek obscurity in Rome, but was there forced to accept office at the court of Julius II. On the death of that Pontiff he returned to Vicenza, and disgusted his relatives by joining the Confraternity of St. Jerome, whose members were drawn from the lowest classes; while he spent his fortune in building hospitals, and devoted himself to nursing the plague-stricken. To renew the lives of the clergy, he instituted the first community of Regular Clerks, known as Theatines. They devoted themselves to preaching, the administration of the sacraments, and the careful performance of the Church’s rites and ceremonies. St. Cajetan was the first to introduce the Forty Hours’ Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, as an antidote to the heresy of Calvin. He had a most tender love for our blessed Lady, and his piety was rewarded, for one Christmas eve she placed the Infant Jesus in his arms. When the Germans, under the Constable Bourbon, sacked Rome, St. Cajetan was barbarously scourged, to extort from him riches which he had long before securely stored in heaven. When St. Cajetan was on his death-bed, resigned to the will of God, eager for pain to satisfy his love, and for death to attain to life, he beheld the Mother of God, radiant with splendor and surrounded by ministering seraphim. In profound veneration, he said, “Lady, bless me!” Mary replied, “Cajetan, receive the blessing of my Son, and know that I am here as a reward for the sincerity of your love, and to lead you to paradise.” She then exhorted him to patience in fighting an evil spirit who troubled him, and gave orders to the choirs of angels to escort his soul in triumph to heaven. Then, turning her countenance full of majesty and sweetness upon him, she said, “Cajetan, my Son calls thee. Let us go in peace.” Worn out with toil and sickness, he went to his reward in 1547. Reflection.--Imitate St. Cajetan’s devotion to our blessed Lady, by invoking her aid before every work. August 8.--ST. CYRIACUS and His Companions, Martyrs. ST. CYRIACUS was a holy deacon at Rome, under the Popes Marcellinus and Marcellus. In the persecution of Diocletian, in 303, he was crowned with a glorious martyrdom in that city. With him suffered also Largua and Smaragdus, and twenty others. Their bodies were first buried near the place of their execution, on the Salarian Way, but were soon after removed to a farm of the devout Lady Lucina, on the Ostian Road, on the eighth day of August. Reflection.--To honor the martyrs and duly celebrate their festivals, we must learn their spirit and study to imitate them according to the circumstances of our state. We must, like them, resist evil, must subdue our passions, suffer afflictions with patience, and bear with others without murmuring or complaining. The cross is the ladder by which we must ascend to heaven. August 8.--BLESSED PETER FAVRE. BORN in 1506 of poor Savoyard shepherds, Peter, at his earnest request, was sent to school, and in after years to the University of Paris. His college friends were St. Ignatius of Loyola and St. Francis Xavier. Ignatius found the young man’s heart ready for his thoughts of apostolic zeal; Peter became his first companion, and in the year of England’s revolt was ordained the first priest of the new Society of Jesus. From that day to the close of his life he was ever in the van of the Church’s struggles with falsehood and sin. Boldly facing heresy in Germany, he labored not less diligently to rouse up the dormant faith and charity of Catholic courts and Catholic lands. The odor of Blessed Peter’s virtues drew after him into religion the Duke of Gandia, Francis Borgia, and a young student of Nimeguen, Peter Canisius, both to become Saints like their master. The Pope, Paul III., had chosen Blessed Favre to be his theologian at the Council of Trent, and King John III., of Portugal, wished to send him as patriarch and apostle into Abyssinia. Sick and worn with labor, but obedient unto death, the father hastened back to Rome, where his last illness came upon him. He died, in his fortieth year, as one would wish to die, in the very arms of his best friend and spiritual father, St. Ignatius. Reflection.--As the body sinks under fatigue unless supported by food, so external works, however holy, wear rut the soul which is not regularly nourished by prayer. In the most crowded day we can make time briefly and secretly to lift our soul to God and draw new strength from Him. August 9.--ST. ROMANUS, Martyr. ST. ROMANUS was a soldier in Rome at the time of the martyrdom of St. Laurence. Seeing the joy and constancy with which that holy martyr suffered his torments, he was moved to embrace the Faith, and addressing himself to St. Laurence, was instructed and baptized by him in prison. Confessing aloud what he had done, he was arraigned, condemned, and beheaded the day before the martyrdom of St. Laurence. Thus he arrived at his crown before his guide and master. The body of St. Romanus was first buried on the road to Tibur, but his remains were translated to Lucca, where they are kept under the high altar of a beautiful church which bears his name. Reflection.--We are bound to glorify God by our lives, and Christ commands that our good works shine before men. It was the usual saying of the apostle St. Matthias, “The faithful sins if his neighbor sins.” Such ought to be the zeal of every one to instruct and edify his neighbor by word and example. August 10.--ST. LAURENCE, Martyr. ST. LAURENCE was the chief among the seven deacons of the Roman Church. In the year 258 Pope Sixtus was led out to die, and St. Laurence stood by, weeping that he could not share his fate. “I was your minister,” he said, “when you consecrated the blood of Our Lord; why do you leave me behind now that you are about to shed your own?” The holy Pope comforted him with the words, “Do not weep, my son; in three days you will follow me.” This prophecy came true. The prefect of the city knew the rich offerings which the Christians put into the hands of the clergy, and he demanded the treasures of the Roman Church from Laurence, their guardian. The Saint promised, at the end of three days, to show him riches exceeding all the wealth of the empire, and set about collecting the poor, the infirm, and the religious who lived by the alms of the faithful. He then bade the prefect “see the treasures of the Church”. Christ, whom Laurence had served in his poor, gave him strength in the conflict which ensued. Roasted over a slow fire, he made sport of his pains. “I am done enough,” he said, “eat, if you will.” At length Christ, the Father of the poor, received him into eternal habitations. God showed by the glory which shone around St. Laurence the value He set upon his love for the poor. Prayers innumerable were granted at his tomb; and he continued from his throne in heaven his charity to those in need, granting them, as St. Augustine says, “the smaller graces which they sought, and leading them to the desire of better gifts” Reflection.--Our Lord appears before us in the persons of the poor. Charity to them is a great sign of predestination. It is almost impossible, the holy Fathers assure us, for any one who is charitable to the poor for Christ’s sake to perish. August 11.--STS. TIBURTIUS and SUSANNA, Martyrs. AGRESTIUS CHROMATIUS was vicar to the prefect of Rome, and had condemned several martyrs in the reign of Carinus; and in the first years of Diocletian, St. Tranquillinus, being brought before him, assured him that, having been afflicted with the gout, he had recovered a perfect state of health by being baptized. Chromatius was troubled with the same distemper, and being convinced by this miracle of the truth of the Gospel, sent for a priest, and, receiving the Sacrament of Baptism, was freed from that corporal infirmity. Chromatius’s son, Tiburtius, was ordained subdeacon, and was soon after betrayed to the persecutors, condemned to many torments, and at length beheaded on the Lavican Road, three miles from Rome, where a church was afterward built. His father, Chromatius, retiring into the country, lived there concealed, in the fervent practice of all Christian virtues. ST. SUSANNA was nobly born in Rome, and is said to have been niece to Pope Caius. Having made a vow of virginity, she refused to marry, on which account she was impeached as a Christian, and suffered with heroic constancy a cruel martyrdom. St. Susanna suffered towards the beginning of Diocletian’s reign, about the year 295. Reflection.--Sufferings were to the martyrs the most distinguishing mercy, extraordinary graces, and sources of the greatest crowns and glory. All afflictions which God sends are in like manner the greatest mercies and blessings; they are the most precious talents to be improved by us to the increasing of our love and affection to God, and the exercise of the most heroic virtues of self-denial, patience, humility, resignation, and penance. August 12.--ST. CLARE, Abbess. ON Palm Sunday, March 17, 1212, the Bishop of Assisi left the altar to present a palm to a noble maiden, eighteen years of age, whom bashfulness had detained in her place. This maiden was St. Clare. Already she had learnt from St. Francis to hate the world, and was secretly resolved to live for God alone. The same night she escaped, with one companion, to the Church of the Portiuncula, where she was met by St. Francis and his brethren. At the altar of Our Lady, St. Francis cut off her hair, clothed her in his habit of penance, a piece of sack-cloth, with his cord as a girdle. Thus she was espoused to Christ. In a miserable house outside Assisi she founded her Order, and was joined by her sister, fourteen years of age, and afterwards by her mother and other noble ladies. They went barefoot, observed perpetual abstinence, constant silence, and perfect poverty. While the Saracen army of Frederick II. was ravaging the valley of Spoleto, a body of infidels advanced to assault St. Clare’s convent, which stood outside Assisi. The Saint caused the Blessed Sacrament to be placed in a monstrance, above the gate of the monastery facing the enemy, and kneeling before it, prayed, “Deliver not to beasts, O Lord, the souls of those who confess to Thee.” A voice from the Host replied, “My protection will never fail you.” A sudden panic seized the infidel host, which took to flight, and the Saint’s convent was spared. During her illness of twenty-eight years the Holy Eucharist was her only support and spinning linen for the altar the one work of her hands. She died in 1253, as the Passion was being read, and Our Lady and the angels conducted her to glory. Reflection.--In a luxurious and effeminate age, the daughters of St. Clare still bear the noble title of poor, and preach by their daily lives the poverty of Jesus Christ. August 13.--ST. RADEGUNDES, Queen. ST. RADEGUNDES was the daughter of a king of Thuringia who was assassinated by his brother; a war ensuing, our Saint, at the age of twelve, was made prisoner and carried captive by Clotaire, King of Soissons, who had her instructed in the Christian religion and baptized. The great mysteries of our Faith made such an impression on her tender soul that she gave herself to God with her whole heart, and desired to consecrate to him her virginity; she was obliged at last, however, to yield to the king’s wish that she should become his wife. As a great queen, she continued no less an enemy to sloth and vanity than she was before, and divided her time chiefly between her oratory, the Church, and the care of the poor. She also kept long fasts, and during Lent wore a hair-cloth under her rich garments. Clotaire was at first pleased with her devotions, and allowed her full liberty in them, but afterward used frequently to reproach her for her pious exercises, saying he had married a nun rather than a queen, who converted his court into a monastery. Seeing that Clotaire was inflamed by bad passions, our Saint asked and obtained his leave to retire from court. She went to Noyon, and was consecrated deaconess by St. Medard. Radegundes first withdrew to Sais, and some time after she went to Poitiers, and there built a great monastery. She had a holy virgin, named Agnes, made the first abbess, and paid to her an implicit obedience in all things, not reserving to herself the disposal of the least thing. King Clotaire, repenting of his evil conduct, wished her to return to court, but, through the intercession of St. Germanus of Paris, she was allowed to remain in her retirement, where she died on the 13th of August, 587. August 14.--ST. EUSEBIUS, Priest. THE Church celebrates this day the memory of St. Eusebius, who opposed the Arians, at Rome, with so much zeal. He was imprisoned in his room by order of the Emperor Constantius, and sanctified his captivity by constant prayer. Another Saint of the same name, a priest and martyr, is commemorated on this day. In the reign of Diocletian and Maximian, before they had published any new edicts against the Christians, Eusebius, a holy priest, a man eminently endowed with the spirit of prayer and all apostolical virtues, suffered death for the Faith, probably in Palestine. The Emperor Maximian happening to be in that country, complaint was made to Maxentius, president of the province, that Eusebius distinguished himself by his zeal in invoking and preaching Christ, and the holy man was seized. Maximian was by birth a barbarian, and one of the roughest and most brutal and savage of all men. Yet the undaunted and modest virtue of this stranger, set off by a heavenly grace, struck him with awe. He desired to save the servant of Christ, but, like Pilate, would not give himself any trouble or hazard incurring the displeasure of those whom on all other occasions he despised. Maxentius commanded Eusebius to sacrifice to the gods, and on the Saint refusing, the president condemned him to be beheaded. Eusebius, hearing the sentence pronounced, said aloud, “I thank Your goodness and praise Your power, O Lord Jesus Christ, that, by calling me to the trial of my fidelity, You have treated me as one of Yours.” He at that instant heard a voice from heaven saying to him, “If you had not been found worthy to suffer, you could not be admitted into the court of Christ or to the seats of the just.” Being come to the place of execution, he knelt down, and his head was struck off. Reflection.--Let us learn, from the example of the Saints, courage in the service of God. He calls upon us to endure suffering of body and of mind, if it is necessary, to prove our fidelity to Him; and He promises to support us by His strength, His light, and His heavenly consolation. August 15.--THE ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY. IN this festival the Church commemorates the happy departure from life of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and her translation into the kingdom of her Son, in which she received from Him a crown of immortal glory, and a throne above all the other Saints and heavenly spirits. After Christ, as the triumphant Conqueror of death and hell, ascended into heaven, His blessed Mother remained at Jerusalem, persevering in prayer with the disciples, till, with them, she had received the Holy Ghost. She lived to a very advanced age, but finally paid the common debt of nature, none among the children of Adam being exempt from that rigorous law. But the death of the Saints is rather to be called a sweet sleep than death; much more that of the Queen of Saints, who had been exempt from all sin. It is a traditionary pious belief, that the body of the Blessed Virgin was raised by God soon after her death, and taken up to glory, by a singular privilege, before the general resurrection of the dead. The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is the greatest of all the festivals which the Church celebrates in her honor. It is the consummation of all the other great mysteries by which her life was rendered most wonderful; it is the birthday of her true greatness and glory, and the crowning of all the virtues of her whole life, which we admire single in her other festivals. Reflection.--Whilst we contemplate, in profound sentiments of veneration, astonishment, and praise, the glory to which Mary is raised by her triumph on this day, we ought, for our own advantage, to consider by what means she arrived at this sublime degree of honor and happiness, that we may walk in her steps. No other way is open to us. The same path which conducted her to glory will also lead us thither; we shall be partners in her reward if we copy her virtues. August 16.--ST. HYACINTH. HYACINTH, the glorious apostle of Poland and Russia, was born of noble parents in Poland, about the year 1185. In 1218, being already Canon of Cracow, he accompanied his uncle, the bishop of that place, to Rome. There he met St. Dominic, and received the habit of the Friar Preachers from the patriarch himself, of whom be became a living copy. So wonderful was his progress in virtue that within a year Dominic sent him to preach and plant the Order in Poland, where he founded two houses. His apostolic journeys extended over numerous regions. Austria, Bohemia, Livonia, the shores of the Black Sea, Tartary, and Northern China on the east, and Sweden and Norway to the west, were evangelized by him, and he is said to have visited Scotland. Everywhere multitudes were converted, churches and convents were built; one hundred and twenty thousand pagans and infidels were baptized by his hands. He worked numerous miracles, and at Cracow raised a dead youth to life. He had inherited from St. Dominic a most filial confidence in the Mother of God; to her he ascribed his success, and to her aid he looked for his salvation. When St. Hyacinth was at Kiev the Tartars sacked the town, but it was only as he finished Mass that the Saint heard of the danger. Without waiting to unvest, he took the ciborium in his hands, and was leaving the church. As he passed by an image of Mary a voice said: “Hyacinth, my son, why dust thou leave me behind? Take me with thee, and leave me not to mine enemies.” The statue was of heavy alabaster, but when Hyacinth took it in his arms it was light as a reed. With the Blessed Sacrament and the image he came to the river Dnieper, and walked dry-shod over the surface of the waters. On the eve of the Assumption he was warned of his coming death. In spite of a wasting fever, he celebrated Mass on the feast, and communicated as a dying man. He was anointed at the foot of the altar, and died the same day, 1257. Reflection.--St. Hyacinth teaches us to employ every effort in the service of God, and to rely for success not on our own industry, but on the prayer of His Immaculate Mother. August 17.--ST. LIBERATUS, Abbot, and Six Monks, Martyrs. HUNERIC, the Arian Vandal king in Africa, in the seventh year of his reign, published fresh edicts against the Catholics, and ordered their monasteries to be everywhere demolished. Seven monks, named Liberatus, Boniface, Servus, Rusticus, Rogatus, Septimus, and Maximus, who lived in a monastery near Capsa, in the province of Byzacena, were at that time summoned to Carthage. They were first tempted with great promises, but as they remained constant in the belief of the Trinity, and of one Baptism, they were loaded with irons and thrown into a dark dungeon. The faithful, having bribed the guards, visited the Saints day and night, to be instructed by them and mutually to encourage one another to suffer for the faith of Christ. The king, learning this, commanded them to be more closely confined, loaded with heavier irons, and tortured with a cruelty never heard of till that time. Soon after, he condemned them to be put into an old ship and burnt at sea. The martyrs walked cheerfully to the shore, contemning the insults of the Arians as they passed along. Particular endeavors were used by the persecutors to gain Maximus, who was very young; but God, Who makes the tongues of children eloquent to praise His name, gave him strength to withstand all their efforts, and he boldly told them that they should never be able to separate him from his holy abbot and brethren, with whom he had borne the labors of a penitential life for the sake of everlasting glory. An old vessel was filled with dry sticks, and the seven martyrs were put on board and bound on the wood; and fire was put to it several times, but it went out immediately, and all endeavors to kindle it were in vain. The tyrant, in rage and confusion, gave orders that the martyrs’ brains should be dashed out with oars, which was done, and their bodies cast into the sea, which threw them all on the shore. The Catholics interred them honorably in the monastery of Bigua, near the Church of St. Celerinus. They suffered in the year 483. Reflection.--”Let none of you suffer as a murderer, or a thief, or a railer, or a coveter of other men’s things; but if as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.” August 18.--ST. HELENA, Empress. IT was the pious boast of the city of Colchester, England, for many ages, that St. Helena was born within its walls; and though this honor has been disputed, it is certain that she was a British princess. She embraced Christianity late in life; but her incomparable faith and piety greatly influenced her son Constantine, the first Christian emperor, and served to kindle a holy zeal in the hearts of the Roman people. Forgetful of her high dignity, she delighted to assist at the Divine Office amid the poor; and by her alms-deeds showed herself a mother to the indigent and distressed. In her eightieth year she made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, with the ardent desire of discovering the cross on which our blessed Redeemer suffered. After many labors, three crosses were found on Mount Calvary, together with the nails and the inscription recorded by the Evangelists. It still remained to identify the true cross of Our Lord. By the advice of the bishop, Macarius, the three were applied successively to a woman afflicted with an incurable disease, and no sooner had the third touched her than she arose, perfectly healed. The pious empress, transported with joy, built a, most glorious church on Mount Calvary to receive the precious relic, sending portions of it to Rome and Constantinople, where they were solemnly exposed to the adoration of the faithful. In the year 312 Constantine found himself attacked by Maxentius with vastly superior forces, and the very existence of his empire threatened. In this crisis he bethought him of the crucified Christian God Whom his mother Helena worshipped, and kneeling down, prayed God to reveal Himself and give him the victory. Suddenly, at noonday, a cross of fire was seen by his army in the calm and cloudless sky, and beneath it the words, In hoc signo vinces--”Through this sign thou shalt conquer.” By divine command, Constantine made a standard like the cross he had seen, which was borne at the head of his troops; and under this Christian ensign they marched against the enemy, and obtained a complete victory. Shortly after, Helena herself returned to Rome, where she expired, 328. August 18.--ST. AGAPETUS, Martyr. ST. AGAPETUS suffered in his youth a cruel martyrdom at Praeneste, now called Palestrina, twenty-four miles from Rome, under Aurelian, about the year 275. His name is famous in the ancient calendars of the Church of Rome. Two churches in Palestrina and others in other places are dedicated to God under his name. Reflection.--St. Helena thought it the glory of her life to find the cross of Christ, and to raise a temple in its honor. How many Christians in these days are ashamed to make this life-giving sign, and to confess themselves the followers of the Crucified! August 19.--ST. LOUIS, Bishop. THIS Saint was little nephew to St. Louis, King of France, and nephew, by his mother, to St. Elizabeth of Hungary. He was born at Brignoles, in Provence, in. 1274. He was a Saint from the cradle, and from his childhood made it his earnest study to do nothing which was not directed to the divine service, and with a view only to eternity. Even his recreations he referred to this end, and chose only such as were serious and seemed barely necessary for the exercise of the body and preserving the vigor of the mind. His walks usually led him to some church or religious house. It was his chief delight to hear the servants of God discourse of mortification or the most perfect practices of piety. His modesty and recollection in the church inspired with devotion all who saw him. When he was only seven years old his mother found him often lying in the night on a mat which was spread on the floor near his bed, which he did out of an early spirit of penance. In 1284 our Saint’s father, Charles II., then Prince of Salerno, was taken prisoner in a sea-fight by the King of Arragon, and was only released on condition that he sent into Arragon, as hostages, fifty gentlemen and three of his sons, one of whom was our Saint. Louis was set at liberty in 1294, by a treaty concluded between the King of Naples, his father, and James II., King of Arragon, one condition of which was the marriage of his sister Blanche with the King of Arragon. Both courts had at the same time extremely at heart the project of a double marriage, and that the princess of Majorca, sister to King James of Arragon, should be married to Louis, but the Saint’s resolution of dedicating himself to God was inflexible, and he resigned his right to the crown of Naples, which he begged his father to confer on his next brother, Robert. The opposition of his family obliged the superiors of the Friar Minors to refuse for some time to admit him into their body, wherefore he took holy orders at Naples. The pious Pope St. Celestine had nominated him Archbishop of Lyons in 1294; but, as he had not then taken the tonsure, he found means to defeat that project. Boniface VIII. gave him a dispensation to receive priestly orders in the twenty-third year of his age, and afterward sent him a like dispensation for the episcopal character, together with his nomination to the archbishopric of Toulouse, and a severe injunction, in virtue of holy obedience, to accept the same. However, he first made his religious profession among the Friar Minors on Christmas eve, 1296, and received the episcopal consecration in the beginning of the February following. He travelled to his bishopric as a poor religious, but was received at Toulouse with the veneration due to a Saint and the magnificence that became a prince. His modesty, mildness, and devotion inspired a love of piety in all who beheld him. It was his first care to provide for the relief of the indigent, and his first visits were made to the hospitals and the poor. In his apostolical labors, he abated nothing of his austerities, said Mass every day, and preached frequently. Being obliged to go into Provence for certain very urgent ecclesiastical affairs, he fell sick at the castle of Brignoles. Finding his end draw near, he received the Viaticum on his knees, melting in tears, and in his last moments ceased not to repeat the Hail Mary. He died on the 19th of August, 1297, being only twenty-three years and six months old. August 20.--ST. BERNARD. BERNARD was born at the castle of Fontaines, in Burgundy. The grace of his person and the vigor of his intellect filled his parents with the highest hopes, and the world lay bright and smiling before him when he renounced it forever and joined the monks at Citeaux. All his brothers followed Bernard to Citeaux except Nivard, the youngest, who was left to be the stay of his father in his old age. “You will now be heir of everything,” said they to him, as they departed. “Yes,” said the boy; “you leave me earth, and keep heaven for yourselves; do you call that fair?” And he too left the world. At length their aged father came to exchange wealth and honor for the poverty of a monk of Clairvaux. One only sister remained behind; she was married, and loved the world and its pleasures. Magnificently dressed, she visited Bernard; he refused to see her, and only at last consented to do so, not as her brother, but as the minister of Christ. The words he then spoke moved her so much that, two years later, she retired to a convent with her husband’s consent, and died in the reputation of sanctity. Bernard’s holy example attracted so many novices that other monasteries were erected, and our Saint was appointed abbot of that of Clairvaux. Unsparing with himself, he at first expected too much of his brethren, who were disheartened at his severity; but soon perceiving his error, he led them forward, by the sweetness of his correction and the mildness of his rule, to wonderful perfection. In spite of his desire to lie hid, the fame of his sanctity spread far and wide, and many churches asked for him as their Bishop. Through the help of Pope Eugenius III., his former subject, he escaped this dignity; yet his retirement was continually invaded: the poor and the weak sought his protection; bishops, kings, and popes applied to him for advice; and at length Eugenius himself charged him to preach the crusade. By his fervor, eloquence, and miracles Bernard kindled the enthusiasm of Christendom, and two splendid armies were despatched against the infidel. Their defeat was only due, said the Saint, to their own sins. Bernard died in 1153. His most precious writings have earned for him the titles of the last of the Fathers and a Doctor of Holy Church. Reflection.--St. Bernard used to say to those who applied for admission to the monastery, “If you desire to enter here, leave at the threshold the body you have brought with you from the world; here there is room only for your soul.” Let us constantly ask ourselves St. Bernard’s daily question, “To what end didst thou come hither?” August 21.--ST. JANE FRANCES DE CHANTAL. AT the age of sixteen, Jane Frances de Fremyot, already a motherless child, was placed under the care of a worldly-minded governess. In this crisis she offered herself to the Mother of God, and secured Mary’s protection for life. When a Protestant sought her hand, she steadily refused to marry “an enemy of God and His Church,” and shortly afterwards, as the loving and beloved wife of the Baron de Chantal, made her house the pattern of a Christian home. But God had marked her for something higher than domestic sanctity. Two children and a dearly beloved sister died, and, in the full tide of prosperity, her husband’s life was taken by the innocent hand of a friend. For seven years the sorrows of her widowhood were increased by ill-usage from servants and inferiors, and the cruel importunities of friends, who urged her to marry again. Harassed almost to despair by their entreaties, she branded on her heart the name of Jesus, and in the end left her beloved home and children to live for God alone. It was on the 19th of March, 1609, that Madame de Chantal bade farewell to her family and relations. Pale, and with tears in her eyes, she passed round the large room, sweetly and humbly taking leave of each. Her son, a boy of fifteen, used every entreaty, every endearment, to induce his mother not to leave them, and at last passionately flung himself across the door of the room. In an agony of distress, she passed on over the body of her son to the embrace of her aged and disconsolate father. The anguish of that parting reached its height when, kneeling at the feet of the venerable old man, she sought and obtained his last blessing, promising to repay in her new home his sacrifice by her prayers. Well might St. Francis call her “the valiant woman.” She was to found with St. Francis de Sales a great Order. Sickness, opposition, want, beset her, and the death of children, friends, and of St. Francis himself followed, while eighty-seven houses of the Visitation rose under her hand. Nine long years of interior desolation completed the work of God’s grace; and in her seventieth year St. Vincent of Paul saw, at the moment of her death, her soul ascend, as a ball of fire, to heaven. Reflection.--Profit by the successive trials of life to gain the strength and courage of St. Jane Frances, and they will become stepping-stones from earth to heaven. August 22.--ST. SYMPHORIAN, Martyr. ABOUT the year 180 there was a great procession of the heathen goddess Ceres, at Autun, in France. Amongst the crowd was one who refused to pay the ordinary marks of worship. He was therefore dragged before the magistrate and accused of sacrilege and sedition. When asked his name and condition, he replied, “My name is Symphorian; I am a Christian!’ He came of a noble and Christian family. He was still young, and so innocent that he was said to converse with the holy angels. The Christians of Autun were few and little known, and the judge could not believe that the youth was serious in his purpose. He caused the laws enforcing heathen worship to be read, and looked for a speedy compliance. Symphorian replied that he must obey the laws of the King of kings. “Give me a hammer,” he said, “and I will break your idol in pieces.” He was scourged and thrown into a dungeon. Some days later this son of light came forth from the darkness of his prison, haggard and worn, but full of joy. He despised the riches and honors offered to him as he had despised torments. He died by the sword, and went to the court of the heavenly King. The mother of St. Symphorian stood on the city walls and saw her son led out to die. She knew the honors he had refused and the dishonor of his death, but she esteemed the reproach of Christ better than all the riches of Egypt, and she cried out to him, “My son, my son, keep the living God in your heart; look up to Him Who reigns in heaven.” Thus she shared in the glory of his passion, and her name lives with his in the records of the Church. Little more than a century later the Roman Empire bowed before the faith of Christ. Many miracles spread the glory of St. Symphorian, and of Christ the King of Saints. Reflection.--The Catholic religion teaches us to be subject to every rightful authority. But no earthly authority has any right against Christ and His Church. If we are accused of sedition or disobedience because we are faithful to our religion, then we must choose as St. Symphorian chose, and obey God rather than man. August 23.--ST. PHILIP BENIZI. ST. PHILIP BENIZI was born in Florence, on the Feast of the Assumption, 1233. That same day the Order of Servites was founded by the Mother of God. As an infant at the breast, Philip broke out into speech at the sight of these new religious, and begged his mother to give them alms. Amidst all the temptations of his youth, he longed to become himself a servant of Mary, and it was only the fear of his own unworthiness which made him yield to his father’s wish and begin to practise medicine. Alter long and weary waiting, his doubts were solved by Our Lady herself, who in a vision bade him enter her Order. Still Philip dared only offer himself as a lay brother, and in this humble state he strove to do penance for his sins. In spite of his reluctance, he was promoted to the post of master of novices; and as his rare abilities were daily discovered, he was bidden to prepare for the priesthood. Thenceforth honors were heaped upon him; he became general of the Order, and only escaped by flight elevation to the Papal throne. His preaching restored peace to Italy, which was wasted by civil wars; and at the Council of Lyons, he spoke to the assembled prelates with the gift of tongues. Amid all these favors Philip lived in extreme penitence, constantly examining his soul before the judgment-seat of God, and condemning himself as only fit for hell. St. Philip, though he was free from the stain of mortal sin, was never weary of beseeching God’s mercy. From the time he was ten years old he said daily the Penitential Psalms. On his death-bed he kept reciting the verses of the Miserere, with his cheeks streaming with tears; and during his agony he went through a terrible contest to overcome the fear of damnation. But a few minutes before he died, all his doubts disappeared and were succeeded by a holy trust. He uttered the responses in a low but audible voice; and when at last the Mother of God appeared before him, he lifted up his arms with joy and breathed a gentle sigh, as if placing his soul in her hand. He died on the Octave of the Assumption, 1285. Reflection.--Endeavor so to act as you would wish to have acted when you stand before your Judge. This is the rule of the Saints, and the only safe rule for all. August 24.--ST. BARTHOLOMEW, Apostle. ST. BARTHOLOMEW was one of the twelve who were called to the apostolate by our blessed Lord Himself. Several learned interpreters of the Holy Scripture take this apostle to have been the same as Nathaniel, a native of Cana, in Galilee, a doctor in the Jewish law, and one of the seventy-two disciples of Christ, to whom he was conducted by St. Philip, and whose innocence and simplicity of heart deserved to be celebrated with the highest eulogium by the divine mouth of Our Redeemer. He is mentioned among the disciples who were met together in prayer after Christ’s ascension, and he received the Holy Ghost with the rest. Being eminently qualified by the divine grace to discharge the functions of an apostle, he carried the Gospel through the most barbarous countries of the East, penetrating into the remoter Indies. He then returned again into the northwest part of Asia, and met St. Philip, at Hierapolis, in Phrygia. Hence he travelled into Lycaonia, where he instructed the people in the Christian Faith; but we know not even the names of many of the countries in which he preached. St. Bartholomew’s last removal was into Great Armenia, where, preaching in a place obstinately addicted to the worship of idols, he was crowned with a glorious martyrdom. The modern Greek historians say that he was condemned by the governor of Albanopolis to be crucified. Others affirm that he was flayed alive, which might well enough consist with his crucifixion, this double punishment being in use not only in Egypt, but also among the Persians. Reflection.--The characteristic virtue of the apostles was zeal for the divine glory, the first property of the love of God. A soldier is always ready to defend the honor of his prince, and a son that of his father; and can a Christian say he loves God who is indifferent to His honor? August 25.--ST. LOUIS, King. THE mother of Louis told him she would rather see him die than commit a mortal sin, and he never forgot her words. King of France at the age of twelve, he made the defence of God’s honor the aim of his life. Before two years, he had crushed the Albigensian heretics, and forced them by stringent penalties to respect the Catholic faith. Amidst the cares of government, he daily recited the Divine Office and heard two Masses, and the most glorious churches in France are still monuments of his piety. When his courtiers remonstrated with Louis for his law that blasphemers should be branded on the lips, he replied, “I would willingly have my own lips branded to root out blasphemy from my kingdom.” The fearless protector of the weak and the oppressed, he was chosen to arbitrate in all the great feuds of his age, between the Pope and the Emperor, between Henry III. and the English barons. In 1248, to rescue the land which Christ had trod, he gathered round him the chivalry of France, and embarked for the East. There, before the infidel, in victory or defeat, on the bed of sickness or a captive in chains, Louis showed himself ever the same,--the first, the best, and the bravest of Christian knights. When a captive at Damietta, an Emir rushed into his tent brandishing a dagger red with the blood of the Sultan, and threatened to stab him also unless he would make him a knight, as the Emperor Frederick had Facardin. Louis calmly replied that no unbeliever could perform the duties of a Christian knight. In the same captivity he was offered his liberty on terms lawful in themselves, but enforced by an oath which implied a blasphemy, and though the infidels held their swords’ points at his throat, and threatened a massacre of the Christians, Louis inflexibly refused. The death of his mother recalled him to France; but when order was reestablished he again set forth on a second crusade. In August, 1270, his army landed at Tunis, and, though victorious over the enemy, succumbed to a malignant fever. Louis was one of the victims. He received the Viaticum kneeling by his camp-bed, and gave up his life with the same joy that he had given all else for the honor of God. Reflection.--If we cannot imitate St. Louis in dying for the honor of God, we can at least resemble him in resenting the blasphemies offered against God by the infidel, the heretic, and the scoffer. August 26.--ST. ZEPHYRINUS, Pope and Martyr. ZEPHYRINUS, a native of Rome, succeeded Victor in the pontificate, in the year 202, in which Severus raised the fifth most bloody persecution against the Church, which continued not for two years only, but until the death of that emperor in 211. Under this furious storm this holy pastor was the support and comfort of the distressed flock of Christ, and he suffered by charity and compassion what every confessor underwent. The triumphs of the martyrs were indeed his joy, but his heart received many deep wounds from the fall of apostates and heretics. Neither did this latter affliction cease when peace was restored to the Church. Our Saint had also the affliction to see the fall of Tertullian, which seems to have been owing partly to his pride. Eusebius tells us that this holy Pope exerted his zeal so strenuously against the blasphemies of the heretics that they treated him in the most contumelious manner; but it was his glory that they called him the principal defender of Christ’s divinity. St. Zephyrinus filled the pontifical chair seventeen years, dying in 219. He was buried in his own cemetery, on the 26th of August. He is, in some Martyrologies, styled a martyr, which title he might deserve by what he suffered in the persecution, though he perhaps did not die by the executioner. Reflection.--God has always raised up holy pastors zealous to maintain the faith of His Church inviolable, and to watch over the purity of its morals and the sanctity of its discipline. We enjoy the greatest advantages of the divine grace through their labors, and we owe to God a tribute of perpetual thanksgiving and immortal praise for all those mercies which He has afforded His Church on earth. August 27.--ST. JOSEPH CALASANCTIUS. ST. JOSEPH CALASANCTIUS was born in Arragon, in 1556. When only five years old, he led a troop of children through the streets to find the devil and kill him. He became a priest, and was engaged in various reforms, when he heard a voice saying, “Go to Rome,” and had a vision of many children who were being taught by him and by a company of angels. When he reached the Holy City, his heart was moved by the vice and ignorance of the children of the poor. Their need mastered his humility, and he founded the Order of Clerks Regular of the Pious Schools. He himself provided all that was necessary for the education of the children, receiving nothing from them in payment, and there were soon about a thousand scholars of every rank under his care. Each lesson began with prayer. Every half-hour devotion was renewed by acts of faith, hope, and charity, and towards the end of school-time the children were instructed in the Christian doctrine. They were then escorted home by the masters, so as to escape all harm by the way. But enemies arose against Joseph from among his own subjects. They accused him to the Holy Office, and at the age of eighty-six he was led through the streets to prison. At last the Order was reduced to a simple congregation. It was not restored to its former privileges till after the Saint’s death. Yet he died full of hope. “My work,” he said, “was done solely for the love of God.” Reflection.--”My children,” said the Cure of Ars, “I often think that most of the Christians who are lost are lost for want of instruction; they do not know their religion well.” August 28.--ST. AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO. ST. AUGUSTINE was born in 354, at Tagaste in Africa. He was brought up in the Christian faith, but without receiving baptism. An ambitious school-boy of brilliant talents and violent passions, he early lost both his faith and his innocence. He persisted in his irregular life until he was thirty-two. Being then at Milan professing rhetoric, he tells us that the faith of his childhood had regained possession of his intellect, but that he could not as yet resolve to break the chains of evil habit. One day, however, stung to the heart by the account of some sudden conversions, be cried out, “The unlearned rise and storm heaven, and we, with all our learning, for lack of heart lie wallowing here.” He then withdrew into a garden, when a long and terrible conflict ensued. Suddenly a young fresh voice (he knows not whose) breaks in upon his strife with the words, “Take and read;” and he lights upon the passage beginning, “Walk honestly as in the day.” The battle was won. He received baptism, returned home, and gave all to the poor. At Hippo, where he settled, he was consecrated bishop in 395. For thirty-five years he was the centre of ecclesiastical life in Africa, and the Church’s mightiest champion against heresy; whilst his writings have been everywhere accepted as one of the principal sources of devotional thought and theological speculation. He died in 430. Reflection.--Read the lives of the Saints, and you will ill find that you are gradually creating a society about you to which in some measure you will be forced to raise the standard of your daily life. August 29.--THE BEHEADING OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST. ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST was called by God to be the forerunner of His divine Son. In order to preserve his innocence spotless, and to improve the extraordinary graces which he had received, he was directed by the Holy Ghost to lead an austere and contemplative life in the wilderness, in the continual exercises of devout prayer and penance, from his infancy till he was thirty years of age. At this age the faithful minister began to discharge his mission. Clothed with the weeds of penance, be announced to all men the obligation they lay under of washing away their iniquities with the tears of sincere compunction; and proclaimed the Messias, Who was then coming to make His appearance among them. He was received by the people as the true herald of the Most High God, and his voice was, as it were, a trumpet sounding from heaven to summon all men to avert the divine judgments, and to prepare themselves to reap the benefit of Vie mercy that was offered them. The tetrarch Herod Antipas having, in defiance of all laws divine and human, married Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, who was yet living, St. John the Baptist boldly reprehended the tetrarch and his accomplice for so scandalous an incest and adultery, and Herod, urged on by lust and anger, cast the Saint into prison. About a year after St. John had been made a prisoner, Herod gave a splendid entertainment to the nobility of Galilee. Salome, a daughter of Herodias by her lawful husband, pleased Herod by her dancing, insomuch that he promised her to grant whatever she asked. On this, Salome consulted with her mother what to ask. Herodias instructed her daughter to demand the death of John the Baptist, and persuaded the young damsel to make it part of her petition that the head of the prisoner should be forthwith brought to her in a dish. This strange request startled the tyrant himself; he assented, however, and sent a soldier of his guard to behead the Saint in prison, with an order to bring his head in a charger and present it to Salome, who delivered it to her mother. St. Jerome relates that the furious Herodias made it her inhuman pastime to prick the sacred tongue with a bodkin. Thus died the great forerunner of our blessed Saviour, about two years and three months after his entrance upon his public ministry, about a year before the death of our blessed Redeemer. Reflection.--All the high graces with which St. John was favored sprang from his humility; in this all his other virtues were founded. If we desire to form ourselves upon so great a model, we must, above all things, labor to lay the same deep foundation. August 30.--ST. ROSE OF LIMA. THIS lovely flower of sanctity, the first canonized Saint of the New World, was born at Lima in 1586. She was christened Isabel, but the beauty of her infant face earned for her the title of Rose, which she ever after bore. As a child, while still in the cradle, her silence under a painful surgical operation proved the thirst for suffering already consuming her heart. At an early age she took service to support her impoverished parents, and worked for them day and night. In spite of hardships and austerities her beauty ripened with increasing age, and she was much and openly admired. From fear of vanity she cut off her hair, blistered her face with pepper and her hands with lime. For further security she enrolled herself in the Third Order of St. Dominic, took St. Catherine of Siena as her model, and redoubled her penance. Her cell was a garden hut, her couch a box of broken tiles. Under her habit Rose wore a hair-shirt studded with iron nails, while, concealed by her veil, a silver crown armed with ninety points encircled her head. More than once, when she shuddered at the prospect of a night of torture, a voice said, “My cross was yet more painful.” The Blessed Sacrament seemed almost her only food. Her love for it was intense. When the Dutch fleet prepared to attack the town, Rose took her place before the tabernacle, and wept that she was not worthy to die in its defence. All her sufferings were offered for the conversion of sinners, and the thought of the multitudes in hell was ever before her soul. She died in 1617, at the age of thirty-one. Reflection.--Rose, pure as driven snow, was filled with deepest contrition and humility, and did constant and terrible penance. Our sins are continual, our repentance passing, our contrition slight, our penance nothing. How will it fare with us? August 30.--ST. FIAKER, Anchorite. ST. FIAKER was nobly born in Ireland, and had his education under the care of a bishop of eminent sanctity who was, according to some, Conan, Bishop of Soder or the Western Islands. Looking upon all worldly advantages as dross, he left his country and friends in the flower of his age, and with certain pious companions sailed over to France, in quest of some solitude in which he might devote himself to God, unknown to the rest of the world. Divine Providence conducted him to St. Faro, who was the Bishop of Meaux, and eminent for sanctity. When St. Fiaker addressed himself to him, the prelate, charmed with the marks of extraordinary virtue and abilities which he discovered in this stranger, gave him a solitary dwelling in a forest called Breuil which was his own patrimony, two leagues from Meaux. In this place the holy anchorite cleared the ground of trees and briers, made himself a cell, with a small garden, and built an oratory in honor of the Blessed Virgin, in which he spent a great part of the days and nights in devout prayer. He tilled his garden and labored with his own hands for his subsistence. The life he led was most austere, and only necessity or charity ever interrupted his exercises of prayer and heavenly contemplation. Many resorted to him for advice, and the poor for relief. But, following an inviolable rule among the Trish monks, he never suffered any woman to enter the enclosure of his hermitage. St. Chillen, or Kilian, an Irishman of high birth, on his return from Rome, visited St. Fiaker, who was his kinsman, and having passed some time under his discipline, was directed by his advice, with the authority of the bishops, to preach in that and the neighboring dioceses. This commission he executed with admirable sanctity and fruit. St. Fiaker died about the year 670, on the 30th of August. Reflection.--Ye who love indolence, ponder well these words of St. Paul: “If any man will not work, neither let him eat.” August 31.--ST. RAYMUND NONNATUS. ST. RAYMUND NONNATUS was born in Catalonia, in the year 1204, and was descended of a gentleman’s family of a small fortune. In his childhood he seemed to find pleasure only in his devotions and serious duties. His father perceiving in him an inclination to a religious state, took him from school, and sent him to take care of a farm which he had in the country. Raymund readily obeyed, and, in order to enjoy the opportunity of holy solitude, kept the sheep himself, and spent his time in the mountains and forests in holy meditation and prayer. Some time after, he joined the new Order of Our Lady of Mercy for the redemption of captives, and was admitted to his profession at Barcelona by the holy founder, St. Peter Nolasco. Within two or three years after his profession, he was sent into Barbary with a considerable sum of money, where he purchased, at Algiers, the liberty of a great number of slaves. When all this treasure was exhausted, he gave himself up as a hostage for the ransom of certain others. This magnanimous sacrifice served only to exasperate the Mohammedans, who treated him with uncommon barbarity, till, fearing lest if he died in their hands they should lose the ransom which was to be paid for the slaves for whom he remained a hostage, they gave orders that he should be treated with more humanity. Hereupon he was permitted to go abroad about the streets, which liberty he made use of to comfort and encourage the Christians in their chains, and he converted and baptized some Mohammedans. For this the governor condemned him to be put to death by thrusting a stake into the body, but his punishment was commuted, and he underwent a cruel bastinado. This torment did not daunt his courage. So long as he saw souls in danger of perishing eternally, he thought he had yet done nothing. St. Raymund had no more money to employ in releasing poor captives, and to speak to a Mohammedan upon the subject of religion was death. He could, however, still exert his endeavors, with hopes of some success, or of dying a martyr of charity. He therefore resumed his former method of instructing and exhorting both the Christians and the infidels. The governor, who was enraged, ordered our Saint to be barbarously tortured and imprisoned till his ransom was brought by some religious men of his Order, who were sent with it by St. Peter. Upon his return to Spain, he was nominated cardinal by Pope Gregory IX., and the Pope, being desirous to have so holy a man about his person, called him to Rome. The Saint obeyed, but went no further than Cardona, when he was seized with a violent fever, which proved mortal. He died on the 31st of August, in the year 1240, the thirty-seventh of his age. Reflection.--This Saint gave not only his substance but his liberty, and even exposed himself to the most cruel torments and death, for the redemption of captives and the salvation of souls. But alas! do not we, merely to gratify our prodigality, vanity, or avarice, refuse to give the superfluous part of our possessions to the poor, who for want of it are perishing with cold and hunger? Let us remember that “He that giveth to the poor shall not want”. September 1.--ST. GILES, Abbot. ST. GILES, whose name has been held in great veneration for several ages in France and England, is said to have been an Athenian by birth, and of noble extraction. His extraordinary piety and learning drew the admiration of the world upon him in such a manner that it was impossible for him to enjoy in his own country that obscurity and retirement which was the chief object of his desires on earth. He therefore sailed to France, and chose a hermitage first in the open deserts near the mouth of the Rhone, afterward near the river Gard, and lastly in a forest in the diocese of Nismes. He passed many years in this close solitude, living on wild herbs or roots and water, and conversing only with God. We read in his life that he was for some time nourished with the milk of a hind in the forest, which, being pursued by hunters, fled for refuge to the Saint, who was thus discovered. The reputation of the sanctity of this holy hermit was much increased by many miracles which he wrought, and which rendered his name famous throughout all France. St. Giles was highly esteemed by the French king, but could not be prevailed upon to forsake his solitude. He, however, admitted several disciples, and settled excellent discipline in the monastery of which he was the founder, and which, in succeeding ages, became a flourishing abbey of the Benedictine Order. Reflection.--He who accompanies the exercises of contemplation and arduous penance with zealous and undaunted endeavors to conduct others to the same glorious term with himself, shall be truly great in the kingdom of heaven. September 2.--ST. STEPHEN, King. GEYSA, fourth Duke of Hungary, was, with his wife, converted to the Faith, and saw in a vision the martyr St. Stephen, who told him that he should have a son who would perfect the work he had begun. This son was born in 977, and received the name of Stephen. He was most carefully educated, and succeeded his father at an early age. He began to root out idolatry, suppressed a rebellion of his pagan subjects, and founded monasteries and churches all over the land. He sent to Pope Sylvester, begging him to appoint bishops to the eleven sees he had endowed, and to bestow on him, for the greater success of his work, the title of king. The Pope granted his requests, and sent him a cross to be borne before him, saying that he regarded him as the true apostle of his people. His devotion was fervent. He placed his realms under the protection of our blessed Lady, and kept the feast of her Assumption with peculiar affection. He gave good laws, and saw to their execution. Throughout his life, we are told, he had Christ on his lips, Christ in his heart, and Christ in all he did. His only wars were wars of defence, and he was always successful. God sent him many and sore trials. One by one his children died, but he bore all with perfect submission to the will of God. When St. Stephen was about to die, he summoned the bishops and nobles, and gave them charge concerning the choice of a successor. Then he urged them to nurture and cherish the Catholic Church, which was still as a tender plant in Hungary, to follow justice, humility, and charity, to be obedient to the laws, and to show ever a reverent submission to the Holy See. Then, raising his eyes towards heaven, he said, “O Queen of Heaven, august restorer of a prostrate world, to thy care I commend the Holy Church, my people, and my realm, and my own departing soul.” And then, on his favorite feast of the Assumption, in 1038, he died in peace. Reflection.--”Our duty,” says Father Newman, “is to follow the Vicar of Christ whither he goeth, and never to desert him, however we may be tried; but to defend him at all hazards and against all corners, as a son would a father, and as a wife a husband, knowing that his cause is the cause of God.” September 3.--ST. SERAPHIA, Virgin and Martyr. ST. SERAPHIA was born at Antioch, of Christian parents, who, flying from the persecutions of Adrian, went to Italy and settled there. Her parents dying, Seraphia was sought in marriage by many, but having resolved to consecrate herself to God alone, she sold all her possessions and distributed the proceeds to the poor; finally she sold herself into a voluntary slavery, and entered the services of a Roman lady named Sabina. The piety of Seraphia, her love of work, and her charity soon gained the heart of her mistress, who was not long in becoming a Christian. Having been denounced as a follower of Christ, Seraphia was condemned to death. She was at first placed on a burning pile, but remained uninjured by the flames. Almost despairing of being able to inflict death upon her, the prefect Berillus ordered her to be beheaded, and she thus received the crown which she so richly merited. Her mistress gathered her remains, and interred them with every mark of respect. Sabina, meeting with a martyr’s death, a year after, was laid in the same tomb with her faithful servant. As early as the fifth century there was a church at Rome placed under their invocation. Reflection.--Christian courage bears relation to our faith. “If we continue in the faith, grounded, and settled, and immovable,” all things will be found possible to us. September 4.--ST. ROSALIA, Virgin. ST. ROSALIA was daughter of a noble family descended from Charlemagne. She was born at Palermo in Sicily, and despising in her youth worldly vanities, made herself an abode in a cave on Mount Pelegrino, three miles from Palermo, where she completed the sacrifice of her heart to God by austere penance and manual labor, sanctified by assiduous prayer and the constant union of her soul with God. She died in 1160. Her body was found buried in a grot under the mountain, in the year of the jubilee, 1625, under Pope Urban VIII., and was translated into the metropolitan church of Palermo, of which she was chosen a patroness. To her patronage that island ascribes the ceasing of a grievous pestilence at the same time. September 4.--ST. ROSE OF VITERBO, Virgin. ST. ROSE OF VITERBO, who is honored on this same day, was born in the spring of 1240, a time when Frederick II, was oppressing the Church and many were faithless to the Holy See. The infant at once seemed filled with grace; with tottering steps she sought Jesus in His tabernacle, she knelt before sacred images, she listened to pious talk, retaining all she heard, and this when she was scarcely three years old. One coarse habit covered her flesh; fasts and disciplines were her delight. To defend the Church’s rights was her burning wish, and for this she received her mission from the Mother of God, who gave her the Franciscan habit, with the command to go forth and preach. When hardly ten years old, Rose went down to the public square at Viterbo, called upon the inhabitants to be faithful to the Sovereign Pontiff, and vehemently denounced all his opponents. So great was the power of her word, and of the miracles which accompanied it, that the Imperial party, in fear and anger, drove her from the city, but she continued to preach till Innocent IV. was brought back in triumph to Rome and the cause of God was won. Then she retired to a little cell at Viterbo, and prepared in solitude for her end. She died in her eighteenth year. Not long after, she appeared in glory to Alexander IV., and bade him translate her body. He found it as the vision had said, but fragrant and beautiful, as if still in life. Reflection.--Rose lived but seventeen years, saved the Church’s cause, and died a Saint. We have lived, perhaps, much longer, and yet with what result? Every minute something can be done for God. Let us be up and doing. September 5.--ST. LAURENCE JUSTINIAN. LAURENCE from a child longed to be a Saint; and when he was nineteen years of age there was granted to him a vision of the Eternal Wisdom. All earthly things paled in his eyes before the ineffable beauty of this sight, and as it faded away a void was left in his heart which none but God could fill. Refusing the offer of a brilliant marriage, he fled secretly from his home at Venice, and joined the Canons Regular of St. George. One by one he crushed every natural instinct which could bar his union with his Love. When Laurence first entered religion, a nobleman went to dissuade him from the folly of thus sacrificing every earthly prospect. The young monk listened patiently in turn to his friend’s affectionate appeal, scorn, and violent abuse. Calmly and kindly he then replied. He pointed out the shortness of life, the uncertainty of earthly happiness, and the incomparable superiority of the prize he sought to any his friend had named. The nobleman could make no answer; he felt in truth that Laurence was wise, himself the fool. He left the world, became a fellow-novice with the Saint, and his holy death bore every mark that he too had secured the treasures which never fail. As superior and as general, Laurence enlarged and strengthened his Order, and as bishop of his diocese, in spite of slander and insult, thoroughly reformed his see. His zeal led to his being appointed the first patriarch of Venice, but he remained ever in heart and soul an humble priest, thirsting for the sight of heaven. At length the eternal vision began to dawn. “Are you laying a bed of feathers for me?” he said. “Not so; my Lord was stretched on a hard and painful free.” Laid upon the straw, he exclaimed in rapture, “Good Jesus, behold I come.” He died in 1435, aged seventy-four. Reflection.--Ask St. Laurence to vouchsafe you such a sense of the sufficiency of God that you too may fly to Him and be at rest. September 6.--ST. ELEUTHERIUS, Abbot. WONDERFUL simplicity and spirit of compunction were the distinguishing virtues of this holy man. He was chosen abbot of St. Mark’s near Spoleto, and favored by God with the gift of miracles. A child who was possessed by the devil, being delivered by being educated in his monastery, the abbot said one day: “Since the child is among the servants of God, the devil dares not approach him.” These words seemed to savor of vanity, and thereupon the devil again entered and tormented the child. The abbot humbly confessed his fault, and fasted and prayed with his whole community till the child was again freed from the tyranny of the fiend. St. Gregory the Great not being able to fast on Easter-eve on account of extreme weakness, engaged this Saint to go with him to the church of St. Andrew’s and put up his prayers to God for his health, that he might join the faithful in that solemn practice of penance. Eleutherius prayed with many tears, and the Pope, coming out of the church, found his breast suddenly strengthened, so that he was enabled to perform the fast as he desired. St. Eleutherius raised a dead man to life. Resigning his abbacy, he died in St. Andrew’s monastery in Rome, about the year 585. Reflection.--”Appear not to men to fast, but to thy Father Who is in heaven, and thy Father, Who seeth in secret, He will repay thee.” September 7.--ST. CLOUD, Confessor. ST. CLOUD is the first and most illustrious Saint among the princes of the royal family of the first race in France. He was son of Chlodomir, King of Orleans, the eldest son of St. Clotilda, and was born in 522. He was scarce three years old when his father was killed in Burgundy; but his grandmother Clotilda brought up him and his two brothers at Paris, and loved them extremely. Their ambitious uncles divided the kingdom of Orleans between them, and stabbed with their own hands two of their nephews. Cloud, by a special providence, was saved from the massacre, and, renouncing the world, devoted himself to the service of God in a monastic state. After a time he put himself under the discipline of St. Severinus, a holy recluse who lived near Paris, from whose hands he received the monastic habit. Wishing to live unknown to the world, he withdrew secretly into Provence, but his hermitage being made public, he returned to Paris, and was received with the greatest joy imaginable. At the earnest request of the people, he was ordained priest by Eusebius, Bishop of Paris, in 551, and served that Church some time in the functions of the sacred ministry. He afterward retired to St. Cloud, two leagues below Paris, where he built a monastery. Here he assembled many pious men, who fled out of the world for fear of losing their souls in it. St. Cloud was regarded by them as their superior, and he animated them to all virtue both by word and example. He was indefatigable in instructing and exhorting the people of the neighboring country, and piously ended his days about the year 560. Reflection.--Let us remember that “the just shall live for evermore; they shall receive a kingdom of glory, and a gown of beauty at the hand of the Lord.” September 8.--THE NATIVITY OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN. THE birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary announced joy and the near approach of salvation to the lost world. Mary was brought forth in the world not like other children of Adam, infected with the loathsome contagion of sin, but pure, holy, beautiful, and glorious, adorned with all the most precious graces which became her who was chosen to be the Mother of God. She appeared indeed in the weak state of our mortality; but in the eyes of Heaven she already transcended the highest seraph in purity, brightness, and the richest ornaments of grace. If we celebrate the birthdays of the great ones of this earth, how ought we to rejoice in that of the Virgin Mary, presenting to God the best homage of our praises and thanksgiving for the great mercies He has shown in her, and imploring her mediation with her Son in our behalf! Christ will not reject the supplications of His mother, whom He was pleased to obey whilst on earth. Her love, care, and tenderness for Him, the title and qualities which she bears, the charity and graces with which she is adorned, and the crown of glory with which she is honored, must incline Him readily to receive her recommendations and petitions. THE FESTIVAL, ON THE SUNDAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE OF HER NATIVITY, OF THE HOLY NAME OF MARY. THIS festival was appointed by Pope Innocent XI., that on it the faithful may be called upon in a particular manner to recommend to God, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin, the necessities of His Church, and to return Him thanks for His gracious protection and numberless mercies. What gave occasion to the institution of this feast was a solemn thanksgiving for the relief of Vienna when it was besieged by the Turks in 1683. If we desire to deprecate the divine anger, justly provoked by our sins, with our prayers, we must join the tears of sincere compunction with a perfect conversion of our manners. The first grace we should always beg of God is that He will bring us to the disposition of condign penance. Our supplications for the divine mercies, and our thanksgivings for benefits received, will only thus be rendered acceptable. By no other means can we deserve the blessing of God, or be recommended to it by the patronage of His holy mother. To the invocation of Jesus it is a pious and wholesome practice to join our application to the Blessed Virgin, that, through her intercession, we may more easily and more abundantly obtain the effects of our petitions. In this sense devout souls pronounce, with great affection and confidence, the holy names of Jesus and Mary. September 9.--ST. OMER, Bishop. ST. OMER was born toward the close of the sixth century, in the territory of Constance. His parents, who were noble and wealthy, gave great attention to his education, but, above all, strove to inspire him with a love for virtue. Upon the death of his mother he entered the monastery of Luxen, whither he persuaded his father to follow him, after having sold his worldly goods and distributed the proceeds among the poor. The father and son made their religious profession together. The humility, obedience, mildness, and devotion, together with the admirable purity of manners, which shone forth in every action of St. Omer, distinguished him among his saintly brethren, and he was soon called from his solitude to take charge of the government of the Church in Terouenne. The greater part of those living in his diocese were still pagans, and even the few Christians were, through a scarcity of priests, fallen into a sad corruption of manners. The great and difficult work of their conversion was reserved for St. Omer. The holy bishop applied himself to his task with such zeal that in a short time his diocese became one of the most flourishing in France. In his old age St. Omer became blind, but that affliction did not lessen his pastoral concern for his flock. He died in the odor of sanctity, while on a pastoral visit to Wavre, in 670. September 9.--SAINT PETER CLAVER. PETER CLAVER was a Spanish Jesuit. In Majorca he fell in with the holy lay-brother Alphonsus Rodriguez, who, having already learned by revelation the saintly career of Peter, became his spiritual guide, foretold to him the labors he would undergo in the Indies, and the throne he would gain in heaven. Ordained priest in New Granada, Peter was sent to Cartagena, the great slave-mart of the West Indies, and there he consecrated himself by vow to the salvation of those ignorant and miserable creatures. For more than forty years he labored in this work. He called himself “the slave of the slaves.” He was their apostle, father, physician, and friend. He fed them, nursed them with the utmost tenderness in their loathsome diseases, often applying his own lips to their hideous sores. His cloak, which was the constant covering of the naked, though soiled with their filthy ulcers, sent forth a miraculous perfume. His rest after his great labors was in nights of penance and prayer. However tired he might be, when news arrived of a fresh slave-ship, Saint Peter immediately revived, his eyes brightened, and he was at once on board amongst his dear slaves, bringing them comfort for body and soul. A false charge of reiterating Baptism for a while stopped his work. He submitted without a murmur till the calumny was refuted, and then God so blessed his toil that 40,000 negroes were baptized before he went to his reward, in 1654. Reflection.--When you see any one standing in need of your assistance, either for body or soul, do not ask yourself why some one else did not help him, but think to yourself that you have found a treasure. September 10.--ST. NICHOLAS OF TOLENTINO. BORN in answer to the prayer of a holy mother, and vowed before his birth to the service of God, Nicholas never lost his baptismal innocence. His austerities were conspicuous even in the austere Order--the Hermits of St. Augustine--to which he belonged, and to the remonstrances which were made by his superiors he only replied, “How can I be said to fast, while every morning at the altar I receive my God?” He conceived an ardent charity for the Holy Souls, so near and yet so far from their Saviour; and often after his Mass it was revealed to him that the souls for whom he had offered the Holy Sacrifice had been admitted to the presence of God. Amidst his loving labors for God and man, he was haunted by fear of his own sinfulness. “The heavens,” said he, “are not pure in the sight of Him Whom I serve; how then shall I, a sinful man, stand before Him?” As he pondered on these things, Mary, the Queen of all Saints, appeared before him. “Fear not, Nicholas,” she said, “all is well with you: my Son bears you in His Heart, and I am your protection.” Then his soul was at rest; and he heard, we are told, the songs which the angels sing in the presence of their Lord. He died September 10, 1310. (Source: Butlers Lives Of The Saints 1894 A.D.)
Reflection.--Would you die the death of the just? There is only one way to secure the fulfilment of your wish. Live the life of the just. For it is impossible that one who has been faithful to God in life should make a bad or an unhappy end. September 11.--ST. PAPHNUTIUS, Bishop. THE holy confessor Paphnutius was an Egyptian, and after having spent several years in the desert, under the direction of the great St. Antony, was made bishop in Upper Thebais. He was one of those confessors who, under the tyrant Maximin Daia, lost their right eye, and were afterward sent to work in the mines. Peace being restored to the Church, Paphnutius returned to his flock. The Arian heresy being broached in Egypt, he was one of the most zealous in defending the Catholic faith, and for his eminent sanctity and the glorious title of confessor (or one who had confessed the Faith before the persecutors and under torments) was highly considered in the great Council of Nice. Constantine the Great, during the celebration of that synod, sometimes conferred privately with him in his palace, and never dismissed him without kissing respectfully the place which had once held the eye he had lost for the Faith. St. Paphnutius remained always in a close union with St. Athanasius, and accompanied him to the Council of Tyre, in 335, where they found much the greater part of that assembly to be professed Arians. Seeing Maximus, Bishop of Jerusalem, among them, Paphnutius took him by the hand, led him out, and told him he could not see that any who bore the same marks as he in defence of the Faith should be seduced and imposed upon by persons who were resolved to oppress the most strenuous assertor of its fundamental article. We have no particular account of the death of St. Paphnutius, but his name stands in the Roman Martyrology on the 11th of September. Reflection.--If to fight for our country be glorious, “it is likewise great glory to follow the Lord,” saith the Wise Man. September 12.--ST. GUY OF ANDERLECHT. AS a child Guy had two loves, the Church and the poor. The love of prayer growing more and more, he left his poor home at Brussels to seek greater poverty and closer union with God. He arrived at Laeken, near Brussels, and there showed such devotion before Our Lady’s shrine that the priest besought him to stay and serve the Church. Thenceforth his great joy was to be always in the church, sweeping the floor and ceiling, polishing the altars, and cleansing the sacred vessels. By day he still found time and means to befriend the poor, so that his almsgiving became famous in all those parts. A merchant of Brussels, hearing of the generosity of this poor sacristan, came to Laeken, and offered him a share in his business. Guy could not bear to leave the church; but the offer seemed providential, and he at last closed with it. Their ship, however, was lost on the first voyage, and on returning to Laeken Guy found his place filled. The rest of his life was one long penance for his inconstancy. About the year 1033, finding his end at hand, he returned to Anderlecht, in his own country. As he died, a light shone round him, and a voice was heard proclaiming his eternal reward. Reflection.--Jesus was only nine months in the womb of Mary, three hours on the cross, three days in the sepulchre, but He is always in the tabernacle. Does our reverence before Him bear witness to this most blessed truth? September 13.--ST. EULOGIUS, Patriarch of Alexandria. ST. EULOGIUS was a Syrian by birth, and while young embraced the monastic state in that country. The Eutychian heresy had thrown the Churches of Syria and Egypt into much confusion, and a great part of the monks of Syria were at that time become remarkable for their loose morals and errors against faith. Eulogius learned from the fall of others to stand more watchfully and firmly upon his guard, and was not less distinguished by the innocence and sanctity of his manners than by the purity of his doctrine. Having, by an enlarged pursuit of learning, attained to a great variety of useful knowledge in the different branches of literature, he set himself to the study of divinity in the sacred sources of that science, which are the Holy Scriptures, the tradition of the Church as explained in its councils, and the approved writings of its eminent pastors. In the great dangers and necessities of the Church he was drawn out of his solitude, and made priest of Antioch by the patriarch St. Anastasius. Upon the death of John, the Patriarch of Alexandria, St. Eulogius was raised to that patriarchal dignity toward the close of the year 583. About two years after his promotion our Saint was obliged to make a journey to Constantinople, in order to concert measures concerning certain affairs of his Church. He met at court St. Gregory the Great, and contracted with him a holy friendship, so that from that time they seemed to be one heart and one soul. Among the letters of St. Gregory we have several extant which he wrote to our Saint. St. Eulogius composed many excellent works against different heresies, and died in the year 606. Reflection.--We admire the great actions and the glorious triumph of the Saints; yet it is not so much in these that their sanctity consisted, as in the constant, habitual heroic disposition of their souls. There is no one who does not sometimes do good actions; but he can never be called virtuous who does well only by humor, or by fits and starts, not by steady habits. September 14.--THE EXALTATION OF THE HOLY CROSS OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. CONSTANTINE was still wavering between Christianity and idolatry when a luminous cross appeared to him in the heavens, bearing the inscription, “In this sign shalt thou conquer.” He became a Christian, and triumphed over his enemies, who were at the same time the enemies of the Faith. A few years later, his saintly mother having found the cross on which Our Saviour suffered, the feast of the “ Exaltation” was established in the Church; but it was only at a later period still, namely, after the Emperor Heraclius had achieved three great and wondrous victories over Chosroes, King of Persia, who had possessed himself of the holy and precious relic, that this festival took a more general extension, and was invested with a higher character of solemnity. The feast of the “Finding” was thereupon instituted, in memory of the discovery made by St. Helena; and that of the “Exaltation” was reserved to celebrate the triumphs of Heraclius. The greatest power of the Catholic world was at that time centred in the Empire of the East, and was verging toward its ruin, when God put forth His hand to save it: the re-establishment of the great cross at Jerusalem was the sure pledge thereof. This great event occurred in 629. Reflection.--Herein is found the accomplishment of the Saviour’s word: “If I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all things to Myself.” September 15.--ST. CATHERINE OF GENOA. NOBLE in birth, rich, and exceedingly beautiful, Catherine had as a child rejected the solicitations of the world, and begged her divine Master for some share in His sufferings. At sixteen years of age she found herself promised in marriage to a young nobleman of dissolute habits, who treated her with such harshness that, after five years, wearied out by his cruelty, she somewhat relaxed the strictness of her life and entered into the worldly society of Genoa. At length, enlightened by divine grace as to the danger of her state, she resolutely broke with the world and gave herself up to a life of rigorous penance and prayer. The charity with which she devoted herself to the service of the hospitals, undertaking the vilest of offices with joy, induced her husband to amend his evil ways and he died penitent. Her heroic fortitude was sustained by the constant thought of the Holy Souls, whose sufferings were revealed to her, and whose state she has described in a treatise full of heavenly wisdom. A long and grievous malady during the last years of her life only served to perfect her union with God, till, worn out in body and purified in soul, she breathed her last on September 14, 1510. Reflection.--The constant thought of purgatory will help us not only to escape its dreadful pains, but also to avoid the least imperfection which hinders our approach to God. September 16.--ST. CYPRIAN, Bishop, Martyr. CYPRIAN was an African of noble birth, but of evil life, a pagan, and a teacher of rhetoric. In middle life he was converted to Christianity, and shortly after his baptism was ordained priest, and made Bishop of Carthage, notwithstanding his resistance. When the persecution of Decius broke out, he fled from his episcopal city, that he might be the better able to minister to the wants of his flock, but returned on occasion of a pestilence. Later on he was banished, and saw in a vision his future martyrdom. Being recalled from exile, sentence of death was pronounced against him, which he received with the words “Thanks be to God.” His great desire was to die whilst in the act of preaching the faith of Christ, and he had the consolation of being surrounded at his martyrdom by crowds of his faithful children. He was beheaded on the 14th of September, 258, and was buried with great solemnity. Even the pagans respected his memory. Reflection.--The duty of almsgiving is declared both by nature and revelation: by nature, because it flows from the principle imprinted within us of doing to others as we would they should do to us; by revelation, in many special commands of Scripture, and in the precept of divine charity which binds us to love God for His own sake, and our neighbor for the sake of God. September 17.--ST. LAMBERT, Bishop, Martyr. ST. LAMBERT was a native of Maestricht. His father intrusted his education to the holy Bishop St. Theodard, and on that good man being assassinated, Lambert was chosen his successor. A revolution breaking out which overturned the kingdom of Austrasia, our Saint was banished from his see on account of his devotion to his sovereign. He retired to the monastery of Stavelo, and there obeyed the rule as strictly as the youngest novice could have done. One instance will suffice to show with how perfect a sacrifice of himself he devoted his heart to serve God. As he was rising one night in winter to his private devotions, he happened to let fall his wooden sandal or slipper. The abbot, without asking who had caused the noise, gave orders that the offender should go and pray before the cross, which stood before the church door. Lambert, without making any answer, went out as he was, barefoot, and covered only with his hair shirt; and in this condition he prayed, kneeling before the cross, where he was found some hours after. At the sight of the holy bishop the abbot and the monks fell on the ground and asked his pardon. “God forgive you,” said he, “for thinking you stand in need of pardon for this action. As for myself, is it not in cold and nakedness that, according to St. Paul, I am to tame my flesh and to serve God?” While St. Lambert enjoyed the quiet of holy retirement, he wept to see the greatest part of the churches of France laid waste. In the mean time the political clouds began to break away, and Lambert was restored to his see, but his zeal in suppressing the many and notorious disorders which existed in his diocese led to his assassination on the 17th of September, 709. Reflection.--How noble and heroic is this virtue of fortitude! how necessary for every Christian, especially for a pastor of souls, that neither worldly views nor fears may ever in the least warp his integrity or blind his judgment! September 18.--ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. ST. THOMAS, the glory of the Spanish Church in the sixteenth century, was born in 1488. A thirst for the science of the Saints led him to enter the house of the Austin Friars at Salamanca. Charles V. listened to him an oracle, and appointed him Archbishop of Valencia. On being led to his throne in church, he pushed the silken cushions aside, and with tears kissed the ground. His first visit was to the prison; the sum with which the chapter presented him for his palace was devoted to the public hospital. As a child he had given his meal to the poor, and two thirds of his episcopal revenues were now annually spent in alms. He daily fed five hundred needy persons, brought up himself the orphans of the city, and sheltered the neglected foundlings with a mother’s care. During his eleven years’ episcopate not one poor maiden was married without an alms from the Saint. Spurred by his example, the rich and the selfish became liberal and generous; and when, on the Nativity of Our Lady, 1555, St. Thomas came to die, he was well-nigh the only poor man in his see. Reflection.--”Answer me, O sinner!” St. Thomas would say, “what can you purchase with your money better or more necessary than the redemption of your sins?” September 19.--ST. JANUARIUS, Martyr. MANY centuries ago, St. Januarius died for the Faith in the persecution of Diocletian, and to this day God confirms the faith of His Church, and works a continual miracle, through the blood which Januarius shed for Him. The Saint was Bishop of Beneventum, and on one occasion he travelled to Misenum in order to visit a deacon named Sosius. During this visit Januarius saw the head of Sosius, who was singing the gospel in the church, girt with flames, and took this for a sign that ere long Sosius would wear the crown of martyrdom. So it proved. Shortly after Sosius was arrested, and thrown into prison. There St. Januarius visited and encouraged him, till the bishop also was arrested in turn. Soon the number of the confessors was swollen by some of the neighboring clergy. They were exposed to the wild beasts in the amphitheatre. The beasts, however, did them no harm; and at last the Governor of Campania ordered the Saints to be beheaded. Little did the heathen governor think that he was the instrument in God’s hand of ushering in the long succession of miracles which attest the faith of Januarius. The relics of St. Januarius rest in the cathedral of Naples, and it is there that the liquefaction of his blood occurs. The blood is congealed in two glass vials, but when it is brought near the martyr’s head it melts and flows like the blood of a living man. Reflection.--Thank God Who has given you superabundant motives for your faith; and pray for the spirit of the first Christians, the spirit which exults and rejoices in belief. September 20.--STS. EUSTACHIUS and Companions, Martyrs. EUSTACHIUS, called Placidus before his conversion, was a distinguished officer of the Roman army under the Emperor Trajan. One day, whilst hunting a deer, he suddenly perceived between the horns of the animal the image of our crucified Saviour. Responsive to what he considered a voice from heaven, he lost not a moment in becoming a Christian. In a short time he lost all his possessions and his position, and his wife and children were taken from him. Reduced to the most abject poverty, he took service with a rich land-owner to tend his fields. In the mean time the empire suffered greatly from the ravages of barbarians. Trajan sought out our Saint, and placed him in command of the troops sent against the enemy. During this campaign he found his wife and children, whom he despaired of ever seeing again. Returning home victorious, he was received in triumph and loaded with honors; but the emperor having commanded him to sacrifice to the false gods, he refused. Infuriated at this, Trajan ordered Eustachius with his wife and children to be exposed to two starved lions; but instead of harming these faithful servants of God, the beasts merely frisked and frolicked about them. The emperor, grown more furious at this, caused the martyrs to be shut up inside a brazen bull, under which a fire was kindled, and in this horrible manner they were roasted to death. Reflection.--It is not enough to encounter dangers with resolution; we must with equal courage and constancy vanquish pleasure and the softer passions, or we possess not the virtue of true fortitude. September 21.--ST. MATTHEW, Apostle. ONE day, as Our Lord was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw, sitting at the receipt of custom, Matthew the publican, whose business it was to collect the taxes from the people for their Roman masters. Jesus said to him, “Follow Me;” and leaving all, Matthew arose and followed Him. Now the publicans were abhorred by the Jews as enemies of their country, outcasts, and notorious sinners, who enriched themselves by extortion and fraud. No Pharisee would sit with one at table. Our Saviour alone had compassion for them. So St. Matthew made a great feast, to which he invited Jesus and His disciples, with a number of these publicans, who henceforth began eagerly to listen to Him. It was then, in answer to the murmurs of the Pharisees, that He said, “They that are in health need not the physician. I have not come to call the just, but sinners to penance.” After the Ascension, St. Matthew remained some years in Judaea, and there wrote his gospel, to teach his countrymen that Jesus was their true Lord and King, foretold by the prophets. St. Matthew afterward preached the Faith far and wide, and is said to have finished his course in Parthia. Reflection.--Obey all inspirations of Our Lord as promptly as St. Matthew, who, at a single word, “laid down,” says St. Bridget, “the heavy burden of the world to put on the light and sweet yoke of Christ.” September 22.--THE THEBAN LEGION. THE Theban legion numbered more than six thousand men. They marched from the East into Gaul, and proved their loyalty at once to their Emperor and to their God. They were encamped near the Lake of Geneva, under the Emperor Maximian, when they got orders to turn their swords against the Christian population, and refused to obey. In his fury Maximian ordered them to be decimated. The order was executed once and again, but they endured this without a murmur or an effort to defend themselves. St. Maurice, the chief captain in this legion of martyrs, encouraged the rest to persevere and follow their comrades to heaven. “Know, O Emperor,” he said, “that we are your soldiers, but we are servants also of the true God. In all things lawful we will most readily obey, but we cannot stain our hands in this innocent blood. We have seen our comrades slain, and we rejoice at their honor. We have arms, but we resist not, for we had rather die without shame than live by sin.” As the massacre began, these generous soldiers flung down their arms, offered their necks to the sword, and suffered themselves to be butchered in silence. Reflection.--Thank God for every slight and injury yon have to bear. An injury borne in meekness and silence is a true victory. It is the proof that we are good soldiers of Jesus Christ, disciples of that heavenly wisdom which is first pure, then peaceable. September 23.--ST. THECLA, Virgin, Martyr. ST. THECLA is one of the most ancient, as she is one of the most illustrious, Saints in the calendar of the Church. It was at Iconium that St. Paul met St. Thecla, and kindled the love of virginity in her heart. She had been promised in marriage to a young man who was rich and generous. But at the Apostle’s words she died to the thought of earthly espousals; she forgot her beauty; she was deaf to her parents threats, and at the first opportunity she fled from a luxurious home and followed St. Paul. The rage of her parents and of her intended spouse followed hard upon her; and the Roman power did its worst against the virgin whom Christ had chosen for His own. She was stripped and placed in the public theatre; but her innocence shrouded her like a garment. Then the lions were let loose against her; they fell crouching at her feet, and licked them as if in veneration. Even fire could not harm her. Torment after torment was inflicted upon her without effect, till at last her Spouse spoke the word and called her to Himself, with the double crown of virginity and martyrdom on her head. Reflection.--It is purity in soul and body which will make you strong in pain, in temptation, and in the hour of death. Imitate the purity of this glorious virgin, and take her for your special patroness in your last agony. September 24.--THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY OF MERCY. ST. PETER, of the noble family of Nolasco, was born in Languedoc, about 1189. At the age of twenty-five he took a vow of chastity, and made over his vast estates to the Church. Some time after, he conceived the idea of establishing an order for the redemption of captives. The divine will was soon manifested. The Blessed Virgin appeared on the same night to Peter, to Raymund of Pennafort, his confessor, and to James, King of Arragon, his ward, and bade them prosecute without fear their holy designs. After great opposition, the Order was solemnly established, and approved by Gregory IX., under the name of Our Lady of Mercy. By the grace of God, and under the protection of His Virgin Mother, the Order spread rapidly, its growth being increased by the charity and piety of its members, who devoted themselves not only to collecting alms for the ransom of the Christians, but even gave themselves up to voluntary slavery to aid the good work. It is to return thanks to God and the Blessed Virgin that a feast was instituted which was observed in the Order of Mercy, then in Spain and France, and at last extended to the whole Church by Innocent XII., and the 24th September named as the day on which it is to be observed. Reflection.--St. Peter Nolasco and his knights were laymen, not priests, and yet they considered the salvation of their neighbor intrusted to them. We can each of us by counsel, by prayer, but above all by holy example, assist the salvation of our brethren, and thus secure our own. September 25.--ST. FIRMIN, Bishop, Martyr. ST. FIRMIN was a native of Pampelone in Navarre, initiated in the Christian faith by Honestus, a disciple of St. Saturninus of Toulouse, and consecrated bishop by St. Honoratus, successor to St. Saturninus, in order to preach the Gospel in the remoter parts of Gaul. He preached the Faith in the countries of Agen, Anjou, and Beauvais, and being arrived at Amiens, there chose his residence, and founded there a numerous church of faithful disciples. He received the crown of martyrdom in that city, whether under the prefect Rictius Varus, or in some other persecution from Decius, in 250, to Diocletian, in 303, is uncertain. September 25.--ST. FINBARR, Bishop. ST. FINBARR, who lived in the sixth century, was a native of Connaught, and instituted a monastery or school at Lough Eire, to which such numbers of disciples flocked, as changed, as it were, a desert into a large city. This was the origin of the city of Cork, which was built chiefly upon stakes, in marshy little islands formed by the river Lea. The right name of our Saint, under which he was baptized, was Lochan; the surname Finbarr, or Barr the White, was afterward given him. He was Bishop of Cork seventeen years, and died in the midst of his friends at Cloyne, fifteen miles from Cork. His body was buried in his own cathedral at Cork, and his relics, some years after, were put in a silver shrine, and kept there, this great church bearing his name to this day. St. Finbarr’s cave or hermitage was shown in a monastery which seems to have been begun by our Saint, and stood to the west of Cork. September 26.--STS. CYPRIAN and JUSTINA, Martyrs. THE detestable superstition of St. Cyprian’s idolatrous parents devoted him from his infancy to the devil, and he was brought up in all the impious mysteries of idolatry, astrology, and the black art. When Cyprian had learned all the extravagances of these schools of error and delusion, he hesitated at no crimes, blasphemed Christ, and committed secret murders. There lived at Antioch a young Christian lady called Justina, of high birth and great beauty. A pagan nobleman fell deeply in love with her, and finding her modesty inaccessible, and her resolution invincible, he applied to Cyprian for assistance. Cyprian, no less smitten with the lady, tried every secret with which he was acquainted to conquer her resolution. Justina, perceiving herself vigorously attacked, studied to arm herself by prayer, watchfulness, and mortification against all his artifices and the power of his spells. Cyprian finding himself worsted by a superior power, began to consider the weakness of the infernal spirits, and resolved to quit their service and become a Christian. Agladius, who had been the first suitor to the holy virgin, was likewise converted and baptized. The persecution of Diocletian breaking out, Cyprian and Justina were seized, and presented to the same judge. She was inhumanly scourged, and Cyprian was torn with iron hooks. After this they were both sent in chains to Diocletian, who commanded their heads to be struck off, which sentence was executed. Reflection.--If the errors and disorders of St. Cyprian show the degeneracy of human nature corrupted by sin and enslaved to vice, his conversion displays the power of grace and virtue to repair it. Let us beg of God to send us grace to resist temptation, and to do His holy will in all things. September 27.--STS. COSMAS and DAMIAN, Martyrs. STS. COSMAS and DAMIAN were brothers, and born in Arabia, but studied the sciences in Syria, and became eminent for their skill in physic. Being Christians, and full of that holy temper of charity in which the spirit of our divine religion consists, they practised their profession with great application and wonderful success, but never took any fee. They were loved and respected by the people on account of the good offices received from their charity, and for their zeal for the Christian faith, which they took every opportunity to propagate. When the persecution of Diocletian began to rage, it was impossible for persons of so distinguished a character to lie concealed. They were therefore apprehended by the order of Lysias, Governor of Cilicia, and after various torments were bound hand and foot and thrown into the sea. Reflection.--We may sanctify our labor or industry, if actuated by the motive of charity toward others, even whilst we fulfil the obligation we owe to ourselves and our families of procuring an honest and necessary subsistence, which of itself is no less noble a virtue, if founded in motives equally pure and perfect. September 28.--ST. WENCESLAS, Martyr. WENCESLAS was the son of a Christian Duke of Bohemia, but his mother was a hard and cruel pagan. Through the care of his holy grandmother, Ludmilla, herself a martyr, Wenceslas was educated in the true faith, and imbibed a special devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. On the death of his father, his mother, Drahomira, usurped the government and passed a series of persecuting laws. In the interests of the Faith Wenceslas claimed and obtained, through the support of the people, a large portion of the country as his own kingdom. His mother secured the apostasy and alliance of her second son, Boleslas, who became henceforth her ally against the Christians. Wenceslas meanwhile ruled as a brave and pious king, provided for all the needs of his people, and when his kingdom was attacked, overcame in single combat, by the sign of the cross, the leader of an invading army. In the service of God he was most constant, and planted with his own hands the wheat and grapes for the Holy Mass, at which he never failed daily to assist. His piety was the occasion of his death. Once, after a banquet at his brother’s palace, to which he had been treacherously invited, he went, as was his wont at night, to pray before the tabernacle. There, at midnight on the feast of the Angels, 938, he received his crown of martyrdom, his brother dealing him the death-blow. Reflection.--St. Wenceslas teaches us that the safest place to meet the trials of life, or to prepare for the stroke of death, is before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. September 29.--ST. MICHAEL, Archangel. “MI-CA-EL,” or “Who is like to God?” Such was the cry of the great Archangel when he smote the rebel Lucifer in the conflict of the heavenly hosts, and from that hour he has been known as “Michael,” the captain of the armies of God, the type of divine fortitude, the champion of every faithful soul in strife with the powers of evil. Thus he appears in Holy Scripture as the guardian of the children of Israel, their comfort and protector in times of sorrow or conflict. He it is who prepares for their return from the Persian captivity, who leads the valiant Maccabees to victory, and who rescues the body of Moses from the envious grasp of the Evil One. And since Christ’s coming the Church has ever venerated St. Michael as her special patron and protector. She invokes him by name in her confession of sin, summons him to the side of her children in the agony of death, and chooses him as their escort from the chastening flames of purgatory to the realms of holy light. Lastly, when Antichrist shall have set up his kingdom on earth, it is Michael who will unfurl once more the standard of the Cross, sound the last trumpet, and binding together the false prophet and the beast, hurl them for all eternity into the burning pool. Reflection.--”Whenever,” says St. Bernard, “any grievous temptation or vehement sorrow oppresses thee, invoke thy guardian, thy leader; cry out to him, and say, ‘Lord, save us, lest we perish!’” September 30.--ST. JEROME, Doctor. ST. JEROME, born in Dalmatia, in 329, was sent to school at Rome. His boyhood was not free from fault. His thirst for knowledge was excessive, and his love of books a passion. He had studied under the best masters, visited foreign cities, and devoted himself to the pursuit of science. But Christ had need of his strong will and active intellect for the service of His Church. St. Jerome felt and obeyed the call, made a vow of celibacy, fled from Rome to the wild Syrian desert, and there for four years learnt in solitude, penance, and prayer a new lesson of divine wisdom. This was his novitiate. The Pope soon summoned him to Rome, and there put upon the now famous Hebrew scholar the task of revising the Latin Bible, which was to be his noblest work. Retiring thence to his beloved Bethlehem, the eloquent hermit poured forth from his solitary cell for thirty years a stream of luminous writings upon the Christian world. Reflection.--”To know,” says St. Basil, “how to submit thyself with thy whole soul, is to know how to imitate Christ.” October 1.--ST. REMIGIUS, Bishop. REMIGIUS, or Remi, was born of noble and pious parents. At the age of twenty-two, in spite of the canons and of his own reluctance, he was acclaimed Archbishop of Rheims. He was unusually tall, his face impressed with blended majesty and serenity, his bearing gentle, humble, and retiring. He was learned and eloquent, and had the gift of miracles. His pity and charity were boundless, and in toil he knew no weariness. His body was the outward expression of a noble and holy soul, breathing the spirit of meekness and compunction. For so choice a workman God had fitting work. The South of France was in the hands of Arians, and the pagan Franks were wresting the North from the Romans. St. Remigius confronted Clovis, their king, and converted and baptized him at Christmas, in 496. With him he gained the whole Frank nation. He threw down the idol altars, built churches, and appointed bishops. He withstood and silenced the Arians, and converted so many that he left France a Catholic kingdom, its king the oldest and at the time the only crowned son of the Church. He died in 533, after an episcopate of seventy-four years, the longest on record. Reflection.--Few men have had such natural advantages and such gifts of grace as St. Remi, and few have done so great a work. Learn from him to bear the world’s praise as well as its scorn with a lowly and chastened heart. October 2.--THE HOLY GUARDIAN ANGELS. GOD does not abandon to mere chance any of His handiworks; by His providence He is everywhere present; not a hair falls from the head or a sparrow to the ground without His knowledge. Not content, however, with yielding such familiar help in all things, not content with affording that existence which He communicates and perpetuates through every living being, He has charged His angels with the ministry of watching and safeguarding every one of His creatures that behold not His face. Kingdoms have their angels assigned to them, and men have their angels; these latter it is whom religion designates as the Holy Guardian Angels. Our Lord says in the Gospel, “Beware lest ye scandalize any of these little ones, for their angels in heaven see the face of My Father.” The existence of Guardian Angels is, hence, a dogma of the Christian faith: this being so, what ought not our respect be for that sure and holy intelligence that is ever present at our side; and how great should our solicitude be, lest, by any act of ours, we offend those eyes which are ever bent upon us in all our ways! Reflection.--Ah! let us not give occasion, in the language of Holy Scripture, to the angels of peace to weep bitterly. October 3.--ST. GERARD, Abbot. ST. GERARD was of a noble family of the county of Namur, France. An engaging sweetness of temper, and a strong inclination to piety and devotion, gained him from the cradle the esteem and affection of every one. Having been sent on an important mission to the Court of France, he was greatly edified at the fervor of the monks of St. Denis, at Paris, and earnestly desired to consecrate himself to God with them. Returning home he settled his temporal affairs, and went back with great joy to St. Denis’. He had lived ten years with great fervor in this monastery, when in 931 he was sent by his abbot to found an abbey upon his estate at Brogue, three leagues from Namur. He settled this new abbey, and then built himself a little cell near the church, and lived in it a recluse until God called him to undertake the reformation of many monasteries, which he did successfully. When he had spent almost twenty years in these zealous labors, he shut himself up in his cell, to prepare his soul to receive the recompense of his labors, to which he was called on the 3d of October in 959. Reflection.--Though we are in the world, let us strive to separate ourselves from it and consecrate ourselves to God, remembering that “the world passeth away, but he that doth the will of God abideth forever.” October 3.--ST. TERESA OF THE INFANT JESUS (From Rev. Butler’s section titled: “Lives Of Certain Saints Contained In The Calendar Of Special Feasts For The United States And Of Some Others Recently Canonized”) MARIE-FRANCOISE-THERESE MARTIN, known as “The Little Flower of Jesus,” was born at Alencon, France, on January 2nd, 1873. Reared in a home of comfort and surrounded by refinements that would have spoiled an ordinary child, Teresa’s intelligence had an early dawning which enabled her to comprehend the Divine Goodness far in advance of her tender years. Our Lord visited upon the child a severe trial--a strange malady from which there seemed no recovery. Her implicit confidence in God, however, overcame her infirmity and she progressed rapidly toward sanctity. Teresa adopted flowers as the symbol of her love for her Divine Saviour and offered her practices in virtue, sacrifice, and mortification as flowers at the feet of Jesus. At fifteen she entered the Carmelite Convent at Lisieux, France, where she distinguished herself by punctual observance of the rule, burning love for God and wonderful trust in Him. Before she died, this “lily of delicious perfume”--as Pope Pius X. called her--revealed to the superiors her life story in pages of rarest beauty. She died in the odor of sanctity on September 30th, 1897, at the age of 24. Since her death countless graces have been attributed to her intercession. Pope Benedict XV. in 1921 opened the way for the process of her beatification and she was declared Blessed by Pope Pius XI. on April 29, 1923, and was canonized on May 17, 1925. October 4.--ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. ST. FRANCIS, the son of a merchant of Assisi, was born in that city in 1182. Chosen by God to be a living manifestation to the world of Christ’s poor and suffering life on earth, he was early inspired with a high esteem and burning love of poverty and humiliation. The thought of the Man of Sorrows, Who had not where to lay His head, filled him with holy envy of the poor, and constrained him to renounce the wealth and worldly station which he abhorred. The scorn and hard usage which he met with from his father and townsmen when he appeared among them in the garb of poverty were delightful to him. “Now,” he exclaimed, “I can say truly, ‘Our Father Who art in heaven.’” But divine love burned in him too mightily not to kindle like desires in other hearts. Many joined themselves to him, and were constituted by Pope Innocent III. into a religious Order, which spread rapidly throughout Christendom. St. Francis, after visiting the East in the vain quest of martyrdom, spent his life like his Divine Master--now in preaching to the multitudes, now amid desert solitudes in fasting and contemplation. During one of these retreats he received on his hands, feet, and side the print of the five bleeding wounds of Jesus. With the cry, “Welcome, sister Death,” he passed to the glory of his God October 4, 1226. Reflection.--”My God and my all,” St. Francis’ constant prayer, explains both his poverty and his wealth. October 5.--ST. PLACID, Martyr. ST. PLACID was born in Rome, in the year 515, of a patrician family, and at seven years of age was taken by his father to the monastery of Subiaco. At thirteen years of age he followed St. Benedict to the new foundation at Monte Casino, where he grew up in the practice of a wonderful austerity and innocence of life. He had scarcely completed his twenty-first year when he was selected to establish a monastery in Sicily upon some estates which had been given by his father to St. Benedict. He spent four years in building his monastery, and the fifth had not elapsed before an inroad of barbarians burned everything to the ground, and put to a lingering death not only St. Placid and thirty monks who had joined him, but also his two brothers, Eutychius and Victorinus, and his holy sister Flavia, who had come to visit him. The monastery was rebuilt, and still stands under his invocation. Reflection.--Adversity is the touchstone of the soul, because it discovers the character of the virtue which it possesses. One act of thanksgiving when matters go wrong with us is worth a thousand thanks when things are agreeable to our inclinations. October 6.--ST. BRUNO. BRUNO was born at Cologne, about 1030, of an illustrious family. He was endowed with rare natural gifts, which he cultivated with care at Paris. He became canon of Cologne, and then of Rheims, where he had the direction of theological studies. On the death of the bishop the see fell for a time into evil hands, and Bruno retired with a few friends into the country. There he resolved to forsake the world, and to live a life of retirement and penance. With six companions he applied to Hugh, Bishop of Grenoble, who led them into a wild solitude called the Chartreuse. There they lived in poverty, self-denial, and silence, each apart in his own cell, meeting only for the worship of God, and employing themselves in copying books. From the name of the spot the Order of St. Bruno was called the Carthusian. Six years later, Urban II. called Bruno to Rome, that he might avail himself of his guidance. Bruno tried to live there as he had lived in the desert; but the echoes of the great city disturbed his solitude, and, after refusing high dignities, he wrung from the Pope permission to resume his monastic life in Calabria. There he lived, in humility and mortification and great peace, till his blessed death in 1101. Reflection.--”O everlasting kingdom,” said St. Augustine; “kingdom of endless ages, whereon rests the untroubled light and the peace of God which passeth all understanding, where the souls of the Saints are in rest, and everlasting joy is on their heads, and sorrow and sighing have fled away! When shall I come and appear before God?” October 7.--ST. MARK, Pope. ST. MARK was by birth a Roman, and served God with such fervor among the clergy of that Church, that, advancing continually in sincere humility and the knowledge and sense of his own weakness and imperfections, he strove every day to surpass himself in the fervor of his charity and zeal, and in the exercise of all virtues. The persecution ceased in the West, in the beginning of the year 305, but was revived a short time after by Maxentius. St. Mark abated nothing of his watchfulness, but endeavored rather to redouble his zeal during the peace of the Church; knowing that if men sometimes cease openly to persecute the faithful, the devil never allows them any truce, and his snares are generally most to be feared in the time of the calm. St. Mark succeeded St. Sylvester in the apostolic chair on the 18th of January, 336. He held that dignity only eight months and twenty days, dying on the 7th of October following. He was buried in a cemetery in the Ardeatine Way, which has since borne his name. Reflection.--A Christian ought to be afraid of no enemy more than himself, whom he carries always about with him, and from whom he is not able to flee. He should therefore never cease to cry out to God, “Unless Thou, O Lord, art my light and support, I watch in vain.” October 8.--ST. BRIDGET OF SWEDEN. ST. BRIDGET was born of the Swedish royal family, in 1304. In obedience to her father, she was married to Prince Ulpho of Sweden, and became the mother of eight children, one of whom, Catherine, is honored as a Saint. After some years she and her husband separated by mutual consent. He entered the Cistercian Order, and Bridget founded the Order of St. Saviour, in the Abbey of Wastein, in Sweden. In 1344 she became a widow, and thenceforth received a series of the most sublime revelations, all of which she scrupulously submitted to the judgment of her confessor. By the command of Our Lord, Bridget went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and amidst the very scenes of the Passion was further instructed in the sacred mysteries. She died in 1373. Reflection.--”Is confession a matter of much time or expense?” asks St. John Chrysostom. “Is it a difficult and painful remedy? Without cost or hurt, the medicine is ever ready to restore you to perfect health.” October 9.--ST. DIONYSIUS and his Companions, Martyrs. OF all the Roman missionaries sent into Gaul, St. Dionysius carried the Faith the furthest into the country, fixing his see at Paris, and by him and his disciples the sees of Chartres, Senlis, Meaux, and Cologne were erected in the fourth century. During the persecution of Valerian he was arrested and thrown into prison, and after remaining there for some time was beheaded, together with St. Rusticus, a priest, and Eleutherius, a deacon. October 9.--ST. LOUIS BERTRAND. ST. LOUIS BERTRAND was born at Valencia, in Spain, in 1526, of the same family as St. Vincent Ferrer. In 1545, after severe trials, he was professed in the Dominican Order, and at the age of twenty-five was made master of novices, and trained up many great servants of God. When the plague broke out in Valencia he devoted himself to the sick and dying, and with his own hands buried the dead. In 1562 he obtained leave to embark for the American mission, and there converted vast multitudes to the Faith. He was favored with the gift of miracles, and while preaching in his native Spanish was understood in various languages. After seven years he returned to Spain, to plead the cause of the oppressed Indians, but he was not permitted to return and labor among them. He spent his remaining days toiling in his own country, till at length, in 1580, he was carried from the pulpit in the Cathedral at Valencia to the bed from whence he never rose. He died on the day he had foretold--October 9, 1581. Reflection.--The Saints fasted, toiled, and wept, not only for love of God, but for fear of damnation. How shall we, with our self-indulgent lives and unexamined consciences, face the judgment-seat of Christ? October 10.--ST. FRANCIS BORGIA. FRANCIS BORGIA, Duke of Gandia and Captain-General of Catalonia, was one of the handsomest, richest, and most honored nobles in Spain, when, in 1539, there was laid upon him the sad duty of escorting the remains of his sovereign, Queen Isabella, to the royal burying-place at Granada. The coffin had to be opened for him that he might verify the body before it was placed in the tomb, and so foul a sight met his eyes that he vowed never again to serve a sovereign who could suffer so base a change. It was some years before he could follow the call of his Lord; at length he entered the Society of Jesus to cut himself off from any chance of dignity or preferment. But his Order chose him to be its head. The Turks were threatening Christendom, and St. Pius V. sent his nephew to gather Christian princes into a league for its defence. The holy Pope chose Francis to accompany him, and, worn out though he was, the Saint obeyed at once. The fatigues of the embassy exhausted what little life was left. St. Francis died on his return to Rome, October 10, 1572. Reflection.--St. Francis Borgia learnt the worthlessness of earthly greatness at the funeral of Queen Isabella. Do the deaths of friends teach us aught about ourselves? October 11.--ST. TARACHUS and his Companions. IN the year 304, Tarachus, Probus, and Andronicus, differing in age and nationality, but united in the bonds of faith, being denounced as Christians to Numerian, Governor of Cilicia, were arrested at Pompeiopolis, and conducted to Tharsis. They underwent a first examination in that town, after which their limbs were torn with iron hooks, and they were taken back to prison covered with wounds. Being afterwards led to Mopsuestia, they were submitted to a second examination, ending in a manner equally cruel as the first. They underwent a third examination at Anazarbis, followed by greater torments still. The governor, unable to shake their constancy, had them kept imprisoned that he might torture them further at the approaching games. They were borne to the amphitheatre, but the most ferocious animals, on being let loose on them, came crouching to their feet and licked their wounds. The judge, reproaching the jailers with connivance, ordered the martyrs to be despatched by the gladiators. Reflection.--Such is true Christian devotion. “Neither death nor life shall be able to separate us from the love that is in Christ Jesus.” October 12.--ST. WILFRID, Bishop. “A QUICK walker, expert at all good works, with never a sour face”--such was the great St. Wilfrid, whose glory it was to secure the happy links which bound England to Rome. He was born about the year 634, and was trained by the Celtic monks at Lindisfarne in the peculiar rites and usages of the British Church. Yet even as a boy Wilfrid longed for perfect conformity in discipline, as in doctrine, with the Holy See, and at the first chance set off himself for Rome. On his return he founded at Ripon a strictly Roman monastery, under the rule of St. Benedict. In the year 664 he was elected Bishop of Lindisfarne, and five years later was transferred to the see of York. He had to combat the passions of wicked kings, the cowardice of worldly prelates, the errors of holy men. He was twice exiled and once imprisoned; yet the battle which he fought was won. He swept away the abuses of many years and a too national system, and substituted instead a vigorous Catholic discipline, modelled and dependent on Rome. He died October 12, 709, and at his death was heard the sweet melody of the angels conducting his soul to Christ. Reflection.--To look towards Rome is an instinct planted in us for the preservation of the Faith. Trust in the Vicar of Christ necessarily results from the reign of His love in our hearts. October 13.--ST. EDWARD THE CONFESSOR. EDWARD was unexpectedly raised to the throne of England at the age of forty years, twenty-seven of which he had passed in exile. On the throne, the virtues of his earlier years, simplicity, gentleness, lowliness, but above all his angelic purity, shone with new brightness. By a rare inspiration of God, though he married to content his nobles and people, he preserved perfect chastity in the wedded state. So little did he set his heart on riches, that thrice when he saw a servant robbing his treasury he let him escape, saying the poor fellow needed the gold more than he. He loved to stand at his palace-gate, speaking kindly to the poor beggars and lepers who crowded about him, and many of whom he healed of their diseases. The long wars had brought the kingdom to a sad state, but Edward’s zeal and sanctity soon wrought a great change. His reign of twenty-four years was one of almost unbroken peace, the country grew prosperous, the ruined churches rose under his hand, the weak lived secure, and for ages afterwards men spoke with affection of the “laws of good St. Edward.” The holy king had a great devotion to building and enriching churches. Westminster Abbey was his latest and noblest work. He died January 5, 1066. Reflection.--David longed to build a temple for God’s service. Solomon reckoned it his glory to accomplish the work. But we, who have God made flesh dwelling in our tabernacles, ought to think no time, no zeal, no treasures too much to devote to the splendor and beauty of a Christian church. October 14.--ST. CALLISTUS, Pope, Martyr. EARLY in the third century, Callistus, then a deacon, was intrusted by Pope St. Zephyrinus with the rule of the clergy, and set by him over the cemeteries of the Christians at Rome; and, at the death of Zephyrinus, Callistus, according to the Roman usage, succeeded to the Apostolic See. A decree is ascribed to him appointing the four fasts of the Ember seasons, but his name is best known in connection with the old cemetery on the Appian Way, which was enlarged and adorned by him, and is called to this day the Catacomb of St. Callistus. During the persecution under the Emperor Severus, St. Callistus was driven to take shelter in the poor and populous quarters of the city; yet, in spite of these troubles, and of the care of the Church, he made diligent search for the body of Calipodius, one of his clergy who had suffered martyrdom shortly before, by being cast into the Tiber. When he found it he was full of joy, and buried it, with hymns of praise. Callistus was martyred October 14, 223. Reflection.--In the body of a Christian we see that which has been the temple of the Holy Ghost, which even now is precious in the eyes of God, Who will watch over it, and one day raise it up in glory to shine forever in His kingdom. Let our actions bear witness to our belief in these truths. October 15.--ST. TERESA. WHEN a child of seven years, Teresa ran away from her home at Avila in Spain, in the hope of being martyred by the Moors. Being brought back and asked the reason of her flight, she replied, “I want to see God, and I must die before I can see Him.” She then began with her brother to build a hermitage in the garden, and was often heard repeating “Forever, forever”. Some years later she became a Carmelite nun. Frivolous conversations checked her progress towards perfection, but at last, in her thirty-first year, she gave herself wholly to God. A vision showed her the very place in hell to which her own light faults would have led her, and she lived ever after in the deepest distrust of self. She was called to reform her Order, favored with distinct commands from Our Lord, and her heart was pierced with divine love; but she dreaded nothing so much as delusion, and to the last acted only under obedience to her confessors, which both made her strong and kept her safe. She died on October 4, 1582. Reflection.--”After all I die a child of the Church.” These were the Saint’s last words. They teach us the lesson of her life--to trust in humble, childlike obedience to our spiritual guides as the surest means of salvation. October 16.--ST. GALL, Abbot. ST. GALL was born in Ireland soon after the middle of the sixth century, of pious, noble, and rich parents. When St. Columban left Ireland, St. Gall accompanied him into England, and afterward into France, where they arrived in 585. St. Columban founded the monastery of Anegray, in a wild forest in the diocese of Besancon, and two years afterward another in Luxeuil. Being driven thence by King Theodoric, the Saints both withdrew into the territories of Theodebert. St. Columban, however, retired into Italy, but St. Gall was prevented from bearing him company by a grievous fit of illness. St. Gall was a priest before he left Ireland, and having learned the language of the country where he settled, near the Lake of Constance, he converted to the faith a great number of idolaters. The cells which this Saint built there for those who desired to serve God with him, he gave to the monastery which bears his name. A synod of bishops, with the clergy and people, earnestly desired to place the Saint in the episcopal see of Constance; but his modesty refused the dignity. He died in the year 646. Reflection.--”If any one would be My disciple,” says Our Saviour, “let him deny himself.” The denial of self is, then, the royal road to perfection. October 17.--ST. HEDWIGE. ST. HEDWIGE, the wife of Henry, Duke of Silesia, and the mother of his six children, led a humble, austere, and most holy life amidst all the pomp of royal state. Devotion to the Blessed Sacrament was the key-note of her life. Her valued privilege was to supply the bread and wine for the Sacred Mysteries, and she would attend each morning as many Masses as were celebrated. After the death of her husband she retired to the Cistercian convent of Trebnitz, where she lived under obedience to her daughter Gertrude, who was abbess of the monastery, growing day by day in holiness, till God called her to Himself, in 1242. October 17.--SAINT MARGARET MARY ALACOQUE. MARGARET MARY was born at Terreau in Burgundy, on the 22d July, 1647. During her infancy she showed a wonderfully sensitive horror of the very idea of sin. In 1671 she entered the Order of the Visitation, at Paray-le-Monial, and was professed the following year. After purifying her by many trials, Jesus appeared to her in numerous visions, displaying to her His Sacred Heart, sometimes burning as a furnace, and sometimes torn and bleeding on account of the coldness and sins of men. In 1675 the great revelation was made to her that she, in union with Father de la Colombiere, of the Society of Jesus, was to be the chief instrument for instituting the feast of the Sacred Heart, and for spreading that devotion throughout the world. She died on the 17th October, 1690. Reflection.--Love for the Sacred Heart especially honors the Incarnation, and makes the soul grow rapidly in humility, generosity, patience, and union with its Beloved. October 18.--ST. LUKE. ST. LUKE, a physician at Antioch, and a painter, became a convert of St. Paul, and afterwards his fellow-laborer. He is best known to us as the historian of the New Testament. Though not an eye-witness of Our Lord’s life, the Evangelist diligently gathered information from the lips of the apostles, and wrote, as he tells us, all things in order. The acts of the Apostles were written by this Evangelist as a sequel to his Gospel, bringing the history of the Church down to the first imprisonment of St. Paul at Rome. The humble historian never names himself, but by his occasional use of “we” for “they” we are able to detect his presence in the scenes which he describes. We thus find that he sailed with St. Paul and Silas from Troas to Macedonia; stayed behind apparently for seven years at Philippi, and, lastly, shared the shipwreck and perils of the memorable voyage to Rome. Here his own narrative ends, but from St. Paul’s Epistles we learn that St. Luke was his faithful companion to the end. He died a martyr’s death some time afterwards in Achaia. Reflection.--Christ has given all He had for thee; do thou give all thou hast for Him. October 19.--ST. PETER OF ALCANTARA. PETER, while still a youth, left his home at Alcantara in Spain, and entered a convent of Discalced Franciscans. He rose quickly to high posts in the Order, but his thirst for penance was still unappeased, and in 1539, being then forty years old, he founded the first convent of the “Strict Observance.” The cells of the friars resembled graves rather than dwelling-places. That of St. Peter himself was four feet and a half in length, so that he could never lie down; he ate but once in three days; his sack-cloth habit and a cloak were his only garments, and he never covered his head or feet. In the bitter winter he would open the door and window of his cell that, by closing them again, he might experience some sensation of warmth. Amongst those whom he trained to perfection was St. Teresa. He read her soul, approved of her spirit of prayer, and strengthened her to carry out her reforms. St. Peter died, with great joy, kneeling in prayer, October 18, 1562, at the age of sixty-three. Reflection.--If men do not go about barefoot now, nor undergo sharp penances, as St. Peter did, there are many ways of trampling on the world; and Our Lord teaches them when He finds the necessary courage. October 20.--ST. JOHN CANTIUS. ST. JOHN was born at Kenty in Poland in 1403, and studied at Cracow with great ability, industry, and success, while his modesty and virtue drew all hearts to him. He was for a short time in charge of a parish; but he shrank from the burden of responsibility, and returned to his life of professor at Cracow. There for many years he lived a life of unobtrusive virtue, self-denial, and charity. His love for the Holy See led him often in pilgrimage to Rome, on foot and alone, and his devotion to the Passion drew him once to Jerusalem, where he hoped to win a martyr’s crown by preaching to the Turks. He died in 1473, at the age of seventy. Reflection.--He who orders all his doings according to the will of God may often be spoken of by the world as simple and stupid; but in the end he wins the esteem and confidence of the world itself, and the approval and peace of God. October 21.--ST. URSULA, Virgin and Martyr. A NUMBER of Christian families had intrusted the education of their children to the care of the pious Ursula, and some persons of the world had in like manner placed themselves under her direction. England being then harassed by the Saxons, Ursula deemed that she ought, after the example of many of her compatriots, to seek an asylum in Gaul. She met with an abiding-place on the borders of the Rhine, not far from Cologne, where she hoped to find undisturbed repose; but a horde of Huns having invaded the country, she was exposed, together with all those who were under her guardianship, to the most shameful outrages. Without wavering, they preferred one and all to meet death rather than incur shame. Ursula herself gave the example, and was, together with her companions, cruelly massacred in the year 453. The name of St. Ursula has from remote ages been held in great honor throughout the Church; she has always been regarded as the patroness of young persons and the model of teachers. Reflection.--In the estimation of the wise man, “the guarding of virtue” is the most important part of the education of youth. October 22.--ST. MELLO, Bishop. ST. MELLO is said to have been a native of Great Britain; his zeal for the Faith engaged him in the sacred ministry, and God having blessed his labors with wonderful success, he was consecrated first bishop of Rouen in Normandy, which see he is said to have held forty years. He died in peace, about the beginning of the fourth century. October 22.--ST. HILARION, Abbot. ST. HILARION was born of heathen parents, near Gaza, and was converted while studying grammar in Alexandria. Shortly after, he visited St. Antony, and, still only in his fifteenth year, he became a solitary in the Arabian desert. A multitude of monks, attracted by his sanctity, peopled the desert where he lived. In consequence of this, he fled from one country to another, seeking to escape the praise of men; but everywhere his miracles of mercy betrayed his presence. Even his last retreat at Cyprus was broken by a paralytic, who was cured by St. Hilarion, and then spread the fame of the Saint. He died with the words, “Go forth, my soul; why dost thou doubt? Nigh seventy years hast thou served God, and dost thou fear death?” October 23.--ST. THEODORET, Martyr. ABOUT the year 361, Julian, uncle to the emperor of that name, and like his nephew an apostate, was made Count of the East. He closed the Christian churches at Antioch, and when St. Theodoret assembled the Christians in private, he was summoned before the tribunal of the Count and most inhumanly tortured. His arms and feet were fastened by ropes to pulleys, and stretched until his body appeared nearly eight feet long, and the blood streamed from his sides. “O most wretched man,” he said to his judge, “you know well that at the day of judgment the crucified God Whom you blaspheme will send you and the tyrant whom you serve to hell.” Julian trembled at this awful prophecy, but he had the Saint despatched quickly by the sword, and in a little while the judge himself was arraigned before the judgment-seat of God. Reflection.--Those who do not go down to hell in spirit are very likely to go there in reality. Take care to meditate upon the four last things, and to live in holy fear. You will learn to love God better by thinking how he punishes those who do not love Him. October 24.--ST. MAGLOIRE, Bishop. ST. MAGLOIRE was born in Brittany towards the end of the fifth century. When he and his cousin St. Sampson came of an age to choose their way in life, Sampson retired into a monastery, and Magloire returned home, where he lived in the practice of virtue. Amon, Sampson’s father, having been cured by prayer of a dangerous disease, left the world, and with his entire family consecrated himself to God. Magloire was so affected at this that, with his father, mother, and two brothers, he resolved to fly the world, and they gave all their goods to the poor and the Church. Magloire and his father attached themselves to Sampson, and obtained his permission to take the monastic habit in the house over which he presided. When Sampson was consecrated bishop, Magloire accompanied him in his apostolical labors in Armorica, or Brittany, and at his death he succeeded him in the Abbey of Dole and in the episcopal character. After three years he resigned his bishopric, being seventy years old, and retired into a desert on the continent, and some time after into the isle of Jersey, where he founded and governed a monastery of sixty monks. He died about the year 575. Reflection.--”Be mindful of them that have rule over you, who have spoken to you the word of God, whose faith follow, considering the end.” October 25.--STS. CRISPIN and CRISPINIAN, Martyrs. THESE two glorious martyrs came from Rome to preach the Faith in Gaul toward the middle of the third century. Fixing their residence at Soissons, they instructed many in the Faith of Christ, which they preached publicly in the day, and at night they worked at making shoes, though they are said to have been nobly born, and brothers. The infidels listened to their instructions, and were astonished at the example of their lives, especially of their charity, disinterestedness, heavenly piety, and contempt of glory and all earthly things; and the effect was the conversion of many to the Christian faith. The brothers had continued their employment several years when a complaint was lodged against them. The emperor, to gratify their accusers and give way to his savage cruel, gave orders that they should be convened before Biotin’s Varus, the most implacable enemy of the Christians. The martyrs were patient and constant under the most cruel torments, and finished their course by the sword about the year 287. Reflection.--Of how many may it be said that “they labor in vain,” since God is not the end and purpose that inspires the labor? October 26.--ST. EVARISTUS, Pope and Martyr. ST. EVARISTUS succeeded St. Anacletus in the see of Rome, in the reign of Trajan, governed the Church nine years, and died in 112. The institution of cardinal priests is by some ascribed to him, because he first divided Rome into several titles or parishes, assigning a priest to each; he also appointed seven deacons to attend the bishop. He conferred holy orders thrice in the month of December, when that ceremony was most usually performed, for holy orders were always conferred in seasons appointed for fasting and prayer. St. Evaristus was buried near St. Peter’s tomb on the Vatican. Reflection.--The disciples of the apostles, by assiduous meditation on heavenly things, were so swallowed up in the life to come, that they seemed no longer inhabitants of this world. If Christians esteem and set their hearts on earthly goods, and lose sight of eternity in the course of their actions, they are no longer animated by the spirit of the primitive Saints, and are become children of this world, slaves to its vanities, and to their own irregular passions. If we do not correct this disorder of our hearts, and conform our interior to the spirit of Christ, we cannot be entitled to His promises. October 27.--ST. FRUMENTIUS, Bishop. ST. FRUMENTIUS was yet a child when his uncle, Meropins of Tyre, took him and his brother Edesius on a voyage to Ethiopia. In the course of their voyage the vessel touched at a certain port, and the barbarians of that country put the crew and all the passengers to the sword, except the two children. They were carried to the king, at Axuma, who, charmed with the wit and sprightliness of the two boys, took special care of their education; and, not long after made Edesius his cup-bearer, and Frumentius, who was the elder, his treasurer and secretary of state; on his death-bed he thanked them for their services, and in recompense gave them their liberty. After his death the queen begged them to remain at court, and assist her in the government of the state until the young king came of age. Edesius went back to Tyre, but St. Athanasius ordained Frumentius Bishop of the Ethiopians, and vested with this sacred character he gained great numbers to the Faith, and continued to feed and defend his flock until it pleased the Supreme Pastor to recompense his fidelity and labors. Reflection.--”The soul that journeys in the light and the truths of the Faith is safe against all error.” October 28.--STS. SIMON and JUDE. SIMON was a simple Galilean, called by Our Lord to be one of the pillars of His Church. Zelotes, “the zealot,” was the surname which he bore among the disciples. Armed with this zeal he went forth to the combat against unbelief and sin, and made conquest of many souls for His divine Lord. The apostle Jude, whom the Church commemorates on the same day, was a brother of St. James the Less. They were called “brethren of the Lord,” on account of their relationship to His Blessed Mother. St. Jude preached first in Mesopotamia, as St. Simon did in Egypt; and finally they both met in Persia, where they won their crown together. Reflection.--Zeal is an ardent love which makes a man fearless in defence of God’s honor, and earnest at all costs to make known the truth. If we would be children of the Saints, we must be zealous for the Faith. October 29.--ST. NARCISSUS, Bishop. ST. NARCISSUS was consecrated Bishop of Jerusalem about the year 180. He was already an old man, and God attested his merits by many miracles, which were long held in memory by the Christians of Jerusalem. One Holy Saturday in the church the faithful were in great trouble, because no oil could be found for the lamps which were used in the Paschal feast. St. Narcissus bade them draw water from a neighboring well, and, praying over it, told them to put it in the lamps. It was changed into oil, and long after some of this oil was preserved at Jerusalem in memory of the miracle. But the very virtue of the Saint made him enemies, and three wretched men charged him with an atrocious crime. They confirmed their testimony by horrible imprecations: the first prayed that he might perish by fire, the second that he might be wasted by leprosy, the third that he might be struck blind, if they charged their bishop falsely. The holy bishop had long desired a life of solitude, and he withdrew secretly into the desert, leaving the Church in peace. But God spoke for His servant, and the bishop’s accusers suffered the penalties they had invoked. Then Narcissus returned to Jerusalem and resumed his office. He died in extreme old age, bishop to the last. Reflection.--God never fails those who trust in Him; He guides them through darkness and through trials secretly and surely to their end, and in the evening time there is light. October 30.--ST. MARCELLUS, THE CENTURION, Martyr. THE birthday of the Emperor Maximian Herculeus, in the year 298, was celebrated with extraordinary feasting and solemnity. Marcellus, a Christian centurion or captain in the legion of Trajan, then posted in Spain, not to defile himself with taking part in those impious abominations, left his company, declaring aloud that he was a soldier of Jesus Christ, the eternal King. He was at once committed to prison. When the festival was over, Marcellus was brought before a judge, and, having declared his faith, was sent under a strong guard to Aurelian Agricolaus, vicar to the prefect of the praetorium, who passed sentence of death upon him. St. Marcellus was forthwith led to execution, and beheaded on the 30th of October. Cassian, the secretary or notary of the court, refused to write the sentence pronounced against the martyr, because it was unjust. He was immediately hurried to prison, and was beheaded, about a month after, on the 3d of December. Reflection.--”We are ready to die rather than to transgress the laws of God!” exclaimed one of the Machabees. This sentiment should ever be that of a Christian in presence of temptation. October 31.--ST. QUINTIN, Martyr. ST. QUINTIN was a Roman, descended from a senatorial family. Full of zeal for the kingdom of Jesus Christ, he left his country, and, attended by St. Lucian of Beauvais, made his way to Gaul. They preached the Faith together in that country till they reached Amiens in Picardy, where they parted. Lucian went to Beauvais, and, having sown the seeds of divine faith in the hearts of many, received the crown of martyrdom in that city. St. Quintin stayed at Amiens, endeavoring by his prayers and labors to make that country a portion of Our Lord’s inheritance. He was seized, thrown into prison, and loaded with chains. Finding the holy preacher proof against promises and threats, the magistrate condemned him to the most barbarous torture. His body was then pierced with two iron wires from the neck to the thighs, and iron nails were thrust under his nails, and in his flesh in many places, particularly into his skull; and, lastly, his head was cut off. His death happened on the 31st of October, 287. Reflection.--Let us bear in mind that the ills of this life are not worthy to be compared to the glory “God has reserved for those who love Him.” November 1.--ALL-SAINTS. THE Church pays, day by day, a special veneration to some one of the holy men and women who have helped to establish it by their blood, develop it by their labors, or edify it by their virtues. But, in addition to those whom the Church honors by special designation, or has inscribed in her calendar, how many martyrs are there whose names are not recorded! How many humble virgins and holy penitents! How many just and holy anchorites or young children snatched away in their innocence! How many Christians who have died in grace, whose merits are known only to God, and who are themselves known only in heaven! Now should we forget those who remember us in their intercessions? Besides, are they not our brethren, our ancestors, friends, and fellow-Christians, with whom we have lived in daily companionship--in other words, our own family? Yea, it is one family; and our place is marked out in this home of eternal light and eternal love. Reflection.--Let us have a solicitude to render ourselves worthy of “that chaste generation, so beautiful amid the glory where it dwells.” November 2.--ALL-SOULS. THE Church teaches us that the souls of the just who have left this world soiled with the stain of venial sin remain for a time in a place of expiation, where they suffer such punishment as may be due to their offences. It is a matter of faith that these suffering souls are relieved by the intercession of the Saints in heaven and by the prayers of the faithful upon earth. To pray for the dead is, then, both an act of charity and of piety. We read in Holy Scripture: “It is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins.” And when Our Lord inspired St. Odilo, Abbot of Cluny, towards the close of the tenth century, to establish in his Order a general commemoration of all the faithful departed, it was soon adopted by the whole Western Church, and has been continued unceasingly to our day. Let us, then, ever bear in mind the dead and offer up our prayers for them. By showing this mercy to the suffering souls in purgatory, we shall be particularly entitled to be treated with mercy at our departure from this world, and to share more abundantly in the general suffrages of the Church, continually offered for all who have slept in Christ. November 2.--ST. MALACHI, Bishop. DURING his childhood Malachi would often separate himself from his companions to converse in prayer with God. At the age of twenty-five he was ordained priest; his devotion and zeal led to his being consecrated Bishop of Connor, and shortly afterwards he was made Archbishop of his native city, Armagh. This see having by a longstanding abuse been held as an heirloom in one family, it required on the part of the Saint no little tact and firmness to allay the dissensions caused by his election. One day, while St. Malachi was burying the dead, he was laughed at by his sister. When she died, he said many Masses for her. Some time afterwards, in a vision, he saw her, dressed in mourning, standing in a churchyard, and saying that she had not tasted food for thirty days. Remembering that it was just thirty days since he last offered the Adorable Sacrifice for her, he began again to do so, and was rewarded by other visions, in the last of which he saw her within the church, clothed in white, near the altar, and surrounded by bright spirits. He twice made a pilgrimage to Rome, to consult Christ’s Vicar, the first time returning as Papal Legate, amid the joy of his people, with the pall for Armagh; but the second time bound for a happier home. He was taken ill at Clairvaux. He died, aged fifty-four, where he fain would have lived, in St. Bernard’s monastery, on the 2d of November, 1148. Reflection.--Our Lord said to St. Gertrude, “God accepts every soul you set free, as if you had redeemed him from captivity, and will reward you in a fitting time for the benefit you have conferred.” November 3.--ST. HUBERT, Bishop. ST. HUBERT’S early life is so obscured by popular traditions that we have no authentic account of his actions. He is said to have been passionately addicted to hunting, and was entirely taken up in worldly pursuits. One thing is certain: that he is the patron saint of hunters. Moved by divine grace, he resolved to renounce the world. His extraordinary fervor, and the great progress which he made in virtue and learning, strongly recommended him to St. Lambert, Bishop of Maestricht, who ordained him priest, and entrusted him with the principal share in the administration of his diocese. That holy prelate being barbarously murdered in 681, St. Hubert was unanimously chosen his successor. With incredible zeal he penetrated into the most remote and barbarous places of Ardenne, and abolished the worship of idols; and, as he performed the office of the apostles, God bestowed on him a like gift of miracles. He died on the 30th of May, in 727, reciting to his last breath the Creed and the Lord’s Prayer. Reflection.--What the Wise Man has said of Wisdom may be applied to Grace: “That it ordereth the means with gentleness, and attaineth its end with power.” November 4.--ST. CHARLES BORROMEO. ABOUT fifty years after the Protestant heresy had broken out, Our Lord raised up a mere youth to renew the face of His Church. In 1560 Charles Borromeo, then twenty-two years of age, was created cardinal, and by the side of his uncle, Pius IV., administered the affairs of the Holy See. His first care was the direction of the Council of Trent. He urged forward its sessions, guided its deliberations by continual correspondence from Rome, and by his firmness carried it to its conclusion. Then he entered upon a still more arduous work--the execution of its decrees. As Archbishop of Milan he enforced their observance, and thoroughly restored the discipline of his see. He founded schools for the poor, seminaries for the clerics, and by his community of Oblates trained his priests to perfection. Inflexible in maintaining discipline, to his flock he was a most tender father. He would sit by the roadside to teach a poor man the Pater and Ave, and would enter hovels the stench of which drove his attendants from the door. During the great plague he refused to leave Milan, and was ever by the sick and dying, and sold even his bed for their support. So he lived and so he died, a faithful image of the Good Shepherd, up to his last hour giving his life for his sheep. Reflection.--Daily resolutions to fulfil, at all cost, every duty demanded by God, is the lesson taught by St. Charles; and a lesson we must learn if we would overcome our corrupt nature and reform our lives. November 5.--ST. BERTILLE, Abbess. ST. BERTILLE was born of one of the most illustrious families in the territory of Soissons, in the reign of Dagobert I. As she grew up she learned perfectly to despise the world, and earnestly desired to renounce it. Not daring to tell this to her parents, she first consulted St. Ouen, by whom she was encouraged in her resolution. The Saint’s parents were then made acquainted with her desire, which God inclined them not to oppose. They conducted her to Jouarre, a great monastery in Brie, four leagues from Meaux, where she was received with great joy and trained up in the strictest practice of monastic perfection. By her perfect submission to all her sisters she seemed every one’s servant, and acquitted herself with such great charity and edification that she was chosen prioress to assist the abbess in her administration. About the year 646 she was appointed first abbess of the abbey of Chelles, which she governed for forty-six years with equal vigor and discretion, until she closed her penitential life in 692. Reflection.--It is written that the Saints raise them selves heavenward, going from virtue to virtue, as by steps November 6.--ST. LEONARD. LEONARD, one of the chief personages of the court of Clovis, and for whom this monarch had stood as sponsor in baptism, was so moved by the discourse and example of St. Remigius that he relinquished the world in order to lead a more perfect life. The Bishop of Rheims having trained Leonard to virtue, he became the apostle of such of the Franks as still remained pagans; but fearing that he might be summoned to the court by his reputation for sanctity, he withdrew secretly to the monastery of Micy, near Orleans, and afterwards to the solitude of Noblac near Limoges. His charity not allowing him to remain inactive while there was so much good to be done, he undertook the work of comforting prisoners, making them understand that the captivity of sin was more terrible than any mere bodily constraint. He won over a great many of these unfortunate persons, which gained for him many disciples, in whose behalf he founded a new monastery. St. Leonard died about the year 550. Reflection.--”The wicked shall be taken with his own iniquities, and shall be held by the cords of his own sin.” November 7.--ST. WILLIBRORD. WILLIBRORD was born in Northumberland in 657, and when twenty years old went to Ireland, to study under St. Egbert; twelve years later, he felt drawn to convert the great pagan tribes who were hanging as a cloud over the north of Europe. He went to Rome for the blessing of the Pope, and with eleven companions reached Utrecht. The pagans would not accept the religion of their enemies, the Franks; and St. Willibrord could only labor in the track of Pepin Heristal, converting the tribes whom Pepin subjugated. At Pepin’s urgent request, he again went to Rome, and was consecrated Archbishop of Utrecht. He was stately and comely in person, frank and joyous, wise in counsel, pleasant in speech, in every work of God strenuous and unwearied. Multitudes were converted, and the Saint built churches and appointed priests all over the land. He wrought many miracles, and had the gift of prophecy. He labored unceasingly as bishop for more than fifty years, beloved alike of God and of man, and died full of days and good works. Reflection.--True zeal has its root in the love of God. It can never be idle; it must labor, toil, be doing great things. It glows as fire; it is, like fire, insatiable. See if this spirit be in you! November 8.--THE FEAST OF THE HOLY RELICS. PROTESTANTISM pretends to regard the veneration which the Church pays to the relics of the Saints as a sin, and contends that this pious practice is a remnant of paganism. The Council of Trent, on the contrary, has decided that the bodies of the martyrs and other Saints, who were living members of Jesus Christ and temples of the Holy Ghost, are to be honored by the faithful. This decision was based upon the established usage of the earliest days of the Church, and upon the teaching of the Fathers and of the Councils. The Council orders, however, that all abuse of this devotion is to be avoided carefully, and forbids any relics to be exposed which have not been approved by the bishops, and these prelates are recommended to instruct the people faithfully in the teaching of the Church on this subject. While we regret, then, the errors of the impious and of heretics, let us profit by the advantages which we gain by hearkening to the voice of the Church. November 9.--ST. THEODORE TYRO, Martyr. ST. THEODORE was born of a noble family in the East, and enrolled while still a youth in the imperial army. Early in 306 the emperor put forth an edict requiring all Christians to offer sacrifice, and Theodore had just joined the legion and marched with them into Pontus, when he had to choose between apostasy and death. He declared before his commander that he was ready to be cut in pieces and offer up every limb to his Creator, Who had died for him. Wishing to conquer him by gentleness, the commander left him in peace for a while, that he might think over his resolution; but Theodore used his freedom to set on fire the great temple of Isis, and made no secret of this act. Still his judge entreated him to renounce his faith and save his life; but Theodore made the sign of the cross, and answered: “As long as I have breath, I will confess the name of Christ.” After cruel torture, the judge bade him think of the shame to which Christ had brought him. “This shame,” Theodore answered, “I and all who invoke His name take with joy.” He was condemned to be burnt. As the flame rose, a Christian saw his soul rise like a flash of light to heaven. Reflection.--We are enlisted in the same service as the holy martyrs, and we too must have courage and constancy if we would be perfect soldiers of Jesus Christ. Let us take our part with them in confessing the faith of Christ and despising the world, that we may have our part with them in Christ’s kingdom. November 10.--ST. ANDREW AVELLINO. AFTER a holy youth, Lancelot Avellino was ordained priest at Naples. At the age of thirty-six he entered the Theatine Order, and took the name of Andrew, to show his love for the cross. For fifty years he was afflicted with a most painful rupture; yet he would never use a carriage. Once when he was carrying the Viaticum, and a storm had extinguished the lamps, a heavenly light encircled him, guided his steps, and sheltered him from the rain. But as a rule, his sufferings were unrelieved by God or man. On the last day of his life, St. Andrew rose to say Mass. He was in his eighty-ninth year, and so weak that he could scarcely reach the altar. He began the “Judica,” and fell forward in a fit of apoplexy. Laid on a straw mattress, his whole frame was convulsed in agony, while the fiend in visible form advanced to seize his soul. Then, as his brethren prayed and wept, the voice of Mary was heard, bidding the Saint’s guardian angel send the tempter back to hell. A calm and holy smile settled on the features of the dying Saint, as, with a grateful salutation to the image of Mary, he breathed forth his soul to God. His death happened on the 10th of November, 1608. Reflection.--St. Andrew, who suffered so terrible an agony, is the special patron against sudden death. Ask him to be with you in your last hour, and to bring Jesus and Mary to your aid. November 11.--ST. MARTIN OF TOURS. WHEN a mere boy, Martin became a Christian catechumen against his parents’ wish; and at fifteen was therefore seized by his father, a pagan soldier, and enrolled in the army. One winter’s day, when stationed at Amiens, he met a beggar almost naked and frozen with cold. Having no money, he cut his cloak in two and gave him the half. That night he saw Our Lord clothed in the half cloak, and heard Him say to the angels: “Martin, yet a catechumen, hath wrapped Me in this garment.” This decided him to be baptized, and shortly after he left the army. He succeeded in converting his mother; but, being driven from his home by the Arians, he took shelter with St. Hilary, and founded near Poitiers the first monastery in France. In 372 he was made Bishop of Tours. His flock, though Christian in name, was still pagan in heart. Unarmed and attended only by his monks, Martin destroyed the heathen temples and groves, and completed by his preaching and miracles the conversion of the people, whence he is known as the Apostle of Gaul. His last eleven years were spent in humble toil to atone for his faults, while God made manifest by miracles the purity of his soul. Reflection.--It was for Christ crucified that St. Martin worked. Are you working for the same Lord? November 12.--ST. MARTIN, Pope. ST. MARTIN, who occupied the Roman See from A. D. 649 to 655, incurred the enmity of the Byzantine court by his energetic opposition to the Monothelite heresy, and the Exarch Olympius went so far as to endeavor to procure the assassination of the Pope as he stood at the altar in the Church of St. Mary Major; but the would-be murderer was miraculously struck blind, and his master refused to have any further hand in the matter. His successor had no such scruples: he seized Martin, and conveyed him on board a vessel bound for Constantinople. After a three months’ voyage the island of Naxos was reached, where the Pope was kept in confinement for a year, and finally in 654 brought in chains to the imperial city. He was then banished to the Tannic Chersonese, where he lingered on for four months, in sickness and starvation, till God released him by death on the 12th of November, 655. Reflection.--There have been times in the history of Christianity when its truths have seemed on the verge of extinction. But there is one Church whose testimony has never failed: it is the Church of St. Peter, the Apostolic and Roman See. Put your whole trust in her teaching! November 13.--ST. STANISLAS KOSTKA. ST. STANISLAS was of a noble Polish family. At the age of fourteen he went with his elder brother Paul to the Jesuits’ College at Vienna; and though Stanislas was ever bright and sweet-tempered, his austerities were felt as a reproach by Paul, who shamefully maltreated him. This ill-usage and his own penances brought on a dangerous illness, and, being in a Lutheran house, he was unable to send for a priest. He now remembered to have read of his patroness, St. Barbara, that she never permitted her clients to die without the Holy Viaticum: he devoutly appealed to her aid, and she appeared with two angels, who gave him the Sacred Host. He was cured of this illness by Our Lady herself, and was bidden by her to enter the Society of Jesus. To avoid his father’s opposition, he was obliged to fly from Vienna; and, having proved his constancy by cheerfully performing the most menial offices, he was admitted to the novitiate at Rome. There he lived for ten short months marked by a rare piety, obedience, and devotion to his institute. He died, as he had prayed to die, on the feast of the Assumption, 1568, at the age of seventeen. Reflection.--St. Stanislas teaches us in every trial of life, and above all in the hour of death, to have recourse to our patron Saint, and to trust without fear to his aid. November 14.--ST. DIDACUS. ST. DIDACUS was born in Spain, in the middle of the fifteenth century. He was remarkable from childhood for his love of solitude, and when a youth retired and led a hermit life, occupying himself with weaving mats, like the fathers of the desert. Aiming at still higher perfection, he entered the Order of St. Francis. His want of learning and his humility would not allow him to aspire to the priesthood, and he remained a lay-brother till his death, perfect in his close observance of the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, and mortifying his will and his senses in every way that he could contrive. At one time he was sent by his superiors to the Canary Islands, whither he went joyfully, hoping to win the crown of martyrdom. Such, however, was not God’s will, and after making many conversions by his example and holy words, he was recalled to Spain. There, after a long and painful illness, he finished his days, embracing the cross, which he had so dearly loved through his life. He died with the words of the hymn “Dulce lignum” on his lips. Reflection.--If God be in your heart, He will be also on your lips; for Christ has said, “From the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” November 14.--ST. LAURENCE O’TOOLE, Archbishop of Dublin. ST. LAURENCE, it appears, was born about the year 1125. When only ten years old, his father delivered him up as a hostage to Dermod Mac Murchad, King of Leinster, who treated the child with great inhumanity, until his father obliged the tyrant to put him in the hands of the Bishop of Glendalough, in the county of Wicklow. The holy youth, by his fidelity in corresponding with the divine grace, grew to be a model of virtues. On the death of the bishop, who was also abbot of the monastery, St. Laurence was chosen abbot in 1150, though but twenty-five years old, and governed his numerous community with wonderful virtue and prudence. In 1161 St. Laurence was unanimously chosen to fill the new metropolitan See of Dublin. About the year 1171 he was obliged, for the affairs of his diocese, to go over to England to see the king, Henry II., who was then at Canterbury. The Saint was received by the Benedictine monks of Christ Church with the greatest honor and respect. On the following day, as the holy archbishop was advancing to the altar to officiate, a maniac, who had heard much of his sanctity, and who was led on by the idea of making so holy a man another St. Thomas, struck him a violent blow on the head. All present concluded that he was mortally wounded; but the Saint coming to himself, asked for some water, blessed it, and having his wound washed with it, the blood was immediately stanched, and the archbishop celebrated Mass. In 1175 Henry II. of England became offended with Roderic, the monarch of Ireland, and St. Laurence undertook another journey to England to negotiate a reconciliation between them. Henry was so moved by his piety, charity, and prudence that he granted him everything he asked, and left the whole negotiation to his discretion. Our Saint ended his journey here below on the 14th of November, 1180, and was buried in the church of the abbey at Eu, on the confines of Normandy. November 15.--ST. GERTRUDE, Abbess. GERTRUDE was born in the year 1263, of a noble Saxon family, and placed at the age of five for education in the Benedictine abbey of Rodelsdorf. Her strong mind was carefully cultivated, and she wrote Latin with unusual elegance and force; above all, she was perfect in humility and mortification, in obedience, and in all monastic observances. Her life was crowded with wonders. She has in obedience recorded some of her visions, in which she traces in words of indescribable beauty the intimate converse of her soul with Jesus and Mary. She was gentle to all, most gentle to sinners; filled with devotion to the Saints of God, to the souls in purgatory, and above all to the Passion of Our Lord and to His Sacred Heart. She ruled her abbey with perfect wisdom and love for forty years. Her life was one of great and almost continual suffering, and her longing to be with Jesus was not granted till 1334, when she had reached her seventy-second year. Reflection.--No preparation for death can be better than to offer and resign ourselves anew to the Divine Will--humbly, lovingly, with unbounded confidence in the infinite mercy and goodness of God. November 16.--ST. EDMUND OF CANTERBURY. ST. EDMUND left his home at Abingdon, a boy of twelve years old, to study at Oxford, and there protected himself against many grievous temptations by a vow of chastity, and by espousing himself to Mary for life. He was soon called to active public life, and as treasurer of the diocese of Salisbury showed such charity to the poor that the dean said he was rather the treasure than the treasurer of their church. In 1234 he was raised to the see of Canterbury, where he fearlessly defended the rights of Church and State against the avarice and greed of Henry III.; but finding himself unable to force that monarch to relinquish the livings which he kept vacant for the benefit of the royal coffers, Edmund retired into exile sooner than appear to connive at so foul a wrong. After two years spent in solitude and prayer, he went to his reward, and the miracles wrought at his tomb at Pontigny were so numerous that he was canonized in 1246, within four years of his death. Reflection.--The Saints were tempted even more than ourselves; but they stood where we fall, because they trusted to Mary, and not to themselves. November 17.--ST. GREGORY THAUMATURGUS. ST. GREGORY was born in Pontus, of heathen parents. In Palestine, about the year 231, he studied philosophy under the great Origen, who led him from the pursuit of human wisdom to Christ, Who is the Wisdom of God. Not long after, he was made Bishop of Neo Caesarea in his own country. As he lay awake one night an old man entered his room, and pointed to a lady of superhuman beauty, and radiant with heavenly light. This old man was St. John the Evangelist, and the lady told him to give Gregory the instruction he desired. Thereupon he gave St. Gregory a creed which contained in all its fulness the doctrine of the Trinity. St. Gregory set it in writing, directed all his preaching by it, and handed it down to his successors. Strong in this faith, he subdued demons; he foretold the future. At his word a rock moved from its place, a river changed its course, a lake was dried up. He converted his diocese, and strengthened those under persecution. He struck down a rising heresy; and, when he was gone, this creed preserved his flock from the Arian pest. St. Gregory died in the year 270. Reflection.--Devotion to the blessed Mother of God is the sure protection of faith in her Divine Son. Every time that we invoke her, we renew our faith in the Incarnate God; we reverse the sin and unbelief of our first parents; we take our part with her who was blessed because she believed. November 18.--ST. ODO OF CLUNY. ON Christmas-eve, 877, a noble of Aquitaine implored Our Lady to grant him a son. His prayer was heard; Odo was born, and his grateful father offered him to St. Martin. Odo grew in wisdom and in virtue, and his father longed to see him shine at court. But the attraction of grace was too strong. Odo’s heart was sad and his health failed, until he forsook the world and sought refuge under the shadow of St. Martin at Tours. Later on he took the habit of St. Benedict at Baume, and was compelled to become abbot of the great abbey of Cluny, which was then building. He ruled it with the hand of a master and the winningness of a Saint. The Pope sent for him often to act as peacemaker between contending princes, and it was on one of those missions of mercy that he was taken ill at Rome. At his urgent entreaty he was borne back to Tours, where he died at the feet of “ his own St. Martin,” in 942. Reflection.--”It needs only,” says Father Newman, “for a Catholic to show devotion to any Saint, in order to receive special benefits from his intercession.” November 19.--ST. ELIZABETH OF HUNGARY. ELIZABETH was daughter of a king of Hungary, and niece of St. Hedwige. She was betrothed in infancy to Louis, Landgrave of Thuringia, and brought up in his father’s court. Not content with receiving daily numbers of poor in her palace, and relieving all in distress, she built several hospitals, where she served the sick, dressing the most repulsive sores with her own hands. Once as she was carrying in the folds of her mantle some provisions for the poor, she met her husband returning from the chase. Astonished to see her bending under the weight of her burden, he opened the mantle which she kept pressed against her, and found in it nothing but beautiful red and white roses, although it was not the season for flowers. Bidding her pursue her way, he took one of the marvellous roses, and kept it all his life. On her husband’s death she was cruelly driven from her palace, and forced to wander through the streets with her little children, a prey to hunger and cold; but she welcomed all her sufferings, and continued to be the mother of the poor, converting many by her holy life. She died in 1231, at the age of twenty-four. Reflection.--This young and delicate princess made herself the servant and nurse of the poor. Let her example teach us to disregard the opinions of the world and to overcome our natural repugnances, in order to serve Christ in the persons of His poor. November 20.--ST. FELIX OF VALOIS. ST. FELIX was son of the Count of Valois. His mother throughout his youth did all she could to cultivate in him a spirit of charity. The unjust divorce between his parents matured a long-formed resolution of leaving the world; and, confiding his mother to her pious brother, Thibault, Count of Champagne, he took the Cistercian habit at Clairvaux. His rare virtues drew on him such admiration that, with St. Bernard’s consent, he fled to Italy, where he led an austere life with an aged hermit. At this time he was ordained priest, and his old counsellor having died, he returned to France, and for many years lived as a solitary at Cerfroid. Here God inspired him with the desire of founding an Order for the redemption of Christian captives, and moved St. John of Matha, then a youth, to conceive a similar wish. Together they drew up the rules of the Order of the Holy Trinity. Many disciples gathered round them; and, seeing that the time had come for further action, the two Saints made a pilgrimage to Rome to obtain the confirmation of the Order from Innocent III. Their prayer was granted, and the last fifteen , years of Felix’s long life were spent in organizing and developing his rapidly increasing foundations. He died in 1213. Reflection.--”Think how much,” says St. John Chrysostom, “and how often thy mouth has sinned, and thou wilt devote thyself entirely to the conversion of sinners. For by this one means thou wilt blot out all thy sins, in that thy mouth will become the mouth of God.” November 21.--THE PRESENTATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY. (Source: Butlers Lives Of The Saints 1894 A.D.)
RELIGIOUS parents never fail by devout prayer to consecrate their children to the divine service and love, both before and after their birth. Some amongst the Jews, not content with this general consecration of their children, offered them to God in their infancy, by the hands of the priests in the Temple, to be lodged in apartments belonging to the Temple, and brought up in attending the priests and Levites in the sacred ministry. It is an ancient tradition that the Blessed Virgin Mary was thus solemnly offered to God in the Temple in her infancy. This festival of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin the Church celebrates this day. The tender soul of Mary was then adorned with the most precious graces, an object of astonishment and praise to the angels, and of the highest complacence to the adorable Trinity; the Father looking upon her as His beloved daughter, the Son as one chosen and prepared to become His mother, and the Holy Ghost as His darling spouse. Mary was the first who set up the standard of virginity; and, by consecrating it by a perpetual vow to Our Lord, she opened the way to all virgins who have since followed her example. Reflection.--Mary’s first presentation to God was an offering most acceptable in His sight. Let our consecration of ourselves to God be made under her patronage, and assisted by her powerful intercession and the union of her merits. November 22.--ST. CECILIA, Virgin, Martyr. IN the evening of her wedding-day, with the music of the marriage-hymn ringing in her ears, Cecilia, a rich, beautiful, and noble Roman maiden, renewed the vow by which she had consecrated her virginity to God. “Pure be my heart and undefiled my flesh; for I have a spouse you know not of--an angel of my Lord.” The heart of her young husband Valerian was moved by her words; he ‘received Baptism, and within a few days he and his brother Tiburtius, who had been brought by him to a knowledge of the Faith, sealed their confession with their blood. Cecilia only remained. “Do you not know,” was her answer to the threats of the prefect, “that I am the bride of my Lord Jesus Christ?” The death appointed for her was suffocation, and she remained a day and a night in a hot-air bath, heated seven times its wont. But “the flames had no power over her body, neither was a hair of her head singed.” The lictor sent to dispatch her struck with trembling hand the three blows which the law allowed, and left her still alive. For two days and nights Cecilia lay with her head, half severed on the pavement of her bath, fully sensible, and joyfully awaiting her crown; on the third the agony was over, and in 177 the virgin Saint gave back her pure spirit to Christ. Reflection.--St. Cecilia teaches us to rejoice in every sacrifice as a pledge of our love of Christ, and to welcome sufferings and death as hastening our union with Him. November 23.--ST. CLEMENT OF ROME ST. CLEMENT is said to have been a convert of noble birth, and to have been consecrated bishop by St. Peter himself. With the words of the apostles still ringing in his ears, he began to rule the Church of God; and thus he was among the first, as he was among the most illustrious, in the long line of those who have held the place and power of Peter. He lived at the same time and in the same city with Domitian, the persecutor of the Church; and besides external foes he had to contend with schism and rebellion from within. The Corinthian Church was torn by intestine strife, and its members set the authority of their clergy at defiance. It was then that St. Clement interfered in the plenitude of his apostolic authority, and sent his famous epistle to the Corinthians. He urged the duties of charity, and above all of submission to the clergy. He did not speak in vain; peace and order were restored. St. Clement had done his work on earth, and shortly after sealed with his blood the Faith which he had learned from Peter and taught to the nations. Reflection.--God rewards a simple spirit of submission to the clergy, for the honor done to them is done to Him. Your virtue is unreal, your faith in danger, if you fail in this. November 24.--ST. JOHN OF THE CROSS. THE father of St. John was discarded by his kindred for marrying a poor orphan, and the Saint, thus born and nurtured in poverty, chose it also for his portion. Unable to learn a trade, he became the servant of the poor in the hospital of Medina, while still pursuing his sacred studies. In 1563, being then twenty-one, he humbly offered himself as a lay-brother to the Carmelite friars, who, however, knowing his talents, had him ordained priest. He would now have exchanged to the severe Carthusian Order, had not St. Teresa, with the instinct of a Saint, persuaded him to remain and help her in the reform of his own Order. Thus he became the first prior of the Barefooted Carmelites. His reform, though approved by the general, was rejected by the elder friars, who condemned the Saint as a fugitive and apostate, and cast him into prison, whence he only escaped, after nine months’ suffering, at the risk of his life. Twice again, before his death, he was shamefully persecuted by his brethren, and publicly disgraced. But his complete abandonment by creatures only deepened his interior peace and devout longing for heaven. Reflection.--”Live in the world,” said St. John, “as if God and your soul only were in it; so shall your heart be never made captive by any earthly thing.” November 25.--ST. CATHERINE OF ALEXANDRIA. CATHERINE was a noble virgin of Alexandria. Before her Baptism, it is said, she saw in vision the Blessed Virgin ask her Son to receive her among His servants, but the Divine Infant turned away. After Baptism, Catherine saw the same vision, when Jesus Christ received her with great affection, and espoused her before the court of heaven. When the impious tyrant Maximin II. came to Alexandria, fascinated by the wisdom, beauty and wealth of the Saint, he in vain urged his suit. At last in his rage and disappointment he ordered her to be stripped and scourged. She fled to the Arabian mountains, where the soldiers overtook her, and after many torments put her to death. Her body was laid on Mount Sinai, and a beautiful legend relates that Catherine having prayed that no man might see or touch her body after death, angels bore it to the grave. Reflection.--The constancy displayed by the Saints in their glorious martyrdom cannot be isolated from their previous lives, but is their natural sequence. If we wish to emulate their perseverance, let us first imitate their fidelity to grace. November 26.--ST. PETER OF ALEXANDRIA, Bishop, Martyr. ST. PETER governed the Church of Alexandria during the persecution of Diocletian. The sentence of excommunication that he was the first to pronounce against the schismatics, Melitius and Arius, and which, despite the united efforts of powerful partisans, he strenuously upheld, proves that he possessed as much sagacity as zeal and firmness. But his most constant care was employed in guarding his flocks from the dangers arising out of persecution. He never ceased repeating to them that, in order not to fear death, it was needful to begin by dying to self, renouncing our will, and detaching ourselves from all things. St. Peter gave an example of such detachment by undergoing martyrdom in the year 311. Reflection.--”How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!” says Our Saviour; because they are bound to earth by the strong ties of their riches. November 27.--ST. MAXIMUS, Bishop. ST. MAXIMUS, abbot of Lerins, in succession to St. Honoratus, was remarkable not only for the spirit of recollection, fervor, and piety familiar to him from very childhood, but still more for the gentleness and kindliness with which he governed the monastery which at that time contained many religious, and was famous for the learning and piety of its brethren. Exhibiting in his own person an example of the most sterling virtues, his exhortations could not fail to prove all-persuasive: loving all his religious, whom it was his delight to consider as one family, he established amongst them that sweet concord, union, and holy emulation for well-doing which render the exercise of authority needless, and makes submission a pleasure. The clergy and people of Frejus, moved by such a shining example, elected Maximus for their bishop, but he took to flight; subsequently he was compelled, however, to accept the see of Riez, where he practised virtue in all gentleness, and died in 460, regretted as the best of fathers. Reflection.--”Masters, do to your servants that which is just and equal, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.” November 28.--ST. JAMES OF LA MARCA OF ANCONA. THE small town of Montbrandon, in the Marca of Ancona, gave birth to this Saint. When young he was sent to the University of Perugia, where his progress in learning soon qualified him to be chosen preceptor to a young gentleman of Florence. Fearing that he might be ingulfed in the whirlpool of world excesses, St. James applied himself to prayer and recollection. When travelling near Assisium he went into the great Church of the Portiuncula to pray, and being animated by the fervor of the holy men who there served God, and by the example of their blessed founder St. Francis, he determined to petition in that very place for the habit of the Order. He began his spiritual war against the devil, the world, and the flesh, with assiduous prayer and extraordinary fasts and watchings. For forty years he never passed a day without taking the discipline. Being chosen Archbishop of Milan, he fled, and could not be prevailed on to accept the office. He wrought several miracles at Venice and at other places, and raised from dangerous sicknesses the Duke of Calabria and the King of Naples. The Saint died in the convent of the Holy Trinity of his Order, near Naples, on the 28th of November, in the year 1476, being ninety years old, seventy of which he had spent in a religious state. November 29.--ST. SATURNINUS, Martyr. SATURNINUS went from Rome, by direction of Pope Fabian, about the year 245, to preach the faith in Gaul. He fixed his episcopal see at Toulouse, and thus became the first Christian bishop of that city. There were but few Christians in the place. However, their number grew fast after the coming of the Saint; and his power was felt by the spirits of evil, who received the worship of the heathen. His power was felt the more because he had to pass daily through the capitol, the high place of the heathen worship, on the way to his own church. One day a great multitude was gathered by an altar, where a bull stood ready for the sacrifice. A man in the crowd pointed out Saturninus, who was passing by, and the people would have forced him to idolatry; but the holy bishop answered: “I know but one God, and to Him I will offer the sacrifice of praise. How can I fear gods who, as you say, are afraid of me?” On this he was fastened to the bull, which was driven down the capitol. The brains of the Saint were scattered on the steps. His mangled body was taken up and buried by two devout women. Reflection.--When beset by the temptations of the devil, let us call upon the Saints, who reign with Christ. They were powerful during their lives against the devil and his angels. They are more powerful now that they have passed from the Church on earth to the Church triumphant. November 30.--ST. ANDREW, Apostle. ST. ANDREW was one of the fishermen of Bethsaida, and brother, perhaps elder brother, of St. Peter, and became a disciple of St. John Baptist. He seemed always eager to bring others into notice; when called himself by Christ on the banks of the Jordan, his first thought was to go in search of his brother, and he said, “We have found the Messias,” and he brought him to Jesus. It was he again who, when Christ wished to feed the five thousand in the desert, pointed out the little lad with the five loaves and fishes. St. Andrew went forth upon his mission to plant the Faith in Scythia and Greece, and at the end of years of toil to win a martyr’s crown. After suffering a cruel scourging at Patrae in Achaia, he was left, bound by cords, to die upon a cross. When St. Andrew first caught sight of the gibbet on which he was to die, he greeted the precious wood with joy. “O good cross! “ he cried, “made beautiful by the limbs of Christ, so long desired, now so happily found! Receive me into thy arms and present me to my Master, that He Who redeemed me through thee may now accept me from thee.” Two whole days the martyr remained hanging on this cross alive, preaching, with outstretched arms from this chair of truth, to all who came near, and entreating them not to hinder his passion. Reflection.--If we would do good to others, we must, like St. Andrew, keep close to the cross. December 1.--ST. ELIGIUS. ELIGIUS, a goldsmith at Paris, was commissioned by King Clotaire to make a throne. With the gold and precious stones given him he made two. Struck by his rare honesty, the king gave him an appointment at court, and demanded an oath of fidelity sworn upon holy relics; but Eligius prayed with tears to be excused, for fear of failing in reverence to the relics of the Saints. On entering the court he fortified himself against its seductions by many austerities and continual ejaculatory prayers. He had a marvellous zeal for the redemption of captives, and for their deliverance would sell his jewels, his food, his clothes, and his very shoes, once by his prayers breaking their chains and opening their prisons. His great delight was in making rich shrines for relics. His striking virtue caused him, a layman and a goldsmith, to be made Bishop of Noyon, and his sanctity in this holy office was remarkable. He possessed the gifts of miracles and prophecy, and died in 665. Reflection.--When God called His Saints to Himself, He might, had He so pleased, have taken their bodies also; but He willed to leave them in our charge, for our help and consolation. Be careful to imitate St. Eligius in making a good use of so great a treasure. December 2.--ST. BIBIANA, Virgin, Martyr. ST. BIBIANA was a native of Rome. Flavian, her father, was apprehended, burned in the face with a hot iron, and banished to Aequapendente, where he died of his wounds a few days after; and her mother, Dafrosa, was some time after beheaded. Bibiana and her sister Demetria, after the death of their parents, were stripped of all they had in the world and suffered much from poverty. Apronianus, Governor of Rome, summoned them to appear before him. Demetria, having made confession of her faith, fell down and expired at the foot of the tribunal, in the presence of the judge. Apronianus gave orders that Bibiana should be put into the hands of a wicked woman named Rufina, who was to bring her to another way of thinking; but Bibiana, making prayer her shield, remained invincible. Apronianus, enraged at the courage and perseverance of a tender virgin, ordered her to be tied to a pillar and whipped with scourges loaded with leaden plummets till she expired. The Saint underwent this punishment cheerfully, and died in the hands of the executioners. Reflection.--Pray for a fidelity and patience like Bibiana’s under all trials, that neither convenience nor any worldly advantage may ever prevail upon you to transgress your duty. December 3.--ST. FRANCIS XAVIER. A YOUNG Spanish gentleman, in the dangerous days of the Reformation, was making a name for himself as a Professor of Philosophy in the University of Paris, and had seemingly no higher aim, when St. Ignatius of Loyola won him to heavenly thoughts. After a brief apostolate amongst his countrymen in Rome he was sent by St. Ignatius to the Indies, where for twelve years he was to wear himself out, bearing the Gospel to Hindostan, to Malacca, and to Japan. Thwarted by the jealousy, covetousness, and carelessness of those who should have helped and encouraged him, neither their opposition nor the difficulties of every sort which he encountered could make him slacken his labors for souls. The vast kingdom of China appealed to his charity, and he was resolved to risk his life to force an entry, when God took him to Himself, and on the 2d of December, 1552, he died, like Moses, in sight of the land of promise. Reflection.--Some are specially called to work for souls; but there is no one who cannot help much in their salvation. Holy example, earnest intercession, the offerings of our actions in their behalf--all this needs only the spirit which animated St. Francis Xavier, the desire to make some return to God. December 4.--ST. BARBARA, Virgin, Martyr. ST. BARBARA was brought up a heathen. A tyrannical father, Dioscorus, had kept her jealously secluded in a lonely tower which he had built for the purpose. Here in her forced solitude, she gave herself to prayer and study, and contrived to receive instruction and Baptism by stealth from a Christian priest. Dioscorus, on discovering his daughter’s conversion, was beside himself with rage. He himself denounced her before the civil tribunal. Barbara was horribly tortured, and at last was beheaded, her own father, merciless to the last, acting as her executioner. God, however, speedily punished her persecutors. While her soul was being borne by angels to Paradise, a flash of lightning struck Dioscorus, and he was hurried before the judgment-seat of God. Reflection.--Pray often against a sudden and unprovided death; and, above all, that you may be strengthened by the Holy Viaticum against the dangers of your last hour. December 5.--ST. SABAS, Abbot. ST. SABAS, one of the most renowned patriarchs of the monks of Palestine, was born in the year 439, near Caesarea. In order to settle a dispute which had arisen between some of his relatives in regard to the administration of his estate, while still young he forsook the world and entered a monastery, wherein he became a model of fervor. When Sabas had been ten years in this monastery, being eighteen years old, he went to Jerusalem to visit the holy places, and attached himself to a monastery then under control of St. Euthymius; but on the death of the holy abbot our Saint sought the wilderness, where he chose his dwelling in a cave on the top of a high mountain, at the bottom of which ran the brook Cedron. After he had lived here five years, several came to him, desiring to serve God under his direction. He was at first unwilling to consent, but finally founded a new monastery of persons all desirous to devote themselves to praise and serve God without interruption. His great sanctity becoming known, he was ordained priest, at the age of fifty-three, by the patriarch of Jerusalem, and made Superior-General of all the anchorites of Palestine. He lived to be ninety-four, and died on the 5th of December, 532. December 6.--ST. NICHOLAS OF BARI. ST. NICHOLAS, the patron Saint of Russia, was born toward the end of the third century. His uncle, the Archbishop of Myra in Lycia, ordained him priest, and appointed him abbot of a monastery; and on the death of the archbishop he was elected to the vacant see. Throughout his life he retained the bright and guileless manners of his early years, and showed himself the special protector of the innocent and the wronged. Nicholas once heard that a person who had fallen into poverty intended to abandon his three daughters to a life of sin. Determined, if possible, to save their innocence, the Saint went out by night, and, taking with him a bag of gold, flung it into the window of the sleeping father and hurried off. He, on awaking, deemed the gift a godsend, and with it dowered his eldest child. The Saint, overjoyed at his success, made like venture for the second daughter; but the third time as he stole away, the father, who was watching, overtook him and kissed his feet, saying: “Nicholas, why dost thou conceal thyself from me? Thou art my helper, and he who has delivered my soul and my daughters’ from hell.” St. Nicholas is usually represented by the side of a vessel, wherein a certain man had concealed the bodies of his three children whom he had killed, but who were restored to life by the Saint. He died in 342. His relics were translated in 1807, to Bari, Italy, and there, after fifteen centuries, “the manna of St. Nicholas” still flows from his bones and heals all kinds of sick. Reflection.--Those who would enter heaven must be as little children, whose greatest glory is their innocence. Now, two things are ours to do: first, to preserve it in ourselves, or regain it by penance; secondly, to love and shield it in others. December 7.--ST. AMBROSE, Bishop. AMBROSE was of a noble family, and was governor of Milan in 374, when a bishop was to be chosen for that great see. As the Arian heretics were many and fierce, he was present to preserve order during the election. Though only a catechumen, it was the will of God that he should himself be chosen by acclamation; and, in spite of his utmost resistance, he was baptized and consecrated. He was unwearied in every duty of a pastor, full of sympathy and charity, gentle and condescending in things indifferent, but inflexible in matters of principle. He showed his fearless zeal in braving the anger of the Empress Justina, by resisting and foiling her impious attempt to give one of the churches of Milan to the Arians, and by rebuking and leading to penance the really great Emperor Theodosius, who in a moment of irritation had punished most cruelly a sedition of the inhabitants of Thessalonica. He was the friend and consoler of St. Monica in all her sorrows, and in 387 he had the joy of admitting to the Church her son, St. Augustine. St. Ambrose died in 397, full of years and of honors, and is revered by the Church of God as one of her greatest doctors. Reflection.--Whence came to St. Ambrose his grandeur of mind, his clearness of insight, his intrepidity in maintaining the faith and discipline of the Church? Whence but from his contempt of the world, from his fearing God alone? December 8.--THE FEAST OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. ON this day, so dear to every Catholic heart, we celebrate, in the first place, the moment in which Almighty God showed Mary, through the distance of ages, to our first parents as the Virgin Mother of the divine Redeemer, the woman destined to crush the head of the serpent. And as by eternal decree she was miraculously exempt from all stain of original sin, and endowed with the richest treasures of grace and sanctity, it is meet that we should honor her glorious prerogatives by this special feast of the Immaculate Conception. We should join in spirit with the blessed in heaven, and rejoice with our dear Mother, not only for her own sake, but for ours, her children, who are partakers of her glory and happiness. Secondly, we are called upon to celebrate that ever-memorable day, the 8th of December, 1854, which raised the Immaculate Conception of Our Blessed Lady from a pious belief to the dignity of a dogma of the Infallible Church, causing universal joy among the faithful. Reflection.--Let us repeat frequently these words applied by the Church to the Blessed Virgin: “Thou art all fair, O Mary, and there is not a spot in thee” (Cant. iv. 7). December 9.--ST. LEOCADIA, Virgin, Martyr. ST. LEOCADIA was a native of Toledo, and was apprehended by an order of Dacian, the cruel governor under Diocletian in 304. Hearing of the martyrdom of St. Eulalia, she prayed that God would not prolong her exile, but unite her speedily with her holy friend in His glory. Her prayer was heard, and she happily expired in prison. Three famous churches in Toledo bear her name, and she is honored as principal patroness of that city. In one of those churches most of the councils of Toledo were held. Her relics were kept in that church with great respect, till, in the incursions of the Moors, they were conveyed to Oviedo, and some years afterward to the abbey of St. Guislain, near Mons in Hainault. They were finally carried back to Toledo with great pomp, and placed in the great church there on the 26th of April, 1589. Reflection.--Were we not blinded by the world and the enchantment of its follies, the near prospect of eternity, the uncertainty of the hour of our death, and the repeated precepts of Christ would produce in us the same fervent dispositions which they did in the primitive Christians. December 10.--ST. EULALIA, Virgin, Martyr. ST. EULALIA was a native of Merida, in Spain. She was but twelve years old when the bloody edicts of Diocletian were issued. Eulalia presented herself before the cruel judge Dacianus, and reproached him for attempting to destroy souls by compelling them to renounce the only true God. The governor commanded her to be seized, and at first tried to win her over by flattery, but failing in this, he had recourse to threats, and caused the most dreadful instruments of torture to be placed before her eyes, saying to her: “All this you shall escape if you will but touch a little salt and frankincense with the tip of your finger.” Provoked at these seducing flatteries, our Saint threw down the idol, and trampled upon the cake which was laid for the sacrifice. At the judge’s order, two executioners tore her tender sides with iron hooks, so as to leave the very bones bare. Next lighted torches were applied to her breasts and sides; under which torment, instead of groans, nothing was heard from her mouth but thanksgivings. The fire at length catching her hair, surrounded her head and face, and the Saint was stifled by the smoke and flame. Reflection.--The apostles rejoiced “that they were accounted worthy to suffer reproach for the name of Jesus.” Do we bear our crosses with the same spirit? December 11.--ST. DAMASUS, Pope. ST. DAMASUS was born at Rome at the beginning of the fourth century. He was archdeacon of the Roman Church in 355, when Pope Liberius was banished to Berda, and followed him into exile, but afterward returned to Rome. On the death of Liberius our Saint was chosen to succeed him. Ursinus, a competitor for the high office, incited a revolt, but the holy Pope took only such action as was becoming to the common father of the faithful. Having freed the Church of this new schism, he turned his attention to the extirpation of Arianism in the West and of Apollinarianism in the East, and for this purpose he convened several councils. He rebuilt the church of St. Laurence, which to this day is known as St. Laurence in Damaso; he made many valuable presents to this church, and settled upon it houses and lands in its vicinity. He likewise drained all the springs of the Vatican, which ran over the bodies that were buried there, and decorated the sepulchres of a great number of martyrs in the cemeteries, and adorned them with epitaphs in verse. Having sat eighteen years and two months, he died on the 10th of December, in 384, being near fourscore years of age. December 12.--ST. VALERY, Abbot. THIS Saint was born at Auvergne, in the sixth century, and in his childhood kept his father’s sheep. He was yet young when he took the monastic habit in the neighboring monastery of St. Antony. Seeking the most perfect means of advancing in the paths of all virtues, he passed from this house to the more austere monastery of St. Germanus of Auxerre, and finally to that of Luxeuil, where he spent many years. He travelled into Neustria, where he converted many infidels, and assembled certain fervent disciples, and laid the foundation of a monastery. Saint Valery went to receive the recompense of his happy perseverance on the 12th of December in 622. December 12.--ST. FINIAN, Bishop. ST. FINIAN was a native of Leinster, was instructed in the elements of Christian virtue by the disciples of St. Patrick, and passed over into Wales; but about the year 520 he returned into Ireland. To propagate the work of God, our Saint established several monasteries and schools. St. Finian was chosen and consecrated Bishop of Clonard. In the love of his flock and his zeal for their salvation he was infirm with the infirm, and wept with those that wept. He healed the souls, and often also the bodies, of those that applied to him. He departed to Our Lord on the 12th of December in 552. December 13.--ST. LUCY, Virgin, Martyr. THE mother of St. Lucy suffered four years from an issue of blood, and the help of man failed. St. Lucy reminded her mother that a woman in the Gospel had been healed of the same disorder. “St. Agatha,” she said, “stands ever in the sight of Him for Whom she died. Only touch her sepulchre with faith, and you will be healed.” They spent the night praying by the tomb, till, overcome by weariness, both fell asleep. St. Agatha appeared in vision to St. Lucy, and calling her sister, foretold her mother’s recovery and her own martyrdom. That instant the cure was affected; and in her gratitude the mother allowed her daughter to distribute her wealth among the poor, and consecrate her virginity to Christ. A young man to whom she had been promised in marriage accused her as a Christian to the heathen; but Our Lord, by a special miracle, saved from outrage this virgin whom He had chosen for His own. The fire kindled around her did her no hurt. Then the sword was plunged into her heart, and the promise made at the tomb of St. Agatha was fulfilled. Reflection.--The Saints had to bear sufferings and temptations greater far than yours. How did they overcome them? By the love of Christ. Nourish this pure love by meditating on the mysteries of Christ’s life; and, above all, by devotion to the Holy Eucharist, which is the antidote against sin and the pledge of eternal life. December 14.--ST. NICASIUS, Archbishop, and his Companions, Martyrs. IN the fifth century an army of barbarians from Germany ravaging part of Gaul, plundered the city of Rheims. Nicasius, the holy bishop, had foretold this calamity to his flock. When he saw the enemy at the gates and in the streets, forgetting himself, and solicitous only for his spiritual children, he went from door to door encouraging all to patience and constancy, and awaking in every breast the most heroic sentiments of piety and religion. In endeavoring to save the lives of his flock he exposed himself to the swords of the infidels, who, after a thousand insults and indignities, cut off his head. Florens, his deacon, and Jocond, his lector, were massacred by his side. His sister Eutropia, a virtuous virgin, fearing she might be reserved for a fate worse than death, boldly cried out to the infidels that it was her unalterable resolution rather to sacrifice her life than her faith or her integrity and virtue. Upon which they despatched her with their cutlasses. Reflection.--Bear patiently and sweetly bodily sufferings, and prepare for the day of trial by the courageous endurance of the daily crosses incident to your state. December 15.--ST. MESMIN. ST. MESMIN was a native of Verdun. The inhabitants of that place having proved disloyal to King Clovis, an uncle of our Saint’s, a priest named Euspice, brought about a reconciliation between the monarch and his subjects. Clovis, appreciating the virtues of Euspice, persuaded him to take up his residence at court, and the servant of God took St. Mesmin along with him. While journeying to Orleans with Clovis he noticed at about two leagues from the city, beyond the Loire, a solitary spot called Micy, which he thought well suited for a retreat. Having asked for and obtained the place, he with Mesmin and several disciples built there a monastery, of which he took charge. At his death, which happened about two years after, our Saint was appointed abbot by Eusebius, Bishop of Orleans. During a terrible famine he fed nearly the whole city of Orleans with wheat from his monastery, without perceptibly reducing it; he also drove an enormous serpent out of the place in which he was afterwards buried. Having governed his monastery ten years, he died as he had lived, in the odor of sanctity, on the 15th of December, 520. Reflection.--Few are called to serve God by great actions, but all are bound to strive after perfection in the ordinary actions of their daily life. December 16.--ST. EUSEBIUS, Bishop. ST. EUSEBIUS was born of a noble family, in the island of Sardinia, where his father is said to have died in prison for the Faith. The Saint’s mother carried him and his sister, both infants, to Rome. Eusebius having been ordained, served the Church of Vercelli with such zeal that on the episcopal chair becoming vacant he was unanimously chosen, by both clergy and people, to fill it. The holy bishop saw that the best and first means to labor effectually for the edification and sanctification of his people was to have a zealous clergy. He was at the same time very careful to instruct his flock, and inspire them with the maxims of the Gospel. The force of the truth which he preached, together with his example, brought many sinners to a change of life. He courageously fought against the heretics, who had him banished to Scythopolis, and thence to Upper Thebais in Egypt, where he suffered so grievously as to win, in some of the panegyrics in his praise, the title of martyr. He died in the latter part of the year 371. Reflection.--The routine of every-day, commonplace duties is no hindrance to a free intimacy with God. He will disclose His hidden ways to you in proportion as you follow your vocation faithfully, whether in the world or the cloister. December 17.--ST. OLYMPIAS, Widow. ST. OLYMPIAS, the glory of the widows in the Eastern Church, was of a noble and wealthy family. Left an orphan at a tender age, she was brought up by Theodosia, sister of St. Amphilochius, a virtuous and prudent woman. Olympias insensibly reflected the virtues of this estimable woman. She married quite young, but her husband dying within twenty days of their wedding, she modestly declined any further offer for her hand, and resolved to consecrate her life to prayer and other good works, and to devote her fortune to the poor. Nectarius, Archbishop of Constantinople, had a high esteem for the saintly widow, and made her a deaconess of his church, the duties of which were to prepare the altar linen and to attend to other matters of that sort. St. Chrysostom, who succeeded Nectarius, had no less respect than his predecessor for Olympias, but refused to attend to the distribution of her alms. Our Saint was one of the last to leave St. Chrysostom when he went into banishment on the 20th of June, 404. After his departure she suffered great persecution, and crowned a virtuous life by a saintly death, about the year 410. Reflection.--”Lay not up to yourselves treasures on earth, but in heaven, where neither rust nor moth doth consume.” December 18.--ST. GATIAN, Bishop. ST. GATIAN came from Rome with St. Dionysius of Paris, about the middle of the third century, and preached the Faith principally at Tours in Gaul, where he fixed his episcopal see. The Gauls in that part were extremely addicted to the worship of their idols. But no contradictions or sufferings were able to discourage or daunt this true apostle, and by perseverance he gained several to Christ. He assembled his little flock in grots and caves, and there celebrated the divine mysteries. He was obliged often to lie hid in lurking holes a long time in order to escape a cruel death, with which the heathens frequently threatened him, and which he was always ready to receive with joy if he had fallen into their hands. Having continued his labors with unwearied zeal amidst frequent sufferings and dangers for near the space of fifty years, he died in peace, and was honored with miracles. Reflection.--God does not ask great sacrifices from all; but in His goodness He gives us all some things to renounce or to suffer for Him, and it is by our loving submission to His will that we show ourselves to be Christians. December 19.--ST. NEMESION, Martyr. IN the persecution of Decius, Nemesion, an Egyptian, was apprehended at Alexandria upon an indictment for theft. The servant of Christ easily cleared himself of that charge, but was immediately accused of being a Christian, and after being scourged and tormented more than the thieves, was condemned to be burnt with the robbers and other malefactors. There stood at the same time near the prefect’s tribunal four soldiers and another person, who, being Christians, boldly encouraged a confessor who was hanging on the rack. They were taken before the judge, who condemned them to be beheaded, but was astonished to see the joy with which they walked to the place of execution. Heron, Ater, and Isidore, all Egyptians, with Dioscorus, a youth only fifteen years old, were committed at Alexandria in the same persecution. After enduring the most cruel rending and disjointing of their limbs, they were burnt alive, with the exception of Dioscorus, whom the judge discharged on account of the tenderness of his years. Reflection.--Can we call to mind the fervor of the Saints in laboring and suffering cheerfully for God, and not feel a holy ardor glow in our own breasts, and our souls strongly affected with their heroic sentiments of virtue? December 20.--ST. PHILOGONIUS, Bishop. ST. PHILOGONIUS was educated for the law, and appeared at the bar with great success. He was admired for his eloquence, but still more for his integrity and the sanctity of his life. This was considered a sufficient motive for dispensing with the canons, which require some time spent among the clergy before a person be advanced to the highest station in the Church. Philogonius was placed in the see of Antioch, upon the death of Vitalis in 318. When Arius broached his blasphemies at Alexandria in 318, St. Alexander condemned him, and sent the sentence in a synodal letter to St. Philogonius, who strenuously defended the Catholic faith before the assembly of the Council of Nice. In the storms which were raised against the Church, first by Maximin II. and afterward by Licinius, St. Philogonius deserved the title of Confessor; he died in the year 322, the fifth of his episcopal dignity. Reflection.--St. Philogonius had so perfectly renounced the world, and crucified its inordinate desires in his heart, that he received in this life the earnest of Christ’s Spirit, was admitted to the sacred council of the heavenly King, and had free access to the Almighty. A soul must here learn the heavenly spirit, and be well versed in the occupations of the blessed, that hopes to reign with them hereafter. December 21.--ST. THOMAS, Apostle. ST. THOMAS was one of the fishermen on the Lake of A Galilee whom Our Lord called to be His apostles. By nature slow to believe, too apt to see difficulties, and to look at the dark side of things, he had withal a most sympathetic, loving, and courageous heart. Once when Jesus spoke of the mansions in His Father’s house, St. Thomas, in his simplicity, asked: “Lord, we know not whither Thou goest, and how can we know the way?” When Jesus turned to go toward Bethany to the grave of Lazarus, the desponding apostle at once feared the worst for his beloved Lord, yet cried out bravely to the rest: “Let us also go and die with Him”. After the Resurrection, incredulity again prevailed, and whilst the wounds of the crucifixion were imprinted vividly on his affectionate mind, he would not credit the report that Christ had indeed risen. But at the actual sight of the pierced hands and side, and the gentle rebuke of his Saviour, unbelief was gone forever; and his faith and ours has ever triumphed in the joyous utterance into which he broke: “My Lord and my God!” Reflection.--Cast away all disquieting doubts, and learn to triumph over old weaknesses as St. Thomas did, who “by his ignorance hath instructed the ignorant, and by, his incredulity hath served for the faith of all ages.” December 22.--ST. ISCHYRION, Martyr. ISCHYRION was an inferior officer who attended on a magistrate of a certain city in Egypt. His master commanded him to offer sacrifice to the idols; and because he refused to commit that sacrilege, reproached him with the most abusive and threatening speeches. By giving way to passion and superstition, the officer at length worked himself up to such a degree of frenzy as to run a stake into the bowels of the meek servant of Christ, who, by his patient constancy, attained to the glory of martyrdom. Reflection.--It is not a man’s condition, but virtue, that can make him truly great or truly happy. How mean soever a person’s station or circumstances may be, the road to both is open to him; and there is not a servant or slave who ought not to be enkindled with a laudable ambition of arriving at this greatness, which will set him on the same level with the rich and the most powerful. December 23.--ST. SERVULUS. SERVULUS was a beggar, and had been so afflicted with palsy from his infancy that he was never able to stand, sit upright, lift his hand to his mouth, or turn himself from one side to another. His mother and brother carried him into the porch of St. Clement’s Church at Rome, where he lived on the alms of those that passed by. He used to entreat devout persons to read the Holy Scriptures to him, which he heard with such attention as to learn them by heart. His time he consecrated by assiduously singing hymns of praise and thanksgiving to God. After several years thus spent, his distemper having seized his vitals, he felt his end was drawing nigh. In his last moments he desired the poor and pilgrims, who had often shared in his charity, to sing sacred hymns and psalms for him. While he joined his voice with theirs, he on a sudden cried out: “Silence! do you not hear the sweet melody and praise which resound in the heavens?” Soon after he spoke these words he expired, and his soul was carried by angels into everlasting bliss, about the year 590. Reflection.--The whole behaviour of this poor sick beggar loudly condemns those who, when blessed with good health and a plentiful fortune, neither do good works nor suffer the least cross with tolerable patience. December 24.--ST. DELPHINUS, Bishop. LITTLE is known of St. Delphinus before his elevation to the episcopate. He assisted at the Council of Saragossa, in 330, in which the Priscillianists were condemned, and also at the Council of Bordeaux, which condemned the same schismatics. He baptized St. Paulerius in 388, and the latter, in several letters, speaks of him as his father and his master. St. Delphinus died on the 24th of December, 403. December 24.--STS. THRASILLA and EMILIANA, Virgins. STS. THRASILLA and EMILIANA were aunts of St. Gregory the Great. They lived in their father’s house as retired as in a monastery, far removed from the conversation of men; and, exciting one another to virtue by discourse and example, soon made considerable progress in spiritual life. Thrasilla was favored one night with a vision of her uncle, St. Felix, Pope, who showed her a seat prepared for her in heaven, saying: “Come; I will receive you into this habitation of light.” She fell sick of a fever the next day. When in her agony, with her eyes fixed on heaven, she cried out to those that were present: “Depart! make room! Jesus is coming.” Soon after these words she breathed out her pious soul into the hands of God on the 24th of December. A few days after she appeared to her sister Emiliana, and invited her to celebrate with her the Epiphany in eternal bliss. Emiliana fell sick, and died on the 8th of January. Reflection.--We may often think the austerities of the Saints are beyond our strength; let us, then, imitate the guard they kept over their tongue. This is within the reach of all. December 25.--THE NATIVITY OF CHRIST, OR CHRISTMAS DAY. THE world had subsisted about four thousand years when Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, having taken human flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary, and being made man, was born of her, for the redemption of mankind, at Bethlehem of Judea. Joseph and Mary had come up to Bethlehem to be enrolled, and, unable to find shelter elsewhere, they took refuge in a stable, and in this lowly place Jesus Christ was born. The Blessed Virgin wrapped the divine Infant in swaddling-clothes, and laid Him in the manger. While the sensual and the proud were asleep, an angel appeared to some poor shepherds. They were seized with great fear, but the heavenly messenger said to them: “Fear not: for behold I bring you good tidings of exceeding great joy, that shall be to all the people. For this day is born to you a Saviour, Who is Christ the Lord, in the city of David. And this shall be a sign to you: you shall find the Child wrapped in swaddling-clothes, and laid in a manger.” After the departure of the angel the wondering shepherds said to one another: “Let us go over to Bethlehem, and let us see the word that is come to pass, which the Lord hath shown to us.” They immediately hastened thither, and found Mary and Joseph, and the Infant lying in the manger. Bowing down they adored Him, and then returned to their flocks, glorifying and praising God. Reflection.--Our Saviour sanctified our flesh by taking it on Himself, and with His last breath He commended us to the care of His Virgin Mother. Day by day He still feeds us at the altar with the food of incorruption--His body and His blood. December 26.--ST. STEPHEN, First Martyr. THERE is good reason to believe that St. Stephen was one of the seventy-two disciples of our blessed Lord. After the Ascension he was chosen one of the seven deacons. The ministry of the seven was very fruitful; but Stephen especially, “full of grace and fortitude, did great wonders and signs among the people.” Many adversaries rose up to dispute with him, but “they were not able to withstand the wisdom and the spirit that spoke.” At length he was brought before the Sanhedrin, charged, like his divine Master, with blasphemy against Moses and against God. He boldly upbraided the chief priests with their hard-hearted resistance to the Holy Ghost and with the murder of the “Just One.” They were stung with anger, and gnashed their teeth against him. But when, “filled with the Holy Ghost and looking up to heaven, he cried out, ‘Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God,’ they rushed upon him, and dragging him forth without the city, they stoned him to death”. Reflection.--If ever you are tempted to resentment, pray from your heart for him who has offended you. December 27.--ST. JOHN, Evangelist. ST. JOHN, the youngest of the apostles in age, was called to follow Christ on the banks of the Jordan during the first days of Our Lord’s ministry. He was one of the privileged few present at the Transfiguration and the Agony in the garden. At the Last Supper his head rested on the bosom of Jesus, and in the hours of the Passion, when others fled or denied their Master, St. John kept his place by the side of Jesus, and at the last stood by the cross with Mary. From the cross the dying Saviour bequeathed His Mother to the care of the faithful apostle, who “from that hour took her to his own;” thus fitly, as St. Austin says, “to a virgin was the Virgin intrusted.” After the Ascension, St. John lived first at Jerusalem, and then at Ephesus. He was thrown by Domitian into a caldron of boiling oil, and is thus reckoned a martyr, though miraculously preserved from hurt. Afterwards he was banished to the isle of Patmos, where he received the heavenly visions described in the Apocalypse. He died at a great age, in peace, at Ephesus, in the year 100. Reflection.--St. John is a living example of Our Lord’s saying, “Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God.” December 28.--THE HOLY INNOCENTS. HEROD, who was reigning in Judea at the time of the birth of Our Saviour, having heard that the Wise Men had come from the East to Jerusalem in search of the King of the Jews, was troubled. He called together the chief priests, and learning that Christ was to be born in Bethlehem, he told the Wise Men: “When you have found Him, bring me word again, that I also may come and adore Him.” But God having warned them in a dream not to return, they went back to their homes another way. St. Joseph, too, was ordered in his sleep to “take the Child and His Mother and fly into Egypt.” When Herod found that the Wise Men did not return, he was furious, and ordered that every male child in Bethlehem and its vicinity of the age of two and under should be slain. These innocent victims were the flowers and the first-fruits of His martyrs, and triumphed over the world, without having ever known it or experienced its dangers. Reflection.--How few perhaps of these children, if they had lived, would have escaped the dangers of the world! What snares, what sins, what miseries were they preserved from! So we often lament as misfortunes many accidents which in the designs of Heaven are the greatest mercies. December 29.--ST. THOMAS OF CANTERBURY. ST. THOMAS, son of Gilbert Becket, was born in Southwark, England, in 1117. When a youth he was attached to the household of Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury, who sent him to Paris and Bologna to study law. He became Archdeacon of Canterbury, then Lord High Chancellor of England; and in 1160, when Archbishop Theobald died, the king insisted on the consecration of St. Thomas in his stead. St. Thomas refused, warning the king that from that hour their friendship would be broken. In the end he yielded, and was consecrated. The conflict at once broke out; St. Thomas resisted the royal customs, which violated the liberties of the Church and the laws of the realm. After six years of contention, partly spent in exile, St. Thomas, with full foresight of martyrdom before him, returned as a good shepherd to his Church. On the 29th of December, 1170, just as vespers were beginning, four knights broke into the cathedral, crying: “Where is the archbishop? where is the traitor?” The monks fled, and St. Thomas might easily have escaped. But he advanced, saying: “Here I am--no traitor, but archbishop. What seek you?” “Your life,” they cried. “Gladly do I give it,” was the reply; and bowing his head, the invincible martyr was hacked and hewn till his soul went to God. Six months later Henry II. submitted to be publicly scourged at the Saint’s shrine, and restored to the Church her full rights. Reflection.--”Learn from St. Thomas,” says Father Faber, “to fight the good fight even to the shedding of blood, or, to what men find harder, the shedding of their good name by pouring it out to waste on the earth.” December 30.--ST. SABINUS, Bishop, and his Companions, Martyrs. THE cruel edicts of Diocletian and Maximin against the Christians being published in the year 303, Sabinus, Bishop of Assisium, and several of his clergy, were apprehended and kept in custody till Venustianus, the Governor of Etruria and Umbria, came thither. Upon his arrival in that city he caused the hands of Sabinus, who had made a glorious confession of his Faith before him, to be cut off; and his two deacons, Marcellus and Exuperantius, to be scourged, beaten with clubs, and torn with iron nails, under which torments they both expired. Sabinus is said to have cured a blind boy, and a weakness in the eyes of Venustianus himself, who was thereupon converted, and afterward beheaded for the Faith. Lucius, his successor, commanded Sabinus to be beaten to death with clubs at Spoleto. The martyr was buried a mile from that city, but his relics have been since translated to Faenza. Reflection.--How powerfully do the martyrs cry out to us by their example, exhorting us to despise a false and wicked world! December 31.--ST. SYLVESTER, Pope. SYLVESTER was born in Rome toward the close of the third century. He was a young priest when the persecution of the Christians broke out under the tyrant Diocletian. Idols were erected at the corners of the streets, in the market-places, and over the public fountains, so that it was scarcely possible for a Christian to go abroad without being put to the test of offering sacrifice, with the alternative of apostasy or death. During this fiery trial, Sylvester strengthened the confessors and martyrs, God preserving his life from many dangers. In 312 a new era set in. Constantine, having triumphed under the “ standard of the Cross,” declared himself the protector of the Christians, and built them splendid churches. At this juncture Sylvester was elected to the chair of Peter, and was thus the first of the Roman Pontiffs to rule the flock of Christ in security and peace. He profited by these blessings to renew the discipline of the Church, and in two great Councils confirmed her sacred truths. In the Council of Arles he condemned the schism of the Donatists; and in that of Nicaea, the first general Council of the Church, he dealt Arianism its death-blow by declaring that Jesus Christ is the true and very God. Sylvester died A. D. 335. (Source: Butlers Lives Of The Saints 1894 A.D.)
<b>Preliminary Lesson: On Christian Doctrine and its Principal Parts</b><br><b>1. (1) Are you a Christian?</b> A. Yes, I am a Christian, by the grace of God. <b>2. (2) Why do you say: By the grace of God?</b> A. I say: By the grace of God, because to be a Christian is a perfectly gratuitous gift of God, which we ourselves could not have merited. <b>3. (3) Who is a true Christian?</b> A. A true Christian is he who is baptised, who believes and professes the Christian Doctrine, and obeys the lawful pastors of the Church. <b>4. (4) What is Christian Doctrine?</b> A. Christian doctrine is the doctrine which Jesus Christ our Lord taught us to show us the way of salvation. <b>5. (5) Is it necessary to learn the doctrine taught by Jesus Christ?</b> A. It certainly is necessary to learn the doctrine taught by Jesus Christ, and those who fail to do so are guilty of a grave breach of duty. <b>6. (6) Are parents and guardians bound to send their children and those dependent on them to catechism?</b> A. Parents and guardians are bound to see that their children And dependents learn Christian Doctrine, and they are guilty before God if they neglect this duty. <b>7. (7) From whom are we to receive and learn Christian Doctrine?</b> A. We are to receive and learn Christian Doctrine from the Holy Catholic Church. <b>8. (8) How are we certain that the Christian Doctrine which we receive from the Holy Catholic Church is really true?</b> A. We are certain that the doctrine which we receive from the Holy Catholic Church is true, because Jesus Christ, the divine Author of this doctrine, committed it through His Apostles to the Church, which He founded and made the infallible teacher of all men, promising her His divine assistance until the end of time. <b>9. (9) Are there other proofs of the truth of Christian Doctrine?</b> A. The truth of Christian Doctrine is also shown by the eminent sanctity of numbers who have professed it and who still profess it, by the heroic fortitude of the martyrs, by its marvellous and rapid propagation in the world, and by its perfect preservation throughout so many centuries of ceaseless and varied struggles. <b>10. (10) What and how many are the principal and most necessary parts of Christian Doctrine?</b> A. The principal and most necessary parts of Christian Doctrine are four The Creed, The Our Father, The Commandments, and The Sacraments. <b>11. (11) What does the Creed teach us?</b> A. The Creed teaches us the principal articles of our holy faith . <b>12. (12) What does the Our Father teach us?</b> A. The Our Father teaches us all that we are to hope from God, and all we are to ask of Him. <b>13. (13) What do the Commandments teach us?</b> A. The Commandments teach us all that we are to do to please God - all of which is summed up in loving God above all things and our neighbour as ourselves for the love of God <b>14. (14) What does the doctrine of the Sacraments teach us?</b> A. The doctrine of the Sacraments shows us the nature and right use of those means which Jesus Christ has instituted to remit our sins, give us His grace, infuse into and increase in us the virtues of faith, hope, and charity. <b>The Creed in General</b><br><b>15. (1) What is the first part of Christian Doctrine?</b> A. The first part of Christian Doctrine is the Symbol of the Apostles, commonly called the Creed. <b>16. (2) Why do you call the Creed the Symbol of the Apostles?</b> A. The Creed is called the Symbol of the Apostles because it is a summary of the truths of faith taught by the Apostles. <b>17. (3) How many articles are there in the Creed?</b> A. There are twelve articles in the Creed. <b>18. (4) Recite them.</b> A. (1) I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth;</p><p>(2) And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord;</p><p>(3) Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost; born of the Virgin Mary;</p><p>(4) Suffered under Pontius Pilate: was crucified, dead, and buried;</p><p>(5) He descended into hell: the third day He rose again from the dead;</p><p>(6) He ascended into Heaven: sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty;</p><p>(7) From thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.</p><p>(8) I believe in the Holy Ghost;</p><p>(9) The Holy Catholic Church; the Communion of Saints;</p><p>(10) The forgiveness of sins;</p><p>(11) The resurrection of the body;</p><p>(12) Life everlasting. Amen. <b>19. (5) What is meant by the word: "I believe", which you say at the beginning of the Symbol?</b> A. The word: I believe, means I hold everything that is contained in these twelve articles to be perfectly true; and I believe these truths more firmly than if I saw them with my eyes, because God, who can neither deceive nor be deceived, has revealed them to the Holy Catholic Church and through this Church to us. <b>20. (6) What do the articles of the Creed contain?</b> A. The articles of the Creed contain the principal truths to be believed concerning God, Jesus Christ, and the Church, His Spouse. <b>21. (7) Is it useful to recite the Creed frequently?</b> A. It is most useful to recite the Creed frequently, so as to impress the truths of faith more and more deeply on our hearts. <b>The First Article of the Creed</p><p>God the Father Almighty</b><br><b>22. (1) What does the First Article of the Creed: I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, teach us?</b> A. The First Article of the Creed teaches us that there is one God, and only one; that He is omnipotent and has created heaven and earth and all things contained in them, that is to say, the whole Universe. <b>23. (2) How do we know that there is a God?</b> A. We know that there is a God because reason proves it and faith confirms it. <b>24. (3) Why do we call God the Father?</b> A. We call God the Father because by nature He is the Father of the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, that is to say, of the Son begotten of Him; because God is the Father of all men, whom He has created and whom He preserves and governs; finally, because by grace He is the Father of all good Christians, who are hence called the adopted sons of God. <b>25. (4) Why is the Father the First Person of the Blessed Trinity?</b> A. The Father is the First Person of the Blessed Trinity, because He does not proceed from any other Person, but is the Principle of the other two Persons, that is, of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. <b>26. (5) What is meant by the word Omnipotent?</b> A. The word Omnipotent means that God can do all that He wills. <b>27. (6) God can neither sin nor die, how then do we say He can do all things?</b> A. Though He can neither sin nor die, we say God can do all things, because to be able to sin or die is not an effect of power, but of weakness which cannot exist in God who is most perfect. <b>On the Creation</b><br><b>28. (7) What is meant by the words: Creator of heaven and earth?</b> A. To create means to make out of nothing; hence, God is called the Creator of heaven and of earth, because He made heaven and earth and all things contained therein, that is, the whole Universe, out of nothing. <b>29. (8) Was the world created by the Father alone?</b> A. The world was created by all the Three Divine Persons, because whatever one Person does with regard to creatures is done by the other two Persons in one and the selfsame act. <b>30. (9) Why then is creation specially attributed to the Father?</b> A. Creation is specially attributed to the Father because creation is a work of Divine Omnipotence, which is specially attributed to the Father, just as wisdom is attributed to the Son, and goodness to the Holy Ghost, though all three Persons possess the same Omnipotence, Wisdom, and Goodness. <b>31. (10) Does God take any interest in the world and in the things created by Him?</b> A. Yes, God takes an interest in the world and in all things created by Him; He preserves them, and governs them by His infinite goodness and wisdom; and nothing happens here below that He does not either will or permit. <b>32. (11) Why do you say that nothing happens here below that He does not either will or permit?</b> A. We say that nothing happens here below that He does not either will or permit, because there are some things which God wills and commands, while there are others which He simply does not prevent, such as sin. <b>33. (12) Why does not God prevent sin?</b> A. God does not prevent sin, because even from the very abuse man makes of the liberty with which He is endowed, God knows how to bring forth good and to make His mercy or His justice become more and more resplendent. <b>The Angels</b><br><b>34. (13) Which are the noblest of God's creatures?</b> A. The noblest creatures created by God are the Angels. <b>35. (14) Who are the Angels?</b> A. The Angels are intelligent and purely spiritual creatures. <b>36. (15) Why did God create the Angels?</b> A. God created the Angels so as to be honoured and served by them, and to give them eternal happiness. <b>37. (16) What form and figure have the Angels?</b> A. The Angels have neither form nor material figure of any kind, because they are pure spirits created by God in such a way as to exist without having to be united to a body. <b>38. (17) Why then are the angels represented under sensible forms?</b> A. The Angels are represented under sensible forms: (1) As a help to our imagination; (2) Because they have thus appeared many times to men, as we read in Sacred Scripture. <b>39. (18) Were all the angels faithful to God?</b> A. No, the Angels were not all faithful to God, many of them through pride claimed to be His equals and independent of Him -- for which sin they were banished for ever from Paradise and condemned to hell. <b>40. (19) What are the Angels called who were banished for ever from Paradise and condemned to hell?</b> A. The Angels banished for ever from Paradise and condemned to hell are called demons, and their chief is called Lucifer or Satan. <b>41. (20) Can the demons do us any harm?</b> A. Yes, the demons can do us great harm both in soul and body, especially by tempting us to sin, provided God permits them to do so. <b>42. (21) Why do they tempt us?</b> A. The demons tempt us because of the envy they bear us, which makes them desire our eternal damnation; and because of their hatred of God. whose image is reflected in us. God on the other hand permits these temptations in order that we may overcome them by His grace, and thus practise virtue and acquire merit for Heaven. <b>43. (22) How are temptations conquered?</b> A. Temptations are conquered by watchfulness, prayer and Christian mortification. <b>44. (23) What are the angels called who remained faithful to God?</b> A. The Angels who remained faithful to God are called the good Angels, heavenly Spirits, or simply Angels. <b>45. (24) What became of the Angels who remained faithful to God?</b> A. The Angels who remained faithful to God were confirmed in grace, for ever enjoy the vision of God, love Him, bless Him, and praise Him eternally. <b>46. (25) Does God use the Angels as His ministers?</b> A. Yes, God uses the Angels as His ministers, and especially does He entrust to many of them the office of acting as our guardians and protectors. <b>47. (26) Should we have a particular devotion to our Guardian Angel?</b> A. Yes, we should have a particular devotion to our Guardian Angel; we should honour him, invoke his aid, follow his inspirations, and be grateful to him for the continual assistance he affords us. <b>Man</b><br><b>48. (27) Which is the noblest creature God has placed on earth?</b> A. The noblest creature God has placed on earth is man. <b>49. (28) What is man?</b> A. Man is a rational creature composed of soul and body. <b>50. (29) What is the soul?</b> A. The soul is the noblest part of man, because it is a spiritual substance, endowed with intelligence and will, capable of knowing God and of possessing Him for all eternity. <b>51. (30) Can the human soul be seen and touched?</b> A. Our soul can neither be seen nor touched, because it is a spirit. <b>52. (31) Does the human soul die with the body?</b> A. The human soul never dies; faith and our very reason prove that it is immortal. <b>53. (32) Is man free in his actions?</b> A. Yes, man is free in his actions and each one feels within himself that he can do a thing or leave it undone, or do one thing rather than another. <b>54. (33) Explain human liberty by an example.</b> A. If I voluntarily tell a lie, I know that I could have left it unsaid or that I could have remained silent, and that, on the other hand, I could also speak differently and tell the truth. <b>55. (34) Why do we say that man was created to the image and likeness of God?</b> A. We say that man was created to the image and likeness of God because the human soul is spiritual and rational, free in its operations, capable of knowing and loving God and of enjoying Him for ever -- perfections which reflect a ray of the infinite greatness of the Lord in us. <b>56. (35) In what state did God place our first parents, Adam and Eve?</b> A. God placed our first parents, Adam and Eve, in the state of innocence and grace; but they soon fell away by sin. <b>57. (36) Besides innocence and sanctifying grace did God confer any other gifts on our first parents?</b> A. Besides innocence and sanctifying grace, God conferred on our first parents other gifts, which, along with sanctifying . grace, they were to transmit to their descendants; these were: (1) Integrity, that is, the perfect subjection of sense . reason; (2) Immortality; (3) Immunity from all pain and sorrow; (4) A knowledge in keeping with their state. <b>58. (37) What was the nature of Adam's sin?</b> A. Adam's sin was a sin of pride and of grave disobedience. <b>59. (38) What chastisement was meted out to the sin of Adam and Eve?</b> A. Adam and Eve lost the grace of God and the right they had to Heaven; they were driven out of the earthly Paradise, subjected to many miseries of soul and body, and condemned to death. <b>60. (39) If Adam and Eve had not sinned, would they have bee exempt from death?</b> A. If Adam and Eve had not sinned and if they had remained faithful to God, they would, after a happy and tranquil sojourn here on earth, and without dying, have been transferred by God into Heaven, to enjoy a life of unending glory. <b>61. (40) Were these gifts due to man?</b> A. These gifts were in no way due to man, but were absolutely gratuitous and supernatural; and hence, when Adam disobeyed the divine command, God could without any injustice deprive both Adam and his posterity of them. <b>62. (41) Is this sin proper to Adam alone?</b> A. This sin is not Adam's sin alone, but it is also our sin, though in a different sense. It is Adam's sin because he committed it by an act of his will, and hence in him it was a personal sin. It is our sin also because Adam, having committed it in his capacity as the head and source of the human race, it was transmitted by natural generation to all his descendants: and hence in us it is original sin. <b>63. (42) How is it possible for original sin to be transmitted to all men?</b> A. Original sin is transmitted to all men because God, having conferred sanctifying grace and other supernatural gifts on the human race in Adam, on the condition that Adam should not disobey Him; and Adam having disobeyed, as head and father of the human race, rendered human nature rebellious against God. And hence, human nature is transmitted to all the descendants of Adam in a state of rebellion against God, and deprived of divine grace and other gifts. <b>64. (43) Do all men contract original sin?</b> A. Yes, all men contract original sin, with the exception of the Blessed Virgin, who was preserved from it by a singular privilege of God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ our Saviour. <b>65. (44) Could not men be saved after Adam's sin?</b> A. After Adam's sin men could not be saved, if God had not shown mercy towards them. <b>66. (45) What was the mercy shown by God to the human race?</b> A. The mercy shown by God to the human race was that of immediately promising Adam a divine Redeemer or Messiah, and of sending this Messiah in His own good time to free men from the slavery of sin and of the devil. <b>67. (46) Who is the promised Messiah?</b> A. The promised Messiah is Jesus Christ, as the Second Article of the Creed teaches. <b>The Second Article of the Creed</b><br><b>68. (1) What are we taught in the Second Article: And in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord?</b> A. The Second Article of the Creed teaches us that the Son of God is the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity; that, like the Father, He is God eternal, omnipotent, Creator and Lord; that He became man to save us; and that the Son of God, made man, is called Jesus Christ. <b>69. (2) Why is the Second Person called the Son?</b> A. The Second Person is called the Son, because He is begotten by the Father from all eternity by way of intelligence; and for this reason He is also called the Eternal Word of the Father. <b>70. (3) Since we also are sons of God, why is Jesus Christ called the only Son of God the Father?</b> A. Jesus Christ is called the only Son of God the Father, because He alone is His Son by nature, whereas we are His sons by creation and adoption. <b>71. (4) Why is Jesus Christ called our Lord?</b> A. Jesus Christ is called our Lord, because, not only did He as God, together with the Father and the Holy Ghost, create us; but He has also as God and Man redeemed us. <b>72. (5) Why is the Son of God, made man, called Jesus?</b> A. The Son of God, made man, is called Jesus, that is to say, Saviour, because He has saved us from the eternal death merited by our sins. <b>73. (6) Who gave the name of Jesus to the Son of God, made man?</b> A. The Eternal Father Himself, through the Archangel Gabriel, gave the name of Jesus to the Son of God made man, at the moment when the Archangel announced to the Blessed Virgin the mystery of the Incarnation. <b>74. (7) Why is the Son of God made man also called Christ?</b> A. The Son of God made man is also called Christ , that is to say, anointed or consecrated, because kings, priests and prophets were anointed of old; and Jesus is the King of kings, High Priest, and supreme Prophet. <b>75. (8) Was Jesus Christ really anointed and consecrated with a material anointing?</b> A. The anointing of Jesus Christ was not material, like that of the kings, priests and prophets of old, but wholly spiritual and divine, because the fullness of the Divinity dwells in Him substantially. <b>76. (9) Had men any idea of Jesus Christ previous to His coming?</b> A. Yes, previous to His coming men had some idea of Jesus Christ in the promise of the Messiah, which God made to our first parents, Adam and Eve, and which He renewed to the holy Patriarchs; and also in the prophecies and the many figures which foreshadowed Him. <b>77. (10) How do we know that Jesus Christ is truly the Messiah and Promised Redeemer?</b> A. We know that Jesus Christ is truly the Messiah and Promised Redeemer from the fact that in Him are verified: (1) All that the prophecies foretold, (2) And all that the figures of the Old Testament foreshadowed. <b>78. (11) What did the prophecies foretell of the Redeemer?</b> A. Regarding the Redeemer, the prophecies foretold the tribe and the family from which He was to come; the place and time of His birth; His miracles and the most minute circumstances of His Passion and Death; His Resurrection and Ascension into heaven; and His spiritual, perpetual and universal Kingdom, that is, the Holy Catholic Church. <b>79. (12) Which are the principal figures of the Redeemer in the Old Testament?</b> A. The principal figures of the Redeemer in the Old Testament are: the innocent Abel; the High Priest Melchisedech; the sacrifice of Isaac; Joseph sold by his brethren; the prophet Jonas; the Paschal Lamb; and the Brazen Serpent set up by Moses in the desert. <b>80. (13) How do you know that Jesus Christ is true God?</b> A. We know that Jesus Christ is true God: (1) From the testimony of the Father saying: This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased, hear ye Him; (2) From the attestation of Jesus Christ Himself, confirmed by the most stupendous miracles; (3) From the teaching of the Apostles; (4) From the unvarying tradition of the Catholic Church. <b>81. (14) Mention the chief miracles wrought by Jesus Christ?</b> A. Besides His Resurrection, the chief miracles wrought by Jesus Christ are; the restoring of health to the sick, of sight to the blind, of hearing to the deaf, and of life to the dead. <b>The Third Article of the Creed</b><br><b>82. (1) What is taught in the Third Article: Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary?</b> A. The Third Article of the Creed teaches that by the operation of the Holy Ghost the Son of God took a body and soul like ours, in the chaste womb of the Virgin Mary, and that He was born of that Virgin. <b>83. (2) Did the Father and the Son also take part in forming the body and creating the soul of Jesus Christ?</b> A. Yes, the whole Three divine Persons co-operated in forming the body and in creating the soul of Jesus Christ. <b>84. (3) Why then is it simply said: He was conceived by the Holy Ghost?</b> A. It is simply said: He was conceived by the Holy Ghost, because the Incarnation of the Son of God is a work of goodness and love, and the works of goodness and love are attributed to the Holy Ghost. <b>85. (4) In becoming man did the Son of God cease to be God?</b> A. No, the Son of God became man without ceasing to be God. <b>86. (5) Jesus Christ, then, is God and man at the same time?</b> A. Yes, the incarnate Son of God, that is, Jesus Christ, is both God and man, perfect God and perfect man. <b>87. (6) Are there, then, two natures in Jesus Christ?</b> A. Yes, in Jesus Christ, who is both God and man, there are two natures, the divine and the human. <b>88. (7) In Jesus Christ are there also two Persons, the divine and the human?</b> A. No, in the Son of God made man there is only one Person, namely, the divine. <b>89. (8) How many wills are there in Jesus Christ?</b> A. In Jesus Christ there are two wills, the one divine, the other human. <b>90. (9) Did Jesus Christ possess free will?</b> A. Yes, Jesus Christ possessed free will, but He could not do evil, since to be able to do evil is a defect, and not a perfection, of liberty. <b>91. (10) Are the Son of God and the Son of Mary one and the same Person?</b> A. Yes, the Son of God and the Son of Mary are one and the same Person, that is, Jesus Christ, true God and true man. <b>92. (11) Is the Blessed Virgin the Mother of God?</b> A. Yes, the Blessed Virgin is the Mother of God, because she is the Mother of Jesus Christ, who is true God. <b>93. (12) How did Mary become the Mother of Jesus Christ?</b> A. Mary became the Mother of Jesus Christ solely through the operation and power of the Holy Ghost. <b>94. (13) Is it of faith that Mary was always a Virgin?</b> A. Yes, it is of faith that the most holy Mary was always a Virgin, and she is called the Virgin of virgins. <b>The Fourth Article of the Creed</b><br><b>95. (1) What are we taught in the Fourth Article: Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried?</b> A. The Fourth Article of the Creed teaches us that to redeem the world by His Precious Blood Jesus Christ suffered under Pontius Pilate, the Governor of Judea, died on the tree of the Cross, and, on being taken down therefrom, was buried. <b>96. (2) What does the word suffered denote?</b> A. The word suffered denotes all the pains endured by Jesus during His Passion. <b>97. (3) Did Jesus Christ suffer as God or as man?</b> A. Jesus Christ suffered as man alone; as God He could neither suffer nor die. <b>98. (4) What class of punishment was that of the Cross?</b> A. The punishment of the Cross in those days was the cruelest and the most ignominious of all punishments. <b>99. (5) Who was it that condemned Jesus Christ to be crucified?</b> A. He who condemned Jesus Christ to be crucified was Pontius Pilate, the Governor of Judea who, through recognising His innocence, cravenly yielded to the threats of the people of Jerusalem. <b>100. (6) Could not Jesus Christ have freed Himself from the hands of Pilate and the Jews?</b> A. Yes, Jesus Christ could have freed Himself from the hands of Pilate and the Jews, but knowing it was His Eternal Father's will that He should suffer and die for our salvation, He voluntarily submitted; nay, He Himself went forth to meet His enemies and freely permitted Himself to be taken and led to death. <b>101. (7) Where was Jesus Christ crucified?</b> A. Jesus Christ was crucified on Mount Calvary. <b>102. (8) What did Jesus Christ do while on the Cross?</b> A. On the Cross Jesus Christ prayed for His enemies; gave His own Most Blessed Mother as a Mother to St. John, and, in his person, to all of us; offered up His death in sacrifice; and satisfied the justice of God for the sins of men. <b>103. (9) Would it not have been enough for an Angel to come and make satisfaction for us?</b> A. No, it would not have been enough for an Angel to come and make satisfaction for us, because the offence given to God by sin was, in a certain sense, infinite, and to satisfy for it a person possessing infinite merit was required. <b>104. (10) To satisfy divine justice, was it necessary that Jesus Christ should be both God and man?</b> A. Yes; to be able to suffer and die it was necessary that Jesus Christ should be man; while for His sufferings to be of infinite value it was necessary that He should be God. <b>105. (11) Why was it necessary that the merits of Jesus Christ should be of infinite value?</b> A. It was necessary that the merits of Jesus Christ should be of infinite value, because God's Majesty, which had been offended by sin, is infinite. <b>106. (12) Was it necessary for Jesus Christ to suffer as much as He actually did?</b> A. No, it was not absolutely necessary for Jesus Christ to suffer as much as He did, because each of His acts being of infinite value, the least of His sufferings would have sufficed for our redemption. <b>107. (13) Why, then, did Jesus suffer so much?</b> A. Jesus Christ suffered so much in order to satisfy divine justice all the more abundantly; to display His love for us still more; and to inspire us with the deepest horror of sin. <b>108. (14) Did anything remarkable happen at the death of Jesus Christ?</b> A. Yes, at the death of Jesus Christ, the sun was darkened the earth trembled, graves opened and many of the dead arose. <b>109. (15) Where was the Body of Jesus Christ buried?</b> A. The Body of Jesus Christ was buried in a new grave, hewn out of a rock, on the mount not far from where He had been crucified. <b>110. (16) Was the Divinity separated from the Body and Soul of Jesus Christ by His death?</b> A. The Divinity was separated from neither the Body nor the Soul of Christ in death; only the Soul was separated from the Body. <b>111. (17) For whom did Jesus Christ die?</b> A. Jesus Christ died for the salvation of all men, and made satisfaction for all. <b>112. (18) If Jesus Christ died for the salvation of all men, why are not all men saved?</b> A. Jesus Christ died for all, but not all are saved, because not all will acknowledge Him; all do not observe His Law; all do not avail themselves of the means of salvation He has left us. <b>113. (19) To be saved is it enough that Jesus Christ has died for us?</b> A. No, it is not enough for our salvation that Jesus Christ has died for us; it is also necessary that the fruit of His Passion and death be applied to each one of us, which is accomplished especially by means of the Sacraments instituted for this end by Jesus Christ Himself; and as many either do not receive the Sacraments at all, or do not receive them well, they thus render the death of Jesus Christ useless in their regard. <b>The Fifth Article of the Creed</b><br><b>114. (1) What are we taught in the Fifth Article: He descended into hell; the third day He rose again from the dead?</b> A. The Fifth Article of the Creed teaches us that the Soul of Jesus Christ, on being separated from His Body, descended to the Limbo of the holy Fathers, and that on the third day it became united once more to His Body, never to be parted from it again. <b>115. (2) What is here meant by hell?</b> A. Hell here means the Limbo of the holy Fathers, that is, the place where the souls of the just were detained, in expectation of redemption through Jesus Christ. <b>116. (3) Why were not the souls of the Holy Fathers admitted into heaven before the death of Jesus Christ?</b> A. The souls of the holy Fathers were not admitted into heaven before the death of Jesus Christ, because heaven was closed by the sin of Adam, and it was but fitting that Jesus Christ, who reopened it by His death, should be the first to enter it. <b>117. (4) Why did Jesus Christ defer His own resurrection until the third day?</b> A. Jesus Christ deferred His own resurrection until the third day to show clearly that He was really dead. <b>118. (5) Was the resurrection of Jesus Christ like the resurrection of other men who had been raised from the dead?</b> A. No, the resurrection of Jesus Christ was not like the resurrection of other men who had been raised from the dead, because He rose by His own power, while the others were raised by the power of God. <b>The Sixth Article of the Creed</b><br><b>119. (1) What are we taught in the Sixth Article: He ascended into heaven, sitteth at the right hand of Cod, the Father Almighty?</b> A. The Sixth Article of the Creed teaches us that Jesus Christ, forty days after His resurrection, ascended of Himself into heaven in the sight of His Apostles; and that while as God He was equal to His Father in glory, as man He has been raised above all the Angels and Saints, and constituted Lord of all things. <b>120. (2) Why did Jesus Christ remain forty days on earth after His resurrection before ascending into heaven?</b> A. After His resurrection Jesus Christ remained forty days on earth before ascending into heaven, to prove by several apparitions that He was truly risen, to instruct the Apostles still further, and to confirm them in the truths of faith. <b>121. (3) Why did Jesus Christ ascend into heaven?</b> A. Jesus Christ ascended into heaven: (1) To take possession of the Kingdom He had merited by His death; (2) To prepare the place of our glory, and to be our Mediator and Advocate with the Father, (3) To send the Holy Ghost upon His Apostles. <b>122. (4) Why is it said of Jesus Christ that He ascended, and of His Most Holy Mother that she was assumed, into heaven?</b> A. It is said of Jesus Christ that He ascended into heaven, and of His Most Holy Mother that she was assumed, because, Jesus Christ, being Man-God, ascended into heaven by His own power; but His Mother, being a creature, even though the greatest of all creatures, was taken up into heaven by the power of God. <b>123. (5) Explain the words: Sitteth at the right hand of Cod, the Father Almighty.</b> A. The word sitteth signifies the peaceful possession which Jesus Christ has of His glory; and the words: At the right hand of God, the Father Almighty, denote that He has a place of honour above all creatures. <b>The Seventh Article of the Creed</b><br><b>124. (1) What are we taught in the Seventh Article: From thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead?</b> A. The Seventh Article of the Creed teaches us that at the end of the world Jesus Christ, in all His glory and majesty, will come from heaven to judge all men, both good and bad, and to give to each of them the reward or the punishment he shall have merited. <b>125. (2) If every one has to be judged by Jesus Christ in particular judgment immediately after death, why must all be judged in the general judgment?</b> A. We must all be judged in the general judgment for several reasons: (1) That God may be glorified; (2) That Jesus Christ may be glorified; (3) That the Saints may be glorified; (4) That the wicked may be confounded; (5) That along with the soul the body may receive its sentence of reward or punishment. <b>126. (3) How will God's glory be manifested in the General Judgment?</b> A. God's glory will be manifested in the General Judgment in this way, that all shall then know how justly God governs the world, even though here on earth the good are often afflicted and the wicked are often in prosperity. <b>127. (4) How will the glory of Jesus Christ be manifested in the General Judgment?</b> A. The glory of Jesus Christ will be manifested in the General Judgment in this way, that He who was unjustly condemned by men, shall then come before the whole world as the Supreme Judge of all. <b>128. (5) How will the glory of the Saints be manifested in the General Judgment?</b> A. The glory of the Saints will be manifested in the General Judgment in this way, that many of them who died despised by the wicked, shall be glorified before the whole world. <b>129. (6) How great will be the confusion of the wicked in the General Judgment?</b> A. In the General Judgment great indeed shall be the confusion of the wicked, especially of those who have oppressed the just and who have tried in this life to be esteemed as men of virtue and goodness; for they shall then see even their most hidden sins laid bare before the whole world. <b>The Eighth Article of the Creed</b><br><b>130. (1) What are we taught in the Eighth Article: I believe in the Holy Ghost?</b> A. The Eighth Article of the Creed teaches us that there is a Holy Ghost, the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity; and that, like the Father and the Son, He is God eternal, infinite, omnipotent, Creator and Lord of all things. <b>131. (2) From whom does the Holy Ghost proceed?</b> A. The Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and the Son, as from one Principle, by way of will and love. <b>132. (3) If the Son proceeds from the Father, and the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and the Son, it would seem as if the Father and the Son are prior to the Holy Ghost; how then can it be said that all the Three Persons are eternal?</b> A. It is said that all the Three Persons are eternal, because the Father has begotten the Son from all eternity, and the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and from the Son from all eternity. <b>133. (4) Why is the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity specially designated by the name of the Holy Ghost or the Holy Spirit?</b> A. The Third Person of the Blessed Trinity is specially designated by the name of the Holy Ghost or the Holy Spirit, because He proceeds from the Father and from the Son by way of spiration and of love. <b>134. (5) What work is especially attributed to the Holy Ghost?</b> A. To the Holy Ghost is specially attributed the sanctification of souls. <b>135. (6) Do the Father and the Son sanctify us equally with the Holy Ghost?</b> A. Yes, all the Three Divine Persons equally sanctify us. <b>136. (7) If this is so, why is the sanctification of souls specially attributed to the Holy Ghost?</b> A. The sanctification-of souls is specially attributed to the Holy Ghost, because it is a work of love, and the works of love are attributed to the Holy Ghost. <b>137. (8) When did the Holy Ghost descend on the Apostles?</b> A. The Holy Ghost descended on the Apostles on the day of Pentecost, that is, fifty days after the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, and ten days after His Ascension. <b>138. (9) Where were the Apostles during the ten days preceding Pentecost?</b> A. The Apostles were gathered together in the Supper Room with the Virgin Mary and the other disciples, and were persevering in prayer in expectation of the Holy Ghost, Whom Jesus Christ had promised to send them. <b>139. (10) What effects did the Holy Ghost produce in the Apostles?</b> A. The Holy Ghost confirmed the Apostles in the faith, filled them with light, strength, charity, and an abundance of all His gifts. <b>140. (11) Was the Holy Ghost sent for the Apostles alone?</b> A. The Holy Ghost was sent for the whole Church and for every faithful soul. <b>141. (12) What does the Holy Ghost do in the Church?</b> A. The Holy Ghost gives life to the Church by His grace and by His gifts, as the soul gives life to the body; He establishes in her the Kingdom of truth and of love; and He helps her to lead her children in safety along the way to heaven. <b>The Ninth Article of the Creed</b><br>The Church in General<br><b>142. (1) What does the Ninth article: The Holy Catholic Church, the Communion of Saints, teach us?</b> A. The Ninth Article of the Creed teaches us that Jesus Christ founded a visible society on earth called the Catholic Church, and that all those who belong to this Church are in communion with one another. <b>143. (2) Why immediately after the article that treats of the Holy Ghost is mention made of the Catholic Church?</b> A. Immediately after the article that treats of the Holy Ghost mention is made of the Catholic Church to indicate that the Church's holiness comes from the Holy Ghost, who is the Author of all holiness. <b>144. (3) What does the word Church mean?</b> A. The word Church means a calling forth or assembly of many. <b>145. (4) Who has convoked or called us into the Church of Jesus Christ?</b> A. We have been called into the Church of Jesus Christ by a special grace of God, to the end, that by the light of faith and the observance of the divine law, we may render Him the worship due to Him, and attain eternal life. <b>146. (5) Where are the members of the Church to be found?</b> A. The members of the Church are found partly in heaven, forming the Church Triumphant; partly in purgatory, forming the Church Suffering; partly on earth, forming the Church Militant. <b>147. (6) Do these various parts of the Church constitute one sole Church?</b> A. Yes, these various parts of the Church constitute one sole Church and one sole body for they have the same Head, Jesus Christ, the same Spirit animating and uniting them, and the same end, eternal happiness, which some already enjoy and the rest hope for. <b>148. (7) To which part of the Church does this Ninth Article principally refer?</b> A. This Ninth Article of the Creed principally refers to the Church Militant, which is the Church we actually belong to. <b>The Church in Particular</b><br><b>149. (8) What is the Catholic Church?</b> A. The Catholic Church is the Union or Congregation of all the baptised who, still living on earth, profess the same Faith and the same Law of Jesus Christ, participate in the same Sacraments, and obey their lawful Pastors, particularly the Roman Pontiff. <b>150. (9) State distinctly what is necessary to be a member of the Church?</b> A. To be a member of the Church it is necessary to be baptised, to believe and profess the teaching of Jesus Christ, to participate in the same Sacraments, and to acknowledge the Pope and the other lawful pastors of the Church. <b>151. (10) Who are the lawful pastors of the Church?</b> A. The lawful pastors of the Church are the Roman Pontiff, that is, the Pope, who is Supreme Pastor, and the Bishops. Other priests, also, and especially Parish Priests, have a share in the pastoral office, subject to the Bishop and the Pope. <b>152. (11) Why do you say that the Roman Pontiff is supreme Pastor of the Church?</b> A. Because Jesus Christ said to St. Peter, the first Pope: "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church, and I will give to thee the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound also in Heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed also in Heaven." And again: "Feed My lambs, feed My sheep." <b>153. (12) The many societies of persons who are baptised but who do not acknowledge the Roman Pontiff as their Head do not, then, belong to the Church of Jesus Christ?</b> A. No, those who do not acknowledge the Roman Pontiff as their Head do not belong to the Church of Jesus Christ. <b>154. (13) How can the Church of Jesus Christ be distinguished from the numerous societies or sects founded by men, and calling themselves Christian?</b> A. From the numerous societies or sects founded by men and calling themselves Christian, the Church of Jesus Christ is easily distinguished by four marks: She is One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic. <b>155. (14) Why is the Church called One?</b> A. The true Church is called One, because her children of all ages and places are united together in the same faith, in the same worship, in the same law; and in participation of the same Sacraments, under the same visible Head, the Roman Pontiff. <b>156. (15) Can there not be several Churches?</b> A. No, there cannot be more than one Church; for as there is but one God, one Faith and one Baptism, there is and can be but one true Church. <b>157. (16) But are not the faithful of a whole Nation or Diocese also called a Church?</b> A. The faithful of a whole Nation or Diocese are also called a Church, but they ever remain mere parts of the Universal Church and form but one Church with her. <b>158. (17) Why is the true Church called Holy?</b> A. The true church is called Holy because holy is her Invisible Head, Jesus Christ; holy are many of her members; holy are her faith, her laws, her Sacraments; and outside of her there is not and cannot be true holiness. <b>159. (18) Why is the Church called Catholic?</b> A. The true Church is called Catholic, or Universal, because she embraces the faithful of all times, of all places, of all ages and conditions; and all peoples are called to belong to her. <b>160. (19) Why is the Church also called Apostolic?</b> A. The true Church is also called Apostolic because she goes back without a break to the Apostles; because she believes and teaches all that the Apostles believed and taught; and because she is guided and governed by their lawful successors. <b>161. (20) And why is the true Church called Roman?</b> A. The true Church is called Roman, because the four marks of Unity, Sanctity, Catholicity and Apostolicity are found in that Church alone which acknowledges as Head the Bishop of Rome, the Successor of St. Peter. <b>162. (21) What is the constitution of the Church of Jesus Christ?</b> A. The Church of Jesus Christ has been constituted as a true and perfect Society; and in her we can distinguish a soul and a body. <b>163. (22) In what does the Soul of the Church consist?</b> A. The Soul of the Church consists in her internal and spiritual endowments, that is, faith, hope, charity, the gifts of grace and of the Holy Ghost, together with all the heavenly treasures which are hers through the merits of our Redeemer, Jesus Christ, and of the Saints. <b>164. (23) In what does the Body of the Church consist?</b> A. The Body of the Church consists in her external and visible aspect, that is, in the association of her members, in her worship, in her teaching-power and in her external rule and government. <b>165. (24) To be saved, is it enough to be any sort of member of the Catholic Church?</b> A. No, to be saved it is not enough to be any sort of member of the Catholic Church; it is necessary to be a living member. <b>166. (25) Who are the living members of the Church?</b> A. The living members of the Church are the just, and the just alone, that is, those who are actually in the grace of God. <b>167. (26) And who are the dead members?</b> A. The dead members of the Church are the faithful in mortal sin. <b>168. (27) Can one be saved outside the Catholic, Apostolic and Roman Church?</b> A. No, no one can be saved outside the Catholic, Apostolic Roman Church, just as no one could be saved from the flood outside the Ark of Noah, which was a figure of the Church. <b>169. (28) How, then, were the Patriarchs of old, the Prophets, and the other just men of the Old Testament, saved?</b> A. The just of the Old Testament were saved in virtue of the faith they had in Christ to come, by means of which they spiritually belonged to the Church. <b>170. (29) But if a man through no fault of his own is outside the Church, can he be saved?</b> A. If he is outside the Church through no fault of his, that is, if he is in good faith, and if he has received Baptism, or at least has the implicit desire of Baptism; and if, moreover, he sincerely seeks the truth and does God's will as best he can such a man is indeed separated from the body of the Church, but is united to the soul of the Church and consequently is on the way of salvation <b>171. (30) Suppose that a man is a member of the Catholic Church, but does not put her teaching into practice, will he be saved?</b> A. He who is a member of the Catholic Church and does not put her teaching into practice is a dead member, and hence will not be saved; for towards the salvation of an adult not only Baptism and faith are required, but, furthermore, works in keeping with faith. <b>172. (31) Are we obliged to believe all the truths the Church teaches us?</b> A. Yes, we are obliged to believe all the truths the Church teaches us, and Jesus Christ declares that he who does not believe is already condemned. <b>173. (32) Are we also obliged to do all that the Church commands?</b> A. Yes, we are obliged to do all that the Church commands, for Jesus Christ has said to the Pastors of the Church: "He who hears you, hears Me, and he who despises you, despises Me." <b>174. (33) Can the Church err in what she proposes for our belief?</b> A. No, the Church cannot err in what she proposes for our belief, since according to the promise of Jesus Christ she is unfailingly assisted by the Holy Ghost. <b>175. (34) Is the Catholic Church infallible, then?</b> A. Yes, the Catholic Church is infallible, and hence those who reject her definitions lose the faith and become heretics. <b>176. (35) Can the Catholic Church be destroyed or perish?</b> A. No; the Catholic Church may be persecuted, but she can never be destroyed or perish. She will last till the end of the world, because Jesus Christ, as He promised, will be with her till the end of time. <b>177. (36) Why is the Catholic Church so persecuted?</b> A. The Catholic Church is so persecuted because even her Divine Founder, Jesus Christ, was thus persecuted, and because she reproves vice, combats the passions, and condemns all acts of injustice and all error. <b>178. (37) Has a Catholic any other duties towards the Church?</b> A. Every Catholic ought to have a boundless love for the Church, ought to consider himself infinitely honoured and happy in belonging to her, and ought to labour for her glory and advancement by every means in his power. <b>The Church Teaching and the Church Taught</b><br><b>179. (38) Is there any distinction between the members of the Church?</b> A. There is a very notable distinction between the members of the Church; for there are some who rule and some who obey; some who teach and some who are taught. <b>180. (39) What do you call that part of the Church which teaches?</b> A. That part of the Church which teaches is called the Teaching Church. <b>181. (40) What do you call that part of the Church which is taught?</b> A. That part of the Church which is taught is called the Learning Church, or the Church Taught. <b>182. (41) Who has set up this distinction in the Church?</b> A. Jesus Christ Himself has established this distinction in the Church. <b>183. (42) Are the Church Teaching and the Church Taught, then, two churches?</b> A. The Church Teaching and the Church Taught are two distinct parts of one and the same Church, just as in the human body the head is distinct from the other members, and yet forms but one body with them. <b>184. (43) Of whom is the Teaching Church composed?</b> A. The Teaching Church is composed of all the Bishops, with the Roman Pontiff at their head, be they dispersed throughout the world or assembled together in Council. <b>185. (44) And the Church Taught, of whom is it composed?</b> A. The Church Taught is composed of all the faithful. <b>186. (45) Who, then, are they who possess the teaching power in the Church?</b> A. The teaching power in the Church is possessed by the Pope and the Bishops, and, dependent on them, by the other sacred ministers. <b>187. (46) Are we obliged to hear the Teaching Church?</b> A. Yes, without doubt we are obliged under pain of eternal damnation to hear the Teaching Church; for Jesus Christ has said to the Pastors of His Church, in the persons of the Apostles: "He who hears you, hears Me, and he who despises you, despises Me." <b>188. (47) Besides her teaching power has the Church any other power?</b> A. Yes, besides her teaching power the Church has in particular the power of administering sacred things, of making laws and of exacting the observance of them. <b>189. (48) Does the power possessed by the members of the Hierarchy come from the people?</b> A. The power possessed by the Hierarchy does not come from the people, and it would be heresy to say it did: it comes solely from God. <b>190. (49) To whom does the exercise of this power belong?</b> A. The exercise of this power belongs solely to the Hierarchy, that is, to the Pope and to the Bishops subordinate to him. <b>The Pope and the Bishops</b><br><b>191. (50) Who is the Pope?</b> A. The Pope, who is also called the Sovereign Pontiff, or the Roman Pontiff, is the Successor of St. Peter in the See of Rome, the Vicar of Jesus Christ on earth, and the visible Head of the Church. <b>192. (51) Why is the Roman Pontiff the Successor of St. Peter?</b> A. The Roman Pontiff is the Successor of St. Peter because St. Peter united in his own person the dignity of Bishop of Rome and that of Head of the Church; by divine disposition he established his Seat at Rome, and there died; hence, whosoever is elected Bishop of Rome is also heir to all his authority. <b>193. (52) Why is the Roman Pontiff the Vicar of Jesus Christ?</b> A. The Roman Pontiff is the Vicar of Jesus Christ because He represents Him on earth and acts in His stead in the government of the Church. <b>194. (53) Why is the Roman Pontiff the Visible Head of the Church?</b> A. The Roman Pontiff is the Visible Head of the Church because he visibly governs her with the authority of Jesus Christ Himself, who is her invisible Head. <b>195. (54) What, then, is the dignity of the Pope?</b> A. The dignity of the Pope is the greatest of all dignities on earth, and gives him supreme and immediate power over all and each of the Pastors and of the faithful. <b>196. (55) Can the Pope err when teaching the Church?</b> A. The Pope cannot err, that is, he is infallible, in definitions regarding faith and morals. <b>197. (56) How is it that the Pope is infallible?</b> A. The Pope is infallible because of the promise of Jesus Christ, and of the unfailing assistance of the Holy Ghost. <b>198. (57) When is the Pope infallible?</b> A. The Pope is infallible when, as Pastor and Teacher of all Christians and in virtue of his supreme Apostolic authority, he defines a doctrine regarding faith or morals to be held by all the Church. <b>199. (58) What sin would a man commit who should refuse to accept the solemn definitions of the Pope?</b> A. He who refuses to accept the solemn definitions of the Pope, or who even doubts them, sins against faith; and should he remain obstinate in this unbelief, he would no longer be a Catholic, but a heretic. <b>200. (59) Why has God granted to the Pope the gift of infallibility?</b> A. God has granted the Pope the gift of infallibility in order that we all may be sure and certain of the truths which the Church teaches. <b>201. (60) When was it defined that the Pope is infallible?</b> A. That the Pope is infallible was defined by the Church in the Vatican Council; and should anyone presume to contradict this definition he would be a heretic and excommunicated. <b>202. (61) In defining that the Pope is infallible, has the Church put forward a new truth of faith?</b> A. No, in defining that the Pope is infallible the Church has not put forward a new truth of faith; but to oppose new errors she has simply defined that the infallibility of the Pope, already contained in Sacred Scripture and in Tradition, is a truth revealed by God, and therefore to be believed as a dogma or article of faith. <b>203. (62) How should every Catholic act towards the Pope?</b> A. Every Catholic must acknowledge the Pope as Father, Pastor, and Universal Teacher, and be united with him in mind and heart. <b>204. (63) After the Pope, who are they who by Divine appointment are to be most venerated in the Church?</b> A. After the Pope, those who by Divine appointment are to be most venerated in the Church are the Bishops. <b>205. (64) Who are the Bishops?</b> A. The Bishops are the pastors of the faithful; placed by the Holy Ghost to rule the Church of God in the Sees entrusted to them, in dependence on the Roman Pontiff <b>206. (65) What is a Bishop in his own diocese?</b> A. A Bishop in his own diocese is the lawful Pastor, the Father, the Teacher, the Superior of all the faithful, ecclesiastic and lay belonging to his diocese. <b>207. (66) Why is the Bishop called the lawful Pastor?</b> A. The Bishop is called the lawful Pastor because the jurisdiction, or the power which he has to govern the faithful of his diocese, is conferred upon him according to the laws and regulations of the Church. <b>208. (67) To whom do the Pope and the Bishops succeed?</b> A. The Pope is the successor of St. Peter. the Prince of the Apostles; and the Bishops are the Successors of the Apostles, in all that regards the ordinary government of the Church. <b>209. (68) Must the faithful be in union with their Bishop?</b> A. Yes, all the faithful, ecclesiastic and lay, should be united heart and soul with their Bishop, who is in favour and communion with the Apostolic See. <b>210. (69) How should the faithful act towards their own Bishop?</b> A. Each one of the faithful, both ecclesiastic and lay, should revere, love and honour his own Bishop and render him obedience in all that regards the care of souls and the spiritual government of the diocese. <b>211. (70) By whom is the Bishop assisted in the care of souls?</b> A. The Bishop is assisted in the care of souls by priests, and especially by Parish Priests. <b>212. (71) Who is the Parish Priest?</b> A. The Parish Priest is a priest deputed to preside over and direct with due dependence on his Bishop a portion of the diocese called a parish. <b>213. (72) What are the duties of the faithful towards their Parish Priest?</b> A. The faithful should be united with their Parish Priest, listen to him with docility, and show him respect and submission in all that regards the care of the parish. <b>The Communion of Saints</b><br><b>214. (1) What are we taught by these words of the Ninth Article: The Communion of Saints?</b> A. In the words The Communion of Saints, the Ninth Article of the Creed teaches us that the Church's spiritual goods, both internal and external, are common to all her members because of the intimate union that exists between them. <b>215. (2) Which are the internal goods that are common in the Church?</b> A. The internal goods that are common in the Church are: the graces received through the Sacraments; faith, hope and charity; the infinite merits of Jesus Christ; the superabundant merits of the Blessed Virgin and of the Saints; and the fruit of all the good works done in the same Church. <b>216. (3) Which are the external goods that are common in the Church?</b> A. The external goods that are common in the Church are: the Sacraments, the Sacrifice of the Mass, public prayers, religious functions, and all the other outward practices that unite the faithful. <b>217. (4) Do all the children of the Church share in this communion of goods?</b> A. All Christians who are in the grace of God share in the communion of internal goods, while those who are in mortal sin do not participate in these goods. <b>218. (5) Why do not those who are in mortal sin participate in these goods?</b> A. Because that which unites the faithful with God, and with Jesus Christ as His living members, rendering them capable of performing meritorious works for life eternal, is the grace of God which is the supernatural life of the soul; and hence as those who are in mortal sin are without the grace of God, they are excluded from perfect communion in spiritual goods, nor can they accomplish works meritorious towards life eternal. <b>219. (6) Do Christians then, who are in mortal sin derive no advantage from the internal and spiritual goods of the Church?</b> A. Christians who are in mortal sin still continue to derive some advantage from the internal and spiritual goods of the Church, inasmuch as they still preserve the Christian character which is indelible, and the virtue of faith which is the basis of justification. They are aided, too, by the prayers and good works of the faithful towards obtaining the grace of conversion to God. <b>220. (7) Can those in mortal sin participate in the external goods of the Church?</b> A. Those in mortal sin can participate in the external goods of the Church, unless indeed they are cut off from the Church by excommunication. <b>221. (8) Why are the members of this Communion, taken together, called saints?</b> A. The members of this Communion are called saints because all are called to sanctity and have been sanctified by baptism, and because many of them have really attained perfect sanctity. <b>222. (9) Does the Communion of Saints extend also to heaven and purgatory?</b> A. Yes, the Communion of Saints also extends to heaven and purgatory, because charity unites the three Churches -- the Triumphant, the Suffering and the Militant; the Saints pray to God both for us and for the souls in purgatory; while we on our part give honour and glory to the Saints, and are able to relieve the suffering souls in purgatory by applying on their behalf indulgences and other good works. <b>Those Outside the Communion of Saints</b><br><b>223. (10) Who are they who do not belong to the Communion of Saints?</b> A. Those who are damned do not belong to the Communion of Saints in the other life; and in this life those who belong neither to the body nor to the soul of the Church, that is, those who are in mortal sin, and who are outside the true Church. <b>224. (11) Who are they who are outside the true Church?</b> A. Outside the true Church are: Infidels, Jews, heretics, apostates, schismatics, and the excommunicated. <b>225. (12) Who are infidels?</b> A. Infidels are those who have not been baptised and do not believe in Jesus Christ, because they either believe in and worship false gods as idolaters do, or though admitting one true God, they do not believe in the Messiah, neither as already come in the Person of Jesus Christ, nor as to come; for instance, Mohammedans and the like. <b>226. (13) Who are the Jews?</b> A. The Jews are those who profess the Law of Moses; have not received baptism; and do not believe in Jesus Christ. <b>227. (14) Who are heretics?</b> A. Heretics are those of the baptised who obstinately refuse to believe some truth revealed by God and taught as an article of faith by the Catholic Church; for example, the Arians, the Nestorians and the various sects of Protestants. <b>228. (15) Who are apostates?</b> A. Apostates are those who abjure, or by some external act, deny the Catholic faith which they previously professed. <b>229. (16) Who are schismatics?</b> A. Schismatics are those Christians who, while not explicitly denying any dogma, yet voluntarily separate themselves from the Church of Jesus Christ, that is, from their lawful pastors. <b>230. (17) Who are the excommunicated?</b> A. The excommunicated are those who, because of grievous transgressions, are struck with excommunication by the Pope or their Bishop, and consequently are cut off as unworthy from the body of the Church, which, however, hopes for and desires their conversion. <b>231. (18) Should excommunication be dreaded?</b> A. Excommunication should be greatly dreaded, because it is the severest and most terrible punishment the Church can inflict upon her rebellious and obstinate children. <b>232. (19) Of what goods are the excommunicated deprived?</b> A. The excommunicated are deprived of public prayers, of the Sacraments, of indulgences and of Christian burial. <b>233. (20) Can we in any way help the excommunicated?</b> A. We can in some way help the excommunicated and all others who are outside the true Church, by salutary advice, by prayers and good works, begging God in His mercy to grant them the grace of being converted to the faith and of entering into the Communion of Saints. <b>The Tenth Article of the Creed</b><br><b>234. (1) What are we taught by the Tenth Article: The Forgiveness of sins?</b> A. The Tenth Article of the Creed teaches us that Jesus Christ has left to His Church the power of forgiving sins. <b>235. (2) Can the Church forgive every sort of sin?</b> A. Yes, the Church can forgive all sins, no matter how many or how grave they may be, because Jesus Christ has given her full power to bind and to loose <b>236. (3) Who exercises this power of forgiving sins in the Church?</b> A. Those who exercise the power of forgiving sins in the Church are, first of all, the Pope, who alone possesses this power in all its plenitude; then the bishops, and, dependent upon the bishops, the priests. <b>237. (4) How does the Church forgive sins?</b> A. The Church forgives sins through the merits of Jesus Christ by conferring the Sacraments instituted by Him for this purpose; especially the sacraments of baptism and penance. <b>The Eleventh Article of the Creed</b><br><b>238. (1) What are we taught by the Eleventh Article: The Resurrection of the body?</b> A. The Eleventh Article of the Creed teaches us that all men will rise again, every soul resuming the body it had in this life. <b>239. (2) How will the resurrection of the dead be accomplished?</b> A. The resurrection of the dead will be accomplished by the virtue of the Omnipotent God, to whom nothing is impossible. <b>240. (3) When will the resurrection of the dead take place?</b> A. The resurrection of the dead shall take place at the end of the world, and shall be followed by the General Judgment. <b>241. (4) Why does God will the resurrection of the body?</b> A. God wills the resurrection of the body, in order that the soul, having done good or evil while united with the body, may also be rewarded or punished along with it. <b>242. (5) Will all rise in the same way?</b> A. No, there will be a vast difference between the bodies of the elect and the bodies of the damned; because only the bodies of the elect shall have, like the risen Christ, the endowments of glorified bodies. <b>243. (6) What are the endowments that are to adorn the bodies of the elect?</b> A. The endowments that shall adorn the bodies of the elect are: (1) Impassibility, by which they can never again be subject to evil, nor to any kind of pain, nor to need of food, of rest or the like; (2) Brightness, by which they shall shine as the sun and as so many stars; (3) Agility, by which they shall be able to pass in a moment and without fatigue from one place to another and from earth to heaven; (4) Subtlety, by which without hindrance they shall be able to penetrate any body, as did Jesus Christ when risen from the dead. <b>244. (7) And the bodies of the damned, what of them?</b> A. The bodies of the damned shall be destitute of all the endowments of the glorified bodies of the blessed, and shall bear upon them the appalling mark of eternal reprobation. <b>The Twelfth Article of the Creed</b><br><b>245. (1) What are we taught by the Last Article: Life Everlasting?</b> A. The Last Article of the Creed teaches us that, after the present life there is another life, eternally happy for the elect in heaven, or eternally miserable for the damned in hell. <b>246. (2) Can we comprehend the bliss of heaven?</b> A. No, we cannot comprehend the bliss of heaven, because it is beyond the scope of our limited minds, and because the goods of heaven cannot be compared with the goods of this world. <b>247. (3) In what does the happiness of the elect consist?</b> A. The happiness of the elect consists in for ever seeing, loving and possessing God, the source of all good. <b>248. (4) In what does the misery of the damned consist?</b> A. The misery of the damned consists in being for ever deprived of the vision of God and punished with eternal torments in hell. <b>249. (5) Are the happiness of heaven and the miseries of hell for the soul alone?</b> A. The happiness of heaven and the miseries of hell at present affect the soul alone, because at present the soul alone is in heaven or in hell; but after the resurrection of the flesh, man in the fullness of his nature, that is, in body and in soul, will be for ever happy or for ever tormented. <b>250. (6) Shall the bliss of paradise and the miseries of hell be the same for all men?</b> A. The bliss of heaven in the case of the blessed, and the miseries of hell in the case of the damned, will be the same in substance and in eternal duration; but in measure, or degree, they will be greater or less according to the extent of each one's merits or demerits. <b>251. (7) What does the word Amen signify at the end of the Creed?</b> A. The word Amen at the end of a prayer signifies so be it; at the end of the Creed it signifies so it is, that is to say, "I believe that all things contained in these twelve Articles are most true, and I am more certain of them than if I had seen them with my eyes." <b>Prayer in General</b><br><b>252. (1) What does this Part of Christian Doctrine treat of?</b> A. This Part of Christian Doctrine treats of Prayer in general, and of the Our Father in particular. <b>253. (2) What is prayer?</b> A. Prayer is an elevation of the mind to God to adore Him, to thank Him, and to ask Him for what we need. <b>254. (3) How is prayer divided?</b> A. Prayer is divided into mental and vocal prayer. Mental prayer is that made with the mind alone; and vocal prayer is that expressed in words accompanied by attention of mind and devotion of heart. <b>255. (4) Can prayer be divided in any other way?</b> A. Prayer may also be divided into private and public prayer. <b>256. (5) What is private prayer?</b> A. Private prayer is that which each one says individually for himself or for others. <b>257. (6) What is public prayer?</b> A. Public prayer is that said by the Sacred Ministers in the name of the Church and for the salvation of the faithful. That prayer also which is said in common and publicly by the faithful, in processions, pilgrimages and in God's house, may also be called public prayer. <b>258. (7) Have we a well-founded hope of obtaining by means of prayer the helps and graces of which we stand in need?</b> A. The hope of obtaining from God the graces of which we stand in need is founded on the promises of the omnipotent, merciful and all-faithful God, and on the merits of Jesus Christ. <b>259. (8) In whose name should we ask of God the graces we stand in need of?</b> A. We should ask of God the graces we stand in need of in the Name of Jesus Christ, as He Himself has taught us and as is done by the Church, which always ends her prayers with these words: Through our Lord Jesus Christ. <b>260. (9) Why should we beg graces of God in the Name of Jesus Christ?</b> A. We should beg graces of God in the Name of Jesus Christ because He is our Mediator, and it is through Him alone that we can approach the throne of God. <b>261. (10) If prayer is so powerful how is it that many times our prayers are not heard?</b> A. Many times our prayers are not heard, either because we ask things not conducive to our eternal salvation, or because we do not ask properly. <b>262. (11) Which are the chief things we should ask of God?</b> A. The chief things we should ask of God are His own glory, our eternal salvation and the means of obtaining it. <b>263. (12) Is it not also lawful to ask for temporal goods?</b> A. Yes, it is lawful to ask God for temporal goods, but always with the condition that these be in conformity with His Holy will and not a hindrance to our salvation. <b>264. (13) If God knows all that is necessary for us, why should we pray?</b> A. Although God knows all that is necessary for us, He nevertheless wills that we should pray to Him so as to acknowledge Him as the Giver of every good gift, to attest our humble submission to Him, and to merit His favours for ourselves. <b>265. (14) What is the first and best disposition to render our prayers efficacious?</b> A. The first and best disposition to render our prayers efficacious is to be in the state of grace; or if we are not in that state, to desire to put ourselves in it. <b>266. (15) What other dispositions are required in order to pray well?</b> A. To pray well we specially require recollection, humility, confidence, perseverance and resignation. <b>267. (16) What is meant by praying with recollection?</b> A. It means remembering that we are speaking to God; and hence we should pray with all respect and devotion, as far as possible avoiding distractions, that is, every thought foreign to our prayers. <b>268. (17) Do distractions lessen the merit of prayer?</b> A. Yes, when we ourselves bring them about, or when we do not promptly drive them away; but if we do all we can to be recollected in God, then our distractions do not lessen the merit of our prayer, and may even increase it <b>269. (18) What is required to pray with recollection?</b> A. Before prayer we should banish all occasions of distraction, and during prayer we should reflect that we are in the presence of God who sees and hears us. <b>270. (19) What is meant by praying with humility?</b> A. It means sincerely acknowledging our own unworthiness, powerlessness and misery, and as well as this observing a respectful posture. <b>271. (20) What is meant by praying with confidence?</b> A. It means that we should have a firm hope of being heard, if it is to God's glory and our own true welfare. <b>272. (21) What is meant by praying with perseverance?</b> A. It means that we should not grow tired of praying, if God does not at once hear us, but that we should ever continue to pray with increased fervour. <b>273. (22) What is meant by praying with resignation?</b> A. It means that we should conform our will to the will of God, even when our prayers are not heard, because He knows better than we do what is necessary for our eternal salvation. <b>274. (23) Does God always hear prayers when well said?</b> A. Yes, God always hears prayers when well said; but in the way He knows to be most conducive to our eternal salvation, and not always in the way we wish. <b>275. (24) What effects does prayer produce in us?</b> A. Prayer makes us recognise our dependence on God, the Supreme Lord, in all things; it makes us think on heavenly things; it makes us advance in virtue; it obtains for us God's mercy; it strengthens us against temptation; it comforts us in tribulation; it aids us in our needs; and it obtains for us the grace of final perseverance. <b>276. (25) When should we especially pray?</b> A. We should especially pray when in danger, in temptation, and at the hour of death; moreover, we should pray often, and it is advisable we should do so morning and night, and when beginning the more important actions of the day. <b>277. (26) For whom should we pray?</b> A. We should pray for all; first, for ourselves, then for our relatives, superiors, benefactors, friends and enemies; for the conversion of poor sinners, and of those outside the true Church, and for the Holy Souls in Purgatory. <b>The Lord's Prayer</b><br>The Lord's Prayer in General<br><b>278. (1) Which is the most excellent of all vocal prayers?</b> A. The most excellent of all vocal prayers is that which Jesus Christ taught us, that is to say, the Our Father. <b>279. (2) Why is the Our Father the most excellent of all prayers?</b> A. The Our Father is the most excellent of all prayers because Jesus Christ Himself composed it and taught it to us; because it contains clearly and in a few words all we can hope for from God; and because it is the standard and model of all other prayers. <b>280. (3) Is the Our Father also the most efficacious of prayers?</b> A. Yes, it is also the most efficacious of prayers, because it is the most acceptable to God, since in it we pray in the very words His Divine Son has taught us. <b>281. (4) Why is the Our Father called the Lord's prayer?</b> A. The Our Father is called the Lord's Prayer, precisely because Jesus Christ our Lord has taught it to us with His own lips. <b>282. (5) How many petitions are there in the Our Father?</b> A. In the Our Father there are seven petitions preceded by an introduction. <b>283. (6) Say the Our Father.</b> A. (1) Our Father who art in Heaven: (2) Hallowed be Thy Name; (3) Thy kingdom come; (4) Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; (5) Give us this day our daily bread; (6) And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; (7) And lead us not into temptation; (8) But deliver us from evil. Amen. <b>284. (7) When invoking God in the beginning of the Lord's Prayer, why do we call Him Our Father?</b> A. In the beginning of the Lord's Prayer we call God Our Father, to foster confidence in His infinite goodness by the remembrance that we are his children. <b>285. (8) How can we say that we are the children of God?</b> A. We are the children of God: first, because He has created us in His own image, and preserves and governs us by His providence; and secondly, because by an Act of special benevolence He has adopted us in Baptism as brothers of Jesus Christ and co-heirs with Him to eternal glory. <b>286. (9) Why do we call God Our Father and not my Father?</b> A. We call God Our Father and not my Father, because we are all His children, and hence we should look on and love one another as brothers and pray for one another. <b>287. (10) God being in every place, why do we say: Who art in heaven?</b> A. God is in every place; but we say: Our Father who art in heaven, to raise our hearts to heaven, where God manifests His glory to His children. <b>The First Petition</b><br><b>288. (11) What do we ask in the First Petition when we say: Hallowed be Thy Name?</b> A. In the First Petition: Hallowed be Thy Name, we ask that God may be known, loved, honoured and served by the whole world and by ourselves in particular. <b>289. (12) What do we intend when we ask that God may be known, loved, honoured and served by the whole world?</b> A. We intend to beg that infidels may come to the knowledge of the Lord God, that heretics may recognise their errors, that schismatics may return to the unity of the Church, that sinners may repent, and that the just may persevere in well-doing. <b>290. (13) Why do we first of all ask that the Name of God may be sanctified?</b> A. We first of all ask that the Name of God may be sanctified, because the glory of God should be nearer our hearts than all other goods and interests. <b>291. (14) How can we promote the glory of God?</b> A. We can promote the glory of God by prayer, by good example, and by directing to Him all our thoughts, affections and actions. <b>The Second Petition</b><br><b>292. (15) What do we mean by the Kingdom of God?</b> A. By the Kingdom of God we mean a threefold spiritual Kingdom; that is, the reign of God in us, or the reign of grace; the reign of God on earth, or the Holy Catholic Church; and the reign of God in heaven, or Paradise. <b>293. (16) In the words: Thy Kingdom come, what do we ask with regard to grace?</b> A. With regard to grace we beg that God may reign in us by His sanctifying grace, by which He deigns to dwell within us as a king in his palace; and that He may keep us ever united to Himself by the virtues of faith, hope and charity, through which He reigns over our intellect, our heart and our will. <b>294. (17) In the words: Thy Kingdom come, what do we ask regarding the Church?</b> A. Regarding the Church we ask that she may be spread and propagated ever more and more throughout the world for the salvation of mankind. <b>295. (18) In the words: Thy Kingdom come, what do we ask regarding Heaven?</b> A. Regarding Heaven we beg to be one day admitted into that Paradise for which we were created and where we shall be perfectly happy. <b>The Third Petition</b><br><b>296. (19) What do we ask in the Third Petition: Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven?</b> A. In the Third Petition: Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven, we beg the grace to do the will of God in all things by obeying His Commandments as promptly as the Angels and Saints obey Him in Heaven; and we also beg the grace to correspond to divine inspirations and to live resigned to the will of God should He send us tribulations. <b>297. (20) Is it necessary to do the will of God?</b> A. It is as necessary to do the will of God as it is to work out our salvation, because Jesus Christ has said that they alone who have done the will of His Father shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. <b>298. (21) In what way can we know the will of God?</b> A. We can know the will of God especially by means of the Church and of the spiritual superiors appointed by God to guide us along the way of salvation; we may also learn His most holy will from the divine inspirations that come to us and from the very surroundings in which the Lord has placed us. <b>299. (22) Should we always recognise the will of God in adversity as well as in prosperity?</b> A. Both in prosperity and adversity we should always recognise the will of God, who directs or permits all things for our good. <b>The Fourth Petition</b><br><b>300. (23) What do we ask in the Fourth Petition: Give us this day our daily bread?</b> A. In the Fourth Petition we beg of God all that is daily necessary for soul and body. <b>301. (24) What do we ask of God for our soul?</b> A. For our soul we ask of God the sustenance of our spiritual life, that is, we pray the Lord to give us His grace of which we stand in continual need. <b>302. (25) How is the life of the soul nourished?</b> A. The life of the soul is nourished principally by the food of the word of God and by the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. <b>303. (26) What do we ask of God for our body?</b> A. For the body we ask all that is necessary for the sustainment of our temporal life. <b>304. (27) Why do we say: Give us this day our daily bread, rather than: Give us bread this day?</b> A. We say: Give us this day our daily bread, rather than: Give us bread this day, to exclude all desire of what is another's; and hence we beg the Lord to help us in acquiring just and lawful gains, so that we may procure our maintenance by our own toil And without theft or fraud. <b>305. (28) Why do we say: Give us bread, and not: Give me bread?</b> A. We say: Give us, rather than, Give me, to remind us that as everything comes from God, so if He gives us His gifts in abundance, He does it in order that we may share what we do not need with the poor. <b>306. (29) Why do we add: Daily?</b> A. We add, Daily, because we should desire that which is necessary to life, and not an abundance of food and other goods of the earth. <b>307. (30) What more does Daily signify in the Fourth Petition?</b> A. The word Daily signifies that we should not be too solicitous regarding the future, but that we should simply ask what we need at present. <b>The Fifth Petition</b><br><b>308. (31) What do we ask in the Fifth Petition; And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us?</b> A. In the Fifth Petition: And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us, we ask God to pardon us our sins as we pardon those who offend us. <b>309. (32) Why are our sins called debts?</b> A. Our sins are called debts, because we must satisfy God's justice for them either in this life or in the next. <b>310. (33) Can those who do not forgive their neighbour hope that God will pardon them?</b> A. Those who do not forgive their neighbour have no reason to hope that God will pardon them; especially since they condemn themselves when they ask God to forgive them as they forgive their neighbour. <b>The Sixth Petition</b><br><b>311. (34) What do we ask in the Sixth Petition: And lead us not into temptation?</b> A. In the Sixth Petition: And lead us not into temptation, we ask God to deliver us from temptation either by not allowing us to be tempted, or by giving us grace not to be conquered. <b>312. (35) What are temptations?</b> A. Temptations are an incitement to sin that comes from the devil, or from the wicked, or from our own evil passions. <b>313. (36) Is it a sin to have temptations?</b> A. No, it is no sin to have temptations; but it is a sin to consent to them, or voluntarily to expose oneself to the danger of consenting to them. <b>314. (37) Why does God allow us to be tempted?</b> A. God allows us to be tempted so as to test our fidelity, increase our virtue, and augment our merits. <b>315. (38) What should we do to avoid temptations?</b> A. To avoid temptation we should fly dangerous occasions, guard our senses, receive the sacraments frequently, and have recourse to the practice of prayer. <b>The Seventh Petition</b><br><b>316. (39) What do we ask in the Seventh Petition: But deliver us from evil?</b> A. In the Seventh Petition: But deliver us from evil, we ask God to free us from evils, past, present, and future, and particularly from the greatest of all evils which is sin, and from eternal damnation, which is its penalty. <b>317. (40) Why do we say: Deliver us from evil and not: From evils?</b> A. We say: Deliver us from evil, and not, from evils, because we should not desire to be exempt from all the evils of this life, but only from those which are not good for our souls; and hence we beg liberation from evil in general, that is, from whatever God sees would be bad for us. <b>318. (41) Is it not lawful to beg liberation from some evil in particular, for example, from sickness?</b> A. Yes, it is lawful to beg liberation from some evil in particular but always in bowing to the will of God, who may even ordain that particular affliction for the good of our soul. <b>319. (42) How do the tribulations, which God sends us, help us?</b> A. Tribulations help us to do penance for our sins, to practise virtue, and above all to imitate Jesus Christ, our Head, to whom it is fitting we should conform ourselves in our sufferings, if we wish to have a share in His glory. <b>320. (43) What is the meaning of Amen at the end of the Our Father?</b> A. Amen means: So be it; So I do desire; Thus do I pray the Lord; Thus do I hope. <b>321. (44) To obtain the graces asked in the Our Father is it enough to recite it any way at all?</b> A. To obtain the graces asked in the Our Father we must recite it without haste and with attention; and we must put our heart into it. <b>322. (45) When should we say the Our Father?</b> A. We should say the Our Father every day, because every day we have need of God's help. <b>The Hail Mary</b><br><b>323. (1) What prayer do we usually say after the Our Father?</b> A. After the Our Father we say the Angelic Salutation, that is, the Hail Mary, through which we have recourse to the Blessed Virgin. <b>324. (2) Why is the Hail Mary called the Angelic Salutation?</b> A. The Hail Mary is called the Angelic Salutation, because it begins with the salutation addressed by the Archangel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary. <b>325. (3) Whose are the words of the Hail Mary?</b> A. The words of the Hail Mary are partly the Archangel Gabriel's, partly St. Elizabeth's, and partly the Church's. <b>326. (4) Which are the words of the Archangel Gabriel?</b> A. The words of the Archangel Gabriel are these: Hail, full of grace, The Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women. <b>327. (5) When was it that the angel said these words to Mary?</b> A. The angel said these words to Mary when he went to announce to her, on the part of God, the mystery of the Incarnation that was to be wrought in her. <b>328. (6) What is our object in saluting the Blessed Virgin with the very words of the Archangel?</b> A. In saluting the Blessed Virgin with the words of the Archangel we congratulate her by recalling to mind the singular privileges and gifts which God has granted her in preference to all other creatures. <b>329. (7) Which are the words of St. Elizabeth?</b> A. The words of St. Elizabeth are these: Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. <b>330. (8) When was it that St. Elizabeth said these words?</b> A. St. Elizabeth, inspired by God, said these words when, three months before she gave birth to St. John the Baptist, she was visited by the Blessed Virgin, who then bore her Divine Son in her womb. <b>331. (9) What do we intend by saying these words?</b> A. In saying the words of St. Elizabeth we congratulate the Blessed Virgin on her high dignity as Mother of God, and we bless God and thank Him for having given us Jesus Christ through Mary. <b>332. (10) Whose are the other words of the Hail Mary?</b> A. All the other words of the Hail Mary have been added by the Church. <b>333. (11) What do we ask in the last part of the Hail Mary?</b> A. In the last part of the Hail Mary we beg the protection of the Blessed Virgin during this life and especially at the hour of death, when we shall have greater need of it. <b>334. (12) Why do we say the Hail Mary, rather than any other prayer, after the Our Father?</b> A. Because the Blessed Virgin is our most powerful advocate with Jesus Christ, and hence, after having said the prayer taught us by Jesus Christ, we pray the Blessed Virgin to obtain for us the graces we have asked therein. <b>335. (13) Why is the Blessed Virgin so powerful?</b> A. The Blessed Virgin is so powerful, because, being the Mother of God, she cannot but be heard by Him. <b>336. (14) What do the Saints teach us on devotion to Mary?</b> A. Regarding devotion to Mary the Saints teach us that those who are truly devout to her are loved and protected by her with a most tender Mother's love, and that with her help they are sure to find Jesus find and obtain Paradise <b>337. (15) What form of devotion to Mary does the Church recommend in a very special manner?</b> A. The devotion to the Blessed Virgin which the Church specially recommends is the Holy Rosary. <b>Nature of the Sacraments</b><br><b>338. (1) What is treated of in the fourth part of the Christian Doctrine?</b> A. In the fourth part of the Christian Doctrine the sacraments are treated of. <b>339. (2) What is meant by the word sacrament?</b> A. By the word sacrament is meant a sensible and efficacious sign of grace, instituted by Christ to sanctify our souls. <b>340. (3) Why do you call the sacraments sensible and efficacious signs of grace?</b> A. I call the sacraments sensible and efficacious signs of grace because all the sacraments signify by means of sensible things, the divine grace which they produce in our souls. <b>341. (4) Show by an example how the sacraments are sensible and efficacious signs of grace.</b> A. In Baptism the pouring of water on the head of the person, and the words: "I baptise thee," that is, I wash thee, "in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost," are a sensible sign of that which Baptism accomplishes in the soul; just as water washes the body, so in like manner does the grace given in Baptism cleanse the soul from sin. <b>342. (5) How many sacraments are there, and what are they called?</b> A. There are seven sacraments: Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unction, Holy Orders and Matrimony. <b>343. (6) What is necessary to constitute a sacrament?</b> A. To constitute a sacrament it is necessary to have the matter, the form, and the minister, who must have the intention to do what the Church does. <b>344. (7) What is the matter of the sacraments?</b> A. The matter of the sacraments is the sensible thing made use of in effecting the sacrament; such as, for example, natural water in Baptism, oil and balsam in Confirmation. <b>345. (8) What is the form of the sacraments?</b> A. The form of the sacraments is the words which are pronounced in order to effect the sacrament. <b>346. (9) Who is the minister of the sacraments?</b> A. The minister of the sacraments is the person who administers or confers the sacrament. <b>The Principal Effect of the Sacraments: Grace</b><br><b>347. (10) What is grace?</b> A. Grace is an inward and supernatural gift given to us without any merit of our own, but through the merits of Jesus Christ in order to gain eternal life. <b>348. (11) How is grace distinguished?</b> A. Grace is divided into sanctifying grace, which is also called habitual grace, and actual grace. <b>349. (12) What is sanctifying grace?</b> A. Sanctifying grace is a supernatural gift inherent in our soul, and rendering us just, adopted children of God and heirs to Paradise. <b>350. (13) How many kinds of sanctifying grace are there?</b> A. Sanctifying grace is of two kinds: first grace and second grace. <b>351. (14) What is first grace?</b> A. First grace is that by means of which one passes from the state of mortal sin to the state of justice. <b>352. (15) And what is second grace?</b> A. Second grace is an increase of first grace. <b>353. (16) What is actual grace?</b> A. Actual grace is a supernatural gift which enlightens the mind, moves and strengthens the will in order to enable us to do good and avoid evil. <b>354. (17) Can we resist the grace of God?</b> A. Yes, we can resist the grace of God because it does not destroy our free will. <b>355. (18) By the aid of our own powers alone can we do anything available to life eternal?</b> A. Without the help of the grace of God, and by our own powers alone, we cannot do anything helpful to life everlasting. <b>356. (19) How is grace given us by God?</b> A. Grace is given us by God chiefly through the sacraments. <b>357. (20) Do the sacraments confer any other grace besides sanctifying grace?</b> A. Besides sanctifying grace the sacraments also confer sacramental grace. <b>358. (21) What is sacramental grace?</b> A. Sacramental grace consists in the right acquired in the reception of a sacrament, to have at the proper time the actual graces necessary to fulfil the obligations arising from the sacrament received. Thus when we were baptised we received the right to have the grace to live a Christian life. <b>359. (22) Do the sacraments always confer grace on those who receive them?</b> A. The sacraments always confer grace provided they are received with the necessary dispositions. <b>360. (23) Who gave to the sacraments the power of conferring grace?</b> A. Jesus Christ by His passion and death gave to the sacraments the power of conferring grace. <b>361. (24) What sacraments confer first sanctifying grace?</b> A. The sacraments which confer first sanctifying grace, and render us friends of God, are two: Baptism and Penance. <b>362. (25) How are these two sacraments called on that account?</b> A. These two sacraments, Baptism and Penance, are on that account called sacraments of the dead, because they are instituted chiefly to restore to the life of grace the soul dead by sin. <b>363. (26) Which are the sacraments that increase grace in those who already possess it?</b> A. The sacraments which increase grace in those who already possess it are the other five: Confirmation, Eucharist, Extreme Unction, Holy Orders and Matrimony, all of which confer second grace. <b>364. (27) On this account how are they called?</b> A. These five sacraments -- Confirmation, Eucharist, Extreme Unction, Holy Orders and Matrimony -- are on that account called sacraments of the living, because those who receive them must be free from mortal sin, that is, already alive through sanctifying grace. <b>365. (28) What sin does he commit who, conscious that he is not in a state of grace, receives one of the sacraments of the living?</b> A. He who conscious that he is not in a state of grace, receives one of the sacraments of the living, commits a serious sacrilege. <b>366. (29) What sacraments are most necessary for salvation?</b> A. The sacraments most necessary to salvation are two: Baptism and Penance. Baptism is necessary to all, and Penance is necessary to all who have sinned mortally after Baptism. <b>367. (30) What is the greatest of all the sacraments?</b> A. The greatest of all the sacraments is the Eucharist, because it contains not only grace, but also Jesus Christ the Author of Grace and of the sacraments. <b>The Character Impressed by some of the Sacraments</b><br><b>368. (31) What sacraments can be received only once?</b> A. The sacraments that can be received only once are three: Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders. <b>369. (32) Why can the three sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Orders be received only once?</b> A. The three sacraments, Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Orders can be received only once, because each of them imprints a special character on the soul. <b>370. (33) What is the character that each of the three sacraments, Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Orders imprints on the soul?</b> A. The character that each of the three sacraments, Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders imprints on the soul is a spiritual mark that is never effaced. <b>371. (34) What is the purpose of the character that these three sacraments impress on the soul?</b> A. The character that these three sacraments imprint on the soul, serves to mark us as members of Jesus Christ at Baptism, as His soldiers at Confirmation, and as His ministers at Holy Orders. <b>Nature and Effects of Baptism</b><br><b>372. (1) What is the sacrament of Baptism?</b> A. Baptism is a sacrament by which we are born again to the grace of God, and become Christians. <b>373. (2) What are the effects of the sacrament of Baptism?</b> A. The sacrament of Baptism confers first sanctifying grace by which original sin is washed away, as well as all actual sin if any such exists; it remits all punishment due on account of such sins; it imprints the character of a Christian; it makes us children of God, members of the Church, and heirs to Paradise, and enables us to receive the other sacraments. <b>374. (3) What is the matter of Baptism?</b> A. The matter of Baptism is natural water which is poured on the head of the person to be baptised in such a quantity as to flow. <b>375. (4) What is the form of Baptism?</b> A. The form of Baptism is: "I baptise thee in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost." <b>Minister of Baptism</b><br><b>376. (5) To whom does it belong to confer Baptism?</b> A. To confer Baptism belongs by right to bishops and parish priests, but in case of necessity any person, whether man or woman, even a heretic or an infidel, can administer it, provided he carries out the rite of Baptism, and has the intention of doing what the Church does. <b>377. (6) If it were necessary to baptise a person in danger of death, and if several people were present, who should administer the sacrament?</b> A. If it were necessary to baptise a person in danger of death, and if several people were present, a priest, if such were at hand, should administer the Sacrament, and, in his absence, one of the inferior clergy; and in the absence of such, a layman in preference to a woman, unless in the case in which the greater skill on the part of the woman, or the claims of propriety, should demand otherwise. <b>378. (7) What intention should the person baptising have?</b> A. The person baptising should have the intention of doing what Holy Church does in baptising. <b>The Rite of Baptism and the Disposition of the Adult who Receives It</b><br><b>379. (8) How is Baptism given?</b> A. Baptism is given by pouring water on the head of the person to be baptised -- and if it cannot be poured on the head, then on some other principal part of the body -- saying at the same time: "I baptise thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." <b>380. (9) If one were to pour the water and another to pronounce the words would the person be baptised?</b> A. If one poured the water and another said the words the person would not be baptised; because it is necessary that the person who pours the water should pronounce the words. <b>381. (10) When in doubt whether the person is dead, is it right to omit baptising him?</b> A. When in doubt whether the person is dead, he should be baptised conditionally, saying: "If thou art alive I baptise thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." <b>382. (11) When should infants be brought to the Church to be baptised?</b> A. Infants should be brought to the Church to be baptised as soon as possible. <b>383. (12) Why such anxiety to have infants receive Baptism?</b> A. There should be the greatest anxiety to have infants baptised because, on account of their tender age, they are exposed to many dangers of death, and cannot be saved without Baptism. <b>384. (13) Do parents sin, then, who, through negligence, allow their children to die without Baptism, or who defer it?</b> A. Yes, fathers and mothers who, through negligence, allow their children to die without Baptism sin grievously, because they deprive their children of eternal life; and they also sin grievously by putting off Baptism for a long time, because they expose them to danger of dying without having received it. <b>385. (14) When the person who is being baptised is an adult, what dispositions should he have?</b> A. An adult who is being baptised, besides faith, should have at least imperfect contrition for the mortal sins he may have committed. <b>386. (15) If an adult in mortal sin was baptised without such sorrow, what would he receive?</b> A. If an adult was baptised in mortal sin without such sorrow he would receive the character of Baptism, but not the remission of his sins nor sanctifying grace. And these two effects would be suspended, until the obstacle is removed by perfect contrition or by the sacrament of Penance. <b>Necessity of Baptism and Obligations of the Baptised</b><br><b>387. (16) Is Baptism necessary to salvation?</b> A. Baptism is absolutely necessary to salvation, for our Lord has expressly said: "Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God." <b>388. (17) Can the absence of Baptism be supplied in any other way?</b> A. The absence of Baptism can be supplied by martyrdom, which is called Baptism of Blood, or by an act of perfect love of God, or of contrition, along with the desire, at least implicit, of Baptism, and this is called Baptism of Desire. <b>389. (18) To what is the person baptised bound?</b> A. The person baptised is bound to always profess the faith and observe the Law of Jesus Christ and of His Church. <b>390. (19) In receiving holy Baptism what do we renounce?</b> A. In receiving holy Baptism we renounce, for ever, the devil, his works and pomps. <b>391. (20) What is meant by the works and pomps of the devil?</b> A. By the works and pomps of the devil we mean sin and the maxims of the world that are contrary to the maxims of the Gospel. <b>Names and Sponsors</b><br><b>392. (21) Why is the name of a saint given to him who is being baptised?</b> A. To him who is being baptised is given the name of a saint in order to put him under the protection of a heavenly patron and to animate him to imitate that saint's example. <b>393. (22) Who are the godfathers and godmothers in Baptism?</b> A. The godfathers and godmothers in Baptism are those persons who, in accordance with the decree of the Church, hold the infants at the font, answer for them, and become guarantees in the sight of God for their Christian education, especially in the absence of the parents. <b>394. (23) Are we obliged to keep the promises and renunciations made for us by our sponsors?</b> A. We are certainly obliged to observe the promises and renunciations made for us by our sponsors, because it is only on this condition that God has received us into His grace. <b>395. (24) What sort of persons should be chosen as godfathers and godmothers?</b> A. There should be chosen as godfathers and godmothers Catholics of good life, and obedient to the laws of the Church. (Source: Catechism Of St. pius X)
<b>396. (25) What are the obligations of godfathers and godmothers?</b> A. Godfathers and godmothers are bound to see that their spiritual children are instructed in the truths of faith, and live as good Christians and they should edify them by their good example. <b>397. (26) What tie do sponsors contract in Baptism?</b> A. Sponsors contract a spiritual relationship with the baptised and with the parents of the baptised, which causes an impediment to marriage with these persons. <b>Chrism or Confirmation</b><br><b>398. (1) What is the sacrament of Confirmation?</b> A. Confirmation is a sacrament which gives us the Holy Ghost, imprints on our souls the mark of a soldier of Jesus Christ, and makes us perfect Christians. <b>399. (2) How does the sacrament of Confirmation make us perfect Christians?</b> A. The sacrament of Confirmation makes us perfect Christians by confirming us in the faith and perfecting the other virtues and gifts received in Baptism; hence it is called Confirmation. <b>400. (3) What gifts of the Holy Ghost are received in Confirmation?</b> A. The gifts of the Holy Ghost received in Confirmation are these seven: Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety, and the Fear of the Lord. <b>401. (4) What is the matter of this sacrament?</b> A. The matter of this sacrament, besides the imposition of hands by the bishop, is the anointing of the forehead of the baptised with sacred chrism; and for this reason it is also called the sacrament of Chrism, that is Anointing. <b>402. (5) What is sacred Chrism?</b> A. Sacred Chrism is oil of olive mingled with balsam, and consecrated by the bishop on Holy Thursday. <b>403. (6) What do the oil and balsam in this sacrament signify?</b> A. In this sacrament the oil, which is unctuous and strengthening, signifies the abounding grace which is diffused over the soul of the Christian to confirm him in his faith; and the balsam, which is fragrant and prevents corruption, signifies that the Christian, strengthened by this grace, is enabled to give forth a good odour of Christian virtue and preserve himself from the corruption of vice. <b>404. (7) What is the form of the sacrament of Confirmation?</b> A. The form of the sacrament of Confirmation is this: "I sign thee with the Sign of the Cross, and I confirm thee with the chrism of salvation, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen." <b>405. (8) Who is the minister of the sacrament of Confirmation?</b> A. The ordinary minister of the sacrament of Confirmation is the bishop alone. <b>406. (9) How does the bishop administer Confirmation?</b> A. In administering the sacrament of Confirmation the bishop first stretches his hands over those to be confirmed, and invokes the Holy Ghost upon them; next, he anoints the forehead of each one with sacred chrism in the form of a cross, saying the words of the form; then he gives each one confirmed a light stroke on the cheek with his right hand, saying: Peace be with you; finally, he solemnly blesses all those he has confirmed. <b>407. (10) Why is the anointing made on the forehead?</b> A. The anointing is made on the forehead, where signs of fear and shame appear, in order that he who is confirmed may understand that he should not blush at the name and profession of a Christian, nor fear the enemies of his faith. <b>408. (11) Why is a light stroke given to the person confirmed?</b> A. A light stroke is given to the person confirmed to show him that he should be ready to bear all insults and endure all sufferings for the faith of Jesus Christ. <b>409. (12) Should all endeavour to receive the sacrament of Confirmation?</b> A. Yes, all should endeavour to receive the sacrament of Confirmation and to have those under them receive it. <b>410. (13) At what age is it advisable to receive the sacrament of Confirmation?</b> A. The age at which it is advisable to receive the sacrament of Confirmation is about the seventh year, because it is then that temptations usually begin, and the grace of the sacrament can be sufficiently discerned and a recollection be had of having received it.? <b>411. (14) What dispositions are required to receive worthily the sacrament of Confirmation?</b> A. To receive worthily the sacrament of Confirmation it is necessary to be in the grace of God; know the principal mysteries of our holy faith; and approach it with reverence and devotion. <b>412. (15) Would he who received Confirmation a second time be guilty of sin?</b> A. He would commit a sacrilege; because Confirmation is one of the sacraments that imprint a character on the soul and hence may be received only once. <b>413. (16) What should a Christian do to preserve the grace of Confirmation?</b> A. To preserve the grace of Confirmation a Christian should pray often, do good works, and live according to the laws of Jesus Christ, in spite of human respect. <b>414. (17) Why are there also godfathers and godmothers in Confirmation?</b> A. In order that, by word and example, they may show the confirmed the way to eternal life and help him in the spiritual combat. <b>415. (18) What qualifications are required in sponsors?</b> A. They should be of proper age, Catholics, confirmed, instructed in the necessary truths of religion, and persons of good life. <b>416. (19) Does a sponsor in Confirmation contract any relationship with the confirmed and the parents of the confirmed?</b> A. The sponsor in Confirmation contracts the same spiritual relationship as is contracted in Baptism. <b>The Blessed Eucharist</b><br>The Nature of This Sacrament -- The Real Presence<br><b>417. (1) What is the sacrament of the Eucharist?</b> A. The Eucharist is a sacrament in which, by the marvellous conversion of the whole substance of bread into the Body of Jesus Christ, and that of wine into His precious Blood, is contained truly, really, and substantially, the Body, the Blood, the Soul and Divinity of the same Lord Jesus Christ, under the appearance of bread and wine as our spiritual food. <b>418. (2) In the Eucharist is there the same Jesus Christ who is in heaven, and who was born on earth of the Blessed Virgin?</b> A. Yes, in the Eucharist there is truly the same Jesus Christ who is in heaven, and who was born on earth of the Blessed Virgin. <b>419. (3) Why do you believe that in the Eucharist Jesus Christ is really present?</b> A. I believe that in the Eucharist Jesus Christ is truly present, because He Himself has said it, and holy Church teaches it. <b>420. (4) What is the matter of the sacrament of the Eucharist?</b> A. The matter of the sacrament of the Eucharist is that which was used by Jesus Christ Himself, that is, wheaten bread and wine of the vine. <b>421. (5) What is the form of the sacrament of the Eucharist?</b> A. The form of the sacrament of the Eucharist consists of the words used by Jesus Christ Himself: "This is My Body: This is My Blood." <b>422. (6) What is the host before consecration?</b> A. The host before consecration is bread. <b>423. (7) After consecration what is the host?</b> A. After consecration the host is the true Body of our Lord Jesus Christ under the species of bread <b>424. (8) What is in the chalice before consecration?</b> A. In the chalice before consecration there is wine with a few drops of water. <b>425. (9) After consecration what is in the chalice?</b> A. After consecration there is in the chalice the true Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, under the species of wine. <b>426. (10) When does the change of the bread into the Body and of the wine into the Blood of Jesus Christ take place?</b> A. The change of the bread into the Body and of the wine into the Blood of Jesus Christ is made in the very moment in which the priest pronounces the words of consecration during holy Mass. <b>427. (11) What is the consecration?</b> A. The consecration is the renewal, by means of the priest, of the miracle wrought by Jesus Christ at the Last Supper, of changing bread and wine into His adorable Body and Blood by saying: "This is My Body: This is My Blood." <b>428. (12) What does the Church call the miraculous change of bread and of wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ?</b> A. The Church calls the miraculous change which is daily wrought upon our altars transubstantiation. <b>429. (13) Who gave this great power to the words of consecration?</b> A. Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, who is Almighty God, gave this great power to the words of consecration. <b>430. (14) Is there nothing left of the bread and of the wine after consecration?</b> A. After consecration the species of the bread and of the wine alone are left. <b>431. (15) What are the species of the bread and of the wine?</b> A. The species of the bread and of the wine are the quantity and sensible qualities of the bread and of the wine, such as the form, the colour, and the taste. <b>432. (16) How can the species of the bread and of the wine remain without their substance?</b> A. The species of the bread and of the wine remain without their substance in a wonderful way by the power of God Almighty. <b>433. (17) Under the species of the bread is there only the Body of Jesus Christ and under the species of the wine only His Blood?</b> A. Both under the species of the bread and under the species of the wine the living Jesus Christ is all present, with His Body, His Blood, His Soul and His Divinity. <b>434. (18) Can you tell me why Jesus Christ is whole and entire both in the host and in the chalice?</b> A. Both in the host and in the chalice Jesus Christ is whole and entire, because He is living and immortal in the Eucharist as He is in heaven; hence where His Body is, there also are His Blood, His Soul, and His Divinity; and where His Blood is, there also are His Body, His Soul and His Divinity, all these being inseparable in Jesus Christ. <b>435. (19) When Jesus Christ is in the host does He cease to be in heaven?</b> A. When Jesus Christ is in the host He does not cease to be in heaven, but is at one and the same time in heaven and in the Blessed Sacrament. <b>436. (20) Is Jesus Christ present in all the consecrated hosts in the world?</b> A. Yes, Jesus Christ is present in all consecrated hosts in the world. <b>437. (21) How can Jesus Christ be present in all the consecrated hosts in the world?</b> A. Jesus Christ is present in all the consecrated hosts in the world by the Omnipotence of God, to whom nothing is impossible. <b>438. (22) When the host is broken is the Body of Jesus Christ broken also?</b> A. When the host is broken, the Body of Jesus Christ is not broken, but only the species of the bread are broken. <b>439. (23) In which part of the host is the Body of Jesus Christ?</b> A. The Body of Jesus Christ is entire in all the parts into which the host is broken. <b>440. (24) Is Jesus Christ just as much in a particle of a host as in a whole host?</b> A. Yes, the same Jesus Christ is just as much in a particle of a host as in a whole host. <b>441. (25) Why is the Most Blessed Eucharist preserved in our churches?</b> A. The Most Blessed Eucharist is preserved in our churches that It may be adored by the faithful, and brought to the sick when necessary. <b>442. (26) Ought the Eucharist to be adored?</b> A. The Eucharist ought to be adored by all, because it contains really, truly, and substantially, our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. <b>The Institution and Effects of the Sacrament of the Eucharist</b><br><b>443. (27) When did Jesus Christ institute the sacrament of the Eucharist?</b> A. Jesus Christ instituted the sacrament of the Eucharist at the last supper, which He took with His disciples, the evening before His passion. <b>444. (28) Why did Jesus Christ institute the Most Holy Eucharist?</b> A. Jesus Christ instituted the Most Holy Eucharist for three principal reasons: (1) To be the Sacrifice of the New Law; (2) To be the food of our souls; (3) To be a perpetual memorial of His passion and death and a precious pledge both of His love for us and of eternal life. <b>445. (29) Why did Jesus Christ institute this sacrament under the appearances of bread and wine?</b> A. Jesus Christ instituted this sacrament under the appearances of bread and wine, because, the Eucharist being intended to be our spiritual nourishment, it was therefore fitting that it should be given to us under the form of food and drink. <b>446. (30) What are the effects which the Most Holy Eucharist produces in us?</b> A. The principal effects which the Most Holy Eucharist produces in those who worthily receive it are these: (1) It preserves and increases the life of the soul, which is grace, just as natural food sustains and increases the life of the body; (2) It remits venial sins and preserves us from mortal sin; (3) It produces spiritual consolation. <b>447. (31) Does not the Most Holy Eucharist produce other effects in us?</b> A. Yes; the Most Holy Eucharist produces three other effects in (1) It weakens our passions, and in particular it allays in us the fires of concupiscence; (2) It increases in us the fervour of charity towards God and our neighbour, and aids us to act in conformity with the will of Jesus Christ; (3) It gives us a pledge of future glory and of the resurrection of our body. <b>The Dispositions necessary to Receive Holy Communion worthily</b><br><b>448. (32) Does the sacrament of the Eucharist always produce its marvellous effects in us?</b> A. The sacrament of the Eucharist produces its marvellous effects in us when it is received with the requisite dispositions <b>449. (33) What conditions are necessary to make a good Communion?</b> A. To make a good communion three conditions are necessary: (1) To be in the grace of God (2) To be fasting from midnight until the moment of Holy Communion; (3) To know what we are about to receive, and to approach Holy Communion devoutly. <b>450. (34) What is meant by being in the grace of God?</b> A. To be in the grace of God means to have a pure conscience and to be free from every mortal sin. <b>451. (35) What should one who knows that he is in mortal sin do before receiving Communion?</b> A. One who knows that he is in mortal sin must make a good confession before going to Holy Communion, for even an act of perfect contrition is not enough without confession to enable one who is in mortal sin to receive Holy Communion properly. <b>452. (36) Why does not even an act of perfect contrition suffice to enable one who knows he is in mortal sin to go to Communion?</b> A. Because the Church, out of respect for this sacrament, has ordained that no one in mortal sin should dare to go to Communion without first going to confession. <b>453. (37) Does he who goes to Communion in mortal sin receive Jesus Christ?</b> A. He who goes to Communion in mortal sin receives Jesus Christ but not His grace; moreover, he commits a sacrilege and renders himself deserving of sentence of damnation. <b>454. (38) What sort of fast is required before Communion?</b> A. Before communion there is required a natural fast which is broken by taking the least thing by way of food or drink. <b>455. (39) If one were to swallow a particle that had remained between the teeth, or a drop of water while washing, might he still go to Communion?</b> A. If one were to swallow a particle that had remained between the teeth, or a drop of water while washing, he might still go to Communion, because in both cases these things would either not be taken as food or drink, or they would have already lost the nature of either. <b>456. (40) Is it ever allowed to go to Communion after having broken the fast?</b> A. To go to Communion after having broken the fast is permitted to the sick, who are in danger of death, and to those who on account of prolonged illness have received a special dispensation from the Pope. Communion given to the sick in danger of death is called viaticum, because it supports them on their way from this life to eternity. <b>457. (41) What is meant by the words: To know what we are about to receive?</b> A. To know what we are about to receive means to know and firmly believe what is taught in Christian doctrine concerning this sacrament. <b>458. (42) What do the words: To receive Holy Communion with devotion mean?</b> A. To receive Holy Communion with devotion means to approach Holy Communion with humility and modesty in person And dress; and to make a preparation before, and an act of thanksgiving after, Holy Communion. <b>459. (43) In what does the preparation before Communion consist?</b> A. Preparation before Communion consists in meditating for some time on Whom we are about to receive, and on who we are; and in making acts of faith, hope, charity, contrition, adoration, humility, and desire to receive Jesus Christ. <b>460. (44) In what does the thanksgiving after Communion consist?</b> A. Thanksgiving after Communion consists in keeping ourselves recollected in order to honour the Lord who is within us; renewing our acts of faith, of hope, of charity, of adoration, of thanksgiving, of offerings, and of requests, especially for those graces which are most necessary for ourselves and for those for whom we are bound to pray. <b>461. (45) What should we do during the day on which we have received Communion?</b> A. During the day on which we have received Communion we should remain as recollected as possible, occupy ourselves in works of piety, and discharge the duties of our state with greater diligence. <b>462. (46) How long does Jesus Christ abide within us after Holy Communion?</b> A. After Holy Communion Jesus Christ abides within us by His grace as long as we commit no mortal sin; and He abides within us by His Real Presence until the sacramental species are consumed. <b>The Way to Go to Communion</b><br><b>463. (47) How should we act while receiving Holy Communion?</b> A. In the act of receiving Holy Communion we should be kneeling, hold our head slightly raised, our eyes modest and fixed on the sacred Host, our mouth sufficiently open, and the tongue slightly out over the lips. <b>464. (48) How should the Communion cloth be held?</b> A. The Communion cloth should be held in such a way as to receive the sacred Host in case it should fall. <b>465. (49) When should the sacred Host be swallowed?</b> A. We should try to swallow the sacred Host as soon as possible, and we should avoid spitting for some time. <b>466. (50) If the sacred Host should cling to the palate what should be done?</b> A. If the sacred Host should cling to the palate it should be removed with the tongue, but never with the finger. <b>The Precept of Holy Communion</b><br><b>467. (51) When are we bound to receive Communion?</b> A. We are bound to go to Communion once a year, at Easter, each one in his own parish; and also when in danger of death. <b>468. (52) At what age does the precept of paschal Communion begin to bind?</b> A. The precept of paschal Communion begins to bind as soon As a child is capable of receiving with the requisite dispositions. <b>469. (53) Do they sin who are old enough to receive Communion And do not?</b> A. They who are old enough to receive Communion and do not either because they are unwilling, or because, through their own fault, they are not instructed, undoubtedly sin. Their parents or guardians also sin if the delay of Communion is owing to their fault, and they shall have to render a strict account to God for it. <b>470. (54) Is it a good and useful thing to go often to Communion?</b> A. It is an excellent thing to go to Communion often, and even daily in accordance with the desire of the Church, provided we do so with the requisite dispositions. <b>471. (55) How often may we go to Holy Communion?</b> A. We may go to Holy Communion as often as we are advised to do so by a pious and learned confessor. <b>The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass</b><br>The Essence, Institution and Ends of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass<br><b>472. (1) Should the Holy Eucharist be considered only as a sacrament?</b> A. The Holy Eucharist, besides being a sacrament, is also the permanent Sacrifice of the New Law, which Jesus Christ left to His Church to be offered to God by the hands of His priests. <b>473. (2) In what in general does a sacrifice consist?</b> A. In general a sacrifice consists in the offering of some sensible thing to God and in some way destroying it as an acknowledgment of His Supreme Dominion over us and over all things. <b>474. (3) What is this Sacrifice of the New Law called?</b> A. This Sacrifice of the New Law is called the Holy Mass. <b>475. (4) What, then, is the Holy Mass?</b> A. The Holy Mass is the Sacrifice of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ offered on our altars under the appearances of bread and wine, in commemoration of the Sacrifice of the Cross. <b>476. (5) Is the Sacrifice of the Mass the same as that of the Cross?</b> A. The Sacrifice of the Mass is substantially the same as that of the Cross, for the same Jesus Christ, Who offered Himself on the Cross, it is Who offers Himself by the hands of the priests, His ministers, on our altars; but as regards the way in which He is offered, the Sacrifice of the Mass differs from the Sacrifice of the Cross, though retaining the most intimate and essential relation to it. <b>477. (6) What difference and relation then is there between the Sacrifice of the Mass and that of the Cross?</b> A. Between the Sacrifice of the Mass and that of the Cross there is this difference and relation, that on the Cross Jesus Christ offered Himself by shedding His Blood and meriting for us; whereas on our altars He sacrifices Himself without the shedding of His Blood, and applies to us the fruits of His passion And death. <b>478. (7) What other relation has the Sacrifice of the Mass to that of the Cross?</b> A. Another relation of the Sacrifice of the Mass to that of the Cross is, that the Sacrifice of the Mass represents in a sensible way the shedding of the Blood of Jesus Christ on the Cross, because, in virtue of the words of consecration, only the Body of our Saviour is made present under the species of the bread and only His Blood under the species of the wine; although by natural concomitance and by the hypostatic union, the living And real Jesus Christ is present under each of the species. <b>479. (8) Is not the Sacrifice of the Cross the one only Sacrifice of the New Law?</b> A. The Sacrifice of the Cross is the one only Sacrifice of the New Law, inasmuch as through it Our Lord satisfied Divine Justice, acquired all the merits necessary to save us, and thus, on His part, fully accomplished our redemption. These merits, however, He applies to us through the means instituted by Him in His Church, among which is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. <b>480. (9) For what ends then is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass offered?</b> A. The Sacrifice of the Mass is offered to God for four ends: (1) To honour Him properly, and hence it is called Latreutical; (2) To thank Him for His favours, and hence it is called Eucharistical; (3) To appease Him, make Him due satisfaction for our sins, and to help the souls in Purgatory, and hence it is called Propitiatory; (4) To obtain all the graces necessary for us, and hence it is called Impetratory. <b>481. (10) Who is it that offers to God the Sacrifice of the Holy Mass?</b> A. The first and principal Offeror of the Sacrifice of the Holy Mass is Jesus Christ, while the priest is the minister who in the Name of Jesus Christ offers the same Sacrifice to the Eternal Father. <b>482. (11) Who instituted the Sacrifice of the Holy Mass?</b> A. Jesus Christ Himself instituted the Sacrifice of the Holy Mass when He instituted the Sacrament of the Blessed Eucharist and said that this should be done in memory of His passion. <b>483. (12) To whom is the Holy Mass offered?</b> A. The Holy Mass is offered to God alone. <b>484. (13) If the Holy Mass is offered to God alone why are so many Masses celebrated in honour of the Blessed Virgin And the Saints?</b> A. Mass celebrated in honour of the Blessed Virgin and the Saints is always a sacrifice offered to God alone; it is said to be celebrated in honour of the Blessed Virgin and the Saints to thank God for the gifts He has given them, and through their intercession to obtain from Him more abundantly the graces of which we have need. <b>485. (14) Who shares in the fruits of the Mass?</b> A. The entire Church shares in the fruits of the Mass, but more particularly: (1) The priest and those who assist at Mass, the latter being united with the priest; (2) Those for whom the Mass is applied, both living and dead. <b>The Way to Assist at Mass</b><br><b>486. (15) What is required in order to assist at Holy Mass well and profitably?</b> A. To assist at Holy Mass well and profitably two things are necessary: (1) Modesty of person and (2) Devotion of heart. <b>487. (16) In what does modesty of person consist?</b> A. Modesty of person consists especially in being modestly dressed, in observing silence and recollection and, as far as possible, in remaining kneeling, except during the time of the two Gospels which are heard standing. <b>488. (17) In hearing Holy Mass which is the best way to practise true devotion?</b> A. In hearing Holy Mass the best way to practise true devotion is the following: (1) From the very beginning to unite our intention with that of the priest, offering the Holy Sacrifice to God for the ends for which it was instituted. (2) To accompany the priest in each prayer and action of the Sacrifice. (3) To meditate on the passion and death of Jesus Christ And to heartily detest our sins, which have been the cause of them. (4) To go to Communion, or at least to make a spiritual Communion while the priest communicates. <b>489. (18) What is spiritual Communion?</b> A. Spiritual Communion is a great desire to be united sacramentally with Jesus Christ. saying, for example: "My Lord Jesus Christ, I desire with my whole heart to be united with Thee now and forever;" and then make the same acts that are to be made before and after sacramental Communion. <b>490. (19) Does the recitation of the Rosary or other prayers during Mass prevent us from hearing it with profit?</b> A. The recitation of the Rosary and other prayers during Mass does not prevent us from hearing it with profit, provided we try As far as possible to follow the parts of the Holy Sacrifice. <b>491. (20) Is it advisable to pray for others while assisting at Mass?</b> A. Yes it is advisable to pray for others while assisting at Mass; nay more, the time of Holy Mass is the most suitable of all times to pray for the living and the dead. <b>492. (21) What should we do after Mass?</b> A. After Mass we should give God thanks for having allowed us to assist at this great Sacrifice, and we should ask pardon for All the faults we may have committed while assisting at it. <b>The Sacrament of Penance</b><br>Penance in General<br><b>493. (1) What is the sacrament of Penance?</b> A. The sacrament of Penance, also called Confession, is a sacrament instituted by Jesus Christ to remit the sins committed after Baptism. <b>494. (2) Why is the name of Penance given to this sacrament?</b> A. The name of Penance is given to this sacrament, because to obtain pardon for sins it is necessary to detest them penitently; and because he who has committed a fault must submit to the penance which the priest imposes. <b>495. (3) Why is this sacrament also called Confession?</b> A. This sacrament is also called Confession, because to obtain pardon for sins it is not enough to detest them, but it is necessary also to accuse oneself of them to the priest, that is, to make a confession of them. <b>496. (4) When did Jesus Christ institute the sacrament of Penance?</b> A. Jesus Christ instituted the sacrament of Penance on the day of His resurrection when, entering the Supper Room, He solemnly gave His Apostles the power of remitting sin. <b>497. (5) How did Jesus Christ give His Apostles the power of remitting sin?</b> A. Jesus Christ gave His Apostles the power of remitting sin thus: Breathing upon them He said: "Receive ye the Holy Ghost; whose sins you shall forgive they are forgiven; and whose sins you shall retain they are retained." <b>498. (6) What is the matter of the sacrament of Penance?</b> A. The matter of the sacrament of Penance is divided into remote and proximate. The remote matter consists of the sins committed by the penitent after Baptism; and the proximate matter are the acts of the penitent himself, that is, contrition, confession and satisfaction. <b>499. (7) What is the form of the sacrament of Penance?</b> A. The form of the sacrament of Penance is this: "I absolve thee from thy sins." <b>500. (8) Who is the minister of the sacrament of Penance?</b> A. The minister of the sacrament of Penance is a priest authorised by the Bishop to hear confessions. <b>501. (9) Why do you say that a priest must be authorised by the Bishop?</b> A. A priest must be authorised by the Bishop to hear confessions because to administer this sacrament validly the power of Orders is not enough, but there is also necessary the power of jurisdiction, that is, the power to judge, which must be given by the Bishop. <b>502. (10) Which are the parts of the sacrament of Penance?</b> A. The parts of the sacrament of Penance are contrition, confession, and satisfaction on the part of the penitent, and absolution on the part of the priest. <b>503. (11) What is contrition or sorrow for sins?</b> A. Contrition or sorrow for sin is a grief of the soul leading us to detest sins committed and to resolve not to commit them any more. <b>504. (12) What does the word contrition mean?</b> A. Contrition means a crushing or breaking up into pieces as when a stone is hammered and reduced to dust. <b>505. (13) Why is the name of contrition given to sorrow for sin?</b> A. The name of contrition is given to sorrow for sin to signify that the hard heart of the sinner is in a certain way crushed by sorrow for having offended God. <b>506. (14) In what does confession of sins consist?</b> A. Confession of sins consists in a distinct accusation of our sins made to the confessor in order to obtain absolution and receive penance for them. <b>507. (15) Why is confession called an accusation?</b> A. Confession is called an accusation, because it must not be a careless recital, but a true and sorrowful manifestation of our sins. <b>508. (16) What is satisfaction or penance?</b> A. Satisfaction or penance is that prayer or other good work which the confessor enjoins on the penitent in expiation of his sins. <b>509. (17) What is absolution?</b> A. Absolution is the sentence which the priest pronounces in the name of Jesus Christ when remitting the penitent's sins. <b>510. (18) Of all the parts of the sacrament of Penance which is the most necessary?</b> A. Of all the parts of the sacrament of Penance the most necessary is contrition, because without it no pardon for sins is obtainable, while with it alone, perfect pardon can be obtained, provided that along with it there is the desire, at least implicit, of going to confession. <b>The Effects and the Necessity of the Sacrament of Penance and the Dispositions to Receive It Properly</b><br><b>511. (19) Which are the effects of the sacrament of Penance?</b> A. The sacrament of Penance confers sanctifying grace by which are remitted the mortal sins and also the venial sins which we confess and for which we are sorry; it changes eternal punishment into temporal punishment, of which it even remits more or less according to our dispositions; it revives the merits of the good works done before committing mortal sin; it gives the soul aid in due time against falling into sin again, and it restores peace of conscience. <b>512. (20) Is the sacrament of Penance necessary to all for salvation?</b> A. The sacrament of Penance is necessary for salvation to all who have committed a mortal sin after Baptism. <b>513. (21) Is it a good thing to go to confession often?</b> A. Yes, it is an excellent thing to go to confession often, because the sacrament of Penance, besides taking away sin, gives the graces necessary to avoid sin in the future. <b>514. (22) Has the sacrament of Penance the power of remitting all sins, no matter how numerous or how great they are?</b> A. The sacrament of Penance has the power of remitting all sins no matter how numerous and great they are, provided it is received with the requisite dispositions. <b>515. (23) How many conditions are necessary to make a good confession?</b> A. To make a good confession five things are necessary: (1) Examination of conscience; (2) Sorrow for having offended God; (3) A resolution of sinning no more; (4) Confession of our sins; (5) Satisfaction or penance <b>516. (24) What should we do first of all to make a good confession?</b> A. To make a good confession we should first of all earnestly beseech God to give us light to know all our sins and strength to detest them. <b>Examination of Conscience</b><br><b>517. (25) What is the examination of conscience?</b> A. The examination of conscience is a diligent search for the sins committed since the last good confession. <b>518. (26) How is the examination of conscience made?</b> A. The examination of conscience is made by carefully calling to mind before God all the sins committed but not confessed, in thought, word, deed and omission, against the Commandments of God and the Church, and against the duties of our state. <b>519. (27) On what else should we examine ourselves?</b> A. We should also examine ourselves on our bad habits and on the occasions of sin. <b>520. (28) In our examination should we also try to discover the number of our sins?</b> A. In our examination we should also try to discover the number of our mortal sins. <b>521. (29) What is required for a sin to be mortal?</b> A. For a sin to be mortal three things are required: (1) Grave matter, (2) Full advertence, (3) Perfect consent of the will. <b>522. (30) When is the matter to be considered grave?</b> A. The matter is grave when the thing under examination is seriously contrary to the laws of God and His Church. <b>523. (31) When is there full advertence in sinning?</b> A. Full advertence in sinning is had when we know perfectly well that we are doing a serious evil. <b>524. (32) When is perfect consent of the will verified in sinning?</b> A. Perfect consent of the will is verified in sinning when we deliberately determine to do a thing although we know that thing to be sinful. <b>525. (33) What diligence should be used in the examination of conscience?</b> A. In the examination of conscience the same diligence is demanded as is used in a matter of great importance. <b>526. (34) How much time should be spent in the examination of conscience?</b> A. More or less time should be spent in the examination of conscience according to the needs of each case, that is, according to the number or kind of sins that burden the conscience and according to the time that has elapsed since the last good confession. <b>527. (35) How may the examination of conscience be rendered easy?</b> A. The examination of conscience is rendered easy by making An examination of conscience every evening upon the actions of the day. <b>Sorrow</b><br><b>528. (36) What is sorrow for sin?</b> A. Sorrow for sin consists in grief of soul and in a sincere detestation of the offence offered to God. <b>529. (37) How many kinds of sorrow are there?</b> A. Sorrow is of two kinds: perfect sorrow or contrition; and imperfect sorrow or attrition. <b>530. (38) What is perfect sorrow or contrition?</b> A. Perfect sorrow is a grief of soul for having offended God because He is infinitely good and worthy of being loved for His own sake. <b>531. (39) Why do you call the sorrow of contrition perfect sorrow?</b> A. I call the sorrow of contrition perfect sorrow for two reasons: (1) Because it considers the goodness of God alone and not our own advantage or loss; (2) Because it enables us at once to obtain pardon for sins, even though the obligation to confess them still remains. <b>532. (40) Perfect sorrow, then, obtains us pardon of our sins independently of confession?</b> A. Perfect sorrow does not obtain us pardon of our sins independently of confession, because it always includes the intention to confess them. <b>533. (41) Why does perfect sorrow or contrition produce the effect of restoring us to the grace of God?</b> A. Perfect sorrow or contrition produces this effect, because it proceeds from charity which cannot exist in the soul together with sin. <b>534. (42) What is imperfect sorrow or attrition?</b> A. Imperfect sorrow or attrition is that by which we repent of having offended God because He is our Supreme Judge, that is, for fear of the chastisement deserved in this life or in the life to come, or because of the very foulness of sin itself. <b>535. (43) What qualities must sorrow have to be true sorrow?</b> A. Sorrow in order to be true must have four qualities: It must be internal, supernatural, supreme and universal. <b>536. (44) What is meant by saying that sorrow must be internal?</b> A. It means that it must exist in the heart and will, and not in words alone. <b>537. (45) Why must sorrow be internal?</b> A. Sorrow must be internal because the will, which has been alienated from God by sin, must return to God by detesting the sin committed. <b>538. (46) What is meant by saying that sorrow must be supernatural?</b> A. It means that it must be excited in us by the grace of God and conceived through motives of faith. <b>539. (47) Why must sorrow be supernatural?</b> A. Sorrow must be supernatural because the end to which it is directed is supernatural, namely, God's pardon, the acquisition of sanctifying grace, and the right to eternal glory. <b>540. (48) Explain more clearly the difference between natural and supernatural sorrow.</b> A. He who repents of having offended God because God is infinitely good and worthy of being loved for His own sake; of having lost Heaven and merited hell; or because of the intrinsic malice of sin, has supernatural sorrow, since all these are motives of faith. On the contrary, he who repents only because of the dishonour or chastisement inflicted by men, or because of some purely temporal loss, has a natural sorrow, since he repents from human motives alone. <b>541. (49) Why must sorrow be supreme?</b> A. Sorrow must be supreme because we must look upon and hate sin as the greatest of all evils, being as it is an offence against God. <b>542. (50) To have sorrow for sin, is it necessary to weep, as we sometimes do, in consequence of the misfortunes of this life?</b> A. It is not necessary to shed tears of sorrow for our sins; it is enough if in our heart we make more of having offended God than of any other misfortune whatsoever. <b>543. (51) What is meant by saying that sorrow must be universal?</b> A. It means that it must extend to every mortal sin committed. <b>544. (52) Why should sorrow extend to every mortal sin committed?</b> A. Because he who does not repent of even one mortal sin still remains an enemy to God. <b>545. (53) What should we do to have sorrow for our sins?</b> A. To have sorrow for our sins we should ask it of God with our whole heart, and excite it in ourselves by the thought of the great evil we have done by sinning. <b>546. (54) What should you do to excite yourself to detest your sins?</b> A. To excite myself to detest my sins: (1) I will consider the rigour of the infinite justice of God And the foulness of sin which has defiled my soul and made me worthy of the eternal punishment of hell; (2) I will consider that by sin I have lost the grace, friendship and sonship of God and the inheritance of Heaven; (3) That I have offended my Redeemer who died for me And that my sins caused His death; (4) That I have despised my Creator and my God, that I have turned my back upon Him who is my Supreme Good and worthy of being loved above everything else And of being faithfully served. <b>547. (55) In going to confession should we be extremely solicitous to have a true sorrow for our sins?</b> A. In going to confession we should certainly be very solicitous to have a true sorrow for our sins, because this is of all things the most important; and if sorrow is wanting the confession is no good. <b>548. (56) If one has only venial sins to confess, must he be sorry for all of them?</b> A. If one has only venial sins to confess it is enough to repent of some of them for his confession to be valid; but to obtain pardon of all of them it is necessary to repent of all he remembers having committed. <b>549. (57) If one has only venial sins to confess and if he does not repent of even one of them, does he make a good confession?</b> A. If one confesses only venial sins without having sorrow for at least one of them, his confession is in vain; moreover it would be sacrilegious if the absence of sorrow was conscious. <b>550. (58) What should be done to render the confession of only venial sins more secure?</b> A. To render the confession of venial sins more secure it is prudent also to confess with true sorrow some grave sin of the past, even though it has been already confessed. <b>551. (59) Is it well to make an act of contrition often?</b> A. It is well and most useful to make an act of contrition often, especially before going to sleep or when we know we have or fear we have fallen into mortal sin, in order to recover God's grace as soon as possible; and this practice will make it easier for us to obtain from God the grace of making a like act at time of our greatest need, that is, when in danger of death. <b>Resolution of Sinning No More</b><br><b>552. (60) In what does a good resolution consist?</b> A. A good resolution consists in a determined will not to commit sin for the future and to use all necessary means to avoid it. <b>553. (61) What conditions should a resolution have in order to be good?</b> A. A resolution, in order to be good, should have three principal conditions: It ought to be absolute, universal, and efficacious. <b>554. (62) What is meant by an absolute resolution?</b> A. It means that the resolution ought to be without any restrictions of time, place or person. <b>555. (63) What is meant by a universal resolution?</b> A. It means that we should avoid all mortal sins, both those already committed as well as those which we can possibly commit. <b>556. (64) What is meant by an efficacious resolution?</b> A. It means that there must be a determined will to lose everything rather than commit another sin; to avoid the dangerous occasions of sin; to stamp out our bad habits; and to discharge the obligations that may have been contracted in consequence of our sins. <b>557. (65) What is meant by a bad habit?</b> A. By a bad habit is meant an acquired disposition to fall easily into those sins to which we have become accustomed. <b>558. (66) What must be done to correct bad habits?</b> A. To correct bad habits we must watch over ourselves, pray much, go often to confession, have one good director, and put into practice the counsels and remedies which he gives us. <b>559. (67) What is meant by dangerous occasions of sin?</b> A. By dangerous occasions of sin are meant all those circumstances of time, place, person, or things, which, of their very nature or because of our frailty, lead us to commit sin. <b>560. (68) Are we strictly bound to shun dangerous occasions?</b> A. We are strictly bound to shun those dangerous occasions which ordinarily lead us to commit mortal sin, and which are called the proximate occasions of sin. <b>561. (69) What should a person do who cannot avoid a certain occasion of sin?</b> A. A person who cannot avoid a certain occasion of sin should lay the matter before his confessor and follow his advice. <b>562. (70) What considerations will help us to make a good resolution?</b> A. The same considerations help us to make a good resolution as are efficacious in exciting sorrow; that is, a consideration of the motives we have to fear God's justice and to love His infinite goodness. <b>The Accusation of Sins to the Confessor</b><br><b>563. (71) Having prepared properly for confession by an examination of conscience, by exciting sorrow, and by forming a good resolution, what do you do next?</b> A. Having prepared properly for confession by an examination of conscience, by sorrow, and by a purpose of amendment, I will go to make an accusation of my sins to the confessor in order to get absolution. <b>564. (72) What sins are we bound to confess?</b> A. We are bound to confess all our mortal sins; it is well, however, to confess our venial sins also. <b>565. (73) Which are the qualities the accusation of sins, or confession, ought to have?</b> A. The principal qualities which the accusation of our sins ought to have are five: It ought to be humble, entire, sincere, prudent and brief. <b>566. (74) What is meant by saying that the accusation ought to be humble?</b> A. That the accusation ought to be humble, means that the penitent should accuse himself to his confessor without pride or boasting; but with the feelings of one who is guilty, who confesses his guilt, and who appears before his judge. <b>567. (75) What is meant by saying that the accusation ought to be entire?</b> A. That the accusation ought to be entire means that all mortal sins we are conscious of having committed since our last good confession must be made known, together with the circumstances and number. <b>568. (76) What circumstances must be made known for the accusation to be entire?</b> A. For the accusation to be entire, the circumstances which change the species of the sin must be made known. <b>569. (77) Which are the circumstances which change the species of a sin?</b> A. The circumstances which change the species of a sin are: (1) Those by which a sinful action from being venial becomes mortal; (2) Those by means of which a sinful action contains the malice of two or more mortal sins. <b>570. (78) Give an example of a circumstance making a venial sin mortal.</b> A. If, to excuse himself, a man were to tell a lie and by doing so occasion serious harm to another, he would be bound to make known this circumstance, which changes the lie from an officious lie to a seriously harmful lie. <b>571. (79) Give an example of a circumstance on account of which a single sinful action contains the malice of two or more sins.</b> A. If a man were to steal a sacred object he would be bound to accuse himself of this circumstance which adds to the theft the malice of sacrilege. <b>572. (80) If a penitent is not certain of having committed a sin must he confess it?</b> A. If a penitent is not certain of having committed a sin he is not bound to confess it; and if he does confess it, he should add that he is not certain of having committed it. <b>573. (81) What should he do who does not remember the exact number of his sins?</b> A. He who does not distinctly remember the number of his sins must mention the number as nearly as he can. <b>574. (82) Does he who through forgetfulness does not confess a mortal sin, or a necessary circumstance, make a good confession?</b> A. He who through pure forgetfulness does not confess a mortal sin, or a necessary circumstance, makes a good confession, provided he has been duly diligent in trying to remember it. <b>575. (83) If a mortal sin, forgotten in confession, is afterwards remembered, are we bound to confess it in another confession?</b> A. If a mortal sin forgotten in confession is afterwards remembered we are certainly bound to confess it the next time we go to confession. <b>576. (84) What does he commit who, through shame or some other motive, wilfully conceals a mortal sin in confession?</b> A. He who, through shame or some other motive, wilfully conceals a mortal sin in confession, profanes the sacrament and is consequently guilty of a very great sacrilege. <b>577. (85) In what way must he relieve his conscience who has wilfully concealed a mortal sin in confession?</b> A. He who has wilfully concealed a mortal sin in confession, must reveal to his confessor the sin concealed, say in how many confessions he has concealed it, and make all these confessions over again, from the last good confession. <b>578. (86) What reflection should a penitent make who is tempted to conceal a sin in confession?</b> A. He who is tempted to conceal a mortal sin in confession should reflect: (1) That he was not ashamed to sin, in the presence of God who sees all; (2) That it is better to manifest his sin secretly to the confessor than to live tormented by sin, die an unhappy death, and be covered with shame before the whole world on the day of general judgment; (3) That the confessor is bound by the seal of confession under the gravest sin and under threat of the severest punishments both temporal and eternal. <b>579. (87) What is meant by saying that the accusation ought to be sincere?</b> A. By saying that the accusation ought to be sincere, is meant that we must unfold our sins as they are, without excusing them, lessening them, or increasing them. <b>580. (88) What is meant by saying that the confession ought to be prudent?</b> A. That the confession ought to be prudent, means that in confessing our sins we should use the most careful words possible and be on our guard against revealing the sins of others. <b>581. (89) What is meant by saying the confession ought to be short?</b> A. That the confession ought to be short, means that we should say nothing that is useless for the purpose of confession. <b>582. (90) Is it not a heavy burden to be obliged to confess one's sins to another, especially when these are shameful sins?</b> A. Although it may be a heavy burden to confess one's sins to another, still it must be done, because it is of divine precept, and because pardon can be obtained in no other way; and, moreover, because the difficulty is compensated by many advantages and great consolations. <b>How to Make a Good Confession</b><br><b>583. (91) How do you present yourself to the confessor?</b> A. I kneel at the feet of the confessor and I say: "Bless me, Father, for I have sinned." <b>584. (92) What do you do while the confessor blesses you?</b> A. I humbly bow my head to receive the blessing and I make the Sign of the Cross. <b>585. (93) Having made the sign of the Cross what should you say?</b> A. Having made the sign of the Cross, I say: "I confess to Almighty God, to blessed Mary ever Virgin, to all the Saints, and to you, my spiritual Father, that I have sinned." <b>586. (94) And then what must you say?</b> A. Then I must say: "I was at confession such a time; by the grace of God I received absolution, performed my penance, and went to Holy Communion." Then I accuse myself of my sins. <b>587. (95) When you have finished the accusation of your sins what do you do?</b> A. When I have finished the accusation of my sins I say: "I accuse myself also of all the sins of my past life, especially of those against such or such a virtue" -- for example, against purity or against the Fourth Commandment, etc. <b>588. (96) After this accusation what should you say?</b> A. I should say: "For all these sins and for those I do not remember, I ask pardon of God with my whole heart, and penance and absolution of you, my spiritual Father." <b>589. (97) Having thus finished the accusation of your sins what remains to be done?</b> A. Having finished the accusation of my sins I should listen respectfully to what the confessor says, accept the penance with a sincere intention of performing it; and, from my heart, renew my act of contrition while he gives me absolution. <b>590. (98) Having received absolution what remains to be done?</b> A. Having received absolution I should thank the Lord, perform my penance as soon as possible, and put in practice the advice of the confessor. <b>Absolution</b><br><b>591. (99) Must confessors always give absolution to those who go to confession to them?</b> A. Confessors should give absolution to those only whom they judge properly disposed to receive it. <b>592. (100) May confessors sometimes defer or refuse absolution?</b> A. Confessors not only may, but must defer or refuse absolution in certain cases so as not to profane the sacrament. <b>593. (101) Who are those penitents who are to be accounted badly disposed and to whom absolution must as a rule be refused or deferred?</b> A. Penitents who are to be accounted badly disposed are chiefly the following: (1) Those who do not know the principal mysteries of their faith, or who neglect to learn those other truths of Christian Doctrine which they are bound to know According to their state; (2) Those who are gravely negligent in examining their conscience, who show no signs of sorrow or repentance; (3) Those who are able but not willing to restore the goods of others, or the reputations they have injured; (4) Those who do not from their heart forgive their enemies; (5) Those who will not practise the means necessary to correct their bad habits; (6) Those who will not abandon the proximate occasions of sin. <b>594. (102) Is not a confessor too severe, who defers absolution because he does not believe the penitent is well enough disposed?</b> A. A confessor who defers absolution because he does not believe the penitent well enough disposed, is not too severe; on the contrary, he is very charitable and acts as a good physician who tries all remedies, even those that are disagreeable and painful, to save the life of his patient. <b>595. (103) Should the sinner to whom absolution is deferred or refused, despair or leave off going to confession altogether?</b> A. A sinner to whom absolution is deferred or refused, should not despair or leave off going to confession altogether; he should, on the contrary, humble himself, acknowledge his deplorable state, profit by the good advice his confessor gives him, and thus put himself as soon as possible in a state deserving of absolution. <b>596. (104) What should a penitent do with regard to selecting a confessor?</b> A. A genuine penitent should earnestly recommend himself to God for help to enable him to select a pious, learned, and prudent confessor, into whose hands he should put himself, obeying him as his judge and physician. <b>Satisfaction or Penance</b><br><b>597. (105) What is satisfaction?</b> A. Satisfaction, which is also called sacramental penance, is one of the acts of the penitent by which he makes a certain reparation to the justice of God for his sins, by performing the works the confessor imposes on him. <b>598. (106) Is the penitent bound to accept the penance imposed on him by the confessor?</b> A. Yes, the penitent is bound to accept the penance imposed on him by the confessor if he can perform it; and if he cannot, he should humbly say so, and ask some other penance. <b>599. (107) When should the penance be performed?</b> A. If the confessor has fixed no time, the penance should be performed as soon as convenient, and as far as possible while in the state of grace. <b>600. (108) How should the penance be performed?</b> A. The penance should be performed entirely and devoutly. <b>601. (109) Why is a penance imposed in confession?</b> A. A penance is imposed because, after sacramental absolution which remits sin and its eternal punishment, there generally remains a temporal punishment to be undergone, either in this world or in Purgatory. <b>602. (110) Why has our Lord willed to remit all the punishment due to sin in the sacrament of Baptism, and not in the sacrament of Penance?</b> A. Our Lord has willed to remit all the punishment due to sin in the sacrament of Baptism, and not in the sacrament of Penance, 'because the sins after Baptism are much more grievous, being committed with fuller knowledge and greater ingratitude for God's benefits, and also in order that the obligation of satisfying for them may restrain us from falling into sin again. <b>603. (111) Can we of ourselves make satisfaction to God?</b> A. Of ourselves we cannot make satisfaction to God, but we certainly can do so by uniting ourselves to Jesus Christ, who gives value to our actions by the merits of His passion and death. <b>604. (112) Does the penance which the confessor imposes always suffice to discharge the punishment which remains due to our sins?</b> A. The penance which the confessor imposes does not ordinarily suffice to discharge the punishment remaining due to our sins; and hence we must try to supply it by other voluntary penances. <b>605. (113) Which are the works of penance?</b> A. The works of penance may be reduced to three kinds: Prayer, Fasting, and Alms-deeds. <b>606. (114) What is meant by prayer?</b> A. By prayer is meant every kind of pious exercise. <b>607. (115) What is meant by fasting?</b> A. By fasting is meant every kind of mortification. <b>608. (116) What is meant by almsgiving?</b> A. By almsgiving is meant every spiritual or corporal work of mercy. <b>609. (117) Which penance is the more meritorious, that which the confessor gives, or that which we do of our own choice?</b> A. The penance which the confessor imposes is the most meritorious, because being part of the sacrament it receives greater virtue from the merits of the passion of Jesus Christ. <b>610. (118) Do those who die after having received absolution but before they have fully satisfied the justice of God, go straight to Heaven?</b> A. No, they go to Purgatory there to satisfy the justice of God and be perfectly purified. <b>611. (119) Can the souls in Purgatory be relieved of their pains by us?</b> A. Yes, the souls in Purgatory can be relieved by our prayers, alms-deeds, all our other good works, and by indulgences, but above all by the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. <b>612. (120) Besides his penance, what else must the penitent do after confession?</b> A. Besides performing his penance after confession, the penitent, if he has justly injured another in his goods or reputation, or if he has given him scandal, must as soon as possible, and as far as he is able, restore him his goods, repair his honour, and remedy the scandal. <b>613. (121) How can the scandal given be remedied?</b> A. The scandal given can be remedied by removing the occasion of it and by edifying by word and example those whom we have scandalised. <b>614. (122) How should we make satisfaction to one whom we have offended?</b> A. We should make satisfaction to one whom we have offended, by asking his pardon, or by some other suitable reparation. <b>615. (123) What fruits does a good confession produce in us?</b> A. A good confession: (1) Remits the sins we have committed and gives us the grace of God; (2) Restores us peace and quiet of conscience; (3) Reopens the gates of Heaven and changes the eternal punishment of hell into a temporal punishment; (4) Preserves us from falling again, and renders us capable of partaking of the treasury of Indulgences. <b>Indulgences</b><br><b>616. (124) What is an Indulgence?</b> A. An Indulgence is the remission of the temporal punishment due on account of our sins which have been already pardoned as far as their guilt is concerned -- a remission accorded by the Church outside the sacrament of Penance. <b>617. (125) From whom has the Church received the power to grant Indulgences?</b> A. The Church has received the power to grant Indulgences from Jesus Christ. <b>618. (126) In what way does the Church by means of Indulgences remit this temporal punishment?</b> A. The Church by means of Indulgences remits this temporal punishment by applying to us the superabundant merits of Jesus Christ, of the Blessed Virgin and of the Saints, which constitute what is known as the Treasure of the Church. <b>619. (127) Who has the power to grant Indulgences?</b> A. The Pope alone has the power to grant Indulgences in the whole Church, and the Bishop in his own diocese, according to the faculty given him by the Pope. <b>620. (128) How many kinds of Indulgences are there?</b> A. Indulgences are of two kinds: plenary and partial. <b>621. (129) What is a plenary Indulgence?</b> A. A plenary Indulgence is that by which the whole temporal punishment due to our sins is remitted. Hence, if one were to die after having gained such an Indulgence, he would go straight to Heaven, being, as he is, perfectly exempt from the pains of Purgatory. <b>622. (130) What is a partial Indulgence?</b> A. A partial Indulgence is that by which is remitted only a part of the temporal punishment due to our sins. <b>623. (131) Why does the Church grant Indulgences?</b> A. In granting Indulgences the Church intends to aid our incapacity to expiate all the temporal punishment in this world, by enabling us to obtain by means of works of piety and Christian charity that which in the first ages Christians gained by the rigour of Canonical penances. <b>624. (132) What is meant by an Indulgence of forty or a hundred days or of seven years, and the like?</b> A. By an Indulgence of forty or a hundred days, or of seven years and the like, is meant the remission of so much of the temporal punishment as would have been paid by penances of forty or a hundred days, or seven years, anciently prescribed in the Church. <b>625. (133) What value should we set on Indulgences?</b> A. We should set the greatest value on Indulgences because by them we satisfy the justice of God and obtain possession of Heaven sooner and more easily. <b>626. (134) Which are the conditions necessary to gain Indulgences?</b> A. The conditions necessary to gain Indulgences are: (1) The state of grace (at least at the final completion of the work), and freedom from those venial faults, the punishment of which we wish to cancel; (2) The fulfilment of all the works the Church enjoins in order to gain the Indulgence; (3) The intention to gain it. <b>627. (135) Can Indulgences be applied also to the souls in Purgatory?</b> A. Yes, Indulgences can be applied also to the souls in Purgatory, when he who grants them says that they may be so applied. <b>628. (136) What is a Jubilee?</b> A. A Jubilee, which as a rule is granted every twenty-five years, is a Plenary Indulgence to which are attached many privileges and special concessions, such as that of being able to obtain absolution from certain reserved sins and from censures, and the commutation of certain vows. <b>The Sacrament of Extreme Unction</b><br><b>629. (1) What is Extreme Unction?</b> A. Extreme Unction is a sacrament instituted for the spiritual as well as for the temporal comfort of the sick in danger of death. <b>630. (2) What are the effects of Extreme Unction?</b> A. The sacrament of Extreme Unction produces the following effects: (1) It increases sanctifying grace; (2) It remits venial sins, and also mortal sins which the sick person, if contrite, is unable to confess; (3) It takes away weakness and sloth which remain even After pardon has been obtained; (4) It gives strength to bear illness patiently, to withstand temptation and to die holily; (5) It aids in restoring us to health of body if it is for the good of the soul. <b>631. (3) When should Extreme Unction be received?</b> A. Extreme Unction should be received when the illness is dangerous, and after the sick person has received, if possible, the sacraments of Penance and the Blessed Eucharist; it is even well to receive it while he has the use of his senses, and has still some hope of recovery. <b>632. (4) Why is it well to receive Extreme Unction when the sick person has still the use of his senses, and has still some hope of recovery?</b> A. It is well to receive Extreme Unction while the sick person retains the use of his senses, and while there remains some hope of his recovery because: (1) He thus receives it with better dispositions, and is hence able to derive greater fruit from it; (2) This sacrament restores health of body (should it be for the good of the soul) by assisting the powers of nature; and hence it should not be deferred until recovery is despaired of. <b>633. (5) With what dispositions should the sacrament of Extreme Unction be received?</b> A. The principal dispositions for receiving Extreme Unction are: To be in the state of grace; to have confidence in the power of this sacrament and in the mercy of God and to be resigned to the will of the Lord. <b>634. (6) What should be the sick person's feelings on seeing the priest?</b> A. On seeing the priest, the sick person should feel thankful to God for having sent him; and should gladly receive the comforts of religion, which, if he is able, he should request himself. <b>The Sacrament of Holy Orders</b><br><b>635. (1) What is the sacrament of Holy Orders?</b> A. Holy Orders is a sacrament which gives power to exercise the sacred duties connected with the worship of God and the salvation of souls, and which imprints the character of Minister of God on the soul of him who receives it. <b>636. (2) Why is it called Orders?</b> A. It is called Orders because it comprises various grades, the one subordinate to the other, from which the sacred Hierarchy is composed. <b>637. (3) Which are these grades?</b> A. The highest is the Episcopate, which contains the fullness of the Priesthood; then comes the Priesthood; then the Diaconate, the Sub-diaconate, and the Orders called Minor. <b>638. (4) When did Jesus Christ institute the Sacerdotal Order?</b> A. Jesus Christ instituted the Sacerdotal Order at the Last Supper when he conferred on the Apostles and their successors the power of consecrating the Blessed Eucharist. Then on the day of His resurrection He conferred on them the power of remitting and retaining sin, thus constituting them the first Priests of the New Law in all the fullness of their power. <b>639. (5) Who is the Minister of this sacrament?</b> A. The bishop is the Minister of this sacrament. <b>640. (6) Is the dignity of the Christian Priesthood a great dignity?</b> A. The dignity of the Christian Priesthood is great indeed, because of the two-fold power which Jesus Christ has conferred upon it -- that over His real body and that over His mystical body, or the Church; and because of the divine mission committed to priests to lead men to eternal life. <b>641. (7) Is the Catholic Priesthood necessary in the Church?</b> A. The Catholic Priesthood is necessary in the Church, because without it the faithful would be deprived of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and of the greater part of the sacraments; they would have no one to instruct them in the faith; and they would be as sheep without a shepherd, a prey to wolves; in short, the Church, such as Christ instituted it, would no longer exist. <b>642. (8) Will the Catholic Priesthood therefore never cease on this earth?</b> A. In spite of the war that hell wages against it, the Catholic Priesthood will last until the end of time, because Jesus Christ has promised that the powers of hell shall never prevail against His Church. <b>643. (9) Is it a sin to despise Priests?</b> A. It is a very grave sin, because the scorn and insults cast on Priests fall upon Jesus Christ Himself, who said to His Apostles: He who despises you, despises Me. <b>644. (10) What motive should he have who embraces the ecclesiastical state?</b> A. The motive of one who embraces the ecclesiastical state should be the glory of God and the salvation of souls alone. <b>645. (11) What is necessary to enter the ecclesiastical state?</b> A. To enter the ecclesiastical state a divine vocation is necessary before all else. <b>646. (12) What should be done to find out whether God calls us to the ecclesiastical state?</b> A. To find out if God calls us to the ecclesiastical state we should: (1) Fervently pray the Lord to make known His will to us; (2) Consult our Bishop or a learned and prudent director; (3) Diligently examine whether we have the capacity necessary for the studies, the duties, and the obligations of this state. <b>647. (13) If one were to enter the ecclesiastical state without a divine vocation would he do wrong?</b> A. If one were to enter the ecclesiastical state without a divine vocation he would commit a great wrong and run the risk of being lost. <b>648. (14) Do those parents sin who, from worldly motives, impel their sons to embrace the ecclesiastical state without any vocation?</b> A. Those parents who, for worldly motives, impel their sons to embrace the ecclesiastical state without any vocation commit a very grave sin, because by thus acting they usurp the right God has reserved to Himself alone of choosing His own ministers; and they expose their children to the danger of eternal damnation. <b>649. (15) Which are the duties of the faithful towards those who are called to Holy Orders?</b> A. The faithful should: (1) Give their children and dependents full liberty to follow the call of God; (2) Pray God to deign to grant good pastors and zealous ministers to His Church -- it is precisely for this end that the fasts of Quarter Tense have been instituted; (3) Have special respect for all who are consecrated by Holy Orders to God's service. <b>The Sacrament of Matrimony</p><p>Nature of the Sacrament of Matrimony</b><br><b>650. (1) What is the sacrament of Matrimony?</b> A. Matrimony is a sacrament, instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ, which creates a holy and indissoluble union between a man and woman, and gives them grace to love one another holily and to bring up their children as Christians. <b>651. (2) By whom was Matrimony instituted?</b> A. Matrimony was instituted by God Himself in the Garden of Paradise, and was raised to the dignity of a sacrament by Jesus Christ in the New Law. <b>652. (3) Has the sacrament of Matrimony any special signification?</b> A. The sacrament of Matrimony signifies the indissoluble union of Jesus Christ with the Church, His Spouse, and our holy Mother. <b>653. (4) Why do we say that the bond of marriage is indissoluble?</b> A. We say that the bond of marriage is indissoluble or that it cannot be dissolved except by the death of either husband or wife, because God so ordained from the beginning and so Jesus Christ our Lord solemnly proclaimed. <b>654. (5) Can the contract be separated from the sacrament in Christian marriage?</b> A. No, in marriage among Christians the contract cannot be separated from the sacrament, because, for Christians, marriage is nothing else than the natural contract itself, raised by Jesus Christ to the dignity of a sacrament. <b>655. (6) Among Christians, then, there can be no true marriage that is not a sacrament?</b> A. Among Christians there can be no true marriage that is not a sacrament. <b>656. (7) What effects does the sacrament of Matrimony produce?</b> A. The sacrament of matrimony: (1) Gives an increase of sanctifying grace; (2) Gives a special grace for the faithful discharge of all the duties of the married state. <b>Minister -- Rite Dispositions</b><br><b>657. (8) Who are the Ministers of this sacrament?</b> A. The Ministers of this sacrament are the couple themselves, who together confer and receive the sacrament. <b>658. (9) How is this sacrament administered?</b> A. This sacrament, preserving, as it does, the nature of a contract, is administered by the contracting parties. themselves, who declare, in the presence of the parish priest, or another priest delegated by him, and of two witnesses, that they take each other in marriage. <b>659. (10) What use, then, is the blessing which the parish priest gives to the married couple?</b> A. The blessing which the parish priest gives to the married couple is not necessary to constitute the sacrament, but it is given to sanction their union in the name of the Church and to invoke on them more abundantly the blessing of God. <b>660. (11) What intention should those have who contract marriage?</b> A. Those who contract marriage should have the intention: (1) Of doing the will of God, who calls them to that state; (2) Of working out in that state the salvation of their souls; (3) Of bringing up their children as Christians, if God should bless them with any. <b>661. (12) How should those about to be married prepare themselves to receive this sacrament with fruit?</b> A. In order to receive this sacrament with fruit, those about to be married should: (1) Earnestly recommend themselves to God, so as to know His will and obtain the graces necessary for that state; (2) Consult their parents before making any promise, because obedience and the respect due to them demand this; (3) Prepare themselves by a good confession, or, if necessary, a general confession of their whole life; (4) Avoid all dangerous familiarity in word or act while in each other's company. <b>662. (13) Which are the principal obligations of married persons?</b> A. Married persons should: (1) Guard inviolably their conjugal fidelity and behave Always and in all things as Christians; (2) Love one another, bear patiently with one another, and live in peace and concord; (3) Think seriously of providing for their children, if they have any, according to their needs; bring them up as Christians, and leave them free to choose the state of life to which they are called by God. <b>Conditions and Impediments</b><br><b>663. (14) What is necessary to contract Christian marriage validly?</b> A. To contract Christian marriage validly it is necessary to be free from every diriment impediment to marriage; and to give consent freely to the marriage contract in the presence of the parish priest (or a priest delegated by him) and of two witnesses. <b>664. (15) What is necessary to contract marriage lawfully?</b> A. To contract marriage lawfully it is necessary to be free from every impeding impediment to marriage; to be instructed in the principal truths of religion; and, finally, to be in a state of grace; otherwise a sacrilege would be committed <b>665. (16) What are impediments to marriage?</b> A. Impediments to marriage are certain circumstances which render marriage either invalid or unlawful. The former are called diriment impediments and the latter impeding impediments. <b>666. (17) Give examples of diriment impediments.</b> A. Diriment impediments are, for example, relationship to the fourth degree, spiritual relationship, a solemn vow of chastity, or difference in religion, that is, when one party is baptised and the other is not. <b>667. (18) Give examples of impeding impediments.</b> A. Impeding impediments are, for example, the forbidden times, a simple vow of chastity, and the like. <b>668. (19) Are the faithful obliged to make known to ecclesiastical authority impediments of which they have a knowledge?</b> A. The faithful are obliged to make known to ecclesiastical authority impediments of which they have knowledge; and for this reason the names of those who intend to get married are published in the Church. <b>669. (20) Who has the power to regulate impediments to marriage, to dispense from them, and to judge of the validity of Christian marriage?</b> A. The Church alone has power to regulate impediments to marriage, to judge of the validity of marriage among Christians and to dispense from the impediments which she has placed. <b>670. (21) Why has the Church alone power to place impediments and to judge of the validity of marriage?</b> A. The Church alone has power to place impediments, to judge of the validity of marriage, and to dispense from the impediments which she has placed, because the contract, being inseparable from the sacrament in a Christian marriage, also comes under the power of the Church, to which alone Jesus Christ gave the right to make laws and give decisions in sacred things. <b>671. (22) Can the civil authority dissolve the bonds of Christian marriage by divorce?</b> A. No, the bond of Christian marriage cannot be dissolved by the civil authority, because the civil authority cannot interfere with the matter of the sacrament nor can it put asunder what God has joined together. <b>672. (23) What is a civil marriage?</b> A. It is nothing but a mere formality prescribed by the law to give and insure the civil effects of the marriage to the spouses and their children. <b>673. (24) Is it sufficient for a Christian to get only the civil marriage or contract?</b> A. For a Christian, it is not sufficient to get only the civil contract, because it is not a sacrament, and therefore not a true marriage. <b>674. (25) In what condition would the spouses be who would live together united only by a civil marriage?</b> A. Spouses who would live together united by only a civil marriage would be in an habitual state of mortal sin, and their union would always be illegitimate in the sight of God and of the Church. <b>675. (26) Should we also get the civil marriage?</b> A. We should perform the civil marriage, because, though it is not a sacrament, it provides the spouses and their children with the civil effects of conjugal society; for this reason, the ecclesiastical authority as a general rule allows the religious marriage only after the formalities prescribed by the civil authorities have been accomplished. <b>The Commandments of God in General</b><br><b>676. (1) What is treated of in the third part of Christian Doctrine?</b> A. The Commandments of God and of the Church are treated of in the third part of Christian Doctrine. <b>677. (2) How many Commandments of God's Law are there?</b> A. There are Ten Commandments of God's Law: I am the Lord thy God: 1. Thou shalt not have strange gods before Me; 2. Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain; 3. Remember thou keep holy the Sabbath Day; 4. Honour thy Father and thy Mother, 5. Thou shalt not kill; 6. Thou shalt not commit adultery; 7. Thou shalt not steal; 8. Thou shalt not bear false witness; 9. Thou shalt not covet another's wife; 10. Thou shalt not covet another's goods. <b>678. (3) Why are the Commandments of God so named?</b> A. The Commandments of God are so named because God Himself has stamped them on the soul of every man; promulgated them, engraved on two tables of stone, on Mount Sinai, in the Old Law; and Jesus Christ has confirmed them in the New Law. <b>679. (4) Which are the Commandments of the first table?</b> A. The Commandments of the first table are the first three, which directly regard God and our duties towards Him. <b>680. (5) Which are the Commandments of the second table?</b> A. The Commandments of the second table are the last seven, which regard our neighbour, and our duties towards him. <b>681. (6) Are we bound to observe the Commandments?</b> A. Yes, we are bound to observe the Commandments, because we are all bound to live according to the will of God who created us, and because a serious transgression against even one of them is enough to merit hell. <b>682. (7) Are we able to observe the Commandments?</b> A. Yes, without doubt we are able to observe God's Commandments, because God never commands anything that is impossible, and because He gives grace to observe them to those who ask it as they should. <b>683. (8) What, in a general way, should we consider in each of the Commandments?</b> A. In each of the Commandments we should consider its positive part and its negative part, that is, what it commands and what it forbids. <b>The First Commandment</b><br><b>684. (1) Why is it said at the commencement of the Commandments: I am the Lord thy God?</b> A. It is said at the commencement of the Commandments: I am the Lord thy God, to show us that God being our Creator and Lord, can command whatever He wills, and that we, being His creatures, are bound to obey Him. <b>685. (2) In the words of the First Commandment: Thou shalt not have strange gods before Me, what does God command us?</b> A. By the words of the First Commandment: Thou shalt not have strange gods before Me, He commands us to acknowledge, adore, love and serve Him alone as our Sovereign Lord. <b>686. (3) How do we fulfil the First Commandment?</b> A. We fulfil the First Commandment by the practice of internal and external worship. <b>687. (4) What is internal worship?</b> A. Internal worship is the honour which is given to God with the faculties of the soul alone, that is with the intellect and the will. <b>688. (5) What is external worship?</b> A. External worship is the homage that is given to God by means of outward acts and of sensible objects. <b>689. (6) Is it not enough internally to adore God with the heart alone?</b> A. No, it is not enough internally to adore God with the heart alone; we must also adore Him externally with both soul and body, because He is the Creator and absolute Lord of both. <b>690. (7) Can there be external worship without internal worship?</b> A. No, in no way can there be external worship without internal, because unless external worship is accompanied by internal, it is destitute of life, of merit, and of efficacy, like a body without a soul <b>691. (8) What is forbidden by the First Commandment?</b> A. The First Commandment forbids idolatry, superstition, sacrilege, heresy, and every other sin against religion. <b>692. (9) What is idolatry?</b> A. Idolatry is the giving to any creature, for example, to a statue, to an image, or to a man, the supreme worship of adoration that belongs to God alone. <b>693. (10) How is this prohibition expressed in Holy Scripture?</b> A. This prohibition is expressed in Holy Scripture in these words: Thou shalt not make to thyself a graven thing, nor the likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or on the earth beneath; and thou shalt not adore them or serve them. <b>694. (11) Do these words forbid every kind of image?</b> A. Certainly not; but only those of false divinities, made to be adored, as idolaters adore them. So true is this, that God Himself commanded Moses to make images, as, for example, the two statues of the Cherubim for the Ark, and the Brazen Serpent in the desert. <b>695. (12) What is superstition?</b> A. Superstition is any devotion that is contrary to the teaching and practice of the Church; as also the ascribing to any action or any thing whatever a supernatural virtue which it does not possess. <b>696. (13) What is a sacrilege?</b> A. A sacrilege is the profanation of a place, of a person, or of a thing consecrated to God and set apart for his worship. <b>697. (14) What is heresy?</b> A. Heresy is a culpable error of the intellect by which some truth of faith is obstinately denied. <b>698. (15) What else does the First Commandment forbid?</b> A. The First Commandment also forbids all dealings with the devil, and all association with anti-Christian sects. <b>699. (16) If one were to have recourse to and invoke the devil, would he commit a grave sin?</b> A. If one were to have recourse to and invoke the devil, he would commit an enormous sin, because the devil is the most wicked enemy both of God and of man. <b>700. (17) Is it lawful to put questions to speaking or writing tables or in any way to consult the souls of the dead by means of spiritism?</b> A. All the practices of spiritism are unlawful, because they are superstitious; and often they are not free from diabolical intervention; and hence they are rightly condemned by the Church. <b>701. (18) Does the First Commandment forbid us to honour and invoke the Angels and Saints?</b> A. No, it is not forbidden to honour and invoke the Angels and Saints; on the contrary, we should do so, because it is a good and useful practice highly commended by the Church; for they are God's friends and our intercessors with Him. <b>702. (19) Since Jesus Christ is our only mediator with God, why have recourse also to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin and the Saints?</b> A. Jesus Christ is our Mediator with God, because being true God and true man He alone in virtue of His own merits has reconciled us to God and obtains us all graces. But in virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, and through the charity which unites them to God and us, the Blessed Virgin and the Saints help us by their intercession to obtain the graces we ask. And this is one of the great benefits of the Communion of Saints. <b>703. (20) May we also honour the sacred images of Jesus Christ and of the Saints?</b> A. Yes, because the honour we give the sacred images of Jesus Christ and of the Saints is referred to their very persons. <b>704. (21) May the relics of the Saints be honoured?</b> A. Yes, we should honour the relics of the Saints, because their bodies were living members of Jesus Christ and temples of the Holy Ghost, and will rise gloriously to eternal life. <b>705. (22) What is the difference between the honour we give to God and the honour we give to the Saints?</b> A. Between the honour we give to God and the honour we give to the Saints there is this difference, that we adore God because of his infinite excellence, whereas we do not adore the Saints, but honour and venerate them as God's friends and our intercessors with Him. The honour we give to God is called Latria, that is, the worship of adoration; the honour we give to the Saints is called Dulia, that is, the veneration of the servants of God; while the special honour we give to the Blessed Virgin is called Hyperdulia, that is, a special veneration of the Mother of God. <b>The Second Commandment</b><br><b>706. (1) What does the Second Commandment: Thou shalt not take the Name of God in vain, forbid?</b> A. The Second Commandment: Thou shalt not take the Name of God in vain, forbids us: (1) To utter the Name of God irreverently; (2) To blaspheme God, the Blessed Virgin or the Saints; (3) To take false, unnecessary, or unlawful oaths. <b>707. (2) What is meant by: Not to utter the Name of God irreverently?</b> A. Not to utter the Name of God irreverently means not to mention this Holy Name, or any other name that in a special way refers to God Himself, such as the name of Jesus, of Mary and the Saints, in anger or in joke or in any irreverent way whatsoever. <b>708. (3) What is blasphemy?</b> A. Blasphemy is a horrible sin which consists in words or acts of contempt or malediction against God, the Blessed Virgin, the Saints, or sacred things. <b>709. (4) Is there any difference between blasphemy and imprecation?</b> A. There is a difference, because by blasphemy one wishes evil to or curses God, the Blessed Virgin or the Saints; while by imprecation one wishes evil to or curses one's self or one's neighbour. <b>710. (5) What is an oath?</b> A. An oath is the calling on God to witness the truth of what one says or promises. <b>711. (6) Is it always forbidden to take an oath?</b> A. It is not always forbidden to take an oath; an oath is lawful and even gives honour to God, when it is necessary, and when one swears with truth, judgement and justice. <b>712. (7) When is an oath without truth?</b> A. When one affirms on oath what he knows or believes to be false, or when one promises under oath to do what one has no intention of doing. <b>713. (8) When is an oath without judgement?</b> A. When one makes oaths imprudently and without mature consideration, or in trivial matters. <b>714. (9) When is an oath without justice?</b> A. When one makes an oath to do something unjust or unlawful, as, for example, to swear to take revenge, or to steal, and so on. <b>715. (10) Are we obliged to keep an oath to do unjust or unlawful things?</b> A. Not only are we not obliged, but we should sin by doing such things, because they are forbidden by the laws of God and of the Church. <b>716. (11) What sin does he commit who swears falsely?</b> A. He who swears falsely commits a mortal sin, because he grievously dishonours God, the Infinite Truth, by calling Him to witness what is false. <b>717. (12) What does the Second Commandment command us to do?</b> A. The Second Commandment commands us to honour the Holy Name of God as well as to keep our oaths and vows. <b>718. (13) What is a vow?</b> A. A vow is a promise made to God regarding something which is good, within our power, and better than its opposite, and to the keeping of which we bind ourselves just as if it had been commanded us. <b>719. (14) If the keeping of a vow were to become very difficult, in whole or in part, what is to be done?</b> A. Commutation or dispensation, may be sought from one's Bishop or from the Pope, according to the character of the vow. <b>720. (15) Is it a sin to break a vow?</b> A. It is a sin to break a vow and therefore we should not make vows without mature reflection, nor, as a rule, without the advice of our confessor or other prudent person, so as not to expose ourselves to the danger of sinning. <b>721. (16) May vows be made to our Lady and the Saints?</b> A. Vows are made to God alone; we may, however, promise God to do something in honour of our Lady or the Saints. <b>The Third Commandment</b><br><b>722. (1) What does the Third Commandment: Remember thou keep holy the Sabbath day, command us to do?</b> A. The Third Commandment: Remember thou keep holy the Sabbath day, commands us to honour God by acts of worship on festivals. <b>723. (2) What are festivals?</b> A. In the Old Law they were Saturdays and certain other days regarded as specially solemn by the Jews; in the New Law they are Sundays and other festivals instituted by the Church. <b>724. (3) Why is Sunday sanctified instead of Saturday in the New Law?</b> A. Sunday, which means the Lord's Day, was substituted for Saturday, because it was on that day that our Lord rose from the dead. <b>725. (4) What act of worship is commanded us on festivals?</b> A. We are commanded to assist devoutly at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. <b>726. (5) With what other good works does a good Christian sanctify festivals?</b> A. A good Christian sanctifies festivals: (1) By attending Christian Doctrine, sermons, and the Divine Office; (2) By frequently and devoutly receiving the sacraments of Penance and the Blessed Eucharist; (3) By the practice of prayer and works of Christian charity. <b>727. (6) What does the Third Commandment forbid?</b> A. The Third Commandment forbids servile works and any other works that hinder the worship of God. <b>728. (7) What servile works are forbidden on festivals?</b> A. The servile works forbidden on festivals are those works called manual, that is, those material works in which the body has more part than the mind, such, for instance, as are ordinarily done by servants, labourers, and artisans. <b>729. (8) What sin does one commit by working on festivals?</b> A. One commits a mortal sin by working on festivals; brevity of time, however, will excuse from grave sin. <b>730. (9) Is no servile work at all permitted on festivals?</b> A. On festivals those works are permitted which are necessary for life, or for the service of God; as well as those done for a grave reason, with leave, when possible, from the Pastor. <b>731. (10) Why is servile work forbidden on festivals?</b> A. Servile work is forbidden on festivals in order that we may the better attend to divine worship, and to the care of our souls; And to enable us to rest from toil. Hence innocent recreation is not forbidden. <b>732. (11) What else above all should we avoid on festivals?</b> A. We should above all avoid sin and whatever leads to sin, such as dangerous diversions and dangerous places of amusement. <b>The Fourth Commandment</b><br><b>733. (1) What does the Fourth Commandment: Honour thy father and thy mother, command?</b> A. The Fourth Commandment: Honour thy father and thy mother, commands us to respect our parents, obey them in all that is not sinful, and assist them in their temporal and spiritual needs. <b>734. (2) What does the Fourth Commandment forbid?</b> A. The Fourth Commandment forbids us to offend our parents by word or by deed or in any other way. <b>735. (3) What other persons does this Commandment include under the names of father and mother?</b> A. Under the names of father and mother this Commandment also includes all our superiors, both ecclesiastical and lay, whom we must consequently obey and respect. <b>736. (4) Whence are derived the authority of parents to command their children and the duty of children to obey their parents?</b> A. The authority possessed by parents to command their children and the obligation children are under to obey their parents, are derived from God who constituted and established family life in order that in it man might have the first helps that are necessary towards his spiritual and temporal well-being. <b>737. (5) Have parents any duties towards their children?</b> A. Parents are bound to love, support and maintain their children; to attend to their religious and secular education; to give them good example; to keep them from the occasions of sin; to correct their faults; and to help them to embrace the state to which God has called them. <b>738. (6) Has God given us an example of a perfect family?</b> A. God gave us an example of a perfect family in the Holy Family in which Jesus Christ lived subject to the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph until His thirtieth year, that is, until He began the Mission of preaching the Gospel entrusted to Him by His Eternal Father. <b>739. (7) If families were to live alone, cut off one from the other, could they provide for all their material and moral needs?</b> A. If families lived alone, cut off one from the other, they could not provide for their individual needs, and hence it is necessary that they be united in civil society so as mutually to aid one another for the common good and happiness. <b>740. (8) What is Civil Society?</b> A. Civil Society is the union of many families under the authority of one head for the purpose of assisting each other in securing their mutual perfection and temporal happiness. <b>741. (9) Whence comes the authority which rules Civil Society?</b> A. The authority which rules Civil Society comes from God, who established it for the common good. <b>742. (10) Are we under any obligation to obey the authority that governs Civil Society?</b> A. Yes; all who form part of Civil Society are bound to respect and obey authority because that authority comes from God and because the common good so demands. <b>743. (11) Are all laws imposed by the Civil Authority to be respected?</b> A. Yes; in accordance with the command and example of our Lord Jesus Christ, all laws imposed by the Civil Authority are to be respected, provided they are not contrary to the law of God. <b>744. (12) Have those who form part of Civil Society any other duties besides respect and obedience to the laws imposed by authority?</b> A. Besides the obligation of respect and obedience to the laws, all those who form part of Civil Society are bound to live in peace, and to endeavour, each according to his means and ability, to render that society virtuous, peaceful, orderly and prosperous. <b>The Fifth Commandment</b><br><b>745. (1) What does the Fifth Commandment: Thou shalt not kill, forbid?</b> A. The Fifth Commandment, Thou shalt not kill, forbids us to kill, strike, wound or do any other bodily harm to our neighbour, either of ourselves or by the agency of others; as also to wish him evil, or to offend him by injurious language. In this Commandment God also forbids the taking of one's own life, or suicide. <b>746. (2) Why is it a grave sin to kill one's neighbour?</b> A. Because the slayer unjustly invades the right which God alone has over the life of man; because he destroys the security of civil society; and because he deprives his neighbour of life, which is the greatest natural good on earth. <b>747. (3) Are there cases in which it is lawful to kill?</b> A. It is lawful to kill when fighting in a just war; when carrying out by order of the Supreme Authority a sentence of death in punishment of a crime; and, finally, in cases of necessary and lawful defence of one's own life against an unjust aggressor. <b>748. (4) Does God also forbid us in the Fifth Commandment to do harm to the spiritual life of another?</b> A. Yes, in the Fifth Commandment God also forbids us to do harm to another's spiritual life by scandal. <b>749. (5) What is scandal?</b> A. Scandal is any word, act, or omission which is the occasion of another's committing sin. <b>750. (6) Is scandal a grave sin?</b> A. Scandal is a grave sin because, by causing the loss of souls, it tends to destroy the greatest work of God, namely, the redemption; it effects the death of another's soul by depriving it of the life of grace, which is more precious than the life of the body; and is the source of a multitude of sins. Hence God threatens the severest chastisement to those who give scandal. <b>751. (7) Why does God, in the Fifth Commandment, forbid the taking of one's own life or suicide?</b> A. In the Fifth Commandment God forbids suicide, because man is not the master of his own life no more than of the life of another. Hence the Church punishes suicide by deprivation of Christian burial. <b>752. (8) Is duelling also forbidden by the Fifth Commandment?</b> A. Yes, duelling is also forbidden by the Fifth Commandment, because duelling has in it the guilt both of suicide and of homicide; and whoever voluntarily takes part in it, even as a simple onlooker, is excommunicated. <b>753. (9) Is duelling also forbidden when there is no danger of being killed?</b> A. This sort of duelling is also forbidden, because not only are we forbidden to kill, but even voluntarily to wound ourselves or others. <b>754. (10) Is the defence of one's honour an excuse for duelling?</b> A. No, because it is not true that the offence is repaired by duelling; and because honour cannot be repaired by an unjust, irrational and barbarous act such as duelling. <b>755. (11) What does the Fifth Commandment command?</b> A. The Fifth Commandment commands us to forgive our enemies and to wish well to all. <b>756. (12) What should he do who has injured another in the life of either body or soul?</b> A. He who has injured another must not only confess his sin, but must also repair the harm by compensating his neighbour for the loss he has sustained, by retracting the errors taught, and by giving good example. <b>The Sixth and Ninth Commandment</b><br><b>757. (1) What does the Sixth Commandment, Thou shalt not commit adultery, forbid?</b> A. The Sixth Commandment, Thou shalt not commit adultery, forbids every act, every look and every word contrary to chastity; it also forbids infidelity in marriage. <b>758. (2) What does the Ninth Commandment forbid?</b> A. The Ninth Commandment expressly forbids every desire contrary to that fidelity which husband and wife vowed to observe when contracting marriage; and it also forbids every guilty thought or desire of anything that is prohibited by the Sixth Commandment. <b>759. (3) Is impurity a great sin?</b> A. It is a most grave and abominable sin in the sight of God and man; it lowers man to the condition of the brute; it drags him into many other sins and vices; and it provokes the most terrible chastisements both in this world and in the next. <b>760. (4) Is every thought that comes into the mind against purity a sin?</b> A. The thoughts that come into the mind against purity are not of themselves sins, but rather temptations and incentives to sin. <b>761. (5) When is a bad thought a sin?</b> A. Bad thoughts, even though resulting in no bad deed, are sins when we culpably entertain them, or consent to them, or expose ourselves to the proximate danger of consenting to them. <b>762. (6) What do the Sixth and Ninth Commandments command?</b> A. The Sixth Commandment commands us to be chaste and modest in act, in look, in behaviour, and in speech. The Ninth Commandment commands us in addition to this to be chaste and pure interiorly, that is, in mind and in heart. <b>763. (7) What must we do to observe the Sixth and Ninth Commandments?</b> A. To be able to observe the Sixth and Ninth Commandments, we ought to pray often and from our hearts to God; be devout to the Blessed Virgin, the Mother of purity; remember that God watches us; think on death, on the Divine chastisements, and on the Passion of Jesus Christ; guard the senses; practice Christian mortification; and frequent the Sacraments with the proper dispositions. <b>764. (8) What must we avoid in order to preserve ourselves chaste?</b> A. To preserve ourselves chaste we must shun idleness, bad companions, the reading of bad books and papers, intemperance, the sight of indecent statues or pictures, licentious theatres, dangerous conversations, and all other occasions of sin. <b>The Seventh Commandment</b><br><b>765. (1) What does the Seventh Commandment, Thou shalt not steal, forbid?</b> (Source: Catechism Of St. pius X)
A. The Seventh Commandment, Thou shalt not steal, forbids all unjust taking and all unjust keeping of what belongs to another, and also every other way of wronging our neighbour in his property. <b>766. (2) What is meant by stealing?</b> A. It means taking another's goods unjustly and against the owner's will, that is to say, when he has every reason and right to be unwilling to be deprived of them. <b>767. (3) Why is it forbidden to steal?</b> A. Because a sin is committed against justice and an injury is done to another by taking or keeping against his right and will that which belongs to him. <b>768. (4) What is meant by another's goods?</b> A. Everything that belongs to him everything of which he has the ownership, or the use, or the custody. <b>769. (5) In how many ways can another's goods be unjustly taken?</b> A. In two ways: by theft and by robbery. <b>770. (6) How is theft committed?</b> A. Theft is committed by taking another's goods secretly. <b>771. (7) How is robbery committed?</b> A. Robbery is committed by taking another's goods openly and with violence. <b>772. (8) In what cases may another's goods be taken without sin?</b> A. When the owner consents or even when he unjustly refuses. Thus, one in extreme necessity may take another's goods without sin, provided that he takes only so much as is absolutely necessary to relieve pressing and extreme need. <b>773. (9) Is it only by theft and robbery that another can be injured in his property?</b> A. He can also be injured by fraud, usury, and any other act of injustice directed against his goods. <b>774. (10) How is fraud committed?</b> A. Fraud is committed in trade by deceiving another by false weight, measure and money or by bad goods; by falsifying writings and documents; in short, by deceit in buying and selling or in contracts in general, as well as by refusing to pay what is just and agreed upon. <b>775. (11) How is usury committed?</b> A. Usury is committed by exacting, without just title, an unlawful interest for money lent, thus taking an unfair advantage of another's need or ignorance. <b>776. (12) What other sorts of injustice may be committed with regard to another's goods?</b> A. By unjustly causing him to lose what he has; by injuring him in his possessions; by not working as in duty bound; by maliciously refusing to pay debts or wages due; by wounding or killing his stock; by damaging property held in custody; by preventing another from making just gains; by aiding thieves; and by receiving, concealing or buying stolen goods. <b>777. (13) Is it a grave sin to steal?</b> A. It is a grave sin against justice when the matter is grave; for it is most important for the good of individuals, of families, and of society that each one's right to his property should be respected. <b>778. (14) When is stolen matter grave?</b> A. When that which is taken is considerable, as also when serious loss is inflicted on another by taking that which in itself is of little value. <b>779. (15) What does the Seventh Commandment command?</b> A. The Seventh Commandment commands us to respect the property of others, to give the labourer fair wages, and to observe justice in all that concerns what belongs to others. <b>780. (16) Is it enough for one who has sinned against the Seventh Commandment to confess his sin?</b> A. It is not enough for one who has sinned against the Seventh Commandment to confess his sin; he must also do his best to restore what belongs to others, and to repair the loss he has caused. <b>781. (17) What is meant by repairing the losses caused?</b> A. Repairing the losses caused means the compensation which must be made to another for the goods or profits lost owing to the theft or other acts of injustice committed to his detriment. <b>782. (18) To whom must stolen property be restored?</b> A. To him from whom it has been stolen; to his heirs, if he is dead; or if this is really impossible the value of it should be devoted to the poor or to some charity. <b>783. (19) What should one do who finds something of great value?</b> A. He should diligently seek the owner and faithfully restore it to him. <b>The Eighth Commandment</b><br><b>784. (1) What does the Eighth Commandment, Thou shalt not bear false witness, forbid?</b> A. The Eighth Commandment, Thou shalt not bear false witness, forbids false testimony in a court of justice, and it also forbids backbiting, detraction, calumny, adulation, rash judgement and rash suspicion and every sort of lying. <b>785. (2) What is detraction or backbiting?</b> A. Detraction or backbiting is a sin which consists in making known another's sins and defects without sufficient reason. <b>786. (3) What is calumny?</b> A. Calumny is a sin which consists in maliciously attributing to another faults and defects which he did not possess. <b>787. (4) What is adulation?</b> A. Adulation is a sin which consists in deceiving another by falsely praising him or others for the purpose of profiting thereby. <b>788. (5) What is rash judgement or rash suspicion?</b> A. Rash judgement or rash suspicion is a sin which consists in judging or suspecting evil of others without sufficient foundation. <b>789. (6) What is a lie?</b> A. A lie is a sin which consists in asserting as true or false by word or act that which one does not believe to be really the case. <b>790. (7) How many kinds of lies are there?</b> A. There are three kinds: The jocose lie, the officious lie, and the malicious lie. <b>791. (8) What is a jocose lie?</b> A. A jocose lie is that which is told in jest and without injury to anyone. <b>792. (9) What is an officious lie?</b> A. An officious lie is a false statement to benefit oneself or another without injuring anyone else. <b>793. (10) What is a malicious lie?</b> A. A malicious lie is a false statement made to the injury of another. <b>794. (11) Is it ever lawful to tell a lie?</b> A. It is never lawful to tell a lie, neither in joke, nor for one's own benefit, nor for the benefit of another, because a lie is always bad in itself. <b>795. (12) What kind of sin is a lie?</b> A. A lie when jocose or officious is a venial sin; but when malicious it is a mortal sin if the harm done is grave. <b>796. (13) Is it always necessary to say all one's mind?</b> A. It is not always necessary, especially when he who questions you has no right to know what he demands. <b>797. (14) Is it enough for him who has sinned against the Eighth Commandment to confess the sin?</b> A. It is not enough for him who has sinned against the Eighth Commandment to confess the sin; he is also obliged to retract whatever he said when calumniating another, and to repair as far as he can the harm he has done. <b>798. (15) What does the Eighth Commandment command us to do?</b> A. The Eighth Commandment commands us to speak the truth at the proper time and place, and, as far as we can, to put a good interpretation upon the actions of our neighbour. <b>The Tenth Commandment</b><br><b>799. (1) What does the Tenth Commandment, Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's goods, forbid?</b> A. The Tenth Commandment, Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's goods, forbids the wish to deprive another of his goods and the wish to acquire goods by unjust means. <b>800. (2) Why does God forbid even the desire of another's goods?</b> A. God forbids the unregulated desire of another's goods, because He wishes us to be just even in thought and will, and to hold ourselves completely aloof from unjust acts. <b>801. (3) What does the Tenth Commandment command?</b> A. The Tenth Commandment commands us to be satisfied with the state in which God has placed us, and to bear poverty patiently should God have placed us in that condition. <b>802. (4) How can a Christian be content in a state of poverty?</b> A. A Christian can be content in a state of poverty by reflecting that our greatest good is a pure and peaceful conscience; that our true home is heaven; and that Jesus Christ made Himself poor for love of us and has promised a special reward to those who bear poverty patiently. <b>The Precepts of the Church in General</b><br><b>803. (1) Besides the Commandments of God what else must we observe?</b> A. Besides the Commandments of God we must also observe the Precepts of the Church. <b>804. (2) Are we obliged to obey the Church?</b> A. Undoubtedly we are obliged to obey the Church, because Jesus Christ Himself commands us to do so, and because the Precepts of the Church help us to observe the Commandments of God. <b>805. (3) When does the obligation to observe the Precepts of the Church begin to bind?</b> A. As a rule the obligation to observe the Precepts of the Church begins to bind us as soon as we come to the age of reason. <b>806. (4) Is it a sin to transgress a Precept of the Church?</b> A. Knowingly to transgress a Precept of the Church in grave matter is a mortal sin. <b>807. (5) Who can dispense from a Precept of the Church?</b> A. Only the Pope, or one who has received from him the power to do so, can dispense from a Precept of the Church. <b>808. (6) Name the Precepts of the Church.</b> A. The Precepts of the Church are: 1. To hear Mass on all Sundays and on Holydays of obligation. 2. To fast during Lent, on Ember Days and appointed Vigils, and not to eat meat on forbidden days. 3. To confess our sins at least once a year, and to receive Holy Communion at Easter each one in his own parish. 4. To contribute to the support of the Church, according to local custom. 5. Not to solemnise marriage at forbidden times, that is, from the first Sunday in Advent until the Epiphany, and from the first day of Lent until Low Sunday. <b>The First Precept of the Church</b><br><b>809. (7) What does the First Precept of the Church: To hear Mass on all Sundays and on Holydays of obligation, order us to do?</b> A. The First Precept of the Church: To hear Mass on all Sundays and on Holydays of obligations, orders us to assist devoutly at Mass on all Sundays and on Holydays of obligation. <b>810. (8) At which Mass does the Church desire us to assist on Sundays and on Holydays of obligation?</b> A. The Mass at which the Church desires us to assist, if possible, on Sundays and Holydays of obligation is the Parochial Mass. <b>811. (9) Why does the Church recommend the faithful to assist at the Parochial Mass?</b> A. The Church recommends the faithful to assist at the Parochial Mass: (1) In order that all the parishioners of the same parish may unite in prayer together with their Pastor, who is their head; (2) In order that the parishioners may participate more abundantly in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, which is applied principally for them; (3) In order that they may hear the truths of the Gospel, which Pastors are bound to explain during Mass; (4) In order that they may learn the regulations and notices which are published at that Mass. <b>812. (10) What is meant by the Lord's Day?</b> A. The Lord's Day means the day of the Lord, that is, the day specially consecrated to divine service. <b>813. (11) Why in the First Precept of the Church is special mention made of the Lord's day?</b> A. In the First Precept of the Church special mention is made of the Lord's Day, because it is the principal Christian festival, as the Sabbath was the principal Jewish festival, and because it was instituted by God Himself. <b>814. (12) What other festivals have been instituted by the Church?</b> A. The Church has instituted Feasts of our Lord, of the Blessed Virgin, of the Angels and of the Saints. <b>815. (13) Why did the Church institute other Festivals of our Lord?</b> A. The Church instituted other Festivals of our Lord in memory of His divine Mysteries. <b>816. (14) And why have Festivals of the Blessed Virgin and of the Saints been instituted?</b> A. Festivals of the Blessed Virgin and of the Saints have been instituted: (1) In memory of the graces which God has given them, and to thank His divine goodness; (2) In order that we may honour them, imitate their example, and be aided by their prayers. <b>The Second Precept of the Church</b><br><b>817. (15) What is commanded by the Second Precept of the Church in the words, To fast on the days prescribed?</b> A. By the words, To fast on the days prescribed, the Second Precept of the Church commands us to observe the fast: (1) During Lent; (2) On certain days of Advent, where this is prescribed; (3) On Ember Days; (4) And on certain Vigils. <b>818. (16) In what does fasting consist?</b> A. Fasting consists in taking but one meal a day and in abstaining from prohibited kinds of food. <b>819. (17) On fast days may a collation be taken in the evening?</b> A. Through the concession of the Church, a collation may be taken in the evening on fast days. <b>820. (18) What is the good of fasting?</b> A. Fasting serves to dispose us better to prayer; to do penance for past sins; and to preserve us from sinning again. <b>821. (19) Who are bound to fast?</b> A. Every Christian over twenty-one years of age who is not dispensed, or excused for some good reason, is bound to fast. <b>822. (20) Are those who are not bound to fast, exempt from all mortification?</b> A. Those who are not bound by the obligation of fasting are not exempt from all mortification, because all are bound to do penance. <b>823. (21) For what purpose has Lent been instituted?</b> A. Lent has been instituted to imitate in some way the rigorous fast of forty days undergone by Jesus Christ in the desert, and to prepare us by penitential exercises to celebrate the feast of Easter devoutly. <b>824. (22) Why has the Advent fast been instituted?</b> A. The Advent fast has been instituted to prepare us to celebrate devoutly the Feast of our Lord's Nativity. <b>825. (23) Why has the fast of Ember Days been instituted?</b> A. The fast of Ember Days has been instituted: (1) To consecrate each of the Four Seasons of the year by some days' penance; (2) To beg of God the preservation of the fruits of the earth; (3) To thank Him for those already given us; (4) And to beseech Him to give good priests to His Church, the usual days for ordaining priests being the Ember Saturdays. <b>826. (24) Why has fasting on Vigils been instituted?</b> A. Fasting on Vigils has been instituted to prepare us to celebrate the principal Feasts devoutly. <b>827. (25) What is forbidden on Fridays, and also on Saturdays where not dispensed?</b> A. On Fridays, and also on Saturdays where not dispensed, it is forbidden to eat meat, except in case of necessity. <b>828. (26) Why does the Church wish us to abstain from eating meat on these days?</b> A. In order that we may do penance each week, and especially on Friday, in honour of the Passion, and on Saturdays in memory of the burial of Jesus Christ, and in honour of the Blessed Virgin. <b>The Third Precept of the Church</b><br><b>829. (27) What does the Church command us in the words of the Third Precept: To go to Confession at least once a year?</b> A. By the words of the Third Precept: To go to Confession a least once a year, the Church obliges all Christians, who have come to the use of reason, to approach the sacrament of Penance at least once a year. <b>830. (28) What is the best time to satisfy the precept of annual Confession?</b> A. The best time to satisfy the precept of annual Confession is Lent, in accordance with the usage introduced and approved by the whole Church. <b>831. (29) Why does the Church say that we are to confess at least once a year?</b> A. The Church uses the words at least to let us see her desire that we should approach the sacraments more frequently. <b>832. (30) Is it useful, then, to go often to Confession?</b> A. It is most useful to go often to Confession, especially as it is difficult for one who goes only rarely to make a good Confession and to avoid mortal sin. <b>833. (31) What does the Church command us to do by the other words of the Third Precept: To receive Holy Communion at Easter, each one in his own parish?</b> A. By the words of the Third Precept: To receive Holy Communion at Easter, each one in his own parish, the Church obliges all Christians who have come to the age of discretion to receive the Blessed Eucharist every year at Paschal time in their own parish. <b>834. (32) Are we bound to go to Holy Communion at other times besides Easter?</b> A. We are also bound to go to Holy Communion when in danger of death. <b>835. (33) Why is it said that we are to receive Holy Communion at least at Easter?</b> A. Because the Church earnestly desires us to approach Holy Communion which is the divine food of our souls, not only at Easter, but as often as we possibly can. <b>836. (34) Is this Precept fulfilled by a sacrilegious Confession or a sacrilegious Communion?</b> A. This Precept of the Church is not fulfilled by sacrilegious Confession and Communion, because the intention of the Church is that we receive those Sacraments for the end on account of which they were instituted, that is, for our sanctification. <b>The Fourth Precept of the Church</b><br><b>837. (35) How are we to observe the Fourth Precept: To contribute to due support of the Church?</b> A. The Fourth Precept is satisfied by paying the dues or making the offerings which have been established in recognition of God's supreme dominion over all things and as a means of providing for the becoming support of His ministers. <b>838. (36) How are these dues and offerings to be paid?</b> A. They are to be paid in the way and manner customary in the place in which we live. <b>The Fifth Precept of the Church</b><br><b>839. (37) What does the Church forbid in the Fifth Precept: Not to solemnise marriage at forbidden times?</b> A. In the Fifth Precept the Church does not forbid the celebration of the sacrament of marriage; but only the nuptial solemnities, from the first Sunday of Advent until the Epiphany, and from the first day of Lent until Low Sunday. <b>840. (38) What are the nuptial solemnities which are forbidden?</b> A. The nuptial solemnities forbidden by this Precept are the celebration of the nuptial Mass, the nuptial benediction, and marriage festivities on a large scale. <b>841. (39) Why are marriage festivities on a large scale out of place in Advent and Lent?</b> A. Pompous displays are out of place in Advent and Lent because these seasons are specially consecrated to penance and prayer. <b>The Main Virtues</b><br>Theological Virtues<br><b>842. (1) What is a supernatural virtue?</b> A. A supernatural virtue is a quality infused by God into the soul by which the latter acquires inclination, facility, and promptness to know good and do it towards eternal life. <b>843. (2) How many principal supernatural virtues are there?</b> A. The principal supernatural virtues are seven: three theological, and four cardinal virtues. <b>844. (3) What are the theological virtues?</b> A. The theological virtues are: Faith, Hope and Charity. <b>845. (4) Why are Faith, Hope and Charity called theological virtues?</b> A. Faith, Hope and Charity are called theological virtues, because they have God as their immediate and principal object, and are infused by Him. <b>846. (5) How can the theological virtues have God for their immediate object?</b> A. The theological virtues have God for their immediate object, in this way that by Faith we believe in God, and believe all He has revealed; by Hope, we hope to possess God; and by Charity, we love God and in Him we love ourselves and our neighbour. <b>847. (6) When does God infuse the theological virtues into the soul?</b> A. God in His goodness infuses the theological virtues into the soul when adorning us with His sanctifying grace; and hence when receiving Baptism we were enriched with these virtues and, along with them, with the gifts of the Holy Ghost. <b>848. (7) Is it enough towards salvation, to have received the theological virtues in Baptism?</b> A. For one who has come to the use of reason, it is not enough to have received the theological virtues in Baptism; it is also necessary to make frequent acts of Faith, Hope and Charity. <b>849. (8) When are we obliged to make acts of Faith, Hope and Charity?</b> A. We are obliged to make acts of Faith, Hope and Charity, when we come to the use of reason; often during life; and when in danger of death. <b>On Faith</b><br><b>850. (9) What is Faith?</b> A. Faith is a supernatural virtue, which God infuses into our souls, and by which, relying on the authority of God Himself, we believe everything which He has revealed and which through His Church He proposes for our belief. <b>851. (10) How do we know the truths God has revealed?</b> A. We know the revealed truths by means of the Church, which is infallible; that is, by means of the Pope, the successor of St. Peter, and by means of the Bishops, the successors to the Apostles, who were taught by Jesus Christ Himself. <b>852. (11) Are we certain of the truths the Church teaches us?</b> A. We are most certain of the truths the Church teaches, because Jesus Christ pledged His word that the Church should never be led into error. <b>853. (12) By what sin is the Faith lost?</b> A. Faith is lost by denying or voluntarily doubting even a single article proposed for our belief. <b>854. (13) How is lost Faith recovered</b> A. Lost Faith is recovered by repenting of the sin committed and by believing anew all that the Church believes. <b>The Mysteries of Faith</b><br><b>855. (14) Can we comprehend all the truths of Faith?</b> A. No, we cannot comprehend all the truths of Faith, because some of these truths are mysteries. <b>856. (15) What are mysteries?</b> A. Mysteries are truths above reason and which we are to believe even though we cannot comprehend them. <b>857. (16) Why must we believe mysteries?</b> A. We must believe mysteries because they are revealed to us by God, who, being infinite Truth and Goodness, can neither deceive nor be deceived. <b>858. (17) Are mysteries contrary to reason?</b> A. Mysteries are above, not contrary to, reason; and even reason itself persuades us to accept the mysteries. <b>859. (18) Why cannot the mysteries be contrary to reason?</b> A. The mysteries cannot be contrary to reason, because the same God who has given us the light of reason has also revealed the mysteries, and He cannot contradict Himself. <b>On Holy Scripture</b><br><b>860. (19) Where are the truths which God has revealed contained?</b> A. The truths which God has revealed are contained in Holy Scripture and in Tradition. <b>861. (20) What is Holy Scripture?</b> A. Holy Scripture is the collection of books written under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, by the Prophets and the Hagiographers, the Apostles and the Evangelists. These books have been received by the Church as inspired. <b>862. (21) How is Holy Scripture divided?</b> A. Holy Scripture is divided into two parts, the Old and the New Testament. <b>863. (22) What is the Old Testament?</b> A. The Old Testament comprises the inspired books written before the coming of Jesus Christ. <b>864. (23) What is the New Testament?</b> A. The New Testament comprises the inspired books written after the coming of Jesus Christ. <b>865. (24) What is the common name for Holy Scripture?</b> A. The common name for Holy Scripture is the Holy Bible. <b>866. (25) What is the meaning of the word Bible?</b> A. The word Bible means the collection of holy books, the Book par excellence, the book of books, the book inspired by God. <b>867. (26) Why is Holy Scripture called the book "par excellence"?</b> A. Holy Scripture is so called because of the surpassing merit of the content as well as the author who inspired it. <b>868. (27) Can there be any error in Holy Scripture?</b> A. There cannot be any error in Holy Scripture since indeed it is inspired by God. The Author of all of the books is God Himself. This does not prevent that in copies and translations that have been made, some errors on the part of the copyists or translators may have crept into it. <b>869. (28) Is the reading of the Bible necessary to all Christians?</b> A. The reading of the Bible is not necessary to all Christians since they are instructed by the Church; however its reading is very useful and recommended to all. <b>870. (29) May any translation of the Bible, in the vernacular, be read?</b> A. We can read those translations of the Bible in the vernacular which have been acknowledged as faithful by the Catholic Church and which have explanations also approved by the Church. <b>871. (30) Why may we only read translations of the Bible approved by the Church?</b> A. We may only read translations of the Bible approved by the Church because she alone is the lawful guardian of the Bible. <b>872. (31) Through which means can we know the true meaning of the Holy Scripture?</b> A. We can only know the true meaning of Holy Scripture through the Church's interpretation, because she alone is secure against error in that interpretation. <b>873. (32) What should a Christian do who has been given a Bible by a Protestant or by an agent of the Protestants?</b> A. A Christian to whom a Bible has been offered by a Protestant or an agent of the Protestants should reject it with disgust, because it is forbidden by the Church. If it was accepted by inadvertence, it must be burnt as soon as possible or handed in to the Parish Priest. <b>874. (33) Why does the Church forbid Protestant Bibles?</b> A. The Church forbids Protestant Bibles because, either they have been altered and contain errors, or not having her approbation and footnotes explaining the obscure meanings, they may be harmful to the Faith. It is for that same reason that the Church even forbids translations of the Holy Scriptures already approved by her which have been reprinted without the footnotes approved by her. <b>On Tradition.</b><br><b>875. (34) What is meant by Tradition?</b> A. Tradition is the non-written word of God, which has been transmitted by word of mouth by Jesus Christ and by the apostles, and which has come down to us through the centuries by the means of the Church, without being altered. <b>876. (35) Where are the teachings of Tradition kept?</b> A. The teachings of Tradition are kept chiefly in the Councils' decrees, the writings of the Holy Fathers, the Acts of the Holy See and the words and practices of the sacred Liturgy. <b>877. (36) What importance must we attach to Tradition?</b> A. We must attach to Tradition the same importance as the revealed word of God which Holy Scripture contains. <b>On Hope</b><br><b>878. (37) What is Hope?</b> A. Hope is a supernatural virtue, infused by God into the soul, by which we desire and expect that eternal life that God has promised to His servants, as well as the means necessary to attain it. <b>879. (38) What grounds have we to hope that God will give us Heaven and the means necessary to secure it?</b> A. We hope that God will give us Heaven and the necessary means to attain it, because the all-merciful God, through the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ, has promised it to those who faithfully serve Him; and, being both faithful and omnipotent, He never fails in His promises. <b>880. (39) What are the conditions necessary to obtain Heaven?</b> A. The conditions necessary to obtain Heaven are the grace of God, the practice of good works, and perseverance until death in His holy love. <b>881. (40) How is Hope lost?</b> A. Hope is lost as often as Faith is lost; and it is also lost by the sins of despair and presumption. <b>882. (41) How is lost Hope regained?</b> A. Lost Hope is regained by repenting of the sin committed, and by exciting anew confidence in the divine goodness. <b>On Charity</b><br><b>883. (42) What is Charity?</b> A. Charity is a supernatural virtue, infused into our soul by God, by which we love God above all for His own sake, and our neighbour as ourselves for the love of God. <b>884. (43) Why should we love God?</b> A. We should love God because He is the Supreme Good, infinitely good and perfect; and also, because He commands us to do so, and because of the many benefits we receive from Him. <b>885. (44) How are we to love God?</b> A. We are to love God above all things else, with our whole heart, with our whole mind, with our whole soul, and with all our strength. <b>886. (45) What is meant by loving God above all other things?</b> A. To love God above all other things means to prefer Him to all creatures, even the dearest and most perfect, and to be willing to lose everything rather than offend Him or cease to love Him. <b>887. (46) What is meant by loving God with our whole heart?</b> A. To love God with our whole heart means consecrating all our affections to Him. <b>888. (47) What is meant by loving God with our whole mind?</b> A. To love God with our whole mind means directing all our thoughts to Him. <b>889. (48) What is meant by loving God with our whole soul?</b> A. To love God with our whole soul means consecrating to Him the use of all the powers of our soul. <b>890. (49) What is meant by loving God with all our strength?</b> A. To love God with all our strength means striving to grow ever more and more in His love, and so to act that all our actions should have as their one motive and end the love of Him and the desire of pleasing Him. <b>891. (50) Why should we love our neighbour?</b> A. We should love our neighbour for the love of God, because God commands it, and because every man is made to God's image. <b>892. (51) Are we obliged to love even our enemies?</b> A. We are obliged to love even our enemies, because they are our neighbours also and because Jesus Christ has made this love the object of an express command. <b>893. (52) What is meant by loving our neighbour as ourselves?</b> A. To love our neighbour as ourselves means to wish him and do him, as far as possible, the good which we ought to wish for ourselves, and not to wish or to do him any evil. <b>894. (53) When do we love ourselves as we ought?</b> A. We love ourselves as we ought when we endeavour to serve God and to place all our happiness in Him. <b>895. (54) How is charity lost?</b> A. Charity is lost by each and every mortal sin. <b>896. (55) How is charity regained?</b> A. Charity is regained by making acts of the love of God, by duly repenting and making a good confession. <b>On The Cardinal Virtues</b><br><b>897. (56) Name the Cardinal Virtues.</b> A. The Cardinal Virtues are Prudence, Justice, Fortitude and Temperance. <b>898. (57) Why are Prudence, Justice, Fortitude and Temperance called Cardinal virtues?</b> A. Prudence, Justice, Fortitude and Temperance are called cardinal virtues because all the moral virtues are founded and hinged around them. (in Latin, cardo means hinge) <b>899. (58) What is Prudence?</b> A. Prudence is the virtue that directs each action towards its lawful end and consequently seeks the proper means in order that the action be well accomplished in all points of view and thereby pleasing to Our Lord. <b>900. (59) What is Justice?</b> A. Justice is the virtue which disposes us to give everyone what belongs to him. <b>901. (60) What is Fortitude?</b> A. Fortitude is the virtue which renders us courageous to the point of not fearing danger, not even death, for the service of God. <b>902. (61) What is temperance?</b> A. Temperance disposes us to control the inordinate desires that please the senses and makes us use temporal goods with moderation. <b>The Gifts of the Holy Ghost</b><br><b>903. (1) Name the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost.</b> A. The seven gifts of the Holy Ghost are, Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety and the Fear of the Lord. <b>904. (2) What purpose do these gifts serve?</b> A. The gifts of the Holy Ghost serve to establish us in Faith, Hope and Charity, and to render us prompt in the exercise of those acts of virtue necessary towards attaining the perfection of a Christian life. <b>905. (3) What is Wisdom?</b> A. Wisdom is a gift by which the mind is lifted up from earthly and transitory things, enabling us to contemplate things eternal, that is to say, God Himself, the eternal truth, and to relish and love Him, in which consists all our good. <b>906. (4) What is Understanding?</b> A. Understanding is a gift which facilitates, as fas as this is possible to mortal man, the understanding of the truths of faith and of the mysteries of God, which we are unable to know by the natural light of the intellect. <b>907. (5) What is Counsel?</b> A. Counsel is a gift by which, amidst the doubts and uncertainties of human life, we are enabled to recognise those things that redound more to God's glory, to our own salvation, and to that of our neighbour. <b>908. (6) What is Fortitude?</b> A. Fortitude is a gift which inspires us with valour and courage to observe faithfully the holy law of God and of the Church, by conquering all obstacles and all the assaults of our enemies. <b>909. (7) What is Knowledge?</b> A. Knowledge is a gift enabling us to estimate created things at their proper worth, and to learn how to use them rightly and to direct them to our last end, which is God. <b>910. (8) What is Piety?</b> A. Piety is a gift enabling us to venerate and love God and His Saints, and to preserve a pious and benevolent mind towards our neighbour for the love of God. <b>911. (9) What is the Fear of the Lord?</b> A. The Fear of the Lord is a gift which makes us respect God and fear to offend His Divine Majesty, and which detaches us from evil while inciting us to good. <b>The Beatitudes</b><br><b>912. (1) Name the Beatitudes?</b> A. The Beatitudes are eight: (1) Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (2) Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the land. (3) Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. (4) Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice, for they shall be filled. (5) Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. (6) Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God. (7) Blessed are the peace-makers, for they shall be called the children of God. (8)Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake for of such is the kingdom of heaven. <b>913. (2) Why did Jesus Christ propose the Beatitudes to us?</b> A. Jesus Christ proposed the Beatitudes to us to make us detest the maxims of the world, and to invite us to love and practise the maxims of the gospel. <b>914. (3) Who are they whom the world calls happy?</b> A. The world calls those happy who abound in riches and honours, who lead a pleasant life, and who meet with no occasions of suffering. <b>915. (4) Who are the poor in spirit whom Jesus Christ calls blessed?</b> A. The poor in spirit are, according to the gospel, those whose hearts are detached from riches; who make good use of riches should they have any; who do not seek them too eagerly, if they have none; and who suffer the loss of such things with resignation when deprived of them. <b>916. (5) Who are the meek?</b> A. The meek are those who act tenderly towards their neighbour, bear patiently with his defects, and accept the offences and injuries they receive from him without contention, resentment, or vengeance. <b>917. (6) Who are they that mourn, yet are called happy?</b> A. They that mourn, yet are called happy, are they who suffer tribulations with resignation, and who mourn over sins committed, over the evils and scandals that prevail in the world, over Paradise because it is so distant, and over the danger there is of losing it. <b>918. (7) Who are they that hunger and thirst after justice?</b> A. They that hunger and thirst after justice, are those who ardently desire to increase daily more and more in divine grace and in the exercise of good and virtuous works. <b>919. (8) Who are the merciful?</b> A. The merciful are those who love their neighbour in God and for God's sake, compassionate his miseries, spiritual as well as corporal, and endeavour to succour him according to their means and position. <b>920. (9) Who are the clean of heart?</b> A. The clean of heart are those who retain no affection for sin aqnd keep aloof from it, and who above all else avoid every sort of impurity. <b>921. (10) Who are the peace-makers?</b> A. The peace-makers are those who preserve peace with their neighbour and with themselves, and who endeavour to bring about peace and concord between those who are at variance. <b>922. (11) Who are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake?</b> A. They who suffer persecution for justice' sake are those who patiently bear derision, reproof, and persecution for the sake of the faith and of the law of Jesus Christ. <b>923. (12) What do the various rewards promised by Jesus Christ in the Beatitudes denote?</b> A. The various rewards promised by Jesus Christ in the Beatitudes all denote under different names the eternal glory of Paradise. <b>924. (13) Do the Beatitudes procure us the glory of Paradise alone?</b> A. The Beatitudes not only procure us the glory of Paradise, but are also the means of leading a happy life, as far as this is possible here on earth. <b>925. (14) Do those who follow the path of the Beatitutdes receive any reward in this life?</b> A. Yes, certainly; those who follow the path of the Beatitudes do receive a reward even in this life, inasmuch as they enjoy interior peace and contentment, which is the beginning, even though an imperfect one, of the happiness of heaven. <b>926. (15) Can those who follow the maxims of the world be called truly happy?</b> A. No, because they have no true peace of soul, and are in danger of being lost eternally. <b>The Main Kinds of Sins</b><br><b>927. (1) How many kinds of sin are there?</b> A. There are two kinds of sin: original sin and actual sin. <b>928. (2) What is original sin?</b> A. Original sin is the sin in which we are all born, and which we contracted by the disobedience of our first parent, Adam. <b>929. (3) What evil effects has the sin of Adam brought upon us?</b> A. The evil effects of the sin of Adam are: The privation of grace, the loss of Paradise, together with ignorance, inclination to evil, death, and all our other miseries. <b>930. (4) How is original sin cancelled?</b> A. Original sin is cancelled by holy Baptism. <b>931. (5) What is actual sin?</b> A. Actual sin is that which man, after coming to the use of reason, commits of his own free will. <b>932. (6) How many kinds of actual sin are there?</b> A. There are two kinds of actual sin: mortal and venial. <b>933. (7) What is mortal sin?</b> A. Mortal sin is a transgression of the divine Law by which we seriously fail in our duties towards God, towards our neighbour, or towards ourselves. <b>934. (8) Why is it called mortal?</b> A. It is called mortal because it brings death on the soul by making it lose sanctifying grace which is the life of the soul, just as the soul itself is the life of the body. <b>935. (9) What injury does mortal sin do the soul?</b> A. (1) Mortal sin deprives the soul of grace and of the friendship of God; (2) It makes it lose Heaven; (3) It deprives it of merits already acquired, and renders it incapable of acquiring new merits; (4) It makes it the slave of the devil; (5) It makes it deserve hell as well as the chastisements of this life. <b>936. (10) Besides grave matter, what is required to constitute a mortal sin?</b> A. To constitute a mortal sin, besides grave matter there is also required full consciousness of the gravity of the matter, along with the deliberate will to commit the sin. <b>937. (11) What is venial sin?</b> A. Venial sin is a lesser transgression of the divine Law, by which we slightly fail in some duty towards God, towards our neighbour, or towards ourselves. <b>938. (12) Why is it called venial?</b> A. It is called venial Because it is light compared with mortal sin; because it does not deprive us of divine grace; and because God more readily pardons us. <b>939. (13) Then little account need be made of venial sin?</b> A. That would be a very great mistake, not only because venial sin is always an offence against God; but also because it does no little harm to the soul. <b>940. (14) What harm does venial sin do the soul?</b> A. Venial sin: (1) Weakens and chills charity in us; (2) Disposes us to mortal sin; (3) Renders us deserving of great temporal punishments both in this world and in the next. <b>The Vices and other Very Grievous Sins</b><br><b>941. (1) What is a vice?</b> A. A vice is an evil disposition of the mind to shirk good and do evil, arising from the frequent repetition of evil acts. <b>942. (2) What difference is there between a sin and a vice?</b> A. Between sin and vice there is this difference that sin is a passing act, whereas vice is a bad habit, contracted by continually falling into some sin. <b>943. (3) Which are the vices called capital?</b> A. The vices called capital are seven: Pride, Covetousness, Lust, Anger, Gluttony, Envy and Sloth. <b>944. (4) How are the capital vices conquered?</b> A. The capital vices are conquered by the exercise of the opposite virtues: Thus Pride is conquered by humility; Covetousness by liberality; Lust by chastity; Anger by patience; Gluttony by abstinence; Envy by brotherly love; Sloth by diligence and fervour in the service of God. <b>945. (5) Why are these vices called capital?</b> A. They are called capital because they are the head and fount of many other vices and sins. <b>946. (6) How many are the sins against the Holy Ghost?</b> A. The sins against the Holy Ghost are six: (1) Despairing of being saved; (2) Presuming on being saved without merit; (3) Opposing the known truth; (4) Envying another's graces; (5) Obstinately remaining in sin; (6) Final impenitence. <b>947. (7) Why are these sins specially said to be against the Holy Ghost?</b> A. These sins are specially said to be against the Holy Ghost, because they are committed through pure malice, which is contrary to goodness, the special attribute of the Holy Ghost. <b>948. (8) Which are the sins that are said to cry to God for vengeance?</b> A. The sins that are said to cry to God for vengeance are these four: (1) Willful murder; (2) The sin of sodomy; (3) Oppression of the poor; (4) Defrauding labourers of their wages. <b>949. (9) Why are these sins said to cry to God for vengeance?</b> A. These sins are said to cry to God for vengeance because the Holy Ghost says so, and because their iniquity is so great and so manifest that it provokes God to punish them with the severest chastisements. (Source: Catechism Of St. pius X / <b>The Commandments Of God In General</b><br><b>676. (1) what Is Treated Of In The Third Part Of Christian Doctrine?</b>)
<b>Part One</b><br><b>The Profession of Faith</b><br><b>Section One</p><p>“I believe” – “We believe”</b><br><b>1. What is the plan of God for man?</b> 1-25<br>God, infinitely perfect and blessed in himself, in a plan of sheer goodness freely created man to make him share in his own blessed life. In the fullness of time, God the Father sent his Son as the Redeemer and Savior of mankind, fallen into sin, thus calling all into his Church and, through the work of the Holy Spirit, making them adopted children and heirs of his eternal happiness<i>.</i> <b>CHAPTER ONE</b><br><b>Man’s Capacity for God</b><br>30<br><i>“You are great, O Lord, and greatly to be praised [...] You have made us for yourself and our heart is restless until it rests in you.” </i>(Saint Augustine)<br><b>2. Why does man have a desire for God?</b> 27-30</p><p>44-45<br>God himself, in creating man in his own image, has written upon his heart the desire to see him. Even if this desire is often ignored, God never ceases to draw man to himself because only in God will he find and live the fullness of truth and happiness for which he never stops searching. By nature and by vocation, therefore, man is a religious being, capable of entering into communion with God. This intimate and vital bond with God confers on man his fundamental dignity. <b>3. How is it possible to know God with only the light of human reason?</b> 31-36</p><p>46-47<br>Starting from creation, that is from the world and from the human person, through reason alone one can know God with certainty as the origin and end of the universe, as the highest good and as infinite truth and beauty. <b>4. Is the light of reason alone sufficient to know the mystery of God?</b> 37-38<br>In coming to a knowledge of God by the light of reason alone man experiences many difficulties. Indeed, on his own he is unable to enter into the intimacy of the divine mystery. This is why he stands in need of being enlightened by God’s revelation, not only about those things that exceed his understanding, but also about those religious and moral truths which of themselves are not beyond the grasp of human reason, so that even in the present condition of the human race, they can be known by all with ease, with firm certainty and with no admixture of error. <b>5. How can we speak about God?</b> 39-43</p><p>48-49<br>By taking as our starting point the perfections of man and of the other creatures which are a reflection, albeit a limited one, of the infinite perfection of God, we are able to speak about God with all people. We must, however, continually purify our language insofar as it is image-bound and imperfect, realizing that we<i> </i>can never fully express the infinite mystery of God. <b>CHAPTER TWO</b><br><b>God Comes to Meet Man</b><br><b><i>The Revelation of God</i></b><br><b>6. What does God reveal to man?</b> 50-53</p><p>68-69<br>God in his goodness and wisdom reveals himself. With deeds and words, he reveals himself and his plan of loving goodness which he decreed from all eternity in Christ. According to this plan, all people by the grace of the Holy Spirit are to share in the divine life as adopted “sons” in the only begotten Son of God. <b>7. What are the first stages of God’s Revelation?</b> 54-58</p><p>70-71<br>From the very beginning, God manifested himself to our first parents, Adam and Eve, and invited them to intimate communion with himself. After their fall, he did not cease<i> </i>his revelation to them but promised salvation for all their descendants. After the flood, he made a covenant with Noah, a covenant between himself and all living beings. <b>8. What are the next stages of God’s Revelation?</b> 59-64</p><p>72<br>God chose Abram, calling him out of his country, making him “the father of a multitude of nations” (<i>Genesis</i> 17:5), and promising to bless in him “all the nations of the earth” (<i>Genesis</i> 12:3). The people descended from Abraham would be the trustee of the divine promise made to the patriarchs. God formed Israel as his chosen people, freeing them from slavery in Egypt, establishing with them the covenant of Mount Sinai, and, through Moses, giving them his law. The prophets proclaimed a radical redemption of the people and a salvation which would include all nations in a new and everlasting covenant. From the people of Israel and from the house of King David, would be born the Messiah, Jesus. <b>9. What is the full and definitive stage of God’s Revelation?</b> 65-66</p><p>73<br>The full and definitive stage of God’s revelation is accomplished in his Word made flesh, Jesus Christ, the mediator and fullness of Revelation. He, being the only-begotten Son of God made man, is the perfect and definitive Word of the Father. In the sending of the Son and the gift of the Spirit, Revelation is now fully complete<i>,</i> although the faith of the Church must gradually grasp its full significance over the course of centuries.<br><i>“In giving us his Son, his only and definitive Word, God spoke everything to us at once in this sole Word, and he has no more to say.”</i> (Saint John of the Cross) <b>10. What is the value of private revelations?</b> 67<br>While not belonging to the deposit of faith, private revelations may help a person to live the faith as long as they lead us to Christ. The Magisterium of the Church, which has the duty of evaluating such private revelations, cannot accept those which claim to surpass or correct that definitive Revelation which is Christ. <b><i>The Transmission of Divine Revelation</i></b><br><b>11. Why and in what way is divine revelation transmitted?</b> 74<br>God “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (<i>1 Timothy</i> 2:4), that is<i>,</i> of Jesus Christ. For this reason, Christ must be proclaimed to all according to his own command, “Go forth and teach all nations” (<i>Matthew</i> 28:19). And this is brought about by Apostolic Tradition. <b>12. What is Apostolic Tradition?</b> 75-79,</p><p>83,</p><p>96, 98<br>Apostolic Tradition is the transmission of the message of Christ, brought about from the very beginnings of Christianity by means of preaching, bearing witness, institutions, worship, and inspired writings. The apostles transmitted all they received from Christ and learned from the Holy Spirit to their successors, the bishops, and through them to all generations until the end of the world. <b>13. In what ways does Apostolic Tradition occur?</b> 76<br>Apostolic Tradition occurs in two ways: through the living transmission of the word of God (also simply called Tradition) and through Sacred Scripture which is the same proclamation of salvation in written form. <b>14. What is the relationship between Tradition and Sacred Scripture?</b> 80-82</p><p>97<br>Tradition and Sacred Scripture are bound closely together and communicate one with the other. Each of them makes present and fruitful in the Church the mystery of Christ. They flow out of the same divine well-spring and together make up<i> </i>one sacred deposit of faith from which the Church derives her certainty about revelation. <b>15. To whom is the deposit of faith entrusted?</b> 84, 91</p><p>94, 99<br>The Apostles entrusted the deposit of faith to the whole of the Church. Thanks to its supernatural sense of faith the people of God as a whole, assisted by the Holy Spirit and guided by the Magisterium of the Church, never ceases to welcome, to penetrate more deeply and to live more fully from the gift of divine revelation. <b>16. To whom is given the task of authentically interpreting the deposit of faith?</b> 85-90</p><p>100<br>The task of giving an authentic interpretation of the deposit of faith has been entrusted to the living teaching office of the Church alone, that is, to the successor of Peter, the Bishop of Rome, and to the bishops in communion with him. To this Magisterium, which in the service of the Word of God enjoys the certain charism of truth, belongs also the task of defining dogmas which are formulations of the truths contained in divine Revelation. This authority of the Magisterium also extends to those truths necessarily connected with Revelation. <b>17. What is the relationship between Scripture, Tradition and the Magisterium?</b> 95<br>Scripture, Tradition, and the Magisterium are so closely united with each other that one of them cannot stand without the others. Working together, each in its own way, under the action of the one Holy Spirit, they all contribute effectively to the salvation of souls. <b><i>Sacred Scripture</i></b><br><b>18. Why does Sacred Scripture teach the truth?</b> 105-108</p><p>135-136<br>Because God himself is the author of Sacred Scripture. For this reason it is said to be inspired and to teach without error those truths which are necessary for our salvation. The Holy Spirit inspired the human authors who wrote what he wanted to teach us. The Christian faith, however, is not a “religion of the Book”, but of the Word of God – “not a written and mute word, but incarnate and living” (Saint Bernard of Clairvaux). <b>19. How is Sacred Scripture to be read?</b> 109-119</p><p>137<br>Sacred Scripture must be read and interpreted with the help of the Holy Spirit and under the guidance of the Magisterium of the Church according to three criteria: 1) it must be read with attention to the content and unity of the whole of<i> </i>Scripture; 2) it must be read within the living Tradition of the Church; 3) it must be read with attention to the analogy of faith, that is, the inner harmony which exists among the truths of the faith themselves. <b>20. What is the <i>Canon</i> of Scripture?</b> 120 </p><p>138<br>The <i>Canon</i> of Scripture is the complete list of the sacred writings which the Church has come to recognize through Apostolic Tradition. The <i>Canon</i> consists of 46 books of the Old Testament and 27 of the New. <b>21. What is the importance of the Old Testament for Christians?</b> 121-123<br>Christians venerate the Old Testament as the true<i> </i>word of God. All of the books of the Old Testament are divinely inspired and retain a permanent value. They bear witness to the divine pedagogy of God’s saving love. They are written, above all, to prepare for the coming of Christ the Savior of the universe. <b>22. What importance does the New Testament have for Christians?</b> 124-127 </p><p>139<br>The New Testament<i>,</i> whose central object is Jesus Christ, conveys to us the ultimate truth of divine Revelation. Within the New Testament the four Gospels of Mathew, Mark, Luke and John are the heart of all the Scriptures because they are the principle witness to the life and teaching of Jesus. As such, they hold a unique place in the Church. <b>23. What is the unity that exists between the Old and the New Testaments?</b> 128-130 </p><p>140<br>Scripture is one insofar as the Word of God is one. God’s plan of salvation is one, and the divine inspiration of both Testaments is one. The Old Testament prepares for the New and the New Testament fulfills the Old; the two shed light on each other. <b>24. What role does Sacred Scripture play in the life of the Church?</b> 131-133 </p><p>141-142<br>Sacred Scripture gives support and vigor to the life of the Church. For the children of the Church, it is a confirmation of the faith, food for the soul and the fount of the spiritual life. Sacred Scripture is the soul of theology and of pastoral preaching. The Psalmist says that it is “a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (<i>Psalm</i> 119:105). The Church<i>,</i> therefore, exhorts all to read Sacred Scripture frequently because “ignorance of the Scripture<i>s </i>is ignorance of Christ” (Saint Jerome). <b>CHAPTER THREE</b><br><b>Man’s Response to God</b><br><b><i>I Believe</i></b><br><b>25. How does man respond to God who reveals himself?</b> 142-143<br>Sustained by divine grace, we respond to God with the obedience of faith, which means the full surrender of ourselves to God and the acceptance of his truth insofar as it is guaranteed by the One who is Truth itself. <b>26. Who are the principal witnesses of the obedience of faith in the Sacred Scriptures?</b> 144-149<br>There are many such witnesses, two in particular: One is <i>Abraham</i> who when put to the test “believed in God” (<i>Romans</i> 4:3) and always obeyed his call. For this reason he is called “the Father of all who believe” (<i>Romans</i> 4:11-18). The other is the <i>Virgin Mary</i> who, throughout her entire life, embodied in a perfect way the obedience of faith: “<i>Let it be done to me according to your word</i>” (<i>Luke</i> 1:38). <b>27. What does it mean in practice for a person to believe in God?</b> 150-152 </p><p>176-178<br>It means to adhere to God himself, entrusting oneself to him and giving assent to all the truths which God has revealed because God is Truth. It means to believe in one God in three Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. <b>28. What are the characteristics of faith?</b> 153-165</p><p>179-180</p><p>183-184<br>Faith is the supernatural virtue which is <i>necessary</i> for salvation. It is a <i>free gift</i> of God and is accessible to all who humbly seek it. The act of faith is <i>a human act</i>, that is, an act of the intellect of a person - prompted by the will moved by God - who freely assents to divine truth. Faith is also <i>certain</i> because it is founded on the Word of God; it <i>works</i> “through charity”<i> </i>(<i>Galatians</i> 5:6); and it <i>continually grows</i> through listening to the Word of God and through prayer. It is, even now, a <i>foretaste</i> of the joys of heaven. <b>29. Why is there no contradiction between faith and science?</b> 159<br>Though faith is above reason, there can never be a contradiction between faith and science because both originate in God. It is God himself who gives to us the light both of reason and of faith.<br><i>“I believe, in order to understand; and I understand, the better to believe.”</i> (Saint Augustine) <b><i>We Believe</i></b><br><b>30. Why is faith a personal act, and at the same time ecclesial?</b> 166-169</p><p>181<br>Faith is a personal act insofar as it is the free response of the human person<i> </i>to God who reveals himself. But at the same time it is an ecclesial act which expresses itself in the proclamation, “We believe”. It is in fact the Church that believes: and thus by the grace of the Holy Spirit precedes, engenders and nourishes the faith of each Christian For this reason the Church is Mother and Teacher.<br><i>“No one can have God as Father who does not have the Church as</i><b><i> </i></b><i>Mother.” </i>(Saint Cyprian) <b>31. Why are the formulas of faith important?</b> 170-171<br>The formulas of faith are important because they permit one to express, assimilate, celebrate, and share together with others the truths of the faith through a common language. <b>32. In what way is the faith of the Church one faith alone?</b> 172-175 </p><p>182<br>The Church, although made up of persons who have diverse languages, cultures, and rites, nonetheless professes with a united voice the one faith that was received from the one Lord and that was passed on by the one Apostolic Tradition. She confesses one God alone, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and points to one way of salvation. Therefore we believe with one heart and one soul all that is contained in the Word of God, handed down<i> </i>or written, and which is proposed by the Church as divinely revealed. <b>Section Two</b></p><p><b>The Profession of the Christian Faith</b><br><b>The Creed</b><br><b>The Apostles’ Creed</b><br>I believe in God the Father almighty, </p><p>Creator of heaven and earth. </p><p>And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, </p><p>our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,</p><p>born of the Virgin Mary, </p><p>suffered under Pontius Pilate,</p><p>was crucified, died, and was buried.</p><p>He descended into hell; the third day </p><p>He rose again from the dead;</p><p>He ascended into heaven, and sits at </p><p>the right hand of God the Father </p><p>almighty, from thence He shall come</p><p>to judge the living and the dead.</p><p>I believe in the Holy Spirit,</p><p>the holy Catholic Church,</p><p>the communion of saints, </p><p>the forgiveness of sins, </p><p>the resurrection of the body </p><p>and life everlasting.</p><p>Amen. <b>Symbolum Apostolicum</p><p></p><p></b>Credo in Deum Patrem omnipoténtem, Creatorem cæli et terræ, et in Iesum Christum, Filium Eius unicum, Dominum nostrum, qui concéptus est de Spíritu Sancto, natus ex Maria Virgine, passus sub Póntio Piláto, crucifixus, mórtuus, et sepúltus, descéndit ad ínferos, tértia die resurréxit a mórtuis, ascéndit ad cælos, sedet ad déxteram Dei Patris omnipoténtis, inde ventúrus est iudicáre vivos et mórtuos.</p><p></p><p>Et in Spíritum Sanctum, </p><p>sanctam Ecclésiam cathólicam, </p><p>sanctórum communiónem, </p><p>remissiónem peccatórum, </p><p>carnis resurrectiónem,</p><p>vitam ætérnam. Amen. <b>The Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed</b><br>I believe in one God, </p><p>the Father, the Almighty, </p><p>maker of heaven and earth, </p><p>of all that is, seen and unseen.<br>I believe one Lord, Jesus Christ,</p><p>the only Son of God, </p><p>eternally begotten of the Father, </p><p>God from God, Light from Light, </p><p>true God from true God, </p><p>begotten, not made, </p><p>one in Being with the Father. </p><p>Through Him all things were made.<br>For us men and for our salvation, </p><p>He came down from heaven: by the </p><p>power of the Holy Spirit He was </p><p>born of the Virgin Mary,</p><p>and became Man.<br>For our sake He was crucified </p><p>under Pontius Pilate; </p><p>He suffered, died, and was buried.<br>On the third day He rose again </p><p>in fulfillment of the Scriptures;<br>He ascended into heaven, </p><p>and is seated at the right hand of the </p><p>Father. He will come again in glory </p><p>to judge the living and the dead,</p><p>and His kingdom will have no end.<br>I believe in the Holy Spirit, </p><p>the Lord, the Giver of life, </p><p>Who proceeds from the Father and </p><p>the Son. With the Father and the Son </p><p>He is worshiped and glorified. </p><p>He has spoken through the prophets.<br>I believe in one, holy, catholic, </p><p>and apostolic Church.<br>I acknowledge one Baptism </p><p>for the forgiveness of sins. </p><p>I look for the resurrection of the dead, </p><p>and the life of the world to come.<br>Amen. <b>Symbolum Nicænum Costantinopolitanum</p><p></p><p></b>Credo in unum Deum, </p><p>Patrem omnipoténtem, </p><p>Factorem cæli et terræ,</p><p>visibílium ómnium et invisibilium </p><p>Et in unum Dóminum Iesum </p><p>Christum,</p><p>Filium Dei unigénitum</p><p>et ex Patre natum</p><p>ante ómnia sǽcula:</p><p>Deum de Deo, Lumen de Lúmine, </p><p>Deum verum de Deo vero, </p><p>génitum, non factum, consubstantiálem Patri: per quem ómnia </p><p>facta sunt;</p><p>qui propter nos hómines</p><p>et propter nostram salútem,</p><p>descéndit de cælis, et incarnátus est </p><p>de Spíritu Sancto ex Maria Víirgine </p><p>et homo factus est, crucifíxus étiam </p><p>pro nobis sub Póntio Piláto, passus </p><p>et sepúltus est, et resurréxit tértia </p><p>die secúndum Scriptúras,</p><p>et ascéndit in cælum, sedet ad </p><p>déxteram Patris, et íterum ventúrus </p><p>est cum glória, iudicáre vivos et </p><p>mórtuos, cuius regni non erit finis.</p><p></p><p>Credo in Spíritum Sanctum, Dominum et vivificántem, qui ex Patre </p><p>Filióque procédit, qui cum Patre et </p><p>Fílio simul adorátur et conglorificátur, qui locútus est per prophétas.</p><p></p><p>Et unam sanctam cathólicam</p><p>et apostólicam Ecclésiam.</p><p></p><p>Confíteor unum Baptísma</p><p>in remissiónem peccatórum.</p><p>Et exspécto resurrectiónem mortuórum, </p><p>et vitam ventúri sæculi.</p><p></p><p>Amen.<b> </b> <b>CHAPTER ONE</b><br><b>I Believe in God the Father</b><br><b><i>The Symbols of Faith</i></b><br><b>33. What are the symbols of faith?</b> 185-188 </p><p>192, 197<br>The symbols of faith are composite formulas, also called “professions of faith” or “Creeds”, with which the Church from her very beginning has set forth synthetically and handed on her own faith in a language that is normative and common to all the faithful. <b>34. What are the most ancient symbols (professions) of faith?</b> 189-191<br>The most ancient symbols of faith are the <i>baptismal</i> creeds. Because Baptism is conferred “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” (<i>Matthew</i> 28:19), the truths of faith professed at Baptism are articulated in reference to the three Persons of the Most Holy Trinity. <b>35. What are the most important symbols of the faith?</b> 193-195<br>They are the <i>Apostles’ Creed</i> which is the ancient baptismal symbol of the Church of Rome and the <i>Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed</i> which stems from<i> </i>the first two ecumenical Councils, that of Nicea (325 A.D.) and that of Constantinople (381 A.D.) and which even to this day<i> </i>are common to all the great Churches of the East and the West. <b><i>“I believe in God the Father Almighty, </p><p>Creator of heaven and earth.”</i></b><br><b>36. Why does the Profession of Faith begin with the words, “I believe in God”?</b> 198-199<br>The Profession of Faith begins with these words because the affirmation “I believe in God” is the most important, the source of all the other truths about man and about the world, and about the entire life of everyone who believes in God. <b>37. Why does one profess belief that there is only one God?</b> 200-202</p><p>228<br>Belief in the one God is professed because he has revealed himself to the people of Israel as the only One when he said, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord” (<i>Deuteronomy</i> 6:4) and “there is no other” (<i>Isaiah</i> 45:22). Jesus himself confirmed that God is “the one Lord” (<i>Mark</i> 12:29). To confess that Jesus and the Holy Spirit are also God and Lord does not introduce any division into the one God. <b>38. With what name does God reveal Himself?</b> 203-209 </p><p>230-231<br>God revealed himself to Moses as the living God, “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob” (<i>Exodus</i> 3:6). God also revealed to Moses his mysterious name “I Am Who I Am (YHWH)”. Already in Old Testament times this ineffable name of God was replaced by the divine title <i>Lord</i>. Thus in the New Testament, Jesus who was called <i>Lord</i> is seen as true God. <b>39. Is God the only One who “is”?</b> 2112-213<br>Since creatures have received everything they are and have from God, only God in himself <i>is</i> the fullness of being and of every perfection. God is “He who is”<i> </i>without origin and without end. Jesus also reveals that he bears the divine name “I Am” (<i>John</i> 8:28). <b>40. Why is the revelation of God’s name important?</b> 206-213<br>In revealing his name, God makes known the riches contained in the ineffable mystery of his being. He alone is from everlasting to everlasting. He is the One who transcends the world and history. It is he who made heaven and earth. He is the faithful God, always close to his people, in order to save them. He is the highest holiness, “rich in mercy” (<i>Ephesians</i> 2:4), always ready to forgive. He is the One who is spiritual, transcendent, omnipotent, eternal, personal, and perfect. He is truth and love.<br><i>“God is the infinitely perfect being who is the most Holy Trinity.”</i> (Saint Turibius of Montenegro) <b>41. In what way is God the truth?</b> 214-217 </p><p>231<br>God is Truth itself and as such he can neither deceive nor be deceived. He is “light, and in him there is no darkness” (1 <i>John</i> 1:5). The eternal Son of God, the incarnation of wisdom, was sent into the world “to bear witness to the Truth” (<i>John</i> 18:37). <b>42. In what way does God reveal that he is love?</b> 218-221<br>God revealed himself to Israel as the One who has a stronger love than that of parents for their children or of husbands and wives for their spouses. God in himself “is love” (<i>1 John </i>4: 8.16), who gives himself completely and gratuitously, who “so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that the world might be saved through him” (<i>John</i> 3:16-17). By sending his Son and the Holy Spirit, God reveals that he himself is an eternal exchange of love. <b>43. What does it mean to believe in only one God?</b> 222-227 </p><p>229<br>To believe in the one and only God involves coming to know<i> </i>his greatness and majesty. It involves living in thanksgiving and trusting always in him, even in adversity. It involves knowing the unity and true dignity of all human beings, created in his image. It involves making good use of<i> </i>the things which he has created. <b>44. What is the central mystery of Christian<i> </i>faith and life?</b> 232-237<br>The central mystery of Christian faith and life is the mystery of the Most Blessed Trinity. Christians are baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. <b>45. Can the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity be known by the light of human reason alone?</b> 237<br>God has left some traces of his trinitarian being in creation and in the Old Testament but his inmost being as the Holy Trinity is a mystery which is inaccessible to reason alone or even to Israel’s faith before the Incarnation of the Son of God and the sending of the Holy Spirit. This mystery was revealed by Jesus Christ and it is the source of all the other mysteries. <b>46. What did Jesus Christ reveal to us about the mystery of the Father?</b> 240-242<br>Jesus Christ revealed to us that God is “Father”, not only insofar as he created the universe and the mankind, but above all because he eternally generated in his bosom the Son who is his Word, “ the radiance of the glory of God and the very stamp of his nature” (<i>Hebrews</i> 1:3). <b>47. Who is the Holy Spirit revealed to us by Jesus Christ?</b> 243-248<br>The Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Most Blessed Trinity. He is God, one and equal with the Father and the Son. He “proceeds from the Father” (<i>John</i> 15:26) who is the principle without a principle and the origin of all trinitarian life. He proceeds also from the Son <i>(Filioque)</i> by the eternal Gift which the Father makes of him to the Son. Sent by the Father and the Incarnate Son, the Holy Spirit guides the Church “to know all truth” (<i>John</i> 16:13). <b>48. How does the Church express her trinitarian faith?</b> 249-256</p><p>266<br>The Church expresses her trinitarian faith by professing a belief in the oneness of God in whom there are three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The three divine Persons are only one God because each of them equally possesses the fullness of the one and indivisible divine nature. They are really distinct from each other by reason of the relations which place them in correspondence to each other. The Father generates the Son; the Son is generated by the Father; the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. <b>49. How do the three divine Persons work?</b> 257-260</p><p>267<br>Inseparable in their one substance, the three divine Persons are also inseparable in their activity. The Trinity has one operation, sole and the same. In this one divine action, however, each Person is present according to the mode which is proper to him in the Trinity.<br><i>“O my God, Trinity whom I adore...grant my soul peace; make it your heaven, your beloved dwelling, and the place of your rest. May I never abandon you there, but may I be there, whole and entire, completely vigilant in my faith, entirely adoring, and wholly given over to your creative action.”</i> (Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity) <b>50. What does it mean to say that God is almighty?</b> 268-278<br>God reveals himself as “the strong One, the mighty One” (<i>Psalm</i> 24:8), as the One “to whom nothing is impossible” (<i>Luke</i> 1:37). His omnipotence is universal, mysterious and shows itself in the creation of the world out of nothing and humanity out of love; but above all it shows itself in the Incarnation and the Resurrection of his Son, in the gift of filial adoption and in the forgiveness of sins. For this reason, the Church directs her prayers to the “almighty and eternal God” <i>(“Omnipotens sempiterne Deus...”)</i>. <b>51. What is the importance of affirming “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (<i>Genesis</i> 1:1)?</b> 279-289 </p><p>315<br>The significance is that creation is the foundation of all God’s saving plans. It shows forth the almighty and wise love<i> </i>of God, and it is the first step toward the covenant of the one God with his people. It is the beginning of the history of salvation which culminates in Christ; and it is the first answer to our fundamental questions regarding our very origin and destiny. <b>52. Who created the world?</b> 290-292</p><p>316<br>The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are the one and indivisible principle of creation even though the work of creating the world is particularly attributed to God the Father. <b>53. Why was the world created?</b> 293-294</p><p>319<br>The world was created for the glory of God who wished to show forth and communicate his goodness, truth and beauty. The ultimate end of creation is that God, in Christ, might be “all in all” (<i>1</i> <i>Corinthians</i> 15:28) for his glory and for our happiness.<br><i>“The glory of God is man fully alive; moreover man’s life is the vision of God.” </i>(Saint Irenaeus) <b>54. How did God create the universe?</b> 295-301</p><p>317-320<br>God created the universe freely with wisdom and love. The world is not the result of any necessity, nor of blind fate, nor of chance. God created “out of nothing” (<i>ex nihilo</i>)<i> </i>(2 <i>Maccabees</i> 7:28) a world which is ordered and good and which he infinitely transcends. God preserves his creation in being and sustains it, giving it the capacity<i> </i>to act and leading it toward its fulfillment through his Son and the Holy Spirit. <b>55. What is divine providence?</b> 302-306</p><p>321<br>Divine Providence consists in the dispositions with which God leads his creatures toward their ultimate end. God is the sovereign Master of his own plan. To carry it out, however, he also makes use of the cooperation of his creatures. For God grants his creatures the dignity of acting on their own and of being causes for each other. <b>56. How do we collaborate with divine Providence?</b> 307-308</p><p>323<br>While respecting our freedom, God asks us to cooperate with him and gives us the ability to do so through actions, prayers and sufferings, thus awakening in us the desire “to will and to work for his good pleasure” (<i>Philippians</i> 2:13). <b>57. If God is omnipotent and provident, why then does evil exist?</b> 309-310</p><p>324, 400<br>To this question, as painful and mysterious as it is, only the <i>whole</i> of Christian faith can constitute a response. God is not in any way - directly or indirectly - the cause of evil. He illuminates the mystery of evil in his Son Jesus Christ who died and rose in order to vanquish that great moral evil, human sin, which is at the root of all other evils. <b>58. Why does God permit evil?</b> 311-314</p><p>324<br>Faith gives us the certainty that God would not permit evil if he did not cause a good to come from that very evil. This was realized in a wondrous way by God in the death and resurrection of Christ. In fact, from the greatest of all moral evils (the murder of his Son) he has brought forth the greatest of all goods (the glorification of Christ and our redemption). <b><i>Heaven and Earth</i></b><br><b>59. What did God create?</b> 325-327<br>Sacred Scripture says, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (<i>Genesis</i> 1:1). The Church in her profession of faith proclaims that God is the Creator of everything, visible and invisible, of all spiritual and corporeal beings, that is, of angels and of the visible world and, in a special way, of man. <b>60. Who are the angels?</b> 328-333</p><p>350-351<br>The angels are purely spiritual creatures, incorporeal, invisible, immortal, and personal beings endowed with intelligence and will. They ceaselessly contemplate God face-to-face and they glorify him. They serve him and are his messengers in the accomplishment of<i> </i>his saving mission to all. <b>61. In what way are angels present in the life of the Church?</b> 334-336</p><p>352<br>The Church joins with the angels in adoring God, invokes their assistance and commemorates some in her liturgy.<br><i>“ Beside each believer stands an angel as a protector and shepherd leading him to life.” </i>(Saint Basil the Great) <b>62. What does Sacred Scripture teach about the creation of the visible world?</b> 337-344<br>Through the account of the “six days” of creation Sacred Scripture teaches us the value of the created world and its purpose, namely, to praise God and to serve humanity. Every single thing owes its very existence to God from whom it receives its goodness and perfection, its proper laws and its proper place in the universe. <b>63. What is the place of the human person in creation?</b> 343-344</p><p>353<br>The human person is the summit of visible creation in as much as he or she is created in the image and likeness of God. <b>64. What kind of bond exists between created things?</b> 342</p><p>354<br>There exist an interdependence and a hierarchy among creatures as willed by God. At the same time, there is also a unity and solidarity among creatures since all have the same Creator, are loved by him and are ordered to his glory. Respecting the laws inscribed in creation and the relations which derive from the nature of things is, therefore, a principle of wisdom and a foundation for morality. <b>65. What is the relationship between the work of creation and the work of redemption?</b> 345-349<br>The work of creation culminates in the still greater<i> </i>work of redemption, which in fact gives rise to a new creation in which everything will recover its true meaning and fulfillment. <b><i>Man</i></b><br><b>66. In what sense do we understand man and woman as created “in the image of God”?</b> 355-357<br>The human person is created in the image of God in the sense that he or she is capable of knowing and of loving their Creator in freedom. Human beings are the only creatures on earth that God has willed for their own sake and has called to share, through knowledge and love, in his own divine life. All human beings, in as much as they are created in the image of God, have the dignity of a person. A person is not something but someone, capable of self-knowledge and of freely giving himself and entering into communion with God and with other persons. <b>67. For what purpose did God create man and woman?</b> 358-359</p><p>380-381<br>God has created everything for them; but he has created them to know, serve and love God, to offer all of creation in this world in thanksgiving back to him and to be raised up to life with him in heaven. Only in the mystery of the incarnate Word does the mystery of the human person come into true light. Man and woman are predestined to reproduce the image of the Son of God made Man, who is the perfect “image of the invisible God” (<i>Colossians</i> 1:15). <b>68. Why does the human race form a unity?</b> 360-361<br>All people form the unity of the human race by reason of the common origin which they have from God. God has made “from one ancestor all the nations of men” (<i>Acts</i> 17:26). All have but one Savior and are called to share in the eternal happiness of God. <b>69. How do the soul and body form a unity in the human being?</b> 362-365</p><p>382<br>The human person is a being at once<i> </i>corporeal and spiritual. In man spirit and matter form one nature. This unity is so profound that, thanks to the spiritual principle which is the soul, the body which is material, becomes a living human body and participates in the dignity of the image of God. <b>70. Where does the soul come from?</b> 366-368 </p><p>382<br>The spiritual soul does not come from one’s parents but is created immediately by God and is immortal. It does not perish at the moment when it is separated from the body in death and it will be once again reunited with the body at the moment of the final resurrection. <b>71. What relationship has God established between man and woman?</b> 369-373</p><p>383<br>Man and woman have been created by God in equal dignity insofar as they are human persons. At the same time, they have been created in a reciprocal complementarity insofar as they are masculine and feminine. God has willed them one <i>for</i> the other to form a communion of persons. They are also called to transmit human life by forming in matrimony “one flesh” (<i>Genesis</i> 2:24). They are likewise called to subdue the earth as “stewards” of God. <b>72. What was the original condition of the human person according to the plan of God?</b> 374-379</p><p>384<br>In creating man and woman God had given them a special participation in his own divine life in holiness and justice. In the plan of God they would not have had to suffer or die. Furthermore, a perfect harmony held sway within the human person, a harmony between creature and Creator, between man and woman, as well as between the first human couple and all of creation. <b><i>The Fall</i></b><br><b>73. How should we understand the reality of sin?</b> 385-389<br>Sin is present in human history. This reality of sin can be understood clearly only in the light of divine revelation and above all in the light of Christ the Savior of all. Where sin abounded, he made grace to abound all the more. <b>74. What was the fall of the angels?</b> 391-395</p><p>414<br>This expression indicates that Satan and the other demons, about which Sacred Scripture and the Tradition of the Church speak, were angels, created good by God. They were, however, transformed into evil because with a free and irrevocable choice they rejected God and his Kingdom, thus giving rise to the existence of hell. They try to associate human beings with their revolt against God. However, God has wrought in Christ a sure victory over the Evil One. <b>75. What was the first human sin?</b> 396-403</p><p>415-417<br>When tempted by the devil, the first man and woman allowed trust in their Creator to die in their hearts. In their disobedience they wished to become “like God” but without God and not in accordance with God (<i>Genesis</i> 3:5). Thus, Adam and Eve immediately lost for themselves and for all their descendants the original grace of holiness and justice. <b>76. What is original sin?</b> 404</p><p>419<br>Original sin, in which all human beings are born, is the state of deprivation of original holiness and<i> </i>justice. It is a sin “contracted” by us not “committed”; it is a state of birth and not a personal act. Because of the original unity of all human beings, it is transmitted to the descendants of Adam “not by imitation, but by propagation”. This transmission remains a mystery which we cannot fully understand. <b>77. What other consequences derive from original sin?</b> 405-409</p><p>418<br>In consequence of original sin human nature, without being totally corrupted, is wounded in its natural powers. It is subject to ignorance, to suffering, and to the dominion of death and is inclined toward sin. This inclination is called <i>concupiscence</i>. <b>78. After the first sin, what did God do?</b> 410-412</p><p>420<br>After the first sin the world was inundated with sin but God did not abandon man to the power of death. Rather, he foretold in a mysterious way in the “Protoevangelium” (<i>Genesis</i> 3:15) that evil would be conquered and that man would be lifted up<i> </i>from his fall. This was the first proclamation of the Messiah and Redeemer. Therefore, the fall would be called in the future a “<i>happy fault</i>” because it “gained for us<i> </i>so great a Redeemer” (Liturgy of the Easter Vigil). <b>CHAPTER TWO</b><br><b>I Believe in Jesus Christ, the Only Son of God</b><br><b>79. What is the Good News for humanity?</b> 422-424<br>It is the proclamation of Jesus Christ, the “Son of the living<i> </i>God” (<i>Matthew</i> 16:16), who died and rose from the dead. In the time of King Herod and the Emperor Caesar Augustus, God fulfilled the promises that he made to Abraham and his descendants. He sent “his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law<i>,</i> so that we might receive adoption as sons” (<i>Galatians</i> 4:4-5). <b>80. How is the Good News spread?</b> 425-429<br>From the very beginning the first disciples burned with the desire<i> </i>to proclaim Jesus Christ in order to lead all to faith in him. Even today, from the loving knowledge of Christ there springs up in the believer the desire<i> </i>to evangelize and catechize, that is, to reveal in the Person of Christ the entire design of God and to put humanity in communion with him. <b><i>“And in Jesus Christ, His only Son our Lord”</i></b><br><b>81. What is the meaning of the name “Jesus”?</b> 430-435</p><p>452<br>Given by the angel at the time of the Annunciation, the name “Jesus” means “God saves”. The name expresses his identity and his mission “because he will save his people from their sins” (<i>Matthew</i> 1:21). Peter proclaimed that “there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we can<i> </i>be saved” (<i>Acts</i> 4:12). <b>82. Why is Jesus called “Christ”?</b> 436-440</p><p>453<br>“Christ” in Greek, “Messiah” in Hebrew, means the “anointed one”. Jesus is the Christ because he is consecrated by God and anointed by the Holy Spirit for his redeeming mission. He is the Messiah awaited by Israel, sent into the world by the Father. Jesus accepted the title of Messiah but he made the meaning of the term clear:<i> </i>“come<i> </i>down from heaven” (<i>John</i> 3:13), crucified and then risen , he is the Suffering Servant “who gives his life as a<i> </i>ransom for the many” (<i>Matthew</i> 20:28). From the name Christ comes our name of <i>Christian</i>. <b>83. In what sense is Jesus the Only Begotten Son of God?</b> 441-445</p><p>454<br>Jesus is the Son of God in a unique and perfect way. At the time of his Baptism and his Transfiguration, the voice of the Father designated Jesus as his “beloved Son”. In presenting himself as the Son who “knows the Father” (<i>Matthew</i> 11:27), Jesus affirmed his singular and eternal relationship with God his Father. He is “the Only Begotten Son of God” (<i>1 John</i> 4:9), the second Person of the Blessed Trinity. He is the central figure of apostolic preaching. The apostles saw “his glory as of the Only Begotten of the Father” (<i>John</i> 1:14). <b>84. What is the meaning of the title “Lord”?</b> 446-451 </p><p>455<br>In the Bible this title regularly designates God as Sovereign. Jesus ascribed this title to himself and revealed his divine sovereignty by his power over nature, over demons, over sin, and over death, above all by his own Resurrection. The first Christian creeds proclaimed that the power, the honor, and the glory that are due to God the Father also belong to Jesus: God “has given him the name which is above every other name” (<i>Philippians</i> 2:9). He is the Lord of the world and of history, the only One to whom we must completely submit our personal freedom. <b><i>“Jesus Christ was conceived by the power </p><p>of the Holy Spirit, and was born of the Virgin Mary”</i></b><br><b>85. Why did the Son of God become man?</b> 456-460<br>For us men and for our salvation, the Son of God became incarnate in the womb of the Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit. He did so to reconcile us sinners with God, to have us learn of God’s infinite love, to be our model of holiness and to make us “partakers of the divine nature” (<i>2 Peter </i>1:4). <b>86. What does the word “Incarnation” mean?</b> 461-463</p><p>483<br>The Church calls the mystery of the wonderful union of the divine and human natures<i> </i>in the one divine Person of the Word the “Incarnation”. To bring about our salvation the Son of God was made “flesh” (<i>John</i> 1:14) and became truly man. Faith in the Incarnation is a distinctive sign of the Christian faith. <b>87. In what way is Jesus Christ true God and true man?</b> 464-467</p><p>469<br>Jesus is inseparably true God and true man in the unity of his divine Person. As the Son of God, who is “begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father,” he was made true man, our brother, without ceasing to be God, our Lord. <b>88. What does the Council of Chalcedon (in the year 451) teach in this regard?</b> 467<br>The Council of Chalcedon teaches us to confess “one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, perfect in his humanity, true God and true man, composed of rational soul and body, consubstantial with the Father by his divinity, and consubstantial with us by his humanity, ‘like us in all things but sin’ (<i>Hebrews</i> 4:15), begotten from the Father before all ages as to his divinity, and in these last days, for us and for our salvation, born of Mary, the Virgin and Mother of God, as to his humanity.” <b>89. How does the Church set forth the Mystery of the Incarnation?</b> 464-470</p><p>479-481<br>The Church confesses that Jesus Christ is true God and true man, with two natures, a divine nature and a human nature, not confused with each other but united in the Person of the Word. Therefore, in the humanity of Jesus all things - his miracles, his suffering, and his death - must be attributed to his divine Person which acts by means of his assumed human nature.<br><i>“O Only-begotten Son and Word of God you who are immortal, you who deigned for our salvation to become incarnate of the holy Mother of God and ever Virgin Mary (...) You who are one of the Holy Trinity, glorified with the Father and the Holy Spirit, save us!”</i> (Byzantine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom) <b>90. Did the incarnate Son of God have a soul with human knowledge?</b> 470-474</p><p>482<br>The Son of God assumed a body animated by a rational human soul. With his human intellect Jesus learned many things by way of experience; but also as man the Son of God had an intimate<i> </i>and immediate knowledge of God his Father. He likewise understood people’s secret thoughts and he knew fully the eternal plans which he had come to reveal. <b>91. How did the two wills of the incarnate Word cooperate?</b> 475 </p><p>482<br>Jesus had a divine will and a human will. In his earthly life the Son of God humanly willed all that he had divinely decided with the Father and the Holy Spirit for our salvation. The human will of Christ followed without opposition or reluctance the divine will or, in other words, it was subject to it. <b>92. Did Christ have a true human body?</b> 476-477<br>Christ assumed a true human body by means of which the invisible God became visible. This is the reason why Christ can be represented and venerated in sacred images. <b>93. What does the heart of Jesus exemplify?</b> 478<br>Jesus knew us and loved us with a human heart. His Heart, pierced for our salvation, is the symbol of that infinite love with which he loves the Father and each one of us. <b>94. What is the meaning of the expression “conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit...”?</b> 484-486<br>This expression means that the Virgin Mary conceived the eternal Son in her womb by the power of the Holy Spirit without the cooperation of a man. The angel told her at the Annunciation that “the Holy Spirit will come upon you” (<i>Luke</i> 1:35). <b>95. “...Born of the Virgin Mary”: Why is Mary truly the Mother of God?</b> 495</p><p>509<br>Mary is truly the <i>Mother of God</i> because she is the Mother of Jesus (<i>John</i> 2:1, <i>John</i> 19:25). The One who was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and became truly her Son is actually the eternal Son of God the Father. He is God himself. <b>96. What does the “Immaculate Conception” mean?</b> 487-492</p><p>508<br>God freely chose Mary from all eternity to be the Mother of his Son. In order to carry out her mission she herself was <i>conceived immaculate</i>. This means that, thanks to the grace of God and in anticipation of the merits of Jesus Christ, Mary was preserved from original sin from the first instant<i> </i>of her conception. <b>97. How does Mary cooperate in the divine plan of salvation?</b> 493-494</p><p>508-511<br>By the grace of God Mary was kept free from every personal sin her whole life long. She is the one who is “full of grace” (<i>Luke</i> 1:28), “the all holy”. When the angel announced to her that she would give birth to “the Son of the Most High” (<i>Luke</i> 1:32), she freely gave her consent with “the obedience of faith” (<i>Romans</i> 1:5). Mary thus gave herself entirely to the person and work of her Son Jesus, espousing wholeheartedly<i> </i>the divine will regarding salvation. <b>98. What does the virginal conception of Jesus mean?</b> 496-498</p><p>503<br>The virginal conception of Jesus means that Jesus was conceived in the womb of the Virgin solely by the power of the Holy Spirit without the intervention of a man. He is the Son of the heavenly Father according to his divine nature and the Son of Mary according to his human nature. He is, however, truly the Son of God in both natures since there is in him only one Person who is divine. <b>99. In what sense is Mary “ever Virgin”?</b> 499-507</p><p>510-511<br>Mary is ever virgin in the sense that she “remained a virgin in conceiving her Son, a virgin in giving birth to him, a virgin in carrying him, a virgin in nursing him at her breast, always a virgin” (Saint Augustine). Therefore, when the Gospels speak of the “brothers and sisters of Jesus”, they are talking about the close relations of Jesus, according to the way of speaking used in Sacred Scripture. <b>100. In what way is the spiritual motherhood of Mary universal?</b> 501-507</p><p>511<br>Mary had only one Son, Jesus, but in him her spiritual motherhood extends to all whom he came to save. Obediently standing at the side of the new Adam, Jesus Christ, the Virgin is the <i>new Eve</i>, the true mother of all the living, who with a mother’s love cooperates in their birth and their formation in the order of grace. Virgin and Mother, Mary is the figure of the Church, its most perfect realization. <b>101. In what sense is the life of Christ a Mystery?</b> 512-521</p><p>561-562<br>The entire life of Christ is a revelation. What was visible in the earthly life of Jesus leads us to the <i>invisible mystery of his divine sonship</i>: “whoever has seen me has seen<i> </i>the Father” (<i>John</i> 14:9). Furthermore, even though salvation comes completely from the cross and the resurrection, the entire life of Christ is a <i>mystery of redemption</i> because everything that Jesus did, said, and suffered had for its aim the salvation of fallen human beings and the restoration of their vocation as children of God. <b>102. How did God prepare the world for the mystery of Christ?</b> 522-524<br>God prepared for the coming of his Son over the centuries. He awakened in the hearts of the pagans a dim expectation of this coming and he prepared for it specifically through the Old Testament, culminating with <i>John the Baptist</i> who was the last and greatest of the prophets. We relive this long period of expectancy in the annual liturgical celebration of the season of Advent. <b>103. What does the Gospel teach about the mysteries of the birth and infancy of Jesus?</b> 525-530</p><p>563-564<br>At <i>Christmas</i> the glory of heaven is shown forth in the weakness of a baby; the <i>circumcision </i>of Jesus is a sign of his belonging to<i> </i>the Hebrew people and is a prefiguration of our Baptism; the <i>Epiphany</i> is the manifestation of the Messiah King of Israel to all the nations; at the <i>presentation in the temple,</i> Simeon and Anna symbolise all the anticipation of Israel awaiting its encounter with its Savior;<i> </i>the <i>flight into Egypt</i> and the massacre of the innocents proclaim<i> </i>that the entire life of Christ will be under the sign of persecution; the <i>departure from Egypt</i> recalls the exodus and presents Jesus as the new Moses and the true and definitive liberator. <b>104. What does the hidden life of Jesus in Nazareth teach us?</b> 533-534</p><p>564<br>In the course of his <i>hidden life</i> in Nazareth Jesus stayed in the silence of an ordinary existence. This allows us to enter into fellowship with<i> </i>him in the holiness to be found in a daily life marked by prayer, simplicity, work and family love. His obedience to Mary and to Joseph, his foster father, is an image of his filial obedience to the Father. Mary and Joseph accepted with faith the mystery of Jesus even though they did not always understand it. <b>105. Why did Jesus receive from John the “baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (<i>Luke</i> 3:3)?</b> 535-537</p><p>565<br>To inaugurate his public life and to anticipate the “Baptism” of his death, he who was without sin accepted to be numbered among sinners. He was “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (<i>John</i> 1:29). The Father proclaimed him to be “his beloved Son” (<i>Matthew</i> 3:17) and the Spirit descended upon him. The baptism of Jesus is a prefiguring of our baptism. <b>106. What do we learn from the temptations of Jesus in the desert?</b> 538-540 </p><p>566<br>The temptations of Jesus in the desert recapitulate the temptation of Adam in Paradise and the temptations of Israel in the desert. Satan tempts Jesus in regard to his obedience to the mission given him by the Father. Christ, the new Adam, resists and his victory proclaims that of his passion which is the supreme obedience of his filial love. The Church unites herself to this mystery in a special way in the liturgical season of <i>Lent</i>. <b>107. Who is invited to come into the Kingdom of God proclaimed and brought about by Jesus?</b> 541-546</p><p>567<br>All are invited by Jesus to enter the Kingdom of God. Even the worst of sinners is called to convert and to accept the boundless mercy of the Father. Already here on earth, the Kingdom belongs to those who accept it with a humble heart. To them the mysteries of the Kingdom are revealed. <b>108. Why did Jesus manifest the Kingdom by means of signs and miracles?</b> 547-550</p><p>567<br>Jesus accompanied his words with <i>signs</i> and <i>miracles</i> to bear witness to the fact that the Kingdom is present in him, the Messiah. Although he healed some people, he did not come to abolish all evils here below but rather to free us especially from the slavery of sin. The driving out of demons proclaimed that his cross would be victorious over “the ruler<i> </i>of this world” (<i>John</i> 12:31). <b>109. In the Kingdom, what authority did Jesus bestow upon his Apostles?</b> 551-553 </p><p>567<br>Jesus chose the <i>twelve</i>, the future witnesses of his Resurrection, and made them sharers of his mission and of his authority to teach, to absolve from sins, and to build up and govern the Church. In this college, Peter received “the keys of the Kingdom” (<i>Matthew</i> 16:19) and assumed the first place with the mission to keep the faith in its integrity and to strengthen his brothers. <b>110. What is the meaning of the Transfiguration?</b> 554-556 </p><p>568<br>Above all the Transfiguration shows forth the Trinity: “the Father in the voice, the Son in the man Jesus, the Spirit in the shining cloud” (Saint Thomas Aquinas). Speaking with Moses and Elijah about his “departure” (<i>Luke</i> 9:31), Jesus reveals that his glory comes by way of the cross and he anticipates his resurrection and his glorious coming “which will change our lowly body to be like his glorious body” (<i>Philippians</i> 3:21).<br><i>“You were transfigured on the mountain and your disciples, as much as they were capable of it, beheld your glory, O Christ our God, so that when they should see you crucified they would understand that your passion was voluntary, and proclaim to the world that you truly are the splendor of the Father.” </i>(Byzantine Liturgy) <b>111. How did the messianic entrance into Jerusalem come about?</b> 557-560 </p><p>569-570<br>At the established time Jesus chose to go up to Jerusalem to suffer his passion and death, and to rise from the dead. As the Messiah King who shows forth the coming of the Kingdom, he entered into his city mounted on a donkey. He was acclaimed by the little children whose shout of joyful praise is taken up in the <i>Sanctus</i> of the Eucharistic liturgy: “Blessed is He Who comes in the name of the Lord! <i>Hosanna</i> (save us!)” (<i>Matthew</i> 21:9). The liturgy of the Church opens<i> </i>Holy Week by celebrating this entry into Jerusalem. <b><i>“Jesus Christ suffered under Pontius Pilate </p><p>was crucified, died, and was buried.”</i></b><br><b>112. What is the importance of the Paschal Mystery of Jesus?</b> 571-573<br>The Paschal Mystery of Jesus, which comprises his passion, death, resurrection, and glorification, stands at the center of the Christian faith because God’s saving plan was accomplished once for all by the redemptive death of his Son Jesus Christ. <b>113. What were the accusations by which Jesus was condemned to death?</b> 574-576<br>Some of the leaders of Israel accused Jesus of acting against the law, the temple in Jerusalem, and in particular against faith in the one God because he proclaimed himself to be the Son of God. For this reason they handed him over to Pilate so that he might condemn him to death. <b>114. How did Jesus conduct himself in regard to the Law of Israel?</b> 577-582</p><p>592<br>Jesus did not abolish the Law given by God to Moses on Mount Sinai but he fulfilled it by giving it its definitive interpretation. He himself was the divine Legislator who fully carried out this Law. Furthermore, as the faithful Servant, he offered by means of his expiatory death the only sacrifice capable of making atonement for all the “transgressions committed by men under the first Covenant” (<i>Hebrews</i> 9:15). <b>115. What was the attitude of Jesus toward the temple in Jerusalem?</b> 583-586 </p><p>593<br>Jesus was accused of hostility to the temple. On the contrary, he venerated it as “the house of his Father” (<i>John</i> 2:16); and it was there that he imparted an important part of his teaching. However, he also foretold its destruction in connection with his own death and he presented himself as the definitive dwelling place of God among men. <b>116. Did Jesus contradict Israel’s faith in the one God and savior?</b> 587-591</p><p>594<br>Jesus never contradicted faith in the one God, not even when he performed the stupendous divine work which fulfilled the messianic promises and revealed himself as equal to God, namely the pardoning of sins. However, the call of Jesus to believe in him and to be converted makes it possible to understand the tragic misunderstanding of the Sanhedrin which judged Jesus to be worthy of death as a blasphemer. <b>117. Who is responsible for the death of Jesus?</b> 595-598<br>The passion and death of Jesus cannot be imputed indiscriminately either to all the Jews that were living at that time or to their descendants. Every single sinner, that is, every human being is really the cause and the instrument of the sufferings of the Redeemer; and the greater blame in this respect falls on those above all who are Christians and who the more often fall into sin or delight in their vices. <b>118. Why was the death of Jesus part of God’s plan?</b> 599-605</p><p>619<br>To reconcile to himself all who were destined to die because of sin God took the loving initiative of sending his Son that he might give himself up for sinners. Proclaimed in the Old Testament, especially as the sacrifice of the Suffering Servant, the death of Jesus came about “in accordance with the Scriptures”. <b>119. In what way did Christ offer himself to the Father?</b> 606-609</p><p>620<br>The entire life of Christ was a free offering to the Father to carry out his plan of salvation. He gave “his life as a ransom for many” (<i>Mark</i> 10:45) and in this way he reconciled all of humanity with God. His suffering and death showed how his humanity was the free and perfect instrument of that divine love which desires the salvation of all people. <b>120. How is Jesus’ offering expressed at the Last Supper?</b> 610-611</p><p>621<br>At the Last Supper with his apostles on the eve of his passion Jesus anticipated, that is, both symbolized his free self-offering and made it really present: “This is my Body which <i>is given</i> for you” (<i>Luke</i> 22:19), “This is my Blood which <i>is poured out</i>...” (<i>Matthew</i> 26:28) Thus he both instituted the Eucharist as the “memorial” (<i>1 Corinthians</i> 11:25) of his sacrifice and instituted his apostles as priests of the new covenant. <b>121. What happened in the Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane?</b> 612<br>Despite the horror which death represented for the sacred humanity of Jesus “who is the Author of Life” (<i>Acts</i> 3:15), the human will of the Son of God remained faithful to the will of the Father for our salvation. Jesus accepted the duty to carry our sins in his Body “becoming obedient unto death” (<i>Philippians</i> 2:8). <b>122. What are the results of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross?</b> 613-617</p><p>622-623<br>Jesus freely offered his life as an expiatory sacrifice, that is, he made reparation for our sins with the full obedience of his love unto death. This love “to the end” (<i>John</i> 13:1) of the Son of God reconciled all of humanity with the Father. The paschal sacrifice of Christ, therefore, redeems humanity in a way that is unique, perfect, and definitive; and it opens up for them communion with God. <b>123. Why does Jesus call upon his disciples to take up their cross?</b> 618<br>By calling his disciples to take up their cross and follow him Jesus desires to associate with his redeeming sacrifice those who are to be its first beneficiaries. <b>124. In what condition was the body of Christ while it lay in the tomb?</b> 624-630<br>Christ underwent a real death and a true burial. However, the power of God preserved his body from corruption. <b><i>“Jesus Christ descended into hell;</p><p>on the third day He rose again from the dead.”</i></b><br><b>125. What is the “hell” into which Jesus descended?</b> 632-637<br>This “hell” was different from the <i>hell</i> of the damned. It was the state of all those, righteous and evil, who died before Christ. With his soul united to his divine Person Jesus went down to the just in hell who were awaiting their Redeemer so they could enter at last into the vision of God. When he had conquered by his death both death and the devil “who has the power of death” (<i>Hebrews</i> 2:14), he freed the just who looked forward to the Redeemer and opened for them the gates of heaven. <b>126. What place does the Resurrection of Christ occupy in our faith?</b> 631, 638<br>The Resurrection of Jesus is the crowning truth of our faith in Christ and represents along with his cross an essential part of the Paschal Mystery. <b>127. What are the signs that bear witness to the Resurrection of Jesus?</b> 639-644 </p><p>656-657<br>Along with the essential sign of the empty tomb, the Resurrection of Jesus is witnessed to by the women who first encountered Christ and proclaimed him to the apostles. Jesus then “appeared to Cephas (Peter) and then to the Twelve. Following that he appeared to more than five hundred of the brethren at one time” (<i>1 Corinthians</i> 15:5-6) and to others as well. The apostles could not have invented the story of the resurrection since it seemed impossible to them. As a matter of fact, Jesus himself upbraided them for their unbelief. <b>128. Why is the Resurrection at the same time a transcendent occurrence?</b> 647</p><p>656-657<br>While being an historical event, verifiable and attested by signs and testimonies, the Resurrection, insofar as it is the entrance of Christ’s humanity into the glory of God, transcends and surpasses history as a mystery of faith. For this reason the risen Christ did not manifest himself to the world but to his disciples, making them his witnesses to the people. <b>129. What is the condition of the risen body of Jesus?</b> 645-646<br>The Resurrection of Christ was not a return to earthly life. His risen body is that which was crucified and bears the marks of his passion. However it also participates in the divine life, with the characteristics of a glorified body. Because of this the risen Jesus was utterly free to appear to his disciples how and where he wished and under various aspects. <b>130. How is the Resurrection the work of the Most Holy Trinity?</b> 648-650<br>The Resurrection of Christ is a transcendent work of God. The three Persons act together according to what is proper to them: the Father manifests his power; the Son “takes again” the life which he freely offered (<i>John</i> 10:17), reuniting his soul and his body which the Spirit brings to life and glorifies. <b>131. What is the saving meaning of the Resurrection?</b> 651-655</p><p>658<br>The Resurrection is the climax of the Incarnation. It confirms the divinity of Christ and all the things which he did and taught. It fulfills all the divine promises made for us. Furthermore the risen Christ, the conqueror of sin and death, is the principle of our justification and our Resurrection. It procures for us now the grace of filial adoption which is a real share in the life of the only begotten Son. At the end of time he will raise up our bodies. <b><i>“Jesus Ascended into Heaven</p><p>and Is Seated at the Right Hand of</p><p>God the Father Almighty”</i></b><br><b>132. What does the Ascension mean?</b> 659-667<br>After forty days during which Jesus showed himself to the apostles with ordinary human features which veiled his glory as the Risen One, Christ ascended into heaven and was seated at the right hand of the Father. He is the Lord who now in his humanity reigns in the everlasting glory of the Son of God and constantly intercedes for us before the Father. He sends us his Spirit and he gives us the hope of one day reaching the place he has prepared for us. <b><i>“From thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead”</i></b><br><b>133. How does the Lord Jesus now reign?</b> 668-674</p><p>680<br>As the Lord of the cosmos and of history, the Head of his Church, the glorified Christ mysteriously remains on earth where his kingdom is already present in seed and in its beginning in the Church. One day he will return in glory but we do not know the time. Because of this we live in watchful anticipation, praying “Come, Lord” (<i>Revelation</i> 22:20). <b>134. How will the coming of the Lord in glory happen?</b> 675-677</p><p>680<br>After the final cosmic upheaval of this passing world the glorious coming of Christ will take place. Then will come the definitive triumph of God in the parousia and the Last Judgment. Thus the Kingdom of God will be realized. <b>135. How will Christ judge the living and the dead?</b> 678-679</p><p>681-682<br>Christ will judge with the power he has gained as the Redeemer of the world who came to bring salvation to all. The secrets of hearts will be brought to light as well as the conduct of each one toward God and toward his neighbor. Everyone, according to how he has lived, will either be filled with life or damned for eternity. In this way, “the fullness of Christ” (<i>Ephesians</i> 4:13) will come about in which “God will be all in all” (<i>1 Corinthians</i> 15:28). <b>CHAPTER THREE</b><br><b>I Believe in the Holy Spirit</b><br><b>136. What does the Church mean when she confesses: “I believe in the Holy Spirit”?</b> 683-686<br>To believe in the Holy Spirit is to profess faith in the Third Person of the Most Holy Trinity who proceeds from the Father and the Son and “is worshipped and glorified with the Father and the Son”. The Spirit is “sent into our hearts” (<i>Galatians</i> 4:6) so that we might receive new life as sons of God. <b>137. Why are the missions of the Son and the Holy Spirit inseparable?</b> 687-690</p><p>742-743<br>In the indivisible Trinity, the Son and the Spirit are distinct but inseparable. From the very beginning until the end of time, when the Father sends his Son he also sends his Spirit who unites us to Christ in faith so that as adopted sons we can call God “Father” (<i>Romans</i> 8:15). The Spirit is invisible but we know him through his actions, when he reveals the Word to us and when he acts in the Church. <b>138. What are the names of the Holy Spirit?</b> 691-693<br>“The Holy Spirit” is the proper name of the third Person of the Most Holy Trinity. Jesus also called him the Paraclete (Consoler or Advocate) and the Spirit of Truth. The New Testament also refers to him as the Spirit of Christ, of the Lord, of God - the Spirit of Glory and the Spirit of the Promise. <b>139. What symbols are used to represent the Holy Spirit?</b> 694-701<br>There are many symbols of the Holy Spirit: <i>living water</i> which springs from the wounded Heart of Christ and which quenches the thirst of the baptized; <i>anointing </i>with oil, which is the sacramental sign of Confirmation; <i>fire</i> which transforms what it touches; the <i>cloud,</i> dark or luminous, in which the divine glory is revealed; the <i>imposition of hands</i> by which the Holy Spirit is given; the <i>dove</i> which descended on Christ at his baptism and remained with him. <b>140. What does it mean that the Spirit “has spoken through the prophets”?</b> 687-688</p><p>702-716</p><p>743<br>The term “<i>prophets</i>” means those who were inspired by the Holy Spirit to speak in the name of God. The Spirit brings the prophecies of the Old Testament to their complete fulfillment in Christ whose mystery he reveals in the New Testament. <b>141. What did the Holy Spirit accomplish in John the Baptist?</b> 717-720<br>The Spirit filled John the Baptist, who was the last prophet of the Old Testament. Under his inspiration John was sent to “prepare for the Lord a people well disposed” (<i>Luke</i> 1:17). He was to proclaim the coming of Christ, the Son of God, upon whom he saw the Spirit descend and remain, the one who “baptizes with the Spirit” (<i>John</i> 1:33). <b>142. What is the work of the Spirit in Mary?</b> 721-726</p><p>744<br>The Holy Spirit brought to fulfillment in Mary all the waiting and the preparation of the Old Testament for the coming of Christ. In a singular way he filled her with grace and made her virginity fruitful so that she could give birth to the Son of God made flesh. He made her the Mother of the “whole Christ”, that is, of Jesus the Head and of the Church his body. Mary was present with the twelve on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit inaugurated the “last days” with the manifestation of the Church. <b>143. What is the relationship between the Spirit and Christ Jesus in his earthly mission?</b> 727-730</p><p>745-746<br>Beginning with his Incarnation, the Son of God was consecrated in his humanity as the Messiah by means of the anointing of the Spirit. He revealed the Spirit in his teaching, fulfilled the promises made to the Fathers, and bestowed him upon the Church at its birth when he breathed on the apostles after the Resurrection. <b>144. What happened at Pentecost?</b> 731-732</p><p>738<br>Fifty days after the Resurrection at Pentecost the glorified Jesus Christ poured out the Spirit in abundance and revealed him as a divine Person so that the Holy Trinity was fully manifest. The mission of Christ and of the Spirit became the mission of the Church which is sent to proclaim and spread the mystery of the communion of the Holy Trinity.<br><i>“We have seen the true Light, we have received the heavenly Spirit, we have found the true faith: we adore the indivisible Trinity, who has saved us.” </i>(Byzantine Liturgy, Troparion of Vespers of Pentecost) <b>145. What does the Spirit do in the Church?</b> 733-741</p><p>747<br>The Spirit builds, animates and sanctifies the Church. As the Spirit of Love, he restores to the baptized the divine likeness that was lost through sin and causes them to live in Christ the very life of the Holy Trinity. He sends them forth to bear witness to the Truth of Christ and he organizes them in their respective functions so that all might bear “the fruit of the Spirit” (<i>Galatians</i> 5:22). <b>146. How do Christ and his Spirit act in the hearts of the faithful?</b> 738-741<br>Christ communicates his Spirit and the grace of God through the <i>sacraments</i> to all the members of the Church, who thus bear the fruits of the <i>new life</i> of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is also the Master of <i>prayer</i>. <b>“I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH”</b><br><b><i>The Church in the Plan of God</i></b><br><b>147. What does the word <i>Church</i> mean?</b> 751-752</p><p>777,804<br>The word <i>Church</i> refers to the people whom God calls and gathers together from every part of the earth. They form the assembly of those who through faith and Baptism have become children of God, members of Christ, and temples of the Holy Spirit. <b>148. Are there other names and images with which the Bible speaks about the Church?</b> 753-757<br>In Sacred Scripture we find many images which bring out various complementary aspects of the mystery of the Church. The Old Testament favors those images that are bound to the <i>people of God</i>. The New Testament offers images that are linked to Christ as the Head of this people which is his Body. Other images are drawn from pastoral life (sheepfold, flock, sheep), from agriculture (field, olive grove, vineyard), from construction (dwelling place, stone, temple), and from family life (spouse, mother, family). <b>149. What is the origin and the fulfillment of the Church?</b> 758-766</p><p>778<br>The Church finds her origin and fulfillment in the eternal plan of God. She was prepared for in the Old Covenant with the election of Israel, the sign of the future gathering of all the nations. Founded by the words and actions of Jesus Christ, fulfilled by his redeeming death and Resurrection, the Church has been manifested as the mystery of salvation by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. She will be perfected in the glory of heaven as the assembly of all the redeemed of the earth. <b>150. What is the mission of the Church?</b> 767-769<br>The mission of the Church is to proclaim and establish the Kingdom of God begun by Jesus Christ among all peoples. The Church constitutes on earth the seed and beginning of this salvific Kingdom. <b>151. In what way is the Church a <i>mystery</i>?</b> 770-773</p><p>779<br>The Church is a mystery in as much as in her visible reality there is present and active a divine spiritual reality which can only be seen with the eyes of faith. <b>152. What does it mean to say that the Church is the universal sacrament of salvation?</b> 774-776</p><p>780<br>This means that she is the sign and instrument both of the reconciliation and communion of all of humanity with God and of the unity of the entire human race. <b><i>The Church: people of God, </p><p>body of Christ, temple of the Spirit</i></b><br><b>153. Why is the Church the ‘people of God’?</b> 781</p><p>802-804<br>The Church is the ‘people of God’ because it pleased God to sanctify and save men not in isolation but by making them into one people gathered together by the unity of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. <b>154. What are the characteristics of the people of God?</b> 782</p><p>804<br>One becomes a member of this people through faith in Christ and Baptism. This people has for its <i>origin</i> God the Father; for its <i>head</i> Jesus Christ; for its <i>hallmark</i> the dignity and freedom of the sons of God; for its <i>law</i> the new commandment of love; for its <i>mission</i> to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world; and for its <i>destiny</i> the Kingdom of God, already begun on earth. <b>155. In what way does the people of God share in the three functions of Christ as Priest, Prophet and King?</b> 783-786<br>The people of God participate in Christ’s <i>priestly</i> office insofar as the baptized are consecrated by the Holy Spirit to offer spiritual sacrifices. They share in Christ’s <i>prophetic</i> office when with a supernatural sense of faith they adhere unfailingly to that faith and deepen their understanding and witness to it. The people of God share in his <i>kingly</i> office by means of service, imitating Jesus Christ who as King of the universe made himself the servant of all, especially the poor and the suffering. <b>156. In what way is the Church the body of Christ?</b> 787-791</p><p>805-806<br>The risen Christ unites his faithful people to himself in an intimate way by means of the Holy Spirit. In this way, those who believe in Christ, in as much as they are close to him especially in the Eucharist, are united among themselves in charity. They form one body, the Church, whose unity is experienced in the diversity of its members and its functions. <b>157. Who is the Head of this body?</b> 792-795</p><p>807<br>Christ “is the Head of the body, the Church” (<i>Colossians</i> 1:18). The Church lives from him, in him and for him. Christ and the Church make up the “whole Christ” (Saint Augustine); “Head and members form, as it were, one and the same mystical person” (Saint Thomas Aquinas). <b>158. Why is the Church called the “Bride of Christ”?</b> 796</p><p>808<br>She is called the “Bride of Christ” because the Lord himself called himself her “Spouse” (<i>Mark</i> 2:19). The Lord has loved the Church and has joined her to himself in an everlasting covenant. He has given himself up for her in order to purify her with his blood and “sanctify her” (<i>Ephesians</i> 5:26), making her the fruitful mother of all the children of God. While the term “body” expresses the unity of the “head” with the members, the term “bride” emphasizes the distinction of the two in their personal relationship. <b>159. Why is the Church called the temple of the Holy Spirit?</b> 797-798</p><p>809-810<br>She is so called because the Holy Spirit resides in the body which is the Church, in her Head and in her members. He also builds up the Church in charity by the Word of God, the sacraments, the virtues, and <i>charisms</i>.<br><i>“What the soul is to the human body, the Holy Spirit is to the members of Christ, that is, the body of Christ, which is the Church.” </i>(Saint Augustine) <b>160. What are charisms?</b> 799-801<br>Charisms are special gifts of the Holy Spirit which are bestowed on individuals for the good of others, the needs of the world, and in particular for the building up of the Church. The discernment of charisms is the responsibility of the Magisterium. <b><i>The Church is one, holy, catholic, and apostolic</i></b><br><b>161. Why is the Church <i>one</i>?</b> 813-815</p><p>866<br>The Church is one because she has as her source and exemplar the unity of the Trinity of Persons in one God. As her Founder and Head, Jesus Christ re-established the unity of all people in one body. As her soul, the Holy Spirit unites all the faithful in communion with Christ. The Church has but one faith, one sacramental life, one apostolic succession, one common hope, and one and the same charity. <b>162. Where does the one Church of Christ subsist?</b> 816</p><p>870<br>The one Church of Christ, as a society constituted and organized in the world, subsists in (<i>subsistit in</i>) the Catholic Church, governed by the Successor of Peter and the bishops in communion with him. Only through this Church can one obtain the fullness of the means of salvation since the Lord has entrusted all the blessings of the New Covenant to the apostolic college alone whose head is Peter. <b>163. How are non-Catholic Christians to be considered?</b> 817-819</p><p>870<br>In the churches and ecclesial communities which are separated from full communion with the Catholic Church, many elements of sanctification and truth can be found. All of these blessings come from Christ and lead to Catholic unity. Members of these churches and communities are incorporated into Christ by Baptism and we so we recognize them as brothers. <b>164. How does one commit oneself to work for the unity of Christians?</b> 820-822</p><p>866<br>The desire to restore the unity of all Christians is a gift from Christ and a call of the Spirit. This desire involves the entire Church and it is pursued by conversion of heart, prayer, fraternal knowledge of each other and theological dialogue. <b>165. In what way is the Church <i>holy</i>?</b> 823-829 </p><p>867<br>The Church is holy insofar as the Most Holy God is her author. Christ has given himself for her to sanctify her and make her a source of sanctification. The Holy Spirit gives her life with charity. In the Church one finds the fullness of the means of salvation. Holiness is the vocation of each of her members and the purpose of all her activities. The Church counts among her members the Virgin Mary and numerous Saints who are her models and intercessors. The holiness of the Church is the fountain of sanctification for her children who here on earth recognize themselves as sinners ever in need of conversion and purification. <b>166. Why is the Church called “<i>Catholic</i>”?</b> 830-831</p><p>868<br>The Church is <i>catholic</i>, that is <i>universal</i>, insofar as Christ is present in her: “Where there is Christ Jesus, there is the Catholic Church” (Saint Ignatius of Antioch). The Church proclaims the fullness and the totality of the faith; she bears and administers the fullness of the means of salvation; she is sent out by Christ on a mission to the whole of the human race. <b>167. Is the particular Church catholic?</b> 832-835<br>Every <i>particular</i> Church (that is, a <i>diocese</i> or <i>eparchy</i>) is catholic. It is formed by a community of Christians who are in communion of faith and of the sacraments both with their Bishop, who is ordained in apostolic succession, and with the Church of Rome which “presides in charity” (Saint Ignatius of Antioch). <b>168. Who belongs to the Catholic Church?</b> 836-838<br>All human beings in various ways belong to or are ordered to the Catholic unity of the people of God. Fully incorporated into the Catholic Church are those who, possessing the Spirit of Christ, are joined to the Church by the bonds of the profession of faith, the sacraments, ecclesiastical government and communion. The baptized who do not enjoy full Catholic unity are in a certain, although imperfect, communion with the Catholic Church. <b>169. What is the relationship of the Catholic Church with the Jewish people?</b> 839-840<br>The Catholic Church recognizes a particular link with the Jewish people in the fact that God chose them before all others to receive his Word. To the Jewish people belong “the sonship, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, the promises, and the patriarchs; and of their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ” (Romans 9:4, 5). The Jewish faith, unlike other non-Christian religions, is already a response to the revelation of God in the Old Covenant. <b>170. What is the bond that exists between the Catholic Church and non-Christian religions?</b> 841-845<br>There is a bond between all peoples which comes especially from the common origin and end of the entire human race. The Catholic Church recognizes that whatever is good or true in other religions comes from God and is a reflection of his truth. As such it can prepare for the acceptance of the Gospel and act as a stimulus toward the unity of humanity in the Church of Christ. <b>171. What is the meaning of the affirmation “Outside the Church there is no salvation”?</b> 846-848<br>This means that all salvation comes from Christ, the Head, through the Church which is his body. Hence they cannot be saved who, knowing the Church as founded by Christ and necessary for salvation, would refuse to enter her or remain in her. At the same time, thanks to Christ and to his Church, those who through no fault of their own do not know the Gospel of Christ and his Church but sincerely seek God and, moved by grace, try to do his will as it is known through the dictates of conscience can attain eternal salvation. <b>172. Why must the Church proclaim the Gospel to the whole world?</b> 849-851<br>The Church must do so because Christ has given the command: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (<i>Matthew</i> 28:19). This missionary mandate of the Lord has its origin in the eternal love of God who has sent his Son and the Holy Spirit because “he desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (<i>1 Timothy</i> 2:4). <b>173. In what sense is the Church missionary?</b> 852-856<br>The Church, guided by the Holy Spirit, continues the mission of Christ himself in the course of history. Christians must, therefore, proclaim to everyone the Good News borne by Christ; and, following his path, they must be ready for self-sacrifice, even unto martyrdom. <b>174. Why is the Church <i>apostolic</i>?</b> 857</p><p>869<br>The Church is apostolic in her <i>origin</i> because she has been built on “the foundation of the Apostles” (<i>Ephesians</i> 2:20). She is apostolic in her <i>teaching</i> which is the same as that of the Apostles. She is apostolic by reason of her <i>structure</i> insofar as she is taught, sanctified, and guided until Christ returns by the Apostles through their successors who are the bishops in communion with the successor of Peter. <b>175. In what does the mission of the Apostles consist?</b> 858-861<br>The Word “<i>Apostle</i>” means “one who is sent”. Jesus, the One sent by the Father, called to himself twelve of his disciples and appointed them as his Apostles, making them the chosen witnesses of his Resurrection and the foundation of his Church. He gave them the command to continue his own mission saying, “As the Father has sent me, so I also send you” (<i>John</i> 20:21); and he promised to remain with them until the end of the world. <b>176. What is apostolic succession?</b> 861-865<br>Apostolic succession is the transmission by means of the sacrament of Holy Orders of the mission and power of the Apostles to their successors, the bishops. Thanks to this transmission the Church remains in communion of faith and life with her origin, while through the centuries she carries on her apostolate for the spread of the Kingdom of Christ on earth. <b><i>The Faithful: hierarchy, laity, consecrated life</i></b><br><b>177. Who are the faithful?</b> 871-872<br>The Christian faithful are those who, inasmuch as they have been incorporated in Christ through Baptism, have been constituted as the people of God; for this reason, since they have become sharers in Christ’s priestly, prophetic and royal office in their own manner, they are called to exercise the mission which God has entrusted to the Church. There exists a true equality among them in their dignity as children of God. <b>178. How are the people of God formed?</b> 873</p><p>934<br>Among the faithful by divine institution there exist <i>sacred ministers</i> who have received the sacrament of Holy Orders and who form the hierarchy of the Church. The other members of the Church are called the <i>laity</i>. In both the hierarchy and the laity there are certain of the faithful who are <i>consecrated</i> in a special manner to God by the profession of the evangelical counsels: chastity or celibacy, poverty, and obedience. <b>179. Why did Christ institute an ecclesiastical hierarchy?</b> 874-876 </p><p>935<br>Christ instituted an ecclesiastical hierarchy with the mission of feeding the people of God in his name and for this purpose gave it authority. The hierarchy is formed of sacred ministers,; bishops, priests, and deacons. Thanks to the sacrament of Orders, bishops and priests act in the exercise of their ministry in the name and person of Christ the Head. Deacons minister to the people of God in the <i>diakonia</i> (service) of word, liturgy, and charity. <b>180. How is the collegial dimension of Church ministry carried out?</b> 876-877<br>After the example of the twelve Apostles who were chosen and sent out together by Christ, the unity of the Church’s hierarchy is at the service of the communion of all the faithful. Every bishop exercises his ministry as a member of the episcopal college in communion with the Pope and shares with him in the care of the universal Church. Priests exercise their ministry in the presbyterate of the local Church in communion with their own bishop and under his direction. <b>181. Why does ecclesial ministry also have a personal character?</b> 878-879<br>Ecclesial ministry also has a personal character in as much as each minister, in virtue of the sacrament of Holy Orders, is responsible before Christ who called him personally and conferred on him his mission. <b>182. What is the mission of the Pope?</b> 880-882</p><p>936-937<br>The Pope, Bishop of Rome and the Successor of Saint Peter, is the perpetual, visible source and foundation of the unity of the Church. He is the vicar of Christ, the head of the College of bishops and pastor of the universal Church over which he has by divine institution full, supreme, immediate, and universal power. <b>183. What is the competence of the college of bishops?</b> 883-885<br>The college of bishops in union with the Pope, and never without him, also exercises supreme and full authority over the Church. <b>184. How do the bishops carry out their mission of teaching?</b> 888-890</p><p>939<br>Since they are authentic witnesses of the apostolic faith and are invested with the authority of Christ, the bishops in union with the Pope have the duty of proclaiming the Gospel faithfully and authoritatively to all. By means of a supernatural sense of faith, the people of God unfailingly adhere to the faith under the guidance of the living Magisterium of the Church. <b>185. When is the infallibility of the Magisterium exercised?</b> 890-891<br>Infallibility is exercised when the Roman Pontiff, in virtue of his office as the Supreme Pastor of the Church, or the College of Bishops, in union with the Pope especially when joined together in an Ecumenical Council, proclaim by a definitive act a doctrine pertaining to faith or morals. Infallibility is also exercised when the Pope and Bishops in their ordinary Magisterium are in agreement in proposing a doctrine as definitive. Every one of the faithful must adhere to such teaching with the obedience of faith. <b>186. How do Bishops exercise their ministry of sanctification?</b> 893<br>Bishops sanctify the Church by dispensing the grace of Christ by their ministry of the word and the sacraments, especially the Holy Eucharist, and also by their prayers, their example and their work. <b>187. How do the Bishops exercise their function of governing?</b> 894-896<br>Every bishop, insofar as he is a member of the college of bishops, bears collegially the care for all particular Churches and for the entire Church along with all the other bishops who are united to the Pope. A bishop to whom a particular Church has been entrusted governs that Church with the authority of his own sacred power which is ordinary and immediate and exercised in the name of Christ, the Good Shepherd, in communion with the entire Church and under the guidance of the Successor of Peter. <b>188. What is the vocation of the lay faithful?</b> 897-900</p><p>940<br>The lay faithful have as their own vocation to seek the Kingdom of God by illuminating and ordering temporal affairs according to the plan of God. They carry out in this way their call to holiness and to the apostolate, a call given to all the baptized. <b>189. How do the lay faithful participate in the priestly office of Christ?</b> 901-903<br>They participate in it especially in the Eucharist by offering as a spiritual sacrifice “acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (<i>1 Peter </i>2:5) their own lives with all of their works, their prayers, their apostolic undertakings, their family life, their daily work and hardships borne with patience and even their consolations of spirit and body. In this way, even the laity, dedicated to Christ and consecrated by the Holy Spirit, offer to God the world itself. <b>190. How does the laity participate in the prophetic office?</b> 904-907</p><p>942<br>They participate in it by welcoming evermore in faith the Word of Christ and proclaiming it to the world by the witness of their lives, their words, their evangelizing action, and by catechesis. This evangelizing action acquires a particular efficacy because it is accomplished in the ordinary circumstances of the world. <b>191. How do they participate in the kingly office?</b> 908-913</p><p>943<br>The laity participate in the kingly function of Christ because they have received from him the power to overcome sin in themselves and in the world by self-denial and the holiness of their lives. They exercise various ministries at the service of the community and they imbue temporal activities and the institutions of society with moral values. <b>192. What is the consecrated life?</b> 914-916 </p><p>944<br>The consecrated life is a state of life recognized by the Church. It is a free response to a special call from Christ by which those consecrated give themselves completely to God and strive for the perfection of charity moved by the Holy Spirit. This consecration is characterized by the practice of the evangelical counsels. <b>193. What can the consecrated life give to the mission of the Church?</b> 931-933 </p><p>945<br>The consecrated life participates in the mission of the Church by means of a complete dedication to Christ and to one’s brothers and sisters witnessing to the hope of the heavenly Kingdom. <b><i>I believe in the communion of saints</i></b><br><b>194. What is the meaning of the “communion of saints”?</b> 946-953</p><p>960<br>This expression indicates first of all the common sharing of all the members of the Church in holy things (<i>sancta</i>): the faith, the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, the charisms, and the other spiritual gifts. At the root of this communion is love which “does not seek its own interests” (<i>1 Corinthians </i>13:5) but leads the faithful to “hold everything in common” (<i>Acts</i> 4:32), even to put one’s own material goods at the service of the most poor. <b>195. What else does “the communion of saints” mean?</b> 954-959 </p><p>961-962<br>This expression also refers to the communion between holy persons <i>(sancti)</i>; that is, between those who by grace are united to the dead and risen Christ. Some are pilgrims on the earth; others, having passed from this life, are undergoing purification and are helped also by our prayers. Others already enjoy the glory of God and intercede for us. All of these together form in Christ one family, the Church, to the praise and glory of the Trinity. <b><i>Mary, Mother of Christ, Mother of the Church</i></b><br><b>196. In what sense is the Blessed Virgin Mary the Mother of the Church?</b> 963-964</p><p>973<br>The Blessed Virgin Mary is the Mother of the Church in the order of grace because she gave birth to Jesus, the Son of God, the Head of the body which is the Church. When he was dying on the cross Jesus gave his mother to his disciple with the words, “Behold your mother” (<i>John</i> 19:27). <b>197. How does the Virgin Mary help the Church?</b> 965-970</p><p>974-975<br>After the Ascension of her Son, the Virgin Mary aided the beginnings of the Church with her prayers. Even after her Assumption into heaven, she continues to intercede for her children, to be a model of faith and charity for all, and to exercise over them a salutary influence deriving from the superabundant merits of Christ. The faithful see in Mary an image and an anticipation of the resurrection that awaits them and they invoke her as advocate, helper, benefactress and mediatrix. <b>198. What kind of devotion is directed to the holy Virgin?</b> 971<br>It is a singular kind of devotion which differs essentially from the cult of adoration given only to the Most Holy Trinity. This special veneration directed to Mary finds particular expression in the liturgical feasts dedicated to the Mother of God and in Marian prayers such as the holy Rosary which is a compendium of the whole Gospel. <b>199. In what way is the Blessed Virgin Mary the eschatological icon of the Church?</b> 972<br>Looking upon Mary, who is completely holy and already glorified in body and soul, the Church contemplates in her what she herself is called to be on earth and what she will be in the homeland of heaven. <b>“I BELIEVE IN THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS”</b><br><b>200. How are sins remitted?</b> 976-980 </p><p>984-985<br>The first and chief sacrament for the forgiveness of sins is Baptism. For those sins committed after Baptism, Christ instituted the sacrament of Reconciliation or Penance through which a baptized person is reconciled with God and with the Church. <b>201. Why does the Church have the power to forgive sins?</b> 981-983 </p><p>986-987<br>The Church has the mission and the power to forgive sins because Christ himself has conferred it upon her: “Receive the Holy Spirit, if you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained” (<i>John</i> 20:22-23). <b>“I BELIEVE IN THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY”</b><br><b>202. What is the meaning of the term “body” (or “<i>flesh</i>”) and what importance does it have?</b> 990 </p><p>1015<br>The resurrection of the <i>flesh</i> is the literal formulation in the Apostles Creed for the resurrection of the body. The term “flesh” refers to humanity in its state of weakness and mortality. “The flesh is the hinge of salvation” (Tertullian). We believe in God the Creator of the flesh; we believe in the Word made flesh in order to redeem flesh; and we believe in the resurrection of flesh which is the fulfillment of both the creation and the redemption of the flesh. <b>203. What is meant by the “resurrection of the body”?</b> 990<br>This means that the definitive state of man will not be one in which his spiritual soul is separated from his body. Even our mortal bodies will one day come to life again. <b>204. What is the relationship between the Resurrection of Christ and our resurrection?</b> 998</p><p>1002-1003<br>Just as Christ is truly risen from the dead and now lives forever, so he himself will raise everyone on the last day with an incorruptible body: “Those who have done good will rise to the resurrection of life and those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation” (<i>John</i> 5:29). <b>205. What happens to our body and our soul after death?</b> 992-1004</p><p>1016-1018<br>After death, which is the separation of the body and the soul, the body becomes corrupt while the soul, which is immortal, goes to meet the judgment of God and awaits its reunion with the body when it will rise transformed at the time of the return of the Lord. <i>How</i> the resurrection of the body will come about exceeds the possibilities of our imagination and understanding. <b>206. What does it mean to die in Christ Jesus?</b> 1005-1014</p><p>1019<br>Dying in Christ Jesus means to die in the state of God’s grace without any mortal sin. A believer in Christ, following his example, is thus able to transform his own death into an act of obedience and love for the Father. “This saying is sure: if we have died with him, we will also live with him” (2 <i>Timothy</i> 2:11). <b>“I BELIEVE IN LIFE EVERLASTING”</b><br><b>207. What is life everlasting?</b> 1020 </p><p>1051<br>Eternal life is that life which begins immediately after death. It will have no end. It will be preceded for each person by a particular judgment at the hands of Christ who is the Judge of the living and the dead. This particular judgement will be confirmed in the final judgment. <b>208. What is the particular judgment?</b> 1021-1022</p><p>1051<br>It is the judgment of immediate retribution which each one after death will receive from God in his immortal soul in accord with his faith and his works. This retribution consists in entrance into the happiness of heaven, immediately or after an appropriate purification, or entry into the eternal damnation of hell. <b>209. What is meant by the term “heaven”?</b> (Source: Compendium Of The Catechism 2005 A.D. / <b>Part One</b><br><b>The Profession Of Faith</b><br><b>Section One</p><p>“i Believe” – “We Believe”</b><br><b>1. what Is The Plan Of God For Man?</b>)
1023-1026</p><p>1053<br>By “heaven” is meant the state of supreme and definitive happiness. Those who die in the grace of God and have no need of further purification are gathered around Jesus and Mary, the angels and the saints. They thus form the Church of heaven, where they see God “face to face” (<i>1 Corinthians</i> 13:12). They live in a communion of love with the Most Blessed Trinity and they intercede for us.<br><i>“True and subsistent life consists in this: the Father, through the Son and in the Holy Spirit, pouring out his heavenly gifts on all things without exception. Thanks to his mercy, we too, men that we are, have received the inalienable promise of eternal life.”</i> (Saint Cyril of Jerusalem) <b>210. What is purgatory?</b> 1030-1031</p><p>1054<br>Purgatory is the state of those who die in God’s friendship, assured of their eternal salvation, but who still have need of purification to enter into the happiness of heaven. <b>211. How can we help the souls being purified in purgatory?</b> 1032<br>Because of the communion of saints, the faithful who are still pilgrims on earth are able to help the souls in purgatory by offering prayers in suffrage for them, especially the Eucharistic sacrifice. They also help them by almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance. <b>212. In what does hell consist?</b> 1033-1035 </p><p>1056-1057<br>Hell consists in the eternal damnation of those who die in mortal sin through their own free choice. The principal suffering of hell is eternal separation from God in whom alone we can have the life and happiness for which we were created and for which we long. Christ proclaimed this reality with the words, “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire” (<i>Matthew</i> 25:41). <b>213. How can one reconcile the existence of hell with the infinite goodness of God?</b> 1036-1037<br>God, while desiring “all to come to repentance” (<i>2 Peter</i> 3:9), nevertheless has created the human person to be free and responsible; and he respects our decisions. Therefore, it is the human person who freely excludes himself from communion with God if at the moment of death he persists in mortal sin and refuses the merciful love of God. <b>214. In what does the final judgment consist?</b> 1038-1041 </p><p>1058-1059<br>The final or universal judgment consists in a sentence of happiness or eternal condemnation, which the Lord Jesus will issue in regard to the “just and the unjust” (<i>Acts</i> 24:15) when he returns as the Judge of the living and the dead. After the last judgment, the resurrected body will share in the retribution which the soul received at the particular judgment. <b>215. When will this judgment occur?</b> 1040<br>This judgment will come at the end of the world and only God knows the day and the hour. <b>216. What is the hope of the new heavens and the new earth?</b> 1042-1050</p><p>1060<br>After the final judgment the universe itself, freed from its bondage to decay, will share in the glory of Christ with the beginning of “the new heavens” and a “new earth” (<i>2 Peter </i>3:13). Thus, the fullness of the Kingdom of God will come about, that is to say, the definitive realization of the salvific plan of God to “unite all things in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth” (<i>Ephesians</i> 1:10). God will then be “all in all” (<i>1 Corinthians </i>15:28) in eternal life. <b><i>“Amen”</i></b><br><b>217. What is the meaning of the word “<i>Amen</i>” with which we conclude our profession of faith?</b> 1061-1065<br>The Hebrew word “<i>Amen</i>”, which also concludes the last book of Sacred Scripture, some of the prayers of the New Testament, and the liturgical prayers of the Church, expresses our confident and total “yes” to what we professed in the Creed, entrusting ourselves completely to him who is the definitive “<i>Amen</i>” (<i>Revelation</i> 3:14), Christ the Lord. <b>Part Two</b><br><b>The Celebration of the Christian Mystery</b><br><b>Section One</p><p>The Sacramental Economy</b><br><b>218. What is the liturgy?</b> 1066-1070<br>The liturgy is the celebration of the mystery of Christ and in particular his paschal mystery. Through the exercise of the priestly office of Jesus Christ the liturgy manifests in signs and brings about the sanctification of humankind.<br>The public worship which is due to God is offered by the Mystical Body of Christ, that is, by its head and by its members. <b>219. What place does the liturgy occupy in the life of the Church?</b> 1071-1075<br>The liturgy as the sacred action <i>par excellence</i> is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed and it is likewise the font from which all her power flows. Through the liturgy Christ continues the work of our redemption in, with and through his Church. <b>220. In what does the sacramental economy consist?</b> 1076<br>The sacramental economy consists in the communication of the fruits of Christ’s redemption through the celebration of the sacraments of the Church, most especially that of the Eucharist, “until he comes” (<i>1 Corinthians</i> 11:26). <b>CHAPTER ONE</b><br><b>The Paschal Mystery in the Age of the Church</b><br><b>THE LITURGY - WORK OF THE MOST HOLY TRINITY</b><br><b>221. In what way is the Father the source and the goal of the liturgy?</b> 1077-1083</p><p>1110<br>Through the liturgy the Father fills us with his blessings in the Word made flesh who died and rose for us and pours into our hearts the Holy Spirit. At the same time, the Church blesses the Father by her worship, praise, and thanksgiving and begs him for the gift of his Son and the Holy Spirit. <b>222. What is the work of Christ in the liturgy?</b> 1084-1090<br>In the liturgy of the Church, it is his own paschal mystery that Christ signifies and makes present. By giving the Holy Spirit to his apostles he entrusted to them and their successors the power to make present the work of salvation through the Eucharistic sacrifice and the sacraments, in which he himself acts to communicate his grace to the faithful of all times and places throughout the world. <b>223. How does the Holy Spirit work in the liturgy of the Church?</b> 1091-1109</p><p>1112<br>The very closest cooperation is at work in the liturgy between the Holy Spirit and the Church. The Holy Spirit prepares the Church to encounter her Lord. He recalls and manifests Christ to the faith of the assembly. He makes the mystery of Christ really present. He unites the Church to the life and mission of Christ and makes the gift of communion bear fruit in the Church. <b>THE PASCHAL MYSTERY IN THE SACRAMENTS OF THE CHURCH</b><br><b>224. What are the sacraments and which are they?</b> 1113-1131<br>The sacraments, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, are efficacious signs of grace perceptible to the senses . Through them divine life is bestowed upon us. There are seven sacraments: Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Eucharist, Penance, Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders, and Matrimony. <b>225. What is the relationship of the sacraments to Christ?</b> 1114-1116<br>The mysteries of Christ’s life are the foundations of what he would henceforth dispense in the sacraments, through the ministers of his Church.<br><i>“What was visible in our Savior has passed over into his mysteries.” </i>(Saint Leo the Great) <b>226. What is the link between the sacraments and the Church?</b> 1117-1119<br>Christ has entrusted the sacraments to his Church. They are the sacraments “of the Church” in a twofold sense: they are “from her” insofar as they are actions of the Church which is the sacrament of Christ’s action; and they are “for her” in as much as they build up the Church. <b>227. What is the <i>sacramental</i> character?</b> 1121<br>It is a spiritual “<i>seal</i>” bestowed by the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders. It is a promise and guarantee of divine protection. By virtue of this seal the Christian is configured to Christ, participates in a variety of ways in his priesthood and takes his part in the Church according to different states and functions. He is, therefore, set apart for divine worship and the service of the Church. Because this character is indelible the sacraments that impress it on the soul are received only once in life. <b>228. What is the relationship between the sacraments and faith?</b> 1122-1126</p><p>1133<br>The sacraments not only presuppose faith but with words and ritual elements they nourish, strengthen, and express it. By celebrating the sacraments, the Church professes the faith that comes from the apostles. This explains the origin of the ancient saying, “<i>lex orandi, lex credendi,</i>”<i> </i>that is, the Church believes as she prays. <b>229. Why are the sacraments efficacious?</b> 1127-1128</p><p>1131<br>The sacraments are efficacious <i>ex opere operato </i>(“by the very fact that the sacramental action is performed”) because it is Christ who acts in the sacraments and communicates the grace they signify. The efficacy of the sacraments does not depend upon the personal holiness of the minister. However, the fruits of the sacraments do depend on the dispositions of the one who receives them. <b>230. For what reason are the sacraments necessary for salvation?</b> 1129<br>For believers in Christ the sacraments, even if they are not all given to each of the faithful, are necessary for salvation because they confer sacramental grace, forgiveness of sins, adoption as children of God, conformation to Christ the Lord and membership in the Church. The Holy Spirit heals and transforms those who receive the sacraments. <b>231. What is sacramental grace?</b> 1129, 1131</p><p>1134, 2003<br>Sacramental grace is the grace of the Holy Spirit which is given by Christ and is proper to each sacrament. This grace helps the faithful in their journey toward holiness and so assists the Church as well to grow in charity and in her witness to the world. <b>232. What is the relationship between the sacraments and everlasting life?</b> 1130<br>In the sacraments the Church already receives a foretaste of eternal life, while “awaiting in blessed hope, the appearing in glory of our great God and saviour Christ Jesus” (<i>Titus</i> 2:13). <b>CHAPTER TWO</b><br><b>The Sacramental Celebration of the Paschal Mystery</b><br><b>CELEBRATING THE LITURGY OF THE CHURCH</b><br><b><i>Who celebrates?</i></b><br><b>233. Who acts in the liturgy?</b> 1135-1137</p><p>1187<br>In the liturgy it is the <i>whole Christ</i> (<i>Christus Totus</i>) who acts, Head and Body. As our High Priest he celebrates with his body, which is the Church in heaven and on earth. <b>234. Who celebrates the heavenly liturgy?</b> 1138-1139<br>The heavenly liturgy is celebrated by the angels, by the saints of the Old and New Testament, particularly the Mother of God, by the Apostles, by the martyrs, and by the “great multitude which no one could number from every nation, race, people, and tongue.” (<i>Revelation</i> 7:9). When we celebrate the mystery of our salvation in the sacraments we participate in this eternal liturgy. <b>235. How does the Church on earth celebrate the liturgy?</b> 1140-1144</p><p>1188<br>The Church on earth celebrates the liturgy as a priestly people in which each one acts according to his proper function in the unity of the Holy Spirit. The baptized offer themselves in a spiritual sacrifice; the ordained ministers celebrate according to the Order they received for the service of all the members of the Church; the bishops and priests act in the Person of Christ the Head. <b><i>How is the liturgy celebrated?</i></b><br><b>236. How is the liturgy celebrated?</b> 1145<br>The celebration of the liturgy is interwoven with signs and symbols whose meaning is rooted in creation and in human culture. It is determined by the events of the Old Testament and is fully revealed in the Person and work of Christ. <b>237. From where do the sacramental signs come?</b> 1146-1152</p><p>1189<br>Some come from created things (light, water, fire, bread, wine, oil); others come from social life (washing, anointing, breaking of bread). Still others come from the history of salvation in the Old Covenant (the Passover rites, the sacrifices, the laying on of hands, the consecrations). These signs, some of which are normative and unchangeable, were taken up by Christ and are made the bearers of his saving and sanctifying action. <b>238. What is the link between the actions and the words in the celebration of the sacraments?</b> 1153-1155</p><p>1190<br>Actions and words are very closely linked in the celebration of the sacraments. Indeed, even if the symbolic actions are already in themselves a language, it is necessary that the words of the rite accompany and give life to these actions. The liturgical words and actions are inseparable both insofar as they are meaningful signs and insofar as they bring about what they signify. <b>239. What are the criteria for the proper use of singing and music in liturgical celebrations?</b> 1156-1158</p><p>1191<br>Since song and music are closely connected with liturgical action they must respect the following criteria. They should conform to Catholic doctrine in their texts, drawn preferably from Sacred Scripture and liturgical sources. They should be a beautiful expression of prayer. The music should be of a high quality. Song and music should encourage the participation of the liturgical assembly. They should express the cultural richness of the People of God and the sacred and solemn character of the celebration. “He who sings, prays twice” (Saint Augustine). <b>240. What is the purpose of holy images?</b> 1159-1161</p><p>1192<br>The image of Christ is the liturgical icon <i>par excellence</i>. Other images, representations of Our Lady and of the Saints, signify Christ who is glorified in them. They proclaim the same Gospel message that Sacred Scripture communicates by the word and they help to awaken and nourish the faith of believers. <b><i>When is the liturgy celebrated?</i></b><br><b>241. What is the center of the liturgical season?</b> 1163-1167</p><p>1193<br>The center of the liturgical season is Sunday which is the foundation and kernel of the entire liturgical year and has its culmination in the annual celebration of Easter, the feast of feasts. <b>242. What is the function of the liturgical year?</b> 1168-1173</p><p>1194-1195<br>In the liturgical year the Church celebrates the whole mystery of Christ from his Incarnation to his return in glory. On set days the Church venerates with special love the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God. The Church also keeps the memorials of saints who lived for Christ, who suffered with him, and who live with him in glory. <b>243. What is the Liturgy of the Hours?</b> 1174-1178</p><p>1196<br>The Liturgy of the Hours, which is the public and common prayer of the Church, is the prayer of Christ with his body, the Church. Through the Liturgy of the Hours the mystery of Christ, which we celebrate in the Eucharist, sanctifies and transforms the whole of each day. It is composed mainly of psalms, other biblical texts, and readings from the Fathers and spiritual masters. <b><i>Where is the liturgy celebrated?</i></b><br><b>244. Does the Church need places in order to celebrate the liturgy?</b> 1179-1181</p><p>1197-1198<br>The worship “in spirit and truth” (<i>John</i> 4:24) of the New Covenant is not tied exclusively to any place because Christ is the true temple of God. Through him Christians and the whole Church become temples of the living God by the action of the Holy Spirit. Nonetheless, the people of God in their earthly condition need places in which the community can gather to celebrate the liturgy. <b>245. What are sacred buildings?</b> 1181</p><p>1198-1199<br>They are the houses of God, a symbol of the Church that lives in that place as well as of the heavenly Jerusalem. Above all they are places of prayer in which the Church celebrates the Eucharist and worships Christ who is truly present in the tabernacle. <b>246. What are the privileged places inside sacred buildings?</b> 1182-1186<br>They are: the altar, the tabernacle, the place where the sacred Chrism and other holy oils are kept, the chair of the bishop (cathedra) or the chair of the priest, the ambo, the baptismal font, and the confessional. <b>LITURGICAL DIVERSITY AND THE UNITY OF THE MYSTERY</b><br><b>247. Why is the one Mystery of Christ celebrated by the Church according to various liturgical traditions?</b> 1200-1204</p><p>1207-1209<br>The answer is that the unfathomable richness of the mystery of Christ cannot be exhausted by any single liturgical tradition. From the very beginning, therefore, this richness found expression among various peoples and cultures in ways that are characterized by a wonderful diversity and complementarity. <b>248. What is the criterion that assures unity in the midst of plurality?</b> 1209<br>It is fidelity to the Apostolic Tradition, that is, the communion in the faith and in the sacraments received from the apostles, a communion that is both signified and guaranteed by apostolic succession. The Church is Catholic and therefore can integrate into her unity all the authentic riches of cultures. <b>249. Is everything immutable in the liturgy?</b> 1205-1206<br>In the liturgy, particularly in that of the sacraments, there are unchangeable elements because they are of divine institution. The Church is the faithful guardian of them. There are also, however, elements subject to change which the Church has the power and on occasion also the duty to adapt to the cultures of diverse peoples. <b>Section Two</p><p>The Seven Sacraments of the Church</b><br><b>The seven sacraments are:</b><br>Baptism</p><p>Confirmation</p><p>Holy Eucharist</p><p>Penance</p><p>Anointing of the Sick</p><p>Holy Orders</p><p>Matrimony <b>Septem Ecclesiae Sacramenta</b><br>Baptísmum </p><p>Confirmátio </p><p>Eucharístia, </p><p>Paeniténtia, </p><p>Únctio infirmórum </p><p>Ordo </p><p>Matrimónium. <b>250. How are the sacraments of the Church divided?</b> 1210-1211<br>The sacraments are divided into: the sacraments of Christian initiation (Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Eucharist); the sacraments of healing (Penance and Anointing of the Sick);, and the sacraments at the service of communion and mission (Holy Orders and Matrimony). The sacraments touch all the important moments of Christian life. All of the sacraments are ordered to the Holy Eucharist “as to their end” (Saint Thomas Aquinas). <b>CHAPTER ONE</b><br><b>The sacraments of Christian initiation</b><br><b>251. How is Christian initiation brought about?</b> 1212</p><p>1275<br>Christian initiation is accomplished by means of the sacraments which establish the <i>foundations</i> of Christian life. The faithful born anew by Baptism are strengthened by Confirmation and are then nourished by the Eucharist. <b>THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM</b><br><b>252. What names are given to the first sacrament of initiation?</b> 1213-1216</p><p>1276-1277<br>This sacrament is primarily called <i>Baptism</i> because of the central rite with which it is celebrated. To baptize means to “immerse” in water. The one who is baptized is immersed into the death of Christ and rises with him as a “new creature” (<i>2 Corinthians</i> 5:17). This sacrament is also called the “bath of regeneration and renewal in the Holy Spirit” (<i>Titus</i> 3:5); and it is called “enlightenment” because the baptized becomes “a son of light” (<i>Ephesians</i> 5:8). <b>253. How is Baptism prefigured in the Old Covenant?</b> 1217-1222<br>In the Old Covenant Baptism was pre-figured in various ways: <i>water,</i> seen as source of life and of death; in <i>the Ark of Noah</i>, which saved by means of water; in <i>the passing through the Red Sea, </i>which liberated Israel from Egyptian slavery; in <i>the crossing of the Jordan River, </i>that brought Israel into the promised land which is the image of eternal life. <b>254. Who brought to fulfillment those prefigurations?</b> 1223-1224<br>All the Old Covenant prefigurations find their fulfillment in Jesus Christ. At the beginning of his public life Jesus had himself baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan. On the cross, blood and water, signs of Baptism and the Eucharist, flowed from his pierced side. After his Resurrection he gave to his apostles this mission: “Go forth and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (<i>Matthew</i> 28:19). <b>255. Starting when and to whom has the Church administered Baptism?</b> 1226-1228<br>From the day of Pentecost, the Church has administered Baptism to anyone who believes in Jesus Christ. <b>256. In what does the essential rite of Baptism consist?</b> 1229-1245</p><p>1278<br>The essential rite of this sacrament consists in immersing the candidate in water or pouring water over his or her head while invoking the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. <b>257. Who can receive Baptism?</b> 1246-1252<br>Every person not yet baptized is able to receive Baptism. <b>258. Why does the Church baptize infants?</b> 1250<br>The Church baptizes infants because they are born with original sin. They need to be freed from the power of the Evil One and brought into that realm of freedom which belongs to the children of God. <b>259. What is required of one who is to be baptized?</b> 1253-1255<br>Everyone who is to be baptized is required to make a profession of faith. This is done personally in the case of an adult or by the parents and by the Church in the case of infants. Also the godfather or the godmother and the whole ecclesial community share the responsibility for baptismal preparation (catechumenate) as well as for the development and safeguarding of the faith and grace given at baptism. <b>260. Who can baptize?</b> 1256</p><p>1284<br>The ordinary ministers of Baptism are the bishop and the priest. In the Latin Church the deacon also can baptize. In case of necessity any person can baptize provided he has the intention of doing what the Church does. This is done by pouring water on the head of the candidate while saying the Trinitarian formula for Baptism: “I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”. <b>261. Is Baptism necessary for salvation?</b> 1257<br>Baptism is necessary for salvation for all those to whom the Gospel has been proclaimed and who have had the possibility of asking for this sacrament. <b>262. Is it possible to be saved without Baptism?</b> 1258-1261</p><p>1281-1283<br>Since Christ died for the salvation of all, those can be saved without Baptism who die for the faith (<i>Baptism of blood</i>). Catechumens and all those who, even without knowing Christ and the Church, still (under the impulse of grace) sincerely seek God and strive to do his will can also be saved without Baptism (<i>Baptism of desire</i>). The Church in her liturgy entrusts children who die without Baptism to the mercy of God. <b>263. What are the effects of Baptism?</b> 1262-1274</p><p>1279-1280<br>Baptism takes away original sin, all personal sins and all punishment due to sin. It makes the baptized person a participant in the divine life of the Trinity through sanctifying grace, the grace of justification which incorporates one into Christ and into his Church. It gives one a share in the priesthood of Christ and provides the basis for communion with all Christians. It bestows the theological virtues and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. A baptized person belongs forever to Christ. He is marked with the indelible seal of Christ (<i>character</i>). <b>264. What is the meaning of the Christian name received at Baptism?</b> 2156-2159</p><p>2167<br>The name is important because God knows each of us by name, that is, in our uniqueness as persons. In Baptism a Christian receives his or her own name in the Church. It should preferably be the name of a saint who might offer the baptized a model of sanctity and an assurance of his or her intercession before God. <b>THE SACRAMENT OF CONFIRMATION</b><br><b>265. What place does Confirmation have in the divine plan of salvation?</b> 1285-1288</p><p>1315<br>In the Old Testament the prophets announced that the Spirit of the Lord would rest on the awaited Messiah and on the entire messianic people. The whole life and mission of Jesus were carried out in total communion with the Holy Spirit. The apostles received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and proclaimed “the great works of God” (<i>Acts</i> 2:11). They gave the gift of the same Spirit to the newly baptized by the laying on of hands. Down through the centuries, the Church has continued to live by the Spirit and to impart him to her children. <b>266. Why is this sacrament called <i>Chrismation</i> or <i>Confirmation</i>?</b> 1289<br>It is called <i>Chrismation</i> (in the Eastern Churches: Anointing with holy myron or chrism) because the essential rite of the sacrament is anointing with chrism. It is called <i>Confirmation</i> because it confirms and strengthens baptismal grace. <b>267. What is the essential rite of Confirmation?</b> 1290-1301</p><p>1318</p><p>1320-1321<br>The essential rite of Confirmation is the anointing with Sacred Chrism (oil mixed with balsam and consecrated by the bishop), which is done by the laying on of the hand of the minister who pronounces the sacramental words proper to the rite. In the West this anointing is done on the forehead of the baptized with the words, “Be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit”. In the Eastern Churches of the Byzantine rite this anointing is also done on other parts of the body with the words, “The seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit”. <b>268. What is the effect of Confirmation?</b> 1302-1305</p><p>1316-1317<br>The effect of Confirmation is a special outpouring of the Holy Spirit like that of Pentecost. This outpouring impresses on the soul an indelible character and produces a growth in the grace of Baptism. It roots the recipient more deeply in divine sonship, binds him more firmly to Christ and to the Church and reinvigorates the gifts of the Holy Spirit in his soul. It gives a special strength to witness to the Christian faith. <b>269. Who can receive this sacrament?</b> 1306-1311</p><p>1319<br>Only those already baptized can and should receive this sacrament which can be received only once. To receive Confirmation efficaciously the candidate must be in the state of grace. <b>270. Who is the minister of Confirmation?</b> 1312-1314<br>The original minister of Confirmation is the bishop. In this way the link between the confirmed and the Church in her apostolic dimension is made manifest. When a priest confers this sacrament, as ordinarily happens in the East and in special cases in the West, the link with the bishop and with the Church is expressed by the priest who is the collaborator of the bishop and by the Sacred Chrism, consecrated by the bishop himself. <b>THE SACRAMENT OF THE EUCHARIST</b><br><b>271. What is the Eucharist?</b> 1322-1323</p><p>1409<br>The Eucharist is the very sacrifice of the Body and Blood of the Lord Jesus which he instituted to perpetuate the sacrifice of the cross throughout the ages until his return in glory. Thus he entrusted to his Church this memorial of his death and Resurrection. It is a sign of unity, a bond of charity, a paschal banquet, in which Christ is consumed, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us. <b>272. When did Jesus Christ institute the Eucharist?</b> 1323</p><p>1337-1340<br>Jesus instituted the Eucharist on Holy Thursday “the night on which he was betrayed” (<i>1 Corinthians</i> 11:23), as he celebrated the Last Supper with his apostles. <b>273. How did he institute the Eucharist?</b> 1337-1340</p><p>1365, 1406<br>After he had gathered with his apostles in the Cenacle, Jesus took bread in his hands. He broke it and gave it to them saying, “Take this and eat it, all of you; this is my Body which will be given up for you”. Then, he took the cup of wine in his hands and said, “Take this and drink of this, all of you. This is the cup of my Blood, the Blood of the new and everlasting covenant. It will be shed for you and for all so that sins may be forgive. Do this in memory of me”. <b>274. What does the Eucharist represent in the life of the Church?</b> 1324-1327</p><p>1407<br>It is the source and summit of all Christian life. In the Eucharist, the sanctifying action of God in our regard and our worship of him reach their high point. It contains the whole spiritual good of the Church, Christ himself, our Pasch. Communion with divine life and the unity of the People of God are both expressed and effected by the Eucharist. Through the eucharistic celebration we are united already with the liturgy of heaven and we have a foretaste of eternal life. <b>275. What are the names for this sacrament?</b> 1328-1332<br>The unfathomable richness of this sacrament is expressed in different names which evoke its various aspects. The most common names are: the Eucharist, Holy Mass, the Lord’s Supper, the Breaking of the Bread, the Eucharistic Celebration, the Memorial of the passion, death and Resurrection of the Lord, the Holy Sacrifice, the Holy and Divine Liturgy, the Sacred Mysteries, the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar, and Holy Communion. <b>276. Where does the Eucharist fit in the divine plan of salvation?</b> 1333-1344<br>The Eucharist was foreshadowed in the Old Covenant above all in the annual Passover meal celebrated every year by the Jews with unleavened bread to commemorate their hasty, liberating departure from Egypt. Jesus foretold it in his teaching and he instituted it when he celebrated the Last Supper with his apostles in a Passover meal. The Church, faithful to the command of her Lord, “Do this in memory of me” (<i>1 Corinthians</i> 11:24), has always celebrated the Eucharist, especially on Sunday, the day of the Resurrection of Jesus. <b>277. How is the celebration of the Holy Eucharist carried out?</b> 1345-1355</p><p>1408<br>The Eucharist unfolds in two great parts which together form one, single act of worship. The Liturgy of the Word involves proclaiming and listening to the Word of God. The Liturgy of the Eucharist includes the presentation of the bread and wine, the prayer or the anaphora containing the words of consecration, and communion. <b>278. Who is the minister for the celebration of the Eucharist?</b> 1348</p><p>1411<br>The celebrant of the Eucharist is a validly ordained priest (bishop or priest) who acts in the Person of Christ the Head and in the name of the Church. <b>279. What are the essential and necessary elements for celebrating the Eucharist?</b> 1412<br>The essential elements are wheat bread and grape wine. <b>280. In what way is the Eucharist a <i>memorial</i> of the sacrifice of Christ?</b> 1362-1367<br>The Eucharist is a <i>memorial</i> in the sense that it makes present and actual the sacrifice which Christ offered to the Father on the cross, once and for all on behalf of mankind. The sacrificial character of the Holy Eucharist is manifested in the very words of institution, “This is my Body which is given for you” and “This cup is the New Covenant in my Blood that will be shed for you” (Luke 22:19-20). The sacrifice of the cross and the sacrifice of the Eucharist are <i>one and the same sacrifice</i>. The priest and the victim are the same; only the manner of offering is different: in a bloody manner on the cross, in an unbloody manner in the Eucharist. <b>281. In what way does the Church participate in the eucharistic sacrifice?</b> 1368-1372</p><p>1414<br>In the Eucharist the sacrifice of Christ becomes also the sacrifice of the members of his Body. The lives of the faithful, their praise, their suffering, their prayers, their work, are united to those of Christ. In as much as it is a sacrifice, the Eucharist is likewise offered for all the faithful, living and dead, in reparation for the sins of all and to obtain spiritual and temporal benefits from God. The Church in heaven is also united to the offering of Christ. <b>282. How is Christ present in the Eucharist?</b> 1373-1375</p><p>1413<br>Jesus Christ is present in the Eucharist in a unique and incomparable way. He is present in a true, real and substantial way, with his Body and his Blood, with his Soul and his Divinity. In the Eucharist, therefore, there is present in a sacramental way, that is, under the Eucharistic species of bread and wine, Christ whole and entire, God and Man. <b>283. What is the meaning of <i>transubstantiation</i>?</b> 1376-1377</p><p>1413<br><i>Transubstantiation</i> means the change of the whole substance of bread into the substance of the Body of Christ and of the whole substance of wine into the substance of his Blood. This change is brought about in the eucharistic prayer through the efficacy of the word of Christ and by the action of the Holy Spirit. However, the outward characteristics of bread and wine, that is the “eucharistic species”, remain unaltered. <b>284. Does the breaking of the bread divide Christ?</b> 1377<br>The breaking of the bread does not divide Christ. He is present whole and entire in each of the eucharistic species and in each of their parts. <b>285. How long does the presence of Christ last in the Eucharist?</b> 1377<br>The presence of Christ continues in the Eucharist as long as the eucharistic species subsist. <b>286. What kind of worship is due to the sacrament of the Eucharist?</b> 1378-1381</p><p>1418<br>The worship due to the sacrament of the Eucharist, whether during the celebration of the Mass or outside it, is the worship of <i>latria</i>, that is, the adoration given to God alone. The Church guards with the greatest care Hosts that have been consecrated. She brings them to the sick and to other persons who find it impossible to participate at Mass. She also presents them for the solemn adoration of the faithful and she bears them in processions. The Church encourages the faithful to make frequent visits to adore the Blessed Sacrament reserved in the tabernacle. <b>287. Why is the Holy Eucharist the paschal banquet?</b> 1382-1384</p><p>1391-1396<br>The Holy Eucharist is the paschal banquet in as much as Christ sacramentally makes present his Passover and gives us his Body and Blood, offered as food and drink, uniting us to himself and to one another in his sacrifice. <b>288. What is the meaning of the altar?</b> 1383</p><p>1410<br>The <i>altar</i> is the symbol of Christ himself who is present both as sacrificial victim (the altar of the sacrifice) and as food from heaven which is given to us (the table of the Lord). <b>289. When does the Church oblige her members to participate at Holy Mass?</b> 1389</p><p>1417<br>The Church obliges the faithful to participate at Holy Mass every Sunday and on holy days of obligation. She recommends participation at Holy Mass on other days as well. <b>290. When must one receive Holy Communion?</b> 1389<br>The Church recommends that the faithful, if they have the required dispositions, receive Holy Communion whenever they participate at Holy Mass. However, the Church obliges them to receive Holy Communion at least once a year during the Easter season. <b>291. What is required to receive Holy Communion?</b> 1385-1389</p><p>1415<br>To receive Holy Communion one must be fully incorporated into the Catholic Church and be in the state of grace, that is, not conscious of being in mortal sin. Anyone who is conscious of having committed a grave sin must first receive the sacrament of Reconciliation before going to Communion. Also important for those receiving Holy Communion are a spirit of recollection and prayer, observance of the fast prescribed by the Church, and an appropriate disposition of the body (gestures and dress) as a sign of respect for Christ. <b>292. What are the fruits of Holy Communion?</b> 1391-1397</p><p>1416<br>Holy Communion increases our union with Christ and with his Church. It preserves and renews the life of grace received at Baptism and Confirmation and makes us grow in love for our neighbor. It strengthens us in charity, wipes away venial sins and preserves us from mortal sin in the future. <b>293. When is it possible to give Holy Communion to other Christians?</b> 1398-1401<br>Catholic ministers may give Holy Communion licitly to members of the Oriental Churches which are not in full communion with the Catholic Church whenever they ask for it of their own will and possess the required dispositions. Catholic ministers may licitly give Holy Communion to members of other ecclesial communities only if, in grave necessity, they ask for it of their own will, possess the required dispositions, and give evidence of holding the Catholic faith regarding the sacrament. <b>294. Why is the Eucharist a “pledge of future glory”?</b> 1402-1405<br>The Eucharist is a pledge of future glory because it fills us with every grace and heavenly blessing. It fortifies us for our pilgrimage in this life and makes us long for eternal life. It unites us already to Christ seated at the right hand of the Father, to the Church in heaven and to the Blessed Virgin and all the saints.<br><i>In the Eucharist, we “break the one bread that provides the medicine of immortality, the antidote for death and the food that makes us live forever in Jesus Christ.”</i> (Saint Ignatius of Antioch) <b>CHAPTER TWO</b><br><b>The Sacraments of Healing</b><br><b>295. Why did Christ institute the sacraments of Penance and the Anointing of the Sick?</b> 1420-1421</p><p>1426<br>Christ, the physician of our soul and body, instituted these sacraments because the new life that he gives us in the sacraments of Christian initiation can be weakened and even lost because of sin. Therefore, Christ willed that his Church should continue his work of healing and salvation by means of these two sacraments.<br><b>THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE AND RECONCILIATION</b> <b>296. What is the name of this sacrament?</b> 1422-1424<br>It is called the sacrament of Penance, the sacrament of Reconciliation, the sacrament of Forgiveness, the sacrament of Confession, and the sacrament of Conversion. <b>297. Why is there a sacrament of Reconciliation after Baptism?</b> 1425-1426</p><p>1484<br>Since the new life of grace received in Baptism does not abolish the weakness of human nature nor the inclination to sin (that is, <i>concupiscence</i>), Christ instituted this sacrament for the conversion of the baptized who have been separated from him by sin. <b>298. When did he institute this sacrament?</b> 1485<br>The risen Lord instituted this sacrament on the evening of Easter when he showed himself to his apostles and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” (<i>John</i> 20:22-23). <b>299. Do the baptized have need of conversion?</b> 1427-1429<br>The call of Christ to conversion continues to resound in the lives of the baptized. Conversion is a continuing obligation for the whole Church. She is holy but includes sinners in her midst. <b>300. What is interior penance?</b> 1430-1433</p><p>1490<br>It is the movement of a “contrite heart” (<i>Psalm</i> 51:19) drawn by divine grace to respond to the merciful love of God. This entails sorrow for and abhorrence of sins committed, a firm purpose not to sin again in the future and trust in the help of God. It is nourished by hope in divine mercy. <b>301. What forms does penance take in the Christian life?</b> 1434-1439<br>Penance can be expressed in many and various ways but above all in fasting, prayer, and almsgiving. These and many other forms of penance can be practiced in the daily life of a Christian, particularly during the time of Lent and on the penitential day of Friday. <b>302. What are the essential elements of the sacrament of Reconciliation?</b> 1440-1449<br>The essential elements are two: the acts of the penitent who comes to repentance through the action of the Holy Spirit, and the absolution of the priest who in the name of Christ grants forgiveness and determines the ways of making satisfaction. <b>303. What are the acts of the penitent?</b> 1450-1460</p><p>1487-1492<br>They are: a careful <i>examination of conscience</i>; <i>contrition</i> (or repentance), which is perfect when it is motivated by love of God and imperfect if it rests on other motives and which includes the determination not to sin again; <i>confession</i>, which consists in the telling of one’s sins to the priest; and <i>satisfaction</i> or the carrying out of certain acts of penance which the confessor imposes upon the penitent to repair the damage caused by sin. <b>304. Which sins must be confessed?</b> 1456<br>All grave sins not yet confessed, which a careful examination of conscience brings to mind, must be brought to the sacrament of Penance. The confession of serious sins is the only ordinary way to obtain forgiveness. <b>305. When is a person obliged to confess mortal sins?</b> 1457<br>Each of the faithful who has reached the age of discretion is bound to confess his or her mortal sins at least once a year and always before receiving Holy Communion. <b>306. Why can venial sins also be the object of sacramental confession?</b> 1458<br>The confession of venial sins is strongly recommended by the Church, even if this is not strictly necessary, because it helps us to form a correct conscience and to fight against evil tendencies. It allows us to be healed by Christ and to progress in the life of the Spirit. <b>307. Who is the minister of this sacrament?</b> 1461-1466</p><p>1495<br>Christ has entrusted the ministry of Reconciliation to his apostles, to the bishops who are their successors and to the priests who are the collaborators of the bishops, all of whom become thereby instruments of the mercy and justice of God. They exercise their power of forgiving sins <i>in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit</i>. <b>308. To whom is the absolution of some sins reserved?</b> 1463<br>The absolution of certain particularly grave sins (like those punished by excommunication) is reserved to the Apostolic See or to the local bishop or to priests who are authorized by them. Any priest, however, can absolve a person who is in danger of death from any sin and excommunication. <b>309. Is a confessor bound to secrecy?</b> 1467<br>Given the delicacy and greatness of this ministry and the respect due to people every confessor, without any exception and under very severe penalties, is bound to maintain “the sacramental seal” which means absolute secrecy about the sins revealed to him in confession. <b>310. What are the effects of this sacrament?</b> 1468-1470</p><p>1496<br>The effects of the sacrament of Penance are: reconciliation with God and therefore the forgiveness of sins; reconciliation with the Church; recovery, if it has been lost, of the state of grace; remission of the eternal punishment merited by mortal sins, and remission, at least in part, of the temporal punishment which is the consequence of sin; peace, serenity of conscience and spiritual consolation; and an increase of spiritual strength for the struggle of Christian living. <b>311. Can this sacrament be celebrated in some cases with a general confession and general absolution?</b> 1480-1484<br>In cases of serious necessity (as in imminent danger of death) recourse may be had to a communal celebration of Reconciliation with general confession and general absolution, as long as the norms of the Church are observed and there is the intention of individually confessing one’s grave sins in due time. <b>312. What are indulgences?</b> 1471-1479</p><p>1498<br>Indulgences are the remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven. The faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains the indulgence under prescribed conditions for either himself or the departed. Indulgences are granted through the ministry of the Church which, as the dispenser of the grace of redemption, distributes the treasury of the merits of Christ and the Saints. <b>THE SACRAMENT OF ANOINTING OF THE SICK</b><br><b>313. How was sickness viewed in the Old Testament?</b> 1499-1502<br>In the Old Testament sickness was experienced as a sign of weakness and at the same time perceived as mysteriously bound up with sin. The prophets intuited that sickness could also have a redemptive value for one’s own sins and those of others. Thus sickness was lived out in the presence of God from whom people implored healing. <b>314. What is the significance of Jesus’ compassion for the sick?</b> 1503-1505<br>The compassion of Jesus toward the sick and his many healings of the infirm were a clear sign that with him had come the Kingdom of God and therefore victory over sin, over suffering, and over death. By his own passion and death he gave new meaning to our suffering which, when united with his own, can become a means of purification and of salvation for us and for others. <b>315. What is the attitude of the Church toward the sick?</b> 1506-1513</p><p>1526-1527<br>Having received from the Lord the charge to heal the sick, the Church strives to carry it out by taking care of the sick and accompanying them with her prayer of intercession. Above all, the Church possesses a sacrament specifically intended for the benefit of the sick. This sacrament was instituted by Christ and is attested by Saint James: “Is anyone among you sick? Let him call in the presbyters of the Church and let them pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord” (<i>James</i> 5:14-15). <b>316. Who can receive the sacrament of the anointing of the sick?</b> 1514-1515</p><p>1528-1529<br>Any member of the faithful can receive this sacrament as soon as he or she begins to be in danger of death because of sickness or old age. The faithful who receive this sacrament can receive it several times if their illness becomes worse or another serious sickness afflicts them. The celebration of this sacrament should, if possible, be preceded by individual confession on the part of the sick person. <b>317. Who administers this sacrament?</b> 1516</p><p>1530<br>This sacrament can be administered only by priests (bishops or presbyters). <b>318. How is this sacrament celebrated?</b> 1517-1519</p><p>1531<br>The celebration of this sacrament consists essentially in an <i>anointing</i> with oil which may be blessed by the bishop. The anointing is on the forehead and on the hands of the sick person (in the Roman rite) or also on other parts of the body (in the other rites) accompanied by the <i>prayer</i> of the priest who asks for the special grace of this sacrament. <b>319. What are the effects of this sacrament?</b> 1520-1523</p><p>1532<br>This sacrament confers a special grace which unites the sick person more intimately to the Passion of Christ for his good and for the good of all the Church. It gives comfort, peace, courage, and even the forgiveness of sins if the sick person is not able to make a confession. Sometimes, if it is the will of God, this sacrament even brings about the restoration of physical health. In any case this Anointing prepares the sick person for the journey to the Father’s House. <b>320. What is Viaticum?</b> 1524-1525<br>Viaticum is the Holy Eucharist received by those who are about to leave this earthly life and are preparing for the journey to eternal life. Communion in the body and blood of Christ who died and rose from the dead, received at the moment of passing from this world to the Father, is the seed of eternal life and the power of the resurrection. <b>CHAPTER THREE</b><br><b>The Sacraments at the Service of Communion and Mission</b><br><b>321. What are the sacraments at the service of communion and mission?</b> 1533-1535<br>Two sacraments, Holy Orders and Matrimony, confer a special grace for a particular mission in the Church to serve and build up the People of God. These sacraments contribute in a special way to ecclesial communion and to the salvation of others. <b>THE SACRAMENT OF HOLY ORDERS</b><br><b>322. What is the sacrament of Holy Orders?</b> 1536<br>It is the sacrament through which the mission entrusted by Christ to his apostles continues to be exercised in the Church until the end of time. <b>323. Why is this sacrament called Holy Orders?</b> 1537-1538<br><i>Orders</i> designates an ecclesial body into which one enters by means of a special consecration (ordination). Through a special gift of the Holy Spirit, this sacrament enables the ordained to exercise a <i>sacred power</i> in the name and with the authority of Christ for the service of the People of God. <b>324. What place does the sacrament of Holy Orders have in the divine plan of salvation?</b> 1539-1546</p><p>1590-1591<br>This sacrament was prefigured in the Old Covenant in the service of the Levites, in the priesthood of Aaron, and in the institution of the seventy “Elders” (<i>Numbers</i> 11:25). These prefigurations find their fulfillment in Christ Jesus who by the sacrifice of the cross is the “one mediator between God and man” (<i>1 Timothy</i> 2:5), the “High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek” (<i>Hebrews</i> 5:10). The one priesthood of Christ is made present in the ministerial priesthood.<br><i>“Only Christ is the true priest, the others being only his ministers.”</i> (Saint Thomas Aquinas) <b>325. What are the degrees that make up the sacrament of Holy Orders?</b> 1554</p><p>1593<br>The sacrament of Holy Orders is composed of three degrees which are irreplaceable for the organic structure of the Church: the episcopate, the presbyterate and the diaconate. <b>326. What is the effect of episcopal ordination?</b> 1557-1558<br>Episcopal ordination confers the fullness of the sacrament of Holy Orders. It makes the bishop a legitimate successor of the apostles and integrates him into the episcopal college to share with the Pope and the other bishops care for all the churches. It confers on him the offices of teaching, sanctifying, and ruling. <b>327. What is the office confided to a Bishop in a particular Church?</b> 1560-1561<br>The<b> </b>bishop to whom the care of a particular Church is entrusted is the visible head and foundation of unity for that Church. For the sake of that Church, as vicar of Christ, he fulfills the office of shepherd and is assisted by his own priests and deacons. <b>328. What is the effect of ordination to the priesthood?</b> 1562-1567</p><p>1595<br>The anointing of the Spirit seals the priest with an indelible, spiritual character that configures him to Christ the priest and enables him to act in the name of Christ the Head. As a co-worker of the order of bishops he is consecrated to preach the Gospel, to celebrate divine worship, especially the Eucharist from which his ministry draws its strength, and to be a shepherd of the faithful. <b>329. How does a priest carry out his proper ministry?</b> 1568<br>A priest, although ordained for a universal mission, exercises his ministry in a particular Church. This ministry is pursued in sacramental brotherhood with other priests who form the “presbyterate”. In communion with the bishop, and depending upon him, they bear responsibility for the particular Church. <b>330. What is the effect of the ordination to the diaconate?</b> 1569-1571</p><p>1596<br>The deacon, configured to Christ the servant of all, is ordained for service to the Church. He carries out this service under the authority of his proper bishop by the ministry of the Word, of divine worship, of pastoral care and of charity. <b>331. How is the sacrament of Holy Orders celebrated?</b> 1572-1574</p><p>1597<br>The sacrament of Holy Orders is conferred, in each of its three degrees, by means of the <i>imposition of hands</i> on the head of the ordinand by the Bishop who pronounces the solemn <i>prayer</i> of consecration. With this prayer he asks God on behalf of the ordinand for the special outpouring of the Holy Spirit and for the gifts of the Spirit proper to the ministry to which he is being ordained. <b>332. Who can confer this sacrament?</b> 1575-1576</p><p>1600<br>Only validly ordained bishops, as successors of the apostles, can confer the sacrament of Holy Orders. <b>333. Who can receive this sacrament?</b> 1577-1578</p><p>1598<br>This sacrament can only be validly received by a baptized man. The Church recognizes herself as bound by this choice made by the Lord Himself. No one can demand to receive the sacrament of Holy Orders, but must be judged suitable for the ministry by the authorities of the Church. <b>334. Is it necessary to be celibate to receive the sacrament of Holy Orders?</b> 1579-1580</p><p>1599<br>It is always necessary to be celibate for the episcopacy. For the priesthood in the Latin Church men who are practicing Catholics and celibate are chosen, men who intend to continue to live a celibate life “for the kingdom of heaven” (<i>Matthew</i> 19:12). In the Eastern Churches marriage is not permitted after one has been ordained. Married men can be ordained to the permanent diaconate. <b>335. What are the effects of the sacrament of Holy Orders?</b> 1581-1589<br>This sacrament yields a special outpouring of the Holy Spirit which configures the recipient to Christ in his triple office as Priest, Prophet, and King, according to the respective degrees of the sacrament. Ordination confers an indelible spiritual character and therefore cannot be repeated or conferred for a limited time. <b>336. With what authority is the priestly ministry exercised?</b> 1547-1553</p><p>1592<br>Ordained priests in the exercise of their sacred ministry speak and act not on their own authority, nor even by mandate or delegation of the community, but rather in the Person of Christ the Head and in the name of the Church. Therefore, the ministerial priesthood differs essentially and not just in degree from the priesthood common to all the faithful for whose service Christ instituted it. <b>THE SACRAMENT OF MATRIMONY</b><br><b>337. What is the plan of God regarding man and woman?</b> 1601-1605<br>God who is love and who created man and woman for love has called them to love. By creating man and woman he called them to an intimate communion of life and of love in marriage: “So that they are no longer two, but one flesh” (<i>Matthew</i> 19:6). God said to them in blessing “Be fruitful and multiply” (<i>Genesis</i> 1:28). <b>338. For what ends has God instituted Matrimony?</b> 1659-1660<br>The marital union of man and woman, which is founded and endowed with its own proper laws by the Creator, is by its very nature ordered to the communion and good of the couple and to the generation and education of children. According to the original divine plan this conjugal union is indissoluble, as Jesus Christ affirmed: “What God has joined together, let no man put asunder” (<i>Mark</i> 10:9). <b>339. How does sin threaten marriage?</b> 1606-1608<br>Because of original sin, which caused a rupture in the God-given communion between man and woman, the union of marriage is very often threatened by discord and infidelity. However, God in his infinite mercy gives to man and woman the grace to bring the union of their lives into accord with the original divine plan. <b>340. What does the Old Testament teach about marriage?</b> 1609-1611<br>God helped his people above all through the teaching of the Law and the Prophets to deepen progressively their understanding of the unity and indissolubility of marriage. The nuptial covenant of God with Israel prepared for and prefigured the new covenant established by Jesus Christ the Son of God, with his spouse, the Church. <b>341. What new element did Christ give to Matrimony?</b> 1612-1617</p><p>1661<br>Christ not only restored the original order of matrimony but raised it to the dignity of a sacrament, giving spouses a special grace to live out their marriage as a symbol of Christ’s love for his bride the Church: “Husbands, love your wives as Christ loves the Church” (<i>Ephesians</i> 5:25). <b>342. Are all obliged to get married?</b> 1618-1620<br>Matrimony is not an obligation for everyone, especially since God calls some men and women to follow the Lord Jesus in a life of virginity or of celibacy for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven. These renounce the great good of Matrimony to concentrate on the things of the Lord and seek to please him. They become a sign of the absolute supremacy of Christ’s love and of the ardent expectation of his glorious return. <b>343. How is the sacrament of Matrimony celebrated?</b> 1621-1624<br>Since Matrimony establishes spouses in a public state of life in the Church, its liturgical celebration is public, taking place in the presence of a priest (or of a witness authorized by the Church) and other witnesses. <b>344. What is matrimonial consent?</b> 1625-1632</p><p>1662-1663<br>Matrimonial consent is given when a man and a woman manifest the will to give themselves to each other irrevocably in order to live a covenant of faithful and fruitful love. Since consent constitutes Matrimony, it is indispensable and irreplaceable. For a valid marriage the consent must have as its object true Matrimony, and be a human act which is conscious and free and not determined by duress or coercion. <b>345. What is required when one of the spouses is not a Catholic?</b> 1633-1637<br>A <i>mixed</i> marriage (between a Catholic and a baptized non-Catholic) needs for liceity the permission<i> </i>of ecclesiastical authority. In a case of <i>disparity of cult</i> (between a Catholic and a non-baptized person) a dispensation is required for validity. In both cases, it is essential that the spouses do not exclude the acceptance of the essential ends and properties of marriage. It is also necessary for the Catholic party to accept the obligation, of which the non-Catholic party has been advised, to persevere in the faith and to assure the baptism and Catholic education of their children. <b>346. What are the effects of the sacrament of Matrimony?</b> 1638-1642<br>The sacrament of Matrimony establishes a perpetual and exclusive <i>bond</i> between the spouses. God himself seals the consent of the spouses. Therefore, a marriage which is ratified and consummated between baptized persons can never be dissolved. Furthermore, this sacrament bestows upon the spouses the grace necessary to attain holiness in their married life and to accept responsibly the gift of children and provide for their education. <b>347. What sins are gravely opposed to the sacrament of Matrimony?</b> 1645-1648<br>Adultery and polygamy are opposed to the sacrament of matrimony because they contradict the equal dignity of man and woman and the unity and exclusivity of married love. Other sins include the deliberate refusal of one’s procreative potential which deprives conjugal love of the gift of children and divorce which goes against the indissolubility of marriage. <b>348. When does the Church allow the physical separation of spouses?</b> 1629</p><p>1649<br>The Church permits the physical separation of spouses when for serious reasons their living together becomes practically impossible, even though there may be hope for their reconciliation. As long as one’s spouse lives, however, one is not free to contract a new union, except if the marriage be null and be declared so by ecclesiastical authority. <b>349. What is the attitude of the Church toward those people who are divorced and then remarried?</b> 1650-1651</p><p>1665<br>The Church, since she is faithful to her Lord, cannot recognize the union of people who are civilly divorced and remarried. “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another, commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery” (<i>Mark</i> 10:11-12). The Church manifests an attentive solicitude toward such people and encourages them to a life of faith, prayer, works of charity and the Christian education of their children. However, they cannot receive sacramental absolution, take Holy Communion, or exercise certain ecclesial responsibilities as long as their situation, which objectively contravenes God’s law, persists. <b>350. Why is the Christian family called a <i>domestic church</i>?</b> 1655-1658</p><p>1666<br>The Christian family is called the domestic church because the family manifests and lives out the communal and familial nature of the Church as the family of God. Each family member, in accord with their own role, exercises the baptismal priesthood and contributes toward making the family a community of grace and of prayer, a school of human and Christian virtue and the place where the faith is first proclaimed to children. <b>CHAPTER FOUR</b><br><b>Other Liturgical Celebrations</b><br><b>THE SACRAMENTALS</b><br><b>351. What are the sacramentals?</b> 1667-1672</p><p>1677-1678<br>These are sacred signs instituted by the Church to sanctify different circumstances of life. They include a prayer accompanied by the sign of the cross and other signs. Among the sacramentals which occupy an important place are: blessings, which are the praise of God and a prayer to obtain his gifts, the consecration of persons and the dedication of things for the worship of God. <b>352. What is an exorcism?</b> 1673<br>When the Church asks with its authority in the name of Jesus that a person or object be protected against the power of the Evil One and withdrawn from his dominion, it is called an exorcism. This is done in ordinary form in the rite of Baptism. A solemn exorcism, called a <i>major exorcism,</i> can be performed only by a priest authorized by the bishop. <b>353. What forms of popular piety accompany the sacramental life of the Church?</b> 1674-1676</p><p>1679<br>The religious sense of the Christian people has always found expression in the various forms of piety which accompany the sacramental life of the Church such as the veneration of relics, visits to sanctuaries, pilgrimages, processions, the stations of the cross and the rosary. The Church sheds the light of faith upon and fosters authentic forms of popular piety. <b>CHRISTIAN FUNERALS</b><br><b>354. What is the relationship between the sacraments and the death of a Christian?</b> 1680-1683<br>The Christian who dies in Christ reaches at the end of his earthly existence the fulfillment of that new life which was begun in Baptism, strengthened in Confirmation, and nourished in the Eucharist, the foretaste of the heavenly banquet. The meaning of the death of a Christian becomes clear in the light of the death and Resurrection of Christ our only hope. The Christian who dies in Christ Jesus goes “away from the body to be at home with the Lord” (<i>2 Corinthians</i> 5:8). <b>355. What do funeral rites express?</b> 1684-1685<br>Although celebrated in different rites in keeping with the situations and traditions of various regions, funerals express the paschal character of Christian death in hope of the resurrection. They also manifest the meaning of communion with the departed particularly through prayer for the purification of their souls. <b>356. What are the main moments in funerals?</b> 1686-1690<br>Usually, funeral rites consist of four principal parts: welcoming the body of the deceased by the community with words of comfort and hope, the liturgy of the Word, the Eucharistic Sacrifice, and the farewell in which the soul of the departed is entrusted to God, the Source of eternal life, while the body is buried in the hope of the resurrection. <b>Part Three</b><br><b>Life in Christ</b><br><b>Section One</p><p>Man’s Vocation: Life in the Spirit</b><br><b>357. How is the Christian moral life bound up with faith and the sacraments?</b> 1691-1698<br>What the symbol of faith professes, the sacraments communicate. Indeed, through them the faithful receive the grace of Christ and the gifts of the Holy Spirit which give them the capability of living a new life as children of God in Christ whom they have received in faith.<br><i>“O Christian, recognize your dignity.” </i>(Saint Leo the Great) <b>CHAPTER ONE</b><br><b>The Dignity of the Human Person</b><br><b>MAN THE IMAGE OF GOD</b><br><b>358. What is the root of human dignity?</b> 1699-1715<br>The dignity of the human person is rooted in his or her creation in the image and likeness of God. Endowed with a spiritual and immortal soul, intelligence and free will, the human person is ordered to God and called in soul and in body to eternal beatitude. <b>OUR VOCATION TO BEATITUDE</b><br><b>359. How do we attain beatitude?</b> 1716<br>We attain beatitude by virtue of the grace of Christ which makes us participants in the divine life. Christ in the Gospel points out to his followers the way that leads to eternal happiness: the beatitudes. The grace of Christ also is operative in every person who, following a correct conscience, seeks and loves the true and the good and avoids evil. <b>360. Why are the beatitudes important for us?</b> 1716-1717</p><p>1725-1726<br>The beatitudes are at the heart of Jesus’ preaching and they take up and fulfill the promises that God made starting with Abraham. They depict the very countenance of Jesus and they characterize authentic Christian life. They reveal the ultimate goal of human activity, which is eternal happiness. <b>361. What is the relationship between the beatitudes and our desire for happiness?</b> 1718-1719<br>The beatitudes respond to the innate desire for happiness that God has placed in the human heart in order to draw us to himself. God alone can satisfy this desire. <b>362. What is eternal happiness?</b> 1720-1724</p><p>1727-1729<br>It is the vision of God in eternal life in which we are fully “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4), of the glory of Christ and of the joy of the trinitarian life. This happiness surpasses human capabilities. It is a supernatural and gratuitous gift of God just as is the grace which leads to it. This promised happiness confronts us with decisive moral choices concerning earthly goods and urges us to love God above all things. <b>MAN’S FREEDOM</b><br><b>363. What is freedom?</b> 1730-1733</p><p>1743-1744<br>Freedom is the power given by God to act or not to act, to do this or to do that, and so to perform deliberate actions on one’s own responsibility. Freedom characterizes properly human acts. The more one does what is good, the freer one becomes. Freedom attains its proper perfection when it is directed toward God, the highest good and our beatitude. Freedom implies also the possibility of choosing between good and evil. The choice of evil is an abuse of freedom and leads to the slavery of sin. <b>364. What is the relationship between freedom and responsibility?</b> 1734-1737</p><p>1745-1746<br>Freedom makes people responsible for their actions to the extent that they are voluntary, even if the imputability and responsibility for an action can be diminished or sometimes cancelled by ignorance, inadvertence, duress, fear, inordinate attachments, or habit. <b>365. Why does everyone have a right to exercise freedom?</b> 1738</p><p>1747<br>The right to the exercise of freedom belongs to everyone because it is inseparable from his or her dignity as a human person. Therefore this right must always be respected, especially in moral and religious matters, and it must be recognized and protected by civil authority within the limits of the common good and a just public order. <b>366. What place does human freedom have in the plan of salvation?</b> 1739-1742</p><p>1748<br>Our freedom is weakened because of original sin. This weakness is intensified because of successive sins. Christ, however, set us free “so that we should remain free” (<i>Galatians</i> 5:1). With his grace, the Holy Spirit leads us to spiritual freedom to make us free co-workers with him in the Church and in the world. <b>367. What are the sources of the morality of human acts?</b> 1749-1754</p><p>1757-1758<br>The morality of human acts depends on three sources: <i>the object chosen</i>, either a true or apparent good; <i>the intention</i> of the subject who acts, that is, the purpose for which the subject performs the act; and <i>the circumstances</i> of the act, which include its consequences. <b>368. When is an act morally good?</b> 1755-1756</p><p>1759-1760<br>An act is morally good when it assumes simultaneously the goodness of the object, of the end, and of the circumstances. A chosen object can by itself vitiate an act in its entirety, even if the intention is good. It is not licit to do evil so that good may result from it. An evil end corrupts the action, even if the object is good in itself. On the other hand, a good end does not make an act good if the object of that act is evil, since the end does not justify the means. Circumstances can increase or diminish the responsibility of the one who is acting but they cannot change the moral quality of the acts themselves. They never make good an act which is in itself evil. <b>369. Are there acts which are always illicit?</b> 1756</p><p>1761<br>There are some acts which, in and of themselves, are always illicit by reason of their object (for example, blasphemy, homicide, adultery). Choosing such acts entails a disorder of the will, that is, a moral evil which can never be justified by appealing to the good effects which could possibly result from them. <b>THE MORALITY OF THE PASSIONS</b><br><b>370. What are the passions?</b> 1762-1766</p><p>1771-1772<br>The passions are the feelings, the emotions or the movements of the sensible appetite - natural components of human psychology - which incline a person to act or not to act in view of what is perceived as good or evil. The principal passions are love and hatred, desire and fear, joy, sadness, and anger. The chief passion is love which is drawn by the attraction of the good. One can only love what is good, real or apparent. <b>371. Are the passions morally good or bad?</b> 1767-1770</p><p>1773-1775<br>The passions insofar as they are movements of the sensible appetite are neither good nor bad in themselves. They are good when they contribute to a good action and they are evil in the opposite case. They can be taken up into the virtues or perverted by the vices. <b>THE MORAL CONSCIENCE</b><br><b>372. What is the moral conscience?</b> 1776-1780</p><p>1795-1797<br>Moral conscience, present in the heart of the person, is a judgment of reason which at the appropriate moment enjoins him to do good and to avoid evil. Thanks to moral conscience, the human person perceives the moral quality of an act to be done or which has already been done, permitting him to assume responsibility for the act. When attentive to moral conscience, the prudent person can hear the voice of God who speaks to him or her. <b>373. What does the dignity of the human person imply for the moral conscience?</b> 1780-1782</p><p>1798<br>The dignity of a human person requires the uprightness of a moral conscience (which is to say that it be in accord with what is just and good according to reason and the law of God). Because of this personal dignity, no one may be forced to act contrary to conscience; nor, within the limits of the common good, be prevented from acting according to it, especially in religious matters. <b>374. How is a moral conscience formed to be upright and truthful?</b> 1783-1788</p><p>1799-1800<br>An upright and true moral conscience is formed by education and by assimilating the Word of God and the teaching of the Church. It is supported by the gifts of the Holy Spirit and helped by the advice of wise people. Prayer and an examination of conscience can also greatly assist one’s moral formation. <b>375. What norms must conscience always follow?</b> 1789<br>There are three general norms: 1) one may never do evil so that good may result from it; 2) the so-called <i>Golden Rule</i>, “Whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them” (<i>Matthew</i> 7:12); 3) charity always proceeds by way of respect for one’s neighbor and his conscience, even though this does not mean accepting as good something that is objectively evil. <b>376. Can a moral conscience make erroneous judgments?</b> 1790-1794</p><p>1801-1802<br>A person must always obey the certain judgment of his own conscience but he could make erroneous judgments for reasons that may not always exempt him from personal guilt. However, an evil act committed through involuntary ignorance is not imputable to the person, even though the act remains objectively evil. One must therefore work to correct the errors of moral conscience. <b>THE VIRTUES</b><br><b>377. What is a virtue?</b> 1803</p><p>1833<br>A virtue is an habitual and firm disposition to do the good. “The goal of a virtuous life is to become like God” (Saint Gregory of Nyssa). There are human virtues and theological virtues. <b>378. What are the human virtues?</b> 1804</p><p>1810-1811</p><p>1834</p><p>1839<br>The human virtues are habitual and stable perfections of the intellect and will that govern our actions, order our passions and guide our conduct according to reason and faith. They are acquired and strengthened by the repetition of morally good acts and they are purified and elevated by divine grace. <b>379. What are the principal human virtues?</b> 1805</p><p>1834<br>The principal human virtues are called the <i>cardinal</i> virtues, under which all the other virtues are grouped and which are the hinges of a virtuous life. The cardinal virtues are: prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance. <b>380. What is prudence?</b> 1806</p><p>1835<br>Prudence disposes reason to discern in every circumstance our true good and to choose the right means for achieving it. Prudence guides the other virtues by pointing out their rule and measure. <b>381. What is justice?</b> 1807</p><p>1836<br>Justice consists in the firm and constant will to give to others their due. Justice toward God is called “the virtue of religion.” <b>382. What is fortitude?</b> 1808</p><p>1837<br>Fortitude assures firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of the good. It reaches even to the ability of possibly sacrificing one’s own life for a just cause. <b>383. What is temperance?</b> 1809</p><p>1838<br>Temperance moderates the attraction of pleasures, assures the mastery of the will over instincts and provides balance in the use of created goods. <b>384. What are the theological virtues?</b> 1812-1813</p><p>1840-1841<br>The theological virtues have God himself as their origin, motive and direct object. Infused with sanctifying grace, they bestow on one the capacity to live in a relationship with the Trinity. They are the foundation and the energizing force of the Christian’s moral activity and they give life to the human virtues. They are the pledge of the presence and action of the Holy Spirit in the faculties of the human being. <b>385. What are the theological virtues?</b> 1813<br>The theological virtues are faith, hope, and charity. <b>386. What is the virtue of faith?</b> 1814-1816</p><p>1842<br>Faith is the theological virtue by which we believe in God and all that he has revealed to us and that the Church proposes for our belief because God is Truth itself. By faith the human person freely commits himself to God. Therefore, the believer seeks to know and do the will of God because “faith works through charity” (<i>Galatians</i> 5:6). <b>387. What is hope?</b> 1817-1821</p><p>1843<br>Hope is the theological virtue by which we desire and await from God eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ’s promises and relying on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit to merit it and to persevere to the end of our earthly life. <b>388. What is charity?</b> 1822-1829</p><p>1844<br>Charity is the theological virtue by which we love God above all things and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God. Jesus makes charity the new commandment, the fullness of the law. “It is the bond of perfection” (<i>Colossians</i> 3:14) and the foundation of the other virtues to which it gives life, inspiration, and order. Without charity “I am nothing” and “I gain nothing” (<i>1 Corinthians</i> 13:1-3). <b>389. What are the gifts of the Holy Spirit?</b> 1830-1831</p><p>1845<br>The gifts of the Holy Spirit are permanent dispositions which make us docile in following divine inspirations. They are seven: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. <b>390. What are the fruits of the Holy Spirit?</b> 1832<br>The <i>fruits</i> of the Holy Spirit are perfections formed in us as the first fruits of eternal glory. The tradition of the Church lists twelve of them: charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, and chastity (<i>Galatians</i> 5:22-23, Vulgate). <b>SIN</b><br><b>391. What does the acceptance of God’s mercy require from us?</b> 1846-1848</p><p>1870<br>It requires that we admit our faults and repent of our sins. God himself by his Word and his Spirit lays bare our sins and gives us the truth of conscience and the hope of forgiveness. <b>392. What is sin?</b> 1849-1851</p><p>1871-1872<br>Sin is “a word, an act, or a desire contrary to the eternal Law” (Saint Augustine). It is an offense against God in disobedience to his love. It wounds human nature and injures human solidarity. Christ in his passion fully revealed the seriousness of sin and overcame it with his mercy. <b>393. Is there a variety of sins?</b> 1852-1853</p><p>1873<br>There are a great many kinds of sins. They can be distinguished according to their object or according to the virtues or commandments which they violate. They can directly concern God, neighbor, or ourselves. They can also be divided into sins of thought, of word, of deed, or of omission. <b>394. How are sins distinguished according to their gravity?</b> 1854<br>A distinction is made between mortal and venial sin. <b>395. When does one commit a mortal sin?</b> 1855-1861</p><p>1874<br>One commits a mortal sin when there are simultaneously present: grave matter, full knowledge, and deliberate consent. This sin destroys charity in us, deprives us of sanctifying grace, and, if unrepented, leads us to the eternal death of hell. It can be forgiven in the ordinary way by means of the sacraments of Baptism and of Penance or Reconciliation. <b>396. When does one commit a venial sin?</b> 1862-1864</p><p>1875<br>One commits a venial sin, which is essentially different from a mortal sin, when the matter involved is less serious or, even if it is grave, when full knowledge or complete consent are absent. Venial sin does not break the covenant with God but it weakens charity and manifests a disordered affection for created goods. It impedes the progress of a soul in the exercise of the virtues and in the practice of moral good. It merits temporal punishment which purifies. <b>397. How does sin proliferate?</b> 1865</p><p>1876<br>Sin creates a proclivity to sin ; it engenders vice by repetition of the same acts. <b>398. What are vices?</b> 1866-1867<br>Vices are the opposite of virtues. They are perverse habits which darken the conscience and incline one to evil. The vices can be linked to the seven, so-called, <i>capital</i> sins which are: pride, avarice, envy, anger, lust, gluttony, and sloth or acedia. <b>399. Do we have any responsibility for sins committed by others?</b> 1868<br>We do have such a responsibility when we culpably cooperate with them. <b>400. What are <i>structures</i> of sin?</b> 1869<br><i>Structures</i> of sin are social situations or institutions that are contrary to the divine law. They are the expression and effect of personal sins. <b>CHAPTER TWO</b><br><b>The Human Community</b><br><b>THE PERSON AND SOCIETY</b><br><b>401. In what does the social dimension of man consist?</b> 1877-1880</p><p>1890-1891<br>Together with the personal call to beatitude, the human person has a communal dimension as an essential component of his nature and vocation. Indeed, all are called to the same end, God himself. There is a certain resemblance between the communion of the divine Persons and the fraternity that people are to establish among themselves in truth and love. Love of neighbor is inseparable from love for God. <b>402. What is the relationship between the person and society?</b> 1881-1882</p><p>1892-1893<br>The human <i>person</i> is and ought to be the principle, the subject and the end of all social institutions. Certain societies, such as the family and the civic community, are necessary for the human person. Also helpful are other associations on the national and international levels with due respect for the principle of <i>subsidiarity</i>. <b>403. What is the principle of subsidiarity?</b> 1883-1885</p><p>1894<br>The principle of subsidiarity states that a community of a higher order should not assume the task belonging to a community of a lower order and deprive it of its authority. It should rather support it in case of need. <b>404. What else is required for an authentic human society?</b> 1886-1889</p><p>1895-1896<br>Authentic human society requires respect for justice, a just hierarchy of values, and the subordination of material and instinctual dimensions to interior and spiritual ones. In particular, where sin has perverted the social climate, it is necessary to call for the conversion of hearts and for the grace of God to obtain social changes that may really serve each person and the whole person. Charity, which requires and makes possible the practice of justice, is the greatest social commandment. <b>PARTICIPATION IN SOCIAL LIFE</b><br><b>405. What is the foundation of the authority of society?</b> 1897-1902</p><p>1918-1920<br>Every human community needs a legitimate authority that preserves order and contributes to the realization of the common good. The foundation of such authority lies in human nature because it corresponds to the order established by God. <b>406. When is authority exercised in a legitimate way?</b> 1901-1904</p><p>1921-1922<br>Authority is exercised legitimately when it acts for the common good and employs morally licit means to attain it. Therefore, political regimes must be determined by the free decision of their citizens. They should respect the principle of the “rule of law” in which the law, and not the arbitrary will of some, is sovereign. Unjust laws and measures contrary to the moral order are not binding in conscience. <b>407. What is the common good?</b> 1905-1906</p><p>1924<br>By the common good is meant the sum total of those conditions of social life which allow people as groups and as individuals to reach their proper fulfillment. <b>408. What is involved in the common good?</b> 1907-1909</p><p>1925<br>The common good involves: respect for and promotion of the fundamental rights of the person, the development of the spiritual and temporal goods of persons and society, and the peace and security of all. <b>409. Where can one find the most complete realization of the common good?</b> 1910-1912</p><p>1927<br>The most complete realization of the common good is found in those political communities which defend and promote the good of their citizens and of intermediate groups without forgetting the universal good of the entire human family. <b>410. How does one participate in bringing about the common good?</b> 1913-1917</p><p>1926<br>All men and women according to the place and role that they occupy participate in promoting the common good by respecting just laws and taking charge of the areas for which they have personal responsibility such as the care of their own family and the commitment to their own work. Citizens also should take an active part in public life as far as possible. <b>SOCIAL JUSTICE</b><br><b>411. How does society ensure social justice?</b> 1928-1933</p><p>1943-1944<br>Society ensures social justice when it respects the dignity and the rights of the person as the proper end of society itself. Furthermore, society pursues social justice, which is linked to the common good and to the exercise of authority, when it provides the conditions that allow associations and individuals to obtain what is their due. <b>412. On what is human equality based?</b> 1934-1935</p><p>1945<br>All persons enjoy equal dignity and fundamental rights insofar as they are created in the image of the one God, are endowed with the same rational soul, have the same nature and origin, and are called in Christ, the one and only Savior, to the same divine beatitude. <b>413. How are we to view social inequalities?</b> 1936-1938</p><p>1946-1947<br>There are sinful social and economic inequalities which affect millions of human beings. These inequalities are in open contradiction to the Gospel and are contrary to justice, to the dignity of persons, and to peace. There are , however, differences among people caused by various factors which enter into the plan of God. Indeed, God wills that each might receive what he or she needs from others and that those endowed with particular talents should share them with others. Such differences encourage and often oblige people to the practice of generosity, kindness and the sharing of goods. They also foster the mutual enrichment of cultures. <b>414. How is human solidarity manifested?</b> 1939-1942</p><p>1948<br>Solidarity, which springs from human and Christian brotherhood, is manifested in the first place by the just distribution of goods, by a fair remuneration for work and by zeal for a more just social order. The <i>virtue</i> of solidarity also practices the sharing of the spiritual goods of faith which is even more important than sharing material goods. <b>CHAPTER THREE</b><br><b>God’s Salvation: Law and Grace</b><br><b>THE MORAL LAW</b><br><b>415. What is the moral law?</b> 1950-1953</p><p>1975-1978<br>The moral law is a work of divine Wisdom. It prescribes the ways and the rules of conduct that lead to the promised beatitude and it forbids the ways that turn away from God. <b>416. In what does the natural moral law consist?</b> 1954-1960</p><p>1978-1979<br>The natural law which is inscribed by the Creator on the heart of every person consists in a participation in the wisdom and the goodness of God. It expresses that original moral sense which enables one to discern by reason the good and the bad. It is universal and immutable and determines the basis of the duties and fundamental rights of the person as well as those of the human community and civil law. <b>417. Is such a law perceived by everyone?</b> 1960<br>Because of sin the natural law is not always perceived nor is it recognized by everyone with equal clarity and immediacy.<br><i>For this reason God “wrote on the tables of the Law what men did not read in their hearts.”</i> (Saint Augustine) <b>418. What is the relationship between the natural law and the Old Law?</b> 1961-1962</p><p>1980<br>The Old Law is the first stage of revealed Law. It expresses many truths naturally accessible to reason and which are thus affirmed and authenticated in the covenant of salvation. Its moral prescriptions, which are summed up in the Ten Commandments of the Decalogue, lay the foundations of the human vocation, prohibit what is contrary to the love of God and neighbor, and prescribe what is essential to it. <b>419. What place does the Old Law have in the plan of salvation?</b> 1963-1964</p><p>1982<br>The Old Law permitted one to know many truths which are accessible to reason, showed what must or must not be done and, above all, like a wise tutor, prepared and disposed one for conversion and for the acceptance of the Gospel. However, while being holy, spiritual, and good, the Old Law was still imperfect because in itself it did not give the strength and the grace of the Spirit for its observance. <b>420. What is the New Law or the Law of the Gospel?</b> 1965-1972</p><p>1983-1985<br>The New Law or the Law of the Gospel, proclaimed and fulfilled by Christ, is the fullness and completion of the divine law, natural and revealed. It is summed up in the commandment to love God and neighbor and to love one another as Christ loved us. It is also an interior reality: the grace of the Holy Spirit which makes possible such love. It is “the law of freedom” (<i>Galatians</i> 1:25) because it inclines us to act spontaneously by the prompting of charity.<br><i>“The New Law is mainly the same grace of the Holy Spirit which is given to believers in Christ.” </i>(Saint Thomas Aquinas) <b>421. Where does one find the New Law?</b> 1971-1974</p><p>1986<br>The New Law is found in the entire life and preaching of Christ and in the moral catechesis of the apostles. The Sermon on the Mount is its principal expression. <b>GRACE AND JUSTIFICATION</b><br><b>422. What is justification?</b> 1987-1995</p><p>2017-2020<br>Justification is the most excellent work of God’s love. It is the merciful and freely-given act of God which takes away our sins and makes us just and holy in our whole being. It is brought about by means of the grace of the Holy Spirit which has been merited for us by the passion of Christ and is given to us in Baptism. Justification is the beginning of the free response of man, that is, faith in Christ and of cooperation with the grace of the Holy Spirit. <b>423. What is the grace that justifies?</b> 1996-1998</p><p>2005</p><p>2021<br>That grace is the gratuitous gift that God gives us to make us participants in his trinitarian life and able to act by his love. It is called <i>habitual, sanctifying or deifying grace</i> because it sanctifies and divinizes us. It is <i>supernatural</i> because it depends entirely on God’s gratuitous initiative and surpasses the abilities of the intellect and the powers of human beings. It therefore escapes our experience. <b>424. What other kinds of grace are there?</b> 1999-2000</p><p>2003-2004</p><p>2023-2024<br>Besides habitual grace, there are actual graces (gifts for specific circumstances), sacramental graces (gifts proper to each sacrament), special graces or charisms (gifts that are intended for the common good of the Church) among which are the graces of state that accompany the exercise of ecclesial ministries and the responsibilities of life. <b>425. What is the relationship between grace and human freedom?</b> 2001-2002<br>Grace precedes, prepares and elicits our free response. It responds to the deep yearnings of human freedom, calls for its cooperation and leads freedom toward its perfection. <b>426. What is merit?</b> 2006-2010</p><p>2025-2026<br>In general merit refers to the right to recompense for a good deed. With regard to God, we of ourselves are not able to merit anything, having received everything freely from him. However, God gives us the possibility of acquiring merit through union with the love of Christ, who is the source of our merits before God. The merits for good works, therefore must be attributed in the first place to the grace of God and then to the free will of man. <b>427. What are the goods that we can merit?</b> 2010-2011</p><p>2027<br>Moved by the Holy Spirit, we can merit for ourselves and for others the graces needed for our sanctification and for the attainment of eternal life. Even temporal goods, suitable for us, can be merited in accordance with the plan of God. No one, however, can merit the <i>initial grace</i> which is at the origin of conversion and justification. <b>428. Are all called to Christian holiness?</b> 2012-2016</p><p>2028-2029<br>All the faithful are called to Christian holiness. This is the fullness of Christian life and the perfection of charity and it is brought about by intimate union with Christ and, in him, with the most Holy Trinity. The path to holiness for a Christian goes by way of the cross and will come to its fulfillment in the final resurrection of the just, in which God will be all in all. <b>THE CHURCH MOTHER AND TEACHER</b><br><b>429. How does the Church nourish the moral life of a Christian?</b> 2030-2031</p><p>2047<br>The Church is the community in which the Christian receives the Word of God, the teachings of the “Law of Christ” (<i>Galatians</i> 6:2), and the grace of the sacraments. Christians are united to the Eucharistic sacrifice of Christ in such a way that their moral life is an act of spiritual worship; and they learn the example of holiness from the Virgin Mary and the lives of the Saints. <b>430. Why does the Magisterium of the Church act in the field of morality?</b> 2032-2040</p><p>2049-2051<br>It is the duty of the Magisterium of the Church to preach the faith that is to be believed and put into practice in life. This duty extends even to the specific precepts of the natural law because their observance is necessary for salvation. <b>431. What purpose do the precepts of the Church have?</b> 2041</p><p>2048<br>The five precepts of the Church are meant to guarantee for the faithful the indispensable minimum in the spirit of prayer, the sacramental life, moral commitment and growth in love of God and neighbor. <b>432. What are the precepts of the Church?</b> 2042-2043<br>They are: 1) to attend Mass on Sundays and other holy days of obligation and to refrain from work and activities which could impede the sanctification of those days; 2) to confess one’s sins, receiving the sacrament of Reconciliation at least once each year; 3) to receive the sacrament of the Eucharist at least during the Easter season; 4) to abstain from eating meat and to observe the days of fasting established by the Church; and 5) to help to provide for the material needs of the Church, each according to his own ability. <b>433. Why is the Christian moral life indispensable for the proclamation of the Gospel?</b> 2044-2046<br>Because their lives are conformed to the Lord Jesus, Christians draw others to faith in the true God, build up the Church, inform the world with the spirit of the Gospel, and hasten the coming of the Kingdom of God.<br><b>Section Two</p><p>The Ten Commandments </b><br><b>Exodus 20:2-17</b><br>I am the LORD your God, </p><p>who brought you out</p><p>of the land of Egypt, </p><p>out of the house of bondage.<br>You shall have no other gods before</p><p>me. You shall not make for yourself </p><p>a graven image, or any likeness of </p><p>anything that is in heaven above, </p><p>or that is in the earth beneath, or </p><p>that is in the water under the earth; </p><p>you shall not bow down to them </p><p>or serve them; for I the LORD your </p><p>God am a jealous God, visiting the </p><p>iniquity of the fathers upon the </p><p>children to the third and the fourth </p><p>generation of those who hate me, </p><p>but showing steadfast love to </p><p>thousands of those who love me </p><p>and keep my commandments.<br>You shall not take </p><p>the name of the LORD </p><p>your God in vain;</p><p>for the LORD will not hold him </p><p>guiltless who takes his name in vain.<br>Remember the sabbath day, to keep it </p><p>holy. Six days you shall labor, and </p><p>do all your work; but the seventh day </p><p>is a sabbath to the LORD your God; in </p><p>it you shall not do any work, you, or </p><p>your son, or your daughter, your </p><p>manservant, or your maidservant, or </p><p>your cattle, or the sojourner who is </p><p>within your gates; for in six days the </p><p>LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, </p><p>and all that is in them, and rested the </p><p>seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed </p><p>the sabbath day and hallowed it.<br>Honor your father and your </p><p>mother, that your days may </p><p>be long in the land which </p><p>the LORD your God </p><p>gives you.<br>You shall not kill.<br>You shall not </p><p>commit adultery.<br>You shall not steal.<br>You shall not bear false </p><p>witness against your </p><p>neighbor.<br>You shall not covet your </p><p>neighbor’s house; you shall not </p><p>covet your neighbor’s wife, or his </p><p>manservant, or his maidservant, </p><p>or his ox, or his ass, or anything </p><p>that is your neighbor’s.<br><b>Deuteronomy 5:6-21</b><br> I am the LORD </p><p>your God, who </p><p>brought you out of </p><p>the land of Egypt, </p><p>out of the house of bondage.<br>You shall have no other </p><p>gods before me...<br>You shall not take </p><p>the name of the </p><p>LORD your God in </p><p>vain:...<br>Observe the sabbath </p><p>day, to keep it holy...<br>Honor your father </p><p>and your mother...<br>You shall not kill.<br>Neither shall you </p><p>commit adultery.<br>Neither shall you steal.<br>Neither shall you bear </p><p>false witness against </p><p>your neighbor.<br>Neither shall you covet </p><p>your neighbor’s wife...<br>You shall not desire...</p><p>anything that is your </p><p>neighbor’s.<br><b>A Traditional Catechetical Formula</b><br>1. I am the LORD </p><p>your God: you </p><p>shall not have </p><p>strange Gods before me.<br>2. You shall not </p><p>take the name of </p><p>the LORD your </p><p>God in vain.<br>3. Remember to </p><p>keep holy the </p><p>LORD’S day.<br>4. Honor your father </p><p>and your mother.<br>5. You shall not kill.<br>6. You shall not </p><p>commit adultery.<br>7. You shall not steal.<br>8. You shall not bear </p><p>false witness against </p><p>your neighbor.<br>9. You shall not covet </p><p>your neighbor’s wife.<br>10. You shall not covet </p><p>your neighbor’s goods. <b>434. “Teacher, what good must I do to have eternal life?” (<i>Matthew</i> 19:16).</b> 2052-2054</p><p>2075-2076<br>To the young man who asked this question, Jesus answered, “If you would enter into life, keep the commandments”, and then he added, “Come, follow Me” (<i>Matthew</i> 19:16-21). To follow Jesus involves keeping the commandments. The law has not been abolished but man is invited to rediscover it in the Person of the divine Master who realized it perfectly in himself, revealed its full meaning and attested to its permanent validity. <b>435. How did Jesus interpret the Law?</b> 2055<br>Jesus interpreted the Law in the light of the twofold yet single commandment of love, the fullness of the Law: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And the second is like it: you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets” (<i>Matthew</i> 22:37-40). <b>436. What does “Decalogue” mean?</b> 2056-2057<br>Decalogue means “ten words” (<i>Exodus</i> 34:28). These words sum up the Law given by God to the people of Israel in the context of the Covenant mediated by Moses. This Decalogue, in presenting the commandments of the love of God (the first three) and of one’s neighbor (the other seven), traces for the chosen people and for every person in particular the path to a life freed from the slavery of sin. <b>437. What is the bond between the Decalogue and the Covenant?</b> 2058-2063</p><p>2077<br>The Decalogue must be understood in the light of the Covenant in which God revealed himself and made known his will. In observing the commandments, the people manifested their belonging to God and they answered his initiative of love with thanksgiving. <b>438. What importance does the Church give to the Decalogue?</b> 2064-2068<br>The Church, in fidelity to Scripture and to the example of Christ, acknowledges the primordial importance and significance of the Decalogue. Christians are obliged to keep it. <b>439. Why does the Decalogue constitute an organic unity?</b> 2069</p><p>2079<br>The Ten Commandments form an organic and indivisible whole because each commandment refers to the other commandments and to the entire Decalogue. To break one commandment, therefore, is to violate the entire law. <b>440. Why does the Decalogue enjoin serious obligations?</b> 2072-2073</p><p>2081<br>It does so because the Decalogue expresses the fundamental duties of man towards God and towards his neighbor. <b>441. Is it possible to keep the Decalogue?</b> 2074</p><p>2082<br>Yes, because Christ without whom we can do nothing enables us to keep it with the gift of his Spirit and his grace. <b>CHAPTER ONE</b><br><b>“You Shall Love the Lord Your God With All Your Heart, With All Your Soul, and With All Your Mind”</b><br><b>THE FIRST COMMANDMENT: I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD, YOU SHALL NOT HAVE OTHER GODS BEFORE ME</b><br><b>442. What is implied in the affirmation of God: “I am the Lord your God” (<i>Exodus</i> 20:2)?</b> (Source: Compendium Of The Catechism 2005 A.D.)
2083-2094</p><p>2133-2134<br>This means that the faithful must guard and activate the three theological virtues and must avoid sins which are opposed to them. <i>Faith</i> believes in God and rejects everything that is opposed to it, such as, deliberate doubt, unbelief, heresy, apostasy, and schism. <i>Hope</i> trustingly awaits the blessed vision of God and his help, while avoiding despair and presumption. <i>Charity</i> loves God above all things and therefore repudiates indifference, ingratitude, lukewarmness, sloth or spiritual indolence, and that hatred of God which is born of pride. <b>443. What is the meaning of the words of our Lord, “Adore the Lord your God and worship Him alone” (<i>Matthew</i> 4:10)?</b> 2095-2105</p><p>2135-2136<br>These words mean to adore God as the Lord of everything that exists; to render to him the individual and community worship which is his due; to pray to him with sentiments of praise, of thanks, and of supplication; to offer him sacrifices, above all the spiritual sacrifice of one’s own life, united with the perfect sacrifice of Christ; and to keep the promises and vows made to him. <b>444. In what way does a person exercise his or her proper right to worship God in truth and in freedom?</b> 2104-2109</p><p>2137<br>Every person has the right and the moral duty to seek the truth, especially in what concerns God and his Church. Once the truth is known, each person he has the right and moral duty to embrace it, to guard it faithfully and to render God authentic worship. At the same time, the dignity of the human person requires that in religious matters no one may be forced to act against conscience nor be restrained, within the just limits of public order, from acting in conformity with conscience, privately or publicly, alone or in association with others. <b>445. What does God prohibit by his command, “You shall not have other gods before me” (<i>Exodus</i> 20:2)?</b> 2110-2128</p><p>2138-2140<br>This commandment forbids:<br> • <i>Polytheism</i> and <i>idolatry</i>, which divinizes creatures, power, money, or even demons.<br> • <i>Superstition</i> which is a departure from the worship due to the true God and which also expresses itself in various forms of divination, magic, sorcery and spiritism.<br> • <i>Irreligion</i> which is evidenced: in tempting God by word or deed; in sacrilege, which profanes sacred persons or sacred things, above all the Eucharist; and in simony, which involves the buying or selling of spiritual things.<br> • <i>Atheism</i> which rejects the existence of God, founded often on a false conception of human autonomy.<br> • <i>Agnosticism</i> which affirms that nothing can be known about God, and involves indifferentism and practical atheism. <b>446. Does the commandment of God, “You shall not make for yourself a graven image” (<i>Exodus</i> 20:3), forbid the cult of images?</b> 2129-2132</p><p>2141<br>In the Old Testament this commandment forbade any representation of God who is absolutely transcendent. The Christian veneration of sacred images, however, is justified by the incarnation of the Son of God (as taught by the Second Council of Nicea in 787AD) because such veneration is founded on the mystery of the Son of God made man, in whom the transcendent God is made visible. This does not mean the adoration of an image, but rather the veneration of the one who is represented in it: for example, Christ, the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Angels and the Saints. <b>THE SECOND COMMANDMENT: </p><p>YOU SHALL NOT TAKE THE NAME OF THE LORD YOUR GOD IN VAIN</b><br><b>447. How does one respect the holiness of the Name of God?</b> 2142-2149</p><p>2160-2162<br>One shows respect for the holy Name of God by blessing it, praising it and glorifying it. It is forbidden, therefore, to call on the Name of God to justify a crime. It is also wrong to use the holy Name of God in any improper way as in <i>blasphemy</i> (which by its nature is a grave sin), <i>curses</i>, and <i>unfaithfulness</i> to promises made in the Name of God. <b>448. Why is a false oath forbidden?</b> 2150-2151</p><p>2163-2164<br>It is forbidden because one calls upon God who is truth itself to be the witness to a lie.<br><i>“Do not swear, whether by the Creator or by any creature, except truthfully, of necessity and with reverence.” </i>(Saint Ignatius of Loyola) <b>449. What is perjury?</b> 2152-2155<br>Perjury is to make a promise under oath with the intention of not keeping it or to violate a promise made under oath. It is a grave sin against God who is always faithful to his promises. <b>THE THIRD COMMANDMENT: </p><p>REMEMBER TO KEEP HOLY THE LORD’S DAY</b><br><b>450. Why did God “bless the Sabbath day and declare it sacred” (<i>Exodus</i> 20:11)?</b> 2168-2172</p><p>2189<br>God did so because on the Sabbath day one remembers <i>God’s rest</i> on the seventh day of creation, and also the liberation of Israel from slavery in Egypt and the Covenant which God sealed with his people. <b>451. How did Jesus act in regard to the Sabbath?</b> 2173<br>Jesus recognized the holiness of the Sabbath day and with divine authority he gave this law its authentic interpretation: “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath” (<i>Mark</i> 2:27). <b>452. For what reason has the Sabbath been changed to Sunday for Christians?</b> 2174-2176</p><p>2190-2191<br>The reason is because Sunday is the day of the Resurrection of Christ. As “the first day of the week” (<i>Mark</i> 16:2) it recalls the first creation; and as the “eighth day”, which follows the sabbath, it symbolizes the new creation ushered in by the Resurrection of Christ. Thus, it has become for Christians the first of all days and of all feasts. It is the <i>day of the Lord</i> in which he with his Passover fulfilled the spiritual truth of the Jewish Sabbath and proclaimed man’s eternal rest in God. <b>453. How does one keep Sunday holy?</b> 2177-2185</p><p>2192-2193<br>Christians keep Sunday and other days of obligation holy by participating in the Eucharist of the Lord and by refraining from those activities which impede the worship of God and disturb the joy proper to the day of the Lord or the necessary relaxation of mind and body. Activities are allowed on the Sabbath which are bound up with family needs or with important social service, provided that they do not lead to habits prejudicial to the holiness of Sunday, to family life and to health. <b>454. Why is the civil recognition of Sunday as a feast day important?</b> 2186-2188</p><p>2194-2195<br>It is important so that all might be given the real possibility of enjoying sufficient rest and leisure to take care of their religious, familial, cultural and social lives. It is important also to have an opportune time for meditation, for reflection, for silence, for study, and a time to dedicate to good works, particularly for the sick and for the elderly. <b>CHAPTER TWO</b><br><b>“You Shall Love Your Neighbour as Yourself”</b><br><b>THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT: HONOR YOUR FATHER AND YOUR MOTHER</b><br><b>455. What does the fourth commandment require?</b> 2196-2200</p><p>2247-2248<br>It commands us to honor and respect our parents and those whom God, for our good, has vested with his authority. <b>456. What is the nature of the family in the plan of God?</b> 2201-2205</p><p>2249<br>A man and a woman united in marriage form a family together with their children. God instituted the family and endowed it with its fundamental constitution. Marriage and the family are ordered to the good of the spouses and to the procreation and education of children. Members of the same family establish among themselves personal relationships and primary responsibilities. In Christ the family becomes the <i>domestic church</i> because it is a community of faith, of hope, and of charity. <b>457. What place does the family occupy in society?</b> 2207-2208<br>The family is the original cell of human society and is, therefore, prior to any recognition by public authority. Family values and principles constitute the foundation of social life. Family life is an initiation into the life of society. <b>458. What are the duties that society has toward the family?</b> 2209-2213</p><p>2250<br>Society, while respecting the principle of subsidiarity, has the duty to support and strengthen marriage and the family. Public authority must respect, protect and foster the true nature of marriage and the family, public morality, the rights of parents, and domestic prosperity. <b>459. What are the duties of children toward their parents?</b> 2214-2220</p><p>2251<br>Children owe respect (filial piety), gratitude, docility and obedience to their parents. In paying them respect and in fostering good relationships with their brothers and sisters, children contribute to the growth in harmony and holiness in family life in general. Adult children should give their parents material and moral support whenever they find themselves in situations of distress, sickness, loneliness, or old age. <b>460. What are the duties of parents toward their children?</b> 2221-2231<br>Parents, in virtue of their participation in the fatherhood of God, have the first responsibility for the education of their children and they are the first heralds of the faith for them. They have the duty to love and respect their children as <i>persons</i> and as <i>children of God</i> and to provide, as far as is possible, for their physical and spiritual needs. They should select for them a suitable school and help them with prudent counsel in the choice of their profession and their state of life. In particular they have the mission of educating their children in the Christian faith. <b>461. How are parents to educate their children in the Christian faith?</b> 2252-2253<br>Parents do this mainly by example, prayer, family catechesis and participation in the life of the Church. <b>462. Are family bonds an absolute good?</b> 2232-2233<br>Family ties are important but not absolute, because the first vocation of a Christian is to follow Jesus and love him: “He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” (<i>Matthew</i> 10:37). Parents must support with joy their children’s choice to follow Jesus in whatever state of life, even in the consecrated life or the priestly ministry. <b>463. How should authority be exercised in the various spheres of civil society?</b> 2234-2237</p><p>2254<br>Authority should always be exercised as a service, respecting fundamental human rights, a just hierarchy of values, laws, distributive justice, and the principle of subsidiarity. All those who exercise authority should seek the interests of the community before their own interest and allow their decisions to be inspired by the truth about God, about man and about the world. <b>464. What are the duties of citizens in regard to civil authorities?</b> 2238-2241</p><p>2255<br>Those subject to authority should regard those in authority as representatives of God and offer their loyal collaboration for the right functioning of public and social life. This collaboration includes love and service of one’s homeland, the right and duty to vote, payment of taxes, the defense of one’s country, and the right to exercise constructive criticism. <b>465. When is a citizen forbidden to obey civil authorities?</b> 2242-2243</p><p>2256<br>A citizen is obliged in conscience not to obey the laws of civil authorities when they are contrary to the demands of the moral order: “We must obey God rather than men” (<i>Acts of the Apostles</i> 5:29). <b>THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT: </p><p>YOU SHALL NOT KILL</b><br><b>466. Why must human life be respected?</b> 2258-2262</p><p>2318-2320<br>Human life must be respected because it is <i>sacred</i>. From its beginning human life involves the creative action of God and it remains forever in a special relationship with the Creator, who is its sole end. It is not lawful for anyone directly to destroy an innocent human being. This is gravely contrary to the dignity of the person and the holiness of the Creator. “Do not slay the innocent and the righteous” (<i>Exodus</i> 23:7). <b>467. Why is the legitimate defense of persons and of society not opposed to this norm?</b> 2263-2265<br>Because in choosing to legitimately defend oneself one is respecting the right to life (either one’s own right to life or that of another) and not choosing to kill. Indeed, for someone responsible for the life of another, legitimate defense can be not only a right but a grave duty, provided only that disproportionate force is not used. <b>468. What is the purpose of punishment?</b> 2266<br>A punishment imposed by legitimate public authority has the aim of redressing the disorder introduced by the offense, of defending public order and people’s safety, and contributing to the correction of the guilty party. <b>469. What kind of punishment may be imposed?</b> 2267<br>The punishment imposed must be proportionate to the gravity of the offense. Given the possibilities which the State now has for effectively preventing crime by rendering one who has committed an offense incapable of doing harm, the cases in which the execution of the offender is an absolute necessity “are very rare, if not practically non-existent.” (<i>Evangelium Vitae</i>). When non-lethal means are sufficient, authority should limit itself to such means because they better correspond to the concrete conditions of the common good, are more in conformity with the dignity of the human person, and do not remove definitively from the guilty party the possibility of reforming himself. <b>470. What is forbidden by the fifth commandment?</b> 2268-2283</p><p>2321-2326<br>The fifth commandment forbids as gravely contrary to the moral law:<br> • <i>direct and intentional murder</i> and cooperation in it;<br> • <i>direct abortion</i>, willed as an end or as means, as well as cooperation in it. Attached to this sin is the penalty of excommunication because, from the moment of his or her conception, the human being must be absolutely respected and protected in his integrity;<br> • <i>direct euthanasia</i> which consists in putting an end to the life of the handicapped, the sick, or those near death by an act or by the omission of a required action;<br> • <i>suicide</i> and voluntary cooperation in it, insofar as it is a grave offense against the just love of God, of self, and of neighbor. One’s responsibility may be aggravated by the scandal given; one who is psychologically disturbed or is experiencing grave fear may have diminished responsibility. <b>471. What medical procedures are permitted when death is considered imminent?</b> 2278-2279<br>When death is considered imminent the ordinary care owed to a sick person cannot be legitimately interrupted. However, it is legitimate to use pain-killers which do not aim at in death and to refuse “over-zealous treatment”, that is the utilization of disproportionate medical procedures without reasonable hope of a positive outcome. <b>472. Why must society protect every embryo?</b> 2273-2274<br>The inalienable right to life of every human individual from the first moment of conception is a constitutive element of civil society and its legislation. When the State does not place its power at the service of the rights of all and in particular of the more vulnerable, including unborn children, the very foundations of a State based on law are undermined. <b>473. How does one avoid scandal?</b> 2284-2287<br>Scandal, which consists in inducing others to do evil, is avoided when we respect the soul and body of the person. Anyone who deliberately leads others to commit serious sins himself commits a grave offense. <b>474. What duty do we have toward our body?</b> 2288-2291<br>We must take reasonable <i>care of our own physical health</i> and that of others but avoid the <i>cult of the body</i> and every kind of excess. Also to be avoided are the use of drugs which cause very serious damage to human health and life, as well as the abuse of food, alcohol, tobacco and medicine. <b>475. When are scientific, medical, or psychological experiments on human individuals or groups morally legitimate?</b> 2292-2295<br>They are morally legitimate when they are at the service of the integral good of the person and of society, without disproportionate risks to the life and physical and psychological integrity of the subjects who must be properly informed and consenting. <b>476. Are the transplant and donation of organs allowed before and after death?</b> 2296<br>The transplant of organs is morally acceptable with the consent of the donor and without excessive risks to him or her. Before allowing the noble act of organ donation after death, one must verify that the donor is truly dead. <b>477. What practices are contrary to respect for the bodily integrity of the human person?</b> 2297-2298<br>They are: kidnapping and hostage taking, terrorism, torture, violence, and direct sterilization. Amputations and mutilations of a person are morally permissible only for strictly therapeutic medical reasons. <b>478. What care must be given to the dying?</b> 2299<br>The dying have a right to live the last moments of their earthly lives with dignity and, above all, to be sustained with prayer and the sacraments that prepare them to meet the living God. <b>479. How are the bodies of the deceased to be treated?</b> 2300-2301<br>The bodies of the departed must be treated with love and respect. Their cremation is permitted provided that it does not demonstrate a denial of faith in the resurrection of the body. <b>480. What does the Lord ask of every person in regard to peace?</b> 2302-2303<br>The Lord proclaimed “<i>Blessed</i> are the peacemakers” (<i>Matthew</i> 5:9). He called for peace of heart and denounced the immorality of anger which is a desire for revenge for some evil suffered. He also denounced hatred which leads one to wish evil on one’s neighbor. These attitudes, if voluntary and consented to in matters of great importance, are mortal sins against charity. <b>481. What is peace in this world?</b> 2304-2305<br>Peace in this world, which is required for the respect and development of human life, is not simply the absence of war or a balance of power between adversaries. It is “the tranquility of order” (Saint Augustine), “the work of justice” (<i>Isaiah</i> 32:17) and the effect of charity. Earthly peace is the image and fruit of the peace of Christ. <b>482. What is required for earthly peace?</b> 2304</p><p>2307-2308<br>Earthly peace requires the equal distribution and safeguarding of the goods of persons, free communication among human beings, respect for the dignity of persons and peoples, and the assiduous practice of justice and fraternity. <b>483. When is it morally permitted to use military force?</b> 2307-2310<br>The use of military force is morally justified when the following conditions are simultaneously present:<br> • the suffering inflicted by the aggressor must be lasting, grave and certain;<br> • all other peaceful means must have been shown to be ineffective;<br> • there are well founded prospects of success;<br> • the use of arms, especially given the power of modern weapons of mass destruction, must not produce evils graver than the evil to be eliminated. <b>484. In danger of war, who has the responsibility for the rigorous evaluation of these conditions?</b> 2309<br>This responsibility belongs to the prudential judgment of government officials who also have the right to impose on citizens the obligation of national defense. The personal right to conscientious objection makes an exception to this obligation which should then be carried out by another form of service to the human community. <b>485. In case of war, what does the moral law require?</b> 2312-2314</p><p>2328<br>Even during a war the moral law always remains valid. It requires the humane treatment of noncombatants, wounded soldiers and prisoners of war. Deliberate actions contrary to the law of nations, and the orders that command such actions are crimes, which blind obedience does not excuse. Acts of mass destruction must be condemned and likewise the extermination of peoples or ethnic minorities, which are most grievous sins. One is morally bound to resist the orders that command such acts. <b>486. What must be done to avoid war?</b> 2315-2317</p><p>2327-2330<br>Because of the evils and injustices that all war brings with it, we must do everything reasonably possible to avoid it. To this end it is particularly important to avoid: the accumulation and sale of arms which are not regulated by the legitimate authorities; all forms of economic and social injustice; ethnic and religious discrimination; envy, mistrust, pride and the spirit of revenge. Everything done to overcome these and other disorders contributes to building up peace and avoiding war. <b>THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT: </p><p>YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY</b><br><b>487. What responsibility do human persons have in regard to their own sexual identity?</b> 2331-2336</p><p>2392-2393<br>God has created human beings as male and female, equal in personal dignity, and has called them to a vocation of love and of communion. Everyone should accept his or her identity as male or female, recognizing its importance for the whole of the person, its specificity and complementarity. <b>488. What is chastity?</b> 2337-2338<br>Chastity means the positive integration of sexuality within the person. Sexuality becomes truly human when it is integrated in a correct way into the relationship of one person to another. Chastity is a moral virtue, a gift of God, a grace, and a fruit of the Holy Spirit. <b>489. What is involved in the virtue of chastity?</b> 2339-2341<br>The virtue of chastity involves an apprenticeship in self-mastery as an expression of human freedom directed towards self-giving. An integral and continuing formation, which is brought about in stages, is necessary to achieve this goal. <b>490. What are the means that aid the living of chastity?</b> 2340-2347<br>There are many means at one’s disposal: the grace of God, the help of the sacraments, prayer, self-knowledge, the practice of an asceticism adapted to various situations, the exercise of the moral virtues, especially the virtue of temperance which seeks to have the passions guided by reason. <b>491. In what way is everyone called to live chastity?</b> 2348-2350</p><p>2394<br>As followers of Christ, the model of all chastity, all the baptised are called to live chastely in keeping with their particular states of life. Some profess virginity or consecrated celibacy which enables them to give themselves to God alone with an undivided heart in a remarkable manner. Others, if they are married live in conjugal chastity, or if unmarried practise chastity in continence. <b>492. What are the principal sins against chastity?</b> 2351-2359</p><p>2396<br>Grave sins against chastity differ according to their object: adultery, masturbation, fornication, pornography, prostitution, rape, and homosexual acts. These sins are expressions of the vice of lust. These kinds of acts committed against the physical and moral integrity of minors become even more grave. <b>493. Although it says only “you shall not commit adultery” why does the sixth commandment forbid all sins against chastity?</b> 2336<br>Although the biblical text of the Decalogue reads “you shall not commit adultery” (<i>Exodus</i> 20:14), the Tradition of the Church comprehensively follows the moral teachings of the Old and New Testaments and considers the sixth commandment as encompassing all sins against chastity. <b>494. What is the responsibility of civil authority in regard to chastity?</b> 2354<br>Insofar as it is bound to promote respect for the dignity of the person, civil authority should seek to create an environment conducive to the practice of chastity. It should also enact suitable legislation to prevent the spread of the grave offenses against chastity mentioned above, especially in order to protect minors and those who are the weakest members of society. <b>495. What are the goods of conjugal love to which sexuality is ordered?</b> 2360-2361</p><p>2397-2398<br>The goods of conjugal love, which for those who are baptized is sanctified by the sacrament of Matrimony, are unity, fidelity, indissolubility, and an openness to the procreation of life. <b>496. What is the meaning of the conjugal act?</b> 2362-2367<br>The conjugal act has a twofold meaning: unitive (the mutual self-giving of the spouses) and procreative (an openness to the transmission of life). No one may break the inseparable connection which God has established between these two meanings of the conjugal act by excluding one or the other of them. <b>497. When is it moral to regulate births?</b> 2368-2369</p><p>2399<br>The regulation of births, which is an aspect of responsible fatherhood and motherhood, is objectively morally acceptable when it is pursued by the spouses without external pressure; when it is practiced not out of selfishness but for serious reasons; and with methods that conform to the objective criteria of morality, that is, periodic continence and use of the infertile periods. <b>498. What are immoral means of birth control?</b> 2370-2372<br>Every action - for example, direct sterilization or contraception - is intrinsically immoral which (either in anticipation of the conjugal act, in its accomplishment or in the development of its natural consequences) proposes, as an end or as a means, to hinder procreation. <b>499. Why are artificial insemination and artificial fertilization immoral?</b> 2373-2377<br>They are immoral because they dissociate procreation from the act with which the spouses give themselves to each other and so introduce the domination of technology over the origin and destiny of the human person. Furthermore, heterologous insemination and fertilization with the use of techniques that involve a person other than the married couple infringe upon the right of a child to be born of a father and mother known to him, bound to each other by marriage and having the exclusive right to become parents only through each another. <b>500. How should children be considered?</b> 2378<br>A child is a <i>gift of God</i>, the supreme gift of marriage. There is no such thing as a right to have children (e.g. “a child at any cost”). But a child does have the right to be the fruit of the conjugal act of its parents as well as the right to be respected as a person from the moment of conception. <b>501. What can spouses do when they do not have children?</b> 2379<br>Should the gift of a child not be given to them, after exhausting all legitimate medical options, spouses can show their generosity by way of foster care or adoption or by performing meaningful services for others. In this way they realize a precious spiritual fruitfulness. <b>502. What are the offenses against the dignity of marriage?</b> 2380-2391</p><p>2400<br>These are: adultery, divorce, polygamy, incest, free unions (cohabitation, concubinage), and sexual acts before or outside of marriage. <b>THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT: </p><p>YOU SHALL NOT STEAL</b><br><b>503. What is set forth by the seventh commandment?</b> 2401-2402<br>The seventh commandment requires respect for the universal destination and distribution of goods and the private ownership of them, as well as respect for persons, their property, and the integrity of creation. The Church also finds in this Commandment the basis for her social doctrine which involves the correct way of acting in economic, social and political life, the right and the duty of human labor, justice and solidarity among nations, and love for the poor. <b>504. Under what conditions does the right to private property exist?</b> 2403<br>The right to private property exists provided the property is acquired or received in a just way and that the universal destination of goods for the satisfaction of the basic needs of all takes precedence. <b>505. What is the purpose of private property?</b> 2404-2406<br>The purpose of private property is to guarantee the freedom and dignity of individual persons by helping them to meet the basic needs of those in their charge and also of others who are in need. <b>506. What does the seventh commandment require?</b> 2407</p><p>2450-2451<br>The seventh commandment requires respect for the goods of others through the practice of justice and charity, temperance and solidarity. In particular it requires <i>respect for promises made and contracts agreed to</i>, <i>reparation for injustice</i> committed and restitution of stolen goods, and respect for the <i>integrity of creation</i> by the prudent and moderate use of the mineral, vegetable, and animal resources of the universe with special attention to those species which are in danger of extinction. <b>507. What attitude should people have toward animals?</b> 2416-2418</p><p>2457<br>People must treat animals with kindness as creatures of God and avoid both excessive love for them and an indiscriminate use of them especially by scientific experiments that go beyond reasonable limits and entail needless suffering for the animals. <b>508. What is forbidden by the seventh commandment?</b> 2408-2413</p><p>2453-2455<br>Above all, the seventh commandment forbids theft, which is the taking or using of another’s property against the reasonable will of the owner. This can be done also by paying unjust wages; by speculation on the value of goods in order to gain an advantage to the detriment of others; or by the forgery of checks or invoices. Also forbidden is tax evasion or business fraud; willfully damaging private or public property ; usury; corruption; the private abuse of common goods; work deliberately done poorly; and waste. <b>509. What is the content of the social doctrine of the Church?</b> 2419-2423<br>The social doctrine of the Church is an organic development of the truth of the Gospel about the dignity of the human person and his social dimension offering principles for reflection, criteria for judgment, and norms and guidelines for action. <b>510. When does the Church intervene in social areas?</b> 2420</p><p>2458<br>The Church intervenes by making a moral judgment about economic and social matters when the fundamental rights of the person, the common good, or the salvation of souls requires it. <b>511. How should social and economic life be pursued?</b> 2459<br>It should be pursued according to its own proper methods within the sphere of the moral order, at the service of the whole human being and of the entire human community in keeping with social justice. Social and economic life should have the human person as its author, center, and goal. <b>512. What would be opposed to the social doctrine of the Church?</b> 2424-2425<br>Opposed to the social doctrine of the Church are economic and social systems that sacrifice the basic rights of persons or that make profit their exclusive norm or ultimate end. For this reason the Church rejects the ideologies associated in modern times with Communism or with atheistic and totalitarian forms of socialism. But in the practice of capitalism the Church also rejects self centered individualism and an absolute primacy of the laws of the marketplace over human labor. <b>513. What is the meaning of work?</b> 2426-2428</p><p>2460-2461<br>Work is both a duty and a right through which human beings collaborate with God the Creator. Indeed, by working with commitment and competence we fulfil the potential inscribed in our nature, honor the Creator’s gifts and the talents received from him, provide for ourselves and for our families, and serve the human community. Furthermore, by the grace of God, work can be a means of sanctification and collaboration with Christ for the salvation of others. <b>514. To what type of work does every person have a right?</b> 2429</p><p>2433-2434<br>Access to secure and honest employment must be open to all without unjust discrimination and with respect for free economic initiative and fair compensation. <b>515. What responsibility does the State have in regard to labor?</b> 2431<br>It is the role of the State to guarantee individual freedom and private property, as well as a stable currency and efficient public services. It is also the State’s responsibility to oversee and direct the exercise of human rights in the economic sector. According to circumstances, society must help citizens to find work. <b>516. What is the task of business management?</b> 2432<br>Business managers are responsible for the economic and ecological effects of their operations. They must consider the good of persons and not only the increase of profits, even though profits are necessary to assure investments, the future of the business, employment, and the good progress of economic life. <b>517. What are the duties of workers?</b> 2435<br>They must carry out their work in a conscientious way with competence and dedication, seeking to resolve any controversies with dialogue. Recourse to a non-violent strike is morally legitimate when it appears to be the necessary way to obtain a proportionate benefit and it takes into account the common good. <b>518. How is justice and solidarity among nations brought about?</b> 2437-2441<br>On the international level, all nations and institutions must carry out their work in solidarity and subsidiarity for the purpose of eliminating or at least reducing poverty, the inequality of resources and economic potential, economic and social injustices, the exploitation of persons, the accumulation of debts by poor countries, and the perverse mechanisms that impede the development of the less advanced countries. <b>519. In what way do Christians participate in political and social life?</b> 2442<br>The lay faithful take part directly in political and social life by animating temporal realities with a Christian spirit and collaborating with all as authentic witnesses of the Gospel and agents of peace and justice. <b>520. By what is love for the poor inspired?</b> 2443-2449</p><p>2462-2463<br>Love for the poor is inspired by the Gospel of the Beatitudes and by the example of Jesus in his constant concern for the poor. Jesus said, “Whatever you have done to the least of my brethren, you have done to me” (<i>Matthew</i> 25:40). Love for the poor shows itself through the struggle against material poverty and also against the many forms of cultural, moral, and religious poverty. The spiritual and corporal works of mercy and the many charitable institutions formed throughout the centuries are a concrete witness to the preferential love for the poor which characterizes the disciples of Jesus. <b>THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT:</p><p>YOU SHALL NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS AGAINST YOUR NEIGHBOR</b><br><b>521. What is one’s duty toward the truth?</b> 2464-2470</p><p>2504<br>Every person is called to sincerity and truthfulness in acting and speaking. Everyone has the duty to seek the truth, to adhere to it and to order one’s whole life in accordance with its demands. In Jesus Christ the whole of God’s truth has been made manifest. He is “<i>the truth</i>”. Those who follow him live in the Spirit of truth and guard against duplicity, dissimulation, and hypocrisy. <b>522. How does one bear witness to the truth?</b> 2471-2474</p><p>2505-2506<br>A Christian must bear witness to the truth of the Gospel in every field of his activity, both public and private, and also if necessary, with the sacrifice of his very life. Martyrdom is the supreme witness given to the truth of the faith. <b>523. What is forbidden by the eighth commandment?</b> 2475-2487</p><p>2507-2509<br>The eighth commandment forbids:<br> • <i>false witness</i>, <i>perjury</i>, and <i>lying</i>, the gravity of which is measured by the truth it deforms, the circumstances, the intentions of the one who lies, and the harm suffered by its victims;<br> • <i>rash judgment</i>, <i>slander</i>, <i>defamation</i> and <i>calumny</i> which diminish or destroy the good reputation and honor to which every person has a right;<br> • <i>flattery</i>, <i>adulation</i>, or <i>complaisance</i>, especially if directed to serious sins or toward the achievement of illicit advantages.<br>A sin committed against truth demands reparation if it has caused harm to others. <b>524. What is required by the eighth commandment?</b> 2488-2492</p><p>2510-2511<br>The eighth commandment requires respect for the truth accompanied by the discretion of charity in the field of <i>communication </i>and the<i> imparting of information</i>, where the personal and common good, the protection of privacy and the danger of scandal must all be taken into account; in respecting <i>professional secrets</i> which must be kept, save in exceptional cases for grave and proportionate reasons; and also in respecting <i>confidences</i> given under the seal of secrecy. <b>525. How is one to use the means of social communication?</b> 2493-2499</p><p>2512<br>The information provided by the media must be at the service of the common good. Its content must be true and – within the limits of justice and charity – also complete. Furthermore, information must be communicated honestly and properly with scrupulous respect for moral laws and the legitimate rights and dignity of the person. <b>526. What relationship exists between truth, beauty and sacred art?</b> 2500-2503</p><p>2513<br>The truth is beautiful, carrying in itself the splendour of spiritual beauty. In addition to the expression of the truth in words there are other complementary expressions of the truth, most specifically in the beauty of artistic works. These are the fruit both of talents given by God and of human effort. <i>Sacred art</i> by being true and beautiful should evoke and glorify the mystery of God made visible in Christ, and lead to the adoration and love of God, the Creator and Savior, who is the surpassing, invisible Beauty of Truth and Love. <b>THE NINTH COMMANDMENT: </p><p>YOU SHALL NOT COVET YOUR NEIGHBOR’S WIFE</b><br><b>527. What is required by the ninth commandment?</b> 2514-2516</p><p>2528-2530<br>The ninth commandment requires that one overcome carnal concupiscence in thought and in desire. The struggle against such concupiscence entails purifying the heart and practicing the virtue of temperance. <b>528. What is forbidden by the ninth commandment?</b> 2517-2519</p><p>2531-2532<br>The ninth commandment forbids cultivating thoughts and desires connected to actions forbidden by the sixth commandment. <b>529. How does one reach purity of heart?</b> 2520<br>In the battle against disordered desires the baptised person is able, by the grace of God, to achieve purity of heart through the virtue and gift of chastity, through purity of intention, purity of vision (both exterior and interior), discipline of the imagination and of feelings and by prayer. <b>530. What are the other requirements for purity?</b> 2521-2527</p><p>2533<br>Purity requires <i>modesty</i> which, while protecting the intimate center of the person, expresses the sensitivity of chastity. It guides how one looks at others and behaves toward them in conformity with the dignity of persons and their communion. Purity frees one from wide-spread eroticism and avoids those things which foster morbid curiosity. Purity also requires a <i>purification of the social climate</i> by means of a constant struggle against moral permissiveness which is founded on an erroneous conception of human freedom. <b>THE TENTH COMMANDMENT:</p><p>YOU SHALL NOT COVET YOUR NEIGHBOR’S POSSESSIONS</b><br><b>531. What is required and what is forbidden by the tenth commandment?</b> 2534-2540</p><p>2551-2554<br>This commandment, which completes the preceding commandment, requires an interior attitude of respect for the property of others and forbids <i>greed</i>, <i>unbridled covetousness</i> for the goods of others, and <i>envy</i> which is the sadness one experiences at the sight of another’s goods and the immoderate desire to acquire them for oneself. <b>532. What does Jesus call for in poverty of spirit?</b> 2544-2547</p><p>2556<br>Jesus calls his disciples to prefer him to everything and everyone. Detachment from riches – in the spirit of evangelical poverty – and self-abandonment to divine providence free us from anxiety about the future and prepare us for the blessedness of the “poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (<i>Mathew</i> 5:3). <b>533. What is the greatest human desire?</b> 2548-2550</p><p>2557<br>The greatest desire of the human person is to see God. “I want to see God” is the cry of our whole being. We realize our true and full happiness in the vision and beatitude of the One who created us out of love and draws us to himself with infinite love.<br><i>“Whoever sees God has obtained all the goods of which he can conceive.” </i>(Saint Gregory of Nyssa) <b>Part Four</b><br><b>Christian Prayer</b><br><b>Section One</p><p>Prayer in the Christian Life</b><br><b>534. What is prayer?</b> 2558-2565</p><p>2590<br>Prayer is the raising of one’s mind and heart to God, or the petition of good things from him in accord with his will. It is always the gift of God who comes to encounter man. Christian prayer is the personal and living relationship of the children of God with their Father who is infinitely good, with his Son Jesus Christ, and with the Holy Spirit who dwells in their hearts. <b>CHAPTER ONE</b><br><b>The Revelation of Prayer</b><br><b>535. Why is there a universal call to prayer?</b> 2566-2567<br>Because through creation God first calls every being from nothingness. Even after the Fall man continues to be capable of recognizing his Creator and retains a desire for the One who has called him into existence. All religions, and the whole history of salvation in particular, bear witness to this human desire for God. It is God first of all, however, who ceaselessly draws every person to the mysterious encounter known as prayer. <b>THE REVELATION OF PRAYER</p><p>IN THE OLD TESTAMENT</b><br><b>536. How is Abraham a model of prayer?</b> 2570-2573</p><p>2592<br>Abraham is a model of prayer because he walked in the presence of God, heard and obeyed him. His prayer was a battle of faith because he continued to believe in the fidelity of God even in times of trial. Besides, after having received in his own tent the visit of the Lord who confided his plan to him, Abraham dared to intercede for sinners with bold confidence. <b>537. How did Moses pray?</b> 2574-2577</p><p>2593<br>The prayer of Moses was typical of contemplative prayer. God, who called to Moses from the burning bush, lingered in conversation with him often and at length, “face to face, like a man with his friend” (<i>Exodus</i> 33:11). In this intimacy with God, Moses attained the strength to intercede tenaciously for his people: his prayer thus prefigured the intercession of the one mediator, Christ Jesus. <b>538. In the Old Testament, what relationship do the king and the temple have to prayer?</b> 2578-2580</p><p>2594<br>The prayer of the People of God developed in the shadow of the dwelling place of God – the Ark of the Covenant, then the Temple – under the guidance of their shepherds. Among them there was David, the King “after God’s own heart,” the shepherd who prayed for his people. His prayer was a model for the prayer of the people because it involved clinging to the divine promise and a trust filled with love for the One who is the only King and Lord. <b>539. What is the role of prayer in the mission of the prophets?</b> 2581-2584<br>The prophets drew from prayer the light and strength to exhort the people to faith and to conversion of heart. They entered into great intimacy with God and interceded for their brothers and sisters to whom they proclaimed what they had seen and heard from the Lord. Elijah was the father of the prophets, of those who sought the face of God. On Mount Carmel he achieved the return of the people to the faith, thanks to the intervention of God to whom he prayed: “Answer me, O Lord, answer me!” (<i>1 Kings </i>18:37). <b>540. What is the importance of the Psalms in prayer?</b> 2579</p><p>2585-2589</p><p>2596-2597<br>The Psalms are the summit of prayer in the Old Testament: the Word of God become the prayer of man. Inseparably both personal and communal, and inspired by the Holy Spirit, this prayer sings of God’s marvelous deeds in creation and in the history of salvation. Christ prayed the Psalms and brought them to fulfillment. Thus they remain an essential and permanent element of the prayer of the Church suited to people of every condition and time. <b>PRAYER IS FULLY REVEALED AND REALIZED IN JESUS</b><br><b>541. From whom did Jesus learn how to pray?</b> 2599</p><p>2620<br>Jesus, with his human heart, learned how to pray from his mother and from the Jewish tradition. But his prayer sprang from a more secret source because he is the eternal Son of God who in his holy humanity offers his perfect filial prayer to his Father. <b>542. When did Jesus pray?</b> 2600-2604</p><p>2620<br>The Gospel often shows Jesus at prayer. We see him draw apart to pray in solitude, even at night. He prays before the decisive moments of his mission or that of his apostles. In fact, all his life is a prayer because he is in a constant communion of love with the Father. <b>543. How did Jesus pray during his passion?</b> 2605-2606</p><p>2620<br>The prayer of Jesus during his agony in the garden of Gethsemani and his last words on the cross reveal the depth of his filial prayer. Jesus brings to completion the loving plan of the Father and takes upon himself all the anguish of humanity and all the petitions and intercessions of the history of salvation. He presents them to the Father who accepts them and answers them beyond all hope by raising his Son from the dead. <b>544. How does Jesus teach us to pray?</b> 2608-2614</p><p>2621<br>Jesus teaches us to pray not only with the <i>Our Father</i> but also when he prays. In this way he teaches us, in addition to the content, the dispositions necessary for every true prayer: purity of heart that seeks the Kingdom and forgives one’s enemies, bold and filial faith that goes beyond what we feel and understand, and watchfulness that protects the disciple from temptation. <b>545. Why is our prayer efficacious?</b> 2615-2616<br>Our prayer is efficacious because it is united in faith with the prayer of Jesus. In him Christian prayer becomes a communion of love with the Father. In this way we can present our petitions to God and be heard: “Ask and you will receive that your joy may be full” (<i>John</i> 16:24). <b>546. How did the Virgin Mary pray?</b> 2617, 2618</p><p>2622, 2674</p><p>2679<br>Mary’s prayer was characterized by faith and by the generous offering of her whole being to God. The Mother of Jesus is also the new Eve, the “Mother of all the living”. She prays to Jesus for the needs of all people. <b>547. Is there a prayer of Mary in the Gospel?</b> 2619<br>Along with the prayer of Mary at Cana in Galilee, the Gospel gives us the <i>Magnificat</i> (<i>Luke</i> 1:46-55) which is the song both of the Mother of God and of the Church, the joyous thanksgiving that rises from the hearts of the poor because their hope is met by the fulfillment of the divine promises. <b>PRAYER IN THE AGE OF THE CHURCH</b><br><b>548. How did the first Christian community in Jerusalem pray?</b> 2623-2624<br>At the beginning of the <i>Acts of the Apostles</i> it is written that in the first community of Jerusalem, educated in the life of prayer by the Holy Spirit, the faithful “devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of the bread, and to the prayers” (<i>Acts</i> 2:42). <b>549. How does the Holy Spirit intervene in the Church’s prayer?</b> 2623</p><p>2625<br>The Holy Spirit, the interior Master of Christian prayer, forms the Church in the life of prayer and allows her to enter ever more deeply into contemplation of and union with the unfathomable mystery of Christ. The forms of prayer expressed in the apostolic and canonical writings remain normative for Christian prayer. <b>550. What are the essential forms of Christian prayer?</b> 2643-2644<br>They are blessing and adoration, the prayer of petition and intercession, thanksgiving and praise. The Eucharist contains and expresses all the forms of prayer. <b>551. What is “blessing”?</b> 2626-2627</p><p>2645<br>The prayer of blessing is man’s response to God’s gifts: we bless the Almighty who first blesses us and fills us with his gifts. <b>552. How can adoration be defined?</b> 2628<br>Adoration is the humble acknowledgement by human beings that they are creatures of the thrice-holy Creator. <b>553. What are the different forms of the prayer of petition?</b> 2629-2633</p><p>2646<br>It can be a petition for pardon or also a humble and trusting petition for all our needs either spiritual or material. The first thing to ask for, however, is the coming of the Kingdom. <b>554. In what does the prayer of intercession consist?</b> 2634-2636</p><p>2647<br>Intercession consists in asking on behalf of another. It conforms us and unites us to the prayer of Jesus who intercedes with the Father for all, especially sinners. Intercession must extend even to one’s enemies. <b>555. When is thanksgiving given to God?</b> 2637-2638</p><p>2648<br>The Church gives thanks to God unceasingly, above all in celebrating the Eucharist in which Christ allows her to participate in his own thanksgiving to the Father. For the Christian every event becomes a reason for giving thanks. <b>556. What is the prayer of praise?</b> 2639-2643</p><p>2649<br>Praise is that form of prayer which recognizes most immediately that God is God. It is a completely disinterested prayer: it sings God’s praise for his own sake and gives him glory simply because he is. <b>CHAPTER TWO</b><br><b>The Tradition of Prayer</b><br><b>557. What is the importance of Tradition in regard to prayer?</b> 2650-2651<br>In the Church it is through living Tradition that the Holy Spirit teaches the children of God how to pray. In fact prayer cannot be reduced to the spontaneous outpouring of an interior impulse; rather it implies contemplation, study and a grasp of the spiritual realities one experiences. <b>AT THE WELLSPRINGS OF PRAYER</b><br><b>558. What are the sources of Christian prayer?</b> 2652-2662<br>They are: the <i>Word of God</i> which gives us “the surpassing knowledge” of Christ (<i>Philippians</i> 3:8); the <i>Liturgy of the Church</i> that proclaims, makes present and communicates the mystery of salvation; the <i>theological virtues</i>; and <i>everyday situations</i> because in them we can encounter God.<br><i>“I love you, Lord, and the only grace I ask is to love you eternally. … My God, if my tongue cannot say in every moment that I love you, I want my heart to repeat it to you as often as I draw breath.”</i> (The Curé of Ars, Saint John Mary Vianney) <b>THE WAY OF PRAYER</b><br><b>559. In the Church are there different ways of praying?</b> 2663<br>In the Church there are various ways of praying that are tied to different historical, social and cultural contexts. The Magisterium of the Church has the task of discerning the fidelity of these ways of praying to the tradition of apostolic faith. It is for pastors and catechists to explain their meaning which is always related to Jesus Christ. <b>560. What is the way of our prayer?</b> 2664</p><p>2680-2681<br>The way of our prayer is Christ because prayer is directed to God our Father but reaches him only if we pray – at least implicitly – in the name of Jesus. His humanity is in effect the only way by which the Holy Spirit teaches us to pray to our Father. Therefore liturgical prayers conclude with the formula: “Through our Lord Jesus Christ.” <b>561. What is the role of the Holy Spirit in prayer?</b> 2670-2672</p><p>2680-2681<br>Since the Holy Spirit is the interior Master of Christian prayer and “we do not know how to pray as we ought” (<i>Romans</i> 8:26), the Church exhorts us to invoke him and implore him on every occasion: “Come, Holy Spirit!” <b>562. How is Christian prayer Marian?</b> 2673-2679</p><p>2682<br>Because of her singular cooperation with the action of the Holy Spirit, the Church loves to pray to Mary and with Mary, the perfect ‘pray-er’, and to “magnify” and invoke the Lord with her. Mary in effect shows us the “Way” who is her Son, the one and only Mediator. <b>563. How does the Church pray to Mary?</b> 2676-2678</p><p>2682<br>Above all with the <i>Hail Mary,</i> the prayer with which the Church asks the intercession of the Virgin. Other Marian prayers are the <i>Rosary</i>, the <i>Akathistos</i> hymn, the <i>Paraclesis</i>, and the hymns and canticles of diverse Christian traditions. <b>GUIDES FOR PRAYER</b><br><b>564. How are the saints guides for prayer?</b> 2683-2684</p><p>2692-2693<br>The saints are our models of prayer. We also ask them to intercede before the Holy Trinity for us and for the whole world. Their intercession is their most exalted service to God’s plan. In the communion of saints, throughout the history of the Church, there have developed different types of <i>spiritualities</i> that teach us how to live and to practice the way of prayer. <b>565. Who can educate us in prayer?</b> 2685-2690</p><p>2694-2695<br>The Christian family is the first place of education in prayer. Daily family prayer is particularly recommended because it is the first witness to the life of prayer in the Church. Catechesis, prayer groups, and “spiritual direction” constitute a school of and a help to prayer. <b>566. What places are conducive to prayer?</b> 2691</p><p>2696<br>One can pray anywhere but the choice of an appropriate place is not a matter of indifference when it comes to prayer. The church is the proper place for liturgical prayer and Eucharistic adoration. Other places also help one to pray, such as a “prayer corner” at home, a monastery or a shrine. <b>CHAPTER THREE</b><br><b>The Life of Prayer</b><br><b>567. What times are more suitable for prayer?</b> 2697-2698</p><p>2720<br>Any time is suitable for prayer but the Church proposes to the faithful certain rhythms of praying intended to nourish continual prayer: morning and evening prayer, prayer before and after meals, the Liturgy of the Hours, Sunday Eucharist, the Rosary, and feasts of the liturgical year.<br><i>“We must remember God more often than we draw breath.”</i> (Saint Gregory of Nazianzus) <b>568</b>.<b> What are the expressions of the life of prayer?</b><br>2697-2699<br>Christian tradition has preserved three forms for expressing and living prayer: vocal prayer, meditation, and contemplative prayer. The feature common to all of them is the recollection of the heart. <b>EXPRESSIONS OF PRAYER</b><br><b>569. How can vocal prayer be described?</b> 2700-2704</p><p>2722<br>Vocal prayer associates the body with the interior prayer of the heart. Even the most interior prayer, however, cannot dispense with vocal prayer. In any case it must always spring from a personal faith. With the <i>Our Father</i> Jesus has taught us a perfect form of vocal prayer. <b>570. What is meditation?</b> 2705-2708</p><p>2723<br>Meditation is a prayerful reflection that begins above all in the Word of God in the Bible. Meditation engages thought, imagination, emotion and desire in order to deepen our faith, convert our heart and fortify our will to follow Christ. It is a first step toward the union of love with our Lord. <b>571. What is contemplative prayer?</b> 2709-2719</p><p>2724</p><p>2739-2741<br>Contemplative prayer is a simple gaze upon God in silence and love. It is a gift of God, a moment of pure faith during which the one praying seeks Christ, surrenders himself to the loving will of the Father, and places his being under the action of the Holy Spirit. Saint Teresa of Avila defines contemplative prayer as the intimate sharing of friendship, “in which time is frequently taken to be alone with God who we know loves us.” <b>THE BATTLE OF PRAYER</b><br><b>572. Why is prayer a “battle”?</b> 2725<br>Prayer is a gift of grace but it always presupposes a determined response on our part because those who pray “battle” against themselves, their surroundings, and especially the Tempter who does all he can to turn them away from prayer. The battle of prayer is inseparable from progress in the spiritual life. We pray as we live because we live as we pray. <b>573. Are there objections to prayer?</b> 2726-2728</p><p>2752-2753<br>Along with erroneous notions of prayer, many think they do not have the time to pray or that praying is useless. Those who pray can be discouraged in the face of difficulties and apparent lack of success. Humility, trust and perseverance are necessary to overcome these obstacles. <b>574. What are the difficulties in prayer?</b> 2729-2733</p><p>2754-2755<br><i>Distraction</i> is a habitual difficulty in our prayer. It takes our attention away from God and can also reveal what we are attached to. Our heart therefore must humbly turn to the Lord. Prayer is often affected by <i>dryness</i>. Overcoming this difficulty allows us to cling to the Lord in faith, even without any feeling of consolation. <i>Acedia</i> is a form of spiritual laziness due to relaxed vigilance and a lack of custody of the heart. <b>575. How may we strengthen our filial trust?</b> 2734-2741</p><p>2756<br>Filial trust is tested when we think we are not heard. We must therefore ask ourselves if we think God is truly a Father whose will we seek to fulfill, or simply a means to obtain what we want. If our prayer is united to that of Jesus, we know that he gives us much more than this or that gift. We receive the Holy Spirit who transforms our heart. <b>576. Is it possible to pray always?</b> 2742-2745</p><p>2757<br>Praying is always possible because the time of the Christian is the time of the risen Christ who remains “with us always” (<i>Matthew</i> 28:20). Prayer and Christian life are therefore inseparable:<br><i>“It is possible to offer frequent and fervent prayer even at the market place or strolling alone. It is possible also in your place of business, while buying or selling, or even while cooking.”</i> (Saint John Chrysostom) <b>577. What is the prayer of the <i>Hour</i> of Jesus?</b> 2604</p><p>2746-2751</p><p>2758<br>It is called the priestly prayer of Jesus at the Last Supper. Jesus, the High Priest of the New Covenant, addresses it to his Father when the <i>hour</i> of his sacrifice, the <i>hour</i> of his “passing over” to him is approaching. <b>Section Two</p><p>The Lord’s Prayer: “Our Father”</b><br><b>Our Father</b><br>Our Father who art in heaven,</p><p>hallowed be thy name.</p><p>Thy kingdom come.</p><p>Thy will be done </p><p>on earth, as it is in heaven.</p><p>Give us this day </p><p>our daily bread,</p><p>and forgive us our trespasses, </p><p>as we forgive those who trespass against us,</p><p>and lead us not into temptation,</p><p>but deliver us from evil. <b>Pater Noster</b><br>Pater noster, qui es in cælis:</p><p>sanctificétur Nomen Tuum:</p><p>advéniat Regnum Tuum:</p><p>fiat volúntas Tua,</p><p>sicut in cælo, et in terra.</p><p>Panem nostrum </p><p>cotidiánum da nobis hódie,</p><p>et dimítte nobis débita nostra, </p><p>sicut et nos </p><p>dimíttimus debitóribus nostris.</p><p>et ne nos indúcas in tentatiónem; </p><p>sed líbera nos a Malo. <b>578. What is the origin of the <i>Our Father</i>?</b> 2759-2760</p><p>2773<br>Jesus taught us this Christian prayer for which there is no substitute, the <i>Our Father</i>, on the day on which one of his disciples saw him praying and asked him, “Lord, teach us to pray” (<i>Luke</i> 11:1). The Church’s liturgical tradition has always used the text of Saint Matthew (6:9-13). <b>“THE SUMMARY OF THE WHOLE GOSPEL”</b><br><b>579. What is the place of the <i>Our Father</i> in the Scriptures?</b> 2761-2764</p><p>2774<br>The <i>Our Father</i> is the “summary of the whole Gospel” (Tertullian), “the perfect prayer” (Saint Thomas Aquinas). Found in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount (<i>Matthew</i> 5-7), it presents in the form of prayer the essential content of the Gospel. <b>580. Why is it called the “Lord’s Prayer”?</b> 2765-2766</p><p>2775<br>The <i>Our Father</i> is called the “Oratio Dominica”, that is, the Lord’s Prayer because it was taught to us by the Lord Jesus himself. <b>581. What place does the <i>Our Father</i> have in the prayer of the Church?</b> 2767-2772</p><p>2776<br>The <i>Lord’s Prayer</i> is the prayer of the Church <i>par excellence</i>. It is “handed on” in Baptism to signify the new birth of the children of God into the divine life. The full meaning of the <i>Our Father</i> is revealed in the eucharist since its petitions are based on the mystery of salvation already accomplished, petitions that will be fully heard at the coming of the Lord. The <i>Our Father</i> is an integral part of the Liturgy of the Hours. <b>“OUR FATHER WHO ART IN HEAVEN”</b><br><b>582. Why can we dare to draw near to God in full confidence?</b> 2777-2778</p><p>2797<br>Because Jesus, our Redeemer, brings us into the Father’s presence and his Spirit makes us his children. We are thus able to pray the <i>Our Father</i> with simple and filial trust, with joyful assurance and humble boldness, with the certainty of being loved and heard. <b>583. How is it possible to address God as “Father”?</b> 2779-2785</p><p>2789</p><p>2798-2800<br>We can invoke the “Father” because the Son of God made man has revealed him to us and because his Spirit makes him known to us. The invocation, Father, lets us enter into his mystery with an ever new sense of wonder and awakens in us the desire to act as his children. When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we are therefore aware of our being sons of the Father in the Son. <b>584. Why do we say “our” Father?</b> 2786-2790</p><p>2801<br> “Our” expresses a totally new relationship with God. When we pray to the Father, we adore and glorify him with the Son and the Holy Spirit. In Christ we are “his” people and he is “our” God now and for eternity. In fact, we also say “our” Father because the Church of Christ is the communion of a multitude of brothers and sisters who have but “one heart and mind” (<i>Acts</i> 4:32). <b>585. With what spirit of communion and mission do we pray to God as “our” Father?</b> 2791-2793</p><p>2801<br>Since praying to “our” Father is a common blessing for the baptized, we feel an urgent summons to join in Jesus’ prayer for the unity of his disciples. To pray the “Our Father” is to pray with all people and for all people that they may know the one true God and be gathered into unity. <b>586. What does the phrase “Who art in heaven” mean?</b> 2794-2796</p><p>2802<br>This biblical expression does not indicate a place but a way of being: God transcends everything. The expression refers to the majesty, the holiness of God, and also to his presence in the hearts of the just. Heaven, or the Father’s house, constitutes our true homeland toward which we are moving in hope while we are still on earth. “Hidden with Christ in God” (<i>Colossians</i> 3:3), we live already in this homeland. <b>THE SEVEN PETITIONS</b><br><b>587. What is the structure of the Lord’s Prayer?</b> 2803-2806</p><p>2857<br>It contains seven petitions made to God the Father. The first three, more God-centered, draw us toward him for his glory; it is characteristic of love to think first of the beloved. These petitions suggest in particular what we ought to ask of him: the sanctification of his Name, the coming of his Kingdom, and the fulfillment of his will. The last four petitions present to the Father of mercies our wretchedness and our expectations. They ask him to feed us, to forgive us, to sustain us in temptations, and to free us from the Evil One. <b>588. What does “Hallowed be thy Name” mean?</b> 2807-2812</p><p>2858<br>To hallow or make holy the Name of God is above all a prayer of praise that acknowledges God as holy. In fact, God revealed his holy Name to Moses and wanted <i>his</i> people to be consecrated for him as a holy nation in which he would dwell. <b>589. How is the Name of God made holy in us and in the world?</b> 2813-2815<br>To make holy the Name of God, who calls us “to holiness” (<i>1 Thessalonians</i> 4:7) is to desire that our baptismal consecration animate our whole life. In addition, it is to ask –with our lives and our prayers – that the Name of God be known and blessed by every man. <b>590. What does the Church ask for when she prays “Thy Kingdom come”?</b> 2816-2821</p><p>2859<br>The Church prays for the final coming of the Kingdom of God through Christ’s return in glory. The Church prays also that the Kingdom of God increase from now on through people’s sanctification in the Spirit and through their commitment to the service of justice and peace in keeping with the Beatitudes. This petition is the cry of the Spirit and the Bride: “Come, Lord Jesus” (<i>Revelation</i> 22:20). <b>591. Why pray “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”?</b> 2822-2827</p><p>2860<br>The will of the Father is that “all men be saved” (<i>1 Timothy</i> 2:4). For this Jesus came: to perfectly fulfill the saving will of his Father. We pray God our Father to unite our will to that of his Son after the example of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the saints. We ask that this loving plan be fully realized on earth as it is already in heaven. It is through prayer that we can discern “what is the will of God” (<i>Romans</i> 12:2) and have the “steadfastness to do it” (<i>Hebrews</i> 10:36). <b>592. What is the sense of the petition “Give us this day our daily bread”?</b> 2828-2834</p><p>2861<br>Asking God with the filial trust of children for the daily nourishment which is necessary for us all we recognize how good God is, beyond all goodness. We ask also for the grace to know how to act so that justice and solidarity may allow the abundance of some to remedy the needs of others. <b>593. What is the specifically Christian sense of this petition?</b> 2835-2837</p><p>2861<br>Since “man does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (<i>Matthew</i> 4:4), this petition equally applies to hunger for the <i>Word of God</i> and for the <i>Body of Christ</i> received in the Eucharist as well as hunger for the Holy Spirit. We ask this with complete confidence for <i>this day</i> – God’s “today” – and this is given to us above all in the Eucharist which anticipates the banquet of the Kingdom to come. <b>594. Why do we say “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us”?</b> 2838-2839</p><p>2862<br>By asking God the Father to pardon us, we acknowledge before him that we are sinners. At the same time we proclaim his mercy because in his Son and through the sacraments “we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (<i>Colossians</i> 1:14). Still our petition will be answered only if we for our part have forgiven first. <b>595. How is forgiveness possible?</b> 2840-2845</p><p>2862<br>Mercy can penetrate our hearts only if we ourselves learn how to forgive – even our enemies. Now even if it seems impossible for us to satisfy this requirement, the heart that offers itself to the Holy Spirit can, like Christ, love even to love’s extreme; it can turn injury into compassion and transform hurt into intercession. Forgiveness participates in the divine mercy and is a high-point of Christian prayer. <b>596. What does “Lead us not into temptation” mean?</b> 2846-2849</p><p>2863<br>We ask God our Father not to leave us alone and in the power of temptation. We ask the Holy Spirit to help us know how to discern, on the one hand, between a <i>trial</i> that makes us grow in goodness and a <i>temptation</i> that leads to sin and death and, on the other hand, between <i>being tempted</i> and <i>consenting</i> to temptation. This petition unites us to Jesus who overcame temptation by his prayer. It requests the grace of vigilance and of final perseverance. <b>597. Why do we conclude by asking “But deliver us from evil”?</b> 2850-2854</p><p>2864<br>“Evil” indicates the person of Satan who opposes God and is “the deceiver of the whole world” (<i>Revelation</i> 12:9). Victory over the devil has already been won by Christ. We pray, however, that the human family be freed from Satan and his works. We also ask for the precious gift of peace and the grace of perseverance as we wait for the coming of Christ who will free us definitively from the Evil One. <b>598. What is the meaning of the final <i>Amen?</i></b> 2855-2856</p><p>2865<br><i>“At the end of the prayer, you say ‘Amen’ and thus you ratify by this word that means ‘so be it’ all that is contained in this prayer that God has taught us.” </i>(Saint Cyril of Jerusalem) <b>APPENDIX</b><br><b>A) COMMON PRAYERS</b><br><b>The Sign of the Cross</b><br>In the name of the Father</p><p>and of the Son</p><p>and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. <b>Signum Crucis</b><br>In nómine Patris</p><p>et Fílii</p><p>et Spíritus Sancti. Amen. <b>Glory be to the Father</b><br>Glory be to the Father</p><p>and to the Son</p><p>and to the Holy Spirit,</p><p>as it was in the beginning</p><p>is now, and ever shall be</p><p>world without end. Amen. <b>Gloria Patri</b><br>Glória Patri</p><p>et Fílio</p><p>et Spirítui Sancto.</p><p>Sicut erat in princípio,</p><p>et nunc et semper</p><p>et in sæ´cula sæculórum. Amen. <b>The Hail Mary</b><br>Hail, Mary, full of grace,</p><p>the Lord is with thee.</p><p>Blessed art thou among women</p><p>and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.</p><p>Holy Mary, Mother of God,</p><p>pray for us sinners,</p><p>now and at the hour of our death. </p><p>Amen. <b>Ave, Maria</b><br>Ave, María, grátia plena,</p><p>Dóminus tecum.</p><p>Benedícta tu in muliéribus,</p><p>et benedíctus fructus ventris tui, Iesus.</p><p>Sancta María, Mater Dei,</p><p>ora pro nobis peccatóribus,</p><p>nunc et in hora mortis nostræ.</p><p>Amen. <b>Angel of God</b><br>Angel of God, </p><p>my guardian dear,</p><p>to whom God’s love commits me here,</p><p>ever this day be at my side,</p><p>to light and guard, to rule and guide. </p><p>Amen. <b>Angele Dei</b><br>Ángele Dei,</p><p>qui custos es mei,</p><p>me, tibi commíssum pietáte supérna,</p><p>illúmina, custódi,</p><p>rege et gubérna.</p><p>Amen. <b>Eternal Rest</b><br>Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord,</p><p>and let perpetual light shine upon them.</p><p>May they rest in peace. Amen. <b>Requiem Æternam</b><br>Réquiem ætérnam dona eis, Dómine,</p><p>et lux perpétua lúceat eis.</p><p>Requiéscant in pace. Amen. <b>The Angelus</b><br>V. <i>The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary</i>.</p><p>R. And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.<br>Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.</p><p>Blessed art thou among women,</p><p>and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.</p><p>Holy Mary, Mother of God,</p><p>pray for us sinners,</p><p>now and at the hour of our death. Amen.<br>V. <i>Behold the handmaid of the Lord</i>.</p><p>R. Be it done unto me according to thy word.<i></p><p>Hail Mary.</i><br>V. <i>And the Word was made flesh</i>.</p><p>R. And dwelt among us.<i></p><p>Hail Mary.</i><br>V. <i>Pray for us, O holy Mother of God</i>.</p><p>R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.<br><i>Let us pray;</i><br>Pour forth, we beseech thee, O Lord, thy grace into our hearts; that we, to whom the Incarnation of Christ, thy Son, was made known by the message of an angel, may by his Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of his Resurrection. Through the same Christ, our Lord. </p><p>Amen.<br><i>Glory be to the Father...</i> <b>Angelus Domini</b><br><i>Ángelus Dómini nuntiávit Maríæ.</p><p></i>Et concépit de Spíritu Sancto.<br>Ave, María...<br><i>Ecce ancílla Dómini.</p><p></i>Fiat mihi secúndum verbum tuum.<br>Ave, María...<br><i>Et Verbum caro factum est.</i></p><p>Et habitávit in nobis.<br>Ave, María...<br><i>Ora pro nobis, sancta Dei génetrix.</p><p></i>Ut digni efficiámur promissiónibus Christi.<br><i>Orémus.</i><br>Grátiam tuam, quæsumus,</p><p>Dómine, méntibus nostris infúnde;</p><p>ut qui, Ángelo nuntiánte,</p><p>Christi Fílii tui incarnatiónem cognóvimus,</p><p>per passiónem eius et crucem,</p><p>ad resurrectiónis glóriam perducámur.<br>Per eúndem Christum Dóminum nostrum. Amen.<br><i>Glória Patri...</i> <b>The Regina Caeli</b><br><i>UK VERSION</i><br>Queen of heaven, rejoice, alleluia!</p><p>for he whom you were worthy to bear, alleluia!</p><p>has risen as he said, alleluia!</p><p>Pray for us to God, alleluia!<br><i>USA VERSION</i><br>Queen of heaven, rejoice, alleluia.</p><p>The Son whom you merited to bear, alleluia,</p><p>has risen as he said, alleluia.</p><p>Rejoice and be glad, O Virgin Mary, alleluia!</p><p>For the Lord has truly risen, alleluia.<br><i>THEN FOR BOTH VERSIONS</i><br><i>Let us pray;</i><br>O God, who through the resurrection of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, did vouchsafe to give joy to the world; grant, we beseech you, that through his Mother, the Virgin Mary, we may obtain the joys of everlasting life. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen. <b>Regina Cæli</b><br><i>Regína cæli lætáre, allelúia.</p><p></i>Quia quem meruísti portáre, allelúia.<br><i>Resurréxit, sicut dixit, allelúia.</p><p></i>Ora pro nobis Deum, allelúia.<br><i>Gaude et lætáre, Virgo María, allelúia.</p><p></i>Quia surréxit Dóminus vere, allelúia.<br><i>Orémus.</i><br>Deus, qui per resurrectiónem Fílii tui Dómini nostri Iesu Christi mundum lætificáre dignátus es, præsta, quæsumus, ut per eius Genetrícem Vírginem Maríam perpétuæ capiámus gáudia vitæ.</p><p>Per Christum Dóminum nostrum. Amen. <b>Hail Holy Queen</b><br><i>UK VERSION</i><br>Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, </p><p>Hail our life, our sweetness and our hope! </p><p>To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve.</p><p>To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears! Turn, then, most gracious Advocate, </p><p>thine eyes of mercy toward us, </p><p>and after this, our exile,</p><p>show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. </p><p>O clement, O loving, </p><p>O sweet Virgin Mary.<br><i>USA VERSION</i><br>Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, </p><p>our life, our sweetness and our hope.</p><p>To you do we cry,</p><p>poor banished children of Eve. </p><p>To you do we send up our sighs, </p><p>mourning and weeping in this valley of tears </p><p>Turn then, most gracious advocate,</p><p>your eyes of mercy toward us,</p><p>and after this exile</p><p>show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb,</p><p>Jesus.</p><p>O clement, O loving, </p><p>O sweet Virgin Mary. <b>Salve, Regina</b><br>Salve, Regína,</p><p>Mater misericórdiæ,</p><p>vita, dulcédo et spes nostra, salve.</p><p>Ad te clamámus,</p><p>éxsules fílii Evæ.</p><p>Ad te suspirámus geméntes et flentes</p><p>in hac lacrimárum valle.</p><p>Eia ergo, advocáta nostra,</p><p>illos tuos misericórdes óculos </p><p>ad nos convérte.</p><p>Et Iesum benedíctum fructum ventris tui,</p><p>nobis, post hoc exsílium, osténde.</p><p>O clemens, o pia, o dulcis Virgo María! <b>The Magnificat</b><br><i>UK VERSION</i><br>My soul glorifies the Lord,</p><p>My spirit rejoices in God my Saviour.</p><p>He looks on his servant in her lowliness;</p><p>Henceforth all generations will call me blessed.</p><p>The Almighty works marvels for me.</p><p>Holy his name!</p><p>His mercy is from age to age, </p><p>on those who fear him.</p><p>He puts forth his arm in strength</p><p>And scatters the proud hearted.</p><p>He casts the mighty from their thrones</p><p>And raises the lowly.</p><p>He fills the starving with good things,</p><p>Sends the rich away empty.</p><p>He protects Israel, his servant, </p><p>remembering his mercy,</p><p>the mercy promised to our fathers,</p><p>to Abraham and his sons for ever.</p><p>Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,</p><p>as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.<br><i>USA VERSION</i><br>My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,</p><p>my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,</p><p>for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.</p><p>From this day all generations will call me blessed:</p><p>the Almighty has done great things for me,</p><p>and holy is his Name.</p><p>He has mercy on those who fear him </p><p>in every generation.</p><p>He has shown the strength of his arm,</p><p>he has scattered the proud in their conceit.</p><p>He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,</p><p>and has lifted up the lowly.</p><p>He has filled the hungry with good things,</p><p>and the rich he has sent away empty.</p><p>He has come to the help of his servant Israel</p><p>for he has remembered his promise of mercy,</p><p>the promise he made to our fathers,</p><p>to Abraham and his children forever.</p><p>Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,</p><p>as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen. <b>Magnificat</b><br>Magníficat ánima mea Dóminum,</p><p>et exsultávit spíritus meus</p><p>in Deo salvatóre meo,</p><p>quia respéxit humilitátem</p><p>ancíllæ suæ.</p><p>Ecce enim ex hoc beátam</p><p>me dicent omnes generatiónes,</p><p>quia fecit mihi magna,</p><p>qui potens est,</p><p>et sanctum nomen eius,</p><p>et misericórdia eius in progénies</p><p>et progénies timéntibus eum.</p><p>Fecit poténtiam in bráchio suo,</p><p>dispérsit supérbos mente cordis sui;</p><p>depósuit poténtes de sede</p><p>et exaltávit húmiles.</p><p>Esuriéntes implévit bonis</p><p>et dívites dimísit inánes.</p><p>Suscépit Ísrael púerum suum,</p><p>recordátus misericórdiæ,</p><p>sicut locútus est ad patres nostros,</p><p>Ábraham et sémini eius in sæcula.</p><p>Glória Patri et Fílio</p><p>et Spirítui Sancto.</p><p>Sicut erat in princípio,</p><p>et nunc et semper,</p><p>et in sæcula sæculórum.</p><p>Amen. <b>Under Your Protection</b><br>We fly to thy protection, </p><p>O holy Mother of God.</p><p>Despise not our petitions </p><p>in our necessities,</p><p>but deliver us always </p><p>from all dangers</p><p>O glorious and blessed Virgin. <b>Sub tuum præsidium</b><br>Sub tuum præsídium confúgimus,</p><p>sancta Dei Génetrix;</p><p>nostras deprecatiónes ne despícias</p><p>in necessitátibus;</p><p>sed a perículis cunctis</p><p>líbera nos semper,</p><p>Virgo gloriósa et benedícta. <b>The Benedictus</b><br><i>UK VERSION</i><br>Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel!</p><p>He has visited his people and redeemed them.</p><p>He has raised up for us a mighty saviour</p><p>In the house of David his servant,</p><p>As he promised by the lips of holy men,</p><p>Those who were his prophets from of old.</p><p>A saviour who would free us from our foes,</p><p>From the hands of all who hate us.</p><p>So his love for our fathers is fulfilled</p><p>And his holy covenant remembered.</p><p>He swore to Abraham our father to grant us, </p><p>that free from fear, and saved from the hands of our foes,</p><p>we might serve him in holiness and justice</p><p>all the days of our life in his presence.</p><p>As for you, little child, you shall be called a prophet of God, the Most High.</p><p>You shall go ahead of the Lord</p><p>To prepare his ways before him.</p><p>To make known to his people their salvation</p><p>Through forgiveness of all their sins,</p><p>The loving-kindness of the heart of our God</p><p>Who visits us like the dawn from on high.</p><p>He will give light to those in darkness,</p><p>Those who dwell in the shadow of death,</p><p>And guide us into the way of peace.</p><p>Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,</p><p>as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.<br><i>USA VERSION</i><br>Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel;</p><p>he has come to his people and set them free.</p><p>He has raised up for us a mighty savior,</p><p>born of the house of his servant David.</p><p>Through his holy prophets he promised of old</p><p>that he would save us from our enemies,</p><p>from the hands of all who hate us.</p><p>He promised to show mercy to our fathers</p><p>and to remember his holy covenant.</p><p>This was the oath he swore to our father</p><p>Abraham:</p><p>to set us free from the hands of our enemies,</p><p>free to worship him without fear,</p><p>holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life.</p><p>You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High;</p><p>for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,</p><p>to give his people knowledge of salvation </p><p>by the forgiveness of their sins.</p><p>In the tender compassion of our God</p><p>the dawn from on high shall break upon us,</p><p>to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,</p><p>and to guide our feet into the way of peace.</p><p>Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,</p><p>as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen. <b>Benedictus</b><br>Benedíctus Dóminus, Deus Ísrael,</p><p>quia visitávit</p><p>et fecit redemptiónem plebi suæ,</p><p>et eréxit cornu salútis nobis</p><p>in domo David púeri sui,</p><p>sicut locútus est per os sanctórum,</p><p>qui a sæculo sunt, prophetárum eius,</p><p>salútem ex inimícis nostris</p><p>et de manu ómnium,</p><p>qui odérunt nos;</p><p>ad faciéndam misericórdiam</p><p>cum pátribus nostris</p><p>et memorári testaménti sui sancti,</p><p>iusiurándum, quod iurávit</p><p>ad Ábraham patrem nostrum,</p><p>datúrum se nobis,</p><p>ut sine timóre,</p><p>de manu inimicórum liberáti,</p><p>serviámus illi</p><p>in sanctitáte et iustítia coram ipso</p><p>ómnibus diébus nostris.</p><p>Et tu, puer,</p><p>prophéta Altíssimi vocáberis:</p><p>præíbis enim ante fáciem Dómini</p><p>paráre vias eius,</p><p>ad dandam sciéntiam salútis</p><p>plebi eius</p><p>in remissiónem peccatórum eórum,</p><p>per víscera misericórdiæ Dei nostri,</p><p>in quibus visitábit nos óriens ex alto,</p><p>illumináre his, qui in ténebris</p><p>et in umbra mortis sedent,</p><p>ad dirigéndos pedes nostros</p><p>in viam pacis.</p><p>Glória Patri et Fílio</p><p>et Spirítui Sancto.</p><p>Sicut erat in princípio,</p><p>et nunc</p><p>et semper,</p><p>et in sæcula sæculórum. Amen. <b>The Te Deum</b><br><i>UK VERSION</i><br>We praise you, O God:</p><p>We acclaim you as Lord.</p><p>Everlasting Father,</p><p>All the world bows down before you.</p><p>All the angels sing your praise,</p><p>The hosts of heaven and all the angelic powers,</p><p>All the cherubim and seraphim</p><p>Call out to you in unending song:</p><p>Holy, Holy, Holy,</p><p>Is the Lord God of angel hosts!</p><p>The heavens and the earth are filled</p><p>With your majesty and glory.</p><p>The glorious band of apostles,</p><p>The noble company of prophets,</p><p>The white-robed army who shed their blood for Christ,</p><p>All sing your praise.</p><p>And to the ends of the earth</p><p>Your holy Church proclaims her faith in you:</p><p>Father, whose majesty is boundless,</p><p>Your true and only son, who is to be adored,</p><p>The Holy Spirit sent to be our Advocate.</p><p>You, Christ, are the king of glory,</p><p>Son of the eternal Father.</p><p>When you took our nature to save mankind</p><p>You did not shrink from birth in the Virgin’s womb.</p><p>You overcame the power of death</p><p>Opening the Father’s kingdom to all who believe in you.</p><p>Enthroned at God’s right hand in the glory of the Father,</p><p>You will come in judgement according to your promise.</p><p>You redeemed your people by your precious blood.</p><p>Coe, we implore you, to our aid.</p><p>Grant us with the saints</p><p>a place in eternal glory.</p><p>Lord, save your people</p><p>And bless your inheritance.</p><p>Rule them and uphold them</p><p>For ever and ever.</p><p>Day by day we praise you:</p><p>We acclaim you now and to all eternity.</p><p>In your goodness, Lord, keep us free from sin.</p><p>Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy.</p><p>May your mercy always be with us, Lord,</p><p>For we have hoped in you.</p><p>In you, Lord, we put our trust:</p><p>We shall not be put to shame.<br><i>USA VERSION</i><br>You are God: we praise you;</p><p>You are God: we acclaim you;</p><p>You are the eternal Father:</p><p>All creation worships you.</p><p>To you all angels, all the powers of heaven,</p><p>Cherubim and Seraphim, sing in endless praise:</p><p>Holy, holy, holy, Lord, God of power and might,</p><p>Heaven and earth are full of your glory.</p><p>The glorious company of apostles praise you.</p><p>The noble fellowship of prophets praise you.</p><p>The white-robed army of martyrs praise you.</p><p>Throughout the world the holy Church acclaims you:</p><p>Father, of majesty unbounded,</p><p>Your true and only Son, worthy of all worship,</p><p>And the Holy Spirit, advocate and guide.</p><p>You, Christ, are the king of glory,</p><p>The eternal Son of the Father.</p><p>When you became man to set us free</p><p>You did not spurn the Virgin’s womb.</p><p>You overcame the sting of death,</p><p>And opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers.</p><p>You are seated at God’s right hand in glory.</p><p>We believe that you will come, and be our judge.</p><p>Come then, Lord, and help your people,</p><p>Bought with the price of your own blood,</p><p>And bring us with your saints</p><p>To glory everlasting.</p><p>Save your people, Lord, and bless your inheritance.</p><p>Govern and uphold them now and always.</p><p>Day by day we bless you.</p><p>We praise your name forever.</p><p>Keep us today, Lord, from all sin.</p><p>Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy.</p><p>Lord, show us your love and mercy;</p><p>For we put our trust in you.</p><p>In you, Lord, is our hope:</p><p>And we shall never hope in vain. <b>Te Deum</b><br>Te Deum laudámus:</p><p>te Dóminum confitémur.</p><p>Te ætérnum Patrem,</p><p>omnis terra venerátur.</p><p>tibi omnes ángeli,</p><p>tibi cæli et univérsæ potestátes:</p><p>tibi chérubim et séraphim</p><p>incessábili voce proclámant:</p><p>Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus,</p><p>Dóminus Deus Sábaoth.</p><p>Pleni sunt cæli et terra</p><p>maiestátis glóriæ tuæ.</p><p>Te gloriósus</p><p>apostolórum chorus,</p><p>te prophetárum</p><p>laudábilis númerus,</p><p>te mártyrum candidátus</p><p>laudat exércitus.</p><p>Te per orbem terrárum</p><p>sancta confitétur Ecclésia,</p><p>Patrem imménsæ maiestátis;</p><p>venerándum tuum verum</p><p>et únicum Fílium;</p><p>Sanctum quoque</p><p>Paráclitum Spíritum.</p><p>Tu rex glóriæ, Christe.</p><p>Tu Patris sempitérnus es Fílius.</p><p>Tu, ad liberándum susceptúrus</p><p>hóminem,</p><p>non horruísti Vírginis úterum.</p><p>Tu, devícto mortis acúleo,</p><p>aperuísti credéntibus regna cælórum.</p><p>Tu ad déxteram Dei sedes,</p><p>in glória Patris.</p><p>Iudex créderis esse ventúrus.</p><p>Te ergo quæsumus,</p><p>tuis fámulis súbveni,</p><p>quos pretióso sánguine redemísti.</p><p>Ætérna fac cum sanctis tuis</p><p>in glória numerári.</p><p>Salvum fac pópulum tuum, Dómine,</p><p>et bénedic hereditáti tuæ.</p><p>Et rege eos, et extólle illos</p><p>usque in ætérnum.</p><p>Per síngulos dies benedícimus te;</p><p>et laudámus nomen tuum</p><p>in sæculum, et in sæculum sæculi.</p><p>Dignáre, Dómine,</p><p>die isto sine peccáto nos custodíre.</p><p>Miserére nostri, Dómine, miserére nostri.</p><p>Fiat misericórdia tua,</p><p>Dómine, super nos,</p><p>quemádmodum sperávimus in te.</p><p>In te, Dómine, sperávi:</p><p>non confúndar in ætérnum. <b>Come, Creator Spirit</b><br>Come, Holy Spirit, Creator come, </p><p>From your bright heavenly throne!</p><p>Come, take possession of our souls, </p><p>And make them all your own.</p><p>You who are called the Paraclete,</p><p>Best gift of God above,</p><p>The living spring, the living fire, </p><p>Sweet unction, and true love!</p><p>You who are sevenfold in your grace, </p><p>Finger of God’s right hand,</p><p>His promise, teaching little ones</p><p>To speak and understand!</p><p>O guide our minds with your blessed light, </p><p>With love our hearts inflame,</p><p>And with your strength which never decays</p><p>Confirm our mortal frame.</p><p>Far from us drive our hellish foe </p><p>True peace unto us bring,</p><p>And through all perils guide us safe</p><p>Beneath your sacred wing.</p><p>Through you may we the Father know,</p><p>Through you the eternal Son</p><p>And you the Spirit of them both</p><p>Thrice-blessed three in one.</p><p>All glory to the Father be,</p><p>And to the risen Son;</p><p>The same to you, O Paraclete,</p><p>While endless ages run. Amen. <b>Veni, Creator Spiritus</b><br>Veni, creátor Spíritus,</p><p>mentes tuórum vísita,</p><p>imple supérna grátia,</p><p>quæ tu creásti péctora.</p><p>Qui díceris Paráclitus,</p><p>altíssimi donum Dei,</p><p>fons vivus, ignis, cáritas,</p><p>et spiritális únctio.</p><p>Tu septifórmis múnere,</p><p>dígitus patérnæ déxteræ,</p><p>tu rite promíssum Patris,</p><p>sermóne ditans gúttura.</p><p>Accénde lumen sénsibus,</p><p>infúnde amórem córdibus,</p><p>infírma nostri córporis</p><p>virtúte firmans pérpeti.</p><p>Hostem repéllas lóngius</p><p>pacémque dones prótinus;</p><p>ductóre sic te prævio</p><p>vitémus omne nóxium.</p><p>Per Te sciámus da Patrem</p><p>noscámus atque Fílium,</p><p>teque utriúsque Spíritum</p><p>credámus omni témpore.</p><p>Deo Patri sit glória,</p><p>et Fílio, qui a mórtuis</p><p>surréxit, ac Paráclito,</p><p>in sæculórum sæcula. Amen. <b>Come, Holy Spirit</b><br>Come, Holy Spirit, come!</p><p>And from your celestial home</p><p>Shed a ray of light divine!</p><p>Come, Father of the poor!</p><p>Come, source of all our store!</p><p>Come, within our bosoms shine.</p><p>You, of comforters the best;</p><p>You, the soul’s most welcome guest;</p><p>Sweet refreshment here below;</p><p>In our labor, rest most sweet;</p><p>Grateful coolness in the heat;</p><p>Solace in the midst of woe.</p><p>O most blessed Light divine,</p><p>Shine within these hearts of yours,</p><p>And our inmost being fill!</p><p>Where you are not, we have naught,</p><p>Nothing good in deed or thought,</p><p>Nothing free from taint of ill.</p><p>Heal our wounds, our strength renew;</p><p>On our dryness pour your dew;</p><p>Wash the stains of guilt away:</p><p>Bend the stubborn heart and will;</p><p>Melt the frozen, warm the chill;</p><p>Guide the steps that go astray.</p><p>On the faithful, who adore</p><p>And confess you, evermore </p><p>In your sevenfold gift descend:</p><p>Give them virtue’s sure reward;</p><p>Give them your salvation, Lord;</p><p>Give them joys that never end. <b>Veni, Sancte Spiritus</b><br>Veni, Sancte Spíritus,</p><p>et emítte cælitus</p><p>lucis tuæ rádium.</p><p>Veni, pater páuperum,</p><p>veni, dator múnerum,</p><p>veni, lumen córdium.</p><p>Consolátor óptime,</p><p>dulcis hospes ánimæ,</p><p>dulce refrigérium.</p><p>In labóre réquies,</p><p>in æstu tempéries,</p><p>in fletu solácium.</p><p>O lux beatíssima,</p><p>reple cordis íntima</p><p>tuórum fidélium.</p><p>Sine tuo númine,</p><p>nihil est in hómine</p><p>nihil est innóxium.</p><p>Lava quod est sórdidum,</p><p>riga quod est áridum,</p><p>sana quod est sáucium.</p><p>Flecte quod est rígidum,</p><p>fove quod est frígidum,</p><p>rege quod est dévium.</p><p>Da tuis fidélibus,</p><p>in te confidéntibus,</p><p>sacrum septenárium.</p><p>Da virtútis méritum,</p><p>da salútis éxitum,</p><p>da perénne gáudium. Amen. <b>The Anima Christi</b><br>Soul of Christ, be my sanctification.</p><p>Body of Christ, be my salvation.</p><p>Blood of Christ, fill all my veins.</p><p>Water of Christ’s side, wash out my stains.</p><p>Passion of Christ, my comfort be.</p><p>O good Jesus, listen to me.</p><p>In Thy wounds I fain would hide,</p><p>N’er to be parted from Thy side,</p><p>Guard me, should the foe assail me.</p><p>Call me when my life shall fail me.</p><p>Bid me come to Thee above,</p><p>With Thy saints to sing Thy love,</p><p>World without end. Amen. <b>Anima Christi</b><br>Ánima Christi, sanctífica me.</p><p>Corpus Christi, salva me.</p><p>Sanguis Christi, inébria me.</p><p>Aqua láteris Christi, lava me.</p><p>Pássio Christi, confórta me.</p><p>O bone Iesu, exáudi me.</p><p>Intra tua vúlnera abscónde me.</p><p>Ne permíttas me separári a te.</p><p>Ab hoste malígno defénde me.</p><p>In hora mortis meæ voca me.</p><p>Et iube me veníre ad te,</p><p>ut cum Sanctis tuis laudem te</p><p>in sæcula sæculórum. Amen <b>The Memorare</b><br>Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary,</p><p>that never was it known </p><p>that anyone who fled to thy protection, </p><p>implored thy help, </p><p>or sought thy intercession, </p><p>was left unaided. </p><p>Inspired by this confidence </p><p>I fly unto thee, </p><p>O Virgin of virgins, my Mother. </p><p>To thee do I come, </p><p>before thee I stand, </p><p>sinful and sorrowful. </p><p>O Mother of the Word Incarnate,</p><p>despise not my petitions, </p><p>but in thy mercy hear and answer me. </p><p>Amen. <b>Memorare</b><br>Memoráre, o piíssima Virgo María, </p><p>non esse audítum a sæculo, </p><p>quemquam ad tua curréntem præsídia,</p><p>tua implorántem auxília, </p><p>tua peténtem suffrágia, esse derelíctum. </p><p>Ego tali animátus confidéntia, </p><p>ad te, Virgo Vírginum, Mater, </p><p>curro, ad te vénio, </p><p>coram te gemens peccátor assísto. </p><p>Noli, Mater Verbi, verba mea despícere; </p><p>sed áudi propítia et exáudi. Amen. <b>The Rosary</b><br><b>The Joyful Mysteries</p><p></b>(<i>recited Monday and Saturday</i>)<br>The Annunciation</p><p>The Visitation</p><p>The Nativity</p><p>The Presentation</p><p>The Finding in the Temple<br><b>The Mysteries of Light</p><p></b>(<i>recited Thursday</i>)<br>The Baptism of Jesus</p><p>The Wedding Feast of Cana</p><p>The Proclamation of the Kingdom, with the call to Conversion</p><p>The Transfiguration</p><p>The Institution of the Eucharist<br><b>The Sorrowful Mysteries</p><p></b>(<i>recited Tuesday and Friday</i>)<br>The Agony in the Garden</p><p>The Scourging at the Pillar</p><p>The Crowning with Thorns</p><p>The Carrying of the Cross</p><p>The Crucifixion<br><b>The Glorious Mysteries </p><p></b>(<i>recited Wednesday and Sunday</i>)<br>The Resurrection </p><p>The Ascension</p><p>The Descent of the Holy Spirit</p><p>The Assumption</p><p>The Coronation of Mary Queen of Heaven and Earth<br><i>Prayer concluding the Rosary</i><br><i>Hail, Holy Queen, etc. as above</i><br>V. <i>Pray for us, O holy Mother of God</i>.</p><p>R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.<br><i>Let us pray.</i><br>O God, whose only-begotten Son, </p><p>by his life, death and resurrection, </p><p>has purchased for us </p><p>the rewards of eternal life, </p><p>grant, we beseech thee, </p><p>that meditating on these mysteries</p><p>of the most holy Rosary of the </p><p>Blessed Virgin Mary, </p><p>we may imitate what they contain </p><p>and obtain what they promise, </p><p>through the same Christ our Lord. </p><p>Amen. <b>Rosarium</b><br><b>Mystéria gaudiósa</b><i></p><p>(in feria secunda et sabbato)</i><br>Annuntiátio.</p><p>Visitátio.</p><p>Natívitas.</p><p>Præsentátio.</p><p>Invéntio in Templo.<br><b>Mystéria luminósa</b><i></p><p>(in feria quinta)</i><br>Baptísma apud Iordánem.</p><p>Autorevelátio apud Cananénse matrimónium.</p><p>Regni Dei proclamátio coniúncta cum invitaménto</p><p>ad conversiónem.</p><p>Transfigurátio.</p><p>Eucharístiæ Institútio.<br><b>Mystéria dolorósa</b><i></p><p>(in feria tertia et feria sexta)</i><br>Agonía in Hortu.</p><p>Flagellátio.</p><p>Coronátio Spinis.</p><p>Baiulátio Crucis.</p><p>Crucifíxio et Mors.<br><b>Mystéria gloriósa</b><i></p><p>(in feria quarta et Dominica)</i><br>Resurréctio.</p><p>Ascénsio.</p><p>Descénsus Spíritus Sancti.</p><p>Assúmptio.</p><p>Coronátio in Cælo.<br><i>Oratio ad finem Rosarii dicenda</i><br><i>Ora pro nobis, sancta Dei génetrix.</p><p></i>Ut digni efficiámur promissiónibus Christi.<br><i>Orémus.</i><br>Deus, cuius Unigénitus per vitam, </p><p>mortem et resurrectiónem suam </p><p>nobis salútis ætérnæ </p><p>præmia comparávit, </p><p>concéde, quæsumus:</p><p>ut hæc mystéria sacratíssimo </p><p>beátæ Maríæ Vírginis </p><p>Rosário recoléntes,</p><p>et imitémur quod cóntinent,</p><p>et quod promíttunt assequámur. </p><p>Per Christum Dóminum nostrum. </p><p>Amen. <b>Coptic Incense Prayer</b><br>O King of peace, give us your peace and pardon our sins. Dismiss the enemies of the Church and protect her so that she never fail. Emmanuel our God is in our midst in the glory of the Father and of the Holy Spirit. May he bless us and purify our hearts and cure the sicknesses of our soul and body. We adore you, O Christ, with your good Father and the Holy Spirit because you have come and you have saved us. <b>Syro-Maronite Farewell to the Altar</b><br>Remain in peace, O Altar of God. May the offering that I have taken from you be for the remission of my debts and the pardon of my sins and may it obtain for me that I may stand before the tribunal of Christ without condemnation and without confusion. I do not know if I will have the opportunity to return and offer another sacrifice upon you. Protect me, O Lord, and preserve your holy Church as the way to truth and salvation. Amen. <b>Byzantine Prayer for the Deceased</b><br>God of the spirits and of all flesh, who have trampled death and annihilated the devil and given life to your world, may you yourself, O Lord, grant to the soul of your deceased servant N. rest in a place of light, a verdant place, a place of freshness, from where suffering, pain and cries are far removed. Do You, O good and compassionate God forgive every fault committed by him in word, work or thought because there is no man who lives and does not sin. You alone are without sin and your justice is justice throughout the ages and your word is truth. Since you, O Christ our God, are the resurrection, the life and the repose of your deceased servant N., we give you glory together with your un-begotten Father and your most holy, good and life-creating Spirit, now and always and forever and ever. <b>Act of Faith</b><br>O my God, I firmly believe </p><p>that you are one God in three divine Persons,</p><p>Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. </p><p>I believe that your divine Son became man </p><p>and died for our sins and that he will come </p><p>to judge the living and the dead. </p><p>I believe these and all the truths </p><p>which the Holy Catholic Church teaches</p><p>because you have revealed them </p><p>who are eternal truth and wisdom, </p><p>who can neither deceive nor be deceived. </p><p>In this faith I intend to live and die. </p><p>Amen. <b>Actus fidei</b><br>Dómine Deus,</p><p>firma fide credo et confíteor </p><p>ómnia et síngula quæ </p><p>sancta Ecclésia Cathólica propónit, </p><p>quia tu, Deus, ea ómnia revelásti, </p><p>qui es ætérna véritas et sapiéntia </p><p>quæ nec fállere nec falli potest.</p><p>In hac fide vívere et mori státuo. </p><p>Amen. <b>Act of Hope</b><br>O Lord God, </p><p>I hope by your grace for the pardon </p><p>of all my sins</p><p>and after life here to gain eternal happiness</p><p>because you have promised it </p><p>who are infinitely powerful, faithful, kind, </p><p>and merciful. </p><p>In this hope I intend to live and die. </p><p>Amen. <b>Actus spei</b><br>Dómine Deus, spero per grátiam tuam</p><p>remissiónem ómnium peccatórum, </p><p>et post hanc vitam ætérnam felicitátem </p><p>me esse consecutúrum: </p><p>quia tu promisísti, qui es infiníte </p><p>potens, fidélis, benígnus, et miséricors.</p><p>In hac spe vívere et mori státuo.</p><p>Amen. <b>Act of Love</b><br>O Lord God, I love you above all things </p><p>and I love my neighbor for your sake </p><p>because you are the highest, infinite and perfect</p><p>good, worthy of all my love. </p><p>In this love I intend to live and die. </p><p>Amen. <b>Actus caritatis</b><br>Dómine Deus, </p><p>amo te super ómnia </p><p>et próximum meum propter te, </p><p>quia tu es summum, infinítum, </p><p>et perfectíssimum bonum, </p><p>omni dilectióne dignum.</p><p>In hac caritáte </p><p>vívere et mori státuo.</p><p>Amen. <b>Act of Contrition</b><br>O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all my sins because of thy just punishments, but most of all because they offend Thee, my God, who art all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve with the help of Thy grace to sin no more and to avoid the near occasion of sin. Amen. <b>Actus contritionis</b><br>Deus meus, ex toto corde pænitet me ómnium meórum peccatórum, éaque detéstor, quia peccándo, non solum pœnas a te iuste statútas proméritus sum, sed præsértim quia offéndi te, summum bonum, ac dignum qui super ómnia diligáris. Ídeo fírmiter propóno, adiuvánte grátia tua, de cétero me non peccatúrum peccandíque occasiónes próximas fugitúrum. Amen. <b>B) FORMULAS OF CATHOLIC DOCTRINE</b><br><b>The two commandments of love:</b> 1. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.</p><p>2. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. <b>The Golden Rule (<i>Matthew</i> 7:12):</b> Do to others as you would have them do to you. (Source: Compendium Of The Catechism 2005 A.D.)
<b>The Beatitudes (<i>Matthew</i> 5:3-12):</b> Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.</p><p>Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.</p><p>Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.</p><p>Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.</p><p>Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.</p><p>Blessed are the pure of heart, for they will see God.</p><p>Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.</p><p>Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.</p><p>Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. </p><p>Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven. <b>The three theological virtues:</b> 1. Faith</p><p>2. Hope</p><p>3. Charity <b>The four cardinal virtues:</b> 1. Prudence</p><p>2. Justice</p><p>3. Fortitude</p><p>4. Temperance <b>The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit:</b> 1. Wisdom</p><p>2. Understanding</p><p>3. Counsel</p><p>4. Fortitude</p><p>5. Knowledge</p><p>6. Piety</p><p>7. Fear of the Lord <b>The twelve fruits of the Holy Spirit:</b> 1. Charity</p><p>2. Joy</p><p>3. Peace</p><p>4. Patience</p><p>5. Kindness</p><p>6. Goodness</p><p>7. Generosity</p><p>8. Gentleness</p><p>9. Faithfulness</p><p>10. Modesty</p><p>11. Self-control</p><p>12. Chastity <b>The five precepts of the Church:</b> 1. You shall attend Mass on Sundays and on holy days of obligation and remain free from work or activity that could impede the sanctification of such days.</p><p>2. You shall confess your sins at least once a year.</p><p>3. You shall receive the sacrament of the Eucharist at least during the Easter season.</p><p>4. You shall observe the days of fasting and abstinence established by the Church.</p><p>5. You shall help to provide for the needs of the Church. <b>The seven corporal works of mercy:</b> 1. Feed the hungry.</p><p>2. Give drink to the thirsty.</p><p>3. Clothe the naked.</p><p>4. Shelter the homeless.</p><p>5. Visit the sick.</p><p>6. Visit the imprisoned.</p><p>7. Bury the dead. <b>The seven spiritual works of mercy:</b> 1. Counsel the doubtful.</p><p>2. Instruct the ignorant.</p><p>3. Admonish sinners.</p><p>4. Comfort the afflicted.</p><p>5. Forgive offenses.</p><p>6. Bear wrongs patiently.</p><p>7. Pray for the living and the dead. <b>The seven capital sins:</b> 1. Pride</p><p>2. Covetousness</p><p>3. Lust</p><p>4. Anger</p><p>5. Gluttony</p><p>6. Envy</p><p>7. Sloth <b>The four last things:</b> 1. Death</p><p>2. Judgment</p><p>3. Hell</p><p>4. Heaven (Source: Compendium Of The Catechism 2005 A.D. / <b>AppendiX</b><br><b>A) common PrayerS</b><br><b>The Sign Of The Cross</b><br>In The Name Of The Father</p><p>and Of The Son</p><p>and Of The Holy Spirit. amen. / <b>B) formulas Of Catholic DoctrinE</b><br><b>The Two Commandments Of Love:</b>)
FIRST SESSION OF THE HOLY ECUMENICAL AND GENERAL COUNCIL OF TRENT celebrated under the sovereign pontiff, Paul III, on the thirteenth day of December in the year of the Lord 1545 DECREE CONCERNING THE OPENING OF THE COUNCIL Does it please you, for the praise and glory of the holy and undivided Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, for the advance and exaltation of the Christian faith and religion, for the extirpation of heresies, for the peace and unity of the Church, for the reform of the clergy and Christian people, for the suppression and destruction of the enemies of the Christian name, to decree and declare that the holy and general Council of Trent begins and has begun? They answered: It pleases us. ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE NEXT SESSION And since the solemnity of the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ is near, and other festivals of the closing and opening year follow thereon, does it please you that the next ensuing session be held on the Thursday after the Epiphany, which will be the seventh of the month of January in the year of the Lord 1546? They answered: It pleases us. SECOND SESSION celebrated on the seventh day of January, 1546 DECREE CONCERNING THE MANNER OF LIVING AND OTHER MATTERS TO BE OBSERVED DURING THE COUNCIL The holy Council of Trent, lawfully assembled in the Holy Ghost and presided over by the same three legates of the Apostolic See, recognizing with the blessed Apostle James that every best gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights,[1] who, to those who ask of Him wisdom, giveth to all abundantly and upbraideth them not;[2] and knowing also that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,[3] has ordained and decreed that each and all of the faithful of Christ assembled in the city of Trent be exhorted, as they are hereby exhorted, to amend themselves in the evils and sins hitherto committed and to walk henceforth in the fear of the Lord; not to fulfill the lusts of the flesh,[4] to be instant in prayer,[5] to confess more often, to receive the sacrament of the Eucharist, to frequent the churches, to observe, so far as each one is able, the commandments of the Lord, and to pray daily in private for peace among the Christian princes and for unity of the Church. The bishops, however, and all others constituted in the sacerdotal order, who are participating in the celebration of the ecumenical council in this city, are to apply themselves diligently to glorifying God, to offer up sacrifices, praises and prayers, to celebrate in accordance with their duty the sacrifice of the mass at least every Sunday, the day on which God made the light, rose from the dead, and poured forth the Holy Ghost upon the disciples;[6] making, as the same Holy Ghost commanded by the Apostle, supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings for our most holy Lord the Pope, for the Emperor, for kings and others who are placed in high stations, and for all men, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life,[7] may enjoy peace and witness an increase of the faith. Furthermore, it exhorts that they fast at least every Friday in memory of the passion of the Lord and give alms to the poor. Every Thursday the mass of the Holy Ghost shall be celebrated in the cathedral with the litanies and other prayers assigned for this purpose; in the other churches there shall be said on the same day at least the litanies and the prayers. During the time that the sacred services are being performed, let there be no talking and idle conversation, but let mouth and mind be united with the celebrant. And since it behooves bishops to be blameless, sober, chaste, ruling well their own household,[8] it exhorts also that above all things each observe sobriety at table and moderation in diet; and further, since there idle conversations are often won to arise, that the reading of the Scriptures be introduced at the tables, even at those of the bishops.[9] Let each one instruct and charge his servants not to be contentious, given to wine, disrespectful, covetous, arrogant, blasphemous and lovers of pleasure; finally, let them shun vice and embrace virtue, and in attire, in behavior and in all their actions let them manifest decorum as becomes the servants of the servants of God. Moreover, since it is the chief care, solicitude and intention of this holy council that the darkness of heresies, which for so many years has covered the earth, being dispelled, the light of Catholic truth may, with the aid of Jesus Christ, who is the true light,[10] shine forth in splendor and purity, and that those things that need reform may be reformed, the council exhorts all Catholics here assembled and who will be here assembled, especially those having a knowledge of the Sacred Scriptures, that by sedulous meditation they ponder diligently within themselves, by what ways and means the intention of the council can best be carried out and the desired result obtained; how the things to be condemned may be condemned more promptly and prudently and those to be approved may be approved, so that throughout the whole world all may with one voice and with the same profession of faith glorify God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.[11] In expressing opinions when the priests of the Lord are assembled in the place of benediction, in conformity with the decree of the Synod of Toledo,[12] no one ought to be boisterous by immoderate shouting or create disturbance by stamping, nor contentious in false, vain and obstinate disputations, but let whatever is said to be so tempered with mildness that neither the hearers be offended nor the keenness of correct judgment warped by a disturbed mind. Moreover, this holy council has ordained and decreed that if it should happen that some during the council do not sit in their proper places and also make known their mind by the word Placet, are present at the assemblies and perform any other acts whatsoever, no disadvantage shall thereby accrue to anyone, neither shall anyone thereby acquire a new right.[13] ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE NEXT SESSION After this the next session was announced for Thursday, the fourth day of the following February. ENDNOTES 1. James 1:17 2. Idem, 1:5 3. Ps. 110:10; Prov. 1:7; 9:10; Eccles. 1:16 4. Gal. 5:16 5. Rom. 12:12 6. Acts 2:1 ff 7. Cf. 1 Tim. 2:1f 8. Idem, 3:2ff 9. Cf. III Synod of Toledo (589), c. 7 (c.11, D.XLIV); II Synod of Reims (813), c.17 (Hardouin IV, 1019) and infra, Sess. XXV, chap. 1 de ref 10. John 1:9 11. Rom. 15:6 12. Cf. XI Synod of Toledo (675), c. 1 13. Cf. Sess. XXV at the end. THIRD SESSION COUNCIL OF TRENT celebrated on the fourth day of February, 1546 DECREE CONCERNING THE SYMBOL OF FAITH In the name of the holy and undivided Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. This holy, ecumenical and general Council of Trent, lawfully assembled in the Holy Ghost, the same three legates of the Apostolic See presiding, considering the magnitude of the matters to be dealt with, especially those comprised under the two heads, the extirpation of heresies and the reform of morals, for which purposes it was chiefly assembled, and recognizing with the Apostle that its wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the spirits of wickedness in high places,[1] exhorts with the same Apostle each and all above all things to be strengthened in the Lord and in the might of his power, in all things taking the shield of faith, wherewith they may be able to extinguish all the fiery darts of the most wicked one, and to take the helmet of the hope of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.[2] Wherefore, that this pious solicitude [of the council] may begin and continue by the grace of God, it ordains and decrees that before all else a confession of faith be set forth; following herein the examples of the Fathers, who in the more outstanding councils were accustomed at the beginning of their work to use this shield against heresies, with which alone they have at times drawn unbelievers to the faith, overcome heretics and confirmed the faithful. For this reason it has thought it well that the symbol of faith which the holy Roman Church uses as the cardinal principle wherein all who profess the faith of Christ necessarily agree and as the firm and sole foundation against which the gates of hell shall never prevail,[3] be expressed in the same words in which it is read in all the churches, which is as follows: I believe in one God the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible; and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God and born of the Father before all ages; God of God, light of light, true God of true God; begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father, by whom all things were made; who for us men and for our salvation descended from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made man; crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate, he suffered and was buried; and he arose on the third day according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, sits at the right hand of the Father; and again he will come with glory to judge the living and the dead; of whose kingdom there shall be no end; and in the Holy Ghost the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is adored and glorified; who spoke by the prophets; and in one holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. I confess one baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen. ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE NEXT SESSION The same holy, ecumenical and general Council of Trent, lawfully assembled in the Holy Ghost, the same three legates of the Apostolic See presiding, understanding that many prelates in various localities are girded for their journey, and that some also are on their way here; and considering that the greater the attendance of Fathers in sanctioning and confirming all that will be decreed by the holy council, in so much greater esteem and respect will those decrees be held among all men, has ordained and decreed that the next session after the present one be held on the Thursday following the next Laetare Sunday. In the meantime, however, the discussion and examination of those things which the council shall deem necessary to discuss and examine, shall not be deferred. ENDNOTES 1. Eph. 6:12 2. Ibid., 6:10, 16 f 3. Matt. 16:18. FOURTH SESSION COUNCIL OF TRENT celebrated on the eighth day of April, 1546 DECREE CONCERNING THE CANONICAL SCRIPTURES The holy, ecumenical and general Council of Trent, lawfully assembled in the Holy Ghost, the same three legates of the Apostolic See presiding, keeps this constantly in view, namely, that the purity of the Gospel may be preserved in the Church after the errors have been removed. This [Gospel], of old promised through the Prophets in the Holy Scriptures,[1] our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, promulgated first with His own mouth, and then commanded it to be preached by His Apostles to every creature[2] as the source at once of all saving truth and rules of conduct. It also clearly perceives that these truths and rules are contained in the written books and in the unwritten traditions, which, received by the Apostles from the mouth of Christ Himself, or from the Apostles themselves,[3] the Holy Ghost dictating, have come down to us, transmitted as it were from hand to hand. Following, then, the examples of the orthodox Fathers, it receives and venerates with a feeling of piety and reverence all the books both of the Old and New Testaments, since one God is the author of both; also the traditions, whether they relate to faith or to morals, as having been dictated either orally by Christ or by the Holy Ghost, and preserved in the Catholic Church in unbroken succession. It has thought it proper, moreover, to insert in this decree a list of the sacred books, lest a doubt might arise in the mind of someone as to which are the books received by this council.[4] They are the following: of the Old Testament, the five books of Moses, namely, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy; Josue, Judges, Ruth, the four books of Kings, two of Paralipomenon, the first and second of Esdras, the latter of which is called Nehemias, Tobias, Judith, Esther, Job, the Davidic Psalter of 150 Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, the Canticle of Canticles, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Isaias, Jeremias, with Baruch, Ezechiel, Daniel, the twelve minor Prophets, namely, Osee, Joel, Amos, Abdias, Jonas, Micheas, Nahum, Habacuc, Sophonias, Aggeus, Zacharias, Malachias; two books of Machabees, the first and second. Of the New Testament, the four Gospels, according to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John; the Acts of the Apostles written by Luke the Evangelist; fourteen Epistles of Paul the Apostle, to the Romans, two to the Corinthians, to the Galatians, to the Ephesians, to the Philippians, to the Colossians, two to the Thessalonians, two to Timothy, to Titus, to Philemon, to the Hebrews; two of Peter the Apostle, three of John the Apostle, one of James the Apostle, one of Jude the Apostle, and the Apocalypse of John the Apostle. If anyone does not accept as sacred and canonical the aforesaid books in their entirety and with all their parts, as they have been accustomed to be read in the Catholic Church and as they are contained in the old Latin Vulgate Edition, and knowingly and deliberately rejects the aforesaid traditions, let him be anathema. Let all understand, therefore, in what order and manner the council, after having laid the foundation of the confession of faith, will proceed, and who are the chief witnesses and supports to whom it will appeal in conforming dogmas and in restoring morals in the Church. DECREE CONCERNING THE EDITION AND USE OF THE SACRED BOOKS Moreover, the same holy council considering that not a little advantage will accrue to the Church of God if it be made known which of all the Latin editions of the sacred books now in circulation is to be regarded as authentic, ordains and declares that the old Latin Vulgate Edition, which, in use for so many hundred years, has been approved by the Church, be in public lectures, disputations, sermons and expositions held as authentic, and that no one dare or presume under any pretext whatsoever to reject it. Furthermore, to check unbridled spirits, it decrees that no one relying on his own judgment shall, in matters of faith and morals pertaining to the edification of Christian doctrine, distorting the Holy Scriptures in accordance with his own conceptions,[5] presume to interpret them contrary to that sense which holy mother Church, to whom it belongs to judge of their true sense and interpretation,[6] has held and holds, or even contrary to the unanimous teaching of the Fathers, even though such interpretations should never at any time be published. Those who act contrary to this shall be made known by the ordinaries and punished in accordance with the penalties prescribed by the law. And wishing, as is proper, to impose a restraint in this matter on printers also, who, now without restraint, thinking what pleases them is permitted them, print without the permission of ecclesiastical superiors the books of the Holy Scriptures and the notes and commentaries thereon of all persons indiscriminately, often with the name of the press omitted, often also under a fictitious press-name, and what is worse, without the name of the author, and also indiscreetly have for sale such books printed elsewhere, [this council] decrees and ordains that in the future the Holy Scriptures, especially the old Vulgate Edition, be printed in the most correct manner possible, and that it shall not be lawful for anyone to print or to have printed any books whatsoever dealing with sacred doctrinal mattes without the name of the author, or in the future to sell them, or even to have them in possession, unless they have first been examined and approved by the ordinary, under penalty of anathema and fine prescribed by the last Council of the Lateran.[7] If they be regulars they must in addition to this examination and approval obtain permission also from their own superiors after these have examined the books in accordance with their own statutes. Those who lend or circulate them in manuscript before they have been examined and approved, shall be subject to the same penalties as the printers, and those who have them in their possession or read them, shall, unless they make known the authors, be themselves regarded as the authors. The approbation of such books, however, shall be given in writing and shall appear authentically at the beginning of the book, whether it be written or printed, and all this, that is, both the examination and the approbation, shall be done gratuitously, so that what ought to be approved may be approved and what ought to be condemned may be condemned. Furthermore, wishing to repress that boldness whereby the words and sentences of the Holy Scriptures are turned and twisted to all kinds of profane usages, namely, to things scurrilous, fabulous, vain, to flatteries, detractions, superstitions, godless and diabolical incantations, divinations, the casting of lots and defamatory libels, to put an end to such irreverence and contempt, and that no one may in the future dare use in any manner the words of Holy Scripture for these and similar purposes, it is commanded and enjoined that all people of this kind be restrained by the bishops as violators and profaners of the word of God, with the penalties of the law and other penalties that they may deem fit to impose. ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE NEXT SESSION Likewise, this holy council ordains and decrees that the next session will be held and celebrated on the Thursday after the next most sacred feast of Pentecost. ENDNOTES 1. Jer. 31:22 2. Matt. 28:19f.; Mark 16:15 3. See II Thess. 2:14; c.%, D.XI 4. For earlier lists, cf. Synod of Laodicea (end of IV cent.), c. 60, the genuineness of which canon however is contested (Hefele-Leclercq, Hist. des conciles, I, 1026); Synod of Rome (382) under Pope Damasus (Denzinger, Enchiridion, no. 84); Synod of Hippo (393), c. 36, which the III Synod of Carthage (397) made its own in c.47 (idem, no. 92); Innocent I in 405 to Exuperius, bishop of Toulouse (idem, no. 96); Eugene IV in the Council of Florence (Mansi, XXXI, 1736; Hardouin, IX, 1023f.). The Tridentine list or decree was the first infallible and effectually promulgated declaration on the Canon of the Holy Scriptures. 5. St. Jerome, Comment. on Galatians, chap. 5, vers. 19-21, PL, XXVI, 445 (c.27, C.XXIV, q.3); c.39 (par. 70) ead. 6. Quinisext Council (692), c.19 (Mansi, XI, 951; Hardouin, III, 1667). 7. Cf. the bull “Inter sollicitudines,” Schroeder, Disciplinary Decrees of the General Councils, p. 504. COUNCIL OF TRENT FIFTH SESSION celebrated on the seventeenth day of June, 1546 DECREE CONCERNING ORIGINAL SIN That our Catholic faith, without which it is impossible to please God,[1] may, after the destruction of errors, remain integral and spotless in its purity, and that the Christian people may not be carried about with every wind of doctrine,[2] since that old serpent,[3] the everlasting enemy of the human race, has, among the many evils with which the Church of God is in our times disturbed, stirred up also not only new but also old dissensions concerning original sin and its remedy, the holy, ecumenical and general Council of Trent, lawfully assembled in the Holy Ghost, the same three legates of the Apostolic See presiding, wishing now to reclaim the erring and to strengthen the wavering, and following the testimonies of the Holy Scriptures, of the holy Fathers, of the most approved councils, as well as the judgment and unanimity of the Church herself, ordains, confesses and declares these things concerning original sin: 1. If anyone does not confess that the first man, Adam, when he transgressed the commandment of God in paradise, immediately lost the holiness and justice in which he had been constituted, and through the offense of that prevarication incurred the wrath and indignation of god, and thus death with which God had previously threatened him,[4] and, together with death, captivity under his power who thenceforth had the empire of death, that is to say, the devil,[5] and that the entire Adam through that offense of prevarication was changed in body and soul for the worse,[6] let him be anathema. 2. If anyone asserts that the transgression of Adam injured him alone and not his posterity,[7] and that the holiness and justice which he received from God, which he lost, he lost for himself alone and not for us also; or that he, being defiled by the sin of disobedience, has transfused only death and the pains of the body into the whole human race, but not sin also, which is the death of the soul, let him be anathema, since he contradicts the Apostle who says: By one man sin entered into the world and by sin death; and so death passed upon all men, in whom all have sinned.[8] 3. If anyone asserts that this sin of Adam, which in its origin is one, and by propagation, not by imitation, transfused into all, which is in each one as something that is his own, is taken away either by the forces of human nature or by a remedy other than the merit of the one mediator, our Lord Jesus Christ,[9] who has reconciled us to God in his own blood, made unto us justice, sanctification and redemption;[10] or if he denies that that merit of Jesus Christ is applied both to adults and to infants by the sacrament of baptism rightly administered in the form of the Church, let him be anathema; for there is no other name under heaven given to men, whereby we must be saved.[11] Whence that declaration: Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who taketh away the sins of the world;[12] and that other: As many of you as have been baptized, have put on Christ.[13] 4. If anyone denies that infants, newly born from their mothers’ wombs, are to be baptized, even though they be born of baptized parents, or says that they are indeed baptized for the remission of sins,[14] but that they derive nothing of original sin from Adam which must be expiated by the laver of regeneration for the attainment of eternal life, whence it follows that in them the form of baptism for the remission of sins is to be understood not as true but as false, let him be anathema, for what the Apostle has said, by one man sin entered into the world, and by sin death, and so death passed upon all men, in whom all have sinned,[15] is not to be understood otherwise than as the Catholic Church has everywhere and always understood it. For in virtue of this rule of faith handed down from the apostles, even infants who could not as yet commit any sin of themselves, are for this reason truly baptized for the remission of sins, in order that in them what they contracted by generation may be washed away by regeneration.[16] For, unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven.[17] 5. If anyone denies that by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ which is conferred in baptism, the guilt of original sin is remitted, or says that the whole of that which belongs to the essence of sin is not taken away, but says that it is only canceled or not imputed, let him be anathema. For in those who are born again God hates nothing, because there is no condemnation to those who are truly buried together with Christ by baptism unto death,[18] who walk not according to the flesh,[19] but, putting off the old man and putting on the new one who is created according to God,[20] are made innocent, immaculate, pure, guiltless and beloved of God, heirs indeed of God, joint heirs with Christ;[21] so that there is nothing whatever to hinder their entrance into heaven. But this holy council perceives and confesses that in the one baptized there remains concupiscence or an inclination to sin, which, since it is left for us to wrestle with, cannot injure those who do not acquiesce but resist manfully by the grace of Jesus Christ; indeed, he who shall have striven lawfully shall be crowned.[22] This concupiscence, which the Apostle sometimes calls sin,[23] the holy council declares the Catholic Church has never understood to be called sin in the sense that it is truly and properly sin in those born again, but in the sense that it is of sin and inclines to sin. But if anyone is of the contrary opinion, let him be anathema. This holy council declares, however, that it is not its intention to include in this decree, which deals with original sin, the blessed and immaculate Virgin Mary, the mother of God, but that the constitutions of Pope Sixtus IV, of happy memory, are to be observed under the penalties contained in those constitutions, which it renews.[24] DECREE CONCERNING REFORM CHAPTER I THE ESTABLISHMENT OF LECTURESHIPS IN HOLY SCRIPTURE AND THE LIBERAL ARTS The same holy council, adhering to the pious decisions of the sovereign pontiffs and of approved councils,[25] and accepting and adding to them, that the heavenly treasure of the sacred books which the Holy Ghost has with the greatest liberality delivered to men may not lie neglected, has ordained and decreed that in those churches in which there exists a prebend or a benefice with an obligation attached, or other income by whatever name it may be known, set aside for instructors in sacred theology, the bishops, archbishops, primates, and other ecclesiastical superiors of those localities compel, even by a reduction of their revenues, those who hold such prebend, benefice or income, to expound and interpret the Holy Scriptures, either personally if they are competent, otherwise by a competent substitute to be chosen by the bishops, archbishops, primates, or other superiors of those places. In the future such prebend, benefice and income shall be conferred only on competent persons and those who can themselves discharge that office; a provision made otherwise shall be null and void. In metropolitan and cathedral churches, however, if the city be an outstanding and populous one, and also in collegiate churches that are situated in a prominent town, even though they do not belong to any diocese, provided the clergy there are numerous, where there is no prebend, benefice or income provided for this purpose, let the prebend that shall first become vacant in any manner whatever, except by resignation, and to which some other incompatible duty is not attached, be understood to be ipso facto and forever set aside and devoted to that purpose. And should it happen that in those churches there is not any or no sufficient income,[26] let the metropolitan or the bishop himself, by assigning thereto the revenues of some simple benefice, the duties connected with it being nevertheless discharged, or by contributions of the beneficiati of his city and diocese, or otherwise, as may be most convenient, provide in such a way with the advice of the chapter that the instructions in Holy Scripture may be procured; so, however, that all other instructions, whether established by custom or any other agency, be by no means on that account omitted. Churches whose annual revenues are scanty and where the number of clergy and people is so small that instruction in theology cannot be conveniently had therein, may have at least a master, to be chosen by the bishop with the advice of the chapter, to teach grammar gratuitously to clerics and other poor students,[27] so that afterwards they may with the help of God pass on to the study of Holy Scripture. For this purpose let the revenues of some simple benefice be assigned to that master of grammar,[28] which he shall receive so long as he is engaged in teaching (provided, however, that that benefice be not deprived of the services due to it), or let some suitable remuneration be paid him out of the capitular or episcopal income, or finally, let the bishop himself devise some other arrangement suitable to his church and diocese, that this pious, useful and profitable provision may not under any feigned excuse be neglected. In the monasteries of monks also, where this can be conveniently done, let there be instructions in the Holy Scriptures.[29] If abbots prove negligent in this matter, let the bishops of the localities, as the delegates herein of the Apostolic See, compel them thereto by suitable measures. In the convents of other regulars in which studies can conveniently flourish, let there be likewise instructions in the Holy Scriptures, which shall be assigned by the general and provincial chapters to the more worthy masters. In the public gymnasia also where instructions so profitable and of all the most necessary have not thus far been instituted, let them be introduced by the piety and charity of the most religious princes and governments for the defense and increase of the Catholic faith and the preservation and propagation of wholesome doctrine, and where once instituted and neglected, let them be restored. And that under the semblance of piety impiety may not be disseminated, the same holy council has decreed that no one be admitted to this office of instructor, whether such instruction be public or private, who has not been previously examined and approved by the bishop of the locality as to his life, morals and knowledge; which, however, is not to be understood of instructions in the monasteries of monks. Moreover, those who teach Holy Scripture, as long as they teach publicly in the schools, and also the students who study in those schools, shall fully enjoy and possess in case of absence all the privileges accorded by the common law with regard to the collection of the incomes of their prebends and benefices.[30] CHAPTER II PREACHERS OF THE WORD OF GOD AND QUESTIONS OF ALMS But since the preaching of the Gospel is no less necessary to the Christian commonwealth than the reading thereof, and since this is the chief duty of the bishops,[31] the same holy council has ordained and decreed that all bishops, archbishops, primates and all other prelates of the churches are bound personally, if not lawfully hindered, to preach the holy Gospel of Jesus Christ. But if it should happen that bishops and the others mentioned above are hindered by a legitimate impediment, they shall be bound, in accordance with the provision of the general council,[32] to appoint competent persons to discharge beneficially this office of preaching. If however anyone through contempt fails to observe this, let him be subject to severe punishment. Archpriests, priests and all who in any manner have charge of parochial or other churches to which is attached the cura animarum, shall at least on Sundays and solemn festivals,[33] either personally or, if they are lawfully impeded, through others who are competent, feed the people committed to them with wholesome words in proportion to their own and their people’s mental capacity, by teaching them those things that are necessary for all to know in order to be saved, and by impressing upon them with briefness and plainness of speech the vices that they must avoid and the virtues that they must cultivate, in order that they may escape eternal punishment and obtain the glory of heaven. But if anyone of the above should neglect to discharge this duty, even on the plea that for some reason he is exempt from the jurisdiction of the bishop, even if the churches are said in some way to be exempt, or perhaps annexed or united to some monastery that is outside the diocese, if the churches are really within their dioceses, let not the watchful and pastoral solicitude of the bishops be wanting, lest that be fulfilled: The little ones have asked for bread, and there was none to break it unto them.[34] Wherefore, if after having been admonished by the bishop they neglect their duty for a period of three months, let them be compelled by ecclesiastical censures or by other measures at the discretion of the bishop; and should he deem it expedient, let a fair remuneration be paid from the revenues of the benefices to another person to discharge that office, till the incumbent, having come to his senses, shall fulfil his own duty. But if there should be found parochial churches subject to monasteries that are not in any diocese, and the abbots and regular prelates are negligent in the aforesaid matters, let them be compelled thereto by the metropolitans in whose provinces the dioceses are located, who in this matter shall act as delegates of the Apostolic See, and no custom, exemption, appeal, protest or counteraction shall impede the execution of this decree, till a competent judge, who shall proceed summarily and examine only into the truth of the fact, shall have taken the matter into consideration and given a decision. Regulars of whatever order, unless they have been examined by their superiors regarding life, morals and knowledge and approved by them, may not without their permission preach even in the churches of their order, and they must present themselves personally with this permission before the bishops and ask from these the blessing before they begin to preach. In churches, however, that are not of their orders they must, in addition to the permission of their superiors, have also that of the bishop, without which they may not under any circumstances preach in churches that do not belong to their orders.[35] This permission the bishops shall grant gratis. But if, which heaven avert, a preacher should spread errors or scandals among the people, let the bishop forbid him to preach, even though he preach in his own or in the monastery of another order. Should he preach heresies, let him proceed against him in accordance with the requirement of the law or the custom of the locality, even though that preacher should plead exemption by a general or special privilege; in which case the bishop shall proceed by Apostolic authority and as the delegate of the Apostolic See. But let bishops be careful that a preacher be not annoyed by false accusations or calumnies, or have just cause of complaint concerning such. Moreover, let bishops be on their guard not to permit anyone, whether of those who, being regulars in name, live outside their monasteries and the obedience of their religious institute, or secular priests, unless they are known to them and are of approved morals and doctrine, to preach in their city or diocese, even under pretext of any privilege whatsoever, till they have consulted the holy Apostolic See on the matter; from which See it is not likely that privileges of this kind are extorted by unworthy persons except by suppressing the truth or stating what is false. Those soliciting alms, who are also commonly known as questors,[36] whatever their state, shall not in any manner presume to preach either per se or per alium, and shall, notwithstanding any privilege whatsoever, be absolutely restrained by suitable measures by the bishops and ordinaries of the localities. ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE NEXT SESSION This holy council also ordains and decrees that the next session be held and celebrated on the Thursday after the feast of the blessed Apostle James. The session was afterwards prorogued to the thirteenth day of January, 1547. ENDNOTES 1. Heb. 11:6 2. Eph. 4:14 3. Gen. 3:1 ff.; Apoc. 12:9; 20:2 4. Gen. 2:17 5. Heb. 2:14 6. Cf. II Synod of Orange (529), c.I. Denzinger, no. 174 7. See 1 Cor. 15:21 f.; II Synod of Orange, c.2. Ibid., no. 175 8. Rom. 5:12 9. See 1 Tim. 2:5 10. See 1 Cor. 1:30 11. Acts 4:12 12. John 1:29 13. Gal. 3:27 14. Acts 2:38 15. Rom. 5:12 16. C.153, D.IV de cons 17. John 3:5 18. Rom. 6:4; C.13, D.IV de cons 19. Rom. 8:1 20. Eph. 4:22, 24; Col. 3:9f 21. Rom. 8:17 22. See II Tim. 2:5 23. Rom. 6-8; Col. 3 24. Cc. 1, 2, Extrav. comm., De reliq. et venerat. sanct., III, 12 25. C.12 D.XXXVII; cc.1, 4, 5, X, De magistr., V, 5. Cf. also Sess. XXIII, chap. 18 de ref. 26. Sess. XXIV, chap. 15 de ref. 27. C.1, X, De magistr., V, 5; Sess. XXIII, chap. 18 de ref 28. By the bull In sacrosancta of Pius IV (13 Nov., 1564) this master was bound to make a profession of faith 29. To which Paul V by the constitution Apostolicae (1610) added instructions in Hebrew, Greek and Arabic 30. C.5, X, De magistr., V, 5 31. Cf. Sess. XXIV, chap. 4 de ref.; c.6, D.LXXXVIII 32. C.15, X, De off. jud. ord., I, 31 (IV Lat., c.10) 33. Cf. Sess. XXIV, chap. cit. 34. Lam. 4:4 35. C.13 (par. 6), X, De haeret., V, 7; Sess. XXIV, chap. 4 de ref 36. C.14, X, De poenit. et remiss., V, 38; c.11 (par. 2), VI, De haeret., V, 2; C.2, in Clem., De poenit. et remis., V, 9. By the bull of Pius V, Etsi Dominici (1567), all indulgences which gave occasion for abuse by the questors were withdrawn. COUNCIL OF TRENT SIXTH SESSION celebrated on the thirteenth day of January, 1547 DECREE CONCERNING JUSTIFICATION Introduction Since there is being disseminated at this time, not without the loss of many souls and grievous detriment to the unity of the Church, a certain erroneous doctrine concerning justification, the holy, ecumenical and general Council of Trent, lawfully assembled in the Holy Ghost, the most reverend John Maria, Bishop of Praeneste de Monte, and Marcellus, priest of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem, cardinals of the holy Roman Church and legates Apostolic a latere, presiding in the name of our most holy Father and Lord in Christ, Paul III, by the providence of God, Pope, intends, for the praise and glory of Almighty God, for the tranquillity of the Church and the salvation of souls, to expound to all the faithful of Christ the true and salutary doctrine of justification, which the Sun of justice,[1] Jesus Christ, the author and finisher of our faith[2] taught, which the Apostles transmitted and which the Catholic Church under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost has always retained; strictly forbidding that anyone henceforth presume to believe, preach or teach otherwise than is defined and declared in the present decree. CHAPTER I THE IMPOTENCY OF NATURE AND OF THE LAW TO JUSTIFY MAN The holy council declares first, that for a correct and clear understanding of the doctrine of justification, it is necessary that each one recognize and confess that since all men had lost innocence in the prevarication of Adam,[3] having become unclean,[4] and, as the Apostle says, by nature children of wrath,[5] as has been set forth in the decree on original sin,[6] they were so far the servants of sin[7] and under the power of the devil and of death, that not only the Gentiles by the force of nature, but not even the Jews by the very letter of the law of Moses, were able to be liberated or to rise therefrom, though free will, weakened as it was in its powers and downward bent,[8] was by no means extinguished in them. CHAPTER II THE DISPENSATION AND MYSTERY OF THE ADVENT OF CHRIST Whence it came to pass that the heavenly Father, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort,[9] when the blessed fullness of time was come,[10] sent to men Jesus Christ, His own Son, who had both before the law and during the time of the law been announced and promised to many of the holy fathers,[11] that he might redeem the Jews who were under the law,[12] and that the Gentiles who followed not after justice[13] might attain to justice, and that all men might receive the adoption of sons. Him has God proposed as a propitiator through faith in his blood[14] for our sins, and not for our sins only, but also for those of the whole world.[15] CHAPTER III WHO ARE JUSTIFIED THROUGH CHRIST But though He died for all,[16] yet all do not receive the benefit of His death, but those only to whom the merit of His passion is communicated; because as truly as men would not be born unjust, if they were not born through propagation of the seed of Adam, since by that propagation they contract through him, when they are conceived, injustice as their own, so if they were not born again in Christ, they would never be justified, since in that new birth there is bestowed upon them, through the merit of His passion, the grace by which they are made just. For this benefit the Apostle exhorts us always to give thanks to the Father, who hath made us worthy to be partakers of the lot of the saints in light, and hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love, in whom we have redemption and remission of sins.[17] CHAPTER IV A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE JUSTIFICATION OF THE SINNER AND ITS MODE IN THE STATE OF GRACE In which words is given a brief description of the justification of the sinner, as being a translation from that state in which man is born a child of the first Adam, to the state of grace and of the adoption of the sons of God through the second Adam, Jesus Christ, our Savior. This translation however cannot, since promulgation of the Gospel, be effected except through the laver of regeneration or its desire, as it is written: Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.[18] CHAPTER V THE NECESSITY OF PREPARATION FOR JUSTIFICATION IN ADULTS, AND WHENCE IT PROCEEDS It is furthermore declared that in adults the beginning of that justification must proceed from the predisposing grace of God through Jesus Christ, that is, from His vocation, whereby, without any merits on their part, they are called; that they who by sin had been cut off from God, may be disposed through His quickening and helping grace to convert themselves to their own justification by freely assenting to and cooperating with that grace; so that, while God touches the heart of man through the illumination of the Holy Ghost, man himself neither does absolutely nothing while receiving that inspiration, since he can also reject it, nor yet is he able by his own free will and without the grace of God to move himself to justice in His sight. Hence, when it is said in the sacred writings: Turn ye to me, and I will turn to you,[19] we are reminded of our liberty; and when we reply: Convert us, O Lord, to thee, and we shall be converted,[20] we confess that we need the grace of God. CHAPTER VI THE MANNER OF PREPARATION Now, they [the adults] are disposed to that justice when, aroused and aided by divine grace, receiving faith by hearing,[21] they are moved freely toward God, believing to be true what has been divinely revealed and promised, especially that the sinner is justified by God by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus;[22] and when, understanding themselves to be sinners, they, by turning themselves from the fear of divine justice, by which they are salutarily aroused, to consider the mercy of God, are raised to hope, trusting that God will be propitious to them for Christ’s sake; and they begin to love Him as the fountain of all justice, and on that account are moved against sin by a certain hatred and detestation, that is, by that repentance that must be performed before baptism;[23] finally, when they resolve to receive baptism, to begin a new life and to keep the commandments of God. Of this disposition it is written: He that cometh to God, must believe that he is, and is a rewarder to them that seek him;[24] and, Be of good faith, son, thy sins are forgiven thee;[25] and, The fear of the Lord driveth out sin;[26] and, Do penance, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost;[27] and, Going, therefore, teach ye all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you;[28] finally, Prepare your hearts unto the Lord.[29] CHAPTER VII IN WHAT THE JUSTIFICATION OF THE SINNER CONSISTS, AND WHAT ARE ITS CAUSES This disposition or preparation is followed by justification itself, which is not only a remission of sins but also the sanctification and renewal of the inward man through the voluntary reception of the grace and gifts whereby an unjust man becomes just and from being an enemy becomes a friend, that he may be an heir according to hope of life everlasting.[30] The causes of this justification are: the final cause is the glory of God and of Christ and life everlasting; the efficient cause is the merciful God who washes and sanctifies[31] gratuitously, signing and anointing with the holy Spirit of promise, who is the pledge of our inheritance,[32] the meritorious cause is His most beloved only begotten, our Lord Jesus Christ, who, when we were enemies,[33] for the exceeding charity wherewith he loved us,[34] merited for us justification by His most holy passion on the wood of the cross and made satisfaction for us to God the Father, the instrumental cause is the sacrament of baptism, which is the sacrament of faith,[35] without which no man was ever justified finally, the single formal cause is the justice of God, not that by which He Himself is just, but that by which He makes us just, that, namely, with which we being endowed by Him, are renewed in the spirit of our mind,[36] and not only are we reputed but we are truly called and are just, receiving justice within us, each one according to his own measure, which the Holy Ghost distributes to everyone as He wills,[37] and according to each one’s disposition and cooperation. For though no one can be just except he to whom the merits of the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ are communicated, yet this takes place in that justification of the sinner, when by the merit of the most holy passion, the charity of God is poured forth by the Holy Ghost in the hearts[38] of those who are justified and inheres in them; whence man through Jesus Christ, in whom he is ingrafted, receives in that justification, together with the remission of sins, all these infused at the same time, namely, faith, hope and charity. For faith, unless hope and charity be added to it, neither unites man perfectly with Christ nor makes him a living member of His body.[39] For which reason it is most truly said that faith without works is dead[40] and of no profit, and in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision, but faith that worketh by charity.[41] This faith, conformably to Apostolic tradition, catechumens ask of the Church before the sacrament of baptism, when they ask for the faith that gives eternal life, which without hope and charity faith cannot give. Whence also they hear immediately the word of Christ: If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.[42] Wherefore, when receiving true and Christian justice, they are commanded, immediately on being born again, to preserve it pure and spotless, as the first robe[43] given them through Christ Jesus in place of that which Adam by his disobedience lost for himself and for us, so that they may bear it before the tribunal of our Lord Jesus Christ and may have life eternal. CHAPTER VIII HOW THE GRATUITOUS JUSTIFICATION OF THE SINNER BY FAITH IS TO BE UNDERSTOOD But when the Apostle says that man is justified by faith and freely,[44] these words are to be understood in that sense in which the uninterrupted unanimity of the Catholic Church has held and expressed them, namely, that we are therefore said to be justified by faith, because faith is the beginning of human salvation, the foundation and root of all justification, without which it is impossible to please God[45] and to come to the fellowship of His sons; and we are therefore said to be justified gratuitously, because none of those things that precede justification, whether faith or works, merit the grace of justification. For, if by grace, it is not now by works, otherwise, as the Apostle says, grace is no more grace.[46] CHAPTER IX AGAINST THE VAIN CONFIDENCE OF HERETICS But though it is necessary to believe that sins neither are remitted nor ever have been remitted except gratuitously by divine mercy for Christ’s sake, yet it must not be said that sins are forgiven or have been forgiven to anyone who boasts of his confidence and certainty of the remission of his sins,[47] resting on that alone, though among heretics and schismatics this vain and ungodly confidence may be and in our troubled times indeed is found and preached with untiring fury against the Catholic Church. Moreover, it must not be maintained, that they who are truly justified must needs, without any doubt whatever, convince themselves that they are justified, and that no one is absolved from sins and justified except he that believes with certainty that he is absolved and justified,[48] and that absolution and justification are effected by this faith alone, as if he who does not believe this, doubts the promises of God and the efficacy of the death and resurrection of Christ. For as no pious person ought to doubt the mercy of God, the merit of Christ and the virtue and efficacy of the sacraments, so each one, when he considers himself and his own weakness and indisposition, may have fear and apprehension concerning his own grace, since no one can know with the certainty of faith, which cannot be subject to error, that he has obtained the grace of God. CHAPTER X THE INCREASE OF THE JUSTIFICATION RECEIVED Having, therefore, been thus justified and made the friends and domestics of God,[49] advancing from virtue to virtue,[50] they are renewed, as the Apostle says, day by day,[51] that is, mortifying the members[52] of their flesh, and presenting them as instruments of justice unto sanctification,[53] they, through the observance of the commandments of God and of the Church, faith cooperating with good works, increase in that justice received through the grace of Christ and are further justified, as it is written: He that is just, let him be justified still;[54] and, Be not afraid to be justified even to death;[55] and again, Do you see that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only?[56] This increase of justice holy Church asks for when she prays: “Give unto us, O Lord, an increase of faith, hope and charity.”[57] CHAPTER XI THE OBSERVANCE OF THE COMMANDMENTS AND THE NECESSITY AND POSSIBILITY THEREOF But no one, however much justified, should consider himself exempt from the observance of the commandments; no one should use that rash statement, once forbidden by the Fathers under anathema, that the observance of the commandments of God is impossible for one that is justified. For God does not command impossibilities, but by commanding admonishes thee to do what thou canst and to pray for what thou canst not, and aids thee that thou mayest be able.[58] His commandments are not heavy,[59] and his yoke is sweet and burden light.[60] For they who are the sons of God love Christ, but they who love Him, keep His commandments, as He Himself testifies;[61] which, indeed, with the divine help they can do. For though during this mortal life, men, however holy and just, fall at times into at least light and daily sins, which are also called venial, they do not on that account cease to be just, for that petition of the just, forgive us our trespasses,[62] is both humble and true; for which reason the just ought to feel themselves the more obliged to walk in the way of justice, for being now freed from sin and made servants of God,[63] they are able, living soberly, justly and godly,[64] to proceed onward through Jesus Christ, by whom they have access unto this grace.[65] For God does not forsake those who have been once justified by His grace, unless He be first forsaken by them. Wherefore, no one ought to flatter himself with faith alone, thinking that by faith alone he is made an heir and will obtain the inheritance, even though he suffer not with christ, that he may be also glorified with him.[66] For even Christ Himself, as the Apostle says, whereas he was the Son of God, he learned obedience by the things which he suffered, and being consummated, he became to all who obey him the cause of eternal salvation.[67] For which reason the same Apostle admonishes those justified, saying: Know you not that they who run in the race, all run indeed, but one receiveth the prize? So run that you may obtain. I therefore so run, not as at an uncertainty; I so fight, not as one beating the air, but I chastise my body and bring it into subjection; lest perhaps when I have preached to others, I myself should become a castaway.[68] So also the prince of the Apostles, Peter: Labor the more, that by good works you may make sure your calling and election. For doing these things, you shall not sin at any time.[69] From which it is clear that they are opposed to the orthodox teaching of religion who maintain that the just man sins, venially at least, in every good work;[70] or, what is more intolerable, that he merits eternal punishment; and they also who assert that the just sin in all works, if, in order to arouse their sloth and to encourage themselves to run the race, they, in addition to this, that above all God may be glorified, have in view also the eternal reward,[71] since it is written: I have inclined my heart to do thy justifications on account of the reward;[72] and of Moses the Apostle says; that he looked unto the reward.[73] CHAPTER XII RASH PRESUMPTION OF PREDESTINATION IS TO BE AVOIDED No one, moreover, so long as he lives this mortal life, ought in regard to the sacred mystery of divine predestination, so far presume as to state with absolute certainty that he is among the number of the predestined,[74] as if it were true that the one justified either cannot sin any more, or, if he does sin, that he ought to promise himself an assured repentance. For except by special revelation, it cannot be known whom God has chosen to Himself. CHAPTER XIII THE GIFT OF PERSEVERANCE Similarly with regard to the gift of perseverance, of which it is written: He that shall persevere to the end, he shall be saved,[75] which cannot be obtained from anyone except from Him who is able to make him stand who stands,[76] that he may stand perseveringly, and to raise him who falls, let no one promise himself herein something as certain with an absolute certainty, though all ought to place and repose the firmest hope in God’s help. For God, unless men themselves fail in His grace, as he has begun a good work, so will he perfect it, working to will and to accomplish.[77] Nevertheless, let those who think themselves to stand, take heed lest they fall,[78] and with fear and trembling work out their salvation,[79] in labors, in watchings, in almsdeeds, in prayer, in fastings and chastity. For knowing that they are born again unto the hope of glory,[80] and not as yet unto glory, they ought to fear for the combat that yet remains with the flesh, with the world and with the devil, in which they cannot be victorious unless they be with the grace of God obedient to the Apostle who says: We are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh; for if you live according to the flesh, you shall die, but if by the spirit you mortify the deeds of the flesh, you shall live.[81] CHAPTER XIV THE FALLEN AND THEIR RESTORATION Those who through sin have forfeited and received grace of justification, can again be justified when, moved by God, they exert themselves to obtain through the sacrament of penance the recovery, by the merits of Christ, of the grace lost.[82] For this manner of justification is restoration for those fallen, which the holy Fathers have aptly called a second plank after the shipwreck of grace lost.[83] For on behalf of those who fall into sins after baptism, Christ Jesus instituted the sacrament of penance when He said: Receive ye the Holy Ghost, whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them, and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.[84] Hence, it must be taught that the repentance of a Christian after his fall is very different from that at his baptism, and that it includes not only a determination to avoid sins and a hatred of them, or a contrite and humble heart,[85] but also the sacramental confession of those sins, at least in desire, to be made in its season, and sacerdotal absolution, as well as satisfaction by fasts, alms, prayers and other devout exercises of the spiritual life, not indeed for the eternal punishment, which is, together with the guilt, remitted either by the sacrament or by the desire of the sacrament, but for the temporal punishment which, as the sacred writings teach, is not always wholly remitted, as is done in baptism, to those who, ungrateful to the grace of God which they have received, have grieved the Holy Ghost[86] and have not feared to violate the temple of God.[87] Of which repentance it is written: Be mindful whence thou art fallen; do penance, and do the first works;[88] and again, The sorrow that is according to God worketh penance, steadfast unto salvation;[89] and again, Do penance, and bring forth fruits worthy of penance.[90] CHAPTER XV BY EVERY MORTAL SIN GRACE IS LOST, BUT NOT FAITH Against the subtle wits of some also, who by pleasing speeches and good words seduce the hearts of the innocent,[91] it must be maintained that the grace of justification once received is lost not only by infidelity, whereby also faith itself is lost, but also by every other mortal sin, though in this case faith is not lost; thus defending the teaching of the divine law which excludes from the kingdom of God not only unbelievers, but also the faithful [who are] fornicators, adulterers, effeminate, liars with mankind, thieves, covetous, drunkards, railers, extortioners,[92] and all others who commit deadly sins, from which with the help of divine grace they can refrain, and on account of which they are cut off from the grace of Christ. CHAPTER XVI THE FRUITS OF JUSTIFICATION, THAT IS, THE MERIT OF GOOD WORKS, AND THE NATURE OF THAT MERIT Therefore, to men justified in this manner, whether they have preserved uninterruptedly the grace received or recovered it when lost, are to be pointed out the words of the Apostle: Abound in every good work, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.[93] For God is not unjust, that he should forget your work, and the love which you have shown in his name;[94] and, Do not lose your confidence, which hath a great reward.[95] Hence, to those who work well unto the end[96] and trust in God, eternal life is to be offered, both as a grace mercifully promised to the sons of God through Christ Jesus, and as a reward promised by God himself, to be faithfully given to their good works and merits.[97] For this is the crown of justice which after his fight and course the Apostle declared was laid up for him, to be rendered to him by the just judge, and not only to him, but also to all that love his coming.[98] For since Christ Jesus Himself, as the head into the members and the vine into the branches,[99] continually infuses strength into those justified, which strength always precedes, accompanies and follows their good works, and without which they could not in any manner be pleasing and meritorious before God, we must believe that nothing further is wanting to those justified to prevent them from being considered to have, by those very works which have been done in God, fully satisfied the divine law according to the state of this life and to have truly merited eternal life, to be obtained in its [due] time, provided they depart [this life] in grace,[100] since Christ our Savior says: If anyone shall drink of the water that I will give him, he shall not thirst forever; but it shall become in him a fountain of water springing up into life everlasting.[101] Thus, neither is our own justice established as our own from ourselves,[102] nor is the justice of God ignored or repudiated, for that justice which is called ours, because we are justified by its inherence in us, that same is [the justice] of God, because it is infused into us by God through the merit of Christ. Nor must this be omitted, that although in the sacred writings so much is attributed to good works, that even he that shall give a drink of cold water to one of his least ones, Christ promises, shall not lose his reward;[103] and the Apostle testifies that, That which is at present momentary and light of our tribulation, worketh for us above measure exceedingly an eternal weight of glory;[104] nevertheless, far be it that a Christian should either trust or glory in himself and not in the Lord,[105] whose bounty toward all men is so great that He wishes the things that are His gifts to be their merits. And since in many things we all offend,[106] each one ought to have before his eyes not only the mercy and goodness but also the severity and judgment [of God]; neither ought anyone to judge himself, even though he be not conscious to himself of anything;[107] because the whole life of man is to be examined and judged not by the judgment of man but of God, who will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts, and then shall every man have praise from God,[108] who, as it is written, will render to every man according to his works.[109] After this Catholic doctrine on justification, which whosoever does not faithfully and firmly accept cannot be justified, it seemed good to the holy council to add to these canons, that all may know not only what they must hold and follow, but also what to avoid and shun. CANONS CONCERNING JUSTIFICATION Canon 1. If anyone says that man can be justified before God by his own works, whether done by his own natural powers or through the teaching of the law,[110] without divine grace through Jesus Christ, let him be anathema. Canon 2. If anyone says that divine grace through Christ Jesus is given for this only, that man may be able more easily to live justly and to merit eternal life, as if by free will without grace he is able to do both, though with hardship and difficulty, let him be anathema. Canon 3. If anyone says that without the predisposing inspiration of the Holy Ghost[111] and without His help, man can believe, hope, love or be repentant as he ought,[112] so that the grace of justification may be bestowed upon him, let him be anathema. Canon 4. If anyone says that man’s free will moved and aroused by God, by assenting to God’s call and action, in no way cooperates toward disposing and preparing itself to obtain the grace of justification, that it cannot refuse its assent if it wishes, but that, as something inanimate, it does nothing whatever and is merely passive, let him be anathema. Canon 5. If anyone says that after the sin of Adam man’s free will was lost and destroyed, or that it is a thing only in name, indeed a name without a reality, a fiction introduced into the Church by Satan, let him be anathema. Canon 6. If anyone says that it is not in man’s power to make his ways evil, but that the works that are evil as well as those that are good God produces, not permissively only but also propria et per se, so that the treason of Judas is no less His own proper work than the vocation of St. Paul, let him be anathema. Canon 7. If anyone says that all works done before justification, in whatever manner they may be done, are truly sins, or merit the hatred of God; that the more earnestly one strives to dispose himself for grace, the more grievously he sins, let him be anathema. Canon 8. If anyone says that the fear of hell,[113] whereby, by grieving for sins, we flee to the mercy of God or abstain from sinning, is a sin or makes sinners worse, let him be anathema. Canon 9. If anyone says that the sinner is justified by faith alone,[114] meaning that nothing else is required to cooperate in order to obtain the grace of justification, and that it is not in any way necessary that he be prepared and disposed by the action of his own will, let him be anathema. Canon 10. If anyone says that men are justified without the justice of Christ,[115] whereby Her merited for us, or by that justice are formally just, let him be anathema. Canon 11. If anyone says that men are justified either by the sole imputation of the justice of Christ or by the sole remission of sins, to the exclusion of the grace and the charity which is poured forth in their hearts by the Holy Ghost,[116] and remains in them, or also that the grace by which we are justified is only the good will of God, let him be anathema. Canon 12. If anyone says that justifying faith is nothing else than confidence in divine mercy,[117] which remits sins for Christ’s sake, or that it is this confidence alone that justifies us, let him be anathema. Canon 13. If anyone says that in order to obtain the remission of sins it is necessary for every man to believe with certainty and without any hesitation arising from his own weakness and indisposition that his sins are forgiven him, let him be anathema. Canon 14. If anyone says that man is absolved from his sins and justified because he firmly believes that he is absolved and justified,[118] or that no one is truly justified except him who believes himself justified, and that by this faith alone absolution and justification are effected, let him be anathema. Canon 15. If anyone says that a man who is born again and justified is bound ex fide to believe that he is certainly in the number of the predestined,[119] let him be anathema. Canon 16. If anyone says that he will for certain, with an absolute and infallible certainty, have that great gift of perseverance even to the end, unless he shall have learned this by a special revelation,[120] let him be anathema. Canon 17. If anyone says that the grace of justification is shared by those only who are predestined to life, but that all others who are called are called indeed but receive not grace, as if they are by divine power predestined to evil, let him be anathema. Canon 18. If anyone says that the commandments of God are, even for one that is justified and constituted in grace,[121] impossible to observe, let him be anathema. Canon 19. If anyone says that nothing besides faith is commanded in the Gospel, that other things are indifferent, neither commanded nor forbidden, but free; or that the ten commandments in no way pertain to Christians, let him be anathema. Canon 20. If anyone says that a man who is justified and however perfect is not bound to observe the commandments of God and the Church, but only to believe,[122] as if the Gospel were a bare and absolute promise of eternal life without the condition of observing the commandments, let him be anathema. Canon 21. If anyone says that Christ Jesus was given by God to men as a redeemer in whom to trust, and not also as a legislator whom to obey, let him be anathema. Canon 22. If anyone says that the one justified either can without the special help of God persevere in the justice received,[123] or that with that help he cannot, let him be anathema. Canon 23. If anyone says that a man once justified can sin no more, nor lose grace,[124] and that therefore he that falls and sins was never truly justified; or on the contrary, that he can during his whole life avoid all sins, even those that are venial, except by a special privilege from God, as the Church holds in regard to the Blessed Virgin, let him be anathema. Canon 24. If anyone says that the justice received is not preserved and also not increased before God through good works,[125] but that those works are merely the fruits and signs of justification obtained, but not the cause of its increase, let him be anathema. Canon 25. If anyone says that in every good work the just man sins at least venially,[126] or, what is more intolerable, mortally, and hence merits eternal punishment, and that he is not damned for this reason only, because God does not impute these works into damnation, let him be anathema. Canon 26. If anyone says that the just ought not for the good works done in God[127] to expect and hope for an eternal reward from God through His mercy and the merit of Jesus Christ, if by doing well and by keeping the divine commandments they persevere to the end,[128] let him be anathema. Canon 27. If anyone says that there is no mortal sin except that of unbelief,[129] or that grace once received is not lost through any other sin however grievous and enormous except by that of unbelief, let him be anathema. Canon 28. If anyone says that with the loss of grace through sin faith is also lost with it, or that the faith which remains is not a true faith, though it is not a living one, or that he who has faith without charity is not a Christian, let him be anathema. Canon 29. If anyone says that he who has fallen after baptism cannot by the grace of God rise again,[130] or that he can indeed recover again the lost justice but by faith alone without the sacrament of penance, contrary to what the holy Roman and Universal Church, instructed by Christ the Lord and His Apostles, has hitherto professed, observed and taught, let him be anathema. Canon 30. If anyone says that after the reception of the grace of justification the guilt is so remitted and the debt of eternal punishment so blotted out to every repentant sinner, that no debt of temporal punishment remains to be discharged either in this world[131] or in purgatory before the gates of heaven can be opened,[132] let him be anathema. Canon 31. If anyone says that the one justified sins when he performs good works with a view to an eternal reward,[133] let him be anathema. Canon 32. If anyone says that the good works of the one justified are in such manner the gifts of God that they are not also the good merits of him justified; or that the one justified by the good works that he performs by the grace of God and the merit of Jesus Christ, whose living member he is, does not truly merit an increase of grace, eternal life, and in case he dies in grace, the attainment of eternal life itself and also an increase of glory, let him be anathema. Canon 33. If anyone says that the Catholic doctrine of justification as set forth by the holy council in the present decree, derogates in some respect from the glory of God or the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ, and does not rather illustrate the truth of our faith and no less the glory of God and of Christ Jesus, let him be anathema. DECREE CONCERNING REFORM CHAPTER I IT IS PROPER THAT PRELATES RESIDE IN THEIR CHURCHES; IF THEY ACT OTHERWISE, THE PENALTIES OF THE EARLIER LAWS ARE RENEWED AGAINST THEM AND NEW ONES ARE PRESCRIBED The same holy council, the same legates of the Apostolic See presiding, wishing to restore a very much collapsed ecclesiastical discipline and to reform the depraved morals of the clergy and the Christian people, has deemed it proper to begin with those who preside over the major churches, for unblemished character in those who govern is the salvation of those governed.[134] Trusting therefore that by the mercy of our Lord and God and the prudent vigilance of the vicar of that God on earth, it will surely come about that for the government of the churches, a burden formidable even to the shoulders of angels, those who are most worthy, whose previous life in its every stage, from their youth to their riper years, laudably spent in the services of ecclesiastical discipline, bears testimony in their favor, will be chosen in accordance with the venerable ordinances of the holy Fathers,[135] it admonishes all who under whatever name or title are set over patriarchal, primatial, metropolitan and cathedral churches, and hereby wishes that they be considered admonished, that taking heed to themselves and to the whole flock, wherein the Holy Ghost hath placed them to rule the Church of God which he hath purchased with his own blood,[136] that they be vigilant, as the Apostle commands, labor in all things and fulfil their ministry.[137] Let them know, however, that they cannot fulfil this if like hirelings they desert the flocks committed to them[138] and do not attend to the guardianship of their sheep, whose blood will be required at their hands by the supreme judge;[139] since it is most certain that the shepherd’s excuse will not be accepted if the wolf devours the sheep and he knows it not. and since there are some at this time, which is greatly to be deplored, who, forgetful even of their own salvation and preferring earthly things to the things of heaven and things human to things divine, wander about at divers courts or keep themselves occupied with the care of temporal affairs, their fold forsaken and their watchfulness over the sheep committed to them neglected, it has seemed good to the holy council to renew, as by virtue of the present decree it does renew, the old canons promulgated against non-residents,[140] which on account of the disorders of the times and of men have well-nigh fallen into desuetude; and furthermore, for a more faithful residence of the same and for the reform of morals in the Church, to ordain and decree in the manner following. If anyone, by whatever dignity, rank and pre-eminence distinguished, shall, by remaining outside of his diocese for a continuous period of six months[141] without lawful impediment or just and reasonable causes,[142] be absent from a patriarchal, primatial, metropolitan or cathedral church, under whatever title, cause, name or right committed to him, he shall incur ipsu jure the forfeiture of a fourth part of one year’s revenues, to be applied by the ecclesiastical superior to the church treasury and to the poor of the locality. If he continues to absent himself for another six months, he shall eo ipso forfeit another fourth part of the revenues, to be applied in like manner.[143] If the contumacy proceed yet farther, that he may be subject to a severer penalty of the sacred canons, the metropolitan shall be bound to denounce the absent suffragan bishops, and the oldest resident suffragan bishop shall be bound under penalty, to be incurred ipso facto, of being forbidden entrance to the church,[144] to denounce the absent metropolitan to the Roman pontiff by letter or messenger within three months, that he, by the authority of his supreme see, may take action against the non-resident prelates, as the degree of contumacy of each may demand, and provide the churches with more useful pastors, as he shall know in the Lord to be salutary and expedient. CHAPTER II NO ONE HOLDING A BENEFICE THAT REQUIRES PERSONAL RESIDENCE MAY ABSENT HIMSELF EXCEPT FOR A JUST CAUSE TO BE APPROVED BY THE BISHOP, WHO SHALL THEN APPOINT A VICAR FOR THE CURA ANIMARUM, WITHDRAWING A PORTION OF THE REVENUES Those inferior to bishops, who by title or in commendam hold any ecclesiastical benefices that by law or custom require personal residence, shall be appropriate measures be compelled by their ordinaries to reside therein, according as it seems expedient to them for the good government of the churches and the increase of divine worship, taking into account the character of places and persons, and to no one shall privileges or perpetual indults in favor of non-residence or the reception of revenues during absence be of avail;[145] temporary permissions and dispensations, however, granted solely on true and reasonable grounds and to be legally proved before the ordinary, shall remain in force; in which cases, nevertheless, it is the duty of the bishops, as delegated in this matter by the Apostolic See, to see to it that the cura animarum is in no way neglected by the appointment of competent vicars and the assignment of a suitable portion of the revenues;[146] no privilege or exemption whatever shall be of avail to anyone in this matter. CHAPTER III TRANSGRESSIONS OF SECULAR CLERICS AND OF REGULARS WHO LIVE OUTSIDE THEIR MONASTERIES, SHALL BE CORRECTED BY THE ORDINARY OF THE LOCALITY The prelates of the churches shall apply themselves prudently and diligently to correct the excesses of their subjects, and no secular cleric under pretext of a personal privilege, or a regular living outside his monastery under pretext of a privilege of his order, shall, if he transgresses, be considered exempt from being visited, punished and corrected in accordance with the canonical enactments by the ordinary of the locality as delegated in this matter by the Apostolic See.[147] CHAPTER IV BISHOPS AND OTHER MAJOR PRELATES SHALL VISIT ALL CHURCHES AS OFTEN AS THIS IS NECESSARY; EVERYTHING THAT MIGHT HINDER THE EXECUTION OF THIS DECREE IS ABROGATED Chapters of cathedral and of other major churches and the members thereof shall not by any exemptions, customs, judicial verdicts, oaths, agreements, which bind only the originators thereof and not also their successors, shield themselves so that they cannot even with Apostolic authority be visited, corrected and amended in accordance with the canonical statutes as often as shall be necessary by their own bishops and other major prelates, by themselves alone or with those whom they shall deem fit to accompany them.[148] CHAPTER V BISHOPS SHALL NEITHER EXERCISE ANY PONTIFICAL FUNCTIONS NOR ORDAIN IN ANOTHER DIOCESE No bishop is allowed under pretext of any privilege to exercise pontifical functions in the diocese of another, except with the expressed permission of the ordinary of the place, and for those persons only who are subject to the same ordinary.[149] If the contrary is done, the bishop is ipso jure suspended from the exercise of pontifical functions and those so ordained from the exercise of their orders. ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE NEXT SESSION Does it please you that the next following session be celebrated on Thursday after the first Sunday of the approaching Lent, which will be the third day of March? They answered: It pleases us. ENDNOTES 1. Mal. 4:2 2. Heb. 12:2 3. Rom. 5:12; 1 Cor. 15:22 4. Is. 64:6. 5. Eph. 2:3 6. Cf. Sess. V at the beginning 7. Rom. 6:17, 20 8. Cf. II Synod of Orange (529), c.25. Hardouin, II, 1101 9. See II Cor. 1:3 10. Gal. 4:4 11. Gen. 49:10, 18 12. Gal. 4:5 13. Rom. 9:30 14. Ibid., 3:25; Dist. I De poenit., passim 15. See 1 John 2:2 16. See II Cor. 5:15 17. Col. 1:12-14 18. John 3:5 19. Zach. 1:3 20. Lam. 5:21 21. Rom. 10:17 22. Ibid., 3:24 23. Cf. Sess. XIV, chap. 4 24. Heb. 11:6 25. Matt. 9:2; Mark 2:5 26. Ecclus. 1:27 27. Acts 2:38; cc.13, 97, D.IV de cons 28. Matt. 28:19f 29. See 1 Kings 7:3 30. Tit. 3:7. 31. See 1 Cor. 6:11 32. Eph. 1:13f 33. Rom. 5:10 34. Eph. 2:4 35. C.76, D.IV de cons 36. Eph. 4:23 37. See I Cor. 12:11 38. Rom 5:5 39. Cf. infra, chap. 10 40. James 2:17, 20 41. Gal 5:6, 6:15 42. Matt. 19:17 43. Luke 15:22; c.31, D.II de poenit 44. Rom. 3:24; 5:1 45. Heb. 11:6 46. Rom. 11:6 47. Cf. infra, can. 12 and 13 48. Infra, can. 14 49. Eph. 2:19 50. Ps. 83:8 51. See 2 Cor. 4:16 52. Col. 3:5 53. Rom. 6:13, 19 54. Apoc. 22:11 55. Ecclus. 18:22 56. James 2:24 57. Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost 58. St. Augustine, De natura et gratia, c.43 (50), PL, XLIV, 271 59. See 1 John 5:3 60. Matt. 11:30 61. John 14:23 62. Matt. 6:12 63. Rom. 6:18, 22 64. Tit. 2:12 65. Rom. 5:1f 66. Ibid., 8:17 67. Heb. 5:8f 68. See 1 Cor. 9:24, 26f 69. See 2 Pet. 1:10 70. Cf. infra, can. 25 71. Cf. infra, can. 31 72. Ps. 118:112 73. Heb. 11:26 74. Cf. C.17, C.XXIV, q.3 75. Matt. 10:22; 24:13 76. Rom. 14:4 77. Phil. 1:6, 2:13 78. See 1 Cor. 10:12 79. Phil. 2:12 80. See 1 Pet. 1:3 81. Rom. 8:12f. 82. Cf. infra, can. 23 and 29 83. C.72, D.I de poenit 84. John 20:22f 85. Ps. 50:19 86. Eph. 4:30 87. See 1 Cor. 3:17 88. Apoc. 2:5 89. See II Cor. 7:10 90. Matt. 3:2; 4:17; Luke 3:8 91. Rom. 16:18 92. See I Cor. 6:9f.; 1 Tim. 1:9f 93. See I Cor. 15:58 94. Heb. 6:10 95. Heb. 10:35 96. Matt. 10:22 97. Rom. 6:22 98. See II Tim. 4:8 99. John 15:1f 100. Apoc. 14:13 101. John 4:13f 102. Rom. 10:3; II Cor. 3:5 103. Matt. 10:42; Mark 9:40 104. See II Cor. 4:17 105. See I Cor. 1:31; II Cor. 10:17 106. James 3:2 107. See I Cor. 4:3f 108. Ibid., 4:5 109. Matt. 16:27; Rom. 2:6; Apoc. 22:12 110. Cf. supra, chaps. 1, 3 111. Ibid., chap. 5 112. Rom. 5:5. 113. Matt. 10:28; Luke 12:5 114. Supra, chaps. 7, 8 115. Gal. 2:16; supra, chap. 7 116. Rom. 5:5 117. Supra, chap. 9 118. Supra, chap. 9 119. Supra, chap. 12 120. Ibid., chap. 13 121. Ibid., chap. 11 122. Cf. chap. cit 123. Supra, chap. 13 124. Ibid., chap. 14 125. Ibid., chap. 10 126. Ibid., chap. 11 at the end 127. Ibid., chap. 16 128. Matt. 24:13 129. Supra, chap. 15 130. Ibid., chap. 14 131. Cf. Sess. XIV, chap. 8 132. Cf. Sess. XXV at the beginning 133. Supra, chap. 11 at the end 134. C.5, D.LXI 135. C.4, D.LIX; cc.2, 6, 8, D.LXI 136. Acts 20:28 137. See II Tim. 4:5 138. John 10:12 139. Ezech. 33:6 140. C.20, C.VII, q.1 ff.; tit. X, De cler. non resid., III, 4 et in VI, III, 3. 141. C.11, X, De cler. non resid., III, 4 142. Cf. Sess. XXIII, chap. 1 de ref 143. Cf. Sess. and chap. cit 144. Cf. Schroeder, Disciplinary Decrees of the General Councils, p.353, no. 60 145. C.15, VI, De rescript., I, 3 146. C.34, VI, De elect., I, 6 147. Cf. Sess. XIV, chap. 4 de ref 148. Cf. Sess. XXIV, chap. 3 de ref. and Sess. XXV, chap. 6 de ref 149. Cf. Sess. XIV, chaps. 2, 3 de ref. and Sess. XXIII, chap. 8 de ref. COUNCIL OF TRENT SEVENTH SESSION celebrated on the third day of March, 1547 DECREE CONCERNING THE SACRAMENTS Foreword For the completion of the salutary doctrine on justification, which was promulgated with the unanimous consent of the Fathers in the last session, it has seemed proper to deal with the most holy sacraments of the Church, through which all true justice either begins, or being begun is increased, or being lost is restored. Wherefore, in order to destroy the errors and extirpate the heresies that in our stormy times are directed against the most holy sacraments, some of which are a revival of heresies long ago condemned by our Fathers, while others are of recent origin, all of which are exceedingly detrimental to the purity of the Catholic Church and the salvation of souls, the holy, ecumenical and general Council of Trent, lawfully assembled in the Holy Ghost, the same legates of the Apostolic See presiding, adhering to the teaching of the Holy Scriptures, to the Apostolic traditions, and to the unanimous teaching of other councils and of the Fathers, has thought it proper to establish and enact these present canons; hoping, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to publish later those that are wanting for the completion of the work begun. CANONS ON THE SACRAMENTS IN GENERAL Canon 1. If anyone says that the sacraments of the New Law were not all instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ, or that there are more or less than seven, namely, baptism, confirmation, Eucharist, penance, extreme unction, order and matrimony,[1] or that any one of these seven is not truly and intrinsically a sacrament, let him be anathema. Canon 2. If anyone says that these sacraments of the New Law do not differ from the sacraments of the Old Law, except that the ceremonies are different and the external rites are different, let him be anathema. Canon 3. If anyone says that these seven sacraments are so equal to each other that one is not for any reason more excellent than the other, let him be anathema. Canon 4. If anyone says that the sacraments of the New Law are not necessary for salvation but are superfluous, and that without them or without the desire of them men obtain from God through faith alone the grace of justification,[2] though all are not necessary for each one, let him be anathema. Canon 5. If anyone says that these sacraments have been instituted for the nourishment of faith alone, let him be anathema. Canon 6. If anyone says that the sacraments of the New Law do not contain the grace which they signify, or that they do not confer that grace on those who place no obstacles in its way,[3] as though they were only outward signs of grace or justice received through faith and certain marks of Christian profession, whereby among men believers are distinguished from unbelievers, let him be anathema. Canon 7. If anyone says that grace, so far as God’s part is concerned, is not impaired through the sacraments always and to all men even if they receive them rightly, but only sometimes and to some persons, let him be anathema. Canon 8. If anyone says that by the sacraments of the New Law grace is not conferred ex opere operato, but that faith alone in the divine promise is sufficient to obtain grace, let him be anathema. Canon 9. If anyone says that in three sacraments, namely, baptism, confirmation and order, there is not imprinted on the soul a character, that is, a certain spiritual and indelible mark, by reason of which they cannot be repeated,[4] let him be anathema. Canon 10. If anyone says that all Christians have the power to administer the word and all the sacraments,[5] let him be anathema. Canon 11. If anyone says that in ministers, when they effect and confer the sacraments, there is not required at least the intention of doing what the Church does,[6] let him be anathema. Canon 12. If anyone says that a minister who is in mortal sin, though he observes all the essentials that pertain to the effecting or conferring of a sacrament,[7] neither effects nor confers a sacrament, let him be anathema. Canon 13. If anyone says that the received and approved rites of the Catholic Church, accustomed to be used in the administration of the sacraments, may be despised or omitted by the ministers without sin and at their pleasure, or may be changed by any pastor of the churches to other new ones, let him be anathema. CANONS ON BAPTISM Canon 1. If anyone says that the baptism of John had the same effect as the baptism of Christ,[8] let him be anathema. Canon 2. If anyone says that true and natural water is not necessary for baptism[9] and thus twists into some metaphor the words of our Lord Jesus Christ: Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost,[10] let him be anathema. Canon 3. If anyone says that in the Roman Church, which is the mother and mistress of all churches, there is not the true doctrine concerning the sacrament of baptism,[11] let him be anathema. Canon 4. If anyone says that the baptism which is given by heretics in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, with the intention of doing what the Church does, is not true baptism,[12] let him be anathema. Canon 5. If anyone says that baptism is optional, that is, not necessary for salvation,[13] let him be anathema. Canon 6. If anyone says that one baptized cannot, even if he wishes, lose grace, however much he may sin, unless he is unwilling to believe, let him be anathema. Canon 7. If anyone says that those baptized are by baptism made debtors only to faith alone, but not to the observance of the whole law of Christ, let him be anathema. Canon 8. If anyone says that those baptized are free from all the precepts of holy Church, whether written or unwritten, so that they are not bound to observe them unless they should wish to submit to them of their own accord, let him be anathema. Canon 9. If anyone says that the remembrance of the baptism received is to be so impressed on men that they may understand that all the vows made after baptism are void in virtue of the promise already made in that baptism, as if by those vows they detracted from the faith which they professed and from the baptism itself, let him be anathema. Canon 10. If anyone says that by the sole remembrance and the faith of the baptism received, all sins committed after baptism are either remitted or made venial, let him be anathema. Canon 11. If anyone says that baptism, truly and rightly administered, must be repeated in the one converted to repentance after having denied the faith of Christ among the infidels, let him be anathema. Canon 12. If anyone says that no one is to be baptized except at that age at which Christ was baptized, or when on the point of death, let him be anathema. Canon 13. If anyone says that children, because they have not the act of believing, are not after having received baptism to be numbered among the faithful, and that for this reason are to be rebaptized when they have reached the years of discretion;[14] or that it is better that the baptism of such be omitted than that, while not believing by their own act, they should be baptized in the faith of the Church alone, let him be anathema. Canon 14. If anyone says that those who have been thus baptized when children are, when they have grown up, to be questioned whether they will ratify what their sponsors promised in their name when they were baptized, and in case they answer in the negative, are to be left to their own will; neither are they to be compelled in the meantime to a Christian life by any penalty other than exclusion from the reception of the Eucharist and the other sacraments, until they repent, let him be anathema. CANONS ON CONFIRMATION Canon 1. If anyone says that the confirmation of those baptized is an empty ceremony and not a true and proper sacrament; or that of old it was nothing more than a sort of instruction, whereby those approaching adolescence gave an account of their faith to the Church, let him be anathema. Canon 2. If anyone says that those who ascribe any power to the holy charism of confirmation, offer insults to the Holy Ghost, let him be anathema. Canon 3. If anyone says that the ordinary minister of holy confirmation is not the bishop alone,[15] but any simple priest, let him be anathema. DECREE CONCERNING REFORM The same holy council, the same legates presiding therein, intending to continue, to the praise of God and the increase of the Christian religion, the work begun concerning residence and reform, has thought it well to decree as follows, saving always and in all things the authority of the Apostolic See. CHAPTER I THE COMPETENCY REQUIRED TO CONDUCT CATHEDRAL CHURCHES No one shall be chosen to govern cathedral churches unless he is born of lawful wedlock, is of mature age, is known for his integrity of morals, and possesses the required knowledge,[16] in accordance with the constitution of Alexander III, which begins, “Cum in cunctis,” promulgated in the Lateran Council.[17] CHAPTER II THOSE HOLDING SEVERAL CATHEDRAL CHURCHES ARE COMMANDED TO RESIGN IN A SPECIFIED MANNER AND TIME ALL BUT ONE No one, by whatever dignity, rank or pre-eminence distinguished, shall presume, in contravention to the sacred canons,[18] to accept and to hold at the same time several metropolitan or cathedral churches, either by title or in commendam or under any other name, since he must be considered exceedingly fortunate who succeeds in ruling one church well, fruitfully and with due interest in the salvation of the souls committed to him. But those who now hold several churches contrary to the tenor of the present decree, shall be bound, retaining the one which they prefer, to resign the rest within six months if they are subject to free disposal by the Apostolic See, in other cases within a year; otherwise those churches, with the sole exception of the one last obtained, shall be eo ipso considered vacant. CHAPTER III BENEFICES ARE TO BE CONFERRED ONLY ON COMPETENT PERSONS Inferior ecclesiastical benefices, especially those to which is attached the cura animarum, shall be conferred on worthy and competent persons and on such as can reside in the place and exercise personally the care of souls, in accordance with the constitution of Alexander III in the Lateran Council, which begins, “Quia nonnulli,”[19] and that of Gregory X, published in the General Council of Lyons, which begins, “Licet canon.”[20] A collation or provision made otherwise is absolutely null, and let the collating bishop know that he will incur the penalties of the constitution of the general council, which begins, “Grave nimis.”[21] CHAPTER IV THE HOLDER OF SEVERAL BENEFICES CONTRARY TO THE CANONS SHALL BE DEPRIVED OF THEM Whoever shall in the future presume to accept and to hold at the same time several charges or otherwise incompatible ecclesiastical benefices,[22] whether by way of union for life or by way of perpetual commendam or under any other name or title whatsoever, in contravention of the provision of the sacred canons and especially of the constitution of Innocent III, which begins, “De multa,”[23] shall be ipso jure deprived of those benefices in accordance with the provisions of that constitution and also by virtue of the present canon. CHAPTER V HOLDERS OF SEVERAL BENEFICES TO WHICH IS ANNEXED THE CURA ANIMARUM MUST EXHIBIT THEIR DISPENSATIONS TO THE ORDINARY, WHO SHALL PROVIDE THE CHURCHES WITH A VICAR, ASSIGNING A SUITABLE PORTION OF THE REVENUES Local ordinaries shall strictly compel all who hold several charges or otherwise incompatible ecclesiastical benefices to exhibit their dispensations, and adopt other procedures in accordance with the constitution of Gregory X, published in the General Council of Lyons, beginning with “Ordinarii,”[24] which this holy council believes ought to be renewed and does renew; adding, moreover, that the ordinaries are by all means to provide, even by deputing competent vicars and assigning a suitable portion of the revenues, that the cura animarum be in no way neglected and that those benefices be by no means defrauded of the services due them; appeals, privileges and exemptions whatsoever, even with the appointment of special judges and their inhibitions, being of no avail to anyone in the aforesaid matter. CHAPTER VI WHAT UNIONS OF BENEFICES SHALL BE CONSIDERED VALID Perpetual unions,[25] made within forty years, may be investigated by the ordinaries as delegates of the Apostolic See, and such as have been obtained through deceit or deception shall be declared null. Those however must be presumed to have been obtained surreptitiously which, having been granted within the aforesaid period, have not yet been carried into effect in whole or in part; those also which shall henceforth be made at the instance of any person, unless it is certain that they have been made for lawful and otherwise reasonable causes, which must be verified before the local ordinary, those persons being summoned whose interests are concerned; hence, unless the Apostolic See shall have declared otherwise, they shall be absolutely devoid of force. CHAPTER VII UNITED ECCLESIASTICAL BENEFICES MUST BE VISITED; THE CURA ANIMARUM THERETO IS TO BE EXERCISED ALSO BY PERPETUAL VICARS, WITH WHOSE APPOINTMENT A PORTION IS TO BE ASSIGNED EVEN FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES Ecclesiastical benefices having the cura animarum, which are found to have been always united or annexed to cathedral, collegiate or other churches, or to monasteries, benefices, colleges or to pious places of whatever sort,[26] shall be visited every year by the local ordinaries, who shall zealously see to it that the cura animarum is exercised in a praiseworthy manner by competent vicars, also perpetual, unless the ordinaries shall deem it expedient for the good government of the churches to provide otherwise, who shall be appointed to the same by the ordinaries with a portion consisting of a third part of the revenues,[27] or of a greater or less proportion, at the discretion of the ordinaries, also assigned for the specific purpose; appeals, privileges and exemptions, also with the appointment of special judges and their inhibitions, being of no avail to anyone in the aforesaid matter. CHAPTER VIII CHURCHES SHALL BE REPAIRED; THE CURA ANIMARUM DILIGENTLY DISCHARGED The local ordinaries shall be bound to visit every year with Apostolic authority all churches in whatsoever manner exempt, and to provide by suitable legal remedies that those that need repair be repaired, and that they be not in any way defrauded of the cura animarum if such be annexed to them or of other services due them;[28] appeals, privileges, customs, even though immemorial, appointment of judges and their inhibitions, being absolutely excluded. CHAPTER IX THE RITE OF CONSECRATION IS NOT TO BE DELAYED Those promoted to major churches shall receive the rite of consecration within the time prescribed by law,[29] and any delays granted extending beyond a period of six months, shall be of no avail to anyone. CHAPTER X WHEN A SEE IS VACANT,CHAPTERS SHALL NOT GRANT RELEASES TO ANYONE UNLESS HE BE PRESSED FOR TIME BECAUSE OF A BENEFICE OBTAINED OR ABOUT TO BE OBTAINED; VARIOUS PENALTIES AGAINST THOSE WHO ACT OTHERWISE It shall not be lawful for chapters of churches, when a see is vacant, to grant, either by a provision of the common law or by virtue of a privilege or custom, permission to be ordained or dimissory letters or “reverends,” as some call them, within a year from the day of the vacancy, to anyone who is not pressed for time by reason of an ecclesiastical benefice obtained or about to be obtained.[30] Otherwise, the contravening chapter shall be subject to ecclesiastical intedict, and those so ordained, if they are in minor orders, shall enjoy no clerical privilege, especially in criminal causes, while those in major orders shall be ipso jure suspended from the exercise thereof during the pleasure of the next prelate. CHAPTER XI AUTHORITY FOR PROMOTION WITHOUT A JUST CAUSE SHALL NOT AVAIL ANYONE Authority for promotion by anyone shall be of no avail except to those who have a legitimate reason why they cannot be ordained by their own bishops, which must be expressed in writing; and then they shall not be ordained except by the bishop who resides in his own diocese,[31] or by one who exercises the pontifical functions for him, and after a careful examination. CHAPTER XII PERMISSION GRANTED FOR NON-PROMOTION SHALL NOT EXCEED ONE YEAR Permission granted for not being promoted shall be good for one year only, except in the cases provided by law.[32] CHAPTER XIII WITH CERTAIN EXCEPTIONS, PERSONS, BY WHOMSOEVER PRESENTED, SHALL NOT BE APPOINTED WITHOUT BEING FIRST EXAMINED AND APPROVED BY THE ORDINARY Those presented, elected or nominated by any ecclesiastical persons whatsoever, even by nuncios of the Apostolic See, shall not be appointed to, confirmed in or admitted to any ecclesiastical benefice,[33] even under the pretext of some privilege or immemorial custom, unless they shall have been first examined and found competent by the local ordinaries. And no one shall by recourse to an appeal be able to escape from being bound to undergo that examination. Those, however, are excepted who are presented, elected or nominated by universities or by colleges for general studies.[34] CHAPTER XIV THE CIVIL CAUSES OF EXEMPT PERSONS WHICH MAY BE TAKEN COGNIZANCE OF BY BISHOPS In the causes of exempt persons the constitution of Innocent IV, beginning with “Volentes,” published in the General Council of Lyons,[35] shall be observed, which this holy council has thought ought to be renewed and does renew; adding moreover, that in civil causes relative to wages and to persons in distress, secular clerics and regulars living outside their monasteries, howsoever exempt, even though they have a special judge deputed by the Apostolic See, and in other causes if they have no such judge, may be brought before the local ordinaries as delegated in this matter by that See and be constrained and compelled by law to pay what they owe; no privileges, exemptions, appointment of conservators and their inhibitions, being of any avail whatever against the aforesaid. CHAPTER XV ORDINARIES SHALL SEE TO IT THAT ALL HOSPITALS, EVEN THOSE EXEMPT, ARE FAITHFULLY MANAGED BY THEIR ADMINISTRATORS Ordinaries shall take care that all hospitals are faithfully and diligently managed by their administrators, by whatsoever name known and in whatsoever manner exempt,[36] observing the form of the constitution of the Council of Vienne, which begins, “Quia contingit,”[37] which this holy council has thought ought to be renewed and does renew together with the restrictions therein contained. ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE NEXT SESSION This holy council has also ordained and decreed that the next session be held and celebrated on Thursday, the fifth day after the coming Sunday in Albis, which will be the twenty-first of April of the present year, 1547. BULL AUTHORIZING THE TRANSFER OF THE COUNCIL Paul, Bishop, servant of the servants of God, to our venerable brother John Maria, Bishop of Praeneste, and our beloved sons, Marcellus, priest of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem, and Reginald of St. Mary in Cosmedin, deacon, cardinals, our legates a latere and of the Apostolic See, health and apostolic benediction. (Source: Council Of Trent)
We, by the providence of God, presiding over the government of the universal Church, though with merits unequal thereto, consider it a part of our office that when something of more than ordinary importance must be decided concerning the Christian commonwealth, it be done not only at an opportune time but also in a place at once convenient and suitable. Wherefore, when we lately, with the advice and consent of our venerable brethren, the cardinals of the holy Roman Church, on hearing that peace had been made between our most dear sons in Christ, Charles, ever august Emperor of the Romans, and Francis, the most Christian King of the French, raised and removed the suspension of the celebration of the holy, ecumenical and general council, which we had on another occasion, for reasons then stated, convoked with the same advice and consent in the city of trent, and which was, for certain other reasons at that time also stated, suspended upon the same advice and consent to another more opportune and suitable time to be made known by us, being ourselves unable, because at that time lawfully hindered, to proceed personally to the aforesaid city and to be present at the council, we, by the same advice, appointed and deputed you as legates a latere on our behalf and on that of the Apostolic See in that council, and we sent you to that city as angels of peace, as is set forth more fully in our various letters dealing with this matter. Wishing now to provide opportunely that so holy a work as the celebration of this council may not through the inconvenience of the place or in any other manner be hindered or unduly delayed, we, by our own action and certain knowledge, with the plenitude of Apostolic authority and with the same advice and consent, grant to you all together or to two of you, in case the other should be detained by a lawful impediment or perchance be absent therefrom, by the tenor of these presents with Apostolic authority, full and unrestricted power and authority to transfer and change, whenever you shall deem it expedient, the aforesaid council from the city of trent to any other more convenient, suitable and safer city which you shall judge appropriate; also to prohibit, even by ecclesiastical censures and penalties, the prelates and other members of that council to proceed therein to any further measures in the said city of Trent; further, to continue, hold and celebrate the same council in the other city to which it shall have been transferred and changed, and to summon to it the prelates and other members of the Council of Trent, even under penalty of perjury and other penalties named in the letters of the convocation of that council; also to preside and proceed in the council thus translated and changed in the name and by the authority aforesaid, and to perform, regulate, ordain and execute the other things mentioned above and the things necessary and suitable to it, in accordance with the contents and tenor of previous letters addressed to you on another occasion; declaring that we will hold as ratified and pleasing whatsoever shall be done, regulated and ordained by you in the aforesaid matters, and will, with God’s help, see to it that it be inviolately observed; Apostolic constitutions and ordinances and other things whatsoever to the contrary notwithstanding. Therefore, let no one infringe this letter of our authorization or with foolhardy boldness go contrary to it. But if anyone shall presume to attempt this, let him know that he will incur the indignation of Almighty God and of the blessed Peter and Paul, His Apostles. Given at Rome at St. Peter’s in the year of the Lord’s incarnation 1547, on the twenty-fifth of February, in the eleventh year of our pontificate. Fab. Bishop of Spol. B. Motta. ENDNOTES 1. Eugene IV in decr. ad Armenos (Denzinger, no. 695); Pius IV in the bull Injunctam nobis (idem, no. 996) 2. Cf. Sess. VI, chap. 7 and can. 9 3. Eugene IV in the decr. cited 4. Ibid 5. Cf. Sess. XIV, Penance, chap. 6, and Extr. Unct., chap. 3 6. Eugene IV in the decr. cited 7. Cf. c.98, C.I, q.1; cc. 39, 149, D.IV de cons 8. Cf. c. 135, D.IV de cons 9. Cf. c.5, X, De bapt., III, 42 10. John 3:5 11. C.9, X, De haeret., V, 7 12. Cc. 97, 98, C.I, q. 1 13. John 3:5 14. Cf. c.139, D.IV de cons 15. Cf. Sess. XXIII, chap. 4 16. Cf. Sess. XXII, chap. 2 de ref 17. C.7, X, De elect., I, 6 18. C.2, D.LXX; c.3, C.X, q.3; cc. 1, 2, C.XXI, q.1; cc.5, 13, 28, X, De praeb., III, 5; c.32, VI, De praeb., III, 4 19. C.3, X, De cler. non resid., III, 4 20. C.14, VI, De elect., I, 16 21. C.29, X, De praeb., III, 5 22. Cf. Sess. XXIV, chap. 17 de ref 23. C.28, X, De praeb., III, 5 24. C.3, VI, De off. ord., I, 16 25. Cf. Sess. XIV, chap. 9 de ref.; Sess. XXIV, chap. 13 de ref; Sess. XXV, chap. 9 de ref 26. Cf. Sess. XIV, chap. 9 de ref 27. Cf. supra, chap. 5 and Sess. XXV, chap. 16 de ref 28. Cc.10-12, C.X, q.1; Sess. XXI, chap. 8 de ref. and Sess XXIV, chap. 9 de ref. 29. C.2, D.LXXV; c.1, D.C 30. C.3, VI, De temp ord., I, 9; cf. Sess. XXIII, chap. 10 de ref 31. Cf. Sess. VI, chap. 5 de ref. and Sess. XIV, chap. 2 de ref 32. Cc. 14, 34, VI, De elect., I, 6 33. Cf. Sess. XXV, chap. 9 de ref 34. Cf. Sess. XXIV, chap. 18 de ref 35. C.1, VI, De privil., V, 7 36. Cf. Sess. XXV, chap. 8 de ref 37. C.2, De relig. dom. in Clem., III, 11. EIGHTH SESSION celebrated on the eleventh day of March, 1547 DECREE CONCERNING THE TRANSLATION OF THE COUNCIL Does it please you to decree and declare that from the foregoing and other reports regarding that disease, it is so clearly and manifestly certain that the prelates cannot without danger to their lives remain in this city, and that therefore they cannot and ought not to be detained in it against their will? And considering, moreover, the withdrawal of many prelates since the last session, and the protests made in the general congregations by many other prelates wishing by all means to depart from here through fear of the disease, who cannot justly be detained and by whose departure the council would either be dissolved or, from the small number of prelates, its beneficial progress hindered; and considering also the imminent danger to life and the other manifestly true and legitimate reasons alleged in the congregations by some of the Fathers, does it please you likewise to decree and declare that for the preservation and prosecution of the council, and for the safety of the lives of the prelates, this council be transferred for a time to the city of Bologna as a place more suitable, more healthy and better adapted, and that the translation have effect from this day forth, that the session already announced for the twenty-first of April ought to be celebrated and be celebrated there on the day appointed; and that further matters be proceeded with in succession, till it shall seem expedient to our most holy Lord and to the holy council, with the advice of the most invincible Emperor, the most Christian King, and with the other Christian kings and princes, that this council may and ought to be brought back to this or to some other place? They answered: It pleases us. NINTH SESSION celebrated at Bologna on the twenty-first day of April, 1547 DECREE CONCERNING THE PROROGATION OF THE SESSION This holy, ecumenical and general council, which lately was assembled in the city of Trent and is now lawfully assembled in the Holy Ghost in Bologna, the same most reverend Lords, John Maria de Monte, Bishop of Praeneste, and Marcellus, priest of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem, cardinals of the holy Roman Church and legates Apostolic a latere, presiding in the name of our most holy Father and Lord in Christ, Paul III, by the providence of God, Pope, considering that on the eleventh day of the month of March of the present year, in a general and public session celebrated in the city of Trent and in the accustomed place, all formalities being observed in the accustomed manner, for reasons then pressing, urgent and legitimate, and also with the authority of the holy Apostolic See, which was granted specially to the same most reverend presidents, ordained and decreed that the council was to be transferred, as it has transferred it, from that place to this city, and likewise that the session announced there for this twenty-first day of April in order that decrees with regard to the sacraments and reform, with which it had intended to deal, might be enacted and promulgated, ought to be celebrated in this city of Bologna; and considering that some of the Fathers who have been accustomed to be present at this council being engaged in their own churches during these higher festival days of the great week [of Lent] and of the paschal solemnity, and some also, detained by other hindrances, have not yet arrived here, but who nevertheless, it is to be hoped, will shortly be present, and that for this reason it has happened that the matters regarding the sacraments and reform could not be examined and discussed in an assembly of prelates as numerous as the holy council desired; therefore, that everything may be done with mature deliberation, with due dignity and earnestness, it has decided and does decide that it is good, beneficial and expedient that the aforesaid session, which, as has been said, was to have been celebrated on this day, be deferred and prorogued, as it is now deferred and prorogued, for expediting the aforesaid matter, to the Thursday within the approaching octave of Pentecost; which day it has deemed and deems to be most convenient for the business to be transacted and most suitable especially for the Fathers who are absent; adding, however, that this holy council may and can, even in private congregation, limit and abridge that term at its will and pleasure, as it shall deem expedient for the business of the council. TENTH SESSION celebrated at Bologna on the second day of June, 1547 DECREE CONCERNING THE PROROGATION OF THE SESSION Although this holy, ecumenical and general council has decreed that the session which was to have been celebrated in this illustrious city of Bologna on the wenty-first of the month of April last on the subject of the sacraments and reform, in accordance with the decree promulgated in public session in the city of Trent on the eleventh of March, should be deferred and prorugued to this present day for certain reasons, especially on account of the absence of some of the Fathers, who it was hoped would in a short time be present; wishing, however, even yet to deal kindly with those who have not come, the same holy council, lawfully assembled in the Holy Ghost, the same cardinals of the holy Roman Church and legates of the Apostolic See presiding, ordains and decrees that that session which it had decreed to celebrate on this the second day of the month of June of the present year 1547, be deferred and prorogued, as it does defer and prorogue it, to the Thursday after the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which will be the fifteenth of the next month of September, for the disposition of the aforesaid and other matters; so, however, that the continuance of the discussion and examination of those things that relate to dogmas and reform shall not in the meantime be suspended, and that the holy council may and can freely, at its will and pleasure, even in private congregation, abridge and prorogue that term. On the fourteenth day of September, 1547, in a general congregation held at Bologna, the session which was to have been held on the following day, was prorogued at the good pleasure of the holy council. BULL OF THE RESUMPTION OF THE COUNCIL OF TRENT under the Supreme Pontiff, Julius III Julius, Bishop, servant of the servants of God, for a perpetual remembrance hereof In order to put an end to the religious dissensions which for a long time have prevailed in Germany to the disturbance and scandal of the entire Christian world, it appears good, opportune and expedient to us, as also to our most dearly beloved son in Christ, Charles, ever august Emperor of the Romans, who has made this known to us by his letters and ambassadors, to bring back to the city of Trent the holy ecumenical and general council convoked by our predecessor, Pope Paul III, of happy memory, and begun, conducted and continued by us, who then enjoyed the honor of the cardinalate and, conjointly with two other cardinals of the holy Roman Church, presided in the name of our predecessor in the council, in which several public and solemn sessions were held and several decrees promulgated on the subjects of faith and reform, and also many other things relating to both subjects were examined and discussed. We, therefore, to whom, as reigning sovereign pontiff, it belongs to convoke and direct general councils, that we may, to the praise and glory of Almighty God, procure the peace of the Church and the increase of the Christian faith and of the orthodox religion, and may, as far as we are able, consider with paternal solicitude the tranquillity of Germany, a province which in times past was second to none in Christendom in cultivating true religion and the teaching of the holy councils and the holy Fathers, and in exhibiting due obedience and reverence to the supreme pontiffs, the vicars on earth of Christ our Redeemer, hoping that by the grace and bounty of God it will come about that all Christian kings and princes will approve, favor and aid our just and pious wishes in this matter, by the bowels of the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, exhort, command and admonish our venerable brethren the patriarchs, archbishops, bishops, our beloved sons the abbots and each and all of the others who by right, custom or privilege ought to be present at general councils, and whom our predecessor in his letters of convocation and in any others made and published with regard to this matter wished to be present at the council, to convene and assemble in the same city of Trent, since the lawful impediment no longer exists, and to apply themselves without delay to the continuation and prosecution of the council on the next first of May, which day we, after mature deliberation, of our own certain knowledge, with the plenitude of Apostolic authority, and with the advice and consent of our venerable brethren, the cardinals of the holy Roman Church, appoint and set aside for the resumption and continuation of the council in the state in which it now is. We shall make it our special care that our legates will be in the city at the same time, through whom, if on account of our age, state of health and the demands of the Apostolic See we shall be unable to be present personally, we shall under the guidance of the Holy Ghost preside over the Council; any translation and suspension of the council and any other things whatsoever to the contrary notwithstanding, and especially those things which it was the will of our predecessor should not create any obstacles, as expressed in his letters aforesaid, which, with each and all of restrictions and decrees therein contained, we wish and decree to remain in force, and so far as there is need we hereby renew them; declaring, moreover, null and void whatever may be attempted knowingly or unknowingly by any person or by any authority to the contrary. Let no one, therefore, infringe this our letter of exhortation, or with foolhardy boldness go contrary to it. But if anyone shall presume to attempt this, let him know that he will incur the indignation of Almighty God and of His blessed Apostles Peter and Paul. Given at Rome at St. Peter’s in the year 1550 of our Lord’s incarnation, on the fourteenth of December, in the first year of our pontificate. M. Cardinal Crescen. Rom. Amasaeus. ELEVENTH SESSION which is the first celebrated under the Supreme Pontiff, Julius III, on the first day of May, 1551 DECREE CONCERNING THE RESUMPTION OF THE COUNCIL Does it please you, for the priase and glory of the holy and undivided Trinity, Father and Son, and Holy Ghost, for the increase and exaltation of the Christian faith and religion, that the holy, ecumenical and general Council of Trent be, in accordance with the form and tenor of the letters of our most holy Lord, resumed, and that further matters be proceeded with? They answered: It pleases us. ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE NEXT SESSION Does it please you that the next session be held and celebrated on the following first of September? They answered: It pleases us. TWELFTH SESSION which is the second under the Supreme Pontiff, Julius III, celebrated on the first day of September, 1551 DECREE CONCENING THE PROROGATION OF THE SESSION The holy, ecumenical and general Council of Trent, lawfully assembled in the Holy Ghost, the same legates and nuncios of the holy Apostolic See presiding, which had in the last session decreed that the following one was to be celebrated today and further matters to be proceeded with, yet by reason of the absence of the illustrious German nation, whose interests are chiefly to be considered, and also on account of the small attendance of the other Fathers, has hitherto delayed to proceed, now rejoicing in the Lord and giving due thanks to Almighty God for the recent arrival of our venerable brethren and sons in Christ, the Archbishops of Mainz and Trier, electoral princes of the Holy Roman Empire, and of many bishops of that country and of other provinces, and entertaining a firm hope that many other prelates both of Germany and of other nations, moved by the requirement of their office and by this example, will arrive in a few days, announces the next session for the fortieth day, which will be the eleventh of next October, to continue the council from the point where it now is; and since in the preceding sessions decrees were enacted concerning the seven sacraments of the New Law in general and baptism and confirmation in particular, it ordains and decrees that it will treat and discuss the sacrament of the most Holy Eucharist, ad also, as regards reform, of the other matters which pertain to the easire and more convenient residence of prelates. It also admonishes and exhorts all the Fathers that, after the example of our Lord Jesus Christ, they in the meantime give themselves to fasting and prayer so far as human weakness will permit, so that God, who be praised forever, being a length appeased, may vouchsafe to bring back the hearts of men to the acknowledgement of His true faith, to the unity of holy mother Church and to the rule of righteous living. THIRTEENTH SESSION which is the third under the Supreme Pontiff, Julius III, celebrated on the eleventh day of October, 1551 DECREE CONCERNING THE MOST HOLY SACRAMENT OF THE EUCHARIST The holy, ecumenical and general Council of Trent, lawfully assembled in the Holy Ghost, the same legate and nuncios of the holy Apostolic See presiding, though convened, not without the special guidance and direction of the Holy Ghost, for the purpose of setting forth the true and ancient doctrine concerning faith and the sacraments, and of applying a remedy to all the heresies and the other most grievous troubles by which the Church of God is now miserably disturbed and rent into many and various parts, yet, even from the outset, has especially desired that it might pull up by the roots the cockles[1] of execrable errors and schisms which the enemy has in these our troubled times disseminated regarding the doctrine, use and worship of the Sacred Eucharist, which our Savior left in His Church as a symbol of that unity and charity with which He wished all Christians to be mutually bound and united. Wherefore, this holy council, stating that sound and genuine doctrine of the venerable and divine sacrament of the Eucharist, which the Catholic Church, instructed by our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and by His Apostles, and taught by the Holy Ghost who always brings to her mind all truth,[2] has held and will preserve even to the end of the world, forbids all the faithful of Christ to presume henceforth to believe, teach or preach with regard to the most Holy Eucharist otherwise than is explained and defined in this present decree. CHAPTER I THE REAL PRESENCE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST IN THE MOST HOLY SACRAMENT OF THE EUCHARIST First of all, the holy council teaches and openly and plainly professes that after the consecration of bread and wine, our Lord Jesus Christ, true God and true man, is truly, really and substantially contained in the august sacrament of the Holy Eucharist under the appearance of those sensible things. For there is no repugnance in this that our Savior sits always at the right hand of the Father in heaven[3] according to the natural mode of existing, and yet is in many other places sacramentally present to us in His own substance by a manner of existence which, though we can scarcely express in words, yet with our understanding illumined by faith, we can conceive and ought most firmly to believe is possible to God.[4] For thus all our forefathers, as many as were in the true Church of Christ and who treated of this most holy sacrament, have most openly professed that our Redeemer instituted this wonderful sacrament at the last supper, when, after blessing the bread and wine, He testified in clear and definite words that He gives them His own body and His own blood. Since these words, recorded by the holy Evangelists[5] and afterwards repeated by St. Paul,[6] embody that proper and clearest meaning in which they were understood by the Fathers, it is a most contemptible action on the part of some contentious and wicked men to twist them into fictitious and imaginary tropes by which the truth of the flesh and blood of Christ is denied, contrary to the universal sense of the Church, which, as the pillar and ground of truth,[7] recognizing with a mind ever grateful and unforgetting this most excellent favor of Christ, has detested as satanical these untruths devised by impious men. CHAPTER II THE REASON FOR THE INSTITUTION OF THIS MOST HOLY SACRAMENT Therefore, our Savior, when about to depart from this world to the Father, instituted this sacrament, in which He poured forth, as it were, the riches of His divine love towards men, making a remembrance of his wonderful works,[8] and commanded us in the participation of it to reverence His memory and to show forth his death until he comes[9] to judge the world. But He wished that this sacrament should be received as the spiritual food of souls,[10] whereby they may be nourished and strengthened, living by the life of Him who said: He that eateth me, the same also shall live by me,[11] and as an antidote whereby we may be freed from daily faults and be preserved from mortal sins. He wished it furthermore to be a pledge of our future glory and everlasting happiness, and thus be a symbol of that one body of which He is the head[12] and to which He wished us to be united as members by the closest bond of faith, hope and charity, that we might all speak the same thing and there might be no schisms among us.[13] CHAPTER III THE EXCELLENCE OF THE MOST HOLY EUCHARIST OVER THE OTHER SACRAMENTS The most Holy Eucharist has indeed this in common with the other sacraments, that it is a symbol of a sacred thing and a visible form of an invisible grace;[14] but there is found in it this excellent and peculiar characteristic, that the other sacraments then first have the power of sanctifying when one uses them, while in the Eucharist there is the Author Himself of sanctity before it is used. For the Apostles had not yet received the Eucharist from the hands of the Lord, when He Himself told them that what He was giving them is His own body.[15] This has always been the belief of the Church of God, that immediately after the consecration the true body and the true blood of our Lord, together with His soul and divinity exist under the form of bread and wine, the body under the form of bread and the blood under the form of wine <ex vi verborum;>[16] but the same body also under the form of wine and the same blood under the form of bread and the soul under both, in virtue of that natural connection and concomitance whereby the parts of Christ the Lord, who hath now risen from the dead, to die <no more>,[17] are mutually united;[18] also the divinity on account of its admirable hypostatic union with His body and soul. Wherefore, it is very true that as much is contained under either form as under both.[19] For Christ is whole and entire under the form of bread and under any part of that form; likewise the whole Christ is present under the form of wine and under all its parts. CHAPTER IV TRANSUBSTANTIATION But since Christ our Redeemer declared that to be truly His own body which He offered under the form of bread,[20] it has, therefore, always been a firm belief in the Church of God, and this holy council now declares it anew, that by the consecration of the bread and wine a change is brought about of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the body of Christ our Lord, and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of His blood.[21] This change the holy Catholic Church properly and appropriately calls transubstantiation. CHAPTER V THE WORSHIP AND VENERATION TO BE SHOWN TO THIS MOST HOLY SACRAMENT There is, therefore, no room for doubt that all the faithful of Christ may, in accordance with a custom always received in the Catholic Church, give to this most holy sacrament in veneration the worship of <latria>, which is due to the true God.[22] Neither is it to be less adored for the reason that it was instituted by Christ the Lord in order to be received.[23] For we believe that in it the same God is present of whom the eternal Father, when introducing Him into the world, says: And let all the angels of God adore him;[24] whom the Magi, falling down, adored;[25] who, finally, as the Scriptures testify, was adored by the Apostles in Galilee.[26] The holy council declares, moreover, that the custom that this sublime and venerable sacrament be celebrated with special veneration and solemnity every year on a fixed festival day,[27] and that it be borne reverently and with honor in processions through the streets and public places,[28] was very piously and religiously introduced into the Church of God. For it is most reasonable that some days be set aside as holy on which all Christians may with special and unusual demonstration testify that their minds are grateful to and mindful of their common Lord and Redeemer for so ineffable and truly divine a favor whereby the victory and triumph of His death are shown forth. And thus indeed did it behoove the victorious truth to celebrate a triumph over falsehood and heresy, that in the sight of so much splendor and in the midst of so great joy of the universal Church, her enemies may either vanish weakened and broken, or, overcome with shame and confounded, may at length repent. CHAPTER VI THE RESERVATION OF THE SACRAMENT OF THE HOLY EUCHARIST AND TAKING IT TO THE SICK The custom of reserving the Holy Eucharist in a sacred place is so ancient[29] that even the period of the Nicene Council recognized that usage.[30] Moreover, the practice of carrying the Sacred Eucharist to the sick and of carefully reserving it for this purpose in churches, besides being exceedingly reasonable and appropriate, is also found enjoined in numerous councils[31] and is a very ancient observance of the Catholic Church. Wherefore, this holy council decrees that this salutary and necessary custom be by all means retained. CHAPTER VII THE PREPARATION TO BE EMPLOYED THAT ONE MAY RECEIVE THE SACRED EUCHARIST WORTHILY If it is unbecoming for anyone to approach any of the sacred functions except in a spirit of piety, assuredly, the more the holiness and divinity of this heavenly sacrament are understood by a Christian, the more diligently ought he to give heed lest he receive it without great reverence and holiness, especially when we read those terrifying words of the Apostle: <He that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment to himself, not discerning the body of the Lord.>[32] Wherefore, he who would communicate, must recall to mind his precept: <Let a man prove himself.>[33] Now, ecclesiastical usage declares that such an examination is necessary in order that no one conscious to himself of mortal sin, however contrite he may feel, ought to receive the Sacred Eucharist without previous sacramental confession.[34] This the holy council has decreed to be invariably observed by all Christians, even by those priests on whom it may be incumbent by their office to celebrate, provided the opportunity of a confessor is not wanting to them. But if in an urgent necessity a priest should celebrate without previous confession, let him confess as soon as possible. CHAPTER VIII ON THE USE OF THIS ADMIRABLE SACRAMENT As to the use of this holy sacrament, our Fathers have rightly and wisely distinguished three ways of receiving it. They have taught that some receive it sacramentally only, as sinners; others spiritually only, namely, those who eating in desire the heavenly bread set before them, are by a lively <faith which worketh by charity>[35] made sensible of its fruit and usefulness; while the third class receives it both sacramentally and spiritually,[36] and these are they who so prove and prepare themselves beforehand that they approach this divine table clothed with the wedding garment.[37] As regards the reception of the sacrament, it has always been the custom in the Church of God that laics receive communion from priests, but that priests when celebrating communicate themselves,[38] which custom ought with justice and reason to be retained as coming down from Apostolic tradition.[39] Finally, the holy council with paternal affection admonishes, exhorts, prays and beseeches through the bowels of the mercy of our God, that each and all who bear the Christian name will now at last agree and be of one mind in this sign of unity, in this bond of charity, in this symbol of concord, and that, mindful of so great a majesty and such boundless love of our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave His own beloved soul as the price of our salvation and His own flesh to eat,[40] they may believe and venerate these sacred mysteries of His body and blood with such constancy and firmness of faith, with such devotion of mind, with such piety and worship, that they may be able to receive frequently that supersubstantial bread and that it may truly be to them the life of the soul and the perpetual health of their mind; that being invigorated by its strength, they may be able after the journey of this miserable pilgrimage to arrive in their heavenly country, there to eat, without any veil, the same bread of angels[41] which they now eat under sacred veils. But since it is not enough to declare the truth unless errors be exposed and repudiated, it has seemed good to the holy council to subjoin these canons, so that, the Catholic doctrine being already known, all may understand also what are the heresies which they ought to guard against and avoid. CANONS ON THE MOST HOLY SACRAMENT OF THE EUCHARIST Canon 1 If anyone denies that in the sacrament of the most Holy Eucharist are contained truly, really and substantially the body and blood together with the soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, and consequently the whole Christ,[42] but says that He is in it only as in a sign, or figure or force, let him be anathema. Can. 2. If anyone says that in the sacred and, holy sacrament of the Eucharist the substance of the bread and wine remains conjointly with the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, and denies that wonderful and singular change of the whole substance of the bread into the body and the whole substance of the wine into the blood, the appearances only of bread and wine remaining, which change the Catholic Church most aptly calls transubstantiation,[43] let him be anathema. Can. 3. If anyone denies that in the venerable sacrament of the Eucharist the whole Christ is contained under each form and under every part of each form when separated,[44] let him be anathema. Can. 4. If anyone says that after the consecration is completed, the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ are not in the admirable sacrament of the Eucharist,[45] but are there only <in usu>, while being taken and not before or after, and that in the hosts or consecrated particles which are reserved or which remain after communion, the true body of the Lord does not remain, let him be anathema. Can. 5. If anyone says that the principal fruit of the most Holy Eucharist is the remission of sins, or that other effects do not result from it,[46] let him be anathema. Can. 6. If anyone says that in the holy sacrament of the Eucharist, Christ, the only begotten Son of God, is not to be adored with the worship of <latria>,[47] also outwardly manifested, and is consequently neither to be venerated with a special festive solemnity, nor to be solemnly borne about in procession according to the laudable and universal rite and custom of holy Church, or is not to be set publicly before the people to be adored and that the adorers thereof are idolaters, let him be anathema. Can. 7. If anyone says that it is not lawful that the Holy Eucharist be reserved in a sacred place, but immediately after consecration must necessarily be distributed among those present,[48] or that it is not lawful that it be carried with honor to the sick, let him be anathema. Can. 8. If anyone says that Christ received in the Eucharist is received spiritually only and not also sacramentally and really,[49] let him be anathema. Can. 9. If anyone denies that each and all of Christ’s faithful of both sexes are bound, when they have reached the years of discretion, to communicate every year at least at Easter,[50] in accordance with the precept of holy mother Church, let him be anathema. Can. 10 If anyone says that it is not lawful for the priest celebrating to communicate himself,[51] let him be anathema. Can. 11. If anyone says that faith alone is a sufficient preparation for receiving the sacrament of the most Holy Eucharist,[52] let him be anathema. And lest so great a sacrament be received unworthily and hence unto death and condemnation, this holy council ordains and declares that sacramental confession, when a confessor can be had, must necessarily be made beforehand by those whose conscience is burdened with mortal sin, however contrite they may consider themselves. Moreover, if anyone shall presume to teach, preach or obstinately assert, or in public disputation defend the contrary, he shall be <eo ipso> excommunicated. DECREE CONCERNING REFORM CHAPTER I BISHOPS SHALL APPLY THEMSELVES WITH PRUDENCE TO REFORM THE MORALS OF THEIR SUBJECTS; FROM THE CORRECTION OF THE BISHOPS THERE SHALL BE NO APPEAL The same holy Council of Trent, lawfully assembled in the Holy Ghost, the same legate and nuncios of the Apostolic See presiding, having in mind to decide some things that relate to the jurisdiction of bishops, in order that, as was announced in the last session, they may the more willingly reside in the churches committed to them the more easily and conveniently they may be able to rule and keep in uprightness of life and of morals those subject to them, deems it appropriate in the first place to admonish them to bear in mind that they are shepherds and not oppressors and that they ought so to preside over those subject to them as not to lord it over them,[53] but to love them as children and brethren and to strive by exhortation and admonition to deter them from what is unlawful, that they may not be obliged, should they transgress, to coerce them by due punishments. In regard to those, however, who should happen to sin through human frailty, that command of the Apostle is to be observed, that they reprove, entreat, rebuke them in all kindness and patience,[54] since benevolence toward those to be corrected often effects more than severity, exhortation more than threat, and charity more than force.[55] But if on account of the gravity of the offense there is need of the rod, then is rigor to be tempered with gentleness, judgment with mercy, and severity with clemency, that discipline, so salutary and necessary for the people, may be preserved without harshness and they who are chastised may be corrected, or, if they are unwilling to repent, that others may by the wholesome example of their punishment be deterred from vices, since it is the duty of a shepherd, at once diligent and kind, to apply first of all mild anodynes to the disorders of his sheep, and afterwards, if the gravity of the disorder should demand it, to proceed to sharper and severer remedies; but if even these prove ineffective in removing the disorders, then he is to liberate the other sheep at least from the danger of contagion.[56] Since, therefore, those guilty of crimes, for the most part to avoid punishment and to evade the judgments of their bishops, pretend to have complaints and grievances and under the subterfuge of an appeal, impede the process of the judge, [this council] in order to prevent a remedy which was instituted for the protection of the innocent from being abused and utilized for the defense of wickedness,[57] and that their cunning and tergiversation may be thwarted, has ordained and decreed: That in causes relative to visitation and correction, or to competency and incompetency, as also in criminal causes there shall before the definitive sentence be no appeal from the bishop or his vicar-general in spiritual matters by reason of an interlocutory judgment or any other grievance whatsoever; nor shall the bishop or his vicar be bound to take notice of an appeal of this kind since it is frivolous, but he may proceed to further measures notwithstanding that appeal or any inhibition emanating from the judge of appeal, as also every written statement and custom, even immemorial, to the contrary, unless a grievance of this kind cannot be repaired by the definitive sentence or there is no appeal from it,[58] in which cases the statutes of the ancient canons shall remain unimpaired. CHAPTER II WHEN AN APPEAL FROM! THE BISHOP IN CRIMINAL CAUSES IS TO BE COMMITTED TO THE METROPOLITAN OR TO ONE OF THE NEAREST BISHOPS An appeal in criminal causes from the sentence of the bishop or his vicar-general in spiritual matters, where there is room for appeal, shall, if it happens to be a case assigned by Apostolic authority locally, be committed to the metropolitan, or also to his vicar-general in spiritual matters; or if he be for some reason suspected, or be distant more than two legal days’ journey, or if it be from him that the appeal is made,[59] the case shall be assigned to one of the nearest bishops or their vicars, but not to inferior judges. CHAPTER III THE ACTS OF THE FIRST INSTANCE SHALL WITHIN THIRTY DAYS BE GIVEN GRATUITOUSLY TO THE ACCUSED APPELLANT The accused who in a criminal cause appeals from the bishop or his vicar-general in spiritual matters, shall by all means produce before the judge to whom he has appealed, the acts of the first instance, and the judge, unless he has seen them, shall not proceed to his absolution. He from whom the appeal has been made shall, on demand of the appellant, furnish those acts gratuitously within thirty days; otherwise the case of an appeal of this kind shall be terminated without them according as justice may demand. CHAPTER IV IN WHAT MANNER CLERICS ARE ON ACCOUNT OF GRAVE CRIMES TO BE DEGRADED FROM SACRED ORDERS Since ecclesiastics are sometimes guilty of crimes so grave that on account of their shocking wickedness they have to be deposed from sacred orders and handed over to the secular court, in which, according to the sacred canons, a certain number of bishops is required,[60] and if it should be difficult to assemble them all the due execution of the law would be retarded, whereas even when they are able to be present their residence would be interrupted; therefore, it is ordained and decreed that it shall be lawful for a bishop by himself or by his vicargeneral in spiritual matters, even without the presence of other bishops, to proceed against a cleric, even if constituted in the priesthood, both in regard to his condemnation and to his verbal deposition, and he may by himself proceed also to actual and solemn degradation from ecclesiastical orders and grades, in the cases in which the presence of a specified number of other bishops is required by the canons after convoking and being assisted in this by a like number of abbots who have the right of using the miter and crosier by Apostolic privilege, if they can be found in the city or diocese and can conveniently be present; otherwise he may be assisted by other persons constituted in ecclesiastical dignity, who are outstanding by reason of their age and recommendable by their knowledge of law. CHAPTER V THE BISHOP MAY TAKE SUMMARY COGNIZANCE OF FAVORS RELATIVE EITHER TO THE ABSOLUTION FROM CRIME OR THE REMISSION OF PUNISHMENT And since it sometimes happens that under false pleas, which however appear probable enough, certain persons fraudulently obtain favors of the kind, whereby the punishments imposed on them by the just severity of their bishops are either wholly remitted or mitigated; and since it is a thing not to be tolerated that a lie, which is so exceedingly displeasing to God, should not only go unpunished, but should even obtain for him who tells it the pardon of another crime; it is therefore ordained and decreed as follows: a bishop residing in his own church may <per se ipsum>, as the delegate of the Apostolic See, and without judicial process, take cognizance of the cheating and stealing of a favor obtained under false pretenses for the absolution of any public crime or delinquency, concerning which he himself had instituted an inquiry, or for the remission of a punishment to which he has himself condemned the criminal; and he shall not admit that favor after it shall have been lawfully established that it was obtained by the statement of what is false or by the suppression of what is true.[61] CHAPTER VI A BISHOP MAY NOT BE PERSONALLY CITED EXCEPT IN A CASE INVOLVING DEPOSITION OR DEPRIVATION Since the subjects of a bishop, even though they may have been justly corrected, do nevertheless often bear toward him a violent hatred and, as if they had suffered some wrong at his hands, bring false accusations against him in order that they may annoy him by any means in their power,[62] the fear of which annoyance chiefly renders him more backward in inquiring into and punishing their delinquencies; therefore, in order that he may not be compelled to his own great disadvantage and that of his church to abandon the flock entrusted to him, and not without detriment to the episcopal dignity to wander from place to place, it is ordained and decreed: a bishop, even though he be proceeded against ex officio, or by way of inquiry or denunciation or accusation or in any other way, shall not be cited or warned to appear in person except for a cause for which he may be deposed from or deprived of his office.[63] CHAPTER VII QUALIFICATIONS OF WITNESSES AGAINST A BISHOP In the matter of examination or information in a criminal cause or in an otherwise grave cause against a bishop, no witnesses shall be accepted unless their testimony is confirmed and they are of good life, of good esteem and reputation; and if they shall have made any deposition through hatred, rashness or self-interest, they shall be subject to severe penalties. CHAPTER VIII GRAVE EPISCOPAL CAUSES SHALL BE TAKEN COGNIZANCE OF BY THE SUPREME PONTIFF Causes of bishops, when by reason of the nature of the crime charged against them they have to appear [in person], shall be taken before the supreme pontiff and be decided by him.[64] DECREE postponing the Definition of four Articles concerning the Sacrament of the Eucharist and granting Letters of Safe-conduct to the Protestants The same holy council, desiring to root up from the field of the Lord all errors which have like thorns sprung up relative to this most holy sacrament, and to provide for the salvation of all the faithful, having devoutly offered daily prayers to Almighty God, among other articles pertaining to this sacrament which have been considered with the most careful examination of the Catholic truth, after many and most thorough discussions according to the importance of the matters have been held and the views also of the most eminent theologians have been ascertained, has also considered the following: Whether it is necessary to salvation and prescribed by divine law that all the faithful of Christ receive that venerable sacrament under both species; then, whether he receives less who communicates under one than he who communicates under both; further, whether holy mother Church errs when she permits the laity and priests when not celebrating to communicate under the form of bread only; finally, whether children also must communicate. But since those of the glorious province of Germany, who call themselves Protestants, desire to be heard by the holy council in regard to these articles before they are defined, and for this reason have asked of it a pledge that they may be permitted to come here in safety, sojourn in this city, speak and express freely their views before the council and then depart when they please, this holy council, though it has for many months looked forward with great eagerness to their arrival, nevertheless, like an affectionate mother that groans and labors, desiring and laboring tirelessly to the end that among those who bear the Christian name there may be no schisms, but that as all acknowledge the same God and Redeemer, so also may they confess the same, believe the same, know the same, trusting in the mercy of God and hoping that they may be brought back to the most holy and salutary union of one faith, hope and charity, willingly yielding to them in this matter, has, so far as it concerns [the council], given and granted, in accordance with their request, assurance of safety and good faith, which they call a safe-conduct, the tenor of which will be set forth below, and for their sake it has postponed the definition of those articles to the second session, which, that they may conveniently be present thereat, it has announced for the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, which is the twenty-fifth day of the month of January of the following year. It was furthermore decided that in the same session the sacrifice of the mass will be treated of because of the close connection between the two subjects; meanwhile it will discuss the sacraments of penance and extreme unction in the next session. This it has decided to be held on the feast of St. Catherine, virgin and martyr, which will be the twenty-fifth of November, and at the same time, in both sessions, the matter of reform will be continued. SAFE-CONDUCT GRANTED TO PROTESTANTS The holy and general Council of Trent, lawfully assembled in the Holy Ghost, the same legate and nuncios of the holy Apostolic See presiding, grants, so far as it pertains to the council itself, to each and all persons throughout the whole of Germany, whether ecclesiastics or seculars, of whatever rank, station, condition and circumstances they may be, who may wish to come to this ecumenical and general council, security and full protection, which they call a safe-conduct, with each and all of the necessary and suitable clauses and decisions, even though they ought to be expressed specifically and not in general terms, and it is its wish that they be understood as so expressed, so that they may and shall enjoy full liberty to confer, make proposals and discuss those things that are to be discussed in the council; to come freely and safely to the ecumenical council, to remain and sojourn there and to propose therein, in writing as well as orally, as many articles as may seem good to them, to deliberate with the Fathers or with those who may have been chosen by the council and without any abuse and contumely dispute with them; they may also depart whenever they please. It has moreover seemed expedient to the holy council, that if for their greater liberty and safety they wish that certain judges be deputed on their behalf in regard to crimes that either have been committed or may be committed by them, they may themselves choose such as are favorably disposed toward them, even though the crimes should be of a grave nature or even savor of heresy. ENDNOTES 1 Matt. 13:30. 2 Luke 12:12; John 14:26; 16:13. 3 Cf. Sess. III, the Symbol. 4 Matt. 19:26; Luke 18:27. 5 Matt. 26:26-28; Mark 14: 22-24; Luke 22:19 f. 6 See I Cor. 11:24f. 7 See I Tim. 3:15. 8 Ps. 110:4. 9 Luke 22:19; I Cor. 11:24-26. 10 Matt. 26: 26 f. 11 John 6: 58 12 See 1 Cor. 11:3; Eph. 5:23. 13 See I Cor. 1:10. 14 C. 32, D.II de cons. 15 Matt. 26:26; Mark 14:22. 16 Cf. <infra>, can T. 17 Rom. 6:9. 18 Cc. 58, 71, 78, D. II de cons. 19 Cf. <infra>, can. 3 and Sess. XXI, chap. 3. 20 Luke 22: 19; John 6:48 ff.; 1 Cor. 11: 24. 21 Cf. c. 55, D. II de cons.; <infra>, can. 3. 22 Cf. infra, can. 6. 23 Matt. 26: 26. 24 Heb. 1:6. 25 Matt. 2:11. 26 Ibid., 28: 17- Luke 24:52. 27 Cf. c.un. in Clem. De reliq. et venerat. sanct., III, 16. 28 Cf. infra, can. 6. 29 C. 93, D. II de cons.; c. 6, C.XXVI, q. 6; c. 10, X, De celebr. miss., III, 41; <infra,> can. 7. 30 Cf. I Council of Nicaea (325), C. 13. 31 Cf. c. 63, D.L and c. I, X, De custod. eucharist., III, 44. 32 See 1 Cor. 11:29. 33 Ibid., 11:28. 34 Cf. <infra>, can. II. 35 Gal. 5:6. 36 Cf. <infra>, can. 8. 37 Matt. 22:11. 38 Cf. c. I l, D. II de cons. and <infra>, can. 10. 39 Heb. 5:3; 7:27. 40 John 6:56 ff. 41 Ps. 77:25. 42 Cf. <supra>, chap. 3. 43 Ibid., chap. 4. 44 Ibid., chap. 3 and Sess. XXI, chap. 3. 45 <Supra>, chap. 3. 46 Ibid., chap. 2. 47 <Supra>, chap. 5. 48 Ibid., chap. 6. 49 Ibid., chap. 8. 50 Sess. XIV, Penance, can. 8. 51 <Supra>, chap. 8. 52 Ibid., chap. 7. 53 See I Pet. 5:2 f.; c. 1-9, D.XLV. 54 See II Tim. 4:2. 55 C. 6, D.XLV. 56 CC. 16, 17, C.XXIV, q. 3. 57 C. 3, X, De appell., II, 28. 58 Ibid., C. 59. 59 C.II, VI, De rescript, I, 3. 60 C. 2, C.III, q. 8; cc. I, 4-7, C.XV, q. 7. 61 CC. 20, 22, X, De rescript, I, 3. 62 C 21, C. II, q. 7. 63 Cf. Sess. XXIV, chap. 5 de ref. 64 C. 7, C.VI, q. 4; Sess. XXIV, chap. cit. FOURTEENTH SESSION which is the fourth under the Supreme Pontiff, Julius III, celebrated on the twenty-fifth day of November, 1551 THE MOST HOLY SACRAMENTS OF PENANCE AND EXTREME UNCTION Though the holy, ecumenical and general Council of Trent, lawfully assembled in the Holy Ghost, the same legate and nuncios of the holy Apostolic See presiding, has in the decree on justification,[1] by reason of a certain necessity induced by the affinity of the subjects, given much consideration to the sacrament of penance, yet so great is in our days the number of errors relative to this sacrament, that it will be of no little general benefit to give to it a more exact and complete definition, in which all errors having under the guidance of the Holy Ghost been pointed out and refuted, Catholic truth may be made clear and resplendent, which [truth] this holy council now sets before all Christians to be observed for all time. CHAPTER I THE NECESSITY AND INSTITUTION OF THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE If in all those regenerated such gratitude were given to God that they constantly safeguarded the justice received in baptism by His bounty and grace, there would have been no need for another sacrament besides that of baptism to be instituted for the remission of sins.[2] But since God, rich in mercy,[3] knoweth our frame,[4] He has a remedy of life even to those who may after baptism have delivered themselves up to the servitude of sin and the power of the devil, namely, the sacrament of penance, by which the benefit of Christ’s death is applied to those who have fallen after baptism. Penance was indeed necessary at all times for all men who had stained themselves by mortal sin,[5] even for those who desired to be cleansed by the sacrament of baptism, in order to obtain grace and justice; so that their wickedness being renounced and amended, they might with a hatred of sin and a sincere sorrow of heart detest so great an offense against God. Wherefore the Prophet says: Be converted and do penance for all your iniquities, and iniquity shall not be your ruin.[6] The Lord also said: Except you do penance, you shall all likewise perish;[7] and Peter the Prince of the Apostles, recommending penance to sinners about to receive baptism, said: <Do penance and be baptized every one of you.>[8] Moreover, neither before the coming of Christ was penance a sacrament nor is it such since His coming to anyone before baptism. But the Lord then especially instituted the sacrament of penance when, after being risen from the dead, He breathed upon His disciples, and said: <Receive ye the Holy Ghost, whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them, and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.>[9] The consensus of all the Fathers has always acknowledged that by this action so sublime and words so clear the power of forgiving and retaining sins was given to the Apostles and their lawful successors for reconciling the faithful who have fallen after baptism, and the Catholic Church with good reason repudiated and condemned as heretics the Novatians, who of old stubbornly denied that power of forgiving.[10] Therefore, this holy council, approving and receiving that perfectly true meaning of the above words of the Lord, condemns the grotesque interpretations of those who, contrary to the institution of this sacrament, wrongly contort those words to refer to the power of preaching the word of God and of making known the Gospel of Christ. CHAPTER II THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE AND THAT OF BAPTISM Besides, it is clear that this sacrament is in many respects different from baptism.[11] For apart from the fact that in matter and form, which constitute the essence of a sacrament, it differs very widely, it is beyond question that the minister of baptism need not be a judge, since the Church exercises judgment on no one who has not entered it through the gate of baptism. <For what have I to do, says St. Paul, to judge them that are without?>[12] It is otherwise with regard to those who are of the household of the faith, whom Christ the Lord has once by the laver of baptism made members of His own body.[13] For these, if they should afterward have defiled themselves by some crime, He wished not to have cleansed by the repetition of baptism, since that is in no manner lawful in the Catholic Church, but to be placed as culprits before this tribunal that by the sentence of the priests they may be absolved, not only once but as often as, repentant of the sins committed, they should turn themselves thereto. Moreover, the fruit of baptism is one thing, that of penance another. For by baptism <we put on Christ>[14] and are made in Him an entirely new creature, receiving a full and complete remission of all sins; to which newness and integrity, however, we are by no means able to arrive by the sacrament of penance without many tears and labors on our part, divine justice demanding this, so that penance has rightly been called by the holy Fathers a laborious kind of baptism. This sacrament of penance is for those who have fallen after baptism necessary for salvation, as baptism is for those who have not yet been regenerated. CHAPTER III THE PARTS AND FRUITS OF THIS SACRAMENT The holy council teaches furthermore, that the form of the sacrament of penance, in which its efficacy chiefly consists, are those words of the minister: I absolve thee, etc., to which are indeed laudably added certain prayers according to the custom of holy Church, which, however, do not by any means belong to the essence of the form nor are they necessary for the administration of the sacrament. But the acts of the penitent himself, namely, contrition,[15] confession and satisfaction, constitute the matter of this sacrament, which acts, inasmuch as they are by God’s institution required in the penitent for the integrity of the sacrament and for the full and complete remission of sins, are for this reason called the parts of penance. But that which is signified and produced by this sacrament is, so far as its force and efficacy are concerned, reconciliation with God, which sometimes, in persons who are pious and who receive this sacrament with devotion, is wont to be followed by peace and serenity of conscience with an exceedingly great consolation of spirit. The holy council, while declaring these things regarding the parts and effect of this sacrament, at the same time condemns the opinions of those who maintain that faith and the terrors that agitate conscience are parts of penance. CHAPTER IV CONTRITION Contrition, which holds the first place among the aforesaid acts of the penitent, is a sorrow of mind and a detestation for sin committed with the purpose of not sinning in the future.[16] This feeling of contrition was at all times necessary for obtaining the forgiveness of sins and thus indeed It prepares one who has fallen after baptism for the remission of sins, if it is united with confidence in the divine mercy and with the desire to perform the other things that are required to receive this sacrament in the proper manner. The holy council declares therefore, that this contrition implies not only an abstention from sin and the resolution and beginning of a new life, but also a hatred of the old,[17] according to the statement: <Cast away from you all your transgressions by which you have transgressed, and make to yourselves a new heart and a mew spirit.>[18] And certainly he who has pondered those lamentations of the saints: <To thee only have I sinned, and have done evil before thee;[19] have labored in my groanings, every night I will wash my bed;[20] I will recount to thee all my years in the bitterness of my soul,>[21] and others of this kind, will easily understand that they issued from an overwhelming hatred of their past life and from a profound detestation of sins. The council teaches furthermore, that though it happens sometimes that this contrition is perfect through charity and reconciles man to God before this sacrament is actually received, this reconciliation, nevertheless, is not to be ascribed to the contrition itself without a desire of the sacrament, which desire is included in it. As to imperfect contrition, which is called attrition, since it commonly arises either from the consideration of the heinousness of sin or from the fear of hell and of punishment, the council declares that if it renounces the desire to sin and hopes for pardon, it not only does not make one a hypocrite and a greater sinner, but is even a gift of God and an impulse of the Holy Ghost, not indeed as already dwelling in the penitent, but only moving him, with which assistance the penitent prepares a way for himself unto justice. And though without the sacrament of penance it cannot per se lead the sinner to justification, it does, however, dispose him to obtain the grace of God in the sacrament of penance. For, struck salutarily by this fear, the Ninivites, moved by the dreadful preaching of Jonas, did penance and obtained mercy from the Lord.[22] Falsely therefore do some accuse Catholic writers, as if they maintain that the sacrament of penance confers grace without any pious exertion on the part of those receiving it, something that the Church of God has never taught or ever accepted. Falsely also do they assert that contrition is extorted and forced, and not free and voluntary. CHAPTER V CONFESSION From the institution of the sacrament of penance as already explained, the universal Church has always understood that the complete confession of sins was also instituted by the Lord and is by divine law necessary for all who have fallen after baptism;[23] because our Lord Jesus Christ, when about to ascend from earth to heaven, left behind Him priests, His own vicars,[24] as rulers and judges,[25] to whom all the mortal sins into which the faithful of Christ may have fallen should be brought in order that they may, in virtue of the power of the keys, pronounce the sentence of remission or retention of sins. For it is evident that priests could not have exercised this judgment without a knowledge of the matter, nor could they have observed justice in imposing penalties, had the faithful declared their sins in general only and not specifically and one by one. From which it is clear that all mortal sins of which they have knowledge after a diligent self-examination, must be enumerated by the penitents in confession,[26] even though they are most secret and have been committed only against the two last precepts of the Decalogue;[27] which sins sometimes injure the soul more grievously and are more dangerous than those that are committed openly. Venial sins, on the other hand, by which we are not excluded from the grace of God and into which we fall more frequently,[28] though they may be rightly and profitably and without any presumption declared in confession, as the practice of pious people evinces, may, nevertheless, be omitted without guilt and can be expiated by many other remedies. But since all mortal sins, even those of thought, make men <children of wrath>[29] and enemies of God, it is necessary to seek pardon of all of them from God by an open and humble confession. While therefore the faithful of Christ strive to confess all sins that come to their memory, they no doubt lay all of them before the divine mercy for forgiveness; while those who do otherwise and knowingly conceal certain ones, lay nothing before the divine goodness to be forgiven through the priest; for if one sick be ashamed to make known his wound to the physician, the latter does not remedy what he does not know. It is evident furthermore, that those circumstances that change the species of the sin are also to be explained in confession, for without them the sins themselves are neither integrally set forth by the penitent nor are they known to the judges, and it would be impossible for them to estimate rightly the grievousness of the crimes and to impose the punishment due to the penitents on account of them. Hence it is unreasonable to teach that these circumstances have been devised by idle men, or that one circumstance only is to be confessed, namely, to have sinned against another. It is also malicious to say that confession, commanded to be made in this manner, is impossible, or to call it a torture of consciences; for it is known that in the Church nothing else is required of penitents than that each one, after he has diligently examined himself and searched all the folds and corners of his conscience, confess those sins by which he remembers to have mortally offended his Lord and God; while the other sins of which he has after diligent thought no recollection, are understood to be in a general way included in the same confession; for which sins we confidently say with the Prophet: <From my secret sins cleanse me, O Lord.>[30] But the difficulty of such a confession and the shame of disclosing the sins might indeed appear a burdensome matter, if it were not lightened by so many and so great advantages and consolations, which are most certainly bestowed by absolution upon all who approach this sacrament worthily. Moreover, as regards the manner of confessing secretly to a priest alone, although Christ has not forbidden that one may in expiation for his crimes and for his own humiliation, for an example to others as well as for the edification of the Church thus scandalized, confess his offenses publicly, yet this is not commanded by divine precept; nor would it be very prudent to enjoin by human law that offenses, especially secret ones, should be divulged by a public confession. Wherefore, since secret sacramental confession, which holy Church has used from the beginning and still uses, has always been recommended by the most holy and most ancient Fathers with great and unanimous agreement, the empty calumny of those who do not fear to teach that it is foreign to the divine command, is of human origin and owes its existence to the Fathers assembled in the Lateran Council,[31] is convincingly disproved. For the Church did not through the Lateran Council decree that the faithful of Christ should confess, a thing that she recognized as of divine law and necessary, but that the precept of confession should be complied with by each and all at least once a year when they have attained the age of discretion. Hence this salutary custom of confessing during that sacred and most acceptable period of Lent is now observed in the whole Church to the great benefit of the souls of the faithful, which custom this holy council completely endorses and sanctions as pious and worthy of retention. CHAPTER VI THE MINISTER OF THIS SACRAMENT AND ABSOLUTION With regard to the minister of this sacrament, the holy council declares false and absolutely foreign to the truth of the Gospel all doctrines which perniciously extend the ministry of the keys to all other men besides bishops and priests,[32] in the belief that those words of the Lord: <Whatsoever you shall bind upon earth, shall be bound also in heaven, and whatsoever you shall loose upon earth, shall be loosed also in heaven;>[33] and, <Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them, and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained,>[34] were, contrary to the institution of this sacrament, addressed indifferently and indiscriminately to all the faithful of Christ in such manner that everyone has the power of forgiving sins, public ones by way of rebuke, if the one rebuked complies, and secret ones by way of a voluntary confession made to anyone.[35] It [the council] teaches furthermore that even priests who are in mortal sin exercise, through the power of the Holy Ghost conferred in ordination,[36] as ministers of Christ the office of forgiving sins, and that the opinion of those is erroneous who maintain that bad priests do not possess this power. But although the absolution of the priest is the dispensation of another’s bounty, yet it is not a bare ministry only, either of proclaiming the Gospel or of declaring that sins are forgiven, but it is after the manner of a judicial act,[37] by which sentence is pronounced by him as by a judge. The penitent, therefore, ought not so flatter himself on his own faith as to think that even though he have no contrition and there be wanting on the part of the priest the intention to act earnestly and absolve effectively, he is nevertheless really and in the sight of God absolved by reason of faith alone. For faith without penance effects no remission of sins, and he would be most negligent of his salvation who, knowing that a priest absolved him jokingly, would not diligently seek another who would act earnestly. CHAPTER VII THE RESERVATION OF CASES Wherefore, since the nature of a judgment requires that sentence be imposed only on subjects, the Church of God has always maintained and this council confirms it as most true, that the absolution which a priest pronounces upon one over whom he has neither ordinary nor delegated jurisdiction ought to be invalid.[38] To our most holy Fathers it seemed to be a matter of great importance to the discipline of the Christian people, that certain more atrocious and grave crimes should be absolved not by all but only by the highest priests;[39] whence the sovereign pontiffs in virtue of the supreme authority given to them in the universal Church could with right reserve to their own exclusive judgment certain more grave cases of crimes.[40] And since all things that are from God are well ordered,[41] it is not to be doubted that the same may be lawfully done by all bishops, each in his own diocese,[42] unto edification however, not unto destruction, in virtue of the authority over their subjects that is given to them above other priests inferior in rank, especially in regard to those crimes that carry with them the censure of excommunication. That this reservation of crimes have effect not only in external administration but also in God’s sight is in accord with divine authority. But that no one may on this account perish, it has always been very piously observed in the same Church of God that there be no reservation in <articulo mortis>,[43] and that all priests, therefore, may in that case absolve all penitents from all sins and censures; and since outside of this single instance priests have no power in reserved cases, let them strive to persuade penitents to do this one thing, betake themselves to superiors and lawful judges for the benefit of absolution. CHAPTER VIII THE NECESSITY AND FRUIT OF SATISFACTION Finally, in regard to satisfaction, which, of all the parts of penance, just as it is that which has at all times been recommended to the Christian people by our Fathers, so it is the one which chiefly in our age is under the high-sounding pretext of piety assailed by those who <have an appearance of piety, but have denied the power thereof>,[44] the holy council declares that it is absolutely false and contrary to the word of God, that the guilt is never remitted by the Lord without the entire punishment being remitted also.[45] For clear and outstanding examples are found in the sacred writings,[46] by which, besides divine tradition, this error is refuted in the plainest manner. Indeed the nature of divine justice seems to demand that those who through ignorance have sinned before baptism be received into grace in one manner, and in another those who, after having been liberated from the servitude of sin and of the devil, and after having received the gift of the Holy Ghost, have not feared knowingly to violate the temple of God[47] and to grieve the Holy Spirit.[48] And it is in keeping with divine clemency that sins be not thus pardoned us without any satisfaction, lest seizing the occasion and considering sins as trivial and offering insult and affront to the Holy Spirit,[49] we should fall into graver ones, <treasuring up to ourselves wrath against the day of wrath.>[50] For without doubt, these satisfactions greatly restrain from sin, check as it were with a bit, and make penitents more cautious and vigilant in the future; they also remove remnants of sin, and by acts of the opposite virtues destroy habits acquired by evil living. Neither was there ever in the Church of God any way held more certain to ward off impending chastisement by the Lord than that men perform with true sorrow of mind these works of penance.[51] Add to this, that while we by making satisfaction suffer for our sins. we are made conformable to Christ Jesus who satisfied for our sins,[52] from whom is all our sufficiency,[53] having thence also a most certain pledge, that <if we suffer with him, we shall also be glorified with him.>[54] Neither is this satisfaction which we discharge for our sins so our own as not to be through Christ Jesus; for we who can do nothing of ourselves as of ourselves, can do all things with the cooperation of Him who strengthens us.[55] Thus man has not wherein to glory, but all our glorying is in Christ,[56] in whom we live,[57] in whom we merit, in whom we make satisfaction, <bringing forth fruits worthy of penance,>[58] which have their efficacy from Him, by Him are offered to the Father, and through Him are accepted by the Father. The priests of the Lord must therefore, so far as reason and prudence suggest, impose salutary and suitable satisfactions, in keeping with the nature of the crimes and the ability of the penitents; otherwise, if they should connive at sins and deal too leniently with penitents, imposing certain very light works for very grave offenses, they might become partakers in the sins of others. But let them bear in mind that the satisfaction they impose be not only for the protection of a new life and a remedy against infirmity, but also for the atonement and punishment of past sins; for the early Fathers also believed and taught that the keys of the priests were bestowed not to loose only but also to bind.[59] It was not their understanding, moreover, that the sacrament of penance is a tribunal of wrath or of punishments, as no Catholic ever understood that through our satisfactions the efficacy of the merit and satisfaction of our Lord Jesus Christ is either obscured or in any way diminished;[60] but since the innovators wish to understand it so, they teach, in order to destroy the efficacy and use of satisfaction, that a new life is the best penance. CHAPTER IX THE WORKS OF SATISFACTION It [the council] teaches furthermore that the liberality of the divine munificence is so great that we are able through Jesus Christ to make satisfaction to God the Father not only by punishments voluntarily undertaken by ourselves to atone for sins, or by those imposed by the judgment of the priest according to the measure of our offense, but also, and this is the greatest proof of love, by the temporal afflictions imposed by God and borne patiently by us. THE DOCTRINE OF THE SACRAMENT OF EXTREME UNCTION It has seemed good to the holy council to add to the preceding doctrine on penance the following concerning the sacrament of extreme unction, which was considered by the Fathers as the completion not only of penance but also of the whole Christian life, which ought to be a continual penance. First therefore, with regard to its institution it declares and teaches that our most benevolent Redeemer, who wished to have His servants at all times provided with salutary remedies against all the weapons of all enemies,[61] as in the other sacraments He provided the greatest aids by means of which Christians may during life keep themselves free from every graver spiritual evil, so did He fortify the end of life by the sacrament of extreme unction as with the strongest defense. For though our adversary seeks and seizes occasions throughout our whole life to devour our souls in any manner,[62] yet there is no time when he strains more vehemently all the powers of his cunning to ruin us utterly, and if possible to make us even lose faith in the divine mercy, than when he perceives that the end of our life is near. CHAPTER I THE INSTITUTION OF THE SACRAMENT OF EXTREME UNCTION This sacred unction of the sick was instituted by Christ our Lord as truly and properly a sacrament of the New Law, alluded to indeed by Mark[63] but recommended and announced to the faithful by James the Apostle and brother of the Lord. <Is any man>, he says, <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.>[64] In which words, as the Church has learned from Apostolic tradition received from hand to hand, he teaches the matter, form, proper administration and effect of this salutary sacrament. For the Church has understood that the matter is the oil blessed by the bishop, because the anointing very aptly represents the grace of the Holy Ghost with which the soul of the sick person is invisibly anointed. The form, furthermore, are those words: “By this unction, etc.” CHAPTER II THE EFFECT OF THIS SACRAMENT Moreover, the significance and effect of this sacrament are explained in these words: <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.>[65] For the thing signified is the grace of the Holy Ghost whose anointing takes away the sins if there be any still to be expiated, and also the remains of sin and raises up and strengthens the soul of the sick person by exciting in him great confidence in the divine mercy, supported by which the sick one bears more lightly the miseries and pains of his illness and resists more easily the temptations of the devil who lies in wait for his heel;[66] and at times when expedient for the welfare of the soul restores bodily health. CHAPTER III THE MINISTER OF THIS SACRAMENT AND THE TIME WHEN IT OUGHT TO BE ADMINISTERED And now, with regard to prescribing who ought to receive and administer this sacrament, this also was not obscurely expressed in the words cited above. For there it is also pointed out that the proper ministers of this sacrament are the priests of the Church; by which name in that place are to be understood not the elders by age or the highest in rank among the people, but either bishops or priests[67] rightly ordained by bishops with the imposition of the hands of the priesthood.>[68] It is also declared that this anointing is to be applied to the sick, but especially to those who are in such danger as to appear to be at the end of life, whence it is also called the sacrament of the dying. If the sick should after the reception of this sacrament recover, they may again be strengthened with the aid of this sacrament when they fall into another similar danger of death. Wherefore, they are under no condition to be listened to who against so manifest and clear a statement of the Apostle James[69] teach that this anointing is either a human contrivance or is a rite received from the Fathers, having neither a command from God nor a promise of grace; nor those who declare that this has already ceased, as though it were to be understood only as referring to the grace of healing in the primitive Church; nor those who maintain that the rite and usage which the holy Roman Church observes in the administration of this sacrament are opposed to the expression of the Apostle James,[70] and therefore must be changed into some other; nor finally those who assert that this last anointing may without sin be despised by the faithful; for all these things are most clearly at variance with the manifest words of so great an Apostle. Assuredly, in reference to those things that constitute the substance of this sacrament, the Roman Church, the mother and mistress of all other churches, does not observe anything in administering this unction that has not been prescribed by the blessed James. Nor indeed can there be contempt for so great a sacrament without a grievous sin and offense to the Holy Ghost. These things regarding the sacraments of penance and extreme unction this holy ecumenical council professes and teaches and proposes to all the faithful of Christ to be believed and held. And it submits the following canons to be inviolately observed, and forever anathematizes those who maintain the contrary. CANONS CONCERNING THE MOST HOLY SACRAMENT OF PENANCE Canon I. If anyone says that in the Catholic Church penance is not truly and properly a sacrament instituted by Christ the Lord for reconciling the faithful of God as often as they fall into sin after baptism,[71] let him be anathema. Can. 2 If anyone, confounding the sacraments, says that baptism is itself the sacrament of penance,[72] as though these two sacraments were not distinct, and that penance therefore is not rightly called a second plank after shipwreck,[73] let him be anathema. Can. 3. If anyone says that those words of the Lord Savior, <Receive ye the Holy Ghost, whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them, and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained,>[74] are not to be understood of the power of forgiving and retaining sins in the sacrament of penance, as the Catholic Church has always understood them from the beginning, but distorts them, contrary to the institution of this sacrament, as applying to the authority of preaching the Gospel, let him be anathema. Can. 4. If anyone denies that for the full and perfect remission of sins three acts are required on the part of the penitent, constituting as it were the matter of the sacrament of penance, namely, contrition, confession and satisfaction, which are called the three parts of penance;[75] or says that there are only two parts of penance, namely, the terrors of a smitten conscience convinced of sin and the faith received from the Gospel or from absolution, by which one believes that his sins are forgiven him through Christ, let him be anathema. Can. 5. If anyone says that the contrition which is evoked by examination, recollection and hatred of sins,[76] whereby one recounts his years in the bitterness of his soul,[77] by reflecting on the grievousness, the multitude, the baseness of his sins, the loss of eternal happiness and the incurring of eternal damnation, with a purpose of amendment, is not a true and beneficial sorrow, does not prepare for grace, but makes a man a hypocrite and a greater sinner; finally, that this sorrow is forced and not free and voluntary, let him be anathema. Can 6. If anyone denies that sacramental confession was instituted by divine law or is necessary to salvation;[78] or says that the manner of confessing secretly to a priest alone, which the Catholic Church has always observed from the beginning and still observes, is at variance with the institution and command of Christ and is a human contrivance, let him be anathema. Can. 7. If anyone says that in the sacrament of penance it is not required by divine law for the remission of sins to confess each and all mortal sins which are recalled after a due and diligent examination,[79] also secret ones and those that are a violation of the two last commandments of the Decalogue,[80] as also the circumstances that change the nature of a sin, but that this confession is useful only to instruct and console the penitent and in olden times was observed only to impose a canonical satisfaction; or says that they who strive to confess all sins wish to leave nothing to the divine mercy to pardon; or finally, that it is not lawful to confess venial sins, let him be anathema. Can. 8. If anyone says that the confession of all sins as it is observed in the Church is impossible and is a human tradition to be abolished by pious people;[81] or that each and all of the faithful of Christ of either sex are not bound thereto once a year in accordance with the constitution of the great Lateran Council[82] and that for this reason the faithful of Christ are to be persuaded not to confess during Lent, let him be anathema. Can. 9. If anyone says that the sacramental absolution of the priest is not a judicial act but a mere service of pronouncing and declaring to him who confesses that the sins are forgiven, provided only he believes himself to be absolved, even though the priest absolves not in earnest but only in jest;[83] or says that the confession of the penitent is not necessary in order that the priest may be able to absolve him, let him be anathema. Can. 10. If anyone says that priests who are in mortal sin have not the power of binding and loosing,[84] or that not only priests are the ministers of absolution but that to each and all of the faithful of Christ was it said: <Whatsoever you shall bind upon earth, shall be bound also in heaven; and whatsoever you shall loose upon earth, shall be loosed in heaven>;[85] and <whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them, and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained;>[86] by virtue of which words everyone can absolve from sins, from public sins by reproof only, provided the one reproved accept correction, and from secret sins by voluntary confession, let him be anathema. Can. 11 If anyone says that bishops have not the right to reserve cases to themselves except such as pertain to external administration, and that therefore the reservation of cases does not hinder a priest from absolving from reserved cases,[87] let him be anathema. Can. 12. If anyone says that God always pardons the whole penalty together with the guilt and that the satisfaction of penitents is nothing else than the faith by which they perceive that Christ has satisfied for them,[88] let him be anathema. Can. 13. If anyone says that satisfaction for sins, as to their temporal punishment, is in no way made to God through the merits of Christ by the punishments inflicted by Him and patiently borne, or by those imposed by the priest, or even those voluntarily undertaken, as by fasts, prayers, almsgiving or other works of piety, and that therefore the best penance is merely a new life,[89] let him be anathema. Can. 14. If anyone says that the satisfactions by which penitents atone for their sins through Christ are not a worship of God but traditions of men, which obscure the doctrine of grace and the true worship of God and the beneficence itself of the death of Christ,[90] let him be anathema. Can. 15. If anyone says that the keys have been given to the Church only to loose and not also to bind, and that therefore priests, when imposing penalties on those who confess, act contrary to the purpose of the keys and to the institution of Christ, and that it is a fiction that there remains often a temporal punishment to be discharged after the eternal punishment has by virtue of the keys been removed,[91] let him be anathema. CANONS CONCERNING THE SACRAMENT OF EXTREME UNCTION Canon 1. If anyone says that extreme unction is not truly and properly a sacrament instituted by Christ our Lord and announced by the blessed Apostle James,[92] but is only a rite received from the Fathers or a human invention, let him be anathema. Can. 2. If anyone says that the anointing of the sick neither confers any grace nor remits sins nor comforts the sick, but that it has already ceased, as if it had been a healing grace only in the olden days,[93] let him be anathema. Can. 3. If anyone says that the rite and usage of extreme unction which the holy Roman Church observes is at variance with the statement of the blessed Apostle James,[94] and is therefore to be changed and may without sin be despised by Christians, let him be anathema. Can. 4. If anyone says that the priests of the Church, whom blessed James exhorts to be brought to anoint the sick, are not the priests who have been ordained by a bishop, but the elders in each community, and that for this reason a priest only is not the proper minister of extreme unction,[95] let him be anathema. DECREE CONCERNING REFORM Introduction It is the office of the bishops to admonish their subjects of their duty, especially those appointed to the <cura animarum> Since it is properly the office of bishops to reprove the transgressions of all their subjects, this especially must claim their attention, that clerics, particularly those appointed to the <cura animarum,> be not wicked, nor lead a disorderly life with their connivance.[96] For if they permit them to be given to evil and corrupt morals, how shall they reprove the lay people for their transgressions when these can by one word repulse them for permitting clerics to be worse than they?[97] And with what freedom shall priests be able to correct laics when they must answer silently to themselves that they have committed the same things that they censure?[98] Wherefore, bishops shall admonish their clergy, of whatever rank they may be, that in conduct, speech and knowledge they be a guide to the people of God committed to them;[99] being mindful of what is written: Be holy, for I also am holy.[100] And in accordance with the word of the Apostle, let them not give offense to any man, that their ministry may not be blamed; but in all things let them exhibit themselves as the ministers of God,[101] lest the saying of the prophet be fulfilled in them: <The priests of God defile the sanctuaries and despise the law.>[102] But that the bishops may be able to execute this more freely, and may not be hindered therein by any pretext whatsoever, the same holy, ecumenical and general Council of Trent, the same legate and nuncios of the Apostolic See presiding therein, has thought it proper that the following canons be established and decreed. CHAPTER I IF ANY, FORBIDDEN TO ADVANCE TO ORDERS, DO SO ADVANCE, IF INTERDICTED OR SUSPENDED, THEY ARE TO BE PUNISHED Since it is more honorable and safe for a subject to serve in an inferior ministry and render due obedience to those placed over him than to the scandal of the superiors seek the dignity of a higher rank, to him to whom the advance to sacred orders has, for any reason whatsoever, even on account of secret crime, or in whatsoever manner, even extra-judicially, been denied by his own prelate, or who has been suspended from his orders or ecclesiastical rank or dignities, no permission granted against the will of that prelate to bring about his promotion or restoration to former orders, rank, dignities or honors, shall be of any avail. CHAPTER II IF A BISHOP SHALL CONFER ANY ORDERS WHATSOEVER ON ONE NOT SUBJECT TO HIM, EVEN IF HE BE HIS OWN DOMESTIC, WITHOUT THE EXPRESSED CONSENT OF THAT PERSON’S PRELATE, BOTH SHALL BE SUBJECT TO THE PENALTY PRESCRIBED Since some bishops of churches located in <partibus infidelium>, having neither clergy nor Christian people, being well-nigh wanderers and without a fixed residence, seeking not the things of Jesus Christ, but other sheep without the knowledge of their pastor,[103] and finding themselves forbidden by this holy council to exercise episcopal functions in the diocese of another without the expressed permission of the local ordinary,[104] and then only in regard to persons who are subject to that ordinary, do in their boldness, by evasion and in contempt of the law, choose as it were an episcopal see in a place which belongs to no diocese, and presume to mark with the clerical character and even promote to the sacred order of the priesthood any who come to them, even though they have no commendatory letters from their bishops or prelates, whence it happens very often that persons are ordained who are but little qualified, who are untrained and ignorant, and have been rejected by their own bishops as incompetent and unworthy, neither able to perform the divine offices nor to administer rightly the sacraments of the Church; none of the bishops, therefore, who are called titular, even though they reside or sojourn in a place within no diocese, even if it be exempt, or in a monastery of whatsoever order, may, by virtue of any privilege granted them for a time, promote those who come to them, or promote or ordain to any sacred or minor orders, or even to the first tonsure, the subject of another bishop, even under the pretext that he is his domestic and companion at table, without the expressed consent of or dimissory letters from that person’s own bishop.[105] Those acting contrary to this shall be <ipso jure> suspended for one year from the exercise of pontifical functions, and the one so promoted shall likewise be suspended from the exercise of the orders as long as his own prelate shall see fit. CHAPTER III A BISHOP MAY SUSPEND HIS CLERICS WHO HAVE BEEN IMPROPERLY PROMOTED BY ANOTHER, IF HE SHOULD FIND THEM INCOMPETENT A bishop may suspend for as long a time as he may see fit from the exercise of the orders received, and may prohibit from ministering or from exercising the functions of any order, any of his clerics, especially those who are in sacred orders, who have been promoted by any authority whatsoever without his previous examination and commendatory letters, even though they shall have been approved as competent by him who ordained them, but whom he himself shall find unfit and incapable to celebrate the divine offices or to administer the sacraments of the Church.[106] CHAPTER IV NO CLERIC SHALL BE EXEMPT FROM THE CORRECTION OF THE BISHOP, EVEN OUTSIDE THE TIME OF VISITATION All prelates of churches who ought to apply themselves diligently to correct the excesses of their subjects,[107] and against whom no cleric is by the statutes of this council under pretext of any privilege whatsoever considered secure that he may not be visited, punished and corrected in accordance with the canons, shall, if they reside in their own churches, have the power, delegated for this purpose by the Apostolic See, to correct and punish, even outside the time of visitation, all secular clerics in whatever manner exempt, who would otherwise be subject to their jurisdiction, for their excesses, crimes and delinquencies as often as and whenever there shall be need;[108] no exemptions, declarations, customs, sentences, oaths, agreements, which bind only their authors, shall be of any avail to said clerics and their relations, chaplains, domestics, agents, or to any others whatsoever in view and in consideration of said exempt clerics. CHAPTER V THE JURISDICTION OF CONSERVATORS IS RESTRICTED WITHIN CERTAIN LIMITS Moreover, since some who, under the pretext that divers wrongs and annoyances are inflicted on them in their goods, possessions and rights, obtain certain judges to be appointed by means of conservatory letters to protect and defend them against such annoyances and wrongs and to maintain and keep them in the real or quasi possession of their goods, property and rights without suffering them to be molested therein, in most cases wrest from such letters a meaning that is contrary to the intention of the donor, therefore, conservatory letters, whatever may be their clauses and decrees, whatever judges may be appointed, or under whatever other sort of pretext or color they may have been granted, shall avail absolutely no one, of whatever dignity and condition, even though a chapter, from being in criminal and mixed causes accused and summoned, examined and proceeded against before his own bishop or other ordinary superior, or from being freely summoned before the ordinary judge in those matters, even if any rights should come to him from a concession made to him. In civil causes also, if he be the plaintiff, it shall under no condition be lawful for him to bring anyone for judgment before his own conservatory judges. And if in those cases in which he shall be defendant, it should happen that the conservator chosen by him should be declared by the plaintiff to be suspected by him, or if any dispute shall have arisen between the judges themselves, the conservator and the ordinary, with regard to the competency of jurisdiction, the cause shall not be proceeded with until a decision shall have been made relative to said suspicion or competency of jurisdiction by arbiters legally chosen. Nor shall such conservatory letters be of any avail to the said party’s domestics, who are in the habit of shielding themselves thereby, except to two only and then provided they live at his own cost. No one, moreover, shall enjoy the benefit of such letters more than five years. It shall also not be lawful for conservatory judges to have any fixed tribunal. With regard to causes that relate to wages and to destitute persons, the decree of this holy council shall remain in its full force.[109] General universities, however, colleges of doctors or scholars, places belonging to regulars, also hospitals in which hospitality is actually exercised, and persons belonging to such universities, colleges, places and hospitals, are not to be considered included in the present decree, but are and are to be understood as wholly exempt. CHAPTER VI A PENALTY IS DECREED AGAINST CLERICS WHO, CONSTITUTED IN SACRED ORDERS OR HOLDING BENEFICES, DO NOT WEAR CLOTHES CONFORMING TO THEIR ORDER And since, though the habit does not make the monk,[110] it is necessary nevertheless that clerics always wear a dress conformable to their order, that by the propriety of their outward apparel they may show forth the inward uprightness of their morals, yet to such a degree have the contempt of religion and the boldness of some grown in these days, that esteeming but little their own dignity and the clerical honor, they even wear in public the dress of laymen, setting their feet in different paths, one of things divine, the other of the flesh. Wherefore, all ecclesiastical persons, howsoever exempt, who are either in sacred orders or in possession of dignities with or without jurisdiction, offices or whatsoever ecclesiastical benefices, if, after having been admonished by their bishops, even by a public edict, they do not wear a becoming clerical dress conformable to their order and dignity and in conformity with the ordinance and mandate of their bishop, may and ought to be compelled thereto by suspension from their orders, office, benefice and from the fruits, revenues and proceeds of those benefices; and also, if, after having been once rebuked, they offend again in the matter, even by deprivation of those offices and benefices; the constitution of Clement V published in the Council of Vienne, beginning “Quondam,” being hereby renewed and amplified.[111] CHAPTER VII THE ORDINATION OF VOLUNTARY HOMICIDES IS FORBIDDEN; HOW INVOLUNTARY HOMICIDES ARE TO BE ORDAINED Since also he who has killed his neighbor on set purpose and by lying in wait for him, is to be taken away from the altar,[112] he who has voluntarily committed a homicide, even though that crime has neither been proved by ordinary judicial process nor is otherwise public, but is secret, can never be promoted to sacred orders; nor shall it be lawful to confer on him any ecclesiastical benefices, even though they have not annexed the <cura animarum>; but he shall be forever excluded from every ecclesiastical order, benefice and office. But if it be declared that the homicide was not committed intentionally but accidentally, or when repelling force with force that one might defend himself from death (in which case indeed a dispensation for the ministry of sacred orders and of the altar and for all benefices and dignities is in some manner due by right), the matter shall be referred to the local ordinary, or if need be to the metropolitan or to the nearest bishop, who may dispense only after having taken cognizance of the case and after the entreaties and allegations have been proved, and not otherwise. CHAPTER VIII NO ONE SHALL BY VIRTUE OF ANY PRIVILEGE PUNISH THE CLERICS OF ANOTHER Furthermore, since there are persons, some of whom are true pastors and have their own sheep, who seek to rule over the sheep of others also,[113] and at times give their attention to the subjects of others to such an extent as to neglect the care of their own; no one, even though he enjoy the episcopal dignity, who may have the privilege of punishing the subjects of another, shall under any circumstances proceed against clerics not subject to him, especially such as are in sacred orders, even if guilty of crimes ever so atrocious, except with the intervention of the bishop of those clerics, if that bishop resides in his own church, or of the person that may be deputed by that bishop; otherwise the proceedings and all their consequences shall be entirely without effect. CHAPTER IX THE BENEFICES OF ONE DIOCESE SHALL NOT UNDER ANY PRETEXT BE UNITED TO THE BENEFICES OF ANOTHER And since it is by a very good law that dioceses and parishes have been made distinct,[114] and to each flock has been assigned its proper pastor and to inferior churches their rectors, each to take care of his own sheep, so that ecclesiastical order may not be disturbed or one and the same church belong in some way to two dioceses, not without grave disadvantage to those subject thereto; the benefices of one diocese, even if they be parochial churches, perpetual vicariates, simple benefices, prestimonies or prestimonial portions, shall not be united <in perpetuum> to a benefice, monastery, college or even to a pious place of another diocese, not even for the purpose of augmenting divine worship or the number of beneficiaries, or for any other reason whatsoever; hereby explaining the decree of this holy council on the subject of unions of this kind.[115] CHAPTER X REGULAR BENEFICES SHALL BE CONFERRED ON REGULARS Benefices of regulars that have been accustomed to be granted in title to professed regulars, shall, when they happen to become vacant by the death of the titular incumbent, or by his resignation or otherwise, be conferred on religious of the same order only[116] or on persons who shall be absolutely bound to take the habit and make profession, and on no others, that they may <not wear a garment that is woven of woolen and linen together.[117] CHAPTER XI THOSE TRANSFERRED TO ANOTHER ORDER SHALL REMAIN IN THE ENCLOSURE UNDER OBEDIENCE, AND SHALL BE DISQUALIFIED TO HOLD SECULAR BENEFICES (Source: Council Of Trent)
Since regulars, transferred from one order to another, usually obtain permission easily from their superior to remain out of the monastery, whereby occasion is given to wandering about and apostatizing, no prelate or superior of any order shall by virtue of any authority whatsoever, admit anyone to the habit and to profession, unless he remain in the order to which he was transferred and perpetually in the cloister under obedience to his superior[118] and one so transferred, even though he be a canon regular, shall be wholly disqualified to hold secular benefices, even with the <cura> annexed. CHAPTER XII NO ONE SHALL OBTAIN A RIGHT OF PATRONAGE EXCEPT BY MEANS OF A FOUNDATION OR AN ENDOWMENT Moreover, no one, of whatever ecclesiastical or secular dignity, may or ought to procure or have a right of patronage for any reason whatever, except that he has founded and erected <de novo> a church, benefice or chapel; or has adequately endowed out of his own patrimonial resources one already erected but insufficiently endowed.[119] But in case of such foundation or endowment, appointments thereto shall be reserved to the bishop and not to some other inferior person. CHAPTER XIII THE PRESENTATION MUST BE MADE TO THE ORDINARY, OTHERWISE IT AND THE APPOINTMENT ARE NULL Furthermore, it shall not be lawful for a patron, under pretext of any privilege, to present anyone in any way to the benefices that are under his right of patronage except to the ordinary bishop of the locality, to whom the provision for or appointment to that benefice would by right belong if the privilege ceased; 120 otherwise the presentation and the appointment perchance following shall be null and shall be understood as such. CHAPTER XIV The holy council declares, moreover, that in the next session, which it has already decreed to be held on the twenty-fifth day of January of the following year, 1552, it will, besides treating of the sacrifice of the mass, also apply itself to and treat of the sacrament of order and continue the subject of reform. ENDNOTES 1 Cf. Sess. VI, chap. 14. 2 Cf. <infra>, chap. 5, Penance. 3 Eph. 2:4. 4 Ps. 102:14. 5 Sess. and chap. cited. 6 Ezech. 18:30. 7 Luke 13:5. 8 Acts 2:38. 9 John 20:22f.; <infra>, can. 3, Penance. 10 Eusebius, <Hist. eccl.>, VI, c. 43. 11 Cf. <infra,> can. 2 and Sess. VI, chap. 14. 12 See 1 Cor. 5:12. 13 Ibid., 12:13. 14 Gal. 3:27. 15 Cf. <infra>, chap. 4; Sess. VI, chap. 14, and< infra>, can. 4. 16 Cf. Sess. VI, chaps. 6, 14. 17 <Infra>, can. 5. 18 Ezech. 18:31. 19 Ps. 50:6. 20 Ps. 6:7. 21 Is. 38:15. 22 Jonas 3:5; Matt. 12:41; Luke 11:32. 23 Luke 5:14; 17:14; I John 1:9. Cf. <infra>, can. 6. 24 Matt. 16:19, John 20:23. 25 Cf. c. 51, D.I de poenit. 26 Cf. <infra>, can. 7. 27 Deut. 5:21. 28 Cf. Sess. VI, can. 23; c. 20, D. III de poenit. 29 Eph. 2:3. 30 Ps, 18:13. 31 Cf. c. 12, X, De poenit., V, 38. 32 <Infra,> can. 10. 33 Matt. 16:19; 18:18. 34 John 20:23. 35 Cf. Sess. VII, Sacraments, can. 10. 36 C. 8, D. XIX; c. 89, C I, q. I. 37 <Infra>, can. 9. 38 Cf. c. 2 VI, De poenit., V, 10. 39 Cf. c. 52, C.XVI, q.I; c. 29, C.XVII, q. 4 et al. 40 Cf. cc. l, 3, 19, 22, 24, 32, X, De sent. excomm., V, 39; cc.II, 18, h.t. in VI, V, 11; c. l, h.t. in Extrav. comm., V, 10 et al. 41 Rom. 13:1. 42 Cf. <infra>, sess. XXIV, chap. 6 de ref. 43 Cf. c. 29, C.XVII, q. 4; c. 5, VI, De poenis, V, 9; c. 3, h.t. in Clem., V, 8; c. 3, Extrav. comm., De priviL, V, 7. 44 See II Tim. 3:5. 45 Cf. sess. VI, chap. 14, can. 30 and <infra>, can. 12. 46 Gen. 3:16 ff.; Num. 12:14 f.; 10:11 f.; II Kings 12:13 f., etc. 47 See l Cor. 3:17. 48 Eph. 4:30. 49 Heb. 10:29. 50 Rom. 2:5; James 5:3 51 Matt. 3:2, 8; 4:17; 11:21. 52 Rom. 5:10. 53 See II Cor. 3:5. 54 Rom. 8:17. 55 See II Cor. 3:5; Phil. 4:13. 56 See I Cor. 1:31; II Cor. 10:17; Gal. 6:14. 57 Acts 17:28. 58 Matt. 3:8; Luke 3:8. 59 Matt. 16:19; John 20:23; <infra>, can. 15. 60 Cf. <infra>. can. 14. 61 Eph. 6:10 ff. 62 See I Pet. 5:8. 63 Mark 6:13. 64 James 5:14 f. 65 Ibid., 5:15. 66 Gen. 3:15. 67 C. 3, D.XCV and <infra>, Extr. Unct., can. 4. 68 See I Tim. 4:14. 69 James 5:14 f. 70 <Infra>, Extr. Unct., can. 3. 71 Cf. <supra>, chap. I. 72 Ibid. 73 C. 72, D.I de poenit. 74 Matt. 16:19; John 20:23 f.; cf. Sess. VI, chap. 14 and <supra>, chap. 1. 75 <Supra>, chap. 3. 76 Ibid., chap. 4 77 38:15. 78 <Supra>, chap. 5. 79 <Supra>, chap. 5. 80 Deut. 5:21. 81 <Supra>, chap. 5. 82 Ibid., chap. 5 at the end. 83 Ibid., chap. 6. 84 Ibid., chaps. 5-6. 85 Matt. 16:19; 18:18. 86 John 20:23. 87 <Supra>, chap. 7. 88 Ibid., chap. 8. 89 Ibid., chaps. 8-9. 90 Ibid., chap. 8. 91 Ibid., chaps 1, 8. 92 James 5:14 f. 93 Cf. supra, Extr. Unct., chap. 2. 94 James 5:14 f. 95 Ibid.; supra, Extr. Unct., chap. 3. 96 C 13, X, De off. jud. ord., I, 31; supra, Sess. VI, chap. 3 de ref. 97 See I Cor. 9:27. 98 C. 6, D.XXV. 99 Cf. Sess. XXII, chap. I de ref. 100 Lev. 11:44; 19:2; 20:7; 1 Pet. 1:16. 101 See II Cor. 6:3 f. 102 Ezech. 22:26; Soph. 3:4. 103 Cf. infra, chap. 8 de ref. 104 Cf. Sess. VI, chap. 5 de ref. 105 Ibid. and Sess. XXIII, chaps. 3, 8, 10 de ref. 106 Cf. Sess. XXIII, chap. 8 de ref. 107 Sess. VI, chap. 3 de ref.; C. 13, X, De off. jud. ord., I, 31. 108 Sess. cit., chap. 4 de ref. 109 Cf. Sess. VII, chap. 14 de ref. 110 C. 13, X, De regular., III, 31. 111 C. 2, in Clem., De vit. et hon. cler., III, I. 112 Ex. 21:14; c. I, X, De homicid., V, 12. 113 Cf. <supra,> chap. 2 de ref. and Sess. VI, chap. 5 de ref. 114 Cf. c. 9, X, De his, quae fiunt a prael., III, 10 and Sess. XXIV, chap. 13 de ref. 115 Cf. Sess. VII, chaps. 6 and 7 de ref.; Sess. XXIV, chaps. 13 and 15 de ref. 116 Cf. Sess. XXV, chap. 21 de regular.; c. 5, VI, De praeb., III 4; C. 27, X, De elect., I 6. 117 Deut. 22:11. 118 Cf. Sess. XXV, chap. 4 de regular. 119 Cf. Sess. cit., chap. 9 de ref. 120 Cf. Sess. and chap. cited, and cc. 8, 21, X, De jur. patr., III, 38. FIFTEENTH SESSION which is the fifth under the Supreme Pontiff, Julius III, celebrated on the twenty-fifth day of January, 1552 DECREE FOR PROROGUING THE SESSION Since this holy and general council has during these days, in accordance with the decrees enacted in the last sessions, most accurately and diligently considered the things that relate to the most holy sacrifice of the mass and to the sacrament of order, in order that in the present session it might publish, as the Holy Ghost would have prompted, decrees on these matters and on the four articles concerning the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist, which had been finally deferred to this session; and since it was thought that those who call themselves Protestants, for whose sake it had deferred the publication of those articles, and to whom it had given the public faith or a safe- conduct that they might come here freely and without any delay,[1] would in the meantime have presented themselves at this holy council; seeing, however, that they have not yet come, and the holy council having been petitioned in their name that the publication which was to have been made on this day be deferred to the following session, an assured hope being expressed that they will doubtlessly be present long before that session upon receipt in the meantime of a safe-conduct in a more amplified form, the same holy council, lawfully assembled in the Holy Ghost, the same legate and nuncios presiding, desiring nothing more than to remove from among the illustrious German nation all dissensions and schisms regarding religion, and to provide for its tranquillity, peace and concord; being prepared, should they come, to receive them kindly and to listen to them favorably, and trusting that they will come not with the intention of obstinately assailing the Catholic faith but of learning the truth, and that they will at last, as becomes those zealous for evangelical truth, acquiesce in the decrees and discipline of holy mother Church, has deferred the next session for the publication and promulgation of the aforesaid matters to the feast of St. Joseph, which will be the nineteenth day of the month of March, in order that they may have sufficient time and leisure not only to come but also to propose before that day arrives whatever they may wish. And that all cause for further delay on their part may be removed, it freely gives and grants them the public faith or a safe-conduct, the contents and tenor of which is given below. But it ordains and decrees that in the meantime the sacrament of matrimony is to be considered, and it will give in the same session its decisions thereon, in addition to the publication of the above-mentioned decrees, also continuing the matter of reform. SAFE-CONDUCT GIVEN TO THE PROTESTANTS The holy, ecumenical and general Council of Trent, lawfully assembled in the Holy Ghost, the same legate and nuncios of the Apostolic See presiding, adhering to the safe- conduct given in the session before the last and amplifying it in the manner following, certifies to all men that by the tenor of these presents, it grants and fully concedes the public faith and the fullest and truest security, which they call a safe-conduct, to each and all priests, electors, princes, dukes, marquises, counts, barons, soldiers, the common people, and to all other persons of whatever state, condition or character they may be, of the German province and nation, to the cities and other places thereof, and to all other ecclesiastical and secular persons, especially those of the Confession of Augsburg, who shall come or be sent with them to this general Council of Trent, and to those who are going to come or have already come, by whatever name they are or may be designated, to come freely to this city of Trent, to remain, abide and sojourn here and to propose, speak and consider, examine and discuss any matters whatever with the council, and to present freely whatever they may think suitable, to set forth any articles whatever either in writing or orally, and to explain, establish and prove them by the Sacred Scriptures and by the words, decisions and arguments of the blessed Fathers, and also to reply, if need be, to the objections of the general council, and to dispute and confer charitably and respectfully and without hindrance with those who have been selected by the council, reproachful, vexatious and offensive language being absolutely put aside; and particularly, that the controverted matters shall be treated in this Council of Trent in accordance with Sacred Scripture and the traditions of the Apostles, the approved councils, the consensus of the Catholic Church and the authority of the holy Fathers; with this further addition, that they shall under no condition be punished by reason of religion or of offenses committed or that may be committed in regard thereto; and also that the divine offices shall not by reason of their presence, either upon the road or in any place of their journey, their stay or their return, or in the city of Trent itself, be in any way interrupted; and that on the conclusion of these matters or before their conclusion, whensoever it shall please them, if they should wish by the command and permission of their superiors to return to their homes, or if any one of them should so wish, they may at their pleasure return freely and securely, without restraint, formality or delay, without injury to their property and to the honor and persons of their attendants and vice versa; making known, however, their intention of withdrawing to those to be deputed by the council, so that at a convenient time, without deceit or fraud, provision may be made for their security. The holy council wishes also that all clauses whatsoever, which may be necessary and suitable for a complete, effective and sufficient security for coming; sojourning and returning, be included and contained, and to be considered as included, in this public faith and safe- conduct. For their greater security and for the sake of peace and reconciliation, it declares also that if, which God forbid, any one or several of them should, either on the way to Trent or while sojourning there or returning therefrom, perpetrate or commit an atrocious act, by which the benefit of this public faith and assurance granted to them might be annulled and cassated, it wishes and concedes that those discovered in such crime shall be forthwith punished by their own countrymen and not by others, with a condign chastisement and proper reparation, which the council on its part may justly approve and commend, the form, conditions and terms of the safe-conduct remaining entirely intact thereby. In like manner it wishes also that if, which God forbid, any one or several of this council should, either on the road or while sojourning or returning, perpetrate or commit an atrocious act by which the benefit of this public faith or assurance may be violated or in any manner annulled, those discovered in any such crime shall be forthwith punished by the council itself and not by others, with a condign chastisement and proper reparation, which the Germans of the Augsburg Confession here present may on their part approve and commend, the present form, conditions and terms of the safe-conduct remaining entirely intact thereby. The council wishes furthermore, that each and all of their ambassadors shall be allowed to go out of the city of Trent to take the fresh air as often as it shall be convenient or necessary and to return here; also freely to send or dispatch their messenger or messengers to any place whatsoever to attend to their necessary affairs and to receive those sent or dispatched or the one sent or dispatched as often as they may deem fit; so however that several or one of those appointed by the council may accompany them or him in order to provide for their safety. This safe-conduct and security shall be good and extend from and during the time that they shall have been taken under the protection of this council and its agents to their arrival at Trent, and during the entire time of their sojourn here; and further, after a sufficient hearing has been had, a period of twenty days having expired, when they themselves should desire, or the council on the conclusion of such hearing should give them notice to return, it will, all deceit and fraud being wholly excluded, reconduct them with the help of God from Trent to that place of safety which each may choose for himself. All of which it promises and pledges in good faith to be inviolately observed toward each and all of the faithful of Christ, toward all ecclesiastical and secular princes and all ecclesiastical and secular persons, of whatsoever state and condition they may be or by whatsoever name they may be known. Moreover, it promises in sincere and good faith, to the exclusion of fraud and deceit, that the council will neither openly nor secretly seek any occasion, nor make use of, nor permit anyone else to make use of, any authority, power, right or statute, privilege of laws or canons, or of any councils in whatever form of words expressed, especially those of Constance and Siena, in any way prejudicial to this public faith and the fullest security, and of the public and free hearing granted by this council to the above-named; these it abrogates in this respect and for this occasion. And if the holy council or any member thereof, or any of its adherents, of whatever condition, state or pre-eminence, shall violate, which may the Almighty prevent, in any point or clause whatever, the form and terms of the security and safe-conduct as set forth above, and a satisfactory reparation that in their judgment may be justly approved and commended shall not have forthwith followed, they may consider the council to have incurred all those penalties which by human and divine law or by custom the violators of such safe-conducts can incur, without any excuse or contrary allegation in this respect. ENDNOTES 1 Supra, Sess. XIII at the end. SIXTEENTH SESSION which is the sixth and last under the Supreme Pontiff, Julius III, celebrated on the twenty-eighth day of April, 1552 DECREE SUSPENDING THE COUNCIL The holy, ecumenical and general Council of Trent, lawfully assembled in the Holy Ghost, the most reverent Lords, Sebastian, Archbishop of Sipontum, and Aloysius, Bishop of Verona, Apostolic nuncios, presiding in their own names as well as in that of the most reverend and illustrious Lord, the legate Marcellus Crescentius, Cardinal of the holy Roman Church with the title of St. Marcellus, who is absent by reason of a very grave illness, doubts not that it is known to all Christians that this ecumenical Council of Trent was first convoked and assembled by Paul, of happy memory. Afterward at the instance of the most august Emperor, Charles V, reconvened by our most holy Lord Julius III, chiefly for the reason that it might restore religion, which was deplorably divided into various opinions in many parts of the world, especially in Germany, to its former state, and correct the abuses and most corrupt morals of the Christians. And since very many Fathers from different countries, regardless of personal hardships and dangers, had for this purpose willingly assembled, and the business progressed earnestly and happily in the midst of a great concourse of the faithful, and there was great hope that those Germans who had inaugurated those innovations would come to the council so disposed as to accept unanimously the true foundations of the Church, some light seemed at last to have dawned upon affairs, and the Christian commonwealth, before so depressed and afflicted, began to lift up its head. Then suddenly such tumults and wars were enkindled by the craftiness of the enemy of the human race, that the council was at much inconvenience compelled to pause as it were and to interrupt its course, so that all hope for further progress at that time was dissipated; and so far was the council from remedying the evils and troubles existing among the Christians, that, contrary to its intentions, it irritated rather than calmed the minds of many. Since, therefore, the holy council saw that all places, and especially Germany, were ablaze with arms and discords, that almost all the German bishops, especially the electoral princes, solicitous for their churches, had withdrawn from the council, it decided not to resist so great a necessity and to await better times, so that the Fathers who now could achieve nothing might return to their churches to take care of their sheep and no longer spend their time in useless inactivity. Hence, since the conditions of the times so require, it decrees that the progress of this ecumenical Council of Trent shall be suspended for two years, as it does suspend it by the present decree; with this understanding, however, that if peace is brought about sooner and the former tranquillity restored, which it trusts will, with the help of the all-good and great God, come about soon, the progress of the council shall be regarded as resumed from that time and as having its full validity, stability and authority. But if, which may God prevent the aforesaid lawful impediments shall at the expiration of the time specified not have been removed, the suspension shall immediately upon their removal thereafter be considered <eo ipso> revoked, and the council shall be and shall be understood to be restored to its full power and authority without any new convocation thereof, provided the consent and authority of His Holiness and of the Apostolic See has been given to this decree. In the meantime, however, this holy council exhorts all Christian princes and prelates to observe, and so far as it pertains to them, to cause to be observed in their kingdoms, dominions and churches each and all the things which have so far been ordained and decreed by this holy ecumenical council. BULL FOR THE CELEBRATION OF THE COUNCIL OF TRENT under the Supreme Pontiff, Pius IV Pius, Bishop, servant of the servants of God, for a perpetual remembrance hereof Called by the divine providence of God to the government of the Church, though unequal to so great a burden, and immediately casting the eyes of our mind over every part of the Christian commonwealth, and beholding, not without great horror, how far and wide the pest of heresy and schism have penetrated and how much the morals of the Christian people are in need of reform, we began in accordance with the duty of our office to devote our care and thought to the means whereby we should be able to exterminate those heresies, destroy so great and pernicious a schism, and reform the morals so much corrupted and depraved. And since we understand that for the correction of these evils that remedy is the most suitable which this Holy See has been accustomed to apply, namely, an ecumenical and general council, we formed the resolution to assemble and with the help of God to celebrate one. The same had indeed already been summoned by our predecessor, Paul III, of happy memory, and Julius, his successor, but due to frequent hindrance and interruption by various causes, it could not be brought to a conclusion. For Paul, having convoked it at first in the city of Mantua, then in Vicenza, for reasons expressed in his letters first suspended it and afterwards transferred it to Trent; then, when for certain reasons the time of its celebration was postponed here also, it was at length, after the removal of the suspension, begun in the city of Trent. After a few sessions had been held, however, and some decrees enacted, the council for certain reasons and with the concurrence of Apostolic authority, transferred itself to Bologna.[1] But Julius, who succeeded him, recalled it to the city of Trent,[2] at which time some more decrees were enacted. But since new disturbances were stirred up in the neighboring parts of Germany, and a very grave war enkindled in Italy and France, the council was again suspended and postponed; the enemy of the human race exerting himself exceedingly and throwing hindrances and difficulties in the way to retard at least as long as possible, since he could not entirely prevent, such a great advantage to the Church. But how greatly the heresies in the meantime increased, multiplied and propagated, how widely the schism spread, we can neither ponder nor relate without the greatest sorrow of mind. But at length the good and merciful Lord, who is never so angry that He forgets mercy,[3] deigned to grant peace and unanimity to the Christian kings and princes. By this proffered opportunity we, relying on His mercy, entertained the strongest hope that by the same means of a council an end may be put to these grave evils in the Church. That therefore schisms and heresies may be destroyed, morals corrected and reformed, and peace among the Christian princes preserved, we have judged that its celebration should no longer be deferred. Wherefore, after mature deliberation with our venerable brethren, the cardinals of the holy Roman Church, and having also made known our intention to our most dear sons in Christ, Ferdinand, Emperor-elect of the Romans, and other kings and princes, whom, as we expected from their great piety and wisdom, we found very well disposed to aid in the celebration of the council, we, to the praise, honor and glory of the Almighty God, for the benefit of the universal Church, with the advice and consent of the same venerable brethren, and relying on and supported by the authority of God Himself and of the blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, which we also exercise on earth, summon a holy, ecumenical and general council to the city of Trent for the next following most holy day of the Lord’s resurrection, and ordain and decree that, all suspension being removed, it be celebrated there. Wherefore, we urgently exhort and admonish in the Lord and also strictly command in virtue of holy obedience, and in virtue also of the oath which they have taken, and under the penalties which they know are prescribed by the sacred canons against those who neglect to attend general councils, our venerable brethren wherever located, patriarchs, archbishops, bishops, and our beloved sons the abbots, and others who by common law, privilege or ancient custom are allowed to sit and express their opinion in a general council, unless they happen to be prevented by a legitimate impediment, which they must prove to the council by ‘awful procurators. We furthermore admonish each and all whom it does or may concern that they do not neglect to attend the council. Our most dear sons in Christ, the Emperor-elect of the Romans and other Christian kings and princes, whose presence at the council would be earnestly desired, we exhort and beseech that if they themselves should not be able to be present at the council, they at least send as their deputies prudent, reputable and pious men to be present in their name, who, animated by their piety, will see to it that the prelates of their kingdoms and dominions perform without refusal and delay their duty to God and the Church at this so urgent a time; neither do we doubt in the least that they will also see to it that a safe and free road through their kingdoms and dominions is open to the prelates, their attendants, followers and all others who are proceeding to or returning from the council, and that they will be received and treated in all places kindly and courteously, as we also will provide so far as it concerns us, for we have resolved to omit absolutely nothing that we, who have been placed in this position, can do toward the completion of so pious and salutary a work, seeking nothing else, as God knows, and in the celebration of the council having no other desire but the honor of God, the recovery and salvation of the scattered sheep, and the lasting peace and tranquillity of the Christian commonwealth. And that this document and its contents may come to the knowledge of all whom it concerns, and that no one may offer the excuse that he was ignorant of it, especially since there may not perhaps be safe access to all who ought to have knowledge of this letter, we wish and command that it be read publicly and in a loud voice by messengers of our court or by some public notaries in the Vatican Basilica of the Prince of the Apostles and in the Church of the Lateran, at a time when the people are accustomed to assemble there for the celebration of the masses; and that, after having been read, it be affixed to the doors of those churches, also to the Apostolic Chancery, and at the usual place in the Campo di Fiore, where it shall be left for some time that it may be read and made known to all. When it is removed, copies thereof shall remain affixed in the same places. For we wish that by this reading, publication and affixture each and all of those whom it includes, shall after two months from the day of publication and affixture be so obligated and bound as if it had been published and read in their presence. We also ordain and decree that unshaken faith be given to the transcripts thereof, written or subscribed by the hand of a public notary and provided with the seal and signature of some person constituted in ecclesiastical dignity. Therefore, let no one infringe this letter of our summons, statute, decree, admonition and exhortation, or with foolhardy boldness oppose it. But if anyone shall presume to attempt this, let him know that he will incur the indignation of Almighty God and of His blessed Apostles Peter and Paul. Given at Rome at Saint Peter’s on the thirtieth of November in the year 1560 of the Lord’s incarnation and in the first year of our pontificate. Antonius Florebellus Lavellinus. Barengus. ENDNOTES 1 Supra, Sess. VIII. 2 Ibid., Sess. XI. 3 Hab. 3:2. SEVENTEENTH SESSION OF THE HOLY, ECUMENICAL AND GENERAL COUNCIL OF TRENT which is the first under the Supreme Pontiff, Pius IV, celebrated on the eighteenth day of January, 1562 DECREE CONCERNING THE CELEBRATION OF THE COUNCIL Does it please you, for the praise and glory of the holy and undivided Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, for the increase and exaltation of the faith and of the Christian religion, that the holy, ecumenical and general Council of Trent, lawfully assembled in the Holy Ghost, all suspension being removed, be celebrated from this day on, which is the eighteenth of the month of January of the year 1562 after the Nativity of the Lord, consecrated to the chair at Rome of blessed Peter, the Prince of the Apostles, according to the form and tenor of the letter of our most holy Lord, the sovereign pontiff, Pius IV, and that, due order being observed, those things be considered therein which at the suggestion and under the presidency of the legates shall appear suitable and proper to the council for alleviating the calamities of these times, adjusting religious controversies, restraining deceitful tongues, correcting the abuses of depraved morals, and to bring about true and Christian peace in the Church? They answered: It pleases us. SUMMONING OF THE NEXT SESSION Does it please you that the next following session be held and celebrated on the Thursday after the second Sunday of Lent, which will be on the twenty-sixth day of the month of February? <They answered:> It pleases us. EIGHTEENTH SESSION which is the second under the Supreme Pontiff, Pius IV, celebrated on the twenty-sixth day of February, 1562 DECREE CONCERNING THE CHOICE OF BOOKS AND THE INVITATION OF ALL TO THE COUNCIL UNDER PUBLIC PROTECTION The holy, ecumenical and general Council of Trent, lawfully assembled in the Holy Ghost, the same legates of the Apostolic See presiding, not confiding in human strength but relying on the power and support of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has promised to give to His Church a mouth and wisdom,[1] has in view above all to restore to its purity and splendor the doctrine of the Catholic faith, which in many places has become defiled and obscured by the opinions of many differing among themselves, and to bring back to a better mode of life morals which have deviated from ancient usage, and to <turn the heart of the fathers unto the children,>[2] and the heart of the children unto the fathers. Since therefore it has first of all observed that the number of suspected and pernicious books in which an impure doctrine is contained and disseminated far and wide has in these days exceedingly increased, for which reason indeed many censures have with pious zeal been issued in various provinces and especially in the fair city of Rome, and that as yet no salutary remedy has been of avail against so great and pernicious a disease; it has thought it proper that the Fathers chosen for this inquiry should consider carefully what ought to be done with regard to censures and books and at an opportune time report thereon to the council, so that it may more easily separate the various and strange doctrines as cockle from the wheat of Christian truth,[3] and may more conveniently deliberate and determine what seems better adapted to remove anxiety from the minds of many and to put an end to causes of complaints. It wishes, moreover, that all this be brought to the knowledge of all persons, as it also does by the present decree bring it, so that if anyone should consider himself in any manner concerned either in the matter of books and censures or in other things which it has declared beforehand are to be treated in this general council, he may not doubt that he will be courteously listened to by the holy council. And since the same holy council heartily desires and earnestly beseeches God for the things that are for the peace of the Church,[4] so that all acknowledging our common mother on earth, who cannot forget those whom she has begotten,[5] we <may with one mind and one mouth glorify God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,>[6] it invites and exhorts, by the bowels of the mercy of our same God and Lord, to concord and reconciliation all who do not hold communion with us and to come to this holy council, to embrace <charity, which is the bond of perfection>, and to show forth the peace of Christ rejoicing in their hearts, wherein they are called in one body.[7] Wherefore, <hearing this voice,> not of man but of the Holy Ghost, let them not <harden their hearts,>[8] but, walking not after their own sense,[9] nor pleasing themselves,[10] let them be moved and converted by this so pious and salutary admonition of their own mother. For as the holy council invites them with all the kindness of charity, so will it receive them. Moreover, the same holy council has decreed that the public faith can be granted in a general congregation, and that it shall have the same force, authority and obligation as if it had been given and decreed In public session. SUMMONS FOR THE NEXT SESSION The same holy Council of Trent, lawfully assembled in the Holy Ghost, the same legates of the Apostolic See presiding, ordains and decrees that the next following session be held and celebrated on the Thursday after the most sacred feast of the Ascension of the Lord, which will be on the fourteenth day of the month of May. SAFE-CONDUCT GRANTED TO THE GERMAN NATION IN A GENERAL CONGREGATION ON THE FOURTH DAY OF MARCH, 1562 The holy, ecumenical and general Council of Trent, lawfully assembled in the Holy Ghost, the same legates of the Apostolic See presiding, certifies to all men that by the tenor of these presents it grants and fully concedes the public faith and the fullest and truest security, which they call a safe-conduct, to each and all priests, electors, princes, dukes, marquises, counts, barons, soldiers, the common people, and to all other persons, of whatever state, condition or character they may be, the German province and nation, to the cities and other places thereof, and to all other ecclesiastical and secular persons, especially those of the Confession of Augsburg, who shall come or shall be sent with them to this general Council of Trent, and to those who are going to come or have already come, by whatever name they are or may be designated, to come freely to this city of Trent, to remain, abide and sojourn here, and to propose, speak and consider, examine and discuss any matters whatever with the council, to present freely whatever they may think suitable, to set forth any articles whatever either in writing or orally, and to explain, establish and prove them by the Sacred Scriptures and by the words, decisions, and arguments of the blessed Fathers, and also to reply, if need be, to the objections of the general council, and to dispute and confer charitably and respectfully and without hindrance with those who have been selected by the council, putting aside absolutely reproachful, vexatious and offensive language; and particularly, it certifies that the controverted matters shall be treated in this Council of Trent in accordance with Sacred Scriptures and the traditions of the Apostles, the approved councils, the consensus of the Catholic Church and the authority of the holy Fathers; with this further provision, it grants and entirely concedes that they shall under no condition be punished by reason of religion or of offenses committed or that may be committed in regard thereto; provided also that the divine offices shall not by reason of their presence, either upon the road or in any place of their journey, their stay or their return, or in the city of Trent itself, be in any way interrupted; and that on the conclusion of these matters or before their conclusion, whensoever it shall please them, if they should wish by the command and permission of their superiors to return to their homes, or if any one of them should so wish, they may at their pleasure return freely and securely, without restraint, formality or delay, without injury to their property and to the honor and persons of their attendants and vice versa; making known, however, their intention of withdrawing to those to be deputed by the council, so that at a convenient time, without deceit or fraud, provision may be made for their security. The holy council wishes also that all clauses whatsoever, which may be necessary and suitable for a complete, effective and sufficient security for coming, sojourning and returning, be included and contained, and to be considered as included, in this public faith and safe-conduct. For their greater security and for the sake of peace and reconciliation, it declares also that if, which God forbid, any one or several of them should either on the way to Trent or while sojourning in or returning therefrom, perpetrate or commit an atrocious act, by which the benefit of this public faith and assurance granted to them might be annulled and cassated, it wishes and concedes that those discovered in any such crime shall be forthwith punished by their own countrymen and not by others, with a condign chastisement and proper reparation, which the council on its part may justly approve and commend, the form, conditions and terms of the safe-conduct remaining entirely intact thereby. In like manner it wishes also that if, which God forbid, any one or several of this council should, either on the road or while sojourning or returning, perpetrate or commit an atrocious act by which the benefit of this public faith or assurance may be violated or in any manner annulled, those discovered in any such crime shall be forthwith punished by the council itself and not by others, with a condign chastisement and proper reparation, which the Germans of the Augsburg Confession here present may on their part approve and commend, the present form, conditions and terms of the safe-conduct remaining entirely intact thereby. The council wishes furthermore, that each and all of their ambassadors shall be allowed to go out of the city of Trent to take the fresh air as often as it shall be convenient or necessary and to return here; also freely to send or dispatch their messenger or messengers to any place whatsoever to attend to their necessary affairs and to receive those sent or dispatched or the one sent or dispatched as often as they may deem fit; so however that several or one of those appointed by the council may accompany them or him in order to provide for their safety. This safe- conduct and security shall be good and extend from and during the time that they shall have been taken under the protection of this council and its agents to their arrival at Trent, and during the entire time of their sojourn here; and further, after a sufficient hearing has been had, a period of twenty days having expired, when they themselves should desire, or the council on the conclusion of such hearing should give them notice to return, it will, all deceit and fraud being wholly excluded, reconduct them with the help of God from Trent to that place of safety which each may choose for himself. All of which it promises and pledges in good faith to be inviolately observed toward each and all of the faithful of Christ, toward all ecclesiastical and secular princes and all ecclesiastical and secular persons, of whatsoever state and condition they may be or by whatsoever name they may be known. Moreover, it promises in sincere and good faith, to the exclusion of fraud and deceit, that the council will neither openly nor secretly seek any occasion, nor make use of, nor permit anyone else to make use of, any authority, power, right or statute, privilege of laws or canons, or of any councils in whatever form of words expressed, especially those of Constance and Siena, in any way prejudicial to this public faith and the fullest security, and of the public and free hearing granted by this council to the abovenamed; these it abrogates in this respect and for this occasion. And if the holy council or any member thereof, or any of its adherents, of whatever condition, state or pre-eminence, shall violate, which may the Almighty prevent, in any point or clause whatever, the form and terms of the security and safe-conduct as set forth above, and a satisfactory reparation that in their judgment may be justly approved and commended shall not have forthwith followed, they may consider the council to have incurred all those penalties which by human and divine law or by custom the violators of such safe-conducts can incur, without any excuse or contrary allegation in this respect. THE EXTENSION OF THE ABOVE TO OTHER NATIONS The same holy council, lawfully assembled in the Holy Ghost, the same legates <de latere> of the Apostolic See presiding, grants the public faith or a safe-conduct under the same form and terms in which it is granted to the Germans, to each and all others who do not hold communion with us in matters of faith, of whatever kingdoms, nations, provinces, cities and places they may be, in which the contrary to that which the holy Roman Church holds is publicly and with impunity preached, taught or believed. ENDNOTES 1 Luke 21:15. 2 Ibid., 1:17. 3 Matt. 13:30. 4 Ps. 121:6. 5 Is. 49:15. 6 Rom. 15:6. 7 Col 3:14f. 8 Ps. 94:8; Heb. 3:8. 9 Eph. 4:17. 10 Rom. 15:1ff. NINETEENTH SESSION which is the third under the Supreme Pontiff, Pius IV, celebrated on the fourteenth day of May, 1562 DECREE FOR THE PROROGATION OF THE SESSION The holy, ecumenical and general Council of Trent, lawfully assembled in the Holy Ghost, the same legates of the Apostolic See presiding, has for good and just reasons thought it fit to prorogue and does hereby prorogue to the Thursday after the next feast of Corpus Christi, which will be the fourth day of June, those decrees which were to have been drawn up and sanctioned today in the present session, and announces to all that the session will be held and celebrated on that day In the meantime, supplication is to be made to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the author of peace, that He may sanctify the hearts of all; that by His help the holy council may now and always be able to counsel and accomplish those things that will be for His praise and glory. TWENTIETH SESSION which is the fourth under the Supreme Pontiff, Pius IV, celebrated on the fourth day of June, 1562 DECREE FOR THE PROROGATION OF THE SESSION The holy, ecumenical and general Council of Trent, lawfully assembled in the Holy Ghost, the same legates of the Apostolic See presiding, has, by reason of various difficulties arising from various causes, and also to the end that all things may proceed in a more befitting manner and with greater deliberation, namely, that dogmas may be dealt with and ratified conjointly with what relates to reform, decreed that whatever seems good to be enacted, concerning both reform and dogma, shall be defined in the next session, which it announces to all for the sixteenth day of the following month of July; adding however, that this holy council may and can freely, at its will and pleasure, as it may judge expedient for the affairs of the council, shorten or extend that term also in a general congregation. TWENTY-FIRST SESSION which is the fifth under the Supreme Pontiff, Pius IV, celebrated on the sixteenth day of July, 1562 THE DOCTRINE OF COMMUNION UNDER BOTH KINDS AND THE COMMUNION OF LITTLE CHILDREN The holy, ecumenical and general Council of Trent, lawfully assembled in the Holy Ghost, the same legates of the Apostolic See presiding, has thought fit that, since relative to the awe-inspiring and most holy sacrament of the Eucharist various monstrous errors are in different places circulated by the wiles of the evil spirit, by reason of which, in some provinces, many are seen to have fallen away from the faith and obedience of the Catholic Church, those things which relate to communion under both forms and to that of little children be explained in this place. Wherefore, it forbids all the faithful of Christ to presume henceforth to believe, teach or preach on these matters otherwise than is explained and defined in these decrees. CHAPTER I LAYMEN AND CLERICS WHEN NOT OFFERING THE SACRIFICE ARE NOT BOUND BY DIVINE LAW TO COMMUNION UNDER BOTH SPECIES This holy council instructed by the Holy Ghost, who is the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and godliness,[1] and following the judgment and custom of the Church,[2] declares and teaches that laymen and clerics when not offering the sacrifice are bound by no divine precept to receive the sacrament of the Eucharist under both forms, and that there can be no doubt at all, <salva fide>, that communion under either form is sufficient for them to salvation. For though Christ the Lord at the last supper instituted and delivered to the Apostles this venerable sacrament under the forms of bread and wine,[3] yet that institution and administration do not signify that all the faithful are by an enactment of the Lord to receive under both forms. Neither is it rightly inferred from that discourse contained in the sixth chapter of John that communion under both forms was enjoined by the Lord, notwithstanding the various interpretations of it by the holy Fathers and Doctors. For He who said: <Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you>,[4] also said: <He that eateth this bread shall live forever>;[5] and He who said: <He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath life everlasting,>[6] also said: <The bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world>;[7] and lastly, He who said: <He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, abideth in me and I in him>,[8] said, nevertheless: <He that eateth this bread shall live forever.>[9] CHAPTER II THE POWER OF THE CHURCH CONCERNING THE DISPENSATION OF THE SACRAMENT OF THE EUCHARIST It declares furthermore, that in the dispensation of the sacraments, <salva illorum substantia>, the Church may, according to circumstances, times and places, determine or change whatever she may judge most expedient for the benefit of those receiving them or for the veneration of the sacraments; and this power has always been hers. The Apostle seems to have clearly intimated this when he said: Let a man so account of us as of the ministers of Christ, and the dispensers of the mysteries of God;[10] and that he himself exercised this power, as in many other things so in this sacrament, is sufficiently manifest, for after having given some instructions regarding its use, he says: <The rest I will set in order when I come.>[11] Wherefore, though from the beginning of the Christian religion the use of both forms has not been infrequent, yet since that custom has been already very widely changed, holy mother Church, cognizant of her authority in the administration of the sacraments, has, induced by just and weighty reasons, approved this custom of communicating under either species and has decreed that it be considered the law, which may not be repudiated or changed at pleasure without the authority of the Church. CHAPTER III CHRIST, WHOLE AND ENTIRE, AND A TRUE SACRAMENT ARE RECEIVED UNDER EITHER SPECIES It declares, moreover, that though our Redeemer at the last supper instituted and administered this sacrament to the Apostles under two forms, as has already been said, yet it must be acknowledged that Christ, whole and entire, and a true sacrament are received under either form alone,[12] and therefore, as regards its fruits, those who receive one species only are not deprived of any grace necessary to salvation. CHAPTER IV LITTLE CHILDREN ARE NOT BOUND TO SACRAMENTAL COMMUNION Finally, the same holy council teaches that little children who have not attained the use of reason are not by any necessity bound to the sacramental communion of the Eucharist; for having been regenerated by the laver of baptism and thereby incorporated with Christ,[13] they cannot at that age lose the grace of the sons of God already acquired. Antiquity is not therefore to be condemned, however, if in some places it at one time observed that custom. For just as those most holy Fathers had acceptable ground for what they did under the circumstances, so it is certainly to be accepted without controversy that they regarded it as not necessary to salvation. CANONS ON COMMUNION UNDER BOTH SPECIES AND THAT OF LITTLE CHILDREN Canon I. If anyone says that each and all the faithful of Christ are by a precept of God or by the necessity of salvation bound to receive both species of the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist,[14] let him be anathema. Can. 2. If anyone says that the holy Catholic Church was not moved by just causes and reasons that laymen and clerics when not consecrating should communicate under the form of bread only,[15] or has erred in this, let him be anathema. Can. 3. If anyone denies that Christ, the fountain and author of all graces, is received whole and entire under the one species of bread, because, as some falsely assert, He is not received in accordance with the institution of Christ under both species,[16] let him be anathema. Can. 4. If anyone says that communion of the Eucharist is necessary for little children before they have attained the years of discretion,[17] let him be anathema. The two articles proposed on another occasion but not yet discussed,[18] namely, whether the reasons which moved the holy Catholic Church to decree that laymen and priests not celebrating are to communicate under the one species of bread only, are so stringent that under no circumstances is the use of the chalice to be permitted to anyone; and whether, in case it appears advisable and consonant with Christian charity that the use of the chalice be conceded to a person, nation or kingdom, it is to be conceded under certain conditions, and what are those conditions, the same holy council reserves for examination and definition to another time, at the earliest opportunity that shall present itself. DECREE CONCERNING REFORM The same holy, ecumenical and general Council of Trent, lawfully assembled in the Holy Ghost, the same legates of the Apostolic See presiding, has judged it proper, to the praise of Almighty God and to the glory of holy Church, that what follows, relative to the matter of reform, be at present enacted. CHAPTER I BISHOPS SHALL CONFER ORDERS AND GIVE DIMISSORY AND TESTIMONIAL LETTERS GRATIS; THEIR MINISTERS SHALL RECEIVE ABSOLUTELY NOTHING THEREFOR AND NOTARIES THAT WHICH IS PRESCRIBED IN THIS DECREE Since the ecclesiastical order must be free from every suspicion of avarice, neither bishops nor others who confer orders, or their ministers, shall under any pretext whatever receive anything for the collation of any orders, not even for the clerical tonsure, or for dimissory or testimonial letters, or for the seal or for any other reason whatsoever, even though it should be offered voluntarily. Notaries, except in those places only where the laudable custom of receiving nothing does not prevail, may receive only the tenth part of a gold florin for each dimissory or testimonial letter, provided no salary is paid them for the discharge of the office. Further, no emolument from the income of the notary shall accrue either directly or indirectly to the bishop from the collation of orders, for in that case the council decrees that they are bound to give their labor wholly gratis; annulling and prohibiting absolutely in all localities taxes, statutes and customs to the contrary, even though immemorial, which might preferably be called abuses and corruptions tending to simoniacal depravity. Those who act otherwise givers as well as receivers, shall, apart from the divine punishment incur <ipso facto> the penalties prescribed by law.[19] CHAPTER II THOSE WHO HAVE NOT THE MEANS OF LIVELIHOOD ARE TO BE EXCLUDED FROM SACRED ORDERS Since it is not becoming that those who are enrolled in the sacred ministry should, to the dishonor of the order, beg or engage in some improper business; and since it is known that very many in different localities are admitted to sacred orders with almost no selection, who by various methods of fraud and deception pretend to have an ecclesiastical benefice or sufficient means, the holy council decrees that henceforth no secular cleric, though otherwise qualified as regards morals, knowledge and age, shall be promoted to sacred orders unless it be first legitimately established that he is in peaceful possession of an ecclesiastical benefice sufficient for a decent livelihood; and he may not resign that benefice without mentioning the fact that he was promoted by reason of the title thereof; neither shall that resignation be accepted unless it is certain that he can live suitably from other sources; a resignation made otherwise shall be void. As to those who have a patrimony or pension, only those may hereafter be ordained whom the bishop judges ought to be received in consideration of the need or benefit of his churches, having first informed himself that they really possess that patrimony or pension and that there are means sufficient for their subsistence. The same, moreover, may not under any condition be alienated, canceled or remitted without the permission of the bishop, until they have obtained a sufficient ecclesiastical benefice or have some other means whereby to live; the penalties of the ancient canons in respect hereto being renewed.[20] CHAPTER III THE MANNER OF INCREASING THE DAILY DISTRIBUTIONS IS PRESCRIBED; TO WHOM THEY SHALL BE DUE; THE CONTUMACY OF THOSE WHO DO NOT SERVE IS PUNISHED Since benefices have been established for divine worship and for administering the ecclesiastical offices, to the end that divine worship may not be in any part curtailed, but may in all things receive due attention,[21] the holy council decrees that in churches, cathedral as well as collegiate, in which there are no daily distributions, or so meager that they are probably disregarded, a third part of the fruits and of all proceeds and revenues of dignities with and without jurisdiction as well as of canonries, portions and offices, shall be set apart and used for daily distributions, to be divided proportionately among those who possess dignities and others who are present at divine service in accordance with the proportion to be decided by the bishop, also as delegate of the Apostolic See, at the first distribution of the fruits;[22] with the retention, however, of the customs of those churches in which those who do not reside therein or do not serve receive nothing or less than a third; exemptions and other customs, even though immemorial, and appeals whatsoever notwithstanding. In case the contumacy of those who do not serve should increase, they may be proceeded against according to the provision of the law and the sacred canons.[23] CHAPTER IV WHEN ASSISTANTS ARE TO BE EMPLOYED IN THE <CURA ANIMARUM>. THE MANNER OF ERECTING NEW PARISHES IS SPECIFIED In all parochial or baptismal churches in which the people are so numerous that one rector does not suffice to attend to the administration of the sacraments of the Church and divine worship, the bishops shall, also as delegates of the Apostolic See, compel the rectors, or those to whom It pertains, to associate with themselves in this office as many priests as are necessary to administer the sacraments and carry on divine worship. In those, moreover, to which, by reason of distance and hardship, the parishioners cannot come without great inconvenience to receive the sacraments and hear the divine offices, they may, even against the will of the rectors, establish new parishes, pursuant to the form of the constitution of Alexander III, which begins, “Ad audientiam.”[24] To those priests who are first to be appointed to the newly erected churches, a suitable portion, decided by the bishop, shall be assigned from the fruits in whatever way belonging to the mother-church, and if it be necessary, he may compel the people to contribute what may be sufficient for the sustenance of those priests; every general or special reservation or attachment respecting the aforesaid churches notwithstanding. Neither can such ordinances and erections be invalidated or hindered by any provisions, even by virtue of resignation or by any other restrictions or hindrances. CHAPTER V BISHOPS MAY FORM PERPETUAL UNIONS IN CASES PERMITTED BY LAW Likewise, in order that the state of the churches in which the divine services are offered to God may be maintained in accordance with their dignity, the bishops may, also as delegates of the Apostolic See, according to the prescription of the law, form perpetual unions,[25] without detriment, however, to the incumbents, of any parochial and baptismal churches and of other benefices with or without the <cura> with those to which a <cura> is annexed, by reason of their poverty or in other cases permitted by law, even if those churches or benefices be generally or specially reserved or in any way attached. These unions shall not be revoked or suppressed by virtue of any provision whatever or by reason of resignation, restriction or hindrance. CHAPTER VI TO ILLITERATE RECTORS VICARS SHALL BE GIVEN WITH THE ASSIGNMENT OF A PORTION OF THE FRUITS; THOSE CONTINUING TO GIVE SCANDAL MAY BE DEPRIVED OF THEIR BENEFICES Since illiterate and incompetent rectors of parochial churches are but little suited for sacred of offices,[26] and others by the depravity of their lives corrupt rather than edify, the bishops may, also as delegates of the Apostolic See, give temporarily to such illiterate and incompetent rectors, if otherwise blameless, assistants or vicars, with a portion of the fruits sufficient for their maintenance or provide for them in some other manner, every appeal and exemption being set aside. But those who live a disgraceful and scandalous life, they shall, after admonishing them, restrain and punish; and if they should continue to be incorrigible in their wickedness, they shall have the authority to deprive them of their benefices in accordance with the prescriptions of the sacred canons,[27] every exemption and appeal being rejected. CHAPTER VII BISHOPS SHALL TRANSFER BENEFICES FROM CHURCHES WHICH CANNOT BE RESTORED; OTHERS THEY SHALL HAVE REPAIRED; WHAT IS TO BE OBSERVED IN THIS MATTER Since great care is to be taken also lest those things which have been dedicated to sacred services may through the injury of time decay and pass away from the memory of men, the bishops may, also as delegates of the Apostolic See, after having summoned those who are interested, transfer simple benefices, even those having the right of patronage, from churches which have fallen into ruin by reason of age or otherwise and which cannot by reason of their poverty be restored, to the mother-churches or to others of the same or neighboring places as they shall judge suitable; and in these churches they shall erect altars or chapels under the same invocations, or transfer them with all the emoluments and obligations imposed on the former churches to altars or chapels already erected. Parochial churches, however, thus fallen into decay, they shall, even if they enjoy the right of patronage, have repaired and restored from the fruits and revenues in any way belonging to those churches.[28] If these are not sufficient, they shall compel by all suitable means the patrons and others who receive any revenues from the said churches, or, in their default, the parishioners, to provide for the repairs; every appeal, exemption and objection being set aside. But if they should all be too poor, then they are to be transferred to the mother-church or neighboring churches, with authority to convert both the said parochial churches and others that are in ruins to profane, though not to sordid uses, nevertheless erecting a cross there. CHAPTER VIII MONASTERIES HELD <IN COMMENDAM> IN WHICH REGULAR OBSERVANCE DOES NOT EXIST, AS WELL AS ALL BENEFICES SHALL BE VISITED BY THE BISHOPS ANNUALLY It is proper that all things in a diocese pertaining to the worship of God be diligently watched over by the ordinary and, where necessary, set in order by him. Wherefore, monasteries held <in commendam>, also abbeys, priories and those called provostries, in which regular observance does not exist, also benefices with or without the <cura>, secular and regular, in whatever manner held <in commendam,> even if exempt shall be visited annually by the bishops, also as delegates of the Apostolic See;[29] and the same bishops shall provide by suitable measures, even by the sequestration of revenues, that whatever needs to be renewed or repaired, be done, and that the care of souls, if those places or those annexed to them be charged therewith, and other services due to them be properly exercised; appeals, privileges, customs, even though prescribed from time immemorial, conservators, commissions of judges and their inhibitions notwithstanding. But if regular observance is therein maintained, the bishops shall by fatherly admonitions see to it that the superiors of those regulars observe and cause to be observed the manner of life required by the rules of their order and that they keep and govern those subject to them in their duty. If however, after having been admonished, they shall not within six months have visited or corrected them, then the bishops, also as delegates of the Apostolic See, may visit and correct them, just as the superiors themselves should do in accordance with their rules; all appeals, privileges and exemptions being absolutely set aside. CHAPTER IX THE NAME AND SERVICES OF QUESTORS OF ALMS IS ABOLISHED. THE ORDINARIES SHALL PUBLISH INDULGENCES AND SPIRITUAL GRACES. TWO OF THECHAPTER SHALL WITHOUT FEE RECEIVE THE ALMS Since many remedies heretofore applied by different councils, those of the Lateran[30] and Lyons as well as that of Vienne,[31] against the pernicious abuses of questors of alms,[32] have in later times become useless, and since their depravity is, to the great scandal and complaint of the faithful, found to be daily so much on the increase that there seems to be no longer any hope of their amendment left, it is decreed that in all parts of Christendom their name and service be henceforth absolutely abolished and in no wise shall they be permitted to exercise such an office; any privileges granted to churches, monasteries, hospitals, pious places, and to any persons of whatever rank, state and dignity, or any customs, even though immemorial, notwithstanding. With regard to indulgences or other spiritual graces of which the faithful of Christ ought not on this account to be deprived, it is decreed that they are in the future to be announced to the people at suitable times by the local ordinaries aided by two members of the chapter. To these also the authority is given to collect faithfully and without fee the alms and charitable contributions offered them, so that all may understand that these heavenly treasures of the Church are administered not for gain but for piety. ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE NEXT SESSION The holy, ecumenical and general Council of Trent, lawfully assembled in the Holy Ghost, the same legates of the Apostolic See presiding, has ordained and decreed that the next following session be held and celebrated on the Thursday after the octave of the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which will be on the seventeenth of the month of September next; with the addition, however, that the same holy council freely may and can, according to its will and pleasure, as it shall judge expedient for the affairs of the council, limit or extend, even in a general congregation, the said term and also everyone that is hereafter set for any session. ENDNOTES 1 Is. 11:2. 2 Council of Constance. Sess. XIII (Denzinger, no. 626); cf. infra,> can. 2. 3 Matt. 26:26-28; Mark 14:22-24; Luke 22:19 f.; I Cor. 11:24f. 4 John 6:54. 5 Ibid., 6:52. 6 Ibid., 6:55. 7 Ibid., 6:52. 8 Ibid., 6:57. 9 Ibid., 6:59. 10 See I Cor. 4:1. 11 Ibid., 11:34. 12 Cf. Sess. XIII, chap. 3 and can. 3. 13 Tit. 3:5. 14 Cf. <supra>, chap. I. 15 Ibid., chap. 2 16 Ibid., chap. 3; Sess. XIII, chap. 3 and can. 3. 17 <Supra>, chap. 4 18 Cf. pp. 85 f. 19 Cc. 6, 8, 101, 107, 113, C.I, q.l; c. 14, C.II, q. 5; cc. 4, 5, 11, 13, 30, X, De simonia, V, 3, etc. 20 CC, 2, 4, 16, 23, X, De praeb., III, 5; c. 37, h.t. in VI, III, 4. 21 C 15, VI, De rescript, I, 3. 22 Cf. Sess. XXII, chap. 3 de ref. and Sess. XXIV, chap. 12 de ref. 23 Cc. 16, 17, X, De cler. non resid., III, 4; Sess. XXIII, chap. I de ref. 24 C. 3, X, De eccl. aedif., III, 48. 25 C. 8, X, De excess. prael., V, 31; Sess. XIV, chap. 9 de ref. and Sess. XXIV, chap. de ref. 26 C. I, D.XXXVI; c. I, D.XXXVIII; c. 10, X, De renunc., I, 9. 27 CC, 13-15, X, De vit. et hon. cler., III, I. 28 CC. 1, 4, X, De eccl. aedif., III, 48. Cf. Sess. VII, chap. 8 de ref. 29 Cf. Sess. VII, chap. 8 de ref.; Sess. XXIV, chap. 9 de ref. and Sess. XXV, chap. 20 de regular. 30 C, 14, X, De poenit., V, 38. 31 C. 2, in Clem., h.t. V, 9. 32 Cf. Sess. V, chap. 2 de ref. and Sess. XXV, Decree on Indulgences. TWENTY-SECOND SESSION which is the sixth under the Supreme Pontiff, Pius IV, celebrated on the seventeenth day of September, 1562 DOCTRINE CONCERNING THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS That the ancient, complete and in every way perfect faith and teaching regarding the great mystery of the Eucharist in the Catholic Church may be retained, and with the removal of errors and heresies may be preserved in its purity, the holy, ecumenical and general Council of Trent, lawfully assembled in the Holy Ghost, the same legates of the Apostolic See presiding, instructed by the light of the Holy Ghost, teaches, declares and orders to be preached to the faithful the following concerning it, since it is the true and only sacrifice. CHAPTER I THE INSTITUTION OF THE MOST HOLY SACRIFICE OF THE MASS Since under the former Testament, according to the testimony of the Apostle Paul, there was no perfection because of the weakness of the Levitical priesthood, there was need, God the Father of mercies so ordaining, that another priest should rise according to the order of Melchisedech,[1] our Lord Jesus Christ, who might perfect and lead to perfection as many as were to be sanctified. He, therefore, our God and Lord, though He was by His death about to offer Himself once upon the altar of the cross to God the Father that He might there accomplish an eternal redemption, nevertheless, that His priesthood might not come to an end with His death,[2] at the last supper, on the night He was betrayed, that He might leave to His beloved spouse the Church a visible sacrifice, such as the nature of man requires, whereby that bloody sacrifice once to be accomplished on the cross might be represented, the memory thereof remain even to the end of the world, and its salutary effects applied to the remission of those sins which we daily commit, declaring Himself constituted a priest forever according to the order of Melchisedech,[3] offered up to God the Father His own body and blood under the form of bread and wine, and under the forms of those same things gave to the Apostles, whom He then made priests of the New Testament, that they might partake, commanding them and their successors in the priesthood by these words to do likewise: Do this in commemoration of me,[4] as the Catholic Church has always understood and taught. For having celebrated the ancient Passover which the multitude of the children of Israel sacrificed in memory of their departure from Egypt,[5] He instituted a new Passover, namely, Himself, to be immolated under visible signs by the Church through the priests in memory of His own passage from this world to the Father, when by the shedding of His blood He redeemed and delivered us from the power of darkness and translated us into his kingdom.[6] And this is indeed that clean oblation which cannot be defiled by any unworthiness or malice on the part of those who offer it; which the Lord foretold by Malachias was to be great among the Gentiles,[7] and which the Apostle Paul has clearly indicated when he says, that they who are defiled by partaking of the table of devils cannot be partakers of the table of the Lord,[8] understanding by table in each case the altar. It is, finally, that [sacrifice] which was prefigured by various types of sacrifices during the period of nature and of the law,[9] which, namely, comprises all the good things signified by them, as being the consummation and perfection of them all. CHAPTER II THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS IS PROPITIATORY BOTH FOR THE LIVING AND THE DEAD And inasmuch as in this divine sacrifice which is celebrated in the mass is contained and immolated in an unbloody manner the same Christ who once offered Himself in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross, the holy council teaches that this is truly propitiatory and has this effect, that if we, contrite and penitent, with sincere heart and upright faith, with fear and reverence, draw nigh to God, <we obtain mercy and find grace in seasonable aid.>[10] For, appeased by this sacrifice, the Lord grants the grace and gift of penitence and pardons even the gravest crimes and sins. For the victim is one and the same, the same now offering by the ministry of priests who then offered Himself on the cross, the manner alone of offering being different. The fruits of that bloody sacrifice, it is well understood, are received most abundantly through this unbloody one, so far is the latter from derogating in any way from the former. Wherefore, according to the tradition of the Apostles,[11] it is rightly offered not only for the sins, punishments, satisfactions and other necessities of the faithful who are living, but also for those departed in Christ but not yet fully purified. CHAPTER III MASSES IN HONOR OF THE SAINTS And though the Church has been accustomed to celebrate at times certain masses in honor and memory of the saints, she does not teach that sacrifice is offered to them but to God alone who crowned them;[12] whence, the priest does not say: “To thee, Peter or Paul, I offer sacrifice,”[13] but, giving thanks to God for their victories, he implores their favor that they may vouchsafe to intercede for us in heaven whose memory we celebrate on earth. CHAPTER IV THE CANON OF THE MASS And since it is becoming that holy things be administered in a holy manner, and of all things this sacrifice is the most holy, the Catholic Church, to the end that it might be worthily and reverently offered and received, instituted many centuries ago the holy canon,[14] which is so free from error that it contains nothing that does not in the highest degree savor of a certain holiness and piety and raise up to God the minds of those who offer. For it consists partly of the very words of the Lord, partly of the traditions of the Apostles, and also of pious regulations of holy pontiffs. CHAPTER V THE CEREMONIES AND RITES OF THE MASS And since the nature of man is such that he cannot without external means be raised easily to meditation on divine things, holy mother Church has instituted certain rites, namely, that some things in the mass be pronounced in a low tone and others in a louder tone. She has likewise, in accordance with apostolic discipline and tradition, made use of ceremonies,[15] such as mystical blessings, lights, incense, vestments, and many other things of this kind, whereby both the majesty of so great a sacrifice might be emphasized and the minds of the faithful excited by those visible signs of religion and piety to the contemplation of those most sublime things which are hidden in this sacrifice. CHAPTER VI THE MASS IN WHICH THE PRIEST ALONE COMMUNICATES The holy council wishes indeed that at each mass the faithful who are present should communicate, not only in spiritual desire but also by the sacramental partaking of the Eucharist, that thereby they may derive from this most holy sacrifice a more abundant fruit; if, however, that is not always done, it does not on that account condemn as private and illicit those masses in which the priest alone communicates sacramentally, but rather approves and commends them, since these masses also ought to be considered as truly common, partly because at them the people communicate spiritually and partly also because they are celebrated by a public minister of the Church, not for himself only but for all the faithful who belong to the body of Christ. CHAPTER VII THE MIXTURE OF WATER WITH WINE IN THE OFFERING OF THE CHALICE The holy council in the next place calls to mind that the Church has instructed priests to mix water with the wine that is to be offered in the chalice;[16] because it is believed that Christ the Lord did this, and also because from His side there came blood and water;[17] the memory of this mystery is renewed by this mixture, and since in the Apocalypse of St. John the “people” are called “waters,”[18] the union of the faithful people with Christ their head is represented. CHAPTER VIII THE MASS MAY NOT BE CELEBRATED IN THE VERNACULAR. ITS MYSTERIES TO BE EXPLAINED TO THE PEOPLE Though the mass contains much instruction for the faithful, it has, nevertheless, not been deemed advisable by the Fathers that it should be celebrated everywhere in the vernacular tongue. Wherefore, the ancient rite of each Church, approved by the holy Roman Church, the mother and mistress of all churches, being everywhere retained, that the sheep of Christ may not suffer hunger, or <the little ones ask for bread and there is none to break it unto them,>[19] the holy council commands pastors and all who have the <cura animarum> that they, either themselves or through others, explain frequently during the celebration of the mass some of the things read during the mass, and that among other things they explain some mystery of this most holy sacrifice, especially on Sundays and festival days.[20] CHAPTER IX PRELIMINARY REMARKS ON THE FOLLOWING CANONS Since many errors are at this time disseminated and many things taught and discussed by many persons that are in opposition to this ancient faith, which is founded on the holy Gospel, the traditions of the Apostles, and the teaching of the holy Fathers, the holy council, after many and grave deliberations concerning these matters, has resolved with the unanimous consent of all to condemn and eliminate from holy Church by means of the following canons whatever is opposed to this most pure faith and sacred doctrine. CANONS ON THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS Canon I. If anyone says that in the mass a true and real sacrifice is not offered to God; or that to be offered is nothing else than that Christ is given to us to eat, let him be anathema. Can. 2. If anyone says that by those words, <Do this for a commemoration of me,>[21] Christ did not institute the Apostles priests;[22] or did not ordain that they and other priests should offer His own body and blood, let him be anathema. Can. 3. If anyone says that the sacrifice of the mass is one only of praise and thanksgiving; or that it is a mere commemoration of the sacrifice consummated on the cross but not a propitiatory one;[23] or that it profits him only who receives, and ought not to be offered for the living and the dead, for sins, punishments, satisfactions, and other necessities, let him be anathema. Can. 4. If anyone says that by the sacrifice of the mass a blasphemy is cast upon the most holy sacrifice of Christ consummated on the cross; or that the former derogates from the latter, let him be anathema. Can. 5. If anyone says that it is a deception to celebrate masses in honor of the saints and in order to obtain their intercession with God, as the Church intends,[24] let him be anathema. Can. 6. If anyone says that the canon of the mass contains errors and is therefore to be abrogated,[25] let him be anathema. Can. 7. If anyone says that the ceremonies, vestments, and outward signs which the Catholic Church uses in the celebration of masses, are incentives to impiety rather than stimulants to piety,[26] let him be anathema. Can. 8. If anyone says that masses in which the priest alone communicates sacramentally are illicit and are therefore to be abrogated,[27] let him be anathema. Can. 9. If anyone says that the rite of the Roman Church, according to which a part of the canon and the words of consecration are pronounced in a low tone, is to be condemned; or that the mass ought to be celebrated in the vernacular tongue only;[28] or that water ought not to be mixed with the wine that is to be offered in the chalice because it is contrary to the institution of Christ,[29] let him be anathema. DECREE CONCERNING THE THINGS TO BE OBSERVED AND AVOIDED IN THE CELEBRATION OF MASS What great care is to be taken that the holy sacrifice of the mass be celebrated with all religious devotion and reverence, each one may easily conceive who considers that in the sacred writings he is called accursed who does the work of God negligently.[30] And since we must confess that no other work can be performed by the faithful that is so holy and divine as this awe-inspiring mystery, wherein that life-giving victim by which we are reconciled to the Father is daily immolated on the altar by priests, it is also sufficiently clear that all effort and attention must be directed to the end that it be performed with the greatest possible interior cleanness and purity of heart and exterior evidence of devotion and piety.[31] Therefore, since either through the depravity of the times or through the indifference and corruption of men many things seem already to have crept in that are foreign to the dignity of so great a sacrifice, in order that the honor and worship due to it may for the glory of God and the edification of the faithful be restored, the holy council decrees that the local ordinaries shall be zealously concerned and be bound to prohibit and abolish all those things which either covetousness, which is a serving of idols,[32] or irreverence, which can scarcely be separated from ungodliness, or superstition, a false imitation of true piety, have introduced. And that many things may be summed up in a few, they shall in the first place, as regards avarice, absolutely forbid conditions of compensations of whatever kind, bargains, and whatever is given for the celebration of new masses; also those importunate and unbecoming demands, rather than requests, for alms and other things of this kind which border on simoniacal taint or certainly savor of filthy lucre. In the second place, that irreverence may be avoided, each in his own diocese shall forbid that any wandering or unknown priest be permitted to celebrate mass. Furthermore, they shall permit no one who is publicly and notoriously wicked either to minister at the altar or to be present at the sacred services; nor suffer the holy sacrifice to be celebrated by any seculars and regulars whatsoever in private houses or entirely outside the church and the oratories dedicated solely to divine worship and to be designated and visited by the same ordinaries;[33] or unless those present have first shown by their outward disposition and appearance that they are there not in body only but also in mind and devout affection of heart. They shall also banish from the churches all such music which, whether by the organ or in the singing, contains things that are lascivious or impure; likewise all worldly conduct, vain and profane conversations, wandering around, noise and clamor, so that the house of God may be seen to be and may be truly called a house of prayer.[34] Finally, that no room may be given to superstition, they shall by ordinance and prescribed penalties provide that priests do not celebrate at other than proper hours; or make use of rites or ceremonies and prayers in the celebration of masses other than those that have been approved by the Church and have been received through frequent and praiseworthy usage. They shall completely banish from the Church the practice of any fixed number of masses and candles, which has its origin in superstitious worship rather than in true religion; and they shall instruct the people as to what the very precious and heavenly fruit of this most holy sacrifice is and whence especially it is derived. They shall also admonish their people to go frequently to their own parish churches, at least on Sundays and the greater feast days.[35] All these things, therefore, which have been summarily enumerated, are in such wise set before all local ordinaries, that by the authority given them by this holy council, and also as delegates of the Apostolic See, they may prohibit, command, reform and establish not only the things aforesaid but also whatsoever else shall seem to them to be connected therewith; and they may by ecclesiastical censures and other penalties, which in their judgment they may impose, compel the faithful to observe them inviolately; any privileges, exemptions, appeals and customs to the contrary notwithstanding. DECREE CONCERNING REFORM The same holy, ecumenical and general Council of Trent, lawfully assembled in the Holy Ghost, the same legates of the Apostolic See presiding, that the work of reform may be continued, has deemed it well that the following things be established in the present session. CHAPTER I DECREES CONCERNING THE LIFE AND CONDUCT OF CLERICS ARE RENEWED There is nothing that leads others to piety and to the service of God more than the life and example of those who have dedicated themselves to the divine ministry.[36] For since they are observed to be raised from the things of this world to a higher position, others fix their eyes upon them as upon a mirror and derive from them what they are to imitate. Wherefore, clerics, called to have the Lord for their portion,[37] ought by all means so to regulate their life and conduct that in dress, behavior, gait, speech, and all other things nothing may appear but what is dignified, moderated, and permeated with piety; avoiding also minor offenses which in them would be grievous, so that their actions may inspire reverence. Since therefore the more these things contribute to usefulness and honor in the Church of God, so the more zealously must they be observed, the holy council ordains that those things which have in the past been frequently and wholesomely enacted by the supreme pontiffs and holy councils concerning adherence to the life, conduct, dress, and learning of clerics, as also the avoidance of luxury, feastings, dances, gambling, sports, and all sorts of crime and secular pursuits, shall in the future be observed under the same or greater penalties to be imposed at the discretion of the ordinary;[38] nor shall appeal suspend the execution of that which pertains to the correction of morals. If any of these things shall be found to have fallen into desuetude, the ordinaries shall make it their duty to restore their practice as soon as possible and enforce the careful observance by all, any customs to the contrary notwithstanding; lest they themselves, God being the avenger, may have to pay the penalty deserved by their neglect of the correction of their subjects. CHAPTER II WHO ARE TO BE PROMOTED TO CATHEDRAL CHURCHES Everyone who is hereafter to be promoted to a cathedral church shall not only be qualified by birth, age, morals, and life, and in other respects as required by the sacred canons,[39] but shall also for the space of at least six months previously have been constituted in sacred orders. Information covering these points, in case the (Roman) Curia has no knowledge or only recent knowledge of the person, shall be obtained from the legates of the Apostolic See or from the nuncios of the provinces or from his ordinary, and in his default, from the nearest ordinaries. In addition, he shall possess such learning as will enable him to discharge the obligations of the office that is to be conferred on him. He shall, therefore, have been previously promoted by merit in a university of learning to the rank of master or doctor or licentiate in sacred theology or canon law, or shall be declared by the public testimony of some academy competent to teach others. If he be a regular he shall have a similar attestation from the superiors of his order. All the aforesaid persons from whom the information or testimony is to be obtained, shall be bound to report on these matters faithfully and gratis; otherwise let them know that their consciences will be grievously burdened and that they will have God and their superiors as avengers. CHAPTER III DAILY DISTRIBUTIONS ARE TO 8E MADE FROM THE THIRD PART OF ALL REVENUES; ON WHOM THE PORTION OF ABSENTEES FALLS; CERTAIN CASES EXCEPTED Bishops, also as delegates of the Apostolic See, have the authority to divide the third part of the fruits and revenues of all dignities with and without jurisdiction and offices existing in cathedral and collegiate churches into distributions, to be assigned as they shall judge advisable;[40] so namely, that if their recipients should fail on any day to discharge personally the duty that devolves upon them in accordance with the form to be prescribed by the bishops, they shall forfeit the distribution of that day and in no manner acquire proprietorship thereof; but it should be applied to the administration of the church so far as there is need, or, in the judgment of the ordinary, to some other pious purpose. If, however, their contumacy should increase, they shall proceed against them according to the prescriptions of the sacred canons.[41] If anyone of the aforesaid dignitaries possesses neither by right nor by custom any jurisdiction, administration or office in cathedral or collegiate churches, but should there be outside the city in the diocese a <cura animarum> which he is willing to take upon himself, then he shall during the time that he resides in and administers the church with such <cura> be considered as though he were present and assisted at the divine offices in those cathedral and collegiate churches. These things are to be understood as applying to those churches only in which there is no custom or statute whereby the said dignitaries who do not serve, lose something which amounts to the third part of the fruits and revenues; any customs, even though immemorial, exemptions and constitutions, even though confirmed by oath or by any authority whatsoever, to the contrary notwithstanding. CHAPTER IV THOSE NOT IN SACRED ORDER SHALL NOT HAVE A VOICE IN THECHAPTER OF A CATHEDRAL OR COLLEGIATE CHURCH. THE QUALIFICATIONS AND DUTIES OF THOSE WHO HOLD BENEFICES THEREIN Anyone engaged in the divine offices in a cathedral or collegiate church, whether secular or regular, who is not constituted at least in the subdiaconal order, shall not have a voice in the chapter of those churches, even though this may have been freely conceded to him by the others. Those who hold or shall hereafter hold in the said churches dignities with or without jurisdiction, offices, prebends, portions, or any other benefices whatsoever, to which are attached various obligations, namely, that some say or sing the masses, others the Gospel, others the Epistles, shall be bound, in the absence of a just impediment, to receive the required orders within a year, whatever privilege, exemption, prerogative or nobility of birth they may possess; otherwise they shall incur the penalties provided by the constitution of the Council of Vienne, which begins, “Ut ii, qui,”[42] which is by the present decree renewed. The bishops shall compel them to exercise personally the aforesaid orders on the days specified, and to discharge all other duties required of them in the divine service under the same and even other more severe penalties which may be imposed at their discretion.[43] In the future such offices shall not be assigned except to those who are known to have attained the required age and the other qualifications; otherwise such assignments shall be null. CHAPTER V DISPENSATIONS OUTSIDE THE CURIA SHALL BE COMMITTED TO THE BISHOP AND EXAMINED BY HIM Dispensations, by whatever authority to be granted, if they are to be sent outside the Roman Curia, shall be committed to the ordinaries of those who have obtained them. Those, however, which are granted as a favor shall not have effect until the ordinaries, as delegates of the Apostolic See, have established summarily only and extra-judicially that the terms of the petition are free from fraud and deception. CHAPTER VI LAST TESTAMENTS ARE TO BE ALTERED WITH CAUTION In alterations of last testaments, which ought not to be made except for a just and necessary cause,[44] the bishops, as delegates of the Apostolic See, shall, before the alterations are put into execution, ascertain summarily and extra-judicially that nothing has been stated in the petition which suppresses what is true or suggests what is false. CHAPTER VII THECHAPTER ROMANA IN <SEXTO>, CONCERNING APPEALS, IS RENEWED Apostolic legates and nuncios, patriarchs, primates and metropolitans, in appeals brought before them, shall in all causes, both in admitting the appeals and in granting inhibitions after an appeal, be bound to observe the form and tenor of the sacred constitutions and particularly that of Innocent IV, which begins, “Romana”;[45] any custom, even though immemorial, usage or privilege to the contrary notwithstanding. Otherwise the inhibitions and proceedings and all consequences thereof shall be <ipso jure> null. CHAPTER VIII BISHOPS SHALL EXECUTE THE PIOUS DISPOSITIONS OF ALL PERSONS; SHALL VISIT PIOUS PLACES IF NOT UNDER THE IMMEDIATE PROTECTION OF KINGS The bishops, also as delegates of the Apostolic See, shall in the cases conceded by law be the executors of all pious dispositions, whether made by last will or among the living; they shall have the right to visit hospitals and all colleges and confraternities of laymen,[46] even those that are called schools or are known by some other name (not, however, those that are under the immediate protection of kings, except with their permission); also eleemosynary institutions known as loan or charity foundations, and all pious places by whatever name designated, even though the care of the aforesaid institutions be in the hands of laymen and the said pious places protected by the privilege of exemption; by virtue of their office they shall, moreover, take cognizance of and execute in accordance with the ordinances of the sacred canons all things that have been instituted for the worship of God or for the salvation of souls or for the support of the poor;[47] any custom, even though immemorial, privilege or statute whatsoever to the contrary notwithstanding. CHAPTER IX ADMINISTRATORS OF ALL PIOUS PLACES SHALL RENDER AN ACCOUNT TO THE ORDINARY, UNLESS IT IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED IN THE FOUNDATION Administrators, whether ecclesiastical or lay, of the revenues of any church, also of cathedrals, hospitals,[48] confraternities, eleemosynary institutions known as loan foundations, and of all pious places, shall be bound to render to the ordinary each year an account of their administration, all customs and privileges to the contrary being set aside, unless perchance it be expressly provided otherwise in the institution and regulation of such a church or fund. But if by reason of custom, privilege or some local regulation their account has to be rendered to others deputed thereto, then the ordinary shall also be employed conjointly with them, and releases made otherwise shall be of no avail to the said administrators. CHAPTER X NOTARIES SHALL BE SUBJECT TO THE EXAMINATION AND JUDGMENT OF THE BISHOPS Since the incompetency of notaries causes very much harm and is the occasion of many lawsuits, the bishop, also as delegate of the Apostolic See, may by examination inquire into the fitness of all notaries, even though appointed by Apostolic, imperial or royal authority; and if found incompetent or at any time delinquent in office, he may forbid them either altogether or for a time to exercise the office in ecclesiastical and spiritual affairs, lawsuits and causes. No appeal on their part shall suspend the prohibition of the ordinary. CHAPTER XI USURPERS OF THE PROPERTY OF ANY CHURCH OR PIOUS PLACES ARE PUNISHED If any cleric or laic, of whatever rank, even imperial or royal, should be so possessed by avarice, the root of all evil,[49] as to presume to convert to his own use and to usurp <per se vel alios>, by force or fear, or even by means of supposititious persons, whether clerical or lay, or by any fraud or colored pretext whatsoever, the prerogatives, properties, rents and rights, even those held in fee or under lease, revenues, profits, or any incomes whatsoever, belonging to any church or benefices, secular or regular, eleemosynary institutions or any other pious places, which ought to be used for the needs of the ministers and the poor, or to hinder them from being received by those to whom they by right belong, he shall be anathematized till he shall have restored integrally to the church and to its administrator or beneficiary the prerogatives, properties, effects, rights, fruits and revenues which he has seized or in whatever way they have come to him, even by way of gift from a supposititious person, and furthermore, till he shall have obtained absolution from the Roman pontiff. If he be a patron of that church, he shall, in addition to the aforesaid penalties, be <eo ipso> deprived of the right of patronage. The cleric who instigates or consents to an execrable fraud and usurpation of this kind, shall be subject to the same penalties, and he shall be deprived of all benefices and be rendered unqualified to hold others; and even after complete satisfaction and absolution, he shall be suspended, at the discretion of his ordinary, from the exercise of his orders. DECREE CONCERNING THE PETITION FOR THE CONCESSION OF THE CHALICE Moreover, since the same holy council in the preceding session reserved to another and more convenient time the examination and definition of two articles which had been proposed on another occasion[50] and had then not yet been discussed, namely, whether the reasons which induced the holy Catholic Church to decide that lay people and also priests when not celebrating are to communicate under the one species of bread, are so to be retained that under no condition is the use of the chalice to be permitted to anyone; and whether in case, for reasons befitting and consonant with Christian charity, it appears that the use of the chalice is to be conceded to any nation or kingdom, it is to be conceded under certain conditions, and what are those conditions; it has now, in its desire to provide for the salvation of those on whose behalf the petition is made, decreed that the entire matter be referred to our most holy Lord [the Pope], as in the present decree it does refer it, who in accordance with his singular prudence will do what he shall judge beneficial for the Christian commonwealth and salutary for those who petition for the use of the chalice. ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE NEXT SESSION Moreover, the same holy Council of Trent announces the day of the next session to be the Thursday after the octave of All Saints, which will be the twelfth day of the month of November, and in it will dead with the sacrament of order and the sacrament of matrimony, etc. The session was prorogued till the fifteenth day of July, 1563. 1 Heb. 7:11. 2 Ibid., 7:24 3 Ps. 109:4. 4 Luke 22:19; I Cor. 11:24f. 5 Ex. 13. 6 Col. 1:13. 7 Mal. 1:11. 8 Cf. 1 Cor. 10:21 9 Gen. 4:4; 12:8, etc. 10 Heb. 4:16. 11 Cf. <infra>, can. 3, and Sess. XXV, decr. on Purgatory. 12 Ibid., can. 5, and Sess. XXV. Invocation of the Saints. 13 St. Aug <De civitate Dei.> VIII. c. 27. 14 C. 6, X, De celebr. miss., III, 41. 15 Cf. <infra>, can. 7. 16 Cc. 4, 5, 7, D. II de cons.; c. 6, X, De celebr. miss., III, 41. Cf. Denzinger, nos. 416, 698. 945. 17 John 19:34. 18 Apoc. 17:1, 15. 19 Lam. 4:4. 20 Cf. Sess. V, chap. 2 de ref., and Sess. XXIV, chap. 7 de ref. 21 Luke 22:19; I Cor. 11:25. 22 Cf. <supra,> chap. I. 23 Ibid., chap. 2. 24 Ibid, chap. 3 25 <Supra>, chap. 4. 26 Ibid., chap. 5. 27 Ibid., chap. 6. 28 Ibid., chap. 8. 29 Ibid., chap. 7. 30 Jer. 48:10. 31 Cf. Sess. XIII, chap. 7. 32 Eph. 5:5. 33 Cc. 12, 34, D.I de cons. 34 Is. 56:7; Matt. 21:13. 35 C. 35, D.I de cons.; CC. 4, 5, C.IX, q. 2; C. 2, X, De paroch., III, 29. 36 Cf. Sess. XXV, chap. I de ref. 37 C.I, D.XXI. 38 Cf tot. tit. de vit. et hon. cler. apud Greg., in VI et in Clem. (III, I). 39 Cf c. 5, D.LI; cc. 7, 19, X, De elect., I, 6; Sess. VII, chap. I de ref., and Sess. XXIV, chaps. 1, 12 de ref. 40 Cf. Sess. XXI, chap. 3 de ref. 41 Ibid. 42 C. 2, De aet. et qual. et ord. praef., in Clem., I, 6. 43 Cf. Sess. XXIV, chap. I: de ref. 44 Cf. Sess. XXV, chap. 4 de ref. 45 C. 3, VI, De appell., II, 15. 46 C 2, in Clem. De relig. dom., III, II. 47 Cf. cc. 3, 6, 17 19, X, De test. et ult. volunt., III, 26. 48 Cf. Sess. VII, chap. 15 de ref., and Sess. XXV, chap. 8 de ref. 49 Cf. I Tim. 6:10. 50 Cf. Sess. XIII in the decree of prorogation and Sess. XXI, following can. 4 TWENTY-THIRD SESSION which is the seventh under the Supreme Pontiff, Pius IV, celebrated on the fifteenth day of July, 1563 THE TRUE AND CATHOLIC DOCTRINE CONCERNING THE SACRAMENT OF ORDER, DEFINED AND PUBLISHED BY THE HOLY COUNCIL OF TRENT IN THE SEVENTH SESSION IN CONDEMNATION OF CURRENT ERRORS CHAPTER I THE INSTITUTION OF THE PRIESTHOOD OF THE NEW LAW Sacrifice and priesthood are by the ordinance of God so united that both have existed in every law. Since therefore in the New Testament the Catholic Church has received from the institution of Christ the holy, visible sacrifice of the Eucharist, it must also be confessed that there is in that Church a new, visible and external priesthood, into which the old has been translated.[1] That this was instituted by the same Lord our Savior, and that to the Apostles and their successors in the priesthood was given the power of consecrating, offering and administering His body and blood, as also of forgiving and retaining sins, is shown by the Sacred Scriptures and has always been taught by the tradition of the Catholic Church. CHAPTER II THE SEVEN ORDERS But since the ministry of so holy a priesthood is something divine, that it might be exercised in a more worthy manner and with greater veneration, it was consistent that in the most well-ordered arrangement of the Church there should be several distinct orders of ministers, who by virtue of their office should minister to the priesthood, so distributed that those already having the clerical tonsure should ascend through the minor to the major orders.[2] For the Sacred Scriptures mention unmistakably not only the priests but also the deacons,[3] and teach in the most definite words what is especially to be observed in their ordination; and from the very beginning of the Church the names of the following orders and the duties proper to each one are known to have been in use, namely, those of the subdeacon, acolyte, exorcist, rector and porter, though these were not of equal rank; for the subdiaconate is classed among the major orders by the Fathers and holy councils,[4] in which we also read very often of other inferior orders.[5] CHAPTER III THE ORDER OF THE PRIESTHOOD IS TRULY A SACRAMENT Since from the testimony of Scripture, Apostolic tradition and the unanimous agreement of the Fathers it is clear that grace is conferred by sacred ordination, which is performed by words and outward signs, no one ought to doubt that order is truly and properly one of the seven sacraments of holy Church. For the Apostle says: <I admonish thee that thou stir up the grace of God which is in thee by the imposition of my hands. For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of sobriety.>[6] CHAPTER IV THE ECCLESIASTICAL HIERARCHY AND ORDINATION (Source: Council Of Trent)
But since in the sacrament of order, as also in baptism and confirmation, a character is imprinted which can neither be effaced nor taken away,[7] the holy council justly condemns the opinion of those who say that the priests of the New Testament have only a temporary power, and that those who have once been rightly ordained can again become laymen if they do not exercise the ministry of the word of God. And if anyone should assert that all Christians without distinction are priests of the New Testament, or that they are all inter se endowed with an equal spiritual power, he seems to do nothing else than derange the ecclesiastical hierarchy,[8] which is <an army set in array;>[9] as if, contrary to the teaching of St. Paul, all are apostles, all prophets, all evangelists, all pastors, all doctors.[10] Wherefore, the holy council declares that, besides the other ecclesiastical grades, the bishops, who have succeeded the Apostles, principally belong to this hierarchial order, and have been placed, as the same Apostle says, by the Holy Ghost to rule the Church of God;[11] that they are superior to priests, administer the sacrament of confirmation,[12] ordain ministers of the Church, and can perform many other functions over which those of an inferior order have no power. The council teaches furthermore, that in the ordination of bishops, priests and the other orders, the consent, call or authority, whether of the people or of any civil power or magistrate is not required in such wise that without this the ordination is invalid[13] rather does it decree that all those who, called and instituted only by the people or by the civil power or magistrate, ascend to the exercise of these offices, and those who by their rashness assume them, are not ministers of the Church, but are to be regarded as thieves and robbers, who have not entered by the door.[14] These are the things which in general it has seemed good to the holy council to teach to the faithful of Christ regarding the sacrament of order. The contrary, however, it has resolved to condemn in definite and appropriate canons in the following manner, in order that all, making use with the help of Christ of the rule of faith, may in the midst of the darkness of so many errors recognize more easily the Catholic truth and adhere to it. CANONS ON THE SACRAMENT OF ORDER Canon I. If anyone says that there is not in the New Testament a visible and external priesthood,[15] or that there is no power of consecrating and offering the true body and blood of the Lord and of forgiving and retaining sins,[16] but only the office and bare ministry of preaching the Gospel; or that those who do not preach are not priests at all, let him be anathema. Can. 2. If anyone says that besides the priesthood there are not in the Catholic Church other orders, both major and minor,[17] by which, as by certain steps, advance is made to the priesthood,[18] let him be anathema. Can. 3. If anyone says that order or sacred ordination is not truly and properly a sacrament instituted by Christ the Lord,[19] or that it is some human contrivance devised by men unskilled in ecclesiastical matters, or that it is only a certain rite for choosing ministers of the word of God and of the sacraments, let him be anathema. Can. 4. If anyone says that by sacred ordination the Holy Ghost is not imparted and that therefore the bishops say in vain: Receive ye the Holy Ghost, or that by it a character is not imprinted, or that he who has once been a priest can again become a layman, let him be anathema. Can. 5. If anyone says that the holy unction which the Church uses in ordination is not only not required but is detestable and pernicious, as also are the other ceremonies of order, let him be anathema. Can. 6. If anyone says that in the Catholic Church there is not instituted a hierarchy by divine ordinance, which consists of bishops, priests and ministers, let him be anathema. Can. 7. If anyone says that bishops are not superior to priests, or that they have not the power to confirm and ordain, or that the power which they have is common to them and to priests, or that orders conferred by them without the consent or call of the people or of the secular power are invalid, or that those who have been neither rightly ordained nor sent by ecclesiastical and canonical authority, but come from elsewhere, are lawful ministers of the word and of the sacraments, let him be anathema. Can. 8. If anyone says that the bishops who are chosen by the authority of the Roman pontiff are not true and legitimate bishops, but merely human deception, let him be anathema. DECREE CONCERNING REFORM The same holy Council of Trent, continuing the matter of reform, resolves and ordains that the things following be at present decreed. CHAPTER I THE NEGLIGENCE OF PASTORS OF CHURCHES IN THE MATTER OF RESIDENCE IS IN VARIOUS WAYS RESTRAINED. THE <CURA ANIMARUM> IS PROVIDED FOR Since by divine precept it is enjoined on all to whom is entrusted the <cura animarum> to know their sheep,[20] to offer sacrifice for them, and to feed them by the preaching of the divine word, the administration of the sacraments, and the example of all good works, to exercise a fatherly care in behalf of the poor and other distressed persons and to apply themselves to all other pastoral duties, all of which cannot be rendered and fulfilled by those who do not watch over and are not with their flock, but desert it after the manner of hirelings,[21] the holy council admonishes and exhorts them that, mindful of the divine precepts and <made a pattern of the flock,>[22] they in judgment and in truth be shepherds and leaders. And lest those things that concern residence which have already been piously and with profit decreed under Paul III,[23] of happy memory, be understood in a sense foreign to the mind of the holy council, as if in virtue of that decree it were lawful to be absent during five continuous months, the holy council, adhering to that decree, declares that all who, under whatever name or title, even though they be cardinals of the holy Roman Church, preside over patriarchal, primatial, metropolitan and cathedral churches, are bound to personal residence in their church or diocese, where they are obligated to discharge the office committed to them and from which they may not absent themselves except for the reasons and in the manner subjoined. Since Christian charity, urgent necessity, due obedience, and manifest advantage to the Church or the commonwealth require and demand that some at times be absent, the same holy council decrees that these reasons for lawful absence must be approved in writing by the most blessed Roman pontiff, or by the metropolitan, or, in his absence, by the oldest resident suffragan bishop, whose duty it shall also be to approve the absence of the metropolitan; except when the absence is necessitated by some function or office of the state attached to the episcopal dignity, in which cases the absence being a matter of public knowledge and at times unexpected, it will not be necessary to make known to the metropolitan the reasons therefor. To him, however, in conjunction with the provincial council, it shall pertain to decide concerning the permissions granted by himself or by his suffragans and to see that no one abuses that right and that transgressors are punished in accordance with canonical prescriptions. Moreover, those who are about to depart should remember so to provide for their sheep that as far as possible they may not suffer any injury through their absence.[24] But since those who are absent only for a brief period appear in the sense of the ancient canons not to be absent, because they are soon to return, the holy council wishes that that period of absence in a single year, whether continuous or interrupted, ought, except for the reasons mentioned above, in no case to exceed two or at most three months, and that consideration be taken that it be made from a just cause and without any detriment to the flock. Whether this be the case, the council leaves to the conscience of those who depart, which it hopes will be religious and delicate, for hearts are open to God,[25] whose work they are bound at their peril not to do deceitfully.[26] Meanwhile it admonishes and exhorts them in the Lord, that unless their episcopal duties call them elsewhere in their diocese, they are on no account to absent themselves from their cathedral church during the periods of the Advent of the Lord, Quadragesima, the Nativity, Easter, Pentecost and Corpus Christi, on which days especially the sheep ought to be refreshed and to rejoice in the Lord at the presence of the shepherd.[27] But if anyone, which it is hoped will never happen, shall have been absent in violation of the provision of this decree, the holy council ordains that in addition to the other penalties imposed upon and renewed against non-residents under Paul III,[28] and the guilt of mortal sin which he incurs, he can acquire no proprietorship of any fruits in proportion to the time of his absence, and cannot, even though no other declaration follows the present one, retain them with a safe conscience, but is bound, even in his default, through his ecclesiastical superior, to apply them to the treasury of the churches or to the poor of the locality; every agreement or arrangement to which appeal is made for ill-gotten fruits, whereby the aforesaid fruits might be restored to him in whole or in part, being forbidden; any privileges whatsoever granted to any college or treasury to the contrary notwithstanding. Absolutely the same, as regards the guilt, the loss of fruits, and the penalties, does the holy council declare and decree with reference to inferior pastors and to all others who hold any ecclesiastical benefice having the <cura animarum>;[29] so however, that should it happen that they are absent for a reason that has first been made known to and approved by the bishop, they shall leave a due allowance of the stipend to a competent vicar to be approved by the ordinary. The permission to go away, which is to be granted in writing and gratuitously, they shall not obtain for a period longer than two months except for a grave reason. In case they shall be summoned, even though not personally, by an edict, and should be contumacious, the ordinaries shall be at liberty to constrain them by ecclesiastical censures, by the sequestration and withdrawal of fruits and other legal means, even deprivation; and no privilege whatsoever, no concession, domestic position, exemption, not even by reason of some benefice, no contract or statute, even though confirmed by oath or by any authority whatsoever, no custom, even though immemorial, which is to be regarded rather as a corruption, no appeal or inhibition, even in the Roman Curia or by virtue of the constitution of Eugene,[30] shall be able to suspend the execution hereof. Finally, the holy council commands that both the decree under Paul III[31] and this present one be published in the provincial and episcopal councils; for it desires that things which so intimately concern the office of pastors and the salvation of souls, be frequently impressed on the ears and mind of all, so that with the help of God they may not hereafter fall into decay either through the corrosive action of time, the forgetfulness of men or by desuetude. CHAPTER II THOSE PLACED OVER CHURCHES SHALL RECEIVE CONSECRATION WITHIN THREE MONTHS; WHERE THE CONSECRATION IS TO TAKE PLACE If those who, under whatever name or title, even though they be cardinals of the holy Roman Church, have been placed over cathedral or superior churches, shall not within three months have received consecration,[32] they shall be bound to restore the fruits received; if for three more months they shall have neglected to do this, they shall be <ipso jure> deprived of their churches. Their consecration, if performed outside the Roman Curia, shall take place in the church to which they have been promoted, or in the province if it can be conveniently done. CHAPTER III BISHOPS, EXCEPT IN CASE OF ILLNESS, SHALL CONFER ORDERS IN PERSON Bishops shall confer orders themselves; but should they be prevented by illness, they shall not send their subjects to another bishop to be ordained unless they have first been examined and approved.[33] CHAPTER IV WHO MAY RECEIVE THE FIRST TONSURE No one shall be admitted to the first tonsure who has not received the sacrament of confirmation; who has not been taught the rudiments of the faith; who does not know how to read and write,[34] and concerning whom there is not a probable conjecture that he has chosen this manner of life that he may render to God a faithful service and not to escape fraudulently from civil justice. CHAPTER V WHEREWITH THOSE TO BE ORDAINED ARE TO BE PROVIDED Those who are to be promoted to minor orders shall have a good testimonial from their pastor and from the master of the school in which they are educated. Those, however, who are to be raised to any one of the major orders, shall a month before the ordination repair to the bishop, who shall commission the pastor or another person whom he may deem more suitable, to make known publicly in the church the names and desire of those who wish to be promoted, to inform himself diligently from trustworthy sources regarding the birth, age, morals and life of those to be ordained,[35] and to transmit to the bishop as soon as possible testimonial letters containing the results of the inquiry.[36] CHAPTER VI THE AGE OF FOURTEEN YEARS IS REQUIRED FOR AN ECCLESIASTICAL BENEFICE; WHO IS TO ENJOY THE <PRIVILEGIUM FORI> No one who has received the first tonsure or is constituted in minor orders shall be able to hold a benefice before his fourteenth year.[37] Furthermore, he shall not enjoy the <privilegium fori> unless he has an ecclesiastical benefice, or, wearing the clerical garb and tonsure, serves in some church by order of the bishop, or is in an ecclesiastical seminary or with the permission of the bishop in some school or university on the way, as it were, to the reception of major orders.[38] As regards married clerics, the constitution of Boniface VIII, which begins, “Cleric), qui cum unicis,”[39] shall be observed, provided these clerics, being assigned by the bishop to the service or ministry of some church, serve or minister in that church and wear the clerical garb and tonsure; privilege or custom, even immemorial, shall avail no one in this matter. CHAPTER VII THOSE TO BE ORDAINED ARE TO BE EXAMINED BY MEN SKILLED IN DIVINE AND HUMAN LAW The holy council, following the footsteps of the ancient canons, decrees that when the bishop has arranged to hold an ordination, all who wish to dedicate themselves to the sacred ministry shall be summoned to the city for the Wednesday before the ordination, or any other day which the bishop may deem convenient.[40] And calling to his assistance priests and other prudent men skilled in the divine law and experienced in the laws of the Church, the bishop shall carefully investigate and examine the parentage, person, age, education, morals, learning and faith of those who are to be ordained.[41] CHAPTER VIII HOW AND BY WHOM EACH ONE OUGHT TO BE ORDAINED The conferring of sacred orders shall be celebrated publicly, at the times specified by law,[42] and in the cathedral church in the presence of the canons of the church, who are to be summoned for that purpose; but if celebrated in another place of the diocese, in the presence of the local clergy, the church holding the highest rank should always, so far as possible, be chosen. Each one shall be ordained by his own bishop.[43] But if anyone should ask to be promoted by another, this shall under no condition, even under the pretext of any general or special rescript or privilege, even at the times specified, be permitted him unless his probity and morals be recommended by the testimony of his ordinary.[44] Otherwise the one ordaining shall be suspended for a year from conferring orders, and the one ordained shall be suspended from exercising the orders received for as long a period as his ordinary shall see fit. CHAPTER XI A BISHOP ORDAINING ONE OF HIS OWN HOUSEHOLD SHALL AT ONCE AND IN REALITY CONFER ON HIM A BENEFICE A bishop may not ordain one of his house who is not his subject, unless he has lived with him for a period of three years and to the exclusion of fraud confers on him at once a benefice;[45] any custom, even though immemorial, to the contrary notwithstanding. CHAPTER X PRELATES INFERIOR TO BISHOPS SHALL NOT CONFER THE TONSURE OR MINOR ORDERS EXCEPT ON RELIGIOUS SUBJECT TO THEM; NEITHER THEY NOR ANYCHAPTER WHATSOEVER SHALL GRANT DIMISSORY LETTERS; A SEVERER PENALTY IS PRESCRIBED AGAINST THOSE WHO TRANSGRESS THE DECREE It shall not be lawful in the future for abbots and any other persons, however exempt, residing within the limits of a diocese, even in case they are said to be of no diocese or exempt, to confer the tonsure or minor orders on anyone who is not a religious subject to them; nor shall abbots themselves and other exempt persons, or any colleges or chapters, even those of cathedral churches, grant dimissory letters to any secular clerics that they may be ordained by others. But the ordination of all these persons, when everything contained in the decrees of this holy council has been observed,[46] shall pertain to the bishops within the limits of whose diocese they are; any privileges, prescriptions or customs, even though immemorial, notwithstanding. It commands also that the penalty imposed on those who, contrary to the decree of this holy council under Paul III,[47] procure dimissory letters from the chapter during the vacancy of the episcopal see, be extended to those who shall obtain the said letters not from the chapter but from any other persons who during the vacancy of the see succeed to the jurisdiction of the bishop in lieu of the chapter. Those who issue dimissory letters contrary to the form of this decree, shall be <ipso jure> suspended from their office and benefices for one year. CHAPTER XI THE INTERSTICES AND CERTAIN OTHER REGULATIONS TO BE OBSERVED IN THE RECEPTION OF MINOR ORDERS The minor orders shall be conferred on those who understand at least the Latin language, observing the prescribed interstices,[48] unless the bishop should deem it more expedient to act otherwise, that they may be taught more accurately how great is the burden of this vocation and may in accordance with the direction of the bishop exercise themselves in each office,[49] and this in the church to which they will be assigned (unless they happen to be absent <causa studiorum); and thus they shall ascend step by step, that with increasing age they may grow In worthiness of life and in learning, which especially the example of their good conduct, their assiduous service in the Church, their greater reverence toward priests and the superior orders, and a more frequent communion than heretofore of the body of Christ will prove. And since from here there is entrance to the higher orders and to the most sacred mysteries, no one shall be admitted to them whom the promise of knowledge does not show to be worthy of the major orders.[50] These, however, shall not be promoted to sacred orders till a year after the reception of the last of the minor orders, unless necessity or the need of the Church shall in the judgment of the bishop require otherwise. CHAPTER XII THE AGE REQUIRED FOR MAJOR ORDERS; ONLY THOSE WORTHY ARE TO BE ADMITTED No one shall in the future be promoted to the subdiaconate before the twenty-second, to the diaconate before the twenty-third, and to the priesthood before the twenty-fifth year of his age.[51] However, the bishops should know that not all who have attained that age are to be admitted to these orders, but those only who are worthy and whose upright life is as old age. Regulars likewise shall not be ordained below that age or without a careful examination by the bishop; all privileges whatsoever 1n this respect being completely set aside. CHAPTER XIII WHO MAY BE ORDAINED SUBDEACON AND DEACON; THEIR OBLIGATIONS; ON NO ONE SHALL TWO SACRED ORDERS BE CONFERRED THE SAME DAY Those shall be ordained subdeacons and deacons who have a good testimonial,[52] have already been approved in minor orders, and are instructed in letters and in those things that pertain to the exercise of the orders. They should hope, with the help of God, to be able to live continently,[53] should serve the churches to which they will be assigned, understand that it is very highly becoming, since they serve at the altar, to receive holy communion at least on the Lord’s days and on solemn festival days. Those who have been promoted to the sacred order of subdeacon shall not till they have completed at least one year therein be permitted to ascend to a higher order,[54] unless the bishop shall judge otherwise. Two sacred orders shall not be conferred on the same day, even to regulars,[55] any privileges and indults whatsoever to whomsoever granted to the contrary notwithstanding. CHAPTER XIV WHO ARE TO BE PROMOTED TO THE PRIESTHOOD; THE OFFICE OF THOSE SO PROMOTED Those who have conducted themselves piously and faithfully in their performance of earlier functions and are accepted for the order of priesthood, shall have a good testimonial[56] and be persons who not only have served in the office of deacon for one entire year, unless by reason of the advantage and need of the Church the bishop should judge otherwise, but who also by a previous careful examination have been found competent to teach the people those things which are necessary for all to know unto salvation, and competent also to administer the sacraments, and so conspicuous for piety and purity of morals that a shining example of good works and a guidance for good living may be expected from them. The bishop shall see to it that they celebrate mass at least on the Lord’s days and on solemn festivals, but if they have the <cura animarum>, as often as their duty requires. To those who have been promoted <per saltum>,[57] the bishop may for a legitimate reason grant a dispensation, provided they have not exercised the ministry. CHAPTER XV NO ONE SHALL HEAR CONFESSIONS UNLESS APPROVED BY THE ORDINARY Although priests receive by ordination the power of absolving from sins, nevertheless the holy council decrees that no one, even though a regular, can hear the confessions of seculars, even priests, and that he is not to be regarded as qualified thereto, unless he either holds a parochial benefice or is by the bishops, after an examination, if they should deem it necessary, or in some other manner, judged competent and has obtained their approval,[58] which shall be given gratuitously; any privileges and custom whatsoever, even immemorial, notwithstanding. CHAPTER XVI VAGRANTS AND PERSONS USELESS TO THE CHURCHES SHALL BE EXCLUDED FROM ORDERS Since no one ought to be ordained who in the judgment of his bishop is not useful or necessary to his churches, the holy council, following the footsteps of the sixth canon of the Council of Chalcedon,[59] decrees that no one shall in the future be ordained who is not assigned to that church or pious place for the need or utility of which he is promoted, where he may discharge his duties and not wander about without any fixed abode.[60] But if he shall desert that place without consulting the bishop, he shall be forbidden the exercise of the sacred orders. Furthermore, no cleric who is a stranger shall, without commendatory letters from his ordinary, be admitted by any bishop to celebrate the divine mysteries and to administer the sacraments.[61] CHAPTER XVII IN WHAT MANNER THE EXERCISE OF THE MINOR ORDERS IS TO BE RESTORED That the functions of holy orders from the deacon to the porter, which have been laudably received in the Church from the times of the Apostles, and which have been for some time discontinued in many localities, may again be restored to use in accordance with the canons,[62] and may not be derided by the heretics as useless, the holy council, burning with the desire to restore the ancient usage, decrees that in the future such functions shall not be exercised except by those constituted in these orders, and it exhorts in the Lord each and all prelates of the churches and commands them that they make it their care to restore these functions, so far as it can be conveniently done, in cathedral, collegiate and parochial churches of their diocese, if the number of people and the revenues of the church are able to bear it. To those exercising these functions they shall assign salaries from a part of the revenues of some simple benefices or of the church treasury if the revenues are adequate, or from the revenues of both, and of these salaries they may, if they prove negligent, be deprived in whole or in part by the judgment of the bishop. In case there should not be at hand unmarried clerics to exercise the functions of the four minor orders, their place may be supplied by married clerics of approved life, provided they have not married a second time,[63] are competent to discharge the duties, and wear the tonsure and the clerical garb in church. CHAPTER XVIII DIRECTIONS FOR ESTABLISHING SEMINARIES FOR CLERICS, ESPECIALLY THE YOUNGER ONES; IN THEIR ERECTION MANY THINGS ARE TO BE OBSERVED; THE EDUCATION OF THOSE TO BE PROMOTED TO CATHEDRAL AND MAJOR CHURCHES Since the age of youth, unless rightly trained, is inclined to follow after the pleasure of the world,[64] and unless educated from its tender years in piety and religion before the habits of vice take possession of the whole man, will never perfectly and without the greatest and well-nigh extraordinary help of Almighty God persevere in ecclesiastical discipline, the holy council decrees that all cathedral and metropolitan churches and churches greater than these shall be bound, each according to its means and the extent of its diocese, to provide for, to educate in religion, and to train in ecclesiastical discipline, a certain number of boys of their city and diocese, or, if they are not found there, of their province, in a college located near the said churches or in some other suitable place to be chosen by the bishop.[65] Into this college shall be received such as are at least twelve years of age, are born of lawful wedlock, who know how to read and write competently, and whose character and inclination justify the hope that they will dedicate themselves forever to the ecclesiastical ministry. It wishes, however, that in the selection the sons of the poor be given preference, though it does not exclude those of the wealthy class, provided they be maintained at their own expense and manifest a zeal to serve God and the Church. These youths the bishop shall divide into as many classes as he may deem proper, according to their number, age, and progress in ecclesiastical discipline, and shall, when it appears to him opportune, assign some of them to the ministry of the churches, the others he shall keep in the college to be instructed, and he shall replace by others those who have been withdrawn, so that the college may be a perpetual seminary of ministers of God. And that they may be the better trained in the aforesaid ecclesiastical discipline, they shall forthwith and always wear the tonsure and the clerical garb; they shall study grammar, singing, ecclesiastical computation, and other useful arts; shall be instructed in Sacred Scripture, ecclesiastical books, the homilies of the saints, the manner of administering the sacraments, especially those things that seem adapted to the hearing of confessions, and the rites and ceremonies. The bishop shall see to it that they are present every day at the sacrifice of the mass, confess their sins at least once a month, receive the body of our Lord Jesus Christ in accordance with the directions of their confessor, and on festival days serve in the cathedral and other churches of the locality. All these and other things beneficial and needful for this purpose each bishop shall prescribe with the advice of two of the senior and more reputable canons chosen by himself as the Holy Ghost shall suggest, and they shall make it their duty by frequent visitation to see to it that they are always observed. The disobedient and incorrigible, and the disseminators of depraved morals they shall punish severely, even with expulsion if necessary; and removing all obstacles, they shall foster carefully whatever appears to contribute to the advancement and preservation of so pious and holy an institution. And since for the construction of the college, for paying salaries to instructors and servants, for the maintenance of the youths and for other expenses, certain revenues will be necessary, the bishops shall, apart from those funds which are in some churches and localities set aside for the instruction and maintenance of youths, and which are <eo ipso> to be considered as applied to this seminary under the care of the bishop, with the advice of two of the chapter, of whom one shall be chosen by the bishop, the other by the chapter, and also of two of the clergy of the city, the choice of one of whom shall in like manner be with the bishop, the other with the clergy, deduct a certain part or portion from the entire revenues of the bishop and of the chapter, and of all dignities with and without jurisdiction, offices, prebends, portions, abbeys and priories of whatever order, even though regular, whatever their character and rank; also of hospitals which, according to the constitution of the Council of Vienne, which begins, “Quia contingit,”[66] are conferred as title or with a view of administration; also of all benefices, even those of regulars, though they enjoy the right of patronage, even if exempt, or belong to no diocese, or are annexed to other churches, monasteries, hospitals, or to any other pious places even though exempt; also of the treasuries of the churches and of other places, and of all other ecclesiastical revenues or incomes, even those of other colleges (in which, however, the seminaries of students and instructors promoting the common good of the Church are not actually included, for the council wishes these to be exempt, except with reference to such revenues as exceed the expense of the suitable maintenance of these seminaries), or associations or confraternities, which in some localities are called schools; and of all monasteries, except those of the mendicants, also of all tithes belonging in any way to laics, from which ecclesiastical maintenance is customarily paid, and of those also which belong to knights, of whatever military body or order they may be, the brethren of St. John of Jerusalem alone excepted; and the part or portion so deducted, as also some simple benefices, of whatever nature or rank, and prestimonies, or prestimonial portions as they are called, even before they become vacant, without prejudice, however, to the divine service or to those who hold them, they shall apply to and incorporate in this college. This shall have effect whether the benefices be reserved or assigned; and the unions and assignments of these benefices can be neither suspended through resignation nor in any way hindered, but they shall have their effect, any vacancy, even in the Curia, notwithstanding, or any constitution whatsoever. For the payment of this portion the local bishop shall by ecclesiastical censures and other legal means, even with the aid of the secular arm, should he deem it necessary, compel the possessors of benefices, dignities with and without jurisdiction, and each and all of the above-mentioned, whether the revenues are for themselves or for the salaries which they perchance pay to others out of the said revenues, retaining, however, a portion equivalent to that which they have to pay on account of these salaries; any privileges, exemptions, even such as might require a special declaration of annulment, custom, even though immemorial, any appeal and allegation which might hinder the execution of any or all of the above, notwithstanding. But if it should happen that as a result of these unions or otherwise, the seminary should be found to be endowed in whole or in part, then the portion deducted from each benefice, as stated above, and incorporated by the bishop, shall be discontinued in whole or in part as circumstances may require. And if the prelates of cathedrals and other major churches should prove negligent in the erection of the seminary and its maintenance and should decline to pay their portion, it shall be the duty of the archbishop to rebuke the bishop sharply and compel him to comply with all the aforesaid matters, and of the provincial synod to rebuke sharply and compel in like manner the archbishop and superiors, and diligently to see to it that this holy and pious work be, wherever possible, expedited without delay. The bishop shall receive annually the accounts of the revenues of the seminary in the presence of two delegated by the chapter and of as many delegated by the clergy of the city. Furthermore, in order that the establishment of schools of this kind may be procured at less expense, the holy council decrees that bishops, archbishops, primates and other local ordinaries urge and compel, even by the reduction of their revenues, those who hold the position of instructor and others to whose position is attached the function of reading or teaching, to teach those to be educated in those schools personally, if they are competent, otherwise by competent substitutes, to be chosen by themselves and to be approved by the ordinaries.[67] But if these in the judgment of the bishop are not qualified, they shall choose another who is competent, no appeal being permitted; and should they neglect to do this, then the bishop himself shall appoint one. The aforesaid instructors shall teach what the bishop shall judge expedient. In the future, however, those offices or dignities, which are called professorships, shall not be conferred except on doctors or masters or licentiates of Sacred Scripture or canon law and on other competent persons who can personally discharge that office; any appointment made otherwise shall be null and void, all privileges and customs whatsoever, even though immemorial, notwithstanding. But if in any province the churches labor under such poverty that in some a college cannot be established, then the provincial synod or the metropolitan with two of the oldest suffragans shall provide for the establishment of one or more colleges, as he may deem advisable, at the metropolitan or at some other more convenient church of the province, from the revenues of two or more churches in each of which a college cannot be conveniently established, where the youths of those churches might be educated. In churches having extensive dioceses, however, the bishop may have one or more in the diocese, as he may deem expedient; which, however, shall in all things be dependent on the one erected and established in the [metropolitan] city. Finally, if either with regard to the unions or the appraisement or assignment or incorporation of portions, or for any other reason, any difficulty should happen to arise by reason of which the establishment or the maintenance of the seminary might be hindered or disturbed, the bishop with those designated above or the provincial synod, shall have the authority, according to the custom of the country and the character of the churches and benefices, to decide and regulate all matters which shall appear necessary and expedient for the happy advancement of the seminary, even to modify or augment, if need be, the contents hereof. ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE NEXT SESSION Moreover, the same holy Council of Trent announces the next session for the sixteenth day of the month of September, in which it will treat of the sacrament of matrimony and of other matters pertaining to the doctrine of faith, if there be any which can be disposed of; further, it will deal with the collation of bishoprics, dignities and other ecclesiastical benefices and with various articles of reform. The session was prorogued to the eleventh day of November, 1563. ENDNOTES 1 Heb. 7:12. 2 Cf. <infra>, can. 2 and chap. 17 de ref. 3 Act 6:5; 21:8. I Tim. 3:8, 12. 4 Cc.11-13, D.XXXII; c.4 D.LX; c.9, X, De aet. et qual. et ord. praef., I, 14. 5 Cf. Synods of Elvira (ca. 305), c.33; Antioch (341), c.10; cc.14, 16, D.XXXII, Denzinger, <Enchiridion>, nos. 45, 153-58. 6 See II Tim. 1:6f. 7 Cf. Sess VII. Sacraments, can. 9 and <infra>, can. 4. 8 Cf. <infra>, can. 6. 9 Cant. 6:3, 9. 10 See I Cor. 12:28ff.; Eph. 4:11. 11 Acts 20:28. 12 Cf. Sess. VII, Confirmation, can. 3. 13 Cf. Synod of Laodicea, can. 13. 14 John 10:1. 15 Cf. <supra>, chap. I. 16 Matt. 16:19; Luke 22:19 f.; cc. 5, 6, C.XXIV, q. I. 17 Cf. <supra>, chap. 2. 18 Cc.2, 3, D.LXXVII; and <infra>, chap. 13 de ref. 19 Cf. <supra>, chap. 3. 20 John 10:1-16; 21:15-17; Acts 20:28. 21 John 10:12 f. 22 See I Pet. 5:3. 23 Cf. Sess. VI, chaps. I, 2 de ref. 24 Cf. c. 34, VI, De elect., I, 6; Sess. VI, chap. 2 de ref. at the end 25 Ps. 7:10; Acts 1:24. 26 Jer. 48:10. 27 C. 29, C.VII. q. I. 28 Cf. Sess. VI, chap. I de ref. 29 Sess. VI, chap. 2 de ref. 30 Cf. c.3, Extrav. comm., De privil., V, 7. 31 Cf. Sess. VI, chap. I de ref. 32 C 2, D.LXXV; c. I, D.C.; Sess. VII, chap. 9 de ref. 33 Cf. <infra>, chaps. 8, 10; III Synod of Carthage (397), c. 22. 34 Cf. c.4, VI, De temp. ord., I, 9. 35 Cf. c.5, D.XXIV. 36 Cf. <infra>, chap. 7. 37 C. 3, X, De aet. et qual. et ord. praef., I,14. 38 C.7, X, de cler. conjug., III, 3. 39 C. un h.t. in VI, III, 2. 40 C.5, D.XXIV. 41 Cf. <supra>, chap. 5 de ref. 42 Cf. c.7, D.LXXV, cc.1-3, X, De temp. ord., I, II. 43 Cc.1-4, D.LXXI; c.2, D.LXXII; cc.6, 7, 9, 10, C.IX, q.2; cc.I, 2, VI, De temp. ord., I, 9. 44 Cf. Sess. XIV, chaps. 2, 3 de ref. 45 C. 2, X, De praeb., III. 5. 46 Cf. <supra>, chaps. 5, 6 and <infra>, chaps. 11, 12 de ref. 47 Cf. Sess. VII, chap. 10 de ref. 48 Cf. <infra,> chap. 13. 49 Ibid., chap. 17 and c.3, D.LIX. 50 Cc.l, 2, 4, D.LIX. 51 C. 3, De aet. et qual. et ord. praef. in Clem., I, 6. 52 See I Tim. 3:7, C.3, D.LXXVII. 53 Cf. c. I, D. XXVIII. 54 Cf. <supra>, chap. II de ref. 55 Cc.13, 15, X, De temp. ord., I, II. 56 Cf. I Tim. 3:7; c.3, D.LXXVII. 57 C.um. D.LII. 58 Cf. c. 2, VI, De poenit., V, 10; c.2, De sepult. in Clem., III, 7. 59 C. I, D. LXX; c. ult., ibid. 60 Ibid., c.2. 61 Cc.6, 7, 9, D.LXXI et al. 62 c. l, D.XXI; Denzinger, nos. 154-58. 63 Cf. tot. tit., X, De big. non ord., 1, 21. 64 Gen. 8: 21- cf. c. 5, D.XXVIII, c. l, C.XII, q. I. 65 Cf. Sess. V, chap. I de ref. 66 C.2, De relig. dom. in Clem., III, II. 67 Cf. Sess. V, chap. I de ref. TWENTY-FOURTH SESSION which is the eighth under the Supreme Pontiff, Pius IV, celebrated on the eleventh day of November, 1563 DOCTRINE OF THE SACRAMENT OF MATRIMONY The perpetual and indissoluble bond of matrimony was expressed by the first parent of the human race, when, under the influence of the divine Spirit, he said: <This now is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. Wherefore a man shall leave father and mother and shall cleave to his wife, and they shall be two in one flesh.>[1] But that by this bond two only are united and joined together, Christ the Lord taught more plainly when referring to those last words as having been spoken by God, He said: <Therefore now they are not two, but one flesh,>[2] and immediately ratified the firmness of the bond so long ago proclaimed by Adam with these words: <What therefore God has joined together, let no man put asunder.>[3] But the grace which was to perfect that natural love, and confirm that indissoluble union, and sanctify the persons married, Christ Himself, the instituter and perfecter of the venerable sacraments, merited for us by His passion, which Paul the Apostle intimates when he says: Husbands love your wives, as Christ also loved the Church, and delivered himself up for it;[4] adding immediately: <This is a great sacrament, but I speak in Christ and in the Church.>[5] Since therefore matrimony in the evangelical law surpasses in grace through Christ the ancient marriages, our holy Fathers, the councils,[6] and the tradition of the universal Church, have with good reason always taught that it is to be numbered among the sacraments of the New Law; and since with regard to this teaching ungodly men of this age, raving madly, have not only formed false ideas concerning this venerable sacrament, but, introducing in conformity with their habit under the pretext of the Gospel a carnal liberty, have by word and writing asserted, not without great harm to the faithful of Christ, many things that are foreign to the teaching of the Catholic Church and to the usage approved of since the times of the Apostles, this holy and general council, desiring to restrain their boldness, has thought it proper, lest their pernicious contagion should attract more, that the principal heresies and errors of the aforesaid schismatics be destroyed by directing against those heretics and their errors the following anathemas. CANONS ON THE SACRAMENT OF MATRIMONY Canon I. If anyone says that matrimony is not truly and properly one of the seven sacraments of the evangelical law, instituted by Christ the Lord,[7] but has been devised by men in the Church and does not confer grace, let him be anathema. Can. 2. If anyone says that it is lawful for Christians to have several wives at the same time and that this is not forbidden by any divine law,[8] let him be anathema. Can. 3. If anyone says that only those degrees of consanguinity and affinity which are expressed in Leviticus can hinder matrimony from being contracted and dissolve it when contracted,[9] and that the Church cannot dispense in some of them or declare that others hinder and dissolve it, let him be anathema. Can. 4. If anyone says that the Church cannot establish impediments dissolving marriage,[10] or that she has erred in establishing them, let him be anathema. Can. 5. If anyone says that the bond of matrimony can be dissolved on account of heresy,[11] or irksome cohabitation, or by reason of the voluntary absence of one of the parties, let him be anathema. Can. 6. If anyone says that matrimony contracted but not consummated is not dissolved by the solemn religious profession of one of the parties,[12] let him be anathema. Can. 7. If anyone says that the Church errs in that she taught and teaches that in accordance with evangelical and apostolic doctrine the bond of matrimony cannot be dissolved by reason of adultery on the part of one of the parties, and that both, or even the innocent party who gave no occasion for adultery, cannot contract another marriage during the lifetime of the other, and that he is guilty of adultery who, having put away the adulteress, shall marry another, and she also who, having put away the adulterer, shall marry another,[13] let him be anathema. Can. 8. If anyone says that the Church errs when she declares that for many reasons a separation may take place between husband and wife with regard to bed and with regard to cohabitation for a determinate or indeterminate period, let him be anathema. Can. 9. If anyone says that clerics constituted in sacred orders or regulars who have made solemn profession of chastity can contract marriage, and that the one contracted is valid notwithstanding the ecclesiastical law or the vow, and that the contrary is nothing else than a condemnation of marriage, and that all who feel that they have not the gift of chastity, even though they have made such a vow, can contract marriage, let him be anathema, since God does not refuse that gift to those who ask for it rightly, neither does <he suffer us to be tempted above that which we are able.>[14] Can. 10 If anyone says that the married state excels the state of virginity or celibacy, and that it is better and happier to be united in matrimony than to remain in virginity or celibacy,[15] let him be anathema. Can. 11 If anyone says that the prohibition of the solemnization of marriages at certain times of the year is a tyrannical superstition derived from the superstition of the heathen,[16] or condemns the blessings and other ceremonies which the Church makes use of therein, let him be anathema. Can. 12. If anyone says that matrimonial causes do not belong to ecclesiastical judges, let him be anathema. DECREE CONCERNING THE REFORM OF MATRIMONY CHAPTER I THE FORM PRESCRIBED IN THE LATERAN COUNCIL FOR SOLEMNLY CONTRACTING MARRIAGE IS RENEWED; BISHOPS MAY DISPENSE WITH THE PUBLICATION OF THE BANNS; WHOEVER CONTRACTS MARRIAGE OTHERWISE THAN IN THE PRESENCE OF THE PASTOR AND OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES, DOES SO INVALIDLY Although it is not to be doubted that clandestine marriages made with the free consent of the contracting parties are valid and true marriages so long as the Church has not declared them invalid,[17] and consequently that those persons are justly to be condemned, as the holy council does condemn them with anathema, who deny that they are true and valid, and those also who falsely assert that marriages contracted by children [minors] without the consent of the parents are invalid, nevertheless the holy Church of God has for very just reasons at all times detested and forbidden them.[18] But while the holy council recognizes that by reason of man’s disobedience those prohibitions are no longer of any avail, and considers the grave sins which arise from clandestine marriages, especially the sins of those who continue in the state of damnation, when having left the first wife with whom they contracted secretly, they publicly marry another and live with her in continual adultery, and since the Church which does not judge what is hidden, cannot correct this evil unless a more efficacious remedy is applied, therefore, following in the footsteps of the holy Lateran Council celebrated under Innocent III,[19] it commands that in the future, before a marriage is contracted, the proper pastor of the contracting parties shall publicly announce three times in the church, during the celebration of the mass on three successive festival days, between whom marriage is to be contracted; after which publications, if no legitimate impediment is revealed, the marriage may be proceeded with in the presence of the people, where the parish priest, after having questioned the man and the woman and heard their mutual consent, shall either say: “I join you together in matrimony, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,” or he may use other words, according to the accepted rite of each province. But if at some time there should be a probable suspicion that a marriage might be maliciously hindered if so many publications precede it, then either one publication only may be made or the marriage may be celebrated forthwith in the presence of the parish priest and of two or three witnesses. Then before its consummation the publications shall be made in the church, so that if any impediments exist they may be the more easily discovered, unless the ordinary shall deem it advisable to dispense with the publications, which the holy council leaves to his prudence and judgment. Those who shall attempt to contract marriage otherwise than in the presence of the parish priest or of another priest authorized by the parish priest or by the ordinary and in the presence of two or three witnesses, the holy council renders absolutely incapable of thus contracting marriage and declares such contracts invalid and null, as by the present decree it invalidates and annuls them. Moreover, it commands that the parish priest or another priest who shall have been present at a contract of this kind with less than the prescribed number of witnesses, also the witnesses who shall have been present without the parish priest or another priest, and also the contracting parties themselves, shall at the discretion of the ordinary be severely punished. Furthermore, the same holy council exhorts the betrothed parties not to live together in the same house until they have received the sacerdotal blessing in the church;[20] and it decrees that the blessing is to be given by their own parish priest, and permission to impart it cannot be granted to any other priest except by the parish priest himself or by the ordinary, any custom, even though immemorial, which ought rather to be called a corruption, or any privilege notwithstanding. But if any parish priest or any other priest, whether regular or secular, should attempt to unite in marriage or bless the betrothed of another parish without the permission of their parish priest, he shall, even though he may plead that his action was based on a privilege or immemorial custom, remain <ipso jure> suspended until absolved by the ordinary of that parish priest who ought to have been present at the marriage or from whom the blessing ought to have been received. The parish priest shall have a book in which he shall record the names of the persons united in marriage and of the witnesses, and also the day on which and the place where the marriage was contracted, and this book he shall carefully preserve. Finally, the holy council exhorts the betrothed that before they contract marriage, or at least three days before its consummation, they carefully confess their sins and approach devoutly the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist. If any provinces have in this matter other laudable customs and ceremonies in addition to the aforesaid, the holy council wishes earnestly that they be by all means retained. And that these so salutary regulations may not remain unknown to anyone, it commands all ordinaries that they as soon as possible see to it that this decree be published and explained to the people in all the parish churches of their dioceses, and that this be done very often during the first year and after that as often as they shall deem it advisable. It decrees, moreover, that this decree shall begin to take effect in every parish at the expiration of thirty days, to be reckoned from the day of its first publication in that church. CHAPTER II BETWEEN WHOM SPIRITUAL RELATIONSHIP IS CONTRACTED Experience teaches that by reason of the large number of prohibitions, marriages are often unknowingly contracted in prohibited cases in which either the parties continue to live, not without great sin, or the marriages are dissolved, not without great scandal. Wherefore, the holy council wishing to provide against this condition, and beginning with the impediment arising from spiritual relationship, decrees that in accordance with the prescriptions of the holy canons,[21] one person only, whether man or woman, or at most one man and one woman, shall act as sponsors in baptism for the one baptized, and spiritual relationship shall be contracted between these only and the one baptized, and his father and mother, and also between the one baptizing and the one baptized and the father and mother of the one baptized. Before the parish priest proceeds to confer baptism, he shall carefully inquire of those whom it concerns what person or persons they have chosen to act as sponsors at the font for the one to be baptized, and he shall permit him or them only to act as such, shall record their names in the book, and shall teach them what relationship they have contracted, so that they may not have any excuse on the score of ignorance. If any others, besides those designated, should touch the one being baptized, they shall not in any way contract a spiritual relationship, any constitutions asserting the contrary notwithstanding.[22] If through the fault or negligence of the parish priest it should be done otherwise, he shall be punished at the discretion of the ordinary. That relationship also which is contracted in confirmation is not to be extended beyond him who confirms, the one confirmed, his father and mother, and the sponsor;[23] all impediments of this spiritual relationship between other persons being completely removed. CHAPTER III THE IMPEDIMENT OF PUBLIC HONESTY IS RESTRICTED WITHIN CERTAIN LIMITS The holy council completely removes the impediment of justice arising from public honesty where the betrothals are for any reason not valid.[24] But where they are valid, the impediment shall not extend beyond the first degree, because in more remote degrees such a prohibition can no longer be observed without detriment. CHAPTER IV AFFINITY ARISING FROM FORNICATION IS RESTRICTED TO THE SECOND DEGREE Moreover, the holy council, moved by the same and other very grave reasons, restricts the impediment which arises on account of the affinity contracted from fornication, and which dissolves the marriage afterward contracted,[25] to those only who are united in the first and second degree; in more remote degrees it ordains that affinity of this kind does not dissolve the marriage afterward contracted. CHAPTER V NO ONE IS TO MARRY WITHIN THE PROHIBITED DEGREES; IN WHAT MANNER DISPENSATION IS TO BE GRANTED THEREIN If anyone should presume knowingly to contract marriage within the prohibited degrees, he shall be separated and shall have no hope of obtaining a dispensation;[26] and this shall apply much more to him who has dared not only to contract such a marriage but also to consummate it. If he has done this in ignorance and yet has neglected the solemnities required in the contraction of matrimony, he shall be subject to the same penalties; for he who has rashly despised the salutary precepts of the Church, is not worthy to enjoy without difficulty her beneficence. But if after the observance of the solemnities some impediment should afterward be discovered of which he probably had, no knowledge, then he may more easily and gratuitously be granted a dispensation. In the contraction of marriages either no dispensation at all shall be granted or rarely, and then for a reason and gratuitously. In the second degree a dispensation shall never be granted except in the case of great princes and for a public cause. CHAPTER VI PUNISHMENTS AGAINST ABDUCTORS ARE PRESCRIBED The holy council decrees that between the abductor and the one abducted there can be no marriage so long as she remains in the power of the abductor. But if the one abducted is separated from the abductor and is in a free and safe place, and consents to have him for her husband, the abductor may have her for his wife;[27] nevertheless, the abductor and all who have given him advice, aid and approval shall be <ipso jure> excommunicated and forever infamous and disqualified for all dignities of any kind; and if they be clerics, they shall forfeit all rank.[28] The abductor shall, moreover, be bound, whether he marries the one abducted or not, to bestow on her at the discretion of the judge a suitable endowment.[29] CHAPTER VII VAGRANTS ARE TO BE UNITED IN MATRIMONY WITH CAUTION There are many who are vagrants and have no permanent abode, and, being of unprincipled character, after having abandoned their first wife, marry another, very often several in different localities, during the lifetime of the first. The holy council wishing to put an end to this evil, extends this fatherly admonition to all whom it may concern; namely, not to admit to marriage easily this class of vagrants; it also exhorts the civil magistrates to restrain them vigorously. But it commands parish priests not to be present at the marriage of such persons unless they have first made a diligent inquiry, and after having reported the matter to the ordinary, shall have obtained permission from him to do so. CHAPTER VIII CONCUBINAGE IS SEVERELY PUNISHED It is a grave sin for unmarried men to have concubines, but it is a most grave sin, and one committed in singular contempt of this great sacrament, when married men live in this state of damnation and have the boldness at times to maintain and keep them in their homes even with their own wives. Wherefore, the holy council, in order to provide suitable remedies against this great evil, decrees that if these concubinaries, whether unmarried or married, whatever may be their state, dignity or profession, have not, after a threefold admonition in reference to this matter by the ordinary, also ex officio, put away their concubines and separated themselves from intimacy with them, they shall be punished with excommunication from which they shall not be absolved till they have in fact obeyed the admonition given them.[30] But if, regardless of censures, they shall continue in concubinage for a year, the ordinary shall proceed against them with a severity in keeping with the character of the crime. Women, whether married or unmarried, who live publicly with adulterers or concubinaries, if after a threefold admonition they do not obey, shall be punished severely in accordance with their guilt by the local ordinaries, even though not called upon by anyone to do so, <ex officio;> and if the ordinaries should deem it expedient, they shall be expelled, even with the aid of the secular arm, if need be, from the city or the diocese; the other penalties imposed on adulterers and concubinaries shall remain in force. CHAPTER IX TEMPORAL LORDS OR MAGISTRATES SHALL NOT ATTEMPT ANYTHING CONTRARY TO THE FREEDOM OF MARRIAGE Worldly inclinations and desires very often so blind the mental vision of temporal lords and magistrates, that by threats and ill usage they compel men and women who live under their jurisdiction, especially the rich or those who expect a large inheritance, to contract marriage against their will with those whom these lords or magistrates propose to them. Wherefore, since it is something singularly execrable to violate the freedom of matrimony, and equally execrable that injustice should come from those from whom justice is expected,[31] the holy council commands all, of whatever rank, dignity and profession they may be, under penalty of anathema to be incurred ipso facto, that they do not in any manner whatever, directly or indirectly, compel their subjects or any others whomsoever in any way that will hinder them from contracting marriage freely.[32] CHAPTER X THE SOLEMNITIES OF MARRIAGES ARE FORBIDDEN AT CERTAIN TIMES The holy council commands that from the Advent of our Lord Jesus Christ till the day of the Epiphany, and from Ash Wednesday till the octave of Easter inclusive, the old prohibitions of solemn nuptials be carefully observed by all;[33] at other times it permits marriages to be celebrated solemnly and the bishops shall see to it that they are conducted with becoming modesty and propriety, for matrimony is a holy thing and IS to be treated in a holy manner. DECREE CONCERNING REFORM The same holy council, continuing the matter of reform, decrees that the following be ordained in the present session. CHAPTER I NORMS OF PROCEDURE IN THE ELECTION OF BISHOPS AND CARDINALS If in all ecclesiastical grades a prudent and enlightened attention is necessary in order that in the house of the Lord there be nothing disorderly and nothing unbecoming, much more ought we to strive that no error be committed in the election of him who is constituted above all grades. For the state and order of the entire household of the Lord will totter if what is required in the body be not found in the head. Hence, although the holy council has elsewhere decided to advantage a number of things concerning those to be promoted to cathedral and major churches,[34] yet it considers this office to be of such a nature that if viewed in its greatness, there can never be caution enough taken concerning it. Wherefore it decrees that as soon as a church becomes vacant, public and private supplications and prayers be made and be ordered throughout the city and diocese by the chapter, that clergy and people may implore God for a good shepherd. It moreover exhorts and admonishes each and all who in any manner have a right from the Apostolic See to participate in the promotion of those to be placed in authority, or who otherwise render assistance (due to the circumstances of the present time no change being made herein), that they above all bear in mind that they can do nothing more serviceable to the glory of God and the salvation of the people than to exert themselves to the end that good and competent shepherds be promoted to the government of the Church, and that they become partakers in the sins of others and sin mortally unless they strive diligently that those be promoted whom they judge the more worthy and useful to the Church, not moved by entreaties or human affection, or the solicitations of rivals, but because their merits speak for them, whom they know to be persons of lawful wedlock, and whose life, age, learning and all other qualifications meet the requirements of the sacred canons and the decrees of this Council of Trent.[35] But since the taking of the important and competent testimony of upright and learned men regarding the aforesaid qualifications cannot by reason of the diversity of nations, peoples and customs be everywhere uniformly followed, the holy council commands that in the provincial synod to be held by the metropolitan, there be prescribed for each place and province a special or proper form of the examination, investigation or instruction to be made, such as shall appear most useful and suitable for these places and which is to be submitted to the approval of the most holy Roman pontiff; so however, that after the completion of the examination or investigation of the person to be promoted, it shall, after having been put in the form of a public document, be transmitted as soon as possible, with all the attestations and with the profession of faith made by the one to be promoted, to the most holy Roman pontiff, in order that the Roman pontiff himself, with a complete knowledge of the whole matter and of the persons before him, may for the benefit of the Lord’s flock provide the churches more profitably if in the examination or investigation they have been found competent. All examinations, investigations, attestations and proofs of whatever kind and by whomever made, even though in the Roman Curia, concerning the qualifications of the one to be promoted and the condition of the church, shall be carefully examined by the cardinal, who shall report thereon to the consistory, and three other cardinals; and this report shall be authenticated by the signature of the cardinal making the report and of the three other cardinals, in which each of the four cardinals shall affirm that, after having given it his careful attention, he has found those to be promoted to possess the qualifications required by law and by this holy council and at the peril of his eternal salvation firmly believes that they are competent to be placed over churches; and the report having been made in one consistory, that the investigation may in the meantime receive more mature consideration, the decision shall be deferred to another consistory, unless the most blessed pontiff shall deem it expedient to act otherwise. Each and all of the particulars relative to the life, age, learning and the other qualifications of those who are to be appointed bishops, which have been determined elsewhere by this council, the same It decrees are to be required in the election of the cardinals of the holy Roman Church, even though they be deacons, whom the most holy Roman pontiff shall, in so far as it can be conveniently done, choose from all the nations of Christendom according as he finds them competent. Finally, the same holy council, moved by so many very grave afflictions of the Church, cannot but call to mind that nothing is more necessary to the Church of God than that the holy Roman pontiff apply that solicitude which by the duty of his office he owes the universal Church in a very special way by associating with himself as cardinals the most select persons only, and appoint to each church most eminently upright and competent shepherds; and this the more so, because our Lord Jesus Christ will require at his hands the blood of the sheep of Christ that perish through the evil government of shepherds who are negligent and forgetful of their office. CHAPTER II PROVINCIAL SYNODS ARE TO BE CELEBRATED EVERY THREE YEARS, DIOCESAN SYNODS EVERY YEAR; WHO ARE TO CONVOKE THEM AND WHO ARE TO BE PRESENT THEREAT Provincial synods, wherever they have been omitted, shall be restored for the regulation of morals, the correction of abuses, the settlement of controversies, and for other purposes permitted by the sacred canons.[36] Wherefore the metropolitans in person, or if they are legitimately hindered, the oldest suffragan bishop, shall not neglect to convoke, each in his own province, a synod within a year at least from the termination of the present council and after that at least every third year, after the octave of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ or at some other more convenient time, according to the custom of the province, and which all the bishops and others who by right or custom are under obligation to be present shall be absolutely bound to attend, those being excepted who at imminent danger would have to cross the sea. The bishops of the province shall not in the future be compelled under pretext of any custom whatsoever to go against their will to the metropolitan church. Those bishops likewise who are not subject to any archbishop shall once for all choose some neighboring metropolitan, at whose provincial synod they shall be obliged to be present with the other bishops, and whatever has been decided therein they shall observe and cause to be observed. In all other respects their exemption and privileges shall remain intact and entire. Diocesan synods also are to be celebrated annually; at which also all those exempt, who would otherwise by reason of the cessation of that exemption have to attend, and who are not subject to general chapters, shall be bound to assemble; those also who have charge of parochial or other secular churches, even though annexed, whoever they may be, must be present at the synod. But if the metropolitans and also the bishops and the others mentioned above prove negligent in these matters, they shall incur the penalties prescribed by the sacred canons. CHAPTER III IN WHAT MANNER PRELATES ARE TO MAKE THEIR VISITATION Patriarchs, primates, metropolitans and bishops shall not neglect to visit their respective dioceses, either personally or, if they are lawfully hindered, through their vicar-general or visitor;[37] if by reason of its extent they are unable to make a visitation of the whole annually, they shall either themselves or through their visitors visit at least the greater part of it, so that the whole may be completed in two years. Metropolitans, even after a complete visitation of their own diocese, shall not visit the cathedral churches or the dioceses of the bishops of their province, except for a cause taken cognizance of and approved by the provincial synod. Archdeacons, deans and other inferiors shall visit those churches in which they have thus far been accustomed legally to make visitations, but from now on with the consent of the bishop, personally and with the aid of a notary. Also the visitors delegated by a chapter, where the chapter has the right of visitation, shall be first approved by the bishop; thereby, however, the bishop, or if he be hindered, his visitor, shall not be prohibited from visiting those same churches apart from these, and the archdeacons and other inferiors shall be bound to render to him an account within a month of the visitation made by them, and to show him the depositions of witnesses and the entire proceedings; any custom, even though immemorial, and any exemptions and privileges whatsoever notwithstanding. But the chief purpose of all these visitations shall be, after the extirpation of heresies, to restore sound and orthodox doctrine, to guard good morals and to correct such as are evil, to animate the people by exhortations and admonitions with religion, peace and innocence, and to regulate the rest for the benefit of the faithful as the prudence of the visitors may suggest, allowance being made for place, time and occasion.[38] That these things may be more easily and happily accomplished, each and all of the aforesaid to whom the right of visitation belongs, are admonished to treat all with a fatherly love and Christian zeal, and therefore content with a modest train of horses and servants, let them strive to complete the visitation as speedily as possible, yet with due attention. Meanwhile they shall exercise care that they do not become troublesome or a burden to anyone by useless expenses, and neither shall they nor any one of theirs, either by way of compensation for the visitation or from wills made for pious purposes, except what is by right due to them from pious bequests, or under any other name, receive anything, be it money or gift of whatever kind or in whatever way offered,[39] any custom, even though immemorial, notwithstanding; with the exception, however, of food, which shall be furnished them and theirs frugally and in moderation during the time necessary for the visitation only and not beyond that.[40] It shall, however, be left to the option of those who are visited to pay, if they prefer, what in accordance with a fixed assessment they have been accustomed to pay in money heretofore, or to furnish the food; inviolate also shall remain the right of old agreements entered into with monasteries or other pious places or with churches not parochial. But in those places or provinces where it is the custom that neither food nor money or anything else be received by the visitors, but that all be done gratuitously, that practice shall continue there. But if anyone, which God forbid, shall presume to receive more in any of the cases mentioned above, in addition to the restitution of double the amount to be made within a month, he shall also incur without hope of pardon the other penalties contained in the constitution of the General Council of Lyons, which begins, “Exigit,”[41] as well as those of the provincial synod at the discretion of that synod. Patrons shall not presume in any way to intrude themselves in those things that pertain to the administration of the sacraments; they shall not interfere with the visitation of the ornaments of the church, or its immovable properties, or the revenues of the buildings, except in so far as they are competent to do this by reason of the institution and foundation; but the bishops themselves shall attend to these things and shall see to it that the revenues of the buildings are devoted to purposes necessary and useful to the church according as they shall deem most expedient. CHAPTER IV BY WHOM AND WHEN THE OFFICE OF PREACHING IS TO BE DISCHARGED. THE PARISH CHURCH IS TO BE ATTENDED TO HEAR THE WORD OF GOD. NO ONE MAY PREACH WITHOUT THE PERMISSION OF THE BISHOP Desiring that the office of preaching, which belongs chiefly to bishops, be exercised as often as possible for the welfare of the faithful, the holy council, for the purpose of accommodating to the use of the present time the canons published elsewhere on this subject under Paul III,[42] of happy memory, decrees that they themselves shall personally, each in his own church, announce the Sacred Scriptures and the divine law, or, if lawfully hindered, have it done by those whom they shall appoint to the office of preaching; but in other churches by the parish priests, or, if they are hindered, by others to be appointed by the bishop in the city or in any part of the diocese as they shall judge it expedient, at the expense of those who are bound or accustomed to defray it, and this they shall do at least on all Sundays and solemn festival days, but during the season of fasts, of Lent and of the Advent of the Lord, daily, or at least on three days of the week if they shall deem it necessary; otherwise, as often as they shall judge that it can be done conveniently. The bishop shall diligently admonish the people that each one is bound to be present at his own parish church, where it can be conveniently done, to hear the word of God.[43] But no one, whether secular or regular, shall presume to preach, even in churches of his own order, in opposition to the will of the bishop. The bishops shall also see to it that at least on Sundays and other festival days, the children in every parish be carefully taught the rudiments of the faith and obedience toward God and their parents by those whose duty it is, and who shall be compelled thereto, if need be, even by ecclesiastical censures; any privileges and customs notwithstanding. In other respects the things decreed under Paul III concerning the office of preaching shall remain in force.[44] CHAPTER V MAJOR CRIMINAL CAUSES AGAINST BISHOPS SHALL BE TAKEN COGNIZANCE OF BY THE SUPREME PONTIFF ONLY, MINOR ONES BY THE PROVINCIAL SYNOD Graver criminal causes against bishops, also that of heresy, which may God prevent, which merit deposition or deprivation, shall be taken cognizance of and decided by the Roman pontiff only.[45] But if the cause be of such a nature that it must perforce be assigned out of the Roman Curia, it shall not be committed to anyone but metropolitans or bishops to be chosen by the most holy pope. This commission shall be both special and signed by the most holy pontiff’s own hand, and he shall never grant more to them than this, that they take information only of the fact and draw up the process, which they shall transmit immediately to the Roman pontiff, the definitive sentence being reserved to His Holiness. The other things decreed elsewhere under Julius III,[46] of happy memory, concerning these matters, as also the constitution of the general council under Innocent III, which begins, “Qualiter et quando,”[47] and which the holy council renews in the present decree, shall be observed by all. But the minor criminal causes of bishops shall be taken cognizance of and decided in the provincial synod only, or by persons commissioned by the provincial synod. CHAPTER VI AUTHORITY IS GIVEN TO THE BISHOPS TO DISPENSE IN CASES OF IRREGULARITY AND SUSPENSION AND TO ABSOLVE FROM CRIMES Bishops are authorized to dispense in all cases of irregularity and suspension resulting from a secret crime, except that arising from willful homicide and those arising from crimes that have found their way before a tribunal, and to absolve gratuitously, after the imposition of a salutary penance, <per se> or through a vicar especially appointed for this purpose <in foro conscientiae> in all occult cases, even those reserved to the Apostolic See, all delinquents subject to them in their diocese. The same is permitted them only, but not their vicars, in the same forum with respect to the crime of heresy. CHAPTER VII THE EFFICACY OF THE SACRAMENTS SHALL BE EXPLAINED BY BISHOPS AND PARISH PRIESTS BEFORE THEY ARE ADMINISTERED TO THE PEOPLE. DURING THE CELEBRATION OF THE MASS THE SACRED SCRIPTURES ARE TO BE EXPLAINED That the faithful may approach the sacraments with greater reverence and devotion of mind, the holy council commands all bishops that not only when they are themselves about to administer them to the people, they shall first, in a manner adapted to the mental ability of those who receive them, explain their efficacy and use, but also they shall see to it that the same is done piously and prudently by every parish priest, and in the vernacular tongue, if need be and if it can be done conveniently, in accordance with the form which will be prescribed for each of the sacraments by the holy council in a catechism, which the bishops shall have faithfully translated into the language of the people and explained to the people by all parish priests. In like manner shall they explain on all festivals or solemnities during the solemnization of the mass or the celebration of the divine offices, in the vernacular tongue, the divine commands and the maxims of salvation,[48] and leaving aside useless questions, let them strive to engraft these things on the hearts of all and instruct them in the law of the Lord. CHAPTER VIII PUBLIC SINNERS SHALL DO PUBLIC PENANCE, UNLESS THE BISHOP SHALL DETERMINE OTHERWISE. A PENITENTIARY IS TO BE INSTITUTED IN CATHEDRALS The Apostle admonishes that those who sin publicly are to be reproved publicly.[49] When therefore anyone has publicly and in the sight of many committed a crime by which there is no doubt that others have been offended and scandalized, it is proper that a penance commensurate with his guilt be publicly imposed on him, so that those whom he by his example has led to evil morals, he may bring back to an upright life by the evidence of his correction. The bishop, however, should he judge it advisable, may commute this kind of public penance to one that is secret. In all cathedral churches where it can be conveniently done, let the bishop appoint a penitentiary united with the prebend that shall next become vacant, who shall be a master or doctor or licentiate in theology or canon law and forty years of age, or another who may be found to be more suitable for the character of the place and who, while he is hearing confessions in the church, shall be considered as present in the choir. CHAPTER IX BY WHOM THOSE SECULAR CHURCHES ARE TO BE VISITED THAT BELONG TO NO DIOCESE What has elsewhere been ordained by this council under Paul III,[50] of happy memory, and lately under our most blessed Lord Pius IV,[51] regarding the attention to be given by ordinaries to the visitation of benefices, even of those exempt, the same is to be observed also with regard to those secular churches which are said to be in no one’s diocese, namely, that they be visited by the bishop whose cathedral church is the nearest, if that is agreed upon, otherwise by him, acting as delegate of the Apostolic See, who has once been chosen for this in the provincial synod by the prelate of that place; any privileges and customs whatsoever, even though immemorial, notwithstanding. CHAPTER X THE EXECUTION OF THE VISITATION SHALL NOT BE IMPEDED BY THE SUBJECTS That the bishops may be better able to keep the people whom they rule in duty and obedience, they shall in all those things that concern visitation and the correction of the morals of their subjects, have the right and authority, also as delegates of the Apostolic See, to decree, regulate, punish and execute, in accordance with the prescriptions of the canons, those things which in their prudence shall appear to them necessary for the emendation of their subjects and for the good of their dioceses. And in these matters, where it is question of visitation and correction of morals, no exemption, inhibition, appeal or complaint, even though submitted to the Apostolic See, shall in any manner whatsoever hinder or suspend the execution of those things which shall have been commanded, decreed or adjudicated by them.[52] CHAPTER XI HONORARY TITLES OR SPECIAL PRIVILEGES SHALL NOT DETRACT IN ANY WAY FROM THE RIGHT OF BISHOPS. THECHAPTER CUM CAPELLA, CONCERNING PRIVILEGES, IS RENEWED Since privileges and exemptions which are granted to many persons under various titles, are known to create confusion nowadays in the jurisdiction of bishops and to give to those exempt occasion for a more unrestrained life, the holy council decrees that whenever it should be thought proper for just, weighty and apparently necessary reasons that some persons be decorated with the honorary titles of Prothonotary, Acolyte, Count Palatine, Royal Chaplain, or other such titles of distinction, whether in or out of the Roman Curia, as also others granted to any monasteries or in any manner imparted, whether assumed under the name of servants to military orders, monasteries, hospitals, colleges, or under any other title, it is to be understood that by these privileges nothing is taken away from the ordinaries whereby those persons to whom such privileges have already been granted or to whom they may be granted in the future cease to be fully subject in all things to the ordinaries as delegates of the Apostolic See; and as regards Royal Chaplains, let them be subject in accordance with the constitution of Innocent III, which begins, “Cum capella;”[53] those persons, however, being excepted who are engaged in actual service in the aforesaid places or in military orders and who reside within their enclosures or houses and live under obedience to them, and those also who have lawfully and according to the rule of these military orders made profession, whereof the ordinary must be certified; notwithstanding any privileges whatsoever, even those of the order of St. John of Jerusalem and of other military orders. But those privileges which by virtue of the constitution of Eugene[54] they are accustomed to enjoy who reside in the Roman Curia or who are in the household of cardinals, are by no means to be understood as applying to those who hold ecclesiastical benefices in regard to those benefices, but they shall continue to be subject to the jurisdiction of the ordinaries; any inhibitions whatsoever notwithstanding. CHAPTER XII QUALIFICATIONS NECESSARY FOR THOSE WHO ARE TO BE PROMOTED TO THE DIGNITIES AND CANONRIES OF CATHEDRAL CHURCHES AND THE DUTIES OF THOSE SO PROMOTED Since dignities, especially in cathedral churches, were instituted to maintain and promote ecclesiastical discipline, to the end that those who hold them might be distinguished for piety, be an example to others, and assist the bishops by their labor and service, it is but right that those who are called to them should be such as are able to perform their duty. Wherefore, in the future no one shall be promoted to any dignities whatsoever to which is annexed the <cura animarum,> who has not attained at least the twenty-fifth year of his age, is experienced in the clerical order, and is recommended by the learning necessary for the discharge of his office and the integrity of his morals, conformably to the constitution of Alexander III promulgated in the Council of the Lateran, which begins, “Cum in cunctis.”[55] In like manner archdeacons, who are called the eyes of the bishop,[56] shall in all churches where it is possible be masters in theology, or doctors or licentiates in canon law. To other dignities or offices to which no <cura animarum> is annexed, clerics, in other respects qualified, shall not be promoted unless they are twenty-two years of age. Those also who are promoted to any benefices whatever having the <cura animarum>, shall within at least two months from the day of having taken possession be bound to make in the hands of the bishop, or, if he be hindered, in the presence of his vicar-general or official, a public profession of their orthodox faith and to promise solemnly and swear that they will persevere in their obedience to the Roman Church. But those who are promoted to canonries and dignities in cathedral churches, shall be bound to do this not only in the presence of the bishop or his official but also in the chapter; otherwise all those promoted as aforesaid shall not make the fruits their own, neither shall possession be of any avail to them. Furthermore, no one shall in the future be admitted to a dignity, canonry or portion unless he is either already constituted in the sacred order which that dignity, prebend or portion requires, or is of such an age as will qualify him for the reception of that order within the time prescribed by law and by this holy council.[57] In all cathedral churches all canonries and portions shall be attached to the order of the priesthood, deaconship or subdeaconship, and the bishop shall with the advice of the chapter designate and distribute, as he shall deem expedient, to which each of the sacred orders is for the future to be attached; so however that at least one half shall be priests and the rest deacons or subdeacons. But where the more laudable custom obtains that the greater part or all shall be priests, this shall by all means be observed. The holy council also exhorts that in provinces where it can be conveniently done, all dignities and at least one half of the canonries 1n cathedral and prominent collegiate churches be conferred only on masters or doctors, or also on licentiates in theology or canon law Moreover, those who hold dignities, canonries, prebends or portions in such cathedral or collegiate churches, shall not be permitted by virtue of any statute or custom to be absent from those churches more than three months of each year,[58] saving however the statutes of those churches which require a longer period of service; otherwise every offender shall for the first year be deprived of one half of the fruits which he has made his own even by reason of his prebend and residence But if he be again guilty of the same negligence, he shall be deprived of all the fruits which he has acquired during that year, and if he should become more contumacious, he shall be proceeded against in accordance with the prescriptions of the sacred canons.[59] Those shall receive distributions who have been present at the appointed hours; the others shall, all collusion and remission being debarred, forfeit them in accordance with the decree of Boniface VIII, which begins, “Consuetudinem,”[60] and which the holy council restores to practice; any statutes or customs whatsoever notwithstanding. All shall be obliged to perform the divine offices in person and not by substitutes;[61] also to assist and serve the bishop when celebrating or exercising other pontifical functions, and in the choir instituted for psalmody, to praise the name of God reverently, distinctly and devoutly in hymns and canticles. They shall, moreover, wear at all times, both in and out of church, a becoming dress, shall abstain from unlawful hunting, fowling, dancing, taverns and games, and so excel in integrity of morals that they may with justice be called counsellors of the Church.[62] With regard to matters that pertain to the proper manner of conducting the divine offices, the proper way of singing or modulating therein, the definite rule for assembling and remaining in choir, the things necessary for those who minister in the church, and such like, the provincial synod shall prescribe for each province a fixed form that will be beneficial to and in accordance with the usage of each province. In the meantime, the bishop, with the aid of no less than two canons, one chosen by himself, the other by the chapter, may provide in these matters as he may deem expedient. CHAPTER XIII HOW THE POORER CATHEDRAL AND PARISH CHURCHES ARE TO BE PROVIDED FOR. PARISHES ARE TO BE SEPARATED BY DEFINITE BOUNDARIES Since the revenues of many cathedral churches are so limited and scanty that they are in no way in keeping with the episcopal dignity and insufficient for the needs of the churches, the provincial synod, having summoned those who are concerned, shall examine and consider carefully what churches it may be advisable by reason of their limited means and poverty to unite to others in the neighborhood or to provide with additional revenues;[63] and the completed documents concerning this matter it shall send to the supreme Roman pontiff, who being informed thereby shall, as he in his prudence may deem advisable, either unite the poorly provided churches or by additional revenues improve them. In the meantime, until the aforesaid provisions are carried into effect, the supreme pontiff may from certain benefices assist those bishops who by reason of the poverty of their diocese are in need of revenues; provided, however, these benefices are not <curae> or dignities or canonries and prebends, or monasteries in which there is regular observance, or which are subject to general chapters or to certain visitors. In parochial churches also in which the revenues are in like manner so small that they are insufficient to meet the necessary obligations, the bishop, if unable to meet the exigency by a union of benefices, not however those of regulars, shall see to it that by the assignment of first fruits or tithes or by the contributions and collections of the parishioners, or in some other way that he shall deem more profitable, as much be collected as may decently suffice for the needs of the rector and the parish. In all unions, however, whether to be made for the aforesaid or other reasons, parochial churches shall not be united to any monasteries whatsoever, or to abbeys or dignities, or prebends of a cathedral or collegiate church, or to other simple benefices, hospitals or military orders, and those so united shall be investigated again by the ordinary in accordance with the decree elsewhere enacted by this council under Paul III,[64] of happy memory, which is to be observed also and in like manner with regard to unions made since that time; notwithstanding whatever forms of words used therein which shall be considered as sufficiently expressed here. Furthermore, all those cathedral churches whose revenues do not exceed in actual annual value the sum of one thousand ducats, and those parochial churches in which they do not exceed the sum of one hundred ducats, shall not in the future be burdened with taxes or reservations of revenues for this purpose. Also, in those cities and localities where the parochial churches have no definite boundaries, and whose rectors have not their own people whom they may rule but administer the sacraments indiscriminately to all who desire them, the holy council commands the bishops that, for the greater security of the salvation of the souls committed to them, they divide the people into definite and distinct parishes and assign to each its own and permanent parish priest, who can know his people and from whom alone they may licitly receive the sacraments;[65] or that they make other, more beneficial provisions as the conditions of the locality may require. They shall also see to it that the same is done as soon as possible in those cities and localities where there are no parish churches; any privileges and customs whatsoever, even though immemorial, notwithstanding. CHAPTER XIV NO ONE SHALL BE ADMITTED TO THE POSSESSION OF A BENEFICE OR OF DISTRIBUTIONS WHEN THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE FRUITS IS NOT APPLIED TO PIOUS PURPOSES In many churches, cathedral as well as collegiate and parochial, it is understood to be the practice, derived either from their constitutions or from evil customs, that in the election, presentation, nomination, institution, confirmation, collation or other provision, or upon admission to the possession of a cathedral church or a benefice, of canonries or prebends, or to a portion of the revenues, or to the daily distributions, there are introduced certain conditions or deductions from the fruits, certain payments, promises, or unlawful compensations, or what in some churches is called mutual profits. Since the holy council abhors these practices, it commands the bishops that they prohibit all things of this kind that are not applied to pious purposes and such methods of entering upon offices, which create a suspicion of simoniacal taint or sordid avarice, and that they examine carefully their statutes and customs in regard to the above matter, and retaining only what they approve as laudable, reject and abolish the rest as corrupt and scandalous. It also ordains that those who in any way act in contravention of what is contained in the present decree incur the penalties prescribed against simoniacs by the sacred canons and various constitutions of the supreme pontiffs,[66] all of which it renews; notwithstanding any statutes, constitutions and customs, even though immemorial and confirmed by Apostolic authority, in regard to which any deceit, fraud and defect of intention may be investigated by the bishop as delegate of the Apostolic See. CHAPTER XV METHOD OF INCREASING THE SCANTY PREBENDS OF CATHEDRAL AND PROMINENT COLLEGIATE CHURCHES In cathedral and prominent collegiate churches where the prebends are numerous and in relation to the daily distributions so small that they do not suffice for the decent maintenance of the rank of the canons in keeping with the character of the place and persons,[67] the bishops may with the consent of the chapter combine them with some simple benefices, not however with those of regulars, or, if in this way it cannot be done, they may, with the consent of the patrons if the right of patronage belongs to laymen, reduce their number by suppressing some of them and apply the fruits and proceeds to the daily distributions of the remaining prebends; so however, that such a number remain as may conveniently serve for the celebration of divine service and be in keeping with the dignity of the church;[68] any statutes and privileges, or any reservation whether general or special, or any expectation notwithstanding. The aforesaid unions or suppressions shall not be frustrated or hindered by any provisions whatsoever, not even by virtue of resignation or any other derogations or suspensions. CHAPTER XVI WHAT DUTY DEVOLVES UPON THECHAPTER DURING THE VACANCY OF A SEE When a see becomes vacant, the chapter shall, in those places where the duty of receiving the revenues devolves upon it, appoint one or more trustworthy and diligent stewards who shall take care of the ecclesiastical properties and revenues, of which they shall have to give an account to him whom it will concern. It shall also be strictly bound to appoint within eight days after the death of the bishop an official or vicar, or to confirm the incumbent, who shall be at least a doctor or licentiate in canon law, or otherwise as competent a person as is available. In case this is not done, the aforesaid appointment shall devolve upon the metropolitan.[69] But if the church is a metropolitan one or one exempt and the chapter should prove negligent as was said above, then the oldest suffragan bishop in the metropolitan church and the bishop nearest the exempt church shall have the authority to appoint a competent steward and vicar. The bishop who is promoted to the vacant church shall with regard to the matters that pertain to him demand from the steward, vicar and all other officials and administrators who were during the vacancy of the see appointed in his place by the chapter or others, even though they are members of the same chapter, an account of their office, jurisdiction, administration or any other functions, and he shall have the authority to punish those who have been delinquent in their office or administration, even if the aforesaid officials, having turned in their accounts, should have obtained from the chapter or those delegated by it a quittance or discharge. The chapter shall also be bound to render to the bishop an account of documents belonging to the church, if any have come into its possession. CHAPTER XVII THE CONFERRING OF SEVERAL BENEFICES ON AND THEIR RETENTION BY ONE PERSON IS RESTRICTED Since ecclesiastical order is upset when one cleric holds the offices of several, the sacred canons have piously provided that no one ought to be enrolled in two churches.[70] But since many, led by the passion of ungodly covetousness, deceiving themselves, not God, are not ashamed to evade by various species of deceit what has been beneficially established and to hold several benefices at the same time, the holy council, desiring to restore discipline in the government of the churches, by the present decree, which it commands to be observed by all persons by whatever title distinguished, even though it be the dignity of the cardinalate, ordains that in the future one ecclesiastical benefice only shall be conferred on a person. If that is not sufficient to provide him on whom it is conferred with a decent livelihood, then it is permissible to confer on him another simple benefice that will afford a sufficiency, provided both do not require personal residence. These provisions shall apply not only to cathedral churches but also to all other benefices, whether secular or regular, even those held in <commendam>, of whatever title or character they may be. Those who now hold several parochial churches, or one cathedral and one parochial church, shall be strictly bound, all dispensations and unions for life notwithstanding, retaining one parochial church only, or the cathedral church only, to resign the other parochial churches within a period of six months;[71] otherwise the parochial churches and also all the benefices which they hold shall be considered <ipso jure> vacant and as such shall be freely conferred on other competent persons;[72] neither can those who previously held them retain conscientiously the fruits after the time specified. The holy council desires, however, that provision be made in some convenient way, as the supreme pontiff may see fit, for the necessities of those who resign. CHAPTER XVIII ON THE VACANCY OF A PAROCHIAL CHURCH THE BISHOP SHALL APPOINT THERETO A VICAR UNTIL HE HAS PROVIDED A PARISH PRIEST. IN WHAT MANNER AND BY WHOM THOSE APPOINTED TO PAROCHIAL CHURCHES ARE TO BE EXAMINED (Source: Council Of Trent)
It is highly desirable for the salvation of souls that they be directed by worthy and competent parish priests. That this may be accomplished more diligently and effectively, the holy council decrees that when a parochial church becomes vacant, whether by death or resignation, also in the Curia, or in whatever other manner, it shall be the duty of the bishop immediately upon receipt of information regarding the vacancy of the church to appoint, if need be, a competent vicar to the same, with a suitable assignment, using his own judgment in the matter, of a portion of the fruits thereof, who shall discharge the duties in that church till it has been provided with a rector, even if it be said that the charge of the church belongs to the bishop himself and is administered by one or more, also in churches called patrimonial or receptive, in which it has been the custom of the bishop to assign the <cura animarum> to one or more, all of whom, it commands, are bound to the examination prescribed below,[73] also if the parochial church be generally or specially reserved or assigned, even by virtue of an indult or privilege in favor of cardinals of the holy Roman Church, or of abbots or chapters. Moreover, the bishop and he who has the right of patronage shall within ten days, or such other term as the bishop shall prescribe, designate in the presence of those to be delegated as examiners some competent clerics who are to rule the church. Furthermore, it shall be permitted to others also who may know any who are fit for the office to make known their names, so that a careful investigation may afterward be made as to the age, morals and sufficiency of each But if in accordance with the custom of the country it should appear more suitable to the bishop or the provincial synod, those who wish to be examined may be summoned by a public notice. At the expiration of the time specified, all whose names have been entered shall be examined by the bishop,[74] or, if hindered, by his vicar-general, and by other examiners who shall not be fewer than three, to whose votes, in case they are equal or distributed singly, the bishop or his vicar may add kits in favor of whomsoever he shall deem most fit. At least six examiners shall be proposed annually by the bishop or his vicar in the diocesan synod, and they must prove satisfactory to it and be approved by it. Upon a vacancy occurring in any church, the bishop shall select three out of that number who shall conduct the examination with him, and on a subsequent vacancy he shall select out of the six aforesaid the same or three others whom he may prefer. These examiners shall be masters or doctors or licentiates in theology or canon law, or other clerics, whether regulars, also of the mendicant orders, or seculars, who appear most competent for the purpose; and all shall take an oath on the holy Gospels of God, that, every human consideration being set aside, they will discharge their duty faithfully. Let them take heed, however, that they do not by reason of this examination receive anything whatever either before or after, otherwise both they themselves and the givers will be guilty of the vice of simony, from which they cannot be absolved till they have resigned the benefices which they in any manner whatever possessed before this act, and they shall, moreover, be rendered disqualified to possess others in the future.[75] In all these matters they shall be bound to render an account not only before God but also, if need be, to the provincial synod, by which, if it has been discovered that they have done anything in contravention of their duty, they can at its discretion be severely punished. On the completion of the examination they shall make known how many they have judged fit in the matter of age, morals, learning, prudence, and other qualifications suitable for ruling the vacant church, and from these the bishop shall choose him whom he shall judge the more competent, and to him and to none other shall the collation of the church be made by him to whom such collation pertains.[76] If the church is under ecclesiastical patronage and the appointment thereto belongs to the bishop and to no one else, he whom the patron shall judge the more worthy among those approved by the examiners, shall be bound to present himself to the bishop that he may be appointed by him.[77] But when the appointment is to be made by any other than the bishop, then the bishop only shall choose the worthier among those who are worthy, and the patron shall present him to the one to whom the appointment belongs. If, however, the church is under lay patronage, the one presented by the patron must be examined, as above, by those delegated thereto, and is not to be admitted unless found competent. In all the above-mentioned cases, to no other than to one of those examined and approved by the examiners as aforesaid and in accordance with the above rules shall the church be committed, and no devolution or appeal, even to the Apostolic See or the legates, vice-legates or nuncios of that See, or to any bishops or metropolitans, primates or patriarchs, shall hinder or suspend the execution of the report of the aforesaid examiners, otherwise the vicar whom the bishop has at his discretion already appointed for the time being to the vacant church or whom he may afterward appoint, shall not be removed from the charge and administration of that church until it has been provided for, either by the appointment of the vicar himself or of some other person who has been approved and chosen as stated above. All provisions or appointments made otherwise than in accordance with the above stated form shall be regarded as surreptitious; any exemptions, indults, privileges, anticipations, appropriations, new provisions, indults granted to any universities,[78] also for a certain sum, and any other impediments whatsoever in contravention of this decree, notwithstanding. If, however, the revenues of said parochial churches should be so scanty as not to bear the burden of all this examination, or if no one should care to undergo the examination, or if by reason of open factions or dissensions, which are met with in some localities, more grievous quarrels and disturbances might easily be stirred up, the ordinary may omit this formality and have recourse to a private examination, if in conformity with his conscience and with the advice of the examiners he shall deem this expedient. The other things, however, are to be observed as above prescribed. If the provincial synod should judge that in the above regulations concerning the form of examination something ought to be added or omitted, it shall have the authority to do so. CHAPTER XIX MANDATES CONCERNING PROMOTION, EXPECTANCIES, AND OTHER THINGS OF THIS KIND ARE ABOLISHED The holy council decrees that mandates concerning promotion and favors which are called expectancies, shall no longer be granted to anyone, even to colleges, universities, senators, or to any individuals whatsoever, even under the name of an indult, or for a certain sum, or under any other pretext; neither shall it be permitted to anyone to make use of those thus far granted.[79] Neither shall mental reservations nor other favors whatsoever with regard to future vacancies, or indults respecting churches belonging to others, or monasteries, be granted to anyone, not even to cardinals of the holy Roman Church, and those hitherto granted shall be considered abolished. CHAPTER XX THE MANNER OF CONDUCTING CAUSES PERTAINING TO THE ECCLESIASTICAL FORUM IS PRESCRIBED All causes belonging in any way whatever to the ecclesiastical forum, even if they relate to benefices, shall be taken cognizance of in the first instance before the local ordinaries only, and shall be completely terminated within at least two years from the day that the suit was instituted; otherwise, at the expiration of that term the parties, or either of them, shall be free to have recourse to superior, but otherwise competent, judges, who shall take up the cause as it then stands and shall see to it that it is terminated as soon as possible. Before that term they shall neither be committed to others nor withdrawn; any appeals introduced by the parties shall not be received by any superior judges, neither shall any assignment or restriction be issued by them except upon a definitive sentence or one having the force of such a sentence, and the grievance arising therefrom cannot be repaired by an appeal from the definitive sentence. From the above are to be excepted those causes which according to the prescriptions of the canons are to be dealt with before the Apostolic See,[80] or which the supreme Roman pontiff shall for an urgent and reasonable cause judge advisable to assign or withdraw by a special rescript provided with the signature of His Holiness signed with his own hand. Furthermore, matrimonial and criminal causes shall not be left to the judgment of a dean, archdeacon or other inferiors, even in the course of their visitation, but shall be reserved to the examination and jurisdiction of the bishop only (even though there should at the time be a dispute, in whatever instance it may be, between the bishop and the dean or archdeacon or other inferiors regarding the examination of those causes), and if in the same matrimonial cause one of the parties should in the presence of the bishop really prove his poverty, he shall not be compelled to litigate his case either in the second or third instance outside the province, unless the other party is prepared to provide for his maintenance and bear the expenses of the trial. In like manner, legates, also those <de latere>, nuncios, ecclesiastical governors or others, shall not only not presume by virtue of any authority whatsoever to hinder bishops in the aforesaid causes, or in any manner take away the exercise of or disturb their jurisdiction, but they shall not even proceed against clerics or other ecclesiastical persons until the bishop has first been approached and has proved himself negligent in the matter; otherwise their proceedings and decisions avail nothing and they shall be bound to make satisfaction to the parties for the damage sustained. Moreover, if anyone should appeal in cases permitted by the law,[81] or make a complaint regarding some grievance, or otherwise by reason of the lapse of two years, as was said above, have recourse to another judge, he shall be bound to transfer at his own expense to the judge of appeal all the acts of the proceedings conducted in the presence of the bishop, having previously, however, notified the bishop, so that if anything appears suitable to him for the direction of the cause, he may communicate it to the judge of appeal. But if the appellee appears, he shall also be bound to bear his proportion of the expenses of transferring the acts if he wishes to use them, unless it is a local custom to act otherwise, namely, that the entire costs are borne by the appellant. Furthermore, the notary shall be bound on receipt of a suitable fee to furnish the appellant as soon as possible and within at least one month with a copy of the proceedings, and should he through delay in supplying such copy be guilty of fraud, he shall at the discretion of the ordinary be suspended from the administration of his office and shall be compelled to pay double the costs of the suit, which is to be divided between the appellant and the poor of the locality. But if the judge himself should be aware of this delay, or should participate therein, or should in any other way hinder the delivery of the entire proceedings to the appellant within the time specified above, he shall be bound to the same penalty of paying double the costs, as was stated above; any privileges, indults, agreements which bind only their authors, and any other customs whatsoever to the contrary in respect to all matters dealt with above, notwithstanding. CHAPTER XXI IT IS DECLARED THAT BY CERTAIN WORDS USED ABOVE, THE USUAL MANNER OF TREATING MATTERS IN GENERAL COUNCILS IS NOT CHANGED The holy council, desiring that no occasion for doubt arise at any future time from decrees which it has published, in explaining those words contained in a decree published in the first session under our most blessed Lord, Pius IV, namely, “which at the suggestion and under the presidency of the legates shall appear suitable and proper to the holy council for alleviating the calamities of these times, adjusting religious controversies, restraining deceitful tongues, correcting the abuses of depraved morals, and to bring about true Christian peace in the world,” 82 declares that it was not its intention that by the foregoing words the usual manner of treating matters in general councils should in any part be changed, or that anything new besides that which has so far been established by the sacred canons or the prescriptions of general councils, should be added to or taken away from anyone. ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE NEXT SESSION Moreover, the same holy council ordains and decrees that the next session be held on the Thursday after the conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which will be the ninth day of the coming December, with the authority, however, of abbreviating that time. In this session will be considered the sixth chapter now deferred to it and the remaining chapters on reform which have already been set forth and other matters related thereto. If it appears opportune and time will permit, some dogmas may also be considered, as in their turn they will be proposed in the congregations. The time appointed for the session was abridged. ENDNOTES 1 Gen. 2:23 f. (Matt. 19:4ff.; Mark 10:6ff.; Eph. 5:31 f.). 2 Matt. 19:6 Mark 10:8. 3 Matt., ibid.; Mark 10:9. 4 Eph. 5:25. 5 Ibid., 5:32. 6 Eugene IV in <decr. ad Armenos> (Denzinger, no. 702). 7 Cf. supra, note I. 8 Matt. 19:4-6, 9 9 Lev. 18:6 ff. 10 Matt. 16:19, Sess. XXI chap. 2. 11 Cf. c.4, X, De consang. IV, 14; cc.6, 7, X, De divor., IV, 19. 12 Cf. c. 16, X, De sponsal., IV, I. 13 Matt. 5:32; 19:9; Mark 10:11 f.; Luke 16:18; I Cor. 7:10 f.; cc.5-8, 10, C.XXXII, q.7. 14 Cf. I Cor. 10:13. 15 Matt. 19:11 f.; 1 Cor. 7:25 f., 38, 40; c. 12, C.XXXII, q. I; c.g, C.XXXIII, q.5; c. 16, X, De sponsal., IV, I. 16 Cf. <infra>, chap. 10 de ref. matr. 17 C2, X, De cland. desp., IV, 3. 18 C3, C.XXX, q.5; C.13, C.XXXII, q.2; c.2, C.XXXV, q.6; c.3, X, Qui matr. accus. poss. IV, 18. 19 C. 3, X De eland. deep., IV, 3. 20 Cc.2, 3. 5, C.XXX q.5; C.19, C.XXXV, qq.2, 3. 21 C. 101, D.IV de cons.; c. 3, VI, De cogn. spirit., IV, 3. 22 Cc. 2, 5, C. XXX, q. 3; c3; X, De cogn spirit, IV, II; c. I, h t. in VI, IV 3. 23 C. 2, C.XXX, q. I; c. I, VI, De cogn. spirit., IV, 3. 24 C. un., VI. De sponsal., IV, I. 25 Cc 19-24, C. XXXII, q. 7; tot. tit. X, De eo, qui cog. consang., IV, 13. 26 C. 3, X, De cland. desp., IV, 3; c. un. in Clem., De consang., IV, un. 27 Cc.7, 11, C. XXXVI, q. 2; c. 7, X, De rapt., V, 17. 28 Cc, 2 -6, 10, 11, C.XXXVI, q. 2. 29 Ex. 22:16f., cit. in c.I,X, De adult.,V, 16. 30 C.2, X, De cohab. cler., III, 2; Sess. XXV, chap. 14 de ref. 31 Cf. cc. 14, 17, 29, X, De sponsal., IV, I. 32 Cf. C.6, C.XXXVI, q.2 33 CC, 8-11, C.XXXIII, q.4; c.4, X, De feriis, II, 9. 34 Cf. Sess. VI, chap. I de ref.; VII, chaps. 1, 3 de ref.; XXII, chap. 2 de ref. 35 Cf. preceding references. 36 Cf. cc. 2 - 7, 9- 14, D.XVIII et al.; c.25, X,, De accus., V, I. 37 C. 11, C.X, q. I. 38 C I (# 4), VI, De cens., III, 20. 39 Cc.I, 7, 8, C.X, q.3; c.6, X, De cens., III, 39. 40 C.6, VI, De off. ord., I, 16. 41 C 2, VI, De cens., III, 20. 42 Cf. Sess. V, chap. 2 de ref. 43 Cc.62, 63, D.I de cons. 44 Cf. Sess. V, chap. 2 de ref. 45 Cf. Sess. XIII, chap. 8 de ref. 46 Cf. Sess. XIII, chaps. 6, 7 de ref. 47 C.24, X, De accus., V, I. 48 Cf. Sess. XXII, chap. 8. 49 See I Tim. 5:20; c.19 (# 1), C.II, q.l; C.I, X, De poenit., V, 38. 50 Cf. Sess. VI, chap. 4 de ref. and VII, chap. 8 de ref. 51 Cf. Sess. XXI, chap. 8 de ref. 52 Cf. Sess. XIII, chap. I de ref., XIV, chap. 4 de ref., XXII, chap. I de ref. 53 C. 16, X, De privil., V, 33. 54 C, 3, h.t., Extrav. comm., V, 7; Sess. XXIII, chap. I de ref. 55 C.7, X, De elect., I, 6, Sess. VII, chap. I de ref., XXII, chap. 2 de ref. 56 C.7, X, De off. archid., I, 23. 57 Cf. Sess. VII, chap. 12 de ref. 58 Cf. Sess. XXIII, chap. I de ref. 59 Cf. tot. tit. X, De cler. non resid., III, 4. 60 C un. VI, De cler. non resid., III, 3; cf. c. 32, X, De praeb., III, 5. 61 C. 3, X, De cler. non resid., Ill, 4; c. 30, De praeb., III, 5; Sess. XXII chap. 4 de ref. 62 Cf tot. tit, X, De Vit. et hon. cler., III, I; in VI, III, I; in Clem., III, I; in Extrav. comm III, I; tit X, De cler. venat, V, 24. 63 Cf. Sess. VII, chaps. 6, 7 de ref., XIV, chap. 9 de ref., XXIV, chap. 15 de ref. 64 Cf. Sess. VII, chap. 6 de ref. 65 Cf. Sess. XIV, chap. 9 de ref. 66 Cf. C. I, q. I; tot. tit. X, De sim., III, 5 et Extrav. comm., V, I. 67 Cf. chap. 13 de ref. of this sess. 68 C. 2, X, De instit., III, 7 69 Cf. c. ult. in VI, De suppl. negl. prael., I, 8. 70 Cf. Sess. VII, chap. 2 de ref. 71 Cf. Sess. VII, chap. 4 de ref. 72 Cf. C.4, Extrav. comm., De praeb., III, 2. 73 Cf. Sess. VII, chap. 13 de ref. 74 Cf. Sess. XXV, chap. 9 de ref. 75 Cf. c.5, D.XXIV. 76 Cf. Sess. XXV, chap. 9 de ref. 77 Cf. Sess. VII, chap. 13 de ref.; Sess. XIV, chap. 13 de ref. 78 Cf. Sess. XXV, chap. 9 de ref. 79 Cf. Sess. XXV, chap. 9 de ref., and tot. tit. X, De conc. praeb. non vac., III, 8; in VI, III, 7; in Clem., III, 3. 80 Cf. c.7, C.VI, q.4; Sess. XXV, chap. 10 de ref. 81 Cf. tot. tit. X, De appell., II. 28; in VI, II, 15; in Clem., 11, 12. 82 Cf. Sess. XVII at the beginning. TWENTY-FIFTH SESSION which is the ninth and last under the Supreme Pontiff, Pius IV, begun on the third and closed on the fourth day of December, 1563 DECREE CONCERNING PURGATORY Since the Catholic Church, instructed by the Holy Ghost, has, following the sacred writings and the ancient tradition of the Fathers, taught in sacred councils and very recently in this ecumenical council that there is a purgatory,[1] and that the souls there detained are aided by the suffrages of the faithful and chiefly by the acceptable sacrifice of the altar, the holy council commands the bishops that they strive diligently to the end that the sound doctrine of purgatory, transmitted by the Fathers and sacred councils,[2] be believed and maintained by the faithful of Christ, and be everywhere taught and preached. The more difficult and subtle questions, however, and those that do not make for edification and from which there is for the most part no increase in piety, are to be excluded from popular instructions to uneducated people.[3] Likewise, things that are uncertain or that have the appearance of falsehood they shall not permit to be made known publicly and discussed. But those things that tend to a certain kind of curiosity or superstition, or that savor of filthy lucre, they shall prohibit as scandals and stumbling-blocks to the faithful. The bishops shall see to it that the suffrages of the living, that is, the sacrifice of the mass,[4] prayers, alms and other works of piety which they have been accustomed to perform for the faithful departed, be piously and devoutly discharged in accordance with the laws of the Church, and that whatever is due on their behalf from testamentary bequests or other ways, be discharged by the priests and ministers of the Church and others who are bound to render this service not in a perfunctory manner, but diligently and accurately. ON THE INVOCATION, VENERATION, AND RELICS OF SAINTS, AND ON SACRED IMAGES The holy council commands all bishops and others who hold the office of teaching and have charge of the <cura animarum>, that in accordance with the usage of the Catholic and Apostolic Church, received from the primitive times of the Christian religion, and with the unanimous teaching of the holy Fathers and the decrees of sacred councils, they above all instruct the faithful diligently in matters relating to intercession and invocation of the saints, the veneration of relics, and the legitimate use of images, teaching them that the saints who reign together with Christ offer up their prayers to God for men, that it is good and beneficial suppliantly to invoke them and to have recourse to their prayers, assistance and support in order to obtain favors from God through His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who alone is our redeemer and savior;[5] and that they think impiously who deny that the saints who enjoy eternal happiness in heaven are to be invoked, or who assert that they do not pray for men, or that our invocation of them to pray for each of us individually is idolatry, or that it is opposed to the word of God and inconsistent with the honor of the one mediator of God and men, Jesus Christ,[6] or that it is foolish to pray vocally or mentally to those who reign in heaven. Also, that the holy bodies of the holy martyrs and of others living with Christ, which were the living members of Christ and the temple the Holy Ghost,[7] to be awakened by Him to eternal life and to be glorified, are to be venerated by the faithful,[8] through which many benefits are bestowed by God on men, so that those who maintain that veneration and honor are not due to the relics of the saints, or that these and other memorials are honored by the faithful without profit, and that the places dedicated to the memory of the saints for the purpose of obtaining their aid are visited in vain, are to be utterly condemned, as the Church has already long since condemned and now again condemns them. Moreover, that the images of Christ, of the Virgin Mother of God, and of the other saints are to be placed and retained especially in the churches, and that due honor and veneration is to be given them; not, however, that any divinity or virtue is believed to be in them by reason of which they are to be venerated, or that something is to be asked of them, or that trust is to be placed in images, as was done of old by the Gentiles who placed their hope in idols;[9] but because the honor which is shown them is referred to the prototypes which they represent, so that by means of the images which we kiss and before which we uncover the head and prostrate ourselves, we adore Christ and venerate the saints whose likeness they bear. That is what was defined by the decrees of the councils, especially of the Second Council of Nicaea,[10] against the opponents of images. Moreover, let the bishops diligently teach that by means of the stories of the mysteries of our redemption portrayed in paintings and other representations the people are instructed and confirmed in the articles of faith, which ought to be borne in mind and constantly reflected upon; also that great profit is derived from all holy images, not only because the people are thereby reminded of the benefits and gifts bestowed on them by Christ, but also because through the saints the miracles of God and salutary examples are set before the eyes of the faithful, so that they may give God thanks for those things, may fashion their own life and conduct in imitation of the saints and be moved to adore and love God and cultivate piety. But if anyone should teach or maintain anything contrary to these decrees, let him be anathema. If any abuses shall have found their way into these holy and salutary observances, the holy council desires earnestly that they be completely removed, so that no representation of false doctrines and such as might be the occasion of grave error to the uneducated be exhibited. And if at times it happens, when this is beneficial to the illiterate, that the stories and narratives of the Holy Scriptures are portrayed and exhibited, the people should be instructed that not for that reason is the divinity represented in picture as if it can be seen with bodily eyes or expressed in colors or figures. Furthermore, in the invocation of the saints, the veneration of relics, and the sacred use of images, all superstition shall be removed,[11] all filthy quest for gain eliminated, and all lasciviousness avoided, so that images shall not be painted and adorned with a seductive charm, or the celebration of saints and the visitation of relics be perverted by the people into boisterous festivities and drunkenness, as if the festivals in honor of the saints are to be celebrated with revelry and with no sense of decency.[12] Finally, such zeal and care should be exhibited by the bishops with regard to these things that nothing may appear that is disorderly or unbecoming and confusedly arranged, nothing that is profane, nothing disrespectful, since holiness becometh the house of God.[13] That these things may be the more faithfully observed, the holy council decrees that no one is permitted to erect or cause to be erected in any place or church, howsoever exempt, any unusual image unless it has been approved by the bishop; also that no new miracles be accepted[14] and no relics recognized[15] unless they have been investigated and approved by the same bishop, who, as soon as he has obtained any knowledge of such matters, shall, after consulting theologians and other pious men, act thereon as he shall judge consonant with truth and piety. But if any doubtful or grave abuse is to be eradicated, or if indeed any graver question concerning these matters should arise, the bishop, before he settles the controversy, shall await the decision of the metropolitan and of the bishops of the province in a provincial synod; so, however, that nothing new or anything that has not hitherto been in use in the Church, shall be decided upon without having first consulted the most holy Roman pontiff. CONCERNING REGULARS AND NUNS The same holy council, continuing the work of reform, has thought fit that the following matters be decided. CHAPTER I ALL REGULARS SHALL ADJUST THEIR LIFE IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE RULE WHICH THEY HAVE PROFESSED; SUPERIORS SHALL SEDULOUSLY SEE TO IT THAT THIS IS DONE Since the holy council is not ignorant of how great a splendor and usefulness accrues to the Church of God from monasteries piously regulated and properly administered, it has, to the end that the old and regular discipline may be the more easily and promptly restored where it has collapsed, and may be the more firmly maintained where it has been preserved, thought it necessary to command, as by this decree it does command, that all regulars, men as well as women, adjust and regulate their life in accordance with the requirements of the rule which they have professed, and especially that they observe faithfully whatever pertains to the perfection of their profession, as the vows of obedience, poverty, and chastity,[16] and any other vows and precepts peculiar to any rule and order and belonging to the essence thereof, as well as the preservation of the common life, food and clothing. Superiors shall use all care and diligence, in general and provincial chapters as well as in their visitations, which they shall not neglect to make at the proper times, that these things are not departed from, for it is evident that they cannot make any relaxations in those things that pertain to the substance of the regular life. For if those things that constitute the basis and foundation of all regular discipline are not strictly observed, the whole edifice must necessarily fall. CHAPTER II PRIVATE OWNERSHIP IS ABSOLUTELY FORBIDDEN TO REGULARS To no regular, therefore, whether man or woman, shall it be lawful to possess or to hold as his own or even in the name of the convent any movable or immovable property, of whatever nature it may be or In whatever manner acquired;[17] but the same shall be handed over immediately to the superior and be incorporated in the convent. Neither shall it in the future be lawful for superiors to grant immovable property to any regular, not even the usufruct or use, or the administration thereof or as <commendam>. But the administration of the property of monasteries or convents shall belong to the officials thereof only, who are removable at the will of their superiors. Superiors shall so permit the use of movable goods that the furniture is consistent with the state of poverty which they have professed; there shall be nothing superfluous, neither shall anything that is necessary be denied them. But should anyone be discovered or convicted of possessing something in any other manner, he shall be deprived for two years of his active and passive voice and shall also be punished in accordance with the prescriptions of his rule and order. CHAPTER III ALL MONASTERIES, SAVE THOSE HEREIN EXCEPTED, MAY POSSESS IMMOVABLE PROPERTY. THE NUMBER OF PERSONS IN THEM IS TO BE DETERMINED BY THE AMOUNT OF REVENUES OR ALMS. NO MONASTERIES MAY BE ERECTED WITHOUT THE PERMISSION OF THE BISHOP The holy council grants that all monasteries and houses, of men as well as of women, and of mendicants, even those that were forbidden by their constitutions or that had not received permission to this effect by Apostolic privilege, with the exception of the houses of the brethren of St. Francis,[18] the Capuchins, and those called Minor Observants, may in the future possess immovable property. But if any of the aforesaid places, to which it has been granted by Apostolic authority to possess such property, have been deprived thereof, it decrees that the same shall be wholly restored to them. But in the aforesaid monasteries and houses, of men as well as of women, whether they do or do not possess immovable properties, only such a number of persons shall be determined upon and retained in the future as can be suitably maintained either from the revenues of the monasteries or from the customary alms;[19] neither shall such places be erected in the future unless the permission of the bishop in whose diocese they are to be established has first been obtained. CHAPTER VI NO REGULAR SHALL WITHOUT THE PERMISSION OF HIS SUPERIOR ENTER THE SERVICE EITHER OF ANOTHER PLACE OR PERSON, OR WITHDRAW FROM HIS MONASTERY. WHEN ABSENT BY REASON OF STUDY HE SHALL RESIDE IN A MONASTERY The holy council forbids that any regular under the pretext of preaching or lecturing or of any pious work, place himself at the service of any prelate, prince, university, community, or of any other person or place whatsoever without the permission of his superior,[20] any privilege or authority obtained from others regarding these matters shall avail him nothing. Should he act in contravention of this he shall at the discretion of his superior be punished as disobedient. Neither shall it be lawful for regulars to leave their convents, even under pretext of going to their superiors, unless they have been sent or summoned by them. Anyone discovered without having obtained the aforesaid command in writing, shall be punished by the local ordinaries as a deserter of his institute. Those who for reasons of study are sent to universities, shall reside in convents only, otherwise the ordinaries shall take action against them. CHAPTER V PROVISION IS MADE FOR THE ENCLOSURE OF NUNS, ESPECIALLY THOSE WHO RESIDE OUTSIDE THE CITIES The holy council, renewing the constitution of Boniface VIII, which begins, “Periculoso,”[21] commands all bishops that by the judgment of God to which It appeals and under threat of eternal malediction, they make it their special care that in all monasteries subject to them by their own authority and in others by the authority of the Apostolic See, the enclosure of nuns be restored wherever it has been violated and that it be preserved where it has not been violated; restraining with ecclesiastical censures and other penalties, every appeal being set aside, the disobedient and gainsayers, even summoning for this purpose, if need be, the aid of the secular arm. The holy council exhorts all Christian princes to furnish this aid, and binds thereto under penalty of excommunication to be incurred ipso facto all civil magistrates. No nun shall after her profession be permitted to go out of the monastery, even for a brief period under any pretext whatever, except for a lawful reason to be approved by the bishop;[22] any indults and privileges whatsoever notwithstanding. Neither shall anyone, of whatever birth or condition, sex or age, be permitted, under penalty of excommunication to be incurred ipso facto, to enter the enclosure of a monastery without the written permission of the bishop or the superior.[23] But the bishop or superior ought to grant permission in necessary cases only, and no other person shall in any way be able to grant it, even by virtue of any authority or indult already granted or that may be granted in the future. And since monasteries of nuns situated outside the walls of a city or town are often without any protection exposed to the rapacity and other crimes of evil men, the bishops and other superiors shall make it their duty to remove, if they deem it expedient, the nuns from those places to new or old monasteries within cities or more populous towns, summoning, if need be, the aid of the secular arm. Those who hinder or disobey them, they shall compel to submission by ecclesiastical censures. CHAPTER VI THE MANNER OF CHOOSING SUPERIORS That all things may be done properly and without fraud in the election of superiors, temporary abbots and other officials and generals, as also abbesses and other superioresses, the holy council above all things strictly commands that all the aforesaid must be chosen by secret ballot, so that the names of individual voters may never become known. Neither shall it be lawful in the future to appoint provincials, abbots, priors, or any other titled persons whatsoever with a view of determining the election to be made, nor to add the votes and approvals of those absent. But if anyone should be elected contrary to the prescription of this decree, such an election shall be invalid, and he who has permitted himself to be chosen provincial, abbot, or prior in the aforesaid manner, shall from that time on be disqualified to hold any offices whatsoever in the order; any faculties that have been granted in these matters shall be considered as <eo ipso> nullified, and should any others be granted in the future, they shall be regarded as surreptitious. CHAPTER VII WHO MAY BE ELECTED ABBESSES AND SUPERIORESSES BY WHATEVER NAME KNOWN AND HOW THEY ARE TO BE ELECTED. NO ONE SHALL BE APPOINTED OVER TWO MONASTERIES No one shall be elected abbess or prioress, or by whatever other name the one appointed or the superioress may be known, who is less than forty years of age and who has not lived commendably during the eight years after having made her profession. If no one is found in a monastery possessing these qualifications, then one may be chosen from another of the same order. But if the superior who presides over the election should judge even this inconvenient, with the consent of the bishop or other superior one of those in the same monastery who is beyond her thirtieth year and has lived commendably at least five years since her profession may be chosen.[24] No one, however, shall be appointed over two monasteries. If anyone is in any way in possession of two or more, she shall, retaining one, be compelled to resign the remainder within six months, and in case she has not resigned within that period, all shall be <ipso jure> vacant. He who presides at the election, whether it be the bishop or other superior, shall not enter the enclosure of the monastery, but shall hear or receive the vote of each at the little window of the grating. In other matters the constitutions of each order or monastery shall be observed. CHAPTER VIII HOW THE GOVERNMENT OF MONASTERIES WHICH HAVE NO REGULARS AS ORDINARY VISITORS IS TO BE CONDUCTED All monasteries which are not subject to general chapters or to bishops, and which have not regular visitors who belong to the order, but have been accustomed to be governed under the immediate protection and direction of the Apostolic See, shall be bound within a year from the dissolution of the present council and thereafter every three years, to assemble in congregations in accordance with the form of the constitution of Innocent III published in the general council, which begins, “In singulis”;[25] and they shall there authorize certain regulars who shall deliberate and decide on the manner and order of establishing the aforesaid congregations and also the rules to be therein observed. But if they should prove negligent in these matters, then the metropolitan in whose province the aforesaid monasteries are located, as the delegate of the Apostolic See, shall convoke them for the above named purpose. If, however, there is not a sufficient number of such monasteries within the confines of one province to establish a congregation, the monasteries of two or three provinces may form one congregation. When these congregations have been established, their general chapters and the superiors and visitors elected by them shall have the same authority over the monasteries of their congregation and over the regulars residing therein as other superiors and visitors have in other orders, and they shall be bound to visit the monasteries of their congregation frequently, to apply themselves to their reform, and to observe whatever has been decreed in the sacred canons[26] and in this holy council. But if at the request of the metropolitan they fail to take steps to carry the aforesaid matters into effect, then they shall be subject to the bishops, as the delegates of the Apostolic See, in whose dioceses the aforesaid places are situated. CHAPTER IX MONASTERIES OF NUNS IMMEDIATELY SUBJECT TO THE APOSTOLIC SEE SHALL BE SUPERVISED BY THE BISHOP; OTHERS, BY THOSE DELEGATED IN GENERALCHAPTERS OR BY OTHER REGULARS Monasteries of nuns which are immediately subject to the Apostolic See, also those known by the name of Chapters of St. Peter or of St. John or by any other name, shall be supervised by the bishops as delegates of that See, anything to the contrary notwithstanding. Those, however, that are supervised by persons delegated in general chapters or by other regulars, shall be left under their charge and protection. CHAPTER X NUNS SHALL CONFESS AND COMMUNICATE ONCE A MONTH. AN EXTRAORDINARY CONFESSOR SHALL BE PROVIDED FOR THEM BY THE BISHOP. AMONG THEM THE EUCHARIST SHALL NOT BE RESERVED OUTSIDE THE PUBLIC CHURCH Bishops and other superiors of monasteries of nuns shall take special care that the nuns, as they are admonished in their constitutions, confess their sins and receive the most holy Eucharist at least once a month,[27] so that they may fortify themselves by that salutary safeguard valiantly to overcome all the assaults of the devil. In addition to the ordinary confessor, the bishop and other superiors shall provide twice or three times a year an extraordinary one, whose duty it shall be to hear the confessions of all. The holy council forbids, however, that the holy body of Christ be reserved within the choir or the enclosure of the monastery and not in the public church; any indult or privilege notwithstanding. CHAPTER XI THE BISHOP SHALL VISIT MONASTERIES TO WHICH IS ANNEXED THE <CURA> OF SECULARS BESIDES THOSE WHO BELONG TO THEIR HOUSEHOLD, AND HE SHALL, WITH CERTAIN EXCEPTIONS, EXAMINE THOSE WHO ARE TO EXERCISE THAT <CURA> In monasteries or houses of men or women to which is annexed the <cura animarum> of secular persons other than those who belong to the household of those monasteries or places, those persons, whether regulars or seculars, who exercise that <cura> shall in all things that pertain to that <cura> and to the administration of the sacraments be subject immediately to the jurisdiction, visitation, and correction of the bishop in whose diocese they are located. Neither may anyone, not even such as are removable at any moment, be appointed thereto except with his consent and after having been previously examined by him or by his vicar;[28] the monastery of Cluny with its territories being excepted, and excepted also are those monasteries or places in which the abbots, generals, or heads of orders ordinarily have their principal residence, and other monasteries or houses in which abbots or other superiors of regulars exercise episcopal and temporal jurisdiction over the parish priests and parishioners; saving the right, however, of those bishops who exercise a greater jurisdiction over the places or persons named above. CHAPTER XII IN THE OBSERVANCE OF EPISCOPAL CENSURES AND DIOCESAN FEASTS, REGULARS SHALL ACT IN ACCORD WITH THE SECULAR CLERGY Not only the censures and interdicts that have emanated from the Apostolic See but also those promulgated by the ordinaries, shall on the bishop’s command be published and observed by the regulars in their churches.[29] The feast days also which the bishop shall command to be observed in his diocese, shall be observed by all those exempt, also by the regulars.[30] CHAPTER XIII DISPUTES CONCERNING PRECEDENCE THE BISHOP SHALL SETTLE IMMEDIATELY. EXEMPT PERSONS WHO DO NOT LIVE IN VERY STRICT ENCLOSURES, ARE OBLIGED TO ATTEND THE PUBLIC PRAYERS All disputes concerning precedence which very often and not without gray’ scandal arise among ecclesiastics, both secular and regular, at public processions as well as the burial of the dead, as also in the matter of carrying the canopy and other things of this kind, the bishop shall settle to the exclusion of every appeal; anything to the contrary notwithstanding. All exempt persons, secular as well as regular clerics, also monks, summoned to public processions, shall be obliged to attend; those only being excepted who live permanently in strict enclosure. CHAPTER XIV BY WHOM PUNISHMENT IS TO BE IMPOSED ON A REGULAR GUILTY OF A PUBLIC OFFENSE A regular not subject to the bishop and living within the enclosure of a monastery, who has outside of that enclosure committed so notorious an offense as to be a scandal to the people, shall at the instance of the bishop be severely punished by his superior within the time specified by the bishop, and the superior shall report to the bishop concerning this punishment. Otherwise he shall be deprived of his office by his superior and the delinquent may be punished by the bishop.[31] CHAPTER XV PROFESSION SHALL NOT BE MADE EXCEPT AFTER ONE YEAR’S PROBATION AND ON THE COMPLETION OF THE SIXTEENTH YEAR In no religious order whatever, whether of men or of women, shall profession be made before the completion of the sixteenth year, and no one shall be admitted to profession who has been under probation less than a year after the reception of the habit.[32] Any profession made sooner is null and imposes no obligation to the observance of any rule either of a religious body or an order, neither does it entail any other effects whatsoever.[33] CHAPTER XVI A RENUNCIATION MADE OR AN OBLIGATION ASSUMED TWO MONTHS BEFORE PROFESSION IS NULL. THE PROBATION COMPLETED, THE NOVICES SHALL BE EITHER PROFESSED OR DISMISSED. IN THE PIOUS INSTITUTE OF CLERICS OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS NOTHING NEW IS INTRODUCED. NO PART OF THE PROPERTY OF A NOVICE SHALL BE GIVEN TO THE MONASTERY BEFORE PROFESSION Moreover, no renunciation or obligation previously made, even upon oath or in favor of any pious cause whatsoever, shall be valid, unless it be made with the permission of the bishop or his vicar within two months immediately preceding profession, and it shall not be understood otherwise to have effect unless the profession followed; but if made in any other manner, even with the express renunciation of this favor, also upon oath, it shall be invalid and of no effect. When novices have completed their novitiate, the superiors shall admit to profession those novices found qualified; the others they shall dismiss from the monastery. Hereby, however, the holy council does not intend to innovate or prohibit something that will hinder the order of clerics of the Society of Jesus from serving the Lord and His Church in accordance with their pious institute approved by the holy Apostolic See. Before the profession of a novice, whether male or female, nothing shall under any pretext whatever be given to the monastery from the property of the same, either by parents, relatives or guardians, except for food and clothing during the time of probation, lest the novice should be unable to leave for the reason that the monastery possesses the whole or greater part of his substance, and he would be unable easily to recover it in case he should leave. The holy council, therefore, commands under penalty of anathema both givers and receivers that this be in no wise done, and that to those who leave before profession everything that was theirs be restored. All of which, that it may be done properly, the bishop shall, if need be, enforce with ecclesiastical censures. CHAPTER XVII IF A GIRL WHO IS MORE THAN TWELVE YEARS OF AGE WISHES TO TAKE THE HABIT OF REGULARS, SHE SHALL BE EXAMINED BY THE ORDINARY, AND AGAIN BEFORE PROFESSION The holy council, having in view the freedom of the profession of virgins who are to be dedicated to God, ordains and decrees that if a girl more than twelve years of age wishes to take the habit of regulars, she shall not take that habit, neither shall she nor any other at a later period make profession,[34] until the bishop, or, if he be absent or hindered, his vicar, or someone delegated by them at their expense, has carefully examined the wish of the virgin, whether she has been forced or enticed, or knows what she is doing; [35] and if her will is found to be pious and free and she has the qualifications required by the rule of that monastery and order, and also if the monastery is a suitable one for her, she shall be permitted freely to make profession. And that the bishop may not be Ignorant of the time of the profession, the superioress of the monastery shall be bound to give him notice thereof a month beforehand; but if she fails to make the matter known to him, she shall be suspended from office for as long a period as the bishop shall deem proper. CHAPTER XVIII NO ONE SHALL, EXCEPT IN THE CASES PERMITTED BY LAW, COMPEL A WOMAN TO ENTER A MONASTERY OR PREVENT HER IF SHE WISHES TO ENTER. THE CONSTITUTIONS OF THE PENITENTS OR CONVERTS ARE TO BE OBSERVED The holy council anathematizes each and all persons, of whatever character or rank they may be, whether clerics or laics, seculars or regulars, and with whatever dignity invested, who shall, except in the cases permitted by law,[36] in any way force any virgin or widow, or any other woman whatsoever, to enter a monastery against her will, or to take the habit of any religious order or to make profession; those also who give advice, aid or encouragement, as well as those who, knowing that she does not enter the monastery or receive the habit, or make profession voluntarily, shall in any way take part in that act by their presence, consent or authority. Similarly does it anathematize those who shall in any way and without a just cause impede the holy wish of virgins or other women to take the veil or pronounce the vows.[37] Each and all of those things which must be done before profession or at the profession itself shall be observed not only in monasteries subject to the bishop but also in all others. From the above, however, are excepted the women who are called penitents or converts, whose own constitutions shall be observed. CHAPTER XIX HOW TO PROCEED IN THE CASE OF THOSE WHO DESERT AN ORDER Any regular who shall pretend that he entered a religious order through compulsion and fear, or shall allege that he was professed before the proper age or something similar,[38] and wishes for some reason to lay aside the habit, or departs with the habit without the permission of his superior, shall not be listened to unless it be within five years only from the day of his profession, and not even then unless he has submitted to his superior and to the ordinary the reasons for his pretensions. But if before doing this he has of his own accord laid aside the habit, he shall under no circumstances be admitted to assign any reason whatever, but shall be compelled to return to his monastery and be punished as an apostate, and in the meantime he shall not have the benefit of any privilege of his order. Moreover, no regular shall in virtue of any authority whatsoever be transferred to an order less rigorous,[39] neither shall permission be granted to any regular to wear the habit of his order secretly. CHAPTER XX SUPERIORS OF ORDERS NOT SUBJECT TO BISHOPS SHALL VISIT AND CORRECT INFERIOR MONASTERIES, EVEN THOSE PROVISIONALLY COLLATED Abbots who are heads of orders and other superiors of the aforesaid orders who are not subject to bishops but have a lawful jurisdiction over other inferior monasteries or priories, shall, each in his own locality and order, visit <ex officio> those monasteries and priories that are subject to them, also if held <in commendam.> Since these are subject to the heads of their orders, the holy council declares that they are not to be included in what has been decided elsewhere concerning the visitation of monasteries held <in commendam>,[40] and all superiors of the monasteries of the aforesaid orders shall be bound to receive the above named visitors and to execute their commands. Those monasteries also which are the heads of orders shall be visited in accordance with the constitutions of the holy Apostolic See and of each order. And so long as such provisional collations continue, there shall be appointed by the general chapters or by the visitors of the orders cloistral priors, or subpriors in the priories that have a convent, who shall correct and exercise spiritual authority In all other things the privileges and faculties of the above named orders, which concern their persons, places and rights, shall remain firm and undisturbed. CHAPTER XXI MONASTERIES SHALL BE CONFERRED ON REGULARS. HEAD OR PRINCIPAL MONASTERIES SHALL NOT IN THE FUTURE BE CONFERRED ON ANYONE <IN COMMENDAM> Since most monasteries, also abbeys, priories, and provostries, have suffered no little loss both in spiritual and temporal things through the maladministration of those to whom they have been entrusted, the holy council desires to restore them entirely to a discipline becoming the monastic life. But the present state of the times is so adverse and so full of difficulties that a remedy cannot be applied to all at once, or a common one everywhere, as it desired. Nevertheless, that it may not omit anything that may in time provide advantageously for the aforesaid, it trusts in the first place that the most holy Roman pontiff will according to his piety and prudence make it his care, so far as he sees the times will permit, that regulars expressly professed in the same order and capable of guiding and governing the flock be placed over those monasteries which are now held <in commendam> and which have their own convents. Those which in the future become vacant shall be conferred only on regulars of approved virtue and holiness.[41] With regard to those monasteries which are the head and chief ones of the orders, whether their filiations be called abbeys or priories, they who now hold them <in commendam> shall be bound, if a regular has not been appointed as successor thereto, to make within six months a solemn profession of the vows peculiar to those orders or to resign; otherwise the aforesaid places held <in commendam> shall be considered <ipso jure> vacant. But that in each and all of the aforesaid matters no fraud may be perpetrated, the holy council decrees that in the appointments to the monasteries mentioned the character of each person be expressly stated, and any appointment made otherwise shall be considered surreptitious and shall not be protected by any subsequent possession, even though this covers a period of three years. CHAPTER XXII WHAT HAS BEEN SAID CONCERNING THE REFORM OF REGULARS SHALL BE CARRIED INTO EXECUTION WITHOUT DELAY The holy council commands that each and all of the matters contained in the foregoing decrees be observed in all convents and monasteries, colleges and houses of all monks and regulars whatsoever, as also of all religious virgins and widows, even though they live under the guidance of military orders, also that (of St. John) of Jerusalem, and by whatever name they may be designated, under whatever rule or constitutions and under whatever protection or administration they may be, or in whatever subjection to, union with, or dependence on any order whatsoever, whether of mendicants or non-mendicants, or of other regular monks or canons whatsoever; any privileges of each and all of those above mentioned in whatever form of words expressed, even those known as mare magnum and those obtained at their foundation, also constitutions and rules, even though subscribed to under oath, and also customs and prescriptions, even though immemorial, notwithstanding. But if there are regulars, men as well as women, who live under a stricter rule or statutes, except with regard to the permission to possess immovable property in common, the holy council does not intend to hinder them in their rule and observance. And since the holy council desires that each and all of the aforesaid matters be put into effect as soon as possible, it commands all bishops that in the monasteries subject to them and in all others specifically committed to them in the foregoing decrees, and all abbots, generals and other superiors of the aforesaid orders, that they put into execution the foregoing matters immediately. And if there be anything that is not put into execution, the provincial synods shall supplement and correct the negligence of the bishops. The negligence of the regulars, their provincial and general chapters, and in default of the general chapters, the provincial synods shall attend to by delegating certain persons of the same order The holy council also exhorts and in virtue of holy obedience commends all kings, princes, governments and magistrates to deign to lend, as often as requested, their help and influence in support of the aforesaid bishops, abbots, generals, and other superiors in the execution of the reform indicated above, so that they may without hindrance properly put into effect the foregoing matters to the praise of Almighty God. DECREE CONCERNING REFORM CHAPTER I CARDINALS AND ALL PRELATES OF THE CHURCHES SHALL HAVE PLAIN FURNITURE AND TABLE. THEY SHALL NOT ENRICH THEIR RELATIONS AND DOMESTICS FROM THE PROPERTY OF THE CHURCH It is to be desired that those who assume the episcopal office know what are their duties, and understand that they have been called not for their own convenience, not for riches or luxury, but to labors and cares for the glory of God. For it is not to be doubted that the rest of the faithful will be more easily roused to religion and innocence, if they see those who are placed over them concentrate their thoughts not on the things of this world but on the salvation of souls and on their heavenly country. Since the holy council considers these things to be of the greatest importance in the restoration of ecclesiastical discipline, it admonishes all bishops that they reflect often on these things and also by the actions and behavior of their life, which is a sort of perpetual sermon, give evidence that their deportment is consistent with their Office; but above all that they so regulate their whole conduct that others may derive therefrom examples of moderation, modesty, continency, and of that holy humility which recommends us so to God.[42] Wherefore, after the example of our Fathers in the Council of Carthage,[43] it commands not only that bishops be content with modest furniture and a frugal table, but also that they take heed that in the rest of their manner of living and in their whole house, nothing appears that is at variance with this holy ordinance, or that does not manifest simplicity, zeal for God and a contempt for van ties. But above all does it forbid them to attempt to enrich their relations or domestics from the revenues of the Church,[44] since the canons of the Apostles also forbid that ecclesiastical goods, which belong to God, be given to relations;[45] but if they are poor, let them distribute to them as poor, but they shall not alienate or waste these goods for their sake. Indeed, the holy council admonishes them to the utmost of its ability that they lay aside completely all this human affection of the flesh toward brothers, nephews, and relations, which is the nursery of many evils in the Church. And what has been said of bishops is to be observed not only by all who hold ecclesiastical benefices, whether secular or regular, according to the nature of the rank of each, but it decrees that it applies also to the cardinals of the holy Roman Church, for since the administration of the universal Church is supported by their advice to the most holy Roman pontiff, it can appear wicked if they do not shine in the splendor of the virtues and in discipline of life, which should justly draw upon them the eyes of all. CHAPTER II BY WHOM PARTICULARLY THE DECREES OF THE COUNCIL ARE TO BE SOLEMNLY RECEIVED AND TAUGHT The distress of the times and the malice of increasing heresies make it necessary that nothing be left undone which may appear to be for the edification of the faithful and for the defense of the Catholic faith. Wherefore, the holy council commands patriarchs, primates, archbishops, bishops, and all others who by right or custom ought to be present at the provincial synod,[46] that in the very first provincial synod to be held after the close of the present council, they receive publicly each and all of the matters which have been defined and decreed by this holy council; also that they promise and profess true obedience to the supreme Roman pontiff and at the same time publicly express their hatred of and anathematize all the heresies that have been condemned by the sacred canons and general councils and especially by this council. The same shall in the future be observed by all who are promoted to patriarchal, primatial, archiepiscopal and episcopal sees, in the first provincial synod at which they are present. But if anyone of all the aforesaid should refuse, which God forbid, the comprovincial bishops shall be bound under penalty of divine indignation to give notice thereof immediately to the supreme Roman pontiff, and shall in the meantime abstain from communion with that person. All others who now hold or hereafter will hold ecclesiastical benefices, whose duty it is to assemble in diocesan synod, shall do and observe in the first synod to be held the same as was prescribed above, otherwise they shall be punished in accordance with the prescriptions of the sacred canons. Furthermore, all those to whom pertains the care, visitation, and reform of universities and of [houses of] general studies, shall diligently see to it that the canons and decrees of this holy council are integrally received by the universities and that the masters, doctors, and others in those universities teach and interpret the things that are of Catholic faith in conformity therewith, and at the beginning of each year bind themselves by solemn oath to the observance of this ordinance;[47] and if there be any other matters in the aforesaid universities that need correction and reform, they shall for the advancement of religion and ecclesiastical discipline be reformed and put in order by those to whom it pertains. Those universities, however, that are immediately subject to the protection and visitation of the supreme Roman pontiff, His Holiness will provide for in the matters of visitation and reform through his delegates in the manner aforesaid and as shall seem to him most beneficial. CHAPTER III THE SWORD OF EXCOMMUNICATION IS NOT TO BE USED RASHLY. WHERE IN THINGS AND PERSONS THE END CAN BE OBTAINED, CENSURES ARE TO BE ABSTAINED FROM AND THE CIVIL AUTHORITY HAS NO RIGHT TO INTRUDE Although the sword of excommunication is the nerve of ecclesiastical discipline and very salutary for holding the people in their duty, it is, however, to be used with moderation and great discretion, since experience teaches that if wielded rashly or for trifling reasons, it is more despised than feared and is productive of destruction rather than of salvation. Wherefore, those excommunications which after previous admonitions are customarily imposed for the purpose of eliciting a so-called disclosure, or by reason of properties squandered or alienated, shall be issued by absolutely no one but the bishop, and even then not except by reason of an unusual circumstance and after a diligent and very complete examination by the bishop of the cause which moves his mind thereto.[48] Neither shall he allow himself to be moved to their imposition by the authority of any secular person, even though a magistrate, but the entire matter shall be left to his own judgment and conscience, whether, after considering the circumstances, place, person or time, he shall himself deem it advisable to impose them. With regard to judicial causes, all ecclesiastical judges, of whatever dignity they may be, are commanded that both during the proceedings and in rendering decisions, they abstain from ecclesiastical censures or interdict whenever the action can in each stage of the process be completed by themselves through their own authority; but in civil causes belonging in any way to the ecclesiastical forum, they may, if they deem it advisable, proceed against all persons, also laics, and terminate suits by pecuniary fines, which shall as soon as they have been collected be without further ado assigned to the pious places of the locality, or by distress of property, or by restraint of the persons, to be effected by their own or other agents, or even by the deprivation of benefices and other legal means. But if the action against the guilty party cannot be completed in this way and there be contumacy toward the judge, he may then in addition to other penalties chastise them also with the sword of anathema, if he should deem it expedient. In criminal causes also where a suit can be completed as was stated above, censures are to be abstained from. But if that effect cannot be easily obtained, it shall be lawful for the judge to make use of this spiritual sword against delinquents, provided the nature of the offense, preceded by at least two admonitions, even by an edict, requires it. But it shall not be lawful for any civil magistrate to prohibit an ecclesiastical judge from excommunicating anyone, or to command him to revoke an excommunication that has been imposed, under the pretext that the contents of the present decree have not been observed, since the investigation of this matter does not pertain to seculars but to ecclesiastics. But every excommunicated person who after the legitimate admonitions does not repent, shall not only be excluded from the sacraments and from intercourse and from friendship with the faithful, but if, bound with censure, he shall with obdurate heart remain therein for a year, he may also be proceeded against as suspected of heresy.[49] CHAPTER IV WHERE THE NUMBER OF MASSES TO BE CELEBRATED IS TOO GREAT, BISHOPS, ABBOTS AND GENERALS OF ORDERS SHALL MAKE SUCH DISPOSITION AS THEY SHALL DEEM EXPEDIENT It often happens in some churches that by reason of various bequests from deceased persons either so great a number of masses to be celebrated is left with them that it is not possible to take care of them on the particular days specified by the testators, or that the alms given for their celebration is so small that it is not easy to find one who is willing to accept this obligation; the result being that the pious intentions of the testators are defeated and occasion is given of burdening the consciences of those to whom the aforesaid obligations pertain. The holy council, desirous that these bequests for pious purposes be satisfied in the fullest and most useful manner possible, empowers bishops in the diocesan synod and likewise abbots and generals of orders in their general chapters, to decide with regard to the aforesaid churches, which they shall find to stand in need of regulation in this matter, whatever in their consciences they shall after a diligent examination of the circumstances judge to be most beneficial for the honor and service of God and the good of the churches;[50] So, however, that a commemoration be always made of the departed who for the welfare of their souls have left those bequests for pious purposes. CHAPTER V FROM WELL ESTABLISHED FOUNDATIONS WITH AN OBLIGATION ANNEXED NOTHING SHALL BE REMOVED Reason requires that from those things which have been well established nothing be withdrawn by contrary ordinances. When, therefore, in virtue of the erection or foundation of any benefices whatsoever or other constitutions, certain qualifications are required or certain obligations are attached to them, then in the collation of the benefices or in any other arrangement whatsoever nothing shell be taken from them. The same is to be observed in the matter of prebends for theologians, masters, doctors, priests, deacons, and subdeacons whenever they have been so established, so that in any provision nothing shall be altered with regard to their qualifications and orders, and any provision made otherwise shall be considered surreptitious. CHAPTER VI HOW THE BISHOP OUGHT TO ACT WITH REGARD TO THE VISITATION OF EXEMPTCHAPTERS The holy council ordains that in all cathedral and collegiate churches the decree published under Paul III, of happy memory, which begins, “Capitula cathedralium,”[51] be observed, not only when the bishop makes his visitation but also as often as he proceeds ex officio or at the request of one against anyone of those included in said decree; so, however, that when he institutes proceedings outside of visitation all the following particulars shall be observed, namely, that the chapter at the beginning of each year choose two of its members, with whose counsel and consent the bishop or his vicar shall be bound to proceed both in shaping the process and in all other transactions connected therewith to the end of the action inclusively, in the presence, however, of the bishop’s notary and in his residence or in the customary court of justice. These two, however, shall have only one vote, and one of them may cast his with the bishop. But if in any transaction or interlocutory or definitive sentence both should disagree with the bishop, then they shall within six days choose in union with the bishop a third party; and should they disagree also in the choice of that third party, the selection shall devolve on the nearest bishop and the point on which they disagreed shall be decided in favor of the opinion with which the third party agrees. Otherwise the proceedings and what followed therefrom shall be null and without effect in law. In criminal cases, however, arising from incontinency, of which mention has been made in the decree dealing with <concubinarii>,[52] and in the more outrageous crimes that demand deposition and degradation, where it is feared that judgment may be evaded by flight and the detention of the person is therefore necessary, the bishop may in the beginning proceed alone to a summary investigation and the necessary detention, observing, however, the above order in the rest. But in all cases consideration is to be given to this, that the delinquents be confined in a suitable place in keeping with the nature of the crime and the character of the persons. Moreover, everywhere there shall be given to the bishops the honor which is in keeping with their dignity; to them belongs the first seat in the choir, in the chapter, in processions, and in other public functions,[53] and the place which they themselves may select, and theirs shall be the chief authority in everything that is to be done. If they propose something to the canons for deliberation and the matter is not one that is of benefit to them or theirs, the bishops themselves shall convoke the chapter, examine the votes, and decide according to them.[54] But in the absence of the bishop this shall be done entirely by those of the chapter to whom it by law or custom pertains, and the vicar of the bishop is not to be admitted to this. In all other things the jurisdiction and power of the chapter, if it perchance has any, and the administration of properties shall be left absolutely unimpaired and intact. All those, however, who do not possess dignities and do not belong to the chapter, shall in ecclesiastical causes be subject to the bishop, notwithstanding, with regard to what has been said above, privileges, even those accruing from a foundation, or customs, even though immemorial, or judgments, oaths, pacts, which bind only the authors thereof; the privileges, however, which have been granted to universities of general studies or to the persons attached thereto, shall in all things remain intact. But each and all of these things shall not have effect in those churches in which the bishops or their vicars, in virtue of constitutions, privileges, customs, pacts, or any other right, possess a power, authority, and jurisdiction greater than that included in the present decree; these the holy council does not intend to impair. CHAPTER VII ACCESS AND REGRESS TO BENEFICES ARE ABOLISHED. HOW, TO WHOM AND FOR WHAT REASON A COADJUTOR IS TO BE GRANTED Since whatever in the matter of ecclesiastical benefices has the appearance of hereditary succession is odious to the sacred constitutions and contrary to the decrees of the Fathers,[55] no access or regress to any ecclesiastical benefice of whatever kind shall in future, even with consent, be granted to anyone, and those thus far granted shall not be suspended, extended, or transferred. And this decree shall apply to all ecclesiastical benefices whatsoever and to all persons, even though distinguished with the dignity of the cardinalate. In the case of coadjutors with future succession also the same shall hereafter be observed, so that they shall not be permitted to anyone in any ecclesiastical benefices whatsoever. But if at any time urgent necessity or the manifest interest of a cathedral church or of a monastery should demand that a coadjutor be given to a prelate, he shall not be given with the right of future succession until the reason therefore has first been diligently investigated by the most holy Roman pontiff,[56] and until it is certain that he possesses all the qualifications which by law and by the decrees of this holy council are required in bishops and prelates;[57] otherwise the concessions made in these matters shall be considered surreptitious. CHAPTER VIII DUTY OF THE ADMINISTRATORS OF HOSPITALS. BY WHOM AND HOW THEIR NEGLIGENCE IS TO BE PUNISHED The holy council admonishes all who hold ecclesiastical benefices, whether secular or regular, to accustom themselves, so far as their revenues will permit, to exercise with promptness and kindness the office of hospitality so often commended by the holy Fathers;[58] being mindful that those who love hospitality receive Christ in their guests.[59] Those who hold <in commendam>, by way of administration or under any other title whatsoever, or also have united to their own churches institutions commonly called hospitals, or other pious places established especially for the benefit of pilgrims, of the infirm, the aged or the poor, or if parish churches perchance united to hospitals or converted into hospitals have been handed over to their patrons to be administered by them, it strictly commands that they discharge the office and duty imposed on them and actually exercise the hospitality that they owe from the revenues set aside for that purpose, in accordance with the constitution of the Council of Vienne, renewed elsewhere by this same council under Paul III, of happy memory, which begins, “Quia contingit.”[60] But if these hospitals were established to receive a certain class of pilgrims, infirm persons or others, and in the place in which they are located there are no such persons or very few to be found, it commands further that their revenues be diverted to some other pious purpose that is more closely related to their foundation and the more useful in respect of place and time, as shall appear most expedient to the ordinary, aided by two of the chapter experienced in the administration of property and to be chosen by himself; unless it has perchance been specified otherwise, even with regard to this event, in their foundation or institution, in which case the bishop shall see to it that what has been prescribed be observed, or if that is not possible he shall, as above, regulate the matter in a beneficial manner. If, therefore, any or all of the aforesaid, of whatever rank, order and dignity, even if they be laics, who have the administration of hospitals not however subject to regulars where regular observance is in force, shall, after having been admonished by the ordinary, actually neglect to discharge the duty of hospitality in the fulness to which they are bound, they may be compelled thereto not only by ecclesiastical censures and other legal means, but may also be deprived forever of the administration and care of the hospital and others shall be put in their place by those to whom this pertains. The aforesaid persons, moreover, shall be bound in conscience to the restitution of the revenues which they have received in violation of the institution of these hospitals, which shall not be pardoned by any remission or agreement; neither shall the administration or government of such places be in the future entrusted to one and the same person for a longer period than three years, unless it be otherwise provided for in their foundation; notwithstanding, with regard to all of the aforesaid, any union, exemption and custom, even though immemorial, to the contrary, or any privileges or indults whatsoever. CHAPTER IX HOW THE RIGHT OF PATRONAGE IS TO BE PROVED. ON WHOM THE OFFICE OF PATRONS MAY BE CONFERRED. ACCESSIONS PROHIBITED. BY WHOM THAT RIGHT MAY NOT BE ACQUIRED Just as it is not equitable to take away the legitimate rights of patronage and to infringe upon the pious intentions of the faithful in their institution, so also is it not to be permitted that under this pretext ecclesiastical benefices be reduced to a state of servitude, as is impudently done by many. That, therefore, in all things a proper procedure may be observed, the holy council decrees that the title of the right of patronage is based on a foundation or on an endowment and is to be proved from an authentic document and by other proofs required by law;[61] or also by repeated presentations during a period of time so remote that it goes beyond the memory of man, or by other methods, as the law may direct. But in the case of those persons, communities or universities in which that right is for the most part usually presumed to have been acquired by usurpation, a more complete and more precise proof shall be required to establish the true title; and even the proof derived from immemorial time shall avail them nothing unless, in addition to the other things necessary for it, it shall be proved from authentic documents that presentations have been made without interruption during a period of no less than fifty years, all of which have been carried into effect. All other rights of patronage relating to benefices, secular as well as regular, or parochial, or in regard to dignities, or any other benefices whatsoever in a cathedral or collegiate church, as also faculties and the privileges granted in virtue of patronage or with any other right whatsoever to nominate, elect, and present to the same when vacant, shall be understood as completely abrogated and nullified <in totum,> together with the quasi-possession that followed therefrom, and benefices of this kind shall be conferred as being free by their collators and such appointments shall have full effect; excepted are the rights of patronage that belong to cathedral churches and those that belong to the emperor, or to kings, or to those possessing supreme jurisdiction, and to other high and pre-eminent princes who have the rights of sovereignty within their own dominions, and those which have been granted in favor of general studies.[62] Moreover, it shall be lawful for the bishop to reject those presented by the patrons if they are incompetent. But if the appointment belongs to inferiors, they [the presentees] shall nevertheless be examined by the bishop, in accordance with what has elsewhere been decreed by this holy council;[63] otherwise the appointment made by inferiors shall be null and void. The patrons of benefices, however, of whatever order and dignity, also if they are communities, universities, colleges of clerics or laics, shall by no means or for any reason or under any pretext interfere with the receiving of the fruits, revenues and dues of any benefices whatsoever,[64] even if they are by virtue of foundation or endowment truly under their right of patronage, but they shall leave them to be distributed freely by the rector or the incumbent, any custom whatsoever notwithstanding. Neither shall they contrary to the prescriptions of the canons presume to transfer to others the said right of patronage under the title of sale or under any other title.[65] If they act otherwise, they shall be subject to the penalties of excommunication and interdict and shall be <ipso jure> deprived of that right of patronage. Furthermore, the accessions made by way of union of free benefices with churches that are subject to the right of patronage, even of laics, whether they are parochial churches or benefices of any other kind whatsoever, even simple benefices, or dignities, or hospitals, in such wise that the aforesaid free benefices are made to be of the same nature as those to which they are united and placed under the right of patronage, if they have not yet been carried into full effect, or shall in the future be made at the instance of any person, by whatever authority they shall have been granted, even the Apostolic, they shall, together with the unions themselves, be considered as having been obtained surreptitiously, notwithstanding any form of words therein or any derogation which might be considered as equivalent to being expressed; neither shall they be any more carried into execution, but the benefices so united shall, when vacant, be freely conferred as heretofore. Those, however, which have been made within the last forty years and have obtained their full effect and complete incorporation, shall nevertheless be inquired into and examined by the ordinaries as delegates of the Apostolic See, and those which are found to have been obtained surreptitiously or deceitfully shall together with the unions be declared null and the benefices shall be separated and conferred on others.[66] In like manner also all rights of patronage over churches and all other benefices, also over dignities formerly free, which were acquired within the last forty years, or that may in the future be acquired, whether through an increase in the endowment or in consequence of new construction or through some similar reason, even though with the authority of the Apostolic See, shall be carefully examined by the ordinaries as delegates aforesaid, who shall not in these matters be hindered by the authority or privileges of anyone; and those which they shall find to have been not legitimately established for a very manifest necessity of the church, benefice or dignity, they shall revoke <in totum>, and, without detriment to the incumbents thereof and after restoration to the patrons of whatever they may have given therefor, they shall restore benefices of this kind to their former state of liberty; any privileges, constitutions, and customs, even though immemorial, notwithstanding. CHAPTER X JUDGES TO BE DELEGATED BY THE APOSTOLIC SEE ARE TO BE DESIGNATED BY THE SYNOD; BY THEM AND BY THE ORDINARIES CAUSES ARE TO BE TERMINATED SPEEDILY Since by reason of the malicious suggestions of petitioners and sometimes by reason of the distance of places an adequate knowledge of the persons to whom causes are committed cannot be obtained, and hence local causes are at times referred to judges who are not altogether competent, the holy council decrees that in all provincial and diocesan synods some persons who possess the qualifications required by the constitution of Boniface VIII, which begins, “Statutum,”[67] and who are otherwise suited thereto be designated, so that to them also, besides the local ordinaries, may hereafter be committed ecclesiastical and spiritual causes and such as belong to the ecclesiastical forum which have to be referred to their districts. And if one of those designated should happen to die in the meantime, then the local ordinary shall with the advice of the chapter appoint another in his place till the next provincial or diocesan synod, so that each diocese may have at least four or even more approved and qualified persons, as specified above, to whom causes of this kind may be committed by any legate or nuncio and also by the Apostolic See. Moreover, after the designation has been made, which the bishops shall transmit at once to the supreme Roman pontiff, all assignments of other judges made to others than these shall be regarded as surreptitious. The holy council furthermore admonishes the ordinaries and all other judges to strive to terminate causes in as brief a time as possible,[68] and to meet in every way, either by prescribing a definite time or by some other available method, the artifices of the litigants, whether it be in delaying the admission of the suit or in any other part of the trial. CHAPTER XI VARIOUS LEASES OF ECCLESIASTICAL PROPERTY ARE FORBIDDEN; SOME ALREADY MADE ARE INVALIDATED It usually brings great ruin on churches when their property is, to the disadvantage of those who succeed, leased to others on the present payment of a sum of money. Wherefore, all such leases, if made for payments in advance, shall be in no way considered valid to the disadvantage of those who succeed,[69] any indult or privilege whatsoever notwithstanding; neither shall such leases be confirmed in the Roman Curia or elsewhere. It shall furthermore not be lawful to lease ecclesiastical jurisdiction or the authority to nominate or delegate vicars in matters spiritual,[70] or for the lessees to exercise them <per se aut alios>, and any concessions made otherwise, even by the Apostolic See, shall be considered surreptitious. The holy council declares invalid, even if confirmed by Apostolic authority, leases of ecclesiastical goods made within thirty years, for a long time, or as they are designated in some localities, for twenty-nine or for twice twenty-nine years, which the provincial synod or its delegates shall judge to have been contracted to the detriment of the church and contrary to the prescriptions of the canons.[71] CHAPTER XII TITHES ARE TO BE PAID IN FULL; THOSE WHO WITHHOLD THEM ARE TO BE EXCOMMUNICATED. THE RECTORS OF POOR CHURCHES ARE TO BE PIOUSLY SUPPORTED Those are not to be tolerated who strive by various devices to withhold the tithes due to the churches, or who rashly take possession of and apply to their own use tithes to be paid by others, since the payment of tithes is due to God, and those who refuse to pay them or hinder those who pay them usurp the property of others.[72] Therefore, the holy council commands all, of whatever rank or condition, on whom rests the obligation to pay tithes, that they in the future pay in full, to the cathedral or to whatever other churches or persons to whom they are legitimately due, the tithes to which they are bound by law. Those who withhold them or hinder their payment shall be excommunicated, and they shall not be absolved from this crime until full restitution has been made.[73] It further exhorts each and all in Christian charity and the duty they owe their pastors, that they do not regard it a burden to assist liberally, out of the things given them by God, the bishops and priests who preside over the poorer churches, for the honor of God and the maintenance of the dignity of their pastors who watch over them. CHAPTER XIII THE CATHEDRAL OR PARISH CHURCHES SHALL RECEIVE A FOURTH PART OF FUNERAL DUES The holy council decrees that in whatever places it has for forty years been the custom to pay to the cathedral or parochial church a fourth of the funeral dues,[74] as they are called, but has subsequently by virtue of any privilege whatever been granted to other monasteries, hospitals, or any pious places whatsoever, the same shall in the future, with unimpaired right and in the same proportion as was formerly the custom, be paid to the cathedral or parochial church; all concessions, favors, privileges, even those called <mare magnum,> or any others notwithstanding. CHAPTER XIV THE MANNER OF PROCEEDING AGAINST CLERICS WHO KEEP CONCUBINES IS PRESCRIBED How shameful and how unworthy it is of the name of clerics who have dedicated themselves to the service of God to live in the filth of impurity and unclean cohabitation, the thing itself sufficiently testifies by the common scandal of all the faithful and the supreme disgrace on the clerical order. Wherefore, that the ministers of the Church may be brought back to that continency and purity of life which is proper to them, and that for this reason the people may learn to reverence them the more, the more honorable they see them in their conduct, the holy council forbids all clerics whatsoever to presume to keep concubines or other women concerning whom suspicion can be had in their house or elsewhere, or to presume to have any association with them; otherwise they shall be punished with the penalties imposed by the sacred canons or the statutes of the churches.[75] But if after being admonished by their superiors they do not keep away from them, they shall be ipso facto deprived of the third part of the fruits, revenues and dues of all their benefices and of their salaries, which shall be applied to the treasury of the church or to another pious place according to the judgment of the bishop.[76] If, however, they should persist in the same crime with the same or another woman and not obey even the second admonition, then they shall not only forfeit <eo ipso> all the fruits and revenues of their benefices and their salaries, which shall be applied to the aforesaid places, but they shall also be suspended from the administration of the benefices for as long a period as the ordinary, also as the delegate of the Apostolic See, shall deem advisable; and if those so suspended shall still not put them away or shall still associate with them, then they shall be forever deprived of their ecclesiastical benefices, portions, offices and salaries of whatever kind, and shall be declared disqualified and unworthy to hold any honors, dignities, benefices and offices whatsoever in the future, until after a manifest amendment of life it appears good to their superiors on justifiable grounds to grant them a dispensation. But if, after having once put them away, they should presume to renew the interrupted intercourse or to take to themselves other scandalous women of this kind, they shall, in addition to the aforesaid penalties, be chastised with the sword of excommunication.[77] Nor shall any appeal or exemption hinder or suspend the aforesaid execution, and the investigation of all the aforesaid shall pertain not to the archdeacons, or to the deans or other inferiors, but to the bishops themselves, who may proceed summarily and solely in accordance with the truth of the fact ascertained. Clerics who have no ecclesiastical benefices or salaries shall be punished in accordance with the character of their crime and contumacy and their persistence therein by the bishop himself with imprisonment, suspension from order, disqualification to hold benefices, or in other ways conformable to the sacred canons. Bishops also, if, which God forbid, they do not abstain from crime of this nature and, after being admonished by the provincial synod, do not amend, are ipso facto suspended;[78] and if they persist therein, they shall be reported by that synod to the most holy Roman pontiff, who shall punish them according to the nature of the crime, even with deprivation if necessary. CHAPTER XV FROM WHAT BENEFICES THE ILLEGITIMATE SONS OF CLERICS ARE EXCLUDED That the memory of the incontinency of the fathers may be banished as far as possible from places consecrated to God, where purity and holiness are most especially becoming, it shall not be lawful for sons of clerics, not born in lawful wedlock, to hold in those churches in which their fathers have or had some ecclesiastical benefice, any benefice whatsoever, even though a different one, or to minister in any way in those churches, or to have salaries from the revenues of the benefices which their fathers hold or formerly have held.[79] But if a father and son shall be found at the present time to hold benefices in the same church, the son shall be compelled to resign his benefice, or within three months to exchange it for another in another church, otherwise he shall be <ipso jure> deprived of it and any dispensation in this matter shall be considered surreptitious. Furthermore, any reciprocal resignations made in the future by fathers who are clerics in favor of their sons that one may obtain the benefices of the other, shall ~n every respect be considered as an evasion of this decree and of the prescriptions of the canons; nor shall the collations that followed by virtue of resignations of this kind, or of any others whatsoever made fraudulently, be of any avail to sons of clerics. CHAPTER XVI BENEFICES WITH THE <CURA> ANNEXED SHALL NOT BE CONVERTED INTO SIMPLE BENEFICES. A SUITABLE PORTION SHALL BE ASSIGNED TO HIM TO WHOM THE <CURA ANIMARUM> HAS BEEN COMMITTED, VICARIATES SHALL COME TO AN END WHEN THE <CURA> IS REUNITED TO THE BENEFICE The holy council decrees that secular ecclesiastical benefices, by whatever name they may be designated, which by virtue of their original institution or in any other manner whatever have the <cura animarum>, shall not in the future be converted into a simple benefice, even though a suitable portion be assigned to a perpetual vicar; notwithstanding any favors whatsoever which have not obtained their plenary effect. With regard to those, however, in which contrary to their institution or foundation the <cura animarum>! has been transferred to a perpetual vicar, even though they are found to have been in this state from time immemorial, if a suitable portion of the fruits has not been assigned to the vicar of the church, by whatever name he may be designated, it shall be assigned as soon as possible and within a year at least from the end of the present council, as the ordinary shall see fit, in accordance with the form of the decree made under Paul III, of happy memory.[80] But if this cannot be conveniently done, or if within that term it has not been done, then as soon as the benefice or vicariate shall have become vacant either by the retirement or death of the vicar or rector, or in any other way, the benefice shall again receive the <cura animarum> and be restored to its former state, and the name of vicariate shall be discontinued. CHAPTER XVII BISHOPS SHALL MAINTAIN THEIR DIGNITY WITH SERIOUSNESS OF MANNERS, AND SHALL NOT CONDUCT THEMSELVES WITH UNWORTHY SERVILITY TOWARD MINISTERS OF KINGS, PRINCES OR BARONS The holy council cannot but be deeply distressed when it hears that some bishops, forgetful of their state, dishonor the episcopal dignity by conducting themselves, both in and out of the church, with an unbecoming servility toward the ministers of kings, princes and barons, and as inferior ministers of the altar not only most unworthily give them precedence but even serve them in person. Wherefore, the holy council, detesting these and similar things, renews all the sacred canons, general councils and other Apostolic ordinances that relate to the decorum and esteem of the episcopal dignity, and commands that in the future bishops abstain from such things, and that both in and out of the church, having before their eyes their rank and order, they bear in mind everywhere that they are fathers and pastors; the rest, princes as well as all others, it commands that they pay them paternal honor and due reverence. CHAPTER XVIII THE CANONS SHALL BE STRICTLY OBSERVED. IF AT ANY TIME A DISPENSATION IS TO BE GRANTED WITH REGARD TO THEM, IT SHALL BE DONE VALIDLY, WITH MATURE CONSIDERATION AND GRATIS Just as the public good requires that the fetters of the law be at times relaxed in order that cases and necessities which arise may be met more fully for the common good, so to dispense too frequently from the law and to yield to petitioners by reason of precedent rather than through a certain discrimination of persons and things is nothing else than to open the way for each one to transgress the laws. Wherefore, be it known to all that the most sacred canons are to be accurately observed by all and, so far as this is possible, without distinction. But if an urgent and just reason and at times a greater good should require that one or another be dispensed, this is to be granted after the matter has been investigated and after the most mature deliberation and gratis by those to whom that dispensation pertains, and any dispensation granted otherwise shall be regarded as surreptitious. CHAPTER XIX DUELING IS PUNISHED WITH THE SEVEREST PENALTIES The abominable practice of dueling, introduced by the contrivance of the devil, that by the cruel death of the body he may bring about also the destruction of the soul, should be utterly eradicated from the Christian world. Emperor, kings, dukes, princes, marquises, counts, and temporal rulers by whatever other name known, who shall within their territories grant a place for dueling between Christians, shall be <eo ipso> excommunicated and shall be understood to be deprived of the jurisdiction and dominion obtained from the Church over any city, castle or locality in which or at which they have permitted the duel to take place, and if they are fiefs they shall forthwith revert to their direct rulers. Those who entered the combat as well as those who are called their seconds shall incur the penalty of excommunication, the confiscation of all their property, and perpetual infamy, and are in conformity with the sacred canons to be punished as homicides, and if they are killed in the combat they shall be forever deprived of Christian burial.[81] Those also who give advice in the matter of a duel, whether in questions of right or of fact, or in any other way whatever persuade anyone thereto, as also those who are present, shall be bound by the fetters of excommunication and everlasting malediction; any privilege whatsoever or evil custom, even though immemorial, no notwithstanding. CHAPTER XX THE RIGHTS OF THE CHURCH ARE RECOMMENDED TO THE PRINCES FOR OBSERVANCE AND PROTECTION The holy council, desirous that ecclesiastical discipline be not only restored among the Christian people, but also forever preserved unimpaired against all obstacles, besides those things which it has ordained concerning ecclesiastical persons, has deemed it proper that secular princes also be admonished of their duty; being confident that as Catholics whom God has willed to be protectors of the holy faith and the Church,[82] they will not only allow that the Church be restored her right but also will lead back all their subjects to due reverence toward the clergy, parish priests and the higher orders, and will not permit their officials or inferior magistrates through any spirit of covetousness or imprudence to violate the immunity of the Church and of ecclesiastical persons, which has been established by the authority of God and the ordinances of the canons, but that they, together with the princes themselves, render due obedience to the sacred constitutions of the supreme pontiffs and councils. It ordains therefore and commands that the sacred canons and all the general councils, as also other Apostolic ordinances published in the interest of ecclesiastical persons, the liberty of the Church, and against the violators thereof, all of which it renews by the present decree, be accurately observed by all. And hence it admonishes the emperor, kings, states, princes, and each and all, of whatever state or dignity they may be, that the more bountifully they are adorned with temporal goods and with power over others, the more religiously should they respect those things that are of ecclesiastical right as ordinances of God and as covered by His protection; and that they suffer them not to be infringed by any barons, members of their families, governors, or other temporal lords or magistrates, and above all by the ministers of the princes, but that they punish severely those who obstruct her liberty, immunity and jurisdiction. To these they themselves should be an example in the matter of piety, religion and protection of the churches, in imitation of their predecessors, those most excellent and religious princes, who not only defended the Church against injuries by others but by their authority and munificence promoted her interests in a special manner. Wherefore, let each one discharge his duty sedulously in this matter so that divine worship may be celebrated devoutly and the prelates and other clerics may remain quietly and without hindrances in their residences and in the discharge of their duties for the benefit and edification of the people. CHAPTER XXI IN ALL THINGS THE AUTHORITY OF THE APOSTOLIC SEE SHALL REMAIN INTACT Lastly, the holy council declares that each and all of the things which under whatever clauses and words have been established in this holy council in the matter of reform of morals and ecclesiastical discipline, under the supreme pontiffs Paul III and Julius III, of happy memory, as well as under the most blessed Pius IV, have been so decreed that in these matters the authority of the Apostolic See is and is understood to be intact.[83] DECREE CONCERNING THE CONTINUATION OF THE SESSION ON THE FOLLOWING DAY Since all the things that were to be considered in the present session cannot by reason of the lateness of the hour be conveniently dispatched, the things that remain are deferred till tomorrow by continuing this same session, as was resolved by the Fathers in a general congregation. CONTINUATION OF THE SESSION ON THE FOURTH DAY OF DECEMBER DECREE CONCERNING INDULGENCES Since the power of granting indulgences was conferred by Christ on the Church,[84] and she has even in the earliest times made use of that power divinely given to her, the holy council teaches and commands that the use of indulgences, most salutary to the Christian people and approved by the authority of the holy councils, is to be retained in the Church, and it condemns with anathema those who assert that they are useless or deny that there is in the Church the power of granting them. In granting them, however, it desires that in accordance with the ancient and approved custom in the Church moderation be observed, lest by too great facility ecclesiastical discipline be weakened. But desiring that the abuses which have become connected with them, and by reason of which this excellent name of indulgences is blasphemed by the heretics, be amended and corrected it ordains in a general way by the present decree that all evil traffic in them, which has been a most prolific source of abuses among the Christian people, be absolutely abolished.[85] Other abuses, however, of this kind which have sprung from superstition, ignorance, irreverence, or from whatever other source, since by reason of the manifold corruptions in places and provinces where they are committed, they cannot conveniently be prohibited individually, it commands all bishops diligently to make note of, each in his own church, and report them in the next provincial synod,[86] so that after having been examined by the other bishops also they may forthwith be referred to the supreme Roman pontiff, by whose authority and prudence that may be ordained which is expedient for the universal Church; that thus the gift of holy indulgences may be dispensed to all the faithful piously, holily and without corruption. CONCERNING THE CHOICE OF FOODS; FASTS AND FESTIVAL DAYS (Source: Council Of Trent)
The holy council exhorts furthermore, and by the most holy Advent of our Lord and Savior conjures all pastors, that like good soldiers they sedulously commend to all the faithful all those things which the holy Roman Church, the mother and mistress of all churches, has decreed; also those things which have been established in this council and in the other ecumenical councils, and to make every effort that they comply with all these things, particularly those which tend to mortify the flesh, as the choice of foods and fasts, also those that serve to increase piety, as the devout and religious celebration of festival days often admonishing the people to obey those placed over them, since those who hear them will hear God as a rewarder, while those who despise them will feel God as an avenger.[87] CONCERNING THE INDEX OF BOOKS AND THE CATECHISM, BREVIARY AND MISSAL The holy council in the second session,[88] celebrated under our most holy Lord, Pius IV, commissioned some Fathers to consider what ought to be done concerning various censures and books either suspected or pernicious and to report to this holy council. Hearing now that they have put the finishing hand to this work, which, however, by reason of the variety and multitude of books the holy council cannot distinctly and easily estimate, it commands that whatever has been done by them be given over to the most holy Roman pontiff, that it may by his judgment and authority be completed and made public. The same it commands shall be done with regard to the catechism by the Fathers to whom it was assigned,[89] and likewise with regard to the missal and breviary. CONCERNING THE PLACE OF AMBASSADORS The holy council declares that by the place assigned to ambassadors, ecclesiastics as well as seculars, whether in the sessions, processions, or in any other acts whatsoever, no prejudice has been created with regard to any of them,[90] but that all their rights and prerogatives, as well as those of the emperor, their kings, states, and princes are unimpaired and intact and continue in the same state in which they were before the present council. CONCERNING THE ACCEPTANCE AND OBSERVANCE OF THE DECREES OF THE COUNCIL So great have been the misfortunes of these times and such the inveterate malice of the heretics, that in the statement of our faith there has been nothing so clearly and so certainly defined, which they at the instigation of the enemy of the human race have not defiled with some kind of error. For which reason the holy council has taken very special care to condemn and anathematize the chief errors of the heretics of our time and to transmit and teach the true and Catholic doctrine, as it has condemned, anathematized, and decreed. And since so many bishops, summoned from the various provinces of the Christian world, cannot for so long a time without great loss to the flock committed to them and without universal danger be absent from their churches, and since there is no hope that the heretics who have been so often invited, even provided with a safe-conduct which they desired,[91] and have been so long expected, will come here later, and it is therefore necessary finally to bring this holy council to an end, it remains now that it admonish in the Lord all princes, which it hereby does, so to direct their activity as not to permit the things that it has established to be corrupted or mutilated by the heretics, but that they be devoutly received and faithfully observed by them and by all others. But if with regard to their acceptance any difficulty should arise, or something should turn up which requires explanation or definition, which does not appear probable, the holy council trusts that besides the other remedies established in this council, the most blessed Roman pontiff will see to it that for the glory of God and the tranquillity of the Church, the necessities of the provinces be provided for either by summoning, especially from those provinces where the difficulty has arisen, the persons whom he shall judge competent to discuss the matter, or by the celebration of a general council if he should deem it necessary, or in any other way as shall seem to him more suitable. THE READING OF THE DECREES OF THE COUNCIL UNDER PAUL III AND JULIUS III IN THE SESSION Since at different times under Paul III as well as under Julius III, of happy memory, many things relative to dogma and the reform of morals have been decreed and defined in this council,[92] the holy council wishes that they be now recited and read. <They were read>. THE END OF THE COUNCIL AND THE REQUEST FOR CONFIRMATION FROM OUR MOST HOLY LORD Most illustrious Lords and most reverend Fathers, does it please you that to the praise of Almighty God an end be put to this holy ecumenical council and that the confirmation of each and all of the things which have been decreed and defined therein under the Roman pontiffs, Paul III and Julius III, of happy memory, as well as under our most holy Lord, Pius IV, be sought in the name of this holy council by the presidents and the legates of the Apostolic See from the most blessed Roman pontiff? They replied: It pleases us. Hereupon the most illustrious and most reverend Cardinal Morone, the first legate and president, blessing the holy council, said: After having given thanks to God, most reverend Fathers, go in peace. They replied: Amen. ACCLAMATIONS OF THE FATHERS AT THE CLOSE OF THE COUNCIL The Cardinal of Lorraine: To the most blessed Pius, Pope and our Lord, pontiff of the holy universal Church, many years and eternal memory. Reply of the Fathers: O Lord God, do Thou preserve very long, for many years, the most holy Father to thy Church. The Cardinal: To the souls of the most blessed sovereign pontiffs, Paul III and Julius III, by whose authority this holy, general council was begun, peace from the Lord, and eternal glory, and happiness in the light of the saints. Reply: Be their memory in benediction. The Cardinal: May the memory of the Emperor Charles V and of the most serene kings, who have promoted and protected this universal council, be in benediction. Reply: Amen, Amen. The Cardinal: To the most serene Emperor Ferdinand, ever august, orthodox, and peaceful, and to all our kings, states, and princes, many years. Reply: Preserve, O Lord, the pious and Christian Emperor; O, heavenly Emperor, protect earthly kings, the preservers of the right faith. The Cardinal: To the legates of the Apostolic See, and the presidents of this council, many years and many thanks. Reply: Many thanks; the Lord reward them. The Cardinal: To the most reverend cardinals and most illustrious ambassadors. Reply: Many thanks; many years. The Cardinal: To the most holy bishops, life and a happy return to their churches. Reply: To the heralds of truth perpetual memory; to the orthodox senate many years. The Cardinal: The holy, ecumenical Council of Trent; let us confess its faith; let us always observe its decrees. Reply: Let us always confess, always observe. The Cardinal: We all believe thus, we all think the same, agreeing therein and embracing them, we all subscribe. This is the faith of blessed Peter and of the Apostles; this is the faith of the Fathers; this is the faith of the orthodox. Reply: Thus we believe; thus we think; thus we subscribe. The Cardinal: Adhering to these decrees, may we be made worthy of the mercies and grace of the first and great supreme priest, Jesus Christ God; our inviolate Lady, the holy Mother of God, and all the saints interceding. Reply: So be it, so be it. Amen, Amen. The Cardinal: Anathema to all heretics. Reply: Anathema, anathema. After this the legates presiding commanded all the Fathers under penalty of excommunications, that they before leaving the city of Trent subscribe with their own hand the decrees of the council, or approve them by some public instrument; all then subscribed, and they were in number two hundred and fifty-five, namely, four legates, two cardinals, three patriarchs, twenty-five archbishops, one hundred and sixty-eight bishops, seven abbots, thirty-nine procurators of absentees with lawful commission, seven generals of orders. PRAISE BE TO GOD It agrees with the original; in faith whereof we have subscribed: I, Angelus Massarellus, Bishop of Telese, secretary of the holy Council of Trent. I, Marcus Antonius Peregrinus, of Como, notary of the same council. I, Cynthius Pamphilius, cleric of the diocese of Camerino, notary of the same council. ENDNOTES 1 Cf. Sess. VI, can. 30 and Sess. XXII, chap. 2 and can. 3. 2 Cf. CC.4, 5, D.XXV; Eugene IV in the Council of Florence (Denzinger, Enchridion, no. 693). 3 See I Tim. 1:4; II Tim. 2:23; Tit. 3:9. 4 Cf. <infra>, chap. 4 de ref. 5 Cf. Sess XXII, chap. 3. 6 See I Tim. 2:5. 7 See I Cor. 3:16; 6:19; II Cor. 6:16. 8 Cf. II Council of Nicaea (787), can. 7. 9 Ps 134:15. 10 Sess. III, IV, VI. 11 Cf. c.ult., X, De reliq. et ven. sanct., III, 45. 12 C.2, D.III de cons. 13 Ps. 92:5. 14 Cf. c. I, X, De reliq. et ven. sanct., III, 45. 15 Cf. c.ult., X, h.t., De reliq. 16 Cf. c. I (# Quum igitur in primis), in Clem., De verb. sig., V, II. 17 Cf. cc. II, 13, C.XII, q. I; cc. 2, 6, X, De statu monach., III, 35. 18 Cf. c. 3 (# Porro), VI, De verb. sig., V, 12; C. l, h.t. in Clem., V, II. 19 Cf. c.9, X, De vit. et hon. cler., III. I; c. I, X, De instit., III, 7; c. un. (# I), VI, De stat. regul., III, 16. 20 Cf. c. 35, C.XVI, q. l; c.7, X, De off. jud. ord., I, 31; cc. 3, 4, X, Ne cler. vel monach III. 50; C.1 (# 5), in Clem., De stat. monach., III, 10. 21 C. un., VI, De stat. regul., III, 16. 22 Cf. c. un., VI, De stat. regular., III, 16. 23 C.8, X, De vit. et hon. cler., III, I. 24 Cf. C.43, VI, De elect., I, 6. 25 Cf. c.7, X, De stat. monach., III, 35. 26 Cf. tot. tit. X, De stat. monach., III, 35, De stat. regul. in VI, III, 16, De stat. monach. in Clem., III, 10. 27 C. T (# 2), in Clem., De stat. monach., III, 10. 28 Cf. C. II, C. XVIII. q. 2 29 C. I, in Clem., De sent. excomm., V, 10. 30 C.13, D.XII. 31 Cf. c. ult., X, De stat. monach., III, 35. 32 Cf. C. l, C.XVII, q. 2; C. 16, X, De regular., III, 31; c. 2, h.t. in VI, III, 14. 33 Cf. c.8, X, h.t., III, 31; c. I, h.t., in VI, III, 14. 34 C. 12, X, De regular., III, 31. 35 C 10, C.XX, q.l; C.I, X, De regular., III, 31. 36 Cf. cc. 18, 19, X, De conv. conjug., III, 32. 37 C.2, C.XX, q.2; C.16, C.XXXII, q.2. 38 C.8, C.XX, q.I; C.12, X, De regular., III, 31. 39 Cf. Sess. XIV, chap. II de ref. 40 Cf. Sess. XXI, chap. 8 de ref 41 Cf. Sess. XIV, chap. 10 de ref. 42 Cf. Ps. 101:18: Ecclus. 3:20; 35:21; Matt. 18:3f. 43 C.7, D.XLI. 44 C. 23, C.XII, q.I; c. 19, C.XII, q.2. 45 Cf. Apost. can. 39. 46 Cf. Sess. XXIV, chap. 2 de ref. 47 Cf. Sess. V, chap. I de ref. 48 Cf. cc.8, 41, 42, C.XI, q.3; c.48, X, De sent. excomm., V, 39. 49 Cf. cc. 18, 19, 25, 26, C.XI, q.3; cc.8, 9, 15, 18, 29-31, 38, 39, X, De sent. excomm,. 50 Cf. Sess. XXII, chap. 6 de ref. 51 Cf. Sess. VI, chap. 4 de ref.; Sess. XIV, chap. 4 de ref. 52 Cf. Sess. XXIV, chap. 8 de ref. Matr. and chap. 14 <infra>. 53 C.10, D.XCV. 54 Cf. cc. 4, 5, X, De his, quae fiunt a prael., III. 10. 55 Cf. cc.5, 7, C.VIII, q. I; cc.7, 10, 11l, 13, X, De fil. presb., I, 17; cc.6, 15, X, De jur. patr., III, 38. 56 Cf. Sess. XXI, chap. 6 de ref.; cc. I, 14, C.VII, q. I. 57 Cf. Sess. VII, chaps.I, 3 de ref. and XXII, chap. 2 de ref. 58 Cf. c.2, D.XLII; c. un. D.LXXXV; c. 2, D.LXXXIX; c.30, C.XII, q.2. 59 Matt. 25:35. 60 Cf. Sess. VII, chap. 15 de ref.; c.2 in Clem., De relig. dom., III, II. 61 Cf. Sess. XIV, chap. 12 de ref.; c.25, X, De jur. patr., III, 38. 62 Cf. Sess. XXIV, chap. 19 de ref. 63 Cf. Sess. XIV, chap. 13 de ref. and XXIV, chap. 18 de ref. 64 Cf. c. un., X, Ut eccles. benef. sine demin. confer., III, 12. 65 Cc.6. 16. X. De jur. patr., III, 38. 66 Cf. Sess. VII, chap. 6 de ref. 67 C.II, VI, De rescript., 1, 3. 68 Cf. cc.5, 10, X, De dolo et cont., II, 14; c.2, X, De sent. et re jud., II, 27; Sess. XXIV, chap. 20 de ref. 69 C.6, C.X, q. 2. 70 Cc. I, 2, X, ne prael. vices sues, V, 4. 71 Cf. c. un., De reb. eccl. non al. in Extrav. comm., III, 4. 72 EX. 22:29; Lev. 27:30 f.; Num. 18:21 ff.; Tob. 1:6; Mal. 3:10; c.66, C.XVI, q.I; cc.6, 7, C.XVI, q.7; cc.14, 23, 26, X, De decimis, III, 30. 73 Cf. c. 5, C.XVI, q.7; cc.5, 22, 25, 32, X, De decimis, III, 30; c. I, in Clem., h.t., III, 8. 74 Cf. c.8, X, De sepult., III, 28; c.2, h.t. in VI, III, 12; C.2, h.t. in Clem., III, 7. 75 Cf. tot. tit X, De cohab. cler. et mul., III, 2. 76 Cf. cc.4, 6, h.t. 77 Cf. cc.2, 3, h.t. 78 C.I, D.XXXIV; cc.13, 16, D.LXXXI. 79 Cf. tot. tit. X, De fil. presb., I, 17. 80 Cf. Sess. VII, chap. 7 de ref. 81 Cf. C.22, C.II, q.5; tot. tit. X, De torneam., V, 13, De cler. pugn. in duello, V, 14, et De homicid., V, 12. 82 Cf. C.20, C.XXIII, q 5. 83 Cf. Sess. VII de ref. at the beginning. 84 Matt. 16: 19; John 20:23. 85 C.2, in Clem., De poenit. er remiss., V, 9. 86 Cf. Sess. XXI, chap. 9 de ref. 87 Luke 10:16; Heb. 13:17; c.9, D.XCIII. 88 Cf. Sess. XVIII at the beginning. 89 Cf. Sess. XXIV, chap. 7 de ref. 90 Cf. Sess. II at the end. 91 Cf. Sess. XIII, XV, XVIII. 92 Cf. Sess. V-VII, XIII, XIV. BULL OF THE CONVOCATION OF THE HOLY ECUMENICAL COUNCIL OF TRENT under Pope Paul III Paul, Bishop, servant of the servants of God, for a perpetual remembrance hereof Recognizing at the very beginning of our pontificate, which the divine providence of Almighty God, not for any merit of our own, but by reason of its own great goodness, has committed to us, to what troubled times and to how many distresses in almost all affairs our pastoral solicitude and vigilance were called, we desired indeed to remedy the evils that have long afflicted and well-night overwhelmed the Christian commonwealth; but we also, as men compassed with infirmity,[1] felt our strength unequal to take upon ourselves such a burden. For while we realized that peace was necessary to free and preserve the commonwealth from the many dangers that threatened it, we found all filled with hatreds and dissensions, and particularly those princes, to whom God has entrusted almost the entire direction of affairs, at enmity with one another. Whilst we deemed it necessary for the integrity of the Christian religion and for the confirmation within us of the hope of heavenly things, that there be one fold and one shepherd[2] for the Lord’s flock, the unity of the Christian name was well-nigh rent and torn asunder by schisms, dissensions and heresies. Whilst we desired the commonwealth to be safe and protected against the arms and insidious designs of the infidels, yet, because of our transgressions and the guilt of us all, indeed, because of the wrath of God hanging over us by reason of our sins, Rhodes had been lost, Hungary ravaged, war by land and sea intended and planned against Italy, and against Austria and Illyria, since the Turk, our godless and ruthless enemy, was never at rest and looked upon our mutual enmities and dissensions as his fitting opportunity to carry out his designs with success. Wherefore, having been called, as we have said, in so great a tempest of heresies, discords and wars and in such restlessness of the waves to rule and pilot the bark of Peter, and not trusting sufficiently our own strength, we first of all cast our cares upon the Lord,[3] that He might sustain us and provide our soul with firmness and strength, our understanding with prudence and wisdom. Then, considering that our predecessors, endowed with admirable wisdom and sanctity, had often in the greatest dangers of the Christian commonwealth had recourse to ecumenical councils and general assemblies of bishops as the best and most suitable remedy, we also decided to hold a general council. When, on consulting the opinions of the princes whose consent in this matter we deemed particularly useful and expedient, we found them at that time not averse to so holy a work, we, as our letters and records attest, summoned an ecumenical council and a general assembly of those bishops and fathers, whose duty it is to attend, to be opened in the city of Mantua on the twenty-third of May in the year 1537 of our Lord’s incarnation and the third of our pontificate; entertaining almost the assured hope that when we should be assembled there in the name of the Lord, He would, as He promised, be in our midst[4] and in His goodness and mercy dispel with ease by the breath of His mouth all the storms and dangers of the times. But, as the enemy of mankind always plots against pious enterprises, at the very outset, contrary to all our hopes and expectations, the city of Mantua was refused us, unless we subscribed to certain conditions which were totally irreconcilable with the ordinances of our predecessors, with the condition of the times, with our own dignity and liberty, and with that of the Apostolic See and the ecclesiastical name, as we have made known in other letters. Wherefore we were obliged to find another place and to choose another city, and since a convenient and suitable one did not immediately present itself, we were constrained to prorogue the celebration of the council to the following first day of November. In the meantime, the Turk, our cruel and everlasting enemy, having attacked Italy with a powerful fleet, captured, sacked and ravaged several cities on the shores of Apulia and carried off as booty the inhabitants, while we, in the greatest fear and general danger, were occupied in fortifying our shores and in furnishing assistance to the nearest neighboring localities. At the same time, however, we did not neglect to consult and exhort the Christian princes to inform us what in their opinion would be a suitable place to hold the council, and since their opinions were various and uncertain, and there seemed to be needless delay, we, with the best intention and, we think, with prudence, chose Vicenza, a populous city, which by reason of the valor, esteem and power of the Venetians, who conceded it to us, offered not only free access but also and especially a free and safe place of residence for all. But since time had already far advanced and the choice of the new city had to be made known to all, the proximity of the first of November precluding any announcement of this change, and winter moreover was near, we were again obliged to prorogue the council to the following spring, that is, to the first of the next May. This having been firmly settled and decreed, we considered, while preparing ourselves and everything else to hold and celebrate that council successfully with the help of God, that it was a matter of prime importance both for the celebration of the council and for Christendom, that the Christian princes be united in peace and concord, and so we did not fail to implore and beseech our most beloved sons in Christ, Charles, ever august Emperor of the Romans, and Francis, the most Christian King, the two chief props and supports of the Christian name, to come together in a conference with us. Both of them we very often urged by letters, nuncios and legates a latere selected from the number of our venerable brethren, to lay aside their jealousies and animosities, to agree to an alliance and holy friendship, and to succor the tottering state of Christendom, for the preservation of which especially did God give him power; and in case of neglect to do this and of failure to direct all their counsels to the common welfare of Christendom, they would have to render to Him a strict and severe account. Yielding at last to our petitions they repaired to Nice, whither we also, for the cause of God and of bringing about peace, undertook a long and, to our advanced age, very fatiguing journey. Neither did we neglect in the meantime, as the time set for the council, namely, the first of May, approached, to send to Vicenza three legates a latere, men of the greatest worth and esteem, chosen from the number of our brethren, the cardinals of the holy Roman Church, to open the council, to receive the prelates coming from various parts, and to transact and attend to such matters as they should deem necessary, till we ourselves on our return from our journey and mission of peace should be able to direct everything with greater exactness. In the meantime we applied ourselves with all the zeal, love and energy of our soul to that holy and most necessary work, the establishment of peace among the princes. God is our witness, in whose goodness we trusted when we exposed ourselves to the dangers of the journey and of life. Our conscience is witness, and in this matter certainly cannot reproach us with having either neglected or not sought an opportunity to effect a reconciliation. Witnesses are the princes themselves, whom we so often and so urgently implored through our nuncios, letters, legates, admonitions, exhortations and entreaties of every kind to lay aside their jealousies and form an alliance, that with united zeal and action they might aid the Christian commonwealth, already reduced to the greatest immediate danger. Witnesses, moreover, are those vigils and anxieties, those labors and strenuous exertions of our soul by day and night, which we have endured to such large measure in this matter and cause. For all that, our counsels and labors have not yet produced the desired results; for so it pleased the Lord our God, who, however, we trust will yet look more favorably on our wishes. We ourselves have not in this matter, so far as we could, omitted anything pertaining to the duty of our pastoral office. If there be any who interpret our efforts for peace in any other sense, we are grieved indeed, but in our grief we nevertheless give thanks to Almighty God who, as an example and a lesson of patience to us, willed that His own Apostles should be accounted worthy to suffer reproach for the name of Jesus who is our peace.[5] However, though by reason of our sins a true and lasting peace between the two princes could not be effected in our meeting and conference at Niece, nevertheless, a truce of ten years was agreed upon; and hoping that as a result of this the holy council might be celebrated more beneficially and thus by its authority peace be permanently established, we urged the princes to come to the council themselves and to bring with them the prelates who had accompanied them and to summon those absent. On both these points, however, they excused themselves on the grounds that it was necessary for them to return to their kingdoms and that the prelates who had accompanied them, being wearied and exhausted by the journey and its expenses, must recover and recruit themselves, and they besought us to decree yet another prorogation of the time for the opening of the council. While we were rather unwilling to yield in this, we received in the meantime letters from our legates at Vicenza, announcing that though the day for the opening of the council had arrived, indeed had long since passed, hardly more than one or two prelates had repaired to Vicenza from foreign nations. Since we saw on receipt of this information that the council could under no circumstances be held at this time, we yielded to the princes and put off the time for the opening of the council till the following Easter, the feast of the resurrection of the Lord. The decretal letters concerning this our ordinance and prorogation were given and published at Genoa on the twenty-eighth of June in the year of the incarnation of our Lord 1538. This delay we granted the more readily because each of the princes promised to send ambassadors to us at Rome, that those things which remained for the perfect establishment of peace and which on account of the brevity of time could not be accomplished at Nice, might be considered and negotiated more conveniently in our presence at Rome. And for this reason also both requested that the peace negotiations might precede the celebration of the council, for with peace established the council would be much more beneficial and salutary to the Christian commonwealth. It was this hope for peace that moved us always to yield to the wishes of the princes, a hope that was greatly strengthened by the kind and friendly conference between those two princes after our departure from Nice, the news of which, giving us the greatest joy, confirmed us in the good hope, so that we believed God had at last listened to our prayers and received our earnest wishes for peace. This conclusion of peace, therefore, we earnestly desired and urged, and since it was the opinion not only of the two aforesaid princes but also of our most dear son in Christ, Ferdinand, King of the Romans, that the work of the council ought not to be undertaken till peace had been established, and all urged us by letters and through their spokesmen to decide on a further prorogation of the time, particularly insistent being the most illustrious Emperor, who declared that he had promised those who dissent from Catholic unity that he would consider the matter with us on their behalf to the end that some plan of agreement might be arranged, which could not be done satisfactorily before his return to Germany, and guided throughout by the same hope of peace and the wishes of such powerful princes, and above all, seeing that even on the said feast of the resurrection no other prelates had assembled at Vicenza, we, now avoiding the word prorogation, which has been so often repeated in vain, preferred to suspend the celebration of the general council during our own good pleasure and that of the Apostolic See. This we therefore did and dispatched letters concerning this suspension to each of the aforesaid princes on the tenth day of June, 1539, as may be clearly seen therein. This suspension having been made by force of circumstances, we looked forward to that more favorable time and to some conclusion of peace that would later bring dignity and numbers to the council as well as a more immediate safety to the Christian commonwealth. But the affairs of Christendom meanwhile became worse day by day. The Hungarians on the death of their king called in the Turks; King Ferdinand declared war against them; a portion of Belgium was incited to revolt against the Emperor, who, to crush that rebellion, traversed France into Belgium on the most friendly and peaceful terms with the most Christian King and with a great manifestation of mutual good will toward each other. Thence he returned to Germany where he began to hold diets of the princes and cities of Germany with a view to discuss that agreement of which he had spoken to us. But as the hope for peace was already on the wane and that method of providing and establishing unity by means of diets seemed rather adapted to produce greater discord, we were led to return to our former remedy of a general council, and through our legates, cardinals of the holy Roman Church, proposed this to the Emperor himself, which we also did later and especially in the Diet of Ratisbon, at which our beloved son, Gasparo Contarini, Cardinal of St. Praxedes, acted as our legate with great learning and integrity. For since, as we had previously feared, we might be petitioned by a decision of the diet to declare that certain articles maintained by the dissenters from the Church be tolerated til they be examined and decided upon by an ecumenical council, and since neither Christian and Catholic truth, nor our own dignity nor that of the Apostolic See would permit us to yield in this, we chose rather to command that it be proposed openly that a council be held as soon as possible. Neither did we ever have any other intention and wish than that an ecumenical and general council should be convened at the earliest opportunity. For we hoped that thereby peace might be restored to the Christian people and integrity to the will and favor of the Christian princes. However, while looking forward to this will, while watching for the hidden time, the time of thy good pleasure, O Lord, we were at last forced to conclude that all time is pleasing to God when there is a question of deliberation on holy things and on such as pertain to Christian piety. Wherefore, beholding with the bitterest grief of our soul that the affairs of Christendom were daily becoming worse, Hungary oppressed by the Turks, Germany endangered, and all other states overwhelmed with apprehension and grief, we resolved to wait no longer for the consent of any prince, but to look solely to the will of the Almighty God and to the good of the Christian commonwealth. Wherefore, since the city of Vicenza was no longer at our disposal, and we desired in our choice of a new place for holding the council to have in mind both the common welfare of Christians and the conveniences of the German nation, and seeing that among the various places proposed these desired the city of Trent, we, though of opinion that everything could be transacted more conveniently in cisalpine Italy, nevertheless yielded with paternal charity to their desires. Accordingly, we have chosen the city of trent as that in which the ecumenical council is to be held on the following first day of November, selecting that place as a convenient one in which the bishops and prelates from Germany and from the nations bordering on Germany can assemble very easily and those from France, Spain and other more remote provinces without difficulty. In fixing the day for the council, we considered that there should be time both for the publication of this our decree throughout the Christian nations and to make it possible for all the prelates to arrive. Our reason for not announcing the change of place of the council one year in advance, as has been prescribed by certain constitutions,[7] was this, that we were not willing that the hope of applying some remedy to the Christian commonwealth, afflicted as it is with so many disasters and calamities, should be delayed any longer, though we know the times and recognize the difficulties, and we understand that what may be looked for from our counsels is a matter of uncertainty. But since it is written: Commit thy way to the Lord, and trust in him, and he will do it,[8] we have resolved to trust in the clemency and mercy of God rather than distrust our own weakness, for in undertaking good works it often happens that where human counsels fail the divine power succeeds. Wherefore, relying on the authority of Almighty God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and on that of His blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, which we also exercise on earth, and supported also by the advice and assent of our venerable brethren, the cardinals of the holy Roman Church, having removed and annulled the aforesaid suspension, which by the present we remove and annul, we announce, proclaim, convoke, ordain and decree a holy ecumenical and general council to be opened on the first day of November of the present year 1542 from the incarnation of the Lord in the city of Trent, for all nations a commodious, free and convenient place, to be there begun and prosecuted and with the help of God concluded and completed to His glory and praise and the welfare of the whole Christian people; and we summon, exhort and admonish, in whatever country they may be, all our venerable brethren, the patriarchs, archbishops, bishops, and our beloved sons, the abbots, as well as all others who by law or privilege have the right to sit in general councils and express their sentiments therein, enjoining and strictly commanding them by virtue of their oath to us and to this Holy See, and in virtue of holy obedience and under other penalties that by law or custom are usually imposed and proposed in the celebration of councils against absentees, that they attend and be present personally at this holy council, unless they should perchance be hindered by a just impediment, of which, however, they shall be obliged to give proof, in which case they must be represented by their lawful procurators and delegates. Also the aforesaid Emperor and the most Christian King, as well as the other kings, dukes and princes, whose presence, if ever, would certainly at this time be very salutary to the most holy faith of Christ and of all Christians, we beg and beseech by the bowels of the mercy of God and of our Lord Jesus Christ, the truth of whose faith and whose religion are now so violently assailed both from within and without, that if they wish the Christian commonwealth to be safe, if they feel themselves bound and under obligation to the Lord for His great favors toward them, they will not abandon His cause and interests but will come personally to the celebration of the holy council, where their piety and virtue would be greatly conducive to the common good, to their own and the welfare of others, temporal as well as spiritual. But if, which we do not wish, they themselves cannot appear, let them at least send distinguished men entrusted with authority, each of whom may represent in the council with prudence and dignity the person of his prince. But above all, and this is for them an easy matter, let them see to it that the bishops and prelates of their respective kingdoms and provinces proceed to the council without tergiversation and delay, a favor that God himself and we can in justice claim particularly from the prelates and princes of Germany; for since it is chiefly on their account and at their wishes that the council has been summoned, and in the very city that they desired, let them not regard it burdensome to celebrate and adorn it with their presence, so that, God going before us in our deliberations and holding before our minds the light of His wisdom and truth, we may in the holy ecumenical council, in a better and easier manner consider, and with the charity of all concurring to one end, ponder, discuss, execute and bring speedily and happily to the desired result whatever things pertain to the purity and truth of the Christian religion, to the restoration of what is good and the correction of bad morals, to the peace, unity and harmony of Christians among themselves, of the princes as well as of the people, and whatever is necessary to repulse those attacks of barbarians and infidels whereby they seek the overthrow of all Christendom. And that this our letter and its contents may come to the knowledge of all whom it concerns, and that no one may plead ignorance as an excuse, particularly since there may not perchance be free access to all to whom it ought to be especially communicated, we wish and command that it be read publicly and in a loud voice by the messengers of our court or by some public notaries in the Vatican Basilica of the Prince of the Apostles and in the Lateran Church, at a time when the people are accustomed to assemble there to hear divine services; and after having been read, let it be affixed to the doors of the said churches, also to the gates of the Apostolic Chancery and to the usual place in the Campo di Fiore, where it shall hang openly for some time for the perusal and cognizance of all; and when removed thence, copies of it shall still remain affixed in the same places. For by being thus read, published and affixed, we wish that each and all whom our aforesaid letter concerns be, after the interval of two months from the day of being published and afixed, so bound and obligated as if it had been read and published in their presence. We command and decree also that an unshaken and firm faith be given to transcripts thereof, written or subscribed by the hand of a notary public and authenticated by the seal of some person constituted in ecclesiastical dignity. Therefore, let no one infringe this our letter of summons, announcement, convocation, statute, decree, command, precept and supplication, or with foolhardy boldness oppose it. But if anyone shall presume to attempt this, let him know that he will incur the indignation of Almighty God and of His blessed Apostles Peter and Paul. Given at Rome at Saint Peter’s in the year 1542 of the Lord’s incarnation on the twenty-second of May, in the eighty year of our pontificate. Blosius. Hier. Dand. ENDNOTES 1. Heb 5:2. 2. Jn 10:16. 3. Ps. 54:23. 4. Matt. 18. 5. Acts 5:41; Eph 2:14. 6. Ps 68:14. 7. Council of Constance, Sess. XXXIX, const. Frequens. Cf. my work, Disciplinary Decrees of the General Councils (St. Louis, 1937), pp. 447f. 8. Ps. 36:5. PETITION FOR THE CONFIRMATION OF THE COUNCIL We, Alexander of Farnese, cardinal-deacon of St. Lawrence in Damasus, vice-chancellor of the holy Roman Church, do certify and attest that on this day, Wednesday, the twenty-sixth of January, 1564, in the fifth year of the pontificate of our most holy Lord Pius IV, by the providence of God, Pope, my most reverend Lords, the Cardinals Morone and Simoneta, lately returned from the holy Council of Trent, at which they had presided as legates of the Apostolic See, did in a secret consistory held at St. Peter’s petition our most holy Lord as follows: “Most blessed Father, in a decree regarding the close of the ecumenical Council of Trent, published on the fourth of December last, it was declared that through the legates and presidents of Your Holiness and of the holy Apostolic See, confirmation of each and all of the things which were therein established and defined under Paul III and Julius III, of happy memory, as well as under Your Holiness, should be requested in the name of the Council from Your Holiness. Wherefore, we, Cardinal John Morone and Cardinal Louis Simoneta, who were then legates and presidents, wishing to execute what is ordained in that decree, do humbly petition in the name of the said ecumenical Council of Trent that Your Holiness deign to confirm each and all of the things which have been decreed and defined therein under Paul III and Julius III, of happy memory, as well as under Your Holiness.” Upon hearing which His Holiness, after having seen and read the contents of the said decree, and after having obtained the advice of my most reverend Lords, the cardinals, replied in these words: “We, yielding to the petition made to us by the aforesaid legates in the name of the ecumenical Council of Trent regarding the confirmation thereof, with Apostolic authority and with the advice and assent of our venerable brethren, the cardinals, having previously had mature deliberation with them, confirm each and all of the things which have been decreed and defined in said Council under our predecessors, Paul III and Julius III, of happy memory, as well as during the time of our pontificate, and we command that they be received and inviolately observed by all the faithful of Christ, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.” Thus it is. A. Farnese, Cardinal, Vice-Chancellor. BULL OF OUR MOST HOLY LORD, PIUS IV, BY THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD, POPE, CONCERNING THE CONFIRMATION OF THE ECUMENICAL AND GENERAL COUNCIL OF TRENT Pius, Bishop, servant of the servants of God, for a perpetual remembrance hereof “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort,”[1] who, having deigned to look upon His holy Church, agitated and tossed by so many storms and tempests and day by day more sorely distressed, has at length come to her aid with a suitable and longed-for remedy. To extirpate so many and most destructive heresies, to reform morals and restore ecclesiastical discipline, to bring about peace and harmony among the Christian people, an ecumenical and general council had already a long time ago been summoned by our predecessor, Paul III, of happy memory, to meet in the city of Trent and had been begun by holding several sessions. Recalled by his successor Julius to the same city, it was, after the celebration of several sessions, by reason of various hindrances and difficulties that prevented its continuance, for a long time interrupted, not without the greatest grief on the part of all pious persons, since the Church day by day increased her prayers for the success of that remedy. But after having assumed the government of the Apostolic See, we, trusting in the divine mercy, undertook to accomplish, as our pastoral solicitude directed us, so necessary and salutary a work, and supported by the pious zeal of our most beloved son in Christ, Ferdinand, Emperor-elect of the Romans, and of other Christian kings, states and princes, we at length attained that for which we did not cease to labor in watchfulness day and night and for which we have assiduously besought the Father of lights. For since a very large assembly of bishops and other distinguished prelates, one worthy of an ecumenical council, had, by our letters of convocation and impelled also by their piety, gathered from all Christian nations in that city, together with very many other pious persons pre-eminent for their knowledge of sacred letters and divine and human law, under the presidency in that council of the legates of the Apostolic See, and since we so favored the freedom of the council that we by letters to our legates voluntarily left the council free to deal with matters properly reserved to the Apostolic See, those things which remained to be considered, defined and decreed regarding the sacraments and other matters which seemed necessary for the refutation of heresies, removal of abuses, and reform of morals, were dealt with and accurately and very deliberately defined, explained and decreed by the holy council with the fullest freedom and thoroughness. On the completion of these matters the council was brought to a close with so great unanimity on the part of all who participated therein, that it was manifest that such agreement was the Lord’s doing, and it was very wonderful in our eyes[2] and in those of all. For this so singular favor of God we at once ordered public prayers in this fair city in which the clergy and people participated with great devotion, and we made it our care that praises and thanksgivings so justly due be paid to the divine majesty, since the close of the council has brought with it a great and well-nigh assured hope that greater fruits will day by day accrue to the Church from its decrees and constitutions. But since the holy council itself, in its reverence toward the Apostolic See and following in this also the footsteps of the ancient councils, has, in a decree made in public session, petitioned us for the confirmation of all its decrees made in our time and in that of our predecessors, we, having been made acquainted with the request of the council, first by the letters of our legates, then, on their return, by what they diligently reported in the name of the council, after mature deliberation thereon with our venerable brethren, the cardinals of the holy Roman Church, and, above all, having invoked the aid of the Holy Ghost, after we had ascertained that all those decrees were Catholic, useful and salutary to the Christian people, to the praise of Almighty God, with the advice and assent of our brethren aforesaid, have this day in our secret consistory confirmed by Apostolic authority each and all, and have decreed that they be received and observed by all the faithful of Christ, as we also, for the clearer knowledge of all men, do by the contents of this letter confirm them and decree that they be received and observed by all. Moreover, in virtue of holy obedience and under the penalties prescribed by the holy canons, and others more severe, even of deprivation, to be imposed at our discretion, we command each and all of our venerable brethren, patriarchs, archbishops, bishops, and all other prelates of churches, whatever may be their state, rank, order and dignity, even though distinguished with the honor of the cardinalate, to observe diligently the said decrees and ordinances in their churches, cities and dioceses both in and out of the court of justice, and to cause them to be observed inviolately, each by his own subjects whom it may in any way concern; restraining all opponents and obstinate persons by means of judicial sentences, censures and ecclesiastical penalties contained in those decrees, every appeal being set aside, calling in also, if need be, the aid of the secular arm. We admonish and by the bowels of the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ conjure our most beloved son the Emperor elect and the other Christian kings, states and princes, that they, with the same piety and zeal which they manifested through their ambassadors at the council, for the honor of God and the salvation of their people, in reverence also toward the Apostolic See and the holy council, support, if need be, with their aid and encouragement, the prelates in enforcing and observing the decrees of the council, and not to permit opinions contrary to the sound and salutary doctrine of the council to be received by the people under their jurisdiction, but to forbid them absolutely. Furthermore, to avoid the perversion and confusion which might arise if everyone were allowed to publish, as he saw fit, his commentaries on and interpretations of the decrees of the council, we by Apostolic authority forbid all persons, ecclesiastics, of whatever order, condition or rank they may be, as well as laics, with whatever honor and power invested, prelates, indeed, under penalty of being prohibited entrance into the church, and others, whoever they may be, under penalty of excommunication <latae sententiae>, to presume without our authority to publish in any form any commentaries, glosses, annotations, scholia on, or any kind of interpretation whatsoever of the decrees of this council, or to decide something under whatever name, even under pretext of greater corroboration or better execution of the decrees, or under any other color or pretext. But if anything therein should appear to anyone to have been expressed and defined in an obscure manner and for that reason stands in need of some interpretation or decision, let him go up to the place which the Lord has chosen,[3] namely, to the Apostolic See, the mistress of all the faithful, whose authority the holy council also has so reverently acknowledged. For if difficulties and controversies relative to those decrees shall arise, their explanation and decision we reserve to ourselves, as the holy council itself has also decreed; being prepared, as that council has justly confided to us, to provide for the necessities of all the provinces as it shall appear to us most suitable; at the same time we declare null and void whatever should be attempted to the contrary in these matters, whether knowingly or unknowingly, by any authority whatsoever. But that these things may come to the knowledge of all and that no one may plead ignorance as an excuse, we wish and command that this letter be read publicly and in a loud voice by some officials of our court in the Vatican Basilica of the Prince of the Apostles and in the Lateran Church at a time when the people are accustomed to assemble there for the celebration of the masses; and after having been read, let it be affixed to the doors of those churches and also to those of the Apostolic Chancery and at the usual place in the Campo di Fiore, and let it be left there for some time that it may be read and come to the knowledge of all; but when removed thence, copies being according to custom left there, let it be committed to the press in the fair city that it may be more conveniently made known throughout the provinces and kingdoms of Christendom. We command and decree also that an unwavering faith be given to the transcripts thereof, written or subscribed by the hand of a notary public and authenticated by the seal and signature of some person constituted in ecclesiastical dignity. Let no one, therefore, infringe this our letter of confirmation, admonition, inhibition, will, commands and decrees, or with foolhardy boldness oppose it. But if anyone shall presume to attempt this, let him know that he will incur the indignation of Almighty God and of His blessed Apostles Peter and Paul. Given at Rome at Saint Peter’s in the year 1564 of the Lord’s incarnation on the twenty-sixth of January, in the fifth year of our pontificate. I, Pius, Bishop of the Catholic Church. I, F. Card. Pisanus, Bishop of Ostia, Dean. I, Fed. Card. Caesius, Bishop of Porto. I, Jo. Card. Moronus, Bishop of Tusculum. I, A. Card. Farnesius, Vice-Chancellor, Bishop of Sabina. I, R. Card. S. Angeli, Major Penitentiary. I, Jo. Card. S. Vitalis. I, Jo. Michael Card. Sarasenus. I, Jo. B. Cicada, Card. S. Clementis. I, Scipio Card. Pisarum. I, Jo. Card. Romanus. I, F. M. G. Card. Alexandrinus. I, F. Clemens Card. Arae Coeli. I, Jo. Card. Sabellus. I, B. Card. Salviatus. I, Philip. Card. Aburd. I, Lud. Card. Simoneta. I, F. Card. Pacieccus y de Toll I, M. A. Card. Amulius. I, Jo. Franc. Card. de Gambara. I, Carolus Card. Borromaeus. I, M. S. Card. Constant. I, Alph. Card. Gesualdus. I, Hipp. Card. Ferrar. I, Franciscus Card. Gonzaga. I, Gui. Asc. Diac. Card. Cam. I, Vitellotius Card. Vitellius. Ant. Florebellus Lavellinus. H. Cumyn. ENDNOTES 1 Cf. II Cor. 1:3. 2 Ps. 117:23. 3 Deut. 17:8. ORATION delivered in the ninth and last Session of the COUNCIL OF TRENT celebrated on the third and fourth day of December, 1563 under the Supreme Pontiff, Pius IV, by the most Reverend Jerome Ragazonus, of Venice, Bishop of Nazianzus and Coadjutor of Famagusta WHEREIN ALL THAT WAS DEFINED IN THE COUNCIL OF TRENT PERTAINING TO FAITH AND MORALS is summarized “Hear these things, all ye nations; give ear all ye inhabitants of the world.”[1] The Council of Trent which was begun long ago, was for a time suspended, often postponed and dispersed, now at last through a singular favor of Almighty God and with a complete and wonderful accord of all ranks and nations has come to a close. This most happy day has dawned for the Christian people; the day in which the temple of the Lord, often shattered and destroyed, is restored and completed, and this one ship, laden with every blessing and buffeted by the worst and most relentless storms and waves, is brought safely into port. Oh, that those for whose sake this voyage was chiefly undertaken had decided to board it with us; that those who caused us to take this work in hand had participated in the erection of this edifice! Then indeed we would now have reason for greater rejoicing. But it is certainly not through our fault that it so happened. For that reason we chose this city, situated at the entrance to Germany situated almost at the threshold of their homes; we have, in order to give them no ground for suspicion that the place is not entirely free, employed no guard for ourselves; we granted them that public security which they requested and which they themselves had drawn up; for a long time we awaited them and never did we cease to exhort them and plead with them to come here and learn the truth. Indeed, even in their absence we were, I think, sufficiently concerned about them. For since in a twofold respect medicine had to be applied to their weak and infirm spirits, one, the explanation and confirmation of the teaching of the Catholic and truly evangelical faith in those matters upon which they had cast doubt and which at this time appeared opportune for the dispersion and destruction of all the darkness of errors; the other, the restoration of ecclesiastical discipline, the collapse of which they claim was the chief cause of their severance from us, we have amply accomplished both so far as was in our power and so far as the conditions of the times would permit. At the beginning, after having in accordance with a laudable custom of our forefathers made a profession of faith, in order to lay a foundation, as it were, for subsequent transactions and to point out by what witnesses and evidence the definition of articles of faith must be supported, this holy council scrupulously and prudently enumerated, after the example of the most approved ancient councils, the books of the Old and New Testaments which must be accepted without a doubt; and that no difficulty might arise as regards the wording of various translations, it approved a trustworthy and certain translation from the Greek and Hebrew. Thereupon, attacking the pillar and bulwark of all heresies concerning the original corruption of human nature, it stated what the truth itself would express if it could speak. Then, with reference to justification, an important matter and assailed in a striking manner by heretics of ancient as well as modern times, it defined, with such wonderful order and admirable wisdom that the spirit of God is easily discerned therein, those things by which the most pernicious opinions of this kind might be refuted and the correct manner of thinking pointed out. Through this most extraordinary decree in the memory of man well-nigh all heresies are strangled and, as darkness before the sun, dispersed and dissipated, and the truth appears with such clearness and splendor that no one can any longer pretend not to see so great a light. Hereupon followed the consideration of the seven sacraments of the Church; first in general, then each one in particular. Who does not see here how exactly, how clearly, copiously, resplendently, and, what is most important, how truly the nature of these heavenly mysteries is summed up? Who can in this body of doctrine, so great and rich in content, in any way still wish for something which is to be observed or avoided? Who will in all this find room or occasion to go astray? Who finally can henceforth entertain any doubt as to the power and efficacy of these sacraments, since it is clear that that grace which daily like trickling water flows through them into the souls of the faithful was then so abundantly present in us? Thereupon followed the decisions concerning the most holy sacrifice of the mass, communion under both species and for little children, than which we have nothing holier, nothing more beneficial, so that they appear to have fallen from heaven rather than to have been composed by men. To these is added today the true teaching concerning purgatory, the veneration and invocation of saints, images and relics, Whereby not only the deceptions and calumnies of heretics are opposed but also the consciences of pious Catholics fully satisfied. These things, dealing with matters that pertain to our salvation and known as dogmas, have been successfully and happily accomplished, and in this respect nothing more will be expected of us at this time. But since in the administration of some of the foregoing matters there were some things which were not rightly and properly observed, you have, most esteemed Fathers, very carefully provided that they be carried out in a correct and untarnished manner and in accordance with the usages and institutions of the Fathers. You have thereby removed from the celebration of the mass all superstition, all greed for lucre and all irreverence; forbidden vagrant, unknown and depraved priests to offer this holy sacrifice; removed its celebration from private homes and profane places to holy and consecrated sanctuaries; you have banished from the temple of the Lord the more effeminate singing and musical compositions, promenades, conversations and business transactions; you have thus prescribed for each ecclesiastical rank such laws as leave no room for the abuse of the orders divinely conferred. You have likewise removed some matrimonial impediments which seemed to give occasion for violating the precepts of the Church, and to those who do not enter the conjugal union legitimately you have closed the easy way of obtaining forgiveness. And what shall I say about furtive and clandestine marriages? For myself I feel that if there had been no other reason for convoking the council, and there were many and grave reasons, this one alone would have provided sufficient ground for its convocation. For since this is a matter that concerns all, and since there is no corner of the earth which this plague has not invaded, provision had to be made by which this common evil might be remedied by common deliberation. By your clear-sighted and well-nigh divine direction, most holy Fathers, the occasion for innumerable and grave excesses and crimes has been completely removed, and the government of the Christian commonweal most wisely provided for. To this is added the exceedingly salutary and necessary prohibition of many abuses connected with purgatory, the veneration and invocation of the saints, images and relics, and also indulgences, abuses which appeared to defile and deform in no small measure the beautiful aspect of these objects. The other part, in which was considered the restoration of the tottering and well-nigh collapsed ecclesiastical discipline, was most carefully performed and completed. In the future only those who are known for their virtues, not for their ambition, who will serve the interests of the people, not their own, and who desire to be useful rather than invested with authority, will be chosen for the discharge of ecclesiastical offices. The word of God, which is more penetrating than any two-edged sword,[2] will be more frequently and more zealously preached and explained. The bishops and others to whom the <cura animarum> has been committed, will remain with and watch over their flocks and not wander about outside the districts entrusted to them. Privileges will no longer avail anyone for an impure and wicked life or for evil and pernicious teaching; no crime will go unpunished, no virtue will be without its reward. The multitude of poor and mendicant priests have been very well provided for; everyone will be assigned to a definite church and to a prescribed field of labor whence he may obtain sustenance. Avarice, than which there is no vice more hideous,[3] especially in the house of God, will be absolutely banished therefrom, and the sacraments, as is proper, will be dispensed gratuitously. From one Church many will be established and from many one, according as the welfare of the people and circumstances demand. Questors of alms, as they are called, who, seeking their own and not the things of Jesus Christ, have brought great injury, great dishonor upon our religion, will be completely removed from the memory of men, which must be regarded as a very great blessing. For from this our present calamity took its beginning; from it an endless evil did not cease to creep in by degrees and daily take a wider course, nor have precautionary and disciplinary measures of many councils thus far been able to suppress it. Wherefore, who will not agree that for this reason it was a very prudent undertaking to cut off this member, on whose restoration to health much labor had been vainly spent, lest it corrupt the remainder of the body? Moreover, divine worship will be discharged more purely and promptly, and those who carry the vessels of the Lord will be so chastened that they will move others to follow their example. In connection with this point plans were skillfully devised whereby those who are to be promoted to sacred orders might in every church be from their youth up instructed in the habits of Christian life and knowledge, so that in this way a sort of seminary of all virtues might be established. In addition, provincial synods were restored; visitations reintroduced for the welfare of the people, not for the disturbance and oppression of them; greater faculties granted to the pastors for guiding and feeding their flocks; public penance again put into practice; hospitality recommended to ecclesiastical persons as well as to pious foundations; in the bestowal upon priests of the <cura animarum> a memorable and well-nigh heavenly method was adopted; plurality of benefices abolished; the hereditary possession of the sanctuary of God prohibited; excommunication restricted and the manner of its imposition determined; first judgments assigned to the places where the disputes arise; duels forbidden; a sort of bridle put on the luxury, greed and licentiousness of all people, particularly the clergy, which cannot be easily shaken off; kings and princes diligently reminded of their duties, and other things of a similar nature were enacted with the greatest discernment. Who does not see that you, most illustrious Fathers, have also in these matters done your duty in the fullest measure? Oftentimes in earlier councils our faith was explained and morals corrected, but I do not know whether ever more carefully and more clearly. We had here, especially during these two years, from all peoples and nations by whom the truth of the Catholic religion is recognized, not only Fathers but also ambassadors. And what men! If we consider science, the most learned; practice, the most experienced; mental gifts, the most penetrating; piety, the most religious; and deportment, the most irreproachable. The number also was such that if the present distresses of the Christian world are considered, this assembly appears the largest in attendance of all that preceded it. Here the individual wounds of all were uncovered, morals exposed, nothing was concealed. The propositions and arguments of our adversaries were so treated that it appeared as if their case not ours was the point under consideration. Some things were discussed three and even four times; debates were carried on with the greatest vehemence, for the purpose, namely, that as gold is tried in the fire, so might the power and vigor of the truth be proved through such contests. For how could there be discords among those who have the same view and the same aim? That being the case, though it was very much desired, as I said in the beginning, to discuss these things conjointly with those for whose sake they were chiefly discussed, nevertheless such provision was made for the welfare and salvation of the absentees that it appears it could not have been otherwise even if they had been present. Let them read with humility, as becomes a Christian, what we have defined concerning our faith, and if some light should come upon them, let them not turn away the face; if they should hear the voice of the Lord, let them not harden their hearts, and if they should wish to return to the common embrace of mother Church from which they severed themselves, they may rest assured that every indulgence and sympathy will be extended to them But the best way, most esteemed Fathers, to win the minds of those who differ with us and to hold in the faith and duty those who are in union with us is this, that we in our churches translate into action the enactments which we have here expressed in language. Laws may be the best, they are, however, but mute entities. Of what avail to the Hebrew people were the laws that came from the mouth of God Himself? What advantage did the laws of Lycurgus bring to the Lacedaemonians, those of Solon to the Athenians, for the preservation of liberty, the sole purpose for which they were written? But why do I make mention of such alien and ancient instances? What further instructions and precepts for good and holy living can we or should we desire in the life and teaching of our Lord Christ? Likewise, what was omitted by our forefathers that belongs either to the true faith or to a commendable conduct? For a long time we have had the salutary medicine, properly mixed and prepared; but if it is to drive out disease it must be taken and through the veins find its way throughout the entire body. From this cup of salvation, dearest brethren, let us first satiate ourselves, and let us be living and vocal laws, a model and rule by which the actions and aspirations of others may be guided, and so each one may convince himself that nothing will be gained from the advantage and honor of the Christian commonweal unless he zealously contributes in so far as is in him. If this was our solicitude in the past, it must be more scrupulously so in the future. For if after the example of our Master and Savior we must first do and then teach,[4] what can be our excuse if after we have taught we fail to practice our teaching? Who could endure and tolerate us if after we have pointed out that theft is forbidden we ourselves steal? that adultery is forbidden and we ourselves commit adultery? It is certainly not proper that saints turn away from the holy council, the innocent and virtuous from the precepts of virtue and innocence, the strong and steadfast in the faith from the firmly established teaching of our faith. And such are we expected to be by our people, who, for a long time anxiously awaiting our return, have consoled themselves with the consideration that we on our return will with greater zeal repair this absence. This you will do, I hope, most holy Fathers, with zealous endeavor; and as you have done here so will you also at home render due service to God and to the people. Now let us first of all, so far as time will permit, express and render our most fervent and undying thanks to the great and eternal God, who has recompensed us not according to the sins that we have committed nor according to our transgressions,[5] but in His great goodness has granted us not only to see this most joyful day, which many desired to see, but also to celebrate it with the full and unqualified consent and approval of the entire Christian people. Then we must give special and everlasting thanks to our great and illustrious pontiff, Pius IV, who, as soon as he had ascended the chair of St. Peter, was so kindled with the desire to reconvene this council that he directed to it all his energy and attention. He immediately dispatched as delegates the most experienced men to announce the council to those provinces and nations for whose benefit it was chiefly convoked. These traversed nearly all the countries of the North, entreated, implored and adjured; they promised every security and friendship, and even passed over into England. Later, since he could not himself be present at the council, as he so ardently wished, he sent legates distinguished for piety and learning, two of whom, whose memory is in benediction, he wished to be here on the day appointed, though scarcely any bishops had yet arrived. These, together with a third added shortly after, spent nine inactive months in this place waiting for the arrival of an adequate number of bishops to open the council. In the meantime the Pope himself did nothing and contemplated nothing other than that very many and very distinguished Fathers should come here as soon as possible and all kings and princes of Christendom should send their ambassadors, so that by the common desire and deliberation of all this common matter, the gravest and most important of all, might be fully considered. And what did he later omit in the way of attention, anxiety and expenses that seemed in any manner to contribute to the greatness, liberty and success of this council? Oh, the extraordinary piety and prudence of our pastor and father! Oh, the fullest happiness to him by whose authority and under whose protection this long tossed about and distracted council found stability and rest! You who have passed away, Paul III and Julius, you I ask, how long and with what yearning have you desired to see what we see! at what costs and labor have you brought this about! Wherefore, most holy and most blessed Pius, we truly and heartily congratulate you that the Lord has reserved to you such great joy, to your name such high honor, which is the greatest proof of God’s benevolence toward you; and with united prayers and supplications we beseech Him that He will for the honor and ornament of His holy Church very speedily restore you to us in good health and preserve you for many years. To the most illustrious Emperor also we must by every right extend our thanks and congratulations. Having won as a basic point the good will of the most powerful rulers who were kindled with such wonderful zeal for the propagation of the Christian religion, he has kept this city free from all danger and by his vigilance has seen to it that we might enjoy a safe and undisturbed peace; by the constant presence of his three representatives, men of the highest character, which was almost a pledge to us, he brought great security to our minds. In conformity with his eminent piety he was singularly solicitous about our affairs. He spared no labor to bring out of the densest darkness in which they dwell those who differed from him and from us in matters of faith and to lead them to see the bright light of this holy council. We must, moreover, hold in grateful remembrance the exceedingly pious disposition of the Christian kings and princes in honoring this council with the presence of their highly esteemed ambassadors and in committing their power to your authority. Finally, who is it, most illustrious legates and cardinals, who does not acknowledge his great obligation to you? You have been the most trustful leaders and directors of our deliberations. With incredible patience and perseverance you have taken care that our freedom either in the discussions or the decisions might not appear to be infringed upon. You have spared no bodily labor, no mental effort, that the business which many others like you have attempted in vain might be brought to the desired termination as soon as possible. In this, you, most illustrious and distinguished Morone, must feel a special and peculiar joy, you who twenty years ago laid the first stone for this magnificent edifice, and now, after many other master-builders have been employed at this work, you have fortunately by your extraordinary and almost divine wisdom put the final hand to it. This remarkable and singular deed of yours will be forever celebrated in words and no age will ever maintain its silence regarding your renown. What shall I say about you, most holy Fathers? How well you have merited by these your most marvelous deliberations in the interests of the Christian state! What commendation, what glory will be given to the name of each one of you by the entire Christian people! All will acknowledge and proclaim you true fathers, true pastors; everyone will cheerfully reward you for the preservation of his life and the attainment of salvation. Oh, how happy and joyful will that day be for our people, when on our return home from erecting this temple of the Lord they can again for the first time see and embrace us! But thou Lord, our God, grant that we may by noble needs justify so generous an opinion of ourselves, and that the seed which we have sown in Thy field may yield abundant fruit and Thy word issue forth as dew, and that what Thou hast promised may take place during our time, that there be one fold and one shepherd of all, and he preferably Pius IV, to the eternal glory of Thy name. Amen. ENDNOTES 1 Ps. 48:2. 2 Heb. 4:12. 3 Ecclus. 10:9. 4 Acts 1:1. 5 Ps. 102:10. TEN RULES CONCERNING PROHIBITED BOOKS DRAWN UP BY THE FATHERS CHOSEN BY THE COUNCIL OF TRENT AND APPROVED BY POPE PIUS[1] I All books which have been condemned either by the supreme pontiffs or by ecumenical councils before the year 1515 and are not contained in this list, shall be considered condemned in the same manner as they were formerly condemned. II The books of those heresiarchs, who after the aforesaid year originated or revived heresies, as well as of those who are or have been the heads or leaders of heretics, as Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, Balthasar Friedberg, Schwenkfeld, and others like these, whatever may be their name, title or nature of their heresy, are absolutely forbidden. The books of other heretics, however, which deal professedly with religion are absolutely condemned. Those on the other hand, which do not deal with religion and have by order of the bishops and inquisitors been examined by Catholic theologians and approved by them, are permitted. Likewise, Catholic books written by those who afterward fell into heresy, as well as by those who after their fall returned to the bosom of the Church, may be permitted if they have been approved by the theological faculty of a Catholic university or by the general inquisition. III The translations of writers, also ecclesiastical, which have till now been edited by condemned authors, are permitted provided they contain nothing contrary to sound doctrine. Translations of the books of the Old Testament may in the judgment of the bishop be permitted to learned and pious men only, provided such translations are used only as elucidations of the Vulgate Edition for the understanding of the Holy Scriptures and not as the sound text. Translations of the New Testament made by authors of the first class of this list shall be permitted to no one, since great danger and little usefulness usually results to readers from their perusal. But if with such translations as are permitted or with the Vulgate Edition some annotations are circulated, these may also, after the suspected passages have been expunged by the theological faculty of some Catholic university or by the general inquisition, be permitted to those to whom the translations are permitted. Under these circumstances the entire volume of the Sacred Books, which is commonly called the <biblia Vatabli,> or parts of it, may be permitted to pious and learned men. From the Bibles of Isidore Clarius of Brescia, however, the preface and introduction are to be removed, and no one shall regard its text as the text of the Vulgate Edition. IV Since it is clear from experience that if the Sacred Books are permitted everywhere and without discrimination in the vernacular, there will by reason of the boldness of men arise therefrom more harm than good, the matter is in this respect left to the judgment of the bishop or inquisitor, who may with the advice of the pastor or confessor permit the reading of the Sacred Books translated into the vernacular by Catholic authors to those who they know will derive from such reading no harm but rather an increase of faith and piety, which permission they must have in writing. Those, however, who presume to read or possess them without such permission may not receive absolution from their sins till they have handed them over to the ordinary. Bookdealers who sell or in any other way supply Bibles written in the vernacular to anyone who has not this permission, shall lose the price of the books, which is to be applied by the bishop to pious purposes, and in keeping with the nature of the crime they shall be subject to other penalties which are left to the judgment of the same bishop. Regulars who have not the permission of their superiors may not read or purchase them. V Those books which sometimes produce the works of heretical authors, in which these add little or nothing of their own but rather collect therein the sayings of others, as lexicons, concordances, apothegms, parables, tables of contents and such like, are permitted if whatever needs to be eliminated in the additions is removed and corrected in accordance with the suggestions of the bishop, the inquisitor and Catholic theologians. VI Books which deal in the vernacular with the controversies between Catholics and heretics of our time may not be permitted indiscriminately, but the same is to be observed with regard to them what has been decreed concerning Bibles written in the vernacular. There is no reason, however, why those should be prohibited which have been written in the vernacular for the purpose of pointing out the right way to live, to contemplate, to confess, and similar purposes, if they contain sound doctrine, just as popular sermons in the vernacular are not prohibited. But if hitherto in some kingdom or province certain books have been prohibited because they contained matter the reading of which would be of no benefit to all indiscriminately, these may, if their authors are Catholic, be permitted by the bishop and inquisitor after they have been corrected. VII Books which professedly deal with, narrate or teach things lascivious or obscene are absolutely prohibited, since not only the matter of faith but also that of morals, which are usually easily corrupted through the reading of such books, must be taken into consideration, and those who possess them are to be severely punished by the bishops. Ancient books written by heathens may by reason of their elegance and quality of style be permitted, but may by no means be read to children. VIII Books whose chief contents are good but in which some things have incidentally been inserted which have reference to heresy, ungodliness, divination or superstition, may be permitted if by the authority of the general inquisition they have been purged by Catholic theologians. The same decision holds good with regard to prefaces, summaries or annotations which are added by condemned authors to books not condemned. Hereafter, however, these shall not be printed till they have been corrected. IX All books and writings dealing with geomancy, hydromancy, aeromancy, pyromancy, oneiromancy, chiromancy, necromancy, or with sortilege, mixing of poisons, augury, auspices, sorcery, magic arts, are absolutely repudiated. The bishops shall diligently see to it that books, treatises, catalogues determining destiny by astrology, which in the matter of future events, consequences, or fortuitous occurrences, or of actions that depend on the human will, attempt to affirm something as certain to take place, are not read or possessed.[2] Permitted, on the other hand, are the opinions and natural observations which have been written in the interest of navigation, agriculture or the medical art. X In the printing of books or other writings is to be observed what was decreed in the tenth session of the Lateran Council under Leo X.[3] Wherefore, if in the fair city of Rome any book is to be printed, it shall first be examined by the vicar of the supreme pontiff and by the Master of the Sacred Palace or by the persons appointed by our most holy Lord. In other localities this approbation and examination shall pertain to the bishop or to one having a knowledge of the book or writing to be printed appointed by the bishop and to the inquisitor of the city or diocese in which the printing is done, and it shall be approved by the signature of their own hand, free of charge and without delay under the penalties and censures contained in the same decree, with the observance of this rule and condition that an authentic copy of the book to be printed, undersigned by the author’s hand, remain with the examiner. Those who circulate books in manuscript form before they have been examined and approved, shall in the judgment of the Fathers delegated by the council be subject to the same penalties as the printers, and those who possess and read them shall, unless they make known the authors, be themselves regarded as the authors. The approbation of such books shall be given in writing and must appear authentically in the front of the written or printed book and the examination, approbation and other things must be done free of charge. Moreover, in all cities and dioceses the houses or places where the art of printing is carried on and the libraries offering books for sale, shall be visited often by persons appointed for this purpose by the bishop or his vicar and also by the inquisitor, so that nothing that is prohibited be printed, sold or possessed. All book-dealers and venders of books shall have in their libraries a list of the books which they have for sale subscribed by the said persons, and without the permission of the same appointed persons they may not under penalties of confiscation of the books and other penalties to be imposed in the judgment of the bishops and inquisitors, possess or sell or in any other manner whatsoever supply other books. Venders, readers and printers shall be punished according to the judgment of the same. If anyone brings into any city any books whatsoever he shall be bound to give notice thereof to the same delegated persons, or in case a public place is provided for wares of that kind, then the public officials of that place shall notify the aforesaid persons that books have been brought in. But let no one dare give to anyone a book to read which he himself or another has brought into the city or in any way dispose of or loan it, unless he has first exhibited the book and obtained the permission of the persons appointed, or unless it is well known that the reading of the book is permitted to all. The same shall be observed by heirs and executors of last wills, so, namely, that they exhibit the books left by those deceased, or a list of them, to the persons delegated and obtain from them permission before they use them or in any way transfer them to other persons. In each and all of such cases let a penalty be prescribed, covering either the confiscation of books or in the judgment of the bishops or inquisitors another that is in keeping with the degree of the contumacy or the character of the offense. With reference to those books which the delegated Fathers have examined and expurgated or have caused to be expurgated, or under certain conditions have permitted to be printed again, the book-dealers as well as others shall observe whatever is known to have been prescribed by them. The bishops and general inquisitors, however, in view of the authority which they have, are free to prohibit even those books which appear to be permitted by these rules, if they should deem this advisable in their kingdoms, provinces or dioceses. Moreover, the secretary of those delegated has by order of our most holy Lord [the pope] to hand over in writing to the notary of the holy universal Roman inquisition the names of the books which have been expurgated by the delegated Fathers as well as the names of those to whom they committed this task. Finally, all the faithful are commanded not to presume to read or possess any books contrary to the prescriptions of these rules or the prohibition of this list. And if anyone should read or possess books by heretics or writings by any author condemned and prohibited by reason of heresy or suspicion of false teaching, he incurs immediately the sentence of excommunication. He, on the other hand, who reads or possesses books prohibited under another name shall, besides incurring the guilt of mortal sin, be severely punished according to the judgment of the bishops. ENDNOTES 1 Cf. Sess. XXV, decree concerning the index of books. 2 For the mode of procedure suggested to the bishops and local inquisitors, cf. the bull <Coeli et terrae>, of Sixtus V, 5 Jan., 1586. 3 Fifth Lateran, Hardouin, IX, pp. 1775-77; Schroeder, <Disciplinary Decrees of the General Councils>, pp. 504, 644 f. (Source: Council Of Trent)
<b>1. ¿Cuál es el designio de Dios para el hombre?</b> 1-25<br>Dios, infinitamente perfecto y bienaventurado en sí mismo, en un designio de pura bondad ha creado libremente al hombre para hacerle partícipe de su vida bienaventurada. En la plenitud de los tiempos, Dios Padre envió a su Hijo como Redentor y Salvador de los hombres caídos en el pecado, convocándolos en su Iglesia, y haciéndolos hijos suyos de adopción por obra del Espíritu Santo y herederos de su eterna bienaventuranza. <b>2. ¿Por qué late en el hombre el deseo de Dios?</b> 27-30</p><p>44-45<br>Dios mismo, al crear al hombre a su propia imagen, inscribió en el corazón de éste el deseo de verlo. Aunque el hombre a menudo ignore tal deseo, Dios no cesa de atraerlo hacia sí, para que viva y encuentre en Él aquella plenitud de verdad y felicidad a la que aspira sin descanso. En consecuencia, el hombre, por naturaleza y vocación, es un ser esencialmente religioso, capaz de entrar en comunión con Dios. Esta íntima y vital relación con Dios otorga al hombre su dignidad fundamental. <b>3. ¿Cómo se puede conocer a Dios con la sola luz de la razón?</b> 31-36</p><p>46-47<br>A partir de la Creación, esto es, del mundo y de la persona humana, el hombre, con la sola razón, puede con certeza conocer a Dios como origen y fin del universo y como sumo bien, verdad y belleza infinita. <b>4. ¿Basta la sola luz de la razón para conocer el misterio de Dios?</b> 37-38<br>Para conocer a Dios con la sola luz de la razón, el hombre encuentra muchas dificultades. Además no puede entrar por sí mismo en la intimidad del misterio divino. Por ello, Dios ha querido iluminarlo con su Revelación, no sólo acerca de las verdades que superan la comprensión humana, sino también sobre verdades religiosas y morales, que, aun siendo de por sí accesibles a la razón, de esta manera pueden ser conocidas por todos sin dificultad, con firme certeza y sin mezcla de error. <b>5. ¿Cómo se puede hablar de Dios?</b> Se puede hablar de Dios a todos y con todos, partiendo de las perfecciones del hombre y las demás criaturas, las cuales son un reflejo, si bien limitado, de la infinita perfección de Dios. Sin embargo, es necesario purificar continuamente nuestro lenguaje de todo lo que tiene de fantasioso e imperfecto, sabiendo bien que nunca podrá expresar plenamente el infinito misterio de Dios. <b>6. ¿Qué revela Dios al hombre?</b> 50-53</p><p>68-69<br>Dios, en su bondad y sabiduría, se revela al hombre. Por medio de acontecimientos y palabras, se revela a sí mismo y el designio de benevolencia que él mismo ha preestablecido desde la eternidad en Cristo en favor de los hombres. Este designio consiste en hacer partícipes de la vida divina a todos los hombres, mediante la gracia del Espíritu Santo, para hacer de ellos hijos adoptivos en su Hijo Unigénito. <b>7. ¿Cuáles son las primeras etapas de la Revelación de Dios?</b> 54-58</p><p>70-71<br>Desde el principio, Dios se manifiesta a Adán y Eva, nuestros primeros padres, y les invita a una íntima comunión con Él. Después de la caída, Dios no interrumpe su revelación, y les promete la salvación para toda su descendencia. Después del diluvio, establece con Noé una alianza que abraza a todos los seres vivientes. <b>8. ¿Cuáles son las sucesivas etapas de la Revelación de Dios?</b> 59-64</p><p>72<br>Dios escogió a Abram llamándolo a abandonar su tierra para hacer de él «el padre de una multitud de naciones» (<i>Gn</i> 17, 5), y prometiéndole bendecir en él a «todas las naciones de la tierra» (<i>Gn</i> 12,3). Los descendientes de Abraham serán los depositarios de las promesas divinas hechas a los patriarcas. Dios forma a Israel como su pueblo elegido, salvándolo de la esclavitud de Egipto, establece con él la Alianza del Sinaí, y le da su Ley por medio de Moisés. Los Profetas anuncian una radical redención del pueblo y una salvación que abrazará a todas las naciones en una Alianza nueva y eterna. Del pueblo de Israel, de la estirpe del rey David, nacerá el Mesías: Jesús. <b>9. ¿Cuál es la plena y definitiva etapa de la Revelación de Dios?</b> 65-66</p><p>73<br>La plena y definitiva etapa de la Revelación de Dios es la que Él mismo llevó a cabo en su Verbo encarnado, Jesucristo, mediador y plenitud de la Revelación. En cuanto Hijo Unigénito de Dios hecho hombre, Él es la Palabra perfecta y definitiva del Padre. Con la venida del Hijo y el don del Espíritu, la Revelación ya se ha cumplido plenamente, aunque la fe de la Iglesia deberá comprender gradualmente todo su alcance a lo largo de los siglos.<br><i>«Porque en darnos, como nos dio a su Hijo, que es una Palabra suya, que no tiene otra, todo nos lo habló junto y de una vez en esta sola Palabra, y no tiene más que hablar»</i> (San Juan de la Cruz) <b>10. ¿Qué valor tienen las revelaciones privadas?</b> 67<br>Aunque no pertenecen al depósito de la fe, las revelaciones privadas pueden ayudar a vivir la misma fe, si mantienen su íntima orientación a Cristo. El Magisterio de la Iglesia, al que corresponde el discernimiento de tales revelaciones, no puede aceptar, por tanto, aquellas “revelaciones” que pretendan superar o corregir la Revelación definitiva, que es Cristo. <b>11. ¿Por qué y de qué modo se transmite la divina Revelación?</b> 74<br>Dios «quiere que todos los hombres se salven y lleguen al conocimiento de la verdad» (<i>1 Tim</i> 2, 4), es decir, de Jesucristo. Es preciso, pues, que Cristo sea anunciado a todos los hombres, según su propio mandato: «Id y haced discípulos de todos los pueblos» (<i>Mt</i> 28, 19). Esto se lleva a cabo mediante la Tradición Apostólica. <b>12. ¿Qué es la Tradición Apostólica?</b> 75-79</p><p>83</p><p>96.98<br>La Tradición Apostólica es la transmisión del mensaje de Cristo llevada a cabo, desde los comienzos del cristianismo, por la predicación, el testimonio, las instituciones, el culto y los escritos inspirados. Los Apóstoles transmitieron a sus sucesores, los obispos y, a través de éstos, a todas las generaciones hasta el fin de los tiempos todo lo que habían recibido de Cristo y aprendido del Espíritu Santo. <b>13. ¿De qué modo se realiza la Tradición Apostólica?</b> 76<br>La Tradición Apostólica se realiza de dos modos: con la transmisión viva de la Palabra de Dios (también llamada simplemente Tradición) y con la Sagrada Escritura, que es el mismo anuncio de la salvación puesto por escrito. <b>14. ¿Qué relación existe entre Tradición y Sagrada Escritura?</b> 80-82</p><p>97<br>La Tradición y la Sagrada Escritura están íntimamente unidas y compenetradas entre sí. En efecto, ambas hacen presente y fecundo en la Iglesia el Misterio de Cristo, y surgen de la misma fuente divina: constituyen un solo sagrado depósito de la fe, del cual la Iglesia saca su propia certeza sobre todas las cosas reveladas. <b>15. ¿A quién ha sido confiado el depósito de la fe?</b> 84.91</p><p>94.99<br>El depósito de la fe ha sido confiado por los Apóstoles a toda la Iglesia. Todo el Pueblo de Dios, con el sentido sobrenatural de la fe, sostenido por el Espíritu Santo y guiado por el Magisterio de la Iglesia, acoge la Revelación divina, la comprende cada vez mejor, y la aplica a la vida. <b>16. ¿A quién corresponde interpretar auténticamente el depósito de la fe?</b> 85-90</p><p>100<br>La interpretación auténtica del depósito de la fe corresponde sólo al Magisterio vivo de la Iglesia, es decir, al Sucesor de Pedro, el Obispo de Roma, y a los obispos en comunión con él. Al Magisterio, el cual, en el servicio de la Palabra de Dios, goza del carisma cierto de la verdad, compete también definir los dogmas, que son formulaciones de las verdades contenidas en la divina Revelación; dicha autoridad se extiende también a las verdades necesariamente relacionadas con la Revelación. <b>17. ¿Qué relación existe entre Escritura, Tradición y Magisterio?</b> 95<br>Escritura, Tradición y Magisterio están tan estrechamente unidos entre sí, que ninguno de ellos existe sin los otros. Juntos, bajo la acción del Espíritu Santo, contribuyen eficazmente, cada uno a su modo, a la salvación de los hombres. <b>18. ¿Por qué decimos que la Sagrada Escritura enseña la verdad?</b> 105-108</p><p>135-136<br>Decimos que la Sagrada Escritura enseña la verdad porque Dios mismo es su autor: por eso afirmamos que está inspirada y enseña sin error las verdades necesarias para nuestra salvación. El Espíritu Santo ha inspirado, en efecto, a los autores humanos de la Sagrada Escritura, los cuales han escrito lo que el Espíritu ha querido enseñarnos. La fe cristiana, sin embargo, no es una «religión del libro», sino de la Palabra de Dios, que no es «una palabra escrita y muda, sino el Verbo encarnado y vivo» (San Bernardo de Claraval). <b>19. ¿Cómo se debe leer la Sagrada Escritura?</b> 109-119</p><p>137<br>La Sagrada Escritura debe ser leída e interpretada con la ayuda del Espíritu Santo y bajo la guía del Magisterio de la Iglesia, según tres criterios: 1) atención al contenido y a la unidad de toda la Escritura; 2) lectura de la Escritura en la Tradición viva de la Iglesia; 3) respeto de la analogía de la fe, es decir, de la cohesión entre las verdades de la fe. <b>20. ¿Qué es el <i>canon</i> de las Escrituras?</b> 120</p><p>138<br>El <i>canon</i> de las Escrituras es el elenco completo de todos los escritos que la Tradición Apostólica ha hecho discernir a la Iglesia como sagrados. Tal canon comprende cuarenta y seis escritos del Antiguo Testamento y veintisiete del Nuevo. <b>21. ¿Qué importancia tiene el Antiguo Testamento para los cristianos?</b> 121-123<br>Los cristianos veneran el Antiguo Testamento como verdadera Palabra de Dios: todos sus libros están divinamente inspirados y conservan un valor permanente, dan testimonio de la pedagogía divina del amor salvífico de Dios, y han sido escritos sobre todo para preparar la venida de Cristo Salvador del mundo. <b>22. ¿Qué importancia tiene el Nuevo Testamento para los cristianos?</b> 124-127</p><p>139<br>El Nuevo Testamento, cuyo centro es Jesucristo, nos transmite la verdad definitiva de la Revelación divina. En él, los cuatro Evangelios de Mateo, Marcos, Lucas y Juan, siendo el principal testimonio de la vida y doctrina de Jesús, constituyen el corazón de todas las Escrituras y ocupan un puesto único en la Iglesia. <b>23. ¿Qué unidad existe entre el Antiguo y el Nuevo Testamento?</b> 128-130</p><p>140<br>La Escritura es una porque es única la Palabra de Dios, único el proyecto salvífico de Dios y única la inspiración divina de ambos Testamentos. El Antiguo Testamento prepara el Nuevo, mientras que éste da cumplimiento al Antiguo: ambos se iluminan recíprocamente. <b>24. ¿Qué función tiene la Sagrada Escritura en la vida de la Iglesia?</b> 131-133</p><p>141-142<br>La Sagrada Escritura proporciona apoyo y vigor a la vida de la Iglesia. Para sus hijos, es firmeza de la fe, alimento y manantial de vida espiritual. Es el alma de la teología y de la predicación pastoral. Dice el Salmista: «lámpara es tu palabra para mis pasos, luz en mi sendero» (<i>Sal</i> 119, 105). Por esto la Iglesia exhorta a la lectura frecuente de la Sagrada Escritura, pues «desconocer la Escritura es desconocer a Cristo» (San Jerónimo). <b>25. ¿Cómo responde el hombre a Dios que se revela?</b> 142-143<br>El hombre, sostenido por la gracia divina, responde a la Revelación de Dios con la obediencia de la fe, que consiste en fiarse plenamente de Dios y acoger su Verdad, en cuanto garantizada por Él, que es la Verdad misma. <b>26. ¿Cuáles son en la Sagrada Escritura los principales modelos de obediencia en la fe?</b> 144-149<br>Son muchos los modelos de obediencia en la fe en la Sagrada Escritura, pero destacan dos particularmente: <i>Abraham</i>, que, sometido a prueba, «tuvo fe en Dios» (<i>Rm</i> 4, 3) y siempre obedeció a su llamada; por esto se convirtió en «padre de todos los creyentes» (<i>Rm</i> 4, 11.18). Y la <i>Virgen María</i>, quien ha realizado del modo más perfecto, durante toda su vida, la obediencia en la fe: «<i>Fiat mihi secundum Verbum tuum</i> – hágase en mi según tu palabra» (<i>Lc</i> 1, 38). <b>27. En la práctica ¿qué significa para el hombre creer en Dios?</b> 150-152</p><p>176-178<br>Creer en Dios significa para el hombre adherirse a Dios mismo, confiando plenamente en Él y dando pleno asentimiento a todas las verdades por Él reveladas, porque Dios es la Verdad. Significa creer en un solo Dios en tres personas: Padre, Hijo y Espíritu Santo. <b>28. ¿Cuáles son las características de la fe?</b> 153-165</p><p>179-180</p><p>183-184<br>La fe, don <i>gratuito</i> de Dios, accesible a cuantos la piden humildemente, es la virtud sobrenatural <i>necesaria</i> para salvarse. El acto de fe es un <i>acto humano</i>, es decir un acto de la inteligencia del hombre, el cual, bajo el impulso de la voluntad movida por Dios, asiente libremente a la verdad divina. Además, la fe es <i>cierta</i> porque se fundamenta sobre la Palabra de Dios; «actúa por medio de la caridad» (<i>Ga</i> 5,6); y está en continuo crecimiento, gracias, particularmente, a la escucha de la Palabra de Dios y a la oración. Ella nos hace <i>pregustar</i> desde ahora el gozo del cielo. <b>29. ¿Por qué afirmamos que no hay contradicción entre la fe y la ciencia?</b> 159<br>Aunque la fe supera a la razón, no puede nunca haber contradicción entre la fe y la ciencia, ya que ambas tienen su origen en Dios. Es Dios mismo quien da al hombre tanto la luz de la razón como la fe.<br>«<i>Cree para comprender y comprende para creer</i>» (San Agustín) <b>30. ¿Por qué la fe es un acto personal y al mismo tiempo eclesial?</b> 166-169</p><p>181<br>La fe es un acto personal en cuanto es respuesta libre del hombre a Dios que se revela. Pero, al mismo tiempo, es un acto eclesial, que se manifiesta en la expresión «creemos», porque, efectivamente, es la Iglesia quien cree, de tal modo que Ella, con la gracia del Espíritu Santo, precede, engendra y alimenta la fe de cada uno: por esto la Iglesia es Madre y Maestra.<br><i>«Nadie puede tener a Dios por Padre si no tiene a la Iglesia por Madre»</i> </p><p>(San Cipriano) <b>31. ¿Por qué son importantes las fórmulas de la fe?</b> 170-171<br>Las fórmulas de la fe son importantes porque nos permiten expresar, asimilar, celebrar y compartir con los demás las verdades de la fe, utilizando un lenguaje común. <b>32. ¿En qué sentido la fe de la Iglesia es una sola?</b> 172-175</p><p>182<br>La Iglesia, aunque formada por personas diversas por razón de lengua, cultura y ritos, profesa con voz unánime la única fe, recibida de un solo Señor y transmitida por la única Tradición Apostólica. Profesa un solo Dios –Padre, Hijo y Espíritu Santo– e indica un solo camino de salvación. Por tanto, creemos, con un solo corazón y una sola alma, todo aquello que se contiene en la Palabra de Dios escrita o transmitida y es propuesto por la Iglesia para ser creído como divinamente revelado. <b>SEGUNDA SECCIÓN</p><p>LA PROFESIÓN DE LA FE CRISTIANA</b><br><b>EL CREDO</b><br><b>Símbolo de los Apóstoles</b> <b>Symbolum Apostolicum</b><br>Credo in Deum, Patrem omnipoténtem,</p><p>Creatórem caeli et terrae,</p><p>et in Iesum Christum, Filium Eius únicum,</p><p>Dóminum nostrum,</p><p>qui conceptus est de Spiritu Sancto,</p><p>natus ex María Virgine,</p><p>passus sub Póntio Piláto,</p><p>crucifixus, mórtuus, et sepúltus, </p><p>descendit ad ínferos, tértia die resurréxit </p><p>a mórtuis, ascéndit ad caelos, sedet </p><p>ad déxteram Dei Patris omnipoténtis,</p><p> inde ventúrus est iudicáre vivos </p><p>et mórtuos.<br>Et in Spíritum Sanctum,</p><p>sanctam Ecclésiam cathólicam,</p><p>sanctórum communiónem,</p><p>remissiónem peccatórum,</p><p>carnis resurrectiónem,</p><p>vitam aetérnam.</p><p>Amen.<br>Creo en Dios, Padre Todopoderoso,</p><p>Creador del cielo y de la tierra.</p><p>Creo en Jesucristo, su único Hijo,</p><p>Nuestro Señor,</p><p>Que fue concebido por obra y gracia del Espíritu Santo, nació de Santa María Virgen, padeció bajo el poder de Poncio Pilato, </p><p>fue crucificado, muerto y sepultado, descendió a los infiernos, al tercer día resucitó de entre los muertos, subió a los cielos y está sentado a la derecha de Dios, Padre todopoderoso. Desde allí ha de venir </p><p>a juzgar a vivos y muertos.<br>Creo en el Espíritu Santo,</p><p>la santa Iglesia católica, </p><p>la comunión de los santos,</p><p>el perdón de los pecados, </p><p>la resurrección de la carne</p><p>y la vida eterna.</p><p>Amén. <b>Credo</p><p>Niceno-Constantinopolitano</b><br>Creo en un solo Dios, </p><p>Padre Todopoderoso,</p><p>Creador del cielo y de la tierra,</p><p>de todo lo visible y lo invisible.</p><p>Creo en un solo Señor, Jesucristo,</p><p>Hijo único de Dios, </p><p>nacido del Padre antes de todos los siglos: Dios de Dios, </p><p>Luz de Luz, </p><p>Dios verdadero de Dios verdadero,</p><p>engendrado, no creado, </p><p>de la misma naturaleza del Padre,</p><p>por quien todo fue hecho;</p><p>que por nosotros, los hombres, y por nuestra salvación bajó del cielo, </p><p>y por obra del Espíritu Santo se encarnó de María, la Virgen, y se hizo hombre; </p><p>y por nuestra causa fue crucificado</p><p>en tiempos de Poncio Pilato; </p><p>padeció y fue sepultado,</p><p>y resucitó al tercer día, según las Escrituras,</p><p>y subió al cielo, y está sentado a la derecha del Padre; y de nuevo vendrá con gloria para juzgar a vivos y muertos,</p><p>y su reino no tendrá fin.<br>Creo en el Espíritu Santo, </p><p>Señor y dador de vida,</p><p>que procede del Padre y del Hijo,</p><p>que con el Padre y el Hijo recibe</p><p>una misma adoración y gloria,</p><p>y que habló por los profetas.<br>Creo en la Iglesia, que es una, </p><p>santa, católica y apostólica.<br>Confieso que hay un solo Bautismo</p><p>para el perdón de los pecados.<br>Espero la resurrección de los muertos</p><p>y la vida del mundo futuro.</p><p>Amén. <b>Symbolum</p><p>Nicaenum-Constantinopolitanum</b><br>Credo in unum Deum, </p><p>Patrem omnipoténtem,</p><p>Factórem caeli et terrae, </p><p>visibílium ómnium et invisibílium.</p><p>Et in unum Dóminum Iesum Christum,</p><p>Filium Dei unigénitum</p><p>et ex Patre natum ante ómnia saécula:</p><p>Deum de Deo,</p><p>Lumen de Lúmine,</p><p>Deum verum de Deo vero,</p><p>génitum, non factum, </p><p>consubstantiálem Patri:</p><p>per quem ómnia facta sunt;</p><p>qui propter nos hómines et proper nostram</p><p>salútem, descéndit de caelis,</p><p>et incarnátus est de Spíritu Sancto </p><p>ex María Virgine et homo factus est,</p><p>crucifixus etiam pro nobis</p><p>sub Póntio Piláto, </p><p>passus et sepúltus est,</p><p>et resurréxit tértia die secúndum Scriptúras,</p><p>et ascendit in coelum, sedet ad déxteram Patris, </p><p>et íterum ventúrus est cum glória,</p><p>iudicáre vivos et mórtuos, </p><p>cuius regni non erit finis.<br>Credo in Spíritum Sanctum, </p><p>Dóminum et vivificántem,</p><p>qui ex Patre Filióque procédit,</p><p>qui cum Patre et Fílio simul </p><p>adorátur et conglorificátur, </p><p>qui locútus est per Prophétas.<br>Et unam sanctam cathólicam </p><p>et apostólicam Ecclésiam.<br>Confíteor unum Baptísma in </p><p>remissiónem peccatórum.<br> Et exspécto resurrectiónem mortuórum,</p><p>et vitam ventúri saéculi.</p><p>Amen. <b>33. ¿Qué son los símbolos de la fe?</b> 185-188</p><p>199.197<br>Los símbolos de la fe, también llamados «profesiones de fe» o «Credos», son fórmulas articuladas con las que la Iglesia, desde sus orígenes, ha expresado sintéticamente la propia fe, y la ha transmitido con un lenguaje común y normativo para todos los fieles. <b>34. ¿Cuáles son los símbolos de la fe más antiguos?</b> 189-191<br>Los símbolos de la fe más antiguos son los <i>bautismales</i>. Puesto que el Bautismo se administra «en el nombre del Padre y del Hijo y del Espíritu Santo» (<i>Mt</i> 28, 19), las verdades de fe allí profesadas son articuladas según su referencia a las tres Personas de la Santísima Trinidad. <b>35. ¿Cuáles son los símbolos de la fe más importantes?</b> 193-195<br>Los símbolos de la fe más importantes son: <i>el Símbolo de los Apóstoles</i>, que es el antiguo símbolo bautismal de la Iglesia de Roma, y <i>el Símbolo niceno-constantinopolitano</i>, que es fruto de los dos primeros Concilios Ecuménicos de Nicea (325) y de Constantinopla (381), y que sigue siendo aún hoy el símbolo común a todas las grandes Iglesias de Oriente y Occidente. <b>36. ¿Por qué la profesión de fe comienza con «Creo en Dios»?</b> 198-199<br>La profesión de fe comienza con la afirmación «Creo en Dios» porque es la más importante: la fuente de todas las demás verdades sobre el hombre y sobre el mundo y de toda la vida del que cree en Dios. <b>37. ¿Por qué profesamos un <i>solo</i> Dios?</b> 200-202</p><p>228<br>Profesamos un <i>solo</i> Dios porque Él se ha revelado al pueblo de Israel como el Único, cuando dice: «escucha Israel, el Señor nuestro Dios es el Único Señor» (<i>Dt</i> 6, 4), «no existe ningún otro» (<i>Is</i> 45, 22). Jesús mismo lo ha confirmado: Dios «es el único Señor» (<i>Mc</i> 12, 29). Profesar que Jesús y el Espíritu Santo son también Dios y Señor no introduce división alguna en el Dios Único. <b>38. ¿Con qué nombre se revela Dios?</b> 203-205</p><p>230-231<br>Dios se revela a Moisés como el Dios vivo: «Yo soy el Dios de tus padres, el Dios de Abraham, el Dios de Isaac y el Dios de Jacob» (<i>Ex</i> 3, 6). Al mismo Moisés Dios le revela su Nombre misterioso: «Yo soy el que soy (YHWH)» (<i>Ex</i> 3, 14). El nombre inefable de Dios, ya en los tiempos del Antiguo Testamento, fue sustituido por la palabra <i>Señor</i>. De este modo en el Nuevo Testamento, Jesús, llamado el <i>Señor</i>, aparece como verdadero Dios. <b>39. ¿Sólo Dios «es»?</b> 212-213<br>Mientras las criaturas han recibido de Él todo su ser y su poseer, sólo Dios es en sí mismo la plenitud del ser y de toda perfección. Él es «el que es», sin origen y sin fin. Jesús revela que también Él lleva el Nombre divino, «Yo soy» (<i>Jn</i> 8, 28). <b>40. ¿Por qué es importante la revelación del nombre de Dios?</b> 206-213<br>Al revelar su Nombre, Dios da a conocer las riquezas contenidas en su misterio inefable: sólo Él es, desde siempre y por siempre, el que transciende el mundo y la historia. Él es quien ha hecho cielo y tierra. Él es el Dios fiel, siempre cercano a su pueblo para salvarlo. Él es el Santo por excelencia, «rico en misericordia» (<i>Ef</i> 2, 4), siempre dispuesto al perdón. Dios es el Ser espiritual, trascendente, omnipotente, eterno, personal y perfecto. Él es la verdad y el amor.<br><i>«Dios es el ser infinitamente perfecto que es la Santísima Trinidad»</i> (Santo Toribio de Mogrovejo) <b>41. ¿En qué sentido Dios es la verdad?</b> 214-217</p><p>231<br>Dios es la Verdad misma y como tal ni se engaña ni puede engañar. «Dios es luz, en Él no hay tiniebla alguna» (<i>1 Jn</i> 1, 5). El Hijo eterno de Dios, sabiduría encarnada, ha sido enviado al mundo «para dar testimonio de la Verdad» (<i>Jn</i> 18, 37). <b>42. ¿De qué modo Dios revela que Él es amor?</b> 218-221<br>Dios se revela a Israel como Aquel que tiene un amor más fuerte que el de un padre o una madre por sus hijos o el de un esposo por su esposa. Dios en sí mismo «es amor» (<i>1 Jn</i> 4, 8.16), que se da completa y gratuitamente; que «tanto amó al mundo que dio a su Hijo único para que el mundo se salve por él» (<i>Jn</i> 3, 16-17). Al mandar a su Hijo y al Espíritu Santo, Dios revela que Él mismo es eterna comunicación de amor. <b>43. ¿Qué consecuencias tiene creer en un solo Dios?</b> 222-227</p><p>229<br>Creer en Dios, el Único, comporta: conocer su grandeza y majestad; vivir en acción de gracias; confiar siempre en Él, incluso en la adversidad; reconocer la unidad y la verdadera dignidad de todos los hombres, creados a imagen de Dios; usar rectamente de las cosas creadas por Él. <b>44. ¿Cuál es el misterio central de la fe y de la vida cristiana?</b> 232-237<br>El misterio central de la fe y de la vida cristiana es el misterio de la Santísima Trinidad. Los cristianos son bautizados en el nombre del Padre y del Hijo y del Espíritu Santo. <b>45. ¿Puede la razón humana conocer, por sí sola, el misterio de la Santísima Trinidad?</b> 237<br>Dios ha dejado huellas de su ser trinitario en la creación y en el Antiguo Testamento, pero la intimidad de su ser como Trinidad Santa constituye un misterio inaccesible a la sola razón humana e incluso a la fe de Israel, antes de la Encarnación del Hijo de Dios y del envío del Espíritu Santo. Este misterio ha sido revelado por Jesucristo, y es la fuente de todos los demás misterios. <b>46. ¿Qué nos revela Jesucristo acerca del misterio del Padre?</b> 240-243<br>Jesucristo nos revela que Dios es «Padre», no sólo en cuanto es Creador del universo y del hombre sino, sobre todo, porque engendra eternamente en su seno al Hijo, que es su Verbo, «resplandor de su gloria e impronta de su sustancia» (<i>Hb</i> 1, 3). <b>47. ¿Quién es el Espíritu Santo, que Jesucristo nos ha revelado?</b> 243-248<br>El Espíritu Santo es la tercera Persona de la Santísima Trinidad. Es Dios, uno e igual al Padre y al Hijo; «procede del Padre» (<i>Jn</i> 15, 26), que es principio sin principio y origen de toda la vida trinitaria. Y procede también del Hijo (<i>Filioque</i>), por el don eterno que el Padre hace al Hijo. El Espíritu Santo, enviado por el Padre y por el Hijo encarnado, guía a la Iglesia hasta el conocimiento de la «verdad plena» (<i>Jn</i> 16, 13). <b>48. ¿Cómo expresa la Iglesia su fe trinitaria?</b> 249-256</p><p>266<br>La Iglesia expresa su fe trinitaria confesando un solo Dios en tres Personas: Padre, Hijo y Espíritu Santo. Las tres divinas Personas son un solo Dios porque cada una de ellas es idéntica a la plenitud de la única e indivisible naturaleza divina. Las tres son realmente distintas entre sí, por sus relaciones recíprocas: el Padre engendra al Hijo, el Hijo es engendrado por el Padre, el Espíritu Santo procede del Padre y del Hijo. <b>49. ¿Cómo obran las tres divinas Personas?</b> 257-260</p><p>267<br>Inseparables en su única sustancia, las divinas Personas son también inseparables en su obrar: la Trinidad tiene una sola y misma operación. Pero en el único obrar divino, cada Persona se hace presente según el modo que le es propio en la Trinidad.<br><i>«Dios mío, Trinidad a quien adoro... pacifica mi alma. Haz de ella tu cielo, tu morada amada y el lugar de tu reposo. Que yo no te deje jamás solo en ella, sino que yo esté allí enteramente, totalmente despierta en mi fe, en adoración, entregada sin reservas a tu acción creadora»</i> (Beata Isabel de la Trinidad) <b>50. ¿Qué significa que Dios es Todopoderoso?</b> 268-278<br>Dios se ha revelado como «el Fuerte, el Valeroso» (<i>Sal</i> 24, 8), aquel para quien «nada es imposible» (<i>Lc</i> 1, 37). Su omnipotencia es universal, misteriosa y se manifiesta en la creación del mundo de la nada y del hombre por amor, pero sobre todo en la Encarnación y en la Resurrección de su Hijo, en el don de la adopción filial y en el perdón de los pecados. Por esto la Iglesia en su oración se dirige a «Dios todopoderoso y eterno» (<i>«Omnipotens sempiterne Deus...</i>»). <b>51. ¿Por qué es importante afirmar que «en el principio Dios creó el cielo y la tierra» (<i>Gn</i> 1, 1)?</b> 279-289</p><p>315<br>Es importante afirmar que en el principio Dios creó el cielo y la tierra porque la creación es el fundamento de todos los designios salvíficos de Dios; manifiesta su amor omnipotente y lleno de sabiduría; es el primer paso hacia la Alianza del Dios único con su pueblo; es el comienzo de la historia de la salvación, que culmina en Cristo; es la primera respuesta a los interrogantes fundamentales sobre nuestro origen y nuestro fin. <b>52. ¿Quién ha creado el mundo?</b> 290-292</p><p>316<br>El Padre, el Hijo y el Espíritu Santo son el principio único e indivisible del mundo, aunque la obra de la Creación se atribuye especialmente a Dios Padre. <b>53. ¿Para qué ha sido creado el mundo?</b> 293-294</p><p>319<br>El mundo ha sido creado para gloria de Dios, el cual ha querido manifestar y comunicar su bondad, verdad y belleza. El fin último de la Creación es que Dios, en Cristo, pueda ser «todo en todos» (<i>1 Co</i> 15, 28), para gloria suya y para nuestra felicidad.<br><i>«Porque la gloria de Dios es el que el hombre viva, y la vida del hombre es la visión de Dios»</i> (San Ireneo de Lyon) <b>54. ¿Cómo ha creado Dios el universo?</b> 295-301</p><p>317-320<br>Dios ha creado el universo libremente con sabiduría y amor. El mundo no es el fruto de una necesidad, de un destino ciego o del azar. Dios crea «de la nada» (–<i>ex nihilo</i>–: <i>2 M</i> 7, 28) un mundo ordenado y bueno, que Él transciende de modo infinito. Dios conserva en el ser el mundo que ha creado y lo sostiene, dándole la capacidad de actuar y llevándolo a su realización, por medio de su Hijo y del Espíritu Santo. <b>55. ¿En qué consiste la Providencia divina?</b> 302-306</p><p>321<br>La divina Providencia consiste en las disposiciones con las que Dios conduce a sus criaturas a la perfección última, a la que Él mismo las ha llamado. Dios es el autor soberano de su designio. Pero para realizarlo se sirve también de la cooperación de sus criaturas, otorgando al mismo tiempo a éstas la dignidad de obrar por sí mismas, de ser causa unas de otras. <b>56. ¿Cómo colabora el hombre con la Providencia divina?</b> 307-308</p><p>323<br>Dios otorga y pide al hombre, respetando su libertad, que colabore con la Providencia mediante sus acciones, sus oraciones, pero también con sus sufrimientos, suscitando en el hombre «el querer y el obrar según sus misericordiosos designios» (<i>Flp</i> 2, 13). <b>57. Si Dios es todopoderoso y providente ¿por qué entonces existe el mal?</b> 309-310</p><p>324. 400<br>Al interrogante, tan doloroso como misterioso, sobre la existencia del mal solamente se puede dar respuesta <i>desde el conjunto</i> de la fe cristiana. Dios no es, en modo alguno, ni directa ni indirectamente, la causa del mal. Él ilumina el misterio del mal en su Hijo Jesucristo, que ha muerto y ha resucitado para vencer el gran mal moral, que es el pecado de los hombres y que es la raíz de los restantes males. <b>58. ¿Por qué Dios permite el mal?</b> 311-314</p><p>324<br>La fe nos da la certeza de que Dios no permitiría el mal si no hiciera salir el bien del mal mismo. Esto Dios lo ha realizado ya admirablemente con ocasión de la muerte y resurrección de Cristo: en efecto, del mayor mal moral, la muerte de su Hijo, Dios ha sacado el mayor de los bienes, la glorificación de Cristo y nuestra redención. <b>59. ¿Qué ha creado Dios?</b> 325-327<br>La Sagrada Escritura dice: «en el principio creó Dios el cielo y la tierra» (<i>Gn</i> 1, 1). La Iglesia, en su profesión de fe, proclama que Dios es el creador de todas las cosas visibles e invisibles: de todos los seres espirituales y materiales, esto es, de los ángeles y del mundo visible y, en particular, del hombre. <b>60. ¿Quiénes son los ángeles?</b> 328-333</p><p>350-351<br>Los ángeles son criaturas puramente espirituales, incorpóreas, invisibles e inmortales; son seres personales dotados de inteligencia y voluntad. Los ángeles, contemplando cara a cara incesantemente a Dios, lo glorifican, lo sirven y son sus mensajeros en el cumplimiento de la misión de salvación para todos los hombres. <b>61. ¿De qué modo los ángeles están presentes en la vida de la Iglesia?</b> 334-336</p><p>352<br>La Iglesia se une a los ángeles para adorar a Dios, invoca la asistencia de los ángeles y celebra litúrgicamente la memoria de algunos de ellos.<br><i>«Cada fiel tiene a su lado un ángel como protector y pastor para conducirlo a la vida»</i> (San Basilio Magno) <b>62. ¿Qué enseña la Sagrada Escritura sobre la Creación del mundo visible?</b> 337-344<br>A través del relato de los «seis días» de la Creación, la Sagrada Escritura nos da a conocer el valor de todo lo creado y su finalidad de alabanza a Dios y de servicio al hombre. Todas las cosas deben su propia existencia a Dios, de quien reciben la propia bondad y perfección, sus leyes y lugar en el universo. <b>63. ¿Cuál es el lugar del hombre en la Creación?</b> 343-344</p><p>353<br>El hombre es la cumbre de la Creación visible, pues ha sido creado a imagen y semejanza de Dios. <b>64. ¿Qué tipo de relación existe entre las cosas creadas?</b> 342</p><p>354<br>Entre todas las criaturas existe una interdependencia y jerarquía, queridas por Dios. Al mismo tiempo, entre las criaturas existe una unidad y solidaridad, porque todas ellas tienen el mismo Creador, son por Él amadas y están ordenadas a su gloria. Respetar las leyes inscritas en la creación y las relaciones que dimanan de la naturaleza de las cosas es, por lo tanto, un principio de sabiduría y un fundamento de la moral. <b>65. ¿Qué relación existe entre la obra de la Creación y la de la Redención?</b> 345-349<br>La obra de la Creación culmina en la obra aún más grande de la Redención. Con ésta, de hecho, se inicia la nueva Creación, en la cual todo hallará de nuevo su pleno sentido y cumplimiento. <b>66. ¿En qué sentido el hombre es creado «a imagen de Dios?»</b> 355-357<br>El hombre ha sido creado a imagen de Dios, en el sentido de que es capaz de conocer y amar libremente a su propio Creador. Es la única criatura sobre la tierra a la que Dios ama por sí misma, y a la que llama a compartir su vida divina, en el conocimiento y en el amor. El hombre, en cuanto creado a imagen de Dios, tiene la dignidad de persona: no es solamente algo, sino alguien capaz de conocerse, de darse libremente y de entrar en comunión con Dios y las otras personas. <b>67. ¿Para qué fin ha creado Dios al hombre?</b> 358-359<br>Dios ha creado todo para el hombre, pero el hombre ha sido creado para conocer, servir y amar a Dios, para ofrecer en este mundo toda la Creación a Dios en acción de gracias, y para ser elevado a la vida con Dios en el cielo. Solamente en el misterio del Verbo encarnado encuentra verdadera luz el misterio del hombre, predestinado a reproducir la imagen del Hijo de Dios hecho hombre, que es la perfecta «imagen de Dios invisible» (<i>Col</i> 1, 15). <b>68. ¿Por qué los hombres forman una unidad?</b> 360-361<br>Todos los hombres forman la unidad del género humano por el origen común que les viene de Dios. Además Dios ha creado «de un solo principio, todo el linaje humano» (<i>Hch</i> 17, 26). Finalmente, todos tienen un único Salvador y todos están llamados a compartir la eterna felicidad de Dios. <b>69. ¿De qué manera el cuerpo y el alma forman en el hombre una unidad?</b> 362-365</p><p>382<br>La persona humana es, al mismo tiempo, un ser corporal y espiritual. En el hombre el espíritu y la materia forman una única naturaleza. Esta unidad es tan profunda que, gracias al principio espiritual, que es el alma, el cuerpo, que es material, se hace humano y viviente, y participa de la dignidad de la imagen de Dios. <b>70. ¿Quién da el alma al hombre?</b> 366-368</p><p>382<br>El alma espiritual no viene de los progenitores, sino que es creada directamente por Dios, y es inmortal. Al separarse del cuerpo en el momento de la muerte, no perece; se unirá de nuevo al cuerpo en el momento de la resurrección final. <b>71. ¿Qué relación ha establecido Dios entre el hombre y la mujer?</b> 369-373</p><p>383<br>El hombre y la mujer han sido creados por Dios con igual dignidad en cuanto personas humanas y, al mismo tiempo, con una recíproca complementariedad en cuanto varón y mujer. Dios los ha querido el uno para el otro, para una comunión de personas. Juntos están también llamados a transmitir la vida humana, formando en el matrimonio «una sola carne» (<i>Gn</i> 2, 24), y a dominar la tierra como «administradores» de Dios. <b>72. ¿Cuál era la condición original del hombre según el designio de Dios?</b> 374-379</p><p>384<br>Al crear al hombre y a la mujer, Dios les había dado una especial participación de la vida divina, en un estado de santidad y justicia. En este proyecto de Dios, el hombre no habría debido sufrir ni morir. Igualmente reinaba en el hombre una armonía perfecta consigo mismo, con el Creador, entre hombre y mujer, así como entre la primera pareja humana y toda la Creación. <b>73. ¿Cómo se comprende la realidad del pecado?</b> 385-389<br>En la historia del hombre está presente el pecado. Esta realidad se esclarece plenamente sólo a la luz de la divina Revelación y, sobre todo, a la luz de Cristo, el Salvador de todos, que ha hecho que la gracia sobreabunde allí donde había abundado el pecado. <b>74. ¿Qué es la caída de los ángeles?</b> 391-395</p><p>414<br>Con la expresión «la caída de los ángeles» se indica que Satanás y los otros demonios, de los que hablan la Sagrada Escritura y la Tradición de la Iglesia, eran inicialmente ángeles creados buenos por Dios, que se transformaron en malvados porque rechazaron a Dios y a su Reino, mediante una libre e irrevocable elección, dando así origen al infierno. Los demonios intentan asociar al hombre a su rebelión contra Dios, pero Dios afirma en Cristo su segura victoria sobre el Maligno. <b>75. ¿En qué consiste el primer pecado del hombre?</b> 396-403</p><p>415-417<br>El hombre, tentado por el diablo, dejó apagarse en su corazón la confianza hacia su Creador y, desobedeciéndole, quiso «ser como Dios» (<i>Gn</i> 3, 5), sin Dios, y no según Dios. Así Adán y Eva perdieron inmediatamente, para sí y para todos sus descendientes, la gracia de la santidad y de la justicia originales. <b>76. ¿Qué es el pecado original?</b> 404</p><p>419<br>El pecado original, en el que todos los hombres nacen, es el estado de privación de la santidad y de la justicia originales. Es un pecado «contraído» no «cometido» por nosotros; es una condición de nacimiento y no un acto personal. A causa de la unidad de origen de todos los hombres, el pecado original se transmite a los descendientes de Adán con la misma naturaleza humana, «no por imitación sino por propagación». Esta transmisión es un misterio que no podemos comprender plenamente. <b>77. ¿Qué otras consecuencias provoca el pecado original?</b> 405-409</p><p>418<br>Como consecuencia del pecado original, la naturaleza humana, aun sin estar totalmente corrompida, se halla herida en sus propias fuerzas naturales, sometida a la ignorancia, al sufrimiento y al poder de la muerte, e inclinada al pecado. Esta inclinación al mal se llama <i>concupiscencia</i>. <b>78. ¿Qué ha hecho Dios después del primer pecado del hombre?</b> 410-412</p><p>420<br>Después del primer pecado, el mundo ha sido inundado de pecados, pero Dios no ha abandonado al hombre al poder de la muerte, antes al contrario, le predijo de modo misterioso –en el «Protoevangelio» (<i>Gn</i> 3, 15)– que el mal sería vencido y el hombre levantado de la caída. Se trata del primer anuncio del Mesías Redentor. Por ello, la caída será incluso llamada <i>feliz culpa</i>, porque «ha merecido tal y tan grande Redentor» (Liturgia de la Vigilia pascual). <b>79. ¿Cuál es la Buena Noticia para el hombre?</b> 422-424<br>La Buena Noticia es el anuncio de Jesucristo, «el Hijo de Dios vivo» (<i>Mt</i> 16, 16), muerto y resucitado. En tiempos del rey Herodes y del emperador César Augusto, Dios cumplió las promesas hechas a Abraham y a su descendencia, enviando «a su Hijo, nacido de mujer, nacido bajo la Ley, para rescatar a los que se hallaban bajo la Ley, y para que recibiéramos la filiación adoptiva» (<i>Ga</i> 4, 4-5). <b>80. ¿Cómo se difunde esta Buena Noticia?</b> 425-429<br>Desde el primer momento, los discípulos desearon ardientemente anunciar a Cristo, a fin de llevar a todos los hombres a la fe en Él. También hoy, el deseo de evangelizar y catequizar, es decir, de revelar en la persona de Cristo todo el designio de Dios, y de poner a la humanidad en comunión con Jesús, nace de este conocimiento amoroso de Cristo. <b>81. ¿Qué significa el nombre de Jesús?</b> 430-435</p><p>452<br>El nombre de Jesús, dado por el ángel en el momento de la Anunciación, significa «Dios salva». Expresa, a la vez, su identidad y su misión, «porque él salvará al pueblo de sus pecados» (<i>Mt</i> 1, 21). Pedro afirma que «bajo el cielo no se nos ha dado otro nombre que pueda salvarnos» (<i>Hch</i> 4, 12). <b>82. ¿Por qué Jesús es llamado Cristo?</b> 436-440</p><p>453<br>«Cristo», en griego, y «Mesías», en hebreo, significan «ungido». Jesús es el Cristo porque ha sido consagrado por Dios, ungido por el Espíritu Santo para la misión redentora. Él es el Mesías esperado por Israel y enviado al mundo por el Padre. Jesús ha aceptado el título de Mesías, precisando, sin embargo, su sentido: «bajado del cielo» (<i>Jn</i> 3, 13), crucificado y después resucitado, Él es el siervo sufriente «que da su vida en rescate por muchos» (<i>Mt</i> 20, 28). Del nombre de Cristo nos viene el nombre de <i>cristianos</i>. <b>83. ¿En qué sentido Jesús es el «Hijo unigénito de Dios»?</b> 441-445</p><p>454<br>Jesús es el Hijo unigénito de Dios en un sentido único y perfecto. En el momento del Bautismo y de la Transfiguración, la voz del Padre señala a Jesús como su «Hijo predilecto». Al presentarse a sí mismo como el Hijo, que «conoce al Padre» (<i>Mt</i> 11, 27), Jesús afirma su relación única y eterna con Dios su Padre. Él es «el Hijo unigénito de Dios» (<i>1 Jn</i> 4, 9), la segunda Persona de la Trinidad. Es el centro de la predicación apostólica: los Apóstoles han visto su gloria, «que recibe del Padre como Hijo único» (<i>Jn</i> 1, 14). <b>84. ¿Qué significa el título de «Señor»?</b> 446-451</p><p>455<br>En la Biblia, el título de «Señor» designa ordinariamente al Dios soberano. Jesús se lo atribuye a sí mismo, y revela su soberanía divina mediante su poder sobre la naturaleza, sobre los demonios, sobre el pecado y sobre la muerte, y sobre todo con su Resurrección. Las primeras confesiones de fe cristiana proclaman que el poder, el honor y la gloria que se deben a Dios Padre se le deben también a Jesús: Dios «le ha dado el nombre sobre todo nombre» (<i>Flp</i> 2, 9). Él es el Señor del mundo y de la historia, el único a quien el hombre debe someter de modo absoluto su propia libertad personal. <b>85. ¿Por qué el Hijo de Dios se hizo hombre?</b> 456-460<br>El Hijo de Dios se encarnó en el seno de la Virgen María, por obra del Espíritu Santo, por nosotros los hombres y por nuestra salvación: es decir, para reconciliarnos a nosotros pecadores con Dios, darnos a conocer su amor infinito, ser nuestro modelo de santidad y hacernos «partícipes de la naturaleza divina» (<i>2 P</i> 1, 4). <b>86. ¿Qué significa la palabra «Encarnación»?</b> 461-463</p><p>483<br>La Iglesia llama «Encarnación» al misterio de la unión admirable de la naturaleza divina y la naturaleza humana de Jesús en la única Persona divina del Verbo. Para llevar a cabo nuestra salvación, el Hijo de Dios se ha hecho «carne» (<i>Jn</i> 1, 14), haciéndose verdaderamente hombre. La fe en la Encarnación es signo distintivo de la fe cristiana. <b>87. ¿De qué modo Jesucristo es verdadero Dios y verdadero hombre?</b> 464-467</p><p>469<br>En la unidad de su Persona divina, Jesucristo es verdadero Dios y verdadero hombre, de manera indivisible. Él, Hijo de Dios, «engendrado, no creado, de la misma naturaleza del Padre», se ha hecho verdaderamente hombre, hermano nuestro, sin dejar con ello de ser Dios, nuestro Señor. <b>88. ¿Qué enseña a este propósito el Concilio de Calcedonia (año 451)?</b> 467<br>El Concilio de Calcedonia enseña que «hay que confesar a un solo y mismo Hijo, Nuestro Señor Jesucristo: perfecto en la divinidad y perfecto en la humanidad; verdaderamente Dios y verdaderamente hombre, compuesto de alma racional y de cuerpo; consubstancial con el Padre según la divinidad, y consubstancial con nosotros según la humanidad; “en todo semejante a nosotros, menos en el pecado” (<i>Hb</i> 4, 15); nacido del Padre antes de todos los siglos según la divinidad y, por nosotros y nuestra salvación, nacido en estos últimos tiempos de la Virgen María, la Madre de Dios, según la humanidad». <b>89. ¿Cómo expresa la Iglesia el misterio de la Encarnación?</b> 464-469</p><p>479-481<br>La Iglesia expresa el misterio de la Encarnación afirmando que Jesucristo es verdadero Dios y verdadero hombre; con dos naturalezas, la divina y la humana, no confundidas, sino unidas en la Persona del Verbo. Por tanto, todo en la humanidad de Jesús –milagros, sufrimientos y la misma muerte– debe ser atribuido a su Persona divina, que obra a través de la naturaleza humana que ha asumido.<br><i>«¡Oh Hijo Unigénito y Verbo de Dios! Tú que eres inmortal, te dignaste, para salvarnos, tomar carne de la santa Madre de Dios y siempre Virgen María (...) Tú, Uno de la Santísima Trinidad, glorificado con el Padre y el Espíritu Santo, ¡sálvanos!»</i> (Liturgia bizantina de san Juan Crisóstomo). <b>90. ¿Tenía el Hijo de Dios hecho hombre un alma con inteligencia humana?</b> 470-474</p><p>482<br>El Hijo de Dios asumió un cuerpo dotado de un alma racional humana. Con su inteligencia humana Jesús aprendió muchas cosas mediante la experiencia. Pero, también como hombre, el Hijo de Dios tenía un conocimiento íntimo e inmediato de Dios su Padre. Penetraba asimismo los pensamientos secretos de los hombres y conocía plenamente los designios eternos que Él había venido a revelar. <b>91. ¿Cómo concordaban las dos voluntades del Verbo encarnado?</b> 475</p><p>482<br>Jesús tenía una voluntad divina y una voluntad humana. En su vida terrena, el Hijo de Dios ha querido humanamente lo que Él ha decidido divinamente junto con el Padre y el Espíritu Santo para nuestra salvación. La voluntad humana de Cristo sigue, sin oposición o resistencia, su voluntad divina, y está subordinada a ella. <b>92. ¿Tenía Cristo un verdadero cuerpo humano?</b> 476-477<br>Cristo asumió un verdadero cuerpo humano, mediante el cual Dios invisible se hizo visible. Por esta razón, Cristo puede ser representado y venerado en las sagradas imágenes. <b>93. ¿Qué representa el Corazón de Jesús?</b> 478<br>Cristo nos ha conocido y amado con un corazón humano. Su Corazón traspasado por nuestra salvación es el símbolo del amor infinito que Él tiene al Padre y a cada uno de los hombres. <b>94. ¿Qué significa la expresión «concebido por obra y gracia del Espíritu Santo»?</b> 484-486<br>Que Jesús fue concebido por obra y gracia del Espíritu Santo significa que la Virgen María concibió al Hijo eterno en su seno por obra del Espíritu Santo y sin la colaboración de varón: «El Espíritu Santo vendrá sobre ti» (<i>Lc</i> 1, 35), le dijo el ángel en la Anunciación. <b>95. «...Nacido de la Virgen María...»: ¿por qué María es verdaderamente Madre de Dios?</b> 495</p><p>509<br>María es verdaderamente <i>Madre de Dios</i> porque es la madre de Jesús (<i>Jn</i> 2, 1; 19, 25). En efecto, aquél que fue concebido por obra del Espíritu Santo y fue verdaderamente Hijo suyo, es el Hijo eterno de Dios Padre. Es Dios mismo. <b>96. ¿Qué significa «Inmaculada Concepción»?</b> 487-492</p><p>508<br>Dios eligió gratuitamente a María desde toda la eternidad para que fuese la Madre de su Hijo; para cumplir esta misión fue <i>concebida inmaculada</i>. Esto significa que, por la gracia de Dios y en previsión de los méritos de Jesucristo, María fue preservada del pecado original desde el primer instante de su concepción. <b>97. ¿Cómo colabora María al plan divino de la salvación?</b> 493-494</p><p>508-511<br>Por la gracia de Dios, María permaneció inmune de todo pecado personal durante toda su existencia. Ella es la «llena de gracia» (<i>Lc</i> 1, 28), la «toda Santa». Y cuando el ángel le anuncia que va a dar a luz «al Hijo del Altísimo» (<i>Lc</i> 1, 32), ella da libremente su consentimiento «por obediencia de la fe» (<i>Rm</i> 1, 5). María se ofrece totalmente a la Persona y a la obra de Jesús, su Hijo, abrazando con toda su alma la voluntad divina de salvación. <b>98. ¿Qué significa la concepción virginal de Jesús?</b> 496-498</p><p>503<br>La concepción virginal de Jesús significa que éste fue concebido en el seno de la Virgen María sólo por el poder del Espíritu Santo, sin concurso de varón. Él es Hijo del Padre celestial según la naturaleza divina, e Hijo de María según la naturaleza humana, pero es propiamente Hijo de Dios según las dos naturalezas, al haber en Él una sola Persona, la divina. <b>99. ¿En qué sentido María es «siempre Virgen»?</b> 499-507</p><p>510<br>María es siempre virgen en el sentido de que ella «fue Virgen al concebir a su Hijo, Virgen al parir, Virgen durante el embarazo, Virgen después del parto, Virgen siempre» (San Agustín). Por tanto, cuando los Evangelios hablan de «hermanos y hermanas de Jesús», se refieren a parientes próximos de Jesús, según una expresión empleada en la Sagrada Escritura. <b>100. ¿De qué modo la maternidad espiritual de María es universal?</b> 501-507</p><p>511<br>María tuvo un único Hijo, Jesús, pero en Él su maternidad espiritual se extiende a todos los hombres, que Jesús vino a salvar. Obediente junto a Jesucristo, el nuevo Adán, la Virgen es la <i>nueva</i> Eva, la verdadera madre de los vivientes, que coopera con amor de madre al nacimiento y a la formación de todos en el orden de la gracia. Virgen y Madre, María es la figura de la Iglesia, su más perfecta realización. <b>101. ¿En qué sentido toda la vida de Cristo es <i>Misterio</i>?</b> 512-521</p><p>561-562<br>Toda la vida de Cristo es acontecimiento de revelación: lo que es visible en la vida terrena de Jesús conduce a su <i>Misterio invisible</i>, sobre todo al <i>Misterio de su filiación divina</i>: «quien me ve a mí ve al Padre» (<i>Jn</i> 14, 9). Asimismo, aunque la salvación nos viene plenamente con la Cruz y la Resurrección, la vida entera de Cristo es <i>misterio de salvación</i>, porque todo lo que Jesús ha hecho, dicho y sufrido tenía como fin salvar al hombre caído y restablecerlo en su vocación de hijo de Dios. <b>102. ¿Cuáles han sido las preparaciones históricas a los <i>Misterios</i> de Jesús?</b> 522-524<br>Ante todo hay una larga esperanza de muchos siglos, que revivimos en la celebración litúrgica del tiempo de Adviento. Además de la oscura espera que ha puesto en el corazón de los paganos, Dios ha preparado la venida de su Hijo mediante la Antigua Alianza, hasta <i>Juan el Bautista</i>, que es el último y el mayor de los Profetas. <b>103. ¿Qué nos enseña el Evangelio sobre los Misterios del nacimiento y la infancia de Jesús?</b> 525-530</p><p>563-564<br>En el <i>Nacimiento</i> de Jesús, la gloria del cielo se manifiesta en la debilidad de un niño; la <i>circuncisión</i> es signo de su pertenencia al pueblo hebreo y prefiguración de nuestro Bautismo; la <i>Epifanía</i> es la manifestación del Rey-Mesías de Israel a todos los pueblos; durante la <i>presentación en el Templo</i>, en Simeón y Ana se concentra toda la expectación de Israel, que viene al <i>encuentro</i> de su Salvador; <i>la huida a Egipto</i> y la matanza de los inocentes anuncian que toda la vida de Cristo estará bajo el signo de la persecución; su <i>retorno de Egipto</i> recuerda el Éxodo y presenta a Jesús como el nuevo Moisés: Él es el verdadero y definitivo liberador. <b>104. ¿Qué nos enseña la vida oculta de Jesús en Nazaret?</b> 533-534</p><p>564<br>Durante la vida oculta en Nazaret, Jesús permanece en el silencio de una existencia ordinaria. Nos permite así entrar en comunión con Él en la santidad de la vida cotidiana, hecha de oración, sencillez, trabajo y amor familiar. La sumisión a María y a José, su padre legal, es imagen de la obediencia filial de Jesús al Padre. María y José, con su fe, acogen el misterio de Jesús, aunque no siempre lo comprendan. <b>105. ¿Por qué Jesús recibe de Juan el «Bautismo de conversión para el perdón de los pecados» (<i>Lc</i> 3, 3)?</b> 535-537</p><p>565<br>Jesús recibe de Juan el Bautismo de conversión para inaugurar su vida pública y anticipar el «Bautismo» de su Muerte; y aunque no había en Él pecado alguno, Jesús, «el Cordero de Dios que quita el pecado del mundo» (<i>Jn</i> 1, 29), acepta ser contado entre los pecadores. El Padre lo proclama su «Hijo predilecto» (<i>Mt</i> 3, 17), y el Espíritu viene a posarse sobre Él. El Bautismo de Jesús es la prefiguración de nuestro bautismo. <b>106. ¿Qué nos revelan las tentaciones de Jesús en el desierto?</b> 538-540</p><p>566<br>Las tentaciones de Jesús en el desierto recapitulan la de Adán en el paraíso y las de Israel en el desierto. Satanás tienta a Jesús en su obediencia a la misión que el Padre le ha confiado. Cristo, nuevo Adán, resiste, y su victoria anuncia la de su Pasión, en la que su amor filial dará suprema prueba de obediencia. La Iglesia se une particularmente a este Misterio en el tiempo litúrgico de la <i>Cuaresma</i>. <b>107. ¿Quién es invitado a formar parte del Reino de Dios, anunciado y realizado por Jesús?</b> 541-546</p><p>567<br>Jesús invita a todos los hombres a entrar en el Reino de Dios; aún el peor de los pecadores es llamado a convertirse y aceptar la infinita misericordia del Padre. El Reino pertenece, ya aquí en la tierra, a quienes lo acogen con corazón humilde. A ellos les son revelados los misterios del Reino de Dios. <b>108. ¿Por qué Jesús manifiesta el Reino mediante signos y milagros?</b> 547-550</p><p>567<br>Jesús acompaña su palabra con signos y milagros para atestiguar que el Reino está presente en Él, el Mesías. Si bien cura a algunas personas, Él no ha venido para abolir todos los males de esta tierra, sino ante todo para liberarnos de la esclavitud del pecado. La expulsión de los demonios anuncia que su Cruz se alzará victoriosa sobre «el príncipe de este mundo» (<i>Jn</i> 12, 31). <b>109. ¿Qué autoridad confiere Jesús a sus Apóstoles en el Reino?</b> 551-553</p><p>567<br>Jesús elige a los <i>Doce</i>, futuros testigos de su Resurrección, y los hace partícipes de su misión y de su autoridad para enseñar, absolver los pecados, edificar y gobernar la Iglesia. En este colegio, Pedro recibe «las llaves del Reino» (<i>Mt</i> 16, 19) y ocupa el primer puesto, con la misión de custodiar la fe en su integridad y de confirmar en ella a sus hermanos. <b>110. ¿Cuál es el significado de la Transfiguración?</b> 554-556</p><p>568<br>En la Transfiguración de Jesús aparece ante todo la Trinidad: «el Padre en la voz, el Hijo en el hombre, el Espíritu en la nube luminosa» (Santo Tomás de Aquino). Al evocar, junto a Moisés y Elías, su «partida» (<i>Lc</i> 9, 31), Jesús muestra que su gloria pasa a través de la cruz, y otorga un anticipo de su resurrección y de su gloriosa venida, «que transfigurará este miserable cuerpo nuestro en un cuerpo glorioso como el suyo» (<i>Flp</i> 3, 21).<br><i>«En el monte te transfiguraste, Cristo Dios, y tus discípulos contemplaron tu gloria, en cuanto podían comprenderla. Así, cuando te viesen crucificado entenderían que padecías libremente y anunciarían al mundo que tú eres en verdad el resplandor del Padre»</i> (Liturgia bizantina). <b>111. ¿Cómo tuvo lugar la entrada mesiánica de Jesús en Jerusalén?</b> 557-560</p><p>569-570<br>En el tiempo establecido, Jesús decide subir a Jerusalén para sufrir su Pasión, morir y resucitar. Como Rey-Mesías que manifiesta la venida del Reino, entra en la ciudad montado sobre un asno; y es acogido por los pequeños, cuya aclamación es recogida por el <i>Sanctus</i> de la Misa: «¡Bendito el que viene en nombre del Señor! ¡<i>Hosanna</i>! (¡<i>sálvanos</i>!)» (<i>Mt</i> 21, 9). Con la celebración de esta entrada en Jerusalén la liturgia de la Iglesia da inicio cada año a la Semana Santa. <b>112. ¿Por qué es tan importante el Misterio pascual de Jesús?</b> 571-573<br>El misterio pascual de Jesús, que comprende su Pasión, Muerte, Resurrección y Glorificación, está en el centro de la fe cristiana, porque el designio salvador de Dios se ha cumplido de una vez por todas con la muerte redentora de su Hijo, Jesucristo. <b>113. ¿Bajo qué acusaciones fue condenado Jesús?</b> 574-576<br>Algunos jefes de Israel acusaron a Jesús de actuar contra la Ley, contra el Templo de Jerusalén y, particularmente, contra la fe en el Dios único, porque se proclamaba Hijo de Dios. Por ello lo entregaron a Pilato para que lo condenase a muerte. <b>114. ¿Cómo se comportó Jesús con la Ley de Israel?</b> 577-582</p><p>592<br>Jesús no abolió la Ley dada por Dios a Moisés en el Sinaí, sino que la perfeccionó, dándole su interpretación definitiva. Él es el Legislador divino que ejecuta íntegramente esta Ley. Aún más, es el siervo fiel que, con su muerte expiatoria, ofrece el único sacrificio capaz de redimir todas «las transgresiones cometidas por los hombres contra la Primera Alianza» (<i>Hb</i> 9, 15). <b>115. ¿Cuál fue la actitud de Jesús hacia el Templo de Jerusalén?</b> 583-586</p><p>593<br>Jesús fue acusado de hostilidad hacia al Templo. Sin embargo, lo veneró como «la casa de su Padre» (<i>Jn</i> 2, 16), y allí impartió gran parte de sus enseñanzas. Pero también predijo la destrucción del Templo, en relación con su propia muerte, y se presentó a sí mismo como la morada definitiva de Dios en medio de los hombres. <b>116. ¿Contradijo Jesús la fe de Israel en el Dios Único y Salvador?</b> 587-591</p><p>594<br>Jesús nunca contradijo la fe en un Dios único, ni siquiera cuando cumplía la obra divina por excelencia, que realizaba las promesas mesiánicas y lo revelaba como igual a Dios: el perdón de los pecados. La exigencia de Jesús de creer en Él y convertirse permite entender la trágica incomprensión del Sanedrín, que juzgó que Jesús merecía la muerte como blasfemo. <b>117. ¿Quién es responsable de la muerte de Jesús?</b> 595-598<br>La pasión y muerte de Jesús no pueden ser imputadas indistintamente al conjunto de los judíos que vivían entonces, ni a los restantes judíos venidos después. Todo pecador, o sea todo hombre, es realmente causa e instrumento de los sufrimientos del Redentor; y aún más gravemente son culpables aquellos que más frecuentemente caen en pecado y se deleitan en los vicios, sobre todo si son cristianos. <b>118. ¿Por qué la muerte de Cristo forma parte del designio de Dios?</b> 599-605</p><p>619<br>Al fin de reconciliar consigo a todos los hombres, destinados a la muerte a causa del pecado, Dios tomó la amorosa iniciativa de enviar a su Hijo para que se entregara a la muerte por los pecadores. Anunciada ya en el Antiguo Testamento, particularmente como sacrificio del Siervo doliente, la muerte de Jesús tuvo lugar <i>según las Escrituras</i>. <b>119. ¿De qué modo Cristo se ofreció a sí mismo al Padre?</b> 606-609</p><p>620<br>Toda la vida de Cristo es una oblación libre al Padre para dar cumplimiento a su designio de salvación. Él da «su vida como rescate por muchos» (<i>Mc</i> 10, 45), y así reconcilia a toda la humanidad con Dios. Su sufrimiento y su muerte manifiestan cómo su humanidad fue el instrumento libre y perfecto del Amor divino, que quiere la salvación de todos los hombres. <b>120. ¿Cómo se manifiesta en la última Cena la oblación de Jesús?</b> 610-611</p><p>621<br>En la última Cena con los Apóstoles, la víspera de su Pasión, Jesús anticipa, es decir, significa y realiza anticipadamente la oblación libre de sí mismo: «Esto es mi Cuerpo que será <i>entregado</i> por vosotros», «ésta es mi sangre que será <i>derramada</i>...» (<i>Lc</i> 22, 19-20). De este modo, Jesús instituye, al mismo tiempo, la Eucaristía como «memorial» (<i>1 Co</i> 11, 25) de su sacrificio, y a sus Apóstoles como sacerdotes de la nueva Alianza. <b>121. ¿Qué sucede en la agonía del huerto de Getsemaní?</b> 612<br>En el huerto de Getsemaní, a pesar del horror que suponía la muerte para la humanidad absolutamente santa de Aquél que es «el autor de la vida» (<i>Hch</i> 3, 15), la voluntad humana del Hijo de Dios se adhiere a la voluntad del Padre; para salvarnos acepta soportar nuestros pecados en su cuerpo, «haciéndose obediente hasta la muerte» (<i>Flp</i> 2, 8). <b>122. ¿Cuáles son los efectos del sacrificio de Cristo en la Cruz?</b> 613-617</p><p>622-623<br>Jesús ofreció libremente su vida en sacrificio expiatorio, es decir, ha reparado nuestras culpas con la plena obediencia de su amor hasta la muerte. Este amor hasta el extremo (cf. <i>Jn</i> 13, 1) del Hijo de Dios reconcilia a la humanidad entera con el Padre. El sacrificio pascual de Cristo rescata, por tanto, a los hombres de modo único, perfecto y definitivo, y les abre a la comunión con Dios. <b>123. ¿Por qué llama Jesús a sus discípulos a cargar con la propia Cruz?</b> 618<br>Al llamar a sus discípulos a tomar su cruz y seguirle (cf. <i>Mt</i> 16, 24), Jesús quiere asociar a su sacrificio redentor a aquellos mismos que son sus primeros beneficiarios. <b>124. ¿En qué condiciones se encontraba el cuerpo de Cristo mientras estaba en el sepulcro?</b> 624-630<br>Cristo sufrió una verdadera muerte, y verdaderamente fue sepultado. Pero la virtud divina preservó su cuerpo de la corrupción. <b>125. ¿Qué eran «los infiernos» a los que Jesús descendió»?</b> 632-637<br>Los «infiernos» –distintos del «infierno» de la condenación– constituían el estado de todos aquellos, justos e injustos, que habían muerto antes de Cristo. Con el alma unida a su Persona divina, Jesús tomó en los infiernos a los justos que aguardaban a su Redentor para poder acceder finalmente a la visión de Dios. Después de haber vencido, mediante su propia muerte, a la muerte y al diablo «que tenía el poder de la muerte» (<i>Hb</i> 2, 14), Jesús liberó a los justos, que esperaban al Redentor, y les abrió las puertas del Cielo. <b>126. ¿Qué lugar ocupa la Resurrección de Cristo en nuestra fe?</b> 631. 638<br>La Resurrección de Jesús es la verdad culminante de nuestra fe en Cristo, y representa, con la Cruz, una parte esencial del Misterio pascual. <b>127. ¿Qué «signos» atestiguan la Resurrección de Cristo?</b> Además del signo esencial, que es el sepulcro vacío, la Resurrección de Jesús es atestiguada por las mujeres, las primeras que encontraron a Jesús resucitado y lo anunciaron a los Apóstoles. Jesús después «se apareció a Cefas (Pedro) y luego a los Doce, más tarde se apareció a más de quinientos hermanos a la vez» (<i>1 Co</i> 15, 5-6), y aún a otros. Los Apóstoles no pudieron inventar la Resurrección, puesto que les parecía imposible: en efecto, Jesús les echó en cara su incredulidad. <b>128. ¿Por qué la Resurrección es también un acontecimiento trascendente?</b> 647</p><p>656-657<br>La Resurrección de Cristo es un acontecimiento trascendente porque, además de ser un evento histórico, verificado y atestiguado mediante signos y testimonios, transciende y sobrepasa la historia como misterio de la fe, en cuanto implica la entrada de la humanidad de Cristo en la gloria de Dios. Por este motivo, Cristo resucitado no se manifestó al mundo, sino a sus discípulos, haciendo de ellos sus testigos ante el pueblo. <b>129. ¿Cuál es el estado del cuerpo resucitado de Jesús?</b> 645-646<br>La Resurrección de Cristo no es un retorno a la vida terrena. Su cuerpo resucitado es el mismo que fue crucificado, y lleva las huellas de su pasión, pero ahora participa ya de la vida divina, con las propiedades de un cuerpo glorioso. Por esta razón Jesús resucitado es soberanamente libre de aparecer a sus discípulos donde quiere y bajo diversas apariencias. <b>130. ¿De qué modo la Resurrección es obra de la Santísima Trinidad?</b> 648-650<br>La Resurrección de Cristo es una obra trascendente de Dios. Las tres Personas divinas actúan conjuntamente, según lo que es propio de cada una: el Padre manifiesta su poder, el Hijo «recobra la vida, porque la ha dado libremente» (<i>Jn</i> 10, 17), reuniendo su alma y su cuerpo, que el Espíritu Santo vivifica y glorifica. <b>131. ¿Cuál es el sentido y el alcance salvífico de la Resurrección?</b> 651-655</p><p>658<br>La Resurrección de Cristo es la culminación de la Encarnación. Es una prueba de la divinidad de Cristo, confirma cuanto hizo y enseñó y realiza todas las promesas divinas en nuestro favor. Además, el Resucitado, vencedor del pecado y de la muerte, es el principio de nuestra justificación y de nuestra resurrección: ya desde ahora nos procura la gracia de la adopción filial, que es real participación de su vida de Hijo unigénito; más tarde, al final de los tiempos, Él resucitará nuestro cuerpo. <b>132. ¿Qué representa la Ascensión?</b> 659-667<br>Cuarenta días después de haberse mostrado a los Apóstoles bajo los rasgos de una humanidad ordinaria, que velaban su gloria de Resucitado, Cristo subió a los cielos y se sentó a la derecha del Padre. Desde entonces el Señor reina con su humanidad en la gloria eterna de Hijo de Dios, intercede incesantemente ante el Padre en favor nuestro, nos envía su Espíritu y nos da la esperanza de llegar un día junto a Él, al lugar que nos tiene preparado. <b>133. ¿Cómo reina ahora el Señor Jesús?</b> 668-674</p><p>680<br>Como Señor del cosmos y de la historia, Cabeza de su Iglesia, Cristo glorificado permanece misteriosamente en la tierra, donde su Reino está ya presente, como germen y comienzo, en la Iglesia. Un día volverá en gloria, pero no sabemos el momento. Por esto, vivimos vigilantes, pidiendo: «¡Ven, Señor Jesús!» (<i>Ap</i> 22, 20). <b>134. ¿Cómo se realizará la venida del Señor en la gloria?</b> 675-677</p><p>680<br>Después del último estremecimiento cósmico de este mundo que pasa, la venida gloriosa de Cristo acontecerá con el triunfo definitivo de Dios en la Parusía y con el Juicio final. Así se consumará el Reino de Dios. <b>135. ¿Cómo juzgará Cristo a los vivos y a los muertos?</b> 678-679</p><p>681-682<br>Cristo juzgará a los vivos y a los muertos con el poder que ha obtenido como Redentor del mundo, venido para salvar a los hombres. Los secretos de los corazones serán desvelados, así como la conducta de cada uno con Dios y el prójimo. Todo hombre será colmado de vida o condenado para la eternidad, según sus obras. Así se realizará «la plenitud de Cristo» (<i>Ef</i> 4, 13), en la que «Dios será todo en todos» (<i>1 Co</i> 15, 28). <b>136. ¿Qué quiere decir la Iglesia cuando confiesa: «Creo en el Espíritu Santo»?</b> 683-686<br>Creer en el Espíritu Santo es profesar la fe en la tercera Persona de la Santísima Trinidad, que procede del Padre y del Hijo y «que con el Padre y el Hijo recibe una misma adoración y gloria». El Espíritu Santo «ha sido enviado a nuestros corazones» (<i>Ga</i> 4, 6), a fin de que recibamos la nueva vida de hijos de Dios. <b>137. ¿Por qué la misión del Hijo y la del Espíritu son inseparables?</b> 687-690</p><p>742-743<br>La misión del Hijo y la del Espíritu son inseparables porque en la Trinidad indivisible, el Hijo y el Espíritu son distintos, pero inseparables. En efecto, desde el principio hasta el fin de los tiempos, cuando Dios envía a su Hijo, envía también su Espíritu, que nos une a Cristo en la fe, a fin de que podamos, como hijos adoptivos, llamar a Dios «Padre» (<i>Rm</i> 8, 15). El Espíritu es invisible, pero lo conocemos por medio de su acción, cuando nos revela el Verbo y cuando obra en la Iglesia. <b>138. ¿Cuáles son los apelativos del Espíritu Santo?</b> 691-693<br>«Espíritu Santo» es el nombre propio de la tercera Persona de la Santísima Trinidad. Jesús lo llama también Espíritu Paráclito (Consolador, Abogado) y Espíritu de Verdad. El Nuevo Testamento lo llama Espíritu de Cristo, del Señor, de Dios, Espíritu de la gloria y de la promesa. <b>139. ¿Con qué símbolos se representa al Espíritu Santo?</b> 694-701<br>Son numerosos los símbolos con los que se representa al Espíritu Santo: el <i>agua viva</i>, que brota del corazón traspasado de Cristo y sacia la sed de los bautizados; la <i>unción</i> con el óleo, que es signo sacramental de la Confirmación; el <i>fuego</i>, que transforma cuanto toca; la <i>nube</i> oscura y luminosa, en la que se revela la gloria divina; la <i>imposición de manos</i>, por la cual se nos da el Espíritu; y la <i>paloma</i>, que baja sobre Cristo en su bautismo y permanece en Él. <b>140. ¿Qué significa que el Espíritu «habló por los Profetas»?</b> 687-688</p><p>702-706</p><p>743<br>Con el término «Profetas» se entiende a cuantos fueron inspirados por el Espíritu Santo para hablar en nombre de Dios. La obra reveladora del Espíritu en las profecías del Antiguo Testamento halla su cumplimiento en la revelación plena del misterio de Cristo en el Nuevo Testamento. <b>141. ¿Cuál es la obra del Espíritu Santo en Juan el Bautista?</b> 717-720<br>El Espíritu colma con sus dones a Juan el Bautista, el último profeta del Antiguo Testamento, quien, bajo la acción del Espíritu, es enviado para que «prepare al Señor un pueblo bien dispuesto» (<i>Lc</i> 1, 17) y anunciar la venida de Cristo, Hijo de Dios: aquel sobre el que ha visto descender y permanecer el Espíritu, «aquel que bautiza en el Espíritu» (<i>Jn</i> 1, 33). <b>142. ¿Cuál es la obra del Espíritu Santo en María?</b> 721-726</p><p>744<br>El Espíritu Santo culmina en María las expectativas y la preparación del Antiguo Testamento para la venida de Cristo. De manera única la llena de gracia y hace fecunda su virginidad, para dar a luz al Hijo de Dios encarnado. Hace de Ella la Madre del «Cristo total», es decir, de Jesús Cabeza y de la Iglesia su cuerpo. María está presente entre los Doce el día de Pentecostés, cuando el Espíritu inaugura los «últimos tiempos» con la manifestación de la Iglesia. <b>143. ¿Qué relación existe entre el Espíritu y Jesucristo, en su misión en la tierra?</b> 727-730</p><p>745-746<br>Desde el primer instante de la Encarnación, el Hijo de Dios, por la unción del Espíritu Santo, es consagrado Mesías en su humanidad. Jesucristo revela al Espíritu con su enseñanza, cumpliendo la promesa hecha a los Padres, y lo comunica a la Iglesia naciente, exhalando su aliento sobre los Apóstoles después de su Resurrección. <b>144. ¿Qué sucedió el día de Pentecostés?</b> 731-732</p><p>738<br>En Pentecostés, cincuenta días después de su Resurrección, Jesucristo glorificado infunde su Espíritu en abundancia y lo manifiesta como Persona divina, de modo que la Trinidad Santa queda plenamente revelada. La misión de Cristo y del Espíritu se convierte en la misión de la Iglesia, enviada para anunciar y difundir el misterio de la comunión trinitaria.<br><i>«Hemos visto la verdadera Luz, hemos recibido el Espíritu celestial, </p><p>hemos encontrado la verdadera fe: adoramos la Trinidad indivisible porque </p><p>Ella nos ha salvado»</i> (Liturgia bizantina. Tropario de las vísperas de Pentecostés). <b>145. ¿Qué hace el Espíritu Santo en la Iglesia?</b> 733-741</p><p>747<br>El Espíritu Santo edifica, anima y santifica a la Iglesia; como Espíritu de Amor, devuelve a los bautizados la semejanza divina, perdida a causa del pecado, y los hace vivir en Cristo la vida misma de la Trinidad Santa. Los envía a dar testimonio de la Verdad de Cristo y los organiza en sus respectivas funciones, para que todos den «el fruto del Espíritu» (<i>Ga</i> 5, 22). <b>146. ¿Cómo actúan Cristo y su Espíritu en el corazón de los bautizados?</b> 738-741<br>Por medio de los <i>sacramentos</i>, Cristo comunica su Espíritu a los miembros de su Cuerpo, y la gracia de Dios, que da frutos de <i>vida nueva</i>, según el Espíritu. El Espíritu Santo, finalmente, es el Maestro de la <i>oración</i>. <b>147. ¿Qué designamos con la palabra «Iglesia»?</b> 751-752</p><p>777. 804<br>Con el término «Iglesia» se designa al pueblo que Dios convoca y reúne desde todos los confines de la tierra, para constituir la asamblea de todos aquellos que, por la fe y el Bautismo, han sido hechos hijos de Dios, miembros de Cristo y templo del Espíritu Santo. <b>148. ¿Hay otros nombres e imágenes con los que la Biblia designe a la Iglesia?</b> 753-757<br>En la Sagrada Escritura encontramos muchas imágenes que ponen de relieve aspectos complementarios del misterio de la Iglesia. El Antiguo Testamento prefiere imágenes ligadas al <i>Pueblo de Dios</i>; el Nuevo Testamento aquellas vinculadas a Cristo como Cabeza de este pueblo, que es su Cuerpo, y las imágenes sacadas de la vida pastoril (redil, grey, ovejas), agrícola (campo, olivo, viña), de la construcción (morada, piedra, templo) y familiar (esposa, madre, familia). <b>149. ¿Cuál es el origen y la consumación de la Iglesia?</b> 758-766</p><p>778<br>La Iglesia tiene su origen y realización en el designio eterno de Dios. Fue preparada en la Antigua Alianza con la elección de Israel, signo de la reunión futura de todas las naciones. Fundada por las palabras y las acciones de Jesucristo, fue realizada, sobre todo, mediante su muerte redentora y su Resurrección. Más tarde, se manifestó como misterio de salvación mediante la efusión del Espíritu Santo en Pentecostés. Al final de los tiempos, alcanzará su consumación como asamblea celestial de todos los redimidos. <b>150. ¿Cuál es la misión de la Iglesia?</b> 767-769<br>La misión de la Iglesia es la de anunciar e instaurar entre todos los pueblos el Reino de Dios inaugurado por Jesucristo. La Iglesia es el germen e inicio sobre la tierra de este Reino de salvación. <b>151. ¿En qué sentido la Iglesia es <i>Misterio</i>?</b> 770-773</p><p>779<br>La Iglesia es <i>Misterio</i> en cuanto que en su realidad visible se hace presente y operante una realidad espiritual y divina, que se percibe solamente con los ojos de la fe. <b>152. ¿Qué significa que la Iglesia es sacramento universal de salvación?</b> 774-776</p><p>780<br>La Iglesia es sacramento universal de salvación en cuanto es signo e instrumento de la reconciliación y la comunión de toda la humanidad con Dios, así como de la unidad de todo el género humano. <b>153. ¿Por qué la Iglesia es el Pueblo de Dios?</b> 781</p><p>802-804<br>La Iglesia es el Pueblo de Dios porque Él quiso santificar y salvar a los hombres no aisladamente, sino constituyéndolos en un solo pueblo, reunido en la unidad del Padre, del Hijo y del Espíritu Santo. <b>154. ¿Cuáles son las características del Pueblo de Dios?</b> 782<br>Este pueblo, del que se llega a ser miembro mediante la fe en Cristo y el Bautismo, tiene por <i>origen</i> a Dios Padre, por <i>cabeza</i> a Jesucristo, por <i>condición</i> la dignidad y la libertad de los hijos de Dios, por <i>ley</i> el mandamiento nuevo del amor, por <i>misión</i> la de ser sal de la tierra y luz del mundo, por <i>destino</i> el Reino de Dios, ya iniciado en la Tierra. <b>155. ¿En qué sentido el Pueblo de Dios participa de las tres funciones de Cristo: Sacerdote, Profeta y Rey?</b> 783-786<br>El Pueblo de Dios participa del oficio <i>sacerdotal</i> de Cristo en cuanto los bautizados son consagrados por el Espíritu Santo para ofrecer sacrificios espirituales; participa de su oficio <i>profético</i> cuando, con el sentido sobrenatural de la fe, se adhiere indefectiblemente a ella, la profundiza y la testimonia; participa de su función <i>regia</i> con el servicio, imitando a Jesucristo, quien siendo rey del universo, se hizo siervo de todos, sobre todo de los pobres y los que sufren. <b>156. ¿De qué modo la Iglesia es cuerpo de Cristo?</b> 787-791</p><p>805-806<br>La Iglesia es cuerpo de Cristo porque, por medio del Espíritu, Cristo muerto y resucitado une consigo íntimamente a sus fieles. De este modo los creyentes en Cristo, en cuanto íntimamente unidos a Él, sobre todo en la Eucaristía, se unen entre sí en la caridad, formando un solo cuerpo, la Iglesia. Dicha unidad se realiza en la diversidad de miembros y funciones. <b>157. ¿Quién es la cabeza de este Cuerpo?</b> 792-795</p><p>807<br>Cristo «es la Cabeza del Cuerpo, que es la Iglesia» (<i>Col</i> 1, 18). La Iglesia vive de Él, en Él y por Él. Cristo y la Iglesia forman el «Cristo total» (San Agustín); «la Cabeza y los miembros, como si fueran una sola persona mística» (Santo Tomás de Aquino). <b>158. ¿Por qué llamamos a la Iglesia esposa de Cristo?</b> 796</p><p>808<br>Llamamos a la Iglesia esposa de Cristo porque el mismo Señor se definió a sí mismo como «el esposo» (<i>Mc</i> 2, 19), que ama a la Iglesia uniéndola a sí con una Alianza eterna. Cristo se ha entregado por ella para purificarla con su sangre, «santificarla» (<i>Ef</i> 5, 26) y hacerla Madre fecunda de todos los hijos de Dios. Mientras el término «cuerpo» manifiesta la unidad de la «cabeza» con los miembros, el término «esposa» acentúa la distinción de ambos en la relación personal. <b>159. ¿Por qué la Iglesia es llamada templo del Espíritu Santo?</b> 797-798</p><p>809-810<br>La Iglesia es llamada templo del Espíritu Santo porque el Espíritu vive en el cuerpo que es la Iglesia: en su Cabeza y en sus miembros; Él además edifica la Iglesia en la caridad con la Palabra de Dios, los sacramentos, las virtudes y los <i>carismas</i>.<br><i>«Lo que nuestro espíritu, es decir, nuestra alma, es para nuestros miembros,</p><p>eso mismo es el Espíritu Santo para los miembros de Cristo, para el Cuerpo de Cristo, que es la Iglesia»</i> (San Agustín). <b>160. ¿Qué son los carismas?</b> 799-801<br>Los carismas son dones especiales del Espíritu Santo concedidos a cada uno para el bien de los hombres, para las necesidades del mundo y, en particular, para la edificación de la Iglesia, a cuyo Magisterio compete el discernimiento sobre ellos. <b>161. ¿Por qué la Iglesia es <i>una</i>?</b> 813-815</p><p>866<br>La Iglesia es <i>una</i> porque tiene como origen y modelo la unidad de un solo Dios en la Trinidad de las Personas; como fundador y cabeza a Jesucristo, que restablece la unidad de todos los pueblos en un solo cuerpo; como alma al Espíritu Santo que une a todos los fieles en la comunión en Cristo. La Iglesia tiene una sola fe, una sola vida sacramental, una única sucesión apostólica, una común esperanza y la misma caridad. <b>162. ¿Dónde subsiste la única Iglesia de Cristo?</b> 816</p><p>870<br>La única Iglesia de Cristo, como sociedad constituida y organizada en el mundo, subsiste (<i>subsistit in</i>) en la Iglesia católica, gobernada por el sucesor de Pedro y por los obispos en comunión con él. Sólo por medio de ella se puede obtener la plenitud de los medios de salvación, puesto que el Señor ha confiado todos los bienes de la Nueva Alianza únicamente al colegio apostólico, cuya cabeza es Pedro. <b>163. ¿Cómo se debe considerar entonces a los cristianos no católicos?</b> 817-819<br>En las Iglesias y comunidades eclesiales que se separaron de la plena comunión con la Iglesia católica, se hallan muchos elementos de santificación y verdad. Todos estos bienes proceden de Cristo e impulsan hacia la unidad católica. Los miembros de estas Iglesias y comunidades se incorporan a Cristo en el Bautismo, por ello los reconocemos como hermanos. <b>164. ¿Cómo comprometerse en favor de la unidad de los cristianos?</b> 820-822</p><p>866<br>El deseo de restablecer la unión de todos los cristianos es un don de Cristo y un llamamiento del Espíritu; concierne a toda la Iglesia y se actúa mediante la conversión del corazón, la oración, el recíproco conocimiento fraterno y el diálogo teológico. <b>165. ¿En qué sentido la Iglesia es <i>santa</i>?</b> 823-829</p><p>867<br>La Iglesia es <i>santa</i> porque Dios santísimo es su autor; Cristo se ha entregado a sí mismo por ella, para santificarla y hacerla santificante; el Espíritu Santo la vivifica con la caridad. En la Iglesia se encuentra la plenitud de los medios de salvación. La santidad es la vocación de cada uno de sus miembros y el fin de toda su actividad. Cuenta en su seno con la Virgen María e innumerables santos, como modelos e intercesores. La santidad de la Iglesia es la fuente de la santificación de sus hijos, los cuales, aquí en la tierra, se reconocen todos pecadores, siempre necesitados de conversión y de purificación. <b>166. ¿Por qué decimos que la Iglesia es <i>católica</i>?</b> 830-831</p><p>868<br>La Iglesia es <i>católica</i>, es decir <i>universal</i>, en cuanto en ella Cristo está presente: «Allí donde está Cristo Jesús, está la Iglesia Católica» (San Ignacio de Antioquía). La Iglesia anuncia la totalidad y la integridad de la fe; lleva en sí y administra la plenitud de los medios de salvación; es enviada en misión a todos los pueblos, pertenecientes a cualquier tiempo o cultura. <b>167. ¿Es católica la Iglesia <i>particular</i>?</b> 832-835<br>Es católica toda Iglesia <i>particular</i>, (esto es la <i>diócesis</i> y la <i>eparquía</i>), formada por la comunidad de los cristianos que están en comunión, en la fe y en los sacramentos, con su obispo ordenado en la sucesión apostólica y con la Iglesia de Roma, «que preside en la caridad» (San Ignacio de Antioquía). <b>168. ¿Quién pertenece a la Iglesia católica?</b> 836-838<br>Todos los hombres, de modos diversos, pertenecen o están ordenados a la unidad católica del Pueblo de Dios. Está plenamente incorporado a la Iglesia Católica quien, poseyendo el Espíritu de Cristo, se encuentra unido a la misma por los vínculos de la profesión de fe, de los sacramentos, del gobierno eclesiástico y de la comunión. Los bautizados que no realizan plenamente dicha unidad católica están en una cierta comunión, aunque imperfecta, con la Iglesia católica. <b>169. ¿Cuál es la relación de la Iglesia católica con el pueblo judío?</b> 839-840<br>La Iglesia católica se reconoce en relación con el pueblo judío por el hecho de que Dios eligió a este pueblo, antes que a ningún otro, para que acogiera su Palabra. Al pueblo judío pertenecen «la adopción como hijos, la gloria, las alianzas, la legislación, el culto, las promesas, los patriarcas; de él procede Cristo según la carne» (<i>Rm</i> 9, 4-5). A diferencia de las otras religiones no cristianas, la fe judía es ya una respuesta a la Revelación de Dios en la Antigua Alianza. <b>170. ¿Qué vínculo existe entre la Iglesia católica y las religiones no cristianas?</b> 841-845<br>El vínculo entre la Iglesia católica y las religiones no cristianas proviene, ante todo, del origen y el fin comunes de todo el género humano. La Iglesia católica reconoce que cuanto de bueno y verdadero se encuentra en las otras religiones viene de Dios, es reflejo de su verdad, puede preparar para la acogida del Evangelio y conducir hacia la unidad de la humanidad en la Iglesia de Cristo. <b>171. ¿Qué significa la afirmación «fuera de la Iglesia no hay salvación»?</b> 846-848<br>La afirmación «fuera de la Iglesia no hay salvación» significa que toda salvación viene de Cristo-Cabeza por medio de la Iglesia, que es su Cuerpo. Por lo tanto no pueden salvarse quienes, conociendo la Iglesia como fundada por Cristo y necesaria para la salvación, no entran y no perseveran en ella. Al mismo tiempo, gracias a Cristo y a su Iglesia, pueden alcanzar la salvación eterna todos aquellos que, sin culpa alguna, ignoran el Evangelio de Cristo y su Iglesia, pero buscan sinceramente a Dios y, bajo el influjo de la gracia, se esfuerzan en cumplir su voluntad, conocida mediante el dictamen de la conciencia. <b>172. ¿Por qué la Iglesia debe anunciar el Evangelio a todo el mundo?</b> 849-851<br>La Iglesia debe anunciar el Evangelio a todo el mundo porque Cristo ha ordenado: «Id, pues, y haced discípulos a todas las gentes, bautizándolas en el nombre del Padre, del Hijo y del Espíritu Santo» (<i>Mt</i> 28, 19). Este mandato misionero del Señor tiene su fuente en el amor eterno de Dios, que ha enviado a su Hijo y a su Espíritu porque «quiere que todos los hombres se salven y lleguen al conocimiento de la verdad» (<i>1 Tm</i> 2, 4) <b>173. ¿De qué modo la Iglesia es misionera?</b> 852-856<br>La Iglesia es misionera porque, guiada por el Espíritu Santo, continúa a lo largo de los siglos la misión del mismo Cristo. Por tanto, los cristianos deben anunciar a todos la Buena Noticia traída por Jesucristo, siguiendo su camino y dispuestos incluso al sacrificio de sí mismos hasta el martirio. <b>174. ¿Por qué la Iglesia es <i>apostólica</i>?</b> 857</p><p>869<br>La Iglesia es <i>apostólica</i> por su <i>origen</i>, ya que fue construida «sobre el fundamento de los Apóstoles» (<i>Ef</i> 2, 20); por su <i>enseñanza</i>, que es la misma de los Apóstoles; por su estructura, en cuanto es instruida, santificada y gobernada, hasta la vuelta de Cristo, por los Apóstoles, gracias a sus sucesores, los obispos, en comunión con el sucesor de Pedro. <b>175. ¿En qué consiste la misión de los Apóstoles?</b> 858-861<br>La palabra <i>Apóstol</i> significa enviado. Jesús, el Enviado del Padre, llamó consigo a doce de entre sus discípulos, y los constituyó como Apóstoles suyos, convirtiéndolos en testigos escogidos de su Resurrección y en fundamentos de su Iglesia. Jesús les dio el mandato de continuar su misión, al decirles: «Como el Padre me ha enviado, así también os envío yo» (<i>Jn</i> 20, 21) y al prometerles que estaría con ellos hasta el fin del mundo. <b>176. ¿Qué es la sucesión apostólica?</b> 861-865<br>La sucesión apostólica es la transmisión, mediante el sacramento del Orden, de la misión y la potestad de los Apóstoles a sus sucesores, los obispos. Gracias a esta transmisión, la Iglesia se mantiene en comunión de fe y de vida con su origen, mientras a lo largo de los siglos ordena todo su apostolado a la difusión del Reino de Cristo sobre la tierra. <b>177. ¿Quiénes son los fieles?</b> 871-872<br>Los fieles son aquellos que, incorporados a Cristo mediante el Bautismo, han sido constituidos miembros del Pueblo de Dios; han sido hecho partícipes, cada uno según su propia condición, de la función sacerdotal, profética y real de Cristo, y son llamados a llevar a cabo la misión confiada por Dios a la Iglesia. Entre ellos hay una verdadera igualdad en su dignidad de hijos de Dios. <b>178. ¿Cómo está formado el Pueblo de Dios?</b> 873</p><p>934<br>En la Iglesia, por institución divina, hay <i>ministros sagrados</i>, que han recibido el sacramento del Orden y forman la jerarquía de la Iglesia. A los demás fieles se les llama <i>laicos</i>. De unos y otros provienen fieles que se <i>consagran</i> de modo especial a Dios por la profesión de los consejos evangélicos: castidad en el celibato, pobreza y obediencia. <b>179. ¿Por qué Cristo instituyó la jerarquía eclesiástica?</b> 874-876</p><p>935<br>Cristo instituyó la jerarquía eclesiástica con la misión de apacentar al Pueblo de Dios en su nombre, y para ello le dio autoridad. La jerarquía está formada por los ministros sagrados: obispos, presbíteros y diáconos. Gracias al sacramento del Orden, los obispos y presbíteros actúan, en el ejercicio de su ministerio, en nombre y en la persona de Cristo cabeza; los diáconos sirven al Pueblo de Dios en la <i>diaconía</i> (servicio) de la palabra, de la liturgia y de la caridad. <b>180. ¿En qué consiste la dimensión colegial del ministerio de la Iglesia?</b> 877<br>A ejemplo de los doce Apóstoles, elegidos y enviados juntos por Cristo, la unión de los miembros de la jerarquía eclesiástica está al servicio de la comunión de todos los fieles. Cada obispo ejerce su ministerio como miembro del colegio episcopal, en comunión con el Papa, haciéndose partícipe con él de la solicitud por la Iglesia universal. Los sacerdotes ejercen su ministerio en el presbiterio de la Iglesia particular, en comunión con su propio obispo y bajo su guía. <b>181. ¿Por qué el ministerio eclesial tiene también un carácter personal?</b> 878-879<br>El ministerio eclesial tiene también un carácter personal, en cuanto que, en virtud del sacramento del Orden, cada uno es responsable ante Cristo, que lo ha llamado personalmente, confiriéndole la misión. <b>182. ¿Cuál es la misión del Papa?</b> 881-882</p><p>936-937<br>El Papa, Obispo de Roma y sucesor de san Pedro, es el perpetuo y visible principio y fundamento de la unidad de la Iglesia. Es el Vicario de Cristo, cabeza del colegio de los obispos y pastor de toda la Iglesia, sobre la que tiene, por institución divina, la potestad plena, suprema, inmediata y universal. <b>183. ¿Cuál es la función del colegio de los obispos?</b> 883-885<br>El colegio de los obispos, en comunión con el Papa y nunca sin él, ejerce también él la potestad suprema y plena sobre la Iglesia. <b>184. ¿Cómo ejercen los obispos la misión de enseñar?</b> 886-890</p><p>939<br>Los obispos, en comunión con el Papa, tienen el deber de anunciar a todos el Evangelio, fielmente y con autoridad, como testigos auténticos de la fe apostólica, revestidos de la autoridad de Cristo. Mediante el sentido sobrenatural de la fe, el Pueblo de Dios se adhiere indefectiblemente a la fe, bajo la guía del Magisterio vivo de la Iglesia. <b>185. ¿Cuándo se ejerce la infalibilidad del Magisterio?</b> 891<br>La infalibilidad del Magisterio se ejerce cuando el Romano Pontífice, en virtud de su autoridad de Supremo Pastor de la Iglesia, o el colegio de los obispos en comunión con el Papa, sobre todo reunido en un Concilio Ecuménico, proclaman con acto definitivo una doctrina referente a la fe o a la moral; y también cuando el Papa y los obispos, en su Magisterio ordinario, concuerdan en proponer una doctrina como definitiva. Todo fiel debe adherirse a tales enseñanzas con el obsequio de la fe. <b>186. ¿Cómo ejercen los obispos la misión de santificar?</b> 893<br>Los obispos ejercen su función de santificar a la Iglesia cuando dispensan la gracia de Cristo, mediante el ministerio de la palabra y de los sacramentos, en particular de la Eucaristía; y también con su oración, su ejemplo y su trabajo. <b>187. ¿Cómo ejercen los obispos la misión de gobernar?</b> 894-896<br>Cada obispo, en cuanto miembro del colegio episcopal, ejerce colegialmente la solicitud por todas las Iglesias particulares y por toda la Iglesia, junto con los demás obispos unidos al Papa. El obispo, a quien se ha confiado una Iglesia particular, la gobierna con la autoridad de su sagrada potestad propia, ordinaria e inmediata, ejercida en nombre de Cristo, Buen Pastor, en comunión con toda la Iglesia y bajo la guía del sucesor de Pedro. <b>188. ¿Cuál es la vocación de los fieles laicos?</b> 897-900</p><p>940<br>Los fieles laicos tienen como vocación propia la de buscar el Reino de Dios, iluminando y ordenando las realidades temporales según Dios. Responden así a la llamada a la santidad y al apostolado, que se dirige a todos los bautizados. <b>189. ¿Cómo participan los fieles laicos en la misión sacerdotal de Cristo?</b> 901-903<br>Los laicos participan en la misión sacerdotal de Cristo cuando ofrecen como sacrificio espiritual «agradable a Dios por mediación de Jesucristo» (<i>1 P</i> 2, 5), sobre todo en la Eucaristía, la propia vida con todas las obras, oraciones e iniciativas apostólicas, la vida familiar y el trabajo diario, las molestias de la vida sobrellevadas con paciencia, así como los descansos físicos y consuelos espirituales. De esta manera, también los laicos, dedicados a Cristo y consagrados por el Espíritu Santo, ofrecen a Dios el mundo mismo. <b>190. ¿Cómo participan los fieles laicos en la misión profética de Cristo?</b> 904-907</p><p>942<br>Los laicos participan en la misión profética de Cristo cuando acogen cada vez mejor en la fe la Palabra de Cristo, y la anuncian al mundo con el testimonio de la vida y de la palabra, mediante la evangelización y la catequesis. Este apostolado «adquiere una eficacia particular porque se realiza en las condiciones generales de nuestro mundo» (<i>Lumen Gentium</i> 35). <b>191. ¿Cómo participan los fieles laicos en la misión regia de Cristo?</b> 908-913</p><p>943<br>Los laicos participan en la misión regia de Cristo porque reciben de Él el poder de vencer el pecado en sí mismos y en el mundo, por medio de la abnegación y la santidad de la propia vida. Los laicos ejercen diversos ministerios al servicio de la comunidad, e impregnan de valores morales las actividades temporales del hombre y las instituciones de la sociedad. <b>192. ¿Qué es la vida consagrada?</b> 914-916</p><p>944<br>La vida consagrada es un estado de vida reconocido por la Iglesia; una respuesta libre a una llamada particular de Cristo, mediante la cual los consagrados se dedican totalmente a Dios y tienden a la perfección de la caridad, bajo la moción del Espíritu Santo. Esta consagración se caracteriza por la práctica de los consejos evangélicos. <b>193. ¿Qué aporta la vida consagrada a la misión de la Iglesia?</b> 931-933</p><p>945<br>La vida consagrada participa en la misión de la Iglesia mediante una plena entrega a Cristo y a los hermanos, dando testimonio de la esperanza del Reino de los Cielos. <b>194. ¿Qué significa la expresión «<i>comunión de los santos</i>»?</b> 946-953</p><p>960<br>La expresión «comunión de los santos» indica, ante todo, la común participación de todos los miembros de la Iglesia en las cosas santas (<i>sancta</i>): la fe, los sacramentos, en particular en la Eucaristía, los carismas y otros dones espirituales. En la raíz de la comunión está la caridad que «no busca su propio interés» (<i>1 Co</i> 13, 5), sino que impulsa a los fieles a «poner todo en común» (<i>Hch</i> 4, 32), incluso los propios bienes materiales, para el servicio de los más pobres. <b>195. ¿Qué otra significación tiene la expresión «comunión de los santos»?</b> 954-959</p><p>961-962<br>La expresión «comunión de los santos» designa también la comunión entre las personas santas (<i>sancti</i>), es decir, entre quienes por la gracia están unidos a Cristo muerto y resucitado. Unos viven aún peregrinos en este mundo; otros, ya difuntos, se purifican, ayudados también por nuestras plegarias; otros, finalmente, gozan ya de la gloria de Dios e interceden por nosotros. Todos juntos forman en Cristo una sola familia, la Iglesia, para alabanza y gloria de la Trinidad. <b>196. ¿En qué sentido la Bienaventurada Virgen María es Madre de la Iglesia?</b> 963-966</p><p>973<br>La Bienaventurada Virgen María es Madre de la Iglesia en el orden de la gracia, porque ha dado a luz a Jesús, el Hijo de Dios, Cabeza del Cuerpo que es la Iglesia. Jesús, agonizante en la cruz, la dio como madre al discípulo con estas palabras: «Ahí tienes a tu madre» (<i>Jn</i> 19, 27). <b>197. ¿Cómo ayuda la Virgen María a la Iglesia?</b> 967-970<br>Después de la Ascensión de su Hijo, la Virgen María ayudó con su oración a los comienzos de la Iglesia. Incluso tras su Asunción al cielo, ella continúa intercediendo por sus hijos, siendo para todos un modelo de fe y de caridad y ejerciendo sobre ellos un influjo salvífico, que mana de la sobreabundancia de los méritos de Cristo. Los fieles ven en María una imagen y un anticipo de la resurrección que les espera, y la invocan como abogada, auxiliadora, socorro y mediadora. <b>198. ¿Qué tipo de culto se rinde a la Virgen María?</b> 971<br>A la Virgen María se le rinde un culto singular, que se diferencia esencialmente del culto de adoración, que se rinde sólo a la Santísima Trinidad. Este culto de especial veneración encuentra su particular expresión en las fiestas litúrgicas dedicadas a la Madre de Dios y en la oración mariana, como el santo Rosario, compendio de todo el Evangelio. <b>199. ¿De qué modo la Virgen María es icono escatológico de la Iglesia?</b> 972</p><p>974-975<br>Contemplando a María, la toda santa, ya glorificada en cuerpo y alma, la Iglesia ve en ella lo que la propia Iglesia está llamada a ser sobre la tierra y aquello que será en la patria celestial. <b>200. ¿Cómo se perdonan los pecados?</b> 976-980</p><p>984-985<br>El primero y principal sacramento para el perdón de los pecados es el Bautismo. Para los pecados cometidos después del Bautismo, Cristo instituyó el sacramento de la Reconciliación o Penitencia, por medio del cual el bautizado se reconcilia con Dios y con la Iglesia. <b>201. ¿Por qué la Iglesia tiene el poder de perdonar los pecados?</b> 981-983</p><p>986-987<br>La Iglesia tiene la misión y el poder de perdonar los pecados porque el mismo Cristo se lo ha dado: «Recibid el Espíritu Santo, a quienes perdonéis los pecados, les quedan perdonados, a quienes se los retengáis, les quedan retenidos» (<i>Jn</i> 20, 22-23). <b>202. ¿Qué se indica con el término «carne» y cuál es su importancia?</b> 976-980</p><p>984-985<br>El término «carne» designa al hombre en su condición de debilidad y mortalidad. «La carne es soporte de la salvación» (Tertuliano). En efecto, creemos en Dios que es el Creador de la carne; creemos en el Verbo hecho carne para rescatar la carne; creemos en la resurrección de la carne, perfección de la Creación y de la redención de la carne. <b>203. ¿Qué significa la expresión «resurrección de la carne»?</b> 990<br>La expresión «resurrección de la carne» significa que el estado definitivo del hombre no será solamente el alma espiritual separada del cuerpo, sino que también nuestros cuerpos mortales un día volverán a tener vida. <b>204. ¿Qué relación existe entre la resurrección de Cristo y la nuestra?</b> 988-991</p><p>1002-1003<br>Así como Cristo ha resucitado verdaderamente de entre los muertos y vive para siempre, así también Él resucitará a todos en el último día, con un cuerpo incorruptible: «los que hayan hecho el bien resucitarán para la vida, y los que hayan hecho el mal, para la condenación» (<i>Jn</i> 5, 29). <b>205. ¿Qué sucede con la muerte a nuestro cuerpo y a nuestra alma?</b> Con la muerte, que es separación del alma y del cuerpo, éste cae en la corrupción, mientras el alma, que es inmortal, va al encuentro del juicio de Dios y espera volverse a unir al cuerpo, cuando éste resurja transformado en la segunda venida del Señor. Comprender <i>cómo</i> tendrá lugar la resurrección sobrepasa la posibilidad de nuestra imaginación y entendimiento. <b>206. ¿Qué significa morir en Cristo Jesús?</b> 1005-1014</p><p>1019<br>Morir en Cristo Jesús significa morir en gracia de Dios, sin pecado mortal. Así el creyente en Cristo, siguiendo su ejemplo, puede transformar la propia muerte en un acto de obediencia y de amor al Padre. «Es cierta esta afirmación: si hemos muerto con Él, también viviremos con Él» (<i>2 Tm</i> 2, 11).<br><b>«CREO EN LA VIDA ETERNA»</b> <b>207. ¿Qué es la vida eterna?</b> 1020</p><p>1051<br>La vida eterna es la que comienza inmediatamente después de la muerte. Esta vida no tendrá fin; será precedida para cada uno por un juicio particular por parte de Cristo, juez de vivos y muertos, y será ratificada en el juicio final. <b>208. ¿Qué es el juicio particular?</b> 1021-1022</p><p>1051<br>Es el juicio de retribución inmediata, que, en el momento de la muerte, cada uno recibe de Dios en su alma inmortal, en relación con su fe y sus obras. Esta retribución consiste en el acceso a la felicidad del cielo, inmediatamente o después de una adecuada purificación, o bien de la condenación eterna al infierno. <b>209. ¿Qué se entiende por cielo?</b> 1023-1026</p><p>1053<br>Por cielo se entiende el estado de felicidad suprema y definitiva. Todos aquellos que mueren en gracia de Dios y no tienen necesidad de posterior purificación, son reunidos en torno a Jesús, a María, a los ángeles y a los santos, formando así la Iglesia del cielo, donde ven a Dios «cara a cara» (<i>1 Co</i> 13, 12), viven en comunión de amor con la Santísima Trinidad e interceden por nosotros.<br><i>«La vida subsistente y verdadera es el Padre que, por el Hijo y en el Espíritu Santo, derrama sobre todos sin excepción los dones celestiales. Gracias a su misericordia, nosotros también, hombres, hemos recibido la promesa indefectible de la vida eterna»</i> (San Cirilo de Jerusalén). <b>210. ¿Qué es el purgatorio?</b> 1030-1031</p><p>1054<br>El purgatorio es el estado de los que mueren en amistad con Dios pero, aunque están seguros de su salvación eterna, necesitan aún de purificación para entrar en la eterna bienaventuranza. <b>211. ¿Cómo podemos ayudar en la purificación de las almas del purgatorio?</b> 1032<br>En virtud de la comunión de los santos, los fieles que peregrinan aún en la tierra pueden ayudar a las almas del purgatorio ofreciendo por ellas oraciones de sufragio, en particular el sacrificio de la Eucaristía, pero también limosnas, indulgencias y obras de penitencia. <b>212. ¿En qué consiste el infierno?</b> 1033-1035</p><p>1056-1057<br>Consiste en la condenación eterna de todos aquellos que mueren, por libre elección, en pecado mortal. La pena principal del infierno consiste en la separación eterna de Dios, en quien únicamente encuentra el hombre la vida y la felicidad para las que ha sido creado y a las que aspira. Cristo mismo expresa esta realidad con las palabras «Alejaos de mí, malditos al fuego eterno» (<i>Mt</i> 25, 41). <b>213. ¿Cómo se concilia la existencia del infierno con la infinita bondad de Dios?</b> 1036-1037<br>Dios quiere que «todos lleguen a la conversión» (<i>2 P</i> 3, 9), pero, habiendo creado al hombre libre y responsable, respeta sus decisiones. Por tanto, es el hombre mismo quien, con plena autonomía, se excluye voluntariamente de la comunión con Dios si, en el momento de la propia muerte, persiste en el pecado mortal, rechazando el amor misericordioso de Dios. <b>214. ¿En qué consistirá el juicio final?</b> 1038-1041</p><p>1058-1059<br>El juicio final (universal) consistirá en la sentencia de vida bienaventurada o de condena eterna que el Señor Jesús, retornando como juez de vivos y muertos, emitirá respecto «de los justos y de los pecadores» (<i>Hch</i> 24, 15), reunidos todos juntos delante de sí. Tras del juicio final, el cuerpo resucitado participará de la retribución que el alma ha recibido en el juicio particular. <b>215. ¿Cuándo tendrá lugar este juicio?</b> (Source: Compendio Del Catecismo 2005 A.D. / <b>1. ¿Cuál Es El Designio De Dios Para El Hombre?</b>)
1040<br>El juicio final sucederá al fin del mundo, del que sólo Dios conoce el día y la hora. <b>216. ¿Qué es la esperanza de los cielos nuevos y de la tierra nueva?</b> 1042-1050</p><p>1060<br>Después del juicio final, el universo entero, liberado de la esclavitud de la corrupción, participará de la gloria de Cristo, inaugurando «los nuevos cielos y la tierra nueva» (<i>2 P</i> 3, 13). Así se alcanzará la plenitud del Reino de Dios, es decir, la realización definitiva del designio salvífico de Dios de «hacer que todo tenga a Cristo por Cabeza, lo que está en los cielos y lo que está en la tierra» (<i>Ef</i> 1, 10). Dios será entonces «todo en todos» (<i>1 Co</i> 15, 28), en la vida eterna. <b>217. ¿Qué significa el <i>Amén</i>, con el que concluye nuestra profesión de fe?</b> 1061-1065<br>La palabra hebrea <i>Amén</i>, con la que se termina también el último libro de la Sagrada Escritura, algunas oraciones del Nuevo Testamento y las oraciones litúrgicas de la Iglesia, significa nuestro «sí» confiado y total a cuanto confesamos creer, confiándonos totalmente en Aquel que es el «Amén» (<i>Ap</i> 3, 14) definitivo: Cristo el Señor. <b>218. ¿Qué es la liturgia?</b> 1066-1070<br>La liturgia es la celebración del Misterio de Cristo y en particular de su Misterio Pascual. Mediante el ejercicio de la función sacerdotal de Jesucristo, se manifiesta y realiza en ella, a través de signos, la santificación de los hombres; y el Cuerpo Místico de Cristo, esto es la Cabeza y sus miembros, ejerce el culto público que se debe a Dios. <b>219. ¿Qué lugar ocupa la liturgia en la vida de la Iglesia?</b> 1071-1075<br>La liturgia, acción sagrada por excelencia, es la cumbre hacia la que tiende la acción de la Iglesia y, al mismo tiempo, la fuente de la que emana su fuerza vital. A través de la liturgia, Cristo continúa en su Iglesia, con ella y por medio de ella, la obra de nuestra redención <b>220. ¿En qué consiste la economía sacramental?</b> 1076<br>La economía sacramental consiste en la comunicación de los frutos de la redención de Cristo, mediante la celebración de los sacramentos de la Iglesia, de modo eminente la Eucaristía, «hasta que él vuelva» (<i>1 Co</i> 11, 26) <b>221. ¿De qué modo el Padre es fuente y fin de la liturgia?</b> 1077-1083</p><p>1110<br>En la liturgia el Padre nos colma de sus bendiciones en el Hijo encarnado, muerto y resucitado por nosotros, y derrama en nuestros corazones el Espíritu Santo. Al mismo tiempo, la Iglesia bendice al Padre mediante la adoración, la alabanza y la acción de gracias, e implora el don de su Hijo y del Espíritu Santo. <b>222. ¿Cuál es la obra de Cristo en la Liturgia?</b> 1084-1090<br>En la liturgia de la Iglesia, Cristo significa y realiza principalmente su misterio pascual. Al entregar el Espíritu Santo a los Apóstoles, les ha concedido, a ellos y a sus sucesores, el poder de actualizar la obra de la salvación por medio del sacrificio eucarístico y de los sacramentos, en los cuales Él mismo actúa para comunicar su gracia a los fieles de todos los tiempos y en todo el mundo. <b>223. ¿Cómo actúa el Espíritu Santo en la liturgia respecto de la Iglesia?</b> 1091-1109</p><p>1112<br>En la liturgia se realiza la más estrecha cooperación entre el Espíritu Santo y la Iglesia. El Espíritu Santo prepara a la Iglesia para el encuentro con su Señor, recuerda y manifiesta a Cristo a la fe de la asamblea de creyentes, hace presente y actualiza el Misterio de Cristo, une la Iglesia a la vida y misión de Cristo y hace fructificar en ella el don de la comunión. <b>224. ¿Qué son los sacramentos y cuántos hay?</b> 1113-1131<br>Los sacramentos son signos sensibles y eficaces de la gracia, instituidos por Cristo y confiados a la Iglesia, a través de los cuales se nos otorga la vida divina. Son siete: Bautismo, Confirmación, Eucaristía, Penitencia, Unción de los enfermos, Orden y Matrimonio. <b>225. ¿Qué relación existe entre los sacramentos y Cristo?</b> 1114-1116<br>Los misterios de la vida de Cristo constituyen el fundamento de lo que ahora, por medio de los ministros de su Iglesia, el mismo Cristo dispensa en los sacramentos.<br><i>«Lo que era visible en nuestro Salvador ha pasado a sus sacramentos»</i> </p><p>(San León Magno). <b>226. ¿Cuál es el vínculo de los sacramentos con la Iglesia?</b> 1117-1119<br>Cristo ha confiado los sacramentos a su Iglesia. Son «de la Iglesia» en un doble sentido: «de ella», en cuanto son acciones de la Iglesia, la cual es sacramento de la acción de Cristo; y «para ella», en el sentido de que edifican la Iglesia. <b>227. ¿Qué es el «<i>carácter</i>» sacramental?</b> 1121<br>El <i>carácter</i> sacramental es un <i>sello</i> espiritual, conferido por los sacramentos del Bautismo, de la Confirmación y del Orden. Constituye promesa y garantía de la protección divina. En virtud de este sello, el cristiano queda configurado a Cristo, participa de diversos modos en su sacerdocio y forma parte de la Iglesia según estados y funciones diversos. Queda, por tanto, consagrado al culto divino y al servicio de la Iglesia. Puesto que el carácter es indeleble, los sacramentos que lo imprimen sólo pueden recibirse una vez en la vida. <b>228. ¿Qué relación tienen los sacramentos con la fe?</b> 1122-1126</p><p>1133<br>Los sacramentos no sólo suponen la fe, sino que con las palabras y los elementos rituales la alimentan, fortalecen y expresan. Celebrando los sacramentos la Iglesia confiesa la fe apostólica. De ahí la antigua sentencia: «<i>lex orandi, lex credendi</i>», esto es, la Iglesia cree tal como reza. <b>229. ¿Por qué los sacramentos son eficaces?</b> 1127-1128</p><p>1131<br>Los sacramentos son eficaces <i>ex opere operato</i> («por el hecho mismo de que la acción sacramental se realiza»), porque es Cristo quien actúa en ellos y quien da la gracia que significan, independientemente de la santidad personal del ministro. Sin embargo, los frutos de los sacramentos dependen también de las disposiciones del que los recibe. <b>230. ¿Por qué los sacramentos son necesarios para la salvación?</b> 1129<br>Para los creyentes en Cristo, los sacramentos, aunque no todos se den a cada uno de los fieles, son necesarios para la salvación, porque otorgan la gracia sacramental, el perdón de los pecados, la adopción como hijos de Dios, la configuración con Cristo Señor y la pertenencia a la Iglesia. El Espíritu Santo cura y transforma a quienes los reciben. <b>231. ¿Qué es la gracia sacramental?</b> 1129. 1131</p><p>1134. 2003<br>La gracia sacramental es la gracia del Espíritu Santo, dada por Cristo y propia de cada sacramento. Esta gracia ayuda al fiel en su camino de santidad, y también a la Iglesia en su crecimiento de caridad y testimonio. <b>232. ¿Qué relación existe entre los sacramentos y la vida eterna?</b> 1130<br>En los sacramentos la Iglesia recibe ya un anticipo de la vida eterna, mientras vive «aguardando la feliz esperanza y la manifestación de la gloria del gran Dios y Salvador nuestro Jesucristo» (<i>Tt</i> 2, 13). <b>233. ¿Quién actúa en la liturgia?</b> 1135-1137</p><p>1187<br>En la liturgia actúa el «Cristo total» (<i>Christus totus</i>), Cabeza y Cuerpo. En cuanto sumo Sacerdote, Él celebra la liturgia con su Cuerpo, que es la Iglesia del cielo y de la tierra. <b>234. ¿Quién celebra la liturgia del cielo?</b> 1138-1139<br>La liturgia del cielo la celebran los ángeles, los santos de la Antigua y de la Nueva Alianza, en particular la Madre de Dios, los Apóstoles, los mártires y «una muchedumbre inmensa, que nadie podría contar, de toda nación, razas, pueblos y lenguas» (<i>Ap</i> 7, 9). Cuando celebramos en los sacramentos el misterio de la salvación, participamos de esta liturgia eterna. <b>235. ¿De qué modo la Iglesia en la tierra celebra la liturgia?</b> 1140-1144</p><p>1188<br>La Iglesia en la tierra celebra la liturgia como pueblo sacerdotal, en el cual cada uno obra según su propia función, en la unidad del Espíritu Santo: los bautizados se ofrecen como sacrificio espiritual; los ministros ordenados celebran según el Orden recibido para el servicio de todos los miembros de la Iglesia; los obispos y presbíteros actúan en la persona de Cristo Cabeza. <b>236. ¿Cómo se celebra la liturgia?</b> 1145<br>La celebración litúrgica está tejida de signos y símbolos, cuyo significado, enraizado en la creación y en las culturas humanas, se precisa en los acontecimientos de la Antigua Alianza y se revela en plenitud en la Persona y la obra de Cristo. <b>237. ¿De dónde proceden los signos sacramentales?</b> 1146-1152</p><p>1189<br>Algunos signos sacramentales provienen del mundo creado (luz, agua, fuego, pan, vino, aceite); otros, de la vida social (lavar, ungir, partir el pan); otros de la historia de la salvación en la Antigua Alianza (los ritos pascuales, los sacrificios, la imposición de manos, las consagraciones). Estos signos, algunos de los cuales son normativos e inmutables, asumidos por Cristo, se convierten en portadores de la acción salvífica y de santificación <b>238. ¿Qué relación existe entre las acciones y las palabras en la celebración sacramental?</b> 1153-1155</p><p>1190<br>En la celebración sacramental las acciones y las palabras están estrechamente unidas. En efecto, aunque las acciones simbólicas son ya por sí mismas un lenguaje, es preciso que las palabras del rito acompañen y vivifiquen estas acciones. Indisociables en cuanto signos y enseñanza, las palabras y las acciones litúrgicas lo son también en cuanto realizan lo que significan. <b>239. ¿Con qué criterios el canto y la música tienen una función propia dentro de la celebración litúrgica?</b> 1156-1158</p><p>1191<br>Puesto que la música y el canto están estrechamente vinculados a la acción litúrgica, deben respetar los siguientes criterios: la conformidad de los textos a la doctrina católica, y con origen preferiblemente en la Sagrada Escritura y en las fuentes litúrgicas; la belleza expresiva de la oración; la calidad de la música; la participación de la asamblea; la riqueza cultural del Pueblo de Dios y el carácter sagrado y solemne de la celebración.<br><i>«El que canta, reza dos veces»</i> (San Agustín). <b>240. ¿Cuál es la finalidad de las sagradas imágenes?</b> 1159-1161</p><p>1192<br>La imagen de Cristo es el icono litúrgico por excelencia. Las demás, que representan a la Madre de Dios y a los santos, significan a Cristo, que en ellos es glorificado. Las imágenes proclaman el mismo mensaje evangélico que la Sagrada Escritura transmite mediante la palabra, y ayudan a despertar y alimentar la fe de los creyentes. <b>241. ¿Cuál es el centro del tiempo litúrgico?</b> 1163-1167</p><p>1193<br>El centro del tiempo litúrgico es el domingo , fundamento y núcleo de todo el año litúrgico, que tiene su culminación en la Pascua anual, fiesta de las fiestas. <b>242. ¿Cuál es la función del año litúrgico?</b> 1168-1173</p><p>1194-1195<br>La función del año litúrgico es celebrar todo el Misterio de Cristo, desde la Encarnación hasta su retorno glorioso. En días determinados, la Iglesia venera con especial amor a María, la bienaventurada Madre de Dios, y hace también memoria de los santos, que vivieron para Cristo, con Él padecieron y con Él han sido glorificados. <b>243. ¿Qué es la Liturgia de las Horas?</b> 1174-1178</p><p>1196<br>La Liturgia de las Horas, oración pública y común de la Iglesia, es la oración de Cristo con su Cuerpo, la Iglesia. Por su medio, el Misterio de Cristo, que celebramos en la Eucaristía, santifica y transfigura el tiempo de cada día. Se compone principalmente de salmos y de otros textos bíblicos, y también de lecturas de los santos Padres y maestros espirituales. <b>244. ¿Tiene la Iglesia necesidad de lugares para celebrar la liturgia?</b> 1179-1181 </p><p>1197-1198<br>El culto «en espíritu y en verdad» (<i>Jn</i> 4, 24) de la Nueva Alianza no está ligado a un lugar exclusivo, porque Cristo es el verdadero templo de Dios, por medio del cual también los cristianos y la Iglesia entera se convierten, por la acción del Espíritu Santo, en templos del Dios vivo. Sin embargo, el Pueblo de Dios, en su condición terrenal, tiene necesidad de lugares donde la comunidad pueda reunirse para celebrar la liturgia. <b>245. ¿Qué son los edificios sagrados?</b> 1181</p><p>1198-1199<br>Los edificios sagrados son las casas de Dios, símbolo de la Iglesia que vive en aquel lugar e imágenes de la morada celestial. Son lugares de oración, en los que la Iglesia celebra sobre todo la Eucaristía y adora a Cristo realmente presente en el tabernáculo. <b>246. ¿Cuáles son los lugares principales dentro de los edificios sagrados?</b> 1182-1186<br>Los lugares principales dentro de los edificios sagrados son éstos: el altar, el sagrario o tabernáculo, el receptáculo donde se conservan el santo crisma y los otros santos óleos, la sede del obispo (cátedra) o del presbítero, el ambón, la pila bautismal y el confesionario. <b>247. ¿Por qué el único Misterio de Cristo se celebra en la Iglesia según diversas tradiciones litúrgicas?</b> 1200-1204</p><p>1207-1209<br>El Misterio de Cristo, aunque es único, se celebra según diversas tradiciones litúrgicas porque su riqueza es tan insondable que ninguna tradición litúrgica puede agotarla. Desde los orígenes de la Iglesia, por tanto, esta riqueza ha encontrado en los distintos pueblos y culturas expresiones caracterizadas por una admirable variedad y complementariedad. <b>248. ¿Qué criterio asegura la unidad dentro de la multiformidad?</b> 1209<br>El criterio para asegurar la unidad en la multiformidad es la fidelidad a la Tradición Apostólica, es decir, la comunión en la fe y en los sacramentos recibidos de los Apóstoles, significada y garantizada por la sucesión apostólica. La Iglesia es católica: puede, por tanto, integrar en su unidad todas las riquezas verdaderas de las distintas culturas. <b>249. ¿Es todo inmutable en la liturgia?</b> 1205-1206<br>En la liturgia, sobre todo en la de los sacramentos, existen elementos inmutables por ser de institución divina, que la Iglesia custodia fielmente. Hay después otros elementos, susceptibles de cambio, que la Iglesia puede y a veces debe incluso adaptar a las culturas de los diversos pueblos. <b>SEGUNDA SECCIÓN </b></p><p><b>LOS SIETE SACRAMENTOS DE LA IGLESIA</b><br><b>Los siete Sacramentos de la Iglesia</b><br>Bautismo </p><p>Confirmación </p><p>Eucaristía </p><p>Penitencia </p><p>Unción de los enfermos </p><p>Orden </p><p>Matrimonio <b>Septem Ecclesiae Sacramenta</b><br>Baptismum </p><p>Confirmátio </p><p>Eucarístia </p><p>Paeniténtia </p><p>Únctio infirmórum </p><p>Ordo </p><p>Matrimónium <b>250. ¿Cómo se distinguen los sacramentos de la Iglesia?</b> 1210-1211<br>Los sacramentos de la Iglesia se distinguen en sacramentos de la iniciación cristiana (Bautismo, Confirmación y Eucaristía); sacramentos de la curación (Penitencia y Unción de los enfermos); y sacramentos al servicio de la comunión y de la misión (Orden y Matrimonio). Todos corresponden a momentos importantes de la vida cristiana, y están ordenados a la Eucaristía «como a su fin específico» (Santo Tomás de Aquino). <b>251. ¿Cómo se realiza la iniciación cristiana?</b> 1212</p><p>1275<br>La Iniciación cristiana se realiza mediante los sacramentos que ponen los <i>fundamentos</i> de la vida cristiana: los fieles, renacidos en el Bautismo, se fortalecen con la Confirmación, y son alimentados en la Eucaristía. <b>252. ¿Con qué nombres se conoce el primer Sacramento de la iniciación?</b> 1213-1216</p><p>1276-1277<br>El primer sacramento de la iniciación recibe, ante todo, el nombre de <i>Bautismo</i>, en razón del rito central con el cual se celebra: bautizar significa «sumergir» en el agua; quien recibe el bautismo es sumergido en la muerte de Cristo y resucita con Él «como una nueva criatura» (<i>2 Co</i> 5, 17). Se llama también «baño de regeneración y renovación en el Espíritu Santo» (<i>Tt</i> 3, 5), e «iluminación», porque el bautizado se convierte en «hijo de la luz» (<i>Ef</i> 5, 8). <b>253. ¿Cómo se prefigura el Bautismo en la Antigua Alianza?</b> 1217-1222<br>En la Antigua Alianza se encuentran varias prefiguraciones del Bautismo: <i>el agua</i>, fuente de vida y de muerte; <i>el arca de Noé</i>, que salva por medio del agua; <i>el paso del Mar Rojo</i>, que libera al pueblo de Israel de la esclavitud de Egipto; <i>el paso del Jordán</i>, que hace entrar a Israel en la tierra prometida, imagen de la vida eterna. <b>254. ¿Quién hace que se cumplan estas prefiguraciones?</b> 1223-1224<br>Estas prefiguraciones del bautismo las cumple Jesucristo, el cual, al comienzo de su vida pública, se hace bautizar por Juan Bautista en el Jordán; levantado en la cruz, de su costado abierto brotan sangre y agua, signos del Bautismo y de la Eucaristía, y después de su Resurrección confía a los Apóstoles esta misión: «Id y haced discípulos de todos los pueblos, bautizándolos en el nombre del Padre y del Hijo y del Espíritu Santo» (<i>Mt</i> 28, 19-20). <b>255. ¿Desde cuándo y a quién administra la Iglesia el Bautismo?</b> 1226-1228<br>Desde el día de Pentecostés, la Iglesia administra el Bautismo al que cree en Jesucristo. <b>256. ¿En qué consiste el rito esencial del Bautismo?</b> 1229-1245</p><p>1278<br>El rito esencial del Bautismo consiste en sumergir en el agua al candidato o derramar agua sobre su cabeza, mientras se invoca el nombre del Padre y del Hijo y del Espíritu Santo. <b>257. ¿Quién puede recibir el Bautismo?</b> 246-1522<br>Puede recibir el Bautismo cualquier persona que no esté aún bautizada. <b>258. ¿Por qué la Iglesia bautiza a los niños?</b> 1250<br>La Iglesia bautiza a los niños puesto que, naciendo con el pecado original, necesitan ser liberados del poder del maligno y trasladados al reino de la libertad de los hijos de Dios. <b>259. ¿Qué se requiere para ser bautizado?</b> 1253-1255<br>A todo aquel que va a ser bautizado se le exige la profesión de fe, expresada personalmente, en el caso del adulto, o por medio de sus padres y de la Iglesia, en el caso del niño. El padrino o la madrina y toda la comunidad eclesial tienen también una parte de responsabilidad en la preparación al Bautismo (catecumenado), así como en el desarrollo de la fe y de la gracia bautismal. <b>260. ¿Quién puede bautizar?</b> 1256</p><p>1284<br>Los ministros ordinarios del Bautismo son el obispo y el presbítero; en la Iglesia latina, también el diácono. En caso de necesidad, cualquiera puede bautizar, siempre que tenga la intención de hacer lo que hace la Iglesia. Éste derrama agua sobre la cabeza del candidato y pronuncia la fórmula trinitaria bautismal: «Yo te bautizo en el nombre del Padre y del Hijo y del Espíritu Santo». <b>261. ¿Es necesario el Bautismo para la salvación?</b> 1257<br>El Bautismo es necesario para la salvación de todos aquellos a quienes el Evangelio ha sido anunciado y han tenido la posibilidad de pedir este sacramento. <b>262. ¿Hay salvación posible sin el Bautismo?</b> 1258-1261</p><p>1281-1283<br>Puesto que Cristo ha muerto para la salvación de todos, pueden salvarse también sin el Bautismo todos aquellos que mueren a causa de la fe (<i>Bautismo de sangre</i>), los catecúmenos, y todo aquellos que, bajo el impulso de la gracia, sin conocer a Cristo y a la Iglesia, buscan sinceramente a Dios y se esfuerzan por cumplir su voluntad (<i>Bautismo de deseo</i>). En cuanto a los niños que mueren sin el Bautismo, la Iglesia en su liturgia los confía a la misericordia de Dios. <b>263. ¿Cuáles son los efectos del Bautismo?</b> 1262-1274</p><p>1279-1280<br>El Bautismo perdona el pecado original, todos los pecados personales y todas las penas debidas al pecado; hace participar de la vida divina trinitaria mediante la gracia santificante, la gracia de la justificación que incorpora a Cristo y a su Iglesia; hace participar del sacerdocio de Cristo y constituye el fundamento de la comunión con los demás cristianos; otorga las virtudes teologales y los dones del Espíritu Santo. El bautizado pertenece para siempre a Cristo: en efecto, queda marcado con el sello indeleble de Cristo (<i>carácter</i>). <b>264. ¿Cuál es el significado del nombre cristiano recibido en el Bautismo?</b> 2156-2159</p><p>2167<br>El nombre es importante porque Dios conoce a cada uno por su nombre, es decir, en su unicidad. Con el Bautismo, el cristiano recibe en la Iglesia el nombre propio, preferiblemente de un santo, de modo que éste ofrezca al bautizado un modelo de santidad y le asegure su intercesión ante Dios. <b>265. ¿Qué lugar ocupa la Confirmación en el designio divino de salvación?</b> 1285-1288</p><p>1315<br>En la Antigua Alianza, los profetas anunciaron que el Espíritu del Señor reposaría sobre el Mesías esperado y sobre todo el pueblo mesiánico. Toda la vida y la misión de Jesús se desarrollan en una total comunión con el Espíritu Santo. Los Apóstoles reciben el Espíritu Santo en Pentecostés y anuncian «las maravillas de Dios» (<i>Hch</i> 2,11). Comunican a los nuevos bautizados, mediante la imposición de las manos, el don del mismo Espíritu. A lo largo de los siglos, la Iglesia ha seguido viviendo del Espíritu y comunicándolo a sus hijos. <b>266. ¿Por qué se llama Confirmación o Crismación?</b> 1289<br>Se llama <i>Confirmación</i>, porque confirma y refuerza la gracia bautismal. Se llama <i>Crismación</i>, puesto que un rito esencial de este sacramento es la unción con el Santo Crisma (en las Iglesias Orientales, unción con el Santo <i>Myron</i>). <b>267. ¿Cuál es el rito esencial de la Confirmación?</b> 1290-1301</p><p>1318</p><p>1320-1321<br>El rito esencial de la Confirmación es la unción con el Santo Crisma (aceite de oliva mezclado con perfumes, consagrado por el obispo), que se hace con la imposición de manos por parte del ministro, el cual pronuncia las palabras sacramentales propias del rito. En Occidente, esta unción se hace sobre la frente del bautizado con estas palabras: «Recibe por esta señal el don del Espíritu Santo». En las Iglesias Orientales de rito bizantino, la unción se hace también en otras partes del cuerpo, con la fórmula: «Sello del don del Espíritu Santo». <b>268. ¿Cuál es el efecto de la Confirmación?</b> 1302-1305</p><p>1316-1317<br>El efecto de la Confirmación es la especial efusión del Espíritu Santo, tal como sucedió en Pentecostés. Esta efusión imprime en el alma un carácter indeleble y otorga un crecimiento de la gracia bautismal; arraiga más profundamente la filiación divina; une más fuertemente con Cristo y con su Iglesia; fortalece en el alma los dones del Espíritu Santo; concede una fuerza especial para dar testimonio de la fe cristiana. <b>269. ¿Quién puede recibir este sacramento?</b> 1306-1311</p><p>1319<br>El sacramento de la Confirmación puede y debe recibirlo, una sola vez, aquel que ya ha sido bautizado. Para recibirlo con fruto hay que estar en gracia de Dios. <b>270. ¿Quién es el ministro de la Confirmación?</b> 1312-1314<br>El ministro originario de la Confirmación es el obispo: se manifiesta así el vínculo del confirmado con la Iglesia en su dimensión apostólica. Cuando el sacramento es administrado por un presbítero, como sucede ordinariamente en Oriente y en casos particulares en Occidente, es el mismo presbítero, colaborador del obispo, y el santo crisma, consagrado por éste, quienes expresan el vínculo del confirmado con el obispo y con la Iglesia. <b>271. ¿Qué es la Eucaristía?</b> 1322-1323</p><p>1409<br>La Eucaristía es el sacrificio mismo del Cuerpo y de la Sangre del Señor Jesús, que Él instituyó para perpetuar en los siglos, hasta su segunda venida, el sacrificio de la Cruz, confiando así a la Iglesia el memorial de su Muerte y Resurrección. Es signo de unidad, vínculo de caridad y banquete pascual, en el que se recibe a Cristo, el alma se llena de gracia y se nos da una prenda de la vida eterna. <b>272. ¿Cuándo instituyó Jesucristo la Eucaristía?</b> 1323</p><p>1337-1340<br>Jesucristo instituyó la Eucaristía el Jueves Santo, «la noche en que fue entregado» (<i>1 Co</i> 11, 23), mientras celebraba con sus Apóstoles la Última Cena. <b>273. ¿Cómo instituyó la Eucaristía?</b> 1337-1340</p><p>1365, 1406<br>Después de reunirse con los Apóstoles en el Cenáculo, Jesús tomó en sus manos el pan, lo partió y se lo dio, diciendo: «Tomad y comed todos de él, porque esto es mi Cuerpo que será entregado por vosotros». Después tomó en sus manos el cáliz con el vino y les dijo: «Tomad y bebed todos de él, porque éste es el cáliz de mi Sangre, Sangre de la Alianza nueva y eterna, que será derramada por vosotros y por todos los hombres, para el perdón de los pecados. Haced esto en conmemoración mía». <b>274. ¿Qué representa la Eucaristía en la vida de la Iglesia?</b> 1324-1327</p><p>1407<br>La Eucaristía es fuente y culmen de toda la vida cristiana. En ella alcanzan su cumbre la acción santificante de Dios sobre nosotros y nuestro culto a Él. La Eucaristía contiene todo el bien espiritual de la Iglesia: el mismo Cristo, nuestra Pascua. Expresa y produce la comunión en la vida divina y la unidad del Pueblo de Dios. Mediante la celebración eucarística nos unimos a la liturgia del cielo y anticipamos la vida eterna. <b>275. ¿Qué nombres recibe este sacramento?</b> 1328-1332<br>La inagotable riqueza de este sacramento se expresa con diversos nombres, que evocan sus aspectos particulares. Los más comunes son: Eucaristía, Santa Misa, Cena del Señor, Fracción del Pan, Celebración Eucarística, Memorial de la Pasión, Muerte y Resurrección del Señor, Santo Sacrificio, Santa y Divina Liturgia, Santos Misterios, Santísimo Sacramento del Altar, Sagrada Comunión. <b>276. ¿Qué lugar ocupa la Eucaristía en el designio divino de salvación?</b> 1333-1334<br>En la Antigua Alianza, la Eucaristía fue anunciada sobre todo en la cena pascual, celebrada cada año por los judíos con panes ázimos, como recuerdo de la salida apresurada y liberadora de Egipto. Jesús la anunció en sus enseñanzas y la instituyó celebrando con los Apóstoles la Última Cena durante un banquete pascual. La Iglesia, fiel al mandato del Señor: «Haced esto en memoria mía» (<i>1 Co</i> 11, 24), ha celebrado siempre la Eucaristía, especialmente el domingo, día de la resurrección de Jesús. <b>277. ¿Cómo se desarrolla la celebración de la Eucaristía?</b> 1345-1355</p><p>1408<br>La celebración eucarística se desarrolla en dos grandes momentos, que forman un solo acto de culto: la liturgia de la Palabra, que comprende la proclamación y la escucha de la Palabra de Dios; y la liturgia eucarística, que comprende la presentación del pan y del vino, la anáfora o plegaria eucarística, con las palabras de la consagración, y la comunión. <b>278. ¿Quién es el ministro de la celebración de la Eucaristía?</b> 1348</p><p>1411<br>El ministro de la celebración de la Eucaristía es el sacerdote (obispo o presbítero), válidamente ordenado, que actúa en la persona de Cristo Cabeza y en nombre de la Iglesia. <b>279. ¿Cuáles son los elementos esenciales y necesarios para celebrar la Eucaristía?</b> 1412<br>Los elementos esenciales y necesarios para celebrar la Eucaristía son el pan de trigo y el vino de vid. <b>280. ¿En qué sentido la Eucaristía es memorial del sacrificio de Cristo?</b> 1362-1367<br>La Eucaristía es <i>memorial</i> del sacrificio de Cristo, en el sentido de que hace presente y actual el sacrificio que Cristo ha ofrecido al Padre, una vez por todas, sobre la Cruz en favor de la humanidad. El carácter sacrificial de la Eucaristía se manifiesta en las mismas palabras de la institución: «Esto es mi Cuerpo que se entrega por vosotros» y «Este cáliz es la nueva alianza en mi Sangre que se derrama por vosotros» (<i>Lc</i> 22, 19-20). El sacrificio de la Cruz y el sacrificio de la Eucaristía son un <i>único sacrificio</i>. Son idénticas la víctima y el oferente, y sólo es distinto el modo de ofrecerse: de manera cruenta en la cruz, incruenta en la Eucaristía. <b>281. ¿De qué modo la Iglesia participa del Sacrificio eucarístico?</b> 1368-1372</p><p>1414<br>En la Eucaristía, el sacrificio de Cristo se hace también sacrificio de los miembros de su Cuerpo. La vida de los fieles, su alabanza, su sufrimiento, su oración y su trabajo se unen a los de Cristo. En cuanto sacrificio, la Eucaristía se ofrece también por todos los fieles, vivos y difuntos, en reparación de los pecados de todos los hombres y para obtener de Dios beneficios espirituales y temporales. También la Iglesia del cielo está unida a la ofrenda de Cristo. <b>282. ¿Cómo está Jesucristo presente en la Eucaristía?</b> 1373-1375 1413<br>Jesucristo está presente en la Eucaristía de modo único e incomparable. Está presente, en efecto, de modo verdadero, real y sustancial: con su Cuerpo y con su Sangre, con su Alma y su Divinidad. Cristo, todo entero, Dios y hombre, está presente en ella de manera sacramental, es decir, bajo las especies eucarísticas del pan y del vino. <b>283. ¿Qué significa <i>transubstanciación</i>?</b> 1376-1377</p><p>1413<br><i>Transubstanciación</i> significa la conversión de toda la sustancia del pan en la sustancia del Cuerpo de Cristo, y de toda la sustancia del vino en la sustancia de su Sangre. Esta conversión se opera en la plegaria eucarística con la consagración, mediante la eficacia de la palabra de Cristo y de la acción del Espíritu Santo. Sin embargo, permanecen inalteradas las características sensibles del pan y del vino, esto es las «especies eucarísticas». <b>284. La fracción del pan, ¿divide a Cristo?</b> 1377<br>La fracción del pan no divide a Cristo: Él está presente todo e íntegro en cada especie eucarística y en cada una de sus partes. <b>285. ¿Cuánto dura la presencia eucarística de Cristo?</b> 1377<br>La presencia eucarística de Cristo continúa mientras subsistan las especies eucarísticas. <b>286. ¿Qué tipo de culto se debe rendir al sacramento de la Eucaristía?</b> 1378-1381</p><p>1418<br>Al sacramento de la Eucaristía se le debe rendir el culto de <i>latría</i>, es decir la adoración reservada a Dios, tanto durante la celebración eucarística, como fuera de ella. La Iglesia, en efecto, conserva con la máxima diligencia las Hostias consagradas, las lleva a los enfermos y a otras personas imposibilitadas de participar en la Santa Misa, las presenta a la solemne adoración de los fieles, las lleva en procesión e invita a la frecuente visita y adoración del Santísimo Sacramento, reservado en el Sagrario. <b>287. ¿Por qué la Eucaristía es el banquete pascual?</b> 1382-1384</p><p>1391-1396<br>La Eucaristía es el banquete pascual porque Cristo, realizando sacramentalmente su Pascua, nos entrega su Cuerpo y su Sangre, ofrecidos como comida y bebida, y nos une con Él y entre nosotros en su sacrificio. <b>288. ¿Qué significa el altar?</b> 1383</p><p>1410<br>El altar es el símbolo de Cristo mismo, presente como víctima sacrificial (altar-sacrificio de la Cruz), y como alimento celestial que se nos da a nosotros (altar-mesa eucarística). <b>289. ¿Cuándo obliga la Iglesia a participar de la Santa Misa?</b> 1389</p><p>1417<br>La Iglesia establece que los fieles tienen obligación de participar de la Santa Misa todos los domingos y fiestas de precepto, y recomienda que se participe también en los demás días. <b>290. ¿Cuándo se debe recibir la sagrada Comunión?</b> 1389<br>La Iglesia recomienda a los fieles que participan de la Santa Misa recibir también, con las debidas disposiciones, la sagrada Comunión, estableciendo la obligación de hacerlo al menos en Pascua. <b>291. ¿Qué se requiere para recibir la sagrada Comunión?</b> 1385-1389</p><p>1415<br>Para recibir la sagrada Comunión se debe estar plenamente incorporado a la Iglesia Católica y hallarse en gracia de Dios, es decir sin conciencia de pecado mortal. Quien es consciente de haber cometido un pecado grave debe recibir el sacramento de la Reconciliación antes de acercarse a comulgar. Son también importantes el espíritu de recogimiento y de oración, la observancia del ayuno prescrito por la Iglesia y la actitud corporal (gestos, vestimenta), en señal de respeto a Cristo. <b>292. ¿Cuáles son los frutos de la sagrada Comunión?</b> 1391-1397</p><p>1416<br>La sagrada Comunión acrecienta nuestra unión con Cristo y con su Iglesia, conserva y renueva la vida de la gracia, recibida en el Bautismo y la Confirmación y nos hace crecer en el amor al prójimo. Fortaleciéndonos en la caridad, nos perdona los pecados veniales y nos preserva de los pecados mortales para el futuro. <b>293. ¿Cuándo se puede administrar la sagrada Comunión a los otros cristianos?</b> 1398-1401<br>Los ministros católicos administran lícitamente la sagrada Comunión a los miembros de las Iglesias orientales que no están en plena comunión con la Iglesia católica, siempre que éstos lo soliciten espontáneamente y tengan las debidas disposiciones.<br>Asimismo, los ministros católicos administran lícitamente la sagrada Comunión a los miembros de otras comunidades eclesiales que, en presencia de una grave necesidad, la pidan espontáneamente, estén bien dispuestos y manifiesten la fe católica respecto al sacramento. <b>294. ¿Por qué se dice que la Eucaristía es «prenda de la gloria futura»?</b> 1402-1405<br>La Eucaristía es prenda de la gloria futura porque nos colma de toda gracia y bendición del cielo, nos fortalece en la peregrinación de nuestra vida terrena y nos hace desear la vida eterna, uniéndonos a Cristo, sentado a la derecha del Padre, a la Iglesia del cielo, a la Santísima Virgen y a todos los santos.<br><i>«En la Eucaristía, nosotros partimos "un mismo pan que es remedio de inmortalidad, antídoto no para morir, sino para vivir en Jesucristo para siempre"»</i> (San Ignacio de Antioquía). <b>295. ¿Por qué Cristo instituyó los sacramentos de la Penitencia y de la Unción de los enfermos?</b> 1420-1421</p><p>1426<br>Cristo, médico del alma y del cuerpo, instituyó los sacramentos de la Penitencia y de la Unción de los enfermos, porque la vida nueva que nos fue dada por Él en los sacramentos de la iniciación cristiana puede debilitarse y perderse para siempre a causa del pecado. Por ello, Cristo ha querido que la Iglesia continuase su obra de curación y de salvación mediante estos dos sacramentos. <b>296. ¿Qué nombres recibe este sacramento?</b> 1422-1424<br>Este sacramento es llamado sacramento de la Penitencia, de la Reconciliación, del Perdón, de la Confesión y de la Conversión. <b>297. ¿Por qué hay un sacramento de la Reconciliación después del Bautismo?</b> 1425-1426</p><p>1484<br>Puesto que la vida nueva de la gracia, recibida en el Bautismo, no suprimió la debilidad de la naturaleza humana ni la inclinación al pecado (esto es, la concupiscencia), Cristo instituyó este sacramento para la conversión de los bautizados que se han alejado de Él por el pecado. <b>298. ¿Cuándo fue instituido este sacramento?</b> 1485<br>El Señor resucitado instituyó este sacramento cuando la tarde de Pascua se mostró a sus Apóstoles y les dijo: «Recibid el Espíritu Santo. A quienes perdonéis los pecados, les quedan perdonados; a quienes se los retengáis, les quedan retenidos» (<i>Jn</i> 20, 22-23). <b>299. ¿Tienen necesidad los bautizados de conversión?</b> 1427-1429<br>La llamada de Cristo a la conversión resuena continuamente en la vida de los bautizados. Esta conversión es una tarea ininterrumpida para toda la Iglesia, que, siendo santa, recibe en su propio seno a los pecadores. <b>300. ¿Qué es la penitencia interior?</b> 1430-1433</p><p>1490<br>La penitencia interior es el dinamismo del «corazón contrito» (<i>Sal</i> 51, 19), movido por la gracia divina a responder al amor misericordioso de Dios. Implica el dolor y el rechazo de los pecados cometidos, el firme propósito de no pecar más, y la confianza en la ayuda de Dios. Se alimenta de la esperanza en la misericordia divina. <b>301. ¿De qué modos se expresa la penitencia en la vida cristiana?</b> 1434-1439<br>La penitencia puede tener expresiones muy variadas, especialmente el ayuno, la oración y la limosna. Estas y otras muchas formas de penitencia pueden ser practicadas en la vida cotidiana del cristiano, en particular en tiempo de Cuaresma y el viernes, día penitencial. <b>302. ¿Cuáles son los elementos esenciales del sacramento de la Reconciliación?</b> 1440-1449<br>Los elementos esenciales del sacramento de la Reconciliación son dos: los actos que lleva a cabo el hombre, que se convierte bajo la acción del Espíritu Santo, y la absolución del sacerdote, que concede el perdón en nombre de Cristo y establece el modo de la satisfacción. <b>303. ¿Cuáles son los actos propios del penitente?</b> 1450-1460</p><p>1487-1492<br>Los actos propios del penitente son los siguientes: un diligente <i>examen de conciencia</i>; <i>la contrición</i> (o arrepentimiento), que es perfecta cuando está motivada por el amor a Dios, imperfecta cuando se funda en otros motivos, e incluye el propósito de no volver a pecar; <i>la confesión</i>, que consiste en la acusación de los pecados hecha delante del sacerdote; <i>la satisfacción</i>, es decir, el cumplimiento de ciertos actos de penitencia, que el propio confesor impone al penitente para reparar el daño causado por el pecado. <b>304. ¿Qué pecados deben confesarse?</b> 1456<br>Se deben confesar todos los pecados graves aún no confesados que se recuerdan después de un diligente examen de conciencia. La confesión de los pecados graves es el único modo ordinario de obtener el perdón. <b>305. ¿Cuándo se está obligado a confesar los pecados graves?</b> 1457<br>Todo fiel, que haya llegado al uso de razón, está obligado a confesar sus pecados graves al menos una vez al año, y de todos modos antes de recibir la sagrada Comunión. <b>306. ¿Por qué también los pecados veniales pueden ser objeto de la confesión sacramental?</b> 1458<br>La Iglesia recomienda vivamente la confesión de los pecados veniales aunque no sea estrictamente necesaria, ya que ayuda a formar una recta conciencia y a luchar contra las malas inclinaciones, a dejarse curar por Cristo y a progresar en la vida del Espíritu. <b>307. ¿Quién es el ministro del sacramento de la Reconciliación?</b> 1461-1466</p><p>1495<br>Cristo confió el ministerio de la reconciliación a sus Apóstoles, a los obispos, sucesores de los Apóstoles, y a los presbíteros, colaboradores de los obispos, los cuales se convierten, por tanto, en instrumentos de la misericordia y de la justicia de Dios. Ellos ejercen el poder de perdonar los pecados <i>en el nombre del Padre y del Hijo y del Espíritu Santo</i>. <b>308. ¿A quién está reservada la absolución de algunos pecados particularmente graves?</b> 1463<br>La absolución de algunos pecados particularmente graves (como son los castigados con la excomunión) está reservada a la Sede Apostólica o al obispo del lugar o a los presbíteros autorizados por ellos, aunque todo sacerdote puede absolver de cualquier pecado y excomunión, al que se halla en peligro de muerte. <b>309. El confesor, ¿está obligado al secreto?</b> 1467<br>Dada la delicadeza y la grandeza de este ministerio y el respeto debido a las personas, todo confesor está obligado, sin ninguna excepción y bajo penas muy severas, a mantener el sigilo sacramental, esto es, el absoluto secreto sobre los pecados conocidos en confesión. <b>310. ¿Cuáles son los efectos de este sacramento?</b> 1468-1470</p><p>1496<br>Los efectos del sacramento de la Penitencia son: la reconciliación con Dios y, por tanto, el perdón de los pecados; la reconciliación con la Iglesia; la recuperación del estado de gracia, si se había perdido; la remisión de la pena eterna merecida a causa de los pecados mortales y, al menos en parte, de las penas temporales que son consecuencia del pecado; la paz y la serenidad de conciencia y el consuelo del espíritu; el aumento de la fuerza espiritual para el combate cristiano. <b>311. ¿Se puede celebrar en algunos casos este sacramento con la confesión general y absolución colectiva?</b> 1480-1484<br>En caso de grave necesidad (como un inminente peligro de muerte), se puede recurrir a la celebración comunitaria de la Reconciliación, con la confesión general y la absolución colectiva, respetando las normas de la Iglesia y haciendo propósito de confesar individualmente, a su debido tiempo, los pecados graves ya perdonados de esta forma. <b>312. ¿Qué son las indulgencias?</b> 1471-1479</p><p>1498<br>Las indulgencias son la remisión ante Dios de la <i>pena temporal</i> merecida por los pecados ya perdonados en cuanto a la culpa, que el fiel, cumpliendo determinadas condiciones, obtiene para sí mismo o para los difuntos, mediante el ministerio de la Iglesia, la cual, como dispensadora de la redención, distribuye el tesoro de los méritos de Cristo y de los santos. <b>313. ¿Cómo es considerada la enfermedad en el Antiguo Testamento?</b> 1499-1502<br>En el Antiguo Testamento, el hombre experimenta en la enfermedad su propia limitación y, al mismo tiempo, percibe que ésta se halla misteriosamente vinculada al pecado. Los profetas intuyeron que la enfermedad podía tener también un valor redentor de los pecados propios y ajenos. Así, la enfermedad se vivía ante Dios, de quien el hombre imploraba la curación. <b>314. ¿Qué significado tiene la compasión de Jesús hacia los enfermos?</b> 1503-1505<br>La compasión de Jesús hacia los enfermos y las numerosas curaciones realizadas por él son una clara señal de que con él había llegado el Reino de Dios y, por tanto, la victoria sobre el pecado, el sufrimiento y la muerte. Con su pasión y muerte, Jesús da un nuevo sentido al sufrimiento, el cual, unido al de Cristo, puede convertirse en medio de purificación y salvación, para nosotros y para los demás. <b>315. ¿Cómo se comporta la Iglesia con los enfermos?</b> 1506-1513</p><p>1526-1527<br>La Iglesia, habiendo recibido del Señor el mandato de curar a los enfermos, se empeña en el cuidado de los que sufren, acompañándolos con oraciones de intercesión. Tiene sobre todo un sacramento específico para los enfermos, instituido por Cristo mismo y atestiguado por Santiago: «¿Está enfermo alguno de vosotros? Llame a los presbíteros de la Iglesia, que oren sobre él y le unjan con óleo en el nombre del Señor» (<i>St</i> 5, 14-15). <b>316. ¿Quién puede recibir el sacramento de la Unción de los enfermos?</b> 1514-1515</p><p>1528-1529<br>El sacramento de la Unción de los enfermos lo puede recibir cualquier fiel que comienza a encontrarse en peligro de muerte por enfermedad o vejez. El mismo fiel lo puede recibir también otras veces, si se produce un agravamiento de la enfermedad o bien si se presenta otra enfermedad grave. La celebración de este sacramento debe ir precedida, si es posible, de la confesión individual del enfermo. <b>317. ¿Quién administra este sacramento?</b> 1516</p><p>1530<br>El sacramento de la Unción de los enfermos sólo puede ser administrado por los sacerdotes (obispos o presbíteros). <b>318. ¿Cómo se celebra este sacramento?</b> 1517-1519</p><p>1531<br>La celebración del sacramento de la Unción de los enfermos consiste esencialmente en la <i>unción</i> con óleo, bendecido si es posible por el obispo, sobre la frente y las manos del enfermo (en el rito romano, o también en otras partes del cuerpo en otros ritos), acompañada de la <i>oración</i> del sacerdote, que implora la gracia especial de este sacramento. <b>319. ¿Cuáles son los efectos de este sacramento?</b> 1520-1523</p><p>1532<br>El sacramento de la Unción confiere una gracia particular, que une más íntimamente al enfermo a la Pasión de Cristo, por su bien y por el de toda la Iglesia, otorgándole fortaleza, paz, ánimo y también el perdón de los pecados, si el enfermo no ha podido confesarse. Además, este sacramento concede a veces, si Dios lo quiere, la recuperación de la salud física. En todo caso, esta Unción prepara al enfermo para pasar a la Casa del Padre. <b>320. ¿Qué es el Viático?</b> 1524-1525<br>El Viático es la Eucaristía recibida por quienes están por dejar esta vida terrena y se preparan para el paso a la vida eterna. Recibida en el momento del tránsito de este mundo al Padre, la Comunión del Cuerpo y de la Sangre de Cristo muerto y resucitado, es semilla de vida eterna y poder de resurrección. <b>321. ¿Cuáles son los sacramentos al servicio de la comunión y de la misión?</b> 1533-1535<br>Dos sacramentos, el Orden y el Matrimonio, confieren una gracia especial para una misión particular en la Iglesia, al servicio de la edificación del pueblo de Dios. Contribuyen especialmente a la comunión eclesial y a la salvación de los demás. <b>322. ¿Qué es el sacramento del Orden?</b> 1536<br>El sacramento del Orden es aquel mediante el cual, la misión confiada por Cristo a sus Apóstoles, sigue siendo ejercida en la Iglesia hasta el fin de los tiempos. <b>323. ¿Por qué se llama sacramento del Orden?</b> 1537-1538<br><i>Orden</i> indica un cuerpo eclesial, del que se entra a formar parte mediante una especial consagración (Ordenación), que, por un don singular del Espíritu Santo, permite ejercer una <i>potestad sagrada</i> al servicio del Pueblo de Dios en nombre y con la autoridad de Cristo. <b>324. ¿Cómo se sitúa el sacramento del Orden en el designio divino de la salvación?</b> 1539-1546</p><p>1590-1591<br>En la Antigua Alianza el sacramento del Orden fue prefigurado por el servicio de los levitas, el sacerdocio de Aarón y la institución de los setenta «ancianos» (<i>Nm</i> 11, 25). Estas prefiguraciones se cumplen en Cristo Jesús, quien, mediante su sacrificio en la cruz, es «el único [.....] mediador entre Dios y los hombres» (<i>1 Tm</i> 2, 5), el «Sumo Sacerdote según el orden de Melquisedec» (<i>Hb</i> 5,10). El único sacerdocio de Cristo se hace presente por el sacerdocio ministerial.<br><i>«Sólo Cristo es el verdadero sacerdote; los demás son ministros suyos» </p><p></i>(Santo Tomás de Aquino). <b>325. ¿De cuántos grados se compone el sacramento del Orden?</b> 1554</p><p>1593<br>El sacramento del Orden se compone de tres grados, que son insustituibles para la estructura orgánica de la Iglesia: el episcopado, el presbiterado y el diaconado. <b>326. ¿Cuál es el efecto de la Ordenación episcopal?</b> 1557-1558</p><p>1594<br>La Ordenación episcopal da la plenitud del sacramento del Orden, hace al Obispo legítimo sucesor de los Apóstoles, lo constituye miembro del Colegio episcopal, compartiendo con el Papa y los demás obispos la solicitud por todas las Iglesias, y le confiere los oficios de enseñar, santificar y gobernar. <b>327. ¿Cuál es el oficio del obispo en la Iglesia particular que se le ha confiado?</b> 1560-1561<br>El obispo, a quien se confía una Iglesia particular, es el principio visible y el fundamento de la unidad de esa Iglesia, en la cual desempeña, como vicario de Cristo, el oficio pastoral, ayudado por sus presbíteros y diáconos. <b>328. ¿Cuál es el efecto de la Ordenación presbiteral?</b> 1562-1567</p><p>1595<br>La unción del Espíritu marca al presbítero con un carácter espiritual indeleble, lo configura a Cristo sacerdote y lo hace capaz de actuar en nombre de Cristo Cabeza. Como cooperador del Orden episcopal, es consagrado para predicar el Evangelio, celebrar el culto divino, sobre todo la Eucaristía, de la que saca fuerza todo su ministerio, y ser pastor de los fieles. <b>329. ¿Cómo ejerce el presbítero su ministerio?</b> 1568<br>Aunque haya sido ordenado para una misión universal, el presbítero la ejerce en una Iglesia particular, en fraternidad sacramental con los demás presbíteros que forman el «presbiterio» y que, en comunión con el obispo y en dependencia de él, tienen la responsabilidad de la Iglesia particular. <b>330. ¿Cuál es el efecto de la Ordenación diaconal?</b> 1569-1574</p><p>1596<br>El diácono, configurado con Cristo siervo de todos, es ordenado para el servicio de la Iglesia, y lo cumple bajo la autoridad de su obispo, en el ministerio de la Palabra, el culto divino, la guía pastoral y la caridad. <b>331. ¿Cómo se celebra el sacramento del Orden?</b> 1572-1574</p><p>1597<br>En cada uno de sus tres grados, el sacramento del Orden se confiere mediante la <i>imposición de las manos</i> sobre la cabeza del ordenando por parte del obispo, quien pronuncia la solemne <i>oración</i> consagratoria. Con ella, el obispo pide a Dios para el ordenando una especial efusión del Espíritu Santo y de sus dones, en orden al ejercicio de su ministerio. <b>332. ¿Quién puede conferir este sacramento?</b> 1575-1576</p><p>1600<br>Corresponde a los obispos válidamente ordenados, en cuanto sucesores de los Apóstoles, conferir los tres grados del sacramento del Orden. <b>333. ¿Quién puede recibir este sacramento?</b> 1577-1578</p><p>1598<br>Sólo el varón bautizado puede recibir válidamente el sacramento del Orden. La Iglesia se reconoce vinculada por esta decisión del mismo Señor. Nadie puede exigir la recepción del sacramento del Orden, sino que debe ser considerado apto para el ministerio por la autoridad de la Iglesia. <b>334. ¿Se exige el celibato para recibir el sacramento del Orden?</b> 1579-1580</p><p>1599<br>Para el episcopado se exige siempre el celibato. Para el presbiterado, en la Iglesia latina, son ordinariamente elegidos hombres creyentes que viven como célibes y tienen la voluntad de guardar el celibato «por el reino de los cielos» (<i>Mt</i> 19, 12); en las Iglesias orientales no está permitido contraer matrimonio después de haber recibido la ordenación. Al diaconado permanente pueden acceder también hombres casados. <b>335. ¿Qué efectos produce el sacramento del Orden?</b> 1581-1589</p><p>1592<br>El sacramento del Orden otorga una efusión especial del Espíritu Santo, que configura con Cristo al ordenado en su triple función de Sacerdote, Profeta y Rey, según los respectivos grados del sacramento. La ordenación confiere un carácter espiritual indeleble: por eso no puede repetirse ni conferirse por un tiempo determinado. <b>336. ¿Con qué autoridad se ejerce el sacerdocio ministerial?</b> 1547-1553</p><p>1592<br>Los sacerdotes ordenados, en el ejercicio del ministerio sagrado, no hablan ni actúan por su propia autoridad, ni tampoco por mandato o delegación de la comunidad, sino en la Persona de Cristo Cabeza y en nombre de la Iglesia. Por tanto, el sacerdocio ministerial se diferencia esencialmente, y no sólo en grado, del sacerdocio común de los fieles, al servicio del cual lo instituyó Cristo. <b>337. ¿Cuál es el designio de Dios sobre el hombre y la mujer?</b> 1601-1605<br>Dios, que es amor y creó al hombre por amor, lo ha llamado a amar. Creando al hombre y a la mujer, los ha llamado en el Matrimonio a una íntima comunión de vida y amor entre ellos, «de manera que ya no son dos, sino una sola carne» (<i>Mt</i> 19, 6). Al bendecirlos, Dios les dijo: «Creced y multiplicaos» (<i>Gn</i> 1, 28). <b>338. ¿Con qué fines ha instituido Dios el Matrimonio?</b> 1659-1660<br>La alianza matrimonial del hombre y de la mujer, fundada y estructurada con leyes propias dadas por el Creador, está ordenada por su propia naturaleza a la comunión y al bien de los cónyuges, y a la procreación y educación de los hijos. Jesús enseña que, según el designio original divino, la unión matrimonial es indisoluble: «Lo que Dios ha unido, que no lo separe el hombre» (<i>Mc</i> 10, 9). <b>339. ¿De qué modo el pecado amenaza al Matrimonio?</b> 1606-1608<br>A causa del primer pecado, que ha provocado también la ruptura de la comunión del hombre y de la mujer, donada por el Creador, la unión matrimonial está muy frecuentemente amenazada por la discordia y la infidelidad. Sin embargo, Dios, en su infinita misericordia, da al hombre y a la mujer su gracia para realizar la unión de sus vidas según el designio divino original. <b>340. ¿Qué enseña el Antiguo Testamento sobre el Matrimonio?</b> 1609-1611<br>Dios ayuda a su pueblo a madurar progresivamente en la conciencia de la unidad e indisolubilidad del Matrimonio, sobre todo mediante la pedagogía de la Ley y los Profetas. La alianza nupcial entre Dios e Israel prepara y prefigura la Alianza nueva realizada por el Hijo de Dios, Jesucristo, con su esposa, la Iglesia. <b>341. ¿Qué novedad aporta Cristo al Matrimonio?</b> 1612-1617</p><p>1661<br>Jesucristo no sólo restablece el orden original del Matrimonio querido por Dios, sino que otorga la gracia para vivirlo en su nueva dignidad de sacramento, que es el signo del amor esponsal hacia la Iglesia: «Maridos, amad a vuestras mujeres como Cristo ama a la Iglesia» (<i>Ef</i> 5, 25) <b>342. ¿Es el Matrimonio una obligación para todos?</b> 1618-1620<br>El Matrimonio no es una obligación para todos. En particular, Dios llama a algunos hombres y mujeres a seguir a Jesús por el camino de la virginidad o del celibato por el Reino de los cielos; éstos renuncian al gran bien del Matrimonio para ocupase de las cosas del Señor tratando de agradarle, y se convierten en signo de la primacía absoluta del amor de Cristo y de la ardiente esperanza de su vuelta gloriosa. <b>343. ¿Cómo se celebra el sacramento del Matrimonio?</b> 1621-1624</p><p>1663<br>Dado que el Matrimonio constituye a los cónyuges en un estado público de vida en la Iglesia, su celebración litúrgica es pública, en presencia del sacerdote (o de un testigo cualificado de la Iglesia) y de otros testigos. <b>344. ¿Qué es el consentimiento matrimonial?</b> 1625-1632</p><p>1662-1663<br>El consentimiento matrimonial es la voluntad, expresada por un hombre y una mujer, de entregarse mutua y definitivamente, con el fin de vivir una alianza de amor fiel y fecundo. Puesto que el consentimiento hace el Matrimonio, resulta indispensable e insustituible. Para que el Matrimonio sea válido el consentimiento debe tener como objeto el verdadero Matrimonio, y ser un acto humano, consciente y libre, no determinado por la violencia o la coacción. <b>345. ¿Qué se exige cuando uno de los esposos no es católico?</b> 1633-1637<br>Para ser lícitos, los matrimonios <i>mixtos</i> (entre católico y bautizado no católico) necesitan la licencia de la autoridad eclesiástica. Los matrimonios con <i>disparidad de culto</i> (entre un católico y un no bautizado), para ser válidos necesitan una dispensa. En todo caso, es esencial que los cónyuges no excluyan la aceptación de los fines y las propiedades esenciales del Matrimonio, y que el cónyuge católico confirme el compromiso, conocido también por el otro cónyuge, de conservar la fe y asegurar el Bautismo y la educación católica de los hijos. <b>346. ¿Cuáles son los efectos del sacramento del Matrimonio?</b> 1638-1642<br>El sacramento del Matrimonio crea entre los cónyuges un vínculo perpetuo y exclusivo. Dios mismo ratifica el consentimiento de los esposos. Por tanto, el Matrimonio rato y consumado entre bautizados no podrá ser nunca disuelto. Por otra parte, este sacramento confiere a los esposos la gracia necesaria para alcanzar la santidad en la vida conyugal y acoger y educar responsablemente a los hijos. <b>347. ¿Cuáles son los pecados gravemente contrarios al sacramento del Matrimonio?</b> 1645-1648<br>Los pecados gravemente contrarios al sacramento del Matrimonio son los siguientes: el adulterio, la poligamia, en cuanto contradice la idéntica dignidad entre el hombre y la mujer y la unidad y exclusividad del amor conyugal; el rechazo de la fecundidad, que priva a la vida conyugal del don de los hijos; y el divorcio, que contradice la indisolubilidad. <b>348. ¿Cuándo admite la Iglesia la separación física de los esposos?</b> 1629</p><p>1649<br>La Iglesia admite la separación física de los esposos cuando la cohabitación entre ellos se ha hecho, por diversas razones, prácticamente imposible, aunque procura su reconciliación. Pero éstos, mientras viva el otro cónyuge, no son libres para contraer una nueva unión, a menos que el matrimonio entre ellos sea nulo y, como tal, declarado por la autoridad eclesiástica. <b>349. ¿Cuál es la actitud de la Iglesia hacia los divorciados vueltos a casar?</b> 1650-1651<br>Fiel al Señor, la Iglesia no puede reconocer como matrimonio la unión de divorciados vueltos a casar civilmente. «Quien repudie a su mujer y se case con otra, comete adulterio contra aquella; y si ella repudia a su marido y se casa con otro, comete adulterio» (<i>Mc</i> 10, 11-12). Hacia ellos la Iglesia muestra una atenta solicitud, invitándoles a una vida de fe, a la oración, a las obras de caridad y a la educación cristiana de los hijos; pero no pueden recibir la absolución sacramental, acercarse a la comunión eucarística ni ejercer ciertas responsabilidades eclesiales, mientras dure tal situación, que contrasta objetivamente con la ley de Dios. <b>350. ¿Por qué la familia cristiana es llamada <i>Iglesia doméstica</i>?</b> 1655-1658 1666<br>La familia cristiana es llamada <i>Iglesia doméstica</i>, porque manifiesta y realiza la naturaleza comunitaria y familiar de la Iglesia en cuanto familia de Dios. Cada miembro, según su propio papel, ejerce el sacerdocio bautismal, contribuyendo a hacer de la familia una comunidad de gracia y de oración, escuela de virtudes humanas y cristianas y lugar del primer anuncio de la fe a los hijos. <b>351. ¿Qué son los sacramentales?</b> 1667-1672</p><p>1677-1678<br>Los sacramentales son signos sagrados instituidos por la Iglesia, por medio de los cuales se santifican algunas circunstancias de la vida. Comprenden siempre una oración acompañada de la señal de la cruz o de otros signos. Entre los sacramentales, ocupan un lugar importante las bendiciones, que son una alabanza a Dios y una oración para obtener sus dones, la consagración de personas y la dedicación de cosas al culto de Dios. <b>352. ¿Qué es un exorcismo?</b> 1673<br>Tiene lugar un exorcismo, cuando la Iglesia pide con su autoridad, en nombre de Jesús, que una persona o un objeto sea protegido contra el influjo del Maligno y sustraído a su dominio. Se practica de modo ordinario en el rito del Bautismo. El exorcismo solemne, llamado <i>gran exorcismo</i>, puede ser efectuado solamente por un presbítero autorizado por el obispo. <b>353. ¿Qué formas de piedad popular acompañan la vida sacramental de la Iglesia?</b> 1674-1676</p><p>1679<br>El sentido religioso del pueblo cristiano ha encontrado en todo tiempo su expresión en formas variadas de piedad, que acompañan la vida sacramental de la Iglesia, como son la veneración de las reliquias, las visitas a santuarios, las peregrinaciones, las procesiones, el «Vía crucis», el Rosario. La Iglesia, a la luz de la fe, ilumina y favorece las formas auténticas de piedad popular.<br><b>LAS EXEQUIAS CRISTIANAS</b> <b>354. ¿Qué relación existe entre los sacramentos y la muerte del cristiano?</b> 1680-1683<br>El cristiano que muere en Cristo alcanza, al final de su existencia terrena, el cumplimiento de la nueva vida iniciada con el Bautismo, reforzada con la Confirmación y alimentada en la Eucaristía, anticipo del banquete celestial. El sentido de la muerte del cristiano se manifiesta a la luz de la Muerte y Resurrección de Cristo, nuestra única esperanza; el cristiano que muere en Cristo Jesús va «a vivir con el Señor» (<i>2 Co</i> 5, 8). <b>355. ¿Qué expresan las exequias?</b> 1684-1685<br>Las exequias, aunque se celebren según diferentes ritos, respondiendo a las situaciones y a las tradiciones de cada región, expresan el carácter pascual de la muerte cristiana, en la esperanza de la resurrección, y el sentido de la comunión con el difunto, particularmente mediante la oración por la purificación de su alma. <b>356. ¿Cuáles son los momentos principales de las exequias?</b> 1686-1690<br>De ordinario, las exequias comprenden cuatro momentos principales: la acogida de los restos mortales del difunto por parte de la comunidad, con palabras de consuelo y esperanza para sus familiares; la liturgia de la Palabra; el sacrificio eucarístico; y «el adiós», con el que se encomienda el alma del difunto a Dios, fuente de vida eterna, mientras su cuerpo es sepultado en la esperanza de la Resurrección. <b>357. ¿De qué modo la vida moral cristiana está vinculada a la fe y a los sacramentos?</b> 1691-1698<br>Lo que se profesa en el Símbolo de la fe, los sacramentos lo comunican. En efecto, con ellos los fieles reciben la gracia de Cristo y los dones del Espíritu Santo, que les hacen capaces de vivir la vida nueva de hijos de Dios en Cristo, acogido con fe.<br><i>«Cristiano, reconoce tu dignidad»</i> (San León Magno). <b>358. ¿Cuál es la raíz de la dignidad de la persona humana?</b> 1699-1715<br>La dignidad de la persona humana está arraigada en su creación a imagen y semejanza de Dios. Dotada de alma espiritual e inmortal, de inteligencia y de voluntad libre, la persona humana está ordenada a Dios y llamada, con alma y cuerpo, a la bienaventuranza eterna. <b>359. ¿Cómo alcanza el hombre la bienaventuranza?</b> 1716<br>El hombre alcanza la bienaventuranza en virtud de la gracia de Cristo, que lo hace partícipe de la vida divina. En el Evangelio Cristo señala a los suyos el camino que lleva a la felicidad sin fin: las Bienaventuranzas. La gracia de Cristo obra en todo hombre que, siguiendo la recta conciencia, busca y ama la verdad y el bien, y evita el mal. <b>360. ¿Qué importancia tienen para nosotros las Bienaventuranzas?</b> 1716-1717</p><p>1725-1726<br>Las Bienaventuranzas son el centro de la predicación de Jesús; recogen y perfeccionan las promesas de Dios, hechas a partir de Abraham. Dibujan el rostro mismo de Jesús, y trazan la auténtica vida cristiana, desvelando al hombre el fin último de sus actos: la bienaventuranza eterna. <b>361. ¿Qué relación tienen las Bienaventuranzas con el deseo de felicidad del hombre?</b> 1718-1719<br>Las Bienaventuranzas responden al innato deseo de felicidad que Dios ha puesto en el corazón del hombre, a fin de atraerlo hacia Él, el único que lo puede satisfacer. <b>362. ¿Qué es la bienaventuranza eterna?</b> 1720-1724</p><p>1727-1729<br>La bienaventuranza consiste en la visión de Dios en la vida eterna, cuando seremos en plenitud «partícipes de la naturaleza divina» (<i>2 P</i> 1, 4), de la gloria de Cristo y del gozo de la vida trinitaria. La bienaventuranza sobrepasa la capacidad humana; es un don sobrenatural y gratuito de Dios, como la gracia que nos conduce a ella. La promesa de la bienaventuranza nos sitúa frente a opciones morales decisivas respecto de los bienes terrenales, estimulándonos a amar a Dios sobre todas las cosas. <b>363. ¿Qué es la libertad?</b> 1730-1733</p><p>1743-1744<br>La libertad es el poder dado por Dios al hombre de obrar o no obrar, de hacer esto o aquello, de ejecutar de este modo por sí mismo acciones deliberadas. La libertad es la característica de los actos propiamente humanos. Cuanto más se hace el bien, más libre se va haciendo también el hombre. La libertad alcanza su perfección cuando está ordenada a Dios, Bien supremo y Bienaventuranza nuestra. La libertad implica también la posibilidad de elegir entre el bien y el mal. La elección del mal es un abuso de la libertad, que conduce a la esclavitud del pecado. <b>364. ¿Qué relación hay entre libertad y responsabilidad?</b> 1734-1737 </p><p>1745-1746<br>La libertad hace al hombre responsable de sus actos, en la medida en que éstos son voluntarios; aunque tanto la imputabilidad como la responsabilidad de una acción pueden quedar disminuidas o incluso anuladas a causa de la ignorancia, la inadvertencia, la violencia soportada, el miedo, los afectos desordenados y los hábitos. <b>365. ¿Por qué todo hombre tiene derecho al ejercicio de su libertad?</b> 1738</p><p>1747<br>El derecho al ejercicio de la libertad es propio de todo hombre, en cuanto resulta inseparable de su dignidad de persona humana. Este derecho ha de ser siempre respetado, especialmente en el campo moral y religioso, y debe ser civilmente reconocido y tutelado, dentro de los límites del bien común y del justo orden público. <b>366. ¿Dónde se sitúa la libertad humana en el orden de la salvación?</b> 1739-1742</p><p>1748<br>Nuestra libertad se halla debilitada a causa del pecado original. El debilitamiento se agrava aún más por los pecados sucesivos. Pero Cristo «nos liberó para ser libres» (<i>Ga</i> 5, 1). El Espíritu Santo nos conduce con su gracia a la libertad espiritual, para hacernos libres colaboradores suyos en la Iglesia y en el mundo. <b>367. ¿Cuál es la fuente de moralidad de los actos humanos?</b> 1749-1754</p><p>1757-1758<br>La moralidad de los actos humanos depende de tres fuentes: <i>del objeto elegido</i>, es decir, un bien real o aparente; <i>de la intención</i> del sujeto que actúa, es decir, del fin por el que lleva a cabo su acción; y <i>de las circunstancias</i> de la acción, incluidas <i>las consecuencias </i>de la misma. <b>368. ¿Cuándo un acto es moralmente bueno?</b> 1755-1756</p><p>1759-1760<br>El acto es moralmente bueno cuando supone, al mismo tiempo, la bondad del objeto, del fin y de las circunstancias. El objeto elegido puede por sí solo viciar una acción, aunque la intención sea buena. No es lícito hacer el mal para conseguir un bien. Un fin malo puede corromper la acción, aunque su objeto sea en sí mismo bueno; asimismo, un fin bueno no hace buena una acción que de suyo sea en sí misma mala, porque el fin no justifica los medios. Las circunstancias pueden atenuar o incrementar la responsabilidad de quien actúa, pero no puede modificar la calidad moral de los actos mismos, porque no convierten nunca en buena una acción mala en sí misma. <b>369. ¿Hay actos que son siempre ilícitos?</b> 1756-1761<br>Hay actos cuya elección es siempre ilícita en razón de su objeto (por ejemplo, la blasfemia, el homicidio, el adulterio). Su elección supone un desorden de la voluntad, es decir, un mal moral, que no puede ser justificado en virtud de los bienes que eventualmente pudieran derivarse de ellos. <b>370. ¿Qué son las pasiones?</b> 1762-1766</p><p>1771-1772<br>Las pasiones son los afectos, emociones o impulsos de la sensibilidad –componentes naturales de la psicología humana–, que inclinan a obrar o a no obrar, en vista de lo que se percibe como bueno o como malo. Las principales son el amor y el odio, el deseo y el temor, la alegría, la tristeza y la cólera. La pasión fundamental es el amor, provocado por el atractivo del bien. No se ama sino el bien, real o aparente. <b>371. ¿Las pasiones son moralmente buenas o malas?</b> 1767-1770</p><p>1773-1775<br>Las pasiones, en cuanto impulsos de la sensibilidad, no son en sí mismas ni buenas ni malas; son buenas, cuando contribuyen a una acción buena; son malas, en caso contrario. Pueden ser asumidas en las virtudes o pervertidas en los vicios. <b>372. ¿Qué es la conciencia moral?</b> 1776-1780</p><p>1795-1797<br>La conciencia moral, presente en lo íntimo de la persona, es un juicio de la razón, que en el momento oportuno, impulsa al hombre a hacer el bien y a evitar el mal. Gracias a ella, la persona humana percibe la cualidad moral de un acto a realizar o ya realizado, permitiéndole asumir la responsabilidad del mismo. Cuando escucha la conciencia moral, el hombre prudente puede sentir la voz de Dios que le habla. <b>373. ¿Qué supone la dignidad de la persona en relación con la conciencia moral?</b> 1780-1782</p><p>1798<br>La dignidad de la persona humana supone la rectitud de la conciencia moral, es decir que ésta se halle de acuerdo con lo que es justo y bueno según la razón y la ley de Dios. A causa de la misma dignidad personal, el hombre no debe ser forzado a obrar contra su conciencia, ni se le debe impedir obrar de acuerdo con ella, sobre todo en el campo religioso, dentro de los límites del bien común. <b>374. ¿Cómo se forma la conciencia moral para que sea recta y veraz?</b> 1783-1788</p><p>1799-1800<br>La conciencia recta y veraz se forma con la educación, con la asimilación de la Palabra de Dios y las enseñanzas de la Iglesia. Se ve asistida por los dones del Espíritu Santo y ayudada con los consejos de personas prudentes. Además, favorecen mucho la formación moral tanto la oración como el examen de conciencia. <b>375. ¿Qué normas debe seguir siempre la conciencia?</b> 1789<br>Tres son las normas más generales que debe seguir siempre la conciencia:<br>1) Nunca está permitido hacer el mal para obtener un bien. </p><p>2) La llamada <i>Regla de oro</i>: «Todo cuanto queráis que os hagan los hombres, hacédselo también vosotros a ellos» (<i>Mt</i> 7, 12). </p><p>3) La caridad supone siempre el respeto del prójimo y de su conciencia, aunque esto no significa aceptar como bueno lo que objetivamente es malo. <b>376. ¿Puede la conciencia moral emitir juicios erróneos?</b> 1790-1794</p><p>1801-1802<br>La persona debe obedecer siempre al juicio cierto de la propia conciencia, la cual, sin embargo, puede también emitir juicios erróneos, por causas no siempre exentas de culpabilidad personal. Con todo, no es imputable a la persona el mal cometido por ignorancia involuntaria, aunque siga siendo objetivamente un mal. Es necesario, por tanto, esforzarse para corregir la conciencia moral de sus errores. <b>377. ¿Qué es la virtud?</b> 1803. 1833<br>La virtud es una disposición habitual y firme para hacer el bien: «El fin de una vida virtuosa consiste en llegar a ser semejante a Dios» (San Gregorio de Nisa). Hay virtudes humanas y virtudes teologales. <b>378. ¿Qué son las virtudes humanas?</b> 1804</p><p>1810-1811</p><p>1834, 1839<br>Las virtudes humanas son perfecciones habituales y estables del entendimiento y de la voluntad, que regulan nuestros actos, ordenan nuestras pasiones y guían nuestra conducta en conformidad con la razón y la fe. Adquiridas y fortalecidas por medio de actos moralmente buenos y reiterados, son purificadas y elevadas por la gracia divina. <b>379. ¿Cuáles son las principales virtudes humanas?</b> 1805</p><p>1834<br>Las principales virtudes humanas son las denominadas <i>cardinales</i>, que agrupan a todas las demás y constituyen las bases de la vida virtuosa. Son la prudencia, la justicia, la fortaleza y la templanza. <b>380. ¿Qué es la prudencia?</b> 1806</p><p>1835<br>La prudencia dispone la razón a discernir, en cada circunstancia, nuestro verdadero bien y a elegir los medios adecuados para realizarlo. Es guía de las demás virtudes, indicándoles su regla y medida. <b>381. ¿Qué es la justicia?</b> 1807 </p><p>1836<br>La justicia consiste en la constante y firme voluntad de dar a los demás lo que les es debido. La justicia para con Dios se llama «virtud de la religión». <b>382. ¿Qué es la fortaleza?</b> 1808</p><p>1838<br>La fortaleza asegura la firmeza en las dificultades y la constancia en la búsqueda del bien, llegando incluso a la capacidad de aceptar el eventual sacrificio de la propia vida por una causa justa. <b>383. ¿Qué es la templanza?</b> 1809</p><p>1838<br>La templanza modera la atracción de los placeres, asegura el dominio de la voluntad sobre los instintos y procura el equilibrio en el uso de los bienes creados. <b>384. ¿Qué son las virtudes teologales?</b> 1812-1813</p><p>1840-1841<br>Las virtudes teologales son las que tienen como origen, motivo y objeto inmediato a Dios mismo. Infusas en el hombre con la gracia santificante, nos hacen capaces de vivir en relación con la Santísima Trinidad, y fundamentan y animan la acción moral del cristiano, vivificando las virtudes humanas. Son la garantía de la presencia y de la acción del Espíritu Santo en las facultades del ser humano. <b>385. ¿Cuáles son las virtudes teologales?</b> 1813<br>Las virtudes teologales son la fe, la esperanza y la caridad <b>386. ¿Qué es la fe?</b> 1814-1816</p><p>1842<br>La fe es la virtud teologal por la que creemos en Dios y en todo lo que Él nos ha revelado, y que la Iglesia nos propone creer, dado que Dios es la Verdad misma. Por la fe, el hombre se abandona libremente a Dios; por ello, el que cree trata de conocer y hacer la voluntad de Dios, ya que «la fe actúa por la caridad» (<i>Ga</i> 5, 6). <b>387. ¿Qué es la esperanza?</b> 1817-1821</p><p>1843<br>La esperanza es la virtud teologal por la que deseamos y esperamos de Dios la vida eterna como nuestra felicidad, confiando en las promesas de Cristo, y apoyándonos en la ayuda de la gracia del Espíritu Santo para merecerla y perseverar hasta el fin de nuestra vida terrena. <b>388. ¿Qué es la caridad?</b> 1822-1829</p><p>1844<br>La caridad es la virtud teologal por la cual amamos a Dios sobre todas las cosas y a nuestro prójimo como a nosotros mismos por amor a Dios. Jesús hace de ella el mandamiento nuevo, la plenitud de la Ley. Ella es «el vínculo de la perfección» (<i>Col</i> 3, 14) y el fundamento de las demás virtudes, a las que anima, inspira y ordena: sin ella «no soy nada» y «nada me aprovecha» (<i>1 Co</i> 13, 2-3). <b>389. ¿Qué son los dones del Espíritu Santo?</b> 1830-1831</p><p>1845<br>Los <i>dones</i> del Espíritu Santo son disposiciones permanentes que hacen al hombre dócil para seguir las inspiraciones divinas. Son siete: sabiduría, entendimiento, consejo, fortaleza, ciencia, piedad y temor de Dios. <b>390. ¿Qué son los frutos del Espíritu Santo?</b> 1832<br>Los <i>frutos</i> del Espíritu Santo son perfecciones plasmadas en nosotros como primicias de la gloria eterna. La tradición de la Iglesia enumera doce: «caridad, gozo, paz, paciencia, longanimidad, bondad, benignidad, mansedumbre, fidelidad, modestia, continencia y castidad» (<i>Ga</i> 5, 22-23 <i>[Vulgata]</i>). <b>391. ¿Qué supone para nosotros acoger la misericordia de Dios?</b> 1846-1848</p><p>1870<br>Acoger la misericordia de Dios supone que reconozcamos nuestras culpas, arrepintiéndonos de nuestros pecados. Dios mismo, con su Palabra y su Espíritu, descubre nuestros pecados, sitúa nuestra conciencia en la verdad sobre sí misma y nos concede la esperanza del perdón. <b>392. ¿Qué es el pecado?</b> 1849-1851</p><p>1871-1872<br>El pecado es «una palabra, un acto o un deseo contrarios a la Ley eterna» (San Agustín). Es una ofensa a Dios, a quien desobedecemos en vez de responder a su amor. Hiere la naturaleza del hombre y atenta contra la solidaridad humana. Cristo, en su Pasión, revela plenamente la gravedad del pecado y lo vence con su misericordia. <b>393. ¿Hay diversidad de pecados?</b> 1852-1853</p><p>1873<br>La variedad de los pecados es grande. Pueden distinguirse según su objeto o según las virtudes o los mandamientos a los que se oponen. Pueden referirse directamente a Dios, al prójimo o a nosotros mismos. Se los puede también distinguir en pecados de pensamiento, palabra, obra y omisión. <b>394. ¿Cómo se distinguen los pecados en cuanto a la gravedad?</b> 1854<br>En cuanto a la gravedad, el pecado se distingue en pecado mortal y pecado venial. <b>395. ¿Cuándo se comete un pecado mortal?</b> 1855-1861</p><p>1874<br>Se comete un pecado mortal cuando se dan, al mismo tiempo, materia grave, plena advertencia y deliberado consentimiento. Este pecado destruye en nosotros la caridad, nos priva de la gracia santificante y, a menos que nos arrepintamos, nos conduce a la muerte eterna del infierno. Se perdona, por vía ordinaria, mediante los sacramentos del Bautismo y de la Penitencia o Reconciliación. <b>396. ¿Cuándo se comete un pecado venial?</b> 1862-1864</p><p>1875<br>El pecado venial, que se diferencia esencialmente del pecado mortal, se comete cuando la materia es leve; o bien cuando, siendo grave la materia, no se da plena advertencia o perfecto consentimiento. Este pecado no rompe la alianza con Dios. Sin embargo, debilita la caridad, entraña un afecto desordenado a los bienes creados, impide el progreso del alma en el ejercicio de las virtudes y en la práctica del bien moral y merece penas temporales de purificación. <b>397. ¿Cómo prolifera en nosotros el pecado?</b> 1865, 1876<br>El pecado prolifera en nosotros pues uno lleva a otro, y su repetición genera el vicio. <b>398. ¿Qué son los vicios?</b> 1866-1867<br>Los vicios, como contrarios a las virtudes, son hábitos perversos que oscurecen la conciencia e inclinan al mal. Los vicios pueden ser referidos a los siete pecados llamados <i>capitales</i>: soberbia, avaricia, lujuria, ira, gula, envidia y pereza. <b>399. ¿Tenemos responsabilidad en los pecados cometidos por otros?</b> 1868<br>Tenemos responsabilidad en los pecados de los otros cuando cooperamos culpablemente a que se comentan. <b>400. ¿Qué son las <i>estructuras de pecado</i>?</b> 1869<br>Las <i>estructuras de pecado</i> son situaciones sociales o instituciones contrarias a la ley divina, expresión y efecto de los pecados personales. <b>401. ¿En qué consiste la dimensión social del hombre?</b> 1877-1879</p><p>1890-1891<br>Junto a la llamada personal a la bienaventuranza divina, el hombre posee una dimensión social que es parte esencial de su naturaleza y de su vocación. En efecto, todos los hombres están llamados a un idéntico fin, que es el mismo Dios. Hay una cierta semejanza entre la comunión de las Personas divinas y la fraternidad que los hombres deben instaurar entre ellos, fundada en la verdad y en la caridad. El amor al prójimo es inseparable del amor a Dios. <b>402. ¿Qué relación existe entre persona y sociedad?</b> 1881-1882</p><p>1892-1893<br>La <i>persona</i> es y debe ser principio, sujeto y fin de todas las instituciones sociales. Algunas sociedades, como la familia y la comunidad civil, son necesarias para la persona. También son útiles otras asociaciones, tanto dentro de las comunidades políticas como a nivel internacional, en el respeto del principio de <i>subsidiaridad</i> <b>403. ¿Qué indica el principio de subsidiaridad?</b> 1883-1885</p><p>1894<br>El principio de subsidiaridad indica que una estructura social de orden superior no debe interferir en la vida interna de un grupo social de orden inferior, privándole de sus competencias, sino que más bien debe sostenerle en caso de necesidad. <b>404. ¿Qué más requiere una auténtica convivencia humana?</b> 1886-1889</p><p>1895-1896<br>Una auténtica convivencia humana requiere respetar la justicia y la recta jerarquía de valores, así como el subordinar las dimensiones materiales e instintivas a las interiores y espirituales. En particular, cuando el pecado pervierte el clima social, se necesita hacer un llamamiento a la conversión del corazón y a la gracia de Dios, para conseguir los cambios sociales que estén realmente al servicio de cada persona, considerada en su integridad. La caridad es el más grande mandamiento social, pues exige y da la capacidad de practicar la justicia.<br><b>LA PARTICIPACIÓN EN LA VIDA SOCIAL</b> <b>405. ¿En qué se funda la autoridad de la sociedad?</b> 1897-1902</p><p>1918-1920<br>Toda sociedad humana tiene necesidad de una autoridad legítima, que asegure el orden y contribuya a la realización del bien común. Esta autoridad tiene su propio fundamento en la naturaleza humana, porque corresponde al orden establecido por Dios. <b>406. ¿Cuándo se ejerce la autoridad de manera legítima?</b> 1903-1904</p><p>1921-1922</p><p>1901<br>La autoridad se ejerce de manera legítima cuando procura el bien común, y para conseguirlo utiliza medios moralmente lícitos. Por tanto, los regímenes políticos deben estar determinados por la libertad de decisión de los ciudadanos y respetar el principio del «Estado de derecho». Según tal principio, la soberanía es prerrogativa de la ley, no de la voluntad arbitraria de los hombres. Las leyes injustas y las medidas contrarias al orden moral no obligan en conciencia. <b>407. ¿Qué es el bien común?</b> 1905-1906</p><p>1924<br>Por bien común se entiende el conjunto de condiciones de la vida social que hacen posible, a los grupos y a cada uno de sus miembros, el logro de la propia perfección. <b>408. ¿Qué supone el bien común?</b> 1907-1909</p><p>1925<br>El bien común supone: el respeto y la promoción de los derechos fundamentales de la persona, el desarrollo de los bienes espirituales y temporales de la persona y la sociedad, y la paz y la seguridad de todos. <b>409. ¿Dónde se realiza de manera más completa el bien común?</b> 1910-1912</p><p>1927<br>La realización más completa del bien común se verifica en aquellas comunidades políticas que defienden y promueven el bien de los ciudadanos y de las instituciones intermedias, sin olvidar el bien universal de la familia humana. <b>410. ¿Cómo participa el hombre en la realización del bien común?</b> 1913-1917</p><p>1926<br>Todo hombre, según el lugar que ocupa y el papel que desempeña, participa en la realización del bien común, respetando las leyes justas y haciéndose cargo de los sectores en los que tiene responsabilidad personal, como son el cuidado de la propia familia y el compromiso en el propio trabajo. Por otra parte, los ciudadanos deben tomar parte activa en la vida pública, en la medida en que les sea posible. <b>411. ¿Cómo asegura la sociedad la justicia social?</b> 1928-1933</p><p>1943-1944<br>La sociedad asegura la justicia social cuando respeta la dignidad y los derechos de la persona, finalidad propia de la misma sociedad. Ésta, además, procura alcanzar la justicia social, vinculada al bien común y al ejercicio de la autoridad, cuando garantiza las condiciones que permiten a las asociaciones y a los individuos conseguir aquello que les corresponde por derecho. <b>412. ¿En que se fundamenta la igualdad entre los hombres?</b> 1934-1935</p><p>1945<br>Todos los hombres gozan de igual dignidad y derechos fundamentales, en cuanto que, creados a imagen del único Dios y dotados de una misma alma racional, tienen la misma naturaleza y origen, y están llamados en Cristo, único Salvador, a la misma bienaventuranza divina. <b>413. ¿Cómo hay que juzgar el hecho de la desigualdad entre los hombres?</b> 1936-1938</p><p>1946-1947<br>Existen desigualdades económicas y sociales inicuas, que afectan a millones de seres humanos, que están en total contraste con el Evangelio, son contrarias a la justicia, a la dignidad de las personas y a la paz. Pero hay también diferencias entre los hombres, causadas por diversos factores, que entran en el plan de Dios. En efecto, Dios quiere que cada uno reciba de los demás lo que necesita, y que quienes disponen de talentos particulares los compartan con los demás. Estas diferencias alientan, y con frecuencia obligan, a las personas a la magnanimidad, la benevolencia y la solidaridad, e incitan a las culturas a enriquecerse unas a otras. <b>414. ¿Cómo se expresa la solidaridad humana?</b> 1939-1942</p><p>1948<br>La solidaridad, que emana de la fraternidad humana y cristiana, se expresa ante todo en la justa distribución de bienes, en la equitativa remuneración del trabajo y en el esfuerzo en favor de un orden social más justo. La virtud de la solidaridad se realiza también en la comunicación de los bienes espirituales de la fe, aún más importantes que los materiales. <b>415. ¿Qué es la ley moral?</b> 1950-1953</p><p>1975-1978<br>La ley moral es obra de la Sabiduría divina. Prescribe al hombre los caminos y las reglas de conducta que llevan a la bienaventuranza prometida, y prohíbe los caminos que apartan de Dios. <b>416. ¿En qué consiste la ley moral natural?</b> 1954-1960</p><p>1978-1979<br>La ley natural, inscrita por el Creador en el corazón de todo hombre, consiste en una participación de la sabiduría y bondad de Dios, y expresa el sentido moral originario, que permite al hombre discernir el bien y el mal, mediante la razón. La ley natural es universal e inmutable, y pone la base de los deberes y derechos fundamentales de la persona, de la comunidad humana y de la misma ley civil. <b>417. ¿Son todos capaces de percibir la ley natural?</b> 1960<br>A causa del pecado, no siempre ni todos son capaces de percibir en modo inmediato y con igual claridad la ley natural.<br><i>Por esto, «Dios escribió en las tablas de la Ley lo que los hombres no alcanzaban a leer en sus corazones»</i> (San Agustín). <b>418. ¿Qué relación existe entre la ley natural y la Ley antigua?</b> 1961-1962</p><p>1980-1981<br>La Ley antigua constituye la primera etapa de la Ley revelada. Expresa muchas verdades naturalmente accesibles a la razón, que se encuentran afirmadas y convalidadas en las Alianzas de la salvación. Sus prescripciones morales, recogidas en los Mandamientos del Decálogo, ponen la base de la vocación del hombre, prohíben lo que es contrario al amor de Dios y del prójimo y indican lo que les es esencial. <b>419. ¿Cómo se sitúa la Ley antigua en el plano de la salvación?</b> 1963-1964</p><p>1982<br>La Ley antigua permite conocer muchas verdades accesibles a la razón, señala lo que se debe o no se debe hacer, y sobre todo, como un sabio pedagogo, prepara y dispone a la conversión y a la acogida del Evangelio. Sin embargo, aun siendo santa, espiritual y buena, la Ley antigua es todavía imperfecta, porque no da por sí misma la fuerza y la gracia del Espíritu para observarla. <b>420. ¿En qué consiste la nueva Ley o Ley evangélica?</b> 1965-1972</p><p>1983-1985<br>La nueva Ley o Ley evangélica, proclamada y realizada por Cristo, es la plenitud y el cumplimiento de la ley divina, natural y revelada. Se resume en el mandamiento de amar a Dios y al prójimo, y de amarnos como Cristo nos ha amado. Es también una realidad grabada en el interior del hombre: la gracia del Espíritu Santo, que hace posible tal amor. Es «la ley de la libertad» (<i>St</i> 1, 25), porque lleva a actuar espontáneamente bajo el impulso de la caridad.<br><i>«La Ley nueva es principalmente la misma gracia del Espíritu Santo que se da a los que creen en Cristo»</i> (Santo Tomás de Aquino). <b>421. ¿Dónde se encuentra la Ley nueva?</b> 1971-1974</p><p>1986<br>La Ley nueva se encuentra en toda la vida y la predicación de Cristo y en la catequesis moral de los Apóstoles; el Sermón de la Montaña es su principal expresión. <b>422. ¿Qué es la justificación?</b> 1987-1995</p><p>2017-2020<br>La justificación es la obra más excelente del amor de Dios. Es la acción misericordiosa y gratuita de Dios, que borra nuestros pecados, y nos hace justos y santos en todo nuestro ser. Somos justificados por medio de la gracia del Espíritu Santo, que la Pasión de Cristo nos ha merecido y se nos ha dado en el Bautismo. Con la justificación comienza la libre respuesta del hombre, esto es, la fe en Cristo y la colaboración con la gracia del Espíritu Santo. <b>423. ¿Qué es la gracia que justifica?</b> 1996-1998</p><p>2005, 2021<br>La gracia es un don gratuito de Dios, por el que nos hace partícipes de su vida trinitaria y capaces de obrar por amor a Él. Se le llama <i>gracia habitual</i>, <i>santificante</i> o <i>deificante</i>, porque nos santifica y nos diviniza. Es <i>sobrenatural</i>, porque depende enteramente de la iniciativa gratuita de Dios y supera la capacidad de la inteligencia y de las fuerzas del hombre. Escapa, por tanto, a nuestra experiencia. <b>424. ¿Qué otros tipos de gracia existen?</b> 1999-2000</p><p>2003-2004</p><p>2023-2024<br>Además de la gracia <i>habitual</i>, existen otros tipos de gracia: las gracias actuales (dones en circunstancias particulares); las gracias sacramentales (dones propios de cada sacramento); las gracias especiales o carismas (que tienen como fin el bien común de la Iglesia), entre las que se encuentran las gracias de estado, que acompañan al ejercicio de los ministerios eclesiales y de las responsabilidades de la vida. <b>425. ¿Qué relación hay entre la gracia y la libertad del hombre?</b> 2001-2002<br>La gracia previene, prepara y suscita la libre respuesta del hombre; responde a las profundas aspiraciones de la libertad humana, la invita a cooperar y la conduce a su perfección. <b>426. ¿Qué es el mérito?</b> 2006-2010</p><p>2025-2026<br>El mérito es lo que da derecho a la recompensa por una obra buena. Respecto a Dios, el hombre, de suyo, no puede merecer nada, habiéndolo recibido todo gratuitamente de Él. Sin embargo, Dios da al hombre la posibilidad de adquirir méritos, mediante la unión a la caridad de Cristo, fuente de nuestros méritos ante Dios. Por eso, los méritos de las buenas obras deben ser atribuidos primero a la gracia de Dios y después a la libre voluntad del hombre. <b>427. ¿Qué bienes podemos merecer?</b> 2010-2011</p><p>2027<br>Bajo la moción del Espíritu Santo, podemos merecer, para nosotros mismos o para los demás, las gracias útiles para santificarnos y para alcanzar la gloria eterna, así como también los bienes temporales que nos convienen según el designio de Dios. Nadie puede merecer la <i>primera gracia</i>, que está en el origen de la conversión y de la justificación. <b>428. ¿Estamos todos llamados a la santidad cristiana?</b> 2012-2016</p><p>2028-2029<br>Todos los fieles estamos llamados a la santidad cristiana. Ésta es plenitud de la vida cristiana y perfección de la caridad, y se realiza en la unión íntima con Cristo y, en Él, con la Santísima Trinidad. El camino de santificación del cristiano, que pasa por la cruz, tendrá su cumplimiento en la resurrección final de los justos, cuando Dios sea todo en todos. <b>429. ¿Cómo nutre la Iglesia la vida moral del cristiano?</b> 2030-2031</p><p>2047<br>La Iglesia es la comunidad donde el cristiano acoge la Palabra de Dios y las enseñanzas de la «Ley de Cristo» (<i>Ga</i> 6, 2); recibe la gracia de los sacramentos; se une a la ofrenda eucarística de Cristo, transformando así su vida moral en un culto espiritual; aprende del ejemplo de santidad de la Virgen María y de los santos. <b>430. ¿Por qué el Magisterio de la Iglesia interviene en el campo moral?</b> 2032-2040</p><p>2049-2051<br>El Magisterio de la Iglesia interviene en el campo moral, porque es su misión predicar la fe que hay que creer y practicar en la vida cotidiana. Esta competencia se extiende también a los preceptos específicos de la ley natural, porque su observancia es necesaria para la salvación. <b>431. ¿Qué finalidad tienen los preceptos de la Iglesia?</b> 2041</p><p>2048<br>Los preceptos de la Iglesia tienen por finalidad garantizar que los fieles cumplan con lo mínimo indispensable en relación al espíritu de oración, a la vida sacramental, al esfuerzo moral y al crecimiento en el amor a Dios y al prójimo. <b>432. ¿Cuáles son los preceptos de la Iglesia?</b> 2042-2043<br>Los preceptos de la Iglesia son cinco:<br>1) Participar en la Misa todos los domingos y fiestas de guardar, y no realizar trabajos y actividades que puedan impedir la santificación de estos días. </p><p>2) Confesar los propios pecados, mediante el sacramento de la Reconciliación al menos una vez al año. </p><p>3) Recibir el sacramento de la Eucaristía al menos en Pascua.</p><p>4) Abstenerse de comer carne y observar el ayuno en los días establecidos por la Iglesia.</p><p>5) Ayudar a la Iglesia en sus necesidades materiales, cada uno según sus posibilidades. <b>433. ¿Por qué la vida moral de los cristianos es indispensable para el anuncio del Evangelio?</b> 2044-2046<br>La vida moral de los cristianos es indispensable para el anuncio del Evangelio, porque, conformando su vida con la del Señor Jesús, los fieles atraen a los hombres a la fe en el verdadero Dios, edifican la Iglesia, impregnan el mundo con el espíritu del Evangelio y apresuran la venida del Reino de Dios. <b>SEGUNDA SECCIÓN </p><p>LOS DIEZ MANDAMIENTOS</b><br><b>Éxodo 20, 2-17</b><br><b>Deuteronomio, 5, 6-21</b><br><b>Fórmula catequética</b><br>«Yo soy el Señor tu Dios</p><p>que te ha sacado del país</p><p>de Egipto</p><p>de la casa de servidumbre.<br>«Yo soy el Señor, </p><p>tu Dios, que te ha sacado </p><p>de Egipto, </p><p>de la servidumbre.<br>«Yo soy el Señor </p><p>tu Dios:<br>No habrá para ti</p><p>otros dioses delante de mí.</p><p>No te harás escultura </p><p>ni imagen alguna,</p><p>ni de lo que hay arriba en los cielos, ni de lo que hay abajo </p><p>en la tierra. </p><p>No te postrarás ante ellas</p><p>ni les darás culto, </p><p>porque yo el Señor, tu Dios,</p><p>soy un Dios celoso,</p><p>que castigo la iniquidad </p><p>de los padres en los hijos, </p><p>hasta la tercera generación </p><p>de los que me odian,</p><p>y tengo misericordia por millares </p><p>con los que me aman</p><p>y guardan mis mandamientos.<br>No habrá para ti</p><p>otros dioses delante de mí.<br>1. Amarás a Dios</p><p>sobre todas las cosas.<br>No tomarás en falso el</p><p>nombre del Señor </p><p>porque el Señor </p><p>no dejará sin castigo </p><p>a quien toma</p><p>su nombre en falso. <br>No tomarás en falso </p><p>el nombre del Señor, tu Dios...<br>2. No tomarás </p><p>el nombre de Dios </p><p>en vano.<br>Recuerda el día del sábado </p><p>para santificarlo. Seis días trabajarás y harás todos </p><p>tus trabajos, pero el séptimo es </p><p>día de descanso para el </p><p>Señor, tu Dios. </p><p>No harás ningún trabajo, </p><p>ni tú, ni tu hijo ni tu hija</p><p>ni tu siervo ni tu sierva,</p><p>ni tu ganado, ni el forastero</p><p>que habita en tu ciudad.</p><p>Pues en seis días hizo el Señor</p><p>el cielo y la tierra,</p><p>el mar y todo cuanto contienen,</p><p>y el séptimo descansó;</p><p>por eso bendijo el Señor</p><p>el día del sábado. <br>Guardarás el día del sábado para santificarlo.<br>3. Santificarás las fiestas.<br>Honra a tu padre y a tu madre para que se prolonguen</p><p>tus días sobre la tierra</p><p>que el Señor, tu Dios, </p><p>te va a dar. <br>Honra a tu padre </p><p>y a tu madre.<br>4. Honrarás a tu padre</p><p>y a tu madre.<br>No matarás.<br>No matarás.<br>5. No matarás.<br>No cometerás adulterio.<br>No cometerás adulterio.<br>6. No cometerás actos impuros.<br>No robarás.<br>No robarás.<br>7. No robarás<br>No darás falso testimonio </p><p>contra tu prójimo.<br>No darás testimonio falso </p><p>contra tu prójimo.<br>8. No darás falso testimonio ni mentirás.<br>No codiciarás la casa </p><p>de tu prójimo. No codiciarás </p><p>la mujer de tu prójimo, </p><p>ni su siervo, ni su sierva, </p><p>ni su buey, ni su asno, </p><p>ni nada que sea de tu prójimo»<br>No desearás la mujer </p><p>de tu prójimo.<br>9. No consentirás pensamientos ni deseos impuros.<br>No codiciarás... nada </p><p>que sea de tu prójimo.»<br>10. No codiciarás los bienes ajenos.» <b> </b> <b>434. «Maestro, ¿qué he de hacer de bueno para conseguir la vida eterna?» (<i>Mt</i> 19, 16)</b> 2052- 2054</p><p>2075-2076<br>Al joven que le pregunta «Maestro, ¿qué he de hacer de bueno para conseguir la vida eterna?», Jesús responde: «Si quieres entrar en la vida, guarda los mandamientos», y después añade: «Ven y sígueme» (<i>Mt</i> 19, 16). Seguir a Jesús implica cumplir los Mandamientos. La Ley no es abolida. Por el contrario, el hombre es invitado a encontrarla en la persona del divino Maestro, que la realiza perfectamente en sí mismo, revela su pleno significado y atestigua su perennidad. <b>435. ¿Cómo interpreta Jesús la Ley?</b> 2055<br>Jesús interpreta la Ley a la luz del doble y único mandamiento de la caridad, que es su plenitud: «Amarás al Señor tu Dios con todo tu corazón, con toda tu alma y con toda tu mente. Éste es el mayor y primer mandamiento. El segundo es semejante a éste: Amarás a tu prójimo como a ti mismo. De estos dos mandamientos penden toda la Ley y los Profetas» (<i>Mt</i> 22, 37-40). <b>436. ¿Qué significa «Decálogo»?</b> 2056-2057<br>Decálogo significa las «diez palabras» que recogen la Ley dada por Dios al pueblo de Israel durante la Alianza hecha por medio de Moisés (<i>Ex</i> 34, 28). El Decálogo, al presentar los mandamientos del amor a Dios (los tres primeros) y al prójimo (los otros siete), traza, para el pueblo elegido y para cada uno en particular, el camino de una vida liberada de la esclavitud del pecado. <b>437. ¿Cuál es el vínculo del Decálogo con la Alianza?</b> 2058-2063</p><p>2077<br>El Decálogo se comprende a la luz de la Alianza, en la que Dios se revela, dando a conocer su voluntad. Al guardar los Mandamientos, el pueblo expresa su pertenencia a Dios, y responde con gratitud a su iniciativa de amor. <b>438. ¿Qué importancia da la Iglesia al Decálogo?</b> 2064-2068<br>Fiel a la Escritura y siguiendo el ejemplo de Jesús, la Iglesia ha reconocido en el Decálogo una importancia y un significado fundamentales. Los cristianos están obligados a observarlo. <b>439. ¿Por qué el Decálogo constituye una unidad orgánica?</b> 2069</p><p>2079<br>Los diez mandamientos constituyen un todo orgánico e indisociable, porque cada mandamiento remite a los demás y a todo el Decálogo. Por tanto, transgredir un mandamiento es como quebrantar toda la Ley. <b>440. ¿Por qué el Decálogo obliga gravemente?</b> 2072-2073</p><p>2081<br>El Decálogo obliga gravemente porque enuncia los deberes fundamentales del hombre para con Dios y para con el prójimo. <b>441. ¿Es posible cumplir el Decálogo?</b> 2074</p><p>2082<br>Sí, es posible cumplir el Decálogo, porque Cristo, sin el cual nada podemos hacer, nos hace capaces de ello con el don del Espíritu Santo y de la gracia. <b>442. ¿Qué implica la afirmación de Dios: «Yo soy el Señor tu Dios» (<i>Ex</i> 20, 20)?</b> 2083-2094</p><p>2133-2134<br>La afirmación: «Yo soy el Señor tu Dios» implica para el fiel guardar y poner en práctica las tres virtudes teologales, y evitar los pecados que se oponen a ellas. La <i>fe</i> cree en Dios y rechaza todo lo que le es contrario, como, por ejemplo, la duda voluntaria, la incredulidad, la herejía, la apostasía y el cisma. La <i>esperanza</i> aguarda confiadamente la bienaventurada visión de Dios y su ayuda, evitando la desesperación y la presunción. La <i>caridad</i> ama a Dios sobre todas las cosas y rechaza la indiferencia, la ingratitud, la tibieza, la pereza o indolencia espiritual y el odio a Dios, que nace del orgullo. <b>443. ¿Qué comporta la Palabra del Señor: «Adorarás al Señor tu Dios y a Él sólo darás culto» (<i>Mt</i> 4, 10)?</b> 2095-2105</p><p>2135-2136<br>Las palabras «adorarás al Señor tu Dios y a Él sólo darás culto» suponen adorar a Dios como Señor de todo cuanto existe; rendirle el culto debido individual y comunitariamente; rezarle con expresiones de alabanza, de acción de gracias y de súplica; ofrecerle sacrificios, sobre todo el espiritual de nuestra vida, unido al sacrificio perfecto de Cristo; mantener las promesas y votos que se le hacen. <b>444. ¿Cómo ejerce el hombre su derecho a rendir culto a Dios en verdad y en libertad?</b> 2104-2109</p><p>2137<br>Todo hombre tiene el derecho y el deber moral de buscar la verdad, especialmente en lo que se refiere a Dios y a la Iglesia, y, una vez conocida, de abrazarla y guardarla fielmente, rindiendo a Dios un culto auténtico. Al mismo tiempo, la dignidad de la persona humana requiere que, en materia religiosa, nadie sea forzado a obrar contra su conciencia, ni impedido a actuar de acuerdo con la propia conciencia, tanto pública como privadamente, en forma individual o asociada, dentro de los justos límites del orden público. <b>445. ¿Qué es lo que Dios prohíbe cuando manda: «No tendrás otro Dios fuera de mí» (Ex 20, 2)?</b> 2010-2128</p><p>2138-2140<br>Con el mandamiento «No tendrás otro Dios fuera de mí» se prohíbe:<br>el <i>politeísmo</i> y la <i>idolatría</i>, que diviniza a una criatura, el poder, el dinero, incluso al demonio;</p><p>la <i>superstición</i>, que es una desviación del culto debido al Dios verdadero, y que se expresa también bajo las formas de adivinación, magia, brujería y espiritismo;</p><p>la <i>irreligión</i>, que se manifiesta en tentar a Dios con palabras o hechos; en el sacrilegio, que profana a las personas y las cosas sagradas, sobre todo la Eucaristía; en la simonía, que intenta comprar o vender realidades espirituales;</p><p>el <i>ateísmo</i>, que rechaza la existencia de Dios, apoyándose frecuentemente en una falsa concepción de la autonomía humana; </p><p>el <i>agnosticismo</i>, según el cual, nada se puede saber sobre Dios, y que abarca el indiferentismo y el ateísmo práctico. <b>446. El mandato de Dios: «No te harás escultura alguna...» (<i>Ex</i> 20, 3), ¿prohíbe el culto a las imágenes?</b> 2129-2132</p><p>2141<br>En el Antiguo Testamento, el mandato «no te harás escultura alguna» prohibía representar a Dios, absolutamente trascendente. A partir de la encarnación del Verbo, el culto cristiano a las sagradas imágenes está justificado (como afirma el II Concilio de Nicea del año 787), porque se fundamenta en el Misterio del Hijo de Dios hecho hombre, en el cual, el Dios trascendente se hace visible. No se trata de una adoración de la imagen, sino de una veneración de quien en ella se representa: Cristo, la Virgen, los ángeles y los santos. <b>447. ¿Cómo se respeta la santidad del Nombre de Dios?</b> 2142-2149</p><p>2160-2162<br>Se respeta la santidad del Nombre de Dios invocándolo, bendiciéndole, alabándole y glorificándole. Ha de evitarse, por tanto, el abuso de apelar al Nombre de Dios para justificar un crimen, y todo uso inconveniente de su Nombre, como la <i>blasfemia</i>, que por su misma naturaleza es un pecado grave; la <i>imprecación</i> y la <i>infidelidad</i> a las promesas hechas en nombre de Dios. <b>448. ¿Por qué está prohibido jurar en falso?</b> 2150-2151</p><p>2163-2164<br>Está prohibido jurar en falso, porque ello supone invocar en una causa a Dios, que es la verdad misma, como testigo de una mentira.<br><i>«No jurar ni por Criador, ni por criatura, si no fuere con verdad, necesidad y reverencia»</i> (San Ignacio de Loyola). <b>449. ¿Qué es el perjurio?</b> 2152-2155<br>El perjurio es hacer, bajo juramento, una promesa con intención de no cumplirla, o bien violar la promesa hecha bajo juramento. Es un pecado grave contra Dios, que siempre es fiel a sus promesas. (Source: Compendio Del Catecismo 2005 A.D.)
<b>450. ¿Por qué Dios «ha bendecido el día del sábado y lo ha declarado sagrado» (<i>Ex</i> 20,11)?</b> 2168-2172</p><p>2189<br>Dios ha bendecido el sábado y lo ha declarado sagrado, porque en este día se hace memoria del <i>descanso de Dios</i> el séptimo día de la creación, así como de la liberación de Israel de la esclavitud de Egipto y de la Alianza que Dios hizo con su pueblo. <b>451. ¿Cómo se comporta Jesús en relación con el sábado?</b> 2173<br>Jesús reconoce la santidad del sábado, y con su autoridad divina le da la interpretación auténtica: «El sábado ha sido instituido para el hombre y no el hombre para el sábado» (<i>Mc</i> 2, 27). <b>452. ¿Por qué motivo, para los cristianos, el sábado ha sido sustituido por el domingo?</b> 2174-2176</p><p>2190-2191<br>Para los cristianos, el sábado ha sido sustituido por el domingo, porque éste es el día de la Resurrección de Cristo. Como «primer día de la semana» (<i>Mc</i> 16, 2), recuerda la primera Creación; como «octavo día», que sigue al sábado, significa la nueva Creación inaugurada con la Resurrección de Cristo. Es considerado, así, por los cristianos como el primero de todos los días y de todas las fiestas: <i>el día del Señor</i>, en el que Jesús, con su Pascua, lleva a cumplimiento la verdad espiritual del sábado judío y anuncia el descanso eterno del hombre en Dios. <b>453. ¿Cómo se santifica el domingo?</b> 2177-2185</p><p>2192-2193<br>Los cristianos santifican el domingo y las demás fiestas de precepto participando en la Eucaristía del Señor y absteniéndose de las actividades que les impidan rendir culto a Dios, o perturben la alegría propia del día del Señor o el descanso necesario del alma y del cuerpo. Se permiten las actividades relacionadas con las necesidades familiares o los servicios de gran utilidad social, siempre que no introduzcan hábitos perjudiciales a la santificación del domingo, a la vida de familia y a la salud. <b>454. ¿Por qué es importante reconocer civilmente el domingo como día festivo?</b> 2186-2188</p><p>2194-2195<br>Es importante que el domingo sea reconocido civilmente como día festivo, a fin de que todos tengan la posibilidad real de disfrutar del suficiente descanso y del tiempo libre que les permitan cuidar la vida religiosa, familiar, cultural y social; de disponer de tiempo propicio para la meditación, la reflexión, el silencio y el estudio, y de dedicarse a hacer el bien, en particular en favor de los enfermos y de los ancianos. <b>455. ¿Qué manda el cuarto mandamiento?</b> 2196-2200</p><p>2247-2248<br>El cuarto mandamiento ordena honrar y respetar a nuestros padres, y a todos aquellos a quienes Dios ha investido de autoridad para nuestro bien. <b>456. ¿Cuál es la naturaleza de la familia en el plan de Dios?</b> 2201-2205</p><p>2249<br>En el plan de Dios, un hombre y una mujer, unidos en matrimonio, forman, por sí mismos y con sus hijos, una familia. Dios ha instituido la familia y le ha dotado de su constitución fundamental. El matrimonio y la familia están ordenados al bien de los esposos y a la procreación y educación de los hijos. Entre los miembros de una misma familia se establecen relaciones personales y responsabilidades primarias. En Cristo la familia se convierte en <i>Iglesia doméstica</i>, porque es una comunidad de fe, de esperanza y de amor. <b>457. ¿Qué lugar ocupa la familia en la sociedad?</b> 2207-2208<br>La familia es la célula original de la sociedad humana, y precede a cualquier reconocimiento por parte de la autoridad pública. Los principios y valores familiares constituyen el fundamento de la vida social. La vida de familia es una iniciación a la vida de la sociedad. <b>458. ¿Qué deberes tiene la sociedad en relación con la familia?</b> 2209-2213</p><p>2250<br>La sociedad tiene el deber de sostener y consolidar el matrimonio y la familia, siempre en el respeto del principio de subsidiaridad. Los poderes públicos deben respetar, proteger y favorecer la verdadera naturaleza del matrimonio y de la familia, la moral pública, los derechos de los padres, y el bienestar doméstico. <b>459. ¿Cuáles son los deberes de los hijos hacia sus padres?</b> 2214-2220</p><p>2251<br>Los hijos deben a sus padres respeto (piedad filial), reconocimiento, docilidad y obediencia, contribuyendo así, junto a las buenas relaciones entre hermanos y hermanas, al crecimiento de la armonía y de la santidad de toda la vida familiar. En caso de que los padres se encuentren en situación de pobreza, de enfermedad, de soledad o de ancianidad, los hijos adultos deben prestarles ayuda moral y material. <b>460. ¿Cuáles son los deberes de los padres hacia los hijos?</b> 2221-2231<br>Los padres, partícipes de la paternidad divina, son los primeros responsables de la educación de sus hijos y los primeros anunciadores de la fe. Tienen el deber de amar y de respetar a sus hijos como <i>personas</i> y como <i>hijos de Dios</i>, y proveer, en cuanto sea posible, a sus necesidades materiales y espirituales, eligiendo para ellos una escuela adecuada, y ayudándoles con prudentes consejos en la elección de la profesión y del estado de vida. En especial, tienen la misión de educarlos en la fe cristiana. <b>461. ¿Cómo educan los padres a sus hijos en la fe cristiana?</b> 2252-2253<br>Los padres educan a sus hijos en la fe cristiana principalmente con el ejemplo, la oración, la catequesis familiar y la participación en la vida de la Iglesia. <b>462. ¿Son un bien absoluto los vínculos familiares?</b> 2232-2233<br>Los vínculos familiares, aunque sean importantes, no son absolutos, porque la primera vocación del cristiano es seguir a Jesús, amándolo: «El que ama su padre o a su madre más que a mí no es digno de mí» (<i>Mt</i> 10, 37). Los padres deben favorecer gozosamente el seguimiento de Jesús por parte de sus hijos en todo estado de vida, también en la vida consagrada y en el ministerio sacerdotal. <b>463. ¿Cómo se ejerce la autoridad en los distintos ámbitos de la sociedad civil?</b> 2234-2237</p><p>2254<br>En los distintos ámbitos de la sociedad civil, la autoridad se ejerce siempre como un servicio, respetando los derechos fundamentales del hombre, una justa jerarquía de valores, las leyes, la justicia distributiva y el principio de subsidiaridad. Cada cual, en el ejercicio de la autoridad, debe buscar el interés de la comunidad antes que el propio, y debe inspirar sus decisiones en la verdad sobre Dios, sobre el hombre y sobre el mundo. <b>464. ¿Cuáles son los deberes de los ciudadanos respecto a las autoridades civiles?</b> 2238-2241</p><p>2255<br>Quienes están sometidos a las autoridades deben considerarlas como representantes de Dios, ofreciéndoles una colaboración leal para el buen funcionamiento de la vida pública y social. Esto exige el amor y servicio de la patria, el derecho y el deber del voto, el pago de los impuestos, la defensa del país y el derecho a una crítica constructiva. <b>465. ¿Cuándo el ciudadano no debe obedecer a las autoridades civiles?</b> 2238-2241</p><p>2255<br>El ciudadano no debe en conciencia obedecer cuando las prescripciones de la autoridad civil se opongan a las exigencias del orden moral: «Hay que obedecer a Dios antes que a los hombres» (<i>Hch</i> 5, 29). <b>466. ¿Por qué ha de ser respetada la vida humana?</b> 2242-2262</p><p>2318-2320<br>La vida humana ha de ser respetada porque es <i>sagrada</i>. Desde el comienzo supone la acción creadora de Dios y permanece para siempre en una relación especial con el Creador, su único fin. A nadie le es lícito destruir directamente a un ser humano inocente, porque es gravemente contrario a la dignidad de la persona y a la santidad del Creador. «No quites la vida del inocente y justo» (<i>Ex</i> 23, 7). <b>467. ¿Por qué la legítima defensa de la persona y de la sociedad no va contra esta norma?</b> 2263-2265<br>Con la legítima defensa se toma la opción de defenderse y se valora el derecho a la vida, propia o del otro, pero no la opción de matar. La legítima defensa, para quien tiene la responsabilidad de la vida de otro, puede también ser un grave deber. Y no debe suponer un uso de la violencia mayor que el necesario. <b>468. ¿Para qué sirve una pena?</b> 2266<br>Una pena impuesta por la autoridad pública, tiene como objetivo reparar el desorden introducido por la culpa, defender el orden público y la seguridad de las personas y contribuir a la corrección del culpable. <b>469. ¿Qué pena se puede imponer?</b> 2267<br>La pena impuesta debe ser proporcionada a la gravedad del delito. Hoy, como consecuencia de las posibilidades que tiene el Estado para reprimir eficazmente el crimen, haciendo inofensivo a aquél que lo ha cometido, los casos de absoluta necesidad de pena de muerte «suceden muy rara vez, si es que ya en realidad se dan algunos» (Juan Pablo II, Carta Encíclica <i>Evangelium vitae</i>). Cuando los medios incruentos son suficientes, la autoridad debe limitarse a estos medios, porque corresponden mejor a las condiciones concretas del bien común, son más conformes a la dignidad de la persona y no privan definitivamente al culpable de la posibilidad de rehabilitarse. <b>470. ¿Qué prohíbe el quinto mandamiento?</b> 2268-2283</p><p>2321-2326<br>El quinto mandamiento prohíbe, como gravemente contrarios a la ley moral:<br>1) El <i>homicidio directo y voluntario</i> y la cooperación al mismo.</p><p>2) El <i>aborto directo</i>, querido como fin o como medio, así como la cooperación al mismo, bajo pena de excomunión, porque el ser humano, desde el instante de su concepción, ha de ser respetado y protegido de modo absoluto en su integridad.</p><p>3) La <i>eutanasia directa</i>, que consiste en poner término, con una acción o una omisión de lo necesario, a la vida de las personas discapacitadas, gravemente enfermas o próximas a la muerte.</p><p>4) El <i>suicidio</i> y la cooperación voluntaria al mismo, en cuanto es una ofensa grave al justo amor de Dios, de sí mismo y del prójimo; por lo que se refiere a la responsabilidad, ésta puede quedar agravada en razón del escándalo o atenuada por particulares trastornos psíquicos o graves temores. <b>471. ¿Qué tratamientos médicos se permiten cuando la muerte se considera inminente?</b> 2278-2279<br>Los cuidados que se deben de ordinario a una persona enferma no pueden ser legítimamente interrumpidos; son legítimos, sin embargo, el uso de analgésicos, no destinados a causar la muerte, y la renuncia al «encarnizamiento terapéutico», esto es, a la utilización de tratamientos médicos desproporcionados y sin esperanza razonable de resultado positivo. <b>472. ¿Por qué la sociedad debe proteger a todo embrión?</b> 2274<br>La sociedad debe proteger a todo embrión, porque el derecho inalienable a la vida de todo individuo humano desde su concepción es un elemento constitutivo de la sociedad civil y de su legislación. Cuando el Estado no pone su fuerza al servicio de los derechos de todos, y en particular de los más débiles, entre los que se encuentran los concebidos y aún no nacidos, quedan amenazados los fundamentos mismos de un Estado de derecho. <b>473. ¿Cómo se evita el escándalo?</b> 2284-2287<br>El escándalo, que consiste en inducir a otro a obrar el mal, se evita respetando el alma y el cuerpo de la persona. Pero si se induce deliberadamente a otros a pecar gravemente, se comete una culpa grave. <b>474. ¿Qué deberes tenemos hacia nuestro cuerpo?</b> 2288-2291<br>Debemos tener un razonable <i>cuidado de la salud física</i>, la propia y la de los demás, evitando siempre el <i>culto al cuerpo</i> y toda suerte de excesos. Ha de evitarse, además, el uso de estupefacientes, que causan gravísimos daños a la salud y a la vida humana, y también el abuso de los alimentos, del alcohol, del tabaco y de los medicamentos. <b>475. ¿Cuándo son moralmente legítimas las experimentaciones científicas, médicas o psicológicas sobre las personas o sobre grupos humanos?</b> 2292-2295<br>Las experimentaciones científicas, médicas o psicológicas sobre las personas o sobre grupos humanos son moralmente legítimas si están al servicio del bien integral de la persona y de la sociedad, sin riesgos desproporcionados para la vida y la integridad física y psíquica de los sujetos, oportunamente informados y contando con su consentimiento. <b>476. ¿Se permiten el trasplante y la donación de órganos antes y después de la muerte?</b> 2296<br>El trasplante de órganos es moralmente aceptable con el consentimiento del donante y sin riesgos excesivos para él. Para el noble acto de la donación de órganos después de la muerte, hay que contar con la plena certeza de la muerte real del donante. <b>477. ¿Qué prácticas son contrarias al respeto a la integridad corporal de la persona humana?</b> 2297-2298<br>Prácticas contrarias al respeto a la integridad corporal de la persona humana son las siguientes: los secuestros de personas y la toma de rehenes, el terrorismo, la tortura, la violencia y la esterilización directa. Las amputaciones y mutilaciones de una persona están moralmente permitidas sólo por los indispensables fines terapéuticos de las mismas. <b>478. ¿Qué cuidados deben procurarse a los moribundos?</b> 2299<br>Los moribundos tienen derecho a vivir con dignidad los últimos momentos de su vida terrena, sobre todo con la ayuda de la oración y de los sacramentos, que preparan al encuentro con el Dios vivo. <b>479. ¿Cómo deben ser tratados los cuerpos de los difuntos?</b> 2300-2301<br>Los cuerpos de los difuntos deben ser tratados con respeto y caridad. La cremación de los mismos está permitida, si se hace sin poner en cuestión la fe en la Resurrección de los cuerpos. <b>480. ¿Qué exige el Señor a toda persona para la defensa de la paz?</b> 2302-2303<br>El Señor que proclama «<i>bienaventurados</i> los que construyen la paz» (<i>Mt</i> 5, 9), exige la paz del corazón y denuncia la inmoralidad de la ira, que es el deseo de venganza por el mal recibido, y del odio, que lleva a desear el mal al prójimo. Estos comportamientos, si son voluntarios y consentidos en cosas de gran importancia, son pecados graves contra la caridad. <b>481. ¿En qué consiste la paz en el mundo?</b> 2304-2305<br>La paz en el mundo, que es la búsqueda del respeto y del desarrollo de la vida humana, no es simplemente ausencia de guerra o equilibrio de fuerzas contrarias, sino que es «la tranquilidad del orden» (San Agustín), «fruto de la justicia» (<i>Is</i> 32, 17) y efecto de la caridad. La paz en la tierra es imagen y fruto de la paz de Cristo. <b>482. ¿Qué se requiere para la paz en el mundo?</b> 2304</p><p>2307-2308<br>Para la paz en el mundo se requiere la justa distribución y la tutela de los bienes de las personas, la libre comunicación entre los seres humanos, el respeto a la dignidad de las personas humanas y de los pueblos, y la constante práctica de la justicia y de la fraternidad. <b>483. ¿Cuándo está moralmente permitido el uso de la fuerza militar?</b> 2307-2310<br>El uso de la fuerza militar está moralmente justificado cuando se dan simultáneamente las siguientes condiciones: certeza de que el daño causado por el agresor es duradero y grave; la ineficacia de toda alternativa pacífica; fundadas posibilidades de éxito en la acción defensiva y ausencia de males aún peores, dado el poder de los medios modernos de destrucción. <b>484. En caso de amenaza de guerra, ¿a quién corresponde determinar si se dan las anteriores condiciones?</b> 2309<br>Determinar si se dan las condiciones para un uso moral de la fuerza militar compete al prudente juicio de los gobernantes, a quienes corresponde también el derecho de imponer a los ciudadanos la obligación de la defensa nacional, dejando a salvo el derecho personal a la objeción de conciencia y a servir de otra forma a la comunidad humana. <b>485. ¿Qué exige la ley moral en caso de guerra?</b> 2312-2314</p><p>2328<br>La ley moral permanece siempre válida, aún en caso de guerra. Exige que sean tratados con humanidad los no combatientes, los soldados heridos y los prisioneros. Las acciones deliberadamente contrarias al derecho de gentes, como también las disposiciones que las ordenan, son crímenes que la obediencia ciega no basta para excusar. Se deben condenar las destrucciones masivas así como el exterminio de un pueblo o de una minoría étnica, que son pecados gravísimos; y hay obligación moral de oponerse a la voluntad de quienes los ordenan. <b>486. ¿Qué es necesario hacer para evitar la guerra?</b> 2315-2317</p><p>2327-2330<br>Se debe hacer todo lo razonablemente posible para evitar a toda costa la guerra, teniendo en cuenta los males e injusticias que ella misma provoca. En particular, es necesario evitar la acumulación y el comercio de armas no debidamente reglamentadas por los poderes legítimos; las injusticias, sobre todo económicas y sociales; las discriminaciones étnicas o religiosas; la envidia, la desconfianza, el orgullo y el espíritu de venganza. Cuanto se haga por eliminar estos u otros desórdenes ayuda a construir la paz y a evitar la guerra. <b>487. ¿Qué corresponde a la persona humana frente a la propia identidad sexual?</b> 2331-2336</p><p>2392-2393<br>Dios ha creado al hombre como varón y mujer, con igual dignidad personal, y ha inscrito en él la vocación del amor y de la comunión. Corresponde a cada uno aceptar la propia identidad sexual, reconociendo la importancia de la misma para toda la persona, su especificidad y complementariedad. <b>488. ¿Qué es la castidad?</b> 2337-2338<br>La castidad es la positiva integración de la sexualidad en la persona. La sexualidad es verdaderamente humana cuando está integrada de manera justa en la relación de persona a persona. La castidad es una virtud moral, un don de Dios, una gracia y un fruto del Espíritu. <b>489. ¿Qué supone la virtud de la castidad?</b> 2339-2341<br>La virtud de la castidad supone la adquisición del dominio de sí mismo, como expresión de libertad humana destinada al don de uno mismo. Para este fin, es necesaria una integral y permanente educación, que se realiza en etapas graduales de crecimiento. <b>490. ¿De qué medios disponemos para ayudarnos a vivir la castidad?</b> 2340-2347<br>Son numerosos los medios de que disponemos para vivir la castidad: la gracia de Dios, la ayuda de los sacramentos, la oración, el conocimiento de uno mismo, la práctica de una ascesis adaptada a las diversas situaciones y el ejercicio de las virtudes morales, en particular de la virtud de la templanza, que busca que la razón sea la guía de las pasiones. <b>491. ¿De qué modos todos están llamados a vivir la castidad?</b> 2348-2350</p><p>2394<br>Todos, siguiendo a Cristo modelo de castidad, están llamados a llevar una vida casta según el propio estado de vida: unos viviendo en la virginidad o en el celibato consagrado, modo eminente de dedicarse más fácilmente a Dios, con corazón indiviso; otros, si están casados, viviendo la castidad conyugal; los no casados, practicando la castidad en la continencia. <b>492. ¿Cuáles son los principales pecados contra la castidad?</b> 2351-2359</p><p>2396<br>Son pecados gravemente contrarios a la castidad, cada uno según la naturaleza del propio objeto: el adulterio, la masturbación, la fornicación, la pornografía, la prostitución, el estupro y los actos homosexuales. Estos pecados son expresión del vicio de la lujuria. Si se cometen con menores, estos actos son un atentado aún más grave contra su integridad física y moral. <b>493. ¿Por qué el sexto mandamiento prohíbe todos los pecados contra la castidad?</b> 2336<br>Aunque en el texto bíblico del Decálogo se dice «no cometerás adulterio» (<i>Ex</i> 20, 14), la Tradición de la Iglesia tiene en cuenta todas las enseñanzas morales del Antiguo y del Nuevo Testamento, y considera el sexto mandamiento como referido al conjunto de todos los pecados contra la castidad. <b>494. ¿Cuáles son los deberes de las autoridades civiles respecto a la castidad?</b> 2354<br>Las autoridades civiles, en cuanto obligadas a promover el respeto a la dignidad de la persona humana, deben contribuir a crear un ambiente favorable a la castidad, impidiendo inclusive, mediante leyes adecuadas, algunas de las graves ofensas a la castidad antes mencionadas, en orden sobre todo a proteger a los menores y a los más débiles. <b>495. ¿Cuáles son los bienes del amor conyugal, al que está ordenada la sexualidad?</b> 2360-2361</p><p>2397-2398<br>Los bienes del amor conyugal, que para los bautizados está santificado por el sacramento del Matrimonio, son: la unidad, la fidelidad, la indisolubilidad y la apertura a la fecundidad. <b>496. ¿Cuál es el significado del acto conyugal?</b> 2362-2367<br>El acto conyugal tiene un doble significado: de unión (la mutua donación de los cónyuges), y de procreación (apertura a la transmisión de la vida). Nadie puede romper la conexión inseparable que Dios ha querido entre los dos significados del acto conyugal, excluyendo de la relación el uno o el otro. <b>497. ¿Cuándo es moral la regulación de la natalidad?</b> 2368-2369</p><p>2399<br>La regulación de la natalidad, que representa uno de los aspectos de la paternidad y de la maternidad responsables, es objetivamente conforme a la moralidad cuando se lleva a cabo por los esposos sin imposiciones externas; no por egoísmo, sino por motivos serios; y con métodos conformes a los criterios objetivos de la moralidad, esto es, mediante la continencia periódica y el recurso a los períodos de infecundidad. <b>498. ¿Cuáles son los medios inmorales para la regulación de la natalidad?</b> 2370-2372<br>Es intrínsecamente inmoral toda acción –como, por ejemplo, la esterilización directa o la contracepción–, que, bien en previsión del acto conyugal o en su realización, o bien en el desarrollo de sus consecuencias naturales, se proponga como fin o como medio, impedir la procreación. <b>499. ¿Por qué son inmorales la inseminación y la fecundación artificial?</b> 2373-2377<br>La inseminación y la fecundación artificial son inmorales, porque disocian la procreación del acto conyugal con el que los esposos se entregan mutuamente, instaurando así un dominio de la técnica sobre el origen y sobre el destino de la persona humana. Además, la inseminación y la fecundación heterólogas, mediante el recurso a técnicas que implican a una persona extraña a la pareja conyugal, lesionan el derecho del hijo a nacer de un padre y de una madre conocidos por él, ligados entre sí por matrimonio y poseedores exclusivos del derecho a llegar a ser padre y madre solamente el uno a través del otro. <b>500. ¿Cómo ha de ser considerado un hijo?</b> 2378<br>El hijo es <i>un don de Dios</i>, el don más grande dentro del Matrimonio. No existe el derecho a tener hijos («tener un hijo, sea como sea»). Sí existe, en cambio, el derecho del hijo a ser fruto del acto conyugal de sus padres, y también el derecho a ser respetado como persona desde el momento de su concepción. <b>501. ¿Qué pueden hacer los esposos cuando no tienen hijos?</b> 2379<br>Cuando el don del hijo no les es concedido, los esposos, después de haber agotado todos los legítimos recursos de la medicina, pueden mostrar su generosidad mediante la tutela o la adopción, o bien realizando servicios significativos en beneficio del prójimo. Así ejercen una preciosa fecundidad espiritual. <b>502. ¿Cuáles son las ofensas a la dignidad del Matrimonio?</b> 2380-2391</p><p>2400<br>Las ofensas a la dignidad del Matrimonio son las siguientes: el adulterio, el divorcio, la poligamia, el incesto, la unión libre (convivencia, concubinato) y el acto sexual antes o fuera del matrimonio. <b>503. ¿Qué declara el séptimo mandamiento?</b> 2401-2402<br>El séptimo mandamiento declara el destino y distribución universal de los bienes; el derecho a la propiedad privada; el respeto a las personas, a sus bienes y a la integridad de la creación. La Iglesia encuentra también en este mandamiento el fundamento de su doctrina social, que comprende la recta gestión en la actividad económica y en la vida social y política; el derecho y el deber del trabajo humano; la justicia y la solidaridad entre las naciones y el amor a los pobres. <b>504. ¿Qué condiciones se requieren para el derecho a la propiedad privada?</b> 2403<br>Existe el derecho a la propiedad privada cuando se ha adquirido o recibido de modo justo, y prevalezca el destino universal de los bienes, para satisfacer las necesidades fundamentales de todos los hombres. <b>505. ¿Cuál es la finalidad de la propiedad privada?</b> 2404-2406<br>La finalidad de la propiedad privada es garantizar la libertad y la dignidad de cada persona, ayudándole a satisfacer las necesidades fundamentales propias, las de aquellos sobre los que tiene responsabilidad, y también las de otros que viven en necesidad. <b>506. ¿Qué otras cosas prescribe el séptimo mandamiento?</b> 2407-2415</p><p>2450-2451<br>El séptimo mandamiento prescribe el respeto a los bienes ajenos mediante la práctica de la justicia y de la caridad, de la templanza y de la solidaridad. En particular, exige el <i>respeto a las promesas y a los contratos estipulados</i>; la <i>reparación de la injusticia cometida</i> y la restitución del bien robado; el respeto a <i>la integridad de la Creación</i>, mediante el uso prudente y moderado de los recursos minerales, vegetales y animales del universo, con singular atención a las especies amenazadas de extinción. <b>507. ¿Cuál debe ser el comportamiento del hombre para con los animales?</b> 2416-2418</p><p>2457<br>El hombre debe tratar a los animales, criaturas de Dios, con benevolencia, evitando tanto el desmedido amor hacia ellos, como su utilización indiscriminada, sobre todo en experimentos científicos, efectuados al margen de los límites razonables y con inútiles sufrimientos para los animales mismos. <b>508. ¿Qué prohíbe el séptimo mandamiento?</b> 2408-2413</p><p>2453-2455<br>El séptimo mandamiento prohíbe ante todo el robo, que es la usurpación del bien ajeno contra la razonable voluntad de su dueño. Esto sucede también cuando se pagan salarios injustos, cuando se especula haciendo variar artificialmente el valor de los bienes para obtener beneficio en detrimento ajeno, y cuando se falsifican cheques y facturas. Prohíbe además cometer fraudes fiscales o comerciales y ocasionar voluntariamente un daño a las propiedades privadas o públicas. Prohíbe igualmente la usura, la corrupción, el abuso privado de bienes sociales, los trabajos culpablemente mal realizados y el despilfarro. <b>509. ¿Cuál es el contenido de la doctrina social de la Iglesia?</b> 2419-2423<br>La doctrina social de la Iglesia, como desarrollo orgánico de la verdad del Evangelio acerca de la dignidad de la persona humana y sus dimensiones sociales, contiene principios de reflexión, formula criterios de juicio y ofrece normas y orientaciones para la acción <b>510. ¿Cuándo interviene la Iglesia en materia social?</b> 2420</p><p>2458<br>La Iglesia interviene emitiendo un juicio moral en materia económica y social, cuando lo exigen los derechos fundamentales de la persona, el bien común o la salvación de las almas. <b>511. ¿Cómo ha de ejercerse la vida social y económica?</b> 2459<br>La vida social y económica ha de ejercerse según los propios métodos, en el ámbito del orden moral, al servicio del hombre en su integridad y de toda la comunidad humana, en el respeto a la justicia social. La vida social y económica debe tener al hombre como autor, centro y fin. <b>512. ¿Qué se opone a la doctrina social de la Iglesia?</b> 2424-2425<br>Se oponen a la doctrina social de la Iglesia los sistemas económicos y sociales que sacrifican los derechos fundamentales de las personas, o que hacen del lucro su regla exclusiva y fin último. Por eso la Iglesia rechaza las ideologías asociadas, en los tiempos modernos, al «comunismo» u otras formas ateas y totalitarias de «socialismo». Rechaza también, en la práctica del «capitalismo», el individualismo y la primacía absoluta de las leyes del mercado sobre el trabajo humano. <b>513. ¿Qué significado tiene el trabajo para el hombre?</b> 2426-2428</p><p>2460-2461<br>Para el hombre, el trabajo es un deber y un derecho, mediante el cual colabora con Dios Creador. En efecto, trabajando con empeño y competencia, la persona actualiza las capacidades inscritas en su naturaleza, exalta los dones del Creador y los talentos recibidos; procura su sustento y el de su familia y sirve a la comunidad humana. Por otra parte, con la gracia de Dios, el trabajo puede ser un medio de santificación y de colaboración con Cristo para la salvación de los demás. <b>514. ¿A qué tipo de trabajo tiene derecho toda persona?</b> 2429,</p><p>2433-2434<br>El acceso a un trabajo seguro y honesto debe estar abierto a todos, sin discriminación injusta, dentro del respeto a la libre iniciativa económica y a una equitativa distribución. <b>515. ¿Cuál es la responsabilidad del Estado con respecto al trabajo?</b> 2431<br>Compete al Estado procurar la seguridad sobre las garantías de las libertades individuales y de la propiedad, además de un sistema monetario estable y de unos servicios públicos eficientes; y vigilar y encauzar el ejercicio de los derechos humanos en el sector económico. Teniendo en cuenta las circunstancias, la sociedad debe ayudar a los ciudadanos a encontrar trabajo. <b>516. ¿Qué compete a los dirigentes de empresa?</b> 2432<br>Los dirigentes de las empresas tienen la responsabilidad económica y ecológica de sus operaciones. Están obligados a considerar el bien de las personas y no solamente el aumento de las ganancias, aunque éstas son necesarias para asegurar las inversiones, el futuro de las empresas, los puestos de trabajo y el buen funcionamiento de la vida económica. <b>517. ¿Qué deberes tienen los trabajadores?</b> 2435<br>Los trabajadores deben cumplir con su trabajo en conciencia, con competencia y dedicación, tratando de resolver los eventuales conflictos mediante el diálogo. El recurso a la huelga no violenta es moralmente legítimo cuando se presenta como el instrumento necesario, en vistas a unas mejoras proporcionadas y teniendo en cuenta el bien común. <b>518. ¿Cómo se realiza la justicia y la solidaridad entre las naciones?</b> 2437-2441<br>En el plano internacional, todas las naciones e instituciones deben obrar con solidaridad y subsidiaridad, a fin de eliminar, o al menos reducir, la miseria, la desigualdad de los recursos y de los medios económicos, las injusticias económicas y sociales, la explotación de las personas, la acumulación de las deudas de los países pobres y los mecanismos perversos que obstaculizan el desarrollo de los países menos desarrollados. <b>519. ¿De qué modo participan los cristianos en la vida política y social?</b> 2442<br>Los fieles cristianos laicos intervienen directamente en la vida política y social, animando con espíritu cristiano las realidades temporales, y colaborando con todos como auténticos testigos del Evangelio y constructores de la paz y de la justicia. <b>520. ¿En qué se inspira el amor a los pobres?</b> 2443-2449</p><p>2462-2463<br>El amor a los pobres se inspira en el Evangelio de las bienaventuranzas y en el ejemplo de Jesús en su constante atención a los pobres. Jesús dijo: «Cuanto hicisteis a uno de estos hermanos míos más pequeños, a mí me lo hicisteis» (<i>Mt</i> 25, 40). El amor a los pobres se realiza mediante la lucha contra la pobreza material, y también contra las numerosas formas de pobreza cultural, moral y religiosa. Las obras de misericordia espirituales y corporales, así como las numerosas instituciones benéficas a lo largo de los siglos, son un testimonio concreto del amor preferencial por los pobres que caracteriza a los discípulos de Jesús. <b>521. ¿Qué deberes tiene el hombre hacia la verdad?</b> 2462-2470</p><p>2504<br>Toda persona está llamada a la sinceridad y a la veracidad en el hacer y en el hablar. Cada uno tiene el deber de buscar la verdad y adherirse a ella, ordenando la propia vida según las exigencias de la verdad. En Jesucristo, la verdad de Dios se ha manifestado íntegramente: <i>Él es la Verdad</i>. Quien le sigue vive en el Espíritu de la verdad, y rechaza la doblez, la simulación y la hipocresía. <b>522. ¿Cómo se da testimonio de la verdad?</b> 2471-2474</p><p>2505-2506<br>El cristiano debe dar testimonio de la verdad evangélica en todos los campos de su actividad pública y privada; incluso con el sacrificio, si es necesario, de la propia vida. El martirio es el testimonio supremo de la verdad de la fe. <b>523.¿Qué prohíbe el octavo mandamiento?</b> 2475-2487</p><p>2507-2509<br>El octavo mandamiento prohíbe:<br>1) El <i>falso testimonio, el perjurio y la mentira</i>, cuya gravedad se mide según la naturaleza de la verdad que deforma, de las circunstancias, de las intenciones del mentiroso y de los daños ocasionados a las víctimas.</p><p>2) El <i>juicio temerario</i>, la <i>maledicencia</i>, la <i>difamación</i> y la <i>calumnia</i>, que perjudican o destruyen la buena reputación y el honor, a los que tiene derecho toda persona.</p><p>3) El <i>halago</i>, la <i>adulación</i> o la <i>complacencia</i>, sobre todo si están orientados a pecar gravemente o para lograr ventajas ilícitas.</p><p>Una culpa cometida contra la verdad debe ser reparada, si ha causado daño a otro. <b>524. ¿Qué exige el octavo mandamiento?</b> 2488-2492</p><p>2510-2511<br>El octavo mandamiento exige el respeto a la verdad, acompañado de la discreción de la caridad: en la <i>comunicación</i> y en la <i>información</i>, que deben valorar el bien personal y común, la defensa de la vida privada y el peligro del escándalo; en la reserva de los <i>secretos profesionales</i>, que han de ser siempre guardados, salvo en casos excepcionales y por motivos graves y proporcionados. También se requiere el respeto a las <i>confidencias</i> hechas bajo la exigencia de secreto. <b>525. ¿Cuál debe ser el uso de los medios de comunicación social?</b> 2493-2499</p><p>2512<br>La información a través de los medios de comunicación social debe estar al servicio del bien común, y debe ser siempre veraz en su contenido e íntegra, salvando la justicia y la caridad. Debe también expresarse de manera honesta y conveniente, respetando escrupulosamente las leyes morales, los legítimos derechos y la dignidad de las personas. <b>526. ¿Qué relación existe entre la verdad, la belleza y el arte sacro?</b> 2500-2503</p><p>2513<br>La verdad es bella por sí misma. Supone el esplendor de la belleza espiritual. Existen, más allá de la palabra, numerosas formas de expresión de la verdad, en particular en las obras de arte. Son fruto de un talento donado por Dios y del esfuerzo del hombre. El <i>arte sacro</i>, para ser bello y verdadero, debe evocar y glorificar el Misterio del Dios manifestado en Cristo, y llevar a la adoración y al amor de Dios Creador y Salvador, excelsa Belleza de Verdad y Amor. <b>527. ¿Qué exige el noveno mandamiento?</b> 2514-2516</p><p>2528-2530<br>El noveno mandamiento exige vencer la concupiscencia carnal en los pensamientos y en los deseos. La lucha contra esta concupiscencia supone la purificación del corazón y la práctica de la virtud de la templanza. <b>528. ¿Qué prohíbe el noveno mandamiento?</b> 2517-2519</p><p>2531-2532<br>El noveno mandamiento prohíbe consentir pensamientos y deseos relativos a acciones prohibidas por el sexto mandamiento. <b>529. ¿Cómo se llega a la pureza del corazón?</b> 2520<br>El bautizado, con la gracia de Dios y luchando contra los deseos desordenados, alcanza la pureza del corazón mediante la virtud y el don de la castidad, la pureza de intención, la pureza de la mirada exterior e interior, la disciplina de los sentimientos y de la imaginación, y con la oración. <b>530.¿Qué otras cosas exige la pureza?</b> 2521-2527</p><p>2533<br>La pureza exige el <i>pudor</i>, que, preservando la intimidad de la persona, expresa la delicadeza de la castidad y regula las miradas y gestos, en conformidad con la dignidad de las personas y con la relación que existe entre ellas. El pudor libera del difundido erotismo y mantiene alejado de cuanto favorece la curiosidad morbosa. Requiere también una <i>purificación del ambiente social</i>, mediante la lucha constante contra la permisividad de las costumbres, basada en un erróneo concepto de la libertad humana. <b>531. ¿Qué manda y qué prohíbe el décimo mandamiento?</b> 2534-2540</p><p>2551-2554<br>Este mandamiento, que complementa al precedente, exige una actitud interior de respeto en relación con la propiedad ajena, y prohíbe la <i>avaricia</i>, el <i>deseo desordenado</i> de los bienes de otros y la <i>envidia</i>, que consiste en la tristeza experimentada ante los bienes del prójimo y en el deseo desordenado de apropiarse de los mismos. <b>532. ¿Qué exige Jesús con la pobreza del corazón?</b> 2544-2547</p><p>2556<br>Jesús exige a sus discípulos que le antepongan a Él respecto a todo y a todos. El desprendimiento de las riquezas –según el espíritu de la pobreza evangélica– y el abandono a la providencia de Dios, que nos libera de la preocupación por el mañana, nos preparan para la bienaventuranza de «los pobres de espíritu, porque de ellos es el Reino de los Cielos» (<i>Mt</i> 5, 3). <b>533. ¿Cuál es el mayor deseo del hombre?</b> 2548-2550</p><p>2557<br>El mayor deseo del hombre es ver a Dios. Éste es el grito de todo su ser: «¡Quiero ver a Dios!». El hombre, en efecto, realiza su verdadera y plena felicidad en la visión y en la bienaventuranza de Aquel que lo ha creado por amor, y lo atrae hacia sí en su infinito amor.<br><i>«El que ve a Dios obtiene todos los bienes que se pueden concebir» </p><p></i>(San Gregorio de Nisa). <b>534. ¿Qué es la oración?</b> 2558-2565</p><p>2590<br>La oración es la elevación del alma a Dios o la petición al Señor de bienes conformes a su voluntad. La oración es siempre un don de Dios que sale al encuentro del hombre. La oración cristiana es relación personal y viva de los hijos de Dios con su Padre infinitamente bueno, con su Hijo Jesucristo y con el Espíritu Santo, que habita en sus corazones. <b>535. ¿Por qué existe una vocación universal a la oración?</b> 2566-2567</p><p>2591<br>Existe una vocación universal a la oración, porque Dios, por medio de la creación, llama a todo ser desde la nada; e incluso después de la caída, el hombre sigue siendo capaz de reconocer a su Creador, conservando el deseo de Aquel que le ha llamado a la existencia. Todas las religiones y, de modo particular, toda la historia de la salvación, dan testimonio de este deseo de Dios por parte del hombre; pero es Dios quien primero e incesantemente atrae a todos al encuentro misterioso de la oración. <b>536. ¿En qué sentido Abraham es un modelo de oración?</b> 2570-2573</p><p>2592<br>Abraham es un modelo de oración porque camina en la presencia de Dios, le escucha y obedece. Su oración es un combate de la fe porque, aún en los momentos de prueba, él continúa creyendo que Dios es fiel. Aún más, después de recibir en su propia tienda la visita del Señor que le confía sus designios, Abraham se atreve a interceder con audaz confianza por los pecadores. <b>537. ¿Cómo oraba Moisés?</b> 2574-2577</p><p>2593<br>La oración de Moisés es modelo de la oración contemplativa: Dios, que llama a Moisés desde la zarza ardiente, conversa frecuente y largamente con él «cara a cara, como habla un hombre con su amigo» (<i>Ex</i> 33, 11). De esta intimidad con Dios, Moisés saca la fuerza para interceder con tenacidad a favor del pueblo; su oración prefigura así la intercesión del único mediador, Cristo Jesús. <b>538. ¿Qué relaciones tienen en el Antiguo Testamento el templo y el rey con la oración?</b> 2578-2580</p><p>2594<br>A la sombra de la morada de Dios –el Arca de la Alianza y más tarde el Templo– se desarrolla la oración del Pueblo de Dios bajo la guía de sus pastores. Entre ellos, David es el rey «según el corazón de Dios» (cf <i>Hch</i> 13, 22), el pastor que ora por su pueblo. Su oración es un modelo para la oración del pueblo, puesto que es adhesión a la promesa divina, y confianza plena de amor, en Aquél que es el solo Rey y Señor. <b>539. ¿Qué papel desempeña la oración en la misión de los Profetas?</b> 2581-2584<br>Los Profetas sacan de la oración luz y fuerza para exhortar al pueblo a la fe y a la conversión del corazón: entran en una gran intimidad con Dios e interceden por los hermanos, a quienes anuncian cuanto han visto y oído del Señor. Elías es el padre de los Profetas, de aquellos que buscan el Rostro de Dios. En el monte Carmelo, obtiene el retorno del pueblo a la fe gracias a la intervención de Dios, al que Elías suplicó así: «¡Respóndeme, Señor, respóndeme!» (<i>1R</i> 18, 37). <b>540. ¿Cuál es la importancia de los Salmos en la oración?</b> 2579</p><p>2585-2589</p><p>2596-2597<br>Los Salmos son el vértice de la oración en el Antiguo Testamento: la Palabra de Dios se convierte en oración del hombre. Indisociablemente individual y comunitaria, esta oración, inspirada por el Espíritu Santo, canta las maravillas de Dios en la creación y en la historia de la salvación. Cristo ha orado con los Salmos y los ha llevado a su cumplimiento. Por esto, siguen siendo un elemento esencial y permanente de la oración de la Iglesia, que se adaptan a los hombres de toda condición y tiempo. <b>541. ¿De quién aprendió Jesús a orar?</b> 2599</p><p>2620<br>Conforme a su corazón de hombre, Jesús aprendió a orar de su madre y de la tradición judía. Pero su oración brota de una fuente más secreta, puesto que es el Hijo de Dios que, en su humanidad santa, dirige a su Padre la oración filial perfecta. <b>542. ¿Cuándo oraba Jesús?</b> 2600-2604</p><p>2620<br>El Evangelio muestra frecuentemente a Jesús en oración. Lo vemos retirarse en soledad, con preferencia durante la noche; ora antes de los momentos decisivos de su misión o de la misión de sus apóstoles. De hecho toda la vida de Jesús es oración, pues está en constante comunión de amor con el Padre. <b>543. ¿Cómo oró Jesús en su pasión?</b> 2605-2606</p><p>2620<br>La oración de Jesús durante su agonía en el huerto de Getsemaní y sus últimas palabras en la Cruz revelan la profundidad de su oración filial: Jesús lleva a cumplimiento el designio amoroso del Padre, y toma sobre sí todas las angustias de la humanidad, todas las súplicas e intercesiones de la historia de la salvación; las presenta al Padre, quien las acoge y escucha, más allá de toda esperanza, resucitándolo de entre los muertos. <b>544. ¿Cómo nos enseña Jesús a orar?</b> 2607-2614</p><p>2621<br>Jesús nos enseña a orar no sólo con la oración del <i>Padre nuestro</i>, sino también cuando Él mismo ora. Así, además del contenido, nos enseña las disposiciones requeridas por una verdadera oración: la pureza del corazón, que busca el Reino y perdona a los enemigos; la confianza audaz y filial, que va más allá de lo que sentimos y comprendemos; la vigilancia, que protege al discípulo de la tentación. <b>545. ¿Porqué es eficaz nuestra oración?</b> 2615-2616<br>Nuestra oración es eficaz porque está unida mediante la fe a la oración de Jesús. En Él la oración cristiana se convierte en comunión de amor con el Padre; podemos presentar nuestras peticiones a Dios y ser escuchados: «Pedid y recibiréis, para que vuestro gozo sea colmado» (<i>Jn</i> 16, 24). <b>546. ¿Cómo oraba la Virgen María?</b> 2617;2622</p><p>2618;2674</p><p>2679<br>La oración de María se caracteriza por su fe y por la ofrenda generosa de todo su ser a Dios. La Madre de Jesús es también la Nueva Eva, la «Madre de los vivientes» (cf <i>Gn</i> 3, 20): Ella ruega a Jesús, su Hijo, por las necesidades de los hombres. <b>547. ¿Existe en el Evangelio una oración de María?</b> 2619<br>Además de la intercesión de María en Caná de Galilea, el Evangelio nos entrega el <i>Magnificat</i> (<i>Lc</i> 1, 46-55), que es el cántico de la Madre de Dios y el de la Iglesia, la acción de gracias gozosa, que sube desde el corazón de los pobres porque su esperanza se realiza en el cumplimiento de las promesas divinas. <b>548. ¿Cómo oraba la primera comunidad cristiana de Jerusalén?</b> 2623-2624<br>Al comienzo del libro de los Hechos de los Apóstoles, se narra que en la primera comunidad de Jerusalén, educada por el Espíritu Santo en la vida de oración, los creyentes «acudían asiduamente a las enseñanzas de los apóstoles, a la comunión, a la fracción del pan y a las oraciones» (<i>Hch</i> 2, 42). <b>549. ¿Cómo interviene el Espíritu Santo en la oración de la Iglesia?</b> 2623. 2625<br>El Espíritu Santo, Maestro interior de la oración cristiana, educa a la Iglesia en la vida de oración, y le hace entrar cada vez con mayor profundidad en la contemplación y en la unión con el insondable misterio de Cristo. Las formas de oración, tal como las revelan los escritos apostólicos y canónicos, siguen siendo normativas para la oración cristiana. <b>550. ¿Cuáles son las formas esenciales de oración cristiana?</b> 2643-2644<br>Las formas esenciales de oración cristiana son la bendición y la adoración, la oración de petición y de intercesión, la acción de gracias y la alabanza. La Eucaristía contiene y expresa todas las formas de oración. <b>551. ¿Qué es la bendición?</b> 2626-2627</p><p>2645<br>La bendición es la respuesta agradecida del hombre a los dones de Dios: nosotros bendecimos al Todopoderoso, quien primeramente nos bendice y colma con sus dones. <b>552. ¿Cómo se puede definir la adoración?</b> 2628<br>La adoración es la <i>prosternación</i> del hombre, que se reconoce criatura ante su Creador tres veces santo. <b>553. ¿Cuáles son las diversas formas de la oración de petición?</b> 2629-2633</p><p>2646<br>La oración de petición puede adoptar diversas formas: petición de perdón o también súplica humilde y confiada por todas nuestras necesidades espirituales y materiales; pero la primera realidad que debemos desear es la llegada del Reino de Dios. <b>554. ¿En qué consiste la intercesión?</b> 2634-2636</p><p>2647<br>La intercesión consiste en pedir en favor de otro. Esta oración nos une y conforma con la oración de Jesús, que intercede ante el Padre por todos los hombres, en particular por los pecadores. La intercesión debe extenderse también a los enemigos. <b>555. ¿Cuándo se da gracias a Dios?</b> 2637-2638</p><p>2648<br>La Iglesia da gracias a Dios incesantemente, sobre todo cuando celebra la Eucaristía, en la cual Cristo hace partícipe a la Iglesia de su acción de gracias al Padre. Todo acontecimiento se convierte para el cristiano en motivo de acción de gracias. <b>556. ¿Qué es la oración de alabanza?</b> 2639-2643</p><p>2649<br>La alabanza es la forma de oración que, de manera más directa, reconoce que Dios es Dios; es totalmente desinteresada: canta a Dios por sí mismo y le da gloria por lo que Él es. <b>557. ¿Cuál es la importancia de la Tradición respecto a la oración?</b> 2650-2651<br>A través de la Tradición viva, es como en la Iglesia el Espíritu Santo enseña a orar a los hijos de Dios. En efecto, la oración no se reduce a la manifestación espontánea de un impulso interior, sino que implica contemplación, estudio y comprensión de las realidades espirituales que se experimentan.<br><b>FUENTES DE LA ORACIÓN</b> <b>558. ¿Cuáles son las fuentes de la oración cristiana?</b> 2652-2662</p><p>2658<br>Las fuentes de la oración cristiana son: la <i>Palabra de Dios</i>, que nos transmite «la ciencia suprema de Cristo» (<i>Flp</i> 3, 8); la <i>Liturgia de la Iglesia</i>, que anuncia, actualiza y comunica el misterio de la salvación; las <i>virtudes teologales</i>; las <i>situaciones cotidianas</i>, porque en ellas podemos encontrar a Dios.<br><i>«Te amo, Señor, y la única gracia que te pido es amarte eternamente. Dios mío, si mi lengua no puede decir en todos los momentos que te amo, quiero que mi corazón te lo repita cada vez que respiro»</i> (San Juan María Vianney). <b>559. ¿Hay en la Iglesia diversos caminos de oración?</b> 2663<br>En la Iglesia hay diversos caminos de oración, según los diversos contextos históricos, sociales y culturales. Corresponde al Magisterio discernir la fidelidad de estos caminos a la tradición de la fe apostólica, y compete a los pastores y catequistas explicar su sentido, que se refiere siempre a Jesucristo. <b>560. ¿Cuál es el camino de nuestra oración?</b> 2664</p><p>2680-2681<br>El camino de nuestra oración es Cristo, porque ésta se dirige a Dios nuestro Padre pero llega a Él sólo si, al menos implícitamente, oramos en el Nombre de Jesús. Su humanidad es, pues, la única vía por la que el Espíritu Santo nos enseña a orar a Dios nuestro Padre. Por esto las oraciones litúrgicas concluyen con la fórmula: «Por Jesucristo nuestro Señor». <b>561. ¿Cuál es el papel del Espíritu Santo en la oración?</b> 2670-2672</p><p>2680-2681<br>Puesto que el Espíritu Santo es el Maestro interior de la oración cristiana y «nosotros no sabemos pedir como conviene» (<i>Rm</i> 8, 26), la Iglesia nos exhorta a invocarlo e implorarlo en toda ocasión: «¡Ven, Espíritu Santo!». <b>562. ¿En qué sentido es mariana la oración cristiana?</b> 2673-2679</p><p>2682<br>En virtud de la singular cooperación de María con la acción del Espíritu Santo, la Iglesia ama rezar a María y orar con María, la orante perfecta, para alabar e invocar con Ella al Señor. Pues María, en efecto, nos «muestra el camino» que es su Hijo, el único Mediador. <b>563. ¿Cómo reza la Iglesia a María?</b> 2676-2678</p><p>2682<br>La Iglesia reza a María, ante todo, con el <i>Ave María</i>, oración con la que la Iglesia pide la intercesión de la Virgen. Otras oraciones marianas son el <i>Rosario</i>, el himno <i>Acáthistos</i>, la <i>Paraclisis</i>, los himnos y cánticos de las diversas tradiciones cristianas. <b>564. ¿De qué modo los santos son maestros de la oración?</b> 2683-2684</p><p>2692-2693<br>Los santos son para los cristianos modelos de oración, y a ellos les pedimos también que intercedan, ante la Santísima Trinidad, por nosotros y por el mundo entero; su intercesión es el más alto servicio que prestan al designio de Dios. En la comunión de los santos, a lo largo de la historia de la Iglesia, se han desarrollado diversos tipos de <i>espiritualidad</i>, que enseñan a vivir y a practicar la oración. <b>565. ¿Quién puede enseñar a rezar?</b> 2685-2690</p><p>2694-2695<br>La familia cristiana constituye el primer ámbito de educación a la oración. Hay que recomendar de manera particular la oración cotidiana en familia, pues es el primer testimonio de vida de oración de la Iglesia. La catequesis, los grupos de oración, la «dirección espiritual» son una escuela y una ayuda para la oración. <b>566. ¿Cuáles son los lugares favorables para la oración?</b> 2691</p><p>2696<br>Se puede orar en cualquier sitio, pero elegir bien el lugar tiene importancia para la oración. El templo es el lugar propio de la oración litúrgica y de la adoración eucarística; también otros lugares ayudan a orar, como «un rincón de oración» en la casa familiar, un monasterio, un santuario. <b>567. ¿Qué momentos son los más indicados para la oración?</b> 2697-2698</p><p>2720<br>Todos los momentos son indicados para la oración, pero la Iglesia propone a los fieles ritmos destinados a alimentar la oración continua: oración de la mañana y del atardecer, antes y después de las comidas, la Liturgia de la Horas, la Eucaristía dominical, el Santo Rosario, las fiestas del año litúrgico.<br><i>«Es necesario acordarse de Dios más a menudo que de respirar»</i> (San Gregorio Nacianceno). <b>568. ¿Cuáles son las expresiones de la vida de oración?</b> 2697-2699<br>La tradición cristiana ha conservado tres modos principales de expresar y vivir la oración: la oración vocal, la meditación y la oración contemplativa. Su rasgo común es el recogimiento del corazón. <b>569. ¿En qué se caracteriza la oración vocal?</b> 2700-2704</p><p>2722<br>La oración vocal asocia el cuerpo a la oración interior del corazón; incluso quien practica la más interior de las oraciones no podría prescindir del todo en su vida cristiana de la oración vocal. En cualquier caso, ésta debe brotar siempre de una fe personal. Con el <i>Padre nuestro</i>, Jesús nos ha enseñado una fórmula perfecta de oración vocal. <b>570. ¿Qué es la meditación?</b> 2705-2708</p><p>2723<br>La meditación es una reflexión orante, que parte sobre todo de la Palabra de Dios en la Biblia; hace intervenir a la inteligencia, la imaginación, la emoción, el deseo, para profundizar nuestra fe, convertir el corazón y fortalecer la voluntad de seguir a Cristo; es una etapa preliminar hacia la unión de amor con el Señor. <b>571. ¿Qué es la oración contemplativa?</b> 2709-2719</p><p>2724</p><p>2739-2741<br>La oración contemplativa es una mirada sencilla a Dios en el silencio y el amor. Es un don de Dios, un momento de fe pura, durante el cual el que ora busca a Cristo, se entrega a la voluntad amorosa del Padre y recoge su ser bajo la acción del Espíritu. Santa Teresa de Jesús la define como una íntima relación de amistad: «estando muchas veces tratando a solas con quien sabemos que nos ama». <b>572. ¿Por qué la oración es un combate?</b> 2725<br>La oración es un don de la gracia, pero presupone siempre una respuesta decidida por nuestra parte, pues el que ora combate contra sí mismo, contra el ambiente y, sobre todo, contra el Tentador, que hace todo lo posible para apartarlo de la oración. El combate de la oración es inseparable del progreso en la vida espiritual: se ora como se vive, porque se vive como se ora. <b>573. ¿Cuáles son las objeciones a la oración?</b> 2726-2728</p><p>2752-2753<br>Además de los conceptos erróneos sobre la oración, muchos piensan que no tienen tiempo para orar o que es inútil orar. Quienes oran pueden desalentarse frente a las dificultades o los aparentes fracasos. Para vencer estos obstáculos son necesarias la humildad, la confianza y la perseverancia. <b>574. ¿Cuáles son las dificultades para la oración?</b> 2729-2733</p><p>2754-2755<br>La dificultad habitual para la oración es la <i>distracción</i>, que separa de la atención a Dios, y puede incluso descubrir aquello a lo que realmente estamos apegados. Nuestro corazón debe entonces volverse a Dios con humildad. A menudo la oración se ve dificultada por la <i>sequedad</i>, cuya superación permite adherirse en la fe al Señor incluso sin consuelo sensible. La <i>acedía</i> es una forma de pereza espiritual, debida al relajamiento de la vigilancia y al descuido de la custodia del corazón. <b>575. ¿Cómo fortalecer nuestra confianza filial?</b> 2734-2741</p><p>2756<br>La confianza filial se pone a prueba cuando pensamos que no somos escuchados. Debemos preguntarnos, entonces, si Dios es para nosotros un Padre cuya voluntad deseamos cumplir, o más bien un simple medio para obtener lo que queremos. Si nuestra oración se une a la de Jesús, sabemos que Él nos concede mucho más que este o aquel don, pues recibimos al Espíritu Santo, que transforma nuestro corazón. <b>576. ¿Es posible orar en todo momento?</b> 2742-2745</p><p>2757<br>Orar es siempre posible, pues el tiempo del cristiano es el tiempo de Cristo resucitado, que está con nosotros «todos los días» (<i>Mt</i> 28, 20). Oración y vida cristiana son, por ello, inseparables.<br><i>«Es posible, incluso en el mercado o en un paseo solitario, hacer una frecuente y fervorosa oración. Sentados en vuestra tienda, comprando o vendiendo, o incluso haciendo la cocina»</i> (San Juan Crisóstomo). <b>577. ¿Cuál es la oración de la <i>Hora</i> de Jesús?</b> 2604</p><p>2746-2751</p><p>2758<br>Se llama la oración de la <i>Hora de Jesús</i> a la oración sacerdotal de Éste en la Última Cena. Jesús, Sumo Sacerdote de la Nueva Alianza, dirige su oración al Padre cuando llega la <i>Hora</i> de su «paso» a Dios, la <i>Hora</i> de su sacrificio. <b>SEGUNDA SECCIÓN</p><p>LA ORACIÓN DEL SEÑOR:</p><p>PADRE NUESTRO</b><br><b>Padre nuestro</b><br>Padre nuestro que estás en el cielo, </p><p>santificado sea tu Nombre;</p><p>venga a nosotros tu Reino;</p><p>hágase tu voluntad </p><p>en la tierra como en el cielo.</p><p>Danos hoy </p><p>nuestro pan de cada día;</p><p>perdona nuestras ofensas,</p><p>como también nosotros perdonamos </p><p>a los que nos ofenden;</p><p>no nos dejes caer en la tentación,</p><p>y líbranos del mal. Amén. <b>Pater Noster</b><br>Pater noster qui es in caelis:</p><p>sanctificetur Nomen Tuum;</p><p>adveniat Regnum Tuum;</p><p>fiat voluntas Tua,</p><p>sicut in caelo et in terra.</p><p>Panem nostrum </p><p>quotidianum da nobis hodie;</p><p>et dimitte nobis debita nostra,</p><p>sicut et nos </p><p>dimittimus debitoribus nostris;</p><p>et ne nos inducas in tentationem;</p><p>sed libera nos a Malo. Amen <b>578. ¿Cuál es el origen de la oración del <i>Padre nuestro</i>?</b> 2759-2760</p><p>2773<br>Jesús nos enseñó esta insustituible oración cristiana, el <i>Padre nuestro</i>, un día en el que un discípulo, al verle orar, le rogó: «Maestro, enséñanos a orar» (<i>Lc</i> 11, 1). La tradición litúrgica de la Iglesia siempre ha usado el texto de San Mateo (6, 9-13). <b>579. ¿Qué lugar ocupa el <i>Padre nuestro</i> en las Escrituras?</b> 2761-2764</p><p>2774<br>El <i>Padre nuestro</i> es «el resumen de todo el Evangelio» (Tertuliano); «es la más perfecta de todas las oraciones» (Santo Tomás de Aquino). Situado en el centro del Sermón de la Montaña (<i>Mt</i> 5-7), recoge en forma de oración el contenido esencial del Evangelio. <b>580. ¿Por qué se le llama «la oración del Señor»?</b> 2765-2766</p><p>2775<br>Al <i>Padre nuestro</i> se le llama «Oración dominical», es decir «la oración del Señor», porque nos la enseñó el mismo Jesús, nuestro Señor. <b>581. ¿Qué lugar ocupa el <i>Padre nuestro</i> en la oración de la Iglesia?</b> 2767-2772</p><p>2776<br>Oración por excelencia de la Iglesia, el <i>Padre nuestro</i> es «entregado» en el Bautismo, para manifestar el nacimiento nuevo a la vida divina de los hijos de Dios. La Eucaristía revela el sentido pleno del <i>Padre nuestro</i>, puesto que sus peticiones, fundándose en el misterio de la salvación ya realizado, serán plenamente atendidas con la Segunda venida del Señor. El <i>Padre nuestro</i> es parte integrante de la Liturgia de las Horas. <b>582. ¿Por qué podemos acercarnos al Padre con plena confianza?</b> 2777-2778</p><p>2797<br>Podemos acercarnos al Padre con plena confianza, porque Jesús, nuestro Redentor, nos introduce en la presencia del Padre, y su Espíritu hace de nosotros hijos de Dios. Por ello, podemos rezar el <i>Padre nuestro</i> con confianza sencilla y filial, gozosa seguridad y humilde audacia, con la certeza de ser amados y escuchados. <b>583. ¿Cómo es posible invocar a Dios como «Padre»?</b> 2779-2785</p><p>2789</p><p>2798-2800<br>Podemos invocar a Dios como «Padre», porque el Hijo de Dios hecho hombre nos lo ha revelado, y su Espíritu nos lo hace conocer. La invocación del Padre nos hace entrar en su misterio con asombro siempre nuevo, y despierta en nosotros el deseo de un comportamiento filial. Por consiguiente, con la oración del Señor, somos conscientes de ser hijos del Padre en el Hijo. <b>584. ¿Por qué decimos Padre «nuestro»?</b> 2786-2790</p><p>2801<br>«<i>Nuestro</i>» expresa una relación con Dios totalmente nueva. Cuando oramos al Padre, lo adoramos y lo glorificamos con el Hijo y el Espíritu. En Cristo, nosotros somos <i>su</i> pueblo, y Él es <i>nuestro</i> Dios, ahora y por siempre. Decimos, de hecho, Padre «nuestro», porque la Iglesia de Cristo es la comunión de una multitud de hermanos, que tienen «un solo corazón y una sola alma» (<i>Hch</i> 4, 32). <b>585. ¿Con qué espíritu de comunión y de misión nos dirigimos a Dios como Padre «nuestro»?</b> 2791-2793</p><p>2801<br>Dado que el <i>Padre nuestro</i> es un bien común de los bautizados, éstos sienten la urgente llamada a participar en la oración de Jesús por la unidad de sus discípulos. Rezar el <i>Padre nuestro</i> es orar con todos los hombres y en favor de la entera humanidad, a fin de que todos conozcan al único y verdadero Dios y se reúnan en la unidad. <b>586. ¿Qué significa la expresión «que estás en el cielo»?</b> 2794-2796</p><p>2802<br>La expresión bíblica «cielo» no indica un lugar sino un modo de ser: Dios está más allá y por encima de todo; la expresión designa la majestad, la santidad de Dios, y también su presencia en el corazón de los justos. El cielo, o la Casa del Padre, constituye la verdadera patria hacia la que tendemos en la esperanza, mientras nos encontramos aún en la tierra. Vivimos ya en esta patria, donde nuestra «vida está oculta con Cristo en Dios» (<i>Col</i> 3, 3). <b>587. ¿Cómo está compuesta la oración del Señor?</b> 2803-2806</p><p>2857<br>La oración del Señor contiene siete peticiones a Dios Padre. Las tres primeras, más teologales, nos atraen hacia Él, para su gloria, pues lo propio del amor es pensar primeramente en Aquel que amamos. Estas tres súplicas sugieren lo que, en particular, debemos pedirle: la santificación de su Nombre, la venida de su Reino y la realización de su voluntad. Las cuatro últimas peticiones presentan al Padre de misericordia nuestras miserias y nuestras esperanzas: le piden que nos alimente, que nos perdone, que nos defienda ante la tentación y nos libre del Maligno. <b>588. ¿Qué significa «Santificado sea tu Nombre»?</b> 2807-2812</p><p>2858<br>Santificar el Nombre de Dios es, ante todo, una alabanza que reconoce a Dios como Santo. En efecto, Dios ha revelado su santo Nombre a Moisés, y ha querido que <i>su</i> pueblo le fuese consagrado como una nación santa en la que Él habita. <b>589. ¿Cómo se santifica el Nombre de Dios en nosotros y en el mundo?</b> 2813-2815<br>Santificar el Nombre de Dios, que «nos llama a la santidad» (<i>1Ts</i> 4, 7), es desear que la consagración bautismal vivifique toda nuestra vida. Asimismo, es pedir que, con nuestra vida y nuestra oración, el Nombre de Dios sea conocido y bendecido por todos los hombres. <b>590. ¿Qué pide la Iglesia cuando suplica «Venga a nosotros tu Reino»?</b> 2816-2821</p><p>2859<br>La Iglesia invoca la venida final del Reino de Dios, mediante el retorno de Cristo en la gloria. Pero la Iglesia ora también para que el Reino de Dios crezca aquí ya desde ahora, gracias a la santificación de los hombres en el Espíritu y al compromiso de éstos al servicio de la justicia y de la paz, según las Bienaventuranzas. Esta petición es el grito del Espíritu y de la Esposa: «Ven, Señor Jesús» (<i>Ap</i> 22, 20). <b>591. ¿Por qué pedimos «Hágase tu voluntad en la tierra como en el cielo»?</b> 2822-2827</p><p>2860<br>La voluntad del Padre es que «todos los hombres se salven» (<i>1Tm</i> 2, 4). Para esto ha venido Jesús: para cumplir perfectamente la Voluntad salvífica del Padre. Nosotros pedimos a Dios Padre que una nuestra voluntad a la de su Hijo, a ejemplo de María Santísima y de los santos. Le pedimos que su benevolente designio se realice plenamente sobre la tierra, como se ha realizado en el cielo. Por la oración, podemos «distinguir cuál es la voluntad de Dios» (<i>Rm</i> 12, 2), y obtener «constancia para cumplirla» (<i>Hb</i> 10, 36). <b>592. ¿Cuál es el sentido de la petición «Danos hoy nuestro pan de cada día»?</b> 2828-2834</p><p>2861<br>Al pedir a Dios, con el confiado abandono de los hijos, el alimento cotidiano necesario a cada cual para su subsistencia, reconocemos hasta qué punto Dios Padre es bueno, más allá de toda bondad. Le pedimos también la gracia de saber obrar, de modo que la justicia y la solidaridad permitan que la abundancia de los unos cubra las necesidades de los otros. <b>593. ¿Cuál es el sentido específicamente cristiano de esta petición?</b> 2835-2837</p><p>2861<br>Puesto que «no sólo de pan vive el hombre, sino de todo lo que sale de la boca de Dios» (<i>Mt</i> 4, 4), la petición sobre el pan cotidiano se refiere igualmente al hambre de la <i>Palabra de Dios</i> y del <i>Cuerpo de Cristo</i>, recibido en la Eucaristía, así como al hambre del <i>Espíritu Santo</i>. Lo pedimos, con una confianza absoluta, para <i>hoy</i>, el hoy de Dios: y esto se nos concede, sobre todo, en la Eucaristía, que anticipa el banquete del Reino venidero. <b>594. ¿Por qué decimos «Perdona nuestras ofensas como también nosotros perdonamos a los que nos ofenden»?</b> 2838-2839</p><p>2862<br>Al pedir a Dios Padre que nos perdone, nos reconocemos ante Él pecadores; pero confesamos, al mismo tiempo, su misericordia, porque, en su Hijo y mediante los sacramentos, «obtenemos la redención, la remisión de nuestros pecados» (<i>Col</i> 1, 14). Ahora bien, nuestra petición será atendida a condición de que nosotros, antes, hayamos, por nuestra parte, perdonado. <b>595. ¿Cómo es posible el perdón?</b> 2840-2845</p><p>2862<br>La misericordia penetra en nuestros corazones solamente si también nosotros sabemos perdonar, incluso a nuestros enemigos. Aunque para el hombre parece imposible cumplir con esta exigencia, el corazón que se entrega al Espíritu Santo puede, a ejemplo de Cristo, amar hasta el extremo de la caridad, cambiar la herida en compasión, transformar la ofensa en intercesión. El perdón participa de la misericordia divina, y es una cumbre de la oración cristiana. <b>596. ¿Qué significa «No nos dejes caer en la tentación»?</b> 2846-2849</p><p>2863<br>Pedimos a Dios Padre que no nos deje solos y a merced de la tentación. Pedimos al Espíritu saber discernir, por una parte, entre la <i>prueba</i>, que nos hace crecer en el bien, y la <i>tentación</i>, que conduce al pecado y a la muerte; y, por otra parte, entre <i>ser tentado</i> y <i>consentir</i> en la tentación. Esta petición nos une a Jesús, que ha vencido la tentación con su oración. Pedimos la gracia de la vigilancia y de la perseverancia final. <b>597. ¿Por qué concluimos suplicando «Y líbranos del mal»?</b> 2850-2854</p><p>2864<br>El mal designa la persona de Satanás, que se opone a Dios y que es «el seductor del mundo entero» (<i>Ap</i> 12, 9). La victoria sobre el diablo ya fue alcanzada por Cristo; pero nosotros oramos a fin de que la familia humana sea liberada de Satanás y de sus obras. Pedimos también el don precioso de la paz y la gracia de la espera perseverante en el retorno de Cristo, que nos librará definitivamente del Maligno. <b>598. ¿Qué significa el «Amén» final?</b> 2855-2856</p><p>2865<br><i>«Después, terminada la oración, dices: Amén, refrendando por medio de este Amén, que significa “Así sea”, lo que contiene la oración que Dios nos enseñó»</i> (San Cirilo de Jerusalén).<br>APÉNDICE <b>ORACIONES COMUNES</b><br><b>FÓRMULAS </p><p>DE DOCTRINA CATÓLICA</b><br><b>ORACIONES COMUNES</b><br><b>Señal de la Cruz</b><br>En el nombre del Padre</p><p>y del Hijo</p><p>y del Espíritu Santo. Amén.<br><b>Signum Crucis</b><br>In nómine Patris,</p><p>et Fílii,</p><p>et Spíritus Sancti. Amen <b>Gloria al Padre</b><br>Gloria al Padre</p><p>y al Hijo</p><p>y al Espíritu Santo.</p><p>Como era en el principio,</p><p>ahora y siempre,</p><p>por los siglos de los siglos. Amén. <b>Gloria Patri</b><br>Glória Patri,</p><p>et Fílio,</p><p>et Spirítui Sancto. </p><p>Sicut erat in princípio,</p><p>et nunc et semper</p><p>et in saecula saeculórum. Amen <b>Padre nuestro</b><br>Padre nuestro que estás en el cielo, </p><p>santificado sea tu Nombre;</p><p>venga a nosotros tu Reino;</p><p>hágase tu voluntad </p><p>en la tierra como en el cielo.</p><p>Danos hoy </p><p>nuestro pan de cada día;</p><p>perdona nuestras ofensas,</p><p>como también nosotros perdonamos </p><p>a los que nos ofenden;</p><p>no nos dejes caer en la tentación,</p><p>y líbranos del mal. Amén. <b>Pater Noster</b><br>Pater noster qui es in caelis:</p><p>sanctificetur Nomen Tuum;</p><p>adveniat Regnum Tuum;</p><p>fiat voluntas Tua,</p><p>sicut in caelo et in terra.</p><p>Panem nostrum </p><p>quotidianum da nobis hodie;</p><p>et dimitte nobis debita nostra,</p><p>sicut et nos dimittimus </p><p>debitoribus nostris;</p><p>et ne nos indúcas in tentationem;</p><p>sed libera nos a Malo. Amen <b>Ave María</b><br>Dios te salve, María, </p><p>llena eres de gracia;</p><p>el Señor es contigo.</p><p>Bendita Tú eres </p><p>entre todas las mujeres,</p><p>y bendito es el fruto de tu vientre, Jesús. </p><p>Santa María, Madre de Dios,</p><p>ruega por nosotros, pecadores,</p><p>ahora y en la hora de nuestra muerte. Amén <b>Ave, Maríæ</b><br>Ave, María,</p><p>grátia plena,</p><p>Dóminus tecum.</p><p>Benedícta tu</p><p>in muliéribus,</p><p>et benedíctus fructus ventris tui, Iesus.</p><p>Sancta María, Mater Dei,</p><p>ora pro nobis peccatóribus, </p><p>nunc et in hora mortis nostræ. Amen. <b>Ángel de Dios</b><br>Ángel de Dios,</p><p>que eres mi custodio, </p><p>pues la bondad divina </p><p>me ha encomendado a ti, </p><p>ilumíname, guárdame, defiéndeme </p><p>y gobiérname. </p><p>Amén. <b>Angele Dei</b><br>Ángele Dei,</p><p>qui custos es mei,</p><p>me, tibi commíssum </p><p>pietáte supérna,</p><p>illúmina, custódi, rege </p><p>et gubérna.</p><p>Amen. <b>El eterno reposo</b><br>Dale Señor el descanso eterno.</p><p>Brille para él la luz perpetua. </p><p>Descanse en paz. Amén <b>Requiem Æternam</b><br>Réquiem aetérnam dona eis, Dómine, </p><p>et lux perpétua lúceat eis. </p><p>Requiéscant in pace. Amen <b>Ángelus</b><br>El ángel del Señor anunció a María.<br>Y concibió </p><p>por obra y gracia del Espíritu Santo.<br><i>Dios te salve, María..</i>.<br>He aquí la esclava del Señor. </p><p>Hágase en mí según tu palabra.<br><i>Dios te salve, María..</i>.<br>Y el Verbo de Dios se hizo carne. </p><p>Y habitó entre nosotros.<br><i>Dios te salve, María...</i><br>Ruega por nosotros, </p><p>Santa Madre de Dios, </p><p>para que seamos dignos de alcanzar</p><p>las promesas de Jesucristo.<br><i>Oremos</i><br>Infunde, Señor, </p><p>tu gracia en nuestras almas, </p><p>para que, los que hemos conocido, </p><p>por el anuncio del Ángel,</p><p>la Encarnación de tu Hijo Jesucristo, </p><p>lleguemos por los Méritos de su Pasión y su Cruz, a la gloria de la Resurrección. </p><p>Por Jesucristo Nuestro Señor. Amén.<br><i>Gloria al Padre...</i> <b>Angelus Domini</b><br>Ángelus Dómini nuntiávit María.<br>Et concépit</p><p>de Spíritu Sancto.<br><i>Ave, María...</i><br>Ecce ancílla Dómini.</p><p>Fiat mihi secúndum verbum tuum.<br><i>Ave, María...</i><br>Et Verbum caro factum est. </p><p>Et habitávit in nobis.<br><i>Ave, María...</i><br>Ora pro nobis,</p><p>sancta Dei génetrix. </p><p>Ut digni efficiámur </p><p>promissiónibus Christi.<br><i>Orémus</i><br>Grátiam tuam, quasumus,</p><p>Dómine, méntibus nostris infúnde; </p><p>ut qui, Ángelo nuntiánte,</p><p>Christi Fílii tui incarnatiónem </p><p>cognóvimus,</p><p>per passiónem eius et crucem,</p><p>ad resurrectiónis glóriam perducámur. </p><p>Per eúndem Christum Dóminum nostrum. Amen.<br><i>Glória Patri...</i> <b>Regina Caeli</b> (<i>en tiempo pascual</i>)<br>Reina del cielo alégrate; aleluya. </p><p>Porque el Señor a quien has merecido llevar;</p><p>aleluya. </p><p>Ha resucitado según su palabra;</p><p>aleluya. </p><p>Ruega al Señor por nosotros;</p><p>aleluya. </p><p>Gózate y alégrate, Virgen María;</p><p>aleluya.</p><p>Porque verdaderamente ha resucitado el Señor;</p><p>aleluya.<br><i>Oremos</i><br>Oh Dios, que por la resurrección de tu Hijo, nuestro Señor Jesucristo, </p><p>has llenado el mundo de alegría, </p><p>concédenos, por intercesión de su Madre, </p><p>la Virgen María, </p><p>llegar a alcanzar los gozos eterno. </p><p>Por nuestro Señor Jesucristo. </p><p>Amén. <b>Regina Caeli</b><br>Regina caeli laetáre, allelúia.</p><p>Quia quem meruísti portáre, </p><p>allelúia.</p><p>Resurréxit, sicut dixit,</p><p>allelúia.</p><p>Ora pro nobis Deum,</p><p>allelúia.</p><p>Gaude et laetáre, Virgo María, </p><p>allelúia.</p><p>Quia surréxit Dóminus vere, </p><p>allelúia.<br><i>Orémus</i><br>Deus, qui per resurrectiónem Fílii tui </p><p>Dómini nostri Iesu Christi </p><p>mundum laetificáre dignátus es, </p><p>praesta, quaesumus, ut per eius Genetrícem Vírgínem Maríam perpétuae </p><p>capiámus gáudia vitae.</p><p>Per Christum Dóminum nostrum. </p><p>Amen. <b>Salve Regina</b><br>Dios te salve, Reina </p><p>y Madre de misericordia,</p><p>vida, dulzura y esperanza nuestra;</p><p>Dios te salve.</p><p>A ti llamamos </p><p>los desterrados hijos de Eva;</p><p>a ti suspiramos, gimiendo y llorando</p><p>en este valle de lágrimas.</p><p>Ea, pues, Señora, abogada nuestra,</p><p>vuelve a nosotros esos tus ojos </p><p>misericordiosos;</p><p>y después de este destierro, </p><p>muéstranos a Jesús,</p><p>fruto bendito de tu vientre.<br>¡Oh, clementísima, oh piadosa, </p><p>oh dulce Virgen María! <b>Salve, Regina</b><br>Salve, Regina,</p><p>Mater misericórdiae,</p><p>vita, dulcédo et spes nostra, </p><p>salve.</p><p>Ad te clamámus,</p><p>éxsules fílii Eva.</p><p>Ad te suspirámus geméntes </p><p>et flentes in hac lacrimárum valle. </p><p>Eia ergo, advocáta nostra, </p><p>illos tuos misericórdes óculos </p><p>ad nos convérte.</p><p>Et Iesum benedíctum fructum </p><p>ventris tui,</p><p>nobis, post hoc exsílium, osténde.<br>O clemens, o pia,</p><p>o dulcis Virgo Maríae! <b>Magnificat</b><br>Proclama mi alma </p><p>la grandeza del Señor,</p><p>se alegra mi espíritu en Dios, </p><p>mi salvador;</p><p>porque ha mirado la humillación </p><p>de su esclava.<br>Desde ahora me felicitarán </p><p>todas las generaciones,</p><p>porque el Poderoso ha hecho</p><p>obras grandes por mí:</p><p>su nombre es santo,</p><p>y su misericordia llega a sus fieles</p><p>de generación en generación.<br>Él hace proezas con su brazo:</p><p>dispersa a los soberbios de corazón,</p><p>derriba del trono a los poderosos</p><p>y enaltece a los humildes,</p><p>a los hambrientos los colma de bienes</p><p>y a los ricos los despide vacíos.<br>Auxilia a Israel, su siervo,</p><p>acordándose de la misericordia</p><p>–como lo había prometido a nuestros padres–</p><p>en favor de Abrahán </p><p>y su descendencia por siempre.<br>Gloria al Padre, y al Hijo, </p><p>y al Espíritu Santo.</p><p>Como era en el principio, </p><p>ahora y siempre,</p><p>por los siglos de los siglos. </p><p>Amén. <b>Magnificat</b><br>Magníficat</p><p>ánima mea Dóminum,</p><p>et exsultávit spíritus meus </p><p>in Deo salvatóre meo, </p><p>quia respéxit humilitátem </p><p>ancíllae suae.<br>Ecce enim ex hoc beátam me dicent </p><p>omnes generatiónes,</p><p>quia fecit mihi magna,</p><p>qui potens est,</p><p>et sanctum nomen eius,</p><p>et misericórdia eius in progénies </p><p>et progénies timéntibus eum.<br>Fecit poténtiam in bráchio suo, </p><p>dispérsit supérbos mente cordis sui; </p><p>depósuit poténtes de sede </p><p>et exaltávit húmiles,</p><p>esuriéntes implévit bonis </p><p>et dívites dimísit inánes.<br>Suscépit Ísrael púerum suum, </p><p>recordátus misericórdiae, </p><p>sicut locútus est ad patres nostros,</p><p>Abraham et sémini</p><p>eius in sæcula<br>Glória Patri, et Filio, </p><p>et Spirítui Sancto. </p><p>Sicut erat in princípio, </p><p>et nunc et semper,</p><p>et in sæcula sæculórum.</p><p>Amen. <b>Bajo tu protección</b><br>Bajo tu amparo nos acogemos,</p><p>Santa Madre de Dios;</p><p>no deseches las súplicas</p><p>que te dirigimos </p><p>en nuestras necesidades;</p><p>antes bien, líbranos siempre </p><p>de todo peligro,</p><p>¡Oh Virgen gloriosa y bendita! <b>Sub tuum præsidium</b><br>Sub tuum præsídium confúgimus, </p><p>sancta Dei Génetrix;</p><p>nostras deprecatiónes</p><p>ne despícias</p><p>in necessitátibus;</p><p>sed a perículis cunctis</p><p>libera nos semper,</p><p>Virgo gloriósa et benedícta. <b>Benedictus</b><br>Bendito sea el Señor, Dios de Israel,</p><p>porque ha visitado </p><p>y redimido a su pueblo,</p><p>suscitándonos una fuerza </p><p>de salvación</p><p>en la casa de David, su siervo,</p><p>según lo había predicho</p><p>desde antiguo</p><p>por boca de sus santos Profetas.<br>Es la salvación que nos libra </p><p>de nuestros enemigos</p><p>y de la mano de todos </p><p>los que nos odian;</p><p>realizando la misericordia</p><p>que tuvo con nuestros padres,</p><p>recordando su santa alianza</p><p>y el juramento que juró </p><p>a nuestro padre Abrahán.<br>Para concedernos que,</p><p>libres de temor,</p><p>arrancados de la mano </p><p>de los enemigos,</p><p>le sirvamos con santidad y justicia,</p><p>en su presencia, todos nuestros días.<br>Y a ti, niño, </p><p>te llamarán profeta del Altísimo,</p><p>porque irás delante del Señor</p><p>a preparar sus caminos,</p><p>anunciando a su pueblo la salvación,</p><p>el perdón de sus pecados.<br>Por la entrañable misericordia </p><p>de nuestro Dios,</p><p>nos visitará el sol </p><p>que nace de lo alto,</p><p>para iluminar </p><p>a los que viven en tinieblas</p><p>y en sombra de muerte,</p><p>para guiar nuestros pasos</p><p>por el camino de la paz.<br>Gloria al Padre, y al Hijo, </p><p>y al Espíritu Santo.</p><p>Como era en el principio, </p><p>ahora y siempre,</p><p>por los siglos de los siglos. </p><p>Amén. <b>Benedictus</b><br>Benedíctus Dóminus, Deus Ísrael,</p><p>quia visitávit</p><p>et fecit redemptiónem plebi suæ, </p><p>et eréxit cornu</p><p>salútis nobis</p><p>in domo David púeri sui,</p><p>sicut locútus</p><p>est per os sanctórum,</p><p>qui a sæcula sunt, prophetárum eius,<br>salútem ex inimícis nostris </p><p>et de manu ónmium,</p><p>qui odérunt nos;</p><p>ad faciéndam misericórdiam </p><p>cum pátribus nostris</p><p>et memorári testaménti</p><p>sui sancti,</p><p>iusiurándum, quod iurávit</p><p>ad Abraham patrem nostrum,<br>datúrum se nobis,</p><p>ut sine timóre,</p><p>de manu inimicórum liberáti, </p><p>serviámus illi</p><p>in sanctitáte et iustítia coram ipso </p><p>ómnibus diébus nostris.<br>Et tu, puer,</p><p>prophéta Altíssimi vocáberis: </p><p>praeíbis enim ante fáciem Dómini</p><p>paráre vias eius,</p><p>ad dandam sciéntiam salútis plebi eius</p><p>in remissiónem peccatórum eórum,<br>Per víscera misericórdiae</p><p>Dei nostri,</p><p>in quibus visitábit</p><p>nos óriens ex alto, </p><p>illumináre his,</p><p>qui in ténebris</p><p>et in umbra mortis sedent,</p><p>ad dirigéndos pedes nostros</p><p>in viam pacis.<br>Glória Patri, et Filio, </p><p>et Spirítui Sancto.</p><p>Sicut erat in principio, </p><p>et nunc et semper,</p><p>et in sæcula sæculórum. </p><p>Amen. <b>Te Deum</b><br>A ti, oh Dios, te alabamos,</p><p>a ti, Señor, te reconocemos.<br>A ti, eterno Padre, </p><p>te venera toda la creación.<br>Los ángeles todos,</p><p>los cielos y todas las potestades te honran.<br>Los querubines y serafines </p><p>te cantan sin cesar:<br>Santo, Santo, Santo es el Señor,</p><p>Dios del universo.<br>Los cielos y la tierra</p><p>están llenos de la majestad de tu gloria.<br>A ti te ensalza </p><p>el glorioso coro de los Apóstoles,</p><p>la multitud admirable de los Profetas,</p><p>el blanco ejército de los mártires.<br>A ti la Iglesia santa,</p><p>extendida por toda la tierra, te proclama:<br>Padre de inmensa majestad,</p><p>Hijo único y verdadero, digno de adoración,</p><p>Espíritu Santo, Defensor.<br>Tú eres el Rey de la gloria, Cristo.</p><p>Tú eres el Hijo único del Padre.<br>Tú, para liberar al hombre,</p><p>aceptaste la condición humana</p><p>sin desdeñar el seno de la Virgen.<br>Tú, rotas las cadenas de la muerte,</p><p>abriste a los creyentes el reino del cielo.<br>Tú te sientas a la derecha de Dios</p><p>en la gloria del Padre.<br>Creemos que un día</p><p>has de venir como juez.<br>Te rogamos, pues,</p><p>que vengas en ayuda de tus siervos,</p><p>a quienes redimiste con tu preciosa sangre.<br>Haz que en la gloria eterna</p><p>nos asociemos a tus santos.<br>Salva a tu pueblo, Señor,</p><p>y bendice tu heredad.<br>Sé su pastor</p><p>y ensálzalo eternamente.<br>Día tras día te bendecimos</p><p>y alabamos tu nombre para siempre,</p><p>por eternidad de eternidades.<br>Dígnate, Señor, en este día</p><p>guardarnos del pecado.<br>Ten piedad de nosotros, Señor,</p><p>ten piedad de nosotros.<br>Que tu misericordia, Señor,</p><p>venga sobre nosotros,</p><p>como lo esperamos de ti.<br>En ti, Señor, confié,</p><p>no me veré defraudado para siempre. <b>Te Deum</b><br>Te Deum laudámus:</p><p>te Dóminum confitémur.<br>Te aetérnum Patrem, </p><p>omnis terra venerátur.<br>tibi omnes ángeli, tibi caeli</p><p>et univérse potestátes:<br>tibi chérubim et séraphim </p><p>incessábili voce proclámant:<br>Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, </p><p>Dóminus Deus Sábaoth.<br>Pleni sunt caeli et tema </p><p>maiestátis glóriae tuae.<br>Te gloriósus</p><p>apostolórum chorus,</p><p>te prophetárum laudábilis númerus, </p><p>te mártyrum candidátus laudat exércitus.<br>Te per orbem terrárum </p><p>sancta confitétur Ecclésia,</p><p></p><p>Patrem imménsae maiestátis; </p><p>venerándum tuum verum et únicum Fílium; Sanctum quoque Paráclitum Spíritum.<br>Tu rex glóriae, Christe.</p><p>Tu Patris sempitérnus es Fílius.<br>Tu, ad liberándum susceptúrus </p><p>hóminem,</p><p>non horruísti Vírginis úterum.<br>Tu, devícto mortis acúleo, </p><p>aperuísti credéntibus regna caelórum.<br>Tu ad déxteram Dei sedes, </p><p>in glória Patris.<br>Iudex créderis </p><p>esse ventúrus.<br>Te ergo quaésumus, </p><p>tuis fámulis súbveni, quos pretióso</p><p>sánguine redemísti.<br>Ætérna fac cum sanctis tuis </p><p>in glória numerári.<br>Salvum fac pópulum tuum, Dómine, </p><p>et bénedic hereditáti tuae.<br>Et rege eos, et extólle illos </p><p>usque in aetérnum.<br>Per síngulos dies benedícimus te; </p><p>et laudámus nomen tuum</p><p>in sæculum, et in sæculum sæculi.<br>Dignáre, Dómine,</p><p>die isto sine peccáto nos custodíre.<br>Miserére nostri, Dómine, </p><p>miserére nostri.<br>Fiat misericórdia tua, </p><p>Dómine, super nos, </p><p>quemádmodum sperávimus in te.<br>In te, Dómine, sperávi: </p><p>non confúndar in aetérnum. <b>Veni Creator</b><br>Ven, Espíritu Creador,</p><p>visita las almas de tus fieles</p><p>llena con tu divina gracia,</p><p>los corazones que creaste.<br>Tú, a quien llamamos Paráclito,</p><p>don de Dios Altísimo,</p><p>fuente viva, fuego,</p><p>caridad y espiritual unción.<br>Tú derramas sobre nosotros los siete dones;</p><p>Tú, dedo de la diestra del Padre; </p><p>Tú, fiel promesa del Padre;</p><p>que inspiras nuestras palabras.<br>Ilumina nuestros sentidos;</p><p>infunde tu amor en nuestros corazones;</p><p>y, con tu perpetuo auxilio,</p><p>fortalece la debilidad de nuestro cuerpo.<br>Aleja de nosotros al enemigo,</p><p>danos pronto la paz,</p><p>sé nuestro director y nuestro guía,</p><p>para que evitemos todo mal.<br>Por ti conozcamos al Padre,</p><p>al Hijo revélanos también;</p><p>Creamos en ti, su Espíritu,</p><p>por los siglos de los siglos<br>Gloria a Dios Padre,</p><p>y al Hijo que resucitó,</p><p>y al Espíritu Consolador,</p><p>por los siglos de los siglos. Amén. <b>Veni, Creator Spiritus</b><br>Veni, Creátor Spíritus, </p><p>mentes tuórum vísita, </p><p>imple supérna grátia, </p><p>quæ tu creásti péctora.<br>Qui díceris Paráclitus, </p><p>altíssimi donum Dei, </p><p>fons vivus, ignis, cáritas,</p><p>et spiritális únctio.<br>Tu septifórmis múnere, </p><p>dígitus patérnae déxterae, </p><p>tu rite promíssum Patris, </p><p>sermóne ditans gúttura.<br>Accénde lumen sénsibus, </p><p>infúnde amórem córdibus,</p><p>infírma nostri córporis </p><p>virtúte firmans pérpeti.</p><p></p><p>Hostem repéllas lóngius </p><p>pacémque dones prótinus; </p><p>ductóre sic te praévio </p><p>vitémus omne nóxium.<br>Per Te sciámus da Patrem</p><p>noscámus atque Fílium, </p><p>teque utriúsque Spíritum </p><p>Credámus omni témpore.<br>Deo Patri sit glória, </p><p>et Fílio, qui a mórtuis surréxit, </p><p>ac Paráclito,</p><p>in sæculórum sæcula. Amen. <b>Ven Santo Espíritu</b><br>Ven, Espíritu divino,</p><p>manda tu luz desde el cielo.</p><p>Padre amoroso del pobre;</p><p>don, en tus dones espléndido;</p><p>luz que penetra las almas;</p><p>fuente del mayor consuelo.<br>Ven, dulce huésped del alma,</p><p>descanso de nuestro esfuerzo,</p><p>tregua en el duro trabajo,</p><p>brisa en las horas de fuego,</p><p>gozo que enjuga las lágrimas</p><p>y reconforta en los duelos.<br>Entra hasta el fondo del alma,</p><p>divina luz, y enriquécenos.</p><p>Mira el vacío del hombre,</p><p>si tú le faltas por dentro;</p><p>mira el poder del pecado,</p><p>cuando no envías tu aliento.<br>Riega la tierra en sequía,</p><p>sana el corazón enfermo,</p><p>lava las manchas,</p><p>infunde calor de vida en el hielo,</p><p>doma el espíritu indómito,</p><p>guía al que tuerce el sendero.<br>Reparte tus siete dones,</p><p>según la fe de tus siervos;</p><p>por tu bondad y tu gracia,</p><p>dale al esfuerzo su mérito;</p><p>salva al que busca salvarse</p><p>y danos tu gozo eterno. Amén. <b>Veni, Sancte Spiritus</b><br>Veni, Sancte Spíritus,</p><p>et emítte cælitus lucis </p><p>tuæ rádium.</p><p>Veni, pater páuperum,</p><p>veni, dator múnerum, </p><p>veni, lumen córdium.<br>Consolátor óptime, </p><p>dulcis hospes ánimæ, </p><p>dulce refrigérium. </p><p>In labóre réquies, </p><p>in æstu tempéries, </p><p>in fletu solácium.<br>O lux beatíssima, </p><p>reple cordis íntima </p><p>tuórum fidélium. </p><p>Sine tuo númine, </p><p>nihil est in hómine </p><p>nihil est innóxium.<br>Lava quod est sórdidum, </p><p>riga quod est áridum, </p><p>sana quod est sáucium. </p><p>Flecte quod est rígidum, </p><p>fove quod est frígidum, </p><p>rege quod est dévium.<br>Da tuis fidélibus, </p><p>in te confidéntibus, </p><p>sacrum septenárium. </p><p>Da virtútis méritum, </p><p>da salútis éxitum,</p><p>da perénne gáudium. Amen. <b>Alma de Cristo</b><br>Alma de Cristo, santifícame.</p><p>Cuerpo de Cristo, sálvame.</p><p>Sangre de Cristo, embriágame.</p><p>Agua del costado de Cristo, lávame.</p><p>Pasión de Cristo, confórtame.</p><p>¡Oh, buen Jesús!, óyeme.</p><p>Dentro de tus llagas, escóndeme.</p><p>No permitas que me aparte de Ti.</p><p>Del maligno enemigo, defiéndeme</p><p>En la hora de mi muerte, llámame.</p><p>Y mándame ir a Ti.</p><p>Para que con tus santos te alabe.</p><p>Por los siglos de los siglos. Amén <b>Anima Christi</b><br>Ánima Christi, sanctífica me. </p><p>Corpus Christi, salva me. </p><p>Sanguis Christi, inébria me. </p><p>Aqua láteris Christi, lava me. </p><p>Pássio Christi, confórta me. </p><p>O bone Iesu, exáudi me.</p><p>Intra tua vúlnera abscónde me.</p><p>Ne permíttas me separári a te. </p><p>Ab hoste maligno defénde me. </p><p>In hora mortis meæ voca me.</p><p>Et iube me veníre ad te,</p><p>ut cum Sanctis tuis laudem te </p><p>in sæcula sæculórum. Amen <b>Acordaos</b><br>Acordaos, </p><p>oh piadosísima Virgen María, </p><p>que jamás se ha oído decir </p><p>que ninguno de los que han acudido </p><p>a tu protección, </p><p>implorando tu asistencia </p><p>y reclamando tu socorro, </p><p>haya sido abandonado de ti. </p><p>Animado con esta confianza, </p><p>a ti también acudo, oh Madre, </p><p>Virgen de las vírgenes, </p><p>y aunque gimiendo </p><p>bajo el peso de mis pecados, </p><p>me atrevo a comparecer </p><p>ante tu presencia soberana. </p><p>No deseches mis humildes súplicas, </p><p>oh Madre del Verbo divino, </p><p>antes bien, escúchalas </p><p>y acógelas benignamente. Amén <b>Memorare</b><br>Memoráre,</p><p>o piíssima Virgo María,</p><p>non esse audítum a sæculo, </p><p>quemquam ad tua curréntem </p><p>præsídia,</p><p>tua implorántem auxilia,</p><p>tua peténtem suffrágia,</p><p>esse derelíctum.</p><p>Ego tali animátus confidéntia, </p><p>ad te, Virgo Vírginum, Mater, </p><p>curro, ad te vénio,</p><p>coram te gemens </p><p>peccátor assísto.</p><p>Noli, Mater Verbi,</p><p>verba mea despícere;</p><p>sed áudi propítia et exáudi. </p><p>Amen. <b>Rosario</b><br><i>Misterios gozosos </p><p>(lunes y sábado)</i><br>1. La encarnación del Hijo de Dios.</p><p>2. La visitación de Nuestra Señora a su prima Santa Isabel.</p><p>3. El nacimiento del Hijo de Dios.</p><p>4. La Presentación de Jesús en el templo.</p><p>5. El Niño Jesús perdido y hallado en el templo.<br><i>Misterios luminosos (jueves)</i><br>1. El Bautismo de Jesús en el Jordán.</p><p>2. La autorrevelación de Jesús en las bodas de Caná. </p><p>3. El anuncio del Reino de Dios invitando a la conversión. </p><p>4. La Transfiguración. </p><p>5. La Institución de la Eucaristía.<br><i>Misterios dolorosos </p><p>(martes y viernes)</i><br>1. La Oración de Jesús en el Huerto.</p><p>2. La Flagelación del Señor.</p><p>3. La Coronación de espinas.</p><p>4. Jesús con la Cruz a cuestas camino del Calvario.</p><p>5. La Crucifixión y Muerte de Nuestro Señor.<br><i>Misterios gloriosos </p><p>(miércoles y domingo)</i><br>1. La Resurrección del Hijo de Dios.</p><p>2. La Ascensión del Señor a los Cielos.</p><p>3. La Venida del Espíritu Santo sobre los Apóstoles.</p><p>4. La Asunción de Nuestra Señora a los Cielos.</p><p>5. La Coronación de la Santísima Virgen como Reina de Cielos y Tierra.<br><i>Oración tras el rosario</i><br>Ruega por nosotros, </p><p>Santa Madre de Dios, </p><p>para que seamos dignos de alcanzar las promesas de Nuestro Señor Jesucristo.<br><i>Oremos</i></p><p>Oh Dios, </p><p>cuyo Hijo por medio de su vida, </p><p>muerte y resurrección, </p><p>nos otorgó los premios </p><p>de la vida eterna, </p><p>te rogamos que </p><p>venerando humildemente </p><p>los misterios del Rosario </p><p>de la Santísima Virgen María, </p><p>imitemos lo que contienen </p><p>y consigamos lo que nos prometen. </p><p>Por Jesucristo, nuestro Señor. Amén<br><b><i>Oremos</i></b> (<i>tradición española</i>)<br>Te pedimos Señor, </p><p>nos concedas a nosotros tus siervos, </p><p>gozar de perpetua salud de alma y cuerpo, </p><p>y por la gloriosa intercesión </p><p>de la bienaventurada siempre Virgen María, seamos librados de las tristezas presentes </p><p>y gocemos de la eterna alegría. </p><p>Por Jesucristo, nuestro Señor. Amén. <b>Rosarium</b><br><i>Mystéria gaudiósa</p><p>(in feria secunda et sabbato)</i><br>Annuntiátio.</p><p>Visitátio.</p><p></p><p>Natívitas.</p><p>Praesentátio.</p><p>Invéntio in Templo.</p><p></p><p><i>Mystéria luminósa (in feria quinta)</i><br>Baptísma apud Iordánem.</p><p>Autorevelátio apud Cananénse </p><p>matrimónium.</p><p>Regni Dei proclamátio coniúncta </p><p>cum invitaménto ad conversiónem.</p><p>Transfigurátio. </p><p>Eucharístiae Institútio.<br><i>Mystéria dolorósa</p><p>(in feria tertia et feria sexta)</i><br>Agonía in Hortu. </p><p>Flagellátio.</p><p>Coronátio Spinis. </p><p>Baiulátio Crucis. </p><p></p><p>Crucifixio et Mors.</p><p></p><p><i>Mystéria gloriósa</p><p>(in feria quanta et Dominica)</i><br>Resurréctio.</p><p>Ascénsio.</p><p>Descénsus Spíritus Sancti.</p><p></p><p>Assúmptio.</p><p>Coronátio in Cælo.<br><i>Oratio ad finem Rosarii dicenda</i><br>Ora pro nobis,</p><p>sancta Dei génetrix. </p><p>Ut digni efficiámur </p><p>promissiónibus Christi.</p><p></p><p><i>Orémus</i></p><p>Deus,</p><p>cuius Unigénitus per vitam,</p><p>mortem et resurrectiónem suam </p><p>nobis salútis ætérnæ </p><p>præmia comparávit, </p><p>concéde, quaésumus: </p><p>ut hæc mystéria sacratíssimo </p><p>beátæ Maríæ Vírginis </p><p>Rosário recoléntes, </p><p>et imitémur quod cóntinent,</p><p>et quod promíttunt assequámur. </p><p>Per Christum Dóminum nostrum. Amen. <b>Oración del incienso</b></p><p>(Tradición copta)<br>Oh Rey de la Paz, danos tu Paz </p><p>y perdona nuestros pecados. </p><p>Aleja a los enemigos de la Iglesia </p><p>y guárdala, para que no desfallezca.<br>Emmanuel, Dios con nosotros, </p><p>está entre nosotros </p><p>en la gloria del Padre </p><p>y del Espíritu Santo<br>Bendícenos </p><p>y purifica nuestro corazón </p><p>y sana las enfermedades </p><p>del alma y del cuerpo.<br>Te adoramos, oh Cristo, </p><p>con el Padre de bondad </p><p>y con el Espíritu Santo,</p><p>porque has venido, nos has salvado. <b>Oración de «Adiós al Altar», antes de salir del templo después de la liturgia </b></p><p>(Tradición siro-maronita)<br>Queda en paz, oh Altar de Dios.</p><p>La oblación que hoy he ofrecido sobre ti, </p><p>sea para la remisión de las culpas </p><p>y el perdón de los pecados </p><p>y me alcance estar </p><p>ante el tribunal de Cristo </p><p>sin condena y sin confusión.<br>No sé si se me concederá </p><p>volver a ofrecer sobre ti </p><p>otro Sacrificio. </p><p>Protégeme, Señor, </p><p>y conserva a tu Santa Iglesia, </p><p>que es camino de verdad </p><p>y de salvación. Amén <b>Oración por los difuntos </b></p><p>(Tradición bizantina)<br>Dios de los espíritus y de toda carne, </p><p>que sepultaste la muerte, </p><p>venciste al demonio</p><p>y diste la vida al mundo. </p><p>Tú, Señor, concede al alma </p><p>de tu difunto siervo N., </p><p>el descanso en un lugar luminoso, </p><p>en un oasis, en un lugar de frescura, </p><p>lejos de todo sufrimiento, </p><p>dolor o lamento.<br>Perdona las culpas por él cometidas </p><p>de pensamiento, palabra y obra, </p><p>Dios de bondad y misericordia; </p><p>puesto que no hay hombre </p><p>que viva y no peque, </p><p>ya que Tú sólo eres Perfecto </p><p>y tu Justicia es justicia eterna </p><p>y tu Palabra es la Verdad.<br>Tú eres la Resurrección, </p><p>la Vida y el descanso del difunto,</p><p>tu siervo N.<br>Oh Cristo Dios nuestro. </p><p>Te glorificamos junto con el Padre </p><p>no engendrado </p><p>y con tu santísimo, bueno </p><p>y vivificante Espíritu. <b>Acto de Fe</b><br>Señor Dios, creo firmemente </p><p>y confieso todas y cada una de las verdades </p><p>que la Santa Iglesia Católica propone, </p><p>porque tú las revelaste,</p><p>oh Dios, que eres la eterna Verdad y Sabiduría, que ni se engaña </p><p>ni nos puede engañar. </p><p>Quiero vivir y morir en esta fe. </p><p>Amén<br><b>Acto de Fe</p><p></b>(<i>tradición española</i>)<br>Creo en Dios Padre; </p><p>Creo en Dios Hijo; </p><p>Creo en Dios Espíritu Santo; </p><p>Creo en la Santísima Trinidad; </p><p>Creo en mi Señor Jesucristo, </p><p>Dios y hombre verdadero. <b>Actus Fidei</b><br>Dómine Deus, firma fide credo </p><p>et confíteor ómnia et síngula quae </p><p>sancta Ecclésia Cathólica propónit </p><p>quia tu, Deus, ea ómnia revelásti,</p><p>qui es aetérna véritas et sapiéntia </p><p>quæ nec fállere</p><p>nec fallí potest.</p><p>In hac fide vívere et mori státuo. </p><p>Amen. <b>Acto de Esperanza</b><br>Señor Dios mío, espero por tu gracia </p><p>la remisión de todos mis pecados; </p><p>y después de esta vida, </p><p>alcanzar la eterna felicidad, </p><p>porque tú lo prometiste que eres </p><p>infinitamente poderoso, </p><p>fiel, benigno y lleno de misericordia. </p><p>Quiero vivir y morir en esta esperanza. Amén.<br><b>Acto de Esperanza</p><p></b>(<i>tradición española</i>)<br>Espero en Dios Padre; </p><p>Espero en Dios Hijo; </p><p>Espero en Dios Espíritu Santo; </p><p>Espero en la Santísima Trinidad; </p><p>Espero en mi Señor Jesucristo, </p><p>Dios y hombre verdadero. <b>Actus Spei</b><br>Dómine Deus, spero per grátiam </p><p>tuam remissiónem</p><p>ómnium peccatórum,</p><p>et post hanc vitam ætérnam </p><p>felicitátem me esse consecutúrum: </p><p>quia tu promisísti, qui es infiníte</p><p>potens, fidélis, benígnus, et miséricors.</p><p>In hac spe vívere et mori státuo. Amen. <b>Acto de caridad</b><br>Dios mío, te amo sobre todas las cosas </p><p>y al prójimo por ti, </p><p>porque Tú eres el infinito, </p><p>sumo y perfecto Bien, </p><p>digno de todo amor. </p><p>Quiero vivir y morir en este amor. Amén<br><b>Acto de Caridad</p><p></b>(<i>tradición española</i>)<br>Amo a Dios Padre; </p><p>Amo a Dios Hijo; </p><p>Amo a Dios Espíritu Santo; </p><p>Amo a la Santísima Trinidad; </p><p>Amo a mi Señor Jesucristo, </p><p>Dios y hombre verdadero.</p><p>Amo a María santísima, madre de Dios </p><p>y madre nuestra y amo a mi prójimo </p><p>como a mí mismo. <b>Actus caritatis</b><br>Dómine Deus, amo te super ómnia </p><p>et próximum meum propter te, </p><p>quia tu es summum, infinítum, </p><p>et perfectíssimum bonum, </p><p>omni dilectióne dignum.</p><p>In hac caritáte vívere et mori státuo. Amen. <b>Acto de Contrición</b><br>Dios mío, </p><p>me arrepiento de todo corazón </p><p>de todos mis pecados </p><p>y los aborrezco, </p><p>porque al pecar, no sólo merezco </p><p>las penas establecidas por ti </p><p>justamente, </p><p>sino principalmente porque te ofendí, </p><p>a ti sumo Bien y digno de amor </p><p>por encima de todas las cosas. </p><p>Por eso propongo firmemente, </p><p>con ayuda de tu gracia, </p><p>no pecar más en adelante </p><p>y huir de toda ocasión de pecado. </p><p>Amén.<br><b>Acto de Contrición </p><p></b>(<i>tradición española</i>)<br>Señor mío Jesucristo, Dios y hombre verdadero, Creador, Padre y Redentor mío. </p><p>Por ser tú quien eres, Bondad infinita, </p><p>y porque te amo sobre todas las cosas, </p><p>me pesa de todo corazón haberte ofendido. También me pesa que puedas castigarme </p><p>con las penas del infierno. </p><p>Ayudado de tu divina gracia propongo firmemente nunca más pecar, confesarme y cumplir la penitencia que me fuera impuesta. Amén <b>Actus Contritionis</b><br>Deus meus,</p><p>ex toto corde pænitet me ómnium </p><p>meórum peccatórum,</p><p>éaque detéstor,</p><p>quia peccándo,</p><p>non solum poenas a te iuste </p><p>statútas proméritus sum,</p><p>sed præsértim quia offéndi te, </p><p>summum bonum,</p><p>ac dignum qui super ómnia diligáris. </p><p>Ideo fírmiter propóno, </p><p>adiuvánte grátia tua,</p><p>de cétero me non peccatúrum </p><p>peccandíque occasiónes próximas fugitúrum.</p><p>Amen. <b>FÓRMULAS DE DOCTRINA CATÓLICA</b><br><b>EL DOBLE MANDAMIENTO DEL AMOR</b> Amarás al Señor tu Dios con todo tu corazón, con toda tu alma, con toda tu mente.</p><p>Amarás al prójimo como a ti mismo. <b>REGLA DE ORO</b> (<i>Mt</i> 7, 12) Tratad a los demás como queráis que ellos os traten a vosotros. <b>BIENAVENTURANZAS</b> — Bienaventurados los pobres de espíritu, porque de ellos es el Reino de los cielos </p><p>— Bienaventurados los mansos, porque ellos poseerán la tierra </p><p>— Bienaventurados los que lloran, porque ellos serán consolados </p><p>— Bienaventurados los que tienen hambre y sed de justicia, porque ellos serán saciados </p><p>— Bienaventurados los misericordiosos, porque ellos alcanzarán misericordia </p><p>— Bienaventurados los limpios de corazón, porque ellos verán a Dios </p><p>— Bienaventurados los que trabajan por la paz, porque ellos serán llamados hijos de Dios </p><p>— Bienaventurados los perseguidos a causa de la justicia, porque de ellos es el Reino de los cielos </p><p>— Bienaventurados seréis cuando os injurien, os persigan y digan contra vosotros toda clase de calumnias por mi causa. Alegraos y regocijaos porque vuestra recompensa será grande en el cielo. <b>LAS TRES VIRTUDES TEOLOGALES</b> 1. Fe</p><p>2. Esperanza</p><p>3. Caridad <b>LAS CUATRO VIRTUDES CARDINALES</b> 1. Prudencia</p><p>2. Justicia</p><p>3. Fortaleza</p><p>4. Templanza <b>LOS SIETE DONES DEL ESPÍRITU SANTO</b> 1. Sabiduría</p><p>2. Entendimiento</p><p>3. Consejo</p><p>4. Fortaleza</p><p>5. Ciencia</p><p>6. Piedad</p><p>7. Temor de Dios <b>LOS DOCE FRUTOS DEL ESPÍRITU SANTO</b> 1. Amor</p><p>2. Alegría</p><p>3. Paz </p><p>4. Paciencia </p><p>5. Longanimidad</p><p>6. Bondad</p><p>7. Benignidad</p><p>8. Mansedumbre</p><p>9. Fe </p><p>10. Modestia</p><p>11. Continencia</p><p>12. Castidad <b>LOS CINCO MANDAMIENTOS DE LA IGLESIA</b> 1. Oír misa entera todos los domingos y fiestas de guardar. </p><p>2. Confesar los pecados mortales al menos una vez al año, y en peligro de muerte, y si se ha de comulgar. </p><p>3. Comulgar al menos por Pascua de Resurrección.</p><p>4. Ayunar y abstenerse de comer carne cuando lo manda la Santa Madre Iglesia. </p><p>5. Ayudar a la Iglesia en sus necesidades. <b>LAS SIETE OBRAS DE MISERICORDIA CORPORALES</b> 1. Visitar y cuidar a los enfermos. </p><p>2. Dar de comer al hambriento. </p><p>3. Dar de beber al sediento. </p><p>4. Dar posada al peregrino. </p><p>5. Vestir al desnudo. </p><p>6. Redimir al cautivo.</p><p>7. Enterrar a los muertos. <b>LAS SIETE OBRAS DE MISERICORDIA ESPIRITUALES</b> 1. Enseñar al que no sabe. </p><p>2. Dar buen consejo al que lo necesita. </p><p>3. Corregir al que yerra. </p><p>4. Perdonar las injurias. </p><p>5. Consolar al triste.</p><p>6. Sufrir con paciencia los defectos de los demás. </p><p>7. Rogar a Dios por vivos y difuntos. <b>LOS SIETE PECADOS CAPITALES</b> 1. Soberbia </p><p>2. Avaricia</p><p>3. Lujuria</p><p>4. Ira</p><p>5. Gula</p><p>6. Envidia</p><p>7. Pereza <b>LOS NOVÍSIMOS</b> 1. Muerte</p><p>2. Juicio</p><p>3. Infierno</p><p>4. Gloria (Source: Compendio Del Catecismo 2005 A.D.)
FIRST COUNCIL OF NICAEA - 325 AD INTRODUCTION This council opened on 19 June in the presence of the emperor, but it is uncertain who presided over the sessions. In the extant lists of bishops present, Ossius of Cordova, and the presbyters Vitus and Vincentius are listed before the other names, but it is more likely that Eustathius of Antioch or Alexander of Alexandria presided. (see Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, ed. Norman P. Tanner S.J.) The bold text in the profession of faith of the 318 fathers constitutes, according to Tanner “The additions made by the council to an underlying form of the creed”, and that the underlying creed was most likely “derived from the baptismal formula of Caesarea put forward by the bishop of that city Eusebius” or that it “developed from an original form which existed in Jerusalem or at any rate Palestine”. “A direct descent from the creed of Eusebius of Caesarea is manifestly out of the question.” Vol 1, p2) The figure of 318 given in the heading below is from Hilary of Poitier and is the traditional one. Other numbers are Eusebius 250, Eustathius of Antioch 270., Athanasius about 300, Gelasius of Cyzicus at more than 300. THE PROFESSION OF FAITH OF THE 318 FATHERS 1. We believe in one God the Father all powerful, maker of all things both seen and unseen. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only-begotten begotten from the Father, that is from the substance [Gr. ousias, Lat. substantia] of the Father, God from God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten [Gr. gennethenta, Lat. natum] not made [Gr. poethenta, Lat. factum], CONSUBSTANTIAL [Gr. homoousion, Lat. unius substantiae (quod Graeci dicunt homousion)] with the Father, through whom all things came to be, both those in heaven and those in earth; for us humans and for our salvation he came down and became incarnate, became human, suffered and rose up on the third day, went up into the heavens, is coming to judge the living and the dead. And in the holy Spirit. 2. And those who say “there once was when he was not”, and “before he was begotten he was not”, and that he came to be from things that were not, or from another hypostasis [Gr. hypostaseos] or substance [Gr. ousias, Lat. substantia], affirming that the Son of God is subject to change or alteration these the catholic and apostolic church anathematises. CANONS 1. If anyone in sickness has undergone surgery at the hands of physicians or has been castrated by barbarians, let him remain among the clergy. But if anyone in good health has castrated himself, if he is enrolled among the clergy he should be suspended, and in future no such man should be promoted. But, as it is evident that this refers to those who are responsible for the condition and presume to castrate themselves, so too if any have been made eunuchs by barbarians or by their masters, but have been found worthy, the canon admits such men to the clergy. 2. Since, either through necessity or through the importunate demands of certain individuals, there have been many breaches of the church’s canon, with the result that men who have recently come from a pagan life to the faith after a short catechumenate have been admitted at once to the spiritual washing, and at the same time as their baptism have been promoted to the episcopate or the presbyterate, it is agreed that it would be well for nothing of the kind to occur in the future. For a catechumen needs time and further probation after baptism, for the apostle’s words are clear: “Not a recent convert, or he may be puffed up and fall into the condemnation and the snare of the devil”. But if with the passage of time some sin of sensuality is discovered with regard to the person and he is convicted by two or three witnesses, such a one will be suspended from the clergy. If anyone contravenes these regulations, he will be liable to forfeit his clerical status for acting in defiance of this great synod. 3. This great synod absolutely forbids a bishop, presbyter, deacon or any of the clergy to keep a woman who has been brought in to live with him, with the exception of course of his mother or sister or aunt, or of any person who is above suspicion. 4. It is by all means desirable that a bishop should be appointed by all the bishops of the province. But if this is difficult because of some pressing necessity or the length of the journey involved, let at least three come together and perform the ordination, but only after the absent bishops have taken part in the vote and given their written consent. But in each province the right of confirming the proceedings belongs to the metropolitan bishop. 5. Concerning those, whether of the clergy or the laity, who have been excommunicated, the sentence is to be respected by the bishops of each province according to the canon which forbids those expelled by some to be admitted by others. But let an inquiry be held to ascertain whether anyone has been expelled from the community because of pettiness or quarrelsomeness or any such ill nature on the part of the bishop. Accordingly, in order that there may be proper opportunity for inquiry into the matter, it is agreed that it would be well for synods to be held each year in each province twice a year, so that these inquiries may be conducted by all the bishops of the province assembled together, and in this way by general consent those who have offended against their own bishop may be recognised by all to be reasonably excommunicated, until all the bishops in common may decide to pronounce a more lenient sentence on these persons. The synods shall be held at the following times: one before Lent, so that, all pettiness being set aside, the gift offered to God may be unblemished; the second after the season of autumn. 6. The ancient customs of Egypt, Libya and Pentapolis shall be maintained, according to which the bishop of Alexandria has authority over all these places since a similar custom exists with reference to the bishop of Rome. Similarly in Antioch and the other provinces the prerogatives of the churches are to be preserved. In general the following principle is evident: if anyone is made bishop without the consent of the metropolitan, this great synod determines that such a one shall not be a bishop. If however two or three by reason of personal rivalry dissent from the common vote of all, provided it is reasonable and in accordance with the church’s canon, the vote of the majority shall prevail. 7. Since there prevails a custom and ancient tradition to the effect that the bishop of Aelia is to be honoured, let him be granted everything consequent upon this honour, saving the dignity proper to the metropolitan. 8. Concerning those who have given themselves the name of Cathars, and who from time to time come over publicly to the catholic and apostolic church, this holy and great synod decrees that they may remain among the clergy after receiving an imposition of hands. But before all this it is fitting that they give a written undertaking that they will accept and follow the decrees of the catholic church, namely that they will be in communion with those who have entered into a second marriage and with those who have lapsed in time of persecution and for whom a period [of penance] has been fixed and an occasion [for reconciliation] allotted, so as in all things to follow the decrees of the catholic and apostolic church. Accordingly, where all the ordained in villages or cities have been found to be men of this kind alone, those who are so found will remain in the clergy in the same rank; but when some come over in places where there is a bishop or presbyter belonging to the catholic church, it is evident that the bishop of the church will hold the bishop’s dignity, and that the one given the title and name of bishop among the so-called Cathars will have the rank of presbyter, unless the bishop thinks fit to let him share in the honour of the title. But if this does not meet with his approval, the bishop will provide for him a place as chorepiscopus or presbyter, so as to make his ordinary clerical status evident and so prevent there being two bishops in the city. 9. If any have been promoted presbyters without examination, and then upon investigation have confessed their sins, and if after their confession men have imposed hands upon such people, being moved to act against the canon, the canon does not admit these people, for the catholic church vindicates only what is above reproach. 10. If any have been promoted to ordination through the ignorance of their promoters or even with their connivance, this fact does not prejudice the church’s canon; for once discovered they are to be deposed. 11. Concerning those who have transgressed without necessity or the confiscation of their property or without danger or anything of this nature, as happened under the tyranny of Licinius, this holy synod decrees that, though they do not deserve leniency, nevertheless they should be treated mercifully. Those therefore among the faithful who genuinely repent shall spend three years among the hearers, for seven years they shall be prostrators, and for two years they shall take part with the people in the prayers, though not in the offering. 12. Those who have been called by grace, have given evidence of first fervour and have cast off their [military] belts, and afterwards have run back like dogs to their own vomit, so that some have even paid money and recovered their military status by bribes -- such persons shall spend ten years as prostrators after a period of three years as hearers. In every case, however, their disposition and the nature of their penitence should be examined. For those who through their fear and tears and perseverance and good works give evidence of their conversion by deeds and not by outward show, when they have completed their appointed term as hearers, may properly take part in the prayers, and the bishop is competent to decide even more favourably in their regard. But those who have taken the matter lightly, and have thought that the outward form of entering the church is all that is required for their conversion, must complete their term to the full. 13. Concerning the departing, the ancient canon law is still to be maintained namely that those who are departing are not to be deprived of their last, most necessary viaticum. But if one whose life has been despaired of has been admitted to communion and has shared in the offering and is found to be numbered again among the living, he shall be among those who take part in prayer only [here a variant reading in Les canons des conciles oecumeniques adds “until the term fixed by this great ecumenical synod has been completed”]. But as a general rule, in the case of anyone whatsoever who is departing and seeks to share in the eucharist, the bishop upon examining the matter shall give him a share in the offering. 14. Concerning catechumens who have lapsed, this holy and great synod decrees that, after they have spent three years as hearers only, they shall then be allowed to pray with the catechumens. 15. On account of the great disturbance and the factions which are caused, it is decreed that the custom, if it is found to exist in some parts contrary to the canon, shall be totally suppressed, so that neither bishops nor presbyters nor deacons shall transfer from city to city. If after this decision of this holy and great synod anyone shall attempt such a thing, or shall lend himself to such a proceeding, the arrangement shall be totally annulled, and he shall be restored to the church of which he was ordained bishop or presbyter or deacon. 16. Any presbyters or deacons or in general anyone enrolled in any rank of the clergy who depart from their church recklessly and without the fear of God before their eyes or in ignorance of the church’s canon, ought not by any means to be received in another church, but all pressure must be applied to them to induce them to return to their own dioceses, or if they remain it is right that they should be excommunicated. But if anyone dares to steal away one who belongs to another and to ordain him in his church without the consent of the other’s own bishop among whose clergy he was enrolled before he departed, the ordination is to be null. 17. Since many enrolled [among the clergy] have been induced by greed and avarice to forget the sacred text, “who does not put out his money at interest”, and to charge one per cent [a month] on loans, this holy and great synod judges that if any are found after this decision to receive interest by contract or to transact the business in any other way or to charge [a flat rate of] fifty per cent or in general to devise any other contrivance for the sake of dishonourable gain, they shall be deposed from the clergy and their names struck from the roll. 18. It has come to the attention of this holy and great synod that in some places and cities deacons give communion to presbyters, although neither canon nor custom allows this, namely that those who have no authority to offer should give the body of Christ to those who do offer. Moreover it has become known that some of the deacons now receive the eucharist even before the bishops. All these practices must be suppressed. Deacons must remain within their own limits, knowing that they are the ministers of the bishop and subordinate to the presbyters. Let them receive the eucharist according to their order after the presbyters from the hands of the bishop or the presbyter. Nor shall permission be given for the deacons to sit among the presbyters, for such an arrangement is contrary to the canon and to rank. If anyone refuses to comply even after these decrees, he is to be suspended from the diaconate. 19. Concerning the former Paulinists who seek refuge in the catholic church, it is determined that they must be rebaptised unconditionally. Those who in the past have been enrolled among the clergy, if they appear to be blameless and irreproachable, are to be rebaptised and ordained by the bishop of the catholic church. But if on inquiry they are shown to be unsuitable, it is right that they should be deposed. Similarly with regard to deaconesses and all in general whose names have been included in the roll, the same form shall be observed. We refer to deaconesses who have been granted this status, for they do not receive any imposition of hands, so that they are in all respects to be numbered among the laity. 20. Since there are some who kneel on Sunday and during the season of Pentecost, this holy synod decrees that, so that the same observances may be maintained in every diocese, one should offer one’s prayers to the Lord standing. THE LETTER OF THE SYNOD IN NICAEA TO THE EGYPTIANS The bishops assembled at Nicaea, who constitute the great and holy synod, greet the church of the Alexandrians, by the grace of God holy and great, and the beloved brethren in Egypt, Libya and Pentapolis. Since the grace of God and the most pious emperor Constantine have called us together from different provinces and cities to constitute the great and holy synod in Nicaea, it seemed absolutely necessary that the holy synod should send you a letter so that you may know what was proposed and discussed, and what was decided and enacted. First of all the affair of the impiety and lawlessness of Arius and his followers was discussed in the presence of the most pious emperor Constantine. It was unanimously agreed that anathemas should be pronounced against his impious opinion and his blasphemous terms and expressions which he has blasphemously applied to the Son of God, saying “he is from things that are not”, and “before he was begotten he was not”, and “there once was when he was not”, saying too that by his own power the Son of God is capable of evil and goodness, and calling him a creature and a work. Against all this the holy synod pronounced anathemas, and did not allow this impious and abandoned opinion and these blasphemous words even to be heard. Of that man and the fate which befell him, you have doubtless heard or will hear, lest we should seem to trample upon one who has already received a fitting reward because of his own sin. Such indeed was the power of his impiety that Theonas of Marmarica and Secundus of Ptolemais shared in the consequences, for they too suffered the same fate. But since, when the grace of God had freed Egypt from this evil and blasphemous opinion, and from the persons who had dared to create a schism and a separation in a people which up to now had lived in peace, there remained the question of the presumption of Meletius and the men whom he had ordained, we shall explain to you, beloved brethren, the synod’s decisions on this subject too. The synod was moved to incline towards mildness in its treatment of Meletius for strictly speaking he deserved no mercy. It decreed that that he might remain in his own city without any authority to nominate or ordain, and that he was not to show himself for this purpose in the country or in another city, and that he was to retain the bare name of his office. It was further decreed that those whom he had ordained, when they had been validated by a more spiritual ordination, were to be admitted to communion on condition that they would retain their rank and exercise their ministry, but in every respect were to be second to all the clergy in each diocese and church who had been nominated under our most honoured brother and fellow minister Alexander; they were to have no authority to appoint candidates of their choice or to put forward names or to do anything at all without the consent of the bishop of the catholic church, namely the bishop of those who are under Alexander. But those who by the grace of God and by our prayers have not been detected in any schism, and are spotless in the catholic and apostolic church, are to have authority to appoint and to put forward the names of men of the clergy who are worthy, and in general to do everything according to the law and rule of the church. In the event of the death of any in the church, those who have recently been accepted are thereupon to succeed to the office of the deceased, provided that they appear worthy and are chosen by the people; the bishop of Alexandria is to take part in the vote and confirm the election. This privilege, which has been granted to all others, does not apply to the person of Meletius because of his inveterate seditiousness and his mercurial and rash disposition, lest any authority or responsibility should be given to one who is capable of returning to his seditious practices. These are the chief and most important decrees as far as concerns Egypt and the most holy church of the Alexandrians. Whatever other canons and decrees were enacted in the presence of our lord and most honoured fellow minister and brother Alexander, he will himself report them to you in greater detail when he comes, for he was himself a leader as well as a participant in the events. The following is not found in the latin text, but is found in the greek text: We also send you the good news of the settlement concerning the holy pasch, namely that in answer to your prayers this question also has been resolved. All the brethren in the East who have hitherto followed the Jewish practice will henceforth observe the custom of the Romans and of yourselves and of all of us who from ancient times have kept Easter together with you. Rejoicing then in these successes and in the common peace and harmony and in the cutting off of all heresy, welcome our fellow minister, your bishop Alexander, with all the greater honour and love. He has made us happy by his presence, and despite his advanced age has undertaken such great labour in order that you too may enjoy peace. FIRST COUNCIL OF CONSTANTINOPLE - 381 INTRODUCTION In the year 380 the emperors Gratian and Theodosius I decided to convoke this council to counter the Arians, and also to judge the case of Maximus the Cynic, bishop of Constantinople. The council met in May of the following year. One hundred and fifty bishops took part, all of them eastern Orthodox, since the Pneumatomachi party had left at the start. After Maximus had been condemned, Meletius, bishop of Antioch, appointed Gregory of Nazianzus as the lawful bishop of Constantinople and at first presided over the council. Then on Meletius’s sudden death, Gregory took charge of the council up to the arrival of Acholius, who was to table Pope Damasus’s demands: namely, that Maximus should be expelled as an interloper, and that the translation of bishops should be avoided. But when Timothy, bishop of Alexandria, arrived he declared Gregory’s appointment invalid. Gregory resigned the episcopacy and Nectarius, after baptism and consecration, was installed as bishop and presided over the council until its closure. No copy of the council’s doctrinal decisions, entitled tomos kai anathematismos engraphos (record of the tome and anathemas), has survived. So what is presented here is the synodical letter of the synod of Constantinople held in 382, which expounded these doctrinal decisions, as the fathers witness, in summary form: namely, along the lines defined by the council of Nicaea, the consubstantiality and coeternity of the three divine persons against the Sabellians, Anomoeans, Arians and Pneumatomachi, who thought that the divinity was divided into several natures; and the enanthropesis (taking of humanity) of the Word, against those who supposed that the Word had in no way taken a human soul. All these matters were in close agreement with the tome that Pope Damasus and a Roman council, held probably in 378, had sent to the East. Scholars find difficulties with the creed attributed to the council of Constantinople. Some say that the council composed a new creed. But no mention is made of this creed by ancient witnesses until the council of Chalcedon; and the council of Constantinople was said simply to have endorsed the faith of Nicaea, with a few additions on the holy Spirit to refute the Pneumatomachian heresy. Moreover, if the latter tradition is accepted, an explanation must be given of why the first two articles of the so-called Constantinopolitan creed differ considerably from the Nicene creed. It was J. Lebon, followed by J. N. D. Kelly and A. M. Ritter, who worked at the solution of this problem. Lebon said that the Nicene creed, especially since it was adapted to use at baptism, had taken on a number of forms. It was one of these which was endorsed at the council of Constantinople and developed by additions concerning the holy Spirit. All the forms, altered to some extent or other, were described by a common title as “the Nicene faith”. Then the council of Chalcedon mentioned the council of Constantinople as the immediate source of one of them, marked it out by a special name “the faith of the 150 fathers”, which from that time onwards became its widely known title, and quoted it alongside the original simple form of the Nicene creed. The Greek text of the Constantinopolitan creed, which is printed below, is taken from the acts of the council of Chalcedon. The council of Constantinople enacted four disciplinary canons: against the Arian heresy and its sects (can. 1), on limiting the power of bishops within fixed boundaries (can. 2), on ranking the see of Constantinople second to Rome in honour and dignity (can. 3), on the condemnation of Maximus and his followers (can. 4). Canons 2-4 were intended to put a stop to aggrandisement on the part of the see of Alexandria. The two following canons, 5 and 6, were framed at the synod which met in Constantinople in 382. The 7th canon is an extract from a letter which the church of Constantinople sent to Martyrius of Antioch. The council ended on 9 July 381, and on 30 July of the same year, at the request of the council fathers, the emperor Theodosius ratified its decrees by edict. Already from 382 onwards, in the synodical letter of the synod which met at Constantinople, the council of Constantinople was given the title of “ecumenical”. The word denotes a general and plenary council. But the council of Constantinople was criticised and censured by Gregory of Nazianzus. In subsequent years it was hardly ever mentioned. In the end it achieved its special status when the council of Chalcedon, at its second session and in its definition of the faith, linked the form of the creed read out at Constantinople with the Nicene form, as being a completely reliable witness of the authentic faith. The fathers of Chalcedon acknowledged the authority of the canons -- at least as far as the eastern church was concerned -- at their sixteenth session. The council’s dogmatic authority in the western church was made clear by words of Pope Gregory I: “I confess that I accept and venerate the four councils (Nicaea, Constantinople, Ephesus and Chalcedon) in the same way as I do the four books of the holy Gospel....” The bishop of Rome’s approval was not extended to the canons, because they were never brought “to the knowledge of the apostolic see’’. Dionysius Exiguus knew only of the first four -- the ones to be found in the western collections. Pope Nicholas I wrote of the sixth canon to Emperor Michael III: “It is not found among us, but is said to be in force among you’’. The English translation is from the Greek text, which is the more authoritative version. The exposition of the 150 fathers We believe in one God the Father all-powerful, maker of heaven and of earth, and of all things both seen and unseen. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten from the Father before all the ages, light from light, true God from true God, begotten not made, consubstantial with the Father, through whom all things came to be; for us humans and for our salvation he came down from the heavens and became incarnate from the holy Spirit and the virgin Mary, became human and was crucified on our behalf under Pontius Pilate; he suffered and was buried and rose up on the third day in accordance with the scriptures; and he went up into the heavens and is seated at the Father’s right hand; he is coming again with glory to judge the living and the dead; his kingdom will have no end. And in the Spirit, the holy, the lordly and life-giving one, proceeding forth from the Father, co-worshipped and co-glorified with Father and Son, the one who spoke through the prophets; in one, holy, catholic and apostolic church. We confess one baptism for the forgiving of sins. We look forward to a resurrection of the dead and life in the age to come. Amen. A letter of the bishops gathered in Constantinople [1] To the most honoured lords and most reverend brethren and fellow-ministers, Damasus, Ambrose, Britton, Valerian, Acholius, Anemius, Basil, and the rest of the holy bishops who met in the great city of Rome: the sacred synod of orthodox bishops who met in the great city of Constantinople sends greetings in the Lord. It may well be unnecessary to instruct your reverence by describing the many sufferings that have been brought upon us under Arian domination, as if you did not know already. Nor do we imagine that your piety considers our affairs so trivial that you need to learn what you must be suffering along with us. Nor were the storms which beset us such as to escape your notice on grounds of insignificance. The period of persecution is still recent and ensures that the memory remains fresh not only among those who have suffered but also among those who have through love made the lot of those who suffered their own. It was barely yesterday or the day before that some were freed from the bonds of exile and returned to their own churches through a thousand tribulations. The remains of others who died in exile were brought back. Even after their return from exile some experienced a ferment of hatred from the heretics and underwent a more cruel fate in their own land than they did abroad, by being stoned to death by them in the manner of the blessed Stephen. Others were torn to shreds by various tortures and still carry around on their bodies the marks of Christ’s wounds and bruises. Who could number the financial penalties, the fines imposed on cities, the confiscations of individual property, the plots, the outrages, the imprisonments? Indeed all our afflictions increased beyond number: perhaps because we were paying the just penalty for our sins; perhaps also because a loving God was disciplining us by means of the great number of our sufferings. So thanks be to God for this. He has instructed his own servants through the weight of their afflictions, and in accordance with his numerous mercies he has brought us back again to a place of refreshment The restoration of the churches demanded prolonged attention, much time and hard work from us if the body of the church which had been weak for so long was to be cured completely by gradual treatment and brought back to its original soundness in religion. We may seem on the whole to be free from violent persecutions and to be at the moment recovering the churches which have long been in the grip of the heretics. But in fact we are oppressed by wolves who even after expulsion from the fold go on ravaging the flocks up and down dale, making so bold as to hold rival assemblies, activating popular uprisings and stopping at nothing which might harm the churches. As we have said, this made us take a longer time over our affairs. But now you have shown your brotherly love for us by convoking a synod in Rome, in accordance with God’s will, and inviting us to it, by means of a letter from your most God-beloved emperor, as if we were limbs of your very own, so that whereas in the past we were condemned to suffer alone, you should not now reign in isolation from us, given the complete agreement of the emperors in matters of religion. Rather, according to the word of the apostle, we should reign along with you’. So it was our intention that if it were possible we should all leave our churches together and indulge our desires rather than attend to their needs. But who will give us wings as of a dove, so we shall fly and come to rest with you? This course would leave the churches entirely exposed, just as they are beginning their renewal; and it is completely out of the question for the majority. As a consequence of last year’s letter sent by your reverence after the synod of Aquileia to our most God-beloved emperor Theodosius, we came together in Constantinople. We were equipped only for this stay in Constantinople and the bishops who remained in the provinces gave their agreement to this synod alone. We foresaw no need for a longer absence, nor did we hear of it in advance at all, before we gathered in Constantinople. On top of this the tightness of the schedule proposed allowed no opportunity to prepare for a longer absence, nor to brief all the bishops in the provinces who are in communion with us and to get their agreement. Since these considerations, and many more besides, prevented most of us from coming, we have done the next best thing both to set matters straight and to make your love for us appreciated: we have managed to convince our most venerable and reverend brethren and fellow-ministers, Bishops Cyriacus, Eusebius and Priscian to be willing to undertake the wearisome journey to you. Through them we wish to show that our intentions are peaceful and have unity as their goal. We also want to make clear that what we are zealously seeking is sound faith. What we have undergone -- persecutions, afflictions, imperial threats, cruelty from officials, and whatever other trial at the hands of heretics -- we have put up with for the sake of the gospel faith established by the 318 fathers at Nicaea in Bithynia. You, we and all who are not bent on subverting the word of the true faith should give this creed our approval. It is the most ancient and is consistent with our baptism. It tells us how to believe in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy Spirit: believing also, of course, that the Father, the Son and the holy Spirit have a single Godhead and power and substance, a dignity deserving the same honour and a co-eternal sovereignty, in three most perfect hypostases, or three perfect persons. So there is no place for Sabellius’s diseased theory in which the hypostases are confused and thus their proper characteristics destroyed. Nor may the blasphemy of Eunomians and Arians and Pneumatomachi prevail, with its division of substance or of nature or of Godhead, and its introduction of some nature which was produced subsequently, or was created, or was of a different substance, into the uncreated and consubstantial and co-eternal Trinity. And we preserve undistorted the accounts of the Lord’s taking of humanity, accepting as we do that the economy of his flesh was not soulless nor mindless nor imperfect. To sum up, we know that he was before the ages fully God the Word, and that in the last days he became fully man for the sake of our salvation. So much, in summary, for the faith which is openly preached by us. You can take even more heart concerning these matters if you think fit to consult the tome that was issued in Antioch by the synod which met there as well as the one issued last year in Constantinople by the ecumenical synod. In these documents we confessed the faith in broader terms and we have issued a written condemnation of the heresies which have recently erupted. With regard to particular forms of administration in the churches, ancient custom, as you know, has been in force, along with the regulation of the saintly fathers at Nicaea, that in each province those of the province, and with them-should the former so desire -- their neighbours, should conduct ordinations as need might arise. Accordingly, as you are aware, the rest of the churches are administered, and the priests [= bishops] of the most prominent churches have been appointed, by us. Hence at the ecumenical council by common agreement and in the presence of the most God-beloved emperor Theodosius and all the clergy, and with the approval of the whole city, we have ordained the most venerable and God-beloved Nectarius as bishop of the church newly set up, as one might say, in Constantinople -- a church which by God’s mercy we just recently snatched from the blasphemy of the heretics as from the lion’s jaws. Over the most ancient and truly apostolic church at Antioch in Syria, where first the precious name of “Christians” came into use, the provincial bishops and those of the diocese of the East came together and canonically ordained the most venerable and God-beloved Flavian as bishop with the consent of the whole church, as though it would give the man due honour with a single voice. The synod as a whole also accepted that this ordination was legal. We wish to inform you that the most venerable and God-beloved Cyril is bishop of the church in Jerusalem, the mother of all the churches. He was canonically ordained some time ago by those of the province and at various times he has valiantly combated the Arians. We exhort your reverence to join us in rejoicing at what we have legally and canonically enacted. Let spiritual love link us together, and let the fear of the Lord suppress all human prejudice and put the building up of the churches before individual attachment or favour. In this way, with the account of the faith agreed between us and with christian love established among us, we shall cease to declare what was condemned by the apostles, “I belong to Paul, I to Apollo, I to Cephas”; but we shall all be seen to belong to Christ, who has not been divided up among us; and with God’s good favour, we shall keep the body of the church undivided, and shall come before the judgment-seat of the Lord with confidence. CANONS 1 The profession of faith of the holy fathers who gathered in Nicaea in Bithynia is not to be abrogated, but it is to remain in force. Every heresy is to be anathematised and in particular that of the Eunomians or Anomoeans, that of the Arians or Eudoxians, that of the Semi-Arians or Pneumatomachi, that of the Sabellians that of the Marcellians, that of the Photinians and that of the Apollinarians. 2 Diocesan bishops are not to intrude in churches beyond their own boundaries nor are they to confuse the churches: but in accordance with the canons, the bishop of Alexandria is to administer affairs in Egypt only; the bishops of the East are to manage the East alone (whilst safeguarding the privileges granted to the church of the Antiochenes in the Nicene canons); and the bishops of the Asian diocese are to manage only Asian affairs; and those in Pontus only the affairs of Pontus; and those in Thrace only Thracian affairs. Unless invited bishops are not to go outside their diocese to perform an ordination or any other ecclesiastical business. If the letter of the canon about dioceses is kept, it is clear that the provincial synod will manage affairs in each province, as was decreed at Nicaea. But the churches of God among barbarian peoples must be administered in accordance with the custom in force at the time of the fathers. 3 Because it is new Rome, the bishop of Constantinople is to enjoy the privileges of honour after the bishop of Rome. 4 Regarding Maximus the Cynic and the disorder which surrounded him in Constantinople: he never became, nor is he, a bishop; nor are those ordained by him clerics of any rank whatsoever. Everything that was done both to him and by him is to be held invalid. 5 Regarding the Tome [2] of the Westerns: we have also recognised those in Antioch who confess a single Godhead of Father and Son and holy Spirit. 6 There are many who are bent on confusing and overturning the good order of the church and so fabricate, out of hatred and a wish to slander, certain accusations against orthodox bishops in charge of churches. Their intention is none other than to blacken priests’ reputations and to stir up trouble among peace- loving laity. For this reason the sacred synod of bishops assembled at Constantinople has decided not to admit accusers without prior examination, and not to allow everyone to bring accusations against church administrators -- but with- out excluding everyone. So if someone brings a private (that is a personal) complaint against the bishop on the grounds that he has been defrauded or in some other way unjustly dealt with by him, in the case of this kind of accusation neither the character nor the religion of the accuser will be subject to examination. It is wholly essential both that the bishop should have a clear conscience and that the one who alleges that he has been wronged, whatever his religion may be, should get justice. But if the charge brought against the bishop is of an ecclesiastical kind, then the characters of those making it should be examined, in the first place to stop heretics bringing charges against orthodox bishops in matters of an ecclesiastical kind. (We define “heretics” as those who have been previously banned from the church and also those later anathematised by ourselves: and in addition those who claim to confess a faith that is sound, but who have seceded and hold assemblies in rivalry with the bishops who are in communion with us.) In the second place, persons previously condemned and expelled from the church for whatever reason, or those excommunicated either from the clerical or lay rank, are not to be permitted to accuse a bishop until they have first purged their own crime. Similarly, those who are already accused are not permitted to accuse a bishop or other clerics until they have proved their own innocence of the crimes with which they are charged. But if persons who are neither heretics nor excommunicates, nor such as have been previously condemned or accused of some transgression or other, claim that they have some ecclesiastical charge to make against the bishop, the sacred synod commands that such persons should first lay the accusations before all the bishops of the province and prove before them the crimes committed by the bishop in the case. If it emerges that the bishops of the province are not able to correct the crimes laid at the bishop’s door, then a higher synod of the bishops of that diocese, convoked to hear this case, must be approached, and the accusers are not to lay their accusations before it until they have given a written promise to submit to equal penalties should they be found guilty of making false accusations against the accused bishop, when the matter is investigated. If anyone shows contempt of the prescriptions regarding the above matters and presumes to bother either the ears of the emperor or the courts of the secular authorities, or to dishonour all the diocesan bishops and trouble an ecumenical synod, there is to be no question whatever of allowing such a person to bring accusations forward, because he has made a mockery of the canons and violated the good order of the church. 7 Those who embrace orthodoxy and join the number of those who are being saved from the heretics, we receive in the following regular and customary manner: Arians, Macedonians, Sabbatians, Novatians, those who call themselves Cathars and Aristae, Quartodeciman or Tetradites, Apollinarians-these we receive when they hand in statements and anathematise every heresy which is not of the same mind as the holy, catholic and apostolic church of God. They are first sealed or anointed with holy chrism on the forehead, eyes, nostrils, mouth and ears. As we seal them we say: “Seal of the gift of the holy Spirit”. But Eunomians, who are baptised in a single immersion, Montanists (called Phrygians here), Sabellians, who teach the identity of Father and Son and make certain other difficulties, and all other sects -- since there are many here, not least those who originate in the country of the Galatians -- we receive all who wish to leave them and embrace orthodoxy as we do Greeks. On the first day we make Christians of them, on the second catechumens, on the third we exorcise them by breathing three times into their faces and their ears, and thus we catechise them and make them spend time in the church and listen to the scriptures; and then we baptise them. 1. Namely the synod of Constantinople in 382 2. This tome has not survived; it probably defended Paul of Antioch THE COUNCIL OF EPHESUS - 431 A.D. CONTENTS 1. Introduction 2. Second letter of Cyril to Nestorius - approved 3. Second letter of Nestorius to Cyril - condemned 4. Third letter of Cyril to Nestorius - approved. Twelve Anathemas Proposed by Cyril and accepted by the Council of Ephesus 5. The judgment against Nestorius 6. Synodical letter about the expulsion of the eastern bishops (et al.) 7. Definition of the faith at Nicaea [6th session 22 July 431] 8. Definition against the impious Messalians or Euchites 9. Resolution : that the bishops of Cyprus may themselves conduct ordinations 10. Formula of union between Cyrill and John of Antioch 11. Letter of Cyril to John of Antioch about peace 12. Excerpt from the Council of Chalcedon accepting the Letter of Cyril to John of Antioch about peace. INTRODUCTION Nestorius, who had been condemned in a council at Rome on 11 August 430, asked the emperor Theodosius II to summon this council. The emperor therefore decided to summon it together with his co-emperor Valentinian III and with the agreement of Pope Celestine I. Theodosius’s letter of 19 November 430 requested all those who had been summoned to be present at Ephesus on 7 June 431, the feast of Pentecost. On 22 June, however, before the arrival either of the Roman legates or the eastern bishops led by John of Antioch, Cyril of Alexandria began the council. Nestorius was summoned three times but did not come. His teaching was examined and judgment passed upon it, which 197 bishops subscribed at once and others later accepted. Shortly afterwards John of Antioch and the easterners arrived: they refused communion with Cyril and set up another council. The Roman legates (the bishops Arcadius and Projectus and the priest Philip), on arriving, joined Cyril and confirmed the sentence against Nestorius. Then the council in its fifth session on 17 July excommunicated John and his party. The documents of the Cyrilline council, the only one which is ecumenical, are included below and are as follows. 1. The central dogmatic act of the council is its judgment about whether the second letter of Cyril to Nestorius, or Nestorius’s second letter to Cyril, was in conformity with the Nicene creed which was recited at the opening of the council’s proceedings. Cyril’s letter was declared by the fathers to be in agreement with Nicaea, Nestorius’s was condemned. Both are here printed. Mention is made of Cyril’s letter in the definition of Chalcedon. 2. The 12 anathemas and the preceding explanatory letter, which had been produced by Cyril and the synod of Alexandria in 430 and sent to Nestorius, were read at Ephesus and included in the proceedings. 3. The decision about Nestorius. 4. The letter of the council advising all the bishops, clergy and people about the condemnation of John of Antioch; and some paragraphs dealing with the discipline of the Nestorian party. 5. A decree on the faith, approved in the sixth session on 22 July, which confirmed the Nicene creed, ordered adherence to that alone and forbade the production of new creeds. 6. A definition against the Messalians. 7. A decree about the autonomy of the church of Cyprus. Both councils sent legates to the emperor Theodosius, who approved neither and sent the bishops away. Nestorius had already been given permission to revisit his monastery at Antioch, and on 25 October 431 Maximianus was ordained patriarch at Constantinople. The decrees of the council were approved by Pope Sixtus III shortly after his own ordination on 31 July 432. The reconciliation between the Cyrilline party and the eastern bishops was not easy. In the end, on 23 April 433, Cyril and John of Antioch made peace. John’s profession of faith was accepted by Cyril and became the doctrinal formula of union. It is included here, together with Cyril’s letter in which he at some length praises John’s profession and accepts it, adding to it some explanation about his own expressions; this letter is mentioned in the definition of Chalcedon. Shortly afterwards, probably in 436, Nestorius was definitely sent into exile by the emperor. The English translation is from the Greek text, which is the more authoritative version. SECOND LETTER OF CYRIL TO NESTORIUS [Declared by the council of Ephesus to be in agreement with Nicaea] Cyril sends greeting in the Lord to the most religious and reverend fellow-minister Nestorius I understand that there are some who are talking rashly of the reputation in which I hold your reverence, and that this is frequently the case when meetings of people in authority give them an opportunity. I think they hope in this way to delight your ears and so they spread abroad uncontrolled expressions. They are people who have suffered no wrong, but have been exposed by me for their own profit, one because he oppressed the blind and the poor, a second because he drew a sword on his mother, a third because he stole someone else’s money in collusion with a maidservant and since then has lived with such a reputation as one would hardly wish for one’s worst enemy. For the rest I do not intend to spend more words on this subject in order not to vaunt my own mediocrity above my teacher and master or above the fathers. For however one may try to live, it is impossible to escape the malice of evil people, whose mouths are full of cursing and bitterness and who will have to defend themselves before the judge of all. But I turn to a subject more fitting to myself and remind you as a brother in Christ always to be very careful about what you say to the people in matters of teaching and of your thought on the faith. You should bear in mind that to scandalise even one of these little ones that believe in Christ lays you open to unendurable wrath. If the number of those who are distressed is very large, then surely we should use every skill and care to remove scandals and to expound the healthy word of faith to those who seek the truth. The most effective way to achieve this end will be zealously to occupy ourselves with the words of the holy fathers, to esteem their words, to examine our words to see if we are holding to their faith as it is written, to conform our thoughts to their correct and irreproachable teaching. The holy and great synod, therefore, stated that 1. the only begotten Son, begotten of God the Father according to nature, true God from true God, the light from the light, the one through whom the Father made all things, came down, became incarnate, became man, 2. suffered, rose on the third day and ascended to heaven. * 1. We too ought to follow these words and these teachings and consider what is meant by saying that the Word from God took flesh and became man. For we do not say that the nature of the Word was changed and became flesh, nor that he was turned into a whole man made of body and soul. Rather do we claim that the Word in an unspeakable, inconceivable manner united to himself hypostatically flesh enlivened by a rational soul, and so became man and was called son of man, not by God’s will alone or good pleasure, nor by the assumption of a person alone. Rather did two different natures come together to form a unity, and from both arose one Christ, one Son. It was not as though the distinctness of the natures was destroyed by the union, but divinity and humanity together made perfect for us one Lord and one Christ, together marvellously and mysteriously combining to form a unity. So he who existed and was begotten of the Father before all ages is also said to have been begotten according to the flesh of a woman, without the divine nature either beginning to exist in the holy virgin, or needing of itself a second begetting after that from his Father. (For it is absurd and stupid to speak of the one who existed before every age and is coeternal with the Father, needing a second beginning so as to exist.) The Word is said to have been begotten according to the flesh, because for us and for our salvation he united what was human to himself hypostatically and came forth from a woman. For he was not first begotten of the holy virgin, a man like us, and then the Word descended upon him; but from the very womb of his mother he was so united and then underwent begetting according to the flesh, making his own the begetting of his own flesh. * 2. In a similar way we say that he suffered and rose again, not that the Word of God suffered blows or piercing with nails or any other wounds in his own nature (for the divine, being without a body, is incapable of suffering), but because the body which became his own suffered these things, he is said to have suffered them for us. For he was without suffering, while his body suffered. Something similar is true of his dying. For by nature the Word of God is of itself immortal and incorruptible and life and life-giving, but since on the other hand his own body by God’s grace, as the apostle says, tasted death for all, the Word is said to have suffered death for us, not as if he himself had experienced death as far as his own nature was concerned (it would be sheer lunacy to say or to think that), but because, as I have just said, his flesh tasted death. So too, when his flesh was raised to life, we refer to this again as his resurrection, not as though he had fallen into corruption--God forbid--but because his body had been raised again. So we shall confess one Christ and one Lord. We do not adore the man along with the Word, so as to avoid any appearance of division by using the word “with”. But we adore him as one and the same, because the body is not other than the Word, and takes its seat with him beside the Father, again not as though there were two sons seated together but only one, united with his own flesh. If, however, we reject the hypostatic union as being either impossible or too unlovely for the Word, we fall into the fallacy of speaking of two sons. We shall have to distinguish and speak both of the man as honoured with the title of son, and of the Word of God as by nature possessing the name and reality of sonship, each in his own way. We ought not, therefore, to split into two sons the one Lord Jesus Christ. Such a way of presenting a correct account of the faith will be quite unhelpful, even though some do speak of a union of persons. For scripture does not say that the Word united the person of a man to himself, but that he became flesh. The Word’s becoming flesh means nothing else than that he partook of flesh and blood like us; he made our body his own, and came forth a man from woman without casting aside his deity, or his generation from God the Father, but rather in his assumption of flesh remaining what he was. This is the account of the true faith everywhere professed. So shall we find that the holy fathers believed. So have they dared to call the holy virgin, mother of God, not as though the nature of the Word or his godhead received the origin of their being from the holy virgin, but because there was born from her his holy body rationally ensouled, with which the Word was hypostatically united and is said to have been begotten in the flesh. These things I write out of love in Christ exhorting you as a brother and calling upon you before Christ and the elect angels, to hold and teach these things with us, in order to preserve the peace of the churches and that the priests of God may remain in an unbroken bond of concord and love. SECOND LETTER OF NESTORIUS TO CYRIL [condemned by the council of Ephesus] Nestorius sends greeting in the Lord to the most religious and reverend fellow-minister Cyril. I pass over the insults against us contained in your extraordinary letter. They will, I think, be cured by my patience and by the answer which events will offer in the course of time. On one matter, however, I cannot be silent, as silence would in that case be very dangerous. On that point, therefore avoiding longwindedness as far as I can, I shall attempt a brief discussion and try to be as free as possible from repelling obscurity and undigestible prolixity. I shall begin from the wise utterances of your reverence, setting them down word for word. What then are the words in which your remarkable teaching finds expression ? “The holy and great synod states that the only begotten Son, begotten of God the Father according to nature, true God from true God, the light from the light, the one through whom the Father made all things, came down, became incarnate, became man, suffered, rose.” These are the words of your reverence and you may recognise them. Now listen to what we say, which takes the form of a brotherly exhortation to piety of the type of which the great apostle Paul gave an example in addressing his beloved Timothy: “Attend to the public reading of scripture, to preaching, to teaching. For by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers”. Tell me, what does “attend” mean? By reading in a superficial way the tradition of those holy men (you were guilty of a pardonable ignorance), you concluded that they said that the Word who is coeternal with the Father was passible. Please look more closely at their language and you will find out that that divine choir of fathers never said that the consubstantial godhead was capable of suffering, or that the whole being that was coeternal with the Father was recently born, or that it rose again, seeing that it had itself been the cause of resurrection of the destroyed temple. If you apply my words as fraternal medicine, I shall set the words of the holy fathers before you and shall free them from the slander against them and through them against the holy scriptures. “I believe”, they say, “also in our Lord Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son”. See how they first lay as foundations “Lord” and “Jesus” and “Christ” and “only begotten” and “Son”, the names which belong jointly to the divinity and humanity. Then they build on that foundation the tradition of the incarnation and resurrection and passion. In this way, by prefixing the names which are common to each nature, they intend to avoid separating expressions applicable to sonship and lordship and at the same time escape the danger of destroying the distinctive character of the natures by absorbing them into the one title of “Son”. In this Paul was their teacher who, when he remembers the divine becoming man and then wishes to introduce the suffering, first mentions “Christ”, which, as I have just said, is the common name of both natures and then adds an expression which is appropriate to both of the natures. For what does he say ? “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped”, and so on until, “he became obedient unto death, even death on a cross”. For when he was about to mention the death, to prevent anyone supposing that God the Word suffered, he says “Christ”, which is a title that expresses in one person both the impassible and the passible natures, in order that Christ might be called without impropriety both impassible and passible impassible in godhead, passible in the nature of his body. I could say much on this subject and first of all that those holy fathers, when they discuss the economy, speak not of the generation but of the Son becoming man. But I recall the promise of brevity that I made at the beginning and that both restrains my discourse and moves me on to the second subject of your reverence. In that I applaud your division of natures into manhood and godhead and their conjunction in one person. I also applaud your statement that God the Word needed no second generation from a woman, and your confession that the godhead is incapable of suffering. Such statements are truly orthodox and equally opposed to the evil opinions of all heretics about the Lord’s natures. If the remainder was an attempt to introduce some hidden and incomprehensible wisdom to the ears of the readers, it is for your sharpness to decide. In my view these subsequent views seemed to subvert what came first. They suggested that he who had at the beginning been proclaimed as impassible and incapable of a second generation had somehow become capable of suffering and freshly created, as though what belonged to God the Word by nature had been destroyed by his conjunction with his temple or as though people considered it not enough that the sinless temple, which is inseparable from the divine nature, should have endured birth and death for sinners, or finally as though the Lord’s voice was not deserving of credence when it cried out to the Jews: “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.’’ He did not say, “Destroy my godhead and in three days it will be raised up.” Again I should like to expand on this but am restrained by the memory of my promise. I must speak therefore but with brevity. Holy scripture, wherever it recalls the Lord’s economy, speaks of the birth and suffering not of the godhead but of the humanity of Christ, so that the holy virgin is more accurately termed mother of Christ than mother of God. Hear these words that the gospels proclaim: “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham.” It is clear that God the Word was not the son of David. Listen to another witness if you will: “Jacob begat Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called the Christ. “ Consider a further piece of evidence: “Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, she was found to be with child of the holy Spirit.” But who would ever consider that the godhead of the only begotten was a creature of the Spirit? Why do we need to mention: “the mother of Jesus was there”? And again what of: “with Mary the mother of Jesus”; or “that which is conceived in her is of the holy Spirit”; and “Take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt”; and “concerning his Son, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh”? Again, scripture says when speaking of his passion: “God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh”; and again “Christ died for our sins” and “Christ having suffered in the flesh”; and “This is”, not “my godhead”, but “my body, broken for you”. Ten thousand other expressions witness to the human race that they should not think that it was the godhead of the Son that was recently killed but the flesh which was joined to the nature of the godhead. (Hence also Christ calls himself the lord and son of David: “ ‘What do you think of the Christ ? Whose son is he ?’ They said to him, ‘The son of David.’ Jesus answered and said to them, ‘How is it then that David inspired by the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying, “The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand”?’”. He said this as being indeed son of David according to the flesh, but his Lord according to his godhead.) The body therefore is the temple of the deity of the Son, a temple which is united to it in a high and divine conjunction, so that the divine nature accepts what belongs to the body as its own. Such a confession is noble and worthy of the gospel traditions. But to use the expression “accept as its own” as a way of diminishing the properties of the conjoined flesh, birth, suffering and entombment, is a mark of those whose minds are led astray, my brother, by Greek thinking or are sick with the lunacy of Apollinarius and Arius or the other heresies or rather something more serious than these. For it is necessary for such as are attracted by the name “propriety” to make God the Word share, because of this same propriety, in being fed on milk, in gradual growth, in terror at the time of his passion and in need of angelical assistance. I make no mention of circumcision and sacrifice and sweat and hunger, which all belong to the flesh and are adorable as having taken place for our sake. But it would be false to apply such ideas to the deity and would involve us in just accusation because of our calumny. These are the traditions of the holy fathers. These are the precepts of the holy scriptures. In this way does someone write in a godly way about the divine mercy and power, “Practise these duties, devote yourself to them, so that all may see your progress’’. This is what Paul says to all. The care you take in labouring for those who have been scandalised is well taken and we are grateful to you both for the thought you devote to things divine and for the concern you have even for those who live here. But you should realise that you have been misled either by some here who have been deposed by the holy synod for Manichaeism or by clergy of your own persuasion. In fact the church daily progresses here and through the grace of Christ there is such an increase among the people that those who behold it cry out with the words of the prophet, “The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the water covers the sea”. As for our sovereigns, they are in great joy as the light of doctrine is spread abroad and, to be brief, because of the state of all the heresies that fight against God and of the orthodoxy of the church, one might find that verse fulfilled “The house of Saul grew weaker and weaker and the house of David grew stronger and stronger”. This is our advice from a brother to a brother. “If anyone is disposed to be contentious”, Paul will cry out through us to such a one, “we recognize no other practice, neither do the churches of God”. I and those with me greet all the brotherhood with you in Christ. May you remain strong and continue praying for us, most honoured and reverent lord. THIRD LETTER OF CYRIL TO NESTORIUS [Read at the council of Ephesus and included in the proceedings . We omit the preface of the letter] We believe in one God . . .[Nicene Creed] Following in all points the confessions of the holy fathers, which they made with the holy Spirit speaking in them, and following the direction of their opinions and going as it were in the royal way, we say that the only-begotten Word of God, who was begotten from the very essence of the Father, true God from true God, the light from the light and the one through whom all things in heaven and earth were made, for our salvation came down and emptying himself he became incarnate and was made man. This means that he took flesh from the holy virgin and made it his own, undergoing a birth like ours from her womb and coming forth a man from a woman. He did not cast aside what he was, but although he assumed flesh and blood, he remained what he was, God in nature and truth. We do not say that his flesh was turned into the nature of the godhead or that the unspeakable Word of God was changed into the nature of the flesh. For he (the Word) is unalterable and absolutely unchangeable and remains always the same as the scriptures say. For although visible as a child and in swaddling cloths, even while he was in the bosom of the virgin that bore him, as God he filled the whole of creation and was fellow ruler with him who begot him. For the divine is without quantity and dimension and cannot be subject to circumscription. We confess the Word to have been made one with the flesh hypostatically, and we adore one Son and Lord, Jesus Christ. We do not divide him into parts and separate man and God in him, as though the two natures were mutually united only through a unity of dignity and authority; that would be an empty expression and nothing more. Nor do we give the name Christ in one sense to the Word of God and in another to him who was born of woman, but we know only one Christ, the Word from God the Father with his own flesh. As man he was anointed with us, even though he himself gives the Spirit to those who are worthy to receive it and not in measure, as the blessed evangelist John says. But we do not say that the Word of God dwelt as in an ordinary man born of the holy virgin, in order that Christ may not be thought of as a God-bearing man. For even though “the Word dwelt among us”, and it is also said that in Christ dwelt “all the fullness of the godhead bodily”, we understand that, having become flesh, the manner of his indwelling is not defined in the same way as he is said to dwell among the saints, he was united by nature and not turned into flesh and he made his indwelling in such a way as we may say that the soul of man does in his own body. There is therefore one Christ and Son and Lord, but not with the sort of conjunction that a man might have with God as unity of dignity or authority. Equality of honour by itself is unable to unite natures. For Peter and John were equal in honour to each other, being both of them apostles and holy disciples, but they were two, not one. Neither do we understand the manner of conjunction to be one of juxtaposition for this is not enough for natural union. Nor yet is it a question of relative participation, as we ourselves, being united to the Lord, are as it is written in the words of scripture “one spirit with him”. Rather do we deprecate the term “conjunction” as being inadequate to express the idea of union. Nor do we call the Word from God the Father, the God or Lord of Christ. To speak in that way would appear to split into two the one Christ and Son and Lord and we might in this way fall under the charge of blasphemy, making him the God and Lord of himself. For, as we have already said, the Word of God was united hypostatically with the flesh and is God of all and Lord of the universe, but is neither his own slave or master. For it is foolish or rather impious to think or to speak in this way. It is true that he called the Father “God” even though he was himself God by nature and of his being, we are not ignorant of the fact that at the same time as he was God he also became man, and so was subject to God according to the law that is suitable to the nature of manhood. But how should he become God or Lord of himself? Consequently as man and as far as it was fitting for him within the limits of his self-emptying it is said that he was subject to God like ourselves. So he came to be under the law while at the same time himself speaking the law and being a lawgiver like God. When speaking of Christ we avoid the expression: “I worship him who is carried because of the one who carries him; because of him who is unseen, I worship the one who is seen.” It is shocking to say in this connexion: “The assumed shares the name of God with him who assumes.” To speak in this way once again divides into two Christs and puts the man separately by himself and God likewise by himself. This saying denies openly the union, according to which one is not worshipped alongside the other, nor do both share in the title “God”, but Jesus Christ is considered as one, the only begotten Son, honoured with one worship, together with his own flesh. We also confess that the only begotten Son born of God the Father, although according to his own nature he was not subject to suffering, suffered in the flesh for us according to the scriptures, and was in his crucified body, and without himself suffering made his own the sufferings of his own flesh, for “by the grace of God he tasted death for all”. For that purpose he gave his own body to death though he was by nature life and the resurrection, in order that, having trodden down death by his own unspeakable power, he might first in his own flesh become the firstborn from the dead and “the first fruits of them that sleep”. And that he might make a way for human nature to return to incorruption by the grace of God, as we have just said, “he tasted death for all” and on the third day he returned to life, having robbed the underworld. Accordingly, even though it is said that “through man came the resurrection of the dead”, yet we understand that man to have been the Word which came from God, through whom the power of death was overcome. At the right time he will come as one Son and Lord in the glory of the Father, to judge the world in justice, as it is written. We will necessarily add this also. Proclaiming the death according to the flesh of the only begotten Son of God, that is Jesus Christ, and professing his return to life from the dead and his ascension into heaven, we offer the unbloody worship [sacrificii servitutem] in the churches and so proceed to the mystical thanksgivings and are sanctified having partaken of the holy flesh [corpus] and precious blood of Christ, the saviour of us all. This we receive not as ordinary flesh, heaven forbid, nor as that of a man who has been made holy and joined to the Word by union of honour, or who had a divine indwelling, but as truly the life-giving and real flesh of the Word [ut vere vivificatricem et ipsius Verbi propriam factam.]. For being life by nature as God, when he became one with his own flesh, he made it also to be life-giving, as also he said to us: “Amen I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood” . For we must not think that it is the flesh of a man like us (for how can the flesh of man be life-giving by its own nature?), but as being made the true flesh [vere proprium eius factam] of the one who for our sake became the son of man and was called so. For we do not divide up the words of our Saviour in the gospels among two hypostases or persons. For the one and only Christ is not dual, even though he be considered to be from two distinct realities, brought together into an unbreakable union. In the same sort of way a human being, though he be composed of soul and body, is considered to be not dual, but rather one out of two. Therefore, in thinking rightly, we refer both the human and divine expressions to the same person. For when he speaks about himself in a divine manner as “he that sees me sees the Father”, and “I and the Father are one”, we think of his divine and unspeakable nature, according to which he is one with his own Father through identity of nature and is the “image and impress and brightness of his glory”. But when, not dishonouring the measure of his humanity, he says to the Jews: “But now you seek to kill me, a man who has spoken the truth to you”, again no less than before, we recognise that he who, because of his equality and likeness to God the Father is God the Word, is also within the limits of his humanity. For if it is necessary to believe that being God by nature he became flesh, that is man ensouled with a rational soul, whatever reason should anyone have for being ashamed at the expressions uttered by him should they happen to be suitable to him as man ? For if he should reject words suitable to him as man, who was it that forced him to become a man like us? Why should he who submitted himself to voluntary self-emptying for our sake, reject expressions that are suitable for such self-emptying? All the expressions, therefore, that occur in the gospels are to be referred to one person, the one enfleshed hypostasis of the Word. For there is one Lord Jesus Christ, according to the scriptures. Even though he is called “the apostle and high priest of our confession”, as offering to the God and Father the confession of faith we make to him and through him to the God and Father and also to the holy Spirit, again we say that he is the natural and only-begotten Son of God and we shall not assign to another man apart from him the name and reality of priesthood. For he became the “mediator between God and humanity” and the establisher of peace between them, offering himself for an odour of sweetness to the God and Father. Therefore also he said: “Sacrifice and offering you would not, but a body you have prepared for me; [in burnt offerings and sacrifice for sin you have no pleasure]. Then I said, ‘Behold I come to do your will, O God’, as it is written of me in the volume of the book”. For our sake and not for his own he brought forward his own body in the odour of sweetness. Indeed, of what offering or sacrifice for himself would he have been in need, being as God superior to all manner of sin? For though “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”, and so we are prone to disorder and human nature has fallen into the weakness of sin, he is not so and consequently we are behind him in glory. How then can there be any further doubt that the true lamb was sacrificed for us and on our behalf? The suggestion that he offered himself for himself as well as for us is impossible to separate from the charge of impiety. For he never committed a fault at all, nor did he sin in any way. What sort of offering would he need then since there was no sin for which offering might rightly be made? When he says of the Spirit, “he will glorify me”, the correct understanding of this is not to say that the one Christ and Son was in need of glory from another and that he took glory from the holy Spirit, for his Spirit is not better than he nor above him. But because he used his own Spirit to display his godhead through his mighty works, he says that he has been glorified by him, just as if any one of us should perhaps say for example of his inherent strength or his knowledge of anything that they glorify him. For even though the Spirit exists in his own hypostasis and is thought of on his own, as being Spirit and not as Son, even so he is not alien to the Son. He has been called “the Spirit of truth”, and Christ is the truth, and the Spirit was poured forth by the Son, as indeed the Son was poured forth from the God and Father. Accordingly the Spirit worked many strange things through the hand of the holy apostles and so glorified him after the ascension of our lord Jesus Christ into heaven. For it was believed that he is God by nature and works through his own Spirit. For this reason also he said: “He (the Spirit) will take what is mine and declare it to you”. But we do not say that the Spirit is wise and powerful through some sharing with another, for he is all perfect and in need of no good thing. Since he is the Spirit of the power and wisdom of the Father, that is the Son, he is himself, evidently, wisdom and power. Therefore, because the holy virgin bore in the flesh God who was united hypostatically with the flesh, for that reason we call her mother of God, not as though the nature of the Word had the beginning of its existence from the flesh (for “the Word was in the beginning and the Word was God and the Word was with God”, and he made the ages and is coeternal with the Father and craftsman of all things), but because, as we have said, he united to himself hypostatically the human and underwent a birth according to the flesh from her womb. This was not as though he needed necessarily or for his own nature a birth in time and in the last times of this age, but in order that he might bless the beginning of our existence, in order that seeing that it was a woman that had given birth to him united to the flesh, the curse against the whole race should thereafter cease which was consigning all our earthy bodies to death, and in order that the removal through him of the curse, “In sorrow thou shalt bring forth children”, should demonstrate the truth of the words of the prophet: “Strong death swallowed them Up”, and again, “God has wiped every tear away from all face”. It is for this cause that we say that in his economy he blessed marriage and, when invited, went down to Cana in Galilee with his holy apostles. We have been taught to hold these things by the holy apostles and evangelists and by all the divinely inspired scriptures and by the true confession of the blessed fathers. To all these your reverence ought to agree and subscribe without any deceit. What is required for your reverence to anathematise we subjoin to this epistle. TWELVE ANATHEMAS PROPOSED BY CYRIL AND ACCEPTED BY THE COUNCIL OF EPHESUS 1. If anyone does not confess that Emmanuel is God in truth, and therefore that the holy virgin is the mother of God (for she bore in a fleshly way the Word of God become flesh, let him be anathema. 2. If anyone does not confess that the Word from God the Father has been united by hypostasis with the flesh and is one Christ with his own flesh, and is therefore God and man together, let him be anathema. 3. If anyone divides in the one Christ the hypostases after the union, joining them only by a conjunction of dignity or authority or power, and not rather by a coming together in a union by nature, let him be anathema. 4. If anyone distributes between the two persons or hypostases the expressions used either in the gospels or in the apostolic writings, whether they are used by the holy writers of Christ or by him about himself, and ascribes some to him as to a man, thought of separately from the Word from God, and others, as befitting God, to him as to the Word from God the Father, let him be anathema. 5. If anyone dares to say that Christ was a God-bearing man and not rather God in truth, being by nature one Son, even as “the Word became flesh”, and is made partaker of blood and flesh precisely like us, let him be anathema. 6. If anyone says that the Word from God the Father was the God or master of Christ, and does not rather confess the same both God and man, the Word having become flesh, according to the scriptures, let him be anathema. 7. If anyone says that as man Jesus was activated by the Word of God and was clothed with the glory of the Only-begotten, as a being separate from him, let him be anathema. 8. If anyone dares to say that the man who was assumed ought to be worshipped and glorified together with the divine Word and be called God along with him, while being separate from him, (for the addition of “with” must always compel us to think in this way), and will not rather worship Emmanuel with one veneration and send up to him one doxology, even as “the Word became flesh”, let him be anathema. 9. If anyone says that the one Lord Jesus Christ was glorified by the Spirit, as making use of an alien power that worked through him and as having received from him the power to master unclean spirits and to work divine wonders among people, and does not rather say that it was his own proper Spirit through whom he worked the divine wonders, let him be anathema. 10. The divine scripture says Christ became “the high priest and apostle of our confession”; he offered himself to God the Father in an odour of sweetness for our sake. If anyone, therefore, says that it was not the very Word from God who became our high priest and apostle, when he became flesh and a man like us, but as it were another who was separate from him, in particular a man from a woman, or if anyone says that he offered the sacrifice also for himself and not rather for us alone (for he who knew no sin needed no offering), let him be anathema. 11. If anyone does not confess that the flesh of the Lord is life-giving and belongs to the Word from God the Father, but maintains that it belongs to another besides him, united with him in dignity or as enjoying a mere divine indwelling, and is not rather life-giving, as we said, since it became the flesh belonging to the Word who has power to bring all things to life, let him be anathema. 12. If anyone does not confess that the Word of God suffered in the flesh and was crucified in the flesh and tasted death in the flesh and became the first born of the dead, although as God he is life and life-giving, let him be anathema. THE JUDGMENT AGAINST NESTORIUS The holy synod said: As, in addition to all else, the excellent Nestorius has declined to obey our summons and has not received the holy and God-fearing bishops we sent to him, we have of necessity started upon an investigation of his impieties. We have found him out thinking and speaking in an impious fashion, from his letters, from his writings that have been read out, and from the things that he has recently said in this metropolis which have been witnessed to by others; and as a result we have been compelled of necessity both by the canons and by the letter of our most holy father and fellow servant Celestine, bishop of the church of the Romans, to issue this sad condemnation against him, though we do so with many tears. Our lord Jesus Christ, who has been blasphemed by him, has determined through this most holy synod that the same Nestorius should be stripped of his episcopal dignity and removed from the college of priests. Synodical letter about the expulsion of the eastern bishops (et al.) The holy and ecumenical synod, gathered together in Ephesus at the behest of the most pious princes, [sends greeting] to the bishops, priests, deacons and the whole people in every province and city. When we had gathered together in accordance with the pious decree in the metropolis of Ephesus, some separated themselves from us, a little more than thirty in number. The leader of this apostasy was John, bishop of Antioch, and their names are as follows: First the same John, bishop of Antioch in Syria, [the names of 33 other eastern bishops follow] These men, despite the fact that they were members of the ecclesiastical community, had no licence either to do harm through their priestly dignity or to do good, because some among their number had already been deposed. Their support of the views of Nestorius and Celestius was clearly shown by their refusal to condemn Nestorius together with us. By a common decree the sacred synod has expelled them from ecclesiastical communion and deprived them of the exercise of their priestly office, through which they have been able to harm some and help others. Since it is necessary that those who were absent from the synod and remained in the country or the city, on account of their own church affairs or because of their health, should not be ignorant of the decisions formulated concerning these matters, we make it known to your holinesses that if any metropolitan of a province dissents from the holy and ecumenical synod and attaches himself to the assembly of the revolters, or should do so later, or should he have adopted the opinions of Celestius, or do so in the future, such a one is deprived of all power to take steps against the bishops of his province. He is thereby cast out by the synod from all ecclesiastical communion and is deprived of all ecclesiastical authority. Instead he is to be subjected to the bishops of his own province and the surrounding metropolitans, provided they be orthodox, even to the extent of being completely deposed from the rank of bishop. If any provincial bishops have absented themselves from the holy synod and have either attached themselves or attempted to attach themselves to the apostasy, or after subscribing the deposition of Nestorius have returned to the assembly of apostates, these, according to the decision of the holy synod, are to be deprived of the priesthood and deposed from their rank. If any clerics either in city or country have been suspended by Nestorius and those with him from their priesthood because of their orthodoxy, we have thought it right that these should regain their proper rank; and in general we decree that those clerics who are in agreement with the orthodox and ecumenical synod should in no way be subject to those bishops who have revolted or may revolt from it. If any clerics should apostatise and in private or in public dare to hold the views of Nestorius or Celestius, it is thought right that such should stand deposed by the holy synod. Whoever have been condemned of improper practices by the holy synod or by their own bishops, and have been uncanonically restored to communion and rank by Nestorius or his sympathisers, with their habitual lack of discrimination, such persons we have decreed gain nothing by this and are to remain deposed as before. Similarly if anyone should wish in any way to upset the decisions in each point taken in the holy synod of Ephesus, the holy synod decides that if they are bishops or clerics they should be completely deprived of their own rank and if they are laity they should be excommunicated. DEFINITION OF THE FAITH AT NICAEA [6TH SESSION 22 JULY 431] The synod of Nicaea produced this creed: We believe ... [the Nicene Creed follows] It seems fitting that all should assent to this holy creed. It is pious and sufficiently helpful for the whole world. But since some pretend to confess and accept it, while at the same time distorting the force of its expressions to their own opinion and so evading the truth, being sons of error and children of destruction, it has proved necessary to add testimonies from the holy and orthodox fathers that can fill out the meaning they have given to the words and their courage in proclaiming it. All those who have a clear and blameless faith will understand, interpret and proclaim it in this way. When these documents had been read out, the holy synod decreed the following. 1. It is not permitted to produce or write or compose any other creed except the one which was defined by the holy fathers who were gathered together in the holy Spirit at Nicaea. 2. Any who dare to compose or bring forth or produce another creed for the benefit of those who wish to turn from Hellenism or Judaism or some other heresy to the knowledge of the truth, if they are bishops or clerics they should be deprived of their respective charges and if they are laymen they are to be anathematised. 3. In the same way if any should be discovered, whether bishops, clergy or laity, thinking or teaching the views expressed in his statement by the priest Charisius about the incarnation of the only-begotten Son of God or the disgusting, perverted views of Nestorius, which underlie them, these should be subject to the condemnation of this holy and ecumenical synod. A bishop clearly is to be stripped of his bishopric and deposed, a cleric to be deposed from the clergy, and a lay person is to be anathematised, as was said before. DEFINITION AGAINST THE IMPIOUS MESSALIANS OR EUCHITES The most pious and religious bishops Valerian and Amphilochius came together to us and made a joint enquiry about the so called Messalians or Euchites or Enthusiasts, or whatever name this appalling heresy goes under, who dwell in the region of Pamphylia. We made investigation and the god-fearing and reverent Valerian produced a synodical document concerning these people, which had been drawn up in great Constantinople in the time of Sisinnius of blessed memory. When this had been read out in the presence of all, it was agreed that it had been well made and was correct. We all agreed, as did the most religious bishops Valerian and Amphilochius and all the pious bishops of the provinces of Pamphylia and Lycaonia, that what had been inscribed in the synodical document should be confirmed and in no way disobeyed, clearly without prejudice to the acts of Alexandria. Consequently those anywhere in that province who subscribed to the heresy of the Messalians or Enthusiasts, or who were suspected of the disease, whether clerical or lay, are to come together; if they sign the anathemas according to what was promulgated in the aforementioned synod, should they be clergy they should remain such and if laity they are to remain in communion. But if they decline and do not anathematise, if they are presbyters or deacons or hold any other rank in the church, they are to forfeit their clerical status and grade and communion, and if they are laity let them be anathematised. In addition, those who have been condemned are not to be permitted to govern monasteries, lest tares be sown and increase. The vigorous and zealous execution of all these decrees is enjoined upon the reverent bishops Valerian and Amphilochius and the other reverent bishops throughout the whole province. Furthermore it seemed good that the filthy book of this heresy, which has been published and is called by them Asceticon, should be anathematised, as being composed by heretics, a copy of which the most pious and religious Valerian brought with him. Any other production savouring of the like impiety which is found anywhere is to be treated similarly. In addition, when they come together, they should commit clearly to writing whatever conduces to the creation of concord, communion and order. But if any discussion should arise in connexion with the present business among the most godly bishops Valerian, Amphilochius and the other reverent bishops in the province, and if something difficult or ambiguous crops up, then in such a case it seems good that the godly bishops of Lycia and Lycaonia should be brought in, and the metropolitan of whatever province these choose should not be left out. In this way the disputed questions should through their means be brought to an appropriate solution. Resolution : that the bishops of Cyprus may themselves conduct ordinations. The holy synod declared: The most reverent bishop Rheginus and with him Zenon and Evagrius, revered bishops of the province of Cyprus, have brought forward what is both an innovation against the ecclesiastical customs and the canons of the holy fathers and concerns the freedom of all. Therefore, since common diseases need more healing as they bring greater harm with them, if it has not been a continuous ancient custom for the bishop of Antioch to hold ordinations in Cyprus--as it is asserted in memorials and orally by the religious men who have come before the synod -- the prelates of the holy churches of Cyprus shall, free from molestation and violence, use their right to perform by themselves the ordination of reverent bishops for their island, according to the canons of the holy fathers and the ancient custom. The same principle will be observed for other dioceses and provinces everywhere. None of the reverent bishops is to take possession of another province which has not been under his authority from the first or under that of his predecessors. Any one who has thus seized upon and subjected a province is to restore it, lest the canons of the fathers be transgressed and the arrogance of secular power effect an entry through the cover of priestly office. We must avoid bit by bit destroying the freedom which our lord Jesus Christ the liberator of all people, gave us through his own blood. It is therefore the pleasure of the holy and ecumenical synod to secure intact and inviolate the rights belonging to each province from the first, according to the custom which has been in force from of old. Each metropolitan has the right to take a copy of the proceedings for his own security. If any one produces a version which is at variance with what is here decided, the holy and ecumenical synod unanimously decrees it to be of no avail. FORMULA OF UNION BETWEEN CYRIL AND JOHN OF ANTIOCH We will state briefly what we are convinced of and profess about the God-bearing virgin and the manner of the incarnation of the only begotten Son of God -- not by way of addition but in the manner of a full statement, even as we have received and possess it from of old from the holy scriptures and from the tradition of the holy fathers, adding nothing at all to the creed put forward by the holy fathers at Nicaea. For, as we have just said, that creed is sufficient both for the knowledge of godliness and for the repudiation of all heretical false teaching. We shall speak not presuming to approach the unapproachable; but we confess our own weakness and so shut out those who would reproach us for investigating things beyond the human mind. We confess, then, our lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God perfect God and perfect man of a rational soul and a body, begotten before all ages from the Father in his godhead, the same in the last days, for us and for our salvation, born of Mary the virgin, according to his humanity, one and the same consubstantial with the Father in godhead and consubstantial with us in humanity, for a union of two natures took place. Therefore we confess one Christ, one Son, one Lord. According to this understanding of the unconfused union, we confess the holy virgin to be the mother of God because God the Word took flesh and became man and from his very conception united to himself the temple he took from her. As to the evangelical and apostolic expressions about the Lord, we know that theologians treat some in common as of one person and distinguish others as of two natures, and interpret the god-befitting ones in connexion with the godhead of Christ and the lowly ones with his humanity. LETTER OF CYRIL TO JOHN OF ANTIOCH ABOUT PEACE Having read these holy phrases and finding ourselves in agreement (for “there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism”), we have given glory to God who is the saviour of all and rejoice together that our churches and yours are at one in professing the same faith as the inspired scriptures and the tradition of our holy fathers. But since I discovered that there are some always eager to find fault, who buzz around like angry wasps and spit forth evil words against me, to the effect that I say that the holy body of Christ came down from heaven and not from the holy virgin, I thought it necessary in answer to them to say a little about this matter to you. O fools, whose only competence is in slander! How did you become so perverted in thought and fall into such a sickness of idiocy? For you must surely know that almost all our fight for the faith arose in connexion with our insistence that the holy virgin is the mother of God. But if we claim that the holy body of our common saviour Christ is born from heaven and was not of her, why should she still be considered God-bearer? For whom indeed did she bear, if it is untrue that she bore Emmanuel according to the flesh? It is rather they who speak such nonsense against me who deserve to be ridiculed. For the holy prophet Isaiah does not lie when he says, “Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which is interpreted God with us”. Again the holy Gabriel speaks total truth when he says to the blessed virgin: “Do not fear, Mary. You have found favour with God, and behold you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and you will call his name Jesus . For he will save his people from their sins”. But when we say that our lord Jesus Christ came from heaven and above, we do not apply such expressions as “from above” and “from heaven” to his holy flesh. Rather do we follow the divine Paul who clearly proclaimed: “The first man was of the earth, earthly, the second man is the Lord from heaven”. We also recall our Saviour who said: “No one has gone up into heaven except him who came down from heaven, the son of man”. Yet he was born, as I have just said, from the holy virgin according to the flesh. But since God the Word, who came down from above and from heaven, “emptied himself, taking the form of a slave”, and was called son of man though all the while he remained what he was, that is God (for he is unchangeable and immutable by nature), he is said to have come down from heaven, since he is now understood to be one with his own flesh, and he has therefore been designated the man from heaven, being both perfect in godhead and perfect in humanity and thought of as in one person. For there is one lord Jesus Christ, even though we do not ignore the difference of natures, out of which we say that the ineffable union was effected. As for those who say that there was a mixture or confusion or blending of God the Word with the flesh, let your holiness see fit to stop their mouths. For it is quite likely that some should spread it abroad that I have thought or said such things. But I am so far from thinking anything of the kind that I think that those are quite mad who suppose that “a shadow of change” is conceivable in connexion with the divine nature of the Word. For he remains what he is always and never changes, nor could he ever change or be susceptible of it. Furthermore we all confess that the Word of God is impassible though in his all-wise economy of the mystery he is seen to attribute to himself the sufferings undergone by his own flesh. So the all-wise Peter speaks of “Christ suffering for us in the flesh” and not in the nature of his unspeakable godhead. For in order that he might be believed to be the saviour of all, in accordance with our economic appropriation, as I said, he refers to himself the sufferings of his own flesh, in much the same way as is suggested through the voice of the prophet coming as it were from him in advance: “I gave my back to the smiters and my cheeks to blows; I hid not my face from shame and spitting”. Let your holiness be persuaded and let no one else cherish any doubt, that we everywhere follow the opinions of the holy fathers especially those of our blessed and glorious father Athanasius, with whose opinions we differ not in the slightest. I would have added many of their testimonies, proving my opinions from theirs, had I not feared that the length of the letter would be made tedious thereby. We do not permit anyone in any way to upset the defined faith or the creed drawn up by the holy fathers who assembled at Nicaea as the times demanded. We give neither ourselves nor them the licence to alter any expression there or to change a single syllable, remembering the words: “Remove not the ancient landmarks which your fathers have set”. For it was not they that spoke, but the Spirit of God the Father, who proceeds from him and who is not distinct from the Son in essence. We are further confirmed in our view by the words of our holy spiritual teachers. For in the Acts of the Apostles it is written: “When they came to Mysia, they tried to go to Bithynia and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them”. And the divine Paul writes as follows: “Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh, you are in the spirit, if the Spirit of God really dwells in you. And anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him”. When, therefore, any of those who love to upset sound doctrine pervert my words to their way of thinking, your holiness should not be surprised at this, but should remember that the followers of every heresy extract from inspired scripture the occasion of their error, and that all heretics corrupt the true expressions of the holy Spirit with their own evil minds and they draw down on their own heads an inextinguishable flame. (Source: Church Councils)
Since therefore we have learnt that even the letter of our glorious father Athanasius to the blessed Epictetus, which is completely orthodox, has been corrupted and circulated by some, with the result that many have been injured therefore, thinking it both useful and necessary for the brethren, we have despatched to your holiness accurate copies of the original, unadulterated writings which we have. THE COUNCIL OF CHALCEDON - 451 A.D. Excerpt from the Council of Chalcedon The Council of Chalcedon “has accepted the synodical letters of the blessed Cyril, pastor of the church in Alexandria, to Nestorius and to the Orientals, as being well-suited to refuting Nestorius’s mad folly and to providing an interpretation for those who in their religious zeal might desire understanding of the saving creed.”. INTRODUCTION It was the emperor Marcian who, after the “robber” council of Ephesus (449), commanded this council to meet. Pope Leo I was opposed to it. His view was that all the bishops should repent of their ways and individually sign his earlier dogmatic letter to Flavian, patriarch of Constantinople, and so avoid a new round of argument and debate. Moreover, the provinces of the West were being laid waste by Attila’s invasions. But before the pope’s view became known, the emperor Marcian had, by an edict of 17 May 451, convoked the council for 1 September 451. Although the pope was displeased, he sent legates: Paschasinus bishop of Lilybaeum, Bishop Lucentius, the priests Boniface and Basil, and Bishop Julian of Cos. No doubt Leo thought that the council would cause people to leave the church and go into schism. So he wanted it to be postponed for a time, and he implored the emperor that the faith handed down from ancient times should not become the subject of debate. The only business should be the restoration of the exiled bishops to their former positions. The council was convoked at Nicaea but later transferred to Chalcedon, so as to be close to Constantinople and the emperor. It began on 8 October 451. The legates Paschasinus, Bishop Lucentius and the priest Boniface presided, while Julian of Cos sat among the bishops. By their side were the imperial commissars and those serving on the Senate, whose responsibility was simply to keep order in the council’s deliberations. The lists we have of those present are unsatisfactory. According to Leo there were 600 bishops at the council, whereas according to a letter to him there were 500. The “Definition of the faith” was passed at the council’s fifth session, and was solemnly promulgated at the sixth session in the presence of the emperor and the imperial authorities. The formula accepted in the decree is: Christ is one in two natures. This is in agreement with Leo’s letter to Flavian of Constantinople, and Leo’s letter is expressly mentioned in the Definition of the faith. The council also issued 27 disciplinary canons (it is unclear at which session). What is usually called canon 28 (on the honour to be accorded the see of Constantinople) is in fact a resolution passed by the council at the 16th session. It was rejected by the Roman legates. In the ancient Greek collections, canons 29 and 30 are also attributed to the council: canon 29 is an extract from the minutes of the 19th session; and canon 30 is an extract from the minutes of the 4th session. Because of canon 28, which the Roman legates had opposed, the emperor Marcian and Anatolius, patriarch of Constantinople, sought approval for the council from the pope. This is clear from a letter of Anatolius which tries to defend the canon, and especially from a letter of Marcian which explicitly requests confirmation. Because heretics were misinterpreting his withholding approval, the pope ratified the doctrinal decrees on 21 March 453, but rejected canon 28 since it ran counter to the canons of Nicaea and to the privileges of particular churches. The imperial promulgation was made by Emperor Marcian in 4 edicts of February 452. Apart from Pope Leo’s letter to Flavian, which is in Latin, the English translation is from the Greek text, since this is the more authoritative version. THE LETTER OF POPE LEO TO FLAVIAN, BISHOP OF CONSTANTINOPLE, ABOUT EUTYCHES Surprised as we were at the late arrival of your charity’s letter, we read it and examined the account of what the bishops had done. We now see what scandal against the integrity of the faith had reared its head among you. What had previously been kept secret now became clearly revealed to us. Eutyches, who was considered a man of honour because he had the title of priest, is shown to be very rash and extremely ignorant. What the prophet said can be applied to him: He did not want to understand and do good: he plotted evil in his bed. What can be worse than to have an irreligious mind and to pay no heed to those who are wiser and more learned? The people who fall into this folly are those in whom knowledge of the truth is blocked by a kind of dimness. They do not refer to the sayings of the prophets, nor to the letters of the apostles, nor even to the authoritative words of the gospels, but to themselves. By not being pupils of the truth, they turn out to be masters of error. A man who has not the most elementary understanding even of the creed itself can have learnt nothing from the sacred texts of the New and Old Testaments. This old man has not yet taken to heart what is pronounced by every baptismal candidate the world over! He had no idea how he ought to think about the incarnation of the Word of God; and he had no desire to acquire the light of understanding by working through the length and breadth of the holy scriptures. So at least he should have listened carefully and accepted the common and undivided creed by which the whole body of the faithful confess that they believe in 1. God the Father almighty and in 2. Jesus Christ his only Son, our Lord, 3. who was born of the holy Spirit and the virgin Mary. These three statements wreck the tricks of nearly every heretic. When God is believed to be both almighty and Father, the Son is clearly proved to be co-eternal with him, in no way different from the Father, since he was born God from God, almighty from the Almighty, co-eternal from the Eternal, not later in time, not lower in power, not unlike in glory, not distinct in being. The same eternal, only-begotten of the eternal begetter was born of the holy Spirit and the virgin Mary. His birth in time in no way subtracts from or adds to that divine and eternal birth of his: but its whole purpose is to restore humanity, who had been deceived, so that it might defeat death and, by its power, destroy the devil who held the power of death. Overcoming the originator of sin and death would be beyond us, had not he whom sin could not defile, nor could death hold down, taken up our nature and made it his own. He was conceived from the holy Spirit inside the womb of the virgin mother. Her virginity was as untouched in giving him birth as it was in conceiving him. But if it was beyond Eutyches to derive sound understanding from this, the purest source of the christian faith, because the brightness of manifest truth had been darkened by his own peculiar blindness, then he should have subjected himself to the teaching of the gospels. When Matthew says, The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham, Eutyches should have looked up the further development in the apostolic preaching. When he read in the letter to the Romans, Paul, the servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for God’s gospel, which he had formerly promised through his prophets in the holy writings which refer to his Son, who was made for him of David’s seed according to the flesh, he should have paid deep and devout attention to the prophetic texts. And when he discovered God making the promise to Abraham that in your seed shall all nations be blessed, he should have followed the apostle, in order to eliminate any doubt about the identity of this seed, when he says, The promises were spoken to Abraham and his seed . He does not say “to his seeds”--as if referring to a multiplicity--but to a single one, “and to thy seed “ which is Christ. His inward ear should also have heard Isaiah preaching Behold, a virgin will receive in the womb and will bear a son, and they will call his name Emmanuel, which is translated “God is with us”. With faith he should have read the same prophet’s words, A child is born to us, a son is given to us. His power is on his shoulders. They will call his name “Angel of great counsel, mighty God, prince of peace, father of the world to come”. Then he would not deceive people by saying that the Word was made flesh in the sense that he emerged from the virgin’s womb having a human form but not having the reality of his mother’s body. Or was it perhaps that he thought that our lord Jesus Christ did not have our nature because the angel who was sent to the blessed Mary said, The holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the most High will overshadow you, and so that which will be born holy out of you will be called Son of God, as if it was because the conception by the virgin was worked by God that the flesh of the one conceived did not share the nature of her who conceived it? But uniquely wondrous and wondrously unique as that act of generation was, it is not to be understood as though the proper character of its kind was taken away by the sheer novelty of its creation. It was the holy Spirit that made the virgin pregnant, but the reality of the body derived from body. As Wisdom built a house for herself, the Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us: that is, in that flesh which he derived from human kind and which he animated with the spirit of a rational life. So the proper character of both natures was maintained and came together in a single person. Lowliness was taken up by majesty, weakness by strength, mortality by eternity. To pay off the debt of our state, invulnerable nature was united to a nature that could suffer; so that in a way that corresponded to the remedies we needed, one and the same mediator between God and humanity the man Christ Jesus, could both on the one hand die and on the other be incapable of death. Thus was true God born in the undiminished and perfect nature of a true man, complete in what is his and complete in what is ours. By “ours” we mean what the Creator established in us from the beginning and what he took upon himself to restore. There was in the Saviour no trace of the things which the Deceiver brought upon us, and to which deceived humanity gave admittance. His subjection to human weaknesses in common with us did not mean that he shared our sins. He took on the form of a servant without the defilement of sin, thereby enhancing the human and not diminishing the divine. For that self-emptying whereby the Invisible rendered himself visible, and the Creator and Lord of all things chose to join the ranks of mortals, spelled no failure of power: it was an act of merciful favour. So the one who retained the form of God when he made humanity, was made man in the form of a servant. Each nature kept its proper character without loss; and just as the form of God does not take away the form of a servant, so the form of a servant does not detract from the form of God. It was the devil’s boast that humanity had been deceived by his trickery and so had lost the gifts God had given it; and that it had been stripped of the endowment of immortality and so was subject to the harsh sentence of death. He also boasted that, sunk as he was in evil, he himself derived some consolation from having a partner in crime; and that God had been forced by the principle of justice to alter his verdict on humanity, which he had created in such an honourable state. All this called for the realisation of a secret plan whereby the unalterable God, whose will is indistinguishable from his goodness, might bring the original realisation of his kindness towards us to completion by means of a more hidden mystery, and whereby humanity, which had been led into a state of sin by the craftiness of the devil, might be prevented from perishing contrary to the purpose of God. So without leaving his Father’s glory behind, the Son of God comes down from his heavenly throne and enters the depths of our world, born in an unprecedented order by an unprecedented kind of birth. In an unprecedented order, because one who is invisible at his own level was made visible at ours. The ungraspable willed to be grasped. Whilst remaining pre-existent, he begins to exist in time. The Lord of the universe veiled his measureless majesty and took on a servant’s form. The God who knew no suffering did not despise becoming a suffering man, and, deathless as he is, to be subject to the laws of death. By an unprecedented kind of birth, because it was inviolable virginity which supplied the material flesh without experiencing sexual desire. What was taken from the mother of the Lord was the nature without the guilt. And the fact that the birth was miraculous does not imply that in the lord Jesus Christ, born from the virgin’s womb, the nature is different from ours. The same one is true God and true man. There is nothing unreal about this oneness, since both the lowliness of the man and the grandeur of the divinity are in mutual relation. As God is not changed by showing mercy, neither is humanity devoured by the dignity received. The activity of each form is what is proper to it in communion with the other: that is, the Word performs what belongs to the Word, and the flesh accomplishes what belongs to the flesh. One of these performs brilliant miracles the other sustains acts of violence. As the Word does not lose its glory which is equal to that of the Father, so neither does the flesh leave the nature of its kind behind. We must say this again and again: one and the same is truly Son of God and truly son of man. God, by the fact that in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God; man, by the fact that the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. God, by the fact that all things were made through him, and nothing was made without him, man, by the fact that he was made of a woman, made under the law. The birth of flesh reveals human nature; birth from a virgin is a proof of divine power. A lowly cradle manifests the infancy of the child; angels’ voices announce the greatness of the most High. Herod evilly strives to kill one who was like a human being at the earliest stage the Magi rejoice to adore on bended knee one who is the Lord of all. And when he came to be baptised by his precursor John, the Father’s voice spoke thunder from heaven, to ensure that he did not go unnoticed because the divinity was concealed by the veil of flesh: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Accordingly, the same one whom the devil craftily tempts as a man, the angels dutifully wait on as God. Hunger, thirst, weariness, sleep are patently human. But to satisfy five thousand people with five loaves; to dispense living water to the Samaritan woman, a drink of which will stop her being thirsty ever again; to walk on the surface of the sea with feet that do not sink; to rebuke the storm and level the mounting waves; there can be no doubt these are divine. So, if I may pass over many instances, it does not belong to the same nature to weep out of deep-felt pity for a dead friend, and to call him back to life again at the word of command, once the mound had been removed from the four-dayold grave; or to hang on the cross and, with day changed into night, to make the elements tremble; or to be pierced by nails and to open the gates of paradise for the believing thief. Likewise, it does not belong to the same nature to say I and the Father are one, and to say The Father is greater than I. For although there is in the Lord Jesus Christ a single person who is of God and of man, the insults shared by both have their source in one thing, and the glory that is shared in another. For it is from us that he gets a humanity which is less than the Father; it is from the Father that he gets a divinity which is equal to the Father. So it is on account of this oneness of the person, which must be understood in both natures, that we both read that the son of man came down from heaven, when the Son of God took flesh from the virgin from whom he was born, and again that the Son of God is said to have been crucified and buried, since he suffered these things not in the divinity itself whereby the Only-begotten is co-eternal and consubstantial with the Father, but in the weakness of the human nature. That is why in the creed, too, we all confess that the only-begotten Son of God was crucified and was buried, following what the apostle said, If they had known, they would never have crucified the Lord of majesty. And when our Lord and Saviour himself was questioning his disciples and instructing their faith, he says, Who do people say 1, the son of man, am? And when they had displayed a variety of other people’s opinions, he says, Who do you say I am ? --in other words, I who am the son of man and whom you behold in the form of a servant and in real flesh: Who do you say I am? Whereupon the blessed Peter, inspired by God and making a confession that would benefit all future peoples, says, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. He thoroughly deserved to be declared “blessed” by the Lord. He derived the stability of both his goodness and his name from the original Rock, for when the Father revealed it to him, he confessed that the same one is both the Son of God and also the Christ. Accepting one of these truths without the other was no help to salvation; and to have believed that the Lord Jesus Christ was either only God and not man, or solely man and not God, was equally dangerous. After the Lord’s resurrection--which was certainly the resurrection of a real body, since the one brought back to life is none other than the one who had been crucified and had died--the whole point of the forty-day delay was to make our faith completely sound and to cleanse it of all darkness. Hence he talked to his disciples and lived and ate with them, and let himself be touched attentively and carefully by those who were in the grip of doubt; he would go in among his disciples when the doors were locked, and impart the holy Spirit by breathing on them, and open up the secrets of the holy scriptures after enlightening their understanding; again, he would point out the wound in his side, the holes made by the nails, and all the signs of the suffering he had just recently undergone, saying, Look at my hands and feet--it is I. Feel and see, because a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have. All this was so that it would be recognised that the proper character of the divine and of the human nature went on existing inseparable in him; and so that we would realise that the Word is not the same thing as the flesh, but in such a way that we would confess belief in the one Son of God as being both Word and flesh. This Eutyches must be judged to be extremely destitute of this mystery of the faith. Neither the humility of the mortal life nor the glory of the resurrection has made him recognise our nature in the only-begotten of God. Nor has even the statement of the blessed apostle and evangelist John put fear into him: Every spirit which confesses that Jesus Christ came in the flesh is from God, and every spirit which puts Jesus asunder is not from God, and this is Antichrist. But what does putting Jesus as under consist in if not in separating his human nature from him, and in voiding, through the most barefaced fictions, the one mystery by which we have been saved? Once in the dark about the nature of Christ’s body, it follows that the same blindness leads him into raving folly about his suffering too. If he does not think that the Lord’s cross was unreal and if he has no doubt that the suffering undergone for the world’s salvation was real, then let him acknowledge the flesh of the one whose death he believes in. And let him not deny that a man whom he knows to have been subject to suffering had our kind of body, for to deny the reality of the flesh is also to deny the bodily suffering. So if he accepts the christian faith and does not turn a deaf ear to the preaching of the gospel, let him consider what nature it was that hung, pierced with nails, on the wood of the cross. With the side of the crucified one laid open by the soldier’s spear, let him identify the source from which blood and water flowed, to bathe the church of God with both font and cup. Let him heed what the blessed apostle Peter preaches, that sanctification by the Spirit is effected by the sprinkling of Christ’s blood; and let him not skip over the same apostle’s words, knowing that you have been redeemed from the empty way of life you inherited from your fathers, not with corruptible gold and silver but by the precious blood of Jesus Christ, as of a lamb without stain or spot. Nor should he withstand the testimony of blessed John the apostle: and the blood of Jesus, the Son of God, purifies us from every sin; and again, This is the victory which conquers the world, our faith. Who is there who conquers the world save one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God ? It is he, Jesus Christ who has come through water and blood, not in water only, but in water and blood. And because the Spirit is truth, it is the Spirit who testifies. For there are three who give testimony--Spirit and water and blood. And the three are one. In other words, the Spirit of sanctification and the blood of redemption and the water of baptism. These three are one and remain indivisible. None of them is separable from its link with the others. The reason is that it is by this faith that the catholic church lives and grows, by believing that neither the humanity is without true divinity nor the divinity without true humanity. When you cross-examined Eutyches and he replied, “I confess that our Lord was of two natures before the union, but I confess one nature after the union”, I am amazed that such an absurd and corrupt declaration of faith was not very severely censured by the judges; and that an extremely foolish statement was disregarded, as if nothing whatever offensive had been heard. It is just as wicked to say that the only-begotten Son of God was of two natures before the incarnation as it is abominable to claim that there was a single nature in him after the Word was made flesh. Eutyches must not suppose that what he said was either correct or tolerable just because no clear statement of yours refuted it. So we remind you, dearest brother, of your charity’s responsibility to see to it that if through God’s merciful inspiration the case is ever settled, the rash and ignorant fellow is also purged of what is blighting his mind. As the minutes have made clear, he made a good start at abandoning his opinion when, under pressure from your statement, he professed to say what he had not previously said, and to find satisfaction in the faith to which he had previously been a stranger. But when he had refused to be party to the anathematising of his wicked doctrine, your fraternity would have realised that he was persisting in his false belief and that he deserved a verdict of condemnation. If he is honestly and suitably sorry about this, and acknowledges even at this late stage how rightly episcopal authority was set in motion, or if, to make full amends, he condemns every wrong thought he had by word of mouth and by his actual signature, then no amount of mercy towards one who has reformed is excessive. Our Lord, the true and good shepherd who laid down his life for his sheep, and who came not to destroy but to save the souls of men and women, wants us to be imitators of his goodness, so that whilst justice represses sinners, mercy does not reject the converted. The defence of the true faith is never so productive as when false opinion is condemned even by its adherents. In place of ourself, we have arranged for our brothers, Bishop Julius and the priest Renatus of the church of St Clement, and also my son, the deacon Hilary, to ensure a good and faithful conclusion to the whole case. To their company we have added our notary Dulcitius, of proven loyalty to us. We trust that with God’s help he who has fallen into error might condemn the wickedness of his own mind and find salvation. God keep you safe, dearest brother. DEFINITION OF THE FAITH The sacred and great and universal synod by God’s grace and by decree of your most religious and Christ-loving emperors Valentinian Augustus and Marcian Augustus assembled in Chalcedon, metropolis of the province of Bithynia, in the shrine of the saintly and triumphant martyr Euphemia, issues the following decrees. In establishing his disciples in the knowledge of the faith, our lord and saviour Christ said: “My peace I give you, my peace I leave to you”’, so that no one should disagree with his neighbour regarding religious doctrines but that the proclamation of the truth would be uniformly presented. But the evil one never stops trying to smother the seeds of religion with his own tares and is for ever inventing some novelty or other against the truth; so the Master, exercising his usual care for the human race, roused this religious and most faithful emperor to zealous action, and summoned to himself the leaders of the priesthood from everywhere, so that through the working of the grace of Christ, the master of all of us, every injurious falsehood might be staved off from the sheep of Christ and they might be fattened on fresh growths of the truth. This is in fact what we have done. We have driven off erroneous doctrines by our collective resolution and we have renewed the unerring creed of the fathers. We have proclaimed to all the creed of the 318; and we have made our own those fathers who accepted this agreed statement of religion -- the 150 who later met in great Constantinople and themselves set their seal to the same creed. Therefore, whilst we also stand by the decisions and all the formulas relating to the creed from the sacred synod which took place formerly at Ephesus, whose leaders of most holy memory were Celestine of Rome and Cyril of Alexandria we decree that pre-eminence belongs to the exposition of the right and spotless creed of the 318 saintly and blessed fathers who were assembled at Nicaea when Constantine of pious memory was emperor: and that those decrees also remain in force which were issued in Constantinople by the 150 holy fathers in order to destroy the heresies then rife and to confirm this same catholic and apostolic creed. The creed of the 318 fathers at Nicaea. And the same of the 150 saintly fathers assembled in Constantinople. This wise and saving creed, the gift of divine grace, was sufficient for a perfect understanding and establishment of religion. For its teaching about the Father and the Son and the holy Spirit is complete, and it sets out the Lord’s becoming human to those who faithfully accept it. But there are those who are trying to ruin the proclamation of the truth, and through their private heresies they have spawned novel formulas: some by daring to corrupt the mystery of the Lord’s economy on our behalf, and refusing to apply the word “God-bearer” to the Virgin; and others by introducing a confusion and mixture, and mindlessly imagining that there is a single nature of the flesh and the divinity, and fantastically supposing that in the confusion the divine nature of the Only-begotten is passible. Therefore this sacred and great and universal synod, now in session, in its desire to exclude all their tricks against the truth, and teaching what has been unshakeable in the proclamation from the beginning, decrees that the creed of the 318 fathers is, above all else, to remain inviolate. And because of those who oppose the holy Spirit, it ratifies the teaching about the being of the holy Spirit handed down by the 150 saintly fathers who met some time later in the imperial city -- the teaching they made known to all, not introducing anything left out by their predecessors, but clarifying their ideas about the holy Spirit by the use of scriptural testimonies against those who were trying to do away with his sovereignty. And because of those who are attempting to corrupt the mystery of the economy and are shamelessly and foolishly asserting that he who was born of the holy virgin Mary was a mere man, it has accepted the synodical letters of the blessed Cyril, [already accepted by the Council of Ephesus] pastor of the church in Alexandria, to Nestorius and to the Orientals, as being well-suited to refuting Nestorius’s mad folly and to providing an interpretation for those who in their religious zeal might desire understanding of the saving creed. To these it has suitably added, against false believers and for the establishment of orthodox doctrines the letter of the primate of greatest and older Rome, the most blessed and most saintly Archbishop Leo, written to the sainted Archbishop Flavian to put down Eutyches’s evil-mindedness, because it is in agreement with great Peter’s confession and represents a support we have in common. It is opposed to those who attempt to tear apart the mystery of the economy into a duality of sons; and it expels from the assembly of the priests those who dare to say that the divinity of the Only-begotten is passible, and it stands opposed to those who imagine a mixture or confusion between the two natures of Christ; and it expels those who have the mad idea that the servant-form he took from us is of a heavenly or some other kind of being; and it anathematises those who concoct two natures of the Lord before the union but imagine a single one after the union. So, following the saintly fathers, we all with one voice teach the confession of one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ: the same perfect in divinity and perfect in humanity, the same truly God and truly man, of a rational soul and a body; consubstantial with the Father as regards his divinity, and the same consubstantial with us as regards his humanity; like us in all respects except for sin; begotten before the ages from the Father as regards his divinity, and in the last days the same for us and for our salvation from Mary, the virgin God-bearer as regards his humanity; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, only-begotten, acknowledged in two natures which undergo no confusion, no change, no division, no separation; at no point was the difference between the natures taken away through the union, but rather the property of both natures is preserved and comes together into a single person and a single subsistent being; he is not parted or divided into two persons, but is one and the same only-begotten Son, God, Word, Lord Jesus Christ, just as the prophets taught from the beginning about him, and as the Lord Jesus Christ himself instructed us, and as the creed of the fathers handed it down to us. Since we have formulated these things with all possible accuracy and attention, the sacred and universal synod decreed that no one is permitted to produce, or even to write down or compose, any other creed or to think or teach otherwise. As for those who dare either to compose another creed or even to promulgate or teach or hand down another creed for those who wish to convert to a recognition of the truth from Hellenism or from Judaism, or from any kind of heresy at all: if they be bishops or clerics, the bishops are to be deposed from the episcopacy and the clerics from the clergy; if they be monks or layfolk, they are to be anathematised. CANONS 1 We have deemed it right that the canons hitherto issued by the saintly fathers at each and every synod should remain in force. 2 If any bishop performs an ordination for money and puts the unsaleable grace on sale, and ordains for money a bishop, a chorepiscopus, a presbyter or a deacon or some other of those numbered among the clergy; or appoints a manager, a legal officer or a warden for money, or any other ecclesiastic at all for personal sordid gain; led him who has attempted this and been convicted stand to lose his personal rank; and let the person ordained profit nothing from the ordination or appointment he has bought; but let him be removed from the dignity or responsibility which he got for money. And if anyone appears to have acted even as a go-between in such disgraceful and unlawful dealings, let him too, if he is a cleric, be demoted from his personal rank, and if he is a lay person or a monk, let him be anathematised. 3 It has come to the notice of the sacred synod that some of those enrolled in the clergy are, for sordid gain, acting as hired managers of other people’s property, and are involving themselves in worldly business, neglecting the service of God, frequenting the houses of worldly persons and taking over the handling of property out of avarice. So the sacred and great synod has decreed that in future no one, whether a bishop, a cleric or a monk, should either manage property or involve himself as an administrator of worldly business, unless he is legally and unavoidably summoned to take care of minors, or the local bishop appoints him to attend, out of fear of the Lord, to ecclesiastical business or to orphans and unprovided widows and persons in special need of ecclesiastical support. If in future anyone attempts to transgress these decrees, he must be subject to ecclesiastical penalties. 4 Those who truly and sincerely live the monastic life should be accorded appropriate recognition. But since there are some who don the monastic habit and meddle with the churches and in civil matters, and circulate indiscriminately in the cities and even are involved in founding monasteries for themselves, it has been decided that no one is to build or found a monastery or oratory anywhere against the will of the local bishop; and that monks of each city and region are to be subject to the bishop, are to foster peace and quiet, and attend solely to fasting and prayer, staying set apart in their places. They are not to abandon their own monasteries and interfere, or take part, in ecclesiastical or secular business unless they are perhaps assigned to do so by the local bishop because of some urgent necessity. No slave is to be taken into the monasteries to become a monk against the will of his own master. We have decreed that anyone who transgresses this decision of ours is to be excommunicated, lest God’s name be blasphemed. However, it is for the local bishop to exercise the care and attention that the monasteries need. 5 In the matter of bishops or clerics who move from city to city, it has been decided that the canons issued by the holy fathers concerning them should retain their proper force. 6 No one, whether presbyter or deacon or anyone at all who belongs to the ecclesiastical order, is to be ordained without title, unless the one ordained is specially assigned to a city or village church or to a martyr’s shrine or a monastery. The sacred synod has decreed that the ordination of those ordained without title is null, and that they cannot operate anywhere, because of the presumption of the one who ordained them. 7 We decree that those who have once joined the ranks of the clergy or have become monks are not to depart on military service or for secular office. Those who dare do this, and do not repent and return to what, in God, they previously chose, are to be anathematised. 8 Clerics in charge of almshouses and monasteries and martyrs’ shrines are, in accordance with the tradition of the holy fathers, to remain under the jurisdiction of the bishop in each city. They are not to be self-willed and rebellious towards their own bishop. Those who dare to break a rule of this kind in any way whatever, and are not obedient to their own bishop, are, if they are clerics, to be subject to the canonical penalties; and if they are monks or layfolk they are to be made excommunicate. 9 If any cleric has a case to bring against a cleric, let him not leave his own bishop and take himself off to the secular courts, but let him first air the problem before his own bishop, or at least, with the permission of the bishop himself, before those whom both parties are willing to see act as arbiters of their lawsuit. If anyone acts in a contrary fashion, let him be subject to canonical penalties. If a cleric has a case to bring either against his own or against another bishop, let him bring the case to the synod of the province. If a bishop or a cleric is in dispute with the metropolitan of the same province, let him engage either the exarch of the diocese or the see of imperial Constantinople, and let him bring his case before him. 10 A cleric is not allowed to be appointed to churches in two cities at the same time: to the one where he was originally ordained, and to another more important one to which he has betaken himself out of desire to increase a baseless reputation. Those who do this are to be sent back to their own church in which they were ordained at the beginning, and only there are they to serve. But if some have already been transferred from one church to another, they are not to take part in any of the affairs of their former church, or of the martyrs’ shrines or almshouses or hospices that come under it. The sacred synod has decreed that those who, subsequent to this decree of this great and universal synod, dare to do anything that is now forbidden are to lose their personal rank. 11 We have decreed that, subject to examination, all paupers and needy persons are to travel with ecclesiastical letters or letters of peace only, and not of commendation, since it befits only reputable persons to be provided with letters of commendation. 12 It has come to our notice that, contrary to the ecclesiastical regulations, some have made approaches to the civil authorities and have divided one province into two by official mandate, with the result that there are two metropolitans in the same province. The sacred synod therefore decrees that in future no bishop should dare do such a thing, since he who attempts it stands to lose his proper station. Such places as have already been honoured by imperial writ with the title of metropolis must treat it simply as honorary, and that goes also for the bishop who is in charge of the church there, without prejudice of course to the proper rights of the real metropolis. 13 Foreign clerics and readers without letters of commendation from their own bishop are absolutely forbidden to serve in another city. 14 Since in certain provinces readers and cantors have been allowed to marry, the sacred synod decrees that none of them is permitted to marry a wife of heterodox views. If those thus married have already had children, and if they have already had the children baptised among heretics, they are to bring them into the communion of the catholic church. If they have not been baptised, they may no longer have them baptised among heretics; nor indeed marry them to a heretic or a Jew or a Greek, unless of course the person who is to be married to the orthodox party promises to convert to the orthodox faith. If anyone transgresses this decree of the sacred synod, let him be subject to canonical penalty. 15 No woman under forty years of age is to be ordained a deacon, and then only after close scrutiny. If after receiving ordination and spending some time in the ministry she despises God’s grace and gets married, such a person is to be anathematised along with her spouse. 16 It is not permitted for a virgin who has dedicated herself to the Lord God, or similarly for a monk, to contract marriage. If it is discovered that they have done so, let them be made excommunicate. However, we have decreed that the local bishop should have discretion to deal humanely with them. 17 Rural or country parishes belonging to a church are to stay firmly tied to the bishops who have possession of them, and especially if they have continually and peacefully administered them over a thirty-year period. If, however, within the thirty years any dispute about them has arisen, or should arise, those who are claiming to be wronged are permitted to bring the case before the provincial synod. If there are any who are wronged by their own metropolitan, let their case be judged either by the exarch of the diocese or by the see of Constantinople, as has already been said. If any city has been newly erected, or is erected hereafter, by imperial decree, let the arrangement of ecclesiastical parishes conform to the civil and public regulations. 18 The crime of conspiracy or secret association is entirely prohibited even by the laws of the land; so all the more properly is this forbidden in the church of God. So if any clerics or monks are found to be either forming a conspiracy or a secret society or hatching plots against bishops or fellow clergy, let them lose their personal rank completely. 19 We have heard that in the provinces the synods of bishops prescribed by canon law are not taking place, and that as a result many ecclesiastical matters that need putting right are being neglected. So the sacred synod decrees that in accordance with the canons of the fathers, the bishops in each province are to foregather twice a year at a place approved by the bishop of the metropolis and put any matters arising to rights. Bishops failing to attend who enjoy good health and are free from all unavoidable and necessary engagements, but stay at home in their own cities, are to be fraternally rebuked. 20 As we have already decreed, clerics who are serving a church are not permitted to join a church in another city, but are to be content with the one in which they were originally authorised to minister, apart from those who have been displaced from their own country and been forced to move to another church. If subsequent to this decision any bishop receives a cleric who belongs to another bishop, it is decreed that both the received and the receiver are to be excommunicate until such time as the cleric who has moved returns to his own church. 21 Clerics or layfolk who bring allegations against bishops or clerics are not to be admitted to make their charges without more ado and before any examination, but their reputation must first be investigated. 22 It is not permitted for clerics, following the death of their own bishop, to seize the things that belong to him, as has been forbidden even by earlier canons. Those who do this risk losing their personal rank. 23 It has come to the notice of the sacred synod that certain clerics and monks who have no employment from their own bishop and have sometimes even been excommunicated by him, are frequenting imperial Constantinople and spending long periods there causing disturbances, upsetting the ecclesiastical establishment and ruining people’s homes. So the sacred synod decrees that such people are first to be warned by the public attorney of the most holy Constantinopolitan church to get out of the imperial city; and if they shamelessly persist in the same kinds of behaviour, they are to be expelled by the same public attorney even against their will, and are to betake themselves to their own places. 24 Monasteries once consecrated in accordance with the will of the bishop are to remain monasteries in perpetuity, and the effects which belong to them are reserved to the monastery, and they must not be turned into secular hostelries. Those who allow this to happen are to be subject to the canonical penalties. 25 According to our information, certain metropolitans are neglecting the flocks entrusted to them and are delaying the ordination of bishops, so the sacred synod has decided that the ordination of bishops should take place within three months, unless the period of delay has been caused to be extended by some unavoidable necessity. If a metropolitan fails to do this, he is to be subject to ecclesiastical penalties. The income of the widowed church is to be kept safe by the administrator of the said church. 26 According to our information, in some churches the bishops handle church business without administrators; so it has been decided that every church which has a bishop is also to have an administrator, drawn from its own clergy, to administer ecclesiastical matters according to the mind of the bishop concerned so that the church’s administration may not go unaudited, and that consequently the church’s property is not dispersed and the episcopate not exposed to serious criticism. If he does not comply with this, he is to be subject to the divine canons. 27 The sacred synod decrees that those who carry off girls under pretext of cohabitation, or who are accomplices or co-operate with those who carry them off, are to lose their personal rank if they are clerics, and are to be anathematised if they are monks or layfolk. 28 [in fact a resolution passed by the council at the 16th session but rejected by the Pope] Following in every way the decrees of the holy fathers and recognising the canon which has recently been read out--the canon of the 150 most devout bishops who assembled in the time of the great Theodosius of pious memory, then emperor, in imperial Constantinople, new Rome -- we issue the same decree and resolution concerning the prerogatives of the most holy church of the same Constantinople, new Rome. The fathers rightly accorded prerogatives to the see of older Rome, since that is an imperial city; and moved by the same purpose the 150 most devout bishops apportioned equal prerogatives to the most holy see of new Rome, reasonably judging that the city which is honoured by the imperial power and senate and enjoying privileges equalling older imperial Rome, should also be elevated to her level in ecclesiastical affairs and take second place after her. The metropolitans of the dioceses of Pontus, Asia and Thrace, but only these, as well as the bishops of these dioceses who work among non-Greeks, are to be ordained by the aforesaid most holy see of the most holy church in Constantinople. That is, each metropolitan of the aforesaid dioceses along with the bishops of the province ordain the bishops of the province, as has been declared in the divine canons; but the metropolitans of the aforesaid dioceses, as has been said, are to be ordained by the archbishop of Constantinople, once agreement has been reached by vote in the usual way and has been reported to him. 29 [an extract from the minutes of the 19th session] The most eminent and illustrious officials asked: What does the sacred synod advise in the case of the bishops ordained by the most reverend Bishop Photius and removed by the most reverend Bishop Eustathius and consigned to be priests after losing the episcopacy? The most reverend Bishops Paschasinus and Lucentius and the priest Bonifatius, representatives of the apostolic see of Rome, replied: It is sacrilege to reduce a bishop to the rank of priest. But if whatever cause there is for removing those persons from the exercise of episcopacy is just, they ought not to occupy the position even of a priest. And if they have been removed from office and are without fault, they shall be restored to the episcopal dignity. The most reverend archbishop of Constantinople, Anatolius, replied: If those who are said to have descended from the episcopal dignity to the rank of priest have been condemned on what are reasonable grounds, they are clearly not worthy to hold even the office of a priest. But if they have been demoted to the lower rank without reasonable cause, then as long as they are seen to be innocent, they have every right to resume the dignity and priesthood of the episcopacy. 30 [an extract from the minutes of the 4th session] The most eminent and illustrious officials and the exalted assembly declared: Since the most reverend bishops of Egypt have up to now put off subscribing to the letter of the most holy Archbishop Leo, not because they are in opposition to the catholic faith, but because they claim that it is customary in the Egyptian diocese not to do such things in contravention of the will and ordinance of their archbishop, and because they consider they should be given until the ordination of the future bishop of the great city of Alexandria, we think it reasonable and humane that, retaining their present rank in the imperial city, they should be granted a moratorium until such time as an archbishop of the great city of Alexandria is ordained. Most reverend Bishop Paschasinus, representative of the apostolic see, said: If your authority demands it, and you order that some measure of kindness be shown them, let them give guarantees that they will not leave this city before Alexandria receives its bishop. The most eminent and illustrious officials and the exalted assembly replied: Let the resolution of the most holy Bishop Paschasinus be upheld. So let the most reverend bishops of the Egyptians maintain their present rank and, either providing guarantees if they can, or pledging themselves on solemn oath, let them await the ordination of the future bishop of the great city of Alexandria. DEFINITION OF THE COUNCIL OF CHALCEDON (451 AD) CONCERNING THE TWO NATURES OF CHRIST. Following, then, the holy fathers, we unite in teaching all men to confess the one and only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. This selfsame one is perfect both in deity and in humanness; this selfsame one is also actually God and actually man, with a rational soul [meaning human soul] and a body. He is of the same reality as God as far as his deity is concerned and of the same reality as we ourselves as far as his humanness is concerned; thus like us in all respects, sin only excepted. Before time began he was begotten of the Father, in respect of his deity, and now in these “last days,” for us and behalf of our salvation, this selfsame one was born of Mary the virgin, who is God-bearer in respect of his humanness. We also teach that we apprehend this one and only Christ-Son, Lord, only- begotten -- in two natures; and we do this without confusing the two natures, without transmuting one nature into the other, without dividing them into two separate categories, without contrasting them according to area or function. The distinctiveness of each nature is not nullified by the union. Instead, the “properties” of each nature are conserved and both natures concur in one “person” and in one reality [hypostasis]. They are not divided or cut into two persons, but are together the one and only and only-begotten Word [Logos], God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Thus have the prophets of old testified; thus the Lord Jesus Christ himself taught us; thus the Symbol of Fathers [the Nicene Creed] has handed down to us. Therefore, now that we have set forth all these things with with a care and diligence exact in every respect, the holy and universal Synod defines once and for all that no one may profess, write up or compose, think, or teach to others, any other faith. SECOND COUNCIL OF CONSTANTINOPLE - 553 A.D. INTRODUCTION The emperor Justinian and Pope Vigilius decided to summon this council after the latter withdrew his “Judgment” condemning the “Three Chapters” of Theodore of Mopsuestia, Theodoret and Ibas. This “Judgment” had been issued on 11 April 548 but the bishops of the west and especially of Africa unanimously opposed it. The council was summoned by Justinian to Constantinople, although Vigilius would have preferred to convene it in Sicily or Italy so that western bishops might be present. It assembled on 5 May 553 in the great hall attached to Hagia Sophia cathedral. Since the Roman pontiff refused to take part in the council, because Justinian had summoned bishops in equal numbers from each of the five patriarchal sees, so that there would be many more eastern than western bishops present, Eutychius, patriarch of Constantinople, presided. The decrees of the council were signed by 160 bishops, of whom 8 were Africans. On 14 May 553 Pope Vigilius issued his “Constitution”, which was signed by 16 bishops (9 from Italy, 2 from Africa, 2 from Illyricum and 3 from Asia Minor). This rejected sixty propositions of Theodore of Mopsuestia, but spared his personal memory and refused to condemn either Theodoret or Ibas since, on the testimony of the council of Chalcedon, all suspicion of heresy against them had been removed. Nevertheless, the council in its 8th session on 2 June 553 again condemned the “Three Chapters”, for the same reasons as Justinian had done so, in a judgment which concludes with 14 anathemas. After carefully considering the matter for six months, Vigilius ,weighing up the persecutions of Justinian against his clergy and having sent a letter to Eutychius of Constantinople, approved the council, thus changing his mind “after the example of Augustine”. Furthermore he anathematized Theodore and condemned his writings and those of Theodoret and Ibas. On 23 February 554, in a second “Constitution”, he tried to reconcile the recent condemnation with what had been decreed at the council of Chalcedon. The council did not debate ecclesiastical discipline nor did it issue disciplinary canons. Our edition does not include the text of the anathemas against Origen since recent studies have shown that these anathemas cannot be attributed to this council. For the 14 anathemas (pp. 114-122) the translation is from the Greek text, since this is the more authoritative version. SENTENCE AGAINST THE “THREE CHAPTERS” Our great God and saviour Jesus Christ, as we are told in the parable in the gospel, gives talents to each one according to his ability, and at the proper time asks for an account of what has been done by each one. If the person to whom only one talent has been given is condemned because he has not worked and increased it, but has only preserved it without diminishment, how much more serious and more frightening must be the condemnation to which the person is subjected who not only fails to look after himself but scandalizes others and is a cause of offence to them ? It is clear to all believers that when a problem about the faith comes up it is not only the heretical person who is condemned but also the person who is in a position to correct the heresy of others and fails to do so. To those of us to whom the task has been given of governing the church of the Lord, there comes a fear of the condemnation which threatens those who neglect to do the Lord’s work. We hurry to take care of the good seed of faith protecting it from the weeds of heresy which have been planted by the enemy. We observed that the pupils of Nestorius were trying to bring their heresy into the church of God by means of the heretical Theodore, bishop of Mopsuestia and his books as also by the writings of the heretical Theodoret and the disgraceful letter which is alleged to have been sent by Ibas to Mari the Persian. Our observations prompted us to correct what was happening. We assembled in this imperial city, summoned here by the will of God and the command of the most religious emperor. The most religious Vigilius happened to be present in this imperial city and took part in all the criticisms against the three chapters. He had frequently condemned them by word of mouth and in his writings. Later he gave a written agreement to take part in our council and to study with us the three chapters so that we could all issue an appropriate definition of the true faith. The most pious emperor, prompted by what was acceptable to us, encouraged a meeting between Vigilius and ourselves because it is proper that the priesthood should impose a common conclusion to matters of common concern. Consequently we asked his reverence to carry out his written undertakings. It did not seem right that the scandal over these three chapters should continue and that the church of God should be further disturbed. In order to persuade him, we reminded him of the great example left us by the apostles and of the traditions of the fathers. Even though the grace of the holy Spirit was abundant in each of the apostles, so that none of them required the advice of another in order to do his work, nevertheless they were loathe to come to a decision on the issue of the circumcision of gentiles until they had met together to test their various opinions against the witness of the holy scriptures. In this way they unanimously reached the conclusion which they wrote to the gentiles: It has seemed good to the holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from unchastity. The holy fathers, who have gathered at intervals in the four holy councils, have followed the examples of antiquity. They dealt with heresies and current problems by debate in common, since it was established as certain that when the disputed question is set out by each side in communal discussions, the light of truth drives out the shadows of lying. The truth cannot be made clear in any other way when there are debates about questions of faith, since everyone requires the assistance of his neighbour. As Solomon says in his proverbs: A brother who helps a brother shall be exalted like a strong city; he shall be as strong as a well-established kingdom. Again in Ecclesiastes he says: Two are better than one, for they have a good reward for their toil. And the Lord himself says: Amen I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them. Vigilius was frequently invited by us all, and most distinguished judges were sent to him by the most pious emperor. Eventually he promised to give judgment personally on the three chapters. When we heard this promise, we remembered the warning of the Apostle that each of us shall give an account of himself to God. We were afraid of the condemnation which threatens those who scandalize one of the least important, and of the much more serious one which threatens those who scandalize so very christian an emperor, the people and all the churches. We also remembered what was said by God to Paul: Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not be silent; for I am with you, and nobody shall be able to harm you. When we met together, therefore, we first of all briefly made a confession of the faith which our lord Jesus Christ true God, handed down to his holy apostles and by means of them to the holy churches, the same faith which those who afterwards were holy fathers and doctors handed down to the people entrusted to them. We confessed that we believe, protect and preach to the holy churches that confession of faith which was set out at greater length by the 318 holy fathers who met in council at Nicaea and handed down the holy doctrine or creed. The 150 who met in council at Constantinople also set out the same faith and made a confession of it and explained it. The 200 holy fathers who met in the first council of Ephesus agreed to the same faith. We follow also the definitions of the 630 who met in council at Chalcedon, regarding the same faith which they both followed and preached. We confessed that we held to be condemned and anathematized all those who had been previously condemned and anathematized by the catholic church and by the aforesaid four councils. When we had made this confession in this way, we made a start on the examination of the three chapters. First, we considered Theodore of Mopsuestia. When all the blasphemies in his works were exposed, we were astonished at God’s patience, that the tongue and mind which had formed such blasphemies were not straightaway burned up by divine fire. We would not even have allowed the official reader of these blasphemies to continue, such was our fear of the anger of God at even a rehearsal of them (since each blasphemy was worse than the one before in the extent of its heresy and shook to their foundation the minds of their listeners), if it had not been the case that those who revelled in these blasphemies seemed to us to require the humiliation which their exposure would bring upon them. All of us, angered by the blasphemies against God, burst into attacks and anathemas against Theodore, during and after the reading, as if he had been living and present there. We said: Lord, be favourable to us; not even the demons themselves have dared to speak such things against you. O his intolerable tongue! O the wickedness of the man ! O the proud hand he raised against his creator! This disgraceful man, who had made a promise to understand the scriptures, did not remember the words of the prophet Hosea: Woe to them, for they have strayed from me! They have become notorious because of their impiety towards me. They spoke evil things about me, and after they had considered them, they spoke even worse things against me. They will fall into a trap because of the depravity of their tongues. Their contempt will be turned inwards on themselves, because they have broken my covenant and acted impiously against my law. The impious Theodore deserves to come under these curses. He dismissed the prophecies about Christ and he vilified, as far as he could, the great mystery of the arrangements that have been made for our salvation. In many ways he tried to demonstrate that the divine word was nothing but fables composed for the amusement of the gentiles. He ridiculed the other condemnations of the impious made by the prophets, especially the one in which holy Habakkuk says of those who teach false doctrines: Woe to him who makes his neighbours drink of the cup of his wrath, and makes them drunk, to gaze on their caverns. This refers to their teachings which are full of darkness and quite separate from the light. Why ought we to add anything more? Anyone who wishes can consult the volumes of the heretical Theodore or the heretical chapters from his heretical books which have been included in our acts. Anyone can see his unbelievable folly and the disgraceful utterances made by him. We fear to continue and to rehearse again those shameful things. The writings of the holy fathers against him were also read out to us. We heard what had been written against his folly which was more than all the other heretics, and the historical records and imperial laws which set out his heresy from its beginning. Despite all this, those who defended his heresy, delighting in the insults offered by him to his creator, declared that it was improper to anathematize him after his death. Although we were aware of the ecclesiastical tradition concerning heretics, that they are anathematized even after death, we deemed it necessary to go into this matter as well and it can be found in the acts how several heretics were anathematized after they were dead. In many ways it has become clear to us that those who put forward this argument have no concern for God’s judgments, nor for the pronouncements of the apostles, nor for the traditions of the fathers. We would willingly question them concerning what they would say about the Lord, who said of himself: He who believes in him is not condemned, he who does not believe in him is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God. And about that claim of the Apostle: Even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what you have received, let him be accursed. As we said earlier, I repeat once more: If anyone preaches to you a gospel contrary to what you have received, let him be accursed. Since the Lord declares that the person is judged already, and the Apostle curses even the angels if they instruct in anything different from what we have preached, how is it possible even for the most presumptuous to assert that these condemnations apply only to those who are still alive? Are they unaware, or rather pretending to be unaware, that to be judged anathematized is just the same as to be separated from God? The heretic, even though he has not been condemned formally by any individual, in reality brings anathema on himself, having cut himself off from the way of truth by his heresy. What reply can such people make to the Apostle when he writes: As for someone who is factious, after admonishing him once or twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is perverted and sinful; he is self-condemned. It was in the spirit of this text that Cyril of holy memory, in the books which he wrote against Theodore, declared as follows: “Whether or not they are alive, we ought to keep clear of those who are in the grip of such dreadful errors. It is necessary always to avoid what is harmful, and not to be worried about public opinion but rather to consider what is pleasing to God”. The same Cyril of holy memory, writing to bishop John of Antioch and to the synod which met there about Theodore who was condemned with Nestorius, says, “It was necessary that a brilliant festival should be kept since all those who had expressed opinions in accordance with Nestorius had been rejected, whoever they were. Action was taken against all those who believed, or had at any time believed, in these mistaken views. This is exactly what we and your holiness pronounced: ‘We anathematize those who assert that there exist two sons and two Christs. He who is preached by you and us is, as was said, the single Christ, both Son and Lord, the only-begotten as man, as learned Paul says’”. Moreover in his letter to the priests and fathers of monks, Alexander, Martinian, John, Paregorious and Maximus, and to those who were living as solitaries along with them, he says: “The holy synod of Ephesus, meeting in accordance with the will of God, has pronounced sentence against the heresy of Nestorius and has condemned according to justice and with accuracy both Nestorius himself and all those who might later, in inane fashion, adopt the same opinions as he held, and those who had previously adhered to the same opinions and who were bold enough to put them in writing, placing upon them all an equal condemnation. It was quite logical that when a condemnation was issued against one person for such stupidity in what he said, then that condemnation should apply not only to that person alone but also, so to speak, against all those who spread the heresies and untruths. They express these falsehoods against the true dogmas of the church, offering worship to two sons, trying to divide what cannot be divided, and introducing to both heaven and earth the offence of the worship of man. But the sacred band of heavenly spirits worship along with us only one lord Jesus Christ”. Moreover, several letters of Augustine of sacred memory, who was particularly outstanding among the African bishops, were read in which he indicates that it is correct to condemn heretics even after their death. Other most reverend bishops of Africa have also observed this church custom; moreover the holy church of Rome has issued anathemas against certain bishops even after they were dead, although they had not been accused on matters of faith while they were alive; the acts of our deliberations bear witness to both these cases. Since the followers of Theodore and his heresy, who are plainly opposed to the truth, have tried to adduce some sections of the writings of Cyril and Proclus of holy memory, as though these were in favour of Theodore, it is appropriate to apply to these attempts the observation of the prophet when he writes: The ways of the Lord are right, and the upright walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them. These followers have willfully misunderstood what the holy fathers wrote, even though it was true and appropriate; they have quoted these writings, dissembling excuses for their own iniquities. It seems that the fathers did not lift the anathema against Theodore but rather used the language of concession in order to lead away from their mistake those who offered some defence of Nestorius and his heresy; their aim was to lead them to perfection and to instruct them that not only was Nestorius, the disciple of heresy, condemned but also his teacher Theodore. The fathers indicate their intention in this matter despite the conciliatory forms used: Theodore was to be anathematized. This has been very clearly shown to be the case by us in our acts from the works of Cyril and Proclus of blessed memory in respect of the condemnation of Theodore and his heresy. This conciliatory attitude is also to be found in the holy scriptures. The apostle Paul employed this tactic at the start of his ministry when he was dealing with those who had been Jews; he circumcised Timothy so that by this conciliation and concession he might lead them to perfection. Afterwards, however, he ruled against circumcision, writing on the subject to the Galatians: Now I Paul say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. We found that the defenders of Theodore have done exactly what the heretics were accustomed to do. They have tried to lift the anathema on the said heretical Theodore by omitting some of the things which the holy fathers had written, by including certain confusing falsehoods of their own, and by quoting a letter of Cyril of blessed memory, as if all this were the evidence of the fathers. The passages which they quoted made the truth absolutely clear once the omitted sections were put back in their proper place. The falsehoods were quite apparent when the true writings were collated. In this matter those who issued these empty statements are those who, in the words of scripture, rely on lies, they make empty pleas; they conceive mischief and bring forth iniquity, they weave the spider’s web. After we had investigated in this way Theodore and his heresy, we took the trouble to quote and include in our acts a few of Theodoret’s heretical writings against true faith, against the twelve chapters of holy Cyril and against the first synod of Ephesus. We also included some of Theodoret’s writings on the side of the heretical Theodore and Nestorius so that it would be made clear, to the satisfaction of anyone reading our acts, that these opinions had been properly rejected and anathematized. Thirdly, the letter which is alleged to have been written by Ibas to Mari the Persian was brought under scrutiny and we discovered that it too ought to be officially read out. When the letter was read out, its heretical character was immediately apparent to everyone. Until this time there had been some dispute as to whether the aforesaid three chapters ought to be condemned and anathematized. Since the supporters of the heretics Theodore and Nestorius were conspiring to strengthen in another way the case of these men and their heresy, and were alleging that this heretical letter, which approves and defends Theodore and Nestorius, had been accepted by the holy council of Chalcedon, it was therefore necessary for us to demonstrate that that holy synod was unaffected by the heresy which is present in that letter, and that clearly those who make such allegations are doing so not with the assistance of the holy council but so as to give some support to their own heresy by associating it with the name of Chalcedon. It was demonstrated in our acts that Ibas was previously accused of the same heresy which is contained in this letter. This accusation was levelled first by Proclus of holy memory, bishop of Constantinople, and afterwards by Theodosius of blessed memory and Flavian, the bishop there after Proclus, both of whom gave the task of examining the whole matter to Photius, bishop of Tyre, and to Eustathius, bishop of the city of Beirut. When Ibas was later found to be blameworthy, he was deposed from the episcopate. This being the state of affairs, how could anyone be so bold as to allege that that heretical letter was accepted by the holy council of Chalcedon or that the holy council of Chalcedon agreed with it in its entirety? So as to prevent those who misrepresent the holy council of Chalcedon in this way from having any further opportunity to do so we instructed that there should be a formal reading of the official pronouncements of the holy synods, namely the first of Ephesus and that of Chalcedon, on the subject of the letters of Cyril of holy memory and of Leo of blessed memory, formerly pope of older Rome. We gathered from these authorities that nothing which has been written by anyone ought to be accepted unless it has been shown conclusively that it is in accord with the true faith of the holy fathers. Therefore we broke off from our deliberations so as to reiterate in a formal declaration the definition of faith which was promulgated by the holy council of Chalcedon. We compared what was written in the letter with this official statement. When this comparison was made, it was quite apparent that the contents of the letter were quite contradictory to those of the definition of faith. The definition was in accord with the unique, permanent faith set out by the 318 holy fathers, and by the 150, and by those who gathered for the first council at Ephesus. The heretical letter, on the other hand, included the blasphemies of the heretical Theodore and Nestorius and even gave support to them and describes them as doctors, while it condemns the holy fathers as heretics. We make it quite clear to everyone that we do not intend to omit what the fathers had to say in the first and second investigations, which are adduced by the supporters of Theodore and Nestorius in support of their case. Rather these statements and all the others were formally read out and what they contained was submitted to official scrutiny, and we found that they had not allowed the said Ibas to be accepted until they had obliged him to anathematize Nestorius and his heretical doctrines which were affirmed in that letter. This was the view not only of the two bishops whose interventions some have tried to misapply but also of the other religious bishops of that holy council. They also acted thus in the case of Theodoret and insisted that he anathematize those opinions about which he was accused. If they would permit the acceptance of Ibas only if he condemned the heresy which was to be found in his letter, and on condition that he subscribed to a definition of faith set out by the council, how can an attempt be made to allege that this heretical letter was accepted by the same holy council? We are rightly told: What partnership has righteousness with iniquity? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? What participation has the temple of God with idols? Now that we have given the details of what our council has achieved, we repeat our formal confession that we accept the four holy synods, that is, of Nicaea, of Constantinople, the first of Ephesus, and of Chalcedon. Our teaching is and has been all that they have defined concerning the one faith. We consider those who do not respect these things as foreign to the catholic church. Furthermore, we condemn and anathematize, along with all other heretics who have been condemned and anathematized by the same four holy councils and by the holy, catholic and apostolic church, Theodore, formerly bishop of Mopsuestia, and his heretical writings, and also what Theodoret heretically wrote against the true faith, against the twelve chapters of holy Cyril and against the first synod of Ephesus, and we condemn also what he wrote defending Theodore and Nestorius. Additionally, we anathematize the heretical letter which Ibas is alleged to have written to Mari the Persian. This letter denies that God the Word was made incarnate of the ever virgin Mary, the holy mother of God, and that he was made man. It also condemns as a heretic Cyril of holy memory, who taught the truth, and suggests that he held the same opinions as Apollinarius. The letter condemns the first synod of Ephesus for deposing Nestorius without proper process and investigation. It calls the twelve chapters of holy Cyril heretical and contrary to the orthodox faith, while it supports Theodore and Nestorius and their heretical teachings and writings. Consequently we anathematize the aforesaid three chapters, that is, the heretical Theodore of Mopsuestia along with his detestable writings, and the heretical writings of Theodoret, and the heretical letter which Ibas is alleged to have written. We anathematize the supporters of these works and those who write or have written in defence of them, or who are bold enough to claim that they are orthodox, or who have defended or tried to defend their heresy in the names of holy fathers or of the holy council of Chalcedon. These matters having been treated with thorough-going exactness, we bear in mind what was promised about the holy church and him who said that the gates of hell will not prevail against it (by these we understand the death-dealing tongues of heretics); we also bear in mind what was prophesied about the church by Hosea when he said, I shall betroth you to me in faithfulness and you shall know the Lord; and we count along with the devil, the father of lies, the uncontrolled tongues of heretics and their heretical writings, together with the heretics themselves who have persisted in their heresy even to death. So we declare to them: Behold all you who kindle a fire, who set brands alight! Walk by the light of your fire, and by the brands which you have kindled! Since we are under command to encourage the people with orthodox teaching and to speak to the heart of Jerusalem, that is the church of God, we very properly hurry to sow in righteousness and to reap the fruit of life. In doing this we are lighting for ourselves the lamp of knowledge from the scriptures and the teachings of the fathers. It has therefore seemed necessary to us to sum up in certain statements both our declarations of the truth and our condemnations of heretics and their heretical teachings. ANATHEMAS AGAINST THE “THREE CHAPTERS” 1. If anyone will not confess that the Father, Son and holy Spirit have one nature or substance, that they have one power and authority, that there is a consubstantial Trinity, one Deity to be adored in three subsistences or persons: let him be anathema. There is only one God and Father, from whom all things come, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things are, and one holy Spirit, in whom all things are. 2. If anyone will not confess that the Word of God has two nativities, that which is before all ages from the Father, outside time and without a body, and secondly that nativity of these latter days when the Word of God came down from the heavens and was made flesh of holy and glorious Mary, mother of God and ever-virgin, and was born from her: let him be anathema. 3. If anyone declares that the [Word] of God who works miracles is not identical with the Christ who suffered, or alleges that God the Word was with the Christ who was born of woman, or was in him in the way that one might be in another, but that our lord Jesus Christ was not one and the same, the Word of God incarnate and made man, and that the miracles and the sufferings which he voluntarily underwent in the flesh were not of the same person: let him be anathema. 4. If anyone declares that it was only in respect of grace, or of principle of action, or of dignity or in respect of equality of honour, or in respect of authority, or of some relation, or of some affection or power that there was a unity made between the Word of God and the man, or if anyone alleges that it is in respect of good will, as if God the Word was pleased with the man, because he was well and properly disposed to God, as Theodore claims in his madness; or if anyone says that this union is only a sort of synonymity, as the Nestorians allege, who call the Word of God Jesus and Christ, and even designate the human separately by the names “Christ” and “Son”, discussing quite obviously two different persons, and only pretending to speak of one person and one Christ when the reference is to his title, honour, dignity or adoration; finally if anyone does not accept the teaching of the holy fathers that the union occurred of the Word of God with human flesh which is possessed by a rational and intellectual soul, and that this union is by synthesis or by person, and that therefore there is only one person, namely the lord Jesus Christ, one member of the holy Trinity: let him be anathema. The notion of “union” can be understood in many different ways. The supporters of the wickedness of Apollinarius and Eutyches have asserted that the union is produced by a confusing of the uniting elements, as they advocate the disappearance of the elements that unite. Those who follow Theodore and Nestorius, rejoicing in the division, have brought in a union which is only by affection. The holy church of God, rejecting the wickedness of both sorts of heresy, states her belief in a union between the Word of God and human flesh which is by synthesis, that is by a union of subsistence. In the mystery of Christ the union of synthesis not only conserves without confusing the elements that come together but also allows no division. 5. If anyone understands by the single subsistence of our lord Jesus Christ that it covers the meaning of many subsistences, and by this argument tries to introduce into the mystery of Christ two subsistences or two persons, and having brought in two persons then talks of one person only in respect of dignity, honour or adoration, as both Theodore and Nestorius have written in their madness; if anyone falsely represents the holy synod of Chalcedon, making out that it accepted this heretical view by its terminology of “one subsistence”, and if he does not acknowledge that the Word of God is united with human flesh by subsistence, and that on account of this there is only one subsistence or one person, and that the holy synod of Chalcedon thus made a formal statement of belief in the single subsistence of our lord Jesus Christ: let him be anathema. There has been no addition of person or subsistence to the holy Trinity even after one of its members, God the Word, becoming human flesh. 6. If anyone declares that it can be only inexactly and not truly said that the holy and glorious ever-virgin Mary is the mother of God, or says that she is so only in some relative way, considering that she bore a mere man and that God the Word was not made into human flesh in her, holding rather that the nativity of a man from her was referred, as they say, to God the Word as he was with the man who came into being; if anyone misrepresents the holy synod of Chalcedon, alleging that it claimed that the virgin was the mother of God only according to that heretical understanding which the blasphemous Theodore put forward; or if anyone says that she is the mother of a man or the Christ-bearer, that is the mother of Christ, suggesting that Christ is not God; and does not formally confess that she is properly and truly the mother of God, because he who before all ages was born of the Father, God the Word, has been made into human flesh in these latter days and has been born to her, and it was in this religious understanding that the holy synod of Chalcedon formally stated its belief that she was the mother of God: let him be anathema. 7. If anyone, when speaking about the two natures, does not confess a belief in our one lord Jesus Christ, understood in both his divinity and his humanity, so as by this to signify a difference of natures of which an ineffable union has been made without confusion, in which neither the nature of the Word was changed into the nature of human flesh, nor was the nature of human flesh changed into that of the Word (each remained what it was by nature, even after the union, as this had been made in respect of subsistence); and if anyone understands the two natures in the mystery of Christ in the sense of a division into parts, or if he expresses his belief in the plural natures in the same lord Jesus Christ, God the Word made flesh, but does not consider the difference of those natures, of which he is composed, to be only in the onlooker’s mind, a difference which is not compromised by the union (for he is one from both and the two exist through the one) but uses the plurality to suggest that each nature is possessed separately and has a subsistence of its own: let him be anathema. 8. If anyone confesses a belief that a union has been made out of the two natures divinity and humanity, or speaks about the one nature of God the Word made flesh, but does not understand these things according to what the fathers have taught, namely that from the divine and human natures a union was made according to subsistence, and that one Christ was formed, and from these expressions tries to introduce one nature or substance made of the deity and human flesh of Christ: let him be anathema. In saying that it was in respect of subsistence that the only-begotten God the Word was united, we are not alleging that there was a confusion made of each of the natures into one another, but rather that each of the two remained what it was, and in this way we understand that the Word was united to human flesh. So there is only one Christ, God and man, the same being consubstantial with the Father in respect of his divinity, and also consubstantial with us in respect of our humanity. Both those who divide or split up the mystery of the divine dispensation of Christ and those who introduce into that mystery some confusion are equally rejected and anathematized by the church of God. 9. If anyone says that Christ is to be worshipped in his two natures, and by that wishes to introduce two adorations, a separate one for God the Word and another for the man; or if anyone, so as to remove the human flesh or to mix up the divinity and the humanity, monstrously invents one nature or substance brought together from the two, and so worships Christ, but not by a single adoration God the Word in human flesh along with his human flesh, as has been the tradition of the church from the beginning: let him be anathema. 10. If anyone does not confess his belief that our lord Jesus Christ, who was crucified in his human flesh, is truly God and the Lord of glory and one of the members of the holy Trinity: let him be anathema. 11. If anyone does not anathematize Arius, Eunomius, Macedonius, Apollinarius Nestorius, Eutyches and Origen, as well as their heretical books, and also all other heretics who have already been condemned and anathematized by the holy, catholic and apostolic church and by the four holy synods which have already been mentioned, and also all those who have thought or now think in the same way as the aforesaid heretics and who persist in their error even to death: let him be anathema. 12. If anyone defends the heretical Theodore of Mopsuestia, who said that God the Word is one, while quite another is Christ, who was troubled by the passions of the soul and the desires of human flesh, was gradually separated from that which is inferior, and became better by his progress in good works, and could not be faulted in his way of life, and as a mere man was baptized in the name of the Father and the Son and the holy Spirit, and through this baptism received the grace of the holy Spirit and came to deserve sonship and to be adored, in the way that one adores a statue of the emperor, as if he were God the Word, and that he became after his resurrection immutable in his thoughts and entirely without sin. Furthermore this heretical Theodore claimed that the union of God the Word to Christ is rather like that which, according to the teaching of the Apostle, is between a man and his wife: The two shall become one. Among innumerable other blasphemies he dared to allege that, when after his resurrection the Lord breathed on his disciples and said, Receive the holy Spirit, he was not truly giving them the holy Spirit, but he breathed on them only as a sign. Similarly he claimed that Thomas’s profession of faith made when, after his resurrection, he touched the hands and side of the Lord, namely My Lord and my God, was not said about Christ, but that Thomas was in this way extolling God for raising up Christ and expressing his astonishment at the miracle of the resurrection. This Theodore makes a comparison which is even worse than this when, writing about the acts of the Apostles, he says that Christ was like Plato, Manichaeus, Epicurus and Marcion, alleging that just as each of these men arrived at his own teaching and then had his disciples called after him Platonists, Manichaeans, Epicureans and Marcionites, so Christ found his teaching and then had disciples who were called Christians. If anyone offers a defence for this more heretical Theodore, and his heretical books in which he throws up the aforesaid blasphemies and many other additional blasphemies against our great God and saviour Jesus Christ, and if anyone fails to anathematize him and his heretical books as well as all those who offer acceptance or defence to him, or who allege that his interpretation is correct, or who write on his behalf or on that of his heretical teachings, or who are or have been of the same way of thinking and persist until death in this error: let him be anathema. 13. If anyone defends the heretical writings of Theodoret which were composed against the true faith, against the first holy synod of Ephesus and against holy Cyril and his Twelve Chapters, and also defends what Theodoret wrote to support the heretical Theodore and Nestorius and others who think in the same way as the aforesaid Theodore and Nestorius and accept them or their heresy and if anyone, because of them, shall accuse of being heretical the doctors of the church who have stated their belief in the union according to subsistence of God the Word; and if anyone does not anathematize these heretical books and those who have thought or now think in this way, and all those who have written against the true faith or against holy Cyril and his twelve chapters, and who persist in such heresy until they die: let him be anathema. 14. If anyone defends the letter which Ibas is said to have written to Mari the Persian, which denies that God the Word, who became incarnate of Mary the holy mother of God and ever virgin, became man, but alleges that he was only a man born to her, whom it describes as a temple, as if God the Word was one and the man someone quite different; which condemns holy Cyril as if he were a heretic, when he gives the true teaching of Christians, and accuses holy Cyril of writing opinions like those of the heretical Apollinarius ;which rebukes the first holy synod of Ephesus, alleging that it condemned Nestorius without going into the matter by a formal examination; which claims that the twelve chapters of holy Cyril are heretical and opposed to the true faith; and which defends Theodore and Nestorius and their heretical teachings and books. If anyone defends the said letter and does not anathematize it and all those who offer a defence for it and allege that it or a part of it is correct, or if anyone defends those who have written or shall write in support of it or the heresies contained in it, or supports those who are bold enough to defend it or its heresies in the name of the holy fathers of the holy synod of Chalcedon, and persists in these errors until his death: let him be anathema. Such then are the assertions we confess. We have received them from holy Scripture, from the teaching of the holy fathers, and from the definitions about the one and the same faith made by the aforesaid four holy synods. Moreover, condemnation has been passed by us against the heretics and their impiety, and also against those who have justified or shall justify the so-called “Three Chapters”, and against those who have persisted or will persist in their own error. If anyone should attempt to hand on, or to teach by word or writing, anything contrary to what we have regulated, then if he is a bishop or somebody appointed to the clergy, in so far as he is acting contrary to what befits priests and the ecclesiastical status, let him be stripped of the rank of priest or cleric, and if he is a monk or lay person, let him be anathema. THIRD COUNCIL OF CONSTANTINOPLE : 680-681 A. D. INTRODUCTION To make an end of the Monothelite controversy, Emperor Constantine IV asked Pope Donus in 678 to send twelve bishops and four western Greek monastic superiors to represent the pope at an assembly of eastern and western theologians. Pope Agatho, who meanwhile had succeeded Donus, ordered consultation in the west on this important matter. Around Easter 680 a synod in Rome of 125 Italian bishops, with Pope Agatho presiding, assessed the replies of the regional synods of the west and composed a profession of faith in which Monothelitism was condemned. Legates of the pope took this profession to Constantinople, arriving at the beginning of September 680. On 10 September 680 the emperor issued an edict to Patriarch George of Constantinople, ordering a council of bishops to be convoked. The council assembled on 7 November in the hall of the imperial palace in Constantinople. It immediately called itself an ecumenical council. There were 18 sessions, at the first eleven of which the emperor presided. In the 8th session, on 7 March 681, the council adopted the teaching of Pope Agatho in condemnation of Monothelitism. Patriarch Macarius of Antioch was one of the few who refused his assent; he was deposed in the 12th session. The doctrinal conclusions of the council were defined in the 17th session and promulgated in the 18th and last session on 16 September 681. The acts of the council, signed both by 174 fathers and finally by the emperor himself, were sent to Pope Leo II, who had succeeded Agatho, and he, when he had approved them, ordered them to be translated into Latin and to be signed by all the bishops of the west. Constantine IV, however, promulgated the decrees of the council in all parts of the empire by imperial edict. The council did not debate church discipline and did not establish any disciplinary cannons. EXPOSITION OF FAITH The only Son and Word of God the Father, who became a man like us in all things but sin, Christ our true God, proclaimed clearly in the words of the gospel; I am the light of the world; anyone who follows me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life, and again, My peace I leave to you, my peace I give you. Our most mild emperor, champion of right belief and adversary of wrong belief, guided in godly wisdom by this teaching of peace spoken by God, has brought together this holy and universal assembly of ours and set at one the whole judgment of the church. Wherefore this holy and universal synod of ours, driving afar the error of impiety which endured for some time even till the present, following without deviation in a straight path after the holy and accepted fathers, has piously accorded in all things with the five holy and universal synods: that is to say, with 1. the synod of 318 holy fathers who gathered at Nicaea against the madman Arius, and 2. that which followed it at Constantinople of 150 God-led men against Macedonius, opponent of the Spirit, and the impious Apollinarius; similarly too, with 3. the first at Ephesus of 200 godly men brought together against Nestorius, who thought as the Jews and 4. that at Chalcedon of 630 God-inspired fathers against Eutyches and Dioscorus, hateful to God; also, in addition to these, with 5. the fifth holy synod, the latest of them, which was gathered here against Theodore of Mopsuestia, Origen, Didymus and Evagrius, and the writings of Theodoret against the twelve chapters of the renowned Cyril, and the letter said to have been written by Ibas to Mari the Persian. Reaffirming the divine tenets of piety in all respects unaltered, and banishing the profane teachings of impiety, this holy and universal synod of ours has also, in its turn, under God’s inspiration, set its seal on the creed which was made out by the 318 fathers and confirmed again with godly prudence by the 150 and which the other holy synods too accepted gladly and ratified for the elimination of all soul-corrupting heresy We believe in one God ...[Creed of Nicaea and of Constantinople 1] The holy and universal synod said: This pious and orthodox creed of the divine favour was enough for a complete knowledge of the orthodox faith and a complete assurance therein. But since from the first, the contriver of evil did not rest, finding an accomplice in the serpent and through him bringing upon human nature the poisoned dart of death, so too now he has found instruments suited to his own purpose--namely Theodore, who was bishop of Pharan, Sergius, Pyrrhus, Paul and Peter, who were bishops of this imperial city, and further Honorius, who was pope of elder Rome, Cyrus, who held the see of Alexandria, and Macarius, who was recently bishop of Antioch, and his disciple Stephen -- and has not been idle in raising through them obstacles of error against the full body of the church sowing with novel speech among the orthodox people the heresy of a single will and a single principle of action in the two natures of the one member of the holy Trinity Christ our true God, a heresy in harmony with the evil belief, ruinous to the mind, of the impious Apollinarius, Severus and Themistius, and one intent on removing the perfection of the becoming man of the same one lord Jesus Christ our God, through a certain guileful device, leading from there to the blasphemous conclusion that his rationally animate flesh is without a will and a principle of action. Therefore Christ our God has stirred up the faithful emperor, the new David, finding in him a man after his own heart, who, as the scripture says, did not allow his eyes sleep or his eyelids drowsing until through this holy assembly of ours, brought together by God, he found the perfect proclamation of right belief; for according to the God-spoken saying, Where there are two or three gathered in my name, there am I in their midst. This same holy and universal synod, here present, faithfully accepts and welcomes with open hands the report of Agatho, most holy and most blessed pope of elder Rome, that came to our most reverend and most faithful emperor Constantine, which rejected by name those who proclaimed and taught, as has been already explained, one will and one principle of action in the incarnate dispensation of Christ our true God; and likewise it approves as well the other synodal report to his God-taught serenity, from the synod of 125 bishops dear to God meeting under the same most holy pope, as according with the holy synod at Chalcedon and with the Tome of the all-holy and most blessed Leo, pope of the same elder Rome, which was sent to Flavian, who is among the saints, and which that synod called a pillar of right belief, and furthermore with the synodal letters written by the blessed Cyril against the impious Nestorius and to the bishops of the east. Following the five holy and universal synods and the holy and accepted fathers, and defining in unison, it professes our lord Jesus Christ our true God, one of the holy Trinity, which is of one same being and is the source of life, to be perfect in divinity and perfect in humanity, the same truly God and truly man, of a rational soul and a body; consubstantial with the Father as regards his divinity, and the same consubstantial with us as regards his humanity, like us in all respects except for sin; begotten before the ages from the Father as regards his divinity, and in the last days the same for us and for our salvation from the holy Spirit and the virgin Mary, who is properly and truly called mother of God, as regards his humanity; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, only-begotten, acknowledged in two natures which undergo no confusion, no change, no separation, no division; at no point was the difference between the natures taken away through the union, but rather the property of both natures is preserved and comes together into a single subsistent being [in unam personam et in unam subsistentiam concurrente]; he is not parted or divided into two persons, but is one and the same only-begotten Son, Word of God, lord Jesus Christ, just as the prophets taught from the beginning about him, and as Jesus the Christ himself instructed us, and as the creed of the holy fathers handed it down to us. (Source: Church Councils)
And we proclaim equally two natural volitions or wills in him and two natural principles of action which undergo no division, no change, no partition, no confusion, in accordance with the teaching of the holy fathers. And the two natural wills not in opposition, as the impious heretics said, far from it, but his human will following, and not resisting or struggling, rather in fact subject to his divine and all powerful will. For the will of the flesh had to be moved, and yet to be subjected to the divine will, according to the most wise Athanasius. For just as his flesh is said to be and is flesh of the Word of God, so too the natural will of his flesh is said to and does belong to the Word of God, just as he says himself: I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of the Father who sent me, calling his own will that of his flesh, since his flesh too became his own. For in the same way that his all holy and blameless animate flesh was not destroyed in being made divine but remained in its own limit and category, so his human will as well was not destroyed by being made divine, but rather was preserved, according to the theologian Gregory, who says: “For his willing, when he is considered as saviour, is not in opposition to God, being made divine in its entirety.” And we hold there to be two natural principles of action in the same Jesus Christ our lord and true God, which undergo no division, no change, no partition, no confusion, that is, a divine principle of action and a human principle of action, according to the godly-speaking Leo, who says most clearly: “For each form does in a communion with the other that activity which it possesses as its own, the Word working that which is the Word’s and the body accomplishing the things that are the body’s”. For of course we will not grant the existence of only a single natural principle of action of both God and creature, lest we raise what is made to the level of divine being, or indeed reduce what is most specifically proper to the divine nature to a level befitting creatures for we acknowledge that the miracles and the sufferings are of one and the same according to one or the other of the two natures out of which he is and in which he has his being, as the admirable Cyril said. Therefore, protecting on all sides the “no confusion” and “no division”, we announce the whole in these brief words: Believing our lord Jesus Christ, even after his incarnation, to be one of the holy Trinity and our true God, we say that he has two natures [naturas] shining forth in his one subsistence[subsistentia] in which he demonstrated the miracles and the sufferings throughout his entire providential dwelling here, not in appearance but in truth, the difference of the natures being made known in the same one subsistence in that each nature wills and performs the things that are proper to it in a communion with the other; then in accord with this reasoning we hold that two natural wills and principles of action meet in correspondence for the salvation of the human race. So now that these points have been formulated by us with all precision in every respect and with all care, we definitely state that it is not allowable for anyone to produce another faith, that is, to write or to compose or to consider or to teach others; those who dare to compose another faith, or to support or to teach or to hand on another creed to those who wish to turn to knowledge of the truth, whether from Hellenism or Judaism or indeed from any heresy whatsoever, or to introduce novelty of speech, that is, invention of terms, so as to overturn what has now been defined by us, such persons, if they are bishops or clerics, are deprived of their episcopacy or clerical rank, and if they are monks or layfolk they are excommunicated. SECOND COUNCIL OF NICAEA - 787 A.D. INTRODUCTION A recommendation to summon an ecumenical council, in order to correct the iconoclast heretics, had been addressed to Empress Irene, then acting as regent for her son Emperor Constantine VI (780-797) who was still a minor, both by Patriarch Paul IV of Constantinople (who had repented of his earlier iconoclast views) before his abdication from the see in 784 and by his successor as patriarch, Tarasius. The aim was to unite the church and to condemn the decrees passed by the council of 338 bishops held at Hiereia and St Mary of Blachernae in 754. The convocation of the council was announced to Pope Hadrian I (772-795) in a letter of Constantine VI and Irene, dated 29 August 784. They urged him either to attend in person or to send legates. Patriarch Tarasius sent the same message in synodal letters to the pope and the three eastern patriarchs. Pope Hadrian I gave his approval for the convocation of the council, stipulating various conditions, and sent as his legates the archpriest Peter and Peter, abbot of the Greek monastery of St Sabas in Rome. The council, which was summoned by an imperial edict in the summer of 786, met for the first time on 1 August 786, in the presence of Emperor Constantine and Empress Irene. When the proceedings were interrupted by the violent entry of iconoclast soldiers, faithful to the memory of Emperor Constantine V (741-775), the council was adjourned until the arrival of a reliable army under Staurakios. It assembled again at Nicaea on 24 September 787, the papal legates having been recalled from Sicily. After the bishops suspected of heresy had been admitted, 263 fathers embraced the doctrine concerning the cult of sacred images as explained in the letters of Pope Hadrian I, which were read out at the second session. The question of the intercession of saints was dealt with in the fourth session. Once all these matters had been approved, a doctrinal definition was decreed at the seventh session. At the eighth and last session, which was held at the request of Constantine and Irene in the Magnaura palace in Constantinople, the definition was again decreed and proclaimed and 22 canons were read out. The papal legates presided over the council and were the first to sign the acts; but in reality it was Patriarch Tarasius who presided, and it was he, at the command of the council, who informed Pope Hadrian I about it: “the occasion when the letters of your fraternal holiness were read out and all acclaimed them”. Pope Hadrian I wrote no letter in reply, yet the defence he made of the council in 794 against Charlemagne shows that he accepted what the council had decreed, and that he had sent no acknowledgement because the concessions which he had requested in his letter of 26 October 785 to Constantine and Irene had not been granted to him, especially concerning the restoration of the papacy’s patrimony to the state at which it had been prior to 731, that is, before Illyricum had been confiscated by the emperor Leo III. Emperor Constantine VI and his mother Irene signed the acts of the council but it is unclear whether or not they promulgated a decree on the matter. The translation is from the Greek text, since this is the more authoritative version. {Material in curly parentheses ,{ }, paragraphing, italicizing and bolding, are added by the hypertext editor. The material in square brackets [] is found in the hardcopy book from which the translation was taken.} DEFINITION The holy, great and universal synod, by the grace of God and by order of our pious and Christ-loving emperor and empress, Constantine and his mother Irene, assembled for the second time in the famous metropolis of the Nicaeans in the province of the Bithynians, in the holy church of God named after Wisdom, following the tradition of the catholic church, has decreed what is here laid down. {The council bases itself on the inspiration of Tradition & of itself} The one who granted us the light of recognizing him, the one who redeemed us from the darkness of idolatrous insanity, Christ our God, when he took for his bride his holy catholic church, having no blemish or wrinkle, promised he would guard her and assured his holy disciples saying, I am with you every day until the consummation of this age. This promise however he made not only to them but also to us, who thanks to them have come to believe in his name. To this gracious offer some people paid no attention, being hoodwinked by the treacherous foe they abandoned the true line of reasoning, and setting themselves against the tradition of the catholic church they faltered in their grasp of the truth. As the proverbial saying puts it, they turned askew the axles of their farm carts and gathered no harvest in their hands. Indeed they had the effrontery to criticise the beauty pleasing to God established in the holy monuments; they were priests in name, but not in reality. They were those of whom God calls out by prophecy, Many pastors have destroyed my vine, they have defiled my portion. For they followed unholy men and trusting to their own frenzies they calumniated the holy church, which Christ our God has espoused to himself, and they failed to distinguish the holy from the profane, asserting that the icons of our Lord and of his saints were no different from the wooden images of satanic idols. Therefore the Lord God, not bearing that what was subject to him should be destroyed by such a corruption, has by his good pleasure summoned us together through the divine diligence and decision of Constantine and Irene, our faithful emperor and empress, we who are those responsible for the priesthood everywhere, in order that the divinely inspired tradition of the catholic church should receive confirmation by a public decree. So having made investigation with all accuracy and having taken counsel, setting for our aim the truth, we neither diminish nor augment, but simply guard intact all that pertains to the catholic church. {Recapitulation and re-affirmation of everything taught by any previous ecumenical council} Thus, following the six holy universal synods, in the first place that assembled in the famous metropolis of the Nicaeans {{1}Nicea I}, and then that held after it in the imperial, God-guarded city: {i.e. {2} Constantinople I} We believe in one God ...[the Nicene-Constantinopolitan creed follows]. We abominate and anathematize - Arius and those who think like him and share in his mad error; also Macedonius and those with him, properly called the Pneumatomachi; we also confess our Lady, the holy Mary, to be really and truly the God-bearer, because she gave birth in the flesh to Christ, one of the Trinity, our God, just as the first synod at {3}Ephesus decreed; it also expelled from the church Nestorius and those with him, because they were introducing a duality of persons. Along with these synods, we also confess the two natures of the one who became incarnate for our sake from the God-bearer without blemish, Mary the ever-virgin, recognizing that he is perfect God and perfect man, as the synod at {4}Chalcedon also proclaimed, when it drove from the divine precinct the foul-mouthed Eutyches and Dioscorus. We reject along with them Severus Peter and their interconnected band with their many blasphemies, in whose company we anathematize the mythical speculations of Origen, Evagrius and Didymus, as did the fifth synod, that assembled at {5}Constantinople. Further we declare that there are two wills and principles of action, in accordance with what is proper to each of the natures in Christ, in the way that the sixth synod, that at {6}Constantinople, proclaimed, when it also publicly rejected Sergius, Honorius, Cyrus, Pyrrhus, Macarius, those uninterested in true holiness, and their likeminded followers. To summarize, we declare that we defend free from any innovations all the written and unwritten ecclesiastical traditions that have been entrusted to us. {Council formulates for the first time what the Church has always believed regarding icons} One of these is the production of representational art; this is quite in harmony with the history of the spread of the gospel, as it provides confirmation that the becoming man of the Word of God was real and not just imaginary, and as it brings us a similar benefit. For, things that mutually illustrate one another undoubtedly possess one another’s message. Given this state of affairs and stepping out as though on the royal highway, following as we are the God-spoken teaching of our holy fathers and the tradition of the catholic church -- for we recognize that this tradition comes from the holy Spirit who dwells in her-- we decree with full precision and care that, like the figure of the honoured and life-giving cross, the revered and holy images, whether painted or made of mosaic or of other suitable material, are to be exposed in the holy churches of God, on sacred instruments and vestments, on walls and panels, in houses and by public ways, these are the images of our Lord, God and saviour, Jesus Christ, and of our Lady without blemish, the holy God-bearer, and of the revered angels and of any of the saintly holy men. The more frequently they are seen in representational art, the more are those who see them drawn to remember and long for those who serve as models, and to pay these images the tribute of salutation and respectful veneration. Certainly this is not the full adoration {latria} in accordance with our faith, which is properly paid only to the divine nature, but it resembles that given to the figure of the honoured and life-giving cross, and also to the holy books of the gospels and to other sacred cult objects. Further, people are drawn to honour these images with the offering of incense and lights, as was piously established by ancient custom. Indeed, the honour paid to an image traverses it, reaching the model, and he who venerates the image, venerates the person represented in that image. So it is that the teaching of our holy fathers is strengthened, namely, the tradition of the catholic church which has received the gospel from one end of the earth to the other. So it is that we really follow Paul, who spoke in Christ, and the entire divine apostolic group and the holiness of the fathers, clinging fast to the traditions which we have received. So it is that we sing out with the prophets the hymns of victory to the church: Rejoice exceedingly O daughter of Zion, proclaim O daughter of Jerusalem; enjoy your happiness and gladness with a full heart. The Lord has removed away from you the injustices of your enemies, you have been redeemed from the hand of your foes. The Lord the king is in your midst, you will never more see evil, and peace will be upon you for time eternal. Therefore all those who dare to think or teach anything different, or who follow the accursed heretics in rejecting ecclesiastical traditions, or who devise innovations, or who spurn anything entrusted to the church (whether it be the gospel or the figure of the cross or any example of representational art or any martyr’s holy relic), or who fabricate perverted and evil prejudices against cherishing any of the lawful traditions of the catholic church, or who secularize the sacred objects and saintly monasteries, we order that they be suspended if they are bishops or clerics, and excommunicated if they are monks or lay people. ANATHEMAS CONCERNING HOLY IMAGES 1. If anyone does not confess that Christ our God can be represented in his humanity, let him be anathema. 2. If anyone does not accept representation in art of evangelical scenes, let him be anathema. 3. If anyone does not salute such representations as standing for the Lord and his saints, let him be anathema. 4. If anyone rejects any written or unwritten tradition of the church, let him be anathema. CANONS 1 For those to whom the priestly dignity is allotted, the guide-lines contained in the canonical regulations are testimonies and directives. We accept them gladly and sing out to the Lord God with David, the revealer of God: In the path of your testimonies I have taken delight, as with all manner of wealth; and, You have enjoined justice, your testimonies are for ever; instruct me to give me life. And if the prophetic voice orders us for all eternity to observe the messages of God and to live in them, it is obvious that they remain unshakeable and immoveable; thus Moses, who looked on God, declares, To these there is no addition, and from these there is no subtraction. The divine apostle takes pride in them when he cries out, These things which the angels long to gaze upon, and, If an angel brings you a gospel contrary to what you have received, let him be accursed. Since these things really are such and have been testified to us in these ways, we exult in them as a person would if he were to come across a great mass of booty. We joyfully embrace the sacred canons and we maintain complete and unshaken their regulation, both those expounded by those trumpets of the Spirit, the apostles worthy of all praise, and those from the six holy universal synods and from the synods assembled locally for the promulgation of such decrees, and from our holy fathers. Indeed all of these, enlightened by one and the same Spirit, decreed what is expedient. In the case of those whom they sent away under an anathema, we also anathematize them, those whom they suspended, we also suspend; those whom they excommunicated, we also excommunicate; those whom they placed under penalties, we also deal with in the same way. Let your conduct be free from avariciousness, contenting yourself with what you have, cried out with all explicitness the divine apostle Paul, who mounted to the third heaven and heard words that cannot be uttered. 2 Since we make an undertaking before God as we sing, I shall meditate on your judgments, I shall not neglect your words, it is essential to our salvation that every Christian should observe these things, but more especially those who have been invested with priestly dignity. Therefore we decree that everyone who is to be advanced to the grade of bishop should have a thorough knowledge of the psalter, in order that he may instruct all the clergy subordinate to him, to be initiated in that book. He should also be examined without fail by the metropolitan to see if he is willing to acquire knowledge--a knowledge that should be searching and not superficial--of the sacred canons, the holy gospel, the book of the divine apostle, and all divine scripture; also if he is willing to conduct himself and teach the people entrusted to him according to the divine commandments. “The substance of our hierarchy are the words handed down from God”, that is to say, the true knowledge of the divine scriptures, as the great Dionysius made plain. If someone is doubtful and ill at ease with such conduct and teaching, let him not be ordained. For God said through the prophet: You rejected knowledge, and I shall reject you, so that you may not serve me in a priestly function. 3 Any election of a bishop, priest or deacon brought about by the rulers is to be null and void in accordance with the canon that says: “If any bishop, through the influence of secular rulers, acquires responsibility for a church because of them, let him be suspended and let all those who are in communion with him be excommunicated”. It is necessary that the person who is to be advanced to a bishopric should be elected by bishops, as has been decreed by the holy fathers at Nicaea in the canon that says: “It is by all means desirable that a bishop should be appointed by all [the bishops] in the province. But if this is difficult because of some pressing necessity or the length of the journey involved, let at least three come together and perform the ordination, but only after the absent bishops have taken part in the vote and given their written consent. But in each province the right of confirming the proceedings belongs to the metropolitan”. 4 The herald of the truth, Paul, the divine apostle, laying down a sort of rule for the presbyters of Ephesus, or rather for the whole priestly order, declared firmly: I have not coveted silver or gold or anybody’s clothing; I have made completely plain to you that it is by working in this fashion that we should provide for the weak being convinced that it is blessed to give. Therefore we also, having been taught by him, decree that a bishop should never have any sort of design on foul profit, inventing excuses for his sins, nor demand any gold or silver or anything similar from the bishops, clerics and monks subject to him. For the apostle says: The unjust will not inherit the kingdom of God; and, It is not children who should heap up treasures for their parents, but parents for their children. So if it is discovered that somebody, because of a demand for gold or something similar, or because of some private infatuation of his own, has excluded from the liturgy or excommunicated one of the clerics under his authority, or has closed off one of the holy churches, preventing the celebration of God’s liturgies in it, pouring out his own madness against insensible things, then he is truly senseless himself and he should be subjected to suffer what he would inflict and the penalty imposed by him will turn upon his own head, because he has transgressed both the law of God and the rulings of the apostles. For Peter also, the spokesman of the apostles, urges: Be pastors to the flock of God entrusted to you, not under compulsion, but willingly as pleasing to God, not for sordid gain but with enthusiasm, not as men who lord it over those entrusted to you, but as being models for the flock. Then when the chief shepherd is disclosed, you will carry off the imperishable crown of glory. 5 It is a sin leading to death when sinners remain uncorrected, but still worse is it when people flaunt their sin as they override holiness and truth, both preferring mammon to obedience to God and neglecting his legally formulated instructions. The Lord God is not present among such persons unless they humbly turn from their fault. Their duty is to approach God with a contrite heart and implore his forgiveness for their sin and his pardon, rather than to take pride in an unholy distribution of gifts: For the Lord is close to the contrite of heart. Therefore in the case of those who boast that they have been appointed in the church by distributing gifts of gold, and who pin their hopes on this evil custom, which alienates a person from God and from all priesthood, and who take this as a reason for deriding quite shamelessly and openly those who have been chosen by the holy Spirit and appointed for the virtue of their lives, without any distribution of gifts of gold, when they first do this each should take the lowest rank in his order, and if they persist they should be corrected with a penalty. If someone is found to have done this at any time in connection with an ordination, let matters proceed in accordance with the apostolic canon which says: “If some bishop or priest or deacon has obtained his dignity by means of money, let him and the person who performed the ordination be suspended, and let them be excluded completely from the communion, as Simon Magus was by me, Peter”. Similarly, in accordance with canon 2 of our holy fathers at Chalcedon, which says “If any bishop performs an ordination for money and puts the unsaleable grace on sale, and ordains for money a bishop, a chorepiscopus, a presbyter or deacons or some others of those numbered among the clergy; or appoints a manager, a legal officer or a warden for money, or any other ecclesiastic at all for personal sordid gain; let him who has attempted this and been convicted stand to lose his personal rank, and let the person ordained profit nothing from the ordination or appointment he has bought; but let him be removed from the dignity or responsibility which he got for money. And if anyone appears to have acted even as a go-between in such disgraceful and unlawful dealings, let him too, if he is a cleric, be demoted from his personal rank, and if he is a lay person or a monk, let him be anathematized”. 6 Although there is indeed a canon which says, “In each province the canonical investigations should take place twice yearly by means of a gathering of the bishops”, because of the trouble and because those attending the meetings lack the resources for such journeys, the holy fathers of the sixth synod decreed “they should be held in any case and despite all excuses, once a year, and all that is incorrect should be put right”. We also renew this canon, and should a ruler be found who prevents its observance, let him be excommunicated; however if one of the metropolitan bishops neglects its fulfillment, let him be subject to canonical penalties, unless it is a case of necessity, constraint or some other reasonable cause. When such a synod is held to discuss canonical and evangelical matters, the gathered bishops should pay particular care and attention to the divine and life-giving laws of God: There is a great reward for their observance; for a law is a lamp, a regulation is a light, and reproof and discipline are the path of life indeed the law of the Lord gives light to the eyes. However, the metropolitan bishop does not have the right to demand anything that a bishop may have brought with him, such as a beast or some other thing; and if he is convicted of doing so, let him pay back fourfold. 7 The divine apostle Paul said: The sins of some people are manifest, those of others appear later. Some sins take the front rank but others follow in their footsteps. Thus in the train of the impious heresy of the defamers of Christians, many other impieties appeared. Just as those heretics removed the sight of venerable icons from the church, they also abandoned other customs, which should now be renewed and which should be in vigour in virtue of both written and unwritten legislation. Therefore we decree that in venerable churches consecrated without relics of the holy martyrs, the installation of relics should take place along with the usual prayers. And if in future any bishop is found out consecrating a church without relics, let him be deposed as someone who has flouted the ecclesiastical traditions. 8 Since some of those who come from the religion of the Hebrews mistakenly think to make a mockery of Christ who is God, pretending to become Christians, but denying Christ in private by both secretly continuing to observe the sabbath and maintaining other Jewish practices, we decree that they shall not be received to communion or at prayer or into the church, but rather let them openly be Hebrews according to their own religion; they should not baptize their children or buy, or enter into possession of, a slave. But if one of them makes his conversion with a sincere faith and heart, and pronounces his confession wholeheartedly, disclosing their practices and objects in the hope that others may be refuted and corrected, such a person should be welcomed and baptized along with his children, and care should be taken that they abandon Hebrew practices. However if they are not of this sort, they should certainly not be welcomed. 9 All those childish baubles and bacchic rantings, the false writings composed against the venerable icons, should be given in at the episcopal building in Constantinople, so that they can be put away along with other heretical books. If someone is discovered to be hiding such books, if he is a bishop, priest or deacon, let him be suspended, and if he is a lay person or a monk, let him be excommunicated. 10 As some clerics, who despise the canonical ordinance, abandon their own dioceses and run off into other dioceses--something that happens with special frequency in this imperial, God-guarded city--and there they lodge with rulers, celebrating the liturgy in their chapels, let it not be permitted for them to be received in any house or church without the approval of their own bishop and that of the bishop of Constantinople. If they do so and persist therein, they are to be suspended. In the case of those who do this with the approval of the above-mentioned prelates, it is not permitted for them to assume worldly and secular responsibilities, since they are forbidden to do so by the sacred canons; and if someone is misled into occupying himself with the responsibility of the so-called high stewards, he is to desist or be suspended. Rather let him busy himself with the teaching of the children and servants, lecturing them on the divine scriptures because it is for such activity that he received the priesthood. 11 Since we are obliged to observe all the sacred canons, we ought also to maintain in all its integrity the one that says that there should be administrators in each church. Therefore if each metropolitan bishop installs an administrator in his own church, that is well and good; but if not, the bishop of Constantinople on his own authority has the right to appoint one over the other’s church, and similarly with metropolitan bishops, if the bishops under them do not choose administrators to hold these posts in their own churches. The same rule is also to be observed with respect to monasteries. 12 If it is discovered that a bishop or a monastic superior is transferring episcopal or monastic farmland to the control of the ruler, or has been conceding it to another person, the transaction is null and void in accordance with the canon of the holy apostles which stipulates: “Let the bishop take care of all ecclesiastical affairs, and let him administer them as if under God’s inspection. It is not permitted him to appropriate any of these things, nor to make a present of the things of God to his own relatives. Should the latter be poor, let him care for them as for other poor people, but let him not use them as an excuse for selling off the church’s possessions.” However, if he pretends that the land is a loss and brings in no profit at all, let him make a present of the place to clerics or landworkers, but even in these circumstances it should not be given to the local rulers. If they use evil cunning and the ruler buys up the land from the landworker or the cleric in question, this sale shall also be null and void in such circumstances, and the land should be restored to the bishopric or monastery. And the bishop or monastic superior who acts thus should be expelled, the bishop from the episcopal house and the monastic superior from the monastery, because they wickedly waste what they have not gathered. 13 On account of the disaster which came about in the churches due to our sins certain venerable houses--episcopal buildings as well as monasteries--were seized by certain men and became public inns. Now if those who hold them choose to restore them, so that they are established once more as formerly they were, this is good and excellent. However if such is not the case, should they be inscribed in the list of priests, we order that they be suspended, and if they are monks or lay persons, that they be excommunicated, seeing that they are criminals condemned by the Father, the Son and the holy Spirit, and let them be assigned there where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched, because they oppose the voice of the Lord declaring, You shall not make my Father’s house a house of trade. 14 It is perfectly clear to everyone that a certain order has been established in the priesthood, and that it is God’s good pleasure that the appointment to priestly offices should be observed with care. However we have noticed that some, without the imposition of hands, are adopting the clerical tonsure while still youngsters, and without having received the imposition of hands from the bishop they are undertaking to read publicly from the ambo during the church service, even though they are acting uncanonically. We urge therefore that this be discontinued, and that the same regulation be observed among monks. Each monastic superior has permission for the imposition of hands on a reader for his own monastery, and only for that monastery, provided that the monastic superior has himself received from the bishop the imposition of hands to rule there, and obviously provided that he is himself a priest. Similarly it is an ancient custom that chorepiscopi, with the permission of the bishop, should appoint readers. 15 From now on, no cleric should be appointed to office in two churches. Such a procedure savours of commerce and sordid profit-making, and is quite foreign to ecclesiastical custom. We have learned from the Lord’s own voice: No one can serve two masters, because either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. Therefore, following the advice of the apostle, Each should stay where he has been called, and remain in one church. In ecclesiastical matters, whatever is done for the sake of sordid gain constitutes something alien to God. But as far as the needs of this present life are concerned, there are various gainful occupations; each may use these, as he prefers, to procure what is needed for the body. As the apostle said: These hands of mine have provided for my own needs and for the persons accompanying me. These are the regulations for this God-protected city; for what concerns places in the country, a concession may be granted because of the lack of population. 16 All indulgence and adornment bestowed on the body is alien to the priestly order. Therefore all those bishops and clerics who deck themselves out in brilliant and showy clothes should be called to order, and if they persist let them be punished. The same holds for those who use perfumes. However, since the root of bitterness has sprouted, there has appeared in the catholic church the plague of a heresy which delights in the defamation of Christians. Those who adopt this heresy not only heap insults on representational art, but also reject all forms of reverence and make a mockery of those who live pious and holy lives, thus fulfilling in their own regard that saying of scripture, For the sinner piety is an abomination. So if persons are found who make fun of those who wear simple and respectful clothing, they should be corrected with punishment. Indeed, from the earliest times all those ordained to the priesthood have been accustomed to present themselves in public dressed in modest and respectful clothing, and anyone who adds to his apparel for the sake of decoration and not out of necessity deserves, as the great Basil remarked, to be accused of “vainglory”. Neither did anyone dress in variegated clothes made of silk, nor did they add various coloured ornaments to the fringes of their garments. They had heard the tongue that spoke God’s words declare, Those who dress in soft clothes are in the houses of kings. 17 Some monks abandon their own monasteries because they desire to be in authority and disdain obeying others, and then they attempt to found houses of prayer, although they lack adequate resources. If somebody undertakes to do this, let him be prevented by the local bishop. If someone possesses adequate resources, however, his plans should be brought to completion. The same ruling holds for both laity and clerics. 18 Be irreproachable even for those outside, says the divine apostle. Now for women to live in the houses of bishops or in monasteries is a cause for every sort of scandal. Therefore if anybody is discovered to be keeping a woman, whether a slave or free, in the bishop’s house or in a monastery in order to undertake some service, let him be censured, and if he persists let him be deposed. Should it happen that women are living in the suburban residence and the bishop or monastic superior wishes to journey there, no woman should be allowed to undertake any sort of work during the time that the bishop or monastic superior is present; she should stay on her own in some other area until the bishop has retired, in order to avoid all possible criticism. 19 The blight of avarice has spread to such an extent among ecclesiastical authorities that even some so called pious men and women, forgetting the Lord’s commands, have been tricked into authorizing, for the sake of cash payments, the entry of those presenting themselves for the priestly order and the monastic life. Thus it happens, as the great Basil says, “when people begin wrongly, all they do is to be rejected”, for it is not possible to serve God through mammon. So, if somebody is found out to be doing this, if he is a bishop or a male monastic superior or one of the priests, let him stop or be deposed, in accordance with canon 2 of the holy council of Chalcedon. If the person is a female monastic superior, let her be expelled from the monastery and put under obedience in another monastery, and similarly for a male monastic superior who has not received priestly ordination. With regard to gifts given by parents under the concept of dowries for their children, or with regard to the personally acquired goods that the latter present provided that those presenting them declare that these are gifts offered to God, we have decreed that these gifts are to remain in the monastery, whether the person stays or leaves, in accordance with their explicit undertaking, unless there is a reprehensible cause on the part of the person in charge. 20 We decree that from now on no more double monasteries are to be started because this becomes a cause of scandal and a stumbling block for ordinary folk. If there are persons who wish to renounce the world and follow the monastic life along with their relatives, the men should go off to a male monastery and their wives enter a female monastery, for God is surely pleased with this. The double monasteries that have existed up to now should continue to exist according to the rule of our holy father Basil, and their constitutions should follow his ordinances. Monks and nuns should not live in one monastic building, because adultery takes advantage of such cohabitation. No monk should have the licence to speak in private with a nun, nor any nun with a monk. A monk should not sleep in a female monastery, nor should he eat alone with a nun. When the necessary nourishment is being carried from the male area for the nuns, the female superior, accompanied by one of the older nuns, should receive it outside the door. And if it should happen that a monk wishes to pay a visit to one of his female relatives, let him speak with her in the presence of the female superior, but briefly and rapidly, and let him leave her quickly. 21 It is not right for a monk or a nun to leave his or her own monastery and transfer to another. However should this occur, it is obligatory that hospitality be given but such a person should not be accepted as a member without the agreement of his or her monastic superior. 22 It is very important to dedicate everything to God and not to become slaves of our own desires; for whether you eat or drink, the divine apostle says, do all for the glory of God. Now Christ our God has instructed us in his gospels to eradicate the beginnings of sins. So not only adultery is rebuked by him, but also the movement of one’s intention towards the performance of adultery, when he says: He who looks on a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Thus instructed we should purify our intentions: For if all things are lawful, not all things are expedient, as we learn from the words of the apostle. Now everybody is certainly obliged to eat in order to live, and in the case of those whose life includes marriage and children and the conditions proper to layfolk it is not reprehensible that men and women should eat in one another’s company; though they should at least say grace to thank the giver of their nourishment, and they should avoid certain theatrical entertainments, diabolical songs, the strumming of lyres and the dancing fit for harlots, against all such there is the curse of the prophet which says, Woe on those who drink their wine to the sound of lyre and harp, those who pay no attention to the deeds of the Lord and have never a thought for the works of his hands. If ever such people are found among Christians, they should reform, and if they do not, let the canonical sanctions established by our predecessors be imposed on them. Those whose mode of life is contemplative and solitary should sit and be silent, because they have entered into a contract with the Lord that the yoke they carry will be a solitary one. Indeed, all those who have chosen the life of priests are certainly not free to eat privately in the company of women, but at the most in the company of certain God-fearing and pious men and women, in order that such a meal taken in common may draw them to spiritual betterment. Let the same be done in the case of relatives. As for another situation, if a monk or even a man in priestly orders happens to be making a journey and is not carrying with him his indispensable provisions, and then wishes to satisfy his needs in a public inn or in someone’s house, he is allowed to do so when it is a case of pressing necessity. FOURTH COUNCIL OF CONSTANTINOPLE : 869-870 INTRODUCTION This council, designated as the eighth ecumenical council by western canonists, is not found in any canonical collections of the Byzantines; its acts and canons are completely ignored by them. Modern scholars have shown that it was included in the list of ecumenical councils only later, that is, after the eleventh century. We have decided to include the council, for the sake of historical completeness. Emperor Basil I and the patriarch Ignatius, after being restored to his see of Constantinople, asked Pope Nicholas I to call a council to decide about the bishops and priests who had been ordained by Photius. It was held at Constantinople after the arrival of legates from Pope Hadrian II, who had meanwhile succeeded Nicholas. These legates were Donatus, Stephen and Marinus and they presided at the council. It began in the cathedral of Hagia Sophia on 5 October 869. The tenth and last session was held on 28 February 870, when 27 canons were read out and approved by the council. All who were willing to sign the Liber satisfactionis, which had been sent by Pope Hadrian II, were admitted to the council. The account made by Anastasius contains the authentic list of those who signed the acts of the council. Emperor Basil I and his sons, Constantine and Leo, signed the acts after the patriarchs and in the same year they promulgated the council’s decisions, after drawing up a decree for this purpose. As regards the canonical authority of these deliberations, various facts regarding the council held in the cathedral of Hagia Sophia in November 879, so that Photius might be restored to the see of Constantinople, should be remembered. Peter, a Roman cardinal, presided at this council. It took account of a letter of Pope John VIII, which had been sent to the emperor and translated into Greek. This reads (chapter 4): “We declare that the synod held at Rome against the most holy patriarch Photius in the time of the most blessed pope Hadrian, as well as the holy synod of Constantinople attacking the same most holy Photius (i.e., in 869-870), are totally condemned and abrogated and must in no way be invoked or named as synods. Let this not happen”. Some people have thought that this text had been altered by Photius; but in the so-called “unaltered” text of the letter this passage is replaced by dots (. . .), and the following passage reads: “For the see of blessed Peter, the key-bearer of the heavenly kingdom, has the power to dissolve, after suitable appraisal, any bonds imposed by bishops. This is so because it is agreed that already many patriarchs, for example Athanasius .. .. after having been condemned by a synod, have been, after formal acquittal by the apostolic see, promptly reinstated”. Ivo of Chartres explicitly affirms: “The synod of Constantinople which was held against Photius must not be recognised. John VIII wrote to the patriarch Photius (in 879): We make void that synod which was held against Photius at Constantinople and we have completely blotted it out for various reasons as well as for the fact that Pope Hadrian did not sign its acts”. Ivo adds from the instructions that John VIII gave to his legates for the council in 879: “You will say that, as regards the synods which were held against Photius under Pope Hadrian at Rome or Constantinople, we annul them and wholly exclude them from the number of the holy synods”. For these reasons there is no ground for thinking that the text was altered by Photius. An authentic copy of the acts of the council of 869-870 was sent to Rome, as of right. Anastasius, the librarian, ordered a complete copy to be made for himself. Then, when the legates’ copy was stolen, he translated his own copy into Latin, on Pope Hadrian’s orders, making a word for word translation. Anastasius also makes it plain that the Greeks adopted every means to distort the acts, “by abbreviating here and by expanding or changing there”. He adds: “Whatever is found in the Latin copy of the acts of the eighth synod is completely free from the alloy of falsehood; however, whatever more is found in the Greek text is thoroughly infected with poisonous lies”. The Greek text has been partly preserved from total destruction in the summary of an anonymous writer who copied out anti-Photian texts. This summary has 14 canons, as opposed to the 27 of Anastasius, and only contains excerpts, dealing with the most important points, of these canons. Where comparison is possible, the Latin version of Anastasius hardly departs from the Greek text. Indeed it is so literal that at times it can only be understood by comparison with the Greek text, and when the latter is missing we must sometimes rely on conjecture. The documents printed below are taken from the following: the “Definition” from the Roman edition, (Concilia generalia Ecclesiae catholicae [Editio Romana], Rome 4 vols, 1608-1612) 3, 284-287; the canons from Les canons des conciles oecumeniques, ed. P-P. Jouannou (Pontificia commissione per la redazione del codice di diritto canonico orientale. Fonti. Fasc. IX: Discipline generale antique [IIe-IXe s.] tome 1 part 1), Grottaferata 1962 289-342. The holy, great and universal synod, which was assembled by God’s will and the favour of our divinely approved emperors Basil and Constantine, the holy friends of Christ, in this royal and divinely protected city and in the most famous church bearing the name of holy and great Wisdom, declared the following. The Word, of one nature with the almighty God and Father, is he who established heaven like a vault and fixed the ends of the earth and the place of all other things. He made it to be contingent and he rules, preserves and saves it. He says through the voice of the prophet, Isaiah: Lift up your eyes to heaven, because heaven has been fashioned like smoke, but the earth shall wear out like a garment; its inhabitants shall perish like them; but my salvation shall last for ever and my justice shall not fail. He was made like us for our sake and has established on earth heavenly justice and said, Heaven and earth shall pass away but my words shall not pass away. He said to all who believed in him: If you continue in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth and the truth will make you free. It was our God and Lord of infinite power alone who, just like a farmer of supreme wisdom and power, uprooted and scattered and rightfully obliterated many others from an earlier time and from long ago who, given over to lies and in opposition to the truth, were sowing -- to use the gospel image -- evil tares in his field, that is, in the church, and were trying to overwhelm the pure grain of divine justice. He always prepared his manner of deliverance so as to give warning, he established his justice and revealed it with greater clarity. But nevertheless, in our time too, the sower of tares is trying to make the field of the church useless through some utterly depraved and impious people. With that one and the same providence, he has shown that this field is worthy of compassion and snatched it from the filth of iniquity and called it back to its ancient purity. For, to destroy injustice and reinforce divine justice, he has raised up, as an unwavering follower of his commandments, a person proved to be incorrupt in both his knowledge and his maintenance of the truth, our most devout and serene emperor, who is a friend of divine justice and an enemy of injustice. He, by means of the divine help and the overall favour of the church, has gathered together architects from the ends of the earth into this royal city, which must be built up by God, and has assembled a universal synod which, while guarding the strong defences of the gospel sanctions, the laws of Moses and the prophets together with the commands of the apostles and fathers as well as of the councils, has revived the established forms of right conduct and proclaimed truth and justice in the courts of the church. {Now the customary recapitulation and reassertion of all previous ecumenical councils} Consequently, all of us bishops who have come to take part in the synod and to strengthen the true and undefiled faith of Christians and the teaching of orthodox religion, we declare our belief in one God, in three persons consubstantial, divine and autonomous, as, for example, we may look at the one nature of light in three suns not unlike each other or in the same number of dazzling objects. We confess, indeed, God to be one, unique in respect of substance, but threefold or three if we are speaking of him in respect of persons, and we declare he has not received from himself that he has been made, nor in any way whatsoever from anyone else; but that he is alone, ever existing without beginning, and eternal, ever the same and like to himself, and suffering no change or alteration, that he exists as the maker and source of all beings endowed with intelligence and feeling. For the holy and great synod of { 1 } Nicaea spoke thus when expounding the creed: Light from light, true God, clearly declaring the Son to be from the Father who is true God, and the rest as the catholic church received it. We too, accepting this in the identical meaning, anathematize as of unsound mind and an enemy of the truth, Arius and all who, with him and following him, speculate with faulty perceptions on the term “hetero-substantial”, that is otherness of substance and unlikeness, with reference to the divinely-ruling and blessed Trinity. But no less do we accept the second, holy and universal synod {2 Constantinople I}, and we anathematize that adversary of the Spirit or rather adversary of God, Macedonius; for we admit in the distinction of persons no difference of substance between the Father, the Son and the divine and autonomous Spirit, as the aforementioned heresiarchs did, nor do we confuse, like the lunatic Sabellius, the persons in one and the same substance. Moreover, we also confess that the unique Word of God became incarnate and was made like us for our sake, for it was not an angel or an envoy but the Lord himself who came and saved us and was made Emmanuel with us; and he was true God, God of Israel and saviour of all, in accordance with the divine and prophetic utterances. For this reason we confess that Mary, most holy and without experience of marriage, who bore him, is properly and truly mother of God, just as the third universal synod, which first assembled at { 3 } Ephesus, proclaimed. In union with that council we too anathematize Nestorius, that worshipper of the man and most self-opinionated individual who possessed a Jewish mentality. We teach that the one and same Christ and Lord is twofold, that is, perfect God and perfect man, possessing in one person the differences of each nature but keeping their properties always unchangeable and unconfused, just as the fourth, holy and universal synod {4 Chalcedon } solemnly taught. In accepting this synod together with the three councils previously enumerated, just like the quadruplicity of the holy gospels, we anathematize the insane Eutyches and the mad Dioscorus. In addition, proclaiming the two natures in the one Christ, according to the still clearer teaching of the fifth, holy and universal synod { 5 Constantinople II}, we anathematize Severus , Peter and Zoharas the Syrian, as well as Origen with his useless knowledge, Theodore of Mopsuestia and Didymus along with Evagrius, who also, although of the same or different opinions, were ensnared in the same pit of damnation. Further, we accept the sixth, holy and universal synod {6 Constantinople III}, which shares the same beliefs and is in harmony with the previously mentioned synods in that it wisely laid down that in the two natures of the one Christ there are, as a consequence, two principles of action and the same number of wills. So, we anathematize Theodore who was bishop of Pharan, Sergius, Pyrrhus, Paul and Peter, the unholy prelates of the church of Constantinople, and with these, Honorius of Rome, Cyrus of Alexandria as well as Macarius of Antioch and his disciple Stephen, who followed the false teachings of the unholy heresiarchs Apollinarius, Eutyches and Severus and proclaimed that the flesh of God, while being animated by a rational and intellectual soul, was without a principle of action and without a will, they themselves being impaired in their senses and truly without reason. For if the one and same Christ and God exists as perfect God and perfect man, it is most certain that none of the natures which belong to him can exist partially without a will or without a principle of action, but that he carried out the mystery of his stewardship when willing and acting in accordance with each substance; this is how the chorus of all God’s spokesmen, having knowledge of it from the apostles down to our own time, have constructed a colourful representation of that human form, assigning to each part of the one Christ natural properties distinct from each other, by which the meanings and conceptions of his divine nature and of his human nature are believed beyond all doubt to remain without confusion. We also know that the seventh, holy and universal synod, held for the second time at { 7 } Nicaea, taught correctly when it professed the one and same Christ as both invisible and visible lord, incomprehensible and comprehensible, unlimited and limited, incapable and capable of suffering, inexpressible and expressible in writing. In agreement with that synod, this holy and universal synod publicly anathematizes Anastasius , Constantine and Nicetas , that irrational prelature whose name stinks, or, to put it better, that plain corruption; so too Theodosius of Ephesus, Sisinnius Pastilas and Basil Tricacabus, not forgetting Theodoret, Antony and John, once prelates of new Rome, the royal city of Christians, but better called defamers of Christ. They declared by word and deed that, despite what the list of prophets proclaimed about Christ, he had been incapable of destroying the statues of the idols. Furthermore, we also anathematize Theodore, who was called Krithinos, whom this great and holy synod summoned and condemned and loudly dinned an anathema into his ears. Similarly we anathematize all those who agreed with or supported those who said that the Word of the divine incarnation came about and existed by fantasy and supposition, indeed that through the removal of the image of our Christ and saviour there came the simultaneous removal of the accepted form of the true body which bore God within it. Everything which cannot be grasped by the imagination is surely to be understood in two ways, either as not existing or as in fact existing but minimally understandable, inasmuch as being invisible and hidden. Therefore, if anyone happens to have taught any of these things about Christ the God and saviour of us all, he will be clearly proclaimed an enemy of true religion, since the first of these declares that Emmanuel was not truly made man and the second declares that he was indeed man but lacked human qualities, laid aside the flesh he assumed and had recourse in everything to his divine [nature] and to his incomprehensibility; this is alien to all the divinely inspired scriptures, which also clearly state that he will come once more as judge of all, and he is to be seen in the same way as he was seen by his disciples and apostles when he was taken up into heaven. That theory is full of Manichaean ideas and ungodliness inasmuch as it foolishly declares that a saying of the divinely inspired David was spoken about Christ, in which it says, He has set his tabernacle in the sun, since this impiety supposes that the casting off and laying aside of the Lord’s deified body is meant. But the word of truth confidently says, both concerning the well-named Manes and all those who share his thought and are authors of the heresy about the destruction of icons and all other heresiarchs and enemies of religion: They have not known nor understood, but they walked in darkness. 0 you who abandon the right way and walk in the way of darkness, who rejoice in wrongdoing and exult in evil conversion; O you whose paths are evil and steps crooked so that they take you far from the right way and make you foreign to right thinking! Again, those who sowed what was corrupted by the wind have received destruction as their reward; and again, He that trusts in lies feeds the winds: and the same person runs after birds that fly away. For he has abandoned the rows of his vines, he wanders in the furrows of his field; for he wanders through a waterless desert and a great parched plain, yet gathers no fruit in his hands. For this reasons [the church] brands all these with an anathema and, besides recognizing the seven, holy and universal synods already enumerated by us, has gathered together this eighth universal synod through the grace of our all powerful Christ and God and the piety and zeal of our most serene and divinely strengthened emperor, to cut down and destroy the shoots of injustice that have sprung up against those synods, together with the evil stirrings and influences, in order to bring about peaceful order in the church and stability in the world. For it is not only the removal of true teaching which knows how to destroy those of evil mind and to agitate and disturb the church, but also quibbling over the meaning of the divine commandments equally brings the same destruction on those who are not vigilant, and the world is filled with storms and disturbances by those who are reckoned as Christians. {Now the council strikes out on its own} This is what happened in recent times through the folly, cunning and evil machinations of the wretched Photius. He entered the sheepfold not through the door but through a window, and, like a thief or a robber, a destroyer of souls, as the Lord’s words indicate, has tried, on every occasion and by every means, to steal, slaughter and destroy the right-thinking sheep of Christ and, by engineering all manner of persecution, he has not ceased from contriving numerous arrests and imprisonments, confiscations of property, protracted periods of exile and, in addition to these, accusations, charges, false testimonies and forgeries against all who worked for true religion and fought for the truth. For he, like another Severus or Dioscorus, engineered the expulsion of the most just, lawful and canonically appointed high priest of the church of Constantinople, namely the most holy patriarch Ignatius, and like an adulterous robber, breaking into his see and repeatedly submitting him to a thousand charges involving dethronement and as many anathemas, he roused continuous turmoil and storms for all the churches of Christ our saviour, in a multiplicity of ways. However, the salt of the earth has not lost its savour, nor has the eye of the church become completely darkened, nor has the light of true religion been extinguished by the spirits of wickedness; nor has the fire of divine charity lost its destroying and burning power over sinful and worthless material, nor has the word of the Lord, which is sharper than a two-edged sword and a discerner of thoughts, been found ineffectual, nor did the foundation of solid stone collapse when submerged by swollen waters and floods of rivers and storms, but the precious cornerstone, which was laid down in Sion, that is, in the church, upon which the foundation stone of the apostles and prophets was laid for the building up of the church, in our time has sent out from every one of the church’s established ranks, even into the ruling city, the new Rome, many other stones rolling over the land, as the prophet says, to destroy and lay waste the intrigues of those who desired and attempted to destroy truth and divine justice. But with greater force and particular significance, Nicholas, the most blessed and aptly-named pope of old Rome, was sent from above as another cornerstone for the church, preserving as far as possible the figurative likeness, as from an exalted and pre-eminent place, to confront the carefully organised opposition of Photius. By the missiles of his letters and speeches, he struck down the powerful leading supporters of Photius and, reflecting a story of the old Testament, after the manner of the zealot Phinehas, he pierced Photius with the lance of truth as if he were another Midianite defiling the assembly of Israel; and he completely destroyed him on his not [added in Hrd [1]] agreeing to accept the remedies of a healing discipline aimed at treating the scars and healing the adulterous wound, and just as another Peter dealt with Ananias and Sapphira, who stole what belonged to God, by an anathema included as it were in his priestly dignity, he committed him to death. Following these directives and decrees, the most religious friend of Christ, our emperor, whom the heavenly Emperor and Lord of majesty has raised up for the salvation of the world, has consigned Photius to a suitable place and recalled the most holy patriarch Ignatius to his rightful seat. Furthermore, for the perfect discernment and definition of what is agreed to be good and is beneficial, he has gathered together vicars from all the patriarchal seats and the whole college of bishops which is under his authority. Those of us who came together have celebrated this great and universal synod and, with much examination, testing and discussion, with due care and consistency, we have cut out with the sword of the spirit the roots of scandals and weeds along with their shoots, as we establish the truly innocent and most holy patriarch Ignatius in the controlling seat, while we condemn Photius, the interloper and illegal occupier with all his supporters and promoters of evil. For almighty God says somewhere by the mouth of a prophet: Because of the wickedness of their deeds I will drive them out of my house. I will do no more to love them. Ephraim is stricken, their root is dried up, they shall bear no fruit; and again: Canaan, there is a deceitful balance in his hand, he has loved oppression. And Ephraim said: But yet I am become rich, I have found for myself a place of repose: all his labours shall not find me, despite the iniquities that I have committed; and again: And the house of Jacob shall possess their own possessions. The house of Jacob shall be afire and the house of Joseph aflame, and the house of Esau stubble; they shall burn them and consume them, and there shall be no survivor to the house of Esau, for the Lord has spoken. For the wretched Photius was truly like the person who did not make God his refuge; but trusted in the abundance of his cunning and sought refuge in the vanity of his iniquities, following the example of Ephraim of old, in turning his back on the divine mercy; the word of the prophet mocks and derides him, saying: Ephraim is become as bread baked under ashes, that is not turned. Strangers have devoured his strength and he knew it not, grey hairs also are spread upon him, and he is ignorant of it. He shall be humbled by the insult of Israel before his face; and in all this he has not returned to the Lord, his God. Ephraim is become as a dove, that called upon the table of Egypt and went to the Assyrians. When they shall go, I will spread my net upon them as upon the birds of the air; I will bring them down, I will strike them to make their tribulation heard. For Photius was lifted up to the heights of arrogance in attacking the most blessed pope of old Rome, Nicholas, and he vomited out the poison of his evil. He gathered together false vicars from three supposedly eastern sees, set up what was thought to be a synodical council, and, making lists of the names of accusers and witnesses, fashioning profiles and speeches which seemed to be suited to each person who plays a part in a synodical investigation, and making up, writing down and organizing forged records as accounts of those proceedings, he had the audacity to anathematize the aforementioned most blessed pope Nicholas and all those in communion with him. Photius did this in such a way that as a result all the existing bishops and priests, that is, the other patriarchal sees and all the clerics within them, were included in the same anathema, for all were most certainly in communion with the leading bishop, and amongst them himself and his followers. The word of the prophet condemns and refutes him when it says: They have multiplied their transgressions, they have enacted extraneous laws and invoked their confession; and again: They conceived in their heart lying words and turned justice back, and righteousness has stood afar off from them; for truth has been destroyed in their streets and they have been unable to follow the right path. Truth has disappeared and changed their mind so that it cannot understand. And: He who turns from evil is attacked, and the Lord saw and it displeased him because there was no judgment, and again: Thus says the Lord: For three transgressions of Judah and for four, I will grant them no reprieve; because they have rejected the law of the Lord and have not kept his statutes. Therefore, as regards the man who has acted in this way and has disturbed and shaken the whole holy, catholic and apostolic church with so many brazen attacks of this kind, has utterly refused to be converted and repent, and has refused to submit to the decrees and judgment of the holy patriarchal sees, just as long ago the most blessed pope Nicholas and then his successor, the most holy pope Hadrian, anathematized him, so too this holy and universal synod has reproved him and put him under an ever severer anathema while addressing to him, in the person of all God’s people, the words of the prophet Isaiah: Just as a garment soiled in blood will not be clean, so you will not be clean, for you have defiled the church of Christ and have been a source of scandal and destruction to the people of God on many counts and in many ways. We command that those who do not share this view, but give Photius their willing support, if they are bishops or clerics, must be deposed for ever; we anathematize monks or lay people, until such time as they are converted from their false ways and wickedness. CANONS 1 If we wish to proceed without offence along the true and royal road of divine justice, we must keep the declarations and teachings of the holy fathers as if they were so many lamps which are always alight and illuminating our steps which are directed towards God. Therefore, considering and esteeming these as a second word of God, in accordance with the great and most wise Denis, let us sing most willingly along with the divinely inspired David, The commandment of the Lord is bright, enlightening the eyes, and, Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my paths; and with the author of Proverbs we say, Your commandment is a lamp and your law a light, and like Isaiah we cry to the lord God with loud voice, because your commands are a light for the earth. For the exhortations and warnings of the divine canons are rightly likened to light inasmuch as the better is distinguished from the worse and what is advantageous and useful is distinguished from what is not helpful but harmful. Therefore we declare that we are preserving and maintaining the canons which have been entrusted to the holy, catholic and apostolic church by the holy and renowned apostles, and by universal as well as local councils of orthodox [bishops], and even by any inspired father or teacher of the church. Consequently, we rule our own life and conduct by these canons and we decree that all those who have the rank of priests and all those who are described by the name of Christian are, by ecclesiastical law, included under the penalties and condemnations as well as, on the other hand, the absolutions and acquittals which have been imposed and defined by them. For Paul, the great apostle, openly urges us to preserve the traditions which we have received, either by word or by letter, of the saints who were famous in times past. 2 Obey your leaders and submit to them; for they are keeping watch over your souls, as persons who will have to give account, commands Paul, the great apostle. So, having both the most blessed pope Nicholas as the instrument of the holy Spirit and his successor, the most holy pope Hadrian, we declare and order that everything which has been expounded and promulgated by them in a synod at various times, both for the defence and well-being of the church of Constantinople and of its chief priest, namely Ignatius, its most holy patriarch, as well as for the expulsion and condemnation of Photius, the upstart and usurper, should be maintained and observed together with the canons there set forth, unchanged and unaltered, and no bishop, priest or deacon or anyone from the ranks of the clergy should dare to overturn or reject any of these things. Whoever, then, shall be found, after these directives of ours, despising any of the articles or decrees which have been promulgated by these popes, must be stripped of his dignity and rank, if he is a priest or cleric; a monk or lay person, of whatever dignity, must be excommunicated until he repents and promises to observe all the decrees in question. 3 We decree that the sacred image of our lord Jesus Christ, the redeemer and saviour of all people, should be venerated with honour equal to that given to the book of the holy gospels. For, just as through the written words which are contained in the book, we all shall obtain salvation, so through the influence that colours in painting exercise on the imagination, all, both wise and simple, obtain benefit from what is before them; for as speech teaches and portrays through syllables, so too does painting by means of colours. It is only right then, in accordance with true reason and very ancient tradition, that icons should be honoured and venerated in a derivative way because of the honour which is given to their archetypes, and it should be equal to that given to the sacred book of the holy gospels and the representation of the precious cross. If anyone then does not venerate the icon of Christ, the saviour, let him not see his face when he comes in his father’s glory to be glorified and to glorify his saints’, but let him be cut off from his communion and splendour; similarly the image of Mary, his immaculate mother and mother of God, we also paint the icons of the holy angels just as divine scripture depicts them in words; we also honour and venerate those of the highly renowned apostles, prophets, martyrs and holy men as well as those of all the saints. Let those who are not so disposed be anathema from the Father, the Son and the holy Spirit. 4 In tearing up by the roots the love of power, as being an evil root nourishing the scandals which have arisen in the church, we condemn, with a just decree, him who boldly, cunningly and unlawfully, like a dangerous wolf, leapt into the sheepfold of Christ; we are speaking about Photius, who has filled the whole world with a thousand upheavals and disturbances. We declare that he never was nor is now a bishop, nor must those, who were consecrated or given advancement by him to any grade of the priesthood, remain in that state to which they were promoted. Moreover, we debar from this kind of preferment those who received from Photius the customary rescripts for promotion to special office. As for the churches which Photius and those who were ordained by him are thought to have consecrated and the altars which they are thought to have renovated after they had been torn down, we decree that they are to be consecrated, anointed and renovated again. In sum, everything that was done in his person and by him, for the establishing or penalizing of the sacerdotal state, has been abrogated. For the God of the whole universe says through his prophet: Because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me and, You have forgotten the laws of your God, I also will forget your children. The more they increased, the more they sinned against me; I will change their glory into shame. They feed on the sin of my people; they bloat their souls with their iniquities. And again he says: Because Ephraim has multiplied altars for sinning, they have become to him altars for sins; 1 will write copiously about them. 5 Since we desire to ensure, in Christ, that the stability of the canons should always remain firm in the churches, we renew and confirm the limits and conditions which were formerly decreed by the holy apostles and our holy fathers and which made it a law in the church that nobody, who is a neophyte in the faith or priestly office, should be made a bishop, lest he be puffed up and fall into the judgment and snare of the devil, as the Apostle says. Therefore, in accordance with the previous canons, we declare that nobody of senatorial rank or a secular way of life, who has recently been admitted to the tonsure with the intention or expectation of the honour of becoming a bishop or patriarch, and who has been made a cleric or monk, should rise to such a level, even if he is shown to have completed a considerable time in each stage of the divine priesthood. For it is clear that the tonsure was not received for religious reasons, love of God or hope of progressing along the path of the virtues, but for love of glory and honour. We exclude such people still more rigorously if they are pushed forward by imperial backing. However, if someone gives no suspicion of seeking the worldly benefits just mentioned, but, prompted by the actual good of a humility which is centered on Christ, renounces the world and becomes a cleric or monk and, while passing through every ecclesiastical grade, is found without reproach and of good character during the periods of time currently established, so that he completes one year in the order of lector, two in that of subdeacon, three as deacon and four as priest, this holy and universal synod has decreed that such a one may be chosen and admitted. As for those who have remained religiously in the order of cleric or monk and have been judged worthy of the dignity and honour of the episcopacy, we reduce the aforesaid period of time to that which the superiors of these bishops approved at the time. If, however, anyone has been advanced to this supreme honour contrary to this directive of ours, he must be condemned and completely excluded from all priestly functions, because he has been elevated contrary to the sacred canons. 6 It appears that Photius, after the sentences and condemnations most justly pronounced against him by the most holy pope Nicholas for his criminal usurpation of the church of Constantinople, in addition to his other evil deeds, found some men of wicked and sycophantic character from the squares and streets of the city and proposed and designated them as vicars of the three most holy patriarchal sees in the east. He formed with these a church of evil-doers and a fraudulent council and set in motion accusations and charges entailing deposition against the most blessed pope Nicholas and repeatedly, impudently and boldly issued anathemas against him and all those in communion with him. The records of all these things have been seen by us, records which were cobbled together by him with evil intent and lying words, and all of which have been burnt during this very synod. Therefore, to safeguard church order, we anathematize first and foremost the above-mentioned Photius for the reason given; next everyone who henceforth acts deceitfully and fraudulently and falsifies the word of truth and goes through the motions of having false vicars or composes books full of deceptions and explains them in favour of his own designs. With equal vigour Martin, the most holy pope of Rome, a valiant contender for the true faith, rejected behaviour of this kind by a synodal decree. 7 Moses, the divine spokesman, clearly declares in his law that what is right should also be rightly executed, since a good act is not good unless it is carried out in accordance with reason. So it is indeed good and very advantageous to paint holy and venerable images as also to teach others the disciplines of divine and human wisdom. But it is not good nor at all profitable for any of these things to be done by those who are unworthy. For this reason we declare and proclaim that those declared anathema by this holy and universal synod may not, on any account, work on sacred images in holy places of worship nor teach anywhere at all, until they are converted from their error and wickedness. Whoever, therefore, after this directive of ours, admits them in any way to paint sacred images in churches, or to teach, must be removed from office if he is a cleric; if he is a lay person, he must be excommunicated and debarred from taking part in the divine mysteries. 8 The great apostle Paul says somewhere: All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things are beneficial. Therefore, we ought to do everything for the advantage and perfection of the holy church of God and nothing at all to promote controversy and vainglory. Since a report has come to our ears that not only heretics and those who have wrongly obtained the patriarchate of Constantinople, but also the orthodox and legitimate patriarchs, demand and extract from the order of priests guarantees, written in their own hands, which are designed for the security, benefit and, as it were, permanence of the above persons, it has therefore seemed good to this holy and universal synod that nobody at all should do this from now on, with the exception of what is demanded at the time of episcopal consecrations, according to rule and custom, in order to witness to the purity of our faith; every other way of doing it is completely inappropriate and has no part in the building up of the church. So whoever dares to nullify this directive of ours, either by asking for such a document or by providing it to those who ask, shall lose his own office. 9 From the very beginning the wretched Photius brought about in the church of Constantinople an abundance of all kinds of wickedness. We have learnt that even before his tyrannical period in office he used to give documents, signed by his own hand, to his followers who were learning the wisdom that has been made foolish by God, even though this system was clearly a new invention and thoroughly alien to our holy fathers and doctors of the church. Since therefore they direct us to loose every bond of wickedness and to make void enforced contracts, the holy and universal synod has declared that nobody, from now on, should hold or keep such a contract, but all, without hindrance, hesitation or fear, may both teach and study if they are competent for either task, with the exception of those who are found to be enslaved to error or heretical beliefs since we strictly forbid such persons to teach or to pursue studies. If anyone shall be found rejecting and transgressing against this directive, he shall lose his rank if he is a cleric; if a lay person, he shall be excommunicated as one who does not believe the Lord’s word which says, Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 10 As divine scripture clearly proclaims, Do not find fault before you investigate, and understand first and then find fault, and does our law judge a person without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?. Consequently this holy and universal synod justly and fittingly declares and lays down that no lay person or monk or cleric should separate himself from communion with his own patriarch before a careful enquiry and judgment in synod, even if he alleges that he knows of some crime perpetrated by his patriarch, and he must not refuse to include his patriarch’s name during the divine mysteries or offices. In the same way we command that bishops and priests who are in distant dioceses and regions should behave similarly towards their own metropolitans, and metropolitans should do the same with regard to their own patriarchs. If anyone shall be found defying this holy synod, he is to be debarred from all priestly functions and status if he is a bishop or cleric; if a monk or lay person, he must be excluded from all communion and meetings of the church until he is converted by repentance and reconciled. 11 Though the old and new Testament teach that a man or woman has one rational and intellectual soul, and all the fathers and doctors of the church, who are spokesmen of God, express the same opinion, some have descended to such a depth of irreligion, through paying attention to the speculations of evil people, that they shamelessly teach as a dogma that a human being has two souls, and keep trying to prove their heresy by irrational means using a wisdom that has been made foolishness. Therefore this holy and universal synod is hastening to uproot this wicked theory now growing like some loathsome form of weed. Carrying in its hand the winnowing fork of truth, with the intention of consigning all the chaff to inextinguishable fire, and making clean the threshing floor of Christ, in ringing tones it declares anathema the inventors and perpetrators of such impiety and all those holding similar views; it also declares and promulgates that nobody at all should hold or preserve in any way the written teaching of the authors of this impiety. If however anyone presumes to act in a way contrary to this holy and great synod, let him be anathema and an outcast from the faith and way of life of Christians. 12 The apostolic and conciliar canons clearly forbid the nomination and consecration of bishops which have come about as a result of the power and intrigues of the civil authorities. Therefore we declare and proclaim, in full agreement with them, that if any bishop has received his consecration through the manipulation and constraint of such persons, he should be deposed absolutely as one who has desired and consented to have the gift of God not from the will of God and ecclesiastical law and decree, but from human beings and through their machinations as a result of the prompting of carnal desire. 13 The divine word says, The worker is worthy of his pay For this reason we too decree and proclaim that the clerics of the great church [of Constantinople], who have served in the lower orders, may rise to the higher grades and, if they have shown themselves worthy, may deservedly enjoy higher dignities, since some of those who now enjoy them either will be called through promotion to more important duties or will vacate them by dying. But those who do not belong to this particular clergy and yet insinuate themselves into it, must not receive the dignities and honours due to those who have laboured in it a long time, for in that case the clerics of the church [of Constantinople] would be found to have no promotion. Those who manage the houses or estates of leading persons must by no means have the possibility of being admitted or inducted into the clergy of the great church [of Constantinople]: No soldier on service for God gets entangled in civilian pursuits. If indeed anyone, contrary to the directive we have now issued, is promoted to any dignity whatsoever in this great church, he must be excluded from all ecclesiastical dignity as one who has been promoted contrary to the decision of the great synod. 14 We declare that those who are called by divine grace to the office of bishop, since they bear the image and likeness of the holy hierarchies in heaven, that is of the angels, in accordance with what is clearly an hierarchical dignity and function, should be held as worthy of all honour on the part of everyone, rulers and ruled alike. We also declare that they must not go to meet a general or any other high official a long way from their churches, nor should they dismount from their horses or mules a long way off or bow down in fear and trembling and prostrate themselves; nor should they go to table for dinner with secular dignitaries and show the same honours as they do to generals, but according to what is in keeping with their own spiritual dignity and honour, they should render to everyone his due: Tribute to whom tribute is due, honour to whom honour is due. They must show that the confessors of the emperors, who are friends of Christ, and those who have the same dignity, deserve great respect from the leading persons of those emperors. Thus the bishop will have the courage to reprimand generals and other leading officials and all other secular authorities as often as he finds them doing something unjust or unreasonable, and in this way to correct them and make them better. But if some bishop, after the holy directive of this council, shall ignore the honour duly and canonically bestowed on him, and permits something to happen according to the old, debased and disordered custom which is contrary to what has now been declared, he must be suspended for a year and the official involved is to be considered unworthy to take part in the mysteries or the means of grace for two years. 15 This holy and universal synod, in renewing the canons of the apostles and fathers, has decreed that no bishop may sell or in any way dispose of precious objects or consecrated vessels except for the reason laid down long ago by the ancient canons, that is to say, objects received for the redemption of captives. They must not hand over endowments of churches by emphyteutic leases nor put on sale other agricultural properties, thereby damaging ecclesiastical revenues. We decree that such revenues are for church purposes, the feeding of the poor and the assistance of pilgrims. However, bishops have full powers to improve and enlarge, as opportunity offers, the ecclesiastical properties which produce these revenues. Moreover, they have the right to apportion or bestow their own property on whomsoever they wish and choose, in accordance with their own powers and rights of ownership. Now that this decree has been made, whoever appears to have acted in a way contrary to this holy and universal synod, must be deposed on the grounds of violating divine law and precepts. Any sale which was made by the bishop, either in writing or otherwise, must be made entirely void, as well as any emphyteutic lease or any other act disposing of precious objects or endowments. Whoever buys or acquires any of the aforementioned precious objects or endowments and does not restore to the church what belongs to it and does not hand over for burning the bills of sale or leases, is anathema until he does what has been determined by this holy and universal synod. If a bishop is found guilty of having built a monastery with the revenues of a church, he must hand over the monastery to the same church. But if he built it from his own money or other sources, he may have it for his whole life under his own jurisdiction and direction; he may also bequeath it after his death to whomsoever he wishes, but it may not be used as a secular dwelling. 16 A matter which merits great sorrow, even many tears, has come to our ears from many of the faithful. They say that under the previous emperor some laymen of the senatorial order were seen to plait their hair and arrange it on their heads, and to adopt a kind of priestly dignity in accordance with their different ranks at the emperor’s court. They did this by wearing various ornaments and articles of clothing which are proper to priests and, as it was thought, made themselves out to be bishops by wearing a pallium over their shoulders and every other piece of episcopal dress. They also adopted as their patriarch the one who took the leading role in these buffooneries. They insulted and made a mockery of a variety of holy things, such as elections, promotions and consecrations of bishops, or by bringing up subtle but false accusations against bishops, and condemning and deposing them, switching in turn from distress to collusion as prosecutors and defendants. Such a way of behaving has never been heard of since time began, even among the pagans. It shows that those we have now brought to light are in a worse and more wretched state than the pagan nations. The sacred and universal synod, therefore, has declared and promulgated that these attempts to do evil must be condemned as crimes, and no member of the faithful who bears the name of Christian should henceforth attempt to do or tolerate such a thing, or to protect by silence anyone who has committed such an impious act. If any emperor or any powerful or influential person should attempt to mock holy things in such a way, or with evil intent to carry out or permit such a great wrong to be done against the divine priesthood, he must first be condemned by the patriarch of the time, acting with his fellow bishops, and be excommunicated and declared unworthy to share in the divine mysteries, and then he must accept certain other corrective practices and penances which are judged appropriate. Unless he repents quickly, he must be declared anathema by this holy and universal synod as one who has dishonoured the mystery of the pure and spotless faith. However, if the patriarch of Constantinople and his suffragan bishops come to know of any others who have committed crimes of this kind and neglect to act against them with the necessary zeal, they must be deposed and debarred from the dignity of their priesthood. Those who in any way have shown, or shall show in future, such impious conduct and have not confessed it in any way and received the appropriate penance, are declared excommunicate by this synod for three years; during the first year they must remain outside the church as public penitents, during the second year they may stand inside the church among the. ranks of the catechumens, during the third year they may join the faithful and thus become worthy of the sanctifying effects of the holy mysteries. 17 The first, holy and universal synod of Nicaea orders that the ancient custom should be preserved throughout Egypt and the provinces subject to her, so that the bishop of Alexandria has them all under his authority; it declares, “Because such a custom has prevailed in the city of Rome”. Therefore this great and holy synod decrees that in old and new Rome and the sees of Antioch and Jerusalem the ancient custom must be preserved in all things, so that their prelates should have authority over all the metropolitans whom they promote or confirm in the episcopal dignity, either through the imposition of hands or the bestowal of the pallium; that is to say, the authority to summon them, in case of necessity, to a meeting in synod or even to reprimand and correct them, when a report about some wrongdoing leads to an accusation. But since some metropolitans give as an excuse for not responding to the summons of their apostolic prelate that they are detained by their temporal rulers, it has been decided that such an excuse will be utterly invalid. For since a ruler frequently holds meetings for his own purposes, it is intolerable that he should prevent leading prelates from going to synods for ecclesiastical business or hold some back from their meetings. We have learnt, however, that such an obstacle and alleged refusal of permission can come about in various ways at the suggestion of the metropolitan. Metropolitans have had the custom of holding synods twice a year and therefore, they say, they cannot possibly come to the chief one, that of the patriarch. But this holy and universal synod, without forbidding the meetings held by the metropolitans, is conscious that the synods summoned by the patriarchal see are more necessary and profitable than the metropolitan ones, and so demands that they take place. A metropolitan synod affects the good order of only one province, a patriarchal synod often affects the good order of a whole civil diocese, and in this way the common good is provided for. So it is fitting that the common good take priority over a particular one, especially when the summons to meet has been issued by those of greater authority. The fact is that certain metropolitans seem to regard with contempt the ancient custom and canonical tradition, by their not meeting together for the common good. Therefore the laws of the church demand, with severe penalties and leaving no loop-hole, that they comply with the summons of their patriarchs whether they are summoned as a body or individually. We refuse to listen to the offensive claim made by some ignorant people that a synod cannot be held in the absence of the civil authorities. The reason for this is that the sacred canons have never prescribed the presence of secular rulers at synods but only the presence of bishops. Hence we find that they have not been present at synods but only at universal councils. Furthermore, it is not right that secular rulers should be observers of matters that sometimes come before the priests of God. Therefore, if any metropolitan ignores his patriarch and disobeys his summons, whether addressed to him alone or to several or to all, unless prevented by a genuine illness or a pagan invasion, and for two whole months after notice of the summons makes no attempt to visit his patriarch, or if he hides in some way or pretends he has no knowledge of the patriarch’s summons, he must be excommunicated. If he shows the same stubbornness and disobedience for a year, he must be unconditionally deposed and suspended from all sacerdotal functions and excluded from the dignity and honour that belong to metropolitans. If any metropolitan disobeys even this directive, let him be anathema. 18 This holy and great synod has decided that the goods or privileges which belong to the churches of God as a result of long enduring custom and have been granted, whether in writing or not, by emperors of revered memory or by other religious people and possessed by the churches for thirty years, must in no way be removed by force on the part of any secular person, or taken away by him on any pretext whatsoever, from the jurisdiction of the prelate who has them. Whatever is known to have been possessed by the churches for thirty years must remain subject to the control and use of the prelate of the church. Any secular person who acts in a way contrary to this present decree shall be ad judged as one who commits sacrilege and, until he reforms himself and restores or gives back the privileges and goods belonging to the church, let him be anathema. 19 Paul, the great apostle, condemns greed as another form of idolatry and wants all who unite under the name of Christian to abstain from every form of shameful love of gain. It is all the more wrong, therefore, for those who have the ministry of the priesthood to burden their fellow-bishops and suffragans in any way whatsoever. For this reason this holy and universal synod has decreed that no archbishop or metropolitan should leave his own church and visit other churches under the pretext of an official visitation, nor abuse his authority over other churches and consume the revenues which they have at their disposal and for feeding the poor, and thus, by a form of greed, be a burden to the consciences of our brothers and fellow ministers. An exception is made in the case of hospitality, which may sometimes arise on account of necessary travel. But even then he must accept, with reverence and fear of God, nothing else than what is found prepared from that which is currently at hand. He should quickly continue the journey he has undertaken without asking or demanding any at all of the things which belong to that church or the suffragan bishop. For if the sacred canons decree that every bishop should be sparing in his use of what belongs to his own church, and should no way spend or consume the ecclesiastical revenues in an unfitting or unreasonable way for his own advantage, what kind of impiety do you think he will be found guilty of if he has no scruples about going around and burdening the churches entrusted to other bishops and thereby incurring the charge of sacrilege ? Whoever attempts to do such a thing, after this directive of ours, shall incur from the patriarch of the time the punishment commensurate with his unjust and greedy behaviour, and shall be deposed and excommunicated as the sacrilegious person he is or, to put it otherwise, as an idolater, according to the teaching of the great Apostle. 20 It has come to the ears of this holy synod that in certain places some, on their own authority and without the agreement of those who are entrusted with such decisions, callously and mercilessly expel people who have received some of their lands by emphyteusis, on the pretext that the contract about the agreed rent has been broken. This must not be allowed to happen unless the person who made the emphyteutic contract first listens to the objections through the mediation of some suitable and trustworthy persons. Then, if the leaseholder has not paid for three years the rent due, he may be expelled from his lands. But it is necessary, after the rent has been unpaid for three years, to go to the authorities of the city or region and bring before them a charge against the person who obtained the emphyteutic lease, and to show how he has defaulted. Only then, after the decision and judgment of the officials, may the church take back its property. Nobody may effect the confiscation of the aforesaid lands on his own initiative and authority, since this would be a sign of the worst form of profiteering and greed. So, if any bishop or metropolitan, contrary to this directive of ours, confiscates any property from anyone, thinking he is protecting his own church, let him be suspended by his patriarch for a time, having first restored what he took away. If he persists in his disobedience to the decision of this holy universal synod, he must be completely removed from office. 21 We believe that the saying of the Lord that Christ addressed to his holy apostles and disciples, Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever despises you despises me, was also addressed to all who were likewise made supreme pontiffs and chief pastors in succession to them in the catholic church. Therefore we declare that no secular powers should treat with disrespect any of those who hold the office of patriarch or seek to move them from their high positions, but rather they should esteem them as worthy of all honour and reverence. This applies in the first place to the most holy pope of old Rome, secondly to the patriarch of Constantinople, and then to the patriarchs of Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem. Furthermore, nobody else should compose or edit writings or tracts against the most holy pope of old Rome, on the pretext of making incriminating charges, as Photius did recently and Dioscorus a long time ago. Whoever shows such great arrogance and audacity, after the manner of Photius and Dioscorus, and makes false accusations in writing or speech against the see of Peter, the chief of the apostles, let him receive a punishment equal to theirs. If, then, any ruler or secular authority tries to expel the aforesaid pope of the apostolic see, or any of the other patriarchs, let him be anathema. Furthermore, if a universal synod is held and any question or controversy arises about the holy church of Rome, it should make inquiries with proper reverence and respect about the question raised and should find a profitable solution; it must on no account pronounce sentence rashly against the supreme pontiffs of old Rome. 22 (Source: Church Councils)
This holy and universal synod declares and decrees, in agreement with earlier councils, that the promotion and consecration of bishops should be done by means of an election and decision of the college of bishops. So it promulgates as law that no lay authority or ruler may intervene in the election or promotion of a patriarch, a metropolitan or any bishop, lest there be any irregularity leading to improper confusion or quarrelling, especially since it is wrong for any ruler or other lay person to have any influence in such matters. Rather he should be silent and mind his own business until the election of the future bishop has been completed with due process by the ecclesiastical assembly. But if any lay person is invited by the church to join in the discussion and to help with the election, he is permitted to accept the invitation with respect, if he so wishes. For in this way he may be able to promote a worthy pastor in a regular manner, to the benefit of his church. If any secular authority or ruler, or a lay person of any other status, attempts to act against the common, agreed and canonical method of election in the church, let him be anathema- this is to last until he obeys and agrees to what the church shows it wants concerning the election and appointment of its leader. 23 We have also learnt that some bishops, at the request of certain people, have unreasonably made a gift of properties belonging to other churches. Thus they usurp the authority of other bishops, so far as they can. This conduct will clearly bring on them the curse of the prophet who says, Woe to those who add house to house and field to field in order to defraud their neighbour, and it has made them guilty of sacrilege. For this reason, this great and universal synod has decided that no brother of ours in the episcopate or anyone else may transact such a wicked property deal, nor, if asked by someone, dispose of any property belonging to other churches, nor install priests or any other clerics in churches that are not under his jurisdiction, without the permission of the bishop responsible for the church in question. Furthermore, no priests or deacons, who are consecrated for holy functions, should perform, of their own accord and decision, any sacred functions in churches to which they have not been appointed from the beginning. This behaviour is unlawful and utterly alien to the canonical regulations. Whoever, after this declaration of ours, shall be seen to do any of these things which have now been forbidden, must be excommunicated for a period of time, and the contractual arrangements, whether written or not, must be completely dissolved and abrogated because they were made in contravention of the canons. Likewise, the priest or deacon is to be suspended until he withdraws from the church to which he does not belong. But if he ignores the suspension, he must be got rid of completely and dispossessed of every sacred office. 24 Divine scripture says, Cursed is everyone who does the work of the Lord with slackness Yet some metropolitans have fallen into the depths of negligence and sloth. They summon the bishops subject to their jurisdiction and commit to them the divine offices of their own church as well as litanies and all the sacred ministries which are personal to themselves. The consequence is that they celebrate through the agency of these bishops everything they should readily do themselves. In this way they make those who have merited the dignity of bishop seem like clerics in their service. These metropolitans, contrary to church law, give themselves to secular business and administration, failing to persevere in prayers and petitions for their own sins and the ignorance of their people. Some excuse this behaviour even though it is utterly and completely contrary to canonical regulations. What is still more serious, it is said that the bishops are told to complete the above ministries at allotted times each month at their own expense. This is totally alien to all apostolic sanction. All this makes such people worthy of the most severe condemnation possible, for they are shown by their actions to be infected by a form of satanic pride and arrogance. Any metropolitan who, after this directive of the holy and universal synod, is consumed by a similar pride, arrogance or contempt and does not carry out with fear, promptitude and a good conscience the necessary ministries in his own city, but seeks to carry them out through his suffragan bishops, must be punished by his patriarch and be either reformed or deposed. 25 The holy synod has duly decided that the bishops, priests, deacons and subdeacons of the great church [of Constantinople], who received their consecration from Methodius and Ignatius, the most holy patriarchs, and became hard of heart like the arrogant and unfeeling heart of Pharaoh, and even now are in complete disagreement with this holy and universal synod and, while rejecting harmony with us in the word of truth, have wholeheartedly supported the cause of the usurper Photius, must be deposed and suspended from all sacerdotal functions, just as the most blessed pope Nicholas decreed not long ago. On no account are such men to be readmitted into the ranks of the clergy, even if they wish in future to change their ways. An exception will be made in regard to receiving the means of holiness, and it is only our mercy which makes us think that they are worthy of this. They do not deserve to have the opportunity of being restored by their repentance to their former status, as is illustrated by the case of the odious Esau, though he begged in tears for that favour. 26 This holy synod has also decided that any priest or deacon who has been deposed by his bishop for some crime, or who alleges he has suffered some kind of injustice and is not satisfied with the judgment of his bishop, saying that he does not trust him and that he has been wronged, either because of the enmity which the bishop has for him or because of favours the bishop wants to bestow on certain others, such a person has the right to have recourse to the metropolitan of his province and to denounce his deposition from office, which he thinks is unjust, or any other injury. The metropolitan should be willing to take up such cases and to summon the bishop who has deposed the cleric or injured him in any way. He should examine the case himself, with the help of other bishops, so as either to confirm the deposition of the cleric beyond all doubt, or to quash it by means of a general synod and the judgment of many persons. In the same way we decree that bishops may have recourse to the patriarch, their head, if they complain that they have suffered similar things from their metropolitan, so that the business in question may receive a just and right decision from their patriarch and the metropolitans under him. No metropolitan bishop may be judged by his neighbouring metropolitan bishops, even though it is alleged that he has committed serious crimes, but he may only be judged by his own patriarch; we decree that this judgment will be just and beyond suspicion because a number of esteemed people will be gathered around the patriarch, and for this reason his judgment will be fully ratified and confirmed. If anyone does not, agree with what we have promulgated, let him be excommunicated. 27 We decree that, in ecclesiastical promotions and consecrations, the marks which signify the rank to which each person belongs, should be kept, in accordance with the traditional usages of each province, region and city. Thus bishops who have been permitted to wear the pallium at certain times, may wear it at those times and places but should not abuse so great and honourable a garment through pride, vainglory, human conceit and self-love, by wearing it unnecessarily throughout the divine sacrifice and every other ecclesiastical ceremony. We decree that those who have devoutly embraced the monastic life and merited the dignity of a bishop, should keep the appearance and garments of the monastic habit and that holy way of life. None of them has the right to lay aside that type of dress out of pride and wilful arrogance, lest he is found thereby to violate his personal vows. Just as the continual wearing of the pallium shows the bishop as given to ostentation and vainglory, so the laying aside of the monastic habit exposes him to the same charges. Therefore, any bishop who wears the pallium outside the occasions stipulated in writing, or lays aside the monastic dress, must either be corrected or be deposed by his patriarch. FIRST LATERAN COUNCIL 1123 A.D. INTRODUCTION In 1123, during the pontificate of Pope Callistus II, a general Roman council was held “for various important matters of the church”, as Callistus himself says in the letter of convocation which he sent on 25 June 1122 to bishop Baldric of Doll. A great number of bishops, abbots and religious, numbering at least 300, gathered in Rome from the western churches, although none that we know of came from the eastern churches {1 } . There is no evidence that legates of the emperor Henry V took part. The council began on 18 March 1123, with the pope presiding. There were at least two sessions. The council ended before 6 April, probably on 27 March. This council is often called “general” in the letters and decrees of Pope Callistus II. It is reasonable, however, to doubt its ecumenicity. Indeed the manner in which the council was called and conducted by the pope and the fathers differed from that of the older councils. Moreover several other councils, similar to Lateran I, were convened in the 11th and 12th centuries but were not termed ecumenical. The ecumenicity of this council seems, as far as we can tell, to have been confirmed later by the tradition of the Roman church. There had long been conflict between church and state, though some sort of a solution had been reached a short time before at the Concordat of Worms (September 1122). Thus, questions concerning the investiture of prelates and the freedom of the church were a major concern of the council. The said concordat was approved and confirmed by the council’s authority, though not without opposition on the part of many, as Gerhoh of Reichersberg {2 } testifies; canons 3-4, 8 and 12 make mention of this debate. Thereby a measure of peace and discipline was restored to the church. The fathers devoted themselves principally to the reform of the church, to the abolition of simony and to the correction of ecclesiastical abuses. There were a few other matters of lesser importance. Also, the struggle for the Corsican episcopacy between the churches of Genoa and Pisa was a considerable problem, and a commission of twenty-four fathers had to be created by the pope in order to resolve the matter; for this see canons 1, 7, and also canons 2, 5-6, 9, 11, 16. Thus pope Callistus, following as closely as he could the examples of Gregory VII and Urban II {3 } , and supported by the approval of the council, brought to a successful conclusion matters which had engrossed the whole church’s effort and zeal for almost fifty years. A number of canons were ratified by the council fathers, perhaps at the session on 27 March. Many of these were included in Gratian’s Decrees (c. 1140), namely canons 1, 3-4, 6, 9, 12, 14, 16B, 19-22B, and part of 8, 18B. As far as we know, Baronius was the first to print others which Gratian did not accept (Br {4 } 12, 1607, 149-150; ed. Theiner 18, 1869, 343-344). Twelve more follow in the Roman edition (Rm {5 } 4, 1612, 16- 17), where a complete text of the canons may be found. We have examined all the canons in the following: Bn {6 } 3/2 (1618) 464-465; ER {7 } 27 (1644) 37-43; S. Baluze, in P. de Marca, Dissertationum de concordia sacerdotii et imperii ...libri II Paris l663, 363 (=BdM); LC10 {8 } (l67l) 896-900; Hrd {9 } 6/2 (1714) 1111-1114; Cl {10 } 12 (1730) 1333-1337; E. Martene and U. Durand, in Veterum scriptorum et monumentorum ... collectio, VII Paris 1733, 68-69, four canons only (= MD); Msi {11 } 2 (1748) 355-358; Msi 21 (1776) 281-286; G.H. Pertz, in MGH {12 } , Leges in f.ø, II/2 Hanover 1837, 182-183 (= Pertz); PL 163 (1854) 1361-1365; L. Weiland, in MGH, Const., I Hanover 1893, 574-576 (= MGH). The text of the canons presents some difficulties. Bn 2, ER, LC, Hrd, Cl and Msi must have printed the same text as that used by Rm (though with some differences). This commonly accepted version, which we call B, consists of 22 canons and seems to derive from two manuscript codices (not from Rm, since this has the different readings). In addition, seven canons (2, 5, 10-11, 13, 15, 17) printed by Br seem to relate to B, even though they often do not agree with 13 in their readings. A second version of the canons, “from an ancient manuscript codex of the monastery of Aniane”, which is now in the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris, was published by BdM. The order of the canons in it, and often the readings, are different from B; moreover six canons (11 and the last five, 18-22B) are missing and two (15-16) are completely different from B. Regarding this other version, which we call alpha, MD published four canons (6, 12, 15- 16) “from a manuscript of the marquis of Laubes”, and Pertz published sixteen canons (15 and 18-22B are missing, in place of which are what appear to be two rubrics) from Vienna MS. Codex of Canon Law 91 (now 2178). Migne transcribed the text of Pertz. LC took several readings of (alpha and included them in B[eta] as variant readings. Finally, the text printed by Msi “from a Pistoia codex of canons”, as well as the order of canons in it, appear similar to alpha; although canons 15-16 are preserved according to the B text and 18-19 are added to B. If alpha is earlier than B, then the text of Msi seems to date from an earlier time and to have been corrected occasionally from B; therefore we conclude that this text belongs to alpha. We believe the (alpha version is older than B[eta].For, the canons from alpha(except ll-12, 15-17) are mentioned in Simeon of Durham’s “Historia Regum” {13 } (= S), which is contemporaneous. This point has not been noticed by scholars. In addition, Gratian’s Decrees ascribe the last 5 canons to the earlier pontificate of Urban II (1088-99) and not to the time of Lateran I, as Br noted; therefore alpha seems right to omit these five canons. The document on which Br and possibly Rm depend is a Vatican codex “which contains the Collection of Anselm [of Lucca], in which the canons of this council are included as an appendix after chapter 55”. Maybe, therefore, our B should be attributed to this peculiar version in Anselm of Lucca’s text. Certainly all the known manuscript codices are related to alpa, so far as we are aware {14 } , including the 12th century Vatican Reginensis lat. 987 (= R), which was the first to be examined by us. We think that little confidence can be placed in MGH, which is the only critical edition so far made. Its editor, Weiland, divided the sources into three groups: the “Parisian”, more correctly called the “Roman”- the Pistoian codex; and the codices used by BdM and Pertz. But he completely ignored the similarities between the three groups, and in the end collated only the two sources of the third group, omitting for no reason canon 17. We have collated together R and all the other editions, and have prepared our text with the alpha version as the basis. We think that R and BdM are the most reliable sources. We have relegated the alternative version of canons 15-16 to a footnote, and the last five canons to an appendix. We have not used the MGH text except in a few instances. There is a preface to the canons in R, S, BdM and Msi vol 1, but we do not reproduce it. BIBLIOGRAPHY H-L 5/1 (1912) 630-634; DThC 8/2 (1925) 2628-2637; DDrC 6 (1957) 344-346; LThK 6 (vol 2 1961) 815-816; NCE 8 (1967) 406; HC 3 (1980) 401-402; U. Robert, Histoire du pape Calixte II, Paris-Besancon 1891, 162-177, A. Hauck, Die Rezeption und Umbildung der allgemeinen Synode im Mittelalter, Historische Vierteljahrschrifl 10 (1907) 468 ff.; G. Meyer von Knonau, Jahrbucher des deutschen Reiches . . ., VII Leipzig 1909, 228-239; G Tangl, Die Teilnehmer an den allgemeinen Konzilien des Mittelalters, Weimar 1922, 196-205; H. J. Schroeder, Disciplinary Decrees of the General Councils, St. Louis, Mo. --London 1937, 177-194; A. Eliche, La reforme gregorienne et la reconquete chretienne (Histoire de l’Eglise 8), Paris 1950, 390-393; G. Eranzen, L’ecclesiologie des conciles medievaux, in Le concile, 125-141; R Eoreville, Latran I, II, III et Latran IV (Histoire des Conciles 6), Paris 1965; M. Mollat and P. Tombeur, Les conciles Latran I a Latran IV: Concordance, index, listes de frequence, tables comparatives (Conciles oecumeniques medievaux 1), Louvain 1974. CANONS 1. Following the examples of the holy fathers and renewing them as we are bound by our office, by the authority of the apostolic see we altogether forbid anyone to be ordained or promoted in the church of God for money. If anyone indeed should have been ordained or promoted in the church in such a fashion, let him be utterly deprived of the office acquired. {15 } 2. {16 } We absolutely forbid those excommunicated by their own bishops to be received into communion by other bishops, abbots and clergy {17 } 3. {18 } No one may consecrate as a bishop someone who is not canonically elected. If anyone should presume to do this, let both consecrator and consecrated be deposed {19 } beyond hope of restoration. 4 {20 } Absolutely no archdeacon, archpriest {21 } , provost or dean {22 } may grant to anyone the care of souls or prebends in a church without the decision or consent of the bishop. Rather, as it is constituted by the holy canons, let the care of souls and the dispensing of ecclesiastical affairs remain in the decision and power of the bishop. Indeed, if anyone presumes to do something against this, or to claim for himself the power which pertains to the bishop, let him be banished from the bounds of the church 5. {23 } The ordinations made by the heresiarch Burdinus {24 }, after he was condemned by the Roman church, and whatever was afterwards done by pseudo-bishops ordained by him, we judge to be null and void. 6. {25 } No one except a priest {26 } may be ordained to the office of provost, archpriest or dean; no one except a deacon may be ordained to the office of archdeacon. {27 } {28 } 7. {29 } We absolutely forbid priests, deacons or subdeacons to live with concubines and wives, and to cohabit with other women, except those whom the council of Nicaea permitted to dwell with them solely on account of necessity, namely a mother, sister, paternal or maternal aunt, or other such persons, about whom no suspicion could justly arise 8. {30 } We further resolve, in accordance with the statute of the most blessed pope Stephen, that lay persons, however religious they may be, have no power to dispose of any ecclesiastical business; but following the apostolic canons, let the bishop have the care of all ecclesiastical matters, and let him manage them as in the sight of God. Therefore {31 } if any prince or other lay person should arrogate to himself the disposition or donation {32 } of ecclesiastical things or possessions, let him be regarded as sacrilegious. 9. {33 } We prohibit unions between blood relatives, because both the divine and secular laws prohibit them. For, the divine laws not only cast out those doing this and their progeny but also call them accursed; the secular laws call such people disreputable and deprive them of inheritance. We, therefore, following our fathers, mark them with infamy and judge them to be infamous. [crusades] 10. {34 } To those who set out for Jerusalem and offer effective help towards the defence of the christian people and overcoming the tyranny of the infidels, we grant the remission of their sins, and we place their houses and families and all their goods under the protection of blessed Peter and the Roman church, just as has been decreed by our lord pope Urban. Whoever dares to distrain or carry off their houses, families and goods, while they are on their way, shall be punished with excommunication. {35 } Those who have put crosses on their clothes, with a view to journeying to Jerusalem or to Spain, and have later taken them off, we command by our apostolic authority to wear the crosses again and to complete the journey between this Easter and the following Easter. Otherwise, from that moment we cut them off from entry into church and forbid divine services in all their lands, apart from the baptism of infants and confessions for the dying. 11. {36 } With the advice of our brothers and of the whole curia, and also with the wish and consent of the prefect, we order the abolition of that immoral practice hitherto obtaining with respect to the dead Porticani, so that the goods of Porticani dwellers dying without heirs are not to be dispersed against the wishes of those dying. This, however, is to the extent that the Porticani remain obedient and faithful to the Roman church and to us and our successors. {37 } 12. {38 } In accordance with the canons of the holy fathers, we absolutely forbid and prohibit the laity, under the penalty of anathema, to remove the offerings from the most sacred and revered altars of blessed Peter and of the Saviour and of St Mary Rotunda and of St Nicholas of Bari, of St Giles {39 } , or from the altars or crosses of all the other churches. By {40 } apostolic authority we forbid the fortification or taking hold of churches by {41 } lay persons {42 } . {43 } 13. {44 } Whoever knowingly makes or intentionally spends counterfeit money shall be separated from the communion of the faithful as one accursed, an oppressor of the poor and a disturber of the state. 14. {45 } If anyone tries to attack pilgrims to Rome and foreigners {46 } visiting the shrines of the apostles and the oratories of other saints, or to rob them of the things they bring, or to trouble merchants {47 } with new exactions of tolls and fees, let him be deprived of christian communion until he makes reparation. 15. {48 } We confirm, with the authority of the holy Spirit, whatever has been determined by the Roman pontiffs our predecessors concerning the peace and truce of God or arson or the public highways. Msi (as canon 14) and B (as canon 13) have a different text namely If anyone should violate a truce, he is to be admonished up to three times by the bishop to make reparation. If he acts in contempt of the third admonition to make reparation, the bishop, either with the counsel of the metropolitan {49 } or with two or one of the neighbouring bishops, shall declare the sentence of anathema on the rebel, and denounce him in writing to the bishops all around 16. {50 } Following in the footsteps of the holy fathers, we order by general decree, that monks be subject to their own bishops {51 } with all humility, and show due obedience and devoted submission to them in all things, as if to masters and shepherds of the church of God. They may not celebrate masses in public anywhere. Moreover, let them completely abstain from public visitations of the sick, from anointings and even from hearing confessions, for these things in no way pertain to their calling. Indeed, in the churches where their ministry is recognized, they may only have priests who were ordained by their own bishop, to whom they will answer for the care of souls which they have assumed. In Pertz there is only “We absolutely forbid anointings and visits to the sick and public masses by monks” and then : “The examples of Leo to Dioscorus, that on the day of the resurrection there may be a levitical and a sacerdotal ordination, ch 19. That on Sunday mnorning, continuing the fast of Saturday, there can be an ordination, ch 20”. Msi (as canon 18) and B (as canon 17) have a different text, namely : We forbid abbots and monks to give public penances, to visit the sick, to perform anointings and to chant public masses. They shall receive chrism, holy oil, consecrations of altars and ordinations of clerics from the bishops in whose dioceses they reside. The remaining canons are missing in alpha, and Msi has canons 18-19 together with canon 16. The first part of this canon (Priests ... pertain to the bishop) may belong to canon 16 (B). 18. Priests are to be appointed to parish churches by the bishops, to whom they shall answer for the care of souls and for those matters which pertain to the bishop. They may not receive tithes or churches from lay persons without the consent and wish of the bishops; and if they presume to do otherwise, they shall be subject to the canonical penalty. {54 } 19. We allow the service which monasteries and their churches have paid from the time of {55 } pope Gregory VII until now. We altogether forbid abbots and monks to have the possessions of churches and bishops by a thirty {56 } years provision. {57 } 20. Having in mind the examples in the traditions of the fathers, and discharging the duty of our pastoral office, we decree that churches and what belongs to them, both persons and possessions, namely clerics, monks and their lay brothers, as well as those who come to pray and what they bring with them, are to be under protection and not be harmed. If anyone dares to act contrary to this and after recognizing his villainy, has not properly made amends within the space of thirty days, let him be banished from the bounds of the church and be smitten with the sword of anathema. 21. We absolutely forbid priests, deacons, subdeacons and monks to have concubines or to contract marriages. We adjudge, as the sacred canons have laid down, that marriage contracts between such persons should be made void and the persons ought to undergo penance. SECOND LATERAN COUNCIL - 1139 A.D. INTRODUCTION In Lent of 1139 a general council was summoned by Pope Innocent II and held in the Lateran basilica {1} . As we know, the synod had been convoked the previous year; for the papal legates in England and Spain pressed the bishops and abbots to go to the council. Thus, a good number of fathers, at least five hundred, met in Rome. One of these came from the East, the patriarch of Antioch, but he was a Latin. With the pope presiding the council began on 2 April and it seems to have ended before 17 April, as far as we can judge from the sources. This council is called “general” in the records and more frequently “plenary” by Innocent himself. However, there is a doubt as to its ecumenicity for the same reasons that affect Lateran I. The Roman church, which for a long time had been divided in its obedience between Innocent II (1130-1143) and Anacletus II (1130-1138), seems to have overcome schism and factionalism, and indeed to have recovered its peace. This was due to the death of Anacletus in 1138 and the efforts of Bernard of Clairvaux, who had fought with the utmost zeal on behalf of Innocent for the restoration of unity. But Innocent, perhaps upset by the agreements which Anacletus had arrived at, vigorously cited and condemned Anacletus’s part in the evil affair {2} , an action which seems to have provoked a complaint from Bernard. Some heretics were also condemned by the fathers, namely those who followed the monk Henry, and canons were enacted concerning the reform of the church. The pope and the council fathers, following the example and mind of Pope Gregory VII, took up a good many canons which had been established by previous councils, with a view to restoring ecclesiastical discipline to an unblemished state. They furnish a sort of body of precepts for the whole church, taken from councils in the times of Gregory VII (canon 10), Urban II (canons 3, 21-22), Callistus II (canons 3, 7, 23-25) and especially Innocent II (canons 1, 4-7, 9-12, 14-20). Gratian included many of them shortly afterwards in his Decrees (canons 2, 4-6, 8, 19-21, 26-28 and parts of 7, 10, 12, 15-16, 18, 22). Orderic Vitalis, however, was sceptical about their effectiveness in practice. Baronius was the first to print the thirty canons (Annales ecclesiastici 12,1607, 277-280), having taken them from two manuscript codices (“a register of the Vatican library and a Vatican codex of decrees”). The Roman editors shortly after produced a more accurate version (Rm {3} 4, 1612, 21 -23), from “manuscript codices of the Vatican library and of Anthony Augustine of Tarragona”; this was copied by all later editions, as we have verified, though with some errors. These later editions are as follows: Bn2 {4} 3/2 (1618) 487-489; ER {5} 17 (1644) 123-133; LC {6} 10 (1671) 1002-1009; Hrd {7} 6/2 (1714) 1207-1214; Cl {8} 12 (1730) 1497-1507;Msi {9} 21 (1776) 526-533.The canon which E.Martene and U.Durand published (Thesaurus novus anecdotorum, IV, Paris 1717, 139-140) as being “omitted in the editions, from a manuscript of St Vincent of Bisignano”, is in fact the same as canons 15 and 30. Having collated together all these editions, we have followed the text of the Roman edition. CANONS 1. We decree that if anyone has been ordained simoniacally, he is to forfeit entirely the office which he illicitly usurped. 2. If anyone has acquired, through payment, a prebend, priory, deanery or any ecclesiastical honour or preferment, or a holy thing of the church of any kind, such as chrism or holy oil, or the consecrations of altars or churches, where the execrable passion of avarice has been the motive, let him be deprived of the honour which he wrongly acquired, and let the buyer and seller and intermediary be stigmatised with the mark of infamy. And let nothing be demanded for sustenance or under the pretext of any custom from anyone before or afterwards, nor should the person himself presume to give anything, since this is simony; but let him enjoy freely and without any diminution the dignity and benefice which has been conferred on him 3. We utterly prohibit those who have been excommunicated by their bishops to be received by others. Indeed, whoever knowingly presumes to communicate someone who has been excommunicated, before he is absolved by the one who excommunicated him, is to be held liable to the same sentence. 4. We also enjoin that bishops as well as clergy take pains to be pleasing to God and to humans in both their interior and exterior comportment. Let them give no offence in the sight of those for whom they ought to be a model and example, by the excess, cut or colour of their clothes, nor with regard to the tonsure, but rather, as is fitting for them, let them exhibit holiness. If after a warning from the bishops they are unwilling to change their ways, let them be deprived of their ecclesiastical benefices. 5. We enjoin that what was laid down in the sacred council of Chalcedon be rigidly adhered to, namely, that the goods of deceased bishops are not to be seized by anyone at all, but are to remain freely at the disposal of the treasurer and the clergy for the needs of the church and the succeeding incumbent. Therefore, from now on, let that detestable and wicked rapacity cease. Furthermore, if anyone dares to attempt this behaviour henceforth, he is to be excommunicated. And those who despoil the goods of dying priests or clerics are to be subject to the same sentence. 6. We also decree that those in the orders of subdeacon and above who have taken wives or concubines are to be deprived of their position and ecclesiastical benefice. For since they ought to be in fact and in name temples of God, vessels of the Lord and sanctuaries of the holy Spirit, it is unbecoming that they give themselves up to marriage and impurity. 7. Adhering to the path trod by our predecessors, the Roman pontiffs Gregory VII, Urban and Paschal, we prescribe that nobody is to hear the masses of those whom he knows to have wives or concubines. Indeed, that the law of continence and the purity pleasing to God might be propagated among ecclesiastical persons and those in holy orders, we decree that where bishops, priests, deacons, subdeacons, canons regular, monks and professed lay brothers have presumed to take wives and so transgress this holy precept, they are to be separated from their partners. For we do not deem there to be a marriage which, it is agreed, has been contracted against ecclesiastical law. Furthermore, when they have separated from each other, let them do a penance commensurate with such outrageous behaviour. 8. We decree that the selfsame thing is to apply also to women religious if, God forbid, they attempt to marry. 9. Moreover, the evil and detestable practice has grown, so we understand, whereby monks and canons regular, after receiving the habit and making their profession, are learning civil law and medicine with a view to temporal gain, in scornful disregard of the rules of their blessed teachers Benedict and Augustine. In fact, burning with the fire of avarice, they make themselves the advocates of suits; and since they have to neglect the psalmody and hymns, placing their trust in the power of fine rhetoric instead, they confuse what is right and what is wrong, justice and iniquity, by reason of the variety of their arguments. But the imperial constitutions testify that it is truly absurd and reprehensible for clerics to want to be experts in the disputes of law courts. We decree by apostolic authority that lawbreakers of this kind are to be severely punished. There are also those who, neglecting the care of souls, completely ignore their state in life, promise health in return for hateful money and make themselves healers of human bodies. And since an immodest eye manifests an immodest heart, religion ought to have nothing to do with those things of which virtue is ashamed to speak. Therefore, we forbid by apostolic authority this practice to continue, so that the monastic order and the order of canons may be preserved without stain in a state of life pleasing to God, in accord with their holy purpose. Furthermore, bishops, abbots and priors who consent to and fail to correct such an outrageous practice are to be deprived of their own honours and kept from the thresholds of the church. 10. We prohibit, by apostolic authority, that the tithes of churches be possessed by lay people where canonical authority shows these were assigned for religious purposes. For whether they accept them from bishops or kings, or any person whatsoever, let them know that they are committing the crime of sacrilege and incurring the threat of eternal damnation, unless they hand them back to the church. We also direct that lay people who are in possession of churches must either restore them to the bishops or become subject to excommunication. We reiterate our decision that nobody is to hold the office of archdeacon or dean unless he is ordained deacon or priest; and archdeacons, deans or provosts who are without these orders are to be deprived of the honour they have received, if through disobedience they refuse to be ordained. Moreover, we forbid the aforesaid honours to be conferred on youths or those not yet in sacred orders; let them be conferred rather on those who are outstanding in prudence and integrity of life. We also enjoin that churches are not to be entrusted to hired priests and that each and every church with sufficient means is to have its own priest 11. We also prescribe that priests, clerics, monks, pilgrims, merchants and peasants, in their coming and going and their work on the land, and the animals with which they plough and carry seeds to the fields, and their sheep {10} , be left in peace at all times. 12. We decree that the truce {11} is to be inviolably observed by all from sunset on Wednesday until sunrise on Monday, and from Advent until the octave of the Epiphany, and from Quinquagesima until the octave of Easter. If anyone tries to break the truce, and he does not comply after the third warning, let his bishop pronounce sentence of excommunication on him, and communicate his decision in writing to the neighbouring bishops. Moreover let none of the bishops receive into communion the excommunicated person, but rather let each confirm the sentence received in writing. If anyone presumes to infringe this, he will do so at the risk of his position. Since a threefold cord is not quickly broken, we enjoin bishops, having regard for God alone and the salvation of the people, and laying aside all timidity, to furnish each other with mutual counsel and help towards firmly maintaining peace, and not to omit this duty by reason of any affection or aversion. For if anyone is found to be lukewarm in this work of God, let him incur the loss of his dignity 13. Furthermore, we condemn that practice accounted despicable and blameworthy by divine and human laws, denounced by Scripture in the old and new Testaments, namely, the ferocious greed of usurers; and we sever them from every comfort of the church, forbidding any archbishop or bishop, or an abbot of any order whatever or anyone in clerical orders, to dare to receive usurers, unless they do so with extreme caution; but let them be held infamous throughout their whole lives and, unless they repent, be deprived of a christian burial. 14. We entirely forbid, moreover, those abominable jousts and tournaments in which knights come together by agreement and rashly engage in showing off their physical prowess and daring, and which often result in human deaths and danger to souls. If any of them dies on these occasions, although penance and viaticum are not to be denied him when he requests them, he is to be deprived of a church burial. 15. In the same way we have decided to legislate that if anyone, at the instigation of the devil, incurs the guilt of the following sacrilege, that is, to lay violent hands on a cleric or a monk, he is to be subject to the bond of anathema; and let no bishop presume to absolve such a person unless he is in immediate danger of death, until he has been presented before the apostolic See and submits to its decision. We also prescribe that nobody dare to lay hands on those who flee to a church or cemetery. If anyone does this, let him be excommunicated. 16. It is undoubtedly the case that since ecclesiastical honours depend not on blood-relationships but on merit, and since the church of God awaits successors not on the basis of any right of inheritance, nor according to the flesh, it requires virtuous, wise and devout persons for its administration and the distribution of its offices. Therefore we prohibit, by apostolic authority, anyone to exercise a claim over or to demand, by hereditary right, churches, prebends, provostships, chaplaincies or any ecclesiastical offices. If anyone, unjustly and guilty of ambition, dares to attempt this, he will be duly punished and deprived of the object of his suit. 17. With good reason we entirely prohibit unions within the bounds of consanguinity; for the teachings of holy fathers and the holy church of God detest incestuous behaviour of this kind, which (under the influence of the enemy of the human race) is engaged in nowadays. Even the secular laws pronounce those born of such a union infamous, and refuse them the right of inheritance 18. We completely detest and forbid, by the authority of God and the blessed apostles Peter and Paul, that most dreadful, devastating and malicious crime of incendiarism For this pernicious and inimical calamity surpasses all other kinds of destruction. Nobody is unaware of the extent to which it is injurious to the people of God and the damage it brings to souls and bodies. It is necessary, therefore, to oppose it and to labour with all one’s might, that so great a harm and danger be eradicated and suppressed for the sake of the people. If anyone, then, after the publication of this prohibition of ours, from some wicked design born of hate or vengeance, starts a fire or causes it to be started, or knowingly provides counsel or help to those starting one, let him be excommunicated. And when an arsonist dies, he is to be deprived of a christian burial. Nor is he to be absolved unless, having first made reparation for the loss according to his means, he swears that he will never raise a fire again. Moreover, let him be given the penance of remaining a whole year in Jerusalem or Spain in the service of God. 19. If any archbishop or bishop relaxes this decree, he is to make restitution for the loss and abstain from his episcopal office for a year. 20. As is right, we do not deny to kings and princes the power to dispense justice, in consultation with the archbishops and bishops. 21. We decree that sons of priests are to be removed from the ministries of the sacred altar unless they are living religiously in monasteries or canonries. 22. Because there is one thing that conspicuously causes great disturbance to holy church, namely, false penance, we warn our brothers in the episcopate and priests not to allow the souls of the laity to be deceived or dragged off to hell by false penances. It is agreed that a penance is false when many sins are disregarded and a penance is performed for one only, or when it is done for one sin in such a way that the penitent does not renounce another. Thus it is written: Whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point, has become guilty of all of it; this evidently pertains to eternal life. Therefore, just as a person who is entangled in all sins will not enter the gate of eternal life, so also if a person remains in one sin {12} . False penance also occurs when the penitent does not resign a position at a court or in business which cannot be carried on without sin, or if hate is harboured in his heart, or if the person does not make amends to whomever he offended, or if an injured party does not pardon the offender, or if anyone unjustly carries arms. 23. Those who, simulating a kind of religiosity, condemn 1. the sacrament of the Lord’s body and blood, 2. the baptism of children, 3. the priesthood and other ecclesiastical orders, and 4. legitimate marriages, we expel from the church of God and condemn as heretics, and prescribe that they be constrained by the secular powers. We also bind up their defenders in the fetter of the same condemnation. {13} 24. We also prescribe that no sale-price is to be demanded for chrism, holy oil and burials. 25. If anyone receives provostships, prebends or other ecclesiastical benefices from the hand of a lay person, let him be deprived of the benefice unworthily received. For the decrees of the holy fathers state that lay people, no matter how devout they may be, have no power of disposal over ecclesiastical property. 26. We decree that the pernicious and detestable custom which has spread among some women who although they live neither according to the rule of blessed Benedict, nor Basil nor Augustine, yet wish to be thought of by everyone as nuns, is to be abolished. For when, living according to the rule in monasteries, they ought to be in church or in the refectory or dormitory in common, they build for themselves their own retreats and private dwelling-places where, under the guise of hospitality, indiscriminately and without any shame they receive guests and secular persons contrary to the sacred canons and good morals. Because everyone who does evil hates the light, these women think that, hidden in the tabernacle of the just {14} , they can conceal themselves from the eyes of the Judge who sees everything; so we prohibit in every way this unrighteous, hateful and disgraceful conduct and forbid it to continue under pain of anathema. 27. In the same way, we prohibit nuns to come together with canons or monks in choir for the singing of the office. 28. Since the decrees of the fathers prohibit churches to be left vacant for more than three months, we forbid under anathema the canons of the episcopal see to exclude religious men from the election following on the death of the bishop; but let a virtuous and suitable person be elected as bishop with their advice. Because if an election is held with these religious persons excluded, where this is done without their knowledge and consent, it is null and void. 29. We prohibit under anathema that murderous art of crossbowmen and archers, which is hateful to God, to be employed against Christians and Catholics from now on. 30. We render void the ordinances enacted by Peter Leoni and other schismatics and heretics, and deem them null. THIRD LATERAN COUNCIL - 1179 A.D. INTRODUCTION By an agreement reached at Venice in 1177, the bitter conflict which had arisen about twenty years earlier between Pope Alexander III (1159-1181) and Emperor Frederick I (1152-1190) was brought to an end. For when Pope Hadrian IV had died in 1159, the cardinals elected two popes together, namely Roland of Siena, who took the name of Alexander III, and Octavian of Rome who though he was nominated by fewer cardinals, nevertheless with the support of the emperor Frederick usurped the name of Pope Victor IV. The emperor, wishing to remove everything which stood in the way of his authority in Italy, declared war upon the Italian states and especially the Roman church which after its struggle for ecclesiastical liberty for so many years, was enjoying great authority. The emperor carried on the war for a long time. A serious schism had arisen out of this conflict, and after Victor IV two antipopes were nominated in opposition to Alexander III, namely Paschal III (1164-1168) and Callistus III (1168-1178). At last, when Alexander had gained the victory, he promised the emperor at Venice that he would summon a general council. The particular object of this council was to put an end to the schism within the church and the quarrel between the emperor and the papacy. It was summoned by Pope Alexander in 1178, “so that according to the custom of the ancient fathers, the good should be sought and confirmed by many, and that with the cooperation of the grace of the holy Spirit, by the efforts of all, there should be carried out what was required for the correction of abuses and the establishment of what was pleasing to God”. The council was held at Rome in March 1179. About three hundred fathers assembled from the provinces of Europe and some from the Latin east, and a single legate from the Greek church. It began on 5 March, according to Archbishop William of Tyre, our chief authority. The bishops first heard Rufinus, bishop of Assisi, who in a highly polished address praised the Roman pontiff and the Roman church, “that church to which alone belongs the decision and power to summon a general council, to lay down new canons and cancel the old; indeed, though the fathers had summoned a solemn council many times in the past, yet the obligation and reason to do this was never more expedient than at the present”. We do not have the same reasons for doubting the ecumenical nature of this council as we have for Lateran I and II. For, the way in which the council was summoned and conducted by the pope, and the number of fathers who gathered from the whole Latin world and devoted their efforts to strengthening the unity of the church and condemning heretics, resemble rather the ancient councils than Lateran I and II and exemplify the typical council of the Middle Ages presided over by the Roman pontiff. For this reason it is not surprising that chronicles of the period frequently refer to this council as Lateran I. Although we do not possess the acts of the council, we have evidence from chronicles and annals and especially from the canons which the fathers laid down in the final session on 19 March. Accordingly, to avoid future schisms it was first laid down that nobody was to be regarded as Roman pontiff unless he had been elected by two thirds of the cardinals (canon 1) ; all appointments by antipopes were deemed invalid (canon 2), heretics called Cathars were excommunicated and likewise were the bands of mercenaries, or rather criminals, which were causing utter destruction in some parts of Europe; it was declared, and this seems an innovation, that arms should be taken up against them (canon 27) ; it was also decided not to pass judgment about the preaching of the Waldensians. All this seems to have been directed to strengthening the unity of the church. In addition, Alexander III and the fathers, renewing the precedent of Lateran I and II, laid down several canons for the reform of the church and some concerning morals and civil affairs. The canons of this council played a notable part in the future government of the church. They were frequently included in the collections of decretals compiled in the late 12th and early 13th century, and afterwards all were inserted into Pope Gregory IX’s Decretals. Walter Holtzmann and other scholars considered that these decretal collections in fact arose from this Lateran council and its canons. Certainly the canons, unlike those of Lateran I and II and many preceding councils, appear to have been worked out by an excellent legal mind so that it is probable they were composed under the authority of Alexander III himself, who was an expert lawyer. The canons, except for those which refer to Lateran II or the council of Rheims in 1148 (see canons 2, 11, 20-22) or to Gratian’s Decrees (see canons 1-4, 7, 11, 13-14, 17-18), are new and original. The tradition of the canons has not yet been adequately examined and remains very uncertain. Many manuscript codices survive for this council (in contrast to Lateran I and II). However, they do not seem to give us the version of the canons which was confirmed by ecclesiastical authority and which Archbishop William of Tyre, with the authority of the fathers, had himself drawn up. Frequently the canons are to be found in chronicles and decretal collections. They are included in four contemporary English chronicles: those of Abbot Benedict of Peterborough, Gervase of Canterbury, William of Newburgh, and Roger of Hoveden. And in the following collections of decretals: the collection called the Appendix of the Lateran council, the collections of Bamberg, Berlin I, Canterbury I-II, Kassel, Cheltenham, Claudian, Cotton, Dertosa, Douai, Durham, Eberbach, Erlangen, Florian, Klosterneuberg, Leipzig, Oriel II, Paris I, Peterhouse, Rochester, Sangerman, and Tanner; and there are a considerable number of collections still to be examined. The canons are also contained in the book called “Rommersdorfer Briefbuch”, the Cartulary of Rievaulx, and the codices Florence Ricc. 288 (Day-book), Innsbruck Univ. 90 (Gratian’s Decrees), and (which seem to have been unnoticed hitherto) Vatican Regin. lat. 596, 12th century (fos. 6V-8v), and 984, 12th century (fos. 2r-7v). We can say for certain that the canons of the council were spread abroad through the whole Latin church, and were of great weight in its concerns and transactions. The first printed edition was made by Cr2 (2, 1551, 836-843). He edited, from a manuscript now lost or unknown, the whole collection known as the Appendix of the Lateran council, which is divided into fifty parts; all 27 canons of Lateran III are in the first part. This text was copied by Su (3, 1567, 626-633) and Bn (3, 1606, 1345-1350), though Su introduced some errors. Bn who was the first to give the name “Appendix of the Lateran council” to the collection, added some variant readings and rubrics which he had found in the chronicle of Roger of Hoveden. The Roman editors (Rm 4, 1612, 27-33), using also the manuscript codex of Antonio Augustine of Tarragona, produced a more accurate text and more variant readings. Later editions, all of which we have exarnined, followed the Roman text, narnely:ER27 (1644) 439-463;LC10 (1671) 1507-1523;Hrd 6 (1714) 1673-1684; Cl 13 (1730) 416-432; Msi 22 (1778) 217-233. Boehmer, who published his edition in 1747, before Msi, is an exception. He took the canons from the Kassel collection of decretals, where the order and some readings are different. Finally Herold, in his unpublished Bonn dissertation of 1952, examined thoroughly the whole tradition and established the order of the canons; using 36 sources, he concluded there were 34 different traditions! As things now stand, it is impossible to use all the known sources for our edition. For, these sources reveal only a limited part of the whole tradition and, what is even more important, we do not yet understand the relations between the individual traditions. Even Herold has not examined these relations sufficiently. We have therefore preferred to publish the text of a single tradition, namely that of the Appendix of the Lateran council, using Cr2 and Rm as the best text of this tradition and including the variant readings listed in Rrn. This “Appendix” is a good text, as even Herold’s text (= H) shows. We have given Herold’s variant readings in the critical apparatus, and we have noted in footnotes the order in which he places the 23 canons that he includes. CANONS 1. Although clear enough decrees have been handed down by our predecessors to avoid dissension in the choice of a sovereign pontiff, nevertheless in spite of these, because through wicked and reckless ambition the church has often suffered serious division, we too, in order to avoid this evil, on the advice of our brethren and with the approval of the sacred council, have decided that some addition must be made. Therefore we decree that if by chance, through some enemy sowing tares, there cannot be full agreement among the cardinals on a successor to the papacy, and though two thirds are in agreement a third party is unwilling to agree with them or presumes to appoint someone else for itself, that person shall be held as Roman pontiff who has been chosen and received by the two thirds. But if anyone trusting to his nomination by the third party assumes the name of bishop, since he cannot take the reality, both he and those who receive him are to incur excommunication and be deprived of all sacred order, so that viaticum be denied them, except at the hour of death, and unless they repent, let them receive the lot of Dathan and Abiron, who were swallowed up alive by the earth. Further, if anyone is chosen to the apostolic office by less than two thirds, unless in the meantime he receives a larger support, let him in no way assume it, and let him be subject to the foresaid penalty if he is unwilling humbly to refrain. However, as a result of this decree, let no prejudice arise to the canons and other ecclesiastical constitutions according to which the decision of the greater and senior {1 } part should prevail, because any doubt that can arise in them can be settled by a higher authority; whereas in the Roman church there is a special constitution, since no recourse can be had to a superior. 2. Renewing the decision taken by our predecessor of happy memory, Innocent, we decree that the ordinances made by the heresiarchs Octavian {2 } and Guido {3 }, and also by John of Struma {4 } who followed them, and by those ordained by them, are void; and furthermore that if any have received ecclesiastical dignities or benefices through the foresaid schismatics, they are to be deprived of them. Moreover alienations or seizures of ecclesiastical property, which have been made by these schismatics or by lay persons, are to lack all validity and are to return to the church without any burden to it. If anyone presumes to act against this, let him know that he is excommunicated. We decree that those who of their own accord have taken an oath to remain in schism are suspended from sacred orders and dignities. 3. Since in holy orders and ecclesiastical ministries both maturity of age, a serious character and knowledge of letters should be required, much more should these qualities be required in a bishop, who is appointed for the care of others and ought to show in himself how others should live in the house of the Lord. Therefore, lest what has been done with regard to certain persons through the needs of the time should be taken as a precedent for the future, we declare by the present decree that no one should be chosen bishop unless he has already reached the age of thirty, been born in lawful wedlock and also is shown to be worthy by his life and learning. When he has been elected and his election has been confirmed, and he has the administration of ecclesiastical property, after the time has passed for the consecration of bishops as laid down by the canons let the person to whom the benefices which he held belong, have the free disposition of them. Further, with regard to the inferior ministries, for instance that of dean or archdeacon, and others which have the care of souls annexed, let no one at all receive them, or even the rule of parish churches, unless he has already reached his twenty-fifth year of age, and can be approved for his learning and character. When he has been nominated, if the archdeacon is not ordained deacon, and the deans (and the rest after due warning) are not ordained priests within the time fixed by the canons, let them be removed from that office and let it be conferred on another who is both able and willing to fulfill it properly; and let them not be allowed the evasion of recourse to an appeal, should they wish by an appeal to protect themselves against a transgression of the constitution. We order that this should be observed with regard to both past and future appointments, unless it is contrary to the canons. Certainly if clerics appoint someone contrary to this rule, let them know that they are deprived of the power of election and are suspended from ecclesiastical benefices for three years. For it is right that at least the strictness of ecclesiastical discipline should restrain those who are not recalled from evil by the fear of God. But if any bishop has acted in anyone’s interest contrary to this decree, or has consented to such actions, let him lose the power of conferring the foresaid offices, and let these appointments be made by the chapter, or by the metropolitan if the chapter cannot agree. 4. Since the apostle decided that he ought to support himself and those accompanying him by his own hands, so that he might remove the opportunity of preaching from false apostles and might not be burdensome to those to whom he was preaching, it is recognized that it is a very serious matter and calls for correction that some of our brethren and fellow bishops are so burdensome to their subjects in the procurations demanded that sometimes, for this reason, subjects are forced to sell church ornaments and a short hour consumes the food of many days. Therefore we decree that archbishops on their visitations of their dioceses are not to bring with them more than forty or fifty horses or other mounts, according to the differences of dioceses and ecclesiastical resources; cardinals should not exceed twenty or twenty-five, bishops are never to exceed twenty or thirty, archdeacons five or seven, and deans, as their delegates, should be satisfied with two horses. Nor should they set out with hunting dogs and birds, but they should proceed in such a way that they are seen to be seeking not their own but the things of Jesus Christ. Let them not seek rich banquets but let them receive with thanksgiving what is duly and suitably provided {5 }. We also forbid bishops to burden their subjects with taxes and impositions. But we allow them, for the many needs which sometimes come upon them, if the cause be clear and reasonable, to ask for assistance moderated by charity. For since the apostle says children ought not to lay up for their parents, but parents for their children, it seems to be far removed from paternal affection if superiors are burdensome to their subjects, when like a shepherd they ought to cherish them in all their needs. Archdeacons or deans should not presume to impose charges or taxes on priests or clerics. Indeed, what has been said above by way of permission about the number of horses may be observed in those places where there are greater resources or revenues, but in poorer places we wish measure so to be observed that the visit of greater personages should not be a burden to the humbler, lest by such a grant those who were accustomed to use fewer horses should think that the widest powers have been granted to them. 5. If a bishop ordains someone as deacon or priest without a definite title from which he may draw the necessities of life, let the bishop provide him with what he needs until he shall assign him the suitable wages of clerical service in some church, unless it happens that the person ordained is in such a position that he can find the support of life from his own or family inheritance. 6. A most reprehensible custom has become established in certain places whereby our brethren and fellow bishops and even archdeacons have passed sentence of excommunication or suspension, without any previous admonition on those who they think will lodge an appeal. Others too, while they fear the sentence and canonical discipline of a superior, lodge an appeal without any real grounds and thus make use of a means ordained for the help of the innocent as a defence of their own wrongdoing. Therefore to prevent prelates burdening their own subjects without reason, or subjects at their will being able to escape the correction of prelates under cover of an appeal, we lay down by this present decree that prelates should not pass sentence of suspension or excommunication without a previous canonical warning, unless the fault is such that by its nature it incurs the penalty of excommunication {6 } , and that subjects should not recklessly have recourse to an appeal, contrary to ecclesiastical discipline, before the introduction of their case. But if anyone believes that because of his own need he should make an appeal, let a proper limit be fixed for his making it, and if it happens that he fails to do so within this limit, let the bishop freely use his own authority. If in any business someone makes an appeal, but fails to appear when the defendant has arrived, let him make a proper repayment of the defendant’s expenses, if he is in a position to do so; in this way, at least by fear, a person may be deterred from lightly making an appeal to the injury of another. But we wish that in religious houses especially this should be observed, namely that monks or other religious, when they are to be corrected for any fault, should not presume to appeal against the regular discipline of their superior or chapter, but they should humbly and devoutly submit to what is usefully enjoined them for their salvation. 7. Since in the body of the church everything should be treated with a spirit of charity, and what has been freely received should be freely given, it is utterly disgraceful that in certain churches trafficking is said to have a place, so that a charge is made for the enthroning of bishops, abbots or ecclesiastical persons, for the installation of priests in a church, for burials and funerals, for the blessing of weddings or for other sacraments, and that he who needs them cannot gain them unless he first makes an offering to the person who bestows them. Some think that this is permitted in the belief that long standing custom has given it the force of law. Such people, blinded by avarice, are not aware that the longer an unhappy soul is bound by crimes the graver they are. Therefore, so that this may not be done in the future, we severely forbid that anything be demanded for the enthronement of ecclesiastical persons or the institution of priests, for burying the dead as well as for blessing marriages or for any other sacrament. But if anyone presumes to act against this, let him know that he will have his lot with Giezi {7 }, whose action he imitates by his demand of a disgraceful present. Moreover we forbid bishops, abbots or other prelates to impose upon churches new dues, increase the old or presume to appropriate to their own use part of the revenues, but let them readily preserve for their subjects those liberties which superiors wish to be preserved for themselves. If anyone acts otherwise, his action is to be held invalid. 8. Let no ecclesiastical ministries or even benefices or churches be assigned or promised to anyone before they are vacant, so that nobody may seem to wish for the death of his neighbour to whose position or benefice he believes himself to be the successor. For since we find this forbidden even in the laws of the pagans themselves, it is utterly disgraceful and calls for the punishment of God’s judgment if the hope of future succession should have any place in God’s church when even pagans have taken care to condemn it. But whenever ecclesiastical prebends or any offices happen to become vacant in a church, or are even now vacant, let them no longer remain unassigned and let them be conferred within six months on persons who are able to administer them worthily. If the bishop, when it concerns him, delays to make the appointment, let it be done by the chapter; but if the election belongs to the chapter and it does not make the appointment within the prescribed time, let the bishop proceed according to God’s will, with the advice of religious men; or if by chance all fail to do so, let the metropolitan dispose of these matters without opposition from them and in accordance with God’s will. 9. Since we ought both to plant holy religion and in every way to cherish it when planted, we shall never fulfil this better than if we take care to nourish what is right and to correct what stands in the way of the progress of truth by means of the authority entrusted to us {8 }. Now we have learnt from the strongly worded complaints of our brethren and fellow bishops that the Templars and Hospitallers, and other professed religious, exceeding the privileges granted them by the apostolic see have often disregarded episcopal authority, causing scandal to the people of God and grave danger to souls. We are told that they receive churches from the hands of lay persons; that they admit those under excommunication and interdict to the sacraments of the church and to burial; that in their churches they appoint and remove priests without the knowledge of the bishop; that when the brothers go to seek alms, and it is granted that the churches should be open on their arrival once a year and the divine services should be celebrated in them, several of them from one or more houses often go to a place under interdict and abuse the privileges granted {9 } to them by holding divine service, and then presume to bury the dead in the said churches. On the occasion also of the brotherhoods which they establish in many places, they weaken the bishops’ authority, for contrary to their decision and under cover of some privileges they seek to defend all who wish to approach and join their brotherhood. In these matters, because the faults arise not so much with the knowledge or advice of the superiors as from the indiscretion of some of the subjects, we have decreed that abuses should be removed and doubtful points settled. We absolutely forbid that these orders and all other religious should receive churches and tithes from the hands of lay persons, and we even order them to put away what they have recently received contrary to this decree. We declare that those who are excommunicated, or interdicted by name, must be avoided by them and all others according to the sentence of the bishop. In churches which do not belong to them by full right, let them present to the bishops the priests to be instituted, so that while they are answerable to the bishops for the care of the people, they may give to their own members a proper account of temporal matters. Let them not presume to remove those priests who have been appointed without first consulting the bishops. If the Templars or Hospitallers come to a church which is under an interdict, let them be allowed to hold the services of the church only once a year and let them not bury there the bodies of the dead. With regard to the brotherhoods we declare as follows: if any do not give themselves entirely to the said brothers but decide to keep their possessions, they are in no way on this account exempt from the sentence of the bishops, but the bishops may exercise their power over them as over other parishioners whenever they are to be corrected for their faults. What has been said about the said brothers, we declare shall be observed with regard to other religious who presume to claim for themselves the rights of bishops and dare to violate their canonical decisions and the tenor of our privileges. If they do not observe this decree, let the churches in which they dare so to act be placed under an interdict, and let what they do be considered void. 10. Monks are not to be received in a monastery for money nor are they allowed money of their own. They are not to be stationed individually in towns or cities or parish churches, but they are to remain in larger communities or with some of their brethren, nor are they to await alone among people of the world the attack of their spiritual foes, since Solomon says, Woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up. If anyone when demanded gives something for his reception, let him not proceed to sacred orders and let the one who has received him be punished by loss of his office. If he has money in his possession, unless it has been granted him by the abbot for a specific purpose, let him be removed from the communion of the altar, and any one who is found at his death with money in his possession {10 } is not to receive burial among his brethren and mass is not to be offered for him. We order that this is also to be observed with regard to other religious. Let the abbot who does not exercise care in such matters know that he will incur the loss of his office. Neither priories nor obediences are to be handed over to anyone for a sum of money; otherwise both giver and receiver are to be deprived of ministry in the church. Priors, when they have been appointed to conventual churches, are not to be changed except for a clear and reasonable cause, for instance if they are wastrels or live immoral lives or have committed an offence for which they clearly should be removed, or if on account of the demands of higher office they should be transferred on the advice of their brethren. 11. Clerics in holy orders, who in open concubinage keep their mistresses in their houses, should either cast them out and live continently or be deprived of ecclesiastical office and benefice. Let all who are found guilty of that unnatural vice for which the wrath of God came down upon the sons of disobedience and destroyed the five cities with fire, if they are clerics be expelled from the clergy or confined in monasteries to do penance; if they are laymen they are to incur excommunication and be completely separated from the society of the faithful. If any cleric without clear and necessary cause presumes to frequent convents of nuns, let the bishop keep him away; and if he does not stop, let him be ineligible for an ecclesiastical benefice. 12. Clerics in the subdiaconate and above and also those in minor orders, if they are supported by ecclesiastical revenues, should not presume to become advocates in legal matters before a secular judge, unless they happen to be defending their own case or that of their church, or acting on behalf of the helpless who cannot conduct their own cases. Let clerics not presume to take upon themselves the management of towns or even secular jurisdiction under princes or seculars so as to become their ministers of justice. If anyone dares to act contrary to this decree, and so contrary to the teaching of the Apostle who says, No soldier of God gets entangled in secular affairs, and acts as a man of this world, let him be deprived of ecclesiastical ministry, on the grounds that neglecting his duty as a cleric he plunges into the waves of this world to please its princes. We decree in the strictest terms that any religious who presumes to attempt any of the above-mentioned things should be punished. 13. Because some, setting no limit to their avarice, strive to obtain several ecclesiastical dignities and several parish churches contrary to the decrees of the holy canons, so that though they are scarcely able to fulfil one office sufficiently they claim the revenues of very many, we strictly forbid this for the future. Therefore when it is necessary to entrust a church or ecclesiastical ministry to anyone, the person sought for this office should be of such a kind that he is able to reside in the place and exercise his care for it himself. If the contrary is done both he who receives it is to be deprived of it, because he has received it contrary to the sacred canons, and he who gave it is to lose his power of bestowing it. 14. Because the ambition of some has now gone to such lengths that they are said to hold not two or three but six or more churches, and since they cannot devote the proper care to two, we order, through our brethren and most dear fellow bishops, that this be corrected, and with regard to this pluralism, so contrary to the canons, and which gives rise to loose conduct and instability, and causes definite danger to the souls of those who are able to serve the churches worthily, it is our wish to relieve their want by ecclesiastical benefices. Further, since some of the laity have become so bold that disregarding the authority of bishops they appoint clerics to churches and even remove them when they wish, and distribute the property and other goods of the church for the most part according to their own wishes, and even dare to burden the churches themselves and their people with taxes and impositions, we decree that those who from now on are guilty of such conduct are to be punished by anathema. Priests or clerics who receive the charge of a church from the hands of lay persons {11 }, without the authority of their own bishop, are to be deprived of communion, and if they persist, they are to be deposed from the ecclesiastical ministry and order. We firmly decree that because some of the laity force ecclesiastics and even bishops to come before their courts, those who presume to do so in the future are to be separated from the communion of the faithful. Further we forbid lay persons, who hold tithes to the danger of their souls, to transfer them in any way {12 } to other lay persons. If anyone receives them and does not hand them over to the church, let him be deprived of christian burial. 15. Although in duties of charity we are especially under obligation to those from whom we know we have received a gift, on the contrary certain clerics, after receiving many goods from their churches, have presumed to transfer these goods to other uses. We forbid this, knowing that it is also forbidden by ancient canons. Therefore, as we wish to prevent damage to the churches, we order that such goods should remain under the control of the churches, whether the clerics die intestate or wish to bestow them upon others. Besides, since in certain places certain persons called deans are appointed for a fee and exercise episcopal jurisdiction for a sum of money, by the present decree we declare that those who in future presume to do this should be deprived of their office and the bishop shall lose the power of conferring this office. 16. Since in every church what is approved by the greater and senior {13 } part of the brethren should unhesitatingly be observed, it is a very serious and blameworthy matter that in certain churches a few persons, sometimes not so much for a good reason as for their own will, frequently prevent an election and do not allow the ecclesiastical appointment to go forward. Therefore we declare by the present decree that unless some reasonable objection is shown by the smaller and junior party, apart from an appeal, whatever is determined by the greater and senior {14 } part of the chapter should always prevail and should be put into effect. Nor let it stand in the way of our decree if someone perchance says that he is under oath to preserve the custom of his church. For this is not to be called an oath but rather perjury, which is opposed to the advantage of the church and the decrees of the holy fathers. If anyone presumes to maintain under oath such customs, which are neither supported by reason nor in accord with the sacred decrees, let him be denied the reception of the body of the Lord until he performs fit penance. 17. Since in certain places the founders of churches or their heirs abuse the power in which the church has supported them until now, and though there ought to be one superior in the church of God they nevertheless contrive to choose several without regard to subordination, and though there ought to be one rector in each church they nevertheless put forward several in order to protect their own interests; for these reasons we declare by the present decree that if the founders support several candidates, that one should be in charge of the church who is supported by greater merits and is chosen and approved by the consent of the greater number. If this cannot be done without scandal, let the bishop arrange in the manner that he sees best according to the will of God. He should also do this if the question of the right of patronage arises among several persons, and it has not been settled to whom it belongs within three {15 } months. 18. Since the church of God is bound to provide like a mother for those in want, with regard to both the things which concern the support of the body and those which lead to the progress of the soul, therefore, in order that the opportunity of learning to read and progress in study is not withdrawn from poor children who cannot be helped by the support of their parents, in every cathedral church a master is to be assigned some proper benefice so that he may teach the clerics of that church and the poor scholars. Thus the needs of the teacher are to be supplied and the way to knowledge opened for learners. In other churches and monasteries too, if anything in times past has been assigned in them for this purpose, it should be restored. Let no one demand any money for a licence to teach, or under cover of some custom seek anything from teachers, or forbid anyone to teach who is suitable and has sought a licence. Whoever presumes to act against this decree is to be deprived of ecclesiastical benefice. Indeed, it seems only right that in the church of God a person should not have the fruit of his labour if through self-seeking he strives to prevent the progress of the churches by selling the licence to teach. 19. It is recognized as a very serious matter, as regards the sin of those who do it no less than the loss of those who suffer it, that in several parts of the world the governors and officials of cities, and others too who are seen to have power, often impose on churches so many burdens and oppress them with such heavy and frequent impositions, that under them the priesthood seems to be in a worse condition than it was under Pharaoh, who had no knowledge of the divine law. He indeed, though he reduced all others to slavery, left his priests and their possessions in their ancient freedom, and provided them with support from public funds. But these others impose burdens of nearly every kind upon the churches and afflict them with so many exactions that the lamentation of Jeremiah seems to apply to them, The prince of provinces has become a tributary. For whenever they think that entrenchments or expeditions or anything else should be made, they wish that almost everything should be seized from the goods assigned to the use of churches, clerics and Christ’s poor. They even so reduce the jurisdiction and authority of bishops and other prelates that these seem to retain no power over their own subjects. But though we must in this matter grieve for the churches, we must grieve none the less for those who seem to have utterly cast aside the fear of God and respect for the ecclesiastical order. Therefore we strictly forbid them under pain of anathema to attempt such acts in future, unless the bishop and clergy see the need or advantage to be so great that they believe that where the means of the laity are insufficient, aid should be given voluntarily by the churches to relieve common needs. But if in future officials or others presume to continue such practices and after warning refuse to stop, let both them and their supporters know that they are excommunicated, and let them not be restored to the communion of the faithful unless they make due satisfaction. 20. Following the footsteps of our predecessors of happy memory, popes Innocent and Eugenius, we forbid those abominable jousts and fairs, which are commonly called tournaments, in which knights come together by agreement and rashly engage in showing off their physical prowess and daring, and which often result in human deaths and danger to souls. If any of them dies on these occasions, although forgiveness {16 } is not to be denied him when he requests it, he is to be deprived of a church burial. 21. We decree that truces are to be inviolably observed by all from after sunset on Wednesday until sunrise on Monday, and from Advent until the octave of the Epiphany, and from Septuagesima until the octave of Easter. If anyone tries to break the truce, and he does not comply after the third warning, let his bishop pronounce sentence of excommunication and communicate his decision in writing to the neighbouring bishops. Moreover, let no bishop receive into communion the excommunicated person, but rather let him confirm the sentence received in writing. If anyone presumes to infringe this, he will do so at the risk of his position. Since a threefold cord is not quickly broken, we enjoin bishops, having regard only for God and the salvation of the people, and laying aside all timidity, to furnish each other with mutual counsel and help towards firmly maintaining peace, and not to omit this duty by reason of any affection or aversion. For if anyone is found to be lukewarm in the work of God, let him incur the loss of his dignity. 22. We renew our decree that priests, monks, clerics, lay brothers, merchants and peasants, in their coming and going and their work on the land, and the animals which carry seeds to the field, should enjoy proper security, and that nobody should impose on anyone new demands for tolls, without the approval of kings and princes, or renew those already imposed or in any way increase the old. If anyone presumes to act against this decree and does not stop after warning, let him be deprived of christian society until he makes satisfaction. 23. Although the Apostles says that we should pay greater honour to our weaker members, certain ecclesiastics, seeking what is their own and not the things of Jesus Christ, do not allow lepers, who cannot dwell with the healthy or come to church with others, to have their own churches and cemeteries or to be helped by the ministry of their own priests. Since it is recognized that this is far from christian piety, we decree, in accordance with apostolic charity, that wherever so many are gathered together under a common way of life that they are able to establish a church for themselves with a cemetery and rejoice in their own priest, they should be allowed to have them without contradiction. Let them take care, however, not to harm in any way the parochial rights of established churches. For we do not wish that what is granted them on the score of piety should result in harm to others. We also declare that they should not be compelled to pay tithes for their gardens or the pasture of animals. 24. Cruel avarice has so seized the hearts of some that though they glory in the name of Christians they provide the Saracens with arms and wood for helmets, and become their equals or even their superiors in wickedness and supply them with arms and necessaries to attack Christians. There are even some who for gain act as captains or pilots in galleys or Saracen pirate vessels. Therefore we declare that such persons should be cut off from the communion of the church and be excommunicated for their wickedness, that catholic princes and civil magistrates should confiscate their possessions, and that if they are captured they should become the slaves of their captors. We order that throughout the churches of maritime cities frequent and solemn excommunication should be pronounced against them. Let those also be under excommunication who dare to rob Romans or other Christians who sail for trade or other honourable purposes. Let those also who in the vilest avarice presume to rob shipwrecked Christians, whom by the rule of faith they are bound to help, know that they are excommunicated unless they return the stolen property. 25. Nearly everywhere the crime of usury has become so firmly rooted that many, omitting other business, practise usury as if it were permitted, and in no way observe how it is forbidden in both the Old and New Testament. We therefore declare that notorious usurers should not be admitted to communion of the altar or receive christian burial if they die in this sin. Whoever receives them or gives them christian burial should be compelled to give back what he has received, and let him remain suspended from the performance of his office until he has made satisfaction according to the judgment of his own bishop. 26. Jews and Saracens are not to be allowed to have christian servants in their houses, either under pretence of nourishing their children or for service or any other reason. Let those be excommunicated who presume to live with them. We declare that the evidence of Christians is to be accepted against Jews in every case, since Jews employ their own witnesses against Christians, and that those who prefer Jews to Christians in this matter are to lie under anathema, since Jews ought to be subject to Christians and to be supported by them on grounds of humanity alone. If any by the inspiration of God are converted to the christian faith, they are in no way to be excluded from their possessions, since the condition of converts ought to be better than before their conversion. If this is not done, we enjoin on the princes and rulers of these places, under penalty of excommunication, the duty to restore fully to these converts the share of their inheritance and goods. 27. As St. Leo says, though the discipline of the church should be satisfied with the judgment of the priest and should not cause the shedding of blood, yet it is helped by the laws of catholic princes so that people often seek a salutary remedy when they fear that a corporal punishment will overtake them. For this reason, since in Gascony and the regions of Albi and Toulouse and in other places the loathsome heresy of those whom some call the Cathars, others the Patarenes, others the Publicani, and others by different names, has grown so strong that they no longer practise their wickedness in secret, as others do, but proclaim their error publicly and draw the simple and weak to join them, we declare that they and their defenders and those who receive them are under anathema, and we forbid under pain of anathema that anyone should keep or support them in their houses or lands or should trade with them. If anyone dies in this sin, then neither under cover of our privileges granted to anyone, nor for any other reason, is mass to be offered for them or are they to receive burial among Christians. With regard to the Brabanters, Aragonese, Navarrese, Basques, Coterelli and Triaverdini {17 }, who practise such cruelty upon Christians that they respect neither churches nor monasteries, and spare neither widows, orphans, old or young nor any age or sex, but like pagans destroy and lay everything waste, we likewise decree that those who hire, keep or support them, in the districts where they rage around, should be denounced publicly on Sundays and other solemn days in the churches, that they should be subject in every way to the same sentence and penalty as the above-mentioned heretics and that they should not be received into the communion of the church, unless they abjure their pernicious society and heresy. As long as such people persist in their wickedness, let all who are bound to them by any pact know that they are free from all obligations of loyalty, homage or any obedience. On these {18 } and on all the faithful we enjoin, for the remission of sins, that they oppose this scourge with all their might and by arms protect the christian people against them. Their goods are to be confiscated and princes free to subject them to slavery. Those who in true sorrow for their sins die in such a conflict should not doubt that they will receive forgiveness for their sins and the fruit of an eternal reward. We too trusting in the mercy of God and the authority of the blessed apostles Peter and Paul, grant to faithful Christians who take up arms against them, and who on the advice of bishops or other prelates seek to drive them out, a remission for two years of penance imposed on them, or, if their service shall be longer, we entrust it to the discretion of the bishops, to whom this task has been committed, to grant greater indulgence, according to their judgment, in proportion to the degree of their toil. We command that those who refuse to obey the exhortation of the bishops in this matter should not be allowed to receive the body and blood of the Lord. Meanwhile we receive under the protection of the church, as we do those who visit the Lord’s sepulchre, those who fired by their faith have taken upon themselves the task of driving out these heretics, and we decree that they should remain undisturbed from all disquiet both in their property and persons. If any of you presumes to molest them, he shall incur the sentence of excommunication from the bishop of the place, and let the sentence be observed by all until what has been taken away has been restored and suitable satisfaction has been made for the loss inflicted. Bishops and priests who do not resist such wrongs are to be punished by loss of their office until they gain the pardon of the apostolic see. FOURTH LATERAN COUNCIL : 1215 CONSTITUTIONS 1. Confession of Faith 2. On the error of abbot Joachim 3. On Heretics 4. On the pride of the Greeks towards the Latins 5. The dignity of the patriarchal sees 6. On yearly provincial councils 7. The correction of offences and the reform of morals 8. On inquests 9. On different rites within the same faith 10. On appointing preachers 11. On schoolmasters for the poor 12. On general chapters of monks 13. A prohibition against new religious orders 14. Clerical incontinence 15. Clerical gluttony and drunkeness 16. Decorum in the dress and behaviour of clerics 17. Dissolute prelates 18. Clerics to dissociate from shedding-blood 19. That profane objects may not be stored in churches 20. Chrism and the Eucharist to be kept under lock and key 21. On yearly confession to one’s own priest, yearly communion, the confessional seal 22. Physicians of the body to advise patients to call physicians of the soul 23. Churches are to be without a prelate for no more than 3 months 24. Democratic election of pastors 25. Invalid elections 26. Nominees for prelatures to be carefully screened 27. Candidates for the priesthood to be carefully trained and scrutinized 28. Who asks to resign must resign 29. Multiple benefices require papal dispensation 30. Penalties for bestowing ecclesiatical benefices on the unworthy 31. Canons’ sons cannot be canons where their fathers are 32. Parish priests to have adequate incomes 33. Renumeration for visitations to be reasonable 34. Prelates forbidden to procure ecclesiastical services at a profit 35. On appeal procedures 36. On interlocutory sentences 37. On Summons by Apostolic Letter 38. Written records of trials to be kept 39. On knowingly receiving stolen goods 40. True owner is the true possessor even if not possessing the object for a year 41. No one is to knowingly prescribe an object to the wrong party 42. Clerics and laity are not to usurp each others rights 43. Clerics cannot be forced to take oaths of fealty to those from whom they hold no temporalities 44. Only clerics may dispose of church property 45. Penalties for patrons who steal church goods or physically harm their clerics 46. Taxes cannot be levied on the Church, but the Church can volunteer contributions for the common good 47. On unjust excommunication 48. Challenging an ecclesiastical judge 49. Penalties for excommunication out of avarice 50. Prohibition of marriage is now perpetually restricted to the fourth degree 51. Clandestine marriages forbidden 52. On rejecting evidence from hearsay at a matrimonial suit 53. On those who give their fields to others to be cultivated so as to avoid tithes 54. Tithes should be paid before taxes 55. Tithes are to be paid on lands acquired, notwithstanding privileges 56. A parish priest shall not lose a tithe on account of some people making a pact 57. Interpreting the words of privileges 58. On the same in favour of bishops 59. Religious cannot give surety without permission of his abbot and convent 60. Abbots not to encroach on episcopal office 61. Religious may not receive tithes from lay hands 62. Regarding saint’s relics 63. On simony 64. Simony with regards to monks and nuns 65. Simony and extortion 66. Simony and avarice in clerics 67. Jews and excessive Usury 68. Jews appearing in public 69. Jews not to hold public offices 70. Jewish converts may not retain their old rite 71. Crusade to recover the holy Land INTRODUCTION During the pontificate of Innocent III (1198-1216) there appears to have occurred much growth in the reform of the church and in its freedom from subservience to the empire as well as in the primacy of the bishop of Rome and in the summoning of ecclesiastical business to the Roman curia. Innocent himself, turning his whole mind to the things of God, strove to build up the christian community. Spiritual things, and therefore the church, were to have first place in this endeavour; so that human affairs were to be dependent upon, and to draw their justification from, such considerations. The council may therefore be regarded as a great summary of the pontiff’s work and also as his greatest initiative. He was not able, however, to bring it to completion since he died shortly afterwards (1216) . Christian disasters in the holy Land probably provided the occasion for Innocent to call the council. Thus the pontiff ordered a new crusade to be proclaimed. But he also used the crusade as an instrument of ecclesiastical administration, combined with reform of the church, namely in a fierce war against heretics which he thought would restore ecclesiastical society. The council was summoned on 19 April 1213 to meet in November 1215. All the bishops and abbots of the church as well as priors and even (which was new) chapters of churches and of religious orders -- namely Cistercians, Premonstratensians, Hospitallers and Templars -- and the kings and civil authorities throughout Europe were invited. The bishops were explicitly asked to propose topics for discussion at the council, something which does not seem to have happened at the preceding Lateran councils. This was done by the legates who had been dispatched throughout Europe to preach the crusade. In each province only one or two bishops were allowed to remain at home; all the rest were ordered to be present. The purposes of the council were clearly set forth by Innocent himself : “to eradicate vices and to plant virtues, to correct faults and to reform morals, to remove heresies and to strengthen faith, to settle discords and to establish peace, to get rid of oppression and to foster liberty, to induce princes and christian people to come to the aid and succour of the holy Land... “. It seems that when Innocent summoned the council he wished to observe the customs of the early ecumenical councils, and indeed this fourth Lateran council was regarded as an ecumenical council by all learned and religious men of the age. When the council began in the Lateran basilica in November 1215 there were present 404 bishops from throughout the western church, and from the Latin eastern church a large number of abbots, canons and representatives of the secular power. No Greeks were present, even those invited, except the patriarch of the Maronites and a legate of the patriarch of Alexandria. The bond with the Greek church was indeed neglected, and matters became more serious through the actions of Latin bishops living in the east or through the decrees of the council. The council began on 11 November with the pontiff’s sermon. He was especially looking for a religious outcome to the council. Soon, however secular matters and power politics came to the fore. At the second session (on 20 November) the struggle for the empire between Frederick II and Otto IV was brought before the council and gave rise to a bitter and contentious debate. This affected the nature of the council in a way that had not been foreseen and revealed a certain ineffectiveness in Innocent’s plans for governing the church. Finally, the third session (on 30 November) was devoted to reading and approving the constitutions, which were proposed by the pontiff himself. The last decree dealt with preparations for a crusade -- “Jesus Christ’s business” -- and fixed 1 June 1217 for its start, though this was prevented by the pontiff’s death. The seventy constitutions would seem to give proof of the council’s excellent results. The work of Innocent appears clearly in them even though they were probably not directly composed by him. He regarded them as universal laws and as a summary of the jurisdiction of his pontificate. Few links with earlier councils survive, those with the third Lateran council being the only relevant ones of which we know. Thus, the first constitution is regarded as a new profession of faith. The second and third constitutions, which deal with heretics and contain dogmatic statements, are new. The remainder, which deal with the reform of the church, appear for the most part to be new either in form or in content. They deal with - the church’s discipline (6-13) , - the reform of clerical morals (14-22) , - episcopal elections and the administration of benefices (23-32) , - exaction of taxes (33-34) , - canonical suits (35-49) , - matrimony (50-52) , - tithes (53-61) , - simony (63-66) , and - Jews (67-70). The constitutions were first edited by Cr 2 (1538) CLXv-CLXXIIv, the text of which was used in Cr 2 (1551) 946-967, Su 3 (1567) 735-756, and Bn 3/2 (1606) 1450-1465. Roman editors produced a more accurate edition (Rm 4 [1612] 43-63) , collating the common text “with manuscript codices from the Vatican”. Rm was followed by Bn 3/2 (1618) 682-696 and ER 28 (1644) 154-225. LC 11/1 (1671) 142-233 provided a text “in Greek and Latin..... from a Mazarin codex” (=M) with various readings from a d’Achery codex (=A) . The Greek translation, however, which LC had thought to be contemporary, does not provide a complete text and was taken from a later codex. LC was followed by Hrd 7 (1714) 15-78, Cl 13 (1730) 927-1018, and Msi 22 (1778) 981-1068. There are many surviving manuscripts of the constitutions, as has been shown by Garcia, who is preparing a critical edition. That is to say, twenty manuscripts containing the constitutions and twelve others containing the constitutions together with commentaries; and probably there are others which are not yet known. The constitutions were taken into Compilatio IV, except 42 and [71], and into Decretalia of Gregory IX, except 42, 49 and [71]. The present edition follows the Roman edition, but all the variant readings that have so far been brought to light by scholars have been cited with {n} referring to the endnotes. CONSTITUTIONS 1. Confession of Faith (Source: Church Councils)
We firmly believe and simply confess that there is only one true God, eternal and immeasurable, almighty, unchangeable, incomprehensible and ineffable, Father, Son and holy Spirit, three persons but one absolutely simple essence, substance or nature {1} . The Father is from none, the Son from the Father alone, and the holy Spirit from both equally, eternally without beginning or end; the Father generating, the Son being born, and the holy Spirit proceeding; consubstantial and coequal, co-omnipotent and coeternal; one principle of all things, creator of all things invisible and visible, spiritual and corporeal; who by his almighty power at the beginning of time created from nothing both spiritual and corporeal creatures, that is to say angelic and earthly, and then created human beings composed as it were of both spirit and body in common. The devil and other demons were created by God naturally good, but they became evil by their own doing. Man, however, sinned at the prompting of the devil. This holy Trinity, which is undivided according to its common essence but distinct according to the properties of its persons, gave the teaching of salvation to the human race through Moses and the holy prophets and his other servants, according to the most appropriate disposition of the times. Finally the only-begotten Son of God, Jesus Christ, who became incarnate by the action of the whole Trinity in common and was conceived from the ever virgin Mary through the cooperation of the holy Spirit, having become true man, composed of a rational soul and human flesh, one person in two natures, showed more clearly the way of life. Although he is immortal and unable to suffer according to his divinity, he was made capable of suffering and dying according to his humanity. Indeed, having suffered and died on the wood of the cross for the salvation of the human race, he descended to the underworld, rose from the dead and ascended into heaven. He descended in the soul, rose in the flesh, and ascended in both. He will come at the end of time to judge the living and the dead, to render to every person according to his works, both to the reprobate and to the elect. All of them will rise with their own bodies, which they now wear, so as to receive according to their deserts, whether these be good or bad; for the latter perpetual punishment with the devil, for the former eternal glory with Christ. There is indeed one universal church of the faithful, outside of which nobody at all is saved, in which Jesus Christ is both priest and sacrifice. His body and blood are truly contained in the sacrament of the altar under the forms of bread and wine, the bread and wine having been changed in substance, by God’s power, into his body and blood, so that in order to achieve this mystery of unity we receive from God what he received from us. Nobody can effect this sacrament except a priest who has been properly ordained according to the church’s keys, which Jesus Christ himself gave to the apostles and their successors. But the sacrament of baptism is consecrated in water at the invocation of the undivided Trinity -- namely Father, Son and holy Spirit -- and brings salvation to both children and adults when it is correctly carried out by anyone in the form laid down by the church. If someone falls into sin after having received baptism, he or she can always be restored through true penitence. For not only virgins and the continent but also married persons find favour with God by right faith and good actions and deserve to attain to eternal blessedness. 2. On the error of abbot Joachim We therefore condemn and reprove that small book or treatise which abbot Joachim published against master Peter Lombard concerning the unity or essence of the Trinity, in which he calls Peter Lombard a heretic and a madman because he said in his Sentences, “For there is a certain supreme reality which is the Father and the Son and the holy Spirit, and it neither begets nor is begotten nor does it proceed”. He asserts from this that Peter Lombard ascribes to God not so much a Trinity as a quaternity, that is to say three persons and a common essence as if this were a fourth person. Abbot Joachim clearly protests that there does not exist any reality which is the Father and the Son and the holy Spirit-neither an essence nor a substance nor a nature -- although he concedes that the Father and the Son and the holy Spirit are one essence, one substance and one nature. He professes, however, that such a unity is not true and proper but rather collective and analogous, in the way that many persons are said to be one people and many faithful one church, according to that saying : Of the multitude of believers there was one heart and one mind, and Whoever adheres to God is one spirit with him; again He who plants and he who waters are one, and all of us are one body in Christ; and again in the book of Kings, My people and your people are one. In support of this opinion he especially uses the saying which Christ uttered in the gospel concerning the faithful : I wish, Father, that they may be one in us, just as we are one, so that they may be made perfect in one. For, he says, Christ’s faithful are not one in the sense of a single reality which is common to all. They are one only in this sense, that they form one church through the unity of the catholic faith, and finally one kingdom through a union of indissoluble charity. Thus we read in the canonical letter of John : For there are three that bear witness in heaven, the Father and the Word and the holy Spirit, and these three are one; and he immediately adds, And the three that bear witness on earth are the spirit, water and blood, and the three are one, according to some manuscripts. We, however, with the approval of this sacred and universal council, believe and confess with Peter Lombard that there exists a certain supreme reality, incomprehensible and ineffable, which truly is the Father and the Son and the holy Spirit, the three persons together and each one of them separately. Therefore in God there is only a Trinity, not a quaternity, since each of the three persons is that reality -- that is to say substance, essence or divine nature-which alone is the principle of all things, besides which no other principle can be found. This reality neither begets nor is begotten nor proceeds; the Father begets, the Son is begotten and the holy Spirit proceeds. Thus there is a distinction of persons but a unity of nature. Although therefore the Father is one person, the Son another person and the holy Spirit another person, they are not different realities, but rather that which is the Father is the Son and the holy Spirit, altogether the same; thus according to the orthodox and catholic faith they are believed to be consubstantial. For the Father, in begetting the Son from eternity, gave him his substance, as he himself testifies : What the Father gave me is greater than all. It cannot be said that the Father gave him part of his substance and kept part for himself since the Father’s substance is indivisible, inasmuch as it is altogether simple. Nor can it be said that the Father transferred his substance to the Son, in the act of begetting, as if he gave it to the Son in such a way that he did not retain it for himself; for otherwise he would have ceased to be substance. It is therefore clear that in being begotten the Son received the Father’s substance without it being diminished in any way, and thus the Father and the Son have the same substance. Thus the Father and the Son and also the holy Spirit proceeding from both are the same reality. When, therefore, the Truth prays to the Father for those faithful to him, saying I wish that they may be one in us just as we are one, this word one means for the faithful a union of love in grace, and for the divine persons a unity of identity in nature, as the Truth says elsewhere, You must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect {2} , as if he were to say more plainly, You must be perfect in the perfection of grace, just as your Father is perfect in the perfection that is his by nature, each in his own way. For between creator and creature there can be noted no similarity so great that a greater dissimilarity cannot be seen between them. If anyone therefore ventures to defend or approve the opinion or doctrine of the aforesaid Joachim on this matter, let him be refuted by all as a heretic. By this, however, we do not intend anything to the detriment of the monastery of Fiore, which Joachim founded, because there both the instruction is according to rule and the observance is healthy; especially since Joachim ordered all his writings to be handed over to us, to be approved or corrected according to the judgment of the apostolic see. He dictated a letter, which he signed with his own hand, in which he firmly confesses that he holds the faith held by the Roman church, which is by God’s plan the mother and mistress of all the faithful. We also reject and condemn that most perverse doctrine of the impious Amalric, whose mind the father of lies blinded to such an extent that his teaching is to be regarded as mad more than as heretical. 3. On Heretics We excommunicate and anathematize every heresy raising itself up against this holy, orthodox and catholic faith which we have expounded above. We condemn all heretics, whatever names they may go under. They have different faces indeed but their tails are tied together inasmuch as they are alike in their pride. Let those condemned be handed over to the secular authorities present, or to their bailiffs, for due punishment. Clerics are first to be degraded from their orders. The goods of the condemned are to be confiscated, if they are lay persons, and if clerics they are to be applied to the churches from which they received their stipends. Those who are only found suspect of heresy are to be struck with the sword of anathema, unless they prove their innocence by an appropriate purgation, having regard to the reasons for suspicion and the character of the person. Let such persons be avoided by all until they have made adequate satisfaction. If they persist in the excommunication for a year, they are to be condemned as heretics. Let secular authorities, whatever offices they may be discharging, be advised and urged and if necessary be compelled by ecclesiastical censure, if they wish to be reputed and held to be faithful, to take publicly an oath for the defence of the faith to the effect that they will seek, in so far as they can, to expel from the lands subject to their jurisdiction all heretics designated by the church in good faith. Thus whenever anyone is promoted to spiritual or temporal authority, he shall be obliged to confirm this article with an oath. If however a temporal lord, required and instructed by the church, neglects to cleanse his territory of this heretical filth, he shall be bound with the bond of excommunication by the metropolitan and other bishops of the province. If he refuses to give satisfaction within a year, this shall be reported to the supreme pontiff so that he may then declare his vassals absolved from their fealty to him and make the land available for occupation by Catholics so that these may, after they have expelled the heretics, possess it unopposed and preserve it in the purity of the faith -- saving the right of the suzerain provided that he makes no difficulty in the matter and puts no impediment in the way. The same law is to be observed no less as regards those who do not have a suzerain. Catholics who take the cross and gird themselves up for the expulsion of heretics shall enjoy the same indulgence, and be strengthened by the same holy privilege, as is granted to those who go to the aid of the holy Land. Moreover, we determine to subject to excommunication believers who receive, defend or support heretics. We strictly ordain that if any such person, after he has been designated as excommunicated, refuses to render satisfaction within a year, then by the law itself he shall be branded as infamous and not be admitted to public offices or councils or to elect others to the same or to give testimony. He shall be intestable, that is he shall not have the freedom to make a will nor shall succeed to an inheritance. Moreover nobody shall be compelled to answer to him on any business whatever, but he may be compelled to answer to them. If he is a judge sentences pronounced by him shall have no force and cases may not be brought before him; if an advocate, he may not be allowed to defend anyone; if a notary, documents drawn up by him shall be worthless and condemned along with their condemned author; and in similar matters we order the same to be observed. If however he is a cleric, let him be deposed from every office and benefice, so that the greater the fault the greater be the punishment. If any refuse to avoid such persons after they have been pointed out by the church, let them be punished with the sentence of excommunication until they make suitable satisfaction. Clerics should not, of course, give the sacraments of the church to such pestilent people nor give them a christian burial nor accept alms or offerings from them; if they do, let them be deprived of their office and not restored to it without a special indult of the apostolic see. Similarly with regulars, let them be punished with losing their privileges in the diocese in which they presume to commit such excesses. “There are some who holding to the form of religion but denying its power (as the Apostle says) , claim for themselves the authority to preach, whereas the same Apostle says, How shall they preach unless they are sent? Let therefore all those who have been forbidden or not sent to preach, and yet dare publicly or privately to usurp the office of preaching without having received the authority of the apostolic see or the catholic bishop of the place”, be bound with the bond of excommunication and, unless they repent very quickly, be punished by another suitable penalty. We add further that each archbishop or bishop, either in person or through his archdeacon or through suitable honest persons, should visit twice or at least once in the year any parish of his in which heretics are said to live. There he should compel three or more men of good repute, or even if it seems expedient the whole neighbourhood, to swear that if anyone knows of heretics there or of any persons who hold secret conventicles or who differ in their life and habits from the normal way of living of the faithful, then he will take care to point them out to the bishop. The bishop himself should summon the accused to his presence, and they should be punished canonically if they are unable to clear themselves of the charge or if after compurgation they relapse into their former errors of faith. If however any of them with damnable obstinacy refuse to honour an oath and so will not take it, let them by this very fact be regarded as heretics. We therefore will and command and, in virtue of obedience, strictly command that bishops see carefully to the effective execution of these things throughout their dioceses, if they wish to avoid canonical penalties. If any bishop is negligent or remiss in cleansing his diocese of the ferment of heresy, then when this shows itself by unmistakeable signs he shall be deposed from his office as bishop and there shall be put in his place a suitable person who both wishes and is able to overthrow the evil of heresy. 4. On the pride of the Greeks towards the Latins Although we would wish to cherish and honour the Greeks who in our days are returning to the obedience of the apostolic see, by preserving their customs and rites as much as we can in the Lord, nevertheless we neither want nor ought to defer to them in matters which bring danger to souls and detract from the church’s honour. For, after the Greek church together with certain associates and supporters withdrew from the obedience of the apostolic see, the Greeks began to detest the Latins so much that, among other wicked things which they committed out of contempt for them, when Latin priests celebrated on their altars they would not offer sacrifice on them until they had washed them, as if the altars had been defiled thereby. The Greeks even had the temerity to rebaptize those baptized by the Latins; and some, as we are told, still do not fear to do this. Wishing therefore to remove such a great scandal from God’s church, we strictly order, on the advice of this sacred council, that henceforth they do not presume to do such things but rather conform themselves like obedient sons to the holy Roman church, their mother, so that there may be one flock and one shepherd. If anyone however does dare to do such a thing, let him be struck with the sword of excommunication and be deprived of every ecclesiastical office and benefice. 5. The dignity of the patriarchal sees Renewing the ancient privileges of the patriarchal sees, we decree, with the approval of this sacred universal synod, that after the Roman church, which through the Lord’s disposition has a primacy of ordinary power over all other churches inasmuch as it is the mother and mistress of all Christ’s faithful, the church of Constantinople shall have the first place, the church of Alexandria the second place, the church of Antioch the third place, and the church of Jerusalem the fourth place, each maintaining its own rank. Thus after their pontiffs have received from the Roman pontiff the pallium, which is the sign of the fullness of the pontifical office, and have taken an oath of fidelity and obedience to him they may lawfully confer the pallium on their own suffragans, receiving from them for themselves canonical profession and for the Roman church the promise of obedience. They may have a standard of the Lord’s cross carried before them anywhere except in the city of Rome or wherever there is present the supreme pontiff or his legate wearing the insignia of the apostolic dignity. In all the provinces subject to their jurisdiction let appeal be made to them, when it is necessary, except for appeals made to the apostolic see, to which all must humbly defer. 6. On yearly provincial councils As is known to have been ordained of old by the holy fathers, metropolitans should not fail to hold provincial councils each year with their suffragans in which they consider diligently and in the fear of God the correction of excesses and the reform of morals, especially among the clergy. Let them recite the canonical rules, especially those which have been laid down by this general council, so as to secure their observance, inflicting on transgressors the punishment due. In order that this may be done more effectively, let them appoint for each diocese suitable persons, that is to say prudent and honest persons, who will simply and summarily, without any jurisdiction, throughout the whole year, carefully investigate what needs correction or reform and will then faithfully report these matters to the metropolitan and suffragans and others at the next council, so that they may proceed with careful deliberation against these and other matters according to what is profitable and decent. Let them see to the observance of the things that they decree, publishing them in episcopal synods which are to be held annually in each diocese. Whoever neglects to carry out this salutary statute is to be suspended from his benefices and from the execution of his office, until his superior decides to release him. 7. The correction of offences and the reform of morals By this inviolable constitution we decree that prelates of churches should prudently and diligently attend to the correction of their subjects’ offences especially of clerics, and to the reform of morals. Otherwise the blood of such persons will be required at their hands. In order that they may be able to exercise freely this office of correction and reform, we decree that no custom or appeal can impede the execution of their decisions, unless they go beyond the form which is to be observed in such matters. The offences of canons of a cathedral church, however, which have customarily been corrected by the chapter, are to be corrected by the chapter in those churches which until now have had this custom, at the instance and on the orders of the bishop and within a suitable time-limit which the bishop will decide. If this is not done, then the bishop, mindful of God and putting an end to all opposition, is to go ahead with correcting the persons by ecclesiastical censure according as the care of souls requires, and he shall not omit to correct their other faults according as the good of souls requires, with due order however being observed in all things {3} . For the rest, if the canons stop celebrating divine services without manifest and reasonable cause, especially if this is in contempt of the bishop, then the bishop himself may celebrate in the cathedral church if he wishes, and on complaint from him, the metropolitan, as our delegate in the matter, may, when he has learned the truth, punish the persons concerned in such fashion that for fear of punishment they shall not venture such action in the future. Let prelates of churches therefore carefully see that they do not turn this salutary statute into a form of financial gain or other exaction, but rather let them carry it out assiduously and faithfully, if they wish to avoid canonical punishment, since in these matters the apostolic see, directed by the Lord, will be very vigilant. 8. On inquests “How and in what way a prelate ought to proceed to inquire into and punish the offences of his subjects may be clearly ascertained from the authorities of the new and old Testament, from which subsequent sanctions in canon law derive”, as we said distinctly some time ago and now confirm with the approval of this holy council. “For we read in the gospel that the steward who was denounced to his lord for wasting his goods heard him say : What is this that I hear about you? Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be my steward. And in Genesis the Lord says : I will go down and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry which has come to me. From these authorities it is clearly shown that not only when a subject has committed some excess but also when a prelate has done so, and the matter reaches the ears of the superior through an outcry or rumour which has come not from the malevolent and slanderous but from prudent and honest persons, and has come not only once but frequently (as the outcry suggests and the rumour proves) , then the superior ought diligently to seek out the truth before senior persons of the church. If the seriousness of the matter demands, then the fault of the offender should be subjected to canonical punishment. However, the superior should carry out the duty of his office not as if he were the accuser and the judge but rather with the rumour providing the accusation and the outcry making the denunciation. While this should be observed in the case of subjects, all the more carefully should it be observed in the case of prelates, who are set as a mark for the arrow. Prelates cannot please everyone since they are bound by their office not only to convince but also to rebuke and sometimes even to suspend and to bind. Thus they frequently incur the hatred of many people and risk ambushes. Therefore the holy fathers have wisely decreed that accusations against prelates should not be admitted readily, without careful provision being taken to shut the door not only to false but also to malicious accusations, lest with the columns being shaken the building itself collapses. They thus wished to ensure that prelates are not accused unjustly, and yet that at the same time they take care not to sin in an arrogant manner, finding a suitable medicine for each disease : namely, a criminal accusation which entails loss of status, that is to say degradation, shall in no wise be allowed unless it is preceded by a charge in lawful form. But when someone is so notorious for his offences that an outcry goes up which can no longer be ignored without scandal or be tolerated without danger, then without the slightest hesitation let action be taken to inquire into and punish his offences, not out of hate but rather out of charity. If the offence is grave, even though not involving his degradation, let him be removed from all administration, in accordance with the saying of the gospel that the steward is to be removed from his stewardship if he cannot give a proper account of it”. The person about whom the inquiry is being made ought to be present, unless he absents himself out of contumacy. The articles of the inquiry should be shown to him so that he may be able to defend himself. The names of witnesses as well as their depositions are to be made known to him so that both what has been said and by whom will be apparent; and legitimate exceptions and responses are to be admitted, lest the suppression of names leads to the bold bringing false charges and the exclusion of exceptions leads to false depositions being made. A prelate should therefore act the more diligently in correcting the offences of his subjects in proportion as he would be worthy of condemnation were he to leave them uncorrected. Notorious cases aside, he may proceed against them in three ways : namely, by accusation, denunciation and inquest. Let careful precaution nevertheless be taken in all cases lest serious loss is incurred for the sake of a small gain. Thus, just as a charge in lawful form ought to precede the accusation, so a charitable warning ought to precede the denunciation, and the publication of the charge ought to precede the inquest, with the principle always being observed that the form of the sentence shall accord with the rules of legal procedure. We do not think, however, that this order needs to be observed in all respects as regards regulars, who can be more easily and freely removed from their offices by their own superiors, when the case requires it. 9. On different rites within the same faith Since in many places peoples of different languages live within the same city or diocese, having one faith but different rites and customs, we therefore strictly order bishops of such cities and dioceses to provide suitable men who will do the following in the various rites and languages : celebrate the divine services for them, administer the church’s sacraments, and instruct them by word and example. We altogether forbid one and the same city or diocese to have more than one bishop, as if it were a body with several heads like a monster. But if for the aforesaid reasons urgent necessity demands it, the bishop of the place may appoint, after careful deliberation, a catholic bishop who is appropriate for the nations in question and who will be his vicar in the aforesaid matters and will be obedient and subject to him in all things. If any such person behaves otherwise, let him know that he has been struck by the sword of excommunication and if he does not return to his senses let him be deposed from every ministry in the church, with the secular arm being called in if necessary to quell such great insolence. 10. On appointing preachers Among the various things that are conducive to the salvation of the christian people, the nourishment of God’s word is recognized to be especially necessary, since just as the body is fed with material food so the soul is fed with spiritual food, according to the words, man lives not by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. It often happens that bishops by themselves are not sufficient to minister the word of God to the people, especially in large and scattered dioceses, whether this is because of their many occupations or bodily infirmities or because of incursions of the enemy or for other reasons-let us not say for lack of knowledge, which in bishops is to be altogether condemned and is not to be tolerated in the future. We therefore decree by this general constitution that bishops are to appoint suitable men to carry out with profit this duty of sacred preaching, men who are powerful in word and deed and who will visit with care the peoples entrusted to them in place of the bishops, since these by themselves are unable to do it, and will build them up by word and example. The bishops shall suitably furnish them with what is necessary, when they are in need of it, lest for want of necessities they are forced to abandon what they have begun. We therefore order that there be appointed in both cathedral and other conventual churches suitable men whom the bishops can have as coadjutors and cooperators not only in the office of preaching but also in hearing confessions and enjoining penances and in other matters which are conducive to the salvation of souls. If anyone neglects to do this, let him be subject to severe punishment. 11. On schoolmasters for the poor Zeal for learning and the opportunity to make progress is denied to some through lack of means. The Lateran council therefore dutifully decreed that “in each cathedral church there should be provided a suitable benefice for a master who shall instruct without charge the clerics of the cathedral church and other poor scholars, thus at once satisfying the teacher’s needs and opening up the way of knowledge to learners”. This decree, however, is very little observed in many churches. We therefore confirm it and add that not only in every cathedral church but also in other churches with sufficient resources, a suitable master elected by the chapter or by the greater and sounder part of it, shall be appointed by the prelate to teach grammar and other branches of study, as far as is possible, to the clerics of those and other churches. The metropolitan church shall have a theologian to teach scripture to priests and others and especially to instruct them in matters which are recognized as pertaining to the cure of souls. The income of one prebend shall be assigned by the chapter to each master, and as much shall be assigned by the metropolitan to the theologian. The incumbent does not by this become a canon but he receives the income of one as long as he continues to teach. If the metropolitan church finds providing for two masters a burden, let it provide for the theologian in the aforesaid way but get adequate provision made for the grammarian in another church of the city or diocese. 12. On general chapters of monks In every kingdom or province let there be held every three years, saving the right of diocesan bishops, a general chapter of those abbots, and priors who do not have abbots over them, who have not been accustomed to hold one. All should attend, unless they have a canonical impediment, at one of the monasteries which is suitable for the purpose; with this limitation, that none of them brings with him more than six mounts and eight persons. Let them invite in charity, at the start of this innovation, two neighbouring Cistercian abbots to give them appropriate advice and help, since from long practice the Cistercians are well informed about holding such chapters. The two abbots shall then coopt without opposition two suitable persons from among them. The four of them shall then preside over the whole chapter, in such a way however that none of them assumes the leadership; so that they can if necessary be changed after careful deliberation. This kind of chapter shall be held continuously over a certain number of days, according to Cistercian custom. They shall treat carefully of the reform of the order and the observance of the rule. What has been decided, with the approval of the four presiding, is to be observed inviolably by all without any excuse or contradiction or appeal. They shall also decide where the next chapter is to be held. Those attending shall lead a common life and divide out proportionately all the common expenses. If they cannot all live in the same house, let them at least live in groups in various houses. Let religious and circumspect persons be appointed at the chapter who will make it their business to visit on our behalf all the abbeys of the kingdom or province, of both monks and nuns, according to the manner prescribed for them. Let them correct and reform what seems to need correction and reform. Thus if they know of the superior of a place who should certainly be removed from office, let them denounce the person to the bishop concerned so that he may see to his or her removal. If the bishop will not do this, let the visitors themselves refer the matter to the apostolic see for examination. We wish and command canons regular to observe this according to their order. If there emerges out of this innovation any difficulty that cannot be resolved by the aforesaid persons, let it be referred, without offence being given, to the judgment of the apostolic see; but let the other matters, about which after careful deliberation they were in agreement, be observed without breach. Diocesan bishops, moreover, should take care to reform the monasteries under their jurisdiction, so that when the aforesaid visitors arrive they will find in them more to commend than to correct. Let them be very careful lest the said monasteries are weighed down by them with unjust burdens, for just as we wish the rights of superiors to be upheld so we do not wish to support wrongs done to subjects. Furthermore, we strictly command both diocesan bishops and those who preside at chapters to restrain by ecclesiastical censure, without appeal, advocates, patrons, lords’ deputies, governors, officials, magnates, knights, and any other people, from daring to cause harm to monasteries in respect of their persons and their goods. Let them not fail to compel such persons, if by chance they do cause harm, to make satisfaction, so that almighty God may be served more freely and more peacefully. 13. A prohibition against new religious orders Lest too great a variety of religious orders leads to grave confusion in God’s church, we strictly forbid anyone henceforth to found a new religious order. Whoever wants to become a religious should enter one of the already approved orders. Likewise, whoever wishes to found a new religious house should take the rule and institutes from already approved religious orders. We forbid, moreover, anyone to attempt to have a place as a monk in more than one monastery or an abbot to preside over more than one monastery. 14. Clerical incontinence In order that the morals and conduct of clerics may be reformed for the better, let all of them strive to live in a continent and chaste way, especially those in holy orders. Let them beware of every vice involving lust, especially that on account of which the wrath of God came down from heaven upon the sons of disobedience, so that they may be worthy to minister in the sight of almighty God with a pure heart and an unsullied body. Lest the ease of receiving pardon prove an incentive to sin, we decree that those who are caught giving way to the vice of incontinence are to be punished according to canonical sanctions, in proportion to the seriousness of their sins. We order such sanctions to be effectively and strictly observed, in order that those whom the fear of God does not hold back from evil may at least be restrained from sin by temporal punishment. Therefore anyone who has been suspended for this reason and presumes to celebrate divine services, shall not only be deprived of his ecclesiastical benefices but shall also, on account of his twofold fault, be deposed in perpetuity. Prelates who dare to support such persons in their wickedness, especially if they do it for money or for some other temporal advantage, are to be subject to like punishment. Those clerics who have not renounced the marriage bond, following the custom of their region, shall be punished even more severely if they fall into sin, since for them it is possible to make lawful use of matrimony. 15. Clerical gluttony and drunkeness All clerics should carefully abstain from gluttony and drunkenness. They should temper the wine to themselves and themselves to the wine. Let no one be urged to drink, since drunkenness obscures the intellect and stirs up lust. Accordingly we decree that that abuse is to be entirely abolished whereby in some places drinkers bind themselves to drink equal amounts, and that man is most praised who makes the most people drunk and himself drains the deepest cups. If anyone shows himself worthy of blame in these matters, let him be suspended from his benefice or office, unless after being warned by his superior he makes suitable satisfaction. We forbid all clerics to hunt or to fowl, so let them not presume to have dogs or birds for fowling {4}. 16. Decorum in the dress and behaviour of clerics Clerics should not practice callings or business of a secular nature, especially those that are dishonourable. They should not watch mimes, entertainers and actors. Let them avoid taverns altogether, unless by chance they are obliged by necessity on a journey. They should not play at games of chance or of dice, nor be present at such games. They should have a suitable crown and tonsure, and let them diligently apply themselves to the divine services and other good pursuits. Their outer garments should be closed and neither too short nor too long. Let them not indulge in red or green cloths, long sleeves or shoes with embroidery or pointed toes, or in bridles, saddles, breast-plates and spurs that are gilded or have other superfluous ornamentation. Let them not wear cloaks with sleeves at divine services in a church, nor even elsewhere, if they are priests or parsons, unless a justifiable fear requires a change of dress. They are not to wear buckles or belts ornamented with gold or silver, or even rings except for those whose dignity it befits to have them. All bishops should wear outer garments of linen in public and in church, unless they have been monks, in which case they should wear the monastic habit; and let them not wear their cloaks loose in public but rather fastened together behind the neck or across the chest. 17. Dissolute prelates We regretfully relate that not only certain lesser clerics but also some prelates of churches pass almost half the night in unnecessary feasting and forbidden conversation, not to mention other things, and leaving what is left of the night for sleep, they are barely roused at the dawn chorus of the birds and pass away the entire morning in a continuous state of stupor. There are others who celebrate mass barely four times a year and, what is worse, do not bother to attend; if they happen to be present when it is being celebrated, they flee the silence of the choir and pay attention to conversations of the laity outside and so while they attend to talk that is unnecessary for them, they do not give an attentive ear to the things of God. We altogether forbid these and similar things on pain of suspension. We strictly command such persons, in virtue of obedience, to celebrate the divine office, day and night alike, as far as God allows them, with both zeal and devotion. 18. Clerics to dissociate from shedding-blood No cleric may decree or pronounce a sentence involving the shedding of blood, or carry out a punishment involving the same, or be present when such punishment is carried out. If anyone, however, under cover of this statute, dares to inflict injury on churches or ecclesiastical persons, let him be restrained by ecclesiastical censure. A cleric may not write or dictate letters which require punishments involving the shedding of blood, in the courts of princes this responsibility should be entrusted to laymen and not to clerics. Moreover no cleric may be put in command of mercenaries or crossbowmen or suchlike men of blood; nor may a subdeacon, deacon or priest practise the art of surgery, which involves cauterizing and making incisions; nor may anyone confer a rite of blessing or consecration on a purgation by ordeal of boiling or cold water or of the red-hot iron, saving nevertheless the previously promulgated prohibitions regarding single combats and duels. 19. That profane objects may not be stored in churches We are unwilling to tolerate the fact that certain clerics deposit in churches their own and even others’ furniture, so that the churches look like lay houses rather than basilicas of God, regardless of the fact that the Lord would not allow a vessel to be carried through the temple. There are others who not only leave their churches uncared for but also leave the service vessels and ministers’ vestments and altar cloths and even corporals so dirty that they at times horrify some people. Because zeal for God’s house consumes us, we strictly forbid objects of this kind to be allowed into churches, unless they have to be taken in on account of enemy incursions or sudden fires or other urgent necessities, and then in such a way that when the emergency is over the objects are taken back to where they came from. We also order the aforesaid churches, vessels, corporals and vestments to be kept neat and clean. For it seems too absurd to take no notice of squalor in sacred things when it is unbecoming even in profane things. 20. Chrism and the Eucharist to be kept under lock and key We decree that the chrism and the eucharist are to be kept locked away in a safe place in all churches, so that no audacious hand can reach them to do anything horrible or impious. If he who is responsible for their safe-keeping leaves them around carelessly, let him be suspended from office for three months; if anything unspeakable happens on account of his carelessness, let him be subject to graver punishment. 21. On yearly confession to one’s own priest, yearly communion, the confessional seal All the faithful of either sex, after they have reached the age of discernment, should individually confess all their sins in a faithful manner to their own priest at least once a year, and let them take care to do what they can to perform the penance imposed on them. Let them reverently receive the sacrament of the eucharist at least at Easter unless they think, for a good reason and on the advice of their own priest, that they should abstain from receiving it for a time. Otherwise they shall be barred from entering a church during their lifetime and they shall be denied a christian burial at death. Let this salutary decree be frequently published in churches, so that nobody may find the pretence of an excuse in the blindness of ignorance. If any persons wish, for good reasons, to confess their sins to another priest let them first ask and obtain the permission of their own priest; for otherwise the other priest will not have the power to absolve or to bind them. The priest shall be discerning and prudent, so that like a skilled doctor he may pour wine and oil over the wounds of the injured one. Let him carefully inquire about the circumstances of both the sinner and the sin, so that he may prudently discern what sort of advice he ought to give and what remedy to apply, using various means to heal the sick person. Let him take the utmost care, however, not to betray the sinner at all by word or sign or in any other way. If the priest needs wise advice, let him seek it cautiously without any mention of the person concerned. For if anyone presumes to reveal a sin disclosed to him in confession, we decree that he is not only to be deposed from his priestly office but also to be confined to a strict monastery to do perpetual penance. 22. Physicians of the body to advise patients to call physicians of the soul As sickness of the body may sometimes be the result of sin -- as the Lord said to the sick man whom he had cured, Go and sin no more, lest something worse befall you -- so we by this present decree order and strictly command physicians of the body, when they are called to the sick, to warn and persuade them first of all to call in physicians of the soul so that after their spiritual health has been seen to they may respond better to medicine for their bodies, for when the cause ceases so does the effect. This among other things has occasioned this decree, namely that some people on their sickbed, when they are advised by physicians to arrange for the health of their souls, fall into despair and so the more readily incur the danger of death. If any physician transgresses this our constitution, after it has been published by the local prelates, he shall be barred from entering a church until he has made suitable satisfaction for a transgression of this kind. Moreover, since the soul is much more precious than the body, we forbid any physician, under pain of anathema, to prescribe anything for the bodily health of a sick person that may endanger his soul. 23. Churches are to be without a prelate for no more than 3 months Lest a rapacious wolf attack the Lord’s flock for want of a shepherd, or lest a widowed church suffer grave injury to its good, we decree, desiring to counteract the danger to souls in this matter and to provide protection for the churches, that a cathedral church or a church of the regular clergy is not to remain without a prelate for more than three months. If the election has not been held within this time, provided there is no just impediment, then those who ought to have made the election are to lose the power to elect for that time and it is to devolve upon the person who is recognized as the immediate superior. The person upon whom the power has devolved, mindful of the Lord, shall not delay beyond three months in canonically providing the widowed church, with the advice of his chapter and of other prudent men, with a suitable person from the same church, or from another if a worthy candidate cannot be found in the former, if he wishes to avoid canonical penalty. 24. Democratic election of pastors On account of the various forms of elections which some try to invent, there arise many difficulties and great dangers for the bereaved churches. We therefore decree that at the holding of an election, when all are present who ought to, want to and conveniently can take part, three trustworthy persons shall be chosen from the college who will diligently find out, in confidence and individually, the opinions of everybody. After they have committed the result to writing, they shall together quickly announce it. There shall be no further appeal, so that after a scrutiny that person shall be elected upon whom all or the greater or sounder part of the chapter agree. Or else the power of electing shall be committed to some suitable persons who, acting on behalf of everybody, shall provide the bereaved church with a pastor. Otherwise the election made shall not be valid, unless perchance it was made by all together as if by divine inspiration and without flaw. Those who attempt to make an election contrary to the aforesaid forms shall be deprived of the power of electing on that occasion. We absolutely forbid anyone to appoint a proxy in the matter of an election, unless he is absent from the place where he ought to receive the summons and is detained from coming by a lawful impediment. He shall take an oath about this, if necessary, and then he may commit his representation to one of the college, if he so wishes. We also condemn clandestine elections and order that as soon as an election has taken place it should be solemnly published. 25. Invalid elections Whoever presumes to consent to his being elected through abuse of the secular power, against canonical freedom, both forfeits the benefit of being elected and becomes ineligible, and he cannot be elected to any dignity without a dispensation. Those who venture to take part in elections of this kind, which we declare to be invalid by the law itself, shall be suspended from their offices and benefices for three years and during that time shall be deprived of the power to elect. 26. Nominees for prelatures to be carefully screened There is nothing more harmful to God’s church than for unworthy prelates to be entrusted with the government of souls. Wishing therefore to provide the necessary remedy for this disease, we decree by this irrevocable constitution that when anyone has been entrusted with the government of souls, then he who holds the right to confirm him should diligently examine both the process of the election and the character of the person elected, so that when everything is in order he may confirm him. For, if confirmation was granted in advance when everything was not in order, then not only would the person improperly promoted have to be rejected but also the author of the improper promotion would have to be punished. We decree that the latter shall be punished in the following way : if his negligence has been proved, especially if he has approved a man of insufficient learning or dishonest life or unlawful age, he shall not only lose the power of confirming the person’s first successor but shall also, lest by any chance he escapes punishment, be suspended from receiving the fruits of his own benefice until it is right for him to be granted a pardon. If he is convicted of having erred intentionally in the matter, then he is to be subject to graver punishment. Bishops too, if they wish to avoid canonical punishment, should take care to promote to holy orders and to ecclesiastical dignities men who will be able to discharge worthily the office entrusted to them. Those who are immediately subject to the Roman pontiff shall, to obtain confirmation of their office, present themselves personally to him, if this can conveniently be done, or send suitable persons through whom a careful inquiry can be made about the process of the election and the persons elected. In this way, on the strength of the pontiff’s informed judgment, they may finally enter into the fullness of their office, when there is no impediment in canon law. For a time, however, those who are in very distant parts, namely outside Italy, if they were elected peaceably, may by dispensation, on account of the needs and benefit of the churches, administer in things spiritual and temporal, but in such a way that they alienate nothing whatever of the church’s goods. They may receive the customary consecration or blessing. 27. Candidates for the priesthood to be carefully trained and scrutinized To guide souls is a supreme art. We therefore strictly order bishops carefully to prepare those who are to be promoted to the priesthood and to instruct them, either by themselves or through other suitable persons, in the divine services and the sacraments of the church, so that they may be able to celebrate them correctly. But if they presume henceforth to ordain the ignorant and unformed, which can indeed easily be detected, we decree that both the ordainers and those ordained are to be subject to severe punishment. For it is preferable, especially in the ordination of priests, to have a few good ministers than many bad ones, for if a blind man leads another blind man, both will fall into the pit. 28. Who asks to resign must resign Certain persons insistently ask for permission to resign and obtain it, but then do not resign. Since in such a request to resign they would seem to have in mind either the good of the churches over which they preside or their own well-being, neither of which do we wish to be impeded either by the arguments of any people seeking their own interests or even by a certain fickleness, we therefore decree that such persons are to be compelled to resign. 29. Multiple benefices require papal dispensation With much foresight it was forbidden in the Lateran council for anyone to receive several ecclesiastical dignities and several parish churches, contrary to the regulations of the sacred canons, on pain of both the recipient losing what he had received and the conferrer being deprived of the power to confer. On account of the presumption and covetousness of certain persons, however, none or little fruit is resulting from this statute. We therefore, desiring to remedy the situation more clearly and expressly, ordain by this present decree that whoever receives any benefice with the cure of souls attached, if he was already in possession of such a benefice, shall be deprived by the law itself of the benefice held first, and if perchance he tries to retain this he shall also be deprived of the second benefice. Moreover, the person who has the right to confer the first benefice may freely bestow it, after the recipient has obtained a second benefice, on someone who seems to deserve it. If he delays in conferring it beyond three months, however, then not only is the collation to devolve upon another person, according to the statute of the Lateran council, but also he shall be compelled to assign to the use of the church belonging to the benefice as much of his own income as is established as having been received from the benefice while it was vacant. We decree that the same is to be observed with regard to parsonages adding that nobody shall presume to hold several dignities or parsonages in the same church even if they do not have the cure of souls. As for exalted and lettered persons, however, who should be honoured with greater benefices, it is possible for them to be dispensed by the apostolic see, when reason demands it. 30. Penalties for bestowing ecclesiatical benefices on the unworthy It is very serious and absurd that prelates of churches, when they can promote suitable men to ecclesiastical benefices, are not afraid to choose unworthy men who lack both learning and honesty of behaviour and who follow the urgings of the flesh rather than the judgment of reason. Nobody of a sound mind is ignorant of how much damage to churches arises from this. Wishing therefore to remedy this ill, we order that they pass over unworthy persons and appoint suitable persons who are willing and able to offer a pleasing service to God and to the churches, and that careful inquiry be made about this each year at the provincial council. Therefore he who has been found guilty after a first and second correction is to be suspended from conferring benefices by the provincial council, and a prudent and honest person is to be appointed at the same council to make up for the suspended person’s failure in this matter. The same is to be observed with regard to chapters who offend in these matters. The offence of a metropolitan, however, shall be left by the council to be reported to the judgment of the superior. In order that this salutary provision may have fuller effect, a sentence of suspension of this kind may not be relaxed at all without the authority of the Roman pontiff or of the appropriate patriarch, so that in this too the four patriarchal sees shall be specially honoured. 31. Canons’ sons cannot be canons where their fathers are In order to abolish a very bad practice that has grown up in many churches, we strictly forbid the sons of canons, especially if they are illegitimate, to become canons in the secular churches in which their fathers hold office. If the contrary is attempted, we declare it to be invalid. Those who attempt to make such persons canons are to be suspended from their benefices. 32. Parish priests to have adequate incomes There has grown up in certain parts a vicious custom which should be eradicated, namely that patrons of parish churches and certain other people claim the incomes from the churches wholly for themselves and leave to the priests, for the appointed services, such a small portion that they cannot live fittingly on it. For in some regions, as we have learnt for certain, parish priests receive for their sustenance only a quarter of a quarter, that is to say a sixteenth, of the tithes. Whence it comes about in these regions that almost no parish priest can be found who is even moderately learned. As the mouth of the ox should not be muzzled when it is treading out the grain, and he who serves at the altar should live from it, we therefore decree that, notwithstanding any custom of a bishop or a patron or anyone else, a sufficient portion is to be assigned to the priest. He who has a parish church is to serve it not through a vicar but in person, in the due form which the care of that church requires, unless by chance the parish church is annexed to a prebend or a dignity. In that case we allow that he who has such a prebend or dignity should make it his business, since he must serve in the greater church, to have a suitable and permanent vicar canonically instituted in the parish church; and the latter is to have, as has been said, a fitting portion from the revenues of the church. Otherwise let him know that by the authority of this decree he is deprived of the parish church, which is freely to be conferred on someone else who is willing and able to do what has been said. We utterly forbid anyone to dare deceitfully to confer a pension on another person, as it were as a benefice, from the revenues of a church which has to maintain its own priest. 33. Renumeration for visitations to be reasonable Procurations which are due, by reason of a visitation, to bishops, archdeacons or any other persons, as well as to legates or nuncios of the apostolic see, should by no means be exacted, without a clear and necessary reason, unless the visitations were carried out in person, and then let them observe the moderation in transport and retinue laid down in the Lateran council. We add the following moderation with regard to legates and nuncios of the apostolic see : that when it is necessary for them to stay in any place, and in order that the said place may not be burdened too much on their behalf, they may receive moderate procurations from other churches and persons that have not yet been burdened with procurations of their own, on condition that the number of procurations does-not exceed the number of days in the stay; and when any of the churches or persons have not sufficient means of their own, two or more of them may be combined into one. Those who exercise the office of visitation, moreover, shall not seek their own interests but rather those of Jesus Christ, by devoting themselves to preaching and exhortation, to correction and reformation, so that they may bring back fruit which does not perish. He who dares to do the contrary shall both restore what he has received and pay a like amount in compensation to the church which he has thus burdened. 34. Prelates forbidden to procure ecclesiastical services at a profit Many prelates, in order to meet the cost of a procuration or some service to a legate or some other person, extort from their subjects more than they pay out, and in trying to extract a profit from their losses they look for booty rather than help in their subjects. We forbid this to happen in the future. If by chance anyone does attempt it, he shall restore what he has extorted and be compelled to give the same amount to the poor. The superior to whom a complaint about this has been submitted shall suffer canonical punishment if he is negligent in executing this statute. 35. On appeal procedures In order that due honour may be given to judges and consideration be shown to litigants in the matter of trouble and expenses, we decree that when somebody sues an adversary before the competent judge, he shall not appeal to a superior judge before judgment has been given, without a reasonable cause; but rather let him proceed with his suit before the lower judge, without it being possible for him to obstruct by saying that he sent a messenger to a superior judge or even procured letters from him before they were assigned to the delegated judge. When, however, he thinks that he has reasonable cause for appealing and has stated the probable grounds of the appeal before the same judge, such namely that if they were proved they would be reckoned legitimate, the superior judge shall examine the appeal. If the latter thinks the appeal is unreasonable, he shall send the appellant back to the lower judge and sentence him to pay the costs of the other party; otherwise he shall go ahead, saving however the canons about major cases being referred to the apostolic see. 36. On interlocutory sentences Since the effect ceases when the cause ceases, we decree that if an ordinary judge or a judge delegate has pronounced a comminatory or an interlocutory sentence which would prejudice one of the litigants if its execution was ordered, and then acting on good advice refrains from putting it into effect, he shall proceed freely in hearing the case, notwithstanding any appeal made against such a comminatory or interlocutory sentence, provided he is not open to suspicion for some other legitimate reason. This is so that the process is not held up for frivolous reasons. 37. On Summons by Apostolic Letter Some people, abusing the favour of the apostolic see, try to obtain letters from it summoning people to distant judges, so that the defendant, wearied by the labour and expense of the action, is forced to give in or to buy off the importunate bringer of the action. A trial should not open the way to injustices that are forbidden by respect for the law. We therefore decree that nobody may be summoned by apostolic letters to a trial that is more than two days’ journey outside his diocese, unless the letters were procured with the agreement of both parties or expressly mention this constitution. There are other people who, turning to a new kind of trade, in order to revive complaints that are dormant or to introduce new questions, make up suits for which they procure letters from the apostolic see without authorization from their superiors. They then offer the letters for sale either to the defendant, in return for his not being vexed with trouble and expense on account of them, or to the plaintiff, in order that by means of them he may wear out his adversary with undue distress. Lawsuits should be limited rather than encouraged. We therefore decree by this general constitution that if anyone henceforth presumes to seek apostolic letters on any matter without a special mandate from his superior, then the letters are invalid and he is to be punished as a forger, unless by chance persons are involved for whom a mandate should not in law be demanded. 38. Written records of trials to be kept An innocent litigant can never prove the truth of his denial of a false assertion made by an unjust judge, since a denial by the nature of things does not constitute a direct proof. We therefore decree, lest falsehood prejudice truth or wickedness prevail over justice, that in both ordinary and extraordinary trials the judge shall always employ either a public official, if he can find one, or two suitable men to write down faithfully all the judicial acts -- that is to say the citations, adjournments, objections and exceptions, petitions and replies, interrogations, confessions, depositions of witnesses, productions of documents, interlocutions {5} , appeals, renunciations, final decisions and the other things that ought to be written down in the correct order -- stating the places, times and persons. Everything thus written down shall be given to the parties in question, but the originals shall remain with the scribes, so that if a dispute arises over how the judge conducted the case, the truth can be established from the originals. With this measure being applied, such deference will be paid to honest and prudent judges that justice for the innocent will not be harmed by imprudent and wicked judges. A judge who neglects to observe this constitution shall, if some difficulty arises from his negligence, be punished as he deserves by a superior judge; nor shall presumption be made in favour of his handling of the case except insofar as it accords with the legal documents. 39. On knowingly receiving stolen goods It often happens, when a person has been unjustly robbed and the object has been transferred by the robber to a third party, that he is not helped by an action of restitution against the new possessor because he has lost the advantage of possession, and he loses in effect the right of ownership on account of the difficulty of proving his case. We therefore decree, notwithstanding the force of civil law, that if anyone henceforth knowingly receives such a thing, then the one robbed shall be favoured by his being awarded restitution against the one in possession. For the latter as it were succeeds the robber in his vice, inasmuch as there is not much difference, especially as regards danger to the soul, between unjustly hanging on to another’s property and seizing it. 40. True owner is the true possessor even if not possessing the object for a year It sometimes happens that when possession of something is awarded to the plaintiff in a suit, on account of the contumacy of the other party, yet because of force or fraud over the thing he is unable to obtain custody of it within a year, or having gained it he loses it. Thus the defendant profits from his own wickedness, because in the opinion of many the plaintiff does not qualify as the true possessor at the end of a year. Lest therefore a contumacious party is in a better position than an obedient one, we decree, in the name of canonical equity, that in the aforesaid case the plaintiff shall be established as the true possessor after the year has elapsed. Furthermore, we issue a general prohibition against promising to abide by the decision of a layman in spiritual matters, since it is not fitting for a layman to arbitrate in such matters. 41. No one is to knowingly prescribe an object to the wrong party Since whatever does not proceed from faith is sin, and since in general any constitution or custom which cannot be observed without mortal sin is to be disregarded, we therefore define by this synodal judgment that no prescription, whether canonical or civil, is valid without good faith. It is therefore necessary that the person who prescribes should at no stage be aware that the object belongs to someone else. 42. Clerics and laity are not to usurp each others rights Just as we desire lay people not to usurp the rights of clerics, so we ought to wish clerics not to lay claim to the rights of the laity. We therefore forbid every cleric henceforth to extend his jurisdiction, under pretext of ecclesiastical freedom, to the prejudice of secular justice. Rather, let him be satisfied with the written constitutions and customs hitherto approved, so that the things of Caesar may be rendered unto Caesar, and the things of God may be rendered unto God by a right distribution. 43. Clerics cannot be forced to take oaths of fealty to those from whom they hold no temporalities Certain laymen try to encroach too far upon divine right when they force ecclesiastics who do not hold any temporalities from them to take oaths of fealty to them. Since a servant stands or falls with his Lord, according to the Apostle, we therefore forbid, on the authority of this sacred council, that such clerics be forced to take an oath of this kind to secular persons. 44. Only clerics may dispose of church property Lay people, however devout, have no power to dispose of church property. Their lot is to obey, not to be in command. We therefore grieve that charity is growing cold in some of them so that they are not afraid to attack through their ordinances, or rather their fabrications, the immunity of ecclesiastical freedom, which has in the past been protected with many privileges not only by holy fathers but also by secular princes. They do this not only by alienating fiefs and other possessions of the church and by usurping jurisdictions but also by illegally laying hands on mortuaries and other things which are seen to belong to spiritual justice. We wish to ensure the immunity of churches in these matters and to provide against such great injuries. We therefore decree, with the approval of this sacred council, that ordinances of this kind and claims to fiefs or other goods of the church, made by way of a decree of the lay power, without the proper consent of ecclesiastical persons, are invalid since they can be said to be not laws but rather acts of destitution or destruction and usurpations of jurisdiction. Those who dare to do these things are to be restrained by ecclesiastical censure. 45. Penalties for patrons who steal church goods or physically harm their clerics Patrons of churches, lords’ deputies and advocates have displayed such arrogance in some provinces that they not only introduce difficulties and evil designs when vacant churches ought to be provided with suitable pastors, but they also presume to dispose of the possessions and other goods of the church as they like and, what is dreadful to relate, they are not afraid to set about killing prelates. What was devised for protection should not be twisted into a means of repression. We therefore expressly forbid patrons, advocates and lords’ deputies henceforth to appropriate more in the aforesaid matters than is permitted in law. If they dare to do the contrary, let them be curbed with the most severe canonical penalties. We decree, moreover, with the approval of this sacred council, that if patrons or advocates or feudatories or lords’ deputies or other persons with benefices venture with unspeakable daring to kill or to mutilate, personally or through others, the rector of any church or other cleric of that church, then the patron shall lose completely his right of patronage, the advocate his advocation, the feudatory his fief, the lord’s deputy his deputyship and the beneficed person his benefice. And lest the punishment be remembered for less time than the crime, nothing of the aforesaid shall descend to their heirs, and their posterity to the fourth generation shall in nowise be admitted into a college of clerics or to hold the honour of any prelacy in a religious house, except when out of mercy they are dispensed to do so. 46. Taxes cannot be levied on the Church, but the Church can volunteer contributions for the common good The Lateran council, wishing to provide for the immunity of the church against officials and governors of cities and other persons who seek to oppress churches and churchmen with tallages and taxes and other exactions, forbade such presumption under pain of anathema. It ordered transgressors and their supporters to be excommunicated until they made adequate satisfaction. If at some time, however, a bishop together with his clergy foresee so great a need or advantage that they consider, without any compulsion, that subsidies should be given by the churches, for the common good or the common need, when the resources of the laity are not sufficient, then the above-mentioned laymen may receive them humbly and devoutly and with thanks. On account of the imprudence of some, however, the Roman pontiff, whose business it is to provide for the common good, should be consulted beforehand. We add, moreover, since the malice of some against God’s church has not abated, that the ordinances and sentences promulgated by such excommunicated persons, or on their orders, are to be deemed null and void and shall never be valid. Since fraud and deceit should not protect anyone, let nobody be deceived by false error to endure an anathema during his term of government as though he is not obliged to make satisfaction afterwards. For we decree that both he who has refused to make satisfaction and his successor, if he does not make satisfaction within a month, is to remain bound by ecclesiastical censure until he makes suitable satisfaction, since he who succeeds to a post also succeeds to its responsibilities. 47. On unjust excommunication With the approval of this sacred council, we forbid anyone to promulgate a sentence of excommunication on anyone, unless an adequate warning has been given beforehand in the presence of suitable persons, who can if necessary testify to the warning. If anyone dares to do the contrary, even if the sentence of excommunication is just, let him know that he is forbidden to enter a church for one month and he is to be punished with another penalty if this seems expedient. Let him carefully avoid proceeding to excommunicate anyone without manifest and reasonable cause. If he does so proceed and, on being humbly requested, does not take care to revoke the process without imposing punishment, then the injured person may lodge a complaint of unjust excommunication with a superior judge. The latter shall then send the person back to the judge who excommunicated him, if this can be done without the danger of a delay, with orders that he is to be absolved within a suitable period of time. If the danger of delay cannot be avoided, the task of absolving him shall be carried out by the superior judge, either in person or through someone else, as seems expedient, after he has obtained adequate guarantees. Whenever it is established that the judge pronounced an unjust excommunication, he shall be condemned to make compensation for damages to the one excommunicated, and be nonetheless punished in another way at the discretion of the superior judge if the nature of the fault calls for it, since it is not a trivial fault to inflict so great a punishment on an innocent person -- unless by chance he erred for reasons that are credible -- especially if the person is of praiseworthy repute. But if nothing reasonable is proved against the sentence of excommunication by the one making the complaint, then the complainant shall be condemned in punishment, for the unreasonable trouble caused by his complaint, to make compensation or in some other way according to the discretion of the superior judge, unless by chance his error was based on something that is credible and so excuses him; and he shall moreover be compelled upon a pledge to make satisfaction in the matter for which he was justly excommunicated, or else he shall be subject again to the former sentence which is to be inviolably observed until full satisfaction has been made. If the judge, however, recognizes his error and is prepared to revoke the sentence, but the person on whom it was passed appeals, for fear that the judge might revoke it without making satisfaction, then the appeal shall not be admitted unless the error is such that it may deserve to be questioned. Then the judge, after he has given sufficient security that he will appear in court before the person to whom the appeal had been made or one delegated by him, shall absolve the excommunicated person and thus shall not be subject to the prescribed punishment. Let the judge altogether beware, if he wishes to avoid strict canonical punishment, lest out of a perverse intention to harm someone he pretends to have made an error. 48. Challenging an ecclesiastical judge Since a special prohibition has been made against anyone presuming to promulgate a sentence of excommunication against someone without adequate warning being given beforehand, we therefore wish to provide against the person warned being able, by means of a fraudulent objection or appeal, to escape examination by the one issuing the warning. We therefore decree that if the person alleges he holds the judge suspect, let him bring before the same judge an action of just suspicion; and he himself in agreement with his adversary (or with the judge, if he happens not to have an adversary) shall together choose arbiters or, if by chance they are unable to reach agreement together, he shall choose one arbiter and the other another, to take cognisance of the action of suspicion. If these cannot agree on a judgment they shall call in a third person so that what two of them decide upon shall have binding force. Let them know that they are bound to carry this out faithfully, in accordance with the command strictly enjoined by us in virtue of obedience and under the attestation of the divine judgment. If the action of suspicion is not proved in law before them within a suitable time, the judge shall exercise his jurisdiction; if the action is proved, then with the consent of the objector the challenged judge shall commit the matter to a suitable person or shall refer it to a superior judge so that he may conduct the matter as it should be conducted. As for the person who has been warned but then hastens to make an appeal, if his offence is made manifest in law by the evidence of the case or by his own confession or in some other way, then provocation of this kind is not to be tolerated, since the remedy of an appeal was not established to defend wickedness but to protect innocence. If there is some doubt about his offence, then the appellant shall, lest he impedes the judge’s action by the subterfuge of a frivolous appeal, set before the same judge the credible reason for his appeal, such namely that if it was proved it would be considered legitimate. Then if he has an adversary, let him proceed with his appeal within the time laid down by the same judge according to the distances, times and nature of the business involved. If he does not prosecute his appeal, the judge himself shall proceed notwithstanding the appeal. If the adversary does not appear when the judge is proceeding in virtue of his office, then once the reason for the appeal has been verified before the superior judge the latter shall exercise his jurisdiction. If the appellant fails to get the reason for his appeal verified, he shall be sent back to the judge from whom it has been established that he appealed maliciously. We do not wish the above two constitutions to be extended to regulars, who have their own special observances. ‘ 49. Penalties for excommunication out of avarice We absolutely forbid, under threat of the divine judgment, anyone to dare to bind anyone with the bond of excommunication, or to absolve anyone so bound, out of avarice. We forbid this especially in those regions where by custom an excommunicated person is punished by a money penalty when he is absolved. We decree that when it has been established that a sentence of excommunication was unjust, the excommunicator shall be compelled by ecclesiastical censure to restore the money thus extorted, and shall pay as much again to his victim for the injury unless he was deceived by an understandable error. If perchance he is unable to pay, he shall be punished in some other way. 50. Prohibition of marriage is now perpetually restricted to the fourth degree It should not be judged reprehensible if human decrees are sometimes changed according to changing circumstances, especially when urgent necessity or evident advantage demands it, since God himself changed in the new Testament some of the things which he had commanded in the old Testament. Since the prohibitions against contracting marriage in the second and third degree of affinity, and against uniting the offspring of a second marriage with the kindred of the first husband, often lead to difficulty and sometimes endanger souls, we therefore, in order that when the prohibition ceases the effect may also cease, revoke with the approval of this sacred council the constitutions published on this subject and we decree, by this present constitution, that henceforth contracting parties connected in these ways may freely be joined together. Moreover the prohibition against marriage shall not in future go beyond the fourth degree of consanguinity and of affinity, since the prohibition cannot now generally be observed to further degrees without grave harm. The number four agrees well with the prohibition concerning bodily union about which the Apostle says, that the husband does not rule over his body, but the wife does; and the wife does not rule over her body, but the husband does; for there are four humours in the body, which is composed of the four elements. Although the prohibition of marriage is now restricted to the fourth degree, we wish the prohibition to be perpetual, notwithstanding earlier decrees on this subject issued either by others or by us. If any persons dare to marry contrary to this prohibition, they shall not be protected by length of years, since the passage of time does not diminish sin but increases it, and the longer that faults hold the unfortunate soul in bondage the graver they are. 51. Clandestine marriages forbidden Since the prohibition against marriage in the three remotest degrees has been revoked, we wish it to be strictly observed in the other degrees. Following in the footsteps of our predecessors, we altogether forbid clandestine marriages and we forbid any priest to presume to be present at such a marriage. Extending the special custom of certain regions to other regions generally, we decree that when marriages are to be contracted they shall be publicly announced in the churches by priests, with a suitable time being fixed beforehand within which whoever wishes and is able to may adduce a lawful impediment. The priests themselves shall also investigate whether there is any impediment. When there appears a credible reason why the marriage should not be contracted, the contract shall be expressly forbidden until there has been established from clear documents what ought to be done in the matter. If any persons presume to enter into clandestine marriages of this kind, or forbidden marriages within a prohibited degree, even if done in ignorance, the offspring of the union shall be deemed illegitimate and shall have no help from their parents’ ignorance, since the parents in contracting the marriage could be considered as not devoid of knowledge, or even as affecters of ignorance. Likewise the offspring shall be deemed illegitimate if both parents know of a legitimate impediment and yet dare to contract a marriage in the presence of the church, contrary to every prohibition. Moreover the parish priest who refuses to forbid such unions, or even any member of the regular clergy who dares to attend them, shall be suspended from office for three years and shall be punished even more severely if the nature of the fault requires it. Those who presume to be united in this way, even if it is within a permitted degree, are to be given a suitable penance. Anybody who maliciously proposes an impediment, to prevent a legitimate marriage, will not escape the church’s vengeance. 52. On rejecting evidence from hearsay at a matrimonial suit It was at one time decided out of a certain necessity, but contrary to the normal practice, that hearsay evidence should be valid in reckoning the degrees of consanguinity and affinity, because on account of the shortness of human life witnesses would not be able to testify from first-hand knowledge in a reckoning as far as the seventh degree. However, because we have learned from many examples and definite proofs that many dangers to lawful marriages have arisen from this, we have decided that in future witnesses from hearsay shall not be accepted in this matter, since the prohibition does not now exceed the fourth degree, unless there are persons of weight who are trustworthy and who learnt from their elders, before the case was begun, the things that they testify : not indeed from one such person since one would not suffice even if he or she were alive, but from two at least, and not from persons who are of bad repute and suspect but from those who are trustworthy and above every objection, since it would appear rather absurd to admit in evidence those whose actions would be rejected. Nor should there be admitted in evidence one person who has learnt what he testifies from several, or persons of bad repute who have learnt what they testify from persons of good repute, as though they were more than one and suitable witnesses, since even according to the normal practice of courts the assertion of one witness does not suffice, even if he is a person resplendent with authority, and since legal actions are forbidden to persons of bad repute. The witnesses shall affirm on oath that in bearing witness in the case they are not acting from hatred or fear or love or for advantage; they shall designate the persons by their exact names or by pointing out or by sufficient description, and shall distinguish by a clear reckoning every degree of relationship on either side; and they shall include in their oath the statement that it was from their ancestors that they received what they are testifying and that they believe it to be true. They shall still not suffice unless they declare on oath that they have known that the persons who stand in at least one of the aforesaid degrees of relationship, regard each other as blood-relations. For it is preferable to leave alone some people who have been united contrary to human decrees than to separate, contrary to the Lord’s decrees, persons who have been joined together legitimately. 53. On those who give their fields to others to be cultivated so as to avoid tithes In some regions there are intermingled certain peoples who by custom, in accordance with their own rites, do not pay tithes, even though they are counted as christians. Some landlords assign their lands to them so that these lords may obtain greater revenues, by cheating the churches of the tithes. Wishing therefore to provide for the security of churches in these matters, we decree that when lords make over their lands to such persons in this way for cultivation, the lords must pay the tithes to the churches in full and without objection, and if necessary they shall be compelled to do so by ecclesiastical censure. Such tithes are indeed to be paid of necessity, inasmuch as they are owed in virtue of divine law or of approved local custom. 54. Tithes should be paid before taxes It is not within human power that the seed should answer to the sower since, according to the saying of the Apostle, Neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but rather he who gives the growth, namely God, who himself brings forth much fruit from the dead seed. Now, some people from excess of greed strive to cheat over tithes, deducting from crops and first-fruits the rents and dues, which meanwhile escape the payment of tithes. Since the Lord has reserved tithes unto himself as a sign of his universal lordship, by a certain special title as it were, we decree, wishing to prevent injury to churches and danger to souls, that in virtue of this general lordship the payment of tithes shall precede the exaction of dues and rents, or at least those who receive untithed rents and dues shall be forced by ecclesiastical censure, seeing that a thing carries with it its burden, to tithe them for the churches to which by right they are due. 55. Tithes are to be paid on lands acquired, notwithstanding privileges Recently abbots of the Cistercian order, assembled in a general chapter, wisely decreed at our instance that the brethren of the order shall not in future buy possessions from which tithes are due to churches, unless by chance it is for founding new monasteries; and that if such possessions were given to them by the pious devotion of the faithful, or were bought for founding new monasteries, they would assign them for cultivation to other people, who would pay the tithes to the churches, lest the churches be further burdened on account of the Cistercians’ privileges. We therefore decree that on lands assigned to others and on future acquisitions, even if they cultivate them with their own hands or at their own expense, they shall pay tithes to the churches which previously received the tithes from the lands, unless they decide to compound in another way with the churches. Since we consider this decree to be acceptable and right, we wish it to be extended to other regulars who enjoy similar privileges, and we order prelates of churches to be readier and more effectual in affording them full justice with regard to those who wrong them and to take pains to maintain their privileges more carefully and completely. 56. A parish priest shall not lose a tithe on account of some people making a pact Many regulars, as we have learnt, and sometimes secular clerics, when letting houses or granting fiefs, add a pact, to the prejudice of the parish churches, to the effect that the tenants and vassals shall pay tithes to them and shall choose to be buried in their ground. We utterly reject pacts of this kind, since they are rooted in avarice, and we declare that whatever is received through them shall be returned to the parish churches. 57. Interpreting the words of privileges In order that privileges which the Roman church has granted to certain religious may remain unimpaired, we have decided that certain things in them must be clarified lest through their not being well understood they lead to abuse, on account of which they could deservedly be revoked. For, a person deserves to lose a privilege if he abuses the power entrusted to him. The apostolic see has rightly granted an indult to certain regulars to the effect that ecclesiastical burial should not be refused to deceased members of their fraternity if the churches to which they belong happen to be under an interdict as regards divine services, unless the persons were excommunicated or interdicted by name, and that they may carry off for burial to their own churches their confraters whom prelates of churches will not allow to be buried in their own churches, unless the confraters have been excommunicated or interdicted by name. However, we understand this to refer to confraters who have changed their secular dress and have been consecrated to the order while still alive, or who in their lifetime have given their property to them while retaining for themselves as long as they live the usufruct of it. Only such persons may be buried at the non-interdicted churches of these regulars and of others in which they have chosen to be buried. For if it were understood of any persons joining their fraternity for the annual payment of two or three pennies, ecclesiastical discipline would be loosened and brought into contempt. Even the latter may, however, obtain a certain remission granted to them by the apostolic see. It has also been granted to such regulars that if any of their brethren, whom they have sent to establish fraternities or to receive taxes, comes to a city or a castle or a village which is under an interdict as regards divine services, then churches may be opened once in the year at their “joyous entry” so that the divine services may be celebrated there, after excommunicated persons have been excluded. We wish this to be understood as meaning that in a given city, castle or town one church only shall be opened for the brethren of a particular order, as mentioned above, once in the year. For although it was said in the plural that churches may be opened at their “joyous entry”, this on a true understanding refers not to each individual church of a given place but rather to the churches of the aforesaid places taken together. Otherwise if they visited all the churches of a given place in this way, the sentence of interdict would be brought into too much contempt. Those who dare to usurp anything for themselves contrary to the above declarations shall be subjected to severe punishment. 58. On the same in favour of bishops We wish to extend to bishops, in favour of the episcopal office, the indult which has already been given to certain religious. We therefore grant that when a country is under a general interdict, the bishops may sometimes celebrate the divine services, behind closed doors and in a lowered voice, without the ringing of bells, after excommunicated and interdicted persons have been excluded, unless this has been expressly forbidden to them. We grant this, however, to those bishops who have not given any cause for the interdict, lest they use guile or fraud of any sort and so turn a good thing into a damaging loss. 59. Religious cannot give surety without permission of his abbot and convent We wish and order to be extended to all religious what has already been forbidden by the apostolic see to some of them : namely that no religious, without the permission of his abbot and the majority of his chapter, may stand surety for someone or accept a loan from another beyond a sum fixed by the common opinion. Otherwise the convent shall not be held responsible in any way for his actions, unless perchance the matter has clearly redounded to the benefit of his house. Anyone who presumes to act contrary to this statute shall be severely disciplined. 60. Abbots not to encroach on episcopal office From the complaints which have reached us from bishops in various parts of the world, we have come to know of serious and great excesses of certain abbots who, not content with the boundaries of their own authority, stretch out their hands to things belonging to the episcopal dignity : hearing matrimonial cases, enjoining public penances, even granting letters of indulgences and like presumptions. It sometimes happens from this that episcopal authority is cheapened in the eyes of many. Wishing therefore to provide for both the dignity of bishops and the well-being of abbots in these matters, we strictly forbid by this present decree any abbot to reach out for such things, if he wishes to avoid danger for himself, unless by chance any of them can defend himself by a special concession or some other legitimate reason in respect of such things. 61. Religious may not receive tithes from lay hands It was forbidden at the Lateran council, as is known, for any regulars to dare to receive churches or tithes from lay hands without the bishop’s consent, or in any way to admit to the divine services those under excommunication or those interdicted by name. We now forbid it even more strongly and will take care to see that offenders are punished with condign penalties. We decree, nevertheless that in churches which do not belong to them by full right the regulars shall, in accordance with the statutes of that council, present to the bishop the priests who are to be instituted, for examination by him about the care of the people; but as for the priests’ ability in temporal matters, the regulars shall furnish the proof unto themselves. Let them not dare to remove those who have been instituted without consulting the bishop. We add, indeed, that they should take care to present those who are either noted for their way of life or recommended by prelates on probable grounds. 62. Regarding saint’s relics The christian religion is frequently disparaged because certain people put saints’ relics up for sale and display them indiscriminately. In order that it may not be disparaged in the future, we ordain by this present decree that henceforth ancient relics shall not be displayed outside a reliquary or be put up for sale. As for newly discovered relics, let no one presume to venerate them publicly unless they have previously been approved by the authority of the Roman pontiff. Prelates, moreover, should not in future allow those who come to their churches, in order to venerate, to be deceived by lying stories or false documents, as has commonly happened in many places on account of the desire for profit. We also forbid the recognition of alms-collectors, some of whom deceive other people by proposing various errors in their preaching, unless they show authentic letters from the apostolic see or from the diocesan bishop. Even then they shall not be permitted to put before the people anything beyond what is contained in the letters. We have thought it good to show the form of letter which the apostolic see generally grants to alms-collectors, in order that diocesan bishops may follow it in their own letters. It is this : “Since, as the Apostle says, we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ to receive according to what we have done in the body, whether it be good or bad, it behooves us to prepare for the day of the final harvest with works of mercy and to sow on earth, with a view to eternity, that which, with God returning it with multiplied fruit, we ought to collect in heaven; keeping a firm hope and confidence, since he who sows sparingly reaps sparingly, and he who sows bountifully shall reap bountifully unto eternal life. Since the resources of a hospital may not suffice for the support of the brethren and the needy who flock to it, we admonish and exhort all of you in the Lord, and enjoin upon you for the remission of your sins, to give pious alms and grateful charitable assistance to them, from the goods that God has bestowed upon you; so that their need may be cared for through your help, and you may reach eternal happiness through these and other good things which you may have done under God’s inspiration. “ Let those who are sent to seek alms be modest and discreet, and let them not stay in taverns or other unsuitable places or incur useless or excessive expenses, being careful above all not to wear the garb of false religion. Moreover, because the keys of the church are brought into contempt and satisfaction through penance loses its force through indiscriminate and excessive indulgences, which certain prelates of churches do not fear to grant, we therefore decree that when a basilica is dedicated, the indulgence shall not be for more than one year, whether it is dedicated by one bishop or by more than one, and for the anniversary of the dedication the remission of penances imposed is not to exceed forty days. We order that the letters of indulgence, which are granted for various reasons at different times, are to fix this number of days, since the Roman pontiff himself, who possesses the plenitude of power, is accustomed to observe this moderation in such things. 63. On simony As we have certainly learnt, shameful and wicked exactions and extortions are levied in many places and by many persons, who are like the sellers of doves in the temple, for the consecration of bishops, the blessing of abbots and the ordination of clerics. There is fixed how much is to be paid for this or that and for yet another thing. Some even strive to defend this disgrace and wickedness on the grounds of long-established custom, thereby heaping up for themselves still further damnation. Wishing therefore to abolish so great an abuse, we altogether reject such a custom which should rather be termed a corruption. We firmly decree that nobody shall dare to demand or extort anything under any pretext for the conferring of such things or for their having been conferred. Otherwise both he who receives and he who gives such an absolutely condemned payment shall be condemned with Gehazi and Simon. 64. Simony with regards to monks and nuns The disease of simony has infected many nuns to such an extent that they admit scarcely any as sisters without a payment, wishing to cover this vice with the pretext of poverty. We utterly forbid this to happen in the future. We decree that whoever commits such wickedness in the future, both the one admitting and the one admitted, whether she be a subject or in authority, shall be expelled from her convent without hope of reinstatement, and be cast into a house of stricter observance to do perpetual penance. As regards those who were admitted in this way before this synodal statute, we have decided to provide that they be moved from the convents which they wrongly entered, and be placed in other houses of the same order. If perchance they are too numerous to be conveniently placed elsewhere, they may be admitted afresh to the same convent, by dispensation, after the prioress and lesser officials have been changed, lest they roam around in the world to the danger of their souls. We order the same to be observed with regard to monks and other religious. Indeed, lest such persons be able to excuse themselves on the grounds of simplicity or ignorance, we order diocesan bishops to have this decree published throughout their dioceses every year. 65. Simony and extortion We have heard that certain bishops, on the death of rectors of churches, put these churches under an interdict and do not allow anyone to be instituted to them until they have been paid a certain sum of money. Moreover, when a knight or a cleric enters a religious house or chooses to be buried with religious, the bishops raise difficulties and obstacles until they receive something in the way of a present, even when the person has left nothing to the religious house. Since we should abstain not only from evil itself but also from every appearance of evil, as the Apostle says, we altogether forbid exactions of this kind. Any offender shall restore double the amount exacted, and this is to be faithfully used for the benefit of the places harmed by the exactions. 66. Simony and avarice in clerics (Source: Church Councils / Fourth Lateran Council : 1215)
It has frequently been reported to the apostolic see that certain clerics demand and extort payments for funeral rites for the dead, the blessing of those marrying, and the like; and if it happens that their greed is not satisfied, they deceitfully set up false impediments. On the other hand some lay people, stirred by a ferment of heretical wickedness, strive to infringe a praiseworthy custom of holy church, introduced by the pious devotion of the faithful, under the pretext of canonical scruples. We therefore both forbid wicked exactions to be made in these matters and order pious customs to be observed, ordaining that the church’s sacraments are to be given freely but also that those who maliciously try to change a praiseworthy custom are to be restrained, when the truth is known, by the bishop of the place. 67. Jews and excessive Usury The more the christian religion is restrained from usurious practices, so much the more does the perfidy of the Jews grow in these matters, so that within a short time they are exhausting the resources of Christians. Wishing therefore to see that Christians are not savagely oppressed by Jews in this matter, we ordain by this synodal decree that if Jews in future, on any pretext, extort oppressive and excessive interest from Christians, then they are to be removed from contact with Christians until they have made adequate satisfaction for the immoderate burden. Christians too, if need be, shall be compelled by ecclesiastical censure, without the possibility of an appeal, to abstain from commerce with them. We enjoin upon princes not to be hostile to Christians on this account, but rather to be zealous in restraining Jews from so great oppression. We decree, under the same penalty, that Jews shall be compelled to make satisfaction to churches for tithes and offerings due to the churches, which the churches were accustomed to receive from Christians for houses and other possessions, before they passed by whatever title to the Jews, so that the churches may thus be preserved from loss. 68. Jews appearing in public A difference of dress distinguishes Jews or Saracens from Christians in some provinces, but in others a certain confusion has developed so that they are indistinguishable. Whence it sometimes happens that by mistake Christians join with Jewish or Saracen women, and Jews or Saracens with christian women. In order that the offence of such a damnable mixing may not spread further, under the excuse of a mistake of this kind, we decree that such persons of either sex, in every christian province and at all times, are to be distinguished in public from other people by the character of their dress -- seeing moreover that this was enjoined upon them by Moses himself, as we read. They shall not appear in public at all on the days of lamentation and on passion Sunday; because some of them on such days, as we have heard, do not blush to parade in very ornate dress and are not afraid to mock Christians who are presenting a memorial of the most sacred passion and are displaying signs of grief. What we most strictly forbid however, is that they dare in any way to break out in derision of the Redeemer. We order secular princes to restrain with condign punishment those who do so presume, lest they dare to blaspheme in any way him who was crucified for us, since we ought not to ignore insults against him who blotted out our wrongdoings. 69. Jews not to hold public offices It would be too absurd for a blasphemer of Christ to exercise power over Christians. We therefore renew in this canon, on account of the boldness of the offenders, what the council of Toledo providently decreed in this matter : we forbid Jews to be appointed to public offices, since under cover of them they are very hostile to Christians. If, however, anyone does commit such an office to them let him, after an admonition, be curbed by the provincial council, which we order to be held annually, by means of an appropriate sanction. Any official so appointed shall be denied commerce with Christians in business and in other matters until he has converted to the use of poor Christians, in accordance with the directions of the diocesan bishop, whatever he has obtained from Christians by reason of his office so acquired, and he shall surrender with shame the office which he irreverently assumed. We extend the same thing to pagans. 70. Jewish converts may not retain their old rite Certain people who have come voluntarily to the waters of sacred baptism, as we learnt, do not wholly cast off the old person in order to put on the new more perfectly. For, in keeping remnants of their former rite, they upset the decorum of the christian religion by such a mixing. Since it is written, cursed is he who enters the land by two paths, and a garment that is woven from linen and wool together should not be put on, we therefore decree that such people shall be wholly prevented by the prelates of churches from observing their old rite, so that those who freely offered themselves to the christian religion may be kept to its observance by a salutary and necessary coercion. For it is a lesser evil not to know the Lord’s way than to go back on it after having known it. 71. Crusade to recover the holy Land It is our ardent desire to liberate the holy Land from infidel hands. We therefore declare, with the approval of this sacred council and on the advice of prudent men who are fully aware of the circumstances of time and place, that crusaders are to make themselves ready so that all who have arranged to go by sea shall assemble in the kingdom of Sicily on 1 June after next : some as necessary and fitting at Brindisi and others at Messina and places neighbouring it on either side, where we too have arranged to be in person at that time, God willing, so that with our advice and help the christian army may be in good order to set out with divine and apostolic blessing. Those who have decided to go by land should also take care to be ready by the same date. They shall notify us meanwhile so that we may grant them a suitable legate a latere for advice and help. Priests and other clerics who will be in the christian army, both those under authority and prelates, shall diligently devote themselves to prayer and exhortation, teaching the crusaders by word and example to have the fear and love of God always before their eyes, so that they say or do nothing that might offend the divine majesty. If they ever fall into sin, let them quickly rise up again through true penitence. Let them be humble in heart and in body, keeping to moderation both in food and in dress, avoiding altogether dissensions and rivalries, and putting aside entirely any bitterness or envy, so that thus armed with spiritual and material weapons they may the more fearlessly fight against the enemies of the faith, relying not on their own power but rather trusting in the strength of God. We grant to these clerics that they may receive the fruits of their benefices in full for three years, as if they were resident in the churches, and if necessary they may leave them in pledge for the same time. To prevent this holy proposal being impeded or delayed, we strictly order all prelates of churches, each in his own locality, diligently to warn and induce those who have abandoned the cross to resume it, and them and others who have taken up the cross, and those who may still do so, to carry out their vows to the Lord. And if necessary they shall compel them to do this without any backsliding, by sentences of excommunication against their persons and of interdict on their lands, excepting only those persons who find themselves faced with an impediment of such a kind that their vow deservedly ought to be commuted or deferred in accordance with the directives of the apostolic see. In order that nothing connected with this business of Jesus Christ be omitted, we will and order patriarchs, archbishops, bishops, abbots and others who have the care of souls to preach the cross zealously to those entrusted to them. Let them beseech kings, dukes, princes, margraves, counts, barons and other magnates, as well as the communities of cities, vills and towns -- in the name of the Father, Son and holy Spirit, the one, only, true and eternal God -- that those who do not go in person to the aid of the holy Land should contribute, according to their means, an appropriate number of fighting men together with their necessary expenses for three years, for the remission of their sins in accordance with what has already been explained in general letters and will be explained below for still greater assurance. We wish to share in this remission not only those who contribute ships of their own but also those who are zealous enough to build them for this purpose. To those who refuse, if there happen to be any who are so ungrateful to our lord God, we firmly declare in the name of the apostle that they should know that they will have to answer to us for this on the last day of final judgment before the fearful judge. Let them consider beforehand, however with what conscience and with what security it was that they were able to confess before the only-begotten Son of God, Jesus Christ, to whom the Father gave all things into his hands, if in this business, which is as it were peculiarly his, they refuse to serve him who was crucified for sinners, by whose beneficence they are sustained and indeed by whose blood they have been redeemed. Lest we appear to be laying on men’s shoulders heavy and unbearable burdens which we are not willing to lighten, like those who say yes but do nothing behold we, from what we have been able to save over and above necessities and moderate expenses, grant and give thirty thousand pounds to this work, besides the shipping which we are giving to the crusaders of Rome and neighbouring districts. We will assign for this purpose, moreover, three thousand marks of silver, which we have left over from the alms of certain of the faithful, the rest having been faithfully distributed for the needs and benefit of the aforesaid Land by the hands of the abbot patriarch of Jerusalem, of happy memory, and of the masters of the Temple and of the Hospital. We wish, however, that other prelates of churches and all clerics may participate and share both in the merit and in the reward. We therefore decree, with the general approval of the council, that all clerics, both those under authority and prelates, shall give a twentieth of their ecclesiastical revenues for three years to the aid of the holy Land, by means of the persons appointed by the apostolic see for this purpose; the only exceptions being certain religious who are rightly to be exempted from this taxation and likewise those persons who have taken or will take the cross and so will go in person. We and our brothers, cardinals of the holy Roman church, shall pay a full tenth. Let all know, moreover, that they are obliged to observe this faithfully under pain of excommunication, so that those who knowingly deceive in this matter shall incur the sentence of excommunication. Because it is right that those who persevere in the service of the heavenly ruler should in all justice enjoy special privilege, and because the day of departure is somewhat more than a year ahead, crusaders shall therefore be. exempt from taxes or levies and other burdens. We take their persons and goods under the protection of St Peter and ourself once they have taken up the cross. We ordain that they are to be protected by archbishops, bishops and all prelates of the church, and that protectors of their own are to be specially appointed for this purpose, so that their goods are to remain intact and undisturbed until they are known for certain to be dead or to have returned. If anyone dares to act contrary to this, let him be curbed by ecclesiastical censure. If any of those setting out are bound by oath to pay interest, we ordain that their creditors shall be compelled by the same punishment to release them from their oath and to desist from exacting the interest; if any of the creditors does force them to pay the interest, we command that he be forced by similar punishment to restore it. We order that Jews be compelled by the secular power to remit interest, and that until they do so all intercourse shall be denied them by all Christ’s faithful under pain of excommunication. Secular princes shall provide a suitable deferral for those who cannot now pay their debts to Jews, so that after they have undertaken the journey and until there is certain knowledge of their death or of their return, they shall not incur the inconvenience of paying interest. The Jews shall be compelled to add to the capital, after they have deducted their necessary expenses, the revenues which they are meanwhile receiving from property held by them on security. For, such a benefit seems to entail not much loss, inasmuch as it postpones the repayment but does not cancel the debt. Prelates of churches who are negligent in showing justice to crusaders and their families should know that they will be severely punished. Furthermore, since corsairs and pirates greatly impede help for the holy Land, by capturing and plundering those who are travelling to and from it, we bind with the bond of excommunication everyone who helps or supports them. We forbid anyone, under threat of anathema, knowingly to communicate with them by contracting to buy or to sell; and we order rulers of cities and their territories to restrain and curb such persons from this iniquity. Otherwise, since to be unwilling to disquiet evildoers is none other than to encourage them, and since he who fails to oppose a manifest crime is not without a touch of secret complicity, it is our wish and command that prelates of churches exercise ecclesiastical severity against their persons and lands. We excommunicate and anathematize, moreover, those false and impious Christians who, in opposition to Christ and the christian people, convey arms to the Saracens and iron and timber for their galleys. We decree that those who sell them galleys or ships, and those who act as pilots in pirate Saracen ships, or give them any advice or help by way of machines or anything else, to the detriment of the holy Land, are to be punished with deprivation of their possessions and are to become the slaves of those who capture them. We order this sentence to be renewed on Sundays and feast-days in all maritime towns; and the bosom of the church is not to be opened to such persons unless they send in aid of the holy Land the whole of the damnable wealth which they received and the same amount of their own, so that they are punished in proportion to their offence. If perchance they do not pay, they are to be punished in other ways in order that through their punishment others may be deterred from venturing upon similar rash actions. In addition, we prohibit and on pain of anathema forbid all Christians, for four years, to send or take their ships across to the lands of the Saracens who dwell in the east, so that by this a greater supply of shipping may be made ready for those wanting to cross over to help the holy Land, and so that the aforesaid Saracens may be deprived of the not inconsiderable help which they have been accustomed to receiving from this. Although tournaments have been forbidden in a general way on pain of a fixed penalty at various councils, we strictly forbid them to be held for three years, under pain of excommunication, because the business of the crusade is much hindered by them at this present time. Because it is of the utmost necessity for the carrying out of this business that rulers of the christian people keep peace with each other, we therefore ordain, on the advice of this holy general synod, that peace be generally kept in the whole christian world for at least four years, so that those in conflict shall be brought by the prelates of churches to conclude a definitive peace or to observe inviolably a firm truce. Those who refuse to comply shall be most strictly compelled to do so by an excommunication against their persons and an interdict on their lands, unless their wrongdoing is so great that they ought not to enjoy peace. If it happens that they make light of the church’s censure, they may deservedly fear that the secular power will be invoked by ecclesiastical authority against them as disturbers of the business of him who was crucified. 1. three persons ... nature omitted in Cr. 2. as if ... perfect omitted in Cr. 3. and he ... things omitted in A.M. 4. We forbid ... fowling omitted in Cr M. 5. confessions ... interlocutions omitted in Cr. FIRST COUNCIL OF LYONS - 1245 A.D. Contents Abbreviations Introduction Bull Deposing The Emperor Frederick II Constitutions I 1. On rescripts 2. Those to whom cases should be entrusted 3. Curtailing legal expenses 4. On challenging elections etc. 5. Only unconditional votes valid 6. Jurisdiction of conservators 7. Legates and benefices 8. Judge delegates 9. On peremptory exceptions 10. The objection of robbery 11. No-show plaintiffs 12. On early possession for the sake of preservation 13. On the acceptability of negative assertions 14. The exception of major excommunication 15. On Judges Who Give Dishonest Judgment 16. On appeals 17. On the same 18. On employing assassins 19. On excommunication 1 20. On excommunication 2 21. On excommunication 3 22. On excommunication 4 II 1. Management of church debts 2. On help for the empire of Constantinople 3. Admonition to be made by prelates to the people in their charge 4. On the Tartars 5. On the crusade INTRODUCTION The dispute, distinctive of the Middle Ages, between the papacy and the empire became very serious under Pope Innocent IV and Emperor Frederick II. Already in 1240 Pope Gregory IX had tried to define the questions between the two powers by calling a general council, but Frederick II by arms had prevented the council from meeting. When Innocent IV succeeded as pope in 1243 he gave his earnest attention to renewing this policy. He was able to make his way in 1244 to Lyons, which was outside the direct authority of the emperor, and there proclaimed a council. Some letters of summons exist, dated 3 January 1245 and the days following, in which the purpose of the council is stated thus: “That the church, through the salutary counsel of the faithful and their fruitful help, may have the dignity of its proper position; that assistance may speedily be brought to the unhappy crisis in the holy Land and the sufferings of the eastern empire; that a remedy may be found against the Tartars and other enemies of the faith and persecutors of the christian people; further, for the issue between the church and the emperor; for these reasons we think that the kings of the earth, the prelates of the church and other princes of the world should be summoned”. The chief purposes for which the council was called -- and from the beginning it was called “general” -- seem to have been political ones. When the council opened on 26 June 1245, in a meeting which was probably only preparatory, there were present three patriarchs and about 150 bishops besides other religious and secular persons, among whom was the Latin emperor of Constantinople. Emperor Frederick II sent a legation headed by Thaddaeus of Suessa. Many bishops and prelates were unable to attend the council because they had been prevented by the invasions of the Tartars in the east or the attacks of the Saracens in the holy Land, or because Frederick II had intimidated them (especially the Sicilians and Germans). Thus it was that the four chief parties of the council were the French and probably the Spanish, English and Italian. In the three sessions which were held during the council (26 June, 5 and 17 July) the fathers, not without hesitation and dispute, had to treat especially of Frederick II. There seems to have been a bitter conflict between Innocent IV on the one side and Thaddaeus of Suessa on the other. The sources, especially the Brevis nota and Matthew Paris, tell us clearly about the nature of the discussion and the determined attitude of the pope, who induced the council to depose the emperor at the session on 17 July 1245, a matter that appeared unprecedented to the fathers themselves. The council on this question shows us clearly the critical position reached by the medieval theory and practice of ruling a christian state, which rested on a double order of authority. In the same session of 17 July the council also approved some strictly legal constitutions and others on usury, the Tartars and the Latin east. But the council, unlike the previous councils of the Middle Ages, did not approve canons concerning the reform of the church and the condemnation of heresy. Enthusiasm for the Gregorian reform movement seems to have died down completely. The council, however, concerned itself with promoting and confirming the general canonical legislation for religious life. The transmission of the text of the constitutions is involved and still partly obscure. Only in recent times has it been realised that the authentic and definitive drawing up of the constitutions, and their promulgation, took place after the council. This collection consists of 22 constitutions, all of which are of a legal nature, and was sent to the universities by Innocent IV on 25 August 1245 (Coll. I). A second collection of 12 decrees was published by Innocent IV on 21 April 1246 (Coll. II). A final collection (Coll. I + II and 8 other decrees) was issued on 9 September 1253 (Coll. III), and was included (except for const. 2) in Liber Sextus in 1298. Coll. I, however, is not identical with the constitutions of the council. For in it can be found neither the condemnation of Frederick II, which seems to have been the chief matter of the council, nor the five constitutions pertaining to the important questions introduced by Innocent IV at the opening of the council, namely those concerned with the Tartars, the Latin east and the crusades. Stephen Kuttner has shown that the constitutions have been transmitted to us through three versions: the conciliar version (= M), known principally from the chronicle of Matthew of Paris (const. 1-19, and the const. on the crusade corresponding to R 17); the intermediate version ( = R), known from the register of Innocent IV (const. 1-17, of which const. 1-12 correspond to M 1-10); and the definitive version ( = Coll. I), containing two constitutions (18 and 22) which are absent from the other versions, but lacking the constitutions not directly concerned with the law (R 13-17). Indeed, the origins of the constitutions must be placed before the council, as is shown by an earlier version of constitutions M 13, 15 and 19, antedating the council. Evidently the council fathers were discussing matters which had already been partly worked out, and it was somewhat later that the constitutions acquired their more accurate and definite legal form. The constitutions taken from Matthew Paris were edited in Bn[1] III/2 (1606) 1482-1489. Those from the register of Innocent IV were edited in Rm IV (1612) 73-78. All later editions followed Rm. However, I. H. Boehmer and Msi[1] 2 (1748) 1073-1098 (afterwards in Msi 23 (1779) 651-674) printed Coll. III. in addition. Coll. I, as such, has never been edited; but there exists both an indirect transmission (Coll. I + II, Coll. III, Liber Sextus) and a direct, single-family transmission through eight manuscript codices: Arras, Bibl. Municipale 541; Bratislava, formerly Cathedral Library, 13; Innsbruck, Universitaetsbibl., 70, fos. 335v-338v (= I); Kassel, Landesbibl., Iur. fol. 32; Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibl., Lat. 8201e, fos. 219v-220r, and Lat. 9654; Trier, Stadtbibl., 864; Vienna, Nationalbibl., 2073, fos. 238v-242v (= W). Our edition of the constitutions tries to give all the documents truly belonging to the council. Coll. I has been taken as the base, and variants from M and R are set out in the critical apparatus. The text of Coll. I has been established from codices I and W, which we have seen in microfilm. With regard to M, the edition of H.R. Luard has been used. With regard to R, we have examined directly the register of Innocent IV. We think, moreover, that the last five constitutions in R (13-17, 17 is also in M and Annales de Burton) should also be included among the constitutions of the council, even though they were not included in Coil. I. We have printed the text of these five constitutions from the register of Innocent IV;as regards const. 17 we have also compared M and Annales de Burton ( = Bu). We think that the bull of deposition of the emperor Frederick II must be considered a statute of the council, and we place this in front of the constitutions. The transmission of the text of the bull is involved, and the editions are very faulty. There are three copies of the bull: Vatican Archives, AA. Arm. I-XVIII, 171 (= V); Paris, Archives Nationales, L 245 no. 84 (= P); Lyons, Archives du Rhone, Fonds du chap. primat., Arm. Cham. vol. XXVII no. 2 (= L). Of these only V has been published. Other transcriptions of the bull are given in the register of Innocent IV, in some chronicles (Matthew of Paris, Annals of Plasencia, Annals of Melrose), in collections of decretals, and in some more recent publications (Bzovius). Our edition takes as its base V, P and L. BULL DEPOSING THE EMPEROR FREDERICK II Innocent {1}, bishop, servant of the servants of God, in the presence of the holy council, for an everlasting record. Raised, though unworthy, to the highest point of the apostolic dignity, by the will of the divine majesty, we ought to exercise a watchful, diligent and wise care of all Christians, to examine with close attention the merits of individuals and to weigh them in the balance of prudent deliberation, so that we may raise by suitable favours those whom a rigorous and just examination shows to be worthy, and depress the guilty with due penalties, weighing always the merit and the reward in a fair scale, repaying to each the amount of penalty or favour according to the nature of his work. Indeed since the terrible conflict of war has afflicted some countries of the christian world for a long time, as we desired with our whole heart the peace and tranquillity of the holy church of God and of all the christian people in general, we thought that we should send special ambassadors, men of great authority, to {2} the secular prince who was the special cause of this discord and suffering. He was the man whom our predecessor of happy memory, Pope Gregory {3}, had bound by anathema because of his excesses. The ambassadors we sent, men eager for his salvation, were our venerable brethren Peter of Albano {4}, at that time bishop of Rouen, William of Sabina {5}, at that time bishop of Modena, and our beloved son William {6}, cardinal-priest of the basilica of the Twelve Apostles and at that time abbot of Saint Facundus. Through them we proposed to him, because we and our brethren desired to have peace with him and with all people, as far as lay in our power, that we were ready to grant peace and tranquillity to him and also to the rest of the whole world. Because the restitution of the prelates, clerics and all others whom he kept in captivity, and of all both clerics and laymen whom he had taken in the galleys7, could especially lead the way to peace, we asked and begged him through our said ambassadors to set these prisoners free. This both he and his envoys had promised before we had been called to the apostolic office. Further we informed him that our ambassadors were ready on our behalf to hear and treat of peace, and even of satisfaction, should the emperor be ready to make it with regard to all those things for which he had incurred excommunication; and besides to offer him that if the church had injured him in anything contrary to justice-though it did not believe it had done so -- it was ready to put it to rights and restore the proper position. If he said that he had harmed the church in nothing unjustly, or that we had harmed him contrary to justice, we were ready to call the kings, prelates and princes, both ecclesiastical and lay, to some safe place where either by themselves or by official representatives they might come together, and that the church was ready on the advice of the council to satisfy him if in anything it had harmed him, and to recall the sentence of excommunication if it had been brought unjustly against him, and with all clemency and mercy, in so far as it could be done without offence to God and its own honour, to receive satisfaction from him for the injuries and wrongs done to the church itself and its members through him. The church also wished to secure peace for his friends and supporters and the enjoyment of full security, so that for this reason they should never incur any danger. But though in our relations with him, for the sake of peace, we have always taken care to rely on paternal admonitions and gentle entreaty, yet he, following the hardness of Pharaoh and blocking his ears like an asp, with proud obstinacy and obstinate pride has despised such prayers and admonitions. Furthermore on the Maundy Thursday previous to that which has just passed, in our presence and that of our brother cardinals, and in the presence of our dear son in Christ, the illustrious emperor of Constantinople {8}, and of a considerable gathering of prelates, before the senate and people of Rome and a very large number of others, who on that day because of its solemnity had come to the apostolic see from different parts of the world, he guaranteed on oath, through the noble count Raymond of Toulouse, and Masters Peter de Vinea and Thaddaeus of Suessa, judges of his court, his envoys and proctors who had in this matter a general commission, that he would keep our commands and those of the church. However afterwards he did not fulfil what he had sworn. Indeed it is likely enough that he took the oath, as can be clearly gathered from his following actions, with the express intention of mocking rather than obeying us and the church, since after more than a year he could not be reconciled to the bosom of the church, nor did he trouble to make satisfaction for the losses and injuries he had caused it, even though he was asked to do this. For this reason, as we are unable without giving offence to Christ to bear any longer his wickedness, we are compelled, urged on by our conscience, justly to punish him. To say nothing about his other crimes, he has committed four of the greatest gravity, which cannot be hidden by evasion. For, he has often failed to keep his oath; he deliberately broke the peace previously established between the church and the empire; he committed a sacrilege by causing the arrest of cardinals of the holy Roman church and of prelates and clerics of other churches, both religious and secular, who were coming to the council which our predecessor had decided to summon; he is also suspect of heresy, by proofs which are not light or doubtful but clear and inescapable. It is clear that he has often been guilty of perjury. For, once when he was staying in Sicily, before he had been elected to the dignity of emperor, in the presence of Gregory of happy memory, cardinal deacon of Saint Theodore {9} and legate of the apostolic see, he took an oath of loyalty to our predecessor Pope Innocent10 of happy memory and his successors and the Roman church, in return for the grant of the kingdom of Sicily made to him by this same church. Likewise, as is said, after he had been elected to that same dignity and had come to Rome, in the presence of Innocent and his brother cardinals and before many others, he renewed that oath, making his pledge of hommage in the pope’s hands. Then, when he was in Germany he swore to the same Innocent, and on his death to our predecessor Pope Honorius {11} of happy memory and his successors and the Roman church itself, in the presence of the princes and nobles of the empire, to preserve as far as was in his power, the honours, rights and possessions of the Roman church, and loyally to protect them, and without difficulty to see to the restoration of whatever came into his hands, expressly naming the said possessions in the oath: afterwards he confirmed this when he had gained the imperial crown. But he has deliberately broken these three oaths, not without the brand of treachery and the charge of treason. For against our predecessor Gregory and his brother cardinals, he has dared to send threatening letters to these cardinals, and in many ways to slander Gregory before his brother cardinals, as is clear from the letters which he then sent to them, and almost throughout the whole world, as it is said, he has presumed to defame him. He also personally caused the arrest of our venerable brother Otto {12}, bishop of Porto, at that time cardinal deacon of Saint Nicholas in Carcere Tulliano, and James of happy memory, bishop of Palestrina {13}, legates of the apostolic see, noble and important members of the Roman church. He had them stripped of all their goods, and after more than once being led shamefully through different places, committed to prison. Furthermore this privilege which our lord Jesus Christ handed to Peter and in him to his successors, namely, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven, in which assuredly consists the authority and power of the Roman church, he did his best to diminish or take away from the church itself, writing that he did not fear Pope Gregory’s condemnations. For, not only by despising the keys of the church he did not observe the sentence of excommunication pronounced against him, but also by himself and his officials he prevented others from observing that and other sentences of excommunication and interdict, which he altogether set at nought. Also without fear he seized territories of the said Roman church, namely the Marches, the Duchy, Benevento, the walls and towers of which he has caused to be demolished, and others with few exceptions in parts of Tuscany and Lombardy and certain other places which he holds, and he still keeps hold of them. And as if it were not enough that he was clearly going against the aforesaid oaths by such presumption, either by himself or through his officials he has forced the inhabitants of these territories to break their oath, absolving them in fact, since he cannot do it in law, from the oaths of loyalty by which they were bound to the Roman church, and making them nonetheless forswear the said loyalty and take an oath of loyalty to himself. It is absolutely clear that he is the violator of the peace. For, previously at a time when peace had been restored between himself and the church, he took an oath before the venerable John of Abbeville {14}, bishop of Sabina, and Master Thomas {15}, cardinal priest of the title of Saint Sabina, in the presence of many prelates, princes and barons, that he would observe and obey exactly and without reserve all the commands of the church with regard to those things for which he had incurred excommunication, after the reasons of that excommunication had been set out in order before him. Then, when remitting every sanction and penalty to the Teutonic knights, the inhabitants of the kingdom of Sicily and any others who had supported the church against him, he guaranteed on his soul through Thomas, count of Acerra, that he would never wrong them or cause them to be wronged on the ground that they had supported the church. But he did not keep the peace and violated these oaths without any sense of shame that he was guilty of perjury. For afterwards he caused some of these very men, both nobles and others, to be captured; and after stripping them of all their goods, he had their wives and children imprisoned; and contrary to the promise he had made to bishop John of Sabina and cardinal Thomas, he invaded the lands of the church without hesitation, even though they promulgated in his presence that henceforth he would incur sentence of excommunication if he broke his promise. And when these two ecclesiastics, by their apostolic authority, ordered that neither by himself nor through others should he hinder postulations, elections or confirmations of churches and monasteries in the kingdom of Sicily from being held freely in future according to the statutes of the general council; that henceforth nobody in the same kingdom should impose taxes or collections on ecclesiastical persons or their property; that in the same kingdom no cleric or ecclesiastical person should in future be brought before a lay judge in a civil or criminal case, except for a suit in civil law over feudal rights; and that he should make adequate compensation to the Templars, Hospitallers and other ecclesiastical persons for the loss and injury inflicted upon them; he nevertheless refused to obey these commands. It is clear that in the kingdom of Sicily eleven or more archiepiscopal and many episcopal sees, abbacies and other churches are at present vacant, and through his agency, as is patent, these have long been deprived of prelates, to their own grave loss and the ruin of souls. And though perhaps in some churches of the kingdom elections have been held by chapters, since however they have elected clerics who are Frederick’s dependants, it can be concluded in all probability that they did not have a free power of choice. Not only has he caused the possessions and goods of churches in the kingdom to be seized at his pleasure, but also the crosses, thuribles, chalices and other sacred treasures of theirs, and silk cloth, to be carried off, like one who sets at nought divine worship, and although it is said that they have been restored in part to the churches, yet a price was first exacted for them. Indeed clerics are made to suffer in many ways by collections and taxes, and not only are they dragged before a lay court but also, as it is asserted, they are compelled to submit to duels and are imprisoned, killed and tortured to the disturbance and insult of the clerical order. Satisfaction has not been made to the said Templars, Hospitallers and ecclesiastical persons for the loss and injury done to them. It is also certain that he is guilty of sacrilege. For when the aforesaid bishops of Porto and Palestrina, and many prelates of churches and clerics, both religious and secular, summoned to the apostolic see to hold the council which Frederick himself had previously asked for, were coming by sea, since the roads had been entirely blocked at his command, he stationed his son Enzo with a large number of galleys and, by means of many others duly placed long beforehand, he laid an ambush against them in the parts of Tuscany on the coast; and so that he might vomit forth in more deadly fashion the poison which had long gathered within him, by an act of sacrilegious daring he caused them to be captured; during their seizure some of the prelates and others were drowned, a number were killed, some were put to flight and pursued, and the rest were stripped of all their possessions, ignominiously led from place to place to the kingdom of Sicily, and there harshly imprisoned. Some of them, overcome by the filth and beset by hunger, perished miserably. Furthermore, he has deservedly become suspect of heresy. For, after he had incurred the sentence of excommunication pronounced against him by the aforesaid John, bishop of Sabina, and cardinal Thomas, after the said pope Gregory had laid him under anathema, and after the capture of cardinals of the Roman church, prelates, clerics and others coming at different times to the apostolic see; he has despised and continues to despise the keys of the church, causing the sacred rites to be celebrated or rather, as far as in him lies, to be profaned, and he has consistently asserted, as said above, that he does not fear the condemnations of the aforesaid pope Gregory. Besides, he is joined in odious friendship with the Saracens; several times he has sent envoys and gifts to them, and receives the like from them in return with expressions of honour and welcome; he embraces their rites; he openly keeps them with him in his daily services; and, following their customs, he does not blush to appoint as guards, for his wives descended from royal stock, eunuchs whom it is seriously said he has had castrated. And what is more loathsome, when he was in the territory overseas, after he had made an agreement, or rather had come to a wicked understanding with the sultan, he allowed the name of Mahomet to be publicly proclaimed day and night in the Lord’s temple. Recently, after the sultan of Babylon and his followers had brought serious loss and untold injury to the holy Land and its christian inhabitants, he caused the envoys of the sultan to be honourably received and lavishly entertained throughout the kingdom of Sicily with, it is said, every mark of honour being paid to the sultan. Using the deadly and hateful service of other unbelievers against the faithful, and securing a bond by friendship and marriage with those who, wickedly making light of the apostolic see, have separated from the unity of the church, he brought about by assassins the death of the famous duke Ludwig of Bavaria {16}, who was specially devoted to the Roman church, with disregard of the christian religion, and he gave his daughter in marriage to Vatatzes {17}, that enemy of God and the church who, together with his counsellors and supporters, was solemnly separated by excommunication from the communion of the faithful. Rejecting the customs and actions of christian princes and heedless of salvation and reputation, he gives no attention to works of piety. Indeed to say nothing of his wicked acts of destruction, though he has learnt to oppress, he does not care mercifully to relieve the oppressed, and instead of holding out his hand in charity, as befits a prince, he sets about the destruction of churches and crushes religious and other ecclesiastical persons by constant affliction. Nor is he seen to have built churches, monasteries, hospitals or other pious places. Surely these are not light but convincing proofs for suspecting him of heresy? The civil law declares that those are to be regarded as heretics, and ought to be subject to the sentences issued against them, who even on slight evidence are found to have strayed from the judgment and path of the catholic religion. Besides this the kingdom of Sicily, which is the special patrimony of blessed Peter and which Frederick held as a fief from the apostolic see, he has reduced to such a state of utter desolation and servitude, with regard to both clergy and laity, that these have practically nothing at all; and as nearly all upright people have been driven out, he has forced those who remain to live in an almost servile condition and to wrong in many ways and attack the Roman church, of which in the first place they are subjects and vassals. He could also be rightly blamed because for more than nine years he has failed to pay the annual pension of a thousand gold pieces, which he is bound to pay to the Roman church for this kingdom. We therefore, after careful discussion with our brother cardinals and the sacred council on his wicked transgressions already mentioned and many more besides, since though unworthy we hold on earth the place of Jesus Christ, and to us in the person of the blessed apostle Peter has been said, whatever you bind on earth etc., denounce the said prince, who has made himself so unworthy of the empire and kingdoms and every honour and dignity and who also, because of his crimes, has been cast out by God from kingdom and empire; we mark him out as bound by his sins, an outcast and deprived by our Lord of every honour and dignity; and we deprive him of them by our sentence. We absolve from their oath for ever all those who are bound to him by an oath of loyalty, firmly forbidding by our apostolic authority anyone in the future to obey or heed him as emperor or king, and decreeing that anyone who henceforth offers advice, help or favour to him as to an emperor or king, automatically incurs excommunication. Let those whose task it is to choose an emperor in the same empire, freely choose a successor to him. With regard to the aforesaid kingdom of Sicily, we shall take care to provide, with the counsel of our brother cardinals, as we see to be expedient. CONSTITUTIONS I 1. On rescripts Since in many articles of law failure to define their scope is blameworthy, after prudent consideration we decree that by the general clause “certain others” which frequently occurs in papal letters, no more than three or four persons are to be brought to court. The petitioner should state the names in his first citation, lest by chance a place is left for fraud if the names can be freely altered {18}. 2. {19} Those to whom cases should be entrusted By {20} the present decree we ordain that the apostolic see or its legates should not entrust cases to any persons except those who possess a dignity or belong to cathedrals or other collegiate churches of high standing; and such cases are to be conducted only in cities or large and well-known places where are to be found many men learned in the law. Judges who, contrary to this statute, cite either one or both parties to other places may be disobeyed without penalty, unless the citation takes place with the consent of both parties. 3. {21} Curtailing legal expenses As we wish, to the best of our power, to curtail the expenses of lawsuits by shortening the legal process, extending the decree of Innocent III of happy memory on this matter, we decree that if anyone wishes to bring several personal claims against another, he must be careful to gain letters on all these claims to the same judges and not to different ones. If anyone acts contrary to this, his letters and the processes initiated by them are to lack all validity; besides if he has caused inconvenience to the defendant by them, he is to be condemned to pay the legal expenses. Also if the defendant during the course of the same trial declares that he has a charge against the plaintiff, he ought, through benefit either of reconvention or of convention, if he prefers to obtain letters against him, to have his case tried before the same judges, unless he can reject them as being suspect. If he acts contrary to this, he should suffer the same penalty. 4. {22} On challenging elections etc. We decree that if anyone attacks an election, postulation or provision already made, bringing some objection to the form or the person, and should happen to appeal to us in this matter, both the objector and the defendant, and in general all those who are concerned and whom the case affects, either by themselves or by their procurators instructed for the case, should make their way to the apostolic see within a month of the lodging of the objection. But if one party {23} does not come after twenty days, and the other party has arrived and is waiting, the case about the election may proceed according to law, notwithstanding the absence of anyone. We wish and command that this is to be observed in dignities parsonages and canonries. We {24} also add that anyone who does not fully prove the objection he has brought regarding the form, shall be condemned to pay the expenses which the other party claims to have incurred on this account. But anyone who fails to prove his objection against the person, should know that he is suspended from ecclesiastical benefices for three years, and if within that time he continues to act with similar reckless conduct, that by the law itself he is deprived of these benefices for ever, and he is to have no hope or confidence of mercy in this matter, unless it is established by the clearest proof that a probable and sufficient cause excuses him from a malicious accusation. 5. {25} Only unconditional votes valid In {26} elections, postulations and ballots, from which the right of election arises, we completely disapprove of conditional, alternative and indefinite votes, and we decree that the said votes are to be held invalid, and that the election is to be determined by unconditional votes; for the power of decision of those who do not express a clear opinion is transferred to the others {27}. 6. {28} Jurisdiction of conservators We decree that conservators, whom we frequently appoint, may defend from manifest injury and violence those whom we entrust to their protection, but that their power does not extend to other matters which require a judicial investigation. 7. {29} Legates and benefices We are required by our office to watch for remedies for our subjects, because while we relieve their burdens and remove their stumbling blocks, so we rest in their ease and enjoy their peace. Therefore we enact by the present decree that legates of the Roman church, however much they hold the full power of legates whether they have been sent by us or claim the dignity of that office on behalf of their own churches, have no power from the office of legate of conferring benefices, unless we have judged that this is specially to be granted to a particular one. We do not, however, wish this restriction to hold with our brother cardinals while acting as legates, because just as they rejoice in a prerogative of honour, so we wish them to exercise a wider authority. 8. {30} Judge delegates The law seems to be clear that a judge delegate, unless he has received a special concession for the purpose from the apostolic see, cannot order either of the parties to appear in person before him, unless it be a criminal case or, in order to obtain a statement of the truth or an oath regarding calumny, the necessity of the law demands that the parties appear before him. 9. {31} On peremptory exceptions The objection of a peremptory exception or of any major defence concerning the trial of a case, raised before the contestation of the suit, shall not prevent or hold up the contestation, unless the objector makes an exception concerning a matter already judged or concluded or brought to a solution, even though the objector says that the rescript would not have been granted if the grantor had been aware of the things which are adverse to the plaintiff. 10. {32} The objection of robbery We are well aware of the frequent and persistent complaint that the exception of robbery, sometimes maliciously introduced in trials, hinders and confuses ecclesiastical cases. For while the exception is admitted, sometimes appeals are introduced. Thus the hearing of the chief case is interrupted and often comes to nothing. Thus we who are ever ready to take labours upon ourselves so that we may win peace for others, wishing to limit lawsuits and to remove material for malicious accusations, decree that in civil suits a judge is not to hold up the proceedings of the major issue on account of an objection of robbery brought by anyone except the plaintiff. But if the defendant declares in civil suits that he has been robbed by the plaintiff, or in criminal cases by anyone at all, then he must prove his assertion within fifteen days after the day on which the claim is put forward; otherwise he is to be condemned to pay the expenses which the plaintiff has incurred on this account, after a judicial estimate has been made, or let him be punished otherwise if the judge thinks right. By the word “robbed” we wish to be understood in this case a criminal accusation whereby someone declares that he has been stripped by violence of all his substance or a greater part of it. This we think is the only honest interpretation of the canons, for we ought not to meet our opponents either naked or without arms. For the one stripped has the advantage that he cannot be stripped again. Among the schoolmen the matter is debated, whether one who has been robbed by a third party can bring an exception against his accuser, or whether a time should be granted him by the judge within which he should ask for restitution, lest perchance he should wish to continue in this state in order to evade every accuser, and this we think is fully according to justice. If he does not seek restitution within the time granted, or does not bring his case to a conclusion even though he could do so, then he can be accused regardless of the exception of robbery. In addition to this we decree that robbery of private goods cannot in any way be brought up against one for ecclesiastics or vice versa. 11. {33} No-show plaintiffs A plaintiff who does not take the trouble to come on the date for which he has caused his appeal to be cited, should be condemned on his arrival to pay the expenses incurred by the defendant on account of this, and he is not to be admitted to another citation unless he gives a sufficient surety that he will appear on the date. 12. {34} On early possession for the sake of preservation We decree that a person who, in order to obtain a dignity, parsonage or ecclesiastical benefice, brings a suit against the possessor, may not be admitted to possession of it for the sake of its preservation, on the grounds of the other’s contumacy; this is to prevent his entering upon it from appearing irregular. But in this case the divine presence may make up for the absence of the contumacious one, so that though the suit is not opposed, the matter may be brought to the proper conclusion after a careful examination. 13. {35} On the acceptability of negative assertions We decree that negative assertions, which can only be proved by the admission of the opponent, may be accepted by the judges if they see this to be expedient in the interests of equity. 14. {36} The exception of major excommunication After due consideration our holy mother the church decrees that the exception of a major excommunication should hold up the suit and delay the agents, in whatever part of the proceedings it is produced. Thus ecclesiastical censure will be the more feared, the danger of communion avoided, the vice of contumacy checked, and those excommunicated, while they are excluded from the acts of the community, may the more easily be brought, through a sense of shame, to the grace of humility and reconciliation. But with the growth of human evil what was provided as a remedy has turned to harm. For while in ecclesiastical cases this exception is frequently brought up through malice, it happens that business is delayed and the parties worn out by toil and expense. Therefore, since this has crept in like a general plague, we think it right to apply a general remedy. Thus if anyone brings up the objection of excommunication, he should set out the kind of excommunication and the name of the person who imposed the penalty. He must know that he is bringing the matter into public notice, and he must prove it with the clearest evidence within eight days, not counting the day on which he brings it forward. If he does not prove it, the judge should not fail to proceed in the case, condemning the accused to repay the sum which the plaintiff shows he has incurred, after an estimate has been made. If however later, while the hearing continues and the proof is progressing, an exception is made either with regard to the same excommunication or another and is proved, the plaintiff is to be excluded from the proceedings until he has deserved to gain the grace of absolution, and all that has gone before shall nevertheless be regarded as valid; provided that this exception is not put forward more than twice, unless a new excommunication has arisen or a clear and ready proof has come to light concerning the old. If such an exception is brought forward after the case has been decided though it will prevent the execution it will not weaken the verdict, with the qualification that, if the plaintiff has been publicly excommunicated, and the judge knows this at any time, then even if the accused shall not make an exception on this score, the judge should not delay in removing the plaintiff from his office. 15. {37} On Judges Who Give Dishonest Judgment Since before the judgment seat of the eternal king a person will not be held guilty when a judge unjustly condemns him, according to the words of the prophet, the Lord will not condemn him when he is judged, ecclesiastical judges must take care and be on the watch that in the process of justice dislike has no power, favour does not take an undue place, fear is banished, and reward or hope of reward does not overturn justice. Let them bear the scales in their hands and weigh with an equal balance, so that in all that is done in the court, especially in forming and giving the verdict, they may have God only before their eyes following the example of him who when entering the tabernacle referred the complaints of the people to the Lord to judge according to his command. If any ecclesiastical judge, whether ordinary or delegated, careless of his reputation and seeking his own honour, acts against his conscience and justice in any way to the injury of one party in his judgment, whether from favour or from base motives, let him know that he is suspended from the exercise of his office for a year and he is to be condemned to pay to the injured party the damages incurred; further, let him know that if during the period of his suspension he sacrilegiously takes part in the sacred rites of the church, he is caught in the noose of irregularity according to the canonical sanctions, from which he can be freed only by the apostolic see, saving the other constitutions which assign and inflict punishment on judges who give dishonest judgment. For it is right that he who dares to offend in so many ways should suffer a multiple penalty. 16. {38} On appeals It is our earnest wish to lessen lawsuits and to relieve subjects of their troubles. Therefore we decree that if anyone thinks that he should appeal to us in a court of law or outside it because of an interlocutory decree or a grievance, let him at once put in writing the reason for his appeal, seeking a writ which we order to be granted him. In this writ the judge is to declare the reason for the appeal, and why the appeal has not been granted or whether it was granted out of respect for a superior. After this let time be granted to the appellant, according to distance and the nature of the persons and the business, to follow up his appeal. If the appellee wishes it and the principals petition for it, let them approach the apostolic see, either by themselves or through agents who have been instructed and given a commission to act, bringing with them the reasons and documents relating to the case. Let them come so prepared that if it seems good to us, when the matter of the appeal has been dealt with or committed to the parties for agreement, the principal case may proceed, insofar as it can and should by law; without however any change in what tradition has ordained about appeals from definitive sentences. If the appellant does not observe the above provisions, he is not to be reckoned an appellant and he must return to the examination of the former judge, and is to be condemned to pay the legitimate expenses. If the appellee disregards this statute, he shall be proceeded against as contumacious, as regards both the costs and the case, in so far as this is allowed by the law. Indeed it is right that the laws should raise their hands against someone who mocks the law, judge and litigant. 17. {39} On the same When reasonable grounds for suspicion have been noted against a judge, and arbitrators have been chosen by the parties according to the form of law to investigate it, it often happens that when the two arbitrators fail to agree and do not summon a third one, with whom both or one of them can proceed to settle the matter as they are obliged, the judge brings a sentence of excommunication against them, which they through dislike or favour for long disregard. Thus the case itself, interrupted more than it should be, does not proceed to a settlement of the principal business. As it is our wish therefore to apply a necessary remedy for a disease of this nature, we decree that a fitting time-limit should be fixed by the judge for the two arbitrators, so that within it they may either agree or by consent summon a third one, with whom both or one of them may put an end to the suspicion. Otherwise the judge thenceforth shall proceed in the principal business. 18. {40} On employing assassins The son of God, Jesus Christ, for the redemption of the human race descended from the height of heaven to the lowest part of the world and underwent a temporal death. But when after his resurrection he was about to ascend to his Father, that he might not leave the flock redeemed by his glorious blood without a shepherd, he entrusted its care to the blessed apostle Peter, so that by the firmness of his own faith he might strengthen others in the christian religion and kindle their minds with the ardour of devotion to the works of their salvation. Hence we who by the will of our Lord, though without merit of our own, have been made successors of this apostle and hold on earth, though unworthy, the place of our Redeemer, should always be careful and vigilant in the guarding of that flock and be forced to direct our thoughts continuously to the salvation of souls by removing what is harmful and doing what is profitable. Thus casting off the sleep of negligence and with the eyes of our heart ever vigilant, we may be able to win souls to God with the cooperation of his grace. Since therefore there are people who with a terrible inhumanity and loathsome cruelty thirst for the death of others and cause them to be killed by assassins, and thus bring about not only the death of the body but also of the soul, unless the abundant divine grace prevents it, we wish to meet such danger to souls, so that the victims may be defended beforehand by spiritual arms and all power may be bestowed by God for justice and the exercise of right judgment, and to strike those wicked and reckless people with the sword of ecclesiastical punishment, so that the fear of punishment may set a limit to their audacity. We do so especially since some persons of high standing, fearing to be killed in such a way, are forced to beg for their own safety from the master of these assassins, and thus so to speak to redeem their life in a way that is an insult to christian dignity. Therefore, with the approval of the sacred council, we decree that if any prince, prelate or any ecclesiastical or secular person shall cause the death of any Christian by such assassins, or even command it -- even though death does not follow from this-or receives, defends or hides such persons, he automatically incurs the sentence of excommunication and of deposition from dignity, honour, order, office and benefice, and these are to be conferred on others by those who have the right to do so. Let such a one with all his worldly goods be cast out for ever by all christian people as an enemy of religion, and after it has been established by reasonable evidence that so loathsome a crime has been committed, no other sentence of excommunication, deposition or rejection shall in any way be needed. 19. {41} On excommunication 1 Since the aim of excommunication is healing and not death, correction and not destruction, as long as the one against whom it is pronounced does not treat it with contempt, let an ecclesiastical judge proceed with caution, so that in pronouncing It he may be seen as one who acts with a correcting and healing hand. Whoever pronounces an excommunication, therefore, should do this in writing and should write down expressly the reason why the excommunication was pronounced. He is bound to hand over a copy of this written document to the one excommunicated within a month after the date of sentence, if requested to do so. As to this request, we wish a public document to be drawn up or testimonial letters to be furnished, sealed with an official seal. If any judge rashly violates this constitution, let him know that he is suspended for one month from entering a church or attending divine services. The superior to whom the one excommunicated has recourse, should readily remove the excommunication and condemn the judge who pronounced it to repay the expenses and all losses, or punish him in other ways with a fitting penalty, so that judges may learn by the lesson of punishment how serious it is to hurl the bolt of excommunication without due consideration. We wish the same to be observed in sentences of suspension and interdict. Let prelates of churches and all judges take care that they do not incur the foresaid penalty of suspension. But if it happens that they take part m divine offices as before, they will not escape irregularity according to the canonical sanctions, in a matter where dispensation cannot be granted except by the sovereign pontiff. 20. {42} On excommunication 2 The question is sometimes asked whether, when a person who asks to be absolved by a superior by way of precaution, asserting that the sentence of excommunication pronounced against him is void, the act of absolution should be performed for him without objection; and whether one who declares before such absolution that he will prove in a court of law that he was excommunicated after a legitimate appeal, or that an intolerable mistake was clearly expressed in the sentence, should be avoided in all things except in what concerns the proof. To the first question we decree that the following is to be observed: absolution is not to be refused to the petitioner, even though the pronouncer of the sentence or the adversary opposes it, unless he says that the petitioner was excommunicated for a manifest offence, in which case a limit of eight days is to be granted to the one saying this. If he proves his objection, the sentence is not to be set aside unless there is sufficient guarantee of amendment or an adequate assurance that the petitioner will appear in court if the offence with which he is charged is still doubtful. To the second question, we decree that he who is allowed to submit a proof, as long as the matter of proof is in dispute, is to be avoided in all matters in the court in which he is engaged as an agent, but outside the court he may take part in offices, postulations, elections and other lawful acts. 21. {43} On excommunication 3 We decree {44} that no judge should presume to pronounce, before a canonical warning, a sentence of major excommunication upon persons who associate, in speech or other ways by which an associate incurs a minor excommunication, with persons already excommunicated by the judge; saving those decrees which have legitimately been promulgated against those who presume to associate with one condemned for grievous crime. But it the excommunicated person becomes hardened in speech or other ways by which an associate incurs a minor excommunication, the judge can, after canonical warning, condemn such associates with a similar censure. Otherwise excommunication pronounced against these associates is not to have any binding power, and those who pronounce it may fear the penalty of the law. 22. {45} On excommunication 4 Since there is danger that bishops and their superiors in the execution of their pontifical office, which is often their duty, may incur in some case an automatic sentence of interdict or suspension, we have thought it right, after careful consideration, to decree that bishops and other higher prelates in no way incur, because of any decree, sentence or order, the aforesaid sentence by reason of the law itself, unless there is express mention in them of bishops and superiors. In the constitution Solet a nonnullis, previously promulgated by us, it is laid down that when someone offers in court to prove that a sentence of excommunication was passed against him after a legitimate appeal, he is not to be avoided during the period of proof in matters which lie outside the court, such as elections, postulations and offices. To this we add that this constitution should not be extended to the sentences of bishops and archbishops, but what was previously observed in such actions should be observed in the future for these too. II 1. {46} Management of church debts Our pastoral care incites and urges us to look to the interest of those churches which have fallen into debt, and to provide by a salutary constitution that this should not happen for the future. The abyss of usury has almost destroyed many churches, and some prelates are found to be very careless and remiss in the payment of debts, especially those contracted by their predecessors, too ready to contract heavier debts and mortgage the property of the church, slothful in guarding what has been acquired, and preferring to win praise for themselves by making some small innovation than to guard their possessions, recover what has been thrown away, restore what is lost and repair damage. For this reason, so that they may not be able for the future to excuse themselves for an inefficient administration and to throw the blame on their predecessors and others, we lay down the following rules, with the approval of the present council. Bishops, abbots, deans and others who exercise a lawful and common administration, within one month after they have assumed office, having first informed their immediate superior, so that he may be present either in person or through some suitable and faithful ecclesiastical person, in the presence of the chapter or convent especially summoned for this purpose, must see that an inventory is made of the goods that belong to the administration they have taken up. In this the movable and immovable goods, books, charters, legal instruments, privileges, ornaments or fittings of the church, and all things which belong to the equipment of the estate, whether urban or rural, as well as debts and credits, are to be carefully written down. Thus, what was the condition of the church or the administration when they took it up, how they governed it during their incumbency, and what was its state when they laid it down by death or withdrawal, may be clearly known to the superior, if necessary, and those who are appointed for the service of the church. Archbishops who have no superior except the Roman pontiff, are to see to it that for this purpose they summon one of their suffragans, either in person or through another, as is expressed above, and abbots and other lesser exempt prelates, a neighbouring bishop, who is to claim no right for himself in the exempt church. The said inventory is to be furnished with the seals of the new incumbent and his chapter, and of the archbishop’s suffragan or the neighbouring bishop called for the purpose. It is to be preserved in the archives of the church with due safeguards. Moreover a transcript of this inventory is to be given to both the new incumbent and the prelate summoned for the above purpose, and is to be similarly sealed. Existing goods are to be carefully guarded, their administration carried out in a worthy manner, and the debts which have been found are to be speedily paid, if possible, from the movable possessions of the church. If these movable goods are not sufficient for a speedy payment, all revenues are to be directed to the payment of debts that are usurious or burdensome; only necessary expenses are to be deducted from these revenues, after a reasonable estimate has been made by the prelate and his chapter. But if the debts are not burdensome or usurious, a third part of these revenues is to be set aside for this obligation, or a greater part with the agreement of those whom we have said must be summoned to take the inventory. Further we strictly forbid, with the authority of the same council, those mentioned above to mortgage to others their persons or the churches entrusted to them, or to contract debts on behalf of themselves or the churches which may be a source of trouble. If evident necessity and the reasonable advantage of their churches should persuade them, then prelates with the advice and consent of their superiors, and archbishops and exempt abbots with the advice and consent of those already mentioned and of their chapter, may contract debts which, if possible, are not usurious and which are never in fairs or public markets. The names of the debtors and creditors and the reason why the debt was contracted are to be included in the written contract, even if it is turned to the advantage of the church, and for this purpose we wish that in no way ecclesiastical persons or churches should be given as security. Indeed the privileges of churches, which we command should be faithfully guarded in a safe place, are never to be given as securities, nor are other things, except for necessary and useful debts contracted with the full legal forms mentioned above. That this salutary constitution should be kept unbroken, and the advantage which we hope from it may be clearly seen, we consider that we must lay down by an inviolable decree that all abbots and priors as well as deans and those in charge of cathedrals or other churches, at least once a year in their chapters, should render a strict account of their administration, and a written and sealed account should be faithfully read out in the presence of the visiting superior. Likewise archbishops and bishops are to take care each year to make known to their chapters with due fidelity the state of administration of the goods belonging to their households, and bishops to their metropolitans, and metropolitans to the legates of the apostolic see, or to others to whom the visitation of their churches has been assigned by the same see. Written accounts are always to be kept in the treasury of the church for a record, so that in the accounts a careful comparison can be made between future years and the present and past; and the superior may learn from this the care or negligence of the administration. Let the superior requite any negligence, keeping God only before his eyes and putting aside love, hate and fear of humans, with such a degree and kind of correction that he may not on this account receive from God or his superior or the apostolic see condign punishment. We order that this constitution is to be observed not only by future prelates but also by those already promoted. 2. {47} On help for the empire of Constantinople Though we are engaged in difficult matters and distracted by manifold anxieties, yet among those things which demand our constant attention is the liberation of the empire of Constantinople. This we desire with our whole heart, this is ever the object of our thoughts. Yet though the apostolic see has eagerly sought a remedy on its behalf by earnest endeavour and many forms of assistance, though for long Catholics have striven by grievous toils, by burdensome expense, by care, sweat, tears and bloodshed, yet the hand that extended such aid could not wholly, hindered by sin, snatch the empire from the yoke of the enemy. Thus not without cause we are troubled with grief. But because the body of the church would be shamefully deformed by the lack of a loved member, namely the aforesaid empire, and be sadly weakened and suffer loss; and because it could rightly be assigned to our sloth and that of the church, if it were deprived of the support of the faithful, and left to be freely oppressed by its enemies; we firmly propose to come to the help of the empire with swift and effective aid. Thus at the same time as the church eagerly rises to its assistance and stretches out the hand of defence, the empire can be saved from the dominion of its foes, and be brought back by the Lord’s guidance to the unity of that same body, and may feel after the crushing hammer of its enemies the consoling hand of the church its mother, and after the blindness of error regain its sight by the possession of the catholic faith. It is the more fitting that prelates of churches and other ecclesiastics should be watchful and diligent for its liberation, and bestow their help and assistance, the more they are bound to work for the increase of the faith and of ecclesiastical liberty, which could chiefly come about from the liberation of the empire; and especially because while the empire is helped, assistance is consequently rendered to the holy Land. Indeed, so that the help to the empire may be speedy and useful, we decree, with the general approval of the council, that half of all incomes of dignities parsonages and ecclesiastical prebends, and of other benefices of ecclesiastics who do not personally reside in them for at least six months, whether they hold one or more, shall be assigned in full for three years to the help of the said empire, having been collected by those designated by the apostolic see. Those are exempt who are employed in our service or in that of our brother cardinals and of their prelates, those who are on pilgrimages or in schools, or engaged in the business of their own churches at their direction, and those who have or will take up the badge of the cross for the aid of the holy Land or who will set out in person to the help of the said empire; but if any of these, apart from the crusaders and those setting out, receive from ecclesiastical revenues more than a hundred silver marks, they should pay a third part of the remainder in each of the three years. This is to be observed notwithstanding any customs or statutes of churches to the contrary, or any indulgences granted by the apostolic see to these churches or persons, confirmed by oath or any other means. And if by chance in this matter any shall knowingly be guilty of any deceit, they shall incur the sentence of excommunication. We ourselves, from the revenues of the church of Rome, after first deducting a tenth from them to be assigned to the aid of the holy Land, will assign a tenth part in full for the support of the said empire. Further, when help is given to the empire, assistance is given in a very particular way and directed to the recovery of the holy Land, while we are striving for the liberation of the empire itself. Thus trusting in the mercy of almighty God and the authority of his blessed apostles Peter and Paul, from the power of binding and loosing which he conferred upon us though unworthy, we grant pardon of their sins to all those who come to the help of the said empire, and we desire they may enjoy that privilege and immunity which is granted to those who come to the help of the holy Land. 3. {48} Admonition to be made by prelates to the people in their charge In the belief that it is for ever our native country, from times long past all the children of the church have not only poured out countless sums of money but have also freely shed their blood to recover the holy Land, which the Son of God has consecrated with the shedding of his own blood. This we learn, sad at heart, from what has happened across the sea where the unbelievers fight against the faithful. Since it is the special prayer of the apostolic see that the desire of all for the redemption of the holy Land may, if God so wills, be speedily accomplished, we have made due provision, in order to win God’s favour, to arouse you to this task by our letter. Therefore we earnestly beg all of you, commanding you in our lord Jesus Christ, that by your pious admonitions you should persuade the faithful committed to your care, in your sermons or when you Impose a penance upon them, granting a special indulgence, as you see it to be expedient, that in their wills, in return for the remission of their sins, they should leave something for the help of the holy Land or the eastern empire. You are carefully to provide that what they give for this support by way of money, through reverence of our crucified Lord, is faithfully preserved in definite places under your seal, and that what is bequeathed for this purpose in other forms is accurately recorded in writing. May your own devotion carry out this work of piety, in which the only aim is God’s cause and the salvation of the faithful, so readily that with full assurance you may look at least for the reward of glory from the hand of the divine judge. 4. {49} On the Tartars Since we desire above all things that the christian religion should be spread still further and more widely throughout the world, we are pierced with the deepest sorrow when any people by aim and action go against our wishes, and strive with all their might to blot out utterly this religion from the face of the world. Indeed the wicked race of the Tartars, seeking to subdue, or rather utterly destroy the christian people, having gathered for a long time past the strength of all their tribes, have entered Poland, Russia, Hungary and other christian countries. So savage has been their devastation that their sword spared neither sex nor age, but raged with fearful brutality upon all alike. It caused unparalleled havoc and destruction in these countries in its unbroken advance; for their sword, not knowing how to rest in the sheath, made other kingdoms subject to it by a ceaseless persecution. As time went on, it could attack stronger christian armies and exercise its savagery more fully upon them. Thus when, God forbid, the world is bereaved of the faithful, faith may turn aside from the world to lament its followers destroyed by the barbarity of this people. Therefore, so that the horrible purpose of this people may not prevail but be thwarted, and by the power of God be brought to the opposite result, all the faithful must carefully consider and ensure by their earnest endeavour that the Tartar advance may be hindered and prevented from penetrating any further by the power of their mailed arm. Therefore, on the advice of the holy council, we advise, beg, urge and earnestly command all of you, as far as you can, carefully to observe the route and approaches by which this people can enter our land, and by ditches, walls or other defences and fortifications, as you think fitting, to keep them at bay, so that their approach to you may not easily be open. Word of their arrival should previously be brought to the apostolic see. Thus we may direct the assistance of the faithful to you, and thus you may be safe against the attempts and raids of this people. For to the necessary and useful expenses which you should make for that purpose, we shall contribute handsomely, and we shall see that contributions are made in proportion by all christian countries, for in this way we may meet common dangers. Nevertheless, in addition to this, we shall send similar letters to all Christians through whose territories this people could make its approach. 5 [On the crusade{50}]{51} Deeply sorrowful at the grievous dangers of the holy Land, but especially at those which have recently happened to the faithful settled there, we seek with all our heart to free it from the hands of the wicked. Thus with the approval of the sacred council, in order that the crusaders may prepare themselves, we lay it down that at an opportune time, to be made known to all the faithful by preachers and our special envoys, all who are ready to cross the sea should gather at suitable places for this purpose, so that they may proceed from there with the blessing of God and the apostolic see to the assistance of the holy Land. Priests and other clerics who will be in the christian army, both those under authority and prelates, shall diligently devote themselves to prayer and exhortation, teaching the crusaders by word and example to have the fear and love of God always before their eyes, so that they say or do nothing that might offend the majesty of the eternal king. If they ever fall into sin, let them quickly rise up again through true penitence. Let them he humble in heart and in body, keeping to moderation both in food and in dress, avoiding altogether dissensions and rivalries, and putting aside entirely any bitterness or envy, so that thus armed with spiritual and material weapons they may the more fearlessly fight against the enemies of the faith, relying not on their own power but rather trusting in the strength of God. Let nobles and the powerful in the army, and all who abound in riches, be led by the holy words of prelates so that, with their eyes fixed on the crucified one for whom they have taken up the badge of the cross, they may refrain from useless and unnecessary expenditure, especially in feasting and banquets, and let they give a share of their wealth to the support of those persons through whom the work of God may prosper; and on this account, according to the dispensation of the prelates themselves, they may be granted remission of their sins. We grant to the aforesaid clerics that they may receive the fruits of their benefices in full for three years, as if they were resident in the churches, and if necessary they may leave them in pledge for the same time. To prevent this holy proposal being impeded or delayed, we strictly order all prelates of churches, each in his own locality, diligently to warn and induce those who have abandoned the cross to resume it, and them and others who have taken up the cross, and those who may still do so, to carry out their vows to the Lord. And if necessary they shall compel them to do this without any backsliding, by sentences of excommunication against their persons and of interdict on their lands, excepting only those persons who find themselves faced with an impediment of such a kind that their vow deservedly ought to be commuted or deferred in accordance with the directives of the apostolic see. In order that nothing connected with this business of Jesus Christ be omitted, we will and order patriarchs, archbishops, bishops, abbots and others who have the care of souls to preach the cross zealously to those entrusted to them. Let them beseech kings, dukes, princes, margraves, counts, barons and other magnates, as well as the communes of cities, vills and towns -- in the name of the Father, Son and holy Spirit, the one, only, true and eternal God -- that those who do not go in person to the aid of the holy Land should contribute, according to their means an appropriate number of fighting men together with their necessary expenses for three years, for the remission of their sins, in accordance with what has already been explained in general letters and will be explained below for still greater assurance. We wish to share in this remission not only those who contribute ships of their own but also those who are zealous enough to build them for this purpose. To those who refuse, if there happen to be any who are so ungrateful to our lord God, we firmly declare in the name of the apostle that they should know that they will have to answer to us for this on the last day of final judgment before the fearful judge. Let them consider beforehand, however, with what knowledge and with what security it was that they were able to confess before the only-begotten Son of God, Jesus Christ, to whom the Father gave all things into his hands, if in this business, which is as it were peculiarly his, they refuse to serve him who was crucified for sinners, by whose beneficence they are sustained and indeed by whose blood they have been redeemed. We therefore decree, with the general approval of the council, that all clerics, both those under authority and prelates, shall give a twentieth of the revenues of their churches for a full three years to the aid of the holy Land, by means of the persons appointed by the apostolic see for this purpose; the only exceptions being certain religious who are rightly to be exempted from this taxation and likewise those persons who have taken or will take the cross and so will go in person. We and our brothers, cardinals of the holy Roman church, shall pay a full tenth. Let all know, moreover, that they are obliged to observe this faithfully under pain of excommunication, so that those who knowingly deceive in this matter shall incur the sentence of excommunication. Because it is right that those who persevere in the service of the heavenly ruler should in all justice enjoy special privilege, the crusaders shall therefore be exempt from taxes or levies and other burdens. We take their persons and goods under the protection of St Peter and ourself once they have taken up the cross. We ordain that they are to be protected by archbishops, bishops and all prelates of the church of God, and that protectors of their own are to be specially appointed for this purpose, so that their goods are to remain intact and undisturbed until they are known for certain to be dead or to have returned. If anyone dares to act contrary to this, let him be curbed by ecclesiastical censure. If any of those setting out are bound by oath to pay interest, we ordain that their creditors shall be compelled by the same punishment to release them from their oath and to desist from exacting the interest; if any of the creditors does force them to pay the interest, we command that he be forced by similar punishment to restore it. We order that Jews be compelled by the secular power to remit interest, and that until they do so all intercourse shall be denied them by all Christ’s faithful under pain of excommunication. Secular princes shall provide a suitable deferral for those who cannot now pay their debts to Jews, so that after they have undertaken the journey, and until there is certain knowledge of their death or of their return, they shall not incur the inconvenience of paying interest. The Jews shall be compelled to add to the capital, after they have deducted their necessary expenses, the revenues which they are meanwhile receiving from property held by them on security. For, such a benefit seems to entail not much loss, inasmuch as it postpones the repayment but does not cancel the debt. Prelates of churches who are negligent in showing justice to crusaders and their families should know that they will be severely punished. Furthermore, since corsairs and pirates greatly impede help for the holy Land, by capturing and plundering those who are travelling to and from it, we bind with the bond of excommunication them and their principal helpers and supporters. We forbid anyone, under threat of anathema, knowingly to communicate with them by contracting to buy or to sell; and we order rulers of cities and their territories to restrain and curb such persons from this iniquity. Otherwise, since to be unwilling to disquiet evildoers is none other than to encourage them, and since he who fails to oppose a manifest crime is not without a touch of secret complicity, it is our wish and command that prelates of churches exercise ecclesiastical severity against their persons and lands. We excommunicate and anathematise, moreover, those false and impious Christians who, in opposition to Christ and the christian people, convey {52} arms and iron and timber for galleys; and we decree that those who sell them galleys or ships, and those who act as pilots in pirate Saracen ships, or give them any help or advice by way of machines or anything else, to the detriment of the holy Land, are to be punished with deprivation of their possessions and are to become the slaves of those who capture them. We order this sentence to be renewed publicly on Sundays and feast-days in all maritime towns; and the bosom of the church is not to be opened to such persons unless they send in aid of the holy Land all that they received from this damnable commerce and the same amount of their own, so that they are punished in proportion to their sins. If perchance they do not pay, they are to be punished in other ways in order that through their punishment others may be deterred from venturing upon similar rash actions. In addition, we prohibit and on pain of anathema forbid all Christians, for four years, to send or take their ships across to the lands of the Saracens who dwell in the east, so that by this a greater supply of shipping may be made ready for those wanting to cross over to help the holy Land, and so that the aforesaid Saracens may be deprived of the not inconsiderable help which they have been accustomed to receiving from this. Although tournaments have been forbidden in a general way on pain of a fixed penalty at various councils, we strictly forbid them to be held for three years, under pain of excommunication, because the business of the crusade is much hindered by them at this present time. Because it is of the utmost necessity for the carrying out of this business that rulers and christian peoples keep peace with each other, we therefore ordain, on the advice of this holy and general synod, that peace be generally kept in the whole christian world for four years, so that those in conflict shall be brought by the prelates of churches to conclude a definitive peace or to observe inviolably a firm truce. Those who refuse to comply shall be most strictly compelled to do so by an excommunication against their persons and an interdict on their lands, unless the malice of the wrongdoers is so great that they ought not to enjoy peace. If it happens that they make light of the church’s censure, they may deservedly fear that the secular power will be invoked by ecclesiastical authority against them, as disturbers of the business of him who was crucified. SECOND COUNCIL OF LYONS - 1274 Hypertext partial index CONTENTS Introduction CONSTITUTIONS Constitution I Constitution II 1. On the supreme Trinity and the catholic faith 2. On election and the power of the elected person 15. On the circumstances of ordination and the quality of ordinands 16. On bigamists 17. On the office of ordinary judge 19. On pleading 21. On prebends and dignities 22. On not alienating the property of the church 23. On religious houses, that they are to be subject to the bishop 24. On taxes and procurations 25. On the immunity of churches 26. On usury 28. On wrongs and the loss caused 29. On the sentence of excommunication INTRODUCTION After the death of Pope Clement IV (29 November 1268) almost three years passed before the cardinals were able to elect a new pope, Gregory X (1 September 1271). The political aspect of Europe in those times was undergoing great change. The popes themselves in their struggles with the German emperors had sought help from various states and had placed Charles of Anjou on the throne of Sicily. This long conflict, which the popes fought in order to protect their freedom and immunity, had finally upset the traditional system of government in Christendom. This system depended on two institutions, the papacy and the empire. In the East, moreover, the emperor Michael VIII Palaeologus had captured Constantinople in 1261 and brought the Latin empire there to an end. Since the state of affairs was undoubtedly complex and difficult, Gregory X had conceived a very broad plan involving the whole christian world. In this plan the eastern question was of the highest importance. The pope sought to conclude a treaty with Michael VIII Palaeologus and to unite the eastern and western churches. For if the churches were united and the strength of all christian peoples were combined, the problem of the holy Land could be resolved and the Roman church could flourish with fresh authority and influence in the western states. Gregory X, therefore, when he convoked the general council on 31 March 1272, outlined three themes: union with the Greeks, the crusade, and the reform of the church. Regarding the third theme, which was not only traditional in medieval councils but was also required by the actual state of ecclesiastical morals, the pope in March 1273 sought the opinion of all christian people and asked for their help. Some reports sent to him for this purpose are still extant. After long preparatory arrangements the council assembled at Lyons and opened on 7 May 1274. Probably there were present about 300 bishops, 60 abbots and a large number of other clergy, many of whom apparently were theologians (Thomas Aquinas died while on his journey to Lyons), as well as king James of Aragon and the delegates sent by the rulers of France, Germany, England and Sicily. The Greeks arrived late, on 24 June, since they had been shipwrecked. Meanwhile a delegation of Tartars had also arrived. Although the number of participants does not seem to have been especially large, the whole christian world was present either in person or through representatives, and it was evident that the council, as Gregory X had wished, was universal and ecumenical. The council had six general sessions: on 7 and 18 May, 4 or 7 June, 6, 16 and 17 July. In the fourth session the union of the Greek church with the Latin church was decreed and defined, this union being based on the consent which the Greeks had given to the claims of the Roman church. In the last session the dogmatic constitution concerning the procession of the holy Spirit was approved, this question having been a cause of disagreement between the two churches. The union however appears to have been imposed, on the Greek side by the emperor Michael VIII. He wanted the support of the pope in order to deter Charles of Anjou from an attack on the Byzantine empire, while the majority of the Greek clergy opposed the union. The union was therefore fleeting, either because in the East the clergy steadily resisted it, or because the popes after Gregory X changed their plan of action. The weakness of the union with the Greeks also rendered a crusade impossible. Gregory X won the approval of the principal states of Europe for the undertaking and was able, in the second session, to impose heavy taxes (a tenth for six years) in order to carry it out (const. Zelus fidei, below pp. 309-314). The council however merely decided to engage in the crusade; no start was made at getting things done and the project came to nothing. Moreover Gregory died soon afterwards (10 January 1276), and he was not sufficiently influential or powerful to bring to a conclusion his plans for church and state. With regard to the reform of the church, Gregory complained in the council’s last session that discussion had not been sufficient to pass any definite decree. However, he was able to bring about that certain constitutions relating to the parish should be delegated to the curia. For the rest, some constitutions concerning church institutions were approved in various sessions. The most important one prescribed that a pope should be elected by the college of cardinals assembled in conclave (const. 2); constitution 23 attempts to adjust relations between secular clerics and religious; constitutions 26-27 treat of usury; and others treat of particular questions about the reform of morals and of the church. There are at least two redactions (conciliar and post-conciliar) of the council’s constitutions, as S. Kuttner has shown. In the second session the fathers had approved the decree Zelus fidei, which was rather a collection of constitutions about the holy Land, the crusade, the war against Saracens and pirates, and the order and procedure to be observed in the council (here for the first time the nations appear as ecclesiastical parts of a council). Next, twenty-eight constitutions were approved in the following sessions: const. 3-9, 15, 19, 24, 29-30 in the third, const. 2, 10-12, 16-17, 20-22, 25-28, 31 in the fifth, const. 1, 23 in the sixth session. The pope promulgated a collection of the council’s constitutions on 1 November 1274, sent this to the universities with the bull Cum nuper, and informed all the faithful in the encyclical Infrascriptas. In this collection, however, three of the thirty-one constitutions are post-conciliar (const. 13-14, 18). These concern the parish, on which subject the pope and the council fathers had decided in the last session of the council that some decrees should be made later on. Moreover the constitution Zelus fidei is missing from the collection, perhaps because it contained no juridical statutes of universal validity; and the other constitutions had been subjected to the examination of the curia and emended, notably as far as we know const. 2 on the conclave and const. 26-27 On usury. CONSTITUTIONS I (Source: Church Councils)
[1a]. Zeal for the faith, fervent devotion and compassionate love ought to rouse the hearts of the faithful, so that all who glory in the name of Christian grieved to the heart by the insult to their redeemer, should rise vigorously and openly in defence of the holy Land and support for God’s cause. Who, filled with the light of the true faith and thinking over with filial affection the marvellous favours conferred on the human race by our saviour in the holy Land, would not burn with devotion and charity, and sorrow deeply with that holy Land, portion of the Lord’s inheritance ? Whose heart will not soften with compassion for her, from so many proofs of love given in that land by our creator? Alas! the very land in which the Lord deigned to work our salvation and which, in order to redeem humanity by payment of his death, he has consecrated by his own blood, has been boldly attacked and occupied over a long period by the impious enemies of the christian name, the blasphemous and faithless Saracens. They not only rashly retain their conquest, but lay it waste without fear. They slaughter savagely the christian people there to the greater offence of the creator, to the outrage and sorrow of all who profess the catholic faith. “Where is the God of the Christians ?” is the Saracens’ constant reproach, as they taunt them. Such scandals, which neither mind can fully conceive nor tongue tell, inflamed our heart and roused our courage so that we who from experience overseas have not only heard of those events but have looked with our eyes and touched with our hands, might rise to avenge, as far as we can, the insult to the crucified one. Our help will come from those afire with zeal of faith and devotion. Because the liberation of the holy Land should concern all who profess the catholic faith, we convoked a council, so that after consultation with prelates, kings, princes and other prudent men, we might decide and ordain in Christ the means for liberating the holy Land. We also proposed to lead back the Greek peoples to the unity of the church; proudly striving to divide in some way the Lord’s seamless tunic, they withdrew from devotion and obedience to the apostolic see. We purposed also a reform of morals, which have become corrupt owing to the sins of both clergy and people. In everything we have mentioned he to whom nothing is impossible will direct our acts and counsels; when he wills, he makes what is difficult easy, and levelling by his power the crooked ways, makes straight the rough going. Indeed, in order the more readily to effect our plans, having regard to the risks from wars and dangers of journeys for those whom we judged should be summoned to the council, we did not spare ourself and our brothers but rather sought hardships so that we might arrange rest for others. We came to the city of Lyons with our brothers and curia, believing that in this place those summoned to the council might meet with less exertion and expense. We came undertaking various dangers and troubles, running many risks, to where all those summoned to the council were assembled, either in person or through suitable representatives. We held frequent consultations with them about help for the holy Land, and they, zealous to avenge the insult to the Saviour, thought out the best ways to succour the said Land and gave, as was their duty, advice and insight. [ I b]. Having listened to their advice, we rightly commend their resolutions and praiseworthy enthusiasm for the liberation of that Land. Lest, however, we seem to lay on others’ shoulders heavy burdens, hard to bear, which we are unwilling to move with our finger, we begin with ourself; declaring that we hold all we have from God’s only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, by whose gift we live, by whose favour we are sustained, by whose blood even we have been redeemed. We and our brothers, the cardinals of the holy Roman church, shall pay fully for six successive years a tenth of all our ecclesiastical revenues, fruits and incomes for the aid of the holy Land. With the approval of this sacred council, we decree and ordain that for the said six years, beginning from the next feast of the birthday of blessed John the Baptist, all ecclesiastical persons of whatever rank or pre-eminence, condition, order, or religious state or order-and we wish none to invoke for themselves and their churches any privileges or indults, in whatever form of words or expression these were granted, rather we recall completely those we have granted till now--shall pay wholly and without any reduction a tenth of all ecclesiastical revenues, fruits and incomes of each year in the following way: that is, half on the feast of the Lord’s birth and the other half on the feast of blessed John the Baptist. In order to observe more carefully the reverence due to him whose undertaking this is, in himself and in his saints and especially in the glorious Virgin whose intercession we ask in this and in our other needs, and in order that there may be a fuller subsidy for the holy Land, we order that the constitution of Pope Gregory our predecessor of happy memory against blasphemers be inviolably observed. The fines prescribed in this constitution are to be exacted in full through the authorities of the place where blasphemy is committed, and through others who exercise temporal jurisdiction there. Coercive measures, if necessary, are to be taken through diocesan and other local ordinaries. The money is to be assigned to the collectors for the subsidy. Moreover, we strictly command confessors who hear confessions by ordinary jurisdiction or by privilege to prompt and enjoin on their penitents to give the said money to the holy Land in full satisfaction for their sins; and they should persuade those making wills to leave, in proportion to their means, some of their goods for aid to the holy Land. We direct also that in each church there should be placed a box fitted with three keys, the first to be kept in the possession of the bishop, the second in that of the priest of the church, the third in that of some conscientious lay person. The faithful are to be instructed to place their alms, as the Lord inspires them, in this box for the remission of their sins. Mass is to be sung publicly in the churches once a week, on a certain day to be announced by the priest, for the remission of such sins and especially of those offering alms. Besides these measures, to provide more assistance for the holy Land, we exhort and urge kings and princes, marquises, counts and barons, magistrates, governors and other secular leaders to arrange that in the lands subject to their jurisdiction each of the faithful pays a coin to the value of a tournois or of one sterling in accordance with the customs or circumstances of the region, and they should order a further small tax of no burden to anyone for the remission of sins; these contributions are to be made each year in aid of the holy Land, so that just as nobody may excuse himself from compassion for the wretched state of the holy Land, nobody may be dismissed from contributing or shut out from meriting. Also, lest these prudent arrangements concerning the subsidy to the holy Land be hindered by anyone’s fraud or malice or craft, we excommunicate and anathematise one and all who knowingly offer hindrance, directly or indirectly, publicly or secretly, to the payment, as described above, of the tithes in aid of the holy Land. Furthermore, since corsairs and pirates greatly impede those travelling to and from that Land, by capturing and plundering them, we bind with the bond of excommunication them and their principal helpers and supporters. We forbid anyone, under threat of anathema, knowingly to communicate with them by contracting to buy or sell. We also order rulers of cities and their territories to restrain and curb such persons from this iniquity; otherwise it is our wish that prelates of churches exercise ecclesiastical severity in their land. We excommunicate and anathematise, moreover, those false and impious Christians who, in opposition to Christ and the christian people, convey to the Saracens arms and iron, which they use to attack Christians and timber for their galleys and other ships; and we decree that those who sell them galleys or ships, and those who act as pilots in pirate Saracen ships, or give them any help or advice by way of machines or anything else to the detriment of Christians and especially of the holy Land, are to be punished with deprivation of their possessions and are to become the slaves of those who capture them. We order this sentence to be renewed publicly on Sundays and feast-days in all maritime towns; and the bosom of the church is not to be opened to such persons unless they send in aid of the holy Land all that they received from this damnable commerce and the same amount of their own, so that they are punished in proportion to their sins. If perchance they do not pay, they are to be punished in other ways in order that through their punishment others may be deterred from venturing upon similar rash actions. In addition, we prohibit and on pain of anathema forbid all Christians, for six years, to send or take their ships across to the lands of the Saracens who dwell in the east, so that by this a greater supply of shipping may be made ready for those wanting to cross over to help the holy Land, and so that the aforesaid Saracens may be deprived of the considerable help which they have been accustomed to receiving from this. Because it is of the utmost necessity for the carrying out of this business that rulers and christian peoples keep peace with each other, we therefore ordain, with the approval of this holy and general synod, that peace be generally kept in the whole world among Christians, so that those in conflict shall be led by the prelates of churches to observe inviolably for six years a definitive agreement or peace or a firm truce. Those who refuse to comply shall be most strictly compelled to do so by a sentence of excommunication against their persons and an interdict on their lands, unless the malice of the wrongdoers is so great that they ought not to enjoy peace. If it happens that they make light of the church’s censure, they may deservedly fear that the secular power will be invoked by ecclesiastical authority against them as disturbers of the business of him who was crucified. We therefore, trusting in the mercy of almighty God and in the authority of the blessed apostles Peter and Paul, do grant, by the power of binding and loosing that God has conferred upon us, albeit unworthy, unto all those who undertake this work of crossing the sea to aid the holy Land, in person and at their own expense, full pardon for their sins about which they are truly and heartily contrite and have spoken in confession, and we promise them an increase of eternal life at the recompensing of the just. To those who do not go there in person but send suitable men at their own expense, according to their means and status, and likewise to those who go in person but at others’ expense, we grant full pardon for their sins. We wish to grant to share in this remission, according to the nature of their help and the intensity of their devotion, all who shall contribute suitably from their goods to the aid of the said Land, or who give useful advice and help regarding the above, and all who make available their own ships for the help of the holy Land or who undertake to build ships for this purpose. Finally, this dutiful and holy general synod imparts the benefit of its prayers and blessings to all who piously set out on this enterprise in order that it may contribute to their salvation. ‘ [Id]. Not to us but to the Lord we give glory and honour; let us also thank him that to so sacred a council a very great number of patriarchs, primates, archbishops, bishops, abbots, priors provosts, deans, archdeacons and other prelates of churches, both personally and by suitable procurators, and the procurators of chapters, colleges and convents, have assembled at our call. However, although for the happy pursuit of so great an enterprise their advice would be useful, and their presence as beloved sons is so delightful, filling us in a certain way with spiritual joy, there are difficulties for some as to staying on. Various inconveniences result from their great number; we do not wish them to suffer any longer the squeezing of the enormous crowd; and their absence may be harmful to them and their churches. A certain prudent love moves us to decide with our brothers’ advice how to lighten the burden of these representatives, while pursuing our object no less ardently or zealously. We therefore have decided that all patriarchs, primates, archbishops, bishops, abbots and priors whom we summoned specially and by name are to remain, they are not to depart without our special leave before the council ends. The other non-mitred abbots and priors and the other {1} abbots and priors, who were not summoned by us specially and by name, and the provosts, deans, archdeacons and other prelates of churches, and the procurators of any prelates, chapters, colleges and convents, have our gracious leave to depart with the blessing of God and our own. We commission all who so depart to leave enough procurators, as described below, to receive our commands and both the decrees of our present council and any other decrees that may, with God’s inspiration, be issued in the future. Thus, all so departing are to leave behind the following adequate number of procurators: namely, four from the realm of France, four from the realm of Germany, four from the realms of the Spains, four from the realm of England one from the realm of Scotland {2} , two from the realm of Sicily, two from Lombardy, one from Tuscany, one from the states of the church, one from the realm of Norway, one from the realm of Sweden, one from the realm of Hungary {3} , one from the realm of Dacia, one from the realm of Bohemia, one from the duchy of Poland. Furthermore {4} , it has come to our ears that some archbishops, bishops and other prelates, when they were summoned by us to the council, asked an excessive contribution from their subjects and committed great extortion, imposing heavy taxes on them. Some of these prelates, although they made great exactions, did not come to the council. Since it neither was nor is our intention that prelates in coming to the council should associate the virtue of obedience with the oppression of their subjects, we admonish prelates one and all with great firmness, that none may presume to use the council as a pretext for burdening his subjects with taxes or exactions. If in fact some prelates have not come to the council and have made demands on the pretext of coming, it is our will and precise command that they make restitution without delay. Those however who have oppressed their subjects, demanding excessive contributions, should take care to make amends to them without creating difficulties, and so fulfil our commands that we do not have to apply a remedy by our authority. II 1. On the supreme Trinity and the catholic faith{5} We profess faithfully and devotedly that the holy Spirit proceeds eternally from the Father and the Son, not as from two principles, but as from one principle; not by two spirations, but by one single spiration. This the holy Roman church, mother and mistress of all the faithful, has till now professed, preached and taught; this she firmly holds, preaches, professes and teaches; this is the unchangeable and true belief of the orthodox fathers and doctors, Latin and Greek alike. But because some, on account of ignorance of the said indisputable truth, have fallen into various errors, we, wishing to close the way to such errors, with the approval of the sacred council, condemn and reprove all who presume to deny that the holy Spirit proceeds eternally from the Father and the Son, or rashly to assert that the holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son as from two principles and not as from one. 2. On election and the power of the elected person {6} {7} Where there is greater danger, there must certainly be greater foresight. We learn from the past how heavy are the losses sustained by the Roman church in a long vacancy, how perilous it is; we see this all too clearly when we wisely consider the crises undergone. Reason therefore openly challenges us, while we devote ourselves skilfully to the reform of lesser evils, certainly not to leave without appropriate remedy those of greater danger. We judge therefore that everything wisely instituted by our predecessors and especially by Pope Alexander III of happy memory, for avoiding discord in the election of the Roman pontiff, should remain altogether intact. We intend in no way to detract from this legislation, but to supply by the present constitution what experience has shown to be missing. With the approval of the sacred council {8} , we decree that if the pope dies in a city where he was residing with his curia, the cardinals present in that city are obliged to await the absent cardinals, but for ten days only. When these days have passed, whether those absent have arrived or not, all are to assemble in the palace where the pope lived. Each is to be content with one servant only, clerical or lay, at choice. We allow however those in evident need to have two, with the same choice. In this palace all are to live in common in one room, with no partition or curtain. Apart from free entry to a private room, the conclave is to be completely locked, so that no one can enter or leave. No one may have access to the cardinals or permission to talk secretly with them, nor are they themselves to admit anyone to their presence, except those who, by consent of all the cardinals present, might be summoned only for the business of the imminent election. It is not lawful for anyone to send a messenger or a written message to the cardinals or to any one of them. Whoever acts otherwise, sending a messenger or a written message, or speaking secretly to one of the cardinals, is to incur automatic excommunication. In the conclave some suitable window is to be left open through which the necessary food may be served conveniently to the cardinals, but no entry for anyone is to be possible through this way. If, which God forbid, within three days after the cardinals have entered the said conclave, the church has not been provided with a shepherd, they are to be content for the next five days, every day both at dinner and supper, with one dish only. If these days also pass without the election of a pope, henceforth only bread, wine and water are to be served to the cardinals until they do provide a pope. While the election is in process, the cardinals are to receive nothing from the papal treasury, nor any other revenue coming from whatever source to the church while the see is vacant. Everything during this period remains in the custody of him to whose faithfulness and care the treasury has been entrusted, to be kept by him for the disposal of the future pope. Those who have accepted something are obliged from then on to abstain from receiving any of the revenues due to them until they have made full restitution of what they have accepted in this way. The cardinals are to devote their time so carefully to hastening the election as to occupy themselves with no other business whatever unless perhaps there occurs such an urgent necessity as the defence of the states of the church or some part of them, or there be threat of such a great and evident danger that it seems to each and all the cardinals present, by general consent, that they should quickly counteract it. Of course if one of the cardinals does not enter the conclave, which we have described above, or having entered leaves without evident cause of illness, the others, without in any way searching for him and without re-admitting him to the election, may proceed freely to elect the next pope. If in fact, owing to sudden illness, one of them leaves the conclave, the election may proceed without the need for his vote, even while the illness lasts. But if after regaining his health or even before, he wishes to return, or even if other absentees, for whom a wait of ten days should be made as we have said, come on the scene while the election is still undecided, that is, before the church has been provided with a shepherd, they are to be admitted to the election in the state in which they find it; they are to keep the rules with the others as regards enclosure, servants, food and drink and everything else. If the Roman pontiff happens to die outside the city in which he resided with his curia, the cardinals are obliged to assemble in the city in whose territory or district the pontiff died, unless perhaps the city lies under interdict or persists in open rebellion against the Roman church. In which case they are to meet in another city, the nearest which is neither under interdict nor openly rebellious. In this city also, the same rules about waiting for absentees, living together, enclosure and everything else, in the episcopal palace or any other residence specified by the cardinals, are to be observed as above when the pope dies in the city where he resided with his curia. Moreover, since it is not enough to make laws unless there is someone to see that they are kept, we further ordain that the lord and other rulers and officials of the city where the election of the Roman pontiff is to be held, by the power given to them by our authority and the approval of the council, are to enforce the observance of everything prescribed above in every detail, fully and inviolably without any deceit and trickery, but they may not presume to restrict the cardinals beyond what has been said. As soon as the said lord, rulers and officials hear of the supreme pontiff’s death, they are to take an oath as a body, in the presence of the clergy and people specially mustered for the purpose, to observe these prescriptions. If it happens that they commit fraud in this matter or do not observe the regulations with care, of whatever pre-eminence, condition or status they may be, they lose all privileges; they are automatically subject to the bond of excommunication and are forever infamous; and they are permanently excluded from all honours, nor may they be admitted to any public office. We have decreed that over and above this they are automatically deprived of the fiefs goods and all they hold from the same Roman church or any other churches, this property returns fully and freely to the churches themselves, to be without any opposition at the disposal of the administrators of those churches. The city itself is to be not only laid under interdict but also deprived of its episcopal dignity. Furthermore {9} , since when a disordered passion enslaves the will or some pledge compels it to one way of acting, the election is null from lack of freedom, we implore the cardinals through the tender mercy of our God’, and we call them to witness through the sprinkling of his precious blood, that they consider very carefully what they are about to do. They are electing the vicar of Jesus Christ, the successor of Peter, the ruler of the universal church, the guide of the Lord’s flock. They are to lay aside all the disorder of private affection, to be free from any bargain, agreement or pledge; they are not to consider any promise or understanding, to have no regard for their mutual advantage or that of their friends. They are not to look after their own interests or their individual convenience. Without any constraint on their judgment other than God, they are to seek purely and freely the public good, with the election alone in mind. They are to use every endeavour and care that is possible. Their one aim is to provide, by their service and speedily, what is so useful and necessary for the whole world, a fitting spouse for the church. Those who act otherwise are subject to the divine retribution, their fault never to be pardoned except after severe penance. We invalidate all bargains, agreements, pledges, promises and understandings, whether confirmed by oath or any other bond; we nullify all these and decree that such have no force whatever. No one is constrained in any way to observe them, nor anyone to fear that by transgressing them he is breaking faith. Rather he deserves praise, for even human law testifies that such transgressions are more acceptable to God than the keeping of the oath. Since the faithful should rely not so much on human resource, however solicitous, than on the urgency of humble and devoted prayer, we make an addition to this decree. In all the cities and important places, as soon as the death of the pope becomes known, solemn exequies are to be celebrated for him by clergy and people. After this, every day until undoubted news is brought that the church truly has her pastor, there is to be humble and devoted prayer to the Lord, that he who makes peace in his high heaven may so unite the hearts of the cardinals in their choice that provision may be made for the church swiftly, harmoniously, unanimously and beneficially, for the salvation of souls and the advantage of the whole world. And lest this salutary decree be disregarded on pretext of ignorance, we strictly order patriarchs, archbishops, bishops, other prelates of churches, and all who have faculties to explain the word of God, that they should often gather together the clergy and people for the purpose of urging them in sermons to pray earnestly and repeatedly for a swift and happy outcome of the conclave. With the same authority they should prescribe not only frequent prayer but also, as circumstances recommend, the observance of fasting. 3.{10} That we may, as far as possible, close the way to evil practices in ecclesiastical elections, postulations and provisions, and that churches may not have long and dangerous vacancies or the provision of parsonages, dignities and other ecclesiastical benefices be delayed, we make this perpetual decree. When opponents to elections, postulations or provisions raise difficulties against the form of the election, postulation or provision, or against the persons of the electors or of the one elected or of him for whom the provision was to be made or has been made, and for these reasons make an appeal, the appellants are to express in a public document or letter of appeal every individual objection they intend to make against the form or persons. They shall do this in the presence of a qualified person or persons bearing witness to the truth on the above points, and they shall personally swear that they believe what they say to be true and can prove it. If this is not done, both the objectors and, during the time of appeal or afterwards, their adherents are to know that the power of objecting anything not expressed in these letters or documents is forbidden to them, unless there is some new evidence or there suddenly appears means of proving the former objections, or some facts of the past have newly come to the knowledge of the objectors, facts of which at the time of the appeal the appellants probably could have been, and in fact were, ignorant. They are to establish their good faith concerning this ignorance and the subsequent possibility of proof by taking an oath personally, adding in the same oath that they believe they have sufficient proof. It is our will certainly that the penalties imposed by Pope Innocent IV of happy memory on those who do not fully substantiate their objections against the form or the person, shall remain in force. 4. {11} Blind greed and criminal, dishonest ambition, seizing on certain minds, drive them to the rash attempt to usurp by ingenious fraud what they know is forbidden to them by the law. Some, indeed, are elected to the government of churches and, because the law forbids any interference in the administration of churches before the election has been confirmed, contrive to have the churches entrusted to themselves as procurators and managers. Since it is not good to give way to human trickery, we wish to take wider precautions in this general constitution. We decree that none may henceforth presume, before confirmation of his election, to conduct or accept the administration of an office to which he has been elected, or to interfere in it, under the pretext of management or procuratorship or some other newly invented disguise, in things spiritual or temporal, directly or through others, in part or in whole. We decree that all who act otherwise are by that very fact deprived of the right they would have acquired by the election. 5. {12} Not only do the laws bear witness but also experience, that effective teacher of reality, makes clear how damaging to churches is their vacancy, how dangerous it usually is to souls. Desirous, then, of counteracting the long duration of vacancies by suitable remedies, we make a perpetual decree that after there has been an election in any church, the electors are obliged to inform the elect as soon as conveniently possible and to ask his consent. The elect in his turn is to give it within a month from the day of being informed. If the elect delays beyond this, he is to know that from then on he is deprived of the right he would have acquired from his election, unless perhaps his condition is such that he cannot consent to his election without his superior’s leave, on account of a prohibition or some disposition of the apostolic see {13} . The elect or his electors must then earnestly seek and gain the superior’s leave as quickly as his presence or absence will permit. Otherwise, if the time has expired, even with the allowance made for the presence or absence of the superior, and permission has not been obtained, the electors are then free to proceed to another election. Furthermore, any elect must ask for confirmation of his election within three months after giving consent. If without lawful impediment he omits to do this within such a three-month period, the election is by that very fact null and void. 6. {14} We declare, with the force of a perpetual decree, that they who in an election vote knowingly for an unworthy candidate are not deprived of the power of electing, unless they have so far persisted as to make the election depend on their votes, even though in nominating an unworthy person they have deliberately acted against their consciences and may rightly fear divine retribution and a punishment, in accordance with the offence, from the apostolic see. 7. {15} We decree that nobody, after voting for someone whose election follows, or after giving consent to an election made by others, may oppose him concerning the election itself, except for reasons coming to light afterwards, or unless the elect’s evil character previously hidden from the objector is now disclosed, or the existence of some other hidden vice or defect, of which in all probability he could have been ignorant, is revealed. He is however to guarantee his good faith regarding this lack of knowledge by oath. 8. {16} If after two scrutinies one part of the electors is to be found more than double the number of the other, we by this decree take away from the minority all power of imputing lack of zeal, merit or authority to the majority or their candidate. We do not however forbid such objections as would render null, in virtue of the law itself, the election of the candidate so opposed. 9. {17} The constitution of Pope Alexander IV, our predecessor of happy memory, rightly includes cases about episcopal elections, and those arising therefrom, in the category of major cases and asserts that their judicial inquiry subsequent to any appeal falls to the apostolic see. We, however, wishing to curb both the rash boldness and unbridled frequency of appeals, have considered that we should make provision by this general constitution. If someone appeals extrajudicially with an evidently frivolous motive in the aforesaid elections or in others which concern dignities higher than the episcopate, such an appeal is by no means to go before the apostolic see. When however in the business of such elections an appeal is made in writing, judicially or extrajudicially, from a credible motive which on proof ought to be considered legitimate, such business is to be brought to the apostolic see. Furthermore, it is lawful for the parties in these cases, provided there is no malice, to withdraw from such appeals before they are laid before the said see. Subordinate judges, who were competent for these cases, should on withdrawal of the appeal first of all inquire carefully whether there has been any irregularity. If they find such, they are to have no further dealings with the case itself, but shall set for the parties a suitable fixed term in which they are to present themselves with all their acts and records to the apostolic see. I 10. {18} If among other objections against the elect or nominee or candidate to be promoted in any other way to some dignity, it is said that he clearly lacks the requisite knowledge or has some other obvious personal defect, we decree that there is to be an invariable order in discussing the objections. The candidate is to be examined first of all concerning the alleged defect, the outcome deciding whether other objections are to be considered or not. If the result of the said examination shows that the objections concerning the alleged defect are devoid of truth, we exclude the objectors altogether from pursuing further the case in which they have made their objections, and we decree that they are to be punished exactly as if they had thoroughly failed to prove any of their objections. 11. {19} All those who presume to oppress clerics or any other ecclesiastical persons having the right of election in certain churches, monasteries or other pious places, because they have refused to elect the person for whom they were asked or urged to vote, or who presume to oppress their relatives or the said churches, monasteries or other places, robbing them of benefices or other property, either directly or through others, or taking revenge in other ways, are to know that they incur automatic excommunication. 12. {20} We decree by a general constitution that one and all, however high their rank, who try to usurp the royal privileges, the custody or guard, or the title of advocate or defender, in churches, monasteries and any other pious places, and presume to take possession of their property during a vacancy, lie under automatic sentence of excommunication. The clerics of the churches, the monks of the monasteries, and the other persons in the above places, who abet these offences, are automatically excommunicated in the same way. We indeed strictly forbid those clerics who do not oppose, as they ought, those who act in such a way, to receive any income from these churches or places during the time they have allowed the usurpation to happen without opposition. Those who claim these rights by the foundation of the churches or of the other places, or by reason of ancient custom, are prudently to avoid abusing their rights and take care that their agents do not abuse them, so that they appropriate nothing beyond what pertains to the fruits or revenues accruing during the vacancy, and do not allow the dilapidation of the other property of which they claim to be the guardians but preserve it in good condition. 13. The canon promulgated by Pope Alexander III, our predecessor of happy memory, decreed among other things that nobody is to be appointed parish priest until he is twenty-five and approved as to knowledge and morals; and that after his appointment, if he has not been ordained priest within the time fixed by the canons, despite being warned to this effect, he is to be removed from office and it is to be conferred on someone else. Since many neglect to observe this canon, we wish their dangerous negligence to be made good by observance of the law. We therefore decree that nobody is to be appointed parish priest unless he is suitable by knowledge, morals and age. Any appointments from now of those younger than twenty-five are to lack all validity. The person appointed is obliged to reside in the parish church of which he has become rector, in order that he may take more diligent care of the flock entrusted to him. Within a year of being appointed to his charge he is to have himself ordained to the priesthood. If within that time he has not been ordained, he is deprived of his church, even without previous warning, by authority of the present constitution. As to residence, as above described, the ordinary may grant a dispensation for a time and for a reasonable cause. 14. No one may henceforth presume to give a parish church “in commendam” to anyone under the lawful age and not ordained priest. Such a commendatory may have only one parish church and there must be an evident need or advantage for the church itself. We declare, however, that such a commendam, even when properly made, is not to last more than six months. We decree that any contrary procedure relating to commendams of parish churches is invalid by law. 15. On the circumstances of ordination and the quality of ordinands {21} We decree that those who knowingly or with affected ignorance or on any other pretext presume to ordain clerics of another diocese without permission of the ordinands’ superior, are suspended for a year from conferring any orders. The penalties prescribed by law against those so ordained are to remain in full vigour. We also grant the faculty to clerics of the dioceses of bishops thus suspended, after their suspension has become public, freely to receive orders meanwhile from neighbouring bishops, even without their own bishop’s leave, but in other respects canonically. 16. On bigamists {22} Putting an end to an old debate by the present declaration, we declare that bigamists are deprived of any clerical privilege and are to be handed over to the control of the secular law, any contrary custom notwithstanding. We also forbid bigamists under pain of anathema to wear the tonsure or clerical dress. 17. On the office of ordinary judge {23} If canons wish to suspend the celebration of divine worship, as is their claim from custom or otherwise in certain churches, they are obliged, before taking any steps to suspend the celebration, to express their reasons for this in a confirmation of authenticity. They are to consign this document or letter to the person against whom the suspension is directed. They are to know that if they suspend services without this formality or the reason expressed is not canonical, they shall restore all the income they have received, during the time of the suspension, from the church in which the suspension has taken place. They shall in no way receive anything owing to them for that period but make it over to the church in question. They will, moreover, be obliged to make restitution for the loss or injustice done to the person whom they intended to punish. If however their cause is judged to be canonical, the one who occasioned the suspension is to be sentenced to compensate the said canons and the church from which divine service has been withdrawn through his fault. The superior is to adjudicate the compensation and it is to be used for the benefit of divine worship. Nevertheless we utterly rebuke the detestable abuse and horrible impiety of those who treating with irreverent boldness crucifixes and images or statues of the blessed Virgin and other saints, throw them to the ground in order to emphasise the suspension of divine worship, and leave them under nettles and thorns. We forbid severely any sacrilege of this kind. We decree that those who disobey are to receive a hard retributive sentence which will so chastise the offenders as to suppress the like arrogance in others. 18. Local ordinaries must strictly compel their subjects to produce the dispensations by which they hold canonically, as they assert, several dignities or churches to which is annexed the cure of souls, or a parsonage or dignity together with another benefice to which a similar cure is annexed. These dispensations are to be shown within a time proportionate to the situation as judged by the ordinaries themselves. If without just reason no dispensation has been shown within that time, the churches, benefices, parsonages or dignities which it is now obvious are held unlawfully without dispensation, are to be conferred freely on suitable persons by those who have the right. If on the other hand the dispensation shown seems clearly sufficient, the holder is not to be troubled in any way in the possession of these benefices canonically obtained. The ordinary is however to make provision that neither the care of souls in those churches, parsonages or dignities is neglected nor the benefices themselves are defrauded of the services owing to them. If there is doubt whether the dispensation is sufficient, recourse should be had to the apostolic see, to which judgment belongs concerning its benefices. Ordinaries, moreover, in bestowing parsonages, dignities and other benefices involving the cure of souls, are to take care not to confer one on someone already holding several similar benefices, unless an obviously sufficient dispensation is shown for those already held. Even then, we wish the ordinary to confer the benefice only if it appears from the dispensation that the beneficiary may lawfully retain this parsonage, dignity or benefice together with those he already holds, or if he is prepared freely to resign those he already holds. If not, the bestowing of such parsonages, dignities and benefices is to be of no consequence whatever. ‘ 19. On pleading {24} It seems that we must counteract promptly the crafty dragging-out of lawsuits. We hope to do this effectively by giving suitable remedial directives to those who offer their services in legal matters. Since the things that have been beneficially provided by legal sanction concerning advocates seem to have fallen into disuse, we renew the same sanction by the present constitution, with some addition and modification. We decree that each and every advocate in the ecclesiastical forum, whether before the apostolic see or elsewhere, is to swear on the holy gospels that in all ecclesiastical causes and others in the same forum, of which they have assumed or will assume the defence, they will do their utmost for their clients in what they judge to be true and just. They are also to swear that at whatever part of the process they find out that the cause which they had accepted in good faith is unjust, they will cease to defend it; they will rather abandon it altogether, having nothing further to do with it, and will inviolably observe the rest of the above sanction. Proctors also are to be bound by a similar oath. Both advocates and proctors are obliged to renew this oath every year in the forum in which they have assumed office. Those who come before the apostolic see or to the court of some ecclesiastical judge, in which they have not yet taken such an oath, in order to act as advocate or proctor in some individual case, are to take a like oath, in each case, at the beginning of the litigation. Advocates and proctors who refuse to swear in the above way are forbidden to practise while their refusal persists. If they deliberately violate their oath, counsellors who have knowingly encouraged an unjust cause incur, in addition to the guilt of perjury, the divine and our malediction, from which they cannot be absolved unless they restore double the amount they accepted for such evil work as advocate, proctor or counsel. They are moreover obliged to make restitution for the loss caused to the parties wronged by their unjust ministry. Furthermore, lest insatiate greed drive some into contempt for these sound decrees, we strictly forbid an advocate to accept more than twenty tournois pounds for any case, a proctor more than twelve, as salary or even on the pretext of a reward for winning. Those who accept more are not in any way to acquire ownership of the excess, but are obliged to restitution; none of this penalty of restitution can be remitted in evasion of the present constitution. In addition, advocates who thus violate the present constitution are to be suspended from their office for three years. Proctors, on the other hand, shall be denied permission to exercise their office in a court of law. 20. On what is done by force or because of fear {25} We annul by authority of this constitution any absolution from sentence of excommunication or any recall of it, or of suspension or even of interdict, which has been extorted by force or fear. Lest boldness increase when violence goes unpunished, we decree that those who have extorted such an absolution or withdrawal by force or fear lie under sentence of excommunication. 21. On prebends and dignities {26} We have decreed that the statute of Pope Clement IV, our predecessor of happy memory, that dignities and benefices which become vacant in the Roman curia are to be conferred by nobody other than the Roman pontiff, is to be modified as follows. Those who have the conferring of these benefices and dignities may confer them validly, notwithstanding the said statute, but not till a month after the day on which the dignities and benefices have become vacant, and then only by themselves personally or, if they are at a distance, through their vicar-generals in their dioceses, to whom this charge has been canonically entrusted . 5 22. On not alienating the property of the church {27} By this well-considered decree we forbid each and every prelate to submit, subject or subordinate the churches entrusted to him, their immovable property or rights, to lay people without the consent of his chapter and the special leave of the apostolic see. It is not a question of granting the property or rights in emphyteusis or otherwise alienating them in the form and in the cases permitted by the law. What is forbidden is the establishment or recognition of these laity as superiors from whom the property and rights are held, or making them the protectors, an arrangement which is called in the vernacular of certain places “to avow”, that is, the laity are appointed patrons or advocates of the churches or their property, either perpetually or for a long period. We decree that all such contracts of alienation, even when fortified by oath, penalty or any other confirmation, which are made without the above leave and consent, and any consequences of these contracts, are entirely null; no right is conferred, no cause for prescription is provided. We decree moreover that prelates who disobey are automatically suspended for three years from office and administration, and clerics who know that the prohibition has been violated but fail to give notice of it to the superior, are automatically suspended for three years from receiving the fruits of benefices they hold in the church so oppressed. The laity indeed, who have hitherto forced prelates, chapters of churches or other ecclesiastical persons to make these submissions, are to be bound by sentence of excommunication, unless after suitable admonition, having given up the submission they exacted through force or fear, they set free the churches and return the property thus surrendered to them. Those also who in future shall compel prelates or other ecclesiastical persons to make such submissions are also to be excommunicated, whatever be their condition or status. Even when contracts have been or will be made with the due leave and consent, or on the occasion of such contracts, the laity are not to transgress the limits set by the nature of the contract itself or the law on which the contract is based. Those indeed who act otherwise, unless after lawful admonition they desist from such usurpation restoring also what they have usurped, incur automatic excommunication, and henceforward the way is open, if need be, to lay their land under ecclesiastical interdict. 23. On religious houses, that they are to be subject to the bishop {28} A general council by a considered prohibition averted the excessive diversity of religious orders, lest it might lead to confusion. Afterwards, however, not only has the troublesome desire of petitioners extorted their multiplication, but also the presumptuous rashness of some has produced an almost unlimited crowd of diverse orders, especially mendicant, which have not yet merited the beginnings of approval. We therefore renew the constitution, and severely prohibit that anyone found henceforth a new order or form of religious life, or assume its habit. We perpetually forbid absolutely all the forms of religious life and the mendicant orders founded after the said council which have not merited confirmation of the apostolic see, and we suppress them in so far as they have spread. As to those orders, however, confirmed by the apostolic see and instituted after the council, whose profession, rule or constitutions forbid them to have revenues or possessions for their fitting support but whose insecure mendicancy usually provides a living through public begging, we decree that they may survive on the following terms. The professed members of these orders may continue in them if they are willing not to admit henceforth anyone to profession, nor to acquire a new house or land, nor to have power to alienate the houses or land they have, without special leave of the apostolic see. We reserve these possessions for the disposal of the apostolic see, to be used for aid to the holy Land or for the poor or to be turned to other pious uses through local ordinaries or others commissioned by the apostolic see. If the above conditions are violated, neither the reception of persons nor the acquisition of houses or land nor the alienation of these or other property is valid, and in addition excommunication is incurred. We also forbid absolutely to members of these orders, in regard to externs, the office of preaching and hearing confessions and the right of burial. Of course we do not allow the present constitution to apply to the orders of Preachers and Minors; their approval bears witness to their evident advantage to the universal church. Furthermore, we grant that the order of Carmelites and that of the Hermits of Saint Augustine, the institution of which preceded the said general council {29} , may remain as they are, until other regulations are made for them. We intend in fact to provide both for them and for the other orders, even the non-mendicants, as we shall see to be for the good of souls and for the good state of the orders. We grant also a general permission to members of orders to which this present constitution applies, to pass to the other approved orders on this condition: no order is to transfer itself wholly to another, no community is to transfer itself and its possessions wholly to another, without special permission from the apostolic see. ‘ 24. On taxes and procurations {30} The boldness of wicked people demands that we should not be satisfied with merely forbidding offences, but should inflict punishment on the offenders. The constitution of Pope Innocent IV, our predecessor of happy memory, forbade procurations to be received in the form of money, or the acceptance of gifts by pastoral visitors and their attendants. It is said that many rashly transgress this constitution. We wish it to be inviolably observed and have decreed that it should be strengthened by adding a penalty. We decree that one and all who presume, because of the procuration owing to them by reason of a visitation, to exact money or even to accept money from someone willing; or to violate the constitution in another way by accepting gifts or, without making the visitation, accepting procurations in food or anything else; are obliged to give back double of what they have received to the church from which they received it, and this within a month. If they do not, from that time patriarchs, archbishops and bishops who put off restoration of the double payment beyond the said period, are to know that entry into the church is forbidden them; and lower clergy are to know that they are suspended from office and benefice until they have made full satisfaction of this double to the burdened churches; the remission, liberality or kindness of the givers is to avail nothing. 25. On the immunity of churches {31} Holiness befits the house of the Lord; it is fitting that he whose abode has been established in peace should be worshipped in peace and with due reverence. Churches, then, should be entered humbly and devoutly; behaviour inside should be calm, pleasing to God, bringing peace to the beholders, a source not only of instruction but of mental refreshment. Those who assemble in church should extol with an act of special reverence that name with is above every name, than which no other under heaven has been given to people, in which believers must be saved, the name, that is, of Jesus Christ, who will save his people from their sins. Each should fulfil in himself that which is written for all that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow; whenever that glorious name is recalled, especially during the sacred mysteries of the mass, everyone should bow the knees of his heart, which he can do even by a bow of his head. In churches the sacred solemnities should possess the whole heart and mind; the whole attention should be given to prayer. Here where it is proper to offer heavenly desires with peace and calm, let nobody arouse rebellion, provoke clamour or be guilty of violence. The consultations of universities and of any associations whatever must cease to be held in churches, so also must public speeches and parliaments. Idle and, even more, foul and profane talk must stop; chatter in all its forms must cease. Everything, in short, that may disturb divine worship or offend the eyes of the divine majesty should be absolutely foreign to churches, lest where pardon should be asked for our sins, occasion is given for sin, or sin is found to be committed. No more business is to be conducted in churches or their cemeteries, especially they are not to have the bustle of markets and public squares. All noise of secular courts must be stilled. The laity are not to hold their trials in churches, more especially criminal cases. The church is not to be a place for lay judicial inquiries. Local ordinaries should see that all this is observed, persuade where persuasion is needed, suppress by their authority what is forbidden by this canon. They should also depute for this purpose persons in the churches who are most assiduous and suitable for the above aims. Moreover, the proceedings of secular judges, and in particular the sentences passed in these sacred places, are to lack all validity. Those indeed who impudently defy the above prohibitions, in addition to the sanctions imposed by ordinaries and their deputies, will have to fear the sternness of the divine retribution and our own until, having confessed their guilt, they have firmly resolved to avoid such conduct for the future. 26. On usury {32} Wishing to close up the abyss of usury, which devours souls and swallows up property, we order under threat of the divine malediction that the constitution of the Lateran council against usurers be inviolably observed. Since the less convenient it is for usurers to lend, the more their freedom to practise usury is curtailed, we ordain by this general constitution as follows. Neither a college, nor other community, nor an individual person, of whatever dignity, condition or status, may permit those foreigners and others not originating from their territories {33} , who practise usury or wish to do so, to rent houses for that purpose or to occupy rented houses or to live elsewhere. Rather, they must expel all such notorious usurers from their territories within three months, never to admit any such for the future. Nobody is to let houses to them for usury, nor grant them houses under any other title {34} . Those indeed who act otherwise, if they are ecclesiastical persons, patriarchs, archbishops or bishops, are to know that they incur automatic suspension; lesser individual persons, excommunication, colleges or other communities, interdict. If they remain obdurate throughout a month, their territories shall lie henceforth under ecclesiastical interdict as long as the usurers remain there. Furthermore, if they are layfolk, they are to be restrained from such transgression through their ordinaries by ecclesiastical censure, all privileges ceasing {35} 27 {36} Although notorious usurers give orders in their wills that restitution be made for their usurious gains, either in express terms or in general, ecclesiastical burial is nevertheless to be refused until full restitution has been made as far as the usurer’s means allow, or until a pledge has been given of fitting restitution. This pledge is to be given to those to whom restitution is due, if they themselves or others who can receive for them are present. If they are absent, the pledge is to be given to the local ordinary or his vicar or the rector of the parish where the testator lives, in the presence of trustworthy persons from the parish (the ordinary, vicar and rector, as just mentioned, shall have permission to receive such pledge in their name by authority of the present constitution, so that these ecclesiastics have the right to action). The pledge may also be given to a public servant commissioned by the ordinary. If the sum owing from usury is openly known, we wish this sum always to be expressed in the pledge, if the amount is not clearly known, the sum is to be determined by the receiver of the pledge {37} . The receiver must make his estimate at not less than the probable amount; if he does otherwise, he is obliged to restitution for anything still owing. We decree that all religious and others who presume to grant ecclesiastical {38} burial to notorious usurers, contrary to this decree, are subject to the penalty promulgated against usurers at the Lateran council . Nobody is to assist at the wills of notorious usurers or hear their confessions or absolve them, unless they have made restitution for their usury or have given a fitting guarantee, as far as they can, as described above. The wills made in any other way by notorious usurers have no validity, but are by law null and void. {39} 28. On wrongs and the loss caused {40} The distraints which in the vernacular are called “reprisals”, by which some people are burdened in place of others, have been forbidden by the civil constitution as oppressive and contrary to the laws and natural equity. In order, however, that offenders may have greater fear of breaking the law where ecclesiastical persons are concerned, in accordance with the more particular prohibition of reprisals against them, we severely forbid the granting of reprisals against ecclesiastical persons or their goods. By this present decree we also forbid the extension of such reprisals, perhaps granted universally on pretext of some custom which we would prefer to call an abuse, to these persons. Those who act otherwise, by granting distraints or reprisals against such persons or extending the grant to include them, unless they revoke such presumption within a month, incur sentence of excommunication, if they are individuals; they are to be laid under ecclesiastical interdict, if they are a community. 29. On the sentence of excommunication {41} The constitution of Pope Innocent IV, our predecessor of happy memory, forbids that those who communicate with excommunicated persons in matters carrying only a minor excommunication should be bound, without first receiving canonical admonition, by a major excommunication; the sentence of excommunication thus promulgated does not bind. In order to remove any scruple of ambiguity, we declare that the admonition is canonical only if, after all other formalities have been duly observed, it names the persons admonished. We decree also that in the course of the admonitions required for the sentence to be promulgated canonically, the judges, whether they give three admonitions or one for all three, should observe fitting intervals of some days, unless the urgency of the situation counsels otherwise. 30. {42} By the present general decree we declare that the benefit of provisional absolution does not in any way apply to cities, villages or any other places against which a general interdict has been promulgated. COUNCIL OF VIENNE 1311-1312 A.D. CONTENTS Introduction Bulls Of Clement V On The Knights Templar 1. Vox in excelso - 22 MARCH 1312 2. Ad providam - 2 MAY 1312 3. Considerantes - 6 MAY 1312 4. Nuper in concilio - 16 MAY 1312 5. 1 DEC 1312 6. Licet dudum - 18 DEC 1312 7. 31 DEC 1312 8. Licet pridem - 13 JAN 1313 Decrees [1] - the rational or intellectual soul is the form of the human body of itself and essentially [28] - the Beghards or Beguines - 8 errors [29] - usury is a sin INTRODUCTION The general council of Vienne was summoned by pope Clement V with the bull Regnans in caelis, which he had written on 12 August 1308 at Poitiers (the Roman pontiff had remained in France from the year of his election, thus beginning the period of the church’s history known as the Avignon captivity). The pope was subject to forceful pressure from the European states, particularly from France. Philip IV of France, the king who had opposed Boniface VIII so bitterly, had so much power over Clement V that he seems to have been able to change the whole state of ecclesiastical affairs at will. The council of Vienne is seen as an outstanding example of this political pressure, although the pope energetically defended the liberty of the church as far as circumstances allowed and he himself had the power. The council had been summoned for 1 October 1310 at Vienne. This city did not belong to the kingdom of France, though Philip IV in 1310 had occupied nearby Lyons by force. There were no general summonses and only 231 ecclesiastics were invited; the others however could employ a procurator. The complaint against the Templars seems to have been the first and greatest concern of the council. Thus the bull convoking the council was written at the same time as Clement V summoned the Templar order to a canonical enquiry. Through the whole of Europe cases were heard concerning the order and individual Templars. This work had not been completed by 1310 and so the pope deferred the opening of the council to 1 October 1311. Events had moved, however, in such a way that the Templars’ condemnation and Philip’s victory seemed very probable. This placed the authority and freedom of the council under severe constraint. The council began at Vienne on the 16 October 1311 in the presence of 20 cardinals, 4 patriarchs, about 100 archbishops and bishops, and a number of abbots and priors. From the sermon given in the first session by Clement V, three questions were seen as of greatest importance: the case of the Templars, the business of the holy Land, and the reform of the church. Clement-himself gave an account of the allegations which had been made against the Templar order. The work of the council was carried on outside the full assembly, that is to say, through a consistory of cardinals together with the pope, and through a committee which was elected by the council fathers from their own body and which seems to have acted in place of the whole council, the full assembly merely confirmed the decrees and bulls, promulgating them in the second and third sessions. A commission of cardinals was appointed in order to probe the grievances and advice put forward by the bishops and other fathers on the subject of church reform. The council fathers gave long and careful consideration to the case of the Templars. It is likely that they preferred the order to be allowed to defend itself against the accusations than to condemn it too easily and without sure proof. However, “all the difficult questions which were considered in the council seemed to be left doubtful or unsettled, or else to be treated”. So when the case was still unresolved in January 1312, the fathers devoted themselves to the business of the holy Land and to decrees which seemed timely for the reform of ecclesiastical morals. Regarding the former, the delegates of the king of Aragon thought the city of Granada should first be attacked and occupied in order that the enemy might be enfeebled by a threat to each flank. Other fathers and ambassadors favoured an expedition to the east only. As far as we know, however, after an agreement by kings and princes that a crusade to the holy Land was opportune and necessary, and the imposition of a tithe on all ecclesiastical provinces, no decision was taken. Meanwhile in March 1312 Philip IV held a general assembly of his kingdom in Lyons, his object being to disturb and steamroller the minds of the council fathers and of the pope himself. Secret bargains had been made between Clement V and the envoys of Philip IV from 17 to 29 February 1312; the council fathers were not consulted. By this bargaining Philip obtained the condemnation of the Templars. It is most likely he used the threat that he would bring a public action against Boniface VIII. The king of France made for Vienne on 20 March, and after two days Clement V delivered to the commission of cardinals for approval the bull by which the order of Templars was suppressed (the bull Vox in excelso). In the second session of the council, which took place on 3 April 1312, this bull was approved and the pope announced a future crusade. The Templars’ property, of immense value, was entrusted to other persons by the bulls Ad providam of 2 May and Nuper in concilio of 16 May. The fate of the Templars themselves was decided by the bull Considerantes of 6 May. In the bulls Licet dudum (18 Dec. 1312), Dudum in generali concilio (31 Dec. 1312) and Licet pridem (13 Jan. 1313) Clement V gave further treatment to the question of the Templars’ property. In the third session of the council, which was held on 6 May 1312, certain constitutions were promulgated. We do not know their text or number. In Mueller’s opinion, what happened was this: the constitutions, with the exception of a certain number still to be polished in form and text, were read by the council fathers; Clement V then ordered the constitutions to be corrected and arranged after the pattern of decretal collections. This text, although read in the consistory held in the castle of Monteux near Carpentras on 21 March 1314 was not promulgated, since Clement V died a month later. It was pope John XXII who, after again correcting the constitutions, finally sent them to the universities. It is difficult to decide which constitutions are the work of the council. We adopt Mueller’s opinion that 38 constitutions may be counted as such, but only 20 of these have the words “with the approval of the sacred council”. The texts that we publish are taken from Hefele’s edition (see above p. 334, n. 17) for the bull Vox in excelso, and from the edition of the Vatican register (= Regestum) for the other bulls; for the text of the constitutions, we have used Friedberg’s edition of Corpus Iuris Canonici (= Fr). [BULLS AND ORDINANCES OF THE ROMAN CURIA CONCERNING THE ORDER OF THE TEMPLARS AND THE BUSINESS OF THE HOLY LAND [1]. Clement, bishop, servant of the servants of God, for an everlasting record. A voice was heard from on high, of lamentation and bitter weeping, for the time is coming, indeed has come, when the Lord shall complain through his prophet: This house has aroused my anger and wrath, so that I will remove it from my sight because of the evil of its sons, for they have provoked me to anger turning their backs to me, not their faces, and setting up their idols in the house in which my name is invoked, to defile it. They have built the high places of Baal in order to consecrate their sons to idols and demons. They have sinned deeply as in the days of Gibeah. When I learnt of such deeds of horror, at the dread of such notorious scandal -- for who ever heard of such infamy? who ever saw the like? -- I fell down at hearing it, I was dismayed at seeing it, my heart grew embittered and darkness overwhelmed me. Hark, a voice of the people from the city! a voice from the temple! the voice of the Lord rendering recompense to his enemies. The prophet is compelled to exclaim: Give them, Lord, a barren womb and dry breasts. Their worthlessness has been revealed because of their malice. Throw them out of your house, and let their roots dry up; let them not bear fruit, and let not this house be any more a stumbling block of bitterness or a thorn to hurt. Not slight is the fornication of this house, immolating its sons, giving them up and consecrating them to demons and not to God, to gods whom they did not know. Therefore this house will be desolate and in disgrace, cursed and uninhabited, thrown into confusion and levelled to the dust, lowly, forsaken, inaccessible, spurned by the anger of the Lord, whom it has despised; let it not be lived in but reduced to a wilderness. Let everyone be astonished at it and hiss at all its wounds. For the Lord did not choose the people on account of the place, but the place on account of the people. Therefore the very place of the temple was made to share in the punishment of the people, as the Lord proclaimed openly to Solomon when he built the temple for him, to Solomon who was filled with wisdom like a river: But if your sons turn aside from me, not following and honouring me but going instead after strange gods and worshipping them, then I will cut them off from before me and expel them from the land which I have given to them; and the temple which I have consecrated to my name I will cast out of my sight, and it will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples. Everyone passing by it will be astonished and shall hiss, and shall say, “Why has the Lord done thus to this temple and to this house?” And they will say : “Because they forsook the Lord their God who bought and redeemed them, and followed instead Baal and other gods, worshipping and serving them. Therefore the Lord has brought all this evil upon them’”. Indeed a little while ago, about the time of our election as supreme pontiff before we came to Lyons for our coronation, and afterwards, both there and elsewhere, we received secret intimations against the master, preceptors and other brothers of the order of Knights Templar of Jerusalem and also against the order itself. These men had been posted in lands overseas for the defence of the patrimony of our lord Jesus Christ, and as special warriors of the catholic faith and outstanding defenders of the holy Land seemed to carry the chief burden of the said holy Land. For this reason the holy Roman church honoured these brothers and the order with her special support, armed them with the sign of the cross against Christ’s enemies, paid them the highest tributes of her respect, and strengthened them with various exemptions and privileges; and they experienced in many and various ways her help and that of all faithful Christians with repeated gifts of property. Therefore it was against the lord Jesus Christ himself that they fell into the sin of impious apostasy, the abominable vice of idolatry, the deadly crime of the Sodomites, and various heresies. Yet it was not to be expected nor seemed credible that men so devout, who were outstanding often to the shedding of their blood for Christ and were seen repeatedly to expose their persons to the danger of death, who even more frequently gave great signs of their devotion both in divine worship and in fasting and other observances, should be so unmindful of their salvation as to commit such crimes. The order, moreover, had a good and holy beginning; it won the approval of the apostolic see. The rule, which is holy, reasonable and just, had the deserved sanction of this see. For all these reasons we were unwilling to lend our ears to insinuation and accusation against the Templars; we had been taught by our Lord’s example and the words of canonical scripture. Then came the intervention of our dear son in Christ, Philip, the illustrious king of France. The same crimes had been reported to him. He was not moved by greed. He had no intention of claiming or appropriating for himself anything from the Templars’ property; rather, in his own kingdom he abandoned such claim and thereafter released entirely his hold on their goods. He was on fire with zeal for the orthodox faith, following in the well marked footsteps of his ancestors. He obtained as much information as he lawfully could. Then, in order to give us greater light on the subject, he sent us much valuable information through his envoys and letters. The scandal against the Templars themselves and their order in reference to the crimes already mentioned increased. There was even one of the knights, a man of noble blood and of no small reputation in the order, who testified secretly under oath in our presence, that at his reception the knight who received him suggested that he deny Christ, which he did, in the presence of certain other knights of the Temple, he furthermore spat on the cross held out to him by this knight who received him. He also said that he had seen the grand master, who is still alive, receive a certain knight in a chapter of the order held overseas. The reception took place in the same way, namely with the denial of Christ and the spitting on the cross, with quite two hundred brothers of the order being present. The witness also affirmed that he heard it said that this was the customary manner of receiving new members: at the suggestion of the person receiving the profession or his delegate, the person making profession denied Jesus Christ, and in abuse of Christ crucified spat upon the cross held out to him, and the two committed other unlawful acts contrary to christian morality, as the witness himself then confessed in our presence. We were duty-bound by our office to pay heed to the din of such grave and repeated accusations. When at last there came a general hue and cry with the clamorous denunciations of the said king and of the dukes, counts, barons, other nobles, clergy and people of the kingdom of France, reaching us both directly and through agents and officials, we heard a doleful tale: that the master, preceptors and other brothers of the order as well as the order itself had been involved in these and other crimes. This seemed to be proved by many confessions, attestations and depositions of the master, of the visitor of France, and of many preceptors and brothers of the order, in the presence of many prelates and the inquisitor of heresy. These depositions were made in the kingdom of France with our authorisation, edited as public documents and shown to us and our brothers. Besides, the rumour and clamour had grown to such insistence that the hostility against both the order itself and the individual members of it could not be ignored without grave scandal nor be tolerated without imminent danger to the faith. Since we though unworthy, represent Christ on earth, we considered that we ought, following in his footsteps, to hold an inquiry. We called to our presence many of the preceptors, priests, knights and other brothers of the order who were of no small reputation. They took an oath, they were adjured urgently by the Father, Son and holy Spirit; we demanded, in virtue of holy obedience, invoking the divine judgment with the menace of an eternal malediction, that they tell the pure and simple truth. We pointed out that they were now in a safe and suitable place where they had nothing to fear in spite of the confessions they had made before others. We wished those confessions to be without prejudice to them. In this way we made our interrogation and examined as many as seventy-two, many of our brothers being present and following the proceedings attentively. We had the confessions taken down by notary and recorded as authentic documents in our presence and that of our brothers. After some days we had these confessions read in consistory in the presence of the knights concerned. Each was read a version in his own language; they stood by their confessions, expressly and spontaneously approving them as they had been read out. After this, intending to make a personal inquiry with the grand master, the visitor of France and the principal preceptors of the order, we commanded that the grand master, the visitor of France and the chief preceptors of Outremer, Normandy, Aquitaine and Poitou be presented to us while we were at Poitiers. Some of them, however, were ill at the time and could not ride a horse nor conveniently be brought to our presence. We wished to know the truth of the whole matter and whether their confessions and depositions, which were said to have been made in the presence of the inquisitor of heresy in the kingdom of France and witnessed by certain public notaries and many other good men, and which were produced in public and shown to us and our brothers by the inquisitor, were true. We empowered and commanded our beloved sons Berengar, cardinal, then with the title of Nereus and Achilleus, now bishop of Frascati, and Stephen, cardinal priest with the title of saint Cyriacus at the Baths, and Landulf, cardinal deacon with the title of saint Angelo, in whose prudence, experience and loyalty we have the fullest confidence, to make a careful investigation with the grand master, visitor and preceptors, concerning the truth of the accusations against them and individual persons of the order and against the order itself. If there was evidence, it was to be brought to us; the confessions and depositions were to be taken down in writing by a public notary and presented to us. The cardinals were to grant absolution from the sentence of excommunication, according to the form of the church, to the master, visitor and preceptors -- a sentence incurred if the accusations were true -- provided the accused humbly and devoutly requested absolution, as they ought to do. The cardinals went to see the grand master, the visitor and the preceptors personally and explained the reason for their visit. Since these men and other Templars resident in the kingdom of France had been handed over to us because they would freely and without fear of anyone reveal the truth sincerely to the cardinals, the cardinals by our apostolic authority enjoined on them this duty of telling the truth. The master, the visitor and the preceptors of Normandy, Outremer, Aquitaine and Poitou, in the presence of the three cardinals, four notaries and many other men of good repute, took an oath on the holy gospels that they would tell the truth, plainly and fully. They deposed one by one, in the cardinals’ presence, freely and spontaneously, without any compulsion or fear. They confessed among other things that they had denied Christ and spat upon the cross at their reception into the order of the Temple. Some of them added that they themselves had received many brothers using the same rite, namely with the denial of Christ and the spitting on the cross. There were even some who confessed certain other horrible crimes and immoral deeds, we say nothing more of these at present. The knights confessed also that the content of their confessions and depositions made a little while ago before the inquisitor was true. These confessions and depositions of the grand master, visitor and preceptors were edited as a public document by four notaries, the master and the others being present and also certain men of good repute. After some days, the confessions were read to the accused on the orders and in the presence of the cardinals; each knight received an account in his own language. They persisted in their confessions and approved them, expressly and spontaneously, as they had been read out to them. After these confessions and depositions, they asked from the cardinals absolution from the excommunication incurred by the above crimes; humbly and devoutly, on bended knee, with hands joined, they made their petition with many tears. Since the church never shuts her heart to the sinner who returns, the cardinals granted absolution by our authority in the customary form of the church to the master, visitor and preceptors on abjuration of their heresy. On their return to our presence, the cardinals presented to us the confessions and depositions of the master, visitor and preceptors in the form of a public document, as has been said. They also gave us a report on their dealings with these knights. From these confessions, depositions and report we find that the master, the visitor and the preceptors of Outremer, Normandy, Aquitaine and Poitou have often committed grave offences, although some have erred less frequently than others. We considered that such dreadful crimes could not and should not go unpunished without insult to almighty God and to every Catholic. We decided on the advice of our brothers to hold an enquiry into the above crimes and transgressions. This would be carried out through the local ordinaries and other wise, trustworthy men delegated by us in the case of individual members of the order; and through certain prudent persons of our considered choice in the case of the order as a whole. After this, investigations were made both by the ordinaries and by our delegates into the allegations against individual members, and by the inquisitors appointed by us into those against the order itself, in every part of the world where the brothers of the order have usually lived. Once made and sent to us for examination, these investigations were very carefully read and examined, some by us and our brothers, cardinals of the holy Roman church others by many very learned, prudent, trustworthy and God-fearing men, zealous for and well-trained in the catholic faith, some being prelates and others not. This took place at Malaucene in the diocese of Vaison. Later we came to Vienne where there were assembled already very many patriarchs, archbishops, selected bishops, exempt and non-exempt abbots, other prelates of churches, and procurators of absent prelates and of chapters, all present for the council we had summoned. In the first session we explained to them our reasons for calling the council. After this, because it was difficult indeed almost impossible, for the cardinals and all the prelates and procurators gathered for the council to meet in our presence in order to discuss how to proceed in the matter of the Templars, we gave orders as follows. Certain patriarchs, archbishops, bishops, exempt and non-exempt abbots, other prelates of churches, and procurators from all parts of Christendom, of every language nation and region, were concordantly chosen out of all the prelates and procurators at the council. The choice was made from those believed to be among the more skilful, discreet and apt for consultation on such an important affair and for discussing it with us and the above-mentioned cardinals. After this we had the attestations received during the inquiry read publicly in the presence of the prelates and procurators. This reading went on during several days, for as long as they wished to listen, in the place assigned for the council, namely the cathedral church. Afterwards the said attestations and the summaries made from them were considered and examined, not in a perfunctory manner but with great care, by many of our venerable brethren, by the patriarch of Aquileia, by archbishops and bishops of the present sacred council who were specially chosen and delegated for the purpose, and by those whom the whole council had chosen very carefully and earnestly. We convoked therefore the said cardinals, patriarchs, archbishops and bishops, the exempt and non-exempt abbots, and the other prelates and procurators elected by the council to consider this affair, and we asked them, in the course of a secret consultation in our presence, how we should proceed, taking special account of the fact that certain Templars were presenting themselves in defence of their order. The greater part of the cardinals and nearly the whole council, that is those who were elected by the whole council and were representing the whole council on this question, in short the great majority, indeed four-fifths among every nation taking part, were firmly convinced, and the said prelates and procurators advised accordingly, that the order should be given an opportunity to defend itself and that it could not be condemned, on the basis of the proof provided thus far, for the heresies that had been the subject of the inquiry, without offence to God and injustice. Certain others on the contrary said that the brothers should not be allowed to make a defence of their order and that we should not give permission for such a defence, for if a defence were allowed or given there would be danger to a settlement of the affair and no small prejudice to the interests of the holy Land. There would be dispute, delay and putting off a decision, many different reasons were mentioned. Indeed although legal process against the order up to now does not permit its canonical condemnation as heretical by definitive sentence, the good name of the order has been largely taken away by the heresies attributed to it. Moreover, an almost indefinite number of individual members, among whom are the grand master the visitor of France and the chief preceptors, have been convicted of such heresies, errors and crimes through their spontaneous confessions. These confessions render the order very suspect, and the infamy and suspicion render it detestable to the holy church of God, to her prelates, to kings and other rulers, and to Catholics in general. It is also believed in all probability that from now on there will be found no good person who wishes to enter the order, and so it will be made useless to the church of God and the carrying on of the undertaking to the holy Land, for which service the knights had been destined. Furthermore, the putting off of a settlement or arrangement of this affair of the Templars, for which we had set ourselves a final decision or sentence to be promulgated in the present council, would lead in all probability to the total loss, destruction and dilapidation of the Templars’ property. This has for long been given, bequeathed and granted by the faithful for the aid of the holy Land and to oppose the enemies of the christian faith. There were therefore two opinions: some said that sentence should immediately be pronounced, condemning the order for the alleged crimes, and others objected that from the proceedings taken up to now the sentence of condemnation against the order could not justly be passed. After long and mature deliberation, having in mind God alone and the good of the holy Land without turning aside to right or to left, we elected to proceed by way of provision and ordinance, in this way scandal will be removed, perils avoided and property saved for the help of the holy Land. We have taken into account the disgrace, suspicion, vociferous reports and other attacks mentioned above against the order, also the secret reception into the order, and the divergence of many of the brothers from the general behaviour, way of life and morals of other Christians. We have noted here especially that when new members are received, they are made to swear not to reveal the manner of their reception to anyone and not to leave the order; this creates an unfavourable presumption. We observe in addition that the above have given rise to grave scandal against the order, scandal impossible to allay as long as the order continues to exist. We note also the danger to faith and to souls, the many horrible misdeeds of so many brothers of the order, and many other just reasons and causes, moving us to the following decision. The majority of the cardinals and of those elected by the council, a proportion of more than four-fifths, have thought it better, more expedient and advantageous for God’s honour and for the preservation of the christian faith, also for the aid of the holy Land and many other valid reasons, to suppress the order by way of ordinance and provision of the apostolic see, assigning the property to the use for which it was intended. Provision is also to be made for the members of the order who are still alive. This way has been found preferable to that of safeguarding the right of defence with the consequent postponement of judgment on the order. We observe also that in other cases the Roman church has suppressed other important orders for reasons of far less gravity than those mentioned above, with no fault on the part of the brethren. Therefore, with a sad heart, not by definitive sentence, but by apostolic provision or ordinance, we suppress, with the approval of the sacred council, the order of Templars, and its rule, habit and name, by an inviolable and perpetual decree, and we entirely forbid that anyone from now on enter the order, or receive or wear its habit, or presume to behave as a Templar. If anyone acts otherwise, he incurs automatic excommunication. Furthermore, we reserve the persons and property for our disposition and that of the apostolic see. We intend with divine grace, before the end of the present sacred council, to make this disposition to the honour of God the exaltation of the christian faith and the welfare of the holy Land. We strictly forbid anyone, of whatever state or condition, to interfere in any way in this matter of the persons and property of the Templars. We forbid any action concerning them which would prejudice our arrangements and dispositions, or any innovation or tampering. We decree that from now on any attempt of this kind is null and void, whether it be made knowingly or in ignorance. Through this decree, however, we do not wish to derogate from any processes made or to be made concerning individual Templars by diocesan bishops and provincial councils, in conformity with what we have ordained at other times. Let nobody therefore ... If anyone ... Given at Vienne on 22 March in the seventh year of our pontificate. [2]. For an everlasting record. It belongs to Christ’s vicar, exercising his vigilant care from the apostolic watch-tower, to judge the changing conditions of the times, to examine the causes of the affairs which crop up and to observe the characters of the people concerned. In this way he can give due consideration to each affair and act opportunely; he can tear out the thistles of vice from the field of the Lord so that virtue may increase; and he can remove the thorns of false dealing so as to plant rather than to destroy. He transfers slips dedicated to God into the places left empty by the eradication of the harmful thistles. By thus transferring and uniting in a provident and profitable way, he brings a joy greater than the harm he has caused to the people uprooted; true justice has compassion for sorrow. By enduring the harm and replacing it profitably, he increases the growth of the virtues and rebuilds what has been destroyed with something better. A little while ago we suppressed definitively and perpetually the order of the Knights Templar of Jerusalem because of the abominable, even unspeakable, deeds of its master, brothers and other persons of the order in all parts of the world. These men were spattered with indecent errors and crimes, with depravity- they were blemished and stained. We are silent here as to detail because the memory is so sad and unclean. With the approval of the sacred council we abolished the constitution of the order, its habit and name, not without bitterness of heart. We did this not by definitive sentence, since this would be unlawful according to the inquiries and processes carried out, but by apostolic provision or ordinance. We issued a strict prohibition that nobody might henceforth enter the order or wear its habit or presume to behave as a Templar. Anyone doing otherwise incurred automatic excommunication. We commanded, by our apostolic authority, that all the property of the order be left to the judgment and disposition of the apostolic see. We strictly forbade anyone, of whatever state or condition, to interfere in any way regarding the persons or property of the order or to act in prejudice of the direction or disposition of the apostolic see in this matter, or to alter or even to tamper; we decreed all attempts of this kind to be henceforth null and void, whether made knowingly or in ignorance. Afterwards we took care lest the said property, which over a long period had been given, bequeathed, granted and acquired from the worshippers of Christ for the help of the holy Land and to assail the enemies of the christian faith, should be left without management and perish as belonging to nobody or be used in ways other than those intended by the pious devotion of the faithful. There was the further danger that tardiness in our arrangements and dispositions might lead to destruction or dilapidation. We therefore held difficult, lengthy and varied consultations and discussions with our brothers, the cardinals of the holy Roman church, with patriarchs, archbishops, bishops and prelates, with certain outstanding and distinguished persons, and with the procurators at the council of the chapters, convents, churches and monasteries, and of the remaining absent prelates, in order that, through this painstaking deliberation, a wholesome and beneficial disposal of the said property might be made to the honour of God, the increase of the faith, the exaltation of the church, the help of the holy Land, and the salvation and peace of the faithful. After especially long carefully thought out, deliberate and complete consultations, for many just reasons, we and the said fathers and patriarchs, archbishops, bishops, other prelates, and the outstanding and distinguished persons, then present at the council, finally came to a conclusion. The property should become forever that of the order of the Hospital of saint John of Jerusalem, of the Hospital itself and of our beloved sons the master and brothers of the Hospital, in the name of the Hospital and order of these same men, who as athletes of the Lord expose themselves to the danger of death for the defence of the faith, bearing heavy and perilous losses in lands overseas. We have observed with the fullness of sincere charity that this order of the Hospital and the Hospital itself is one of the bodies in which religious observance flourishes. Factual evidence tells us that divine worship is fervent, works of piety and mercy are practised with great earnestness, the brothers of the Hospital despise the attractions of the world and are devoted servants of the most High. As fearless warriors of Christ they are ardent in their efforts to recover the holy Land, despising all human perils. We bear in mind also that the more plentifully they are supplied with means, the more will the energy of the master and brothers of the order and Hospital grow, their ardour increase and their bravery be strengthened to repel the insults offered to our Redeemer and to crush the enemies of the faith. They will be able to carry more lightly and easily the burdens demanded in the execution of such an enterprise. They will therefore, not unworthily, be made more watchful and apply themselves with greater zeal. In order that we may grant them increased support, we bestow on them, with the approval of the sacred council, the house itself of the Knights Templar and the other houses, churches, chapels, oratories, cities, castles, towns, lands, granges, places, possessions, jurisdictions, revenues, rights, all the other property, whether immovable, movable or self-moving, and all the members together with their rights and belongings, both beyond and on this side of the sea, in each and every part of the world, at the time when the master himself and some brothers of the order were arrested as a body in the kingdom of France, namely in October 1308. The gift is to include everything which the Templars had, held or possessed of themselves or through others, or which belonged to the said house and order of Knights Templar, or to the master and brothers of the order as also the titles, actions and rights which at the time of their arrest belonged in any way to the house, order or persons of the order of Knights Templar, or could belong to them, against whomsoever of whatever dignity, state or condition, with all the privileges, indults, immunities and liberties with which the said master and brothers of the house and order of Knights Templar, and the house and order itself, had been legitimately endowed by the apostolic see or by catholic emperors, kings and princes, or by other members of the faithful, or in any other way. All this we present, grant, unite, incorporate, apply and annex in perpetuity, by the fullness of our apostolic power, to the said order of the Hospital of saint John of Jerusalem and to the Hospital itself. We except the property of the said former order of Knights Templar in the kingdoms and lands of our beloved sons in Christ, the illustrious kings of Castile, Aragon, Portugal and Majorca, outside the kingdom of France. We reserve this property, from the said gift, grant, union, application, incorporation and annexation, to the disposal and regulation of the apostolic see. We wish the prohibition made a little while ago by other proceedings of ours to remain in full force. Nobody of any state or condition may intervene in any way as regards these persons and property in prejudice to the regulation or disposition of the apostolic see. We wish that our decree concerning these persons and property in the kingdoms and lands of the above kings should remain in full force until the apostolic see makes another arrangement. Occupiers and unlawful detainers of the property, irrespective of state, condition, eminence or dignity, even if this is pontifical, imperial or royal, unless they abandon the property within a month after it is called for by the master and brothers of the Hospital, or by any of them, or by their procurators [. . .]. The property must be fully and freely restored to the order of Hospitallers and to the said Hospital, or to the master, priors, preceptors or brothers of the said Hospital, in any regions or provinces, or to any of them individually, or to their procurator or procurators, in the name of the said order of Hospitallers, even if the priors, preceptors and brothers and their procurators or any one of them have no special mandate from the master of the Hospital, provided that the procurators hold or show a special commission from the priors and preceptors or from any one of them, in the provinces or regions in which these priors and preceptors have been delegated. The priors, preceptors and brothers are obliged to give a full reckoning to the master concerning everything: conduct, actions, receipts and negotiations. The procurators are to render a similar account to the priors and preceptors, and to each one of them, by whom they were delegated. All who have knowingly given counsel, aid or favour to the occupiers and detainers mentioned above concerning such occupation or detention, publicly or secretly, lie under excommunication. Chapters, colleges or governing bodies of churches and monasteries, and the corporations of cities, castles, towns and other places, as well as the cities, castles, towns and other places themselves which were at fault in this, and the cities, castles and places in which the detainers and occupiers hold temporal lordship, if such temporal lords place obstacles to the giving up of the property and its restoration to the master and brothers of the Hospital, in the name of the Hospital, not desisting from such conduct within a month after the property is called for, are automatically laid under interdict. They cannot be absolved from this until they offer full satisfaction. Moreover the occupiers and detainers and those who have given them counsel, aid or favour, whether individuals or the chapters, colleges or governing bodies of churches or monasteries, as also the corporations of cities, castles, lands or other places, incur, in addition to the above-mentioned penalties, automatic deprivation of everything they hold as fiefs from the Roman or other churches. These fiefs are to revert freely without opposition to the churches concerned, and the prelates or rulers of those churches may dispose of the fiefs at will, as they judge will be to the advantage of the churches. Let nobody therefore . . . If anyone . .. Given at Vienne on 2 May in the seventh year of our pontificate. Continued in E: (Source: Church Councils)
We therefore commission you by our apostolic letters, that acting together or in pairs or singly, directly or through one or more others, you induct the master or priors or preceptors or brothers of the Hospital, or any individual member, or their procurator or procurators, in the name of the Hospital, into possession of the house of the Knights Templar and of their other houses, churches, chapels, oratories, cities, castles, towns, lands, granges, places, possessions, jurisdictions, revenues and rights to all their other movable, immovable and self-moving property, with all their members, rights and belongings, both on the near and far side of the sea and in every part of the world, which the order, master and brothers of the Knights Templar had, held or possessed, directly or through others, at the time of their arrest. The Hospitallers are to be inducted by our authority and defended afterwards; occupiers, detainers, administrators and conservators are to be removed. You are to ask a full account from those who have been delegated by apostolic authority and any other, including those sub-delegated, to care for the aforesaid property. The account is to comprise all the fruits, revenues, incomes, rights and accretions. The occupiers or detainers, administrators, conservators and others, unless within the prescribed time they abandon the property and revenues, and restore them freely and fully to the order of the Hospital and to the same Hospital, or to the master, prior, preceptors or brothers of the Hospital, in the regions and provinces in which the property has been, including to each of them individually, or to their procurator or procurators, in the name of the Hospital, as said above, as well as those who give help, counsel or favour to the occupiers, detainers, administrators or conservators, are to be excommunicated by you, if they are individuals; but if they are chapters, colleges, convents or corporations, as well as the cities, castles, towns and places themselves at fault in this, and those in which the detainers and occupiers have temporal dominion and are obstructive when asked to abandon the property and restore it to the master and brothers of the Hospital, in the name of the Hospital, and refuse to desist from such conduct within a month, you are to lay them under interdict. The offenders are also to be deprived of all property which they hold in fief from the Roman or any other church. You will give notice everywhere where you think it useful and have it announced by others that the excommunicated persons are to be strictly avoided until they have made suitable satisfaction and merited absolution. No exception is to be made on account of any indult from the apostolic see to the effect that they cannot be laid under interdict, suspended or excommunicated by apostolic letters which do not make an express, full and word for word declaration. You are also to suppress any other objectors, if there be such, by ecclesiastical censure, disregarding appeals. It is our will also and we decree by our apostolic authority, that with the present instruction you all and singly are given power and jurisdiction in every detail of this matter. You may from now proceed freely as if this same jurisdiction were perpetuated by citation or by any other lawful way. The jurisdiction shall be considered perpetuated as though the case were no longer undecided. Each of you may continue the part which has been left unfinished by one of your colleagues, in spite of his opposition and unhampered, notwithstanding the constitution of pope Boniface VIII, our predecessor of happy memory, as often and whenever this is suitable. Given as above. [3]. Clement, bishop, servant of the servants of God, for assurance in the present and for future record. The inquiries and various processes commissioned not long ago by the apostolic see through all parts of Christendom against the former order of Knights Templar and its individual members, concerning accusation of heresies, brought them into grave disrepute. In particular there was the accusation that the brothers of the former order at, and sometimes after, their reception denied Christ and spat in his dishonour on a cross held out to them, and sometimes trampled it underfoot. The master of the order, the visitor of France, the chief preceptors and many brothers of the order confessed at their trial to these heresies. The confessions cast grave suspicion on the order. In addition, the widespread disgrace, the strong suspicion, and the clamorous charges of the prelates, dukes, communes, barons and counts of the kingdom of France also gave grave scandal which could hardly be allayed without suppression of the order. There were many other just reasons mentioned in the legal process which influenced us. We therefore, with the approval of the sacred council, our heart filled with great bitterness and sorrow, suppressed and abolished the said former order of the Temple and its constitution, habit and name and we forbade its restoration. We did this, not by definitive sentence since we could not legally do this according to the inquiries and processes mentioned above, but by apostolic provision and ordinance. We reserved the persons and property of the order to the decision and disposal of the apostolic see. In doing so, however, we had no intention of derogating from the processes made or to be made concerning individual persons or brothers of the said former order by diocesan bishops and provincial councils, as we have ordained elsewhere. Now therefore we wish to provide more suitably for individual persons or brothers. We reserved lately for our own disposition the master of the former order, the visitor of France and the chief preceptors of the holy Land, Normandy, Aquitaine, Poitou and the province of Provence, as well as brother Oliver de Penne, a knight of the said former order, whom henceforth we reserve to the disposition of the apostolic see. We have decided that all the other brothers should be left to the judgment and disposition of provincial councils, as we have indeed done until now. We wish judgment to be given by these councils in accordance with the different cases of individuals. Thus those who have been legally acquitted, or will be acquitted in the future, shall be supplied with the goods of the former order whereby they can live as becomes their state. With those who have confessed concerning the above errors, we wish the provincial councils prudently to temper justice with mercy: the situation of these men and the extent of their confessions are to be duly weighed. With regard to those who are impenitent and have relapsed, if any -- which God forbid -- be found among them, justice and canonical censure are to be observed. As for those who even when questioned have denied their involvement in the above errors, the councils are to observe justice and equity according to the canons. With the approval of the sacred council, we hereby cite those who have not yet been questioned and who are not held by the power or authority of the church but are perhaps fugitives, to appear in person before their diocesans within a year from today. This we assign them as a precise and final limit. They are to undergo an examination by their diocesans, receiving a just judgment from the said councils according to their deserts. Great mercy however is to be shown and observed both to these last and to those previously mentioned, except the relapsed and impenitent. They should also be provided from the property of the order with the necessities of life; all the brothers of the former order, whenever they return to the obedience of the church and as long as they persist in that obedience, shall be maintained as becomes the circumstances of their state. All of them shall be placed in houses of the former order or in monasteries of other religious, at the expense however of the former order itself according to the judgment of the said provincial councils; but many of them shall not be placed together at the same time in one house or monastery. We order also and strictly command all those with whom and by whom the brothers of the former order are detained, to surrender them freely whenever required to do so by the metropolitans and the ordinaries of the brothers. If within the year those cited do not appear before the diocesans, as stated above, they incur automatically sentence of excommunication; and because in a case especially concerning the faith, contumacy adds strong presumption to suspicion, the contumacious who stubbornly remain excommunicate for a year are henceforth to be condemned as heretics. This citation of ours is made of set purpose and we wish the brothers to be obliged by it as if they had received a special citation personally, for as vagabonds they can in no way be found or at least not easily. In order, then, to prevent all subterfuge, we publish our edict in the present sacred council. And in order to bring this citation more assuredly to the knowledge of the brothers themselves and to the general knowledge of all, we shall have papers or parchments containing the citation and sealed with our bull hung or fastened to the doors of the principal church of Vienne. This will secure a loud and widespread publication of this citation, so that the brothers whom the citation concerns can claim no excuse that the citation has not reached them or that they were ignorant of it, since it is improbable that what is so openly made public to all can remain unknown or hidden to them. Furthermore, in order to observe greater precaution, we order the local diocesans to make public this edict of our citation, as soon as conveniently possible, in their cathedrals and in the churches at the most conspicuous places in their dioceses. Given at Vienne on 6 May 1312 in the seventh year. [4]. To all the administrators and guardians of the property of the former house and order of the Knights Templar, delegated by apostolic and any other authority. Recently we held, as the Lord so disposed, a general council at Vienne. There we gave long and careful consideration to the disposal of the former house and order of the Knights Templar. We thought it more acceptable to the most High, more honourable to those who worship in the true faith, and more useful for the aid of the holy Land, to grant this property to the order of the Hospital of saint John of Jerusalem, rather than to give it or even attach it to a new order to be created. There were some, however, who asserted that it would be better to confer the property on an order to be newly created than to attach it to the order of the Hospital, and so we were unable to obtain the result we hoped for. At last, however, by God’s favour, on 2 May of this present month, with the approval of the sacred council, we judged that the property should be granted and attached and even united to the said Hospital or order. We made an exception, for certain reasons, of the Templars’ property in the kingdoms and lands of our beloved sons in Christ, the illustrious kings . . . of Castile, . . . of Aragon, . . . of Portugal, and . . . of Majorca’, outside the kingdom of France. We reserved this property for our disposition and that of the apostolic see, until some other arrangement be made by us and the apostolic see for its use to aid the holy Land. We therefore strictly command all of you, by apostolic ordinance, to restore in full, in the name of the said Hospital and order, this property with the revenue gathered from it, after all expenses have been paid, to the master and brothers of the Hospital, or to restore individual items to the said Hospital’s individual priors or preceptors of the provinces or cities or dioceses or places in which the property lies, or to the procurator or procurators of one or more of them, according to the terms of your commission, within a month of being so required. For this the master, brothers, priors and preceptors, or their procurator or procurators, shall fittingly commend you, and we shall rightly acknowledge your prompt and devoted obedience. Given at Livron in the diocese of Valence on 16 May in the seventh year.{1} [5].{2} Our redeemer, the only-begotten Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, loved so much the daughter of Zion, the holy Land, that he chose her as his inheritance and his own patrimony. He therefore, clothed with our flesh, honoured her with his presence and consecrated her by the shedding of his precious blood. But we mourn and bitterly lament that so noble an inheritance of our redeemer has been turned over to strangers and laid low by the frenzy of the Babylonian persecutor, trampled underfoot by the feet of the defiled. She is dishonoured by the vile grasp of the unclean Saracens, faithless enemies of the christian name. She has been occupied and wretchedly retained, the christian people have been savagely slaughtered. To the insult of the creator, to the outrage and sorrow of all Christendom, the name of Christ is horribly blasphemed by the filthy and detestable conduct of the enemy. This sad region therefore weeps under the lash and repeatedly laments to the vicar of Christ about this intolerable persecution. Wounded by her disgrace, she pleads with christian princes and the catholic people. She uncovers her wounds to those from whom she awaits the work of the healer. She demands liberation from those for whose salvation the author of salvation bore within her borders the suffering of the cross. All this and more besides, which the mind cannot fully conceive nor the tongue tell, rose to our heart and roused our mind as soon as we were called by divine favour, though unworthy, to the summit of apostolic dignity. We gazed tenderly at the doleful state of the holy Land and we applied ourselves to think out remedies by which, with the aid of heaven, that Land, freed from the enemy’s criminal hands, might see, after the darkness of so many tribulations, the bright times of longed-for peace For this and other holy works acceptable to God, to be advanced by his almighty power, we convoked a general council in the city of Vienne{3}. Then, together with our brothers the cardinals of the holy Roman church, the patriarchs, archbishops, bishops and other prelates and our beloved sons in Christ the illustrious kings Philip of the Franks and Louis of Navarre, who were present at the council, as also some other eminent men and the procurators of the remaining absent prelates and of chapters, convents, churches and monasteries, assembled at the council, we held a long, complete and careful discussion on bringing aid to the holy Land. At last we resolved, with the council’s approval, to succour the holy Land by a general crusade. Intending to use our apostolic power zealously to this end, and having duly weighed all we have said, we judged, with the approval of the sacred council, that a tithe should be imposed by our apostolic authority on all ecclesiastical revenues and incomes throughout the world. Only the persons and places belonging to the Hospital of saint John of Jerusalem and the other military orders were to be exempted. The tithe was to be collected and paid for six years to be reckoned from 1 January last, in fixed installments, as we should find best, and to be directed to helping the holy Land and opposing the infidels and the enemies of the catholic faith.{4} But actually we reflected of late that our letters concerning the imposition, collection and payment of the tithe had not reached you by I January, nor could easily do so in a short time, on account of the great distance of those parts from the Roman curia. Wishing, then, to consult your ease and convenience, we have decreed that the six years are to begin in your region on I October next. We therefore ask, admonish and earnestly exhort you, also commanding you strictly by apostolic ordinance in virtue of obedience, to pay without difficulty the tithe for six years beginning from I October. The tithe is to be paid in the customary way, namely for the first half of the first year on 1 October next, and for the second half on I April immediately following, and in the same way for each of the remaining five years. Each of you is to pay it in full from your ecclesiastical revenues and incomes. If you fail to pay the tithe within the above periods, each of you automatically incurs sentences similar to those pronounced for nonpayment by you or by the suitable and trustworthy persons delegated by you to collect the tithe in your cities and dioceses. Furthermore, you are to collect the tithe from our beloved sons, the abbots, priors, deans, archdeacons, provosts, archpriests and other prelates of churches, the chapters, colleges and convents of the Cistercians, Cluniacs, Premonstratensians, of saint Benedict and saint Augustine, of the Carthusians, Grandmontines and other orders, and other non-exempt secular and regular ecclesiastical persons, in your cities and dioceses, that is, each of you in each city and diocese. The priors, preceptors, masters and other persons and the places of the Hospital of saint John of Jerusalem and of the other military orders are to be the only exceptions made. The tithe is to be collected by you or by other suitable and trustworthy persons delegated by you for this service in each of your cities and dioceses. It is altogether our wish and command that you should delegate such persons. We entrust to them and command them by this document to claim and collect it in full by our authority, in each of the cities and dioceses where they are delegated, from our beloved sons the abbots, priors, deans, provosts, archdeacons, archpriests and other prelates of churches, and the exempt chapters, colleges and convents of the above-mentioned orders, in your cities and dioceses. Only the priors, preceptors, masters, persons and places of the Hospital of saint John of Jerusalem and of the said other military orders are to be excepted. The tithe is to be claimed and collected in full from the ecclesiastical revenues and incomes, by our authority, in the customary way according to the years and periods mentioned above. The delegates are to collect it from both the exempt and the non-exempt: each is to hand over and assign it for each period to the person among you by whom he was delegated, without delay or as soon as he conveniently can. You are to compel them by ecclesiastical censure, without any appeal, to give you an account of the money claimed and collected from the aforesaid non-exempt persons, as well as to hand over and assign the tithe claimed and collected from both the exempt and the non-exempt. Public instruments are to be drawn up and other due precautions taken concerning the handing over and assigning of the tithe. In this way, when needed, it can be established how much, from whom, when and for what period the delegates received the money and how much, when and for what period they handed over and assigned it to each of you. The money which has been duly claimed and collected by you and your delegates from the exempt and non-exempt persons and has been handed over to you, including that which has been claimed and collected by your delegates from the said exempt persons, as mentioned above, and also the money which you will pay from your own revenues and incomes, is to be put away by each of you, together with your cathedral chapter, beneath the church or even elsewhere, as you think best, in some more becoming and safe place. Here, at your expense and that of the chapter, you will have it guarded carefully and faithfully, to be consigned by each of you to our delegates as and when shall seem good to us, for the business of the holy Land and the service of the faith. In order that you may more easily and effectively collect this tithe, we grant by this document full and unrestricted power to each of you to constrain by ecclesiastical censure directly or through your delegates, disregarding any appeal, the abbots, priors, deans, provosts and other aforesaid non-exempt persons, in your cities and dioceses. We grant the same power to your delegates, in each city or diocese for which they have been delegated, with regard to the abbots, priors, deans, provosts and other aforesaid exempt persons. This power may also be used to constrain any opponents and rebels. In addition, we grant full and unrestricted power to you to absolve in your cities and dioceses, after satisfaction has been made, the aforesaid non-exempt persons, and to your delegates regarding the aforesaid exempt persons who, because of non-payment of the tithe in due time, are bound by sentences of excommunication, suspension or interdict; also to dispense from irregularity contracted by celebrating divine worship or taking part in it while bound by one or more of the above sentences. In order that you and your delegates may have a reward for the labours undertaken, we enjoin on you the above things in remission of your sins. The tithe is to be paid even if the apostolic see has granted an indult to you or some of you, or to the abbots, priors and other aforesaid exempt or non-exempt persons, or to anyone else, that you are not obliged and compelled to pay, or that you cannot be laid under interdict, suspension or excommunication by apostolic letters which have not made full and express mention of this indult and its tenor word for word, or of the names of your orders, localities and persons. The same applies to any privileges, indulgences, exemptions and apostolic letters which have been granted generally or specially in any form of words by the said apostolic see to any dignities, orders, places or persons, and of which and their whole tenor there should be made in our letters word for word, special, full and express mention. Consider, besides, that in these duties you are engaged in God’s business, and that you are acting in the sight of him who sees all. You will therefore be obliged to render an account to him and to us; we intend to use all diligence in this matter. You will receive due reward from both him and us. You should therefore act prudently and carefully, not only to avoid the danger of punishment and confusion, but also to gain the glory of praise and well-deserved reward. It is our wish also that each of you oblige the persons delegated by you for collecting the tithe, to swear that they will be diligent and careful in their work and to use this formula: “I swear . . . by you, lord . . ., who am delegated by the authority of the apostolic see and by the same see itself to claim, collect and receive a tithe of all ecclesiastical revenues and incomes from all exempt and non-exempt ecclesiastical persons in your city and diocese, that I will faithfully claim, collect, receive and guard this tithe which has been imposed by the apostolic see for the business of the holy Land and of the catholic faith. Only the priors, preceptors masters and other persons and places of the Hospital of saint John of Jerusalem and of the other military orders are excepted. I shall not give way in this to any person, of whatever dignity, status or condition, whether from entreaty, fear, gratitude, favour or any other cause. I shall restore and consign the full tithe to you at your order. I shall render a final and integral account concerning everything in detail, namely to you regarding what I have claimed, collected and received from non-exempt persons, and to the delegate or delegates of the holy see regarding exempt persons. If you lay down your office in this matter, I shall do the same according to the orders of your successor. So may God help me and these holy gospels of God.” Given at Avignon on 1 December in the eighth year. [6]. For future record. Not long ago, in the general council at Vienne, we transferred, with the approval of the sacred council, the property, rights, privileges, indults, immunities and liberties of the former order of the Temple to the order of the Hospital of saint John of Jerusalem. For the sake of greater peace and concord between prelates of churches and other clergy on the one hand, and the brothers of the order of the Hospital on the other, as also for other justifiable reasons, we suspended, in the last session of the council, all the privileges granted to the Hospital by the apostolic see, and with them as a necessary consequence the privileges of the former Temple, which should be thought of as belonging to the said Hospital and transferred to it. We excepted the privilege of exemption, if they had any. We wished these privileges to be suspended at our good pleasure. There are some, however, who assert on insufficient grounds that the suspension of these privileges of the Hospital does not extend to the privileges of the former order of the Temple. Although there is not the faintest reason for such an assertion, we wish to remove from their minds the slightest doubt that it was our intention, by the said suspension of the privileges of the order of the Hospital, to suspend the privileges of the former Temple, which have become by the transference those of the Hospital itself. We declare therefore by our apostolic authority and decree that these, like the other privileges of the Hospital, are and remain suspended. Indeed, before the suspension, it was said in general by some of our brothers cardinals of the holy Roman church, to many of the prelates assembled at the general council, that there would be a suspension of the Hospital’s privileges until everything that was still uncertain among the said prelates and other clergy, with regard to concord, lawsuits and disputes, had been completely settled. We observed, however, that if it was necessary to await the end of all these lawsuits and disputes, one little case might generate grave prejudice against the Hospitallers, and great loss might result from the continuing suspension of their privileges. We reflected that this might provide material for many misrepresentations. In the last session of the council, therefore, wishing to obviate such greater dangers, we judged it fitting to make known orally, clearly and openly, even for a third time, so that each and all might clearly understand, that we wished the said suspension of the privileges of the order of the Hospital to continue until we willed otherwise. We intend with the Lord’s help to consider what is good for both sides and to make provision for both prelates and other clergy on the one hand, and the Hospitallers on the other, so that neither will have reason for complaint but both will receive due satisfaction. Let nobody therefore ... Given at Avignon on 18 December in the eighth year. [7]. For an everlasting record. Not long ago, under the Lord’s providence, we held a general council at Vienne, at which we suppressed the former order of the Knights Templar of Jerusalem. We granted, attached and joined the Templar possessions, with the approval of the sacred council, to the order of the Hospital of saint John of Jerusalem, for the help of the holy Land; with the exception, for certain reasons, of their property lying in the kingdoms and lands of our beloved sons in Christ, the illustrious kings . . . of Castile, . . . of Aragon, . . . of Portugal and . . . of Majorca, outside the kingdom of France, which we reserved for our disposal and that of the apostolic see until we made other arrangements. Then, in the same council, we made some sound provisions for furthering the cause of the holy Land and others by which quarrels, scandals and discord might be prevented, and continuous peace and concord be established, between prelates of churches and other clergy on the one hand and the brothers of the Hospital on the other. We also made provision on other points relating to the reform of the order of the Hospital. Actually, business has pressed upon us. It is like an ocean pouring into the apostolic see. The waters of care constantly harass our heart. We have not been permitted until now, and are still not permitted, to put into execution the arrangements we desire. In order that the fruit of such sound proposals may not perish through oblivion or pressure of business, but rather may be gathered up, by the Lord’s will, at the opportune time, we have had the headings of these projected decrees inserted into the present document. Their drift is as follows. We wish that the transfer of property of the former order of the Temple to the order of the Hospital may, by our provision, be of advantage to the holy Land. We also wish that quarrels, scandals and discord be prevented between prelates and other clergy on the one hand and the brothers of the order on the other; that lasting concord be established between them; and that the order and its members be reformed, if and as this seems good. We have therefore made three special provisions regarding the order of the Hospital. The first has to do with the holy Land. We shall have an exact and careful enquiry made into the past and present possessions of the order of the Hospital and their exact annual value. We shall wish to know fully the annual value of each old and new house of the order, and how much this represents each year in terms of assistance to the holy Land. On completion of this valuation, and taking into account the necessary local expenditure, we shall oblige the order to maintain continuously in the holy Land a certain number of brothers and knights. These brothers and knights are to labour effectively and strive to win the holy Land and keep it, as far as God grants. We shall arrange and provide that very few brothers of the order remain on this side of the sea. These shall be only those required to govern the houses of the order and those who are old, sick or unfit for war. The young and the strong, who are able to fight, shall be required to go and stay overseas so that the holy Land may have its needs met. The order will thus pursue the purpose for which it was instituted, as is only right and fitting. In this way it will not reserve for itself great wealth or many persons of quality. Rather, the order will lose all occasion for pride or the prosecution of idle enterprises, since the brothers and knights who drag their feet on this side of the sea will be far fewer than before. The property remaining behind will also be heavily and more than usually burdened as a result of our above-mentioned provisions. We cannot impose on our successors the continuation of the above policy. Yet, in order to make this course of action possible and easier for them, we shall have the annual value of each house registered exactly in the Roman curia, and also the service which it will be able to provide each year for the holy Land, and the fixed number of brothers and knights required to stay overseas. We shall arrange that the registered material be kept permanently with the papal registers under our bull. Further, that there be no lack of carefulness or caution in this matter, we shall send the registered material under our bull to all christian kings to be permanently kept by them in order that if it should happen -- though may it not -- that this ordinance is not observed by the Hospitallers, the kings themselves, being informed in the above manner, may more quickly and fully know where the observance of this ordinance has ceased. As a result, they will also be moved to take care that it is observed. Secondly, in order to establish tranquility and peace, as was said above, between the churches with their prelates and the order of the Hospital, we shall see that all the privileges of the order are fully shown to us. And although we have no intention whatsoever of taking away its exemption, if the order has such, or of granting exemption, if the order has none, we shall altogether take away any privileges, if such there be, which are odious or provide matter for quarrels, discord or scandals. If we happen to find areas of uncertainty which it is not advisable to remove, we shall clarify. In addition, we shall delegate in each province two of its prelates and one of our clerics or another cleric to provide more fully for concord, giving them full and unrestricted powers, so that simply and easily, and without the din of a court of law, they may hear and settle or make peace between the parties in all disputes and cases that have arisen or might arise for any reason between the aforesaid order and the churches and any ecclesiastics with regard to churches, tithes, first-fruits, procurations and any property or rights whatsoever. This is to include questions concerning the property and rights of the former order of the Temple. The parties may be summoned or not as they wish; charges may be laid or not, as they please. Before or after the delegates’ decision there can be no appeal. Whatever they do or decide shall altogether be regarded as done or decided by us. We shall also grant to them the power of regulating the procurations owed by the order to the bishops in different places so that, when and as seems good to them, they are converted into an annual payment as money to be paid by the order to the bishops. The bishops, on receiving such payments, are bound to visit at their own expense, at a time suitable for them, the places making them. If this regulation does not seem useful, the bishops will receive on visitation the procurations owed to them by the churches of the order, if these are able to pay them. If a church cannot pay the full procuration, the above delegates will make an estimate of the amount payable to the bishop as the procuration for that church. We shall also ordain that all churches which have annexed to them the cure of souls and belonged to the order of the Hospital on account of any right of the Temple, or even on account of any other rights which belong or shall belong to the Hospital, shall be subject in all spiritual matters to their diocesans, notwithstanding any privilege of exemption. Indeed, in order that everything decreed above may be fulfilled more quickly and without evasion on the part of the order, and that our good will may appear to everyone, we suspend entirely from now all the privileges for long granted by the apostolic see to the order, except for the privilege of exemption, if possessed, and we wish them to remain suspended at our pleasure. Thirdly, concerning the order of the Hospital itself, we shall be making decrees regarding its regulation and reform. We shall be seeing and examining carefully the rules, statutes, form of government and progress of the order itself and of its members. We shall approve and confirm what is good. We shall clarify doubtful points that we find in need of revision in the order itself and in its personnel, both head and members. We shall restore the norm of truth, justice and regular observance with the equilibrium of reason and equity, to the advantage and welfare of the order and for the help of the holy Land. In this way the order itself will be preserved from decay and kept in a healthy and prosperous condition. The prelates of France, after the above intentions had been explained to them, petitioned that we should take away the privilege of exemption, if the order of the Hospital possessed it, or at least suspend such exemption, just as we have decreed the suspension of the order’s other privileges. These prelates also declared that, as long as the unlettered and simple brothers of the order remain under the care of their simple priests, and the prelates themselves are unacquainted with the brothers’ deeds and consciences, they can be in grave danger of losing their souls through having the privilege of exemption, if they do in fact possess it. Our reply is that because of shortness of time we are unable here to formulate a full and determinate decree. As soon as we can conveniently do so we shall with the Lord’s help decree and provide in this matter. Also, as these prelates earnestly petitioned us, it is our will and decree that just as individual catholic kings shall receive in writing the valuation of the order’s revenues and the other relevant information, so each province ought to have and shall have the same document. Also, in accordance with the petition of these prelates, we decree and determine that the compositions pending or made within the last ten years, which were extorted from churches and ecclesiastics through fear of the order of the Hospital and the order of the former Temple, do not disadvantage or harm the said churches and ecclesiastics in any way, and that if two prelates and a non-prelate delegated by us cannot reach agreement, then whatever is decided by one of the prelates and the non-prelate, or decreed by them by way of composition or agreement, shall have effect and full validity. Also, we wish to be as gracious as possible to the said prelates. Therefore we shall allow the two prelates delegated by us to raise in ready money the procurations of their dioceses while absent, and we shall have the non-prelate provided for in money from the property of the former order of the Temple. We shall also decree in accordance with the petition of the prelates of France, that Hospitallers who publicly receive excommunicated persons or those under interdict or notorious usurers for ecclesiastical burial, or for solemnizing their marriages or having them solemnized or permitting them to be solemnized in their churches against the law, or for administering the sacraments to outside parishioners or permitting this in their churches, incur automatic excommunication. And we strictly forbid the Hospitallers to trouble anyone unduly by use of apostolic letters. We shall also decree, in accordance with the petition of the same prelates, against the building of new churches or chapels, the erecting of bell-towers and the making of cemeteries; we shall provide adequate laws on these subjects to be observed by the Hospitallers. Given at Avignon on 31 December in the eighth year of our pontificate {5} [8]. For an everlasting record. Some time ago, in the general council held at Vienne under the Lord’s inspiration, we suppressed the former order of the Temple for certain good reasons as explained in the letter of suppression. After long and careful deliberations with our brothers and the whole council, we bestowed on the order of the Hospital of saint John of Jerusalem, on the Hospital itself and on our beloved sons, the master and brothers of the Hospital, in the name of the Hospital and of the order of these men, who as the Lord’s athletes expose themselves unfailingly to the danger of death in defence of the faith and have borne and still bear heavy loss overseas, the house of the Knights Templar and their other houses, churches, chapels, oratories, cities, castles, towns, lands, granges and all their other movable, immovable and self-moving property, together with all the members and rights and all that belongs to them, beyond and on this side of the sea and in all parts of the world, which the former order and its master and brothers had and comprised at the time when the master himself and some of the brothers were arrested as a body in the kingdom of France, namely in October 1308. The property includes that which the Templars had of themselves or through others, and anything belonging to them in any way, with all their rights, privileges, indults, immunities, liberties, honours and charges. We donated and united all this forever to the Hospital and incorporated it into the Hospital, with the approval of the sacred council and from the fullness of our apostolic power, for the help of the holy Land. However, whatever rights belonged to kings, princes, prelates, barons, nobles and any other Catholics, before the arrest of the master of the former order of the Temple and of some other brothers, were to remain. We excepted from the said donation, union and incorporation the property of the former order of the Temple in the kingdoms and lands of our beloved sons in Christ, the illustrious kings ... of Castile, ... of Aragon, ... of Portugal, and ... of Majorca, lying outside the kingdom of France, which we reserved with good reason for the disposal of the apostolic see. In the letter of donation, union and incorporation, however, through the carelessness, neglect or engagements of the scribe or secretary, mention was omitted of the non-violation of the rights of kings, princes, prelates and other persons concerned. Lest therefore any doubt arises in the future from such an omission concerning these charges and rights, and any prejudice be generated against the said kings, princes, prelates, barons, nobles and other persons, we, who desire that everyone retains his rights unimpaired, wishing to provide a suitable remedy in the matter for the said kings, princes, prelates, barons, nobles and any other Catholics, declare that we have made the above donation, union and incorporation to the order of the Hospital of saint John of Jerusalem, and to the Hospital itself and its master and brothers, in the name of the said Hospital and order, in the way expressed above. We determine and decree of our certain knowledge that, without violation of the property of the former order of the Temple donated to the order of the Hospital, together with all its privileges, indults, immunities, liberties, rights, honours and charges, for the help of the holy Land, nevertheless whatever rights belonged to kings, princes, prelates, barons, nobles and any other Catholics, at the time of the said arrest of the master and some brothers of the Temple, remain intact, unimpaired and exactly as they would be in everything as if they had been distinctly and expressly mentioned in the said letter of donation, union and incorporation. Let nobody therefore . .. Given at Avignon on 13 January in the eighth year.{6} DECREES [1]. Adhering firmly to the foundation of the catholic faith, other than which, as the Apostle testifies, no one can lay, we openly profess with holy mother church that the only begotten Son of God, subsisting eternally together with the Father in everything in which God the Father exists, assumed in time in the womb of a virgin the parts of our nature united together, from which he himself true God became true man: namely the human, passible body and the intellectual or rational soul truly of itself and essentially informing the body. And that in this assumed nature the Word of God willed for the salvation of all not only to be nailed to the cross and to die on it, but also, having already breathed forth his spirit, permitted his side to be pierced by a lance, so that from the outflowing water and blood there might be formed the one, immaculate and holy virginal mother church, the bride of Christ, as from the side of the first man in his sleep Eve was fashioned as his wife, in this way, to the determinate figure of the first and old Adam, who according to the Apostle is a type of the one who was to come, the truth might correspond in our last Adam, that is to say in Christ. This, we say, is the truth, fortified by the witness of that huge eagle which the prophet Ezechiel saw flying over the other gospel animals, namely blessed John the apostle and evangelist, who relating the event and order of this sacrament, said in his gospel : But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs, but one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. He who saw it has borne witness - his testimony is true, and he knows that he tells the truth -- that you also may believe. We, therefore, directing our apostolic attention, to which alone it belongs to define these things, to such splendid testimony and to the common opinion of the holy fathers and doctors, declare with the approval of the sacred council that the said apostle and evangelist, John, observed the right order of events in saying that when Christ was already dead one of the soldiers opened his side with a spear. Moreover, with the approval of the said council, we reject as erroneous and contrary to the truth of the catholic faith every doctrine or proposition rashly asserting that the substance of the rational or intellectual soul is not of itself and essentially the form of the human body, or casting doubt on this matter. In order that all may know the truth of the faith in its purity and all error may be excluded, we define that anyone who presumes henceforth to assert defend or hold stubbornly that the rational or intellectual soul is not the form of the human body of itself and essentially, is to be considered a heretic. All are faithfully to profess that there is one baptism which regenerates all those baptized in Christ, just as there is one God and one faith’. We believe that when baptism is administered in water in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy Spirit, it is a perfect means of salvation for both adults and children. Yet because, as regards the effect of baptism in children, we find that certain theologians have held contrary opinions, some saying that by baptism guilt is indeed remitted in infants but grace is not conferred, others on the contrary asserting that both guilt is remitted and the virtues and sanctifying grace are infused with regard to habit though for the time being not with regard to use, we, considering the general efficacy of Christ’s death, which through baptism is applied in like manner to all the baptised, choose, with the approval of the sacred council, the second opinion, which says that sanctifying grace and the virtues are conferred in baptism on both infants and adults, as more probable and more in harmony with the words of the saints and of modern doctors of theology. [2]. Abbots and other religious holding any major ecclesiastical office may not, when it is a question of priories or other places subject to them, bring an action against anyone on the authority of letters of the apostolic see or its legates, except in such places and before such persons as is permitted to the priors and other persons in charge of the priories and other places. Nor is anything else of this kind permissible in the case of places belonging to the table maintenance of these abbots and other religious, except when these places have special officials in charge of them. If anyone presumes to molest someone in contravention of the above, he is to be condemned by the judge of the case to pay the expenses and for any damage. Any process contrary to this decree is null and void. [3]. Although the chief official of a bishop, or a religious obtaining the office of conventual prior (even though that office is not customarily elective), may be delegated by the apostolic see or its legate, nevertheless we do not wish this to be observed in the cases of an official-forane or of a religious who is the claustal prior of his monastery. [4]. Since prelates of religious orders occasionally neglect to fill vacant priories, churches, offices or other benefices pertaining to their disposition within the time prescribed by the Lateran council, the local diocesan bishops shall supply for this negligence by their own authority in the case of the non-exempt, and by apostolic authority in the case of the exempt. Those which have customarily been governed by the secular clergy shall be conferred on secular clerics, those which have usually been entrusted to or conferred on only religious shall be conferred on the religious of the monasteries whose prelates were negligent. The diocesan bishops, by the same authority, shall in no way permit the said prelates to apply such priories, churches, offices or benefices to their table maintenance, to impose new payments or to increase the old ones any new ones imposed or old ones increased shall be paid back. By the said priories, churches, offices and benefices we mean those that are not for the table maintenance of their prelates and customarily have their own priors, administrators or rectors, even though these priors and administrators can be freely recalled, if necessary, to the cloister. In this matter we have decided to uphold the constitution of our predecessor pope Boniface VIII, which prohibits the property of vacant benefices to be appropriated by prelates or anyone else, as well as that other constitution of the same Boniface which forbids any religious to have several priories or churches with the cure of souls, even though the cure is exercised by someone other than himself and there is no danger to souls for the priories. [5]. So that those who are obliged to divine office in cathedrals or secular collegiate churches, or will be so obliged in the future, may be more readily moved to receive sacred orders, we decree that nobody henceforth may have in such churches a voice in the chapter, even though this is freely granted to him by the others, unless he has received at least the subdiaconate. Moreover, those who now hold peacefully dignities, parsonages, offices or prebends to which certain orders are annexed, or will hold them in future, shall have no voice in the chapter unless, having no just impediment, they receive the corresponding orders within a year. They shall receive only half the payment made to those who assist at certain hours, all customs and statutes to the contrary notwithstanding. The penalties, moreover, which are decreed by law against those refusing to be promoted to orders, are to remain in force. [6]. We wish to check, in the cases mentioned below, the expensive prolongation of lawsuits which, as experience teaches us, arises sometimes from overprecise observance of judicial order. We therefore decree that in cases concerning elections, postulations, or provisions, concerning dignities, parsonages, offices, canonries, prebends or any other church benefices, concerning tithes, even when those obliged to pay them have been admonished and can be corrected by ecclesiastical censure, and concerning matrimony or usury and anything connected with it, that a simple, easy process shall be valid without the noise and rhetoric of a court of justice. We wish this decree to apply not only to future business but also to the present, and even to cases awaiting appeal. [7].Although it is generally forbidden by the sacred canons for a bishop to exercise jurisdiction in a diocese other than his own, we nevertheless make an exception for bishops who have been driven from their sees by the insolence of the ungodly and do not dare, from fear of their persecutors, to reside in their cities and dioceses or in any part of them, nor to exercise their jurisdiction there directly or through others. Lest the wrong done to their churches by their expulsions remains unpunished, we have considered it necessary to permit that in other dioceses, from cities or other prominent places near their churches, where they will be able to reside securely and to exercise freely their jurisdiction they may freely proceed against their expellers and their counsellors and supporters, as justice shall advise. (The cities and places must be such as are untroubled by these expellers and their counsellors and supporters. They are to be cited personally or to the bishop’s house, if this can be done safely; if not, they are to be cited publicly in the cathedral church of the place or of their domicile.) If however the bishops have not dared to cite their expellers or their counsellors or supporters in this way, or if these have maliciously frustrated their being cited, it is lawful for the bishops to cite the expellers, counsellors and supporters, or to have them cited, on Sundays and festivals when the people assemble for divine worship, so that the accused may be presumed in all probability to have learned of the citation. This shall take place publicly in the churches of the cities or other prominent places, and then the bishops shall proceed against their persecutors, if they refuse to appear in the bishops’ presence within a suitable fixed time, just as if the citation had been made legally elsewhere. We grant also to those bishops, lest justice suffer, authority to exercise full jurisdiction over their subjects from the other dioceses in which they have to stay, provided that they cannot or dare not do this, either directly or through someone else, in their own dioceses. The subjects, however, excluding the expellers or their counsellors and supporters, should not have to travel more than two days’ journey from the boundary of their diocese. It is our will also that the bishops first seek permission from the diocesans of their places of exile; if they are not able to obtain this, they may nevertheless proceed as we have said. Of course if the said bishops have asserted that they did not dare to cite the expellers or their counsellors and supporters, personally or to the bishop’s house, or publicly in their cathedral church, as has been said, or that they maliciously prevented the citation, or that the bishops cannot or dare not exercise jurisdiction in their dioceses either directly or through someone else against these persecutors, then we wish these assertions to be reliable, strictly enjoining the bishops, under threat of the divine judgment, that they do not assert or invent anything false or deceptive. The neighbouring bishops, when asked by the exiled bishops, should give notice or have notice given throughout their dioceses of the verdicts and the legal processes which the exiled bishops have judged necessary. No prejudice shall arise from the passage of time, or for any other reason, to the local ordinaries or to anyone else having jurisdiction in these places where the expelled bishops also exercise jurisdiction. [8]. We strictly command local ordinaries to admonish by name three times clerics who publicly and personally engage in the butcher’s trade or conduct taverns, that they cease to do so within a reasonable time to be fixed by the ordinary and never resume such trades. If after admonition they do not leave off or if they resume them at any time, then as long as they persist in the above ways of life those who are married shall automatically lose all clerical privileges, and those who are unmarried shall automatically lose their clerical privileges relating to things, and if the latter go about in every way as laymen they shall also lose automatically their personal privileges as clerics. As for other clerics who apply themselves publicly to secular commerce and trade or any occupation inconsistent with the clerical state, or who carry arms, the ordinaries are to be diligent in observing the canons, so that these clerics may be restrained from such miscon duct and they themselves may not be guilty of reprehensible negligence. [9]. Since he who abandons the dress proper to his order, and puts on other clothes and wears them in public, without a good reason, renders himself unworthy of the privileges of that order, we ordain by the present constitution that any cleric wearing striped or variegated clothes in public, without a good reason, is automatically suspended, if he is beneficed, from receiving the revenues of his benefices for a period of six months. If however he does not have a benefice but is in sacred orders below the priesthood, he becomes automatically disqualified for the same period from obtaining an ecclesiastical benefice. The same penalty applies to other clerics having the tonsure yet wearing such clothes in public. He who holds a dignity, a parsonage or another benefice to which the cure of souls is annexed, as also any other priests and religious, whose outward garb should reveal their inner integrity, who without reasonable cause wear such clothing in public, or appear thus with a woollen band or linen cap on their heads, are, if beneficed, automatically suspended for a year from receiving the revenues of their benefices. Such other priests and religious are also disqualified for the same period from obtaining any ecclesiastical benefices. These and any other clerics who wear a gown or tabard which is furred to the edge and so short that the lower garment is clearly seen, if they are secular clergy or religious with administrative posts, are obliged to give the gown to the poor within a month. The other religious who do not have administrative posts are obliged within the same period to consign the gown to their superiors, to be used for some pious purpose. If this is not done, the above penalties, of suspension in the case of the beneficed clergy and of disqualification in the case of the rest, are incurred for the above period of time. To this penalty we add that clerics, especially those with benefices, may not wear in public chequered, red or green boots. [10]. The following decretal, published a little while ago by our predecessor pope Boniface VIII, was revoked by our predecessor pope Benedict XI. Since, as results have proved, the revocation did not bring with it the peace hoped for by its author, but rather stimulated the discord which it was designed to allay, we annul it altogether and renew, with the insistence and approval of the sacred council, the said decretal published by Boniface which runs as follows. “Boniface, bishop, servant of the servants of God, for an everlasting record. “Having been placed by the divine clemency on the chair of pastoral preeminence, burdened though we are by the many arduous affairs which flow like a torrent from all directions into the Roman curia, summoned by many cares distracted by many proposals, we nevertheless aim ardently and devote ourselves with ever-active solicitude so that, to the glory of the divine name, the exaltation of the catholic faith and the profit of faithful souls, after the thornbushes of disagreement have been rooted out and the intricacies of quarrels removed, the tranquility of peace may thrive with the ardour of charity, and unity of heart and mind may grow and persist, between the bishops charged with the care and rule of the Lord’s flock and other persons in the clerical state. We know, and experience teaches us, that only in time of peace is the author of peace duly worshipped, nor are we ignorant that dissensions and scandals prepare the way to wicked acts, stir up rancour and hatred, and give boldness to evil living. For a long time past there has existed between prelates and rectors or priests and clerics of parish churches throughout the different provinces of the world on the one hand, and the friars Preacher and Minor on the other, grave and dangerous discord, produced by that enemy of peace, the sower of cockle, in the matters of preaching to the faithful, hearing their confessions, enjoining penances, and burying the dead who choose to be buried in the churches or lands of the friars. “As an affectionate father rightly suffers with his children, we carefully considered and turned over in our mind the great danger and loss that such discord brings, and how detestable it is in the sight of the divine majesty. We therefore intend with all the energy of fatherly care to eradicate and remove it wholly, so that with the Lord’s favour it may never revive in the future. We desire greatly that this business, so close to our heart, may be beneficially and speedily completed by apostolic sagacity. After careful deliberation with our brothers, we decree and ordain, with the advice of our brothers and by our apostolic authority, to the honour of God and the exaltation of the catholic faith and for the peaceful condition of the aforesaid parties and the salvation of the souls of the faithful, that the friars of the said orders may freely preach and explain the word of God to the clergy and the people in their churches and other places as also in public places, except at that hour only when the local prelates wish to preach or have someone to give a special sermon in their presence; at this hour they shall not preach, except the prelates decide otherwise and give special permission. In institutes of general studies, where it is customary to give a special sermon to the clergy on certain days, at funerals, and on special feasts of the friars, they are at liberty to preach, unless perhaps during the hour when it is customary to preach to the clergy in the above places the bishop or a higher prelate should summon the clergy in general to his presence, or for some urgent reason should assemble them. In parish churches, however, the said friars may not preach or explain God’s word, unless invited or called to do so by the priests of the parishes, and with their good will and assent, or having asked and obtained permission, unless the bishop or higher prelate should through them commission a friar to preach. “By the same authority we also decree and ordain that in each city and diocese in which the friars have houses, or in neighbouring cities and dioceses where they have no houses, the masters and priors provincial of the Preachers or their vicars, and the ministers general and provincial and the guardians of the Minors, should gather in the presence of the prelates of those places either personally or through friars whom they judge will be suitable delegates, and humbly request that friars chosen for the purpose may freely hear the confessions of those of the prelates’ subjects who wish to confess to them, may impose salutary penances as they shall think right in God’s eyes, and may grant absolution to them, with the leave, favour and good will of the prelates. The masters, priors, provincials and ministers of the orders are then to choose diligently sufficient persons who are suitable, of approved life, discreet, modest and skilled for such a salutary ministry and office. These they are to present or have presented to the prelates that by their leave, favour and good will, they may hear the confessions of those wishing to confess to them in the prelates’ cities and dioceses, impose salutary penances and grant absolution, as has been said above. They are by no means to hear confessions outside the cities and dioceses for which they were appointed. We want them to be appointed for cities and dioceses, not for provinces. The number of persons to be chosen for this ministry ought to be in proportion to that which the number of clergy and people demands. “If the prelates grant the permission requested for hearing confessions, the said masters, ministers and others shall receive it with thanks, and the persons chosen should carry out the duties entrusted to them. If the prelates do not accept one of the friars presented to them, another may and should be presented in his place. But if the prelates issue a general refusal to the friars chosen, we graciously grant, from the fullness of our apostolic power, that they may freely and lawfully hear the confessions of those wishing to confess to them and impose salutary penances, and then impart absolution. By this permission, however, we by no means intend to give more ample power to such friars than is granted by law to the parish clergy, unless perhaps the prelates of the churches think that such power should be given to them. “To this decree and regulation of ours we add that the friars of the said orders may provide free burial everywhere in their churches and cemeteries, that is they may receive for burial all who have chosen these places for their burial. Yet, lest parish churches and their clergy, whose office it is to administer the sacraments and to whom it belongs by law to preach God’s word and to hear the confessions of the faithful, should be denied their due and necessary benefits, since the labourer deserves his wages, we decree and ordain by the same apostolic authority, that the friars are obliged to give the parish clergy a fourth part of all the income from funerals and from everything left to them, expressly or not, for whatever definite purpose, even from such bequests of which a fourth or canonical part is not claimed by custom or by law, and also a fourth part of bequests made at the death or at the point of death of the giver, whether directly or through a third party. We set and also limit this amount to the fourth part by our apostolic authority. The friars are to see to it that bequests are not left to others from whom this fourth part is not owed, to the advantage or interest of the friars themselves, nor go in this way as gifts to these others; and that they do not arrange for that which would be given at death or in illness to the friars, to be given to themselves while the donors are healthy. We intend to prevent anything of this kind by binding the friars’ consciences, so that if, which God forbid, any deceit or fraud has been practised by the friars themselves, contrary to their obligation to the said priests, rectors and pastors, a strict account will be demanded at the last judgment. The rectors of parishes, pastors and prelates may not, however, exact more than this portion, nor are the friars obliged to pay more, nor may they be compelled by anyone to do so. “In order that everything may go forward evenly and peacefully with the Lord’s favour, we revoke, void, annul and invalidate completely all the privileges, favours and indults granted orally or in writing, in any form or expression of words, by ourself or our predecessors as Roman pontiffs to any of the said orders, and also customs, agreements and contracts, in so far as these are contrary to the above provisions or any one of them. We declare all such privileges to be null and void. Furthermore, by this present decree, we earnestly ask and exhort, indeed we strictly command, all prelates of churches, of whatever pre-eminence, status or dignity, and the parish priests, pastors and rectors, out of their reverence for God and the apostolic see, to show friendliness to these orders and their members, not being difficult, severe, hard or austere to the friars, but rather gracious, favourable and kind, showing them a spirit of holy generosity. They should accept the friars as suitable fellow-workers in the office of preaching and explaining God’s word and in everything else mentioned above, admitting them with ready kindness and affection to a share in their labours, so as to increase their reward of eternal happiness and the fruitful harvest of souls. Nor let them be unaware that if perhaps they act otherwise, the kindness of the apostolic see, which honours these orders and their members with great favour and holds them in its heart, will with good reason be roused against them, nor can it tolerate with good will such behaviour without applying a suitable remedy. The indignation, moreover, of the heavenly king, the just rewarder, whom the friars serve with all earnestness, will not be lacking.” [11]. There are religious who presume to usurp by cunning fraud, or under a feigned title, tithes on newly tilled land or other tithes owing to churches, to which they have no legal claim, or who do not permit or even forbid tithes to be paid to the churches on animals belonging to their familiars and shepherds or others whose animals intermingle with their flocks, or on animals which they buy in many places and then hand over to the keeping of sellers or others, thus defrauding the churches, or on land the cultivation of which they have entrusted to others. If such religious, after claim has been made by those whom it concerns, do not desist within a month from the above practices, or if they do not make fitting satisfaction to the defrauded churches within two months, they are and remain suspended from their offices, administrative posts and benefices until they have desisted and made satisfaction, as stated above. If these religious have no administrative posts or benefices, they incur, in place of suspension, the sentence of excommunication, from which they cannot receive absolution before making due satisfaction, notwithstanding privileges to the contrary. We do not wish, however, this decree to apply where animals are held by oblates of the religious, provided that these oblates have given themselves and their possessions to the religious. [12]. If a tithe on the benefices of anyone be granted for a time, the tithe can and should be raised in accordance with the customary valuing of the tithe in the regions in which the grant is made, and in the money generally current. We do not wish the chalices of churches, books and other equipment destined for divine worship to be taken or received as security or distraint by the collectors, raisers or exactors of the tithe, nor are such objects to be distrained or seized in any way. [13]. In order that those who profess poverty in any order may persevere more readily in the vocation to which they have been called, and that those who have gone over to a non-mendicant order may apply themselves to live there more peacefully the more the ambition which produces discord and division is checked, we decree, with the approval of the sacred council, that any mendicants, who even with apostolic authority shall go over to non-mendicant orders in the future or have hitherto done so, even though they now hold the office of prior or obedientiary or other offices, or have any care or government of souls in the non-mendicant order, shall have no voice or place in the chapter, even though this be granted freely to them by the others. They may not continue to hold the office of prior or obedientiary or other offices previously held, even as vicar or minister or deputy, nor may they have the care or government of souls either directly or on behalf of others. All actions contrary to this decree shall be automatically null and void, notwithstanding any privilege whatsoever. We do not however wish this constitution to extend to those mendicant orders which the apostolic see has allowed to continue on condition that they admit no more persons to profession, and to which it has granted a general permission for passing to other approved orders. [14]. That nothing unbecoming or corrupt find its way into that field of the Lord, namely the sacred order of the black monks, or anything grow into a ruinous crop, but rather that the flowers of honour and integrity may there produce much fruit, we decree as follows. We forbid the monks all excess or irregularity with regard to clothes, food, drink, bedding and horses. We decree that the upper garment next to their habit should be black, brown or white, according to the custom of the region in which they live. The quality of the cloth should not exceed monastic moderation, nor should they seek what is expensive and fine, but what is practical. The garment itself should be round and not slit, neither too long nor too short; it should have broad sleeves extending to the hands, not sewn or buttoned in any way. The monks should be content with an almuce of black cloth or fur in place of a hood together with the hood of the habit which they wear, or by arrangement of the abbot they may wear unpretentious hoods which are open over the shoulders. They should not wear silk in place of fur. They may use large summer shoes or high boots for their footwear. None shall presume to wear an ornate belt, knife or spurs, or ride a horse with the saddle highly ornamented with nails or sumptuous in any other way, or with a decorative iron bridle. In communities in which there are twelve monks or more, the abbot, prior or other superior may wear within the monastery walls a frock of the cloth customarily used for the frocks and cowls of the monastery; other monks in monasteries where frocks are customarily worn should use them also. In other monasteries, however, and in houses and priories where there is a smaller community, they should wear cowls which are closed and of becoming appear ance. When the abbots, priors or other superiors and other monks set footoutside the monastery, they should wear a frock or a cowl or a closed cloak; if they wear the cloak, they should wear underneath it a cowl or, if they prefer, a scapular. When they put on albs or sacred vestments in order to minister at the divine offices, or when they are engaged in work, they may wear the scapular. Lest any uncertainty arises from the different meanings in different regions of the world of the words cowl and frock, we declare that by cowl we understand a long and full habit without sleeves, and by frock we understand a habit with long full sleeves. At least once every month, both inside and outside the monastery, each and all of the monks must go to confession, and on the first Sunday of each month they should receive communion in the monastery, except for some reason which they should make known to the abbot, prior or confessor in the monastery; they should abide by his decision. When the rule is read in chapter, it is to be explained in the vernacular by him who presides, or by someone else appointed by him, for the sake of the younger monks. The novices shall have a competent instructor in the divine offices and in regular observance. All shall always abstain from hunting and fowling. They shall not be present at them, nor presume to have hunting-dogs or birds of prey in their keeping or in that of others, nor permit familiars living with them to keep them, unless the monastery has woods, game preserves or warrens, or has the right to hunt on property belonging to others, in which there might be rabbits or other wild animals. They are then permitted to keep such dogs and birds, as long as they do not keep the hunting-dogs in the monastery or the houses in which they live or within the cloister, and the monks themselves do not appear at the hunt. If someone rashly violates the above regulations, he shall be subject to the regular discipline. If he presumes to wear unlaced high shoes, or a hood not open as aforesaid, he is also suspended from conferring benefices for a year, if he is an abbot or a prior who does not have an abbot above him; if anyone else, he is suspended for a year from administrative office, if he holds any. If he has no administrative office, he is automatically disqualified for a year from holding such office or an ecclesiastical benefice. If any are deliberately present at rowdy hunting or fowling or occupied in other ways with dogs and birds, they incur automatic suspension and disqualification, according to the above distinction of persons, for two years. If the abbot or prior has been suspended from conferring benefices, this devolves, with the counsel and assent of the community or its greater part, on the claustral prior. Some monks, as we hear, throw off the sweet yoke of regular observance and leave their monasteries, feigning that they cannot securely remain there, or under some other pretext, to wander about the courts of princes. Unless these monks’ superiors grant them the pension or subsidy which they ask for, the monks conspire against their superiors, betray them or otherwise oppress them, bring about their capture and imprisonment, have their own monasteries burned, and occasionally even presume to seize in whole or in great part the property of the monastery. We wish to counter such unprincipled audacity. We forbid, by this perpetual edict, that monks and canons regular who are not administrators should presume, without special leave of their superiors, to betake themselves to the courts of princes. If, in order to do harm to their superiors or monasteries, they presume to go to such courts, we determine that they incur automatic excommunication. We nevertheless strictly enjoin on their superiors to restrain them with all diligence from visiting the said courts and from any wandering about; they are to correct severely those who do not obey. We decree that monks who keep arms inside their monastery, without leave of their abbot, incur the same sentence. Following in the footsteps of our predecessors, we forbid by a perpetual edict that monks presume to live alone in houses and priories of which they have charge. If the incomes of such priories and houses do not suffice for the support of two, then, unless the abbots make them sufficient, let the local ordinaries, with the advice and consent of the abbots, unite these houses and priories with neighbouring places belonging to the monasteries, or with offices of the monasteries, or with one another, as will be most convenient. The monks of the places which will be united to others are first to be recalled to their monastery, and due provision is to be made, from the incomes of the said places, for the clergy who are to serve there. Furthermore, conventual priories cannot be conferred or entrusted to anyone under twenty-five, and non-conventual priories having the care of souls, even if that care is exercised by secular priests, to anyone under twenty. Those who hold priories of either kind are to have themselves ordained priest within a year from the time of their collation or commission and taking possession, or before the age of twenty-five if they are entrusted with or collated to non-conventual priories when they are under that age. If they have not done this, and are without reasonable excuse, they are deprived of the said priories, even without previous admonition, and the priories may not be conferred on them again that time. Nobody may be given or entrusted with a priory or an administrative post unless he has previously made profession in a monastic order. Those appointed to priories or administrative posts outside the monastery are not permitted to remain in the monastery and are obliged to reside where they hold office, notwithstanding any contrary custom, unless they are excused for a time from this residence for some reasonable cause, such as studies. In order to promote divine worship, we decree that every monk, at the command of his abbot, should have himself raised to all the sacred orders, unless there is some lawful excuse. Further, in order that the monks may not be deprived of the opportunity to make progress in knowledge, there should be in each monastery which has sufficient means a suitable master to instruct them carefully in the primary branches of knowledge. All the foregoing, and those things which our predecessor pope Innocent III of happy memory decreed for greater religious observance in the monastic state, regarding clothing, poverty, silence, the eating of meat, the triennial chapter, and anything else, we approve, renew and expressly wish and decree to be strictly observed. [15]. Considering that where discipline is despised, religion suffers shipwreck, we have thought it especially necessary to provide that such contempt produces nothing discordant in those who have dedicated themselves to Christ by vow, staining the good name of religious life and offending the divine majesty. We therefore, with the approval of this sacred council, have judged it wise to decree that every convent of nuns should be visited each year by their ordinary as follows: exempt convents subject to the apostolic see alone, by the authority of that see; non-exempt convents by the ordinary’s authority, and other exempt convents, by the authority to whom they are subject. The visitors are to be very careful that the nuns -- some of whom, to our sorrow, we have heard are transgressors -- do not wear silk, various furs or sandals; do not wear their hair long in a horn-shaped style, nor make use of striped and multicoloured caps, do not attend dances and the banquets of seculars, do not go walking through the streets and towns by day or night; and do not lead a luxurious life in other ways. They shall carefully withdraw the nuns from the excesses and allurements of this world and persuade them to devote themselves in their convents to the cultivation of the virtues which is due to the Lord. We order the visitors to compel the nuns to observe all this by suitable measures, notwithstanding exemptions and privileges of any kind, without prejudice however to these exemptions in other respects. We also decree that anyone chosen for the office of abbess in those convents where it is customary for abbesses to be blessed, should receive that blessing within a year from the time of her confirmation in office. If she does not, unless there be reasonable cause, she has completely lost her right, and provision is to be made canonically for the monastery to be provided with an abbess by those to whom this belongs. We also order, by our apostolic authority, that those women who are commonly called secular canonesses and who lead a life like that of secular canons, making no renunciation of private property and no profession, should be visited by the local ordinaries, who are to visit the non-exempt on their own authority and the exempt on the authority of the apostolic see. By this, however, we are not intending to approve the status, rule or order of secular canonesses. We command the visitors, in making their visitation, to be content with two notaries and two persons from their own church and four other men of undoubted honour and maturity. Those who presume to hinder the visitors in their task or any part of it, unless they repent on being admonished, incur automatic excommunication, notwithstanding any privileges, statutes and customs to the contrary. ‘ [16]. The women commonly known as Beguines, since they promise obedience to nobody, nor renounce possessions, nor profess any approved rule are not religious at all, although they wear the special dress of Beguines and attach themselves to certain religious to whom they have a special attraction. We have heard from trustworthy sources that there are some Beguines who seem to be led by a particular insanity. They argue and preach on the holy Trinity and the divine essence, and express opinions contrary to the catholic faith with regard to the articles of faith and the sacraments of the church. These Beguines thus ensnare many simple people, leading them into various errors. They generate numerous other dangers to souls under the cloak of sanctity. We have frequently received unfavourable reports of their teaching and justly regard them with suspicion. With the approval of the sacred council, we perpetually forbid their mode of life and remove it completely from the church of God. We expressly enjoin on these and other women, under pain of excommunication to be incurred automatically, that they no longer follow this way of life under any form, even if they adopted it long ago, or take it up anew. We strictly forbid, under the same penalty, the religious mentioned above, who are said to have favoured these women and persuaded them to adopt the Beguinage way of life, to give in any way counsel, help or favour to women already following this way of life or taking it up anew; no privilege is to avail against the above. Of course we in no way intend by the foregoing to forbid any faithful women, whether they promise chastity or not, from living uprightly in their hospices, wishing to live a life of penance and serving the Lord of hosts in a spirit of humility. This they may do, as the Lord inspires them. [17]. It happens now and then that those in charge of hospices, leper-houses almshouses or hospitals disregard the care of such places and fail to loosen the hold of those who have usurped the goods, possessions and rights of these places. They indeed permit them to slip and be lost completely and the buildings to fall into ruin. They have no care that these places were founded and endowed by the faithful so that the poor and lepers might find a home and be supported by the revenues. They have the barbarity to refuse this charity, criminally turning the revenues to their own use, even though that which has been given by the faithful for a certain purpose should, except by authority of the apostolic see, be applied to that purpose and no other. Detesting such neglect and abuse, we decree, with the approval of the sacred council, that they to whom the duty belongs by right or by statute laid down at the foundation of these places, or by lawful custom, or by privilege of the apostolic see, should strive to reform these places in all that has been referred to above. They are to restore what has been seized, lost and alienated. They should compel the persons in charge to receive the poor people and maintain them in accordance with the resources and revenues of the places. If they are remiss in this, we enjoin on the local ordinaries, even if the institutions enjoy the privilege of exemption, to fulfil each and all of the foregoing, either directly or through others, and to compel the nonexempt rectors by their own authority and the exempt and otherwise privileged rectors by the authority of the apostolic see. Those who object, of whatever state or condition they may be, and those who give them counsel, help or favour, are to be checked by ecclesiastical censure and other legal remedies. By this, however, we do not impair the validity of exemptions or privileges in relation to other matters. In order that the above may be more readily observed, none of these places shall be conferred as benefices on secular clerics, even though this may have been observed as a custom (which we utterly condemn), unless it was otherwise determined at the foundation or unless the post is to be filled by election. But let these institutions be governed by prudent suitable men of good repute, who have the knowledge, good will and ability to rule the institutions, to take care of their property and defend their rights to advantage, to distribute their revenues faithfully for the use of needy persons, and who are not likely to divert the property to other uses. We lay these responsibilities on the consciences of those entrusted with these places, calling on the witness of the divine judgment. Those who are entrusted with the government or administration of such places shall also take an oath, after the manner of guardians, and make inventories of the property belonging to the place, and give an account each year of their administration to the ordinaries or others to whom these places are subject, or to their representatives. If anyone attempts to act otherwise, we decree that the appointment, provision or arrangement is null and void. We do not wish, however, the foregoing to apply to the hospices of military or religious orders. For these hospices we order those in charge of them, in virtue of holy obedience, to provide in them for the poor in accordance with the institutes and ancient observances of their orders, and to show themselves duly hospitable. They shall be compelled to do this by strict disciplinary measures of their superiors, notwithstanding any statute or custom. Furthermore, our intention is that, if there are hospices which have had from old times an altar or altars and a cemetery, with priests who celebrate divine services and administer the sacra ments to the poor, or if the parish priests have been accustomed to do this, theseancient customs are to be retained. [18]. We wish the constitution to be observed which forbids that anyone even at the presentation of exempt religious, be admitted to some church, contrary custom notwithstanding, unless a portion of the revenues of that church has been assigned to him in the presence of the diocesan bishop, wherewith he may be able to meet his obligations to the bishop and have a suitable means of livelihood. We are therefore taking care, with the approval of the sacred council, to explain the constitution and to add certain considerations. Thus we strictly forbid, adjuring the divine judgment, diocesan bishops to admit anyone presented by any ecclesiastical person having the right of presentation to some church, unless within a certain suitable period, set beforehand by the bishop for the presenter, the one presented is assigned, in the bishop’s presence, a suitable portion of the revenues. If the one presenting neglects to assign this within the period, we decree, lest this neglect harm the presentee, that the bishop should then admit him, unless there is some other canonical obstacle, and the power of assigning is to devolve on the bishop as a penalty against the presenter. We admonish however the diocesan bishops, adjuring the divine judgment, and we lay it on their consciences, that they act justly in assigning this portion, nor are they to be knowingly swayed by hatred or favour or in any other way to assign more or less than what is due. Of course in the churches of priories or of other places, regular as well as secular, in which religious or others, to whom the revenues belong, have been accustomed to carry the burdens mentioned above the above instructions are not to be observed; but the said religious and others are obliged to undertake all the burdens which would lie upon the permanent priests or vicars if the portion had been assigned to them, to treat the priests and vicars correctly, and to provide them with adequate and fitting sustenance. We wish the diocesan bishops to compel the religious and others by ecclesiastical censure to full observance of all this, including the assignation of a just portion by the bishop if the religious and others fail to do this themselves, notwithstanding any exemptions, privileges, customs or statutes, which we wish to be of no avail to the religious and others with regard to the above. [19]. Since it is only reasonable that those who enjoy advantages should not refuse the burdens connected with them, we decree by the following inviolable constitution that any religious who have in any way obtained monasteries or churches, should take care to pay the procurations of legates of the apostolic see and the obligations to bishops and others which were in force before they took possession, unless they are excused by privilege of the apostolic see, exemption or other lawful cause. We do not wish, however, that such privileges or exemptions should be extended to monasteries or churches which they may happen to acquire in the future. [20]. We have heard with sorrow that prelates visiting the monasteries of the Cistercian order, although charitably received and courteously served with all that is needful, are nevertheless not content with the food prescribed by the monastic rule. Contrary to the privileges of the said order they demand meat and if it is not served to them, they obtain it by force. Although they receive suitable alms in these monasteries, the prelates procure more for themselves against the will of the religious, sometimes even in places where neither custom nor law provide a title to procurations. They demand and extort money for their horses to be shoed, even when this is unnecessary, and their cooks demand and extort money by reason of their office; nor do they observe the arrangements made between the prelates and the monks concerning procurations. In receiving the procurations they are so oppressive that in one short hour they consume what would last the community for a long time. They have with them, while they are receiving the procurations, their hunting-dogs, falcons and hawks. Unless their demands are met, the doors of monasteries or churches are often violently broken and the ornaments of the church are carried off. Without any privilege from the apostolic see they receive several procurations in one day occasionally paid in money, even without making a visitation; and on the occasion of these procurations they often demand from the monks what these are not obliged to pay them, laying on the monks an intolerable burden. There are also some prelates who impose on exempt and other religious the greater part of procurations due to nuncios of the apostolic see and other extraordinary burdens, in order to free themselves and secular priests, without any consultation with the religious about dividing the load. In many other ways the said prelates oppress exempt monasteries and churches which are subject to these monasteries in both civil and canon law, in receiving their procurations and in imposing unaccustomed burdens. We wish therefore to provide a suitable remedy for this state of affairs. We decree, with the approval of the sacred council, that if the bishops come to the said monasteries not for visitation but for hospitality, they should receive graciously the refreshment offered in charity to them. But if the bishops come to these monasteries and receive the procurations due to them by common law custom, privilege or any other law, they may if they wish be served with meat on days when it is permitted, in the houses of the monasteries if these are available, but outside the monastic precincts, notwithstanding any privilege to the contrary; if the houses are not available, they may be served within the monastic precincts but not inside the religious door, as it is called. Nor do we consider it unbecoming if the fragments which are collected from the tables of the bishops and the members of their households are collected up and given by the bishops’ almoners to the poor of the area. The prelates are carefully to refrain from all the other oppressions mentioned above, if they wish to avoid the indignation of God and of the apostolic see. [21]. By the present constitution we order local ordinaries, when the matter becomes known to them, to publish or have published by their subjects the sentences of excommunication and interdict pronounced by law against those who, either on their own initiative or at the command of others, exact or extort tolls or imposts, to the danger of their own souls and the disadvantage of those they oppress, from churches or ecclesiastical persons for goods that are their own, which they are not carrying or having carried or sending for the purposes of trade. They shall continue to publish such sentences until restitution is made for the exactions and fitting satisfaction is given. [22]. We are gravely disturbed that, owing to the negligence of some rectors, their subjects fear no punishment and so are encouraged in bad behaviour. Many ministers of churches have cast aside clerical modesty. They ought to offer to God a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of their lips, in purity of conscience and devotion of mind. Instead they presume to say or chant the canonical hours in a hurried manner, omitting parts, mingling with them conversation which is mostly vain, profane and unbecoming. They come late to choir, or often leave the church without good reason before the end of the office, occasionally carrying birds or having them carried and bringing hunting-dogs with them. As if regardless of their clerical obligations, they presume to celebrate or be present at office, even though tonsured and vested, with an utter lack of devotion. There are some, both clergy and laity, especially on the vigil of certain feasts when they ought to be in church persevering in prayer, who are not afraid to hold licentious dances in the cemeteries of the churches and occasionally to sing ballads and perpetrate many excesses. From this sometimes there follows the violation of churches and cemeteries, disgraceful conduct and various crimes; and the liturgical office is greatly disturbed, to the offence of the divine majesty and the scandal of the people nearby. In many churches also the vessels, vestments and other articles necessary for divine worship are, considering the churches’ means, unworthy. We do not wish these transgressions to increase and become a bad example to others. We therefore, with the approval of the sacred council, forbid these practices. We decree that those whose duty it is -- namely the local ordinaries for the non-exempt and the superiors for the exempt and otherwise privileged-must exercise watchful, care to get rid of all negligence and carelessness, to reform the above-mentioned things and to correct each of them. Also, the day and night office is to be devoutly chanted at the proper hours in cathedrals and in regular and collegiate churches, and in other churches it is to be fittingly and duly celebrated, if ordinaries and superiors wish to avoid the indignation of God and of the apostolic see. They are to curb, if they have jurisdiction, those who oppose correction, by ecclesiastical censure and other suitable remedies. In this and other matters which concern the worship of God and the reform of morals, and also the honourable reputation of churches and cemeteries, they are to see to it, as far as duty binds them, that the sacred canons are inviolably observed, and they shall take care to be well acquainted with these canons.’ [23]. We think it altogether right and fitting that clerics, both religious and others, who belong to the household of a cardinal of the holy Roman church or of any bishop in communion with the apostolic see, should join with them in the divine office. We therefore concede, with the approval of the sacred council, that these clerics may lawfully say the same office as the cardinal or bishop, nor are they obliged to say any other. [24]. Among the cares lying heavily on us there is one on which we reflect constantly: how we may lead the erring into the way of truth and win them for God with the help of his grace. This is what we seek earnestly and longingly, to this we direct our mind with great zeal, to this we are alert with an ever-attentive enthusiasm. We are in no doubt that to attain our desire, the word of God should be fittingly explained and preached to great advantage. Nor are we unaware that the word of God is learned in vain and returns empty to the speaker if it is directed to the ears of those ignorant of the speaker’s language. We are therefore following the example of him whom we, though unworthy, represent on earth. He wished that his apostles, going through the whole world to evangelize, should have a knowledge of every tongue. We desire earnestly that holy church should be well supplied with catholic scholars acquainted with the languages most in use by unbelievers. These scholars should know how to train unbelievers in the christian way of life, and to make them members of the christian body through instruction in the faith and reception of sacred baptism. In order, then, that skill in these languages be attained by suitable instruction, we have stipulated, with the approval of the sacred council, that schools be established for the following languages wherever the Roman curia happens to reside and also at Paris, Oxford, Bologna and Salamanca: that is, we decree that in each of these places there should be catholic scholars with adequate knowledge of Hebrew, Arabic and Chaldaic. There are to be two experts for each language in each place. They shall direct the schools, make faithful translations of books from these languages into Latin, and teach others those languages with all earnestness, passing on a skilful use of the language, so that after such instruction these others may, God inspiring, produce the harvest hoped for, propagating the saving faith among the heathen peoples. The salaries and expenses of these lecturers in the Roman curia will be provided by the apostolic see, those at Paris by the king of France, and those at Oxford, Bologna and Salamanca by the prelates, monasteries, chapters, convents, exempt and nonexempt colleges, and rectors of churches, of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, of Italy, and of Spain respectively. The burden of contributing shall be imposed on each in accordance with the needs of the faculties, notwithstanding any contrary privileges and exemptions, which however we do not wish to be impaired in other respects. (Source: Church Councils / Council Of Vienne 1311-1312 A.D.)
[25]. It is an insult to the holy name and a disgrace to the christian faith that in certain parts of the world subject to christian princes where Saracens live, sometimes apart, sometimes intermingled with Christians, the Saracen priests commonly called Zabazala, in their temples or mosques, in which the Saracens meet to adore the infidel Mahomet, loudly invoke and extol his name each day at certain hours from a high place, in the hearing of both Christians and Saracens and there make public declarations in his honour. There is a place, moreover, where once was buried a certain Saracen whom other Saracens venerate as a saint. A great number of Saracens flock there quite openly from far and near. This brings disrepute on our faith and gives great scandal to the faithful. These practices cannot be tolerated any further without displeasing the divine majesty. We therefore, with the sacred council’s approval, strictly forbid such practices henceforth in christian lands. We enjoin on catholic princes, one and all, who hold sovereignty over the said Saracens and in whose territory these practices occur, and we lay on them a pressing obligation under the divine judgment that, as true Catholics and zealous for the christian faith, they give consideration to the disgrace heaped on both them and other Christians. They are to remove this offence altogether from their territories and take care that their subjects remove it, so that they may thereby attain the reward of eternal happiness. They are to forbid expressly the public invocation of the sacrilegious name of Mahomet. They shall also forbid anyone in their dominions to attempt in future the said pilgrimage or in any way give countenance to it. Those who presume to act otherwise are to be so chastised by the princes for their irreverence, that others may be deterred from such boldness. [26]. The apostolic see has received many complaints that some inquisitors, appointed by it to suppress heresy, have overstepped the limits of the power given to them. They occasionally so enlarge their authority that what has been wisely provided by the apostolic see for the growth of the faith, oppresses the innocent under pretext of piety and results in harm to the faithful. The work of the inquisition will be the more successful the more solemnly, diligently and cautiously its investigations are prosecuted. We decree therefore, for the glory of God and the increase of the faith, that this work will be done by both diocesan bishops and by inquisitors appointed by the apostolic see. All worldly affection hatred and fear shall be put aside, as also any seeking of temporal advantage. We decree that the bishops and the inquisitors may act independently of one another. They may summon, arrest or hold for sake-keeping, even securing those arrested hand and foot if it seems necessary. For this we hold them responsible. They may also inquire about those concerning whom inquiry seems right before God and just. The bishop, however, without the inquisitor, or the inquisitor without the diocesan bishop or his officer or the delegate of the chapter when the see is vacant, may not commit to harsh or close imprisonment, which seems more like punishment than custody, or subject anyone to torture or pronounce sentence on anyone, if they can have access to each other within eight days after seeking it; any contravention of this has no legal validity. If nevertheless the bishop, or the delegate of the chapter when the see is vacant, cannot or will not personally meet the inquisitor, or if the inquisitor cannot or will not personally meet either of the other two, the matter may be entrusted to their proxies or settled by counsel and consent through letters. In regard to the custody of prisons for heretics, commonly called walls in certain regions, we have realized that much deceit has been practised of late, and we wish to obviate this. We decree that any such prison or wall, which we wish for the future to be for the joint use of bishop and inquisitor, shall have two principal guards, discreet, diligent and trustworthy, one to be appointed and provided for by the bishop, the other by the inquisitor. Each of these guards may have a loyal and trustworthy assistant. For each room of the prison there will be two different keys, one held by each guard. He may entrust or subdelegate his key to his assistant for the purpose of ministering to the prisoners. Furthermore, the guards, before they assume office, shall, in the presence of both the bishop, or the chapter while the see is vacant, and the inquisitor, or their substitutes, take an oath on the holy gospels, which they shall touch, that they will use all diligence and care in their duty of guarding those placed or to be placed in their custody on account of the crime of heresy; that one guard shall say nothing in secret to a prisoner out of hearing of the other guard; that they will administer faithfully and without any deduction the provisions which the prisoners receive from the administration and those that they may be offered by relatives, friends or other trustworthy persons, unless there is an order to the contrary from the bishop and the inquisitor or their deputies, and that in this matter there will be no fraud. The assistants of the guards shall take the same oath in the presence of the same persons before exercising their office. And since it often happens that bishops have their own prisons, not shared with inquisitors, we wish and strictly command that the guards appointed by the bishop, or by the chapter while the see is vacant, and their assistants, shall take a similar oath before the inquisitors or their substitutes. Notaries of the inquisition shall also swear in the presence of the bishop and the inquisitor or their substitutes, to exercise the office of notary faithfully. The same shall hold good of other persons necessary for the carrying out of this duty. While it is a grave offence not to work for the extermination of heresy when this monstrous infection requires action, it is also a grave offence and deserving of severe punishment to impute maliciously such wickedness to the innocent. We therefore order bishops, inquisitors and their substitutes, in virtue of holy obedience and under threat of eternal damnation, that they proceed discreetly and promptly against those suspected of heresy, while not imputing maliciously or deceitfully such a disgraceful crime to an innocent person, or accusing him of hindering them in the execution of their office. If they fail, because of hatred, favour, affection, money or temporal advantage, to proceed against someone when they ought, against justice and their conscience, then the bishop or superior is suspended from office for three years and others incur automatic excommunication, in addition to other punishments imposed in accordance with the gravity of the offence. The same penalties apply if they presume for the same reasons to disturb someone with the imputation that he is a heretic or has hindered them in their duties. They shall obtain absolution from this excommunication only from the Roman pontiff, except at the hour of death, and then after making satisfaction. No privilege shall avail in this matter. We wish of course, with the approval of the sacred council, that any other rulings made by our predecessors concerning the office of the inquisition and not in conflict with the above are to remain in full force. [27]. We do not wish the splendour of the faith to be obscured, as it were by a dark shadow, by the indiscreet and wicked acts of any inquisitors of heresy. We therefore decree, with the approval of this sacred council, that nobody below the age of forty may be entrusted with the office of inquisitor. We enjoin very strictly on all commissaries of inquisitors or of bishops or, in vacant sees, of chapters that they do not, under pretext of the office of the inquisition, extort money by any unlawful means from anyone, or knowingly attempt to apply the property of churches, on account of the offences of clerics, even to the treasury of a church. If the commissaries disobey, we place them automatically under sentence of excommunication. They cannot be absolved, except at the moment of death, until they have made full satisfaction to those from whom they have extorted the money; all privileges, pacts and remissions are of no avail. Notaries and officials of the inquisition, as also the brethren and associates of the inquisitors and commissaries, who have secret knowledge that the inquisitors and commissaries have committed such extortions, if they wish to avoid the indignation of God and of the apostolic see as well as offence to both, shall strive to correct the culprits severely in secret. If they have such knowledge as to be able to offer proof if need be, they should earnestly report the matter to the relevant superiors of the inquisitors and commissaries, and these superiors are obliged to remove from office those found guilty and then duly to punish or correct them in other ways. Superiors of inquisitors who fail to do this are to be informed of this decree by the local ordinaries, whom we strictly order in virtue of holy obedience to make known these affairs to the apostolic see. Furthermore, we strictly forbid the inquisitors themselves to abuse in any way the concession to carry arms, or to have any but the necessary officials for accomplishing the duties of their office. [28]. We entertain in our heart a deep longing that the catholic faith prosper in our time and that the perverseness of heresy be rooted out of christian soil. We have therefore heard with great displeasure that an abominable sect of wicked men, commonly called Beghards, and of faithless women, commonly called Beguines, has sprung up in the realm of Germany. This sect, planted by the sower of evil deeds, holds and asserts in its sacrilegious and perverse doctrine the following errors. 1. First, that a person in this present life can acquire a degree of perfection which renders him utterly impeccable and unable to make further progress in grace. For, as they say, if someone could always make further progress, he could become more perfect than Christ. 2. Secondly, that it is not necessary to fast or pray after gaining this degree of perfection, for then the sensitive appetite has been so perfectly subjected to the spirit and to reason that one may freely grant the body whatever pleases it. 3. Thirdly, that those who have reached the said degree of perfection and spirit of liberty, are not subject to human obedience nor obliged to any commandments of the church, for, as they say, where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 4. Fourthly, that a person can gain in this life final beatitude in every degree of perfection that he will obtain in the life of the blessed. 5. Fifthly, that any intellectual nature in itself is naturally blessed, and that the soul does not need the light of glory to elevate it to see God and enjoy him blissfully. 6. Sixthly, that the practice of the virtues belongs to the state of imperfection and the perfect soul is free from virtues. 7. Seventhly, that to kiss a woman is a mortal sin since nature does not incline one to it, but the act of intercourse is not a sin, especially in time of temptation, since it is an inclination of nature. 8. Eighthly, that at the elevation of the body of Jesus Christ, they ought not to rise or show reverence to it; it would be an imperfection for them to come down from the purity and height of their contemplation so far as to think about the ministry or sacrament of the eucharist, or about the passion of Christ as man. With the counterfeit appearance of sanctity they say and do other things also that offend the eyes of the divine majesty’ and constitute a grave danger to souls. Since the duty of the office committed to us obliges us to exstirpate from the catholic church this detestable sect and the above execrable errors, lest they be further propagated and corrupt the hearts of the faithful, we condemn and utterly reject, with the approval of the sacred council, the sect itself and the errors described above, and we strictly forbid anyone henceforth to hold, approve or defend the errors. We decree that those who act otherwise are to be punished with canonical censure. The diocesans and the inquisitors of heresy for the regions where these Beghards and Beguines live, are to exercise their office with special care concerning them, making inquiries about their life and behaviour and about their beliefs in relation to the articles of faith and the sacraments of the church. They are to impose due punishment on those whom they find guilty, unless there is voluntary abjuration of the above errors and repentance with fitting satisfaction. [29]. Serious suggestions have been made to us that communities in certain places, to the divine displeasure and injury of the neighbour, in violation of both divine and human law, approve of usury. By their statutes, sometimes confirmed by oath, they not only grant that usury may be demanded and paid, but deliberately compel debtors to pay it. By these statutes they impose heavy burdens on those claiming the return of usurious payments, employing also various pretexts and ingenious frauds to hinder the return. We, therefore, wishing to get rid of these pernicious practices, decree with the approval of the sacred council that all the magistrates, captains, rulers, consuls, judges, counsellors or any other officials of these communities who presume in the future to make, write or dictate such statutes, or knowingly decide that usury be paid or, if paid, that it be not fully and freely restored when claimed, incur the sentence of excommunication. They shall also incur the same sentence unless within three months they delete from the books of their communities, if they have the power, statutes of this kind hitherto published, or if they presume to observe in any way these statutes or customs. Furthermore, since money-lenders for the most part enter into usurious contracts so frequently with secrecy and guile that they can be convicted only with difficulty, we decree that they be compelled by ecclesiastical censure to open their account books, when there is question of usury. If indeed someone has fallen into the error of presuming to affirm pertinaciously that the practice of usury is not sinful, we decree that he is to be punished as a heretic; and we strictly enjoin on local ordinaries and inquisitors of heresy to proceed against those they find suspect of such error as they would against those suspected of heresy. [30]. Complaints, loud, frequent and incessant come to us from certain religious that very many prelates -- bishops, their superiors and others-unjustly disturb in many ways the peace of the religious. Some of them seize and imprison exempt religious when the law does not permit this. Some, by threat of severe penalties, hinder those who owe tithes or revenues to exempt religious from paying and prevent people from hearing their masses. They suspend, interdict and excommunicate without reasonable cause the millers of the religious, their cooks, servants, vassals, and members of household, and anyone who has any relation with them, occasionally also seizing unlawfully their goods. They in no way submit to the appeals which the said exempt religious sometimes make with good reason, because of the foregoing or other oppressions. They now and then seize the appellants on the occasion of these appeals, or they have them seized and thrown into prison. There are some prelates, moreover, who without lawful cause do not permit chaplains to celebrate nor to administer the sacraments to the parishioners in churches belonging fully and lawfully to the exempt religious. There are even some prelates who with indiscreet haste unjustly suspend, excommunicate, seize and imprison exempt abbots, monks and laybrothers, as also clerics legally subject to them, and lay under interdict their churches and houses, if they do not obey even in matters where there is no obligation. In addition, the prelates exceed all measure in claiming charitable aid from the exempt religious themselves and from those subject to them. Contrary to law they make demands which are unjust and unusual. They lay new taxes and unfair burdens on parish churches in which exempt religious have the right of patronage. They do not permit legal actions and decisions justly made in favour of the exempt religious, by delegates of the apostolic see or by conservators, to be made public or to be put into execution by their subjects. They restrain public notaries from drawing up instruments, judges from administering justice, and lawyers from giving counsel or aid in the suits or legal business of the exempt religious. The prelates also refuse to admit to orders or benefices those presented by exempt religious who have the right of presentation, unless the presenters profess obedience in the greeting of the letter of presentation. Furthermore, these prelates, when the churches for which monasteries have the right of patronage become vacant, turn away the suitable persons presented to them and appoint people who are incompetent and unworthy. Certain prelates confer churches, which have the cure of souls and belong to the table maintenance of abbots, and the revenues of which they sometimes hand over for a rent to secular clerics, on their own clergy at the death of those secular clerics, even though the churches because of this are not truly vacant. Some prelates appropriate unjustly for themselves the rights of monks in churches belonging to monasteries, and so regulate the disposal of the revenues that not enough remains for the livelihood of the rectors. Some prelates, armed and with standards hoisted, destroy the mills and other property of exempt religious, disregarding all justice, even when the religious have been in possession from time immemorial. Prelates also often send their relatives and nephews to the monasteries in their cities and dioceses, occasionally with their animals and herdsmen, with the demand that they be provided for. Often also prelates compel abbots and priors of monasteries to grant the possessions of their monasteries or priories to their kindred and nephews either perpetually or for a period; these grants or pensions we wish to be of no consequence in law. They also compel the abbots and priors to present to them for vacant churches in which the monks have the right of patronage, and occasionally to receive into their order, their friends, kindred and nephews. Frequently also they permit and tacitly consent to the seizure, in the prelates’ temporal domains, of movable and immovable property of the monasteries in cases not permitted by law, by the prelates’ soldiers, vassals and secular officials. They also outrage in various other ways both the clerical and lay persons of the monasteries. Besides, the prelates occasionally deprive unjustly of their benefices abbots, priors and others, so that if they can take the revenues of the benefices in the first year, under pretext of a privilege which they claim to have, then they may be able to receive the first year’s revenues of vacant benefices for a certain time. Not content with this, they seize unlawfully horses, cattle, treasure and other property of monasteries and vacant benefices which should be reserved for posterity. Some prelates sell for a time to knights and other powerful persons the revenues and incomes of their dignities, in order to oppress the neighbouring exempt religious more heavily by means of these people. Some even destroy monasteries without just cause. Others often seize houses, hospitals and other property of the monasteries, both movable and immovable, and retain what they have seized. Many times also, without just cause, they prevent exempt religious from repairing their houses. Certain prelates enact statutes derogatory to the privileges of the exempt religious. And in general, very many prelates unjustly inflict grave injury and loss on religious, especially on those who are exempt and have privileges: on their persons, property and rights, both spiritual and temporal. Since however there is for both regulars and seculars, for superiors and subjects, for exempt and non-exempt, one universal church, outside of which there is no salvation, for all of whom there is one Lord, one faith and one baptism, it is right that all who are of the same body should be of one will, and as brethren bound to one another by the bond of charity. It is right therefore that both prelates and others, exempt and non-exempt, should be content with their rights and abstain from inflicting injury or loss on one another. We therefore strictly command, by the present decree, all prelates of churches that they desist altogether from the oppression described above, and see to it that their subjects do likewise. They are to treat religious men, whether exempt or having privileges or non-exempt, both mendicant and non-mendicant, with charity, and they are to encourage them. They are to respect their rights and privileges as inviolable. And since what is specially forbidden is feared more than what is forbidden merely in general, we forbid most strictly that prelates presume to hinder in any way abbots, priors and other religious from going to their general or provincial chapters. [31]. Religious who presume to administer the sacrament of extreme unction or the eucharist to clerics or lay people or to solemnise marriages, without the special leave of the parish priest, or to absolve those excommunicated by canon law, except in cases expressed in law or granted to them by privilege of the apostolic see, or those excommunicated by sentences promulgated by provincial or synodal statutes, or (to use their own words) to absolve anyone from punishment and guilt, incur automatic excommunication. They are to be absolved only by the apostolic see. The local ordinaries are to announce publicly that they are excommunicated, once this is established, until notified of their absolution. The religious can make no valid appeal in this matter to any exemption or privilege. We also strictly forbid religious, in virtue of holy obedience and under threat of eternal malediction, to disparage prelates in their sermons or to draw the laity away from their churches, to publish false indulgences, to restrain testators, when present at the making of their wills, from making due restitutions or legacies to their mother churches, or to bring about that money legacies, or money owed or perhaps unjustly taken, should come or be bequeathed to themselves or to other individuals of their order, or to their houses, to the detriment of other people. Nor are they to absolve anyone in cases reserved to the apostolic see or to the local ordinaries. They are not to annoy unreasonably ecclesiastical persons who prosecute justice against them, especially before judges delegated by us, nor are they to bring them to court in more than one place, especially if these places are distant. Those who presume to act contrary to this decree are subject for two months to the penalties usually imposed by their rule or statutes on those who commit grave crimes or faults. Dispensation shall not be granted without manifest necessity. Their superiors, besides, unless after these excesses they make full satisfaction within a month to the churches or ecclesiastical persons harmed or offended, after being required to do so, incur automatic suspension until they have made due satisfaction, notwithstanding statutes or privileges of whatever tenor. Of course the religious who have been granted permission by the aposto lic see to administer the sacraments to members of their household or to the poorin their hospices, are not affected by this decree. [32]. With the approval of the sacred council, we grant by this present constitution to an archbishop passing through, or perhaps turning aside, to exempt localities of his diocese to have the cross carried openly before him, to bless the people, to hear the divine offices there privately or publicly, also to celebrate them in pontificals and to have them celebrated in his presence without pontificals, notwithstanding any contrary privilege. In like manner we grant to a bishop that in exempt localities of his diocese he may bless the people, hear the divine offices and celebrate them there, as also have them celebrated in his presence. Under pretext of this concession, however, the archbishop or bishop may exercise no other jurisdiction in the exempt or privileged localities. He is not to annoy the exempt or privileged persons, there should be no cause for complaint and nothing prejudicial to the exemption or privileges of the religious. The archbishop or bishop does not acquire by this decree any other right. [33]. If anyone at the instigation of the devil has committed the sacrilege of wrongfully and rashly striking a bishop, or of seizing or banishing him, or has ordered these things to be done, or approved them when done by others, or been an accomplice, or given advice or shown favour, or knowingly defended the guilty, and has not incurred excommunication by canons already published, he is excommunicated by this our present constitution, notwithstanding any custom to the contrary. Indeed, with the approval of the sacred council, we consider such a custom to be a corruption, and the culprit may be absolved by the supreme pontiff only, except at the moment of death. In addition, he shall lose all fiefs, leases, offices and benefices, whether spiritual or temporal, which he holds from the church over which the offended bishop presides. All these shall revert freely to that church. The offender’s descendants in the male line to the second generation shall be disqualified, without hope of dispensation, from holding ecclesiastical benefices in the city and diocese of the bishop. The offender’s estates also, when within one diocese, shall lie under interdict until he has made due satisfaction. The place where the captured bishop is detained shall likewise be under interdict for as long as he remains detained. If the criminal’s estates include two or more dioceses, then the diocese of his principal domicile and the diocese where the crime was committed, if the land is his, and two other dioceses which belong to his territory and are nearest to the place of the crime, shall he under the same interdict. Since his confusion will increase the more his offence is known, his excommunication will be announced in public, with the ringing of bells and candles burning, until he has made due satisfaction, in all the places where the crime was committed, as also in the churches of the neighbouring cities and dioceses, on all Sundays and feast days. And when he is to receive absolution, let him be well prepared to undergo the punishment imposed and, with the help of God, to perform the penance enjoined on him. The city, moreover, that has committed any of the crimes described above against its bishop, shall be placed under the above-mentioned interdict until it has made satisfaction. The authorities, counsellors, bailiffs, magistrates, advocates, consuls, governors and officials of any description who are at fault in this affair, are likewise subject to excommunication from which they can be absolved only in the manner stated above. All these instructions shall be observed all the more strictly in dealing with those who kill bishops, since they should be punished more severely than the offenders already mentioned and merit greater indignation. Let nobody be surprised that we do not inflict heavier punishment on those who perpetrate the above crimes. Alas! shameful to relate, these crimes are of frequent occurrence, and for the many men of violence an example is needed. The punishment of the offender ought to be in proportion to the dignity of the person wronged. Bishops are called most holy, are Christ’s ambassadors, spiritual fathers, our brothers and fellow bishops, the acknowledged pillars of the church. The punishment, then, ought to be heavy, proportionate to the guilt of one who violates the dignity of such an eminent person. However, we wish to mitigate the severity of the punishment for the present, being prepared to impose other penalties if we see that the offenders’ insolence demands such action. If of course anyone involved in the above cases has been absolved at the moment of death from excommunication, he shall incur automatically the same sentence if after recovery he does not, as soon as conveniently possible, present himself before the Roman pontiff in order to receive humbly his commands, as justice shall advise. Although this has been fully enough provided for elsewhere in the law, we thought it well to make this addition, lest someone from ignorance of the law should busy himself to find excuses. [34]. Many serious complaints have reached us that some who hold temporal power do not hesitate to capture ecclesiastics frequently and detain them with sacrilegious audacity until they resign their benefices, nor to prevent those summoned to the apostolic see by someone or by law from going there, for the most part seizing them as they depart. In view of the great offence to our honour and that of the apostolic see, as also to the peace and welfare of ecclesiastical persons, not to speak of the damnable scandal, we, with the approval of the sacred council, decree that, in addition to the penalty attached by the canon to such deeds, those who bring them about, if prelates, are suspended for three years from receiving the revenues of their churches. If they are lower clergy, they are automatically deprived of their benefices. Those who have brought about their own capture by the secular power -- this, we have heard, sometimes occurs -- as a pretext for not obeying a summons to the apostolic see, are to incur the same penalty. Resignations of benefices extorted in the above manner, although accepted and ratified by the prelates of those who resign, have no validity whatever. We enjoin on local ordinaries that, after learning that subjects of theirs have incurred these penalties, they do not delay in publishing them and, as far as it concerns them, they put the penalties into execution. [35]. Desiring to restrain those whom the rewards of virtue do not induce to observe the law, by the addition of new penalties and by fear of those to be added, we decree that transgressors of the constitution which forbids mendicant religious to acquire houses or places of any kind, or to exchange those already acquired or transfer them to others under any title of alienation, are automatically subject to excommunication. The same sentence of excommunication is incurred by those religious who presume in their sermons or otherwise to restrain their hearers from due payment of tithes to churches. And since it is not enough to abstain from evil unless good is done, we enjoin on all religious, invoking the divine judgment and under threat of eternal malediction, that whenever they preach to the people on the first, fourth and last Sundays of Lent, and on the feasts of the Ascension of the Lord, Pentecost, the Birthday of blessed John the Baptist, the Assumption and the Birthday of the most blessed virgin Mary, the mother of God, they take care to exhort their hearers expressly, if required by the rectors or vicars of the churches or those taking their place, and also to inform the consciences of their penitents in confession, that they have the obligation to pay tithes. If the religious knowingly evade this duty in their sermons on the above-mentioned days, they are to receive a severe rebuke from their superiors. We also strictly command the superiors, in virtue of holy obedience, to enact laws in accordance with which they may so severely punish transgressors that their punishment may be an example for others. The constitution of our predecessor of happy memory pope Gregory IX, dealing with this matter, is to remain in full force. Those who knowingly have neglected to inform the consciences of penitents with regard to payment of these tithes, are automatically to remain suspended from preaching until they inform the consciences of their penitents, if they can conveniently do this. They are to incur automatic excommunication if they presume to preach without atoning for their neglect as above. We do not however wish this to apply to the religious of monasteries, or the rectors of churches, who are in receipt of tithes. Rash violators of the constitution which forbids religious and secular clerics to induce anyone to vow, swear, pledge or otherwise promise that they will choose a burial place beside their churches or, having made this choice, that they will not alter it, incur automatically the same sentence of excommunication (the penalty in the said constitution is to remain in force); they are not to be absolved except by the apostolic see, except at the moment of death, notwithstanding any privileges or statutes of whatever tenor. [36]. Grave complaint has been made to us by prelates that certain nobles and temporal lords, when their territory has been laid under ecclesiastical interdict, have masses and other divine offices celebrated publicly and solemnly not only in the chapels of their houses, but also in collegiate churches and other churches of prominent places. They invite and, what is worse, sometimes compel now these, now those, to celebrate the offices. Not content with these excesses, they have people summoned, even those under interdict, by the ringing of bells and by the public crier, to hear these masses. Some of the lords and nobles are not afraid to order people, for the most part their own subjects, although they are publicly under excommunication and interdict, not to leave the churches while mass is being celebrated, even though the celebrants urge their departure. It therefore happens frequently that mass is left unfinished to the offence of God and the scandal of clergy and people. In order, then, that excesses so grave may not be imitated because the transgressors are left unpunished, we excommunicate, with the approval of the sacred council, all those who shall presume to compel anyone in any way in places under interdict to celebrate the divine offices, or to summon people in the above way to hear them, especially those under excommunication or interdict. The same penalty is imposed on those who forbid persons publicly excommunicated or under interdict to leave the church during mass when warned to do so by the celebrant, also on those publicly excommunicated and those under interdict who presume to remain in church when named by the celebrant and warned that they must leave. The excommunications can be remitted only by the apostolic see. [37]. The friars Minor receive into their churches to hear the divine offices in time of interdict brothers and sisters of the third order, instituted by blessed Francis; they are called continent or of penance. Since this practice generates scandal in the minds of others who are excluded, thus debasing ecclesiastical censure and weakening the force of an interdict, we strictly forbid the friars Minor to admit henceforth in any way to their churches for the divine offices in time of interdict any of the above-mentioned persons, even if they or the friars have privileges of any kind in this matter; we in no way favour such privileges. If the friars infringe this decree, they lie under automatic excommunication, from which they can only be absolved by the Roman pontiff or, if they have made satisfaction, by the local bishops, whom we wish to act in this matter by our authority. [38]. I came out of paradise, I said: I will water my garden of plants. Thus speaks the heavenly cultivator, who is truly the source of wisdom, God’s Word, begotten by the Father from eternity, yet remaining in the Father. In these last days, made flesh in the womb of a virgin by the operation of the holy Spirit, he went forth to the arduous work of redeeming the human race, giving himself to humanity as the model of a heavenly life. But because so often people, overcome by the anxieties of this mortal life, turned their mental gaze away from such a model, our true Solomon has made in the realm of the church militant, among other gardens, a garden of delight, far from the stormy waves of the world, in which people might devote themselves with greater peace and security to contemplating and imitating the works of the exemplar, and he himself entered this world that he might refresh it with the fertile waters of his spiritual grace and teaching. This garden is the holy religion of the friars Minor which, enclosed within the firm walls of regular observance, is content with God alone and is constantly enriched with fresh shoots, her sons. Entering this garden, the beloved Son of God gathers the myrrh and spices of mortification and penance which by their marvellous fragrance diffuse to everyone the perfume of an attractive sanctity. This is that form and rule of the heavenly life sketched by that eminent confessor of Christ, saint Francis, who taught his sons its observance by both word and example. The observers of that holy rule, men of zeal and devotion, as both pupils and true sons of so great a father, aspired and still ardently aspire to observe that rule faithfully in all its purity and fullness. They perceived certain particulars of which the interpretation was doubtful, and they prudently had recourse to the apostolic see for clarification. Receiving assurance from that see, to which their very rule proclaims allegiance, they were able to serve the Lord, free from all doubt, in the fullness of charity. Several Roman pontiffs, our predecessors, rightfully heeded their pious and just requests; they defined doubtful points, promulgating certain interpretations and making some concessions, as they thought good for the consciences of the friars and the purity of religious observance. But because there are devout consciences which very often fear sin where it does not exist, and dread any turning in the way of God, the previous clarifications have not fully quietened the consciences of all the friars. There are still some points belonging to their rule and state of life where doubts arise, as many have often told us in public and private consistories. For this reason the friars themselves have humbly entreated us to clarify opportunely the doubts which have arisen and those which may arise in the future, thus applying a remedy by the kindness of the apostolic see. We have from a tender age had a warm devotion to those who profess this rule and to the whole order. Now that, though unworthy, we bear the office of universal pastor, we are the more roused to cherish them and to honour them more kindly and attentively, the more often we consider and reflect on the plentiful harvest reaped continually from their exemplary lives and wholesome teaching for the good of the universal church. Moved by the pious intentions of the petitioners, we have directed our efforts to carry out diligently what they ask. We have had a careful examination made of these doubts by several archbishops, bishops, masters in theology and other learned, prudent and discreet men. At the beginning of the rule it is said: “The rule and life of the friars Minor is this, to observe the gospel of our lord Jesus Christ, by living in obedience without property and in chastity”2. Also, further down: “Having completed a year of probation, let them be received to obedience, promising always to observe this life and rule”3. Also, towards the end of the rule: “Let us observe poverty, humility and the gospel of our lord Jesus Christ, which we have firmly promised”4. There was uncertainty whether the friars of the order were obliged to all the precepts and counsels of the gospel by profession of their rule. Some said they were obliged to all. Others, however, asserted that they were obliged to three only, namely “to live in obedience, in chastity and without property”, and to what was stated as obligatory in the rule. With regard to this article we follow in the footsteps of our predecessors and, giving this article further clarification, we answer the doubt as follows. Since every determinate vow must have a defined object, he who vows to follow the rule cannot be considered obliged by his vow to those evangelical counsels which are not mentioned in the rule. And indeed this is shown to have been the intention of blessed Francis the founder, from the fact that he laid down certain counsels in the rule but omitted others. For if by those words, “The rule and life of the friars Minor is this” etc. he had intended to oblige them to all the evangelical counsels, it would have been superfluous and futile to include some of them and not others. However, since the nature of a restrictive term demands the exclusion of everything foreign to it but includes everything belonging to it, we declare that the friars are bound by the profession of their rule not only to those three vows simply and solely, but also to everything related to them expressed in the rule itself. For if the friars were obliged to observe the three vows precisely and no more, in their promise to observe the rule by living in “obedience, chastity and without property”, and not also to observe everything contained in the rule that is relevant to those vows, then the words “I promise to observe always this rule” would be useless, as implying no obligation. We must not think, however, that blessed Francis intended to impose on those who profess this rule the same obligation regarding everything in the rule relating to the three vows, or anything else contained in the rule. Rather, he made a clear distinction: in some matters his words imply that transgression is a mortal sin, in others not, since he applies to some the word “precept” or its equivalent, while elsewhere he is content to use other expressions. Besides those things laid down in the rule expressly in words of precept or exhortation or admonition, there are some things in the imperative mood in either a negative or an affirmative form. Concerning these, there has been up to now some doubt as to whether they are of precept. This doubt is not made less but rather increased by the declaration of our predecessor pope Nicholas III’ of happy memory, that the friars are obliged by rule to those evangelical counsels which the rule expresses in form of precept or prohibition or equivalent words and, in addition, to the observance of everything that the rule imposes in words of obligation. The friars therefore begged that we would, for their peace of conscience, graciously define which of these matters should be considered equivalent to precepts and obligatory. We therefore, delighted by their sincerity of conscience, observing that in matters affecting salvation the safer path is to be taken in order to avoid grave remorse of conscience, say that, although the friars are not obliged to observe everything expressed by the rule in the imperative mood in the way that they are obliged to observe matters which are explicitly or equivalently of precept, it is right for them, if they are to observe the rule strictly in its purity, to acknowledge that they are bound to observe in this way the injunctions noted below. In order to summarise these things which appear equivalent to precepts, in virtue of the words or at least of the subject-matter, or of both, we declare the following to be of obligation for the friars, as expressed in the rule: not having more tunics than one “with a hood, and one without a hood”2, not wearing shoes, and not riding a horse except in case of necessity; that the friars “wear cheap clothes”5; that they fast “from the feast of all saints to Christmas”6 and on Fridays; that “clerics recite the divine office according to the rite of the holy Roman church”7; that ministers and guardians take great care “of the needs of the sick and of the friars’ clothing”8, that, “if a friar falls ill, the other friars are to wait on him”9; that “the friars are not to preach in the diocese of a bishop when he has forbidden them this”; that “nobody ventures at all to preach to the people unless he has been examined, approved and appointed for this by the minister general” or by others having authority according to the aforesaid declaration; that “friars who know that they cannot observe the rule in detail, may and should have recourse to their ministers”3; and everything laid down in the rule regarding the form of the habit of both novices and professed friars, the manner of reception, and profession, except for the habit of novices with regard to those admitting them (here the rule which says “according to God it may seem otherwise”4 may be followed). The order generally has judged, holds and has held from of old that wherever in the rule there occurs the words “they shall be bound”, there is a precept and the friars ought to act as bound by precept. The confessor of Christ, when prescribing the practice of the friars and their ministers in relation to the reception of those entering the order, said in the rule: “The friars and their ministers shall take care not to be solicitous about their temporal goods, but leave them free to do with them whatever the Lord inspires them to do; the ministers may have leave, however, to send them to some God-fearing men, if counsel be needed, who may advise them how to give their goods to the poor”5. Many of the friars were uncertain, and still are, whether they may receive anything from those who enter, if it is given; whether they may without fault persuade them to give to individuals and friaries; and whether the ministers themselves or the friars ought to give advice concerning the disposal of property, when there are other suitable advisers to whom the entrants can be sent. We observe attentively that saint Francis intended to banish from his disciples, whose rule he had based on a very strict poverty, all affection for the temporal goods of those entering the order, especially in using the above words in order that, on the part of the friars, reception into the order might appear holy and pure. They should be seen to have no eye to their temporal goods, but only to deliver the novices up to the divine service. We say that both ministers and friars ought to abstain from persuasion to give them the property, and also from advice as to its distribution. They should send those who seek counsel to God-fearing men of another state, not to friars. In this way all will see them truly as zealous and perfect observers of their father’s sound tradition. Since however the rule itself wishes those entering to be free to do as the Lord inspires concerning their property, it does not seem unlawful for the friars to receive something, in view of their needs and in accordance with the aforesaid declaration, if the entrant freely wishes to give it, as he would to other poor people by way of alms. The friars however do well to take care, in accepting such offerings, that they do not create an unfavourable impression by the amount they receive. The rule says that “those who have promised obedience should have one tunic with a hood, and another without a hood, those who wish to have it”; also, that “all the friars should wear cheap clothes”’ . We have declared that the said words are equivalent to precepts. In order to express this more clearly, however, we say that it is not lawful to have more tunics, except when this is necessary in accordance with the rule, as our said predecessor has more fully explained. As for the poverty of the clothes, both of the habit and of the inner clothing, it is to be judged in relation to the customs and observances of the country, as to the colour of the cloth and the price. There cannot be one standard for every region. We think that this poverty in dress should be entrusted to the judgment of the ministers and guardians; they must form their own consciences, but see to it that poverty in dress is maintained. In the same way we leave it to the judgment of the ministers and guardians as to when the friars have need to wear shoes. The rule refers to two periods: “from the feast of all saints until Christmas”, and especially in Lent, when the friars are obliged to fast. We find inserted in the rule: “at other times they are not obliged to fast, with the exception of Fridays”3. From these statements some have concluded that the friars are not obliged to observe any other fasts except from propriety. We declare that they are not obliged to fast at other times except at the times established by the church. For it is not probable that either he who instituted the rule or he who confirmed it intended to dispense the friars from observing the fasting days to which the general law of the church obliges other Christians. When St Francis, wishing his friars to be completely detached from money, commanded “firmly all the friars not to accept money in any manner, either directly or through some other person”4, this same predecessor of ours, in his interpretation, defined the cases and the ways in which the friars cannot and ought not to be called receivers of money against the rule and sincerity of their order. We declare that the friars must take the greatest care that they have no recourse to those who give money or their agents in ways other than those defined by our said predecessor, lest they deservedly be called transgressors of the precept and rule. For when there is a general prohibition, anything not expressly granted is understood to be refused. For this reason, all collection of money and acceptance of offerings in church or elsewhere, boxes for storing offerings or gifts of money, and any other recourse to money or those who have it which is not allowed by the said declaration, is, we say, completely and absolutely forbidden. Recourse to special friends is expressly allowed in only two cases, according to the rule. These are “the needs of the sick and the clothing of the friars”’. Our said predecessor kindly and wisely extended this permission, in view of their needy life, to other wants of the friars which can occur or even be pressing when there are no alms. The friars however are to observe that for no other reasons except the above or those of a similar kind, may they have recourse to such friends, either on the road or elsewhere, whether their friends themselves give the money or their representatives, messengers or trustees, whatever name they are given, even if the ways granted by the above declaration are entirely observed. The confessor of Christ wished above all that those who professed his rule should be completely detached from love and desire of earthly things, and in particular from money and its use, as is proved by his constantly repeating in the rule the prohibition of accepting money. When, therefore, the friars need, for the reasons mentioned above, to have recourse to those who have money, destined for their needs, whether they are their principal benefactors or their envoys, these friars should so behave in the eyes of all as to show that they are completely unconcerned as regards money, as indeed it does not belong to them. Therefore such actions as to order that the money be spent and in what way, to exact an account, to ask for the return of the money in any way, to put it away or have it put away, and to carry a money-box or its key, are unlawful for the friars. These actions belong properly to the owners who gave the money and to their agents. When the saint expressed the manner of the friars’ poverty in the rule, he said: “The friars should make nothing their own, neither house nor land nor anything, but go confidently to seek alms as pilgrims and strangers serving the Lord in poverty and humility”2. This is also the renunciation defined by certain of our predecessors as Roman pontiffs, to be understood both specifically and in general. These pontiffs have therefore accepted for themselves and for the Roman church the absolute ownership of everything granted, offered or given to the friars, leaving them simply the right of use. Yet we have been asked to examine certain practices that are said to go on in the order and seem repugnant to the vow of poverty and the sincerity of the order. The following are the practices which we believe are in need of remedy. The friars not only allow themselves to inherit, but even bring this about. They sometimes accept annual revenues so high that the friaries concerned can live completely on them. When their affairs, even of a temporal kind, are debated in the courts, they assist the advocates and procurators; in order to encourage them, they present themselves in person. They accept the office of executor of wills and carry it out. They sometimes meddle with settlements involving usury or unjust acquisition and the restitution to be made. Sometimes they have not only extensive gardens but also large vineyards, from which they collect great quantities of vegetables and wine to sell. At the time of harvest they collect so much corn and wine by begging or buying, storing them in their cellars and granaries, that they can live off them without begging for the rest of the year. They build churches or other edifices, or have them built, of such size, style and costliness that they seem to be the abodes of the wealthy not of the poor. The friars in very many places have so many church ornaments and so obviously precious ones as to surpass in this the great cathedrals. They also accept indiscriminately horses and arms offered to them at funerals. Yet the community of friars, and in particular the rulers of the order, asserted that the above abuses, or most of them, did not exist in the order and any friars found guilty in such matters are punished rigorously. Moreover, very strict laws were passed long ago in the order to prevent such abuses. Wishing, therefore, to provide for the consciences of the friars and to remove, as far as we can, all doubt from their hearts, we give the following replies. For a way of life to be authentic, outward actions must correspond to the interior attitude of mind. The friars, therefore, who have torn themselves away from temporal possessions by so great a renunciation, must abstain from all that is or may seem to be contrary to that renunciation. Now, heirs acquire not only use of their inheritance but, in time, ownership also, and the friars cannot acquire anything for themselves in particular or for their order in general. We therefore declare that the absoluteness of their vow renders the friars altogether incapable of such inheritance, which of its nature extends both to money and to other movable and immovable goods. Nor may they allow themselves to be left or accept as a legacy the value of such inheritance, or a great part of it, so that it could be presumed that this was done by deceit; indeed, we absolutely forbid this. Since annual revenues are considered by law as immovable goods, and are contrary to poverty and mendicancy, there is no doubt that the friars may not accept or have revenues of any kind, given their state of life, just as they may not have possessions or even their use, since this use is not granted to them. Further, not only what is known to be evil, but also everything which has the appearance of evil, should be specially avoided by perfect men. Now, to be present in court and urge their case, when the law is concerned with matters of advantage to them, leads people to believe from external appearances that the friars present are seeking something as their own. In no way, therefore, ought the friars who profess this rule and vow, to meddle in legal processes in such courts. By abstention they will be thought well of by outsiders, and they will live up to the purity of their vow and avoid scandal to their neighbour. Indeed, the friars are to be complete strangers not only to the acceptance, possession, ownership or use of money, but even to any handling of it, as our said predecessor has repeatedly and clearly said in his interpretation of the rule. Also, the members of this order cannot go to law for any temporal thing. The friars may therefore not lend themselves to such legal processes, but rather consider them forbidden by the purity of their state, because these activities cannot be concluded without litigation and the management or administration of money. Nevertheless they do not act in a manner contrary to their state if they give advice for the execution of these affairs, since this advice does not confer upon them any jurisdiction or legal authority or administration with regard to temporal goods. Certainly it is not only lawful but very reasonable that the friars who devote themselves to the spiritual works of prayer and study should have gardens and open spaces for recollection and recreation, and sometimes in order to provide a bodily distraction after their spiritual labours, as also to cultivate vegetables for their needs. To keep gardens, however, in order to cultivate vegetables and other garden produce for sale, and vines likewise, is inconsistent with the rule and purity of their order. Our said predecessor has declared and also ordained that if, for this kind of use, someone were to leave a field or a vineyard or something of this nature to the friars, they should refrain absolutely from accepting it, since to have such things in order to receive the price of the produce in season is similar to having an income. Again, saint Francis has shown, both by the example of his life and by the words of his rule, that he wishes his brothers and sons, relying on divine providence, to cast their burden on the Lord, who feeds the birds of the air, which neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns. It is not likely, then, that he would have wished them to have granaries or wine-cellars, when they hope to live by daily begging. And for that reason they should not lay by provisions from some slight fear, but only when it is very probable from experience that they will not otherwise find the necessities of life. We therefore consider that the decision should be left to the consciences of the ministers and guardians, both as a body and separately in their offices and guardianships, acting with the advice and consent of the guardian and two discreet older priests from a house of the order in the area. The saint wished to establish his friars in the greatest poverty and humility, both in inclination and in fact, as practically the whole rule proclaims. It is only right, then, that they should in no way build, or allow to be built, churches or edifices of any kind which, in relation to the numbers of friars living there, might be considered excessive in number or in size. We therefore wish that, everywhere in the order, the friars should be satisfied with buildings which are modest and humble, lest outward appearances, which strike the eye, should contradict the great poverty promised by the heart. Although church ornaments and vessels are ordained to the honour of God’s name, for which purpose God created everything, yet he who discerns what is secret looks chiefly at the heart of those who serve him, not at their hands. He does not wish to be served through things which jar with the professed life-style of his servants. The friars should therefore be content with vessels and church ornaments which are seemly in appearance and sufficient in size and number. Excess, costliness or over-elaboration in these or in anything else does not become the friars’ profession or state of life. Everything which smacks of treasure and abundance detracts, in the eyes of people, from the profession of such great poverty. We therefore wish and command the friars to observe what we have said. As for the presents of horses and arms, we decree that everywhere and in everything the aforesaid declaration concerning alms of money be observed. From the above matters, however, there has arisen among the friars an uneasy question, namely, whether their rule obliges them to a strict and meagre use of things. Some of the friars believe and say that, just as they are vowed to a very strict renunciation of ownership, they are also enjoined the greatest restraint in the use of things. Other friars on the contrary assert that by their profession they are not obliged to any restrained use that is not expressed in the rule; they are however obliged to a temperate use, in the same way as other Christians and even more fittingly. Wishing, then, to give peace to the friars’ consciences and to put an end to these disputes, we declare that the friars Minor in professing their rule are obliged specially to the strict and restrained use expressed in the rule. To say, however, as some are said to assert, that it is heretical to hold that a restricted use of things is or is not included in the vow of evangelical poverty, this we judge to be presumptuous and rash. Finally, when the rule states by whom and where the minister general should be elected, it makes no mention at all of the election or appointment of provincial ministers. There can arise some uncertainty among the friars on this point. We wish them to be able to go forward with clarity and security in all they do. We therefore declare, decree and ordain in this constitution of perpetual validity, that when a province is to be provided with a minister, his election belongs to the provincial chapter. It shall hold the election the day after assembling. The confirmation of the election belongs to the minister general. If this election is made by ballot, and the votes are divided in such a way that several ballots are made without agreement, then the choice made by the numerical majority of the chapter (leaving aside considerations of zeal or merit), notwithstanding objections of any kind from the other side, is to be confirmed or invalidated by the minister general. Having first given careful consideration to the matter, in accordance with his office, he shall take counsel with discreet members of the order, so that a decision is made which is pleasing to God. If the minister general invalidates the election, the provincial chapter shall vote again. If the chapter does not elect its minister on the day mentioned, the minister general shall freely provide a provincial minister. There are, however, certain provinces -- Ireland, Greece and Rome -- which are said to have had until now, for just reasons, another way of providing the provincial minister. In these cases, if the minister general and the general chapter judge, with good reason, that the provincial minister should be appointed by the minister general, with the advice of good religious of the order, rather than by the election of the provincial chapter, this shall be done without dispute for the provinces of Ireland, Rome and Greece when the previous provincial minister dies or is relieved of office on this side of the sea; there shall be no deceit, partiality or fraud, the burden resting on the consciences of those who decide the appointment. As for the dismissal of provincial ministers, we wish the order to retain the procedure which has been customary up to now. For the rest, if the friars are without a minister general, his duties shall be carried out by the vicar of the order until there is a new minister general. Further, if there be any attempted violation of this decree concerning the provincial minister, such action shall be automatically null and void. ENDNOTES 1. 16 May 1312, from Regestum 7952 2. The introductory address given in Regestum 9983 is omitted here because many other introductory addresses are known of (see Regestum VIII, pp. 416-420). Regestum gives two versions of the letter. The one used here as the base text (Regestum 9983) is addressed to each and all of the bishops. The other is addressed to king Philip of France (= P), see Regestum 8986 (19 Dec. 1312). 3. P adds: Indeed our beloved son in Christ, Philip the illustrious king of the Franks, who together with our beloved son in Christ, Louis the illustrious king of Navarre, was present at the council, showed himself to be the most christian of princes. He had the cause of the holy Land very much at heart. He burned with zeal of faith and devotion to rescue the holy Land from the hands of the impious and to right the wrongs there of him who underwent disgrace and shame for the sake of our redemption. He so directed and still directs the desires of his heart, that he undertook in the council the business of the general crusade ordained by us intending therefore to take for a certain time the sign of the life-giving cross, with the deliberate purpose of sailing personally with his forces to the aid of the holy Land. 4. But actually we . . . holy gospels of God”] And at last, commending in the Lord this purpose of the king, so acceptable to God, we thought it fitting and most proper that we and the church ought to assist such a glorious prince in proceeding with this great enterprise. We observed especially that because the cities and other places once held by the faithful had been laid waste by the wild rage of the enemy, there was no place left to admit the champions of the faith. The enterprise would be more costly than formerly when some of the king’s ancestors and other christian princes had sailed to the aid of the holy Land; then the cities and places were prosperous and could produce and admit catholic warriors. We therefore judged that the tithe for six years, namely that on the ecclesiastical revenues and incomes of France, which used to be paid in times past in that kingdom, should be granted to the king to help him in his enterprise, so that he might use it for the aid of the holy Land. We therefore ask, admonish and exhort earnestly all our venerable brothers, the archbishops and bishops, our beloved chosen sons, the abbots, priors, deans, provosts, archdeacons, archpriests and other prelates of churches, the chapters, colleges and convents of the Cistercians, Cluniacs, Premonstratensians, of saints Benedict and Augustine, of the Carthusians, Grandmontines and other orders, and other secular and regular ecclesiastical persons, exempt and non-exempt, in the kingdom of France, with the exception only of the persons and places belonging to the Hospital of saint John of Jerusalem and of the other military orders, by our other letters, and also enjoining on them strictly by apostolic ordinance and in virtue of obedience, to pay the tithe, each and all of them, out of reverence for God, the apostolic see and us, for six years, which we wish to be reckoned from the next feast of blessed Mary Magdalen. We enjoin further on each archbishop and bishop to claim and collect from each and all of the abbots, priors, deans, provosts, archdeacons, archpriests and other prelates of churches, the chapters, colleges and convents, and other non-exempt secular and regular ecclesiastical persons, in their cities and dioceses, except for the persons and places of the Hospital of saint John of Jerusalem and of the other military orders. The collection is to be made directly or through other persons appointed by them in each city and diocese, from the ecclesiastical revenues and incomes, in the usual manner for the periods stated below, namely for half of the first year on the next feast of blessed Mary Magdalen and for the remaining half on the coming feast of the purification of the blessed virgin Mary, and so on for the remaining five years. The tithe should be collected without difficulties being made and by our authority. We empower and command, by our aforesaid letters, the persons delegated by the archbishops and bishops to make this collection, to claim and collect this tithe by our authority from the abbots, priors, deans, provosts, archdeacons, archpriests and other prelates of churches, the chapters, colleges and convents, and other exempt secular and regular ecclesiastical persons, with the exception of the persons and places of the Hospital of saint John of Jerusalem and the other military orders. The tithe is to be collected for the years and periods mentioned above. The archbishops and bishops, as also their delegates, are to take care to transfer to you, our deputies, their own tithe and that of others as collected by themselves or their delegates for each of the six years. You are to assign the collection to the king of France or his delegate or delegates for the purpose of the crusade. In order that you may more easily and effectively collect and assign this tithe, we grant you by the present document free and unrestricted power, in virtue of our authority, to compel the archbishops and bishops and their delegates, disregarding any appeal, to the fulfilment and collection of this tithe and its assignation, as prescribed. We also grant you the same full power in imparting absolution to those archbishops and bishops bound by sentences of excommunication, suspension or interdict for not paying the tithe in due time, after they have made satisfaction, and of dispensing with those bound by such sentences who have contracted irregularity by celebrating or taking part in divine worship. 5. 31 December; from Regestum 9984 6. 13 January 1313; from Regestum 8973 COUNCIL OF CONSTANCE 1414-18 FIRST INTRODUCTION [This is the introduction given by Tanner in Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils] This council was summoned by John XXIII, the Pisan pope [1] , with the support of Emperor Sigismund. It began on 5 November 1414 in the cathedral of Constance, with many bishops from all parts of Europe. Business in the council was transacted in a way that was largely new for an ecumenical council, namely votes were cast not by Individual persons but by nations. The council, from the very beginning, proposed the following three topics: 1. To bring unity back to the church and to make an end to the schism which had divided the church since 1378 and which the council held at Pisa in 1409 had not healed but rather aggravated when it elected Alexander V as a third pope. When the council of Constance opened, Christians owed obedience to three different popes: some owed obedience to Gregory XII of the Roman party others to Benedict XIII of the Avignon party, and others to John XXIII, who had been elected after the death of Alexander V. John XXIII and Benedict XIII were deposed by the council, Gregory XII voluntarily resigned. Then Martin V was elected pope on 11 November 1417 and he was regarded as the legitimate pontiff by the church as a whole. 2. To eradicate heresies, especially those spread by John Wyclif in Britain and by John Hus and Jerome of Prague in Bohemia. 3. To reform the corrupt morals of the church. This, however, was only partly accomplished in the final sessions of the council. With regard to the ecumenical nature of the sessions, there is dispute about those before the election of Martin V and also about the significance and force of the approval which he gave to the matters transacted by the council. The decrees notably those of sessions 3-5 and the decree Frequens (session 39), appear to proceed from the council’s teaching. Objection has been made to them on the grounds of the primacy of the Roman pontiff. There is no doubt, however, that in enacting these decrees there was solicitude and care to choose the true and sure way ahead in order to heal the schism, and this could only be done by the authority of a council. The acts of the council of Constance were first published by Jerome of Croaria at Hagenau in 1500 (Acta scitu dignissima docteque concinnata Constantiensis concilii celebratissimi = Asd), from the epitome of the acts which the council of Basel had ordered to be compiled and publicly accepted in 1442. This edition of the Basel epitome was followed by all general collections of the councils (including Editio Romana, IV 127-300, even though it ignores the council of Basel). These collections, down to Mansi (27, 529-1240), added various appendices. H. von der Hardt, in his great collection of the sources of the council of Constance, made an edition of the acts and decrees of the council according to the earliest trustworthy documents (Magnum oecumenicum Constantiense concilium, in six tomes, Frankfurt-Leipzig 1696-1700; tome IV, Corpus actorum et decretorum magni Constantiensis concilii de Ecclesiae refor matione, unione ac fide = Hardt). We have followed von der Hardt’s edition throughout and have noted only the principle variants provided by Asd. We indicate only, and do not print, the decrees pertaining to the internal administration of the council and of the church and to judicial acts. SECOND INTRODUCTION I have given the conventional session numbers for “the” Council of Constance so as to make cross referencing with other editions easier. However it is very misleading to do so. One should not speak of “the” Council of Constance, but of the councils of Constance. There was a council of bishops [and others] beginning 16 November 1414 which styled itself ecumenical, but which the true pope of the day did not recognize as such. There was another council [even if its members were those of the first] which he convoked, by proxy, on 4 July 1415 and did recognized as ecumenical. The ratification of “the” council by Martin the fifth, given in a footnote to session 45, was a ratification of everything determined “in a conciliar way ... by this present council of Constance”, i.e. of the one convoked on 4 July 1415. The intent of the words “in a conciliar way” is, one my reading, to distinguish the true [ecumenical] council from the false one. The matter is crucial to the possibility of the catholic doctrine of the infallibility of ecumenical councils, since the teachings of Vatican 1 on papal primacy are inconsistent with those of the first [non-ecumenical] Council of Constance [in particular the famous session 5, Haec Sancta, which taught conciliarism] , but not with those of the second [ecumenical] one Crucial to my claim is the question of who the true pope was and when a genuinely ecumenical council came into existence. I shall quote from Phillip Hughes (the footnotes here included are from Hughes’ text) : “Just five weeks after Baldassare Cossa so meekly accepted the council’s sentence, the fathers met to receive the solemn abdication of Gregory XII. He was in fact, and to the end he claimed to be in law, the canonically elected representative of the line that went back to Urban VI, the last pope to be acknowledged as pope by Catholics everywhere [2] . The abdication was arranged and executed with a care to safeguard all that Gregory claimed to be; and this merits - and indeed, requires - much more detailed consideration than it usually receives. [3] Gregory XII sent to Constance as his representatives his protector Carlo Malatesta, the Lord of Rimini, and the Dominican cardinal, John Domenici -- to Constance indeed, but not to the General Council assembled there by the authority, and in the name, of John XXIII. The envoys’ commission was to the emperor Sigismund, presiding over the various bishops and prelates whom his zeal to restore peace to the Church had brought together. To these envoys -- and to Malatesta in the first place-Gregory gave authority to convoke as a General Council -- to convoke and not to recognise -- these assembled bishops and prelates ; [4] and by a second bull [5] he empowered Malatesta to resign to this General Council in his name. The emperor, the bishops and prelates consented and accepted the role Gregory assigned. And so, on July 4, 1415. Sigismund, clad in the royal robes, left the throne he had occupied in the previous sessions for a throne placed before the altar, as for the president of the assembly. Gregory’s two legates sat by his side facing the bishops. The bull was read commissioning Malatesta and Domenici to convoke the council and to authorise whatever it should do for the restoration of unity and the extirpation of the schism -- with Gregory’s explicit condition that there should be no mention of Baldassare Cossa, [6] with his reminder that from his very election he had pledged himself to resign if by so doing he could truly advance the good work of unity, and his assertion that the papal dignity is truly his as the canonically elected successor of Urban VI. Malatesta then delegated his fellow envoy, the cardinal John Domenici, to pronounce the formal operative words of convocation [7] ; and the assembly -- but in its own way -- accepted to be thus convoked, authorised and confirmed in the name “of that lord who in his own obedience is called Gregory XII” [8] . The council next declared that all canonical censures imposed by reason of the schism were lifted, and the bull was read by which Gregory authorised Malatesta to make the act of abdication [9] and promised to consider as ratum gratum et firmum, and forever irrevocable, whatever Malatesta, as his proxy, should perform. The envoy asked the council whether they would prefer the resignation immediately, or that it should be delayed until Peter de Luna’s decision was known. The council preferred the present moment. It ratified all Gregory XII’s acts, received his cardinals as cardinals, promised that his officers should keep their posts and declared that if Gregory was barred from re-election as pope, this was only for the peace of the Church, and not from any personal unworthiness. Then the great renunciation was made [10] , “ . . . renuncio et cedo . . . et resigno . . . in hac sacrosancta synodo et universali concilio, sanctam Romanam et universalem eccleciam repraesentante”and the council accepted it [11] , but again as made “on the part of that lord who in his own obedience was called Gregory XII”. The Te Deum was sung and a new summons drawn up calling upon Peter de Luna to yield to the council’s authority. The work of Pisa was now almost undone, and by this council which, in origin, was a continuation of Pisa. It had suppressed the Pisan pope whom Pisa, with biting words, had rejected as a schismatic and no pope.” Phillip Hughes A History of the Church, p289-291 SESSION 1: 16 November 1414 [ON THE MATTERS TO BE TREATED IN THE COUNCIL, IN WHICH ORDER AND BY WHICH OFFICIALS [12]] John, bishop, servant of the servants of God, for future record. Wishing to carry out those things which were decreed at the council of Pisa [13] by our predecessor of happy memory, pope [14] Alexander V, regarding the summoning of a new general council, we earlier convoked this present council by letters of ours, the contents of which we have ordered to be inserted here: John, bishop ... [15] We have therefore come together with our venerable brothers, cardinals of the holy Roman church, and our court to this city of Constance at the appointed time. Being present here by the grace of God, we now wish, with the advice of this sacred synod, to attend to the peace, exaltation and reform of the church and to the quiet of the christian people. In such an arduous matter it is not right to rely on one’s own strength, but rather trust should be placed in the help of God. Therefore, in order to begin with divine worship, we decreed, with the approval of this sacred council, that a special mass for this purpose should be said today. This mass has now been duly celebrated, by the grace of God. We now decree that such a mass shall be celebrated collegially in this and every other collegiate church of this city whether secular or regular, once a week, namely each Friday, for the duration of this sacred council. Moreover, in order that the faithful may devote themselves to this holy celebration most fervently, whereby they will feel themselves refreshed by a more abundant gift of grace, we relax, mercifully in the Lord, the following amounts of enjoined penance to each and every one of them who is truly penitent and has confessed: for each mass, one year to the celebrating priest and forty days to those present at it. Furthermore, we exhort our venerable brothers, cardinals of the holy Roman church, as well as patriarchs, archbishops and bishops, and our beloved chosen sons, abbots and others in the priesthood, devoutly to celebrate this mass once every week, in order that the aforesaid divine aid may be implored; and we grant the same indulgences to the celebrant and to those present at the mass. We exhort in the Lord, moreover, each and all who glory in the name of Christ, in order that the desired outcome to so great a matter may be obtained, to give themselves diligently to prayer, fasting, almsgiving and other pious works, so that God may be placated by our and their humility, and so deign to grant a happy outcome to this sacred gathering. Considering, moreover, that a council should specially treat of those matters which concern the catholic faith, according to the praiseworthy practices of the early councils, and aware that such things demand diligence, sufficient time and study, on account of their difficulty, we therefore exhort all those who are well versed in the sacred scriptures to ponder and to treat, both within themselves and with others, about those things which seem to them useful and opportune in this matter. Let them bring such things to our notice and to that of this sacred synod, as soon as they conveniently can, so that at a suitable time there may be decided what things, it seems, should be held and what repudiated for the profit and increase of the same catholic faith. Let them especially ponder on the various errors which are said to have sprouted in certain places at various times, especially on those which are said to have arisen from a certain John called Wyclif. We exhort, moreover, all Catholics assembled here and others who will come to this sacred synod that they should seek to think on, to follow up and to bring to us, and to this same sacred synod, those matters by which the body of Catholics may be led, if God is willing, to a proper reformation and to the desired peace. For it is our intention and will that all who are assembled for this purpose may say, consult about and do, with complete freedom, each and all of the things that they think pertain to the above. In order, however, that a rule may be observed in the procedure of this sacred synod with regard to what things are to be said and decided, the action to be taken and the regulating of customs, we think that recourse should be had to the practices of the ancient fathers, which are best learned from a canon of the council of Toledo, the contents of which we have decided to insert here [16] : Nobody should shout at or in any way disturb the Lord’s priests when they sit in the place of blessing. Nobody should cause disturbance by telling idle stories or jokes or, what is even worse, by stubborn disputes. As the apostle says, if anyone thinks himself religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, then his religion is vain. For, justice loses its reverence when the silence of the court is disturbed by a crowd of turbulent people. As the prophet says, the reverence due to justice shall be silence. Therefore whatever is being debated by the participants, or is being proposed by persons making an accusation, should be stated in quiet tones so that the hearers’ senses are not disturbed by contentious voices and they do not weaken the authority of the court by their tumult. Whoever thinks that the aforesaid things should not be observed while the council is meeting, and disturbs it with noise or dissensions or jests, contrary to the things forbidden here, shall leave the assembly, dishonourably stripped of the right to attend, according to the precept of the divine law (whereby it is commanded: drive out the scoffer, and strife will go out with him), and he shall be under sentence of excommunication for three days. Since it may happen that some of the participants will not be in their rightful seats, we decree, with this sacred council’s approval, that no prejudice shall arise to any church or person as a result of this seating arrangement. Since certain ministers and officials are required in order that this council may proceed, we therefore depute, with this sacred council’s approval, those named below, namely our beloved sons... [17] SESSION 2: 2 March 1415 [JOHN XXIII PUBLICLY OFFERS TO RESIGN THE PAPACY] SESSION 3: 26 March 1415 [DECREES ON THE INTEGRITY AND AUTHORITY OF THE COUNCIL, AFTER THE POPE S FLIGHT [18]] For the honour, praise and glory of the most holy Trinity, Father and Son and holy Spirit, and to obtain on earth, for people of good will, the peace that was divinely promised in God’s church, this holy synod, called the sacred general council of Constance, duly assembled here in the holy Spirit for the purpose of bringing union and reform to the said church in its head and members, discerns declares, defines and ordains as follows. First, that this synod was and is rightly and properly summoned to this city of Constance, and likewise has been rightly and properly begun and held. Next, that this sacred council has not been dissolved by the departure of our lord pope from Constance, or even by the departure of other prelates or any other persons, but continues in its integrity and authority, even if decrees to the contrary have been made or shall be made in the future. Next, that this sacred council should not and may not be dissolved until the present schism has been entirely removed and until the church has been reformed in faith and morals, in head and members. Next, that this sacred council may not be transferred to another place, except for a reasonable cause, which is to be debated and decided on by this sacred council. Next, that prelates and other persons who should be present at this council may not depart from this place before it has ended, except for a reasonable cause which is to be examined by persons who have been, or will be, deputed by this sacred council. When the reason has been examined and approved, they may depart with the permission of the person or persons in authority. When the individual departs, he is bound to give his power to others who stay, under penalty of the law, as well as to others appointed by this sacred council, and those who act to the contrary are to be prosecuted. SESSION 4: 30 March 1415 [DECREES OF THE COUNCIL ON ITS AUTHORITY AND INTEGRITY, IN THE ABBREVIATED FORM READ OUT BY CARDINAL ZABARELLA] In the name of the holy and undivided Trinity, Father and Son and holy Spirit Amen. This holy synod of Constance, which is a general council, for the eradication of the present schism and for bringing unity and reform to God’s church in head and members, legitimately assembled in the holy Spirit to the praise of almighty God, ordains, defines, decrees, discerns and declares as follows, in order that this union and reform of God’s church may be obtained the more easily, securely, fruitfully and freely. First, that this synod, legitimately assembled in the holy Spirit, constituting a general council, representing the catholic church militant, has power immediately from Christ, and that everyone of whatever state or dignity, even papal, is bound to obey it in those matters which pertain to the faith and the eradication of the said schism. [19] Next, that our most holy lord pope John XXIII may not move or transfer the Roman curia and its public offices, or its or their officials, from this city to another place, nor directly or indirectly compel the persons of the said offices to follow him, without the deliberation and consent of the same holy synod; this refers to those officials or offices by whose absence the council would probably be dissolved or harmed. If he has acted to the contrary in the past, or shall in the future, or if he has in the past, is now or shall in the future fulminate any processes or mandates or ecclesiastical censures or any other penalties against the said officials or any other adherents of this council, to the effect that they should follow him then all is null and void and in no way are the said processes, censures and penalties to be obeyed, inasmuch as they are null and void, and they are invalid. The said officials are rather to exercise their offices in the said city of Constance, and to carry them out freely as before, as long as this holy synod is being held in the said city. Next, that all translations of prelates, and depositions of the same, or of any other beneficed persons, revocations of commendams and gifts, admonitions, ecclesiastical censures, processes, sentences, acts and whatever has been or will be done or accomplished by our aforesaid lord and his officials or commissaries, from the time of his departure, to the injury of the council or its adherents, against the supporters or participants of this sacred council, or to the prejudice of them or any one of them, in whatever way they may have been or shall be made or done, against the will of the persons concerned, are in virtue of the law itself null, quashed, invalid and void, and of no effect or moment, and the council by its authority quashes, invalidates and annuls them. [Next, it was declared and decided that three persons should be chosen from each nation who know both the reasons of those wishing to depart and the punishments that ought to be inflicted on those departing without permission. [20]] Next, that for the sake of unity new cardinals should not be created. Moreover, lest for reasons of deceit or fraud some persons may be said to have been made cardinals recently, this sacred council declares that those persons are not to be regarded as cardinals who were not publicly recognised and held to be such at the time of our lord pope’s departure from the city of Constance. SESSION 5: 6 April 1415 [DECREES OF THE COUNCIL, CONCERNING ITS AUTHORITY AND INTEGRITY, WHICH HAD BEEN ABBREVIATED BY CARDINAL ZABARELLA AT THE PRECEDING SESSION, AGAINST THE WISHES OF THE NATIONS, AND WHICH ARE NOW RESTORED, REPEATED AND CONFIRMED BY A PUBLIC DECREE] In the name of the holy and undivided Trinity, Father and Son and holy Spirit. Amen. This holy synod of Constance, which is a general council, for the eradication of the present schism and for bringing unity and reform to God’s church in head and members, legitimately assembled in the holy Spirit to the praise of almighty God, ordains, defines, decrees, discerns and declares as follows, in order that this union and reform of God’s church may be obtained the more easily, securely, fruitfully and freely. First it declares that, legitimately assembled in the holy Spirit, constituting a general council and representing the catholic church militant, it has power immediately from Christ; and that everyone of whatever state or dignity, even papal, is bound to obey it in those matters which pertain to the faith, the eradication of the said schism and the general reform of the said church of God in head and members. Next, it declares that anyone of whatever condition, state or dignity, even papal, who contumaciously refuses to obey the past or future mandates, statutes, ordinances or precepts of this sacred council or of any other legitimately assembled general council, regarding the aforesaid things or matters pertaining to them, shall be subjected to well-deserved penance, unless he repents, and shall be duly punished, even by having recourse, if necessary, to other supports of the law. Next, the said holy synod defines and ordains that the lord pope John XXIII may not move or transfer the Roman curia and its public offices, or its or their officials, from the city of Constance to another place, nor directly or indirectly compel the said officials to follow him, without the deliberation and consent of the same holy synod. If he has acted to the contrary in the past, or shall in the future, or if he has in the past, is now or shall in the future fulminate any processes or mandates or ecclesiastical censures or any other penalties, against the said officials or any other adherents of this sacred council, to the effect that they should follow him, then all is null and void and in no way are the said processes, censures and penalties to be obeyed, inasmuch as they are null and void. The said officials are rather to exercise their offices in the said city of Constance, and to carry them out freely as before, as long as this holy synod h being held in the said City. Next, that all translations of prelates, or depositions of the same, or of any other beneficed persons, officials and administrators, revocations of commendams and gifts, admonitions, ecclesiastical censures, processes, sentences and whatever has been or will be done or accomplished by the aforesaid lord pope John or his officials or commissaries, since the beginning of this council, to the injury of the said council or its adherents, against the supporters or participants of this sacred council, or to the prejudice of them or of any one of them, in whatever way they may have been or shall be made or done, against the will of the persons concerned, are by this very fact, on the authority of this sacred council, null, quashed, invalid and void, and of no effect or moment, and the council by its authority quashes, invalidates and annuls them. Next, it declares that the lord pope John XXIII and all the prelates and other persons summoned to this sacred council, and other participants in the same synod, have enjoyed and do now enjoy full freedom, as has been apparent in the said sacred council, and the opposite has not been brought to the notice of the said summoned persons or of the said council. The said sacred council testifies to this before God and people. [21] SESSION 6: 17 April 1415 [AT THIS SESSION THERE WERE, AMONG OTHER MINOR DELIBERATIONS, DECREES ABOUT ADMITTING THE OFFICE OF PROCTOR IN THE MATTER OF POPE JOHN XXIII’S RENUNCIATION OF THE PAPACY AND ABOUT THE CITING OF JEROME OF PRAGUE.] SESSION 7: 2 May 1415 [AT THIS SESSION IT WAS DECREED THAT POPE JOHN SHOULD BE PUBLICLY SUMMONED AND THAT THE SUMMONS OF JEROME OF PRAGUE, NOW CHARGED WITH CONTUMACY, SHOULD BE REPEATED.] SESSION 8: 4 May 1415 This most holy synod of Constance, which is a general council and represents the catholic church and is legitimately assembled in the holy Spirit, for the eradication of the present schism and the elimination of the errors and heresies which are sprouting beneath its shade and for the reform of the church, make this perpetual record of its acts. [SENTENCE CONDEMNING VARIOUS ARTICLES OF JOHN WYCLIF] We learn from the writings and deeds of the holy fathers that the catholic faith without which (as the Apostle says) it is impossible to please God , has often been attacked by false followers of the same faith, or rather by perverse assailants, and by those who, desirous of the world’s glory, are led on by proud curiosity to know more than they should; and that it has been defended against such persons by the church’s faithful spiritual knights armed with the shield of faith. Indeed these kinds of wars were prefigured in the physical wars of the Israelite people against idolatrous nations. Therefore in these spiritual wars the holy catholic church, illuminated in the truth of faith by the rays of light from above and remaining ever spotless through the Lord’s providence and with the help of the patronage of the saints, has triumphed most gloriously over the darkness of error as over profligate enemies. In our times, however, that old and jealous foe has stirred up new conflicts so that the approved ones of this age may be made manifest. Their leader and prince was that pseudo-christian John Wyclif. He stubbornly asserted and taught many articles against the christian religion and the catholic faith while he was alive. We have decided that forty-five of the articles should be set out on this page as follows. 1. The material substance of bread, and similarly the material substance of wine, remain in the sacrament of the altar. 2. The accidents of bread do not remain without their subject in the said sacrament. 3. Christ is not identically and really present in the said sacrament in his own bodily persona. 4. If a bishop or a priest is in mortal sin, he does not ordain or confect or consecrate or baptise. 5. That Christ instituted the mass has no basis in the gospel. 6. God ought to obey the devil. 7. If a person is duly contrite, all exterior confession is superfluous and useless for him. 8. If a pope is foreknown as damned and is evil, and is therefore a limb of the devil, he does not have authority over the faithful given to him by anyone, except perhaps by the emperor. 9. Nobody should be considered as pope after Urban VI. Rather, people should live like the Greeks, under their own laws. 10. It is against sacred scripture for ecclesiastics to have possessions. 11. No prelate should excommunicate anyone unless he first knows that the person has been excommunicated by God; he who does so thereby becomes a heretic and an excommunicated person. 12. A prelate excommunicating a cleric who has appealed to the king or the king’s council is thereby a traitor to the king and the kingdom. 13. Those who stop preaching or hearing the word of God on account of an excommunication issued by men are themselves excommunicated and will be regarded as traitors of Christ on the day of judgment. 14. It is lawful for any deacon or priest to preach the word of God without authorisation from the apostolic see or from a catholic bishop. 15. Nobody is a civil lord or a prelate or a bishop while he is in mortal sin. 16. Secular lords can confiscate temporal goods from the church at their discretion when those who possess them are sinning habitually, that is to say sinning from habit and not just in particular acts. 17. The people can correct sinful lords at their discretion. 18. Tithes are purely alms, and parishioners can withhold them at will on account of their prelates’ sins. 19. Special prayers applied by prelates or religious to a particular person avail him or her no more than general prayers, if other things are equal. 20. Whoever gives alms to friars is thereby excommunicated. 21. Whoever enters any religious order whatsoever, whether it be of the possessioners or the mendicants, makes himself less apt and suitable for the observance of God’s commands. 22. Saints who have founded religious orders have sinned in so doing. 23. Members of religious orders are not members of the christian religion. 24. Friars are bound to obtain their food by manual work and not by begging. [22] 25. All are simoniacs who bind themselves to pray for people who help them in temporal matters. 26. The prayer of someone foreknown as damned profits nobody. 27. All things happen from absolute necessity. 28. Confirming the young, ordaining clerics and consecrating places have been reserved to the pope and bishops because of their greed for temporal gain and honour. 29. Universities, places of study, colleges, degrees and academic exercises in these institutions were introduced by a vain pagan spirit and benefit the church as little as does the devil. 30. Excommunication by a pope or any prelate is not to be feared since it is a censure of antichrist. 31. Those who found religious houses sin, and those who enter them belong to the devil. 32. It is against Christ’s command to enrich the clergy. 33. Pope Silvester and the emperor Constantine erred in endowing the church. 34. All the members of mendicant orders are heretics, and those who give them alms are excommunicated. 35. Those who enter a religious or other order thereby become incapable of observing God’s commands, and consequently of reaching the kingdom of heaven, unless they leave them. 36. The pope with all his clerics who have property are heretics, for the very reason that they have property; and so are all who abet them, namely all secular lords and other laity. 37. The Roman church is Satan’s synagogue; and the pope is not the immediate and proximate vicar of Christ and the apostles. 38. The decretal letters are apocryphal and seduce people from Christ’s faith, and clerics who study them are fools. 39. The emperor and secular lords were seduced by the devil to endow the church with temporal goods. 40. The election of a pope by the cardinals was introduced by the devil. 41. It is not necessary for salvation to believe that the Roman church is supreme among the other churches. [23] 42. It is ridiculous to believe in the indulgences of popes and bishops. 43. Oaths taken to confirm civil commerce and contracts between people are unlawful. 44. Augustine, Benedict and Bernard are damned, unless they repented of having owned property and of having founded and entered religious orders; and thus they are all heretics from the pope down to the lowest religious. 45. All religious orders alike were introduced by the devil. (Source: Church Councils)
[CONDEMNATION OF WYCLIF’S BOOKS] This same John Wyclif wrote books called by him Dialogus and Trialogus and many other treatises, works and pamphlets in which he included and taught the above and many other damnable articles. He issued the books for public reading, in order to publish his perverse doctrine, and from them have followed many scandals, losses and dangers to souls in various regions, especially in the kingdoms of England and Bohemia. Masters and doctors of the universities and houses of study at Oxford and Prague, opposing with God’s strength these articles and books, later refuted the above articles in scholastic form. They were condemned, moreover, by the most reverend fathers who were then the archbishops and bishops of Canterbury, York and Prague, legates of the apostolic see in the kingdoms of England and of Bohemia. The said archbishop of Prague, commissary of the apostolic see in this matter, also judicially decreed that the books of the same John Wyclif were to be burnt and he forbade the reading of those that survived. After these things had again been brought to the notice of the apostolic see and a general council, the Roman pontiff condemned the said books, treatises and pamphlets at the lately held council of Rome [24] , ordering them to be publicly burnt and strictly forbidding anyone called a Christian to dare to read, expound, hold or make any use of any one or more of the said books, volumes, treatises and pamphlets, or even to cite them publicly or privately, except in order to refute them. In order that this dangerous and most foul doctrine might be eliminated from the church’s midst, he ordered, by his apostolic authority and under pain of ecclesiastical censure, that all such books, treatises, volumes and pamphlets should be diligently sought out by the local ordinaries and should then be publicly burnt; and he added that if necessary those who do not obey should be proceeded against as if they were promoters of heresy. This sacred synod has had the aforesaid forty-five articles examined and frequently considered by many most reverend fathers, cardinals of the Roman church, bishops, abbots, masters of theology, doctors in both laws and many notable persons. After the articles had been examined it was found, as indeed is the case, that some of them, indeed many, were and are notoriously heretical and have already been condemned by holy fathers, others are not catholic but erroneous, others scandalous and blasphemous, some offensive to the ears of the devout and some rash and seditious. It was also found that his books contain many other similar articles and introduce into God’s church teaching that is unsound and hostile to faith and morals. This holy synod, therefore, in the name of our lord Jesus Christ, in ratifying and approving the sentences of the aforesaid archbishops and of the council of Rome, repudiates and condemns for ever, by this decree, the aforesaid articles and each one of them in particular, and the books of John Wyclif called by him Dialogus and Trialogus, and the same author’s other books, volumes, treatises and pamphlets (no matter what name these may go under, and for which purpose this description is to be regarded as an adequate listing of them). It forbids the reading, teaching, expounding and citing of the said books or of any one of them in particular, unless it is for the purpose of refuting them. It forbids each and every Catholic henceforth, under pain of anathema, to preach, teach or affirm in public the said articles or any one of them in particular, or to teach, approve or hold the said books, or to refer to them in any way, unless this is done, as has been said, for the purpose of refuting them. It orders, moreover, that the aforesaid books, treatises, volumes and pamphlets are to be burnt in public, in accordance with the decree of the synod of Rome, as stated above. This holy synod orders local ordinaries to attend with vigilance to the execution and due observance of these things, insofar as each one is responsible, in accordance with the law and canonical sanctions. [CONDEMNATION OF 260 OTHER ARTICLES OF WYCLIF] [25] When the doctors and masters of the university of Oxford examined the aforesaid written works, they found 260 articles in addition to the 45 articles that have been mentioned. Some of them coincide in meaning with the 45 articles, even if not in the forms of words used. Some of them, as has been said, were and are heretical, some seditious, some erroneous, others rash, some scandalous, others unsound, and almost all of them contrary to good morals and the catholic truth. They were therefore condemned by the said university in correct and scholastic form. This most holy synod, therefore, after deliberating as mentioned above, repudiates and condemns the said articles and each one of them in particular; and it forbids, commands and decrees in the same way as for the other 45 articles. We order the contents of these 260 articles to be included below [26]. [THE COUNCIL PRONOUNCES JOHN WYCLIF A HERETIC, CONDEMNS HIS MEMORY AND ORDERS HIS BONES TO BE EXHUMED] Furthermore, a process was begun, on the authority or by decree of the Roman council, and at the command of the church and of the apostolic see, after a due interval of time, for the condemnation of the said Wyclif and his memory. Invitations and proclamations were issued summoning those who wished to defend him and his memory, if any still existed. However, nobody appeared who was willing to defend him or his memory. Witnesses were examined by commissaries appointed by the reigning lord pope John and by this sacred council, regarding the said Wyclif’s final impenitence and obstinacy. Legal proof was thus provided, in accordance with all due observances, as the order of law demands in a matter of this kind, regarding his impenitence and final obstinacy. This was proved by clear indications from legitimate witnesses. This holy synod, therefore, at the instance of the procurator-fiscal and since a decree was issued to the effect that sentence should be heard on this day, declares, defines and decrees that the said John Wyclif was a notorious and obstinate heretic who died in heresy, and it anathematises him and condemns his memory. It decrees and orders that his body and bones are to be exhumed, if they can be identified among the corpses of the faithful, and to be scattered far from a burial place of the church, in accordance with canonical and lawful sanctions. SESSION 9: 13 May 1415 [POPE JOHN IS PUBLICLY SUMMONED FOR THE SECOND TIME AND AN INQUIRY AGAINST HIM IS DECREED.] SESSION 10: 14 May 1415 [JOHN XXIII IS SUMMONED FOR THE THIRD TIME, HE IS ACCUSED OF CONTUMACY AND IS SUSPENDED FROM THE PAPACY.] SESSION 11: 25 May 1415 [POPE JOHN XXIII IS PUBLICLY CHARGED AND FORTY-FOUR ARTICLES AGAINST HIM ARE PRODUCED.] SESSION 12: 29 May 1415 [DECREE STATING THAT THE PROCESS FOR ELECTING A POPE, IF THE SEE HAPPENS TO BE VACANT, MAY NOT BEGIN WITHOUT THE COUNCIL’S EXPRESS CONSENT [27]] This most holy general synod of Constance, representing the catholic church, legitimately assembled in the holy Spirit, for the eradication of the present schism and errors, for bringing about the reform of the church in head and members, and in order that the unity of the church may be obtained more easily, quickly and freely, pronounces, determines, decrees and ordains that if it happens that the apostolic see becomes vacant, by whatever means this may happen, then the process of electing the next supreme pontiff may not begin without the deliberation and consent of this sacred general council. If the contrary is done then it is by this very fact, by the authority of the said sacred council, null and void. Nobody may accept anyone elected to the papacy in defiance of this decree, nor in any way adhere to or obey him as pope, under pain of eternal damnation and of becoming a supporter of the said schism. Those who make the election in such a case, as well as the person elected, if he consents, and those who adhere to him, are to be punished in the forms prescribed by this sacred council. The said holy synod, moreover, for the good of the church’s unity, suspends all positive laws, even those promulgated in general councils, and their statutes, ordinances, customs and privileges, by whomsoever they may have been granted, and penalties promulgated against any persons, insofar as these may in any way impede the effect of this decree. [SENTENCE DEPOSING POPE JOHN XXIII] In the name of the holy and undivided Trinity, Father and Son and holy Spirit Amen. This most holy general synod of Constance, legitimately assembled in the holy Spirit, having invoked Christ’s name and holding God alone before its eyes, having seen the articles drawn up and presented in this case against the lord pope John XXIII, the proofs brought forward, his spontaneous submission and the whole process of the case, and having deliberated maturely on them, pronounces, decrees and declares by this definitive sentence which it commits to writing: that the departure of the aforesaid lord pope John XXIII from this city of Constance and from this sacred general council, secretly and at a suspicious hour of the night, in disguised and indecent dress, was and is unlawful, notoriously scandalous to God’s church and to this council, disturbing and damaging for the church’s peace and unity, supportive of this long-standing schism, and at variance with the vow, promise and oath made by the said lord pope John to God, to the church and to this sacred council; that the said lord pope John has been and is a notorious simoniac, a notorious destroyer of the goods and rights not only of the Roman church but also of other churches and of many pious places, and an evil administrator and dispenser of the church’s spiritualities and temporalities; that he has notoriously scandalised God’s church and the christian people by his detestable and dishonest life and morals, both before his promotion to the papacy and afterwards until the present time, that by the above he has scandalised and is scandalising in a notorious fashion God’s church and the christian people; that after due and charitable warnings, frequently reiterated to him, he obstinately persevered in the aforesaid evils and thereby rendered himself notoriously incorrigible; and that on account of the above and other crimes drawn from and contained in the said process against him, he should be deprived of and deposed from, as an unworthy, useless and damnable person, the papacy and all its spiritual and temporal administration. The said holy synod does now remove, deprive and depose him. It declares each and every Christian, of whatever state, dignity or condition, to be absolved from obedience, fidelity and oaths to him. It forbids all Christians henceforth to recognise him as pope, now that as mentioned he has been deposed from the papacy, or to call him pope, or to adhere to or in any way to obey him as pope. The said holy synod, moreover, from certain knowledge and its fullness of power, supplies for all and singular defects that may have occurred in the above-mentioned procedures or in any one of them. It condemns the said person, by this same sentence, to stay and remain in a good and suitable place, in the name of this sacred general council, in the safe custody of the most serene prince lord Sigismund, king of the Romans and of Hungary, etc., and most devoted advocate and defender of the universal church, as long as it seems to the said general council to be for the good of the unity of God’s church that he should be so condemned. The said council reserves the right to declare and inflict other punishments that should be imposed for the said crimes and faults in accordance with canonical sanctions, according as the rigour of justice or the counsel of mercy may advise. [Decree to the effect that none of the three contenders for the papacy may be re-elected as pope] The said holy synod decrees, determines and ordains for the good of unity in God’s church that neither the lord Baldassare de Cossa, recently John XXIII, nor Angelo Correr nor Peter de Luna, called Gregory XII and Benedict XIII by their respective obediences, shall ever be re-elected as pope. If the contrary happens, it is by this very fact null and void. Nobody, of whatever dignity or pre-eminence even if he be emperor, king, cardinal or pontiff, may ever adhere to or obey them or any one of them, contrary to this decree, under pain of eternal damnation and of being a supporter of the said schism. Let those who presume to the contrary, if there are any in the future, also be firmly proceeded against in other ways, even by invoking the secular arm. [28] SESSION 13: 15 June 1415 [CONDEMNATION OF COMMUNION UNDER BOTH KINDS, RECENTLY REVIVED AMONG THE BOHEMIANS BY JAKOUBEK OF STRIBRO] In the name of the holy and undivided Trinity, Father and Son and holy Spirit, Amen. Certain people, in some parts of the world, have rashly dared to assert that the christian people ought to receive the holy sacrament of the eucharist under the forms of both bread and wine. They communicate the laity everywhere not only under the form of bread but also under that of wine, and they stubbornly assert that they should communicate even after a meal, or else without the need of a fast, contrary to the church’s custom which has been laudably and sensibly approved, from the church’s head downwards, but which they damnably try to repudiate as sacrilegious. Therefore this present general council of Constance, legitimately assembled in the holy Spirit, wishing to provide for the safety of the faithful against this error, after long deliberation by many persons learned in divine and human law, declares, decrees and defines that, although Christ instituted this venerable sacrament after a meal and ministered it to his apostles under the forms of both bread and wine, nevertheless and notwithstanding this, the praiseworthy authority of the sacred canons and the approved custom of the church have and do retain that this sacrament ought not to be celebrated after a meal nor received by the faithful without fasting, except in cases of sickness or some other necessity as permitted by law or by the church. Moreover, just as this custom was sensibly introduced in order to avoid various dangers and scandals, so with similar or even greater reason was it possible to introduce and sensibly observe the custom that, although this sacrament was received by the faithful under both kinds in the early church, nevertheless later it was received under both kinds only by those confecting it, and by the laity only under the form of bread. For it should be very firmly believed, and in no way doubted, that the whole body and blood of Christ are truly contained under both the form of bread and the form of wine. Therefore, since this custom was introduced for good reasons by the church and holy fathers, and has been observed for a very long time, it should be held as a law which nobody may repudiate or alter at will without the church’s permission. To say that the observance of this custom or law is sacrilegious or illicit must be regarded as erroneous. Those who stubbornly assert the opposite of the aforesaid are to be confined as heretics and severely punished by the local bishops or their officials or the inquisitors of heresy in the kingdoms or provinces in which anything is attempted or presumed against this decree, according to the canonical and legitimate sanctions that have been wisely established in favour of the catholic faith against heretics and their supporters. [THAT NO PRIEST, UNDER PAIN OF EXCOMMUNICATION, MAY COMMUNICATE THE PEOPLE UNDER THE FORMS OF BOTH BREAD AND WINE] This holy synod also decrees and declares, regarding this matter, that instructions are to be sent to the most reverend fathers and lords in Christ, patriarchs, primates, archbishops, bishops, and their vicars in spirituals, wherever they may be, in which they are to be commissioned and ordered on the authority of this sacred council and under pain of excommunication, to punish effectively those who err against this decree. They may receive back into the church’s fold those who have gone astray by communicating the people under the forms of both bread and wine, and have taught this, provided they repent and after a salutary penance, in accordance with the measure of their fault, has been enjoined upon them. They are to repress as heretics, however, by means of the church’s censures and even if necessary by calling in the help of the secular arm, those of them whose hearts have become hardened and who are unwilling to return to penance. [From This Point On The Council Becomes A Duly Convened Ecumenical Council, All Previous Sessions Being Ultra-vires.] SESSION 14: 4 July 1415 [29] [UNITING OF THE FOLLOWERS OF POPE GREGORY XII AND OF THE FORMER POPE JOHN XXIII, NOW THAT BOTH MEN HAVE ABDICATED] In order that the reunion of the church may be possible and that a beginning may be made which is fitting and pleasing to God, since the most important part of any matter is its beginning, and in order that the two obediences--namely the one claiming that the lord John XXIII was formerly pope and the other claiming that the lord Gregory XII is pope--may be united together under Christ as head, this most holy general synod of Constance, legitimately assembled in the holy Spirit and representing the catholic church, accepts in all matters the convoking, authorising, approving and confirming that is now being made in the name of the lord who is called Gregory XII by those obedient to him, insofar as it seems to pertain to him to do this, since the certainty obtained by taking a precaution harms nobody and benefits all, and it decrees and declares that the aforesaid two obediences are joined and united in the one body of our lord Jesus Christ and of this sacred universal general council, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy Spirit. [DECREE STATING THAT THE ELECTION OF THE ROMAN PONTIFF IS TO BE MADE IN THE MANNER AND FORM TO BE LAID DOWN BY THE SACRED COUNCIL, AND THAT THE COUNCIL SHALL NOT BE DISSOLVED UNTIL THE ELECTION OF THE NEXT ROMAN PONTIFF HAS BEEN MADE] The most holy general synod of Constance, etc., enacts, pronounces, ordains and decrees, in order that God’s holy church may be provided for better, more genuinely and more securely, that the next election of the future Roman pontiff is to be made in the manner, form, place, time and way that shall be decided upon by the sacred council; that the same council can and may henceforth declare fit, accept and designate, in the manner and form that then seems suitable, any persons for the purposes of this election, whether by active or by passive voice, of whatever state or obedience they are or may have been, and any other ecclesiastical acts and all other suitable things, notwithstanding any proceedings, penalties or sentences; and that the sacred council shall not be dissolved until the said election has been held. The said holy synod therefore exhorts and requires the most victorious prince lord Sigismund, king of the Romans and of Hungary, as the church’s devoted advocate and as the sacred council’s defender and protector, to direct all his efforts to this end and to promise on his royal word that he wishes to do this and to order letters of his majesty to be made out for this purpose. [THE COUNCIL APPROVES GREGORY XII’S RESIGNATION] The most holy general synod of Constance, legitimately assembled in the holy Spirit, representing the universal catholic church, accepts, approves and commends, in the name of the Father, the Son and the holy Spirit, the cession renunciation and resignation made on behalf of the lord who was called Gregory XII in his obedience, by the magnificent and powerful lord Charles Malatesta. here present, his irrevocable procurator for this business, of the right, title and possession that he had, or may have had, in regard to the papacy. [30] SESSION 15: 6 July 1415 [SENTENCE CONDEMNING 260 ARTICLES WYCLIF] [31] The books and pamphlets of John Wyclif, of cursed memory, were carefully examined by the doctors and masters of Oxford university. They collected 260 unacceptable articles from these books and pamphlets and condemned them in scholastic form. This most holy general synod of Constance, representing the catholic church, legitimately assembled in the holy Spirit for the purpose of extirpating schism, errors and heresies, has had all these articles examined many times by many most reverend fathers, cardinals of the Roman church, bishops, abbots, masters of theology, doctors of both laws, and very many other notable persons from various universities. It was found that some, indeed many, of the articles thus examined were and are notoriously heretical and have already been condemned by holy fathers, some are offensive to the ears of the devout and some are rash and seditious. This holy synod, therefore, in the name of our lord Jesus Christ, repudiates and condemns, by this perpetual decree, the aforesaid articles and each one of them in particular; and it forbids each and every Catholic henceforth, under pain of anathema, to preach, teach, or hold the said articles or any one of them. The said holy synod orders local ordinaries and inquisitors of heresy to be vigilant in carrying out these things and duly observing them, insofar as each one is responsible, in accordance with the law and canonical sanctions. Let anyone who rashly violates the aforesaid decrees and sentences of this sacred council be punished, after due warning, by the local ordinaries on the authority of this sacred council, notwithstanding any privilege. [32] [ARTICLES OF JOHN WYCLIF SELECTED FROM THE 260] 1. Just as Christ is God and man at the same time, so the consecrated host is at the same time the body of Christ and true bread. For it is Christ’s body at least in figure and true bread in nature; or, which comes to the same thing, it is true bread naturally and Christ’s body figuratively. 2. Since heretical falsehood about the consecrated host is the most important point in individual heresies, I therefore declare to modern heretics, in order that this falsehood may be eradicated from the church, that they cannot explain or understand an accident without a subject. And therefore all these heretical sects belong to the number of those who ignore the fourth chapter of John: We worship what we know. 3. I boldly foretell to all these sects and their accomplices that even by the time Christ and all the church triumphant come at the final judgment riding at the trumpet blast of the angel Gabriel, they shall still not have proved to the faithful that the sacrament is an accident without a subject. 4. Just as John was Elias in a figurative sense and not in person, so the bread on the altar is Christ’s body in a figurative sense. And the words, This is my body, are unambiguously figurative, just like the statement “John is Elias”. 5. The fruit of this madness whereby it is pretended that there can be an accident without a subject is to blaspheme against God, to scandalise the saints and to deceive the church by means of false doctrines about accidents. 6. Those who claim that the children of the faithful dying without sacramental baptism will not be saved, are stupid and presumptuous in saying this. 7. The slight and short confirmation by bishops, with whatever extra solemnised rites, was introduced at the devil’s suggestion so that the people might be deluded in the church’s faith and the solemnity and necessity of bishops might be believed in the more. 8. As for the oil with which bishops anoint boys and the linen cloth which goes around the head, it seems that this is a trivial rite which is unfounded in scripture; and that this confirmation, which was introduced after the apostles, blasphemes against God. 9. Oral confession to a priest, introduced by Innocent [33] , is not as necessary to people as he claimed. For if anyone offends his brother in thought, word or deed, then it suffices to repent in thought, word or deed. 10. It is a grave and unsupported practice for a priest to hear the confessions of the people in the way that the Latins use. 11. In these words, You are clean, but not all are, the devil has laid a snare of the unfaithful ones in order to catch the Christian’s foot. For he introduced private confession, which cannot be justified, and after the person’s malice has been revealed to the confessor, as he decreed in the law, it is not revealed to the people. 12. It is a probable conjecture that a person who lives rightly is a deacon or a priest. For just as I infer that this person is John, so I recognise by a probable conjecture that this person, by his holy life, has been placed by God in such an office or state. 13. The probable evidence for such a state is to be taken from proof provided by the person’s deeds and not from the testimony of the person ordaining him. For God can place someone in such a state without the need of an instrument of this kind, no matter whether the instrument is worthy or unworthy. There is no more probable evidence than the person’s life. Therefore if there is present a holy life and catholic doctrine, this suffices for the church militant. (Error at the beginning and at the end.) 14. The bad life of a prelate means that his subjects do not receive orders and the other sacraments. They can receive them from such persons, however, when there is urgent need, if they devoutly beseech God to supply on behalf of his diabolical ministers the actions and purpose of the office to which they have bound themselves by oath. 15. People of former times would copulate with each other out of desire for temporal gain or for mutual help or to relieve concupiscence, even when they had no hope of offspring; for they were truly copulating as married persons. [34] 16. The words, I will take you as wife, are more suitable for the marriage contract than, I take you as wife. And the first words ought not to be annulled by the second words about the present, when someone contracts with one wife in the words referring to the future and afterwards with another wife in those referring to the present. 17. The pope, who falsely calls himself the servant of God’s servants, has no status in the work of the gospel but only in the work of the world. If he has any rank, it is in the order of demons, of those who serve God rather in a blameworthy way. 18. The pope does not dispense from simony or from a rash vow, since he is the chief simoniac who rashly vows to preserve, to his damnation, his status here on the way. (Error at the end.) 19. That the pope is supreme pontiff is ridiculous. Christ approved such a dignity neither in Peter nor in anyone else. 20. The pope is antichrist made manifest. Not only this particular person but also the multitude of popes, from the time of the endowment of the church, of cardinals, of bishops and of their other accomplices, make up the composite, monstrous person of antichrist. This is not altered by the fact that Gregory and other popes, who did many good and fruitful things in their lives, finally repented. 21. Peter and Clement, together with the other helpers in the faith, were not popes but God’s helpers in the work of building up the church of our lord Jesus Christ. 22. To say that papal pre-eminence originated with the faith of the gospel is as false as to say that every error arose from the original truth. 23. There are twelve procurators and disciples of antichrist: the pope, cardinals, patriarchs, archbishops, bishops, archdeacons, officials, deans, monks, canons with their two-peaked hats, the recently introduced pseudo-friars, and pardoners. 24. It is clear that whoever is the humbler, of greater service to the church, and the more fervent in Christ’s love towards his church, is the greater in the church militant and to be reckoned the most immediate vicar of Christ. 25. Whoever holds any of God’s goods unjustly, is taking the things of others by rapine, theft or robbery. 26. Neither the depositions of witnesses, nor a judge’s sentence, nor physical possession, nor inheritance, nor an exchange between persons, nor a gift, nor all such things taken together, confer dominion or a right to anything upon a person without grace. (An error, if it is understood as referring to sanctifying grace.) 27. Unless the interior law of charity is present, nobody has more or less authority or righteousness on account of charters or bulls. We ought not to lend or give anything to a sinner so long as we know that he is such, for thus we would be assisting a traitor of our God. 28. Just as a prince or a lord does not keep the title of his office while he is in mortal sin, except in name and equivocally, so it is with a pope, bishop or priest while he has fallen into mortal sin. 29. Everyone habitually in mortal sin lacks dominion of any kind and the licit use of an action, even if it be good in its kind. 30. It is known from the principles of the faith that a person in mortal sin, sins mortally in every action. 31. In order to have true secular dominion, the lord must be in a state of righteousness. Therefore nobody in mortal sin is lord of anything. 32. All modern religious necessarily become marked as hypocrites. For their profession demands that they fast, act and clothe themselves in a particular way, and thus they observe everything differently from other people. 33. All private religion as such savours of imperfection and sin whereby a person is indisposed to serve God freely. 34. A private religious order or rule savours of a blasphemous and arrogant presumption towards God. And the religious of such orders dare to exalt themselves above the apostles by the hypocrisy of defending their religion. 35. Christ does not teach in scripture about any kind of religious order in antichrist’s chapter. Therefore it is not his good pleasure that there should be such orders. The chapter is composed, however, of the following twelve types: the pope, cardinals, patriarchs, archbishops, bishops, archdeacons, officials, deans, monks, canons, friars of the four orders, and pardoners. 36. I infer as evident from the faith and works of the four sects--which are the caesarean clergy, the various monks, the various canons, and the friars-that nobody belonging to them is a member of Christ in the catalogue of the saints, unless he forsakes in the end the sect which he stupidly embraced. 37. Paul was once a pharisee but abandoned the sect for the better sect of Christ, with his permission. This is the reason why cloistered persons, of whatever sect or rule, or by whatever stupid vow they may be bound, ought freely to cast off these chains, at Christ’s command, and freely join the sect of Christ. 38. It is sufficient for the laity that at some times they give tithes of their produce to God’s servants. In this way they are always giving to the church, even if not always to the caesarean clergy deputed by the pope or by his dependents. 39. The powers that are claimed by the pope and the other four new sects are pretended and were diabolically introduced in order to seduce subjects; such are excommunications by caesarean prelates, citations, imprisoning, and the sale of money rents. 40. Many simple priests surpass prelates in such power. Indeed, it appears to the faithful that greatness of spiritual power belongs more to a son who imitates Christ in his way of life than to a prelate who has been elected by cardinals and similar apostates. 41. The people may withhold tithes, offerings and other private alms from unworthy disciples of Christ, since God’s law requires this. The curse or censure imposed by antichrist’s disciples is not to be feared but rather is to be received with joy. The lord pope and bishops and all religious or simple clerics, with titles to perpetual possession, ought to renounce them into the hands of the secular arm. If they stubbornly refuse, they ought to be compelled to do so by the secular lords. 42. There is no greater heretic or antichrist than the cleric who teaches that it is lawful for priests and levites of the law of grace to be endowed with temporal possessions. The clerics who teach this are heretics or blasphemers if ever there were any. 43. Temporal lords not only can take away goods of fortune from a church that is habitually sinning, nor is it only lawful for them to do so, but indeed they are obliged to do so under pain of eternal damnation. 44. God does not approve that anyone be judged or condemned by civil law. 45. If an objection is made against those who oppose endowments for the church, by pointing to Benedict, Gregory and Bernard, who possessed few temporal goods in poverty, it may be said in reply that they repented at the end. If you object further that I merely pretend that these saints finally repented of their falling away from God’s law in this way, then you may teach that they are saints and I will teach that they repented at the end. 46. If we ought to believe in sacred scripture and in reason, it is clear that Christ’s disciples do not have the authority to exact temporal goods by means of censures, and those who attempt this are sons of Eli and of Belial. 47. Each essence has one suppositum, following which another suppositum, equal to the first, is produced. This is the most perfect immanent action possible to nature. 48. Each essence, whether corporeal or incorporeal, is common to three supposita; and the properties, the accidents and the operations inhere in common in all of them. 49. God cannot annihilate anything, nor increase or diminish the world, but he can create souls up to a certain number, and not beyond it. 50. It is impossible for two corporeal substances to be co-extensive, the one continuously at rest in a place and the other continuously penetrating the body of Christ at rest. 51. Any continuous mathematical line is composed of two, three or four contiguous points, or of only a simply finite number of points; and time is, was and will be composed of contiguous instants. It is not possible that time and a line, if they exist, are composed of in this way. (The first part is a philosophical error, the last part is an error with regard to God’s power.) 52. It must be supposed that one corporeal substance was formed at its beginning as composed of indivisibles, and that it occupies every possible place. 53. Every person is God. 54. Every creature is God. 55. Every being is everywhere, since every being is God. 56. All things that happen, happen from absolute necessity. 57. A baptised child foreknown as damned will necessarily live long enough to sin in the holy Spirit, wherefore it will merit to be condemned for ever. Thus no fire can burn the child until that time or instant. 58. I assert as a matter of faith that everything that will happen, will happen of necessity. Thus if Paul is foreknown as damned, he cannot truly repent; that is, he cannot cancel the sin of final impenitence by contrition, or be under the obligation not to have the sin. [SENTENCE AGAINST JOHN HUS] The most holy general council of Constance, divinely assembled and representing the catholic church, for an everlasting record. Since a bad tree is wont to bear bad fruit, as truth itself testifies, so it is that John Wyclif, of cursed memory, by his deadly teaching, like a poisonous root, has brought forth many noxious sons, not in Christ Jesus through the gospel, as once the holy fathers brought forth faithful sons, but rather contrary to the saving faith of Christ, and he has left these sons as successors to his perverse teaching. This holy synod of Constance is compelled to act against these men as against spurious and illegitimate sons, and to cut away their errors from the Lord’s field as if they were harmful briars, by means of vigilant care and the knife of ecclesiastical authority, lest they spread as a cancer to destroy others. Although, therefore, it was decreed at the sacred general council recently held at Rome [35] that the teaching of John Wyclif, of cursed memory, should be condemned and the books of his containing this teaching should be burnt as heretical; although his teaching was in fact condemned and his books burnt as containing false and dangerous doctrine; and although a decree of this kind was approved by the authority of this present sacred council [36] ; nevertheless a certain John Hus, here present in person at this sacred council, who is a disciple not of Christ but rather of the heresiarch John Wyclif, boldly and rashly contravening the condemnation and the decree after their enactment, has taught, asserted and preached many errors and heresies of John Wyclif which have been condemned both by God’s church and by other reverend fathers in Christ, lord archbishops and bishops of various kingdoms, and masters in theology at many places of study. He has done this especially by publicly resisting in the schools and in sermons, together with his accomplices, the condemnation in scholastic form of the said articles of John Wyclif which has been made many times at the university of Prague, and he has declared the said John Wyclif to be a catholic man and an evangelical doctor, thus supporting his teaching, before a multitude of clergy and people. He has asserted and published certain articles listed below and many others, which are condemned and which are, as is well known, contained in the books and pamphlets of the said John Hus. Full information has been obtained about the aforesaid matters, and there has been careful deliberation by the most reverend fathers in Christ, lord cardinals of the holy Roman church, patriarchs archbishops, bishops and other prelates and doctors of holy scripture and of both laws, in large numbers. This most holy synod of Constance therefore declares and defines that the articles listed below, which have been found on examination, by many masters in sacred scripture, to be contained in his books and pamphlets written in his own hand, and which the same John Hus at a public hearing, before the fathers and prelates of this sacred council, has confessed to be contained in his books and pamphlets, are not catholic and should not be taught to be such but rather many of them are erroneous, others scandalous, others offensive to the ears of the devout, many of them are rash and seditious, and some of them are notoriously heretical and have long ago been rejected and condemned by holy fathers and by general councils, and it strictly forbids them to be preached, taught or in any way approved. Moreover, since the articles listed below are explicitly contained in his books or treatises, namely in the book entitled De ecclesia and in his other pamphlets, this most holy synod therefore reproves and condemns the aforesaid books and his teaching, as well as the other treatises and pamphlets written by him in Latin or in Czech, or translated by one or more other persons into any other language, and it decrees and determines that they should be publicly and solemnly burnt in the presence of the clergy and people in the city of Constance and elsewhere. On account of the above, moreover, all his teaching is and shall be deservedly suspect regarding the faith and is to be avoided by all of Christ’s faithful. In order that this pernicious teaching may be eliminated from the midst of the church, this holy synod also orders that local ordinaries make careful inquiry about treatises and pamphlets of this kind, using the church’s censures and even if necessary the punishment due for supporting heresy, and that they be publicly burnt when they have been found. This same holy synod decrees that local ordinaries and inquisitors of heresy are to proceed against any who violate or defy this sentence and decree as if they were persons suspected of heresy. [SENTENCE OF DEGRADATION AGAINST J. HUS] Moreover, the acts and deliberations of the inquiry into heresy against the aforesaid John Hus have been examined. There was first a faithful and full account made by the commissioners deputed for the case and by other masters of theology and doctors of both laws, concerning the acts and deliberations and the depositions of very many trustworthy witnesses. These depositions were openly and publicly read out to the said John Hus before the fathers and prelates of this sacred council. It is very clearly established from the depositions of these witnesses that the said John has taught many evil, scandalous and seditious things, and dangerous heresies, and has publicly preached them during many years. This most holy synod of Constance, invoking Christ’s name and having God alone before its eyes, therefore pronounces, decrees and defines by this definitive sentence, which is here written down, that the said John Hus was and is a true and manifest heretic and has taught and publicly preached, to the great offence of the divine Majesty, to the scandal of the universal church and to the detriment of the catholic faith, errors and heresies that have long ago been condemned by God’s church and many things that are scandalous, offensive to the ears of the devout, rash and seditious, and that he has even despised the keys of the church and ecclesiastical censures. He has persisted in these things for many years with a hardened heart. He has greatly scandalised Christ’s faithful by his obstinacy since, bypassing the church’s intermediaries, he has made appeal directly to our lord Jesus Christ, as to the supreme judge, in which he has introduced many false, harmful and scandalous things to the contempt of the apostolic see, ecclesiastical censures and the keys. This holy synod therefore pronounces the said John Hus, on account of the aforesaid and many other matters, to have been a heretic and it judges him to be considered and condemned as a heretic, and it hereby condemns him. It rejects the said appeal of his as harmful and scandalous and offensive to the church’s jurisdiction. It declares that the said John Hus seduced the christian people, especially in the kingdom of Bohemia, in his public sermons and in his writings; and that he was not a true preacher of Christ’s gospel to the same christian people, according to the exposition of the holy doctors, but rather was a seducer. Since this most holy synod has learnt from what it has seen and heard, that the said John Hus is obstinate and incorrigible and as such does not desire to return to the bosom of holy mother the church, and is unwilling to abjure the heresies and errors which he has publicly defended and preached, this holy synod of Constance therefore declares and decrees that the same John Hus is to be deposed and degraded from the order of the priesthood and from the other orders held by him. It charges the reverend fathers in Christ, the archbishop of Milan and the bishops of Feltre Asti, Alessandria, Bangor and Lavour with duly carrying out the degradation in the presence of this most holy synod, in accordance with the procedure required by law. [SENTENCE CONDEMNING J. HUS TO THE STAKE] This holy synod of Constance, seeing that God’s church has nothing more that it can do, relinquishes John Hus to the judgment of the secular authority and decrees that he is to be relinquished to the secular court. [CONDEMNED ARTICLES OF J. HUS] 1. There is only one holy universal church, which is the total number of those predestined to salvation. It therefore follows that the universal holy church is only one, inasmuch as there is only one number of all those who are predestined to salvation. 2. Paul was never a member of the devil, even though he did certain acts which are similar to the acts of the church’s enemies. 3. Those foreknown as damned are not parts of the church, for no part of the church can finally fall away from it, since the predestinating love that binds the church together does not fail. 4. The two natures, the divinity and the humanity, are one Christ. 5. A person foreknown to damnation is never part of the holy church, even if he is in a state of grace according to present justice; a person predestined to salvation always remains a member of the church, even though he may fall away for a time from adventitious grace, for he keeps the grace of predestination. 6. The church is an article of faith in the following sense: to regard it as the convocation of those predestined to salvation, whether or not it be in a state of grace according to present justice. 7. Peter neither was nor is the head of the holy catholic church. 8. Priests who live in vice in any way pollute the power of the priesthood, and like unfaithful sons are untrustworthy in their thinking about the church’s seven sacraments, about the keys, offices, censures, customs, ceremonies and sacred things of the church, about the veneration of relics, and about indulgences and orders. 9. The papal dignity originated with the emperor, and the primacy and institution of the pope emanated from imperial power. 10. Nobody would reasonably assert of himself or of another, without revelation, that he was the head of a particular holy church; nor is the Roman pontiff the head of the Roman church. 11. It is not necessary to believe that any particular Roman pontiff is the head of any particular holy church, unless God has predestined him to salvation. 12. Nobody holds the place of Christ or of Peter unless he follows his way of life, since there is no other discipleship that is more appropriate nor is there another way to receive delegated power from God, since there is required for this office of vicar a similar way of life as well as the authority of the one instituting. 13. The pope is not the manifest and true successor of the prince of the apostles, Peter, if he lives in a way contrary to Peter’s. If he seeks avarice, he is the vicar of Judas Iscariot. Likewise, cardinals are not the manifest and true successors of the college of Christ’s other apostles unless they live after the manner of the apostles, keeping the commandments and counsels of our lord Jesus Christ. 14. Doctors who state that anybody subjected to ecclesiastical censure, if he refuses to be corrected, should be handed over to the judgment of the secular authority, are undoubtedly following in this the chief priests, the scribes and the pharisees who handed over to the secular authority Christ himself, since he was unwilling to obey them in all things, saying, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death; these gave him to the civil judge, so that such men are even greater murderers than Pilate. 15. Ecclesiastical obedience was invented by the church’s priests, without the express authority of scripture. 16. The immediate division of human actions is between those that are virtuous and those that are wicked. Therefore, if a man is wicked and does something, he acts wickedly; if he is virtuous and does something, he acts virtuously. For just as wickedness, which is called crime or mortal sin, infects all the acts of a wicked man, so virtue gives life to all the acts of a virtuous man. 17. A priest of Christ who lives according to his law, knows scripture and has a desire to edify the people, ought to preach, notwithstanding a pretended excommunication. And further on: if the pope or any superior orders a priest so disposed not to preach, the subordinate ought not to obey. 18. Whoever enters the priesthood receives a binding duty to preach; and this mandate ought to be carried out, notwithstanding a pretended excommunication. 19. By the church’s censures of excommunication, suspension and interdict the clergy subdue the laity, for the sake of their own exaltation, multiply avarice protect wickedness and prepare the way for antichrist. The clear sign of this is the fact that these censures come from antichrist. In the legal proceedings of the clergy they are called fulminations, which are the principal means whereby the clergy proceed against those who uncover antichrist’s wickedness, which the clergy has for the most part usurped for itself. 20. If the pope is wicked, and especially if he is foreknown to damnation, then he is a devil like Judas the apostle, a thief and a son of perdition and is not the head of the holy church militant since he is not even a member of it. 21. The grace of predestination is the bond whereby the body of the church and each of its members is indissolubly joined with the head. 22. The pope or a prelate who is wicked and foreknown to damnation is a pastor only in an equivocal sense, and truly is a thief and a robber. 23. The pope ought not to be called “most holy” even by reason of his office, for otherwise even a king ought to be called “most holy” by reason of his office and executioners and heralds ought to be called “holy”, indeed even the devil would be called “holy” since he is an official of God. 24. If a pope lives contrary to Christ, even if he has risen through a right and legitimate election according to the established human constitution, he would have risen by a way other than through Christ, even granted that he entered upon office by an election that had been made principally by God. For, Judas Iscariot was rightly and legitimately elected to be an apostle by Jesus Christ who is God, yet he climbed into the sheepfold by another way. 25. The condemnation of the forty-five articles of John Wyclif, decreed by the doctors, is irrational and unjust and badly done and the reason alleged by them is feigned, namely that none of them is catholic but each one is either heretical or erroneous or scandalous. 26. The viva voce agreement upon some person, made according to human custom by the electors or by the greater part of them, does not mean by itself that the person has been legitimately elected or that by this very fact he is the true and manifest successor or vicar of the apostle Peter or of another apostle in an ecclesiastical office. For, it is to the works of the one elected that we should look irrespective of whether the manner of the election was good or bad. For, the more plentifully a person acts meritoriously towards building up the church, the more copiously does he thereby have power from God for this. 27. There is not the least proof that there must be one head ruling the church in spiritual matters who always lives with the church militant. 28. Christ would govern his church better by his true disciples scattered throughout the world, without these monstrous heads. 29. The apostles and faithful priests of the Lord strenuously governed the church in matters necessary for salvation before the office of pope was introduced, and they would continue to do this until the day of judgment if--which is very possible--there is no pope. 30. Nobody is a civil lord, a prelate or a bishop while he is in mortal sin. [SENTENCE CONDEMNING JOHN PETIT’S PROPOSITION, “ANY TYRANT-‘] This most holy synod wishes to proceed with special care to the eradication of errors and heresies which are growing in various parts of the world, as is its duty and the purpose for which it has assembled. It has recently learnt that various propositions have been taught that are erroneous both in the faith and as regards good morals, are scandalous in many ways and threaten to subvert the constitution and order of every state. Among these propositions this one has been reported: Any tyrant can and ought to be killed, licitly and meritoriously, by any of his vassals or subjects, even by means of plots and blandishments or flattery, notwithstanding any oath taken, or treaty made with the tyrant, and without waiting for a sentence or a command from any judge. This holy synod, wishing to oppose this error and to eradicate it completely, declares, decrees and defines, after mature deliberation, that this doctrine is erroneous in the faith and with regard to morals, and it rejects and condemns the doctrine as heretical, scandalous and seditious and as leading the way through perjury to frauds, deceptions, lies and betrayals. It declares, decrees and defines, moreover, that those who stubbornly assert this very pernicious doctrine are heretics and are to be punished as such according to canonical and legitimate sanctions. [37] SESSION 16: 11 July 1415 [Deliberation About The Council’s Legates Due To Depart With The Emperor Sigismund For Spain; Minor Deliberations About The Conduct Of The Council’s Business.] SESSION 17: 15 July 1415 [The Emperor’s Imminent Departure From The Council Is Treated Of; The Council Offers Prayers For His Success.] SESSION 18: 17 August 1415 [Decrees About Various Matters To Be Decided By The Council: Power Is Given To Judges To Make Decisions, And For Pairs Of Them To Hear Cases; That Bulls Of The Council Are To Be Obeyed; That Forgers Of Conciliar Bulls Are To Be Punished In The Same Way As Forgers Of Apostolic Letters; That Letters Are To Be Despatched Regarding The Graces Granted By The Former Pope John, Except Expectative And Exceptional Graces; Ambassadors To Italy Are Appointed.] SESSION 19: 23 September 1415 [Jerome of Prague finally abjures his faith publicly and solemnly. There is promulgated at this session an Ordinance between the friars Minor of the strict observance and others of the common life, to put an end to the discords which have arisen in certain provinces; another Ordinance by which cases of heresy are committed to certain judges. It is also decreed that, notwithstanding safe conducts of emperors and kings and others, a competent judge can inquire into heresy; that the lord vice-chancellor shall expedite the Caroline constitution [38] under a bull of the council; that those with benefices who are attending the council shall receive the fruits of their benefices in their absence, that the letters regarding provisions to patriarchal, metropolitan and other churches, which were granted by the former pope John before his suspension, shall be despatched.] SESSION 20: 21 November 1415 [A warning is decreed against the duke of Austria, on behalf of the bishop of Trent.] SESSION 21: 30 May 1416 [SENTENCE CONDEMNING JEROME OF PRAGUE] In the name of the Lord, Amen. Christ our God and saviour, the true vine whose Father is the vine-dresser, said when teaching his disciples and other followers in these matters: If anyone does not abide in me, he shall be cast forth as a branch and shall wither. This holy synod of Constance is following the teaching and carrying out the commands of this sovereign teacher and master in this case of inquiry into heresy which was started by the same holy synod. It notes the public talk and loud outcry against the said master Jerome of Prague, master of arts, layman. From the acts and proceedings of the case it is evident that the said Jerome has held, asserted and taught various heretical and erroneous articles, which were long ago condemned by holy fathers, some of which are blasphemous, others scandalous and others offensive to the ears of the devout as well as rash and seditious. They were long ago asserted, preached and taught by John Wyclif and John Hus, of cursed memory, and were included in various of their books and pamphlets. These articles, doctrines and books of the aforesaid John Wyclif and John Hus, as well as the memory of Wyclif, and finally the person of Hus, were condemned and damned by this same holy synod and its sentence of heresy. The said Jerome later, during the course of this inquiry, in this holy synod, approved and consented to this sentence of condemnation and acknowledged and professed the true, catholic and apostolic faith. He anathematised all heresy, especially that for which he had been defamed-and he confessed himself defamed--and which John Wyclif and John Hus had taught and held in the past in their works, sermons and pamphlets, and on account of which the said Wyclif and Hus, together with their dogmas and errors, had been condemned as heretical by this same holy synod, and their teaching likewise condemned. He professed acceptance of every condemnation of the aforesaid things and swore that he would remain in the truth of the faith, and that if he ever dared to think or preach anything to the contrary then he wished to submit to the severity of canon law and to be bound to eternal punishment. He offered and gave this profession of his, written in his own hand to this holy synod. Many days after his profession and abjuration, however, like a dog returning to its vomit, he asked for a public hearing to be granted to him in this same holy synod, in order that he might vomit forth in public the deadly poison which lay hidden within his breast. The hearing was granted to him and he asserted, said and professed in effect, at a public assembly of the same synod, that he had wrongly consented to the aforesaid sentence condemning the said Wyclif and John Hus and that he had lied in approving the sentence. He did not fear to state that he had lied. Indeed, he revoked now and for eternity his confession, approval and profession regarding the condemnation of the two men. He asserted that he had never read any heresy or error in the books of the said Wyclif and John Hus, even though it was clearly proved, before his profession to the sentence on the two men, that he had carefully studied, read and taught their books and it is clear that many errors and heresies are contained in them. The said Jerome professed, however, that he held and believed what the church holds and believes regarding the sacrament of the altar and the transubstantiation of the bread into the body of Christ, saying that he believed in Augustine and the other doctors of the church more than in Wyclif and Hus. It is evident from the above that the said Jerome adhered to the condemned Wyclif and Hus and their errors, and that he was and is a supporter of them. This holy synod has therefore decreed and now declares that the said Jerome is to be cast away as a branch that is rotten, withered and separated from the vine; and it pronounces, declares and condemns him as a heretic who has relapsed into heresy and as an excommunicated and anathematised person. SESSION 22: 15 October 1416 [The treaty of Narbonne, between the king of Aragon, the emperor and the envoys of the council, is confirmed [39] : the king of Aragon withdraws obedience from Benedict XIII and recognises the council of Constance through his envoys.] SESSION 23: 5 November 1416 [Beginning of the process against Peter de Luna, called Benedict XIII in his obedience.] SESSION 24: 28 November 1416 [A citation against Peter de Luna, called Benedict XIII in his obedience, is decreed.] SESSION 25: 14 December 1416 [The envoys of the Spanish count of Foix are united with the council in accordance with the terms of the treaty of Narbonne.] SESSION 26: 24 December 1416 [The envoys of the king of Navarre are united with the council in accordance with the terms of the treaty of Narbonne.] SESSION 27: 20 February 1417 [The dispute between Frederick, duke of Austria, and the bishop of Trent is discussed: a report is made on the carrying out of the warning decreed in session 20.] SESSION 28: 3 March 1417 [The Trent dispute is concluded: Frederick, duke of Austria, is condemned.] I The articles of Narbonne concerning the unity of the church, which were agreed between the emperor Sigismund and the envoys of the council of Constance on the one side, and the envoys of the kings and princes of Benedict XIII’s obedience on the other side, were published by the council in a general assembly on 13 December 1415 (see Hardt 4,584). They are printed in Hardt 2, 542-554. SESSION 29: 8 March 1417 [Peter de Luna is accused of contumacy.] SESSION 30: 10 March 1417 [The process against Peter de Luna continues.] SESSION 31: 31 March 1417 [A warning is decreed against Philip, count of Vertus, at the request of the bishop of Asti. Other minor deliberations take place.] SESSION 32: 1 April 1417 [Peter de Luna is again accused of contumacy and an inquiry about him is established.] SESSION 33: 12 May 1417 [The process against Peter de Luna, who is deemed contumacious, continues.] SESSION 34: 5 June 1417 [Everything is made ready for the condemnation of Peter de Luna.] SESSION 35: 18 June 1417 [The envoys of the king of Castile are united with the council in accordance with the terms of the treaty of Narbonne.] SESSION 36: 22 July 1417 [It is decreed that Peter de Luna is to be cited to hear the council’s sentence.] SESSION 37: 26 July 1417 [DEFINITIVE SENTENCE WHEREBY PETER DE LUNA, POPE BENEDICT XIII, IS DIVESTED OF THE PAPACY AND DEPRIVED OF THE FAITH.] May this judgment come forth from the face of him who sits on the throne, and from his mouth proceeds a double-edged sword, whose scales are just and weights are true, who will come to judge the living and the dead, our lord Jesus Christ, Amen. The Lord is just and loves just deeds, his face looks on righteousness. But the Lord looks on those who do evil so as to cut off their remembrance from the earth. Let there perish, says the holy prophet, the memory of him who did not remember to show mercy and who persecuted the poor and needy. How much more should there perish the memory of Peter de Luna, called by some Benedict XIII, who persecuted and disturbed all people and the universal church? For, how greatly he has sinned against God’s church and the entire christian people, fostering, nourishing and continuing the schism and division of God’s church How ardent and frequent have been the devout and humble prayers, exhortations and requests of kings, princes and prelates with which he has been warned in charity, in accordance with the teaching of the gospel, to bring peace to the church, to heal its wounds and to reconstitute its divided parts into one structure and one body, as he had sworn to do, and as for a long time it was within his power to do ! He was unwilling, however, to listen to their charitable admonitions. How many were the persons afterwards sent to attest to him! Because he did not listen at all even to these, it has been necessary, in accordance with the aforesaid evangelical teaching of Christ, to say to the church, since he has not listened even to her, that he should be treated as a heathen and a publican. All these things have been clearly proved by the articles coming from the inquiry into faith and the schism held before this present synod, regarding the above and other matters brought against him, as well as by their truth and notoriety. The proceedings have been correct and canonical, all the acts have been correctly and carefully examined and there has been mature deliberation. Therefore this same holy general synod, representing the universal church and sitting as a tribunal in the aforesaid inquiry, pronounces, decrees and declares by this definitive sentence written here, that the same Peter de Luna, called Benedict XIII as has been said, has been and is a perjurer, a cause of scandal to the universal church, a promoter and breeder of the ancient schism, that long established fission and division in God’s holy church, an obstructer of the peace and unity of the said church, a schismatic disturber and a heretic, a deviator from the faith, a persistent violator of the article of the faith One holy catholic church, incorrigible, notorious and manifest in his scandal to God’s church, and that he has rendered himself unworthy of every title, rank, honour and dignity, rejected and cut off by God, deprived by the law itself of every right in any way belonging to him in the papacy or pertaining to the Roman pontiff and the Roman church, and cut off from the catholic church like a withered member. This same holy synod, moreover, as a precautionary measure, since according to himself he actually holds the papacy, deprives, deposes and casts out the said Peter from the papacy and from being the supreme pontiff of the Roman church and from every title, rank, honour, dignity, benefice and office whatsoever. It forbids him to act henceforth as the pope or as the supreme and Roman pontiff. It absolves and declares to be absolved all Christ’s faithful from obedience to him, and from every duty of obedience to him and from oaths and obligations in any way made to him. It forbids each and every one of Christ’s faithful to obey, respond to or attend to, as if he were pope, the said Peter de Luna, who is a notorious, declared and deposed schismatic and incorrigible heretic, or to sustain or harbour him in any way contrary to the aforesaid, or to offer him help, advice or good will. This is forbidden under pain of the offender being counted as a promoter of schism and heresy and of being deprived of all benefices, dignities and ecclesiastical or secular honours, and under other penalties of the law, even if the dignity is that of a bishop, a patriarch, a cardinal, a king or the emperor. If they act contrary to this prohibition, they are by this very fact deprived of these things, on the authority of this decree and sentence, and they incur the other penalties of the law. This holy synod, moreover, declares and decrees that all and singular prohibitions and all processes, sentences, constitu- tions, censures and any other things whatsoever that were issued by him and might impede the aforesaid, are without effect; and it invalidates, revokes and annuls them; saving always the other penalties which the law decrees for the above cases. SESSION 38: 28 July 1417 [Decree about the right to vote of the deputies of the kings of Castile and Aragon, concerning which agreement had not been reached among the said deputies in the previous session; decrees about other lesser matters.] SESSION 39: 9 October 1417 [ON GENERAL COUNCILS] The frequent holding of general councils is a pre-eminent means of cultivating the Lord’s patrimony. It roots out the briars, thorns and thistles of heresies, errors and schisms, corrects deviations, reforms what is deformed and produces a richly fertile crop for the Lord’s vineyard. Neglect of councils, on the other hand, spreads and fosters the aforesaid evils. This conclusion is brought before our eyes by the memory of past times and reflection on the present situation. For this reason we establish, enact, decree and ordain, by a perpetual edict, that general councils shall be held henceforth in the following way. The first shall follow in five years immediately after the end of this council, the second in seven years immediately after the end of the next council, and thereafter they are to be held every ten years for ever. They are to be held in places which the supreme pontiff is bound to nominate and assign within a month before the end of each preceding council, with the approval and consent of the council, or which, in his default, the council itself is bound to nominate. Thus, by a certain continuity, there will always be either a council in existence or one expected within a given time. If perchance emergencies arise, the time may be shortened by the supreme pontiff, acting on the advice of his brothers, the cardinals of the Roman church, but it may never be prolonged. Moreover, he may not change the place assigned for the next council without evident necessity. If an emergency arises whereby it seems necessary to change the place--for example in the case of a siege, war, disease or the like--then the supreme pontiff may, with the consent and written endorsement of his aforesaid brothers or of two-thirds of them, substitute another place which is suitable and fairly near to the place previously assigned. It must, however, be within the same nation unless the same or a similar impediment exists throughout the nation. In the latter case he may summon the council to another suitable place which is nearby but within another nation, and the prelates and other persons who are customarily summoned to a council will be obliged to come to it as if it had been the place originally assigned. The supreme pontiff is bound to announce and publish the change of place or the shortening of time in a legal and solemn form within a year before the date assigned, so that the aforesaid persons may be able to meet and hold the council at the appointed time. [PROVISION TO GUARD AGAINST FUTURE SCHISMS] If it happens--though may it not!--that a schism arises in the future in such a way that two or more persons claim to be supreme pontiffs, then the date of the council, if it is more than a year off, is to be brought forward to one year ahead; calculating this from the day on which two or more of them publicly assumed the insignia of their pontificates or on which they began to govern. All prelates and others who are bound to attend a council shall assemble at the council without the need for any summons, under pain of the law’s sanctions and of other penalties which may be imposed by the council, and let the emperor and other kings and princes attend either in person or through official deputies, as if they had been besought, through the bowels of the mercy of our lord Jesus Christ, to put out a common fire. Each of those claiming to be the Roman pontiff is bound to announce and proclaim the council as taking place at the end of the year, as mentioned, in the previously assigned place; he is bound to do this within a month after the day on which he came to know that one or more other persons had assumed the insignia of the papacy or was administering the papacy; and this is under pain of eternal damnation, of the automatic loss of any rights that he had acquired in the papacy, and of being disqualified both actively and passively from all dignities. He is also bound to make the council known by letter to his rival claimant or claimants, challenging him or them to a judicial process, as well as to all prelates and princes, insofar as this is possible. He shall go in person to the place of the council at the appointed time, under pain of the aforesaid penalties, and shall not depart until the question of the schism has been fully settled by the council. None of the contenders for the papacy, moreover shall preside as pope at the council. Indeed, in order that the church may rejoice more freely and quickly in one undisputed pastor, all the contenders for the papacy are suspended by law as soon as the council has begun, on the authority of this holy synod, from all administration; and let not obedience be given in any way by anyone to them, or to any one of them until the question has been settled by the council. If it happens in the future that the election of a Roman pontiff is brought about through fear, which would weigh upon even a steadfast man, or through pressure, then we declare that it is of no effect or moment and cannot be ratified or approved by subsequent consent even if the state of fear ceases. The cardinals, however, may not proceed to another election until a council has reached a decision about the election, unless the person elected resigns or dies. If they do proceed to this second election, then it is null by law and both those making the second election and the person elected, if he embarks upon his reign as pope, are deprived by law of every dignity, honour and rank--even cardinalatial or pontifical--and are thereafter ineligible for the same, even the papacy itself; and nobody may in any way obey as pope the second person elected, under pain of being a fosterer of schism. In such a case the council is to provide for the election of a pope. It is lawful, however, and indeed all the electors are bound, or at least the greater part of them, to move to a safe locality and to make a statement about the said fear. The statement is to be made in a prominent place before public notaries and important persons as well as before a multitude of the people. They are to do this as quickly as they can without danger to their persons, even if there is a threat of danger to all their goods. They shall state in their allegation the nature and extent of the fear and shall solemnly swear that the allegation is true that they believe they can prove it and that they are not making it out of malice or calumny. Such an allegation of fear cannot be delayed in any way until after the next council. After they have moved and have alleged the fear in the above form, they are bound to summon the person elected to a council. If a council is not due for more than a year after their summons, then its date shall be brought forward by the law itself to only a year ahead, in the way explained above. The elected person is bound under pain of the aforesaid penalties, and the cardinals under pain of automatically losing the cardinalate and all their benefices, to announce and proclaim the council within a month after the summons, in the way mentioned above, and to make it known as soon as possible. The cardinals and other electors are bound to come in person to the place of the council, at a suitable time, and to remain there until the end of the affair. The other prelates are bound to answer the cardinals’ summons, as mentioned above, if the person elected fails to issue a summons. The latter will not preside at the council since he will have been suspended by law from all government of the papacy from the time the council begins, and he is not to be obeyed by anyone in any matter under pain of the offender becoming a promoter of schism. If the aforesaid emergencies arise within a year before the beginning of a council-namely that more than one person claim to be pope or that someone has been elected through fear or pressure--then those who claim to be pope, or the one elected through fear or pressure, as well as the cardinals, are deemed by law as having been summoned to the council. They are bound, moreover, to appear in person at the council, to explain their case and to await the council’s judgment. But if some emergency happens during the above occurrences whereby it is necessary to change the place of the council--for example a siege or war or disease or some such--then nevertheless all the aforesaid persons, as well as all prelates and others who are obliged to attend a council, are bound to assemble at a neighbouring place suitable for the council, as has been said above. Moreover, the greater part of the prelates who have moved to a particular place within a month may specify it as the place of the council to which they and others are bound to come, just as if it had been the place first assigned. The council, after it has thus been summoned and has assembled and become acquainted with the cause of the schism, shall bring a suit of contumacy against the electors or those claiming to be pope or the cardinals, if perchance they fail to come. It shall then pronounce judgment and shall punish, even beyond the aforesaid penalties and in such a way that the fierceness of the punishment acts as an example to others, those who are to blame--no matter of what state or rank or pre-eminence, whether ecclesiastical or secular, they may be--in starting or fostering the schism, in their administering or obeying, in their supporting those who governed or in making an election against the aforesaid prohibition, or who lied m their allegations of fear. The disturbance caused by fear or pressure at a papal election corrodes and divides, in a lamentable way, the whole of Christianity. In order that it may be assiduously avoided, we have decided to decree, in addition to what has been said above, that if anyone brings to bear or causes, or procures to be brought about, fear or pressure or violence of this kind upon the electors in a papal election, or upon any one of them, or has the matter ratified after it has been done, or advises or acts in support of it, or knowingly receives or defends someone who has done this, or is negligent in enforcing the penalties mentioned below--no matter of what state or rank or pre-eminence the offender may be, even if it be imperial or regal or pontifical, or any other ecclesiastical or secular dignity he may hold--then he automatically incurs the penalties contained in pope Boniface VIII’s constitution which begins Felicis, and he shall be effectively punished by them. Any city--even if it be Rome itself, though may it not be!--or any other corporation that gives aid, counsel or support to someone who does these things, or that does not have such an offender punished within a month, insofar as the enormity of the crime demands and there exists the possibility of inflicting the punishment, shall automatically be subject to ecclesiastical interdict. Furthermore the city, apart from the one mentioned above, shall be deprived of the episcopal dignity, notwithstanding any privileges to the contrary. We wish, moreover, that this decree be solemnly published at the end of every general council and that it be read out and publicly announced before the start of a conclave, wherever and whenever the election of a Roman pontiff is about to take place. [ON THE PROFESSION TO BE MADE BY THE POPE] Since the Roman pontiff exercises such great power among mortals, it is right that he be bound all the more by the incontrovertible bonds of the faith and by the rites that are to be observed regarding the church’s sacraments. We therefore decree and ordain, in order that the fullness of the faith may shine in a future Roman pontiff with singular splendour from the earliest moments of his becoming pope, that henceforth whoever is to be elected Roman pontiff shall make the following confession and profession in public, in front of his electors, before his election is published. In the name of the holy and undivided Trinity, Father and Son and holy Spirit. Amen. In the year of our Lord’s nativity one thousand etc., I, N., elected pope, with both heart and mouth confess and profess to almighty God, whose church I undertake with his assistance to govern, and to blessed Peter, prince of the apostles, that as long as I am in this fragile life I will firmly believe and hold the catholic faith, according to the traditions of the apostles, of the general councils and of other holy fathers, especially of the eight holy universal councils-namely the first at Nicaea, the second at Constantinople, the third at Ephesus, the fourth at Chalcedon, the fifth and sixth at Constantinople, the seventh at Nicaea and the eighth at Constantinople--as well as of the general councils at the Lateran, Lyons and Vienne, and I will preserve this faith unchanged to the last dot and will confirm, defend and preach it to the point of death and the shedding of my blood, and likewise I will follow and observe in every way the rite handed down of the ecclesiastical sacraments of the catholic church. This my profession and confession, written at my orders by a notary of the holy Roman church, I have signed below with my own hand. I sincerely offer it on this altar N. to you, almighty God, with a pure mind and a devout conscience, in the presence of the following. Made etc. [THAT PRELATES MAY NOT BE TRANSLATED WITHOUT THEIR CONSENT] When prelates are translated, there is commonly both spiritual and temporal loss and damage of a grave nature for the churches from which they are transferred. The prelates, moreover, sometimes do not maintain the rights and liberties of their churches as carefully as they otherwise might, out of fear of being translated. The importunity of certain people who seek their own good, not that of Jesus Christ, may mean that the Roman pontiff is deceived in such a matter, as one ignorant of the facts, and so is easily led astray. We therefore determine and ordain, by this present decree, that henceforth bishops and superiors ought not to be translated unwillingly without a grave and reasonable cause which, after the person in question has been summoned, is to be inquired into and decided upon with the advice of the cardinals of the holy Roman church, or the greater part of them, and with their written endorsement. Lesser prelates, such as abbots and others with perpetual benefices, ought not to be changed, moved or deposed without a just and reasonable cause that has been inquired into. We add, moreover, that for abbots to be changed the written endorsement of the cardinals is necessary--just as it is necessary for bishops, as has been said-saving, however, the constitutions and privileges of any churches, monasteries and orders. [ON SPOILS AND PROCURATIONS] Papal reservations as well as the exacting and receiving of procurations which are due to ordinaries and other lesser prelates, by reason of a visitation, and of spoils on deceased prelates and other clerics, are seriously detrimental to churches, monasteries and other benefices and to churchmen. We therefore declare, by this present edict, that it is reasonable and in the public interest that reservations made by the pope, as well as exactions and collections of this kind made by collectors and others appointed or to be appointed by apostolic authority, are henceforth in no way to occur or to be attempted. Indeed, procurations of this kind, as well as spoils and the goods of any prelates found at their deaths, even if they are cardinals or members of the papal household or officials or any other clerics whatsoever, in the Roman curia or outside it, no matter where or when they die, are to belong to and to be received by, fully and freely, those persons to whom they would and ought to belong with the ending of the aforesaid reservations, mandates and exactions. We forbid the exaction of such spoils on prelates even inferior ones and others, which are outside and contrary to the form of common law. However, the constitution of pope Boniface VIII of happy memory, beginning Praesenti, which was published with this specially in mind, is to remain in force. SESSION 40: 30 OCTOBER 1417 [REFORMS TO BE MADE BY THE POPE TOGETHER WITH THE COUNCIL BEFORE IT IS DISSOLVED] The most holy synod of Constance [40] declares and decrees that the future supreme Roman pontiff, who by God’s grace is to be elected very soon, together with this sacred council or those to be deputed by the individual nations, is bound to reform the church in its head and in the Roman curia, according to justice and the good government of the church, before this council is dissolved, under the topics contained in the following articles, which were at various times put forward by the nations by way of reforms. 1. First, the number, quality and nationality of the lord cardinals. 2. Next, reservations of the apostolic see. 3. Next, annates, common services and petty services. 4. Next, collations to benefices and expectative graces. 5. Next, the cases that are, or are not, to be heard at the Roman curia. 6. Next, appeals to the Roman curia. 7. Next, the offices of chancery and penitentiary. 8. Next, exemptions and incorporations made at the time of the schism. 9. Next, commendams. 10. Next, confirmation of elections. [41] 11. Next, intercalary fruits. 12. Next, not alienating goods of the Roman church and of other churches. 13. Next, for what reasons and how a pope can be corrected or deposed. 14. Next, the eradication of simony. 15. Next, dispensations. 16. Next, revenues of the pope and the cardinals. 17. Next, indulgences. 18. Next, tithes. With this addition, that when the nations have deputed their representatives as mentioned above, the others may freely return to their own countries with the pope’s permission. [That the election of the Roman pontiff may be begun, notwithstanding the absence of Peter de Luna’s cardinals] The most holy general synod of Constance notes what was previously agreed upon at Narbonne concerning the church’s unity and the admission to this synod of the cardinals of the obedience of Peter de Luna, called Benedict XIII in his obedience. It notes, too, that after the notorious expulsion of the said Peter de Luna, the aforesaid cardinals who had been summoned before the expulsion according to the terms of the agreement, did not come within three months and more after the aforesaid expulsion. The synod therefore decrees and declares that, notwithstanding their absence, it will proceed to the election of the Roman pontiff on the authority of the said synod and according to what has been decided by the same synod. It declares, however, that if they arrive before the election of the future supreme pontiff has been completed, and if they adhere to the council, they are to be admitted to the aforesaid election together with the other cardinals, according to the directives of the law and what shall be decided by the council. [On the manner and form of electing the pope] For the praise, glory and honour of almighty God and for the peace and unity of the universal church and of the whole christian people. The election of the future Roman and supreme pontiff is soon to be held. We wish that it may be confirmed with greater authority and by the assent of many persons and that, mindful as we are of the state of the church, no doubts or scruples may later remain in people’s minds regarding the said election but rather that a secure, true full and perfect union of the faithful may result from it. Therefore this most holy general synod of Constance, mindful of the common good and with the special and express consent and the united wish of the cardinals of the holy Roman church present at the same synod, and of the college of cardinals and of all the nations at this present council, declares, ordains and decrees that, for this time only, at the election of the Roman and supreme pontiff, there shall be added to the cardinals six prelates or other honourable churchmen in holy orders, from each of the nations currently present and named at the same synod, who are to be chosen by each of the said nations within ten days. This same holy synod gives power to all these people, insofar as it is necessary, to elect the Roman pontiff according to the form here laid down. That is to say, the person is to be regarded as the Roman pontiff by the universal church without exception who is elected and admitted by two-thirds of the cardinals present at the conclave and by two-thirds of those from each nation who are to be and have been added to the cardinals. Moreover, the election is not valid nor is the person elected to be regarded as supreme pontiff unless two-thirds of the cardinals present at the conclave, and two-thirds of those from each nation who should be and have been added to the same cardinals, agree to elect him as Roman pontiff. The synod also declares, ordains and decrees that the votes of any persons cast at the election are null unless, as has been said, two-thirds of the cardinals, and two-thirds of those from each nation who should be and have been added to them, agree, directly or by way of addition, upon one person. This must be added, moreover, that the prelates and other persons who should be and have been added to the cardinals for the election, are bound to observe all and singular apostolic constitutions, even penal ones, which have been promulgated regarding the election of the Roman pontiff, just as the cardinals themselves are bound to observe them, and they are bound to their observance. The said electors, both cardinals and others, are also bound to swear, before they proceed to the election, that in attending to the business of the election, they will proceed with pure and sincere minds--since it is a question of creating the vicar Jesus Christ, the successor of the blessed Peter, the governor of the universal church and the leader of the Lord’s flock--and that they firmly believe it will benefit the public good of the universal church if they entirely prescind from all affection for persons of any particular nation, or other inordinate affections, as well as from hatred and graces or favours bestowed, in order that by their ministry a beneficial and suitable pastor may be provided for the universal church. This same holy synod, mindful of this notorious vacancy in the Roman church, fixes and assigns the next ten days for all and singular cardinals of the holy Roman church, whether present here or absent, and the other electors mentioned above, to enter into the conclave which is to be held in this city of Constance, in the commune’s principal building which has already been allocated for this purpose. The synod ordains, declares and decrees that within these next ten days the aforesaid electors, both cardinals and others mentioned above, must enter into the conclave for the purpose of holding the election and of doing and carrying out all the other matters according as the laws ordain and decree in all things, besides those mentioned above regarding the cardinals and other electors, concerning the election of a Roman pontiff. The same holy synod wishes all these laws to remain in force after the above matters have been observed. For this time, however, it approves, ordains, establishes and decrees this particular form and manner of election. The same holy synod, in order to remove all scruples, makes and declares fit for actively and passively carrying out all legitimate acts at the same synod, insofar as this is necessary, all those who are present at the same synod as well as those who will come and adhere to it, always saving the other decrees of this same sacred council, and it will supply for any defects, if perchance any shall occur in the above, notwithstanding any apostolic constitutions, even those published in general councils, and other constitutions to the contrary. SESSION 41: 8 November 1417 [Everything is prepared for the start of the conclave to elect a pope. On 11 November cardinal Oddo Colonna is elected pontiff as Martin V.] SESSION 42: 28 December 1417 [In this session a bull of Martin V was approved regarding Baldassare Cossa, formerly pope, who was earlier deprived of his see and imprisoned by the council but who is now to be set free] SESSION 43 [42]: 23 MARCH 1418 [CERTAIN STATUTES PROMULGATED ON THE REFORM OF THE CHURCH] On exemptions Martin, bishop and servant of the servants of God. We note that from the time of the death of pope Gregory XI, our predecessor of happy memory, some Roman pontiffs, or those who claimed to be and were reputed as such in their various obediences, either of their own will or on account of the importunity of petitioners, have granted exemption from the jurisdiction of their ordinaries to certain churches, monasteries, chapters, convents, priories, benefices, places and persons, which were in no way exempt in the time of the said Gregory, to the great detriment of the ordinaries in question. We wish to avoid damage of this kind. We therefore revoke, with the approval of this sacred council, all exemptions that were first granted after the said Gregory XI’s death, by any persons whomsoever claiming to be Roman pontiffs, even if perchance we ourselves with full knowledge approved or renewed the exemptions, without the party in question being heard, to any cathedral churches, monasteries (even those that were exempt but were later made subject to a monastery of a different order or tradition), chapters, convents, prelacies, benefices, places and persons whatsoever, if they had enjoyed no exemption before they were exempted in this way, but were simply subject to ordinary jurisdiction, and had no beginning before that time. We except, however, exemptions that were made or granted either by way of confirmation, increase or addition, or concerning which the matter was ordained by the competent authority, after the interested parties had presented themselves and been heard, or to which the ordinaries consented, to a whole order or to churches, monasteries, chapters, convents, benefices and places founded after the aforesaid time by way of or on condition of exemption or with a new foundation in mind, or to universities and colleges of scholars. We also revoke, with the approval of this sacred council, all perpetual exemptions granted by the pope through inferior persons. We revoke them even if unresolved suits about them are pending, and we end these suits. We return the churches, monasteries and other aforesaid places to the former jurisdiction of their ordinaries. We do not wish to prejudice by this in any way other exemptions held or granted before the death of the said Gregory. In future, however, we do not intend to grant exemptions unless the case has been examined and the interested parties have been summoned. On unions and incorporations Martin, etc. It is not possible to give a certain rule about unions and incorporations made or granted after Gregory XI’s death. We shall therefore revoke them, with due regard to justice, even though the authority of the apostolic see may have been involved, on the plea of the interested parties, unless they were made for good and true reasons or unless the interested persons themselves have obtained benefices united in this way. On intercalary fruits Martin, etc. Next, we leave the fruits and revenues coming from churches, monasteries and benefices during a vacancy to be disposed of in accordance with the law and customs or privileges. We forbid them to be applied to us or to the apostolic camera. On simoniacs Martin, etc. Many constitutions have been issued in the past against the evil of simony, but they have not been able to eradicate the disease. We wish to attend carefully to this matter in the future according as we are able to. We therefore declare, with the approval of this sacred council, that persons ordained in a simoniacal fashion are automatically suspended from exercising their orders. Simoniacal elections, postulations, confirmations and provisions that are henceforth made to or in respect of any churches, monasteries, dignities, parsonages, offices or ecclesiastical benefices are rendered null by the law itself and nobody acquires any rights through them. Those who have been thus promoted, confirmed or provided may not receive their fruits but are bound to restore them as though they had received things that had been unjustly taken. We decree, moreover, that both those who give and those who receive money in this matter of simony automatically incur the sentence of excommunication, even though their rank be pontifical or cardinalatial. On dispensations Martin, etc. Since benefices are granted by reason of the duties attached to them, we consider it absurd that those who obtain benefices refuse or neglect to carry out their duties. We therefore revoke, with the approval of this sacred council, all dispensations, granted by any persons whomsoever claiming to be Roman pontiffs, to any persons elected to, confirmed in or provided to churches, monasteries, conventual priories, deaneries, archdeaconries or any other benefices for which a particular order ought to be bestowed, or to which one is attached, whereby the persons in question are dispensed from receiving the episcopal consecration or the abbatial blessing or the other orders that ought to be bestowed or are attached. This does not include, however, the dispensations granted according to the form of Boniface VIII’s constitution beginning Cum ex eo We decree that within six months from the publication of this our constitution, for those who are presently holding such appointments, and within the time laid down by the law for those who will hold them in the future, the persons concerned are to have themselves consecrated or blessed or promoted to some other required order. Otherwise they are deprived by the law itself of the said churches, monasteries, dignities, parsonages, offices and benefices. These may then be freely conferred on other persons or provision may be made for them. However, other published constitutions on this matter are to remain in force. On tithes and other dues Martin, etc. We command and order the strict observance of the laws which forbid tithes and other dues to be imposed on churches and ecclesiastics by persons lower than the pope. For ourselves, moreover, we shall in no way impose them generally on the whole clergy unless there is a grave and serious reason and an advantage for the universal church in doing so, and then with the advice, consent and written endorsement of our brothers, the cardinals of the holy Roman church, and the prelates whose advice can conveniently be obtained. This should not happen especially in any kingdom or province where the prelates in question, or the majority of them, have not been consulted or have not consented. In this way they may only be levied by ecclesiastics acting on the authority of the apostolic see. On the life and probity of clerics Martin, etc. Among the various faults of clerics and prelates this one has especially taken root, namely that many of them despise an appearance of ecclesiastical decency in their dress and delight in what is unbecoming. They seek to conform to the laity and they exhibit outwardly in their dress whatever they are thinking in their minds. Therefore, with the approval of this sacred council, we renew and order the careful observance of all the laws currently in force regarding the clothing, tonsure and habits of clerics, as to both shape and colour, and their hair-styles and the style and uprightness of their lives. These laws have been heeded far too little by both the secular and the regular clergy. Especially we order to be utterly abolished, with the same council’s approval, the abuse whereby in certain regions some clerics and churchmen, both secular and regular, and even (which we deplore still more) prelates of churches, wear long gloves that are unnecessarily large and sumptuous, extending to their elbows, and clothes with slits at the back and sides, with furs covering the edges even of the slit parts. Moreover, they are not afraid to attend the divine offices in churches--even in the churches in which they are beneficed--in such clothes together with their surplices and other garments worn for worship and the church’s services. We condemn this unbecoming way of dressing for all churchmen and we forbid the wearing of such garments. Those who do otherwise are to be punished as transgressors of the canons. We decree in particular that if any beneficed person, or any holder of an office in a church, dares to attend the divine office in such clothing, then he shall know that he is suspended from receiving his ecclesiastical incomes for one month for each such occasion, and the fruits of these incomes are to be applied to the fabric of the church in question. Martin, etc. We decree and declare with the approval of this sacred council, that the demands of this same sacred council. regarding the articles contained in the reform decree promulgated on Saturday 30 October [43] of last year, have been and are met by the various decrees, statutes and ordinances, both those which have been read out in this present session and those upon which agreement has been reached with the individual nations of the council. [44] We wish these decrees, statutes and ordinances to be deposited in our chancellery and that letters in public form, under the seal of our vice-chancellor, be drawn up and handed over to those who wish to have them. SESSION 44: 19 April 1418 [Decree on the place of the next council] Martin, etc. We wish and desire to put into effect a decree of this general council [45] which lays down, among other things, that general councils must always be held in the place which the supreme pontiff, with the consent and approval of the council, is bound to depute and assign, within the month before the end of this council, as the place for the next council after the end of the present one. With the consent and approval of this present council, we therefore, by this present decree, depute and assign the city of Pavia for this purpose, and we ordain and decree that prelates and others who ought to be summoned to general councils are obliged to go to Pavia at the aforesaid time. Let nobody therefore ... If anyone however . . . Given and enacted at Constance, in the place of this public session . .. SESSION 45 [46]: 22 April 1418 [Sentence dissolving the council, and the granting of indulgences] (Source: Church Councils / Council Of Constance 1414-18)
Martin, etc. We dissolve the council, as the sacred council itself requires, for reasons that are certain, reasonable and just. We give permission, with the council’s approval, to each and every person at the council to return home. Furthermore, on the authority of almighty God and of his blessed apostles Peter and Paul and on our authority, we grant to each and every person who has taken part in this sacred council and its business a full absolution of all his sins, once in his life, provided he takes advantage of the absolution in the correct form within two months of his hearing about it. We grant the same at the hour of death. This is to be understood as applying to both lords and members of their households; provided that they fast on each Friday for a year from the day they come to know of this indulgence, in the case of those who seek the absolution for while they are alive, and for another year in the case of those who seek it for the hour of death, unless they are legitimately prevented from doing so, in which case they should perform other pious works. After the second year, they ought to fast on Fridays until the end of their lives or to perform other pious works. Let nobody therefore . . . If anyone however . . . Given and enacted at Constance in the place of this public session. .. ENDNOTES 1 This footnote is not from Tanner. This council was occasioned by The Schism begun when the cardinals who had elected Urban VI pope on 8th April 1378 and who had all repeatedly recognised him subsequently, decided in view of his offensive zeal for reform to claim that the pressure they had been under during his election had invalidated it. In September 1378 they elected Robert of Genoa [anti] pope Clement VII. Urban VI excommunicated them all and appointed a new college of cardinals. There then continued two lines of popes with supporting cardinals. Fed up with this bipartite division of christendom the “council” of Pisa in 1409 made it tripartite beginning another line The legitimate line ran : Urban VI, Boniface IX, Innocent VII, Gregory XII. The first line of antipopes ran :Clement VII, Benedict XIII. The second line of antipopes ran : Alexander V, who was succeeded by antipope John XXIII. It should be remembered that those assembled at Constance did not constitute an ecumenical council until the bull of Gregory XII was proclaimed on 4 July 1415 in what in Tanner is called “Session 14”. 2 i.e. for the few weeks of 1378 that intervened between his election and his electors’ repudiation of the election. 3 The documentation can be found in MANSI, vol. XXVII, cols. 730-46. 4 Terrenas Affectiones, March 13, 1415, MANSI, XXXII, col. 733. 5 Cum ad laudem of same date; ib. col. 733-4. 6 Remota tamen omnino dicti Balthassaris praesidentia et praesentia; MANSI, col. 733. The powers granted in the commission are stated to have reference to “ congregationem ipsam, in quantum per dictam serenitatem regiam, et non Balthassarem, sese nuncupari facientem Joannem XXIll vocatum . . .” Gregory XII nowhere speaks of John XXIII’s “obedience”. 7 The schedule, Quia sanctissimus dominus noster: which begins by describing the assembly . . . celebris fama huius sanctae congregationis pro generali concilio Constantiensi . . . congregatae: the vital words are given Ego Joannes . . . istud sacrum concilium generale CONVOCO et omnia per ipsum agenda auctorizo et confirmo: MANSI, ib. col. 734. 8 MANSI, ib., col. 735. 9 Divina gratia dirigente dated from Rimini, March 10, 1415; MANSI, ib. col. 737. 10 The schedule, Ego Carolus de Malatestes, MANSI, ib., col. 744 11 “Admittit, approbat et collaudet “, ib., col. 745. 12 This document of John XXIII was read and approved by the council at this first session. 13 A “council” not recognized by the legitimate pope, the council of Pisa (1409), session 22 (Msi 26, 1155). 14 really antipope Alexander V 15 Here was read John’s “Bull” Ad pacem et exaltationem ecclesiae dated 9 December 1413. 16 The 11th council of Toledo (675), canon 1 (Mansi 11, 137; Bruns 1, 308), ch. 3 C. V q. 4 (Fr 1, 548). 17 Here follow the appointments of the council’s ministers and officials 18 John XXIII had fled from Constance on 20 March 1415 19 and the general reform of God’s church in head and members adds Asd. These words are not found even in the reliable codices of the Basle epitome (see Hardt IV, prologue 15 ff.) 20 This paragraph is in Asd, but in fact the matter was only proposed, not decided upon (see Hardt, IV 90). 21 The following were also approved at this session : a proposition concerning matters about Hus and Wyclif to be treated at the next session; a decree about writing letters to kings and princes in the name of the council, about the pope’s flight and about the continuing integrity of the council; a decree to the effect that pope John should be brought back by the emperor to the council of Constance. 22 Regarding this article, the reasons for the condemnation are included in the acts as follows: The first part is scandalous and presumptuous inasmuch as it speaks in general terms and without distinctions; the second part is errorneous inasmuch as it asserts that beggin is not permitted to friars. 23 Regarding this article, the acts include the following reasons for the condemnation: It is an error if one understands by the Roman church the universal church or a general council, or inasmuch as it would deny the primacy of the supreme pontiff over the other individual churches. 24 In 1412 (Msi, 27, 505-508) 25 This condemnation is not in Asd 26 These 260 articles condemned by the university of Oxford in 1411 (see J. A. Robson, Wyclif and the Oxford Schools, Cambridge 1961, 244-246) are not to be found in any versions of the council’s acts. Indeed, the French nation said that it knew nothing about them, and for this reason the same topic was taken up again in the 15th session (see Hardt 4, 156 and 191; Finke II 34, 40 and 362. H-L wrongly affirms [7, 226] that this decree was passsed in the 9th session. See the 15th session below. 27 In Hardt this decree follows the sentencing of pope John to be removed and deposed; H-L (7, 248 n.), on the other hand, correctly affirms that it preceded the sentence, as the heading of the decree shows. 28 There follows a separate decree on electing four judges for summoning absent prelates. 29 Tanner curiously says “At this session pope Gregory XII, through his legate Charles Malatesta, approved the council of Constance and solemnly renounced the papacy.” The actual word used was convoco. See my introduction (2). 30 The following decrees were also promulgated at this session for the purpose of confirming Gregory XII’s resignation and of uniting the followers of the two obediences: Legal proceedings in the two obediences, arising from the schism, are declared ended. Decree stating that the process for electing the Roman pontiff, when the see is vacant, may not begin without the council’s consent (this decree accords with the decrees promulgated in the earlier session). The council ratifies all that Gregory XII did, canonically and according to reason, within his actual obedience. The decree that Gregory XII may not be re-elected was not made on the grounds of incapacity on the part of the said lord Gregory. The council reserves to itself, and declares that it will indeed see to, the resolution of problems where two or more persons from different obediences hold the same title. The council accepts and admits as cardinals the lord Gregory and his cardinals. That the lord Gregory’s officials shall retain their offices. That nobody may depart from the council without the council’s permission. That the emperor Sigismund is to attend to the council’s safety. Decree stating that the council requires Peter de Luna (Benedict XIII) to resign. 31 The whole of this sentence condemning John Wyclif, together with the articles selected from the 260, is not in Asd; but the articles are published also in H-L 7, 308-313. 32 See above, session 8 (p. 415). In Hardt (4, 400 and 408) this second condemnation of John Wyclif is not clearly distinguished from the condemnation of John Hus which follows immediately in the same session. 33 Innocent III; see Lateran council IV, constitution 21 (see above, p. 245) 34 but they were not copulating as married persons Msi 35 Held in 1412 (Msi 27, 505-508 36 Session 8 [before the council became ecumenical] 37 In this session various matters were also agreed upon concerning the ordering and protecting of the council’s work: Decree on silence; Constitution of the council against those who plunder or despoil persons coming to or returning from the council. 38 The Caroline Constitution on ecclesiastical liberty, promulgated by the emperor Charles IV in 1377, was published by Hardt among the acts of the council (4, 523-525). On the confirmation discussed at this session and afterwards promulgated, see Hardt 4, 562-583 39 The articles of Narbonne concerning the unity of the church, which were agreed between the emperor Sigismund and the envoys of the council of Constance on the one side, and the envoys of the kings and princes of Benedict XIII’s obedience on the other side, were published by the council in a general assembly on 13 December 145 (see Hardt 4, 584). They are printed in Hardt 2, 542-554 40 The most holy general synod of Constance, legitimately assembled in the holy Spirit, representing the universal church Asd. 41 This article comes fifth in the changed order in Asd. 42 On 22 February 1418 Martin V’s bull Inter cunctas was promulgated against the followers of John Wyclif and John Hus. It was addressed to all archbishops, bishops and inquisitors. Included in it were the 45 articles of Wyclif condemned in the 8th session and the 30 articles of Hus condemned in the 15th session. All suspects were to answer 39 questions, which were enumerated in the bull, on these articles (see Hardt 4, 1518-1531; H-L 7, 507-529; D 657-689). 43 Session 40 44 Those agreed upon in the council by Martin V--with the Spanish, French, German and English nations--have also been published in Raccolta di concordati su matene ecclesiastiche tra la S. Sede e le autorita civili, edited by A. Mercati, I Roma 1954, 144-168 (see H-L 7, 535-565). 45 Session 39 COUNCIL OF BASEL 1431-45 A.D. INTRODUCTION Basel had been designated as the place for this ecumenical council by the abortive council of Pavia -- Siena (1423-1424). It was opened on 25 July 1431 by the papal legate, who had been appointed by Pope Martin V in two bulls dated 1 February 1431, Dum onus universalis gregis and Nuper siquidem cupientes shortly before the pope’s death on 20 February 1431. A great part of the council’s work in the early years was taken up with its quarrel with Pope Eugenius IV, who was accused of wishing to dissolve or transfer the council. The prospect of re-union with the eastern church provided an opportunity to transfer the council to another city. This move was supported by the council fathers loyal to the pope, who however were in a minority, and in the 25th session they voted for the city of Ferrara. There the council was re-opened on 8 January 1438, Pope Eugenius IV later attending in person. Some historians doubt the ecumenicity of the first 25 sessions at Basel. All agree that the sessions held at Basel after the 25th session until the final one on 25 April 1449 cannot be regarded as sessions of an ecumenical council. The Greek bishops and theologians attended the council of Ferrara from 9 April 1438. The council was transferred to Florence on 10 January 1439. There, in the session on 6 July 1439, the decree of union with the Greek church was approved. Subsequently decrees of union with the Armenian and Coptic churches were approved. Finally the council was transferred to Rome on 24 February 1443. There other decrees of union with the Bosnians, the Syrians and finally with the Chaldeans and Maronites of Cyprus, were approved. The last session of the council was held on 7 August 1445. The decisions taken at Basel have the form of conciliar decrees. Those taken at Ferrara, Florence and Rome are almost always in the form of bulls, since the pope was presiding in person; in these cases the decree mentions the council’s approval and contains the words “in a solemnly celebrated general session of the synod”. Almost all the decrees of re-union were of little effect. Nevertheless it is significant that the church’s unity was discussed in a council attended by some eastern bishops and theologians, and that there was agreement on the principal dogmatic and disciplinary questions which had divided the two churches for many centuries. The acts of the council of Basel were first published by S. Brant in Basel in 1499, with the title Decreta concilii Basileensis (= Dc). This collection was subsequently published by Z. Ferreri at Milan in 1511, and by J. Petit at Paris in 1512. Almost all later conciliar collections included the acts and decrees of the council of Basel, from Merlin to Mansi’s Amplissima collectio (= Msi). A brief history of these collections was written in 1906 by H. Herre in his work entitled, Handschriften und Drucke Baseler Konzilsakten, in Deutsche Reichstagsakten unter Kaiser Sigmund, Part IV/1, 1431-1432, 10/1, Goettingen 1957, XCVI-CI. Another edition of the decrees of Basel is contained in John of Segovia’s diary, which is to be found in Monumenta conciliorum generalium saeculi XV (= Mxv), II Vienna 1873. Editio Romana, however, omits the council of Basel (see Labbe-Cossart XIII, n. 7; S. Kuttner, L ‘Edition romaine des conciles generaux, Rome 1940). For Basel, we have followed the edition of Msi 29 (1788) 1-227. We have noted the principal variants in Dc and Mxv. We have omitted some decrees pertaining to internal matters of the council, to the quarrel with Eugenius IV and to administration; we have always noted the titles of these decrees in footnotes. The decrees of Ferrara, Florence and Rome were first published by P. Crabbe (1538, 2, 754V-826). H. Justinianus subsequently published a more careful edition, Acta sacri oecumenici concilii Florentini, Rome 1638, which was followed by later collections until Msi 31 supplement (1901) (see V. Laurent L’edition princeps des actes du Concile de Florence, Orient. Christ. Per.21 (1955) 165-189, and J.Gill, ibid. 22 (1956) 223-225). The decrees are also to be found in Monumenta conc. gen. saec. XV, III-IV Vienna 1886-1935. We have followed the critical edition published by the Pontifical Oriental Institute, Concilium Florentinum. Documenta et Scriptores (= CF), Rome 1940-, and we have included the principal variants noted in it. As regards the English translation, the following points should be noted where the original text is given in two languages, namely Latin and another. Where a Greek text is given (pp. 520-528), this is of equal authority with the parallel Latin version, and in the English translation the few significant discrepancies between the two texts have been noted. In the cases of Armenian and Arabic texts (pp. 534-559 and 567-583), these were translations from the Latin, which was the authoritative text, and therefore the English translation is from the Latin alone (the differences from the Latin in the Armenian and Arabic texts are numerous and complex). For these points, see J. Gill, The Council of Florence, Cambridge 1959, pp. 290-296, 308 and 326. SESSION 1 14 December 1431 The holy synod of Basel, representing the universal church, legitimately assembled in the holy Spirit under the presidency of the most reverend father in Christ lord Julian, cardinal deacon of St Angelo of the holy Roman church, legate of the apostolic see, for the glory of almighty God, the exaltation of the catholic faith and the progress of the christian religion, laying its foundation on the cornerstone Christ Jesus, in whom the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord, calls to mind that the holy general synod of Constance, celebrated in the holy Spirit, esteeming it salutary and beneficial that general councils should be frequent in the holy church of God, established this by its decree as follows: The frequent holding of general councils . . . 2 Hence for the execution of that decree, the city of Pavia in Italy was chosen for the general council to be held at the end of the five years immediately following. At the decreed time that council was indeed inaugurated in the said city of Pavia and thence it was translated for certain reasons to the city of Siena. In that general council which was begun in Pavia and was held in the city of Siena, this city of Basel was chosen and duly assigned for the next future general council to be held after the seven-year period from the end of the council of Siena, as is stated in the public instrument then composed about this succession. [Establishment of the holy council of Basel] The most reverend lord legate in his desire to fulfil the apostolic commission since at the time when the beginning of the council was imminent he was immersed in the expedition against the pestilential heresy of the Hussites for the sake of the faith, had his vicegerents despatched to this city and thereafter with all possible speed came himself to this city, in order that, with the help of God’s grace, he might fulfil in this general council the office of legate laid upon him, as our most holy lord Eugenius IV, pope by divine providence, had by a series of letters of his holiness enjoined on him. In this city, during more than three months, he held several congregations with prelates and others who had arrived in the city for the said general council, and he had discussions about the establishment and holding of the council. Finally it was decreed that the present solemn session should be held, in which, firstly, since from the above it is manifest that this city is the place deputed for the general council and the date for it to be held is already past, and the authority of the most holy apostolic see is not lacking, it decrees, defines and declares that in this city and place the general council is canonically fixed and founded, and that all, both prelates and others who by right or custom are obliged to attend general councils, are bound to come to its celebration. [Purpose of the council of Basel] Seeing that all things direct their actions more immediately and intensely the more knowledge they have of their destined purpose, so this holy synod, after intense meditation and thought on the needs of the christian religion and after mature and ordered deliberation, decrees that, with the help of God from whom all good things comet, it will pursue with all its zeal and attention these three ends. First that, with the banishment of the darkness of all heresies from the bounds of the christian people, the light of catholic truth, by the generosity of Christ the true light, may be resplendent. Secondly that, after due thought and with the help of the author of peace, the christian people, freed from the madness of wars by which -- with the sower of weeds doing his work -- it is affected and divided in various parts of the world, may be brought back to a peaceful and tranquil state. Thirdly, as the vine of Christ has already almost run wild on account of the multitude of thistles and thorns of vices crowding in upon it, to cut them back through the endeavour of necessary cultivation, with the work from on high of the evangelical husbandman, so that it may flourish again and produce with happy abundance the fruits of virtue and esteem. Since such great benefits as these cannot be hoped for without a generous flow of heavenly grace, it earnestly exhorts in the Lord all Christ’s faithful that for the happy achievement of the aforesaid they should urge the divine majesty with devout prayers, fasts and almsgiving that the good and merciful God, placated by such humble submission, may deign with his accustomed goodness to grant to this sacred council the desired completion of all these things, imposing this on them unto the remission of their sins. SESSION 2: 15 February 1432 The holy general synod of Basel, representing the church militant, for an everlasting record. To the praise of almighty God and the glory and honour of the blessed and undivided Trinity, for the extirpation of heresies and errors, for the reformation of morals in head and members of the church of God, and for the pacification of kings and kingdoms and other Christians in discord among themselves through the instigation of the author of discords, the synod, legitimately assembled in the holy Spirit, decrees, establishes, defines, declares and ordains as follows. [Decree that the council of Basel is legitimately begun] First, that the same sacred synod of Basel, by the decrees and ordinances of the sacred general councils of Constance and of Siena, and by the action of apostolic authority, was and is duly and legitimately begun and assembled in this place of Basel. And lest anyone should doubt about the power of the same sacred synod of Basel, this same synod in this present session ordains and decrees that two declarations from the decrees of the synod of Constance are to be inserted among its other decrees already issued or to be issued. The text of the first of these declarations is as follows, First it declares . . . 1; that of the other is this, Next it declares . . . I Therefore, presupposing also some other decrees of the council of Constance, especially the one beginning The frequent, which were read out in a former session of this sacred synod of Basel, the said synod of Basel decrees and declares that, legitimately assembled in the holy Spirit, for the extirpation of heresies and a general reformation of morals in the church in head and members, and also for procuring peace among Christians, as is stated above, no one of whatever authority, even if he is distinguished by the dignity of the papacy, could or should have in the past, or can or ought to now or in the future, dissolve or transfer the said synod of Basel to another locality or prorogue it to another date without the deliberation and consent of the same synod of Basel. SESSION 3: 29 April 1432 [Impossibility of the dissolution of the council is decreed] This holy council, considering that the aforesaid dissolution of the council was enacted contrary to the decrees of the council of Constance, and that it leads to a serious danger of subversion of the faith as well as disturbance and harm for the state of the church and scandal for the whole christian people, decreed that the dissolution could not be made. Since, therefore, the dissolution is no obstacle at all, the prosecution of what has been praiseworthily set in motion for the stability of the faith and the salvation of the christian people should, with the grace of the holy Spirit, be proceeded with. But since the aforesaid bishop of Lausanne and the dean of Utrecht, on their return, did not bring back from the most holy lord pope the desired reply, although the said most holy lord pope had been entreated, appealed to, required, requested and with every insistence very often implored not only by the aforesaid messengers in the name of the council but also by the most serene lord Sigismund, king of the Romans and loyal supporter of the church, so this holy synod, relying on the decrees of the sacred council of Constance, whose words are these, That the holy synod . . . ‘ decreed in this solemn session to make its demands to the most holy lord pope and also to the most reverend lord cardinals in the way and style as follows. This holy synod, therefore, legitimately assembled in the holy Spirit, beseeches the aforesaid most blessed lord pope Eugenius with all reverence and insistence and through the tender mercy of Jesus Christ entreats, requires implores and warns him to revoke in fact the alleged dissolution as in fact it was issued, and in the same way as he made the dissolution to send and publish over the different parts of the world the revocation, and completely to desist from every obstacle against the said council: indeed more, to favour and assist the council, as is his duty, and to offer it every support and opportune help, and to come in person within three months -- an interval which it assigns and determines as a peremptory limit -- if his physical state so allows. But if it does not, in his place and stead he should nominate some person or persons and send them with plenary power for each and every question in this council up to its very end through each and all of its acts gradually and successively. Otherwise, if his holiness should fail to do this, which is a thing that in no way is to be expected of the vicar of Christ, the holy synod will see to it that provision is made for the necessities of the church as shall seem just and as the holy Spirit shall dictate, and will proceed in accordance with what befits both divine and human law. In the same way it beseeches, requires, implores and warns the aforesaid most reverend lord cardinals, who as the chief hinges of the church of God should apply their minds with great fervour to these things, that they should bring earnest pressure to bear on the lord pope about the aforesaid things, and should favour, aid and help this sacred council in every opportune way. And since their presence, in view of their authority, great prudence and practical experience, is highly expedient for this sacred council, it requires and warns and cites the lord cardinals and each of them in particular that, canonical impediment ceasing, they shall come to the said council within three months from the notification by this present decree, which interval it precisely and peremptorily assigns and determines for the triple canonical monition. Otherwise, since failure to come to the sacred general council so as to aid the church in its great necessities will without doubt be judged as contributing to the danger of a serious challenge to the catholic faith and to the harm of the whole church, this holy council at the expiry of the stated interval will take proceedings against those who have failed to come, since their contumacy demands this, according as the order of divine as well as human law shall dictate and allow, and will take steps, with the help of the most High, to provide for the necessities of the church. In the aforesaid however, the said synod has no intention of including the most reverend lord cardinal of holy Cross as long as he is engaged in negotiations for peace between the kingdoms of France and England; but in respect of the most reverend lord cardinals of Plasencia and of Foix, as they are commonly called, and the cardinal of St Eustathius, since they are in nearer localities, it limits the above-mentioned interval to two months. Further the holy synod orders all lord patriarchs, archbishops, bishops and other prelates of churches, and clerics, notaries and ecclesiastical personages, as also other faithful of Christ, of every status, dignity, grade and condition, and it requires and requests all princes and lords, even if they possess imperial, regal, ducal or any other authority, who shall have been requested regarding the above, that in virtue of holy obedience, under threat of the divine judgment and under pain of excommunication, they should report, intimate and notify all and each of the aforesaid things to the said most holy lord pope and to the most reverend lord cardinals, and should have them reported, intimated and notified to these people in person, if they have safe and convenient access to them. Where personal access is not possible, this is to be done by affixing notices drawn up by a public notary, if this can be done safely, to their residences and also on the door of the apostolic palace and on the churches of St John Lateran, St Peter’s and St Mary Maggiore; or failing that, on the chief churches of the cities of Sutri Viterbo and Siena, or three other neighbouring cities, as it shall seem better. This holy synod decrees that these places are suitable for the execution of all the aforementioned. Yet this holy synod, desiring to meeting future eventualities and to avoid all waste of time, since delay in these matters is fraught with danger, ordains and decrees that a decree of admonition and citation of this kind, after it has been read out in this solemn session and published, shall be affixed to the doors of the cathedral church of Basel so that, should it happen that its intimation cannot be effected in any of the ways outlined above, in that case, as by a public edict, for four months to be calculated from this day, the publication, monition and citation shall be considered as performed in respect of all its effects, so that all its effects are obtained and it binds those to whom it is directed as if it had been insinuated and presented in person, the above peremptory force and threats being considered here as inserted. Further, this holy council declares and insists that, despite the aforesaid delays, since a legal summons has already been issued by the decrees of the council of Constance, and since the urgency of the situation suggests the following, as does also the nature of what is to be accomplished in the continuation of the council and of the things to be done in it, it means to proceed in anorderly, due and mature manner, and for that reason not to be remiss in any way in the process. Lastly, this holy synod decrees citations for all prelates and others who are obliged to come to a general council, and each and all generals of orders and also inquisitors of heresy, with the delay of a fixed term or terms as it shall seem good to the deputies, with penalties and censures and suitable conditions. SESSION 4: 20 June 1432 The holy general synod of Basel, legitimately assembled in the holy Spirit, representing the universal church. By this decree we indicate to all that to each and every priest, baron, noble, soldier and citizen and every other man of whatever status, condition or rank from the kingdom of Bohemia and the marquisate of Moravia, from Prague and the cities and other places of the same, and to all other ecclesiastical and secular persons who, male or female, will be sent with them to the general council of Basel and are about to set out, to all these persons under whatever name they are listed or can be called, within however the number of two hundred persons, by the force of this present decree we grant and give our fullest and perfect safe-conduct and we bestow a most genuine security for their coming to this city of Basel and their abiding, staying and resting here, and for their treating with us on affairs suitably committed to them and their arranging, concluding and ending them. We allow them to perform the divine offices in their lodgings without any obstacle on our part; so that also, on account of their presence, neither on their journey nor in any other place of their journey, in coming, remaining or returning, nor in the city itself of Basel, will cessation from divine offices be imposed in any way in the form of an interdict. Further, they will be allowed freely to propose and explain in the general council or synod of Basel, by word of mouth or in writing, the four articles on whose clarity they insist; to prove, support and recommend them with quotations from the sacred scriptures and the blessed doctors and, if need be, to reply to the objections of the general synod or to argue about them with one or several from the council or to discuss them in a charitable way without any impediment; with reproach, abuse and taunt being totally excluded, observing the form and the ways specified and mutually agreed between our envoys and the messengers of the aforesaid kingdom and marquisate in the city of Eger; and specifically that in the case of the four articles proposed by them, the divine law, the apostolic practice of Christ and of the primitive church, and the councils and doctors truly founding themselves on the same, will be accepted in the council of Basel as the most true and impartial judge. Whether these discussions are or are not brought to a conclusion, whenever by the order or permission of their superiors they, or any one of them, shall choose to return home, then straightaway, without any refusal, condition or delay, they may return freely and safely at their pleasure, with their goods, honour and persons intact, but with the knowledge of the deputies of the council so that suitable provision may be made, without guile or fraud, for their safety. Moreover, in this safe-conduct of theirs we wish all clauses to be included and contained, and to be held as included, which are necessary and opportune for full, efficacious and sufficient safety in coming, staying and returning; we express these things clearly in order to secure and keep the good of peace. If any one or several of them, whether coming on their journey to us in Basel or while staying here or on their return, shall commit (may it not be so) some heinous crime by which the benefit of security conceded to them could be annulled and quashed, we wish, admit and concede that those arrested in a deed of such sort shall straightaway be punished only by their own people, not by others, by an adequate censure and a sufficient penalty to be approved and praised by us, with the form, conditions and ways of their security remaining completely unimpaired. Similarly if any of ours, whether on their way to us in Basel or while staying here or returning, shall commit (may it not be so) some heinous crime through which the benefit of the security conceded to them could be annulled or quashed, we wish that those arrested in a crime of this sort shall straightaway be punished only by us and our people, not by others, by an adequate censure and a sufficient penalty to be approved and praised by the lord ambassadors and envoys, with the present form, conditions and ways of the security remaining completely unimpaired. We wish also that it be allowed to each and every ambassador as often as it is opportune or necessary, to leave the city of Basel in order to take the air and to return to it, and freely to send and despatch their messengers to any place for the arrangement of necessary affairs and to receive a messenger or messengers as often as it suits them, in such a way that they are accompanied by the deputies of the council who will provide for their safety. Further, neither in discussions, public sermons or other conferences can or may our side, in prejudice, derogation or depreciation of the case of the four articles, employ or procure in the locality of the city of Basel any terms that tend to disorder. These safe-conducts and assurances are to remain in force from the moment when, and for as long as, they are received into the care of our protection, to be brought to Basel, and in all the period of their staying here: and again on the conclusion of a sufficient hearing, an interval of twenty days having been set in advance, when they shall request it, or after the hearing the council shall decide, we shall, with God’s help and without any guile or fraud, let them return from Basel to Tuschkau, Tachov or Engelsberg, to whichever of these places they prefer to go. Also for all of Christ’s faithful, especially for the most holy lord the Roman pontiff, the most serene prince the lord Sigismund, king of the Romans etc. , the venerable lord cardinals, archbishops and bishops and lord abbots, prelates and clerics as well as for the most illustrious princes, kings, dukes, marquises, counts, barons and noble soldiers, universities, and communities of cities, castles and towns, and their councillors, magistrates, officials and others of whatever condition and status, whether ecclesiastical or secular, under whatever name they go, and for the subjects of all the aforesaid and every part of them, we promise in good faith and guarantee that all of us and every one of the aforesaid persons will observe and guard the prescribed security and the form of their safe-conduct in all its conditions, points and clauses elaborated above, inviolably and unbroken in good faith and with pure heart. Further, we promise that we neither wish nor ought on any alleged occasion, covertly or overtly, to employ any authority, power, law, statute or privilege of laws or canons or of any councils whatever, especially of Constance and Siena, in whatever form of words they may be expressed, to any prejudice of the safe-conduct or assurance and the public hearing which we have granted to them. But if we or anyone of us, of whatever condition or status or pre-eminence, shall violate in any detail or clause the form and way of the above assurance and safe-conduct (which, however, may the Almighty deign to avert), and a suitable penalty shall not have followed straightaway, to be fittingly approved and praised by their judgment, let them hold us, as indeed they can, to have incurred all penalties which by divine and human law or by custom violators of such safe-conducts incur, without any excuse or any challenge from this side. [If the apostolic see becomes vacant while the council is in progress, the election may not be held outside the council]’ The holy general synod of Basel, legitimately assembled in the holy Spirit, representing the universal church, bears in mind that it pertains to the duty of providence to foresee the future with clear-sighted consideration and to take wholesome steps against what could bring harm to the common good. The synod is intent upon the extirpation of heresies, peace among the people of Christ and the reformation of morals, with the grace of the holy Spirit, as is really necessary in view of the present situation. It has summoned the venerable fathers in Christ, the cardinals of the holy Roman church, to this sacred council, convinced that their presence at it is fruitful in many ways in view of their authority, wisdom and knowledge of affairs. If, then, as obedient sons they are coming to the council when the apostolic see falls vacant elsewhere, such a situation would redound to the benefit of the church but the obedient cardinals would be serving the council to their own disadvantage, whereas everyone knows that obedience should bring with it not disadvantage but an increase of benefit and honour. Lest disobedience may seem to be to the advantage of some who fail to come, this holy synod, with purposeful anticipation and for the above and other reasons which can and should motivate a prudent mind establishes, decrees and defines that, in the event of a vacancy of the apostolic see while this sacred council is in progress, the election of the supreme pontiff shall be held in the place of this sacred council, and it forbids it to be held elsewhere. The synod also decrees that any attempt against this by any authority whatsoever, be it even papal, notwithstanding any constitutions issued or to be issued or anything else acting to the contrary, even if there should be special mention in so many words or a confirmation on oath, which the synod rejects with full knowledge, is null and void and of no force or importance by law; and that those who attempt such things shall be disqualified in both active and passive voice with respect to the election of a Roman pontiff and for every other dignity, and deprived perpetually of all dignities which they hold, and shall automatically incur the mark of infamy as well as sentence of excommunication. If any such pretended election should be attempted, then both the one allegedly elected and his supporters as well as those who treat him as elected incur in the same way the above-mentioned penalties. The said synod reserves to itself, except at the moment of death, absolution of everyone who in any way shall incur the said sentences or any one of them. It declares that the present decree shall bind and come into force after forty days following its publication. SESSION 5: 9 August 1432 [In this session there were approved rules about the organization of the council: On cases and the procurator of the faith; Judges are deputed for the general examination of cases; That members of the council may not be brought to trial outside the place of this council; Officials are appointed.] SESSION 6: 6 September 1432 [This session was devoted to reading: Petition of the promoters of the council against the pope and the cardinals.] SESSION 7: 6 November 1432 [Interval for a papal election] The most holy general synod of Basel, legitimately assembled in the holy Spirit, representing the universal church, for an everlasting record. Earlier this holy synod issued a decree about the election of a Roman pontiff if a vacancy of the apostolic see occurs during this sacred council. It is entitled, It pertains to the duty of providence . . . , and is to be found in full in the fourth session. However, a doubt about that decree has occurred to some, namely that the interval of ten days which the constitution of the council of Lyons fixed for the cardinals of the holy Roman church to enter the conclave, might elapse and be too restricted at least by the time that notification of the vacancy reaches this council. For, the interval would seems to be too rigid and too short for many of the cardinals who may be away in localities distant from this council. Moreover this holy synod wishes to eliminate all grounds for doubt and to provide carefully for what is conducive to the peace and unity of God’s holy church, and with all modesty and due maturity to proceed with what is known in this matter, as in all things to promote the exaltation of the catholic faith and the general reformation and peace of the christian people, for which the council is legitimately assembled in the holy Spirit. It therefore decrees that in the case of a vacancy of the apostolic see in the lifetime of this present council, nothing shall be done for the election of a Roman pontiff before the expiry of sixty days from the day of the vacancy. SESSION 8: 18 December 1432 [Decree that there ought to be only one council] The most holy general synod of Basel, legitimately assembled in the holy Spirit, representing the universal church, for an everlasting record. Just as there is only one holy catholic church, as Christ her spouse says, My dove, my perfect one, is only one, and as an article of the faith declares, since unity does not tolerate division, so there can be only one general council representing the holy catholic church. Since, therefore, by decrees of the sacred general councils of Constance and of Siena and by the approval of two Roman pontiffs, namely Martin V and Eugenius IV of happy memory, a general council was instituted and established in this city of Basel and assembled legitimately in the holy Spirit, it is clear that during this council another general council cannot exist elsewhere. Whoever therefore, during the lifetime of this sacred council shall presume to raise and hold another assembly with the title of a general council, is convicted of raising and holding a conventicle of schismatics and not a council of the catholic church. Therefore this holy council warns and exhorts all Christ’s faithful, of whatever status or rank they may be, even if papal, imperial or regal, under the adjuration of the divine judgment which holy scripture relates in the case of Korah, Dathan and Abiram, authors of schism, and it strictly commands and forbids them in virtue of holy obedience and under the penalties laid down by the law, not to hold or summon, during this sacred council, another assembly with the title of a general council, which in reality would not be a council, nor to go to or to take part in or in any way to have recourse to it as if it were a general council, even under the pretext of any promise or oath, nor to hold or esteem it to be or even to call it a general council, even if it claims to have been summoned or shall try in the future to be summoned. If any ecclesiastical person, even a cardinal of the holy Roman church, or anyone else of whatever status, rank or condition he may be, shall dare to go to or stay in Bologna or any place with a pretended general council, during this present council, he shall automatically incur sentence of excommunication and deprivation of all benefices, dignities and offices and disqualification from them; and the dignities, offices and benefices of such persons may be freely disposed of by those to whom this pertains by law even if SESSION 9: 22 January 1433 [This session was entirely taken up with the solemn reception of the emperor Sigismund.] SESSION 10: 19 February 1433 [This session was almost entirely taken up with reading: Accusation of contumacy of the pope.] SESSION 11: 27 April 1433 [For the permanent validity of the authority of general councils] The holy general council of Basel, legitimately assembled in the holy Spirit representing the universal church, for an everlasting record. Since the frequent holding of general councils, as a principal means of cultivating the Lord’s field affects the universal church, every effort should be made that all obstacles that could impede so holy an institution are removed with great care. Hence this holy synod, obeying the decree of the council of Constance beginning The frequent, and anxious that no scandals such as unhappily have occurred in our day should spring up again in the future, to the detriment of the church, establishes and decrees that the Roman pontiff, who ought to be the first in working in the Lord’s vineyard and in drawing others to work by his example, should take part in general councils in person or by a legate or legates a latere who is or are to be chosen in consultation with and with the consent -- which is not to be just by word of mouth -- of two-thirds of the cardinals. Also, all ecclesiastical persons who by law or custom ought to attend general councils are bound henceforward to come in person without further summons to general councils, both by force of the constitution The frequent and by the authority of this sacred council of Basel or of some other future council legitimately assembled, unless they are prevented by a legitimate impediment, in which case they are bound to send suitable persons with a sufficient mandate. If the Roman pontiff or other above-mentioned persons fail to do this, or in any way take means to impede change, prorogue or dissolve the council, and shall not have repented with real satisfaction within four months, thereafter the pope will be automatically suspended from the papal administration and the other persons from the administration of their dignities; the papal administration will devolve by law upon the sacred council. If they persist with hardened hearts under the aforesaid penalties for a further two months after the said four months, then the general council shall proceed against both the Roman pontiff and the above-mentioned persons up to and including the penalty of deprivation. [That everybody is free to come to the council] This holy synod decrees that, notwithstanding any prohibition, even from the Roman pontiff, there is freedom for absolutely all persons, of whatsoever status or condition they may be, even if they are cardinals of the Roman church, to go to general councils; and that the Roman pontiff is bound to grant permission to those who wish to go to general councils, especially to the aforesaid cardinals, if they request it. [The council explains the phrase about prorogation of the council, and annuls attempts to the contrary, including future attempts] This holy synod also declares that those words “it may never be prorogued”, contained in the said decree, are to be understood so prohibitively that it cannot be prorogued even by a pope, and that a council actually assembled cannot be dissolved or moved from place to place by a Roman pontiff without the express consent of the council itself, and it quashes, voids and annuls anything that may be attempted in the future against this or even in disparagement or obstruction of this general council or of the persons, prelates and supporters of it, by deprivation, translation and ecclesiastical censures or in any other way. [That the council may not be dissolved or moved without the express consent of two-thirds of each deputation, etc.] For certain reasonable causes it decrees that the present council of Basel cannot be dissolved or moved from place to place by anybody, even by the pope, unless there is obtained the express consent of two-thirds of each deputation, after a scrutiny of the votes of individual members, and then the approval of two-thirds of the general congregation, after a similar scrutiny of the votes of individual members, and finally a declaration is to be made in a public session. It prays through the tender mercy of Jesus Christ, and by the sprinkling of his precious blood it adjures all members of this sacred council, both present and future, that in no way they give their consent to a dissolution or allow a change of place, except for just and manifest reasons, before the reform in head and members has been completed, in so far as this can reasonably be achieved. [That the place of the council should be chosen a month before the dissolution, and the phrase “in ten years” is clarified] In accordance with the ordinance of the council of Constance, it wishes that the place of the future council should be chosen at least a month before the date of the dissolution. It also declares, as a precaution, that the phrase “in ten years” which is used in the said constitution should be understood in this way, namely that the ten years should be completely finished, and when it is fully completed the authorization to hold a general council begins. If it happens for any reason that those who are obliged to attend general councils do not come at the beginning, it declares that the said authorization to hold the council does not thereby cease, but that it should be held as soon as it conveniently can. But so that it cannot be deferred for a long time, this council decrees that for twenty days before the end of the said ten years, or of some other interval if perhaps this should reasonably be determined by the council, the Roman pontiff in person or through his legate or legates, and the archbishop in whose province or diocese the council is to be held and all the prelates who are within four days’ journey of the place of the forthcoming council, provided there is no canonical impediment, in person or, if that cannot be, through suitable men constituted as proxies for this purpose, are obliged to present themselves so as to negotiate about the disposition of the place and other preliminaries of the council. On the day appointed for the opening of the council, those present shall celebrate a solemn mass of the holy Spirit, and the council shall be considered constituted and begun from that day. However, on account of the many necessities that can occur for those coming to a council, this holy synod exhorts those who shall be present not to bring difficult questions to a conclusion until after a reasonable wait for those absent and a fitting interval of time, rather, with divine fear as a guide, let everything proceed with due gravity, as the great mass of business of the universal church demands and requires. In those cases in which, according to the decree of Constance, the pope may, with the consent of the cardinals of the holy Roman church, change the place of a future council, it determines that, should the pope fail to do this, the college of cardinals may supply for the defect, on condition however that two-thirds of the cardinals agree, keeping, , nevertheless to the procedure contained in the said decree The frequent. The said cardinals shall swear by God and their consciences that they are making the change of place, if indeed they decide this, for the clear reasons that are mentioned in the decree The frequent. [That the electors of a pope before entering the conclave shall swear that, if one of them is elected, he will observe the said decrees]’ So that the aforesaid may be put into execution the more easily, the holy synod determines that the electors of a Roman pontiff are bound, before entering the conclave, to swear to God and to promise the church that, should one of them be chosen as pope, he will observe the above decrees, statutes and ordinances, and to the best of his ability will endeavour to fulfil them really and effectively adding that whoever in future years shall be chosen as Roman pontiff must swear, among the other things which he must profess according to the decree of the council of Constance beginning Since the Roman pontiff, effective observance of the present decree. Later, in his first public consistory, he is bound to make again the same profession and let him also profess that, if he violates what is contained in this decree or commits a notorious crime which scandalizes the church, he will subject himself to the judgment of a general council. Both he and the college of cardinals shall insert this profession in the letters which they customarily send throughout the world on the accession of a new pope. [That this decree should be published in synods] So that nobody may plead ignorance of this wholesome and necessary decree, the holy synod orders, in virtue of holy obedience, all metropolitan bishops to have this decree read and published in provincial and synodal councils, and superiors of religious to have it read and published in their general chapters. 2 SESSION 12: 13 July 1433 [Decree on elections and confirmations of bishops and prelates] Just as in building a house the architect’s chief concern is to lay such a foundation that the edifice built on it will endure immovable, so in the general reformation of the church the principal preoccupation of this holy synod is that the pastors set over the church may be such that, like pillars and bases, they will firmly uphold the church by the strength of their doctrine and merits. The office enjoined on prelates manifestly shows how great care should be taken in their election, for they are appointed for the government of souls for which our lord Jesus Christ died and shed his precious blood. Therefore the sacred canons promulgated under the Spirit of God, providentially established that each church and college or convent should elect a prelate for itself. Adhering to these prescriptions this holy synod, assembled in the same Spirit, establishes and defines that a general reservation of all metropolitan, cathedral, collegiate and monastic churches and elective dignities ought not to be made or used by the Roman pontiff in the future, always with the exception of reservations contained in the body of law and those which may arise in territories mediately or immediately subject to the Roman church by reason of direct or beneficial dominion. Rather, provision should duly be made for the aforesaid metropolitan, cathedral, monastic and collegiate churches and elective dignities, when they are vacant, by canonical elections and confirmations in conformity with the dispositions of the common law, without thereby derogating from statutes, privileges and reasonably customs, all postulations in the disposition of the common law remaining intact. This holy synod also decrees that it will be in conformity with reason and beneficial for the common good that the Roman pontiff should attempt nothing contrary to this salutary decree, except for an important, reasonable and manifest cause, which is to be specified expressly in an apostolic letter. So that this salutary decree may be more strictly adhered to, the same holy synod wishes that, among other things that the Roman pontiff shall profess on assuming office, he shall swear to observe inviolably this decree. Since prelates should be such as is described above, those with the right of electing them should be very careful that they make a worthy election in the presence of God and of the people, and let them be most solicitous to elect such persons as can fill so great an office. Let them remember that if they act in so important an affair either fraudulently or carelessly or without regard for the fear of God, they will be the authors and cause of evil pastors and will therefore share in the penalties which the evil pastors themselves will suffer in the severe judgment of God. Since the endeavour of human fragility can effect nothing without the help of almighty God, from whom every good endowment and every perfect gift comes down, those in whose hands lies the election of a pontiff or an abbot shall meet in church on the day of the election in order to hear with great devotion a mass of the holy Spirit, whom they will humbly petition to deign to inspire them to elect a worthy pastor. The more devoutly they approach the act of election, the more readily they will merit that grace, so let them confess and reverently receive the sacrament of the eucharist. When they have entered the place of the election of any prelate who is to be chosen through election, they shall swear in the hands of the president of the chapter, and the president in the hands of his immediate subordinate, in these words: I, N. , swear and promise to almighty God and to such and such a saint (according to the dedication of the church) to elect the person who I believe will be the more useful to the church in spiritual and temporal things, and not to give a vote to anyone who I think is procuring the election for himself by the promise or gift of some temporal thing, or by making a request in person or through another, or in any other way directly or indirectly. He who appoints a procurator to elect a certain person shall take the same oath and shall confess and communicate; so also shall a procurator with a general mandate for election in matters in which by common law he can be appointed a procurator in the business of such an election. The oath shall be taken also by those who may have made an agreement about the election of a future prelate, and they too are obliged to confess and to communicate. If they do not do so, for that occasion they shall be deprived by law of the power of electing. Thereupon let them elect to the said prelacy a man of lawful age, of serious character and adequate education, already in sacred orders and suitable in other respects in accordance with canonical regulations. If the election is made in another way and of a different kind of person than the above or by the wickedness of simony, the election shall be invalid and null by law. Those electing simoniacally shall be automatically subject to perpetual deprivation of the right of electing, besides other penalties. Others shall be subject to canonical penalties. Those elected simoniacally and those who take part in such a simoniacal election, as well as the electors and those confirmed shall automatically incur the penalty of excommunication in horror of so great a crime. Moreover, those so elected and confirmed cannot be absolved from such guilt and excommunication unless they freely resign the churches and dignities which they had disgracefully obtained, and they are rendered perpetually disqualified from acquiring them again. In order to remove every root of ambition this holy synod implores through the tender mercy of Jesus Christ and most earnestly exhorts kings and princes, communities and others of whatever rank or dignity, ecclesiastical or secular, not to write letters to electors or to provide petitions for someone who will get such petitions or letters for himself or for another, and much less to resort to threats or pressure or anything else whereby the process of election would be rendered less free. Similarly, in virtue of holy obedience, it is enjoined on electors not to elect anyone on the strength of such letters, petitions, threats or pressure. When the election has been completed and presented to the person who has the right of confirmation, if a co-elected person or an objector to the election shows himself, he should be summoned by name to discuss the matter of the disputed election. Usually a public announcement should be made in the church in which the election was held, in accordance with the constitution of Boniface VIII of happy memory. Whether or not a co-elected person or an objector appears, the confirmer should proceed in virtue of his office, as is done in the business of the inquisition, using diligence in the due examination and discussion of the form of the election, of the merits of the one elected and of all the circumstances. The confirmation or the annulment of the election should be done in a judicial manner. So that the whole process may be clean and without blemish or even a suspicion of it, the confirmer should altogether refrain, personally as well as through others, from presuming to demand anything at all or even to receive free offerings in return for the confirmation or under the pretext of homage, subvention, gratitude or any other excuse of supposed custom or privilege. For notaries and scribes in such cases, let a moderate fee be levied which is proportionate to the work of writing and not to the value of the prelacy. If the said confirmers shall confirm elections in contravention of the above regulations or in respect of unsuitable persons or involving simony, such confirmations are automatically null. This is to be the case for the occasion, for those who confirm persons other than as stated above: but for the stain of simony, if they have incurred it, they automatically incur sentence of excommunication, from which they cannot be absolved except by the Roman pontiff’, except at the point of death. This holy synod exhorts the supreme pontiff, since he should be the mirror and standard of all sanctity and purity, not to demand or accept anything at all for confirming elections referred to him. Otherwise, if he scandalizes the church by notorious and repeated contraventions, he will be delated to a future council. However, for the burdens which he must carry for the government of the universal church, and for the sustenance of the cardinals of the holy Roman church and of other necessary officials, this holy council will make due and suitable provision before its dissolution. If it does not make any provision in this way, then those churches and benefices which hitherto paid a certain tax on the entry into office of a new prelate, shall be obliged thenceforward to pay in parts half of this tax for the year after their peaceful possession; this provision shall continue until the sustenance of the said pope and cardinals is otherwise provided for. By these ordinances the same synod does not intend any prejudice to the holy Roman and universal church or to any other church. SESSION 13: 11 September 1433 [In this session there was read out, Accusation of contumacy of the pope made by the promoters of the sacred council; the time-limit already intimated to Eugenius IV for him to come to Basel and to abrogate his decree dissolving the council was deferred; finally a new Decree for the protection of members was approved.] SESSION 14: 7 November 1433 [In this session there was made, Another deferral, for ninety days, of the monition to the pope, to which were added two proposals, one regarding the revoking of the suspension of the council. the other regarding Eugenius IV’s assent to the council.] SESSION 15: 26 November 1433 [On provincial and synodal councils] The holy general council of Basel, legitimately assembled in the holy Spirit, representing the universal church, for an everlasting record. Already this holy synod has promulgated a most salutary decree on the stability and authority of general councils, the frequent holding of which is a principal means of cultivating the Lord’s field. Indeed, since there is no doubt that episcopal synods and provincial councils form part of this same cultivation, inasmuch as the ancient canons decreed that they should be frequent, so this holy synod, desiring that ancient and praiseworthy customs should be observed in our age, establishes and commands that an episcopal synod should be held yearly in every diocese after the octave of Easter, or on another day according to diocesan custom, at least once a year where custom does not prescribe two, by the diocesan in person unless he is prevented by a canonical impediment, in which case by a vicar who is fitted for the task. This synod should last at least two or three days, or as the bishops deem to be necessary. On the first day, when the diocesan and all those who are obliged to be present at the synod have assembled, during or after the celebration of mass, the diocesan or another in his name shall expound the word of God, exhorting all to strive after good behaviour and refrain from vice, and to strive after what pertains to ecclesiastical discipline and each one’s duties, and especially that those who have the care of souls should instruct the people subject to them in doctrine and with salutary exhortations on Sundays and feast-days. Then there should be read out the provincial and synodal statutes and, among other things, a comprehensive treatise on how the sacraments should be administered and other useful points for the instruction of priests. Then the diocesan himself should diligently inquire into the life and morals of his subjects and check with suitable correction the evil of simony, usurious contracts, concubinage, fornication and all other faults and excesses. He should revoke alienations of ecclesiastical property forbidden by law, and he should correct and reform abuses of clerics and other subjects who have failed in respect of the divine office and the wearing of proper dress. Since many scandals often arise because Pope Boniface VIII’s constitution Periculoso on the enclosure of nuns is not observed, the diocesan should insist that this enclosure be strictly observed in accordance with that constitution; also that all religious subject to the diocesan should inviolably observe the rules and constitutions of their orders, especially that all ownership is renounced by them. Also let nothing be demanded simoniacally at their reception into a religious order. A chief care of the bishop at the synod should be to make inquiry and to apply proper remedies lest any teaching that is heretical, erroneous, scandalous or offensive to pious ears, or fortune-telling, divinations incantations, superstitions or any diabolic inventions, infiltrate into his diocese. Let there be appointed synodal witnesses, who should be serious, prudent and honest men, filled with zeal for God’s law, in a number proportionate to the area of the diocese, or others with their powers if none are appointed for this, who may be removed by the diocesan if they seem to him to be unsuitable and he may appoint others (as he thinks fit). They shall be obliged to take an oath in the hands of the diocesan himself or of his vicar, as is stated in the canon Episcopus in synodo; they shall travel round the diocese for a year and shall refer what they have seen to be in need of correction and reform to those whose duty it is to correct and reform. If these matters are not corrected and reformed, they shall refer them to a subsequent synod, when proper remedies should be applied. Besides what the diocesan hears from the synodal witnesses or others exercising their office, he should himself inquire assiduously about the faults of his subjects and so confront the guilty with the discipline of needed correction that it may serve as an example to others inclined to do evil. Also, in every province within two years of the end of a general council, and thereafter at least once in every three years, a provincial council should be held in a safe place. It should be attended by both the archbishop and all his suffragans and others who are obliged to take part in such provincial councils, after a due summons has been issued to them. If a bishop is prevented by a canonical impediment, he should designate his procurator, not only to excuse and justify his absence, but also to participate in the council in his name and to report back what the council decides. Otherwise the bishop is automatically suspended from receiving half the fruits of his church for one year: these should be effectively diverted to the fabric of his church by someone deputed in the council itself. Others who fail to attend are to be punished at the decision of the council and other penalties of the law are to remain in force. Provincial councils are not to be held while a general council is sitting and for six months beforehand. At the beginning of a provincial council the metropolitan or someone in his name during the celebration of mass or afterwards, shall deliver an exhortation calling to mind the things that pertain to the ecclesiastical state and especially the episcopal office and warning all the participants that, as the prophet says, if any soul is lost by their fault his blood will be required by the Lord at their hands. In particular, there should be a strict warning that orders and benefices should be conferred, without any simony, on worthy and deserving persons whose lives are sufficiently well known. Above all, the greatest care and mature inquiry should be used when entrusting the care of souls. Ecclesiastical property on no account should be used for illegal purposes, but for the glory of God and the conservation of churches and, following the holy canons, with a primary concern for the poor and needy, mindful that at the tribunal of the eternal judge they will have to give an account of all of it to the very last farthing. In these councils there should be, according to the regulations of the law, a careful investigation into the correction of faults, the reform of the morals of subjects and especially the conduct of bishops in conferring benefices, confirming elections, administering orders, deputing confessors, preaching to the people, punishing the faults of their subjects and observing episcopal synods, and in any other points respecting the episcopal office and the jurisdiction and administration of bishops in spiritual and temporal matters, especially whether they keep their hands clean of the stain of simony, in order that all those who are found to have transgressed in the aforesaid matters may be corrected and punished by the council. A similar careful inquiry should be instituted about the metropolitan himself in all these respects, and the council should explain clearly to him his faults and defects, admonishing and imploring him that since he is called and ought to be the father of others, he should altogether desist from such failings. Even so, the council should send straightaway to the Roman pontiff, or to another of his superiors if he has one, a written account of the investigation made about him, so that he may receive punishment and fitting reform from the Roman pontiff or other superior. Besides, if there are discords, quarrels and feuds among some which could disturb the peace and tranquillity of the province, the holy council should strive to pacify them and seek watchfully, as would a dutiful father, for peace and agreement among its sons. If discords of this sort arise between kingdoms, provinces and principalities, the holy bishops of God should straightaway arrange the simultaneous convocation of provincial councils and, in combining their respective counsel and help, strive to banish whatever promotes discord; they should not cease from this out of love or hatred for anyone, but raising the eyes of their minds to God alone and the salvation of their people and putting aside all half-heartedness, they should be intent on the sacred work of peace. Moreover, in a provincial synod that immediately precedes a forthcoming general council, thought should be given to all that is likely to be dealt with in that general council, to the glory of God and the good of the province and the salvation of the christian people. Let a suitable number of people be elected at it to go in the name of the whole province to the next general council; let them be provided for by a grant or in some other way, according to the law and the judgment of the provincial council; in such a way, however, that those wishing to go to the council or their clergy, in addition to those deputed as above, shall in no way be disadvantaged thereby. Also, let there be read out in each provincial council those things which the canonical regulations order to be read out in them, so that they may be observed inviolably and transgressors may be duly punished. If metropolitans and diocesans fail to celebrate provincial and episcopal synods at the aforesaid time, after the cessation of any legal impediment, they shall lose half of all fruits and revenues accruing to them by reason of their churches, and these shall be applied immediately to the fabric of their churches. If they persist in such neglect for three consecutive months, they shall automatically be suspended from their offices and benefices. After these intervals of time have elapsed, with the aforesaid penalties, the senior bishop in the province of the metropolitan, or the person in orders who is highest in dignity below a bishop, unless by custom or privilege it pertains to another, is obliged to supply for this failure to hold the said provincial and episcopal synods. Moreover, this holy synod bids all superiors of religious communities and orders of all kinds, who are responsible for holding chapters, to hold them at the appointed times, under the aforesaid penalties, and to see that they are held; and let them aim in them, in accordance with canonical sanctions and the constitutions of the orders, at a true reform of the individual communities and orders, so that thereafter regular observance may duly flourish in all monasteries in accordance with their rules and constitutions, and in particular that the three fundamental vows of profession may be strictly observed. By the aforesaid, however, the holy synod does not mean to derogate in any way from anyone’s rights. SESSION 16: 5 February 1434 [This session declares the adherence of Pope Eugenius to the council, with the usual ceremonies; Eugenius’s bull Dudum sacrum, and three other bulls abrogated by that bull, are incorporated into the acts.] SESSION 17: 26 April 1434 [On the admission of the presidents into the council in the name of the lord pope Eugenius IV] The holy general synod of Basel, legitimately assembled in the holy Spirit, representing the universal church, admits the beloved sons of the church Nicholas, priest of the title of holy Cross in Jerusalem, and Julian, deacon of St Angelo, cardinals of the holy Roman church, the venerable John, archbishop of Taranto, and Peter, bishop of Padua, and the beloved son of the church Louis, abbot of St Justina of Padua, as presidents in this sacred council in the name, stead and place of the most holy lord pope Eugenius IV, to have the fullest authority and effect throughout, but only on the following conditions: they are to be without any coercive jurisdiction, and the way of proceeding hitherto observed in this council is to remain unchanged, especially what is contained in the ordinances of this sacred council beginning, First, there shall be four deputations, as there are, among which all from the council shall be distributed equally as far as is possible, etc. It also ordains that apart from on a Friday, which is the ordinary day for a general congregation, another general congregation cannot be called unless at least three of the deputations agree to this beforehand. And then the presidents should be informed, or one of them, so that they may announce the programme. If they do not, one of the promoters of the council or someone from the deputations shall announce the programme. All from the council shall come to the congregation. On the other occasions, if the three deputations do not agree, nobody shall come to that congregation; and whatever is done there shall be null and void. The same with regard to a session. When what has been agreed upon by the deputations has been read out in the general congregation, the first of the presidents there present, even if another or others of them are absent, shall conclude the matter in accordance with the ordinances of the sacred council. If he or another of the presidents then presiding refuses to do this, the next prelate in the order of seating shall conclude the matter. If he is unwilling, let another in succession do it. If it happens that none of the presidents comes to a congregation or a session of the general council, then the first prelate, as indicated above, shall fulfil the office of president for that day. Also, all the acts of this sacred council shall be made and despatched under the name and seal of this council, as has been done until now. SESSION 18: 26 June 1434 [On the renewal of the decree of the council of Constance about the authority and power of general councils] The holy general synod of Basel, legitimately assembled in the holy Spirit, representing the universal church, for an everlasting record. It is well known that it redounds to the great benefit of the catholic church that its authority, which was earlier declared in the sacred council of Constance and to which all are obliged to submit, should be manifested frequently and the attention of all should be drawn to it. Just as councils of the past were accustomed to renew the salutary institutions and declarations of previous synods, so this holy synod too renews that necessary declaration on the authority of general councils, which was promulgated in the said council of Constance in the words that follow: First it declares . . . and Next it declares , SESSION 19: 7 September 1434 [On the agreement between the council and the Greeks about union] The holy general synod of Basel, legitimately assembled in the holy Spirit representing the universal church, for an everlasting record. As a dutiful mother is ever anxious about the health of her children and is uneasy until any dissension among them has been quietened, so and to a much greater extent holy mother church, which regenerates its children to eternal life, is wont to strive with every effort that all who go by the name of Christian may put aside all quarrelling and may guard in fraternal charity the unity of the faith, without which there can be no salvation. It has therefore been a primary care of this holy synod from the beginning of its meeting to put an end to the recent discord of the Bohemians and the ancient discord of the Greeks, and to bind them to us in the same permanent bond of faith and charity. We invited in all charity to this sacred council, through our letters and envoys, first the Bohemians, since they are nearer, and then the Greeks, so that the holy union might be achieved. Although many from the beginning thought that the Bohemian affair was not only difficult but almost impossible and judged our labours to be a waste of time and useless, nevertheless our lord Jesus Christ, to whom nothing is impossible, has so safely directed the business until now that the invitation to the Bohemians has been of much greater benefit to holy church than the many powerful armies which frequently invaded their country. This fills us with greater hope to pursue the union with the Greeks with all confidence and perseverance. We approach this task the more willingly because we perceive the Greeks to be very inclined to this union. For as soon as the most serene emperor of the Greeks and the patriarch of Constantinople were approached by our envoys, straightaway they appointed to this holy synod three outstanding men from those who seem to be of great authority among them -- the first of whom was indeed a blood-relative of the emperor -- with a sufficient commission from the emperor himself signed by his own hand and with a golden seal, and furnished with letters of the patriarch. Both in a general congregation and in the presence of our commissaries they expressed the most fervent desire of the emperor, the patriarch and the whole eastern church for this union. They urge and daily stimulate us in a wonderful way to pursue this holy work, strongly and persistently affirming two things: that union is only possible in a universal synod in which both the western church and the eastern church meet, and that union will assuredly follow if matters proceed in that synod in the way that is agreed below. We were filled with joy and gladness when we heard this. For what happier and more glorious thing could ever happen to the catholic church than that so many eastern peoples, who seem to be about equal in number to those of our faith, should be joined with us in the unity of faith ? What could be more useful and fruitful to the christian people, since the beginning of the church, than for an inveterate and destructive schism to be completely eradicated ? Moreover, we trust that with God’s help another benefit will accrue to the christian commonwealth; because from this union, once it is established, there is hope that very many from the abominable sect of Mahomet will be converted to the catholic faith. What, then, should not be attempted and done by Christ’s faithful for so holy and salutary an objective? What Catholic is not in duty bound to risk not only the passing substance of this world but even his body and soul for such an advance of the christian name and the orthodox faith? Wherefore, we venerable cardinals of the holy Roman church, presidents of the apostolic see, casting all our thought on God, who alone does great wonders, deputed the patriarch of Antioch and a suitable number of archbishops, bishops, abbots, masters and doctors to treat of this question with the ambassadors of the Greeks and to look for a way to reach a solution. After these men had frequently met and discussed among themselves and with the envoys, they reached the conclusions given below. These conclusions, in accordance with the custom of this council, were seriously debated by the deputations and ratified by a general congregation. Their contents, together with the chrysobull of the lord emperor, are as follows. [Agreement of the deputies of the sacred council with the ambassadors of the Greeks] The ambassadors of the most serene lord emperor of the Greeks and of the lord patriarch of Constantinople, namely the lord Demetrius protonostiarius Palaeologus Metotides, the venerable Isidore abbot of the monastery of St Demetrius, and the lord John Dissipatus of the household of the same emperor, meeting together with the lord deputies of the sacred council, first declared that if the western church would agree that this synod should be held in Constantinople, the eastern church would meet there at its own expense and there would be no need for the western church to pay any expenses to eastern prelates. Indeed, the lord emperor himself would, within his limits, provide for Latin prelates on their way to Constantinople. But if it was preferred that the prelates of the eastern church should come to Latin territories for the said synod, then for legitimate reasons the western church would have to meet the expenses of the eastern church. Since the said lord deputies for many reasons believed that this union would be more conveniently arranged in the city of Basel, where in fact the council was sitting, they frequently and urgently pressed the lord envoys that this place should be chosen for the holy union and offered to pay the necessary expenses for this. The envoys replied that since the instructions given to them by the emperor and the patriarch contained limitations on certain places, they would not choose the city of Basel because it was not mentioned in the instructions. The deputies of the sacred council, aware of the holy and perfect intention of the council not to spare any labour and expenditure for the honour of God and the advance of the catholic faith, judged it inexpedient to miss so great a good merely on a question of place. So they agreed, subject to the council’s consent, to one of the places named below with the condition, which is detailed later, that one or more persons should be sent to the lord emperor, the patriarch and others to persuade them by cogent reasons to agree to the city of Basel. The nominated places are these: Calabria, Ancona or another maritime territory; Bologna, Milan or another Italian city; and outside Italy, Buda in Hungary, Vienna in Austria or in the last place, Savoy. The lord deputies agreed with the lord ambassadors in what follows, subject to the council’s consent. First, the ambassadors promised that the emperor of the Greeks, the patriarch of Constantinople, the other three patriarchs and the archbishops, bishops and other ecclesiastics who can conveniently come, will come to the synod. Likewise, representatives will come from all the kingdoms and territories subject to the churches of the Greeks, with full power and authority which shall be confirmed by oath and suitable documents by both the secular authorities and the prelates. Also, the sacred council shall send one or more ambassadors with eight thousand ducats for the holding of a congregation of the prelates of the eastern church in Constantinople. The eight thousand ducats will be paid out by the ambassadors of the sacred council, as it shall seem good to the lord emperor or to the ambassadors themselves; but in such a way that, if the said prelates refuse to come to Constantinople or, having come to Constantinople, refuse to go to the synod, then the emperor shall be bound to restore to the said ambassadors whatever they may have expended on this matter. Also, that the western church shall pay the expenses of four large galleys, of which two shall be from Constantinople and two from elsewhere, to convey to our port at the appropriate time the emperor, the patriarchs and the prelates of the eastern church with their suites, to the number of seven hundred persons, and to return them to Constantinople. The western church shall pay the expenses for this in the following way. For the expenses of the emperor and of seven hundred persons from Constantinople to our last port, it will give the emperor fifteen thousand ducats. From the said last port to the place of the said council, and thereafter as long as they remain at the synod and until their return to Constantinople, it will give to the emperor with the said seven hundred persons fair expenses. Also that within the ten months after next November, the sacred council shall be obliged to send two large galleys and two lighter ones to Constantinople with three hundred crossbowmen. On these galleys shall travel the ambassadors of the sacred council and the lord Demetrius protonostiarius Palaeologus, chief of the lord emperor’s ambassadors. These ambassadors of the sacred council will have with them fifteen thousand ducats to be given to the lord emperor for the expenses that he and the patriarchs, prelates and others who are coming, to the number of seven hundred persons, shall incur between Constantinople and the last port at which they shall put in, as mentioned above. Also, the said ambassadors of the sacred council who are to travel on the galleys will arrange that ten thousand ducats are at hand to be expended, if necessary, on the defence of the city of Constantinople against any danger that the Turks might cause the city during the lord emperor’s absence; this money will be expended by someone deputed by the said ambassadors of the sacred council in proportion to the necessity. Also, the said ambassadors of the sacred council will pay the cost of two light galleys and three hundred crossbowmen for the defence of the city of Constantinople in the lord emperor’s absence, and shall ensure that the crews of the said galleys and the crossbowmen take an oath in the hands of the emperor that they will serve him faithfully. Their captains shall be appointed by the emperor. Also, that the said ambassadors shall have for the expenses of the two large galleys what is usually expended in arming such galleys. Also, the ambassadors of the sacred council who are to go with the said galleys to Constantinople, shall name to the lord emperor the port at which they should finally land and the place, from among those listed above, where the said universal synod shall be held. They will, however, strive with all their might that the city of Basel be chosen, as is to be hoped. Also, this sacred council of Basel will remain meanwhile at Basel, and shall not be dissolved as long as there is no legitimate impediment; but if a legitimate impediment arises, which may God avert, it may transfer itself for its continuation to another city, in accordance with the decree The frequent . If the lord emperor is not satisfied with this place, then within one month after he has landed at the said last port, the sacred council will transfer itself to one of the said places nominated by the same council, as was said above. Also that, in any event, all the above shall be fulfilled by both parties; and all the above shall be effected in a really stable way and with the greatest force and security that is possible for the sacred council, namely by a decree and under a seal. Also, when all the aforesaid matters have been concluded and agreed and, as was said, fully confirmed, the supreme pontiff should give his express consent by his patent bulls. Everything above is to be understood in good faith, without fraud or deceit and without legitimate or manifest impediment. If all the clauses are fulfilled, the said ambassadors of the Greeks shall state and promise that assuredly the above persons will come even if there should be war and threats to their city, and in confirmation of all this they will deliver to the sacred council a chrysobull of the said emperor, and on behalf of the said emperor they and the others shall take an oath, in writing and signed, in pledge of their firm and true belief that the universal holy synod ought to take place with God’s help, unless there intervenes the death of the emperor or some obvious and real obstacle that cannot be escaped or avoided. Lastly, the ambassadors of the Greeks were requested to explain the meaning of some terms contained in their instructions. First, what they understand by “universal synod”. They replied that the pope and the patriarchs ought to be present at the synod either in person or through their procurators; similarly other prelates ought to be present either in person or through representatives; and they promised, as is stated above, that the lord emperor of the Greeks and the patriarch of Constantinople will participate in person. “Free and inviolate”, that is each may freely declare his judgment without any obstacle or violence. “Without contention”, that is without quarrelsome and ill-tempered contention; but debates and discussions which are necessary, peaceful, honest and charitable are not excluded. “Apostolic and canonical”, to explain how these words and the way of proceeding in the synod are to be understood, they refer themselves to what the universal synod itself shall declare and arrange. Also that the emperor of the Greeks and their church shall have due honour, that is to say, what it had when the present schism began, always saving the rights, honours, privileges and dignities of the supreme pontiff and the Roman church and the emperor of the Romans. If any doubt arises, let it be referred to the decision of the said universal council. There follows the text of the chrysobull of the said emperor translated from Greek into Latin, Whereas there were sent . . . 1; and the letter of the lord patriarch of Constantinople with a leaden seal translated from Greek into Latin, which is as follows, Joseph by the grace of God archbishop of Constantinople . . . we receive the letter of your reverence . . . 2 By the authority of the universal church, therefore, this holy synod by this present decree approves, ratifies, confirms, determines and decrees the above clauses and agreements, and it promises to observe each and all of them and to keep them intact, as is said above. As they lead to an increase of the orthodox faith and the benefit of the catholic church and the whole christian people, they should be most welcome and acceptable to all who love the faith of Christ. Since, as has been said above, the Greeks for a variety of reasons request that the most holy lord pope Eugenius IV should expressly consent to these clauses and agreements, lest on this account so great a good should be let slip, this holy synod implores and begs Eugenius in all charity, and through the tender mercy of Jesus Christ it requests and demands with all possible insistence, that he expresses his assent, for the benefit of the faith and of ecclesiastical unity, to the aforesaid clauses and agreements, which have already been approved and ratified by a synodal decree, by his bulls in the customary style of the Roman curia. [Decree on Jews and neophytes] The holy general synod of Basel, legitimately assembled in the holy Spirit, representing the universal church, for an everlasting record. This holy synod following in the footsteps of our saviour Jesus Christ, desires in deepest charity that all may acknowledge the truth of the gospel and thereafter abide in it faithfully. By these salutary instructions it desires to provide measures whereby Jews and other infidels may be converted to the orthodox faith and converts may remain steadfastly in it. It therefore decrees that all diocesan bishops should depute persons well trained in scripture, several times a year, in the places where Jews and other infidels live, to preach and expound the truth of the catholic faith in such a way that the infidels who hear it can recognise their errors. They should compel infidels of both sexes who have reached the age of discretion, to attend these sermons under pain both of being excluded from business dealings with the faithful and of other apposite penalties. But the bishops and the preachers should behave towards them with such charity as to gain them for Christ not only by the manifestation of the truth but also by other kindnesses. The synod decrees that Christians of whatever rank or status who in any way impede the attendance of Jews at these sermons, or who forbid it, automatically incur the stigma of being supporters of unbelief. Since this preaching will be more fruitful in proportion to the linguistic skill of the preachers, we decree that there must be faithful observance of the constitution of the council of Vienne, which ordered the provision in certain universities of teachers of the Hebrew, Arabic, Greek and Chaldean languages. So that this may be more adhered to, we wish that the rectors of these universities should add to what they swear to on taking office, that they will endeavour to observe the said constitution. It should be clearly laid down, at the councils of the provinces in which these universities are situated, that the teachers of the said languages are to be adequately recompensed. Furthermore, renewing the sacred canons, we command both diocesan bishops and secular powers to prohibit in every way Jews and other infidels from having Christians, male or female, in their households and service, or as nurses of their children; and Christians from joining with them in festivities, marriages, banquets or baths, or in much conversation, and from taking them as doctors or agents of marriages or officially appointed mediators of other contracts. They should not be given other public offices, or admitted to any academic degrees, or allowed to have on lease lands or other ecclesiastical rents. They are to be forbidden to buy ecclesiastical books, chalices, crosses and other ornaments of churches under pain of the loss of the object, or to accept them in pledge under pain of the loss of the money that they lent. They are to be compelled, under severe penalties, to wear some garment whereby they can be clearly distinguished from Christians. In order to prevent too much intercourse, they should be made to dwell in areas, in the cities and towns, which are apart from the dwellings of Christians and as far distant as possible from churches. On Sundays and other solemn festivals they should not dare to have their shops open or to work in public. [About those who desire conversion to the faith] If any of them wishes to be converted to the catholic faith, all his goods, both movable and immovable, shall remain intact and unharmed in his possession. But if his goods were acquired by usury or illicit dealings, and the persons to whom restitution ought to be made are known, it is absolutely necessary that this restitution be made, since the sin is not forgiven unless the illegal object is restored. However, if these persons are no longer an issue because the church has turned the goods to pious uses, this holy synod, acting for the universal church, grants in favour of the baptism received that the goods should remain with the church as a pious use, and it forbids both ecclesiastics and secular persons, under pain of divine anathema, to cause or allow to be caused any vexation on this count under any pretext whatsoever, but they should regard it as a great gain to have won such persons for Christ. Moreover since, as it is written, if anyone has this world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him ?, this holy synod through the tender mercy of God exhorts all, both ecclesiastics and secular persons, to stretch out helping hands to such converts if they are poor or in need at the time of their conversion. Bishops should exhort Christians to aid these converts and should themselves support them from the income of churches, as far as they can, and from what passes through their hands for the benefit of the poor, and they should defend them with fatherly solicitude from detraction and invective. Since by the grace of baptism converts have been made fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, and since regeneration in the spirit is of far greater worth than birth in the flesh, we determine by this edict that they should enjoy these privileges, liberties and immunities, of the cities and localities in which they are regenerated by holy baptism, which others obtain merely by reason of birth and origin. Let the priests who baptise them and those who receive them from the sacred font carefully instruct them, both before and after their baptism, in the articles of the faith and the precepts of the new law and the ceremonies of the catholic church. Both they and the bishops should strive that, at least for a long time, they do not mingle much with Jews or infidels lest, as occurs with convalescents from illness, a small occasion may make them fall back into their former perdition. Since experience shows that social communication between converts renders them weaker in our faith, and has been found to damage much their salvation, this holy synod exhorts local ordinaries to exercise care and zeal that they are married to born-Christians, in so far as this seems to promote an increase of the faith. Converts should be forbidden, under pain of severe penalties, to bury the dead according to the Jewish custom or to observe in any way the sabbath and other solemnities and rites of their old sect. Rather, they should frequent our churches and sermons, like other Catholics, and conform themselves in everything to christian customs. Those who show contempt for the above should be delated to the diocesan bishops or inquisitors of heresy by their parish priests, or by others who are entrusted by law or ancient custom with inquiring into such matters, or by anyone else at all. Let them be so punished, with the aid of the secular arm if need be, as to give an example to others. (Source: Church Councils)
There should be careful inquiry into all these things in provincial councils and synods, and an opportune remedy should be applied not only to negligent bishops and priests but also to converts and infidels who scorn the above. If anyone, of whatever rank or status, shall encourage or defend such converts against being compelled to observe the christian rite or anything else mentioned above, he shall incur the penalties promulgated against abettors of heretics. If converts fail to correct themselves after a canonical warning, and as Judaizers are found to have returned to their vomit, let proceedings be taken against them as against perfidious heretics in conformity with the enactments of the sacred canons. If there have been granted to Jews or infidels, or perhaps shall be granted to them in the future, any indults or privileges by any ecclesiastics or secular persons, of whatever status or dignity, even papal or imperial, which tend in any way to the detriment of the catholic faith, the christian name or anything mentioned above, this holy synod decrees them quashed and annulled; the apostolic and synodal decrees and constitutions enacted about the above remaining in force. In order that the memory of this holy constitution may be perpetually retained and that nobody may be able to claim ignorance of it, the holy synod orders that it should be promulgated at least once a year during divine service in all cathedral and college churches and other holy places where the faithful gather in large numbers. SESSION 20: 22 January 1435 [Decree on concubinaries] The holy general synod of Basel, legitimately assembled in the holy Spirit representing the universal church, for an everlasting record. We are inclined to grant requests for authentic statutes and decrees in proportion to the likelihood that they will be observed. For this reason we ordered to be extracted from our acts and recorded in this present document, at the request of the beloved sons of the church N. and N. , who assert that they need texts of this kind for judicial and extra-judicial purposes, the texts of the constitutions transcribed below, which we issued some time ago and promulgated in the cathedral church of Basel on 22 January 1435 and incorporated into our acts. They are as follows. Any cleric of whatsoever status, condition, religious order or dignity, even if it be episcopal or some other pre-eminence, who, after receiving notice of this constitution, as he may be presumed to have done, for two months after its publication in cathedral churches, which bishops are bound to arrange, after the constitution has come to his notice, still persists as a public concubinary, shall automatically be suspended for three months from the fruits of all his benefices. These fruits shall be consigned by his superior to the fabric or some other evident need of the churches from which the fruits come. His superior is bound to admonish him, as soon as he is aware that he is a public concubinary, to dismiss his concubine within a very short time. If he does not dismiss her, or having dismissed her takes her again or another woman, this holy synod orders his superior to deprive him of all his benefices. These public concubinaries moreover, shall be disqualified from receiving any goods, dignities, benefices or offices until such time as, after dismissing their concubines and an evident emendation of their lives, they shall have received a dispensation from their superiors. Those who receive a dispensation and then return to public concubinage, as to their vomit, shall be totally debarred from the above without any hope of another dispensation. If those who are responsible for correcting such people fail to punish them, as stated above, their superiors shall punish properly both them for their neglect and the others for their concubinage. Severe measures must be taken also in provincial and synodal councils against both those who neglect to punish and those who are reputed offenders, even by suspension from the conferment of benefices or some other adequate penalty. Those who are found by provincial councils or their superiors to deserve deprivation for public concubinage, but who can be deprived only by the supreme pontiff, should be referred immediately to the supreme pontiff together with the process of inquiry. The same diligence and inquiry should be employed by general and provincial chapters in respect of their subjects: and other penalties established against them and other non-public concubinaries are to remain in force. By “public” is meant not only someone whose concubinage is made notorious by a judicial sentence or a legal confession or by a notoriety that no subterfuge can conceal, but also anyone who keeps a woman suspected of incontinence and of ill repute and who, after being admonished by his superior, does not dismiss her. Because in some regions there are persons with ecclesiastical jurisdiction who are not ashamed to accept bribes from concubinaries for allowing them to wallow in their filth, this holy synod commands, under pain of eternal malediction, that henceforth they shall not tolerate or dissemble such conduct in any way by agreement, composition or promise; otherwise, in addition to the aforesaid penalty for negligence, they shall be strictly obliged and compelled to give to pious causes double what they have received in this way. Prelates should take every care to segregate from their subjects concubines and women of doubtful repute, even by recourse to the secular arm if need be, and they should not allow children born of such concubinage to live with their fathers. This holy synod also orders that this constitution is to be published in the aforesaid synods and chapters, and that stern warning should be given to subjects to dismiss their concubines. It also enjoins on all secular men, even if they are of royal rank, not to interpose any obstacle whatever under any excuse to prelates who proceed, in virtue of their office, against their subjects for concubinage. Moreover, since fornication of every kind is forbidden by divine law and is to be avoided under pain of mortal sin, this holy synod warns all lay people, both married and single, to abstain from concubinage. That man is most blameworthy who has a wife but goes to another woman. If a single man cannot abstain, let him marry, as the apostle advises. Let those responsible strive with all their strength, by salutary advice and canonical sanctions, for the observance of this divine precept. [Excommunicates are not to be shunned unless specifically named] To avoid scandals and many dangers and to relieve timorous consciences, this holy synod decrees that henceforth nobody shall be obliged to abstain from communion with anyone in the administration and reception of sacraments or in any other sacred or profane matters, or to shun someone or to observe an ecclesiastical interdict, on the ground of any ecclesiastical sentence, censure, suspension or prohibition that has been promulgated in general by a person or by the law, unless the sentence, prohibition, suspension or censure was specifically or expressly promulgated or pronounced by a judge against a specified person, college, university, church or place, or if it is clear that someone has incurred a sentence of excommunication with such notoriety that it cannot be concealed or in any way excused in law. For the synod wishes such persons to be avoided in accordance with canonical sanctions. By this, however, it does not intend any relief or favour to those so excommunicated, suspended, interdicted or prohibited. [Interdicts are not to be imposed lightly] Since an undiscriminating promulgation of interdicts has led to many scandals, this holy synod determines that no city, town, castle, vill or place may be laid under an ecclesiastical interdict except by reason or through the fault of the places themselves or of their lord, governors or officials. Such places cannot be laid under an interdict by any ordinary or delegated authority by reason or through the fault of any other private person, unless the person has been previously excommunicated and denounced, or publicly named in a church, and the lords or governors or officials of the places, though requested by the authority of a judge, have not effectively evicted the excommunicated person within two days or made him give satisfaction. If he is evicted after two days, or retires or gives satisfaction, divine services may be resumed straightaway. This applies also to dependencies of the place. So that lawsuits may be brought to a speedier end, a second appeal is hereby forbidden if it is a question of the same complaint or if the appeal is made from the same interlocutory sentence which does not have the force of a final judgment. Anyone who makes a frivolous or unjust appeal before the final judgment shall be condemned by the appeal judge to pay to the party appealed against the sum of fifteen gold florins of the treasury, in addition to the expenses, damages and interest. SESSION 21: 9 June 1435 [On annates] The holy general synod of Basel, legitimately assembled in the holy Spirit, representing the universal church, for an everlasting record. In the name of the holy Spirit the paraclete, this holy synod decrees that in future, both in the Roman curia and elsewhere, for the confirmation of elections, admission of postulations and provision of presentations and for collations, dispositions, elections, postulations, presentations, even if made by layfolk, institutions, installations and investitures, in respect of cathedral and metropolitan churches, monasteries, dignities, benefices and any ecclesiastical offices whatsoever, and for sacred orders, blessings and pallia, nothing whatsoever is to be exacted, either before or after, for sealing the bull of the letters, or for common annates, minor services, first fruits or dues, or under any other title or name, or on the pretext of any custom, privilege or statute, or for any other reason or occasion, directly or indirectly. Only the writers abbreviators and registrars of the letters or minutes shall receive a suitable salary for their work. If anyone dares to contravene this sacred canon by demanding, giving or promising anything, he shall incur the penalty inflicted on simoniacs and shall acquire no right or title to the dignities or benefices thus obtained. Obligations, promises, censures and mandates, and whatever is done to the prejudice of this most salutary decree, are to be deemed null and void. Even if, which God forbid, the Roman pontiff, who beyond all others should carry out and observe the canons of universal councils, should scandalize the church by acting contrary to this sanction, he should be delated to a general council. Others are to be punished by their own superiors with a fitting penalty, proportionate to their offence, in accordance with canonical sanctions. [About those in peaceful possession] Whoever has been in possession for the last three years, not through violence but with a specious title, peacefully and without a lawsuit, of a prelacy, dignity, benefice or office, or shall have possession of them in the future, cannot be disturbed afterwards in his claim or possession by anyone, even by reason of a newly enacted law, except in the case of warfare or some other legitimate impediment, which he must protest and intimate in accordance with the council of Vienne. A lawsuit in this case is to be understood as regards future controversies, if the proceedings have reached the execution of the citation, the exhibition of his right in the judgment and the observance of all the terms. Ordinaries, however, should make careful inquiry to see that nobody possesses a benefice without a title. If they find such a person, they shall declare that the right does not belong to him, and they shall give the right either to him, if they think fit, unless he is an intruded person or violent or undeserving in some other way, or to some other suitable person. [How the divine office is to be celebrated in church] A person who is about to make a request to a secular prince takes pains to compose himself and his words by decent dress, becoming gesture, regulated speech and close attention of mind. How much more careful ought he to be in all these things when he is about to pray to almighty God in a sacred place! The holy synod therefore decrees that in all cathedral and collegiate churches, at suitable times and at the sound of a bell, the divine praises shall be reverently celebrated by everyone through all the hours, not hurriedly but gravely and slowly and with reasonable pauses, especially in the middle of each verse of the psalms, and with a suitable distinction between solemn and ferial offices. Those who recite the canonical hours shall enter the church wearing an ankle-length gown and a clean surplice reaching below the middle of the shin-bone or a cloak, according to the different seasons and regions, and covering their heads not with a cowl but with an amice or a biretta. Having arrived in the choir, they shall behave with such gravity as the place and the duty demand, not gossiping or talking among themselves or with others, nor reading letters or other writings. They have gathered there to sing, so they should not keep their mouths shut rather all of them, especially those with more important functions, should sing to God eagerly in psalms, hymns and canticles. When “Glory be to the Father and, to the Son and to the holy Spirit” is being recited, all shall rise. Whenever mention is made of the glorious name of Jesus, at which every knee should bow in heaven, on earth and under the earth, they shall bow their heads. Nobody should read or say the office there privately during the public chanting of the hours in common, for not only does this take away due honour from the choir but also it distracts the singers. To ensure that these things and whatever else concerns the performance of the divine office and the discipline of the choir are duly observed, the dean, or the person whose duty it is, shall carefully keep watch, looking round, to see if there is anything not in order. Transgressors shall be punished with the penalty of that hour in which the offence was committed, or even more severely, as the gravity of the fault demands. [The times at which each one should be in choir] Whoever is not present at matins before the end of the psalm Come let us exult at the other hours before the end of the first psalm, and at mass before the last Lord have mercy, until the end, except in cases of necessity and then only with the permission of the president of the choir, is to be considered absent from that hour, saving however any stricter regulations of churches in this regard. The same is to be observed with regard to those who do not remain in processions from the start until the finish. To ensure observance of this, someone, who shall be under oath to act honestly and to spare none, should be deputed with the duty of noting individuals who are absent at the appointed times. This holy synod also orders that in churches in which stipends are not allotted for individual hours, a deduction should be made from the gross revenues of delinquents so that their emoluments are more or less proportionate to their labours, thus destroying the abuses whereby anybody present at only one hour gets a full day’s stipend and presidents or deans or other officials, from the mere fact of being officials, receive the daily stipends even when absent for purposes other than those of their church. [How the canonical hours should be recited outside choir] This holy synod admonishes all holders of benefices, or those in holy orders, since they are bound to the canonical hours, if they wish their prayers to be acceptable to God, to recite the day and night offices, not in a mumble or between their teeth, nor swallowing or abbreviating their words, nor intermingling conversation and laughter, but, whether they are alone or with others, reverently and distinctly and in such a place as will not diminish devotion, for which they ought to dispose and prepare themselves, as the scripture says: Before prayer prepare your soul, and do not be like someone who tempts God. [About those who wander about the church during services] Any holder of a benefice in a church, especially of a major one, if he is seen wandering around inside or outside the church during the divine services, strolling or chatting with others, shall automatically forfeit his attendance not only for that hour but also for the whole day. If after being corrected once he does not stop, let him be deprived of his stipends for a month, or, if he is obstinate, let him be subjected to a heavier penalty so that in the end he is forced to desist. Also, noisy comings and goings in the church should not be allowed to impede or disturb the divine service. Regulars who err in these matters in conventual churches should be punished with a heavy penalty at the judgment of their superior. [About a notice-board hanging in the choir] So that everything may be well ordered in the house of God and that each person may know what he has to do, let there be affixed a notice-board permanently hanging in the choir, with information on it of the duties of each canon or other benefice-holder as regards reading or singing at the individual hours during the week or a longer time. Anyone who fails to do in person or by proxy what is prescribed there, shall forfeit for each hour the stipend of one day. [On those who at mass do not complete the creed, or sing songs, or say mass in too low a voice or without a server] There are abuses in some churches whereby the “I believe in one God”, which is the symbol and profession of our faith, is not sung to the end, or the preface or the Lord’s prayer is omitted, or secular songs are sung in the church, or masses (including private ones) are said without a server, or the secret prayers are said in so low a voice that they cannot be heard by the people nearby. These abuses are to stop and we decree that any transgressors shall be duly punished by their superiors. [About those who pledge divine worship] We abolish also that abuse, so manifestly incompatible with divine worship, whereby some canons of churches, having contracted debts, bind themselves to their creditors in such a way that, if they do not pay their debts by a fixed time there will be a cessation of divine services. We declare this obligation null even if it has been confirmed by oath. We decree that those who make these illicit agreements shall automatically lose for three months their revenues, which shall be applied to their church They shall receive no emoluments from their church until they resume the divine services. [On holding chapters at the same time as the principal’ mass] This holy synod forbids chapters and other meetings of canons to be held, or chapter business to be transacted, at the same time as the principal mass, especially on solemn feasts, unless an urgent and manifest necessity suddenly occurs. Whoever summons the chapter for that time shall be suspended from receiving his daily stipends for a week, and the canons shall forego their stipends for that hour. [On not performing spectacles in churches] In some churches, during certain celebrations of the year, there are carried on various scandalous practices. Some people with mitre, crozier and pontifical vestments give blessings after the manner of bishops. Others are robed like kings and dukes; in some regions this is called the feast of fools or innocents, or of children. Some put on masked and theatrical comedies, others organize dances for men and women, attracting people to amusement and buffoonery. Others prepare meals and banquets there. This holy synod detests these abuses. It forbids ordinaries as well as deans and rectors of churches, under pain of being deprived of all ecclesiastical revenues for three months, to allow these and similar frivolities, or even markets and fairs, in churches, which ought to be houses of prayer, or even in cemeteries. They are to punish transgressors by ecclesiastical censures and other remedies of the law. The holy synod decrees that all customs, statutes and privileges which do not accord with these decrees, unless they add greater penalties, are null. SESSION 22: 15 October 1435 [On the condemnation of the book of friar Augustine of Rome, archbishop of Nazareth] The holy general synod of Basel, legitimately assembled in the holy Spirit, representing the universal church, for an everlasting record. The main reason, among other pious aims, why this holy synod assembled was to preserve the truth of the catholic faith and to eradicate errors and heresies. Therefore the chief goal of our activity is, as soon as we learn of the spread of something that can harm the purity of the christian faith or in any way obscures the brilliance of the light in the minds of the faithful, to eradicate it completely and carefully to clear the Lord’s field of noxious weeds and brambles. This holy synod therefore condemns and censures a certain book by master Augustine, commonly called “of Rome”, archbishop of Nazareth. Its first treatise is entitled, “On the sacrament of the unity of Jesus Christ and the church, or on the whole Christ”; the second, “On Christ the head and his glorious sovereignty”, another, “On the charity of Christ towards the elect and his infinite love”. The holy synod condemns and censures the book as containing teaching that is unsound and erroneous in the faith, as well as its defenders. The holy synod especially condemns and censures, in the book, the assertion which is scandalous, erroneous in the faith and offensive to the ears of the pious faithful, namely: Christ sins daily and has sinned daily from his very beginning, even though he avers that he does not understand this as of Christ our saviour, head of the church, but as referring to his members, which together with Christ the head form the one Christ, as he asserts. Also, the propositions, and ones similar to them, which the synod declares are contained in the articles condemned at the sacred council of Constance, namely the following. Not all the justified faithful are members of Christ, but only the elect, who finally will reign with Christ for ever. The members of Christ, from whom the church is constituted, are taken according to the ineffable foreknowledge of God; and the church is constituted only from those who are called according to his purpose of election. To be a member of Christ, it is not enough to be united with him in the bond of charity, some other union is needed. Also the following. The human nature in Christ is really Christ. The human nature in Christ is the person of Christ. The intimate cause that determines the human nature in Christ is not really distinguished from the nature that is determined. The human nature in Christ is without doubt the person of the Word; and the Word in Christ, once the nature has been assumed, is really the person who assumes. The human nature assumed by the Word in a personal union is truly God, natural and proper. Christ according to his created will loves the human nature united to the person of the Word as much as he loves the divine nature. Just as two persons in God are equally lovable, so the two natures in Christ, the human and the divine, are equally lovable on account of the common person. The soul of Christ sees God as clearly and intensely as God sees himself. These propositions and others springing from the same root, which are to be found in the said book, this holy synod condemns and censures as erroneous in the faith. Lest it come to pass that any of the faithful fall into error on account of such teaching, the synod strictly forbids anyone to teach, preach, defend or approve the teaching of the said book, especially the aforesaid condemned and censured propositions, and its supporting treatises. It decrees that transgressors shall be punished as heretics and with other canonical penalties. By these measures the synod intends to detract in nothing from the sayings and writings of the holy doctors who discourse on these matters. On the contrary, it accepts and embraces them according to their true understanding as commonly expounded and declared by these doctors and other catholic teachers in the theological schools. Nor does the synod intend by this judgment to prejudice the person of the said author since, though duly summoned, he gave reasons for being absent, and in some of his writings and elsewhere he has submitted his teaching to the church’s judgment. Further, this holy synod orders all archbishops, bishops, chancellors of universities and inquisitors of heresy, who are responsible in this matter, to ensure that nobody has the said book and supporting treatises or presumes to keep them with him, rather he shall consign them to these authorities, so that they may deal with them in accordance with the law: otherwise let such persons be proceeded against with canonical censures. SESSION 23: 26 March 1436 [On the election of the supreme pontiff] The holy general synod of Basel, legitimately assembled in the holy Spirit, representing the universal church, for an everlasting record. Since a good shepherd is the salvation of his flock, it is the duty of this sacred synod to strive, with all the diligence that human law can contrive, that the Roman pontiff, who is first in the Lord’s flock and the supreme shepherd, should be and continue to be such as to provide for the salvation of all souls and the benefit of the whole christian world and to fulfil worthily so great an office. Therefore it renews the constitutions about the election of Roman pontiffs which sacred councils and supreme pontiffs have issued and it adds to them some further salutary norms. It decrees that whenever the apostolic see falls vacant, all the cardinals of the holy Roman church who are present in the place where the election of the supreme pontiff is to be held, shall meet together on the tenth day after the see becomes vacant in some chapel or place near the conclave. From there they shall process behind a cross, two by two, devoutly singing the Veni creator Spiritus, and enter the place of the conclave, each taking with him not more than two necessary attendants. In view of the ceremonies, two clerics may also be admitted, at least one of whom shall be a notary. The chamberlain together with the deputies for the custody of the conclave shall ensure that nobody, apart from the aforesaid persons, enters the conclave. After the cardinals have entered and the doors have been closed, the chamberlain shall enter with the deputies and carefully examine the cells of all the cardinals. He shall remove any food and edibles found there, except medicines of the sick and infirm. He shall ensure a careful guard whenever he leaves and closes the door, and each day he shall closely inspect the food being brought in for the cardinals and allow only what seems necessary for moderate refreshment, without prejudice to the decrees passed in the fourth and seventh sessions of this sacred council. On the next day all the cardinals, in the presence of all those in the conclave, shall hear a mass of the holy Spirit and receive the eucharist. Before the voting begins, they shall swear before the holy gospels in these words: I, N. , cardinal of . . . , swear and promise to almighty God, Father, Son and holy Spirit, and to blessed Peter, prince of the apostles, that I shall elect as pontiff the person who I think will be beneficial to the universal church in both spiritual and temporal matters and suitable for so great a dignity; I shall not give my vote to anyone who I have reason to think is directly or indirectly aiming at getting himself elected, by his promising or giving some temporal thing or by asking in person or through another or in any other way whatsoever; and I shall not make obeisance to anyone elected as pontiff before he takes the oath prescribed by this council of Basel; so help me God, to whom on the day of tremendous judgment I shall have to give an account of this oath and all my deeds After this each cardinal shall submit a ballot-card, on which he shall nominate a maximum of three persons. If he nominates more than one person, the second and third persons shall be from outside the college of cardinals. There shall not be more than one ballot on any day and it shall be held immediately after the mass. When the ballot-cards have been read, they shall be burnt straightaway unless two-thirds of the votes are for the same person. No approach shall be made to anyone until six ballots have been completed. During this time let the cardinals reflect and seriously ponder how much merit or loss to themselves, how much fruit or damage to the christian people, how much good or evil, they will be causing by their choice of a pontiff. There is nothing, indeed, by which they can more merit the grace or the wrath of our lord Jesus Christ than when they are setting his vicar over his sheep, which he loved so much as to suffer the torments of the cross and to die for them. [On the profession of the supreme pontiff] The holy synod decrees that the person elected as pope is obliged to express his consent to the election in the manner stated below. It is fitting that this consent should be made to the cardinals, if the person elected is present in the curia, or to one of the cardinals or someone mandated by them if he is not present there, in the presence of a notary and at least ten persons. After he has been informed of the election, he is bound to act within a day of the demand. If he does not do so, his election is annulled and the cardinals must proceed in the Lord’s name to another election. But if he expresses his consent, as stated above, the cardinals shall straightaway make due obeisance to him as supreme pontiff. Once the obeisance has been made by the cardinals, nobody has any right to challenge his pontificate. [Form of consent] In the name of the holy and undivided Trinity, Father, Son and holy Spirit. I, N. , elected pope, with both heart and mouth confess and profess to almighty God, whose church I undertake with his assistance to govern, and to blessed Peter, prince of the apostles, that as long as I am in this fragile life I will firmly believe and hold the catholic faith, according to the tradition of the apostles, of general councils and of other holy fathers, especially of the eight holy universal councils -- namely the first at Nicaea, the second at Constantinople, the third which was the first at Ephesus, the fourth at Chalcedon, the fifth and sixth at Constantinople, the seventh at Nicaea and the eighth at Constantinople -- as well as of the general councils at the Lateran, Lyons, Vienne, Constance and Basel, and to preserve intact this faith unchanged to the last dot, and to defend and preach it to the point of death and the shedding of my blood, and likewise to follow and observe in every way the rite handed down of the ecclesiastical sacraments of the church. I promise also to labour faithfully for the defence of the catholic faith, the extirpation of heresies and errors, the reform of morals and the peace of the christian people. I swear also to continue with the holding of general councils and the confirmation of elections in accordance with the decrees of the holy council of Basel. I have signed this profession with my own hand; I offer it on the altar with a sincere mind to you almighty God, to whom on the day of tremendous judgment I shall have to give an account of this and all my deeds; and I will repeat it at the first public consistory. ‘So that this salutary institution may not fade from the supreme pontiff’s memory with the passage of time, every year on the anniversary of his election or of his coronation, the first cardinal present shall, during mass, publicly and in a loud voice address the supreme pontiff thus: Most holy father, may your holiness heed and carefully ponder the promise which you made to God on the day of your election. He shall then read out the promise and shall continue as follows: May your holiness, therefore, for the honour of God, for the salvation of your soul and for the good of the universal church, strive to observe to your utmost all these things in good faith and without guile or fraud. Recall whose place it is that you hold on earth, namely of him who laid down his life for his sheep, who thrice asked the blessed Peter if he loved him, before he entrusted his sheep to him’, and who, as the just judge whom nothing secret escapes, will exact from you an account of everything to the very last farthing. Remember what blessed Peter and his successors as pontiffs did: they thought only of the honour of God, the spread of the faith, the public good of the church and the salvation and benefit of the faithful; finally, imitating their master and Lord they did not hesitate to lay down their lives for the sheep entrusted to them. Do not lay up for yourself or your kinsfolk treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves and robbers break in, but lay up for yourself treasure in heaven. Do not be an accepter of persons or of blood-ties or of homeland or of nation. All people are children of God and have been equally entrusted to your care and safe-keeping. Say after the example of Christ: Whoever does the will of my Father in heaven, he is my brother and sister and mother. In distributing dignities and benefices put before yourself neither the flesh nor gifts nor anything temporal at all, but solely God and the virtues and merits of people. Exercise ecclesiastical discipline in correcting faults, mindful of what grace Phinehas merited and what punishment Eli, the one for avenging injuries to God, the other for pretending not to know them. Defend, help and support the poor and needy. Show a fatherly charity to all. After the solemnities of his coronation, and each year after the anniversary of his election, the supreme pontiff shall carefully discuss with his brethren, for at least eight consecutive days, how he shall carry out his solemn promises to God. In the first place, therefore, he should examine where in the world the christian religion is being persecuted by Turks, Saracens, Tartars and other infidels; where heresy or schism or any form of superstition flourishes, in which provinces there has been a decline in morals and observance of the divine precepts and in the right way of living, in both ecclesiastical and secular matters, where ecclesiastical liberty is infringed; among which kings, princes and peoples enmity, wars and fears of war are rife; and like a dutiful father he should strive with his brethren carefully to provide remedies. When these affairs of an universal character have been settled, let him deal with those nearer at hand. Let him begin by reforming and ordering in an exemplary way his house, his household and the Roman curia, where and in so far as this is necessary, so that from the visible reform of the church which is the head of all others, lesser churches may draw purity of morals and no occasion may be given for calumny and malicious talk. Making diligent inquiry in person and through others about both important and lesser persons, he should allow no delay or pretence in correcting whatever is found in need of reform, remembering that the sin is twofold, the one being committed, the other and far more serious being its consequences. For whatever is done there is easily made into an example. That is why, if the head is sick, disease enters into the rest of the body. The papal household and court should be a kind of clear mirror, so that all who look at it form themselves and live according to its example. Thereafter let him banish and eradicate any traces of simony, filthy concubinage or whatever may offend God or scandalize people. He should take care that officials do not exercise their offices badly or oppress anybody or extort anything by threats or illegal means, and that those in charge of the officials do not let their excesses go unpunished. They should not tolerate clothes and colours which are forbidden by the sacred canons. Let him instruct the Roman clergy, who are chiefly and immediately subject to him, in all ecclesiastical decorum, admonishing them that God’s approval depends not on the parade and splendour of clothes but on humility, docility, purity of mind, simplicity of heart, holiness of behaviour and the other virtues which commend their possessor to God and to people. Let him enact reforms especially so that the divine services may be observed in the churches of Rome with all seemly devotion and discipline. He should also instruct the people of Rome, which is his own parish, and direct them in the way of salvation. He should bid the cardinals to visit and reform their titular churches and parishes as befits their office. He should appoint some prelate of great learning and of proven and exemplary life as his vicar in the city, to take his place in the episcopal care of the clergy and people, and he should often inquire about whether he is fulfilling his task. Next, let him reflect carefully with the same brethren on the good and wholesome administration of the temporalities of the Roman church and let him ensure that the provinces, cities, towns, castles and lands subject to the Roman church are justly and peacefully ruled with such moderation that the difference between government by ecclesiastics and by secular princes is like that between a father and a master. He should not aim at gain, but cherishing all with paternal charity he should esteem them not as subjects but as sons and daughters. Since he has charge of their spiritual and temporal well-being, he must watch to get rid of all factions and seditious groups -- especially of Guelphs and Ghibellines and other similar parties -- which breed destruction to both souls and bodies. He must strive, employing spiritual and temporal penalties of all possible kinds, to remove all causes of dissension and to keep people united for the defence of the church. To govern the provinces and chief cities, he should appoint cardinals or prelates of untarnished reputation who will seek not financial gain but justice and peace for their subjects. Their legation shall last for two, or at most three, years. When their legation has ended, since it is right that each one should give an account of his stewardship, one or more outstanding men shall be appointed to review their administration and to hear the complaints and petitions of the inhabitants and to render justice; these shall refer what they cannot easily effect to the pope, and he shall strive to find out what the former have done and to punish any illegal actions, so that their successors may learn from their example to avoid illegalities. Officials should be allotted a suitable salary on which they can live honestly, to prevent them turning their hand to what is illicit. The supreme pontiff should often inquire how his legates, governors and commissars, as well as deputies and feudatories of the Roman church, rule their subjects and whether they oppress them with new taxes and exactions. He should not tolerate any austere measure or unjust burden being laid on his subjects’ necks. For it would be wicked to allow those whom the pope should rule as a father to be treated tyranically by others. He should ensure that statutes and ancient constitutions by which provinces and districts have been well governed in the past are kept intact. But if any have subsequently been issued unreasonably or from envy or partiality, they should be cancelled or altered when the reasons for doing so have been understood. Within a year from the day of his election, the Roman pontiff shall summon spokesmen and proctors of the provinces and chief cities of the Roman church and shall question them closely, with fatherly affection, about the following: the state and condition of their territories, how they were governed in the time of his predecessor, whether they are being oppressed by any unjust burden, and what should be done for their good government. Then let him apply to them as to sons remedies which will provide for their benefit and security and for the common good. He should not shrink from repeating this at least every two years. Among the other things that feudatories, captains, governors, senators, castellans and other high officials of Rome and of the lands of the church customarily swear to, there should be added at the time of their installation an oath that, when the papacy is vacant, they will hold their cities, lands, places, citadels, castles and peoples at the command of the cardinals, in the name of the Roman church, and that they will freely and without opposition hand them over to the same. Lest the supreme pontiff may seem to be influenced by carnal affection rather than by right reason, and to avoid the scandals that sad experience shows often arise, in future he shall not make or allow to be made anyone related to him by blood or affinity to the third degree inclusive a duke, marquis, count, feudatory, emphyteutic tenant, deputy, governor, official or castellan of any province, city, town, castle, fortress or place of the Roman church, nor give them any jurisdiction or power over them, nor appoint them captains or leaders of men under arms. The cardinals must never agree with a supreme pontiff attempting to act otherwise, and his successor as pontiff shall withdraw and revoke anything done in this way. In accordance with the constitution of Pope Nicholas IV, the holy synod decrees that half of all fruits, revenues, proceeds, fines, penalties and taxes deriving from all the lands and places subject to the Roman church belongs to the cardinals of the holy Roman church, and that the institution and dismissal of all rulers and governors and guardians, howsoever they may be called, who are in charge of the aforesaid lands and places, and also of the collectors of the said fruits, should be made with the advice and agreement of the cardinals. The holy synod therefore admonishes the cardinals to protect the lands and subjects of the Roman church from harm and oppression and, mindful of their peace, safety and good government, to recommend them, if need be, to the supreme pontiff. While it is true that the supreme pontiff and the cardinals should give careful attention to all the territories of the Roman church, nevertheless the city of Rome should be at the centre of their concern. For there the holy bodies of blessed Peter and Paul and of innumerable martyrs and saints of Christ repose; there is the seat of the Roman pontiff, from which he and the Roman empire take their name; thither all Christians flock for the sake of devotion. They should feel for it a special love and affection, as being peculiarly their daughter and principal parish, so that it should be governed in peace, tranquillity and justice and should suffer no damage to its churches, walls and roads and the security of its streets. Hence this holy synod decrees that from the sum total of the income and proceeds of the city, an adequate portion shall be set aside for the preservation of the churches, walls, roads and bridges and the security of the streets in the city itself and the district; this money is to be administered by men of proven reputation who are to be chosen on the advice of the cardinals. The supreme pontiff calls himself the servant of the servants of God; let him prove it in deeds. As long as people from all parts have recourse to him as to a common father, he should give them all easy access. Let him set aside at least one day in the week for a public audience, when he shall listen with patience and kindness to all, especially the poor and oppressed, and shall grant their prayers as much as he can with God’s help, and shall assist all with kind advice and help as each one has need and as a father does for his children. If he is prevented by some bodily need, he shall entrust this task to some cardinal or other noteworthy person who will report everything to him, and he shall order all officials of the curia, especially the vice-chancellor, the penitentiary and the chamberlain, to expedite business for the poor with speed and free of charge, bearing in mind the apostolic charity of Peter and Paul, who pledged themselves to remember the poor . He should attend a public mass on Sundays and feast-days, and after it for a while he should give audience to the needy. He should hold a public consistory each week, or at least twice a month, to treat of the business of cathedral churches, monasteries, princes and universities and other important affairs. But he should refer lawsuits and lesser matters to the vice-chancellor. He should keep himself free of lawsuits and lesser business as far as he can, so as to be freer to attend to major issues. Since the cardinals of the holy Roman church are considered to be part of the body of the Roman pontiff, it is extremely expedient for the common good that, following ancient custom, serious and difficult questions should hereafter be settled on their advice and direction after mature deliberation, especially the following: decisions on matters of faith; canonizations of saints, erections, suppressions, divisions, subjections or unions of cathedral churches and monasteries; promotions of cardinals; confirmations and provisions relating to cathedral churches and monasteries; deprivations and translations of abbots, bishops and superiors; laws and constitutions; legations a latere or commissions or envoys and nuncios functioning with the authority of legates a latere; foundations of new religious orders; new exemptions for churches, monasteries and chapels, or the revocation of those already granted without prejudice to the decree of the holy council of Constance about not transferring prelates against their will. [On the number and qualities of cardinals] Since the cardinals of the holy Roman church assist the supreme pontiff in directing the christian commonweal, it is essential that such persons be appointed as may be, like their name, real hinges on which the doors of the universal church move and are upheld. The sacred synod therefore decrees that henceforth their number shall be so adjusted that it is not a burden to the church which now, owing to the malice of the times, is afflicted by many serious inconveniences) or cheapened by being too large. They should be chosen from all the regions of Christianity, as far as this is convenient and possible, so that information on new things in the church may be more easily available for mature consideration. They should not exceed twenty-four in number, including the present cardinals. Not more than a third of them at any given time shall be from one nation, not more than one from any city or diocese. None shall be chosen from that nation which now has more than a third of them, until its share has been reduced to a third. They should be men outstanding in knowledge, good conduct and practical experience, at least thirty years old, and masters, doctors or licentiates who have been examined in divine or human law. At least a third or a quarter of them should be masters or licentiates in holy scripture. A very few of them may be sons, brothers or nephews of kings or great princes; for them an appropriate education will suffice, on account of their experience and maturity of behaviour. Nephews of the Roman pontiff, related to him through his brother or sister, or of any living cardinal shall not be made cardinals; nor shall bastards or the physically handicapped or those stained by a reputation of crime or infamy. There can, however, be added to the aforesaid twenty-four cardinals, on account of some great necessity or benefit for the church, two others who are outstanding in their sanctity of life and excellence of virtues, even if they do not possess the above-mentioned degrees, and some distinguished men from the Greeks, when they are united to the Roman church. The election of cardinals shall not be made by oral votes alone, rather only those shall be chosen who, after a genuine and publicized ballot, obtain the collegial agreement, signed with their own hands, of the majority of the cardinals. For this purpose let an apostolic letter be drawn up with the signatures of the cardinals. The decree of this sacred council beginning Also since the multiplication of cardinals, etc., which was published in the fourth session, is to remain in force. When cardinals receive the insignia of their dignity, whose meaning is readiness to shed their blood if necessary for the good of the church, they shall take the following oath in a public consistory, if they are in the curia, or publicly in the hands of some bishop commissioned for this purpose by an apostolic letter containing the oath, if they are not in the curia. I,N., recently chosen as a cardinal of the holy Roman church, from this hour henceforward will be faithful to blessed Peter, to the universal and Roman church and to the supreme pontiff and his canonically elected successors. I will labour faithfully for the defence of the catholic faith, the eradication of heresies errors and schisms, the reform of morals and the peace of the christian people. I will not consent to alienations of property or goods of the Roman church or of other churches or of any benefices, except in cases allowed by law, and I will strive to the best of my ability for the restoration of those alienated from the Roman church. I will give neither advice nor my signature to the supreme pontiff except for what is according to God and my conscience. I will faithfully carry out whatever I am commissioned to do by the apostolic see. I will maintain divine worship in the church of my title and will preserve its goods: so help me God. For the preservation of the titular churches of the cardinals, some of which have sadly deteriorated both in divine worship and in their buildings, to the shame of the apostolic see and of the cardinals themselves, this holy synod decrees that from the revenues and incomes of the territories of the Roman church -- half of which belongs to the cardinals in accordance with the constitution of Pope Nicholas, as was said above -- a tenth of what each cardinal receives shall be applied each year to his titular church. Moreover, each cardinal shall leave to his titular church, either in his lifetime or at his death, enough for the upkeep of one person. If he fails to do so, regarding both this and the said tenth, all his goods shall be sequestrated until due satisfaction has been made. We place the burden of carrying this out on the first cardinal of the order in which he died. Each cardinal present in the curia should make an annual visitation of his titular church in person; each one not present should make it through a suitable deputy. He should also inquire carefully concerning the clergy and the people of his dependent churches, and make useful provision with regard to the divine worship and the goods of these churches as well as the life and conduct of the clergy and parishioners, about whom, since they are his sheep, he will have to render an account at the severe judgment of God. As regards the time of the visitation and other things, let him observe what is laid down in our decree on synodal councils. Although both the dignity itself and the cardinal’s own promise urge him to toil at the holy tasks just mentioned, yet results will be greater if the tasks are spread among individuals. Therefore cardinal-bishops shall inquire about what regions are infected with new or old heresies, errors and superstitions; cardinal-priests shall inquire about where conduct, observance of the divine commandments and ecclesiastical discipline are lax; cardinal-deacons shall inquire about which kings, princes and peoples are troubled by actual or possible wars. Like busy bees, both with the supreme pontiff and among themselves, they should promote these holy works with diligence and in detail, striving to provide a remedy where this is needed. The supreme pontiff for his part, as the common father and pastor of all, should have investigations made everywhere not only when requested to do so but also on his own initiative and he should apply salutary medicines, as best he can, for all the illnesses of his children. If the cardinals ever notice that a pope is negligent or remiss or acting in a way unbefitting his state, though may this never happen, with filial reverence and charity they shall beg him as their father to live up to his pastoral office, his good name and his duty. First, let one or some of them warn him that if he does not desist they will delate him to the next general council, and if he does not amend they shall all do this as a college together with some notable prelates. For the well-being of the supreme pontiff and the common good they should not fear the hostility of the supreme pontiff himself or anything else, provided they act with reverence and charity. Much more so, if it comes to the pope’s notice that some cardinal is acting wrongly and reprehensibly, he should correct him, always with paternal charity and according to evangelical teaching. Thus, acting in charity towards each other, one to another, a father to his sons and sons to their father, let them direct the church with exemplary and salutary government. Let the cardinals both publicly and privately treat with kindness and respect prelates and all others, especially distinguished persons who come to the Roman curia, and let them present their business to the supreme pontiff freely and graciously. Since the cardinals assist him who is the common father of all, it is very unseemly for them to become accepters of persons or advocates. Hence this holy synod forbids them to exercise any favouritism as collateral judges, even if they take their origin from a favoured region. Neither should they be biased protectors or defenders of princes or communities or others against anyone, whether paid or unpaid, but putting aside all sentiment let them assist the pope in pacifying quarrels with harmony and justice. The holy synod urges and commends them to promote the just business of princes and anybody else, especially religious and the poor, without charge and without seeking reward, as an act of charity. Let them preserve with readiness and kindness the gravity and modesty that befits their dignity. Let them maintain towards all people godliness which, according to the Apostle, is profitable in every way. Although they should not neglect their kinsfolk, especially if they are deserving and poor, they should not load them with a mass of goods and benefices to the scandal of others. Let them beware of pouring out on flesh and blood, beyond the bounds of necessity, goods coming from the churches. If the pontiff notices such strutting among the great, he should reprimand and object, as is fitting, and he will be blameworthy if he fails to correct, in keeping with his office, whatever needs correction. The household, table, furniture and horses of both pope and cardinals should not be open to blame as regards quantity, state, display or any other excess. The house and its contents should be on a moderate scale, a model of frugality and not a source of scandal. Both the supreme pontiff and the cardinals, as well as other bishops, should strive to observe the constitution of blessed Gregory which was published at a general synod and which this holy synod now renews the sense of which is as follows: Though the life of a pastor should be an example to disciples, the clergy for the most part do not know the private life-style of their pontiff, even though secular youths know it; we therefore declare by this present decree that certain clerics and even monks should be selected to minister in the pontifical chamber, so that he who is in the seat of government may have witnesses who will observe his true private behaviour and will draw an example of progress from this regular sight. Let them also pay attention to the words of Pope Paschal: “Let bishops spend their time in reading and prayer and always have with them priests and deacons and other clerics of good reputation, so that, following the Apostle and the instructions of holy fathers, they may be found without blame.”3 It does not profit the commonweal for cases other than those concerning elections to cathedral churches or monasteries, or princes or universities or similar matters, to be assigned by the pope or the chancery to cardinals, since they should devote themselves to the greater problems of the universal church. Lesser cases, therefore, should be sent to the court of the Rota, which was instituted for this purpose. Neither the pope nor cardinals should in future send their officials to prelates who have been confirmed or provided, as it were to accept gifts, lest they allow others to do what is unfitting for themselves to do. Something that has happened in the past -- namely a sum of money or something else is subtracted from the goods of a dead cardinal, as a charge for the ring given to him on the assignment of his titular church -- is not to occur in the future, since the labours of cardinals for the commonweal merit rather obsequies from public funds, if they are poor. [On elections] Already this holy synod, with its abolition of the general reservation of all elective churches and dignities, has wisely decreed that provision should be made for them by canonical elections and confirmations. It wishes also to forbid special and particular reservations of elective churches and dignities, whereby free elections and confirmations can be prevented; and to ensure that the Roman pontiff will attempt nothing against this decree, except for an important, persuasive and clear reason, which should be expressed in detail in an apostolic letter. However, much has been done against the intention of this decree and without the required reason, resulting in serious scandals already and the likelihood of even more serious ones in the future. This holy synod wishes to prevent this and does not want the purpose of the decree, which was to remove every obstacle to canonical elections and confirmations, to be deprived of its effect. It therefore decrees that elections should assuredly be held in the said churches without any impediment or obstacle and that, after they have been examined in accordance with common law and the dispositions of our decree, they shall be confirmed. However, if perhaps on occasion it should happen that an election is made which in other respects is canonical but which, it is feared, will lead to trouble for the church or the country or the common good, the supreme pontiff, when the election is referred to him for confirmation, if he is convinced that there exists such a most pressing reason, after mature discussion and then with the signed votes of the cardinals of the Roman church or the majority of them declaring that the reason is true and sufficient, may reject the election and refer it back to the chapter or convent for them to institute another election, from which such consequences are not to be feared, within the legal time or otherwise according to the distance of the place. [On reservations] The numerous reservations of churches and benefices hitherto made by supreme pontiffs have turned out to be burdensome to churches. Therefore this holy synod abolishes all of them both general and special or particular -- for all churches and benefices whatsoever that were customarily provided for by an election or a collation or some other disposition -- which were introduced either by the additional canons Ad regimen and Execrabilis or by rules of the chancery or by other apostolic constitutions, and it decrees that never again shall they exist, with the exception only of reservations expressly contained in the corpus of law and those which occur in the lands mediately or immediately subject to the Roman church by reason of direct or beneficial dominion. [On Clementine “Letters”]3 Although apostolic and other letters may state that someone has renounced, or been deprived of, a dignity, benefice or right, or has done something for which a right of his has been taken away, nevertheless letters of this sort should not prejudice him, even though they are based on the status or the intention of the person making the statement, unless proof is forthcoming from witnesses or other legitimate documents. SESSION 24: 14 April 1436 [About business with the Greeks and about indulgences, etc.] The holy general synod of Basel, legitimately assembled in the holy Spirit, representing the universal church, for an everlasting record. Our ambassadors to the most serene emperor of the Romans and the most reverend lord patriarch of Constantinople, who were sent to Constantinople on behalf and in the name of this holy synod, for various reasons promised to present the terms which were concluded and signed by the two sides on another occasion in this holy synod regarding the manner of holding a universal and ecumenical council of both churches, and to exhibit them with effect, under the customary leaden seal of this holy synod, with the present date and containing the following text word for word. This holy synod, unwilling to omit anything that might help the union of Christ’s churches, accepts, approves, ratifies and confirms by this present decree the said promise of its ambassadors and includes in this document the said terms word for word as was promised by the said ambassadors, as follows. The holy general synod of Basel, legitimately assembled in the holy Spirit, representing the universal church, for an everlasting record. Among the various works necessary for the whole christian people for which this holy council was assembled, the union of the western and eastern churches of Christ is the chief and greatest. Rightly, therefore, from the very start of its proceedings, this holy synod has made every effort to achieve this. For, as quickly as possible it sent its ambassadors with letters to the most serene emperor of the Greeks and the most reverend patriarch of Constantinople, to exhort them with all charity and insistence that they should send some persons with full authority to treat with us on the way to achieve the said holy union. As soon as they were asked, they appointed to this holy synod three outstanding men from those who seem to be of great authority among them -- the first of whom was indeed a blood-relative of the emperor -- with a sufficient commission from the emperor himself signed by his own hand and with a golden seal, and furnished with letters of the patriarch. Both in a general congregation and in the presence of our commissaries they expressed the most fervent desire of the emperor, the patriarch and the whole eastern church for this union. They urge and daily stimulate us in a wonderful way to pursue this holy work, strongly and persistently affirming two things: that union is only possible in a universal synod in which both the western church and the eastern church meet, and that it is to be hoped that this union will follow if matters proceed in that synod in the way that is agreed below. We were filled with joy and gladness when we heard this. Therefore we venerable cardinals of the holy Roman church, presidents of the apostolic see, casting all our thoughts on God, who alone does great wonders, deputed the patriarch of Antioch and a suitable number of archbishops, bishops, abbots, masters and doctors to treat of this question with the ambassadors of the Greeks and to look for a way to reach a solution. After these men had frequently met and discussed among themselves and with the ambassadors, they reached the conclusions given below. These conclusions, in accordance with the custom of this council, were seriously debated by the deputations and ratified by a general congregation. Their contents, together with the chrysobull of the lord emperor, are as follows: The ambassadors of the most serene lord emperor, etc., which is given at length in the council’s decree which is included above. But because the period of time mentioned above, within which the aforesaid things should have been fulfilled, has elapsed, not through the fault of either party but because of various intervening negotiations, this holy synod therefore accepts the period of time agreed by the most serene emperor of the Greeks and the most reverend patriarch of Constantinople on the one side, and by the ambassadors of this sacred council on the other, namely the year beginning this coming month of May, so that for the whole of this May until the following year each of the two parties is prepared to carry out the aforesaid points, and each accepts and promises that it will fulfil for its part, within the said time, whatever is included in the above-mentioned terms. [Safe-conduct for the Greeks given by the sacred council of Basel to the lord emperor of the Greeks and the patriarch of Constantinople] The holy general synod of Basel, legitimately assembled in the holy Spirit, representing the universal church. In our western region and the obedience of the Roman church, a universal and ecumenical synod is to be held, under God’s inspiration, at which both the western church and the eastern church will meet in accordance with the agreement reached at this holy synod and later ratified in Constantinople. In order that the sincerity of our intention towards the eastern church may be manifest to all, and that all possible suspicion as regards the security and freedom of those coming to it may be removed, this holy synod of Basel by this present decree, in the name and on behalf of the entire western church and of all in that church of every status, including those of imperial, regal or pontifical rank or of any lower spiritual or secular dignity, authority or office, decrees, gives and concedes a full and free safe-conduct to the most serene emperor of the Greeks, the most reverend patriarchs of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem, and others up to the number of seven hundred persons, whether of imperial, regal, archiepiscopal or any other rank, dignity or condition, who are coming or shall come to the aforesaid universal and ecumenical council in the west. This holy synod, by this decree, receives and has received into its safe-keeping each and all of the said people, as regards their persons, honours and everything else, in the kingdoms, provinces, lordships, territories, communities, cities, castles, towns, vills and places of our obedience of the western church in which they shall stay or through which they shall pass. It promises and concedes to each and all of them, by this present synodal edict, free and safe permission to approach and enter the city or place in which the said holy universal council will be held; to stay, remain, reside and dwell there with all the immunities, liberties and securities which those of the obedience of the western church dwelling there will have; of debating, arguing and alleging rights and authorities and of saying, doing and treating of, freely and without hindrance from anyone, anything else that may seem to them useful and apt for the union of the churches of Christ. They may at will go out and return from the said town or place safely, freely and without restraint, once or often or as many times as any of them may wish, singly or together, with or without their goods and money, with every real or personal obstacle ceasing and being put aside, even if the said union does not come about, though may that not be so. In the latter case and in every other outcome, the most serene emperor, the lord patriarchs and other aforesaid persons will be taken back to Constantinople, at our expense and in our galleys, without any delay or obstacle, with the same honours, good will and friendship with which they were brought to the said universal council, whether or not union resulted from the council. All this is notwithstanding any differences, disagreements or dissensions about the aforesaid matters, or any of them in particular, which exist at present or could arise in the future between the said western and eastern churches, that is, between the Roman church and those subject and attached to it, and the aforesaid most serene emperor and others attached to the church of Constantinople; notwithstanding any judgments, decrees, condemnations, laws or decretals of any kind that have been or shall be made or issued; notwithstanding any crimes, excesses, faults or sins that may be committed by any of the aforesaid persons; and notwithstanding anything else, even if it is something for which a special mention in this decree is necessary. If one or some of ours should harm one or more of them, though may it not happen, or should molest them in their persons, honour, property or anything else, the miscreant shall be sentenced by us or ours to make adequate and reasonable satisfaction to the injured party. And conversely, if any of them harms any of ours, he shall be sentenced by them to make adequate and reasonable satisfaction to the injured party, in accordance with the customs of both parties. As regards other crimes, excesses and faults, each party will institute proceedings and pass judgment on its own members. This holy synod exhorts all Christ’s faithful and furthermore commands, by the authority of the universal church and in virtue of the holy Spirit and of holy obedience, all prelates, kings, dukes, princes, officials, communities and other individuals, of whatever status, condition or dignity, who are members of our western church, to observe inviolably each and all of the above things and, far as they can, to have them observed; and to honour and treat with favour and reverence, and to have so honoured and treated, both individually and together, the most serene emperor, the patriarch and each and all of the other aforesaid persons on their way to and from the said council. If any doubt arises about the safe-conduct and its contents, it shall be decided by a declaration of the universal synod which is to be held. This holy synod, for its part, wishes the safe-conduct to remain in force until the most serene emperor, the patriarch and other aforesaid persons with their nobles and suites to the number of seven hundred persons, as was stated, and with their goods and chattels, have returned to Constantinople. If anyone attempts to act in any way contrary to the aforesaid or any part of it, let him know that he will incur the indignation of almighty God and of the said holy synod. SESSION 25: 7 May 1437 [On the places for the future ecumenical council for the Greeks] The holy general synod of Basel, legitimately assembled in the holy Spirit, representing the universal church, for an everlasting record. Recently this holy synod among the various tasks for which the inscrutable providence of the divine majesty has deigned, by the invocation of the holy Spirit the paraclete, to bring it together and to employ it in the cultivation of the Lord’s field, turning its mind like a watchful farmer and clearly perceiving how deplorable and abiding has been the division in God’s church over the profession of the same faith by the eastern and western churches, conceived high hope and confidence in the most merciful goodness of him with whom nothing is impossible, and who generously and without restraint gives to all who duly ask him, to bring about the unity of the catholic faith between these churches. It decided, therefore, to apply the resources of its diligence more fully, grudging no labour or expense, because it was convinced that thence would follow the greater praise and glory of almighty God, a more fruitful salvation of souls and a greater increase of the faith. Desirous of undertaking this most salutary project of union, with the help of the grace of the holy Spirit it invited and exhorted to come to the project, through various envoys and letters, the most serene emperor of the Romans, the venerable patriarch of Constantinople, the other prelates and the rest of the Greek people. The emperor, the patriarch and others of the Greeks received these exhortations with eagerness, their hearts inclined and influenced by the grace of the most High. Sincerely zealous to embark on this project of union, they decided to send to this holy synod their solemn envoys and spokesmen, who were furnished with an adequate mandate with the golden seal and signature of the emperor and the leaden seal of the patriarch, devoutly expressing their most fervent desire for this unity of faith. This holy synod concluded with them, in various preliminary meetings and deliberations about the execution of this salutary task of union, certain mutually agreed decrees and terms highly useful and necessary for this purpose, which were recorded above and were promulgated in a session of this holy synod in the cathedral of Basel. Thereafter this holy synod wished to implement these decrees and terms by all necessary and suitable means, and therefore to proceed to choosing a place for the coming ecumenical council, to which the aforesaid emperor, the patriarch and others of the Greeks could and should come. After many propositions about these and other topics relevant to this holy matter had been considered by the various deputations of this holy synod, and after the votes of their members on these points had been counted, finally in a general congregation summoned for this purpose in the said cathedral, as is customary, in which the votes of the individuals were again counted, it was found that more than two-thirds of them had voted for Basel, Avignon or Savoy. After they had invoked the grace of the holy Spirit and celebrated a mass, they agreed that due and earnest pressure should be exerted on the emperor, the patriarch and other aforesaid Greeks, with the many good reasons being put before them, so that they might agree to Basel as the place for the ecumenical council, and that if they rejected Basel, it should be held at Avignon. If Avignon proved impossible, it should be held in Savoy. Therefore, in order that each and all of the aforesaid points might be brought to fruition, with all the solemnity normally employed in this sacred council of Basel in expediting matters of importance, while the fathers are seated in the cathedral of Basel after the mass, this holy synod decrees, wishes, ordains and declares that the future ecumenical council ought to be held at the due and agreed time in the city of Basel or, if that is rejected, in the city of Avignon or otherwise in Savoy, in accordance with the above-mentioned agreement; and that the emperor, the patriarch and other aforesaid Greeks, as detailed in the said terms and decrees, and all other persons of whatever rank, status, dignity or pre-eminence who ought by right or custom to take part in general councils, including those of episcopal rank, are bound and obliged to come to and take part in that ecumenical council, especially so that this salutary work might be completed. This holy synod wishes, declares and decrees this nomination and choice to be firm, fixed and unchangeable. Any modification, ordinance, disposition, nomination or choice to the contrary that may be made by this holy council or by one or more other persons, whatever their authority, even if it be papal, is utterly invalid; and this holy synod from its certain knowledge as from now quashes, revokes and annuls any such measures, and denounces them as quashed, null and of no effect, and it wishes them to be of no effect and holds them so now, in so far as they impede or oppose in whole or in part the said choice. Also this holy synod from its certain knowledge supplies for any defect that may exist in the aforesaid things or in any of them in particular. Furthermore, since this very difficult undertaking, which will bear great fruit in God’s church, as well as the transport and maintenance of the aforesaid Greeks, cannot be accomplished without heavy expenses, it is right and fitting that all of Christ’s faithful, especially ecclesiastics, should contribute generously from the substance of the patrimony of our lord Jesus Christ entrusted to them, for the conclusion of so happy a venture. This holy synod therefore imposes on each and every ecclesiastical person, both exempt and non-exempt under whatever form or words, even the order of St John of Jerusalem, of whatever status, dignity, rank, order or condition, even if they are cardinals or bishops, a tenth of all their ecclesiastical fruits and revenues -- only daily distributions being excepted -- from their churches, monasteries, dignities, offices and other ecclesiastical benefices. This tenth has already been imposed and agreed upon in a general congregation of this holy synod, and this holy synod now decrees and declares that it is to be imposed, and by this decree it imposes it. Furthermore, the said holy synod decrees, wishes, ordains and declares that the venerable bishops John of Luebeck, Luis of Viseu, Delfino of Parma and Louis of Lausanne, envoys of this holy synod, have full power for bringing the Greeks to the place of the ecumenical council, and for the majority of them then present to choose and nominate the Latin port which is most suitable and nearest to the places chosen and nominated above, and to which the said Greeks ought to direct themselves. The synod concedes this power to them by this present decree in accordance with the form of the other letters granted to them in this affair. Finally the same holy synod wishes, ordains and decrees, for the due and desired execution of the aforesaid points and what follows from them, and for the fuller security of the said envoys and of the council, that, at the request of these envoys or of their agents, any other suitable, useful and necessary letters shall be granted, drawn up and despatched in due and correct form by the synod’s chancery under the synod’s seal. The holy general synod of Basel, legitimately assembled in the holy Spirit, representing the universal church, for an everlasting record. This holy synod from its outset, in order that those things might be accomplished which general councils are instituted to achieve with the assistance of the holy Spirit, devoted very great care to promoting union between the western and eastern peoples so that, as the church of God has suffered innumerable disasters from the long-standing dissension, the greatest profit might ensue from fraternal union. Therefore it sent envoys to Constantinople for the promotion of this holy work. They returned with the ambassadors of the most serene emperor of the Romans and of the venerable patriarch of Constantinople. After many meetings and mature deliberation on this subject, certain terms were agreed between this sacred council and those ambassadors and were confirmed by a decree in a public session. By these terms this holy synod bound itself to send envoys with certain sums of money, two large and two smaller galleys and three hundred crossbowmen within a fixed time, and to nominate through these envoys one of the places mentioned in the decree for the ecumenical council, where the emperor and the patriarch with seven hundred persons would meet with us to bring about this holy union. However, since the time-limit for accomplishing the above is imminent, this holy synod, desirous of fulfilling its promises completely and of bringing to its desired goal this holy endeavour which is the most salutary of all works in these times, came to the following conclusion in its discussions and then in a general congregation: namely, that Florence or Udine in Friuli should be put into the council’s hands, or else that there should be chosen for the ecumenical council some other safe place which is mentioned in the decree and is convenient for the pope and the Greeks, that is to say whichever of the aforesaid places shall be quickest to collect and send the galleys, the sums of money and other requisites with the necessary securities. The port would be Venice, Ravenna or Rimini; whichever of them the emperor and the patriarch of Constantinople prefer. Also, so that the clergy are not burdened uselessly, the tenth shall not be decreed or exacted until the Greeks have arrived at one of the above-mentioned ports. Also, that the sacred council should remain in this city during the whole time covered by the decree. Also, that the legates and presidents of the apostolic see, after they have summoned such fathers as shall seem good to them, shall choose the envoys for accompanying the Greeks and for carrying out the aforesaid things; these envoys ought to urge forcibly the choice of this city of Basel. Therefore, in order that each and all of the above may attain due effect, with the assistance of divine grace, in this public and solemn session this holy synod wishes, decrees and declares that the aforesaid decision is definite and valid, to be adhered to and to be implemented. It quashes, voids and annuls, and declares to be quashed, void and null, whatever has been or shall be done, or may be attempted, by any person or persons contrary to the above or its consequences or whatever could in any way impede their execution. And it wishes that the aforesaid apostolic legates and presidents shall compose in due form and under the seal of the council suitable letters for the execution of the above, and shall expedite whatever else may be necessary and appropriate for this holy enterprise. SESSION 1: 8 January 1438 [Declaration of cardinal Nicholas Albergati, president of the council] We, Nicholas, legate of the apostolic see, announce that we preside on behalf of our most holy lord pope Eugenius IV in this sacred synod which was translated from Basel to the city of Ferrara and is already legitimately assembled, and that the continuation of this translated synod has been effected today 8 January, and that the synod is and ought to be continued from today onwards for all the purposes for which the synod of Basel was convened, including being the ecumenical council at which the union of the western and the eastern church is treated and with God’s help achieved. SESSION 2: 10 January 1438 [On the legitimate continuation of the council of Ferrara, against the assembly at Basel] For the praise of almighty God, the exaltation of the catholic faith and the peace, tranquillity and unity of the whole christian people. This holy universal synod, through the grace of God authorized by the most blessed lord pope Eugenius IV, legitimately assembled in the holy Spirit in this city of Ferrara, represents the universal church. Its president, on behalf and in the name of the said most holy lord Eugenius, is the most reverend father and lord in Christ lord Nicholas, cardinal-priest of the holy Roman church of the title of holy Cross in Jerusalem, legate of the apostolic see. It adheres to the firm foundation of him who said to the prince of the apostles: You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church. It is eager to preserve the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace, so that we might be one body and one spirit, just as we were called in the one hope of our calling. It records that much was done in days past both at the former council of Basel and after its translation by some staying on there without any authority, and also by the said most blessed pope lord Eugenius, especially in respect of the business of the most holy union of the western and the eastern church, namely the following: the decree of the nineteenth session of the former council of Basel beginning As a dutiful mother, to which the most holy lord Eugenius gave his assent by his letter; also an agreed proposal on the choice of a place to which the council of Basel should be translated which was agreed upon and confirmed by all the fathers in common and which led to the decree of the twenty-fifth session of the former council, which begins This holy synod from its outset etc. and which the pope himself, urged on by the envoys of the Greeks, accepted and confirmed by his letter given in a general consistory at Bologna and published in the presence of these envoys, also the letter of the same most blessed Eugenius dated 18 September last, issued in a general consistory at Bologna and solemnly read out at the beginning of the continuation of this synod, by which the pope with the counsel and consent of the most reverend cardinals of the holy Roman church and with the approval of the prelates then in the curia, transferred the council to this city of Ferrara; also the letter of the declaration of the same, dated 30 December, immediately following the said translation; all of which this holy synod has ordered to be registered verbatim in its acts as a permanent record, as is contained in these same acts. All these facts and many more have been duly pondered and maturely discussed in various meetings. This holy synod declares that the aforesaid translation and declaration were and are legitimate, just and reasonable, and were and are made from urgent necessity so as to remove an obstacle to the most holy union of the western and the eastern church, to prevent a schism already threatening in God’s church, and for the manifest benefit of the whole christian commonwealth, and that therefore this holy synod was legitimately assembled and established in the holy Spirit in this city of Ferrara for all the purposes for which the said former council of Basel was instituted at its beginning, and especially to be the future ecumenical council for the aforesaid most holy union; and that it ought to continue and to proceed to all the aforesaid matters. This holy synod therefore praises, accepts and approves the translation and the consequent declaration, as mentioned above. It exhorts in the Lord and requires of each and all of the present and future members of the holy synod to apply themselves to the above things with earnest care and serious study. By the generosity of him who has begun in us a good work, may everything be directed and done for his glory and the salvation of the whole christian people. This holy synod further declares that, since the well known necessity of the above reasons demanded and impelled the said most holy lord Eugenius to that translation, the matter in no way falls within the decrees of the eighth, the eleventh or any other session of the former council of Basel. It decrees that the assembly at Basel, and every other assembly which may perchance convene there or elsewhere under the name of a general council, rather is and ought to be considered a spurious gathering and conventicle, and can in no way exist with the authority of a general council. It quashes, invalidates and annuls, and declares to be invalid, quashed, null and of no force or moment, each and all of the things done in the city of Basel in the name of a general council after the said translation, and whatever may be attempted there or elsewhere in the future in the name of a general council. But if in the matter of the Bohemians something useful has been achieved by the said people assembled at Basel after the said translation, it intends to approve that and supply for defects. In order that each and all of the members of the holy synod may be kept safe from every annoyance and may serve God in good works without anxiety, free from all fear, harassment and injury, this holy synod absolves, frees and dispenses, and declares to be absolved and freed, and the oaths to be dispensed from, each and all of those who, under whatsoever plea or cause, bound themselves to the former synod of Basel by oaths, with obligations and commitments, whereby their full and free right to obey this present holy synod and to promote its honour and good might be impeded and they might have scruples of some kind. This holy synod also ordains and decrees that nobody of whatsoever rank or dignity, by any ordinary or delegated jurisdiction for any cause or occasion, except by the jurisdiction of the apostolic see, shall dare to disturb, harass or molest, in their dignities, offices, administrations, privileges, honours, benefices and other goods, each and all of those, both seculars and religious, including members of mendicant orders, who are or shall be at this present synod, or who follow the Roman curia and will soon be at this synod on account of the move of the most holy lord Eugenius with his curia to this city, which has been announced by the posting up of notices in accordance with the ancient custom of the curia. But if, under any pretext, directly or indirectly, any should presume to molest any of the said persons in their dignities, offices, administrations, honours, privileges, benefices or other goods, or to prevent them from freely enjoying their jurisdiction, fruits and emoluments as they did before, or to confer on others their dignities, offices, administrations, honours and benefices, on the plea of some deprivation, this holy synod intends that each and all of them, even if they are cardinals, patriarchs, archbishops, bishops or persons with some other dignity, or chapters, colleges, convents or universities, shall incur automatically and without the need for a previous warning sentences of excommunication, suspension and interdict, absolution from which is reserved to the Roman pontiff alone, except at the hour of death. Moreover the synod decrees that those who do not repent within three days after making these conferrals or placing these obstacles, by fully restoring those whose dignities, offices, administrations, honours and benefices they conferred, or whom they impeded in other ways, as stated above, to all their churches and benefices as they held them before, whether they held them by title, in commendam or in administration; and also each and all of those who presume to accept collation to the aforesaid dignities, offices, administrations, honours and benefices, even if they were made motu proprio, or to take possession of them in person or through others, or to hold such action as valid; all these persons are automatically deprived by law, if they previously had any claim in them, of all their other benefices, whether they held them by title, in commendam or in administration, and they are rendered perpetually disqualified from them and all other benefices, and they can be restored and habilitated only by the Roman pontiff. This holy synod, moreover, warns and requires each and all of those who are obliged by law or custom to take part in general councils, to come as soon as possible to this present synod at Ferrara, which will continue, as noted above, for the speedy attainment of the aforesaid purposes. SESSION 3: 15 February 1438 [Ecclesiastical penalties against members of the Basel synod] Eugenius, bishop, servant of the servants of God, for an everlasting record. The duties of the pastoral office over which we preside by divine mercy, despite our lack of merit, demand that we repress by opportune remedies the nefarious excesses of evil-minded persons, especially those who, unless prevented, strive to force the peaceful state of the church into various dangerous storms and disturbances and who endeavour to overturn the barque of Peter, and that we inflict due retribution for their excesses, lest boasting of their malice they give occasion to others to commit mischief. For it is a crime to be slack in punishing crimes that harm many people, as canonical regulations state. Thus, the former council of Basel debated the choice of a place for the future ecumenical council. Those on whom the power of choosing the place devolved, passed a decree which was accepted by the ambassadors of our most dear son in Christ John, emperor of the Greeks, and of our venerable brother Joseph, patriarch of Constantinople. Some persons chose Avignon or another place, but the said ambassadors protested that most assuredly they did not want to go there, declaring as certain that the said emperor and patriarch would by no means go to the said sacred council unless we attended in person. Those who asked for Avignon, afraid that the Greeks certainly would not come to them, dared to concoct a certain decree or notorious pamphlet, which they call a monition, against us, even though it is null and indeed leads to serious scandal and a split in the church, disrupting this holy work of union with the Greeks. In order to preserve the unity of the church and to promote the said union with the Greeks, we, for just, necessary and pressing reasons, with the advice and assent of our venerable brothers the cardinals of the holy Roman church, and with the advice and approval of very many of our venerable brothers the archbishops, bishops, beloved chosen sons and abbots who were present at the apostolic see, translated the said council of Basel, by our apostolic authority and in a fixed manner and form, to the city of Ferrara, which is suitable for the Greeks and for us, so that those at Basel might duly recoil from their scandalous actions, as is contained at greater length in the letter composed for the occasion’ . But they, spurning every avenue of peace, persevering in their obstinate purpose, scorning the letter of the said translation and everything contained in it, and piling evil upon evil, not only rejected our reasonable translation made for the said most just and urgent reasons, as stated above, but even dared with renewed obstinacy to warn us to withdraw the said translation within a fixed time and under pain of suspension. Yet this would have been nothing less than to force us to abandon the prosecution of such a holy work so much desired by all Christians. When we realized this, with grief of heart, since we saw that everything tended to the destruction of the holy task of union and to an open split in the church, as was said above, we declared that the translation had been made by us from necessity, that the conditions attached to it had been regularized, and that the council at Ferrara ought to begin and legitimately continue, as is stated more fully in another letter of ours. To open this council at Ferrara we sent our beloved son Nicholas, cardinal-priest of the holy Roman church of the title of holy Cross, legate of us and the apostolic see. This council at Ferrara, legitimately assembled and with many prelates, solemnly declared in a public session that the said translation and declaration were and are legitimate, just and reasonable, and were made from urgent necessity so as to remove an obstacle to the said most holy union between the western and the eastern church and to avoid an impending split in God’s church for the evident benefit of the whole christian commonwealth, as is crystal clear from the decree made about it. Meanwhile, informed that the aforesaid emperor, patriarch and Greeks were approaching the shores of Italy, under God’s guidance we came to this council at Ferrara with the firm intention and purpose of effectively pursuing, with God’s help, not only the work of holy union but also the objectives for which the council of Basel had assembled. In view of all this, our beloved son Julian, cardinal-priest of the title of St Sabina, legate of the apostolic see, strongly urged the aforesaid people at Basel to withdraw from such flagrant scandals. But because of their obstinacy of mind he was without effect. Then, seeing them ready to precipitate still worse scandals in God’s church, he departed so as not to appear to approve their impiety. They, for their part, paid no attention to this. Ignorant of how to direct their steps in the way of peace and justice, although they were already aware that the Greeks were utterly unwilling to come to them and were approaching the shores of Italy, they persevered in their hardness of heart. Since they could in no other way prevent and disrupt the union with the Greeks, for which they should have been labouring with us with all their strength and mind and assisting us, they added bad to worse and went to such a pitch of rashness and insolence that, even though many of the envoys of kings and princes who were at Basel execrated so wicked a deed and protested against it, they dared to declare with sacrilegious arrogance that we were suspended from the administration of the papacy and to proceed to various other things, albeit everything was null. So we, conscious that their excesses are so notorious that they cannot be hidden by any subterfuge, and that error that is not resisted appears to be approved and throws wide open to delinquents a door that no longer guards against their intrusions, and unable without grave offence to our lord Jesus Christ and his holy church to tolerate further so many grievous excesses which are seen especially to impede, disrupt and utterly destroy the holy and most desired union with the Greeks, we decree against the aforesaid remnant at Basel, in virtue of the most High and with the approval of this holy council, the steps that should be taken with justice. Hence we decree and declare, after mature deliberation with this holy synod and with its approval, that each and all of those meeting in Basel, in spite of the aforesaid translation and declaration, under the pretended name of a council which more accurately should be called a conventicle, and daring to perpetrate such scandalous and nefarious deeds, whether they are cardinals, patriarchs archbishops, bishops or abbots or of some other ecclesiastical or secular dignity, have already incurred the penalties instanced in our said letter of translation, namely excommunication, privation of dignities and disqualification from benefices and offices in the future. We also decree and declare to be null and void and of no force or moment, whatever has been attempted by them in the name of a council or otherwise since the day of the translation made by us, or shall be attempted in the future, in respect of the aforesaid matters or against those who follow our curia or are at this sacred council at Ferrara. We also command, with the approval of this council, under the same penalties and censures and in virtue of their oath by which they are bound to the holy apostolic see, each and all of the cardinals, patriarchs, archbishops, bishops, elected persons, abbots and all others of whatsoever condition, status or rank who are meeting in the said city of Basel under the pretext of a council, really and effectively to leave the said city within thirty days of the date of this decree. We also order the mayor of the citizens, the councillors and the magistrates ruling the city of Basel and the governors and other officials, whatever name they go under, to expel the aforesaid persons who have not left the city within the said thirty days and really and effectively to eject them. If they fail to do this within the said thirty days, we decree that each and all of the said rulers and officials automatically incur sentence of excommunication, and the people and the city automatically incur sentence of ecclesiastical interdict; we specially reserve to ourself absolution from the sentences of excommunication, except at the hour of death, and the lifting of the interdict. We order and command, in virtue of holy obedience and under pain of excommunication, each and all of those to whom this notice shall come that, if the aforesaid persons meeting in Basel and the citizens are obstinately disobedient towards us, nobody should approach the city of Basel after the said thirty days and they should deny them all commerce and all articles needed for human use. Merchants of all kinds, who have gone to Basel on account of the former council, shall depart under the same pain of excommunication. If there are some who ignore these orders of ours, daring perhaps to convey goods after the time-limit to those at Basel persisting in contumacy, since it is written that the righteous plundered the ungodly, such persons may be despoiled without penalty by any of the faithful and their goods shall be ceded to the first takers. However, because the church never closes its bosom to returning sons, if the said people meeting in Basel, or some of them, repent and depart from the said city within the said interval of thirty days from the date of this present decree, then with the approval of this sacred council we remit and fully cancel the aforesaid penalties as for obedient sons and we wish, decree and order that they and their consequences are to be regarded as without force from the date of their imposition, and we supply with the council’s approval for all defects, if perhaps there are any in respect of solemnity of the law or of omission. Let nobody therefore ... If anyone however ... SESSION 4: 9 April 1438 (Source: Church Councils / Council Of Basel 1431-45 A.D.)
[Eugenius IV and the fathers of the council at Ferrara declare the council at Ferrara to be legitimate and ecumenical] Eugenius, bishop, servant of the servants of God, for an everlasting record. It befits us to render thanks to almighty God who, mindful of his past mercies, always bestows on his church even richer growth and, although he allows her to be tossed on occasions by the waves of trials and tribulations, yet never permits her to be submerged but keeps her safe amid the mountainous waters, so that by his mercy she emerges from the various vicissitudes even stronger than before. For behold, the western and eastern peoples, who have been separated for long, hasten to enter into a pact of harmony and unity; and those who were justly distressed at the long dissension that kept them apart, at last after many centuries, under the impulse of him from whom every good gift comes, meet together in person in this place out of desire for holy union. We are aware that it is our duty and the duty of the whole church to strain every nerve to ensure that these happy initiatives make progress and have issue through our common care, so that we may deserve to be and to be called co-operators with God. Finally, our most dear son John Palacologus, emperor of the Romans, together with our venerable brother Joseph, patriarch of Constantinople, the apocrisiaries of the other patriarchal sees and a great multitude of archbishops, ecclesiastics and nobles arrived at their last port, Venice, on 8 February last. There, the said emperor expressly declared, as he had often done before, that for good reasons he could not go to Basel to celebrate the ecumenical or universal council, and he intimated this by a letter to those assembled at Basel. He exhorted and required all of them to go to Ferrara, which had been chosen for the council, to carry through the pious task of this holy union. We have always had this holy union close to our heart and have sought with all our strength to bring it about. Therefore we intend to carry out with care, as is our duty, the decree of the council of Basel, to which the Greeks agreed, as well as the choice of a place for the ecumenical council, which was made at the council of Basel and which was later confirmed by us at Bologna at the urging of the envoys of the said emperor and patriarch, and any other things pertaining to this work of holy union. Therefore we decree and declare, in every way and form as best we can, with the assent of the said emperor and patriarch and of all those in the present synod, that there exists a holy universal or ecumenical synod in this city of Ferrara, which is free and safe for all; and therefore it should be deemed and called such a synod by all, in which this holy business of union will be conducted without any quarrelsome contention but with all charity and, as we hope, will be brought by divine favour to a happy conclusion together with the other holy tasks for which the synod is known to have been instituted. SESSION 5: 10 January 1439 [Decree translating the council of Ferrara to Florence] Eugenius, bishop, servant of the servants of God, for an everlasting record. It is fitting that the site of an ecumenical council, in which men chosen from the whole christian world meet together, should be such that in it, among other human necessities, there should be the most important of all, namely healthy air. Otherwise, because of the pest-laden contagion of infected air which all people naturally fear and flee, those present at the council may be forced to depart with nothing accomplished and the absent will refuse to attend. Assuredly it is right that those who come together at synods to treat of difficult questions should be free from every anxiety and fear, so that they may be able in greater peace and freedom to give their attention to the matters of public concern. We would, indeed, have preferred that the universal council which we initiated in this city should continue here, and that the union of the eastern and western churches should be brought to its happy and desired conclusion in this city, where we initiated it. When the plague afflicted this city last autumn, pressure was exerted by some for the transferral of the synod to a non-infected locality. Nothing was done, however, because it was hoped that the plague would cease with the advent of winter, as it usually does. Since in fact the plague continues from day to day and it is feared that it will gain strength when spring and summer come, all judge and advise that a move must be made without delay to some non-infected place. For this and several other good reasons, with the agreement of our dear son John Palaeologus, emperor of the Romans, and of our venerable brother Joseph, patriarch of Constantinople, and with the approval of the council: In the name of the Trinity, Father, Son and holy Spirit, with the full securities and safe-conducts which we gave to all at the beginning of the sacred council, we transfer and declare to be transferred as from now this ecumenical or universal synod from this city of Ferrara to the city of Florence, which is manifestly free for all, safe, peaceful and tranquil, and enjoying healthy air, and which, situated as it is between the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic seas, is excellently situated for easy access for both easterners and westerners. Let nobody therefore . .. If anyone however . .. SESSION 6: 6 July 1439 [Definition of the holy ecumenical synod of Florence] Eugenius, bishop, servant of the servants of God, for an everlasting record. With the agreement of our most dear son John Palaeologus, illustrious emperor of the Romans, of the deputies of our venerable brothers the patriarchs and of other representatives of the eastern church, to the following. Let the heavens be glad and let the earth rejoice. For, the wall that divided the western and the eastern church has been removed, peace and harmony have returned, since the corner-stone, Christ, who made both one, has joined both sides with a very strong bond of love and peace, uniting and holding them together in a covenant of everlasting unity. After a long haze of grief and a dark and unlovely gloom of long-enduring strife, the radiance of hoped-for union has illuminated all. Let mother church also rejoice. For she now beholds her sons hitherto in disagreement returned to unity and peace, and she who hitherto wept at their separation now gives thanks to God with inexpressible joy at their truly marvellous harmony. Let all the faithful throughout the world, and those who go by the name of Christian, be glad with mother catholic church. For behold, western and eastern fathers after a very long period of disagreement and discord, submitting themselves to the perils of sea and land and having endured labours of all kinds, came together in this holy ecumenical council, joyful and eager in their desire for this most holy union and to restore intact the ancient love. In no way have they been frustrated in their intent. After a long and very toilsome investigation, at last by the clemency of the holy Spirit they have achieved this greatly desired and most holy union. Who, then, can adequately thank God for his gracious gifts?’ Who would not stand amazed at the riches of such great divine mercy? Would not even an iron breast be softened by this immensity of heavenly condescension? These truly are works of God, not devices of human frailty. Hence they are to be accepted with extraordinary veneration and to be furthered with praises to God. To you praise, to you glory, to you thanks, O Christ, source of mercies, who have bestowed so much good on your spouse the catholic church and have manifested your miracles of mercy in our generation, so that all should proclaim your wonders. Great indeed and divine is the gift that God has bestowed on us. We have seen with our eyes what many before greatly desired yet could not behold. For when Latins and Greeks came together in this holy synod, they all strove that, among other things, the article about the procession of the holy Spirit should be discussed with the utmost care and assiduous investigation. Texts were produced from divine scriptures and many authorities of eastern and western holy doctors, some saying the holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son, others saying the procession is from the Father through the Son. All were aiming at the same meaning in different words. The Greeks asserted that when they claim that the holy Spirit proceeds from the Father, they do not intend to exclude the Son; but because it seemed to them that the Latins assert that the holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son as from two principles and two spirations, they refrained from saying that the holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. The Latins asserted that they say the holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son not with the intention of excluding the Father from being the source and principle of all deity, that is of the Son and of the holy Spirit, nor to imply that the Son does not receive from the Father, because the holy Spirit proceeds from the Son, nor that they posit two principles or two spirations; but they assert that there is only one principle and a single spiration of the holy Spirit, as they have asserted hitherto. Since, then, one and the same meaning resulted from all this, they unanimously agreed and consented to the following holy and God-pleasing union, in the same sense and with one mind. In the name of the holy Trinity, Father, Son and holy Spirit, we define, with the approval of this holy universal council of Florence, that the following truth of faith shall be believed and accepted by all Christians and thus shall all profess it: that the holy Spirit is eternally from the Father and the Son, and has his essence and his subsistent being from the Father together with the Son, and proceeds from both eternally as from one principle and a single spiration. We declare that when holy doctors and fathers say that the holy Spirit proceeds from the Father through the Son, this bears the sense that thereby also the Son should be signified, according to the Greeks indeed as cause, and according to the Latins as principle of the subsistence of the holy Spirit, just like the Father. And since the Father gave to his only-begotten Son in begetting him everything the Father has, except to be the Father, so the Son has eternally from the Father, by whom he was eternally begotten, this also, namely that the holy Spirit proceeds from the Son. We define also that the explanation of those words “and from the Son” was licitly and reasonably added to the creed for the sake of declaring the truth and from imminent need. Also, the body of Christ is truly confected in both unleavened and leavened wheat bread, and priests should confect the body of Christ in either, that is, each priest according to the custom of his western or eastern church. Also, if truly penitent people die in the love of God before they have made satisfaction for acts and omissions by worthy fruits of repentance, their souls are cleansed after death by cleansing pains; and the suffrages of the living faithful avail them in giving relief from such pains, that is, sacrifices of masses, prayers, almsgiving and other acts of devotion which have been customarily performed by some of the faithful for others of the faithful in accordance with the church’s ordinances. Also, the souls of those who have incurred no stain of sin whatsoever after baptism, as well as souls who after incurring the stain of sin have been cleansed whether in their bodies or outside their bodies, as was stated above, are straightaway received into heaven and clearly behold the triune God as he is, yet one person more perfectly than another according to the difference of their merits. But the souls of those who depart this life in actual mortal sin, or in original sin alone, go down straightaway to hell to be punished, but with unequal pains. We also define that the holy apostolic see and the Roman pontiff holds the primacy over the whole world and the Roman pontiff is the successor of blessed Peter prince of the apostles, and that he is the true vicar of Christ, the head of the whole church and the father and teacher of all Christians, and to him was committed in blessed Peter the full power of tending, ruling and governing the whole church, as is contained also in the acts of ecumenical councils and in the sacred canons. Also, renewing the order of the other patriarchs which has been handed down in the canons, the patriarch of Constantinople should be second after the most holy Roman pontiff, third should be the patriarch of Alexandria, fourth the patriarch of Antioch, and fifth the patriarch of Jerusalem, without prejudice to all their privileges and rights. SESSION 7: 4 September 1439 [Decree of the council of Florence against the synod at Basel] Eugenius, bishop, servant of the servants of God, for an everlasting record. Moses, the man of God, was zealous for the well-being of the people entrusted to him. He feared that God’s wrath would be roused against them if they followed Korah, Dathan and Abiram in their seditious schism. Therefore he said to the whole people, at the Lord’s command: depart from the tents of these wicked men and touch nothing of theirs, lest you be involved in their sins. For he had perceived, under the Lord’s inspiration, that those seditious and schismatic men would incur a grievous retribution, as was demonstrated afterwards when even the earth could not bear with them but by God’s just judgment swallowed them up, so that they fell alive into hell. Similarly we too to whom, though unworthy, the lord Jesus Christ has deigned to entrust his people, as we hear of the abominable crime that certain wicked men dwelling in Basel have plotted in these days so as to breach the unity of holy church, and since we fear that they may seduce some of the unwary by their deceits and inject them with their poisons, are forced to proclaim in like words to the people of our lord Jesus Christ entrusted to us, depart from the tents of these wicked men, particularly since the christian people is far more numerous than the Jewish people of those days, the church is holier than the synagogue, and the vicar of Christ is superior in authority and status even to Moses. This impiety of those at Basel we began to foresee long ago, when we observed the council of Basel already lapsing into tyranny; when many, including those of lower status, were forced to go to it and to stay at the whim of that faction of agitators; when the votes and decisions of some of them were being extorted by various tricks and others were being suborned by lies and deceits, as they abandoned almost everything to conspiracies, cabals, monopolies and cliques, and from a long-standing rivalry with the papacy sought to prolong the duration of the council; when, finally, innumerable novelties, irregularities, deformities and ills were perpetrated, to which there concurred even clerics in lower orders, the ignorant and inexperienced, vagabonds, quarrellers, fugitives, apostates, condemned criminals, escapees from prison, those in rebellion against us and their own superiors, and other such human monsters, who brought with them every stain of corruption from those teachers of evil-doing. We directed our attention also to that most holy work of union with the eastern church, which seemed to us to be greatly endangered by the deceit of certain factious persons, and we wished to provide as best we could for so many evils. For these and other just and necessary reasons which are stated in full in the decree of translation, with the advice of our venerable brothers the cardinals of the holy Roman church, and with the approval of very many venerable brothers and sons, archbishops, bishops, elected persons, abbots and other prelates of churches, masters and doctors, we transferred the aforesaid council of Basel to this city of Ferrara, where we established with the Lord’s help an ecumenical council of the western and the eastern church. Afterwards, when the plague came and continued unabated, under the inspiration of grace and with the approval of the same holy council, we transferred the council to this city of Florence. Here the most gracious and merciful God showed his wonders. For, the most disastrous schism, which had endured in God’s church for almost five hundred years to the immense harm of the whole of Christianity, and for the elimination of which very many of our predecessors as Roman pontiffs and many kings and princes and other Christians in past times had laboured very hard, at last, after public and private discussions in both places and many other labours, was removed and the most holy union of the Greeks and the Latins was happily achieved, as is described more fully in the decree about this which was drawn up and solemnly promulgated. Returning fervent thanks for this to the eternal God and sharing our joy with all the faithful, we offered to God a sacrifice of jubilation and praise. For we saw that not just one nation like the Hebrew people was being summoned to the promised land, but peoples of many races, nations and tongues were hastening to the one utterance and merit of the divine truth. Through this, great hope is forthcoming that the sun of justice, rising in the east, will spread the beams of its light to pierce the darkness of many other races, even of infidels, and the salvation of the Lord may reach to the ends of the earth. Already indeed, by God’s providence, we have excellent pledges of this. For almighty God has granted that, by our means, representatives of the Armenians with full powers have recently come from most distant northern parts to us and the apostolic see and to this holy council. They regard and venerate us as no other than blessed Peter, prince of the apostles, they recognize the holy see as mother and mistress of all the faithful, and they profess that they have come to the holy see and to the aforesaid council for spiritual food and the truth of sound doctrine. For this too we have given many thanks to our God. But the mind recoils from recording what troubles, attacks and persecutions we have suffered in the course of this divine undertaking until now, not indeed from Turks or Saracens but from those who call themselves Christians. Blessed Jerome reports that from the time of Hadrian until the reign of Constantine there was set up and worshipped by the pagans at the place of the Lord’s resurrection an image of Jupiter and on the rock of the crucifixion a marble statue of Venus, since the authors of persecution thought that they could take away from us our faith in the resurrection and the cross if they polluted the holy places with their idols. Much the same has happened in these days against us and the church of God, at the hands of those desperate men at Basel, except that what was then done by pagans ignorant of the true God is now the work of men who have known him and hated him Their pride, then, according to the prophet, is ever rising, all the more dangerously in that it is under the cloak of reform, which in truth they have always abhorred, that they spread their poisons. In the first place, those who were the authors of all the scandals in Basel have failed in their promises to the Greeks. For they knew from the envoys of the Greeks and the eastern church that our most dear son in Christ John Palaeologus, illustrious emperor of the Romans, and Joseph, patriarch of Constantinople of happy memory, and the other prelates and persons of the eastern church wished to proceed to the place which had been legally chosen for the ecumenical council by our legates and presidents and other notable persons present there, whose right it was to choose the site in accordance with the agreement which had been approved by the common consent of the council after serious disagreements among its members. Whereupon we, for our part, confirmed the choice of place in a general consistory at Bologna and we sent to Constantinople, at great labour and expense, the galleys and other things necessary for this holy work of union. When they learnt of this, they dared to decree against us and the aforesaid cardinals a detestable admonition or citation, so as to block the holy work, [and to send it to the aforesaid emperor and patriarch of Constantinople, so that they and all others] might be deterred from coming. Yet they knew full well that there was no chance of them going to any place other than the one which had been chosen for the site, as stated above. Then, when they realized that the aforesaid emperor and patriarch and others were already on their way to us for this work of holy union, they tried to lay another wicked snare to catch this divine project. That is, they produced against us a sacrilegious sentence of suspension from the administration of the papacy. Finally, those leaders of scandal, very few in number, most of them of the lowest rank and reputation, in their intense hatred of true peace, piling iniquity on top of iniquity lest they should enter into the justice of the Lord, when they saw that the grace of the holy Spirit was working in us towards union with the Greeks, swerving away from the straight line into paths of error, held a so-called session on 16 May last asserting that they were obeying certain decrees, although these were passed at Constance by only one of the three obediences after the flight of John XXIII, as he was called in that one obedience, at a time of schism. Alleging obedience to those decrees, they proclaimed three propositions which they term truths of the faith, seemingly to make heretics of us and all princes and prelates and other faithful and devout adherents of the apostolic see. The propositions are the following. “The truth about the authority of a general council, representing the universal church, over a pope and anyone else whatsoever, declared by the general councils of Constance and this one of Basel, is a truth of the catholic faith. The truth that a pope cannot by any authority, without its consent, dissolve a general council representing the universal church, legitimately assembled for the reasons given in the above-mentioned truth or for any of them, or prorogue it to another time or transfer it from place to place, is a truth of the catholic faith. Anyone who persists in opposing the aforesaid truths is to be considered a heretic.” In this, those utterly pernicious men, masking their malice with the rosy colour of a truth of the faith, gave to the council of Constance an evil and mischievous meaning completely opposed to its true teaching, imitating in this the teaching of other schismatics and heretics who always amass for their support fabricated errors and impious dogmas drawn from their perverse interpretation of the divine scriptures and the holy fathers. Finally, completely perverting their mind and turning away their eyes from looking to heaven or remembering righteous judgments, after the manner of Dioscorus and the infamous synod of Ephesus, they proceeded to a declaratory sentence of deprivation, as they claimed, from the dignity and office of the supreme apostolate, a poisonous and execrable pronouncement involving an unforgivable crime. Here we will take the tenor of that sentence, abhorrent to every pious mind, as sufficiently expressed. They omitted nothing, as far as was in their power, that might overthrow this incomparable good of union. O miserable and degenerate sons! O wicked and adulterous generation! What could be more cruel than this impiety and iniquity? Can anything more detestable, more dreadful and more mad be imagined? Earlier on they were the ones who said that nothing better, nothing more glorious and fruitful had ever been seen or heard of in the christian people, from the very birth of the church, than this most holy union, and that to further it there should be no contention about the place, but rather to achieve it the wealth of this world as well as body and soul should be hazarded, proclaiming this aloud to the whole world and urging the christian people to it, as their decrees and letters fully state. But now they persecute exactly this as furiously and as impiously as they can, so that the devils of the entire world seem to have flocked together to that conventicle of brigands at Basel. So far almighty God has not allowed their iniquity and its lying inconsistencies to prevail. But seeing that they are striving with all their strength to bring it to success, even to the point of setting up the abomination of desolation in God’s church, we can in no way pretend to ignore these things without most serious offence to God and imminent danger of confusion and abomination in God’s church. In keeping with our pastoral office, at the urging of many who are fired with zeal for God, we wish to put a stop to such evils and, as far as we can, to take appropriate and salutary measures to eliminate from God’s church this execrable impiety and most destructive pestilence. Following in the steps of our predecessors who, as Pope Nicholas of holy memory writes, were accustomed to annul councils which had been conducted improperly, even those of universal pontiffs, as occurred at the second universal synod at Ephesus, inasmuch as the blessed pope Leo summoned it but later established the council of Chalcedon. We renew by our apostolic authority, with the approval of this holy council of Florence, the solemn and salutary decree against those sacrilegious men, which was issued by us in the sacred general council of Ferrara on 15 February. By that decree we declared among other things, with the approval of the said sacred council of Ferrara, that each and every person at Basel who, in the name of a pretended council which we called more accurately a conventicle, dared to perpetrate those scandalous and wicked deeds in contravention of our translation and declaration, whether they are cardinals, patriarchs, archbishops, bishops, abbots or of some other ecclesiastical or secular dignity, has incurred the penalties of excommunication, privation of dignities, benefices and offices and disqualification for the future, which are instanced in our letter of translation. Now we decree and declare again that all the things done or attempted by those impious men presently in Basel, which were mentioned in our said decree of Ferrara, and each and all of the things done, performed or attempted by the same men since then, especially in the two so-called sessions or rather conspiracies which have just been mentioned, and whatever may have followed from these things or from any of them, or may follow in the future, as coming from impious men who have no authority and have been rejected and reprobated by God, were and are null, quashed, invalid, presumptuous and of no effect, force or moment. With the approval of the sacred council we condemn and reject, and we proclaim as condemned and rejected, those propositions quoted above as understood in the perverse sense of the men at Basel, which they demonstrate by their deeds, as contrary to the sound sense of sacred scripture, the holy fathers and the council of Constance itself; and likewise the aforesaid so-called sentence of declaration or deprivation, with all its present and future consequences, as impious and scandalous and tending to open schism in God’s church and to the confusion of all ecclesiastical order and christian government. Also, we decree and declare that all of the aforesaid persons have been and are schismatics and heretics, And that as such they are assuredly to be punished with suitable penalties over and above the penalties imposed at the aforesaid council of Ferrara, together with all their supporters and abettors, of whatever ecclesiastical or secular status, condition or rank they may be, even cardinals, patriarchs, archbishops, bishops or abbots or those of any other dignity, so that they may receive their deserts with the aforesaid Korah, Dathan and Abiram Let nobody therefore ... If anyone however ... SESSION 8: 22 November 1439 [Bull of union with the Armenians] Eugenius, bishop, servant of the servants of God, for an everlasting record. All people everywhere who go by the name of Christian: Exult in God our helper, rejoice in the God of Jacob. Behold the Lord once again, mindful of his mercy had deigned to remove from his church another stumbling block which has endured for more than nine centuries. He who makes peace in the heavens and is peace on earth for people of good will, has granted in his inexpressible mercy that most desired union with the Armenians. Blessed be the God and Father of our lord Jesus Christ, the father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation. For the most merciful Lord, seeing his church buffeted about by strong whirlwinds, some times at the hands of those who are outside, at other times at the hands of those within, deigns in many ways every day to console and strengthen her so that she may be able to breathe freely in the midst of her troubles and to rise more robust to resist. Some time ago God established that great union with the Greeks, who include many races and tongues spread far and wide. Today God has confirmed in the same bond of faith and charity with the apostolic see this union with the Armenians, who are a very numerous people spread over the north and east. These indeed are such great and wondrous benefactions of divine providence that the human mind cannot render worthy thanks for either of them, still less for both together. Who would not be overwhelmed with admiration at the achievement in this council, within so short a time, of two such brilliant feats which have been longed for over centuries ? Truly this is the Lord’s doing and it is wonderful in our eyes. For how could human prudence or diligence have brought to completion such great exploits as these are, unless the favour of God had given them their beginning and end? Let us, then, together and with all our hearts bless the Lord who alone does great wonders, let us sing with the spirit, let us sing with our minds and our mouths and let us give thanks in deeds, as far as human weakness allows, for such great gifts. Let us pray and beseech that, as the Greeks and the Armenians have been made one with the Roman church, so also may other nations be, especially those signed with the seal of Christ, and that finally the whole christian people, after all hatreds and wars have been extinguished, may rest and rejoice together in mutual peace and brotherly love. Rightly we hold that the Armenians deserve great praise. As soon as they were invited by us to this synod, in their eagerness for ecclesiastical unity, at the cost of many labours and much toil and perils at sea, they sent to us and this council from very distant parts, their notable, dedicated and learned envoys with sufficient powers to accept, namely whatever the holy Spirit should inspire this holy synod to achieve. We, for our part, with all our attention as befits our pastoral office and desiring to bring this holy work to a successful conclusion, frequently conversed with their envoys about this holy union. To avoid even the slightest delay in this holy project, we nominated from every rank of this sacred council experts in divine and human law to treat of the matter with the envoys with all care, study and diligence, closely inquiring of them about their faith in respect of the unity of the divine essence and the Trinity of divine persons, also about the humanity of our lord Jesus Christ, the seven sacraments of the church and other points concerning the orthodox faith and the rites of the universal church. So, after many debates, conferences and disputations, after a thorough examination of the written authorities which were produced from fathers and doctors of the church, and after discussion of the questions at issue, at length, so that in future there could be no doubt about the truth of the faith of the Armenians and that they should think in every way like the apostolic see and that the union should be stable and lasting with no cause for hesitation whatsoever we judged it advantageous, with the approval of this sacred council of Florence and the agreement of the said envoys, to give in this decree a summary of the truth of the orthodox faith that the Roman church professes about the above. In the first place, then, we give them the holy creed issued by the hundred and fifty bishops in the ecumenical council of Constantinople, with the added phrase and the Son, which for the sake of declaring the truth and from urgent necessity was licitly and reasonably added to that creed, which runs as follows: I believe . . . I We decree that this holy creed should be sung or read within the mass at least on Sundays and greater feasts, as is the Latin custom, in all Armenian churches. In the second place, we give them the definition of the fourth council of Chalcedon about two natures in the one person of Christ, which was later renewed in the fifth and sixth universal councils. It runs as follows: This wise and saving creed ... Thirdly, the definition about the two wills and two principles of action of Christ promulgated in the above-mentioned sixth council, the tenor of which is This pious and orthodox creed, and the rest which follows in the above-mentioned definition of the council of Chalcedon until the end, after which it continues thus: And we proclaim Fourth, apart from the three synods of Nicaea, Constantinople and the first of Ephesus, the Armenians have accepted no other later universal synods nor the most blessed Leo, bishop of this holy see, by whose authority the council of Chalcedon met. For they claim that it was proposed to them that both the synod of Chalcedon and the said Leo had made the definition in accordance with the condemned heresy of Nestorius. So we instructed them and declared that such a suggestion was false and that the synod of Chalcedon and blessed Leo holily and rightly defined the truth of two natures in the one person of Christ, described above, against the impious tenets of Nestorius and Eutyches. We commanded that for the future they should hold and venerate the most blessed Leo, who was a veritable pillar of the faith and replete with all sanctity and doctrine, as a saint deservedly inscribed in the calendar of the saints; and that they should reverence and respect, like the rest of the faithful, not only the three above-mentioned synods but also all other universal synods legitimately celebrated by the authority of the Roman pontiff. Fifthly, for the easier instruction of the Armenians of today and in the future we reduce the truth about the sacraments of the church to the following brief scheme. There are seven sacraments of the new Law, namely baptism, confirmation, eucharist, penance, extreme unction, orders and matrimony, which differ greatly from the sacraments of the old Law. The latter were not causes of grace, but only prefigured the grace to be given through the passion of Christ; whereas the former, ours, both contain grace and bestow it on those who worthily receive them. The first five of these are directed to the spiritual perfection of each person in himself, the last two to the regulation and increase of the whole church. For, by baptism we are reborn spiritually; by confirmation we grow in grace and are strengthened in faith. Once reborn and strengthened, we are nourished by the food of the divine eucharist. But if through sin we incur an illness of the soul, we are cured spiritually by penance. Spiritually also and bodily as suits the soul, by extreme unction. By orders the church is governed and spiritually multiplied; by matrimony it grows bodily. All these sacraments are made up of three elements: namely, things as the matter, words as the form, and the person of the minister who confers the sacrament with the intention of doing what the church does. If any of these is lacking, the sacrament is not effected. Three of the sacraments, namely baptism, confirmation and orders, imprint indelibly on the soul a character, that is a kind of stamp which distinguishes it from the rest. Hence they are not repeated in the same person. The other four, however, do not imprint a character and can be repeated. Holy baptism holds the first place among all the sacraments, for it is the gate of the spiritual life; through it we become members of Christ and of the body of the church. Since death came into the world through one person, unless we are born again of water and the spirit, we cannot, as Truth says, enter the kingdom of heaven. The matter of this sacrament is true and natural water, either hot or cold. The form is: I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy Spirit. But we do not deny that true baptism is conferred by the following words: May this servant of Christ be baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy Spirit; or, This person is baptized by my hands in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy Spirit. Since the holy Trinity is the principle cause from which baptism has its power and the minister is the instrumental cause who exteriorly bestows the sacrament, the sacrament is conferred if the action is performed by the minister with the invocation of the holy Trinity. The minister of this sacrament is a priest, who is empowered to baptize in virtue of his office. But in case of necessity not only a priest or a deacon, but even a lay man or a woman, even a pagan and a heretic, can baptize provided he or she uses the form of the church and intends to do what the church does. The effect of this sacrament is the remission of all original and actual guilt, also of all penalty that is owed for that guilt. Hence no satisfaction for past sins is to be imposed on the baptized, but those who die before they incur any guilt go straight to the kingdom of heaven and the vision of God. The second sacrament is confirmation. Its matter is chrism made from oil and balsam blessed by a bishop, the oil symbolizing the gleaming brightness of conscience and balsam symbolizing the odour of a good reputation. The form is: I sign you with the sign of the cross and I confirm you with the chrism of salvation in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy Spirit. The ordinary minister is a bishop. Whereas a simple priest can use other unctions, only a bishop ought to confer this one, because it is said only of the apostles, whose place is held by bishops, that they gave the holy Spirit by the imposition of hands, as this text from the Acts of the Apostles shows: Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the holy Spirit; for it had not yet come down upon any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them and they received the holy Spirit’. In place of this imposition of hands confirmation is given in the church. We read that sometimes for a reasonable and really urgent cause, by dispensation of the apostolic see, a simple priest has conferred this sacrament of confirmation with chrism prepared by a bishop. The effect of this sacrament is that a Christian should boldly confess the name of Christ, since the holy Spirit is given in this sacrament for strengthening just as he was given to the apostles on the day of Pentecost. Therefore the candidate is enjoined on the forehead, which is the seat of shame, not to shrink from confessing the name of Christ and especially his cross, which is a stumbling block for Jews and a folly for gentiles, according to the Apostle, and for this reason he is signed with the sign of the cross. The third is the sacrament of the eucharist. Its matter is wheat bread and wine from the vine, to which a very little water is added before the consecration. Water is added thus because it is believed, in accordance with the testimony of holy fathers and doctors of the church manifested long ago in disputation, that the Lord himself instituted this sacrament in wine mixed with water, and because it befits the representation of the Lord’s passion. For the blessed pope Alexander, fifth after blessed Peter, says: “In the oblations of the sacraments which are offered to the Lord within the solemnities of masses, only bread and wine mixed with water are to be offered in sacrifice. There should not be offered in the chalice of the Lord either wine only or water only but both mixed together, because both blood and water are said to have flowed from Christ’s side’; also because it is fitting to signify the effect of this sacrament, which is the union of the christian people with Christ. For, water signifies the people according to those words of the Apocalypse: many waters, many peoples. And Pope Julius, second after blessed Silvester, said: The chalice of the Lord, by a precept of the canons, should be offered mixed of wine and water, because we see that the people is understood in the water and the blood of Christ is manifested in the wine; hence when wine and water are mingled in the chalice, the people are made one with Christ and the mass of the faithful are linked and joined together with him in whom they believe. Since, therefore, both the holy Roman church taught by the most blessed apostles Peter and Paul and the other churches of Latins and Greeks, in which the lights of all sanctity and doctrine have shone brightly, have behaved in this way from the very beginning of the growing church and still do so, it seems very unfitting that any other region should differ from this universal and reasonable observance. We decree, therefore, that the Armenians should conform themselves with the whole christian world and that their priests shall mix a little water with the wine in the oblation of the chalice, as has been said. The form of this sacrament are the words of the Saviour with which he effected this sacrament. A priest speaking in the person of Christ effects this sacrament. For, in virtue of those words, the substance of bread is changed into the body of Christ and the substance of wine into his blood. In such wise, however, that the whole Christ is contained both under the form of bread and under the form of wine, under any part of the consecrated host as well as after division of the consecrated wine, there is the whole Christ. The effect of this sacrament, which is produced in the soul of one who receives it worthily, is the union of him or her with Christ. Since by grace a person is incorporated in Christ and is united with his members, the consequence is that grace is increased by this sacrament in those who receive it worthily, and that every effect that material food and drink produce for corporal life -- sustaining, increasing, repairing and delighting -- this sacrament works for spiritual life. For in it, as Pope Urban said, we recall the gracious memory of our Saviour, we are withdrawn from evil, we are strengthened in good and we receive an increase of virtues and graces. The fourth sacrament is penance. Its matter is the acts of the penitent, which are threefold. The first is contrition of heart, which includes sorrow for sin committed, with the resolve not to sin again. The second is oral confession, which implies integral confession to the priest of all sins that are remembered. The third is satisfaction for sins in accordance with the judgment of the priest which is ordinarily done by prayer, fasting and almsgiving. The form of this sacrament are the words of absolution which the priest pronounces when he says: I absolve you. The minister of this sacrament is a priest with authority to absolve, which is either ordinary or by commission of a superior. The fifth sacrament is extreme unction. Its matter is olive oil blessed by a priest. This sacrament should not be given to the sick unless death is expected. The person is to be anointed on the following places: on the eyes for sight, on the ears for hearing, on the nostrils for smell, on the mouth for taste or speech, on the hands for touch, on the feet for walking, on the loins for the pleasure that abides there. The form of this sacrament is: Through this anointing and his most pious mercy may the Lord pardon you whatever you have done wrong by sight, and similarly for the other members. The minister of the sacrament is a priest. Its effect is to cure the mind and, in so far as it helps the soul, also the body. Blessed James the apostle said of this sacrament: Any one of you who is sick should send for the elders of the church, and they shall pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick person and the Lord will raise him up again: and if he is in sins, they will be forgiven him. The sixth is the sacrament of orders. Its matter is the object by whose handing over the order is conferred. So the priesthood is bestowed by the handing over of a chalice with wine and a paten with bread; the diaconate by the giving of the book of the gospels; the subdiaconate by the handing over of an empty chalice with an empty paten on it; and similarly for the other orders by allotting things connected with their ministry. The form for a priest is: Receive the power of offering sacrifice in the church for the living and the dead, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy Spirit. The forms for the other orders are contained in full in the Roman pontifical. The ordinary minister of this sacrament is a bishop. The effect is an increase of grace to make the person a suitable minister of Christ. The seventh is the sacrament of matrimony, which is a sign of the union of Christ and the church according to the words of the apostle: This sacrament is a great one, but I speak in Christ and in the church. The efficient cause of matrimony is usually mutual consent expressed in words about the present. A threefold good is attributed to matrimony. The first is the procreation and bringing up of children for the worship of God. The second is the mutual faithfulness of the spouses towards each other. The third is the indissolubility of marriage, since it signifies the indivisible union of Christ and the church. Although separation of bed is lawful on account of fornication, it is not lawful to contract another marriage, since the bond of a legitimately contracted marriage is perpetual. Sixthly, we offer to the envoys that compendious rule of the faith composed by most blessed Athanasius, which is as follows: Whoever wills to be saved, before all things it is necessary that he holds the catholic faith. Unless a person keeps this faith whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish eternally. The catholic faith is this, that we worship one God in the Trinity, and the Trinity in unity, neither confounding the persons nor dividing the substance. For there is one person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the holy Spirit. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son and of the holy Spirit is one, the glory equal, and the majesty co-eternal. Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the holy Spirit. The Father uncreated the Son uncreated and the holy Spirit uncreated. The Father infinite, the Son infinite and the holy Spirit infinite. The Father eternal, the Son eternal and the holy Spirit eternal. Yet they are not three eternals, but one eternal. As also they are not three uncreateds nor three infinites, but one uncreated and one infinite. Likewise the Father is almighty, the Son is almighty and the holy Spirit is almighty. Yet they are not three almighties, but one almighty. Likewise the Father is God, the Son is God and the holy Spirit is God. Yet they are not three gods, but one God. Likewise the Father is Lord, the Son is Lord and the holy Spirit is Lord. Yet they are not three lords, but one Lord. For just as we are compelled by the christian truth to acknowledge each person by himself to be God and Lord, so we are forbidden by the catholic religion to say there are three gods or three lords. The Father is made by none, neither created nor begotten. The Son is from the Father alone; not made nor created, but begotten. The holy Spirit is from the Father and the Son; not made nor created nor begotten, but proceeding. So there is one Father, not three fathers; one Son, not three sons; one holy Spirit, not three holy spirits. And in this Trinity nothing is before or after, nothing is greater or less; but the whole three persons are co-eternal together and co-equal. So that in all things, as has been said above, the unity in Trinity and the Trinity in unity is to be worshipped. Whoever, therefore, wishes to be saved, let him think thus of the Trinity. It is also necessary for salvation to believe faithfully the incarnation of our lord Jesus Christ. The right faith, therefore, is that we believe and confess that our lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, is God and man. God, of the substance of the Father, begotten before the ages; and man, of the substance of his mother, born in the world. Perfect God, perfect man, subsisting of a rational soul and human flesh. Equal to the Father according to his Godhead, less than the Father according to his humanity. Although he is God and man, he is not two, but one Christ. One, however, not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh, but by the taking of humanity into God. One altogether, not by confusion of substance, but by unity of person. For as a reasoning soul and flesh is one man, so God and man is one Christ. He suffered for our salvation and descended into hell. On the third day he rose from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father almighty. Thence he shall come to judge the living and the dead. At his coming all shall rise again with their bodies, and shall give an account of their own deeds. Those who have done good shall go into eternal life, but those who have done evil shall go into eternal fire. This is the catholic faith. Unless a person believes it faithfully and firmly, he cannot be saved. Seventhly, the decree of union concluded with the Greeks, which was promulgated earlier in this sacred ecumenical council of Florence and which is as follows: Let the heavens be glad . . . ‘ Eighthly, there was discussion with the Armenians about, among other things, the days on which the following feasts should be kept: the annunciation of the blessed virgin Mary, the birth of blessed John the Baptist and, in consequence, the birth and the circumcision of our lord Jesus Christ and his presentation in the temple (or the purification of the blessed virgin Mary). The truth was made quite clear by the testimonies of fathers and by the custom of the Roman church and all other churches among Latins and Greeks. Therefore, lest the rites of Christians be at variance in such great celebrations, whence a threat to charity could arise, we decree that, as something consonant with truth and reason, the Armenians too should solemnly celebrate, according to the observance of the rest of the world, the following feasts on the following days: the annunciation of the blessed virgin Mary on 25 March, the birth of blessed John the Baptist on 24 June, the birth of our Saviour on 25 December, his circumcision on 1 January, the epiphany on 6 January, and the presentation of our Lord in the temple (or the purification of the mother of God) on 2 February. After all these matters had been explained, the aforesaid Armenians, in their own name and in the name of their patriarch and of all Armenians, with all devotion and obedience accept, admit and embrace this salutary synodal decree with all its chapters, declarations, definitions, traditions, precepts and statutes and all the doctrine contained in it, and also whatever the holy apostolic see and the Roman church holds and teaches. They also accept with reverence all those doctors and holy fathers approved by the Roman church. Indeed, they hold as reprobated and condemned whatever persons and things the Roman church reprobates and condemns. They promise that as true sons of obedience, in the name as above, they will faithfully obey the ordinances and commands of the apostolic see. When the aforesaid decree had been solemnly read out in our and the holy synod’s presence, straightaway our beloved son Narses, an Armenian, in the name of the said envoys, publicly recited the following in Armenian and thereupon our beloved son Basil of the order of friars Minor, the interpreter between us and the Armenians, publicly read it out in Latin as follows. Most blessed father and most holy synod. Recently the whole of this holy decree, which has now been read out in Latin in your presence, was clearly explained and interpreted to us word by word in our language. It was and is completely acceptable to us. To disclose our understanding more fully, however, we repeat its contents in summary. The following is contained in it. First, you give to our people of the Armenians the holy creed of Constantinople, with the added phrase and the Son, to be sung or read within the mass in our churches at least on Sundays and greater feasts. Secondly, the definition of the fourth universal council of Chalcedon about two natures in the one person of Christ. Thirdly, the definition about the two wills and principles of action of Christ which was promulgated in the sixth universal council. Fourthly, you declare that the synod of Chalcedon and most blessed pope Leo rightly defined the truth about two natures in the one person of Christ against the impious doctrines of Nestorius and Eutyches. You order that we should venerate most blessed Leo as holy and a pillar of the faith and that we should reverently accept not only the synods of Nicaea, Constantinople and the first of Ephesus, but also all other synods legitimately celebrated . . authority of the Roman pontiff. Fifthly, a short scheme of the seven sacraments of the church, namely baptism, confirmation, eucharist, penance, extreme unction, orders and matrimony indicating the matter, the form and the minister of each; and that while the chalice is being offered in the sacrifice of the altar a little water should be mixed with the wine. Sixthly, a compendious rule of the faith of most blessed Athanasius, which begins: Whoever wills to be saved etc. Seventhly, the decree of union concluded with the Greeks, which was promulgated earlier in this sacred council, recording how the holy Spirit proceeds eternally from the Father and the Son, and that the phrase and the Son was licitly and reasonably added to the creed of Constantinople. Also that the body of the Lord is effected in leavened or unleavened wheat bread; and what is to be believed about the pains of purgatory and hell, about the life of the blessed and about suffrages offered for the dead. In addition, about the plenitude of power of the apostolic see given by Christ to blessed Peter and his successors, . . . . . about the order of the patriarchal sees. Eighthly, you decree that the following feasts should be kept on the following days, in accordance with the custom of the universal church: the annunciation of the blessed virgin Mary on 25 March, the birth of blessed John the Baptist on 24 June, the birth of our Saviour on 25 December, his circumcision on I January, the epiphany on 6 January, and the presentation of the Lord in the temple (or the purification of blessed Mary) on 2 February. Therefore we envoys, in our own name and in the name of our reverend patriarch and of all Armenians, with all devotion and obedience accept, admit and embrace, just as your holiness affirms in the decree, this most salutary synodal decree with all its chapters, declarations, definitions, traditions, precepts and statutes and all the doctrine contained in it, and also whatever the holy apostolic see and the Roman church holds and teaches. We accept with reverence all those doctors and holy fathers approved by the Roman church. Indeed we hold as reprobated and condemned whatever persons and things the Roman church reprobates and condemns. We promise that as true sons of obedience, in the name of the above, we will faithfully obey the ordinances and commands of this apostolic see. SESSION 9: 23 March 1440 [Monition of the council of Florence against the antipope Felix V] Eugenius, bishop, servant of the servants of God, for an everlasting record. Many examples of holy fathers of the old and the new Testament warn us that we should not pass over in silence or leave completely unpunished specially grave crimes which lead to the scandal and public division of the people entrusted to us. For if we delay to pursue and avenge what is grievously offensive to God, we thereby provoke the divine patience to wrath. For, there are sins for which it is a sin to be slack about their retribution. It is indeed right and eminently reasonable, in the opinion of holy fathers, that those who despise divine commands and disobey paternal enactments should be corrected with really severe penalties, so that others may fear to commit the same faults and that all may rejoice in fraternal harmony and take note of the example of severity and probity. For if -- though may it never be -- we are negligent about ecclesiastical vigilance and activity, idleness ruins discipline and the souls of the faithful will suffer great harm. Therefore, rotting flesh should be cut away and mangy sheep driven out He cannot have God as his father If he does not hold the unity of the church i he who does not agree with the body of the church and the whole brotherhood, cannot agree with anyone. Since Christ suffered for the church and since the church is the body of Christ, without doubt the person who divides the church is convicted of lacerating the body of Christ. Hence the avenging will of the Lord went forth against schismatics like Korah, Dathan and Abiram, who were swallowed up together by an opening in the ground for instigating schism against Moses, the man of God, and others were consumed by fire from heaven; idolatry indeed was punished by the sword; and the burning of the book was requited by the slaughter of war and imprisonment in exile. Finally, how indivisible is the sacrament of unity! How bereft of hope, and how punished by God’s indignation with the direst loss, are those who produce schism and, abandoning the true spouse of the church, set up a pseudo-bishop! Divine scripture declares this in the book of Kings, which says that when ten tribes had separated themselves from the tribe of Judah and Benjamin and abandoned their king, setting up for themselves another king: the Lord was indignant with all the descendants of Israel and gave them over to destruction till he cast them away from his face. It says that the Lord was indignant and gave over to destruction those who split off from unity and set up for themselves another king. Indeed, so great was the wrath of God against those who had brought about a schism that even when the man of God had been sent to Jeroboam to reprove his sins and to predict a future vengeance, the man of God was forbidden to eat bread with them or to drink water and when he did not obey this order of the Lord and dined, straightaway the divine retribution struck him and he was killed by a lion on his return journey. Hence, as blessed Jerome declares, nobody should doubt that the crime of schism is very wicked since it is avenged so severely. In days gone by, in the holy general council of Constance, that chronic and disastrous schism, which had cruelly and daily afflicted God’s church and the christian religion with great loss of souls, not only of individual persons but also in entire cities and provinces, was at last settled by the ineffable mercy of God and the unbounded labours and hardships of many kings and princes, both ecclesiastical and secular, many universities and others of Christ’s faithful, and at great expense. With the election of lord Martin of happy memory and, after his death, the undisputed, genuine, unanimous and canonical elevation of your holiness to the summit of the apostolate, the universal church seemed to be enjoying a greatly desired peace. But behold! Again we are compelled with copious tears to say with Jeremiah the prophet: we looked for peace, but behold disturbance. And again with Isaiah: we looked for light, but behold darkness. Some sons of perdition and disciples of iniquity, who were few in numbers and of little authority, tried at Basel with all their strength, guile and cunning, even after the translation of the former council which had been made canonically and legitimately by your holiness for just, evident, urgent and necessary reasons, to prevent the most holy union with the Greeks and the whole eastern church, which was ardently desired by the whole christian people. For after the said authors of the scandals who remained in Basel had failed to fulfil their promise to the Greeks, when they learnt from the envoys of the Greeks and the eastern church that the most serene prince lord John Palaeologus, emperor of the Romans, and Joseph, patriarch of Constantinople of happy memory, with many other prelates and men of the eastern church were about to come to the place chosen for the ecumenical council, and that your holiness had despatched many prelates and envoys with galleys at great expense and outlay, they dared to decree, with a view to preventing the arrival of the said emperor and Greeks, a detestable monition against your holiness and my most reverend lords, the lord cardinals of the holy Roman church. Afterwards, when they learnt that the said emperor and patriarch and other easterners were coming, they issued against your holiness a kind of sacrilegious decree of suspension from the administration of the papacy. Despite these and other wicked attempts and sacrilegious acts, on account of the constant solicitude displayed by you and this sacred council and after great labours and many disputations, at last the divine mercy granted that the above-mentioned schism of the Greeks and the eastern church, which had lasted for almost five hundred years to the great harm of the whole christian people, should be removed from the midst of the church and that the most desired union of the western and the eastern church, which was hardly thought possible, should follow with the utmost harmony from your and this sacred council’s holy work. This ought to be greatly admired and venerated with the highest praise and the joy of exultation, as all the rest of the christian religion had done, and thanks should be returned to the most High for so admirable a gift. But they became more hard-hearted and obstinate, preferring even at the cost of ruining the whole christian world to fan into flames the conflagration, which they had already begun, of their aforesaid most wicked monster. They adopted an attitude of opposition and, prodigal of their good name and enemies to their own honour, they strove to their utmost with pestilential daring to rend the unity of the holy Roman and universal church and the seamless robe of Christ’, and with serpentlike bites to lacerate the womb of the pious and holy mother herself. The leader and prince of these men and the architect of the whole nefarious deed was that first-born son of Satan, the most unfortunate Amadeus, once duke and prince of Savoy. He meditated this scheme for long. Several years ago, as is widely said, he was seduced by the trickery, soothsayings and phantoms of certain unfortunate men and women of low reputation (commonly called wizards or witches or Waldensians and said to be very numerous in his country), who had forsaken their Saviour to turn backwards to Satan and be deceived by demonic illusions, to have himself raised up to be a monstrous head in God’s church. He adopted the cloak of a hermit, or rather of a most false hypocrite, so that in sheep’s clothing, like a lamb he might assume the ferocity of a wolf. Eventually he joined the people at Basel. By force, fraud, bribery, promises and threats he prevailed on the majority of those at Basel, who were subject to his sway and tyranny, to proclaim him as an idol and Beelzebub, the prince of these new demons, in opposition to your holiness, the true vicar of Christ and the undoubted successor of Peter in God’s church. Thus that most ill-starred Amadeus, a man of insatiable and unheard of greed, whom avarice (which, according to the Apostle, is the service of idols) has always blinded, was set up as an idol and like a statue of Nebuchadnezzar in God’s church by that most wicked synagogue, those offscourings of forsaken men, that shameful cesspool of all Christianity, from among whom certain heinous men, or rather demons hiding under the form of men, had been deputed as electors or rather as profaners. He himself, agitated by the furies of his own crimes and sinking into the depth of all evils, said after the manner of Lucifer: I will set my throne in the north and I shall be like the most High. He grasped with avid and detestable greed at the above-mentioned election, or rather profanation made of him, which he had earlier sought with intense fever of mind and anguish of heart. He did not shrink from adopting and wearing papal robes, ornaments and insignia, from behaving, holding himself and acting as Roman and supreme pontiff, and from having himself venerated as such by the people. Further, he was not afraid to write and despatch to many parts of the world letters which were sealed with a leaden seal after the manner of the Roman pontiffs. By these letters, in which he calls himself Felix even though he is the most unhappy of mortals, he tries to spread the poisons of his faction among the people of Christ. What complaint or accusation am I to make first, most blessed father and most holy synod? With what force of speech, grief of mind or outpouring of words am I to deplore so great a crime? What rich discourse could suitably bewail or express this most foul deed? Assuredly no account can equal the grossness of the act, for the magnitude of so heinous a crime transcends the power of speech. But, as I see it, most blessed father and most reverend and reverend fathers, now is the hour not for lament but for remedy. For behold, holy mother church was basking in true unity and peace, in the person of your holiness her undoubted spouse, when the fountain of tears was opened. To you, her spouse, and to you most reverend and reverend fathers, who share in solicitude and have been summoned to this sacred and ecumenical council, she is forced to cry and shout with many sighs and sobs: Have pity on me, have pity on me, at least you my fiends’. For my bowels are full of bitterness. For the foxes destroy the vineyard of the God of hosts, and the impious rend the seamless robe of Christ. Let God therefore arise, let all his enemies be scattered. And you, most blessed father, since all these things are so manifest, public and notorious that they cannot be hidden by any evasion or defended by excuses, arise in the power of the most High, together with this sacred council, and judge the cause of your spouse and be mindful of your sons. Gird your sword upon your thigh, O mighty one. Set out, proceed prosperously and reign, and say with the psalmist: I will pursue my enemies and crush them, and I shall not return until I consume them. I shall consume and crush them and they will not rise; they will fall at my feet. For it is wrong that so wicked a deed and so detestable a precedent should be allowed to pass by disguised, lest perhaps unpunished daring and malice find an imitator, but rather let the example of punished trangressions deter others from offending. Therefore your holiness and this sacred synod, following the example of Moses the man of God, must say to the whole christian people: Depart from the tents of these impious men. Follow also the example of blessed pope Leo, your predecessor, who moved the second council of Ephesus and Dioscorus with his supporters to Chalcedon, where he instituted a synod which condemned them, and of your other predecessors as supreme pontiff, who continuously rising up in God’s church have eliminated heresies and schisms, with their instigators, followers and supporters, from the church of God and the communion of the faithful, which is the most sacred body of Christ, and have afflicted them with many other condign penalties at the demand of justice. With the approval and help of this sacred ecumenical council, avenge with condign penalties this new frenzy which has become inflamed to your injury and that of the holy Roman church, your spouse, and to the notorious scandal of the whole christian people. By the authority of almighty God and of the blessed apostles Peter and Paul and by your own authority, remove and separate from God’s holy church, by a perpetual anathema, the aforesaid wicked perpetrators of this prodigious crime and their unfortunate heresiarch and veritable antichrist in God’s church together with all their supporters, adherents and followers and especially his execrable electors or rather profaners. May he and all the aforesaid be cast out like an antichrist and an invader and a destroyer of the whole of Christianity. Let no appeal in this matter ever be allowed to him or to them. Let them and their posterity and successors be deprived without appeal of every ecclesiastical or secular rank and dignity whatsoever. Let all of them be condemned by a perpetual anathema and excommunication and may they be counted among the wicked who will not rise at the judgment. May they feel the anger of God against them. May they feel the rage of saints Peter and Paul, whose church they dare to throw into confusion, both in this life and in the next. May their dwelling be a desolation, let no one dwell in their tents. May their children be orphans and their wives be widows. May the world fight against them and all the elements be opposed to them, so that they may be cast out, destroyed and eliminated by all and so that, as they grovel in permanent penury, death may deservedly be their refuge and life their punishment. May the merits of all the saints cast them into confusion and display open vengeance on them in their lifetime. May they receive a deserved fate with Korah, Dathan and Abiram. Finally, unless they repent from their hearts, perform deeds worthy of repentance and make worthy satisfaction to your holiness and the universal church for the enormity of their sins, may they be thrust with the wicked into the everlasting darkness, doomed by the just judgment of God to eternal torments. May the grace of almighty God protect all of us and all Christ’s faithful who execrate with merited blasphemies the aforesaid heresiarchs and their abominable idol and antichrist, who acknowledge you as Christ’s vicar and spouse of his most worthy church, and who venerate you with devout reverence and constant faith and obedience. By the authority of blessed Peter and Paul and your authority, may we and they be absolved from all bonds of sins, be filled with all blessings on our pilgrimage and finally be led by his ineffable mercy to eternal joys. Amen. For our part, as soon as we were aware from the reports of trustworthy people that so great an impiety had been committed, we were afflicted with grief and sadness, as was to be expected, both for the great scandal to the church and for the ruin of the souls of its perpetrators, especially Amadeus that antichrist whom we used to embrace in the depths of charity and whose prayers and wishes we always strove to meet in so far as we could in God. Already for some time we had it in mind to provide salutary remedies, in accordance with our pastoral office, against an abomination of this sort. Now, however, challenged publicly before the church to confront these evils, we propose to rise to the defence of the church and tackle this great crime more quickly and more urgently. Therefore, in order that so enormous and execrable a deed may, with the help of God whose cause is at stake, be destroyed from its very roots, we are applying, in conjunction with this holy council and with the least possible delay, a remedy in accordance with the holy canons. We are aware that the above petition of the promoter and the procurator is just and in conformity with both divine and human law, and although the aforesaid crimes and excesses are so very public and notorious that nothing can conceal them and no further information is required; Nevertheless, for greater precaution and certainly about the above, we commissioned, with the approval of this sacred council, some noteworthy persons from every rank in the council to seek information about the above and to refer their findings to us and the sacred council. Those so commissioned fulfilled their task of investigation with the care demanded by a schismatical depravity of this kind and faithfully reported to us and the sacred council in a synodal congregation what they had found out by the interrogation of trustworthy persons. In such public, manifest and notorious matters, action could have been taken against the said infamous and scandalous men without waiting further, by means of severe penalties in accordance with canonical sanctions. Nevertheless we and this holy synod, imitating the mercy of God who desires not the death of the sinner but rather that he be converted and live, have decided to show all possible mercy and to act, in so far as we can, in such a way that the proposed mildness may recall them to heart and lead them to recoil from the above-mentioned excesses, and so that when at last they return to the bosom of the church like the prodigal son, we may receive them with kindness and embrace them with fatherly love. Therefore, through the tender mercy of our God and by the shedding of the precious blood of our lord Jesus Christ, in whom and by whom the redemption of the human race and the foundation of holy mother church were effected, from the depths of our hearts we exhort, beg and beseech the antichrist Amadeus and the aforesaid electors, or rather profaners, and whoever else believes in, adheres to, receives or in any way supports him, straightaway to stop violating the church’s unity for which the Saviour prayed so earnestly to the Father, and to cease from rending and lacerating the fraternal charity and peace which the same Redeemer, as he was about to leave this world, repeatedly and so insistently commended to his disciples and without which neither prayers nor fasts nor alms are acceptable to God, and utterly to desist as quickly as possible from the aforesaid destructive and scandalous excesses, and so to find with us and this sacred council, if they really obey as they are bound to do, the affection of a father in respect of everything. However, so that fear of penalties and harshness of discipline may force them if perchance love of justice and virtue does not withdraw them from sin, with the approval of this sacred council we demand and warn the antichrist Amadeus and the aforesaid electors, or rather profaners, and believers, adherents, receivers and supporters, and we strictly enjoin and order him and them in virtue of holy obedience and under the penalties of anathema, heresy, schism and treason which have been inflicted in any ways against such persons, whether by men or by the law: That within fifty days immediately following the publication of this letter, the antichrist Amadeus should cease from acting any more and designating himself as the Roman pontiff and should not, in so far as he can, allow himself to be held and called such by others, and should not dare hereafter in any way to use papal insignia and other things belonging in any way to the Roman pontiff; And that the aforesaid electors, or rather profaners, and adherents, receivers and supporters should no longer, either in person or through others, directly or indirectly or under any pretext, aid, believe in, adhere to or support the said Amadeus in this crime of schism. Rather, both Amadeus himself and the aforesaid electors, believers, adherents and supporters should hold, recognize and reverence us as the true Roman pontiff and vicar of Christ and legitimate successor of Peter, and should reverently obey and maintain us as father and pastor of their souls, and should take care legitimately to notify us and this sacred council about these matters within the appointed interval of time, so that no scruple of doubt may remain about their genuine obedience. If Amadeus and the said electors, believers, adherents, receivers and supporters shall act otherwise -- though may it not be so -- and do not effectively fulfil each and all of the aforesaid points within the appointed time, we wish and decree that from then as from now they automatically incur the stated penalties. Moreover, on the fifteenth day after the aforesaid interval of time, if it is not a feast, otherwise on the following non-feast day, the aforesaid supporters all together or singly shall appear in person before us and the aforesaid council where we shall then be, to be seen and heard individually and even by name. Thus we now cite them for that day, to be declared schismatics, blasphemers and as heretics, to be punished as traitors, and to have incurred the aforesaid censures and penalties, and others to be inflicted, according as it shall seem good and justice shall persuade: Notifying the same people and any of them individually, whether or not they come, that if they shall not have shown that they have obeyed, we shall proceed with justice to declaring the aforesaid penalties, notwithstanding their contumacy or absence, with the intention of proceeding further to aggravation and re-aggravation, as the rigour of justice shall demand and their merits require. In order that this monition and citation of ours may be brought to the attention of the authors of their monition and citation and of other interested persons, we shall have sheets of paper or membranes of parchment containing it affixed to the doors or gates of the church of St Mary Novella in Florence, of our palace situated near that church and of the cathedral church of Florence. These will make known this monition as if by a sonorous town-crying and a public notice, in order that after such notification these people may not be able to pretend that it did not reach them or that they were ignorant of it, since it is unlikely that what is made known so obviously to all should remain unknown or hidden to them. We wish and we decree by our apostolic authority that this our monition promulgated on the said doors and gates shall have as much value and be as immutable and as binding on the said warned people, notwithstanding any contrary constitution, as if it had been intimated and disclosed to each and all of the warned people in person and in their presence. Finally, lest the aforesaid warned and cited persons allege as a cloak of excuse that the council and the Roman curia, the common fatherland of all, is an unsafe place for them and that, because of the above-mentioned things or other enmities or other reasons, danger threatens them in their coming, staying and returning, we reassure them by this present letter and we require and exhort by the same letter all patriarchs, archbishops, bishops and other prelates of churches and monasteries, clerics and ecclesiastical persons as well as dukes, marquises, princes, rulers, captains and any other officials and their lieutenants, as also the communities and corporations of cities, castles, towns, vills and other places, and we strictly command the patriarchs, archbishops, bishops and other prelates and our other subjects that they are not to inflict any injury or harm on the aforesaid warned persons and their goods and property nor, to the best of their power, to allow such to be inflicted by others. Let nobody therefore . . . If anyone however . .. SESSION 10: 27 May 1440 [Eugenius IV exhorts the members of the synod at Basel to desist from their opposition] Eugenius, bishop, servant of the servants of God, for an everlasting record. In the opinion of holy fathers, public sinners ought to be publicly censured so that others may stand in fear. Accordingly, we and this sacred council of Florence recently censured and denounced in public before the church, in synodal form, the authors and abettors of the pestilential sin of schism against the holy apostolic see and the holy Roman church, the mother and mistress of all Christians, which was perpetrated by Amadeus, once duke of Savoy, and his accomplices. It would have been in conformity with the sacred canons to have passed a sentence of due severity straightaway on those notoriously sacrilegious persons. However, desiring their conversion and salvation rather than their punishment, we begged, warned and required of them, with all the charity and mildness we could, to reflect and to recoil from such great iniquity, promising them pardon and favour and a father’s affection. But if they refused to heed these dutiful admonitions, we decreed that they should be punished with penalties proportionate to so great an outrage, as is contained in the monition promulgated against them, which is as follows. SESSION 11: 4 February 1442 [Bull of union with the Copts] Eugenius, bishop, servant of the servants of God, for an everlasting record. Sing praises to the Lord for he has done gloriously; let this be known in all the earth. Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the holy one of Israel. To sing and to exult in the Lord certainly befits the church of God for his great magnificence and the glory of his name, which the most merciful God has deigned to bring about on this very day. It is right, indeed, to praise and bless with all our hearts our Saviour, who daily builds up his holy church with new additions. His benefactions to his christian people are at all times many and great and manifest more clearly than the light of day his immense love for us. Yet if we look more closely at the benefactions which the divine mercy has deigned to effect in most recent times, we shall assuredly be able to judge that in these days of ours the gifts of his love have been more in number and greater in kind than in many past ages. For in less than three years our lord Jesus Christ by his indefatigable kindness, to the common and lasting joy of the whole of Christianity, has generously effected in this holy ecumenical synod the most salutary union of three great nations. Hence it has come about that nearly the whole of the east that adores the glorious name of Christ and no small part of the north, after prolonged discord with the holy Roman church, have come together in the same bond of faith and love. For first the Greeks and those subject to the four patriarchal sees, which cover many races and nations and tongues, then the Armenians, who are a race of many peoples, and today indeed the Jacobites, who are a great people in Egypt, have been united with the holy apostolic see. Nothing is more pleasing to our Saviour, the lord Jesus Christ, than mutual love among people and nothing can give more glory to his name and advantage to the church than that Christians, with all discord between them banished, should come together in the same purity of faith. Deservedly all of us ought to sing for joy and to exult in the Lord; we whom the divine clemency has made worthy to see in our days such great splendour of the christian faith. With the greatest readiness we therefore announce these marvellous facts to the whole christian world, so that just as we are filled with unspeakable joy for the glory of God and the exaltation of the church, we may make others participate in this great happiness. Thus all of us with one voice may magnify and glorify God and may return abundant and daily thanks, as is fitting, to his majesty for so many and so great marvellous benefits bestowed on his holy church in this age. He who diligently does the work of God not only awaits merit and reward in heaven but also deserves generous glory and praise among people. Therefore we consider that our venerable brother John, patriarch of the Jacobites, whose zeal for this holy union is immense, should deservedly be praised and extolled by us and the whole church and deserves, together with his whole race, the general approval of all Christians. Moved by us, through our envoy and our letter, to send an embassy to us and this sacred synod and to unite himself and his people in the same faith with the Roman church, he sent to us and this synod the beloved son Andrew, an Egyptian, endowed in no mean degree with faith and morals and abbot of the monastery of St Anthony in Egypt, in which St Anthony himself is said to have lived and died. The patriarch, fired with great zeal, ordered and commissioned him reverently to accept, in the name of the patriarch and his Jacobites, the doctrine of the faith that the Roman church holds and preaches, and afterwards to bring this doctrine to the patriarch and the Jacobites so that they might acknowledge and formally approve it and preach it in their lands. We, therefore, to whom the Lord gave the task of feeding Christ’s sheep’, had abbot Andrew carefully examined by some outstanding men of this sacred council on the articles of the faith, the sacraments of the church and certain other matters pertaining to salvation. At length, after an exposition of the catholic faith to the abbot, as far as this seemed to be necessary, and his humble acceptance of it, we have delivered in the name of the Lord in this solemn session, with the approval of this sacred ecumenical council of Florence, the following true and necessary doctrine. First, then, the holy Roman church, founded on the words of our Lord and Saviour, firmly believes, professes and preaches one true God, almighty, immutable and eternal, Father, Son and holy Spirit; one in essence, three in persons; unbegotten Father, Son begotten from the Father, holy Spirit proceeding from the Father and the Son; the Father is not the Son or the holy Spirit, the Son is not the Father or the holy Spirit, the holy Spirit is not the Father or the Son; the Father is only the Father, the Son is only the Son, the holy Spirit is only the holy Spirit. The Father alone from his substance begot the Son; the Son alone is begotten of the Father alone; the holy Spirit alone proceeds at once from the Father and the Son. These three persons are one God not three gods, because there is one substance of the three, one essence, one nature, one Godhead, one immensity, one eternity, and everything is one where the difference of a relation does not prevent this. Because of this unity the Father is whole in the Son, whole in the holy Spirit; the Son is whole in the Father, whole in the holy Spirit; the holy Spirit is whole in the Father, whole in the Son. No one of them precedes another in eternity or excels in greatness or surpasses in power. The existence of the Son from the Father is certainly eternal and without beginning, and the procession of the holy Spirit from the Father and the Son is eternal and without beginning. Whatever the Father is or has, he has not from another but from himself and is principle without principle. Whatever the Son is or has, he has from the Father and is principle from principle. Whatever the holy Spirit is or has, he has from the Father together with the Son. But the Father and the Son are not two principles of the holy Spirit, but one principle, just as the Father and the Son and the holy Spirit are not three principles of creation but one principle. Therefore it condemns, reproves, anathematizes and declares to be outside the body of Christ, which is the church, whoever holds opposing or contrary views. Hence it condemns Sabellius, who confused the persons and altogether removed their real distinction. It condemns the Arians, the Eunomians and the Macedonians who say that only the Father is true God and place the Son and the holy Spirit in the order of creatures. It also condemns any others who make degrees or inequalities in the Trinity. Most firmly it believes, professes and preaches that the one true God, Father, Son and holy Spirit, is the creator of all things that are, visible and invisible, who, when he willed it, made from his own goodness all creatures, both spiritual and corporeal, good indeed because they are made by the supreme good, but mutable because they are made from nothing, and it asserts that there is no nature of evil because every nature, in so far as it is a nature, is good. It professes that one and the same God is the author of the old and the new Testament -- that is, the law and the prophets, and the gospel -- since the saints of both testaments spoke under the inspiration of the same Spirit. It accepts and venerates their books, whose titles are as follows. Five books of Moses, namely Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy; Joshua, Judges, Ruth, four books of Kings, two of Paralipomenon, Esdras, Nehemiah, Tobit, Judith, Esther, Job, Psalms of David, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Baruch, Ezechiel, Daniel; the twelve minor prophets, namely Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi; two books of the Maccabees; the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John; fourteen letters of Paul, to the Romans, two to the Corinthians, to the Galatians, to the Ephesians, to the Philippians, two to the Thessalonians, to the Colossians, two to Timothy, to Titus, to Philemon, to the Hebrews; two letters of Peter, three of John, one of James, one of Jude; Acts of the Apostles; Apocalypse of John. Hence it anathematizes the madness of the Manichees who posited two first principles, one of visible things, the other of invisible things, and said that one was the God of the new Testament, the other of the old Testament. It firmly believes, professes and preaches that one person of the Trinity, true God, Son of God begotten by the Father, consubstantial and coeternal with the Father, in the fullness of time which the inscrutable depth of divine counsel determined, for the salvation of the human race, took a real and complete human nature from the immaculate womb of the virgin Mary, and joined it to himself in a personal union of such great unity that whatever is of God there, is not separated from man, and whatever is human is not divided from the Godhead, and he is one and the same undivided, each nature perduring in its properties, God and man, Son of God and son of man, equal to the Father according to his divinity, less than the Father according to his humanity, immortal and eternal through the nature of the Godhead, passible and temporal from the condition of assumed humanity. It firmly believes, professes and preaches that the Son of God was truly born of the virgin in his assumed humanity, truly suffered, truly died and was buried, truly rose from the dead, ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father and will come at the end of time to judge the living and the dead. i It anathematizes, execrates and condemns every heresy that is tainted with the contrary. First it condemns Ebion, Cerinthus, Marcion, Paul of Samosata, Photinus and all similar blasphemers who, failing to see the personal union of the humanity with the Word, denied that our lord Jesus Christ was true God and professed him to be simply a man who by a greater participation in divine grace, which he had received through the merit of his holier life, should be called a divine man. It anathematizes also Manes and his followers who, imagining that the Son of God took to himself not a real body but a phantasmal one completely rejected the truth of the humanity in Christ, Valentinus, who declared that the Son of God took nothing from his virgin mother but that he assumed a heavenly body and passed through the virgin’s womb like water flowing down an aqueduct; Arius, who by his assertion that the body taken from the virgin had no soul, wanted the Deity to take the place of the soul; and Apollinarius who, realizing that if the soul informing the body were denied there would be no true humanity in Christ, posited only a sensitive soul and held that the deity of the Word took the place of the rational soul. It anathematizes also Theodore of Mopsuestia and Nestorius, who asserted that the humanity was united to the Son of God through grace, and hence that there are two persons in Christ just as they profess there are two natures, since they could not understand that the union of the humanity to the Word was hypostatic and therefore they denied that he had received the subsistence of the Word. For according to this blasphemy the Word was not made flesh but the Word dwelt in flesh through grace, that is, the Son of God did not become man but rather the Son of God dwelt in a man. It also anathematizes, execrates and condemns the archimandrite Eutyches who, when he understood that the blasphemy of Nestorius excluded the truth of the incarnation, and that it was therefore necessary for the humanity to be so united to the Word of God that there should be one and the same person of the divinity and the humanity; and also because, granted the plurality of natures, he could not grasp the unity of the person, since he posited one person in Christ of divinity and humanity; so he affirmed that there was one nature, suggesting that before the union there was a duality of natures which passed into a single nature in the act of assumption, thereby conceding a great blasphemy and impiety that either the humanity was converted into the divinity or the divinity into the humanity. It also anathematizes, execrates and condemns Macarius of Antioch and all others of similar views who, although they are orthodox on the duality of natures and the unity of person, yet have gone enormously wrong on Christ’s principles of action by declaring that of the two natures in Christ, there was only one principle of action and one will. The holy Roman church anathematizes all of these and their heresies and affirms that in Christ there are two wills and two principles of action. It firmly believes, professes and preaches that never was anyone, conceived by a man and a woman, liberated from the devil’s dominion except by faith in our lord Jesus Christ, the mediator between God and humanity, who was conceived without sin, was born and died. He alone by his death overthrew the enemy of the human race, cancelling our sins, and unlocked the entrance to the heavenly kingdom, which the first man by his sin had locked against himself and all his posterity. All the holy sacrifices sacraments and ceremonies of the old Testament had prefigured that he would come at some time. It firmly believes, professes and teaches that the legal prescriptions of the old Testament or the Mosaic law, which are divided into ceremonies, holy sacrifices and sacraments, because they were instituted to signify something in the future, although they were adequate for the divine cult of that age, once our lord Jesus Christ who was signified by them had come, came to an end and the sacraments of the new Testament had their beginning. Whoever, after the passion, places his hope in the legal prescriptions and submits himself to them as necessary for salvation and as if faith in Christ without them could not save, sins mortally. It does not deny that from Christ’s passion until the promulgation of the gospel they could have been retained, provided they were in no way believed to be necessary for salvation. But it asserts that after the promulgation of the gospel they cannot be observed without loss of eternal salvation. Therefore it denounces all who after that time observe circumcision, the sabbath and other legal prescriptions as strangers to the faith of Christ and unable to share in eternal salvation, unless they recoil at some time from these errors. Therefore it strictly orders all who glory in the name of Christian, not to practise circumcision either before or after baptism, since whether or not they place their hope in it, it cannot possibly be observed without loss of eternal salvation. With regard to children, since the danger of death is often present and the only remedy available to them is the sacrament of baptism by which they are snatched away from the dominion of the devil and adopted as children of God, it admonishes that sacred baptism is not to be deferred for forty or eighty days or any other period of time in accordance with the usage of some people, but it should be conferred as soon as it conveniently can; and if there is imminent danger of death, the child should be baptized straightaway without any delay, even by a lay man or a woman in the form of the church, if there is no priest, as is contained more fully in the decree on the Armenians. It firmly believes, professes and teaches that every creature of God is good and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because according to the word of the Lord not what goes into the mouth defiles a person, and because the difference in the Mosaic law between clean and unclean foods belongs to ceremonial practices, which have passed away and lost their efficacy with the coming of the gospel. It also declares that the apostolic prohibition, to abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled, was suited to that time when a single church was rising from Jews and gentiles, who previously lived with different ceremonies and customs. This was so that the gentiles should have some observances in common with Jews, and occasion would be offered of coming together in one worship and faith of God and a cause of dissension might be removed, since by ancient custom blood and strangled things seemed abominable to Jews, and gentiles could be thought to be returning to idolatry if they ate sacrificial food. In places, however, where the christian religion has been promulgated to such an extent that no Jew is to be met with and all have joined the church, uniformly practising the same rites and ceremonies of the gospel and believing that to the clean all things are clean, since the cause of that apostolic prohibition has ceased, so its effect has ceased. It condemns, then, no kind of food that human society accepts and nobody at all neither man nor woman, should make a distinction between animals, no matter how they died; although for the health of the body, for the practice of virtue or for the sake of regular and ecclesiastical discipline many things that are not proscribed can and should be omitted, as the apostle says all things are lawful, but not all are helpful. It firmly believes, professes and preaches that all those who are outside the catholic church, not only pagans but also Jews or heretics and schismatics, cannot share in eternal life and will go into the everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels, unless they are joined to the catholic church before the end of their lives; that the unity of the ecclesiastical body is of such importance that only for those who abide in it do the church’s sacraments contribute to salvation and do fasts, almsgiving and other works of piety and practices of the christian militia produce eternal rewards; and that nobody can be saved, no matter how much he has given away in alms and even if he has shed his blood in the name of Christ, unless he has persevered in the bosom and the unity of the catholic church. It embraces, approves and accepts the holy synod of 318 fathers at Nicaea, which was convened in the time of our predecessor most blessed Silvester and the great and most pious emperor Constantine. In it the impious Arian heresy and its author was condemned and there was defined that the Son of God is consubstantial and coeternal with the Father. It also embraces, approves and accepts the holy synod of 150 fathers at Constantinople, which was convoked in the time of our predecessor most blessed Damasus and the elder Theodosius and which anathematized the impious error of Macedonius, who asserted that the holy Spirit is not God but a creature. Those whom they condemn, it condemns; what they approve, it approves; and in every respect it wants what was defined there to remain unchanged and inviolate. (Source: Church Councils / Council Of Basel 1431-45 A.D.)
It also embraces, approves and accepts the first holy synod of 200 fathers at Ephesus, which is third in the order of universal synods and was convoked under our predecessor most blessed Celestine and the younger Theodosius. In it the blasphemy of the impious Nestorius was condemned, and there was defined that the person of our lord Jesus Christ, true God and true man, is one and that the blessed ever-virgin Mary should be preached by the whole church not only as Christ-bearer but also as God-bearer, that is as mother of God as well as mother of the man. But it condemns, anathematizes and rejects the impious second synod of Ephesus, which was convened under our predecessor most blessed Leo and the aforesaid emperor. In it Dioscorus, bishop of Alexandria, defender of the heresiarch Eutyches and impious persecutor of holy Flavian, bishop of Constantinople, with cunning and threat led the execrable synod to an approval of the Eutychian impiety. It also embraces, approves and accepts the holy synod of 630 fathers at Chalcedon, which is fourth in the order of universal synods and was held in the time of our predecessor most blessed Leo and the emperor Marcian. In it the Eutychian heresy and its author Eutyches and its defender Dioscorus were condemned, and there was defined that our lord Jesus Christ is true God and true man and that in the one and same person the divine and human natures remain entire, inviolate, incorrupt, unconfused and distinct, the humanity doing what befits man, the divinity what befits God. Those whom they condemn, it condemns; those whom they approve, it approves. It also embraces, approves and accepts the fifth holy synod, the second of Constantinople, which was held in the time of our predecessor most blessed Vigilius and the emperor Justinian. In it the definition of the sacred council of Chalcedon about the two natures and the one person of Christ was renewed and many errors of Origen and his followers, especially about the penitence and liberation of demons and other condemned beings, were refuted and condemned. It also embraces, approves and accepts the third holy synod of 150 fathers at Constantinople, which is sixth in the order of universal synods and was convened in the time of our predecessor most blessed Agatho and the emperor Constantine IV. In it the heresy of Macarius of Antioch and his adherents was condemned, and there was defined that in our lord Jesus Christ there are two perfect and complete natures and two principles of action and also two wills, although there is one and the same person to whom the actions of each of the two natures belong, the divinity doing what is of God, the humanity doing what is human. It also embraces, approves and accepts all other universal synods which were legitimately summoned, celebrated and confirmed by the authority of a Roman pontiff, and especially this holy synod of Florence, in which, among other things, most holy unions with the Greeks and the Armenians have been achieved and many most salutary definitions in respect of each of these unions have been issued, as is contained in full in the decrees previously promulgated, which are as follows: Let the heavens be glad . . . 1; Exult in God . 2 However, since no explanation was given in the aforesaid decree of the Armenians in respect of the form of words which the holy Roman church, relying on the teaching and authority of the apostles Peter and Paul, has always been wont to use in the consecration of the Lord’s body and blood, we concluded that it should be inserted in this present text. It uses this form of words in the consecration of the Lord’s body: For this is my body. And of his blood: For this is the chalice of my blood, of the new and everlasting covenant, which will be shed for you and for many unto the remission of sins. Whether the wheat bread, in which the sacrament is confected, has been baked on the same day or earlier is of no importance whatever. For, provided the substance of bread remains, there should be no doubt at all that after the aforesaid words of consecration of the body have been pronounced by a priest with the intention of consecrating, immediately it is changed in substance into the true body of Christ. It is asserted that some people reject fourth marriages as condemned. Lest sin is attributed where it does not exist, since the apostle says that a wife on her husband’s death is free from his law and free in the Lord to marry whom she wishes, and since no distinction is made between the deaths of the first, second and third husbands, we declare that not only second and third marriages but also fourth and further ones may lawfully be contracted, provided there is no canonical impediment. We say, however, that they would be more commendable if thereafter they abstain from marriage and persevere in chastity because we consider that, just as virginity is to be preferred in praise and merit to widowhood, so chaste widowhood is preferable to marriage. After all these explanations the aforesaid abbot Andrew, in the name of the aforesaid patriarch and of himself and of all the Jacobites, receives and accepts with all devotion and reverence this most salutary synodal decree with all its chapters, declarations, definitions traditions, precepts and statutes and all the doctrine contained therein, and also whatever the holy apostolic see and the Roman church holds and teaches. He also reverently accepts those doctors and holy fathers whom the Roman church approves, and he holds as rejected and condemned whatever persons and things the Roman church rejects and condemns, promising as a son of true obedience, in the name of the above persons, faithfully and always to obey the regulations and commands of the said apostolic see. SESSION 12: 14 October 1443 [Eugenius IV convokes the Lateran council, that is, the continuation of the council of Florence] Eugenius. Convocation of the Lateran council. For an everlasting record. By the infinite clemency and pity of the redeemer of the human race, our God and lord Jesus Christ, by whose ineffable providence the whole body of the church is sanctified and ruled and through whose aid -- which surpasses our merits and exceeds what we recognise ourselves as worthy either to seek or to solicit -- gifts and favours of his mercy daily come to us, we have returned to bountiful Rome, the see of most blessed Peter, to the holy of holies, the Lateran of the patriarchs. With great trust we are embracing and earnestly pursuing the things which seem to be promoted and revealed by divine rather than by human wisdom. Hence it is that because of various just, reasonable and necessary causes which then moved our mind, by apostolic authority and the plenitude of power and with the approval of the council, we transferred the holy ecumenical council of Florence, over which we were then presiding, to this bountiful city of Rome and the Lateran basilica, to be re-established and continued on the first day following the fifteenth day after our arrival, as is contained in more detail in the letter composed for that purpose, whose text is word for word as follows: Eugenius, bishop, servant of the servants of God, for an everlasting record The compassionate and merciful Lord ordained that his only-begotten Son should assume a human nature and should so join it to himself into a single person that not only would fallen nature be repaired by virtue of that ineffable union, but also by his embrace as spouse and by the kiss of his mouth his bride the holy church would be brought forth, her members would be joined together by a solid bond of love, and the christian people would acquire peace in harmony, salvation in a unity of spirit, and glory in the bond of charity. In so far as it is granted to us by the mercy of our lord and saviour Jesus Christ, whose place we though unworthy take on earth, we, following in his footsteps, ardently desire and intensely pursue the salvation, unity and peace of the christian people. Therefore we are intent, with a deserved watchfulness, on the conservation of this holy ecumenical council. In it, by the marvellous kindness and mercy of the same Saviour, very many most noteworthy works have been achieved for his praise and glory, the increase of the catholic faith, the unity of the christian people and the exaltation of the holy apostolic see and the Roman church. For in our own days we have seen Greeks, Armenians, Jacobites and other almost innumerable peoples, some of whom have been separated from the rite and the holy teaching of the Roman church for almost five hundred or even seven hundred years, joined with us in this sacred council, by God’s mercy, under one divine law of truth and embracing us with due reverence as the true vicar of Christ, the successor of Peter and the shepherd of the universal church. There are no limits to the kindness of our Saviour, who works for the unity of the christian people and his mystical body, for which he prayed: I wish, Father, that they may be one even as we are one. Indeed we are experiencing his kindness particularly in these times. For his infinite mercy has granted that we are now awaiting the arrival of envoys, furnished with full power to accept in this holy council the doctrine of the orthodox faith from which their peoples have gone astray in many points, from our most dear son in Christ Zar’a Ya’qob, king of Ethiopia, commonly called Prester John, to whom very many kings and almost innumerable peoples are subject and who is impelled, as we trust, by divine inspiration. To foster and hasten such a holy and divine proposal, which is so necessary for the whole of Christianity, we have sent our own nuncios and envoys, who are full of zeal for this holy task and have considerable influence with the said most powerful king. Many more works have been proposed to us for the praise of God and the increase of the faith and the christian people. We wish to give careful attention to them. Frightened by neither the heavy expenses nor the many labours, we put our trust in the power of him whose inspiration motivates us. Let us hope, moreover, that in the course of time many other desirable and salutary fruits will accrue to the catholic faith and the church of Christ, especially if this holy synod is held in a place of greater importance and in a royal and sacerdotal city. To the genial city of Rome, which is particularly our city and which, as is right, we want to participate and help in these salutary and divine tasks, we have turned our attention, a city which we consider to be abounding in all spiritual and temporal goods and more holy and outstanding than all other cities for carrying out these holy tasks and bringing them to a religious and happy conclusion. For in it our Saviour in his eternal providence settled the apostolic see in blessed Peter, prince of all the apostles, and on his right in fellowship the wondrous foresight of the same Saviour added the blessed apostle Paul. They are two bulwarks of the faith through whom the gospel shone in Rome; they are true fathers and true pastors; they are those who suffered on one day for merit, in one place for grace, under one persecutor for equal virtue, and made this city sacerdotal and royal and the capital of the world, as being the holy seat of Peter, and consecrated it to the lord Christ with the glorious blood of martyrdom. “For the Roman church founded all, whether the eminence of a patriarch or the seats of metropolitan primacy or of bishoprics or the dignities of churches of whatever rank; he alone, who entrusted to blessed Peter, the key-bearer of eternal life, the rights of the heavenly as well as of the earthly kingdom, founded the Roman church and straightaway set it on the rock of nascent faith.” Since, then, the city of Rome has been ennobled and distinguished by so many and so great divine gifts and is resplendent with so much authority and also draws the faithful to itself from all sides by the relics and sanctity of apostles, martyrs and confessors; since christian nations and peoples even in the furthest parts of the world flock to the said city and are seen to desire greatly that we return to our see, which has been divinely constituted for Roman pontiffs, in order that a greater veneration and devotion may grow in the christian people towards both us, through the authority of the said see, and the said see, through our presence and authority, and since we are informed that, on account of our residence in Rome, subjects and faithful of ours and of the Roman church, whose peace and tranquillity we are bound to procure and preserve with special zeal, will enjoy much greater peace and unity and that in this way, with God’s blessing, we shall be more expeditious and effective in pursuing works of peace and harmony and in arranging and confirming, as we ardently desire, peace and unity among other catholic kings and princes and peoples; Therefore to Rome, which is a suitable and safe place fulfilling all human needs as regards fertility of the soil and sea transport; under the influence of the above-mentioned necessary causes and many other just and reasonable ones which direct our mind to the praise and glory of almighty God, the extirpation of heresies and errors, the reform of morals, the peace, salvation and increase of the christian people and the prosecution of other holy works, under the Lord’s leadership, for which the said council was originally convened; In the name of the holy and undivided Trinity, Father, Son and holy Spirit, with the approval of the said general council given on 5 January last, in a general congregation under our presidency, by apostolic authority and by this present letter, we translate as from now this holy ecumenical council of Florence, and by the same authority and the same letter we have decreed and declared it to be translated to the Lateran basilica, which is the first and proper seat of the supreme pontiff and the vicar of Jesus Christ, to be resumed, continued and prosecuted on the day following the fifteenth day after our entry into bountiful Rome. In addition, by an inviolable constitution and decree we ordain that each and all of the securities and safe-conducts, which we granted at the beginning of this sacred council and which we are extending anew and prolonging, are to be considered as included in this present letter and as having the same force and effect as if they had been mentioned word for word in this our synodal constitution and had been inserted and denoted in it. Let nobody therefore . . . If anyone however . .. Now that the appointed day has come and all the reasons for which it had then seemed necessary to resume the council are recognised to be more than ever necessary, with the said necessary reasons and many other just and reasonable ones impelling us, for the praise and glory of almighty God, the extirpation of heresies and errors, the reform of morals, the peace, salvation and increase of the christian people, and the completion of other holy works, under the Lord’s leadership, for which the aforesaid council was originally convened; In the name of the holy and undivided Trinity, Father, Son and holy Spirit, by the same authority and power, with the same approval and by this present letter; We resume, continue and carry forward the aforesaid ecumenical council of Florence, which was translated as above, and we decree and declare by this present letter that this continuation, resumption and prosecution is taking place in this council hall of the sacred Lateran patriarchate. We warn and require each and all of those who are bound by law or custom to take part in general councils that they should come as quickly as possible to this present holy ecumenical Lateran council, as referred to above, which is continuing for the attainment of the above-mentioned ends. In addition, we ordain again by this constitution and decree that each and all of the securities and safe-conducts, which we granted at the beginning of the sacred ecumenical council of Ferrara and which we are extending anew and prolonging, are to be considered as included in this present letter and as having the same force and effect as if they had been mentioned word for word in this our synodal constitution and had been inserted and denoted in Let nobody therefore . . . if anyone however . .. NEW_VIRTU: AL_CHAPTER SESSION 13 30 November 1444 [Bull of union with the Syrians] Eugenius, bishop, servant of the servants of God, for an everlasting record. In these our days the ineffable clemency of divine mercy bestows on his holy church many and marvellous gifts which are much greater than we could have asked for or envisaged. Hence we see that the orthodox faith is expanded, new peoples daily return to the obedience of the apostolic see and reasons for joy and exaltation are daily being multiplied for us and all Christ’s faithful, in such wise that we are deservedly incited time and again to say in jubilation with the prophet to the faithful peoples: Come, let us exult in the Lord, let us hail the God who saves us, for the Lord is great and most worthy of praise in the city of our God, on his holy mountain. It is true that in the catholic church, which is the city of God on the holy mountain and is founded on the authority of the apostolic see and Peter, God, whose omnipotence and wisdom knows no limits, has always worked great and inscrutable deeds. But the singular and special gift which the ineffable providence of its founder bestowed on it is that the orthodox faith, which alone gives life to and sanctifies the human race, should abide for ever on that holy mountain in a unique and unchangeable profession of faith and that dissents, which arise against the church from the variety of earthly opinions and separate people off from the firmness of that rock, should return to that mountain and be exterminated and eradicated. Whence it comes about that the peoples and nations thronging to its bosom agree with it in one truth of faith. Assuredly it is not from our merit that the immensity of divine goodness has granted us to behold these great sublime and marvellous gifts of God. His benevolence and condescension alone have granted that after the union of the Greeks in the sacred ecumenical council of Florence, who were seen to differ from the Roman church in some articles, and after the return of the Armenians and the Jacobites, who were entangled in various opinions, they should at last, having abandoned all dissent, come together into the one right way of truth. Behold now again with the Lord’s help other nations have gathered from afar, inhabitants of Mesopotamia between the Tigris and the Euphrates, whose thinking about the procession of the holy Spirit and some other articles had gone astray. Great, then, for us and for all Christ’s faithful is the reason for rejoicing. For with the Lord’s approval the most illustrious profession of the Roman church about the truth of the faith, which has always been pure from all stain of error shines with new beams also in the east beyond the bounds of the Euphrates inasmuch as it has drawn our venerable brother Abdala, archbishop of Edessa and legate of our venerable brother Ignatius, patriarch of the Syrians, and of his whole nation, to us here in bountiful Rome and to this sacred ecumenical Lateran council and has bidden him humbly and devoutly to petition that we give to them the rule of faith which the holy Roman church professes. Among all the preoccupations of the holy apostolic see, we hold, as we have always done, our first and chiefest care to be the defence of the faith, the extermination of heresies and the propagation of the orthodox faith. Therefore we selected some of our venerable brethren, cardinals of the holy Roman church, who in turn co-opted from this sacred council some masters in holy scripture, to confer with the aforesaid archbishop about the difficulties, doubts and errors of that nation, to examine him in person and to open to him the rule of catholic truth, and finally to instruct and inform him fully about the integrity of the faith of the Roman church. They found him orthodox on all points of faith and practice except three articles: namely, the procession of the holy Spirit, the two natures in Jesus Christ our saviour, the two wills and principles of action in him. They laid before him the truth of the orthodox faith, opened up the meaning of the sacred scriptures, adduced the testimonies of holy doctors and added telling and pertinent reasons. When the archbishop had understood the doctrine on these points, he affirmed that all his doubts had been completely answered. He professed that he thought he fully understood the truth of the faith as regards both the procession of the holy Spirit and the two natures, two wills and two principles of action in our lord Jesus Christ. Moreover he declared that he would accept, in the name of the aforesaid patriarch and of the whole nation and of himself, the whole faith and all the teaching which we, with the approval of this sacred council, would propose to him. For this reason we were filled with exultation in Christ and poured out immense gratitude to our God, since we are seeing our desire for the salvation of that nation fulfilled. After careful discussion with our brethren and the sacred council, we decided, with the approval of the same council, to propose and assign to the said archbishop, who will accept it in the name of the above persons, the faith and doctrine which the holy Roman mother church holds. This, then, is the faith which the holy Roman mother church has always held, preached and taught and which she now holds, preaches, professes and teaches. This is the faith, as regards those three articles, which we decree that the said archbishop Abdala, on behalf and in the name of the said patriarch of the Syrians and of all that nation and of himself, shall accept and shall keep for ever. First, that the holy Spirit is eternally from the Father and the Son, and has his essence and his subsistent being from the Father together with the Son, and proceeds from both eternally as from one principle and a single spiration. Also it holds, professes and teaches that one and the same Son of God and of man, our lord Jesus Christ, is perfect in divinity and perfect in humanity; true God and true man, of a rational soul and a body; consubstantial with the Father as regards his divinity, consubstantial with us as regards his humanity; like us in all respects except for sin; begotten before the ages from the Father, and in the last days the same born according to his humanity for us and our salvation from Mary the virgin mother of God; one and the same Christ true only-begotten Son of God, acknowledged in two natures which undergo no confusion, no change, no division, no separation; at no point was the difference between the natures taken away through the union, but rather the property of both natures is preserved and comes together into a single person and a single subsistent being; he is not parted or divided into two persons, but is one and the same Son of God and of man, our lord Jesus Christ. Also it believes, professes and teaches in the one lord Jesus Christ two natural principles of action which undergo no division, no change, no separation, no confusion, in accordance with the teaching of the holy fathers; and two natural wills one divine, the other human, not in opposition, but his human will subject to his divine and all powerful will. For in the same way that his most holy animate flesh was made divine, not destroyed, but remained in its own limit and category, so his human will was made divine, not destroyed, but rather was preserved and perfected. We decree that the said archbishop Abdala ought, in the name of the above persons, to accept this faith, to hold it in his heart and to profess it with his mouth. Further we ordain and decree that he ought to receive and embrace, in the name of the above persons, whatever has been defined and established at various times by the holy Roman church, especially the decrees on the Greeks, the Armenians and the Jacobites, which were issued in the sacred ecumenical council of Florence and which, since Archbishop Abdala has carefully read them translated into Arabic and praised them, we have given to him, in the name of the above persons, for a wider and more complete instruction on everything; that whatever doctors and holy fathers the holy Roman church approves and accepts, he should, in the name of the above persons, approve and accept; and that whatever persons and other things she condemns and rejects, he should, in the name of the above persons, hold as condemned and rejected; promising on oath as a true son of obedience, in the name of the above persons, always devoutly and faithfully to obey the regulations and orders of the said apostolic see. If anyone however . . . Let nobody therefore . .. SESSION 14: 7 August 1445 [Bull of union with the Chaldeans and the Maronites of Cyprus] Eugenius, bishop, servant of the servants of God, for an everlasting record. Blessed be the God and Father of our lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all consolation, who daily promotes with many great favours, and accompanies with happy results far beyond our deserts, our aims and pious desires, whereby in fulfilment of our pastoral duties we long for and foster with many works, in so far as this allowed us from on high, the salvation of the christian people. Indeed, after the union of the eastern church with the western church in the ecumenical council of Florence, and after the return of the Armenians, the Jacobites and the people of Mesopotamia, we despatched our venerable brother Andrew, archbishop of Kalocsa, to eastern lands and the island of Cyprus. He was to confirm in the faith which had been accepted the Greeks, Armenians and Jacobites living there, by his sermons and his expositions and explanations of the decrees issued for their union and return. He was also to try to bring back to the truth of the faith, using our warnings and exhortations, whoever else he might find there to be strangers to the truth of faith in other sects, whether they are followers of Nestorius or of Macarius. He pursued this task with vigour, thanks to the wisdom and other virtues with which the Lord, the giver of graces, has enriched him. He finally eliminated from their hearts, after many discussions, first all the impurity of Nestorius, who asserted that Christ is only a man and that the blessed Virgin is the mother of Christ but not of God, then that of the most impious Macarius of Antioch who, although he confessed that Christ is true God and man, asserted that there is in him only the divine will and principle of action, thereby diminishing his humanity. With divine assistance he converted to the truth of the orthodox faith our venerable brothers Timothy, metropolitan of the Chaldeans, who have been called Nestorians in Cyprus until now because they used to follow Nestorius, and Elias, bishop of the Maronites, who with his nation in the same realm was infected with the teachings of Macarius, together with a whole multitude of peoples and clerics subject to him in the island of Cyprus. To these prelates and all their subjects there, he delivered the faith and doctrine that the holy church has always cherished and observed. The said prelates, moreover, accepted this faith and doctrine with much veneration in a great public assembly of different peoples living in that realm, which was held in the metropolitan church of St Sophia. After that, the Chaldeans sent to us the aforesaid metropolitan Timothy, and Bishop Elias of the Maronites sent an envoy, to make to us a solemn profession of the faith of the Roman church, which by the providence of the Lord and the aid of blessed Peter and the apostle has always remained immaculate . Timothy, the metropolitan, reverently and devoutly professed this faith and doctrine to us, in this sacred general congregation of the ecumenical Lateran council, first in his own Chaldean tongue, which was interpreted in Greek and then translated from Greek into Latin, as follows: I, Timothy, archbishop of Tarsus and metropolitan of the Chaldeans who are in Cyprus, on behalf of myself and all my peoples in Cyprus, profess, vow and promise to almighty God, Father and Son and holy Spirit, and then to you, most holy and blessed father pope Eugenius IV, to this holy apostolic see and to this holy and venerable congregation, that henceforth I will always remain under the obedience of you and your successors and of the holy Roman church as under the unique mother and head of all other churches. Also, in future I will always hold and profess that the holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son, as the holy Roman church teaches and holds. Also, in future I will always hold and approve two natures, two wills, one hypostasis and two principles of action in Christ. Also, in future I will always confess and approve all seven sacraments of the Roman church, just as she holds, teaches and preaches. Also, in future I will never add oil in the sacred eucharist. Also, in future I will always hold, confess, preach and teach whatever the holy Roman church holds, confesses, teaches and preaches and I reject, anathematize and condemn whatever she rejects, anathematizes and condemns; in future I will always reject, anathematize and condemn especially the impieties and blasphemies of the most wicked heresiarch Nestorius and every other heresy raising itshead against this holy catholic and apostolic church. This is the faith, holy father, that I vow and promise to hold and observe and to see that it is held and observed by all my subjects. I engage myself and solemnly promise to deprive of all his goods and benefices, to excommunicate and to denounce as heretical and condemned, whoever rejects it and raises himself up against it and, if he is obstinate, to degrade him and to hand him over to the secular arm. Then our beloved son in Christ Isaac, envoy of our venerable brother Elias, bishop of the Maronites, on his behalf and in his name, rejecting the heresy of Macarius about one will in Christ, made with great veneration a profession that was similar in all details. For the devotion of these professions and for the salvation of so many souls we offer immense thanks to God and our lord Jesus Christ, who is in our times so greatly enlarging the faith and bestowing benefits on so many christian peoples. We receive and approve these professions; we receive into the bosom of holy mother church the metropolitan and the bishop in Cyprus and their subjects; and while they remain in the aforesaid faith, obedience and devotion, we honour them with the following favours and privileges. First, nobody shall in future dare to call the said metropolitan of the Chaldeans and the said bishop of the Maronites, or their clerics and peoples or any individual among them, heretics, or to call Chaldeans, Nestorians. If anyone despises this ordinance, we order him to be excommunicated until such time as he offers a worthy satisfaction or has been punished, in the judgment of the ordinary, by some other temporal penalty. Also, the said metropolitan and bishop and their successors are forthwith to be preferred in each and every honour to bishops who are separated from the communion of the holy Roman church. Also, in future they can lay censures on their subjects, and those whom they rightly excommunicate in future shall be held by all as excommunicated, and those whom they absolve shall be held by all as absolved. Also, the said prelates and priests and their clerics can freely celebrate divine services in the churches of Catholics, and Catholics can freely celebrate them in their churches. Also, in future the said prelates and clerics and their lay men and women, who have accepted this union and faith, can choose to be buried in the churches of Catholics, to contract marriages with Catholics, but in the rite of Latin Catholics, and to enjoy and utilize all benefits, immunities and liberties which other Catholics, both lay and clerical, possess and enjoy in the said realm. Let nobody therefore . . . If anyone however . .. FIFTH LATERAN COUNCIL 1512-17 A.D. INTRODUCTION This council was summoned by pope Julius II by the bull Sacrosanctae Romanae Ecclesiae, issued at Rome on 18 July 1511, after several schismatic cardinals, officially supported by Louis XII, king of France, had assembled a quasi-council at Pisa. Twice postponed, the council held its first session in full solemnity at Rome in the Lateran residence on 10 May 1512, at which session an elaborate address on the evils of the church was made by Giles of Viterbo, general of the order of Augustinian hermits. There were twelve sessions. The first five of them, held during Julius II’s pontificate, dealt primarily with the condemnation and rejection of the quasi-council of Pisa, and with the revoking and annulment of the French “Pragmatic Sanction”. After the election of pope Leo X in March 1513, the council had three objectives: first, achieving a general peace between christian rulers; second, church reform; and third, the defence of the faith and the rooting out of heresy. The seven sessions after Leo’s election gave approval to a number of constitutions, among which are to be noted the condemnation of the teaching of the philosopher Pomponazzi (session 8), and the approval of the agreement completed outside the council between pope Leo X and king Francis I of France (session 11). All the decrees of this council, at which the pope presided in person, are in the form of bulls. At the beginning of them are added the words “with the approval of the sacred council”, and at the end “in public session solemnly held in the Lateran basilica”. The fathers confirmed all the decrees by their votes. If anyone wished to reject a proposal, he made his dissenting opinion known verbally, or briefly in writing. The result was that the matters proposed, after various debates, were sometimes altered. The decisions on the reform of the curia produced almost no effect because of the timidity and inadequacy of the recommendations, especially since the papacy showed slight inclination to carry the matter through. On the other hand, the council totally suppressed the Pisan schism. It is clear that bishops were never present in great numbers at the council, and that prelates who lived outside Italy were notably absent to such an extent that there has been frequent dispute about whether the council was ecumenical. The decrees and other acts of the council were first published in Rome shortly after the council ended, namely on 31 July 1521 by cardinal Antonio del Monte, acting on the orders of pope Leo X. The title of this edition is: SA. Lateranense concilium novissimum sub Iulio II et Leone X celebratum (= Lc). It was subsequently used in various conciliar collections from Cr2 3 (1551) 3-192 to Msi 32 (1802) 649-1002. We have followed this edition of 1521 and have taken the headings of the constitutions from the summary which precedes it. SESSION 1: 10 May 1512 [The bull convoking the council, Sacrosancta Romanae Ecclesiae, and the bulls postponing it, Inscrutabilis and Romanus pontifex, are read out1{Msi 32, 681-690}. Masses are ordered to be celebrated, and prayers to be offered, to beg God’s assistance; various arrangements are to be observed in the council and decrees are set out; advocates, procurators, notaries, guards and vote-scrutineers are chosen; assigners of places, and the location of places in their due order, are established.] SESSION 2: 17 May 1512 [The quasi-council of Pisa is condemned, and everything done at it is declared null and void. The Lateran council and whatever has been rightly done at it are confirmed] Julius, bishop, servant of the servants of God, with the approval of the sacred council, for an everlasting record. We intend, with the help of the most High, to proceed with the holding of this sacred Lateran council which has now begun for the praise of God, the peace of the whole church, the union of the faithful the overthrow of heresies and schisms, the reform of morals, and the campaign against the dangerous enemies of the faith, so that the mouths of all schismatics and enemies of peace, those howling dogs, may be silenced and Christians may be able to keep themselves unstained from such pernicious and poisonous contagion. Accordingly, in this second session lawfully assembled in the holy Spirit, after mature deliberation held by us with our venerable brothers, the cardinals of the holy Roman church, by the advice and unanimous consent of the same brothers from sure knowledge and by the fullness of apostolic power, we confirm approve and renew, with the approval of the sacred council, the rejections condemnations, revocations, quashings, invalidations and annulments of the summoning, convoking and public utterances of that schismatical assembly, the vaunted quasi-council of Pisa, with its aim of rending and hampering the union of the aforesaid church, and of the citations, warnings, decrees, pardons, sentences, acts, legacies, creations, obediences, withdrawals, enjoined censures and applications issuing from it, and of the transfer of the said quasi-council to the cities of Milan or Vercellae or any other place, and of each and all of the acts and decisions of the said quasi-council, that have been expressed in our various letters completed and issued in due order, especially those issued under the dates of 18 July in the eighth year of our pontificate, and of 3 December and 13 April in the ninth year of our pontificate. Likewise we confirm, approve and renew with the approval of the sacred council, the letters themselves along with their decrees, declarations, prohibitions, commands, exhortations, warnings, applications of ecclesiastical interdicts, and other sentences, censures and penalties, whether by canonical sanctions or by our own act, especially those in the letter summoning this sacred universal council, and each and all of the other clauses contained in the said letters, the meanings of which we wish to be considered as expressed as if they were inserted herein word for word, even though, as being definite and valid, they require no other confirmation or approval for a more extensive guarantee and demonstration of the truth. We wish, decree and ordain that they be observed without alteration, and we make good each and all of the defects in them, should there be any. We condemn and reject the aforesaid quasi-council and its transfer, and each and every thing done by it, and also those taking part in it or giving support, approval or consent, directly or indirectly, to whatever extent and in whatever manner, from the day of the summoning of the quasi-council until the present day, whether the things have already been done or are to be done in the future, even if they are or have been such that special, specific, definite and separate mention should be made about them, since we consider their meaning and characteristics as clearly expressed. We condemn and reject it like other counterfeit councils which diverge from the truth and whose acts have been condemned and rejected by the law and sacred canons. We proclaim these things to be null, void and empty, as indeed they are, to be or to have been of no force or Importance; and, so far as is necessary, we declare them void, invalid and null, and we wish them to be considered as void, invalid and null. We decree and declare, with the approval of this same sacred council, that this sacred ecumenical council, justly, reasonably, and for true and lawful purposes duly and rightly summoned, has begun to be celebrated, and that each and every thing which has been and shall be done and executed in it, will be just, reasonable, settled and valid, and that it possesses and holds the same strength, power, authority and stability which other general councils approved by the sacred canons, especially the Lateran council, possess and hold. Moreover, in the arrangement of the seasons, as the summer heats approach, in order to take account of the convenience and health of the prelates, and so that those may be awaited who live beyond the mountains and across the sea and who have hitherto been unable to come to this sacred council, and for other just and reasonable causes known to and approved by the said sacred council, we are summoning the third session of this same council to take place on 3 November next, with the said council likewise giving approval. And to each and every prelate and to others present at the same council, we grant and concede the freedom and permission to withdraw from the Roman curia and to stay wherever they wish, so long as they are present at the aforesaid Lateran council on the said 3 November, any clearly legitimate hindrance having been removed, subject to the infliction of the penalties indicated in the letter summoning the council and in canonical punishments against those failing to attend to councils, the said sacred council also approving. Let nobody therefore . . . If anyone however . . .2{2 At this session, on account of the arrival of the bishop of Gurk, representative of the most serene emperor, a postponement of the third session was made until 3 November.} SESSION 3: 3 December 1512 [Each and all of the measures sponsored by the schismatic cardinals are rejected] Julius, bishop, servant of the servants of God, with the approval of the sacred council, for an everlasting record. To the praise and glory of him whose works are perfect, we are continuing the sacred council of the Lateran, lawfully assembled by favour of the holy Spirit, in this third session. We had summoned this session on another occasion, during the second session, for the third day of the following November. Later, by the advice and unanimous agreement of our venerable brothers, cardinals of the holy Roman church, for reasons then stated and for other lawful causes, we postponed it and summoned it to be held today, with the same sacred council giving approval to both the postponement and the summons for the said reasons which were known to it. This was after the happy and favourable adherence to, and union with, this most holy Lateran council on the part of our most dear son in Christ, Maximilian, ever revered emperor-elect of the Romans We condemn, reject and detest, with the approval of this same sacred council, each and every thing done by those sons of damnation, Bernard Carvajal, Guillaume Briconnet, Rene de Prie, and Frederick of San Severino, formerly cardinals, and their supporters, adherents, accomplices and disciples -- who are schismatics and heretics and have worked madly to their own and others’ ruin, aiming to split asunder the unity of holy mother church at the quasi-council held at Pisa, Milan, Lyons and elsewhere -- whatever the things were in number and kind that have been enacted, carried out, done, written, published or ordained up to the present day, including the imposition of taxes carried out by them throughout the kingdom of France, or shall be done in the future. Even though they are indeed null, useless and void and have already been condemned and rejected by us with the approval of the aforesaid sacred council, we nevertheless retain this present condemnation and rejection for the sake of greater precaution. We wish the meaning and characteristics of the things done, or to be done, to be considered as expressed herein word for word and not just by general clauses. We decree and declare them to be and to have been null, without purpose and void, of no force, efficacy, effect or importance. We renew our letter dated 13 August 1512, at St Peter’s, Rome, in the ninth year of our pontificate, by which, on the advice of the Dominicans, on account of the support, favours, sustenance and help notoriously provided to schismatics and heretics in the promotion of the said condemned and rejected quasicouncil of Pisa, by the king of France and not a few other prelates, officials, nobles and barons of the kingdom of France, we placed under ecclesiastical interdict the kingdom of France and particularly Lyons, excepting the duchy of Brittany, and we forbade the customary fairs of Lyons to be held in that city and we transferred them to the city of Geneva. We also renew the decrees, declarations, prohibitions and every clause contained in the letter, the said sacred council likewise having full information about them and giving its approval. As stated, we subject the aforesaid kingdom and its cities, lands, towns and any other territories to this interdict, and we transfer the fairs from Lyons to the said city of Geneva. In order that this sacred Lateran council may be brought to a fruitful and beneficial conclusion, and that the many other serious matters due for treatment and discussion in the council may proceed to the praise of almighty God and the exaltation of the universal church, we declare, with the full approval of the said sacred council, that the fourth session of the continuing celebration of the council shall be held on the tenth day of the present month of December. Let nobody therefore ... If anyone however... SESSION 4: 10 December 1512 [The Pragmatic is revoked and the acts of the quasi-council of Pisa regarding the same are annulled1{Before this constitution, in the same session, there was also read out: A warning against the Pragmatic and its supporters} Julius, bishop, servant of the servants of God, with the approval of the sacred council, for an everlasting record. Giving close attention by paternal and earnest consideration to the safety of the flock entrusted to us from above, to the reform of morals and the defence of the church’s liberty, and to the peace and development of the catholic faith, we approve and renew, with the approval of this holy council, for the praise and glory of almighty God and the undivided Trinity, the letter recently issued by us, of which the same council is aware, by which we made a general reform of the Roman curia’s officials and of their imposts. We ordered the letter to be made public by certain persons, who were afterwards designated, for the benefit of the faithful, and in accordance with our wishes. We now order it to be made public in detail by the said designated persons together with other prelates from various nations who are present in the aforesaid council and are to be appointed. Everything that can pervert human judgment is to cease, as is right and fitting. We order, moreover, that the declarations are to be referred to us in other sessions of this sacred council and are to be approved by the same council, in order that they may be duly carried out. Moreover, for considerable periods of time there has been great disparagement of the apostolic see and of the head, the liberty and the authority of the holy Roman universal church, as well as a limitation of the sacred canons, by a number of prelates of the French nation and by noble laymen and others supporting them, especially under pretext of a certain sanction which they call the Pragmatic{2 This Pragmatic Sanction had been promulgated by king Charles VII of France at Bourges on 7 July 1438, with the aim of removing abuses in the church, see DThC 12/2 (1935) 2780-2786, DDrC 7 (1958) 109-113, and NCE 11 (1967) 662-663}. We do not wish to endure further a thing so pernicious and offensive to God, a clear cheapening of and damage to the said church. For it is only in those regions that the sanction, carried out by those lacking all lawful power for that end and without the authority of popes or legitimate general councils, has been introduced and observed by way of an abuse. It must be rightly, along with its contents, be declared null and void and be repealed. Louis XI, king of France, of distinguished memory, repealed this sanction, as is clearly contained in his letters patent already made. Therefore, with the approval of the same council, we commit to the meetings of our venerable brothers, cardinals of the aforesaid church, and of other prelates, which are to be held in the upper room of the Lateran, insofar as this is necessary, the business of the declaration and abrogation which we are to make, as well as the report that is to be made to us and the same sacred council concerning the matters discussed in the first and other sessions, insofar as this can conveniently be done. We determine and decree that the prelates of France, chapters of churches and monasteries, and laymen favouring them, of whatever rank they may be, even royal, who approve or falsely use the said sanction, together with each and every other person thinking, either individually or in a group, that this sanction is to his advantage, be warned and cited, within a definite adequate term to be established, by a public edict -- which is to be fixed on the doors of the churches of Milan, Asti and Pavia, since a safe approach to France is not available -- that they are to appear before us and the aforesaid council and declare the reasons why the said sanction and its corrupting effect and misuse in matters concerning the authority, dignity and unity of the Roman church and the apostolic see, and the violation of sacred canons and of ecclesiastical freedom, ought not to be declared and judged null and void and be abrogated, and why those so warned and cited should not be restrained and held as if they had been warned and cited in person. Moreover, with regard to each and all provisions and collations of ecclesiastical benefices, confirmations of elections and petitions, grants of concessions, mandates and indults, of whatever kind, concerning both favours and matters of justice or both together, of whatever sense they may be -- which things we wish to be regarded as clearly stated in the present letter -- which were made by the synagogue or quasi-council of Pisa and its schismatic adherents, lacking all authority and merit, though they are indeed null and void, yet, for greater caution, we decree, with the approval of the said sacred council, that they are null and of no effect, force or importance; and that each individual, of whatever rank, status, grade, nobility, order or condition, to whom they were granted, or to whose convenience, advantage or honour they pertain, are to give up their fruits, incomes and profits, or to arrange for this to be done, and they are bound to restore both these things and their benefices and to give up the other aforesaid concessions, and that unless they have really and completely given up the benefices themselves and the other things granted to them, within two months from the date of this present letter, they are automatically deprived of the other ecclesiastical benefices which they hold by lawful title. Moreover, we apply whatever has been or shall be obtained in the way of fruits, rents and profits of this kind, and money-taxes imposed by the said quasi-council, to the campaign which is to be conducted against the infidels. In order that the declaration of reform, and of the nullity of the said sanction, as well as other business may be carried out in due season, and so that the prelates who are still to come to this sacred council (we have received news that some have already set out on their journey to attend) may be able to arrive without inconvenience, we declare, with the approval of the council, that the fifth session shall be held on 16 February, which will be Wednesday after the first Sunday of the coming Lent. Let nobody therefore ... If anyone however ... SESSION 5: 16 February 1513 [Bull renewing and confirming the Constitution against not committing the evil of simony when electing the Roman pontiff] Julius, bishop, servant of the servants of God, with the approval of the sacred council, for an everlasting record. The supreme maker of things, the creator of heaven and earth, has willed by his ineffable providence that the Roman pontiff preside over the christian people in the chair of pastoral supremacy, so that he may govern the holy, Roman, universal church in sincerity of heart and deeds and may strive after the progress of all the faithful. We therefore regard it as suitable and salutary that, in the election of the said pontiff, in order that the faithful may look upon him as a mirror of purity and honesty, all stain and every trace of simony shall be absent, that men shall be raised up for this burdensome office who, having embarked in the appropriate manner and order in a due, right and canonical way, may undertake the steering of the barque of Peter and may be, once established in so lofty a dignity, a support for right and good people and a terror for evil people; that by their example, the rest of the faithful may receive instruction on good behaviour and be directed in the way of salvation, that the things which have been determined and established by us for this, in accordance with the magnitude and seriousness of the case, may be approved and renewed by the sacred general council; and that the things so approved and renewed may be communicated, so that the more frequently they are upheld by the said authority, the more strongly they shall endure and the more resolutely they shall be observed and defended against the manifold attacks of the devil. Formerly, indeed, for great and urgent reasons, as a result of important and mature discussion and deliberation with men of great learning and authority, including cardinals of the Roman church, excellent and very experienced persons, a document on the following lines was issued by us. Inserted constitution Julius, bishop, servant of the servants of God, for an everlasting record. From a consideration that the detestable crime of simony is forbidden by both divine and human law, particularly in spiritual matters, and that it is especially heinous and destructive for the whole church in the election of the Roman pontiff, the vicar of our lord Jesus Christ, we therefore, placed by God in charge of the government of the same universal church, despite being of little merit, desire, so far as we are able with God’s help, to take effective measures for the future with regard to the aforesaid things, as we are bound to, in accordance with the necessity of such an important matter and the greatness of the danger. With the advice and unanimous consent of our brothers, cardinals of the holy Roman church, by means of this our constitution which will have permanent validity, we establish, ordain, decree and define, by apostolic authority and the fulness of our power, that if it happens (which may God avert in his mercy and goodness towards all), after God has released us or our successors from the government of the universal church, that by the efforts of the enemy of the human race and following the urge of ambition or greed, the election of the Roman pontiff is made or effected by the person who is elected, or by one or several members of the college of cardinals, giving their votes in a manner that in any way involves simony being committed -- by the gift, promise or receipt of money, goods of any sort, castles, offices, benefices, promises or obligations -- by the person elected or by one or several other persons, in any manner or form whatsoever, even if the election resulted in a majority of two-thirds or in the unanimous choice of all the cardinals, or even in a spontaneous agreement on the part of all, without a scrutiny being made, then not only is this election or choice itself null, and does not bestow on the person elected or chosen in this fashion any right of either spiritual or temporal administration, but also there can be alleged and presented, against the person elected or chosen in this manner, by any one of the cardinals who has taken part in the election, the charge of simony, as a true and unquestionable heresy, so that the one elected is not regarded by anyone as the Roman pontiff. A further consequence is that the person elected in this manner is automatically deprived, without the need of any other declaration, of his cardinal’s rank and of all other honours whatsoever as well as of cathedral churches, even metropolitan and patriarchical ones, monasteries, dignities and all other benefices and pensions of whatever kind which he was then holding by title or in commendam or otherwise; and that the elected person is to be regarded as, and is in fact, not a follower of the apostles but an apostate and, like Simon, a magicianl and a heresiarch, and perpetually debarred from each and all of the above-mentioned things. A simoniacal election of this kind is never at any time to be made valid by a subsequent enthronement or the passage of time, or even by the act of adoration or obedience of all the cardinals. It shall be lawful for each and all of the cardinals, even those who consented to the simoniacal election or promotion, even after the enthronement and adoration or obedience, as well as for all the clergy and the Roman people, together with those serving as prefects, castellans, captains and other officials at the Castel Sant’ Angelo in Rome and any other strongholds of the Roman church, notwithstanding any submission or oath or pledge given, to withdraw without penalty and at any time from obedience and loyalty to the person so elected even if he has been enthroned (while they themselves, notwithstanding this, remain fully committed to the faith of the Roman church and to obedience towards a future Roman pontiff entering office in accordance with the canons) and to avoid him as a magician, a heathen, a publican and a heresiarch. To discomfort him still further, if he uses the pretext of the election to interfere in the government of the universal church, the cardinals who wish to oppose the aforesaid election can ask for the help of the secular arm against him. Those who break off obedience to him are not to be subject to any penalties and censures for the said separation, as though they were tearing the Lord’s garment . However, the cardinals who elected him by simoniacal means are to be dealt with without further declaration as deprived of their orders as well as of their titles and honour as cardinals and of any patriarchal, archiepiscopal, episcopal or other prelacies, dignities and benefices which at that time they held by title or in commendam, or in which or to which they now have some claim, unless they totally and effectively abandon him and unite themselves without pretence or trickery to the other cardinals who did not consent to this simony, within eight days after they receive the request from the other cardinals, in person if this shall be possible or otherwise by a public announcement. Then, if they have joined themselves in full union with the said other cardinals, they shall immediately stand reintegrated, restored, rehabilitated and re-established in their former state, honours and dignities, even of the cardinalate, and in the churches and benefices which they had charge of or held, and shall stand absolved from the stain of simony and from any ecclesiastical censures and penalties. Intermediaries, brokers and bankers, whether clerical or lay, of whatever rank, quality or order they may have been, even patriarchal or archiepiscopal or episcopal, or enjoying other secular, worldly or ecclesiastical status, including spokesmen or envoys of any kings and princes, who had part in this simoniacal election, are by that very fact deprived of all their churches, benefices, prelacies and fiefs, and any other honours and possessions. They are debarred from anything of that kind and from making or benefiting from a will, and their property, like that of those condemned for treason, is immediately confiscated and allotted to the treasury of the apostolic see. if the aforesaid criminals are ecclesiastics or otherwise subjects of the Roman church. If they are not subjects of the Roman church, their goods and fiefs in regions under secular control are immediately allotted to the treasury of the secular ruler in whose territory the property is located; in such a way, however, that if within three months from the day on which it was known that they had committed simony, or had part in it, the rulers have not in fact allotted the said goods to their own treasury, then the goods are from that date considered as allotted to the treasury of the Roman church, and are immediately so considered without the need for any further pronouncement to the same effect. Also not binding and invalid, and ineffectual for taking action, are promises and pledges or solemn engagements made at any time for that purpose, even if prior to the election in question and even if made in any way through persons other than the cardinals, with some strange solemnity and form, including those made under oath or conditionally or dependent upon the outcome, or in the form of agreed bonds under whatever inducement, whether it be a deposit, loan, exchange, acknowledged receipt, gift, pledge, sale, exchange or any other kind of contract, even in the fuller form of the apostolic camera. Nobody can be bound or under pressure by the strength of these in a court of justice or elsewhere, and all may lawfully withdraw from them without penalty or any fear or stigma of perjury. Moreover, cardinals who have been involved in such a simoniacal election, and have abandoned the person thus elected, may join with the other cardinals, even those who consented to the simoniacal election but later joined with the cardinals who did not commit the said simony, if the latter are willing to join with them. If these cardinals are not willing, they may freely and canonically proceed without them in another place to the election of another pope without waiting for another formal declaration to the effect that the election was simoniacal, though there always remains in force our same current constitution. They may announce and call together a general council in a suitable place as they shall judge expedient, notwithstanding constitutions and apostolic orders, especially that of pope Alexander III, of happy memory, which begins Licet de evitanda discordia, and those of other Roman pontiffs, our predecessors, including those issued in general councils, and any other things to the contrary that Impose restraint. Finally, each and every one of the cardinals of the holy Roman church in office at the time, and their sacred college, are under pain of immediate excommunication, which they automatically incur and from which they cannot be absolved except by the canonically elected Roman pontiff, except when in immediate danger of death, not to dare, during a vacancy in the apostolic see, to contravene the aforesaid, or to legislate, dispose or ordain or to act or attempt anything in any way, under whatever alleged pretext or excuse, contrary to the aforesaid things or to any one of them. From this moment we decree it to be invalid and worthless if there should happen to be, by anyone knowingly or unknowingly, even by us, an attack on these or any one of the foregoing regulations. So that the meaning of this our present constitution, decree, statute, regulation and limitation may be brought to the notice of everyone, it is our will that our present letter be affixed to the doors of the basilica of the prince of the apostles and of the chancellery and in a corner of the Campo dei Fiori, and that no other formality for the publication of this letter be required or expected, but the aforesaid public display suffices for its solemn publication and perpetual force. Let nobody therefore . . . If anyone however . . Given at Rome at St Peter’s on 14 January 1505/6, in the third year of our pontificate. [. . .] As we ponder how heavy is the burden and how damaging the loss to the vicars of Christ on earth that counterfeit elections would be, and how great the hurt they could bring to the christian religion, especially in these very difficult times when the whole christian religion is being disturbed in a variety of ways, we wish to set obstacles to the tricks and traps of Satan and to human presumption and ambition, so far as it is permitted to us, so that the aforesaid letter shall be better observed the more clearly it is established that it has been approved and renewed by the mature and healthy discussion of the said sacred council, by which it has been decreed and ordained, though it does not need any other approval for its permanence and validity. For a more ample safeguard, and to remove all excuse for guile and malice on the part of evil thinkers and those striving to overthrow so sound a constitution, with a view to the letter being observed with greater determination and being more difficult to remove, to the extent that it is defended by the approval of so many of the fathers, we therefore, with the approval of this Lateran council and with the authority and fullness of power stated above, confirm and renew the said letter together with every statute, regulation, decree, definition, penalty, restraint, and all the other and individual clauses contained in it; we order it to be maintained and observed without change or breach and to preserve the authority of an unchanging firmness; and we decree and declare that cardinals, mediators, spokesmen, envoys and others listed in the said letter are and shall be bound to the observance of the said letter and of each and every point expressed in it, under pain of the censures and penalties and other things contained in it, in accordance with its meaning and form; notwithstanding apostolic constitutions and ordinances, as well as all those things which we wished not to prevent in the said letter, and other things of any kind to the contrary. Let nobody therefore ... If anyone however . . .{1 At this session other measures against the Pragmatic Sanction were also recorded, especially Julius II’s constitution Inter alia (Msi 32, 772-773).} SESSION 6: 27 April 1513 [Safeconduct for those who wish and ought to come to the council, for their coming, residence, exchange of views and return journey] Leo, bishop, servant of the servants of God, with the approval of the sacred council, for an everlasting record. By the supreme ordinance of the omnipotent who governs the things of heaven and of earth by his providence, we preside over his holy and universal church, though we are unworthy. Instructed by the saving and most holy teaching of the doctor of the gentiles, we direct our chief attention, among the many anxieties from which we unceasingly suffer distress, towards those things in particular by means of which unending unity and unsullied charity may abide in the church; the flock committed to us may go forward along the right courses towards the way of salvation, and the name of Christians and the sign of the most sacred cross, in which the faithful have been saved, may be more widely spread, after the infidels have been expelled with the help of God’s right hand. Indeed, after the holding of five sessions of the sacred general Lateran council, pope Julius II of happy memory, our predecessor, by the advice and agreement of our venerable brothers the cardinals of the holy Roman church, of whose number we then were, in a praiseworthy and lawful manner and for sound reasons, guided by the holy Spirit, summoned the sixth session of the council to take place on the eleventh day of this month. But after he had been taken from our midst, we postponed the sixth session until today, with the advice and consent of our said brothers, for reasons which were then expressed and for other reasons influencing the attitude of us and of our said brothers. But since there had always been an inner determination within us, while we were of lesser rank, to see the general council being celebrated (as a principal means of cultivating the Lord’s field), now that we have been raised to the highest point of the apostolate, considering that a duty which results from the office of pastoral care enjoined on us has coincided with our honourable and beneficial wish, we have undertaken this matter with a more earnest desire and complete readiness of mind. Consequently, with the approval of the same sacred Lateran council we approve the postponement which we made and the council itself, until the aims for which it was summoned have been completed, in particular that a general and settled peace may be arranged between christian princes and rulers after the violence of wars has been stilled and armed conflict set aside. We intend to apply and direct all our efforts to this peace, with untiring care and leaving nothing untried for so salutary a good. We declare that it is and shall be our unchangeable attitude and intention that, after those things which affect the praise of God and the exaltation of the aforesaid church and the harmony of Christ’s faithful have been achieved, the holy and necessary campaign against the enemies of the catholic faith may be carried out and may achieve (with the favour of the most High) a triumphant outcome. In order, however, that those who ought to attend so very useful a council may not be held back in any way from coming, we hereby grant and concede, with the approval of the said sacred council, to each and every one of those summoned to the council by the said Julius, our predecessor, or who ought to take part, by right or custom, in the meetings of general councils, especially those of the French nation, and to those schismatics and others who are coming to the said Lateran council by common or special right, on account of a declaration or apostolic letter of our predecessors or of the apostolic see (except, of course, those under prohibition), and to the attendants and associates of those who come, of whatever status, rank, condition or nobility they may be, ecclesiastical or secular, for themselves and all their belongings, a free, guaranteed and fully comprehensive safeconduct, for coming by land or sea through the states, territories and places that are subject to the said Roman church, to this Lateran council in Rome, and of residing in the city and freely exchanging views, and of leaving it as often as they wish, with complete, unrestricted and total security and with a true and unchallengeable papal guarantee, notwithstanding any impositions of ecclesiastical or secular censures and penalties which may have been promulgated in general against them, for whatever reasons, by law or by the aforesaid see, under any forms of words or clauses, and which they may in general have incurred. By our letters we shall encourage, warn, and request each and every christian king, prince and ruler that, out of reverence for almighty God and the apostolic see, they are not to molest or cause to be molested directly or indirectly, in any way in their persons or goods, those on their way to this sacred Lateran council, but they are to allow them to come in freedom, security and peace. In addition, for the carrying out of the celebration of this council, we declare that the seventh session shall be held on 23 May next. Let nobody therefore . . . If anyone however... SESSION 7: 17 June 1513 The constitution Meditatio cordis nostri1 {Msi 32, 815-818}, postponing the eighth session to 16 November, is read out and approved.] SESSION 8: 19 December 1513 [Condemnation of every proposition contrary to the truth of the enlightened christian faith] Leo, bishop, servant of the servants of God, with the approval of the sacred council, for an everlasting record. The burden of apostolic government ever drives us on so that, for the weaknesses of souls requiring to be healed, of which the almighty Creator from on high has willed us to have the care, and for those ills in particular which are now seen to be pressing most urgently on the faithful, we may exercise, like the Samaritan in the gospel, the task of healing with oil and wine, lest that rebuke of Jeremiah may be cast at us: Is there no balm in Gilead, is there no physician there? Consequently, since in our days (which we endure with sorrow) the sower of cockle, the ancient enemy of the human race, has dared to scatter and multiply in the Lord’s field some extremely pernicious errors, which have always been rejected by the faithful, especially on the nature of the rational soul, with the claim that it is mortal, or only one among all human beings, and since some, playing the philosopher without due care, assert that this proposition is true at least according to philosophy, it is our desire to apply suitable remedies against this infection and, with the approval of the sacred council, we condemn and reject all those who insist that the intellectual soul is mortal, or that it is only one among all human beings, and those who suggest doubts on this topic. For the soul not only truly exists of itself and essentially as the form of the human body, as is said in the canon of our predecessor of happy memory, pope Clement V, promulgated in the general council of Vienne, but it is also immortal; and further, for the enormous number of bodies into which it is infused individually, it can and ought to be and is multiplied. This is clearly established from the gospel when the Lord says, They cannot kill the soul; and in another place, Whoever hates his life in this world, will keep it for eternal life and when he promises eternal rewards and eternal punishments to those who will be judged according to the merits of their life; otherwise, the incarnation and other mysteries of Christ would be of no benefit to us, nor would resurrection be something to look forward to, and the saints and the just would be (as the Apostle says) the most miserable of all people. And since truth cannot contradict truth, we define that every statement contrary to the enlightened truth of the faith is totally false and we strictly forbid teaching otherwise to be permitted. We decree that all those who cling to erroneous statements of this kind, thus sowing heresies which are wholly condemned, should be avoided in every way and punished as detestable and odious heretics and infidels who are undermining the catholic faith. Moreover we strictly enjoin on each and every philosopher who teaches publicly in the universities or elsewhere, that when they explain or address to their audience the principles or conclusions of philosophers, where these are known to deviate from the true faith -- as in the assertion of the soul’s mortality or of there being only one soul or of the eternity of the world and other topics of this kind -- they are obliged to devote their every effort to clarify for their listeners the truth of the christian religion, to teach it by convincing arguments, so far as this is possible, and to apply themselves to the full extent of their energies to refuting and disposing of the philosophers’ opposing arguments, since all the solutions are available. But it does not suffice occasionally to clip the roots of the brambles, if the ground is not dug deeply so as to check them beginning again to multiply, and if there are not removed their seeds and root causes from which they grow so easily. That is why, since the prolonged study of human philosophy -- which God has made empty and foolish, as the Apostle says, when that study lacks the flavouring of divine wisdom and the light of revealed truth -- sometimes leads to error rather than to the discovery of the truth, we ordain and rule by this salutary constitution, in order to suppress all occasions of falling into error with respect to the matters referred to above, that from this time onwards none of those in sacred orders, whether religious or seculars or others so committed, when they follow courses in universities or other public institutions, may devote themselves to the study of philosophy or poetry for longer than five years after the study of grammar and dialectic, without their giving some time to the study of theology or pontifical law. Once these five years are past, if someone wishes to sweat over such studies, he may do so only if at the same time, or in some other way, he actively devotes himself to theology or the sacred canons; so that the Lord’s priests may find the means, in these holy and useful occupations, for cleansing and healing the infected sources of philosophy and poetry. We command, in virtue of holy obedience, that these canons are to be published each year, at the beginning of the course, by the local ordinaries and rectors of universities where institutes of general studies flourish. Let nobody therefore ... If anyone however... [On arranging peace between christian princes and on bringing back the Bohemians who reject the faith] Leo, bishop, servant of the servants of God, with the approval of the sacred council, for an everlasting record. We are continuing the sacred Lateran council for the praise of the almighty and undivided Trinity and for the glory of him whose place we represent on earth, who develops peace and harmony in his high heavens, and who, on his departure from this world, left peace as a lawful inheritance to his disciples. For, in the previous seventh session, the council was confronting, among other matters, the threatening and very obvious danger from the infidels and the spilling of christian blood, which even then was being poured out because of our blatant faults. The quarrels between christian kings and princes and peoples must also be removed. and we were being compelled to seek with all our strength for peace between them. This was the reason for having to arrange one of the more important meetings of the said council: so that peace should follow and be maintained as unbroken and leading to its due fulfilment, especially in these times when the power of the infidels is recognised to have grown to a remarkable extent. Therefore, with the approval of the same council, we have arranged and decided to send to the aforesaid kings, princes and rulers alert legates and envoys of peace, who are outstanding in learning, experience and goodness, with a view to negotiating and arranging peace. And, in order that these men may lay aside their arms, we have called upon their spokesmen who are present at the council, insofar as we were able to do with God’s help, to devote all their energy and strength, out of reverence for the apostolic see and the union of the faithful, to giving notice of these matters to their kings, princes and rulers. These are invited, in our name, to negotiate and listen with good will and honour to the apostolic legates themselves, and to act in favour of our just and holy desires which are to be set before them by these messengers. We were persuading ourself that they will do this, in order that our legates may be able to take up the task of the embassy as quickly as possible and manfully complete the undertaking, and so that, by the favour of the Father of lights (from whom comes every best gift) peace can be negotiated and arranged and, once this has been settled, the holy and necessary expedition against the frenzy of the infidels, panting to have their fill of christian blood, can take place and be brought to a favourable conclusion for the safety and peace of the whole of Christianity. After this we were hoping from the depths of our heart, because of our pastoral office, for peace and union within the whole christian people and in particular among the same kings, rulers and princes from whose discord it was feared that prolonged and serious damage could daily affect the christian state. A hope began to rise that the christian state would be cared for in a useful and salutary way by this peace and unity, because of the authority of these men. We dispatched our messengers and letters to the aforesaid kings, princes and rulers -- at that time in disunion with each other -- for them to be exhorted, requested and warned. We omitted nothing (so far as lay in our power) to arrange and produce by our every effort that, once discord and disagreement of any kind had been removed, they would wish eventually to return, in complete agreement, grace and love, to universal peace, harmony and union. In this way, further losses would not be inflicted on Christians from the hands of the savage ruler of the Turks or from other infidels, but there would be a rallying of forces to crush the terrible fury and the boastful endeavours of those peoples. In that situation, as we strive with all thought, care, effort and zeal for everything to be brought to the desired end, and with confidence in the gift of God, we have decreed that legates with a special mission from us -- who will be cardinals of the holy Roman church and who are soon to be named by us, on the advice of our brothers, in our secret consistory -- shall be appointed and sent with authority and with the necessary and appropriate faculties, as messengers of peace, for the arranging, negotiating and settling of this universal peace among Christians, for the embarking upon an expedition against the infidels, with the approval of this sacred council, and for inducing the said kings, out of generosity of soul befitting their rank and out of devotion towards the catholic faith, to move with ready and eager minds towards the holy tasks of both peace and the expedition, for the total and perfect protection, defence and safety of the entire christian state. In addition, since very great offence is given to God from the prolonged and manifold heresy of the Bohemians, and scandal is caused to the christian people, the charge of bringing back these people to the light and harmony of the true faith has been wholly entrusted by us for the immediate future to our dear son, Thomas of Esztergom, cardinal-priest of the title of St Martin in the Hills, as legate of ourself and the apostolic see to Hungary and Bohemia. We exhort these people in the Lord not to neglect to dispatch some of their spokesmen, with an adequate mandate, either to us and this sacred Lateran council or to the same Thomas, cardinal-legate, who will be nearer to them. The purpose will be to exchange views with regard to an appropriate remedy by which they may recognise the errors to which they have long been in thrall and may be led back, with God’s guidance, to the true practice of religion and into the bosom of holy mother church. With the approval of the sacred council, by the tenor of the present letter, we grant and bestow on them, by the faith of a pontiff, a public guarantee and a free safe-conduct as to their coming, going, remaining for as long as the negotiation of the aforesaid matters shall last, and afterwards for departing and returning to their own territories; and we shall consent to their wishes so far as we can under God. So that this sacred Lateran council may be brought to the completion of the fruitful benefit desired, since many other serious subjects remain to be discussed and debated for the praise of God and the triumph of his church, we declare with the approval of the sacred council, that the ninth session of the continuing celebration of this sacred Lateran council shall be held on 5 April 1514, in the first year of our pontificate, which will be Wednesday after Passion Sunday. Let nobody therefore ... If anyone however... [BULL ON REFORM] Leo, bishop, servant of the servants of God, with the approval of the sacred council, for an everlasting record. Placed by the gift of divine grace at the supreme point of the apostolic hierarchy, we thought nothing was more in keeping with our official duty than to survey, with zeal and care, everything which could pertain to the protection, soundness and extension of the catholic flock entrusted to us. To this purpose we have applied all the force of our activity and the strength of our mind and talent. Our predecessor of happy memory, pope Julius II, since he was concerned about the well-being of the faithful and anxious to protect it, had summoned the ecumenical Lateran council for many other reasons indeed, but also because a constant complaint was being pressed concerning the officials of the Roman curia. For these reasons there were appointed a number of committees composed of his venerable brothers, the cardinals of the holy Roman church, of whose number we were then, and also of prelates, to investigate carefully into these complaints. In order that those attached to the curia and others approaching it for favours would not in the meantime be tormented by the excessive burden of expenses and that, at the same time, the ill-repute by which the said officials were deeply disturbed might be appeased by a speedy remedy, he issued a bull of reform by which they were bound anew, under a heavy penalty, to keep the legal terms of their offices. Because death intervened, he was unable to legislate in particular about the excesses or to complete the council. We, as the successor of the concern no less than of the office, right at the beginning of our pontificate, did not delay to resume the synod, to promote peace between christian princes and no less, since it is our intention to complete a universal reform, to strengthen by new aids what was first provided by our predecessor concerning the curial offices, and to follow this through with the expanded committees. For no more pressing anxiety weighs on us than that the thorns and brambles be pulled up from the Lord’s field, and if there is anything hindering its cultivation, it is to be removed root and branch. Therefore, after a careful report had been received from the committees, with notice of what was being side-tracked by which persons, we restored to the norm whatever had deviated either from a sound and praiseworthy custom or from a long-standing institution. We gathered these together into one bull of reform published on this matter with the approval of the sacred council;{This bull Pastoralis officii was published on 13 Dec. 1513, but it was never submitted to a vote of the fathers} and we appointed to execute it those who would insist on the decisions being kept. With the approval of this sacred council, we order this to be observed without alteration and without deceit by the officials themselves as well as by others, according as it affects each, under penalty of immediate excommunication from which they can only be absolved by the Roman pontiff (except in immediate danger of death), in such a way that, in addition to this and other penalties stated in detail in the bull, those acting against it are automatically suspended for six months from the office in which they committed the fault. And if they have failed for a second time in the same office, they are deprived for ever because they have contaminated the office itself. After they have been brought back to good conduct by means of our constitution, and the general damage has been checked and removed, we shall proceed to the remaining stages of the reform. If the Almighty in his mercy allows us to settle peace among the christian leaders, we shall press on not only to destroy completely the bad seeds, but also to expand the territories of Christ, and, supported by these achievements, we shall go forward, with God favouring his own purposes, to the most holy expedition against the infidels, the desire for which is deeply fixed in our heart. Let nobody therefore ... If anyone however... SESSION 9: 5 May 1514 [THE POPE URGES CHRISTIAN RULERS TO MAKE PEACE AMONG THEMSELVES SO THAT AN EXPEDITION AGAINST THE ENEMIES OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH MAY BE POSSIBLE] Leo, bishop, servant of the servants of God, with the approval of the sacred council, for an everlasting record. After we had been called by divine dispensation to the care and rule of the universal church, even though we are unworthy of so great a responsibility, we began from the highest point of the apostolate, as from the top of Mount Sion, to turn our immediate gaze and direct our mind to the things that seem to be of primary importance for the salvation, peace and extension of the church itself. When we focused all our care, thought and zeal in this direction, like an experienced and watchful shepherd, we found nothing more serious or dangerous to the christian state and more opposed to our holy desire than the fierce madness of armed conflicts. For, as a result of them, Italy has been almost wiped out by internecine slaughter, cities and territories have been disfigured, partly overturned and partly levelled, provinces and kingdoms have been stricken, and people cease not to act with madness and to welter in christian blood. Hence we have judged that nothing should be given more importance, consideration and attention than the quelling of these wars and the re-ordering of ecclesiastical discipline in accordance with resources and circumstances, so that with God appeased by a change of life, after quarrels have been set aside, we may be able to bring together and gather into one the Lord’s flock entrusted to our care, and to encourage and arouse this flock more readily, in a union of peace and harmony, as by a very strong binding force, against the common enemies of the christian faith who are now threatening it. This our intense desire for this campaign against the evil and implacable enemies of the cross of Christ is indeed so implanted in our heart that we determined to continue and follow up the sacred Lateran council -- which was summoned and begun by our predecessor of happy memory, Julius II, and interrupted by his death -- for that special reason, as is clear from all the different sessions held by us in the same council. Thus, with the christian princes or their spokesmen assembled at the same council, and prelates from different parts of the world coming to it, once peace between these christian princes had been settled and (as is right) the noxious brambles of heresies had been first uprooted from the Lord’s field, then the things necessary for the campaign against the same enemies, and what concerns the glory and triumph of the orthodox faith, and various other matters, could be happily decided upon by the timely advice and agreement of all. Although many distinguished men, outstanding in every branch of learning, came from different parts of Europe to this council, which had been solemnly summoned and duly proclaimed, many also, legitimately hindered, sent their instructions in official form. However, because of the difficulties from wars and circumstances as a result of which many territories have been blocked by hostile arms for a long time, the resources and large numbers which we desired could not be assembled. Moreover, that we have not as yet sent the specially appointed legates to kings and princes to promote union and peace between the same rulers -- something that perhaps seems necessary to many and that we too think is especially opportune -- cannot be attributed to us. The reason, of course, why we refrained from doing so is this: nearly all the princes made it known by letters and messages to us, that the sending of legates was not at all necessary or expedient. Nevertheless, we sent men of discretion and proved loyalty, endowed with the rank of bishop, as our envoys to those very princes who were undertaking serious armed activity among themselves and, as far as could be guessed, rather bitter wars. It has come about, especially by the action of these envoys, that truces have been agreed between some of the princes and the rest are thought to be on the point of giving their consent. Therefore we shall not put off sending the special legates, as we decided in the last session, whenever this is necessary and profitable for the setting up of a stable and lasting peace among them, and as we previously proposed. In the meantime, we shall not cease to act and reflect on what is relevant to the situation, with the spokesmen of the same princes who are negotiating with us, and to press on and exhort them and their princes to this action by means of our envoys and letters. Oh that the almighty and merciful God would assist from on high our plans for peace and our constant thoughts, would regard the faithful people with more benevolent and favourable eyes and, for the sake of common safety and peace and for the suppression of the haughty madness of the wicked enemies of the christian name, would give a propitious hearing to their devout prayers ! By our apostolic authority, we enjoin on each and every primate, patriarch and archbishop, on chapters of cathedral and collegiate churches, both secular and those belonging to any of the religious orders, on colleges and convents, on leaders of peoples, deans, rectors of churches and others who have charge of souls, and on preachers, alms-collectors and those who expound the word of God to the people, and we order in virtue of holy obedience, that within the celebration of masses, during the time that the word of God is being set before the people or outside that time, and in prayers which they will say in chapter or as convents, or at some other time in any kind of gathering, they are to keep the following special collects for the peace of Christians and for the confounding of the infidels respectively: O God, from whom holy desires, and, O God, in whose hands are all power and authority over kingdoms, look to the help of Christians. And they are no less to enjoin on members of their dioceses and on any other persons of either sex, whether ecclesiastical or secular, over whom they have authority by reason of a prelature or any other ecclesiastical position of authority, and to encourage in the Lord those to whom God’s word is proposed on their own or another’s responsibility, that they should pour forth in private devout prayers to God himself and to his most glorious mother, in the Lord’s prayer and the Hail Mary, for the peace of Christians (as mentioned above) and for the complete destruction of the infidels. Further, whoever of those mentioned above think that, by influence or favour with secular princes of any rank, distinction or dignity, or with their advisers, associates, attendants or officials, or with the magistrates, rectors and lieutenants of cities, towns, universities or any secular institutions, or with other persons of either sex, ecclesiastical or secular, they can take steps towards a universal or particular peace between princes, rulers and christian peoples, and towards the campaign against the infidels, let them use strong encouragement and lead them on to this peace and the campaign. By the tender mercy of our God and the merit of the passion of his only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, we exhort all of them with all possible emotion of our heart, and we counsel them by the authority of the pastoral office which we exercise, to lay aside private and public enmities and to turn to embracing the endeavour for peace and deciding on the aforesaid campaign. We strictly forbid each and every prelate, prince or individual, whether ecclesiastical or secular, of whatever state, rank, dignity, pre-eminence or condition they may be, under threat of the divine judgment, to presume to introduce in any way, directly or indirectly, openly or secretly, any obstacle to the said peace which is to be negotiated by us or by our agents, whether legates or envoys of the apostolic see endowed (as said before) with the episcopal rank, for the defence of the christian state of the faithful. Those who, in working towards this peace, think that there is involved something of a private or a public nature that is of importance to their princes, cities or states, the care for whom or which pertains to them because of some office or public function should, as far as it will be possible in the Lord, with due moderation and calm take control of the matter inasmuch as it involves support and goodwill towards the coming peace. Indeed, those who wish to rouse the faithful by Christ’s spiritual gifts, when these are duly contrite and absolved, and to pour out devout prayers for obtaining peace and for deciding on the expedition, so that the said peace and the campaign against the said enemies of the christian faith may be brought about and be secured from God himself, will devote worthwhile and well-considered efforts as often as they do this. These prayers, offered with devotion, should take place in masses, sermons and other divine services, in collegial, conventual and other public or communal prayers, and among princes, advisers, officials, governors and other persons named above who seem to have some influence in making or arranging the peace and in deciding (as said before) on the campaign against the enemies of the unconquered cross. Trusting in the mercy of God and the authority of his blessed apostles Peter and Paul, we grant remission of one hundred days of imposed penances to those who, individually and in private, offer prayers to obtain the foregoing from God; seven times each day if they do it so often or, if fewer, as often as they shall do it; until the universal peace -- which is receiving our constant attention -between princes and peoples at present in armed dispute has been established, and the campaign against the infidels has been decreed with our approval. We lay an obligation on our venerable brothers, primates, patriarchs, archbishops and bishops, to whom the present letter or copies of it, accurately printed either in Rome or elsewhere, shall come under official seals, to have it published with all possible speed in their provinces and dioceses, and to give firm instructions for its due execution. In the meantime, with the approval of the sacred council, we have decreed, as we proposed and desired with all our heart, the ecclesiastical reform of our curia and of our venerable brothers, the cardinals of the holy Roman church, and of others dwelling in Rome, and many other necessary things, which will be contained in our other letters due for publication in this same session. It was Julius, our predecessor, who summoned to this council all those who were accustomed to attend councils. He gave them a comprehensive safe-conduct so that they could make the journey and arrive safely and unharmed. However, many prelates who ought to have come have so far not arrived, perhaps because of the obstacles already stated. In our desire to go ahead with the more serious business due in the next session, we appeal to in the Lord, and we ask and counsel by the tender mercy of the same, prelates, kings, dukes, marquises, counts and others who usually come or send someone to a general council, but who have not yet provided spokesmen or legitimate instructions, to decide with all possible speed either to come in person or to send chosen and competent envoys, with valid instructions, to this sacred Lateran council which is so beneficial to the christian state. With regard to those venerable brethren, patriarchs, archbishops, bishops, abbots and prelates - especially those bound under oath to visit the place of the apostles Peter and Paul at certain fixed times, and to attend in person general councils which have been summoned, including those under that obligation at the time of their promotion -- whose obstinacy as being non-attenders at various sessions became a matter of frequent accusation by the sponsor of the same council, there is to be found in solemn form both a petition for proceedings against them and a statement of the censures and penalties incurred. This is notwithstanding any privileges, concessions and indults that were granted confirmed or renewed by us or our said predecessors in favour of them and their churches, monasteries and benefices. These we annul and invalidate through our certain knowledge and fullness of power, considering them to be fully stated here. We impose in virtue of holy obedience, and we strictly command under the penalties of excommunication and perjury and others derived from law or custom, and in particular from the letter which summoned and proclaimed the said Lateran council and was promulgated by our predecessor, Julius himself that they must attend in person the said Lateran council and remain in Rome until it has reached its conclusion and been terminated by our authority, unless they are prevented by some legitimate excuse. And if (as we said) they have somehow been prevented, they are to send their suitably qualified representatives with a full mandate on the matters that will have to be treated, dealt with and advised upon. (Source: Church Councils)
In order to remove completely all excuse and leave no pretext of any impediment to anyone who is obliged to attend, in addition to the public guarantee which was clearly granted at the summoning of this council to all coming to it we give, concede and grant, acting on the advice and power mentioned above with the same council’s approval, to each and all who have been accustomed to be present at the meetings of general councils and are coming to the present Lateran council, as well as to members of their personal staff, of whatever status rank, order and condition or nobility they may be, ecclesiastical and secular, a free, safe and secure safe-conduct and, by apostolic authority in the meaning of the present letter, full protection in all its aspects, for themselves and for all their possessions of any kind as they pass through cities, territories and places, by sea and land, which are subject to the said Roman church, for the journey to the Lateran council in Rome, for remaining in the city of freedom, for exchanging views according to their opinions, for departing therefrom as often as they may wish and also after four months from the conclusion and dispersal of the said council; and we promise to give readily other safe-conducts and guarantees to those desiring to have them. Each and all of these visitors we shall deal with and welcome with kindness and charity. Under the threat of the divine majesty and of our displeasure, and of the penalties against those impeding the holding of councils, particularly the said Lateran council, which are contained and set down in law or in the letter of the aforesaid summons of our predecessor, we are instructing each and all secular princes, of whatever exalted rank they may be, including imperial, royal, queenly, ducal or any other, the governors of cities, and citizens governing or ruling their states, to grant to the prelates and others coming to the said Lateran council a free permission and licence, a safe-conduct for coming and returning, and a free and unharmed transit through the dominions, lands and property of theirs through which the said persons must pass together with their equipment, possessions and horses; all exceptions and excuses being completely set aside and without force. In addition we order and command, under pain of our displeasure and of other penalties which can be inflicted at our will, each and all of our people who bear arms, both infantry and cavalry, their commanders and captains, the castellans of our fortresses, the legates, governors, rulers, lieutenants, authorities, officials and vassals of the cities and territories that are subject to the said Roman church, and any others of whatever rank, status, condition or distinction they may be, to give permission, and to be responsible for the giving of permission, to those coming to the Lateran council, to pass through in freedom, safety and security, to stay, and to return, so that such a holy, praiseworthy and very necessary council may not be frustrated for any reason or pretext, and that those coming to it may be able to live in peace and calm and without restraint and to say and develop under the same conditions the things which concern the honour of almighty God and the standing of the whole church. This we enjoin notwithstanding any constitutions, apostolic ordinances, imperial laws or municipal statutes and customs (even those reinforced by oath and apostolic confirmation or by any other authority) which could modify in any respect or impede in any way the said safe-conduct and guarantee, even if the constitutions etc. were of such a kind that an individual, precise, clear and distinct form of speech, or some other clearly stated expression, should be employed regarding them, and not just general clauses which only imply the matter, for we consider the significance of all the above things to be clearly stated by the present letter, as if they had been included word for word. Let nobody therefore . . . If anyone however . .. [BULL ON REFORM OF THE CURIA] Leo, bishop, servant of the servants of God, with the approval of the sacred council, for an everlasting record. It is eminently fitting for the Roman pontiff to carry out the duty of a provident shepherd, in order to care for and keep safe the Lord’s flock entrusted to him by God, since, by the will of the supreme ordinance by which the things of heaven and of earth are arranged by ineffable providence, he acts on the lofty throne of St Peter as vicar on earth of Christ, the only-begotten Son of God. When we notice, out of solicitude for our said pastoral office, that church discipline and the pattern of a sound and upright life are worsening, disappearing and going further astray from the right path throughout almost all the ranks of Christ’s faithful, with a disregard for law and with exemption from punishment, as a result of the troubles of the times and the malice of human beings, it must be feared that, unless checked by a well-guided improvement, there will be a daily falling into a variety of faults under the security of sin and soon, with the appearance of public scandals, a complete breakdown. We desire, then, as far as it is permitted to us from on high, to check the evils from becoming too strong, to restore a great many things to their earlier observance of the sacred canons, to create with God’s help an improvement in keeping with the established practice of the holy fathers, and to give -- with the approval of the sacred Lateran council initiated for that reason, among others, by our predecessor of happy memory, pope Julius II, and continued by us -healthy guidance to all these matters. In order to make a start, we take up the points which for the present seem more appropriate and which, having often been neglected during particular generations, have brought great loss to the christian religion and produced very great scandals in the church of God. We have therefore decided to begin with preferment to ecclesiastical dignities. Our predecessor of devout memory, pope Alexander III, also in a Lateran council, decreed that age, a serious character and knowledge of letters are to be carefully examined in the preferment of individuals to bishoprics and abbacies. Moreover, nothing impedes the church of God more than when unworthy prelates are accepted for the government of churches. Therefore, in the preferment of prelates, the Roman pontiffs must give much attention to the matter, especially because they will have to give an account to God at the last judgment about those given preferment by them to churches and monasteries. Consequently, we rule and establish that henceforward, in accordance with the constitution of the aforesaid Alexander III, for vacant churches and monasteries of patriarchal, metropolitan and cathedral status, the person provided is to be of mature age, learning and serious character, as said above, and the provision is not to be made at someone’s urging, by means of recommendation, direction or enforcement, or in any other way, unless it has seemed right to act differently on the grounds of advantage to the churches, prudence, nobility, uprightness, experience, lengthy contact with the curia (together with adequate learning), or service to the apostolic see. We wish the same to be observed regarding the persons elected and chosen in elections and choices that have customarily been admitted by the apostolic see. But if the question arises of providing for churches and monasteries of this kind with persons of less than thirty years of age, there can be no dispensation for them to be in charge of churches before their twenty-seventh year of age or of monasteries before their twenty-second year. Indeed, so that suitable persons may be advanced with greater exactness and care, we rule that the cardinal to whom the reporting on an election, appointment or provision to a church or monastery has been entrusted, ought, before he gives an account in the sacred consistory (as the custom is) of his carrying out of such an examination or report assigned to him, to make his report known to one of the older cardinals of each grade, personally in the actual consistory, or, if there was no consistory on the day appointed for him to give his account, then by means of his secretary or some other member of his personal staff, and the three older cardinals in question are bound to communicate the report as soon as possible to the other cardinals of their grade. The said cardinal making the report shall personally examine the business of the election, administration, appointment or promotion in summary and extra-judicial fashion. If any have spoken against it, he is obliged to call, after the objectors have been summoned, competent, responsible and trustworthy witnesses and, if it should be necessary or appropriate, others by virtue of office. He is bound to bring with him to the consistory, on the day the report has to be made, the stages and decisions of the report together with the statements of the witnesses, and he shall not give his report in any form until the person to be promoted, if he is at the curia, shall have first visited the majority of the cardinals in order that they may be able to learn at first hand, insofar as it is relevant to his character, what they shall soon learn from the report of their colleague. Moreover, the person promoted is obliged, by longstanding practice and laudable custom, to visit as soon as possible the same cardinals who are then in the curia. This practice and praiseworthy custom, indeed, we renew and command to be kept without change. Since it is right to maintain episcopal dignity unharmed, and for it to be protected from indiscriminate exposure to the attacks of wicked persons and to the false charges of accusers, we decree that no bishop or abbot may be deprived of his rank when anyone urges a charge or presses demands (unless the opportunity for a legitimate defence is afforded to him), even if the charges have been widely known and, after the parties have been attentively heard, the case has been fully proved; nor may any prelate be transferred against his will, except for other just and efficacious reasons and causes, in accordance with the terms and decree of the council of Constance. Also, as a result of commendams for monasteries, the monasteries themselves (as experience, a practical mistress, has quite often taught) are seriously damaged in spiritual and temporal matters because their buildings fall into decay, partly through the negligence of the commendatories and partly through greed or lack of interest, divine worship is gradually reduced, and matter for contempt is generally offered especially to secular persons, not without a lessening of the standing of the apostolic see, from which commendams of this kind originate. In order that sounder measures may be taken to secure these monasteries from damage, we will and decree that when vacancies occur through the death of the abbot in charge, they cannot be given in commendam to anyone by any agreement unless it seems right to us to decide otherwise, in accordance with the actual circumstances and with the advice of our brothers, so as to protect the authority of the apostolic see and to oppose the evil designs of those attacking it. But let such monasteries be provided with competent persons, in keeping with the above-mentioned constitution, so that suitable abbots will have charge of them (as is fitting). Such monasteries may be given in commendam, when the original commendam no longer exists on account of the resignation or death of the commendatory, only to cardinals and to qualified and well-deserving persons; and in such a way that the commendatories of the monasteries, whatever their dignity, honour and high rank may be, even if they enjoy the status and dignity of a cardinal, are obliged, if they have meals in private, apart from the common table, to assign a quarter of their board for the renewal of the fabric, or for the purchase or repair of furnishings, clothings and adornment, or for the maintenance or sustenance of the poor, as the greater need demands or suggests . If, however, they share board completely, a third part of all the resources of the said monastery committed to the commendatory must be assigned, after all other imposts have been deducted, to the above-mentioned burdens and to the sustenance of the monks. Moreover, letters which are drawn up regarding such commendams to monasteries ought to contain a clause specifically stating this. If they are drawn up in some other form, they are of no worth or value. Since it is fitting for such churches to be provided for without any loss of revenues, in such a way that both the honour of those in charge and the need of the churches and buildings are considered, we decree and rule that pensions may never be reserved from the incomes of these churches except on account of a resignation or for some other reason which has been considered credible and honourable in our secret consistory. We also rule that henceforth parochial churches, major and principal dignities and other ecclesiastical benefices whose rents, revenues and produce by ordinary reckoning do not amount to an annual value of two hundred golden ducats of the treasury, and also hospitals, leperhouses and hostels of any importance which have been set up for the use and provisioning of the poor, shall not be given in commendam to cardinals of the holy Roman church, or conferred on them by any other title, unless they have become vacant by the death of a member of their household. In the latter case they can be given in commendam to cardinals, but these are bound to dispose of them within six months for the benefit of such persons as are suitable and in good relations with them. We do not wish, however, to prejudge the cardinals further with respect to benefices to which they may have a reserve claim. We also ordain that members of churches, monasteries or military orders may not be detached or separated from their head -- which is absurd -- without legitimate and reasonable cause. Perpetual unions, apart from cases permitted by law or on some reasonable grounds, are not permitted at all. Dispensations for more than two incompatible benefices are not to be granted, except for great and pressing reasons or to qualified persons according to the form of common law . We set a limit of two years on persons of whatever rank who obtain more than four parish churches and their perpetual vicarages, or major and principal dignities, even if by way of union or commendam for life. They are bound to release the rest, only four being retained in the meantime. Such benefices, due for release, can be resigned into the hands of the ordinaries so that they may be provided with persons nominated by them; notwithstanding any reservations, even those of a general nature or resulting from the quality of the persons resigning. Once the period of two years is past, all the benefices that have not been disposed of may be reckoned as vacant and may freely be applied for as vacant. Those who hold on to them incur the penalties of the constitution Execrabilis of our memorable predecessor, pope John XXII. We also rule that special reservations of any benefice are in no way to be granted at the urging of anyone. [ON CARDINALS] Since the cardinals of the holy Roman church take precedence in honour and dignity over all the other members of the church after the sovereign pontiff, it is proper and right that they be distinguished beyond all others by the purity of their life and the excellence of their virtues. On that account, we not only exhort and advise them but also decree and order that henceforth each of the cardinals following the teaching of the Apostle, so live a sober, chaste and godly life that he shines out before people as one who abstains not merely from evil but from every appearance of evil . In the first place, let him honour God by his works . Let all of them be vigilant, constant at the divine office and the celebration of masses, and maintain their chapels in a worthy place, as they were wont to do. Their house and establishment, table and furniture, should not attract blame by display or splendour or superfluous equipment or in any other way, so as to avoid any fostering of sin or excess, but, as is right, let them deserve to be called mirrors of moderation and frugality. Therefore, let them find satisfaction in what contributes to priestly modesty; let them act with kindness and respect both in public and in private, towards prelates and other distinguished persons who come to the Roman curia; and let them undertake with grace and generosity the business committed to them by ourself and our successors. Moreover, let them not employ bishops or prelates in demeaning tasks in their houses, so that those who have been appointed to give direction to others and who have been clad in a sacred character, will not lower themselves to menial chores and generally bring about a lack of respect for the pastoral office . Consequently, let them treat with honour as brothers, and as befits their state of life, those whom they have or will have in their houses. Since the cardinals assist the Roman pontiff, the common father of all Christians, it is very improper for them to be patrons of or special pleaders for individuals. We have therefore decided, lest they adopt partiality of any kind, that they are not to set up as promoters or defenders of princes or communities or of any other persons against anyone, except to the extent that justice and equity demands and the dignity and rank of such people requires. Rather, separated from all private interest, let them be available and engage with all diligence in calming and settling any disputes. Let them promote with due piety the maintenance of the just business of princes and all other persons, especially the poor and religious, and let them offer help in accordance with their resources and their official responsibility to those who are oppressed and unjustly burdened. They are to visit at least once a year -- in person if they have been present in the curia, and by a suitable deputy if they have been absent -- the places of their titular basilica. They are, with due care, to keep themselves informed about the clergy and people of the churches subject to their basilica; they are to keep under review the divine worship and the properties of the said churches; above all, let them examine with care the lives of the clergy and their parishioners, and with a father’s affection encourage one and all to live an upright and honourable life . For the development of divine worship and the salvation of his own soul, each cardinal should give to his basilica during his lifetime, or bequeath at the time of his death, a sufficient amount for the suitable sustenance there of one priest; or, if the basilica needs repairs or some other form of aid, let him leave or donate as much as he may in conscience decide. It is entirely unfitting to pass over persons related to them by blood or by marriage, especially if they are deserving and need help. To come to their assistance is just and praiseworthy. But we do not consider that it is appropriate to heap on them a great number of benefices or church revenues, with the result that an uncontrolled generosity in these matters may bring wrong to others and may cause scandal. Consequently we have determined that they are not to squander thoughtlessly the goods of the churches, but are to apply them in works of devotion and piety, for which great and rich returns have been assigned and ordained by the holy fathers. It is also our wish that they take care, without making any excuse, of the churches entrusted to them in commendam, whether these be cathedrals, abbeys, priories, or any other eeclesiastical benefices that they take measures, with all personal effect, to see that the cathedrals are duly served by the appointment of worthy and competent vicars or suffragans, according to what has been customary, with an appropriate and adequate salary; and that they provide for the other churches and monasteries held by them in commendam with the right number of clerics or chaplains, whether religious or monks, for the adequate and praiseworthy service of God. Let them also maintain in proper condition the buildings, properties and rights of any kind, and repair what has crumbled, in accordance with the duty of good prelates and commendatories . We also judge that the said cardinals are to use great discretion and careful foresight with regard to the number of their personal attendants and horses lest by having a greater number than their resources, situation and dignity permit, they can be accused of the vice of over-display and extravagance. Let them not be accounted greedy and squalid on the grounds that they enjoy great and plentiful revenues and yet offer sustenance to very few; for the house of a cardinal ought to be an open lodging, a harbour and refuge for upright and learned persons, especially men, for nobles who are now poor and for honourable persons. Hence let them be prudent about the manner and quantity of what has to be kept, and carefully check the character of their personal attendants, lest they themselves incur from the vices of others the shameful stain of dishonour and provide real opportunities for contradictions and false accusations. Since very special provision must be made that our deeds be approved not only before God, whom we ought to please in the first place, but also before peoplel so that we can offer to others an example to be imitated, we ordain that every cardinal show himself an excellent ruler and overseer of his house and personal staff, with regard to both what is open for all to see and what lies hidden within . Therefore let each of them have the priests and deacons clad in respectable garments, and make careful provision that no one in his household who holds a benefice of any type, or is in holy orders, wears multi-coloured clothes or a garment that has little connection with ecclesiastical status. Those in the priesthood, therefore, ought to wear clothes of colours which are not forbidden to clerics by law and are of at least ankle length. Those who hold high office in cathedrals, canons of the said cathedrals those holding the chief posts in colleges, and chaplains of cardinals when celebrating masses, are obliged to wear a head-covering in public. Shield-bearers are permitted garments somewhat shorter than ankle-length. Grooms, because they are generally moving about and perform a somewhat burdensome service, can use shorter and more suitable garments, even if they happen to be clerics, so long as they are not ordained priests; but in such a way that they do not cast aside decency and they so conduct themselves that their behaviour is in keeping with their position in the church . Other clerics are to do everything with due proportion and restraint. Both clerics holding benefices and those in holy orders are not to pay special attention to their hair and beards, nor to possess mules or horses with trappings and ornaments of velvet or silk, but for articles of this kind let them use ordinary cloth or leather. If anyone of the aforesaid staff acts otherwise, or wears such forbidden garments after three months from the announcement of the present regulations, despite being given a legitimate warning, he incurs excommunication. If he has not corrected himself within a further three months, he is understood to be suspended from receiving the fruits of the benefices which he holds. And if he remains fixed in this obstinacy for another six months, after a similar legal warning, he is to be deprived of all the benefices which he holds, and he is to be considered as so deprived. The benefices thus made vacant may be freely sought from the apostolic see. We wish each and every one of these arrangements to apply to the households of ourself and any future Roman pontiffs, and likewise to all other beneficed clerics or persons in holy orders, even those in the curia . There is one single exception: the said attendants of ourself and future Roman pontiffs may wear red garments, in keeping with what is proper and usual for the papal dignity. Since the care of the most important business is the special concern of cardinals, it is for them to use their ability to know which regions have been infected by heresies, errors and superstitions opposed to the true orthodox faith; where the ecclesiastical discipline of the Lord’s commandments is lacking; and which kings and princes or peoples are being troubled, or fear to be troubled, by wars. Cardinals shall apply themselves to obtain information on these and similar matters and make a report to us or the current Roman pontiff so that, by earnest effort, opportune and saving remedies for such evils and afflictions can be thought out. Since by frequent, almost daily, experience it is known that many evils quite often occur to provinces and cities on account of the absence of their own officially appointed legates, and various scandals are springing up which are not without disadvantages to the apostolic see, we decree and ordain that cardinals who are in charge of provinces or cities, under the title of legates, may not administer them through lieutenants or officials, but they are obliged to be present in person for the greater part of the time, and to rule and govern them with all vigilance. Those who now hold the title of legate, or will hold it for a time, are obliged to go to their provinces -- within three months from the date of the present proclamation if the provinces are in Italy, and within five months if they are outside Italy -- and to reside there for the greater part of the time, unless, by a command from us or our successors, they are held back in the Roman curia for some business of greater moment or are sent to other places as needs demand. In the latter cases, let them have in the said provinces and cities vice-legates, auditors, lieutenants and the other usual officials with due arrangements and salaries. Anyone who does not observe each and all of the above regulations is to be deprived of all the emoluments of his post as legate. These regulations were formulated and established long ago with this object: that the ready presence of the legates would be beneficial to the peoples; not that, being free from toils and cares, under cover of being the legate, they would fix their attention only on profit. Since the duty of a cardinal is primarily concerned with regular assistance to the Roman pontiff and the business matters of the apostolic see, we have decided that all cardinals shall reside at the Roman curia, and those who are absent are to return within six months if they are in Italy, or within a year from the day of promulgation of this present constitution if they are outside Italy. If they do not they are to lose the fruits of their benefices and the emoluments of all their offices; and they lose completely, as long as they arc absent, all privileges granted in general and in particular to cardinals. Those cardinals are excepted, however, who happen to be absent by reason of a duty imposed by the apostolic see, or of a command or permission from the Roman pontiff, or from reasonable fear or any other motive which justifiably excuses, or for health reasons . Moreover, the privileges, indults and immunities granted to the said cardinals and contained or declared in our bull under the date of our coronation1{Bull Licat Romani pontificis,9 April 1513; see Regesta Leonis X no. 14} remain in full force. We have also decided that the funeral expenses of cardinals, when all costs are included, ought not to exceed the total of 1,500 florins, unless the previous arrangement of the executors -- after just grounds and reasons have been set out -- has reckoned that more should be spent. The funeral rites and formal mourning are to be on the first and ninth days; within the octave, however, masses may be celebrated as usual. Out of reverence towards the apostolic see, for the advantage and honour of the pontiff and the cardinals, in order that the possibility of scandals which could come to light may be removed and a greater freedom of votes in the holy senate may exist, and that, as is right, it may be lawful for each cardinal to say freely and without penalty whatever he feels before God and his own conscience, we lay down that no cardinal may reveal in writing or by word or in any other way, under pain of being a perjurer and disobedient, the votes that were given in the consistory, or whatever was done or said there which could result in hatred or scandal or prejudice with regard to anyone, or whenever silence on any point beyond the foregoing has been specially and clearly enjoined by ourself or the Roman pontiff of the time. If anyone acts to the contrary he incurs, as well as the punishments stated, immediate excommunication from which, except in immediate danger of death, he can only be absolved by ourself or the Roman pontiff of the time, and with a declaration of the reason. [REFORMS OF THE CURIA AND OF OTHER THINGS] Since every generation inclines to evil from its youth, and for it to grow accustomed from tender years towards good is the result of work and purpose we rule and order that those in charge of schools, and those who teach young children and youths, ought not only to instruct them in grammar, rhetoric and similar subjects but also to teach those matters which concern religion, such as God’s commandments, the articles of the faith, sacred hymns and psalms, and the lives of the saints. On feast days they should limit themselves to teaching what has reference to religion and good habits, and they are obliged to instruct, encourage and compel their pupils in these matters insofar as they can. Thus, let them attend churches not only for masses, but also to listen to vespers and the divine offices, and let them encourage the hearing of instructions and sermons . Let them not teach anything to their pupils that is contrary to good morals or may lead to a lack of reverence. To wipe out the curse of blasphemy, which has increased beyond measure towards a supreme contempt for the divine name and for the saints, we rule and ordain that whoever curses God openly and publicly and, by insulting and offensive language, has expressly blasphemed our lord Jesus Christ or the glorious virgin Mary, his mother, if he has held a public office or jurisdiction, he is to lose three months’ emoluments of his said office for the first and second offence, and if he has committed the fault a third time, he is automatically deprived of his post. If he is a cleric or a priest, he is to be punished further as follows for being found guilty of such a fault: for the first time he blasphemed, he is to lose the fruits of whatever benefices he held for one year; for the second time he offended and was convicted, he is to be deprived of his benefice if he held only one, and if he held several then he is to be compelled to lose the one that his ordinary decides upon; if he is charged and convicted for a third time, he is automatically deprived of all the benefices and dignities that he holds, he is rendered incapable of holding them any longer, and they can be freely asked for and allotted to others. A lay person who blasphemes, if he is a noble, is to be fined a penalty of twenty-five ducats; for the second offence the fine is fifty ducats, which are to be applied to the fabric of the basilica of the prince of the apostles in Rome; for other offences he is to be punished as set out below; for a third fault, however, he is to lose his noble status. If he is of no rank and a plebian, he is to be cast into prison. If he has been caught committing blasphemy in public more than twice, he is to be compelled to stand for a whole day in front of the entrance of the principal church, wearing a hood signifying his infamy; but if he has fallen several times into the same fault, he is to be condemned to permanent imprisonment or to the galleys, at the decision of the appointed judge. In the forum of conscience, however, nobody guilty of blasphemy can be absolved without a heavy penance imposed by the decision of a strict confessor . We wish those who blaspheme against the other saints to be punished somewhat more lightly, at the decision of a judge who will take account of individuals. We also decree that secular judges who have not taken action against such convicted blasphemers and have not imposed rightful penalties on them, insofar as they are able to, are to be subjected to the same penalties as if they had been involved in the said crime. But those who have exercised care and severity in their examinations and punishments, will gain for each occasion an indulgence of ten years and may keep a third of the fine imposed. Any persons who have heard the blasphemer are obliged to rebuke him sharply in words, if it should happen that this can be done without danger to themselves, and they are obliged to report the same or bring it to the knowledge of an ecclesiastical or secular judge within three days. But if several persons have at the same time heard the said blasphemer committing the fault, each one is obliged to make an accusation against him, unless perhaps they all agree that one will perform the task for all . We urge and counsel in the Lord all the said persons, in virtue of holy obedience, that they command and ensure, for the reverence and honour of the divine name, that all the foregoing are kept and very exactly carried out in their lordships and lands. Thus they will have from God himself an abundant reward for such a good and pious deed, and they too will obtain from the apostolic see an indulgence of ten years, and a third of the fine by which the blasphemer is punished, as often as they have taken the trouble to have such a crime punished . It is likewise our will that this indulgence and the remaining third of the fine imposed be granted and assigned to the person reporting the name of the blasphemer. Moreover, other penalties set down in the sacred canons against such blasphemers remain in force. In order that clerics, especially, may live in continence and chastity according to canonical legislation, we rule that offenders be severely punished as the canons lay down. If anyone, lay or cleric, has been found guilty of a charge on account of which the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience, let him be punished by the penalties respectively imposed by the sacred canons or by civil law. Those involved in concubinage, whether they be lay or cleric, are to be punished by the penalties of the same canons. Concubinage is not to be allowed by the tolerance of superiors, or as an evil custom of a great number of sinners, which should rather be called a corruption, or under any other excuse; but let those involved be punished severely in accordance with the judgment of the law. Moreover, for the good and peaceful government of cities and all places subject to the Roman church, we renew the constitutions published some time ago by Giles, the well-remembered bishop of Sabina, and we enjoin and command that they be kept without alteration. So that the stain and disease of abominable simony may be driven out for ever not only from the Roman curia but also from all christian rule, we renew the constitutions issued by our predecessors, also in sacred councils, against simoniacs of this kind, and we prescribe that they be observed unaltered. We wish the penalties they contain to be regarded as clearly stated and included herein, and the offenders to be punished by our authority. We rule and order that anyone who holds a benefice with or without the care of souls, if he has not recited the divine office after six months from the date of his obtaining the benefice, and any legitimate impediment has come to an end may not receive the revenues of his benefices, on account of his omission and the length of time, but he is bound to spend them, as being unjustly received, on the fabric of the benefices or on alms to the poor. If he obstinately remains in such negligence beyond the said period, after a legitimate warning has been given, let him be deprived of the benefice, since it is for the sake of the office that the benefice is granted. He is to be understood as neglecting the office, so that he can be deprived of his benefice, if he fails to recite it at least twice during fifteen days . However, in addition to what has just been said, he will be obliged to offer to God an explanation for the said omission. The penalty on those holding several benefices may be repeated as often as they are proved to act contrary to these obligations. The full disposal and administration of the revenues of cathedral and metropolitan churches, monasteries and any other ecclesiastical benefices belong exclusively to us and the Roman pontiff of the time, and to those who legally and canonically hold churches, monasteries and benefices of this kind. Secular princes ought in no way to interpose themselves in the said churches, monasteries and benefices, since all divine law also forbids it. For these reasons we rule and command that the fruits and revenues of churches, monasteries and benefices ought not to be sequestrated, held or detained in any way by any secular rulers, even if they be the emperor, kings, queens, republics or other powers, or by their officials, or by judges, even ecclesiastical ones, or by any other persons public or private, acting at the command of the said emperor, kings, queens princes, republics or powers. Those who hold such churches, monasteries and benefices ought not to be impeded -- under the pretext of the restoration of the fabric (unless permission is expressly given by the Roman pontiff of the time) or of alms-giving or under any other guise or pretence -- so that they cannot freely and without restriction, as before, dispose of the fruits and revenues. If there have been sequestrations, seizures or retentions, then restoration of the fruits and revenues must be made totally, freely, and without exception or delay, to the prelates to whom they pertain by right and by law. If they have been scattered and can nowhere be found, it is our will, supported by the penalty of excommunication or ecclesiastical interdict to be automatically incurred by the lands and domain of the ruler, that, after a just estimate has been made about them, the said prelates receive satisfaction through those who carried out the said sequestrations, applications or dispersals or who gave orders for them to be carried out; and further, that their goods and the goods of those subject to them, wherever these may be found, may be seized and held if, after being warned, they refuse to obey. Those who act in a contrary manner do so under pain of both the penalties mentioned above and those of deprivation of the fiefs and privileges which they have obtained for a time from us and from the Roman or other churches, and of those issued against violators and oppressors of ecclesiastical liberties, including those in extraordinary and other constitutions, even if they are unknown and perhaps not now in actual use. We renew all these penalties as stated and included herein, we decree and declare that they have perpetual force- and we will and order that sentence, judgment and interpretation are to be given according to them by all judges, even cardinals of the holy Roman church, with all power of judging and declaring otherwise being removed and taken away from them. Since no power over ecclesiastical persons is granted to lay people by either divine or human law, we renew the constitution of pope Boniface VIII, our predecessor of happy memory, which begins Felicis, and that of pope Clement V which begins Si quis suadente, and also any other apostolic ordinance, however issued, in favour of ecclesiastical freedom and against its violators . Moreover, the penalties against those who dare to do such things, contained in the bull In coena Domini3, are to remain in force. It has similarly been forbidden in the Lateran and general councils, under penalty of excommunication, for kings, princes, dukes, counts, barons, republics and any other authorities exercising control over kingdoms, provinces, cities and territories, to impose and exact money contributions, tithes and other similar imposts on or from clerics, prelates and any other persons of the church, or even to receive them from those who freely offer them and give their consent. Those who openly or covertly provide help, favour or advice in the aforesaid matters automatically incur the penalty of immediate excommunication; and states, communities and universities which are at fault in any way on this point are by this very fact to be subject to ecclesiastical interdict. Prelates also, who have given consent to the foregoing without the clear permission of the Roman pontiff, automatically incur the penalty of excommunication and removal from office. For these reasons we decree and ordain that henceforth those who attempt such things, even if (as mentioned) they are qualified, in addition to the aforesaid penalties which we renew and wish them to incur by the very fact of their contravention, are to be regarded as incapable of all legal acts and as intestable. Sorcery, by means of enchantments, divinations, superstitions and the invoking of demons, is prohibited by both civil laws and the sanctions of the sacred canons. We rule, decree and ordain that clerics who are found guilty of these things are to be branded with disgrace at the judgment of superiors. If they do not desist, they are to be demoted, forced into a monastery for a period of time that is to be fixed by the will of the superior, and deprived of their benefices and ecclesiastical offices. Lay men and women, however, are to be subject to excommunication and the other penalties of both civil and canon law. All false Christians and those with evil sentiments towards the faith, of whatever race or nation they may be, as well as heretics and those stained with some taint of heresy, or Judaizers, are to be totally excluded from the company of Christ’s faithful and expelled from any position, especially from the Roman curia, and punished with an appropriate penalty. For these reasons we rule that proceedings are to be taken against them, with careful enquiry everywhere and particularly in the said curia, by means of judges appointed by us, and that those accused and rightly convicted of these offences are to be punished with fitting penalties; and we wish that those who have relapsed are to be dealt with without any hope of pardon or forgiveness. Since these constitutions and ordinances which we are now establishing concern life, morals and ecclesiastical discipline, it is fitting that our own and other officials, both those in the Roman curia and those everywhere else, should be models of and bound to them, and it is our will and decision that they be held to their observance by an inviolable bond. Lest these constitutions seem at any point to detract from other censures and penalties imposed by ancient laws and constitutions against those acting otherwise, even though they have been thought out and issued as a development, we further declare that nothing whatever has been taken away from common law or from other decrees of Roman pontiffs by these regulations and ordinances. Indeed, if any parts of them have lost their force through the evil corruption of times, places and people, or through abuse, or for any other unapprovable reason, we here and now renew and confirm them and order them to be observed without alteration . We decree and declare that these our well-pondered constitutions are to be of binding force from two months after publication, and we strictly forbid anyone to presume to make glosses or commentaries or interpretations on them without special permission from us or the apostolic see. Anyone who rashly dares to oppose this, incurs the penalty of immediate excommunication by this very act . Let nobody therefore ... If anyone however... SESSION 10: 4 May 1515 ON THE REFORM OF CREDIT ORGANISATIONS (MONTES PIETATIS) Leo, bishop, servant of the servants of God, with the approval of the sacred council, for an everlasting record. We ought to give first place in our pastoral office, among our many anxious cares, to ensuring that what is healthy, praiseworthy, in keeping with the christian faith, and in harmony with good customs may be not only clarified in our time but also made known to future generations, and that what could offer matter for scandal be totally cut down, wholly uprooted and nowhere permitted to spread, while at the same time permitting those seeds to be planted in the Lord’s field and in the vineyard of the Lord of hosts which can spiritually feed the minds of the faithful, once the cockle has been uprooted and the wild olive cut down. Indeed, we have learnt that among some of our dear sons who were masters in theology and doctors of civil and canon law, there has recently broken out again a particular controversy, not without scandal and disquiet for ordinary people, with regard to the relief of the poor by means of loans made to them by public authorities. They are popularly called credit organisations and have been set up in many cities of Italy by the magistrates of the cities and by other Christians, to assist by this kind of loan the lack of resources among the poor lest they be swallowed up by the greed of usurers They have been praised and encouraged by holy men, preachers of God’s word, and approved and confirmed also by a number of our predecessors as popes, to the effect that the said credit organisations are not out of harmony with christian dogma, even though there is controversy and different opinions regarding the question. Some of these masters and doctors say that the credit organisations are unlawful. After a fixed period of time has passed, they say, those attached to these organisations demand from the poor to whom they make a loan so much per pound in addition to the capital sum. For this reason they cannot avoid the crime of usury or injustice, that is to say a clearly defined evil, since our Lord, according to Luke the evangelist, has bound us by a clear command that we ought not to expect any addition to the capital sum when we grant a loan. For, that is the real meaning of usury: when, from its use, a thing which produces nothing is applied to the acquiring of gain and profit without any work, any expense or any risk. The same masters and doctors add that in these credit organisations neither commutative nor distributive justice is observed, even though contracts of this kind, if they are to be duly approved, ought not to go beyond the bounds of justice. They endeavour to prove this on the grounds that the expenses of the maintenance of these organisations, which ought to be paid by many persons (as they say), are extracted only from the poor to whom a loan is made; and at the same time certain other persons are given more than their necessary and moderate expenses (as they seem to imply), not without an appearance of evil and an encouragement to wrongdoing. But many other masters and doctors say the opposite and, both in writing and in speech, unite in speaking in many of the schools in Italy in defence of so great a benefit and one so necessary to the state, on the grounds that nothing is being sought nor hoped for from the loan as such. Nevertheless, they argue, for the compensation of the organisations -- that is, to defray the expenses of those employed and of all the things necessarily pertaining to the upkeep of the said organisations -- they may lawfully ask and receive, in addition to the capital, a moderate and necessary sum from those deriving benefit from the loan, provided that no profit is made therefrom. This is in virtue of the rule of law that the person who experiences benefit ought also to meet the charge, especially when there is added the support of the apostolic authority. They point out that this opinion was approved by our predecessors of happy memory, the Roman pontiffs Paul II, Sixtus IV, Innocent VIII, Alexander VI and Julius II, as well as by saints and persons devoted to God and held in high esteem for their holiness, and has been preached in sermons about the gospel truth. We wish to make suitable arrangements on this question (in accord with what we have received from on high). We commend the zeal for justice displayed by the former group, which desires to prevent the opening up of the chasm of usury, as well as the love of piety and truth shown by the latter group, which wishes to aid the poor, and indeed the earnestness of both sides. Since, therefore, this whole question appears to concern the peace and tranquility of the whole christian state, we declare and define, with the approval of the sacred council, that the above-mentioned credit organisations, established by states and hitherto approved and confirmed by the authority of the apostolic see, do not introduce any kind of evil or provide any incentive to sin if they receive, in addition to the capital, a moderate sum for their expenses and by way of compensation, provided it is intended exclusively to defray the expenses of those employed and of other things pertaining (as mentioned) to the upkeep of the organisations, and provided that no profit is made therefrom. They ought not, indeed, to be condemned in any way. Rather, such a type of lending is meritorious and should be praised and approved. It certainly should not be considered as usurious; it is lawful to preach the piety and mercy of such organisations to the people, including the indulgences granted for this purpose by the holy apostolic see; and in the future, with the approval of the apostolic see, other similar credit organisations can be established. It would, however, be much more perfect and more holy if such credit organisations were completely gratuitous: that is, if those establishing them provided definite sums with which would be paid, if not the total expenses, then at least half the wages of those employed by the organisations, with the result that the debt of the poor would be lightened thereby. We therefore decree that Christ’s faithful ought to be prompted, by a grant of substantial indulgences, to give aid to the poor by providing the sums of which we have spoken, m order to meet the costs of the organisations. It is our will that all religious as well as ecclesiastical and secular persons who henceforth dare to preach or argue otherwise by word or in writing, contrary to the sense of the present declaration and sanction, incur the punishment of immediate excommunication, notwithstanding any kind of privilege, things said above, constitutions and orders of the apostolic see, and anything else to the contrary. [Bull against exempt persons, in which are included some points regarding ecclesiastical liberty and episcopal dignity] Leo, bishop, servant of the servants of God, with the approval of the sacred council, for an everlasting record. Presiding over the government of the universal church (the Lord so disposing), we readily aim to secure the advantages of subjects, in conformity with the obligation of our pastoral office. In order to preserve the church’s freedom, to remove scandals, to establish harmony, and to foster peace between prelates of churches and those subject to them, we apply the effort of apostolic care in proportion as experience shows that disagreement between such groups will be harmful. Thus we are glad to regulate the indults and privileges granted to the same subjects by both our predecessors and the apostolic see, at the expense of the prelates concerned, in such a way scandals do not arise from them, or material be provided to anyone for fostering ill-will, or ecclesiastical persons be somehow drawn away from the benefit of obedience as well as from perseverance in the divine service. Recently, indeed, a trustworthy report has reached our ears that canons of patriarchal, metropolitan, cathedral and collegiate churches and other secular clerics are making too many claims, on account of which they give rise to considerable ill-report concerning themselves, have an injurious effect on others from their claims of exemption and freedom obtained from the apostolic see, evade the corrections and regulations of the ordinaries, and shun their courts and judgments. Some of them, in the hope of gaining freedom from punishment for their deviations by the privilege of exemption, do not fear to commit offences which they would certainly have never committed if they did not believe that they were protected by their exemption. The result is that, on account of the brashness of those trusting that they will obtain freedom from punishment for their offences, because of the privilege of exemption, they commit outrages on many occasions as a result of which the church is very much maligned and serious scandals arise, especially when those responsible for correcting and punishing them fail to do so. In our wish to provide the necessary remedy lest, on the above pretext, their faults remain unpunished, we rule, with the approval of the sacred council, that henceforth those to whom the correction and punishment of exempt persons has been committed by the apostolic see, are to attend carefully to these duties and diligently to carry out the obligations of the office entrusted to them. As soon as it is legally clear to them that exempt persons have been at fault, they are to punish them in such a way that they are restrained from their acts of arrogance by fear of a penalty and so that others, frightened by their example, will rightly shrink from committing similar faults. If they are neglectful in this matter, the diocesan and other local ordinaries are to warn such persons, who have the responsibility for correcting those who are exempt, that they should punish such exempt persons who have committed faults and are guilty and should censure them within a suitable time, which is to be determined by the judgment of those giving the warning. The warning is to be given in person (if the resources and standing of the person giving it make this possible), or otherwise, if there should be no clearly recognised judge in the region of the exempt persons, they are to warn those whom they consider to be responsible for the above by means of a public edict, which is to be fixed to the doors of the cathedrals or other churches where such judges of exempt persons may happen to reside, or if there are no judges of the exempt persons there, then where the exempt persons have committed the faults. If those who have received the warning are negligent in this matter, and do not trouble or have refused to carry it out, then, so that they may be penalised for their fault, they are to be deprived of hearing the inquiry for that time and are henceforth not to be involved in any way in such inquiries. Then the diocesan and other local ordinaries can proceed, on our authority, either to an inquiry or by means of an accusation, excluding the use of torture, against such offending and criminous persons and may personally examine the witnesses. They shall see that the process itself -- regarding which, by reason of the solemnity of the law, we forbid anything to be alleged or said except on account of an omitted citation (provided the offence has been correctly proved elsewhere) -- is held, closed and sealed by them and quickly despatched to the apostolic see, either by themselves or by another messenger, so as to be carefully examined by the apostolic see, either by the Roman pontiff or by someone else to whom he shall commit the matter; at the expense of the offending exempt persons, including the expenses incurred in the process itself, which expenses the ordinaries can compel the persons who have been investigated and charged to pay. And those found worthy of blame, either to the extent of being condemned or on account of there being sufficient evidence to justify recourse to torture so that the truth might be extracted, are to be returned to the diocesans or ordinaries so that these may lawfully proceed further, on our authority, in the inquiry or the accusation and may terminate the case according to what is just. Notaries of the apostolic see, whose office is known to have been instituted by pope Clement I of happy memory at the beginnings of the primitive church, for the purpose of investigating and recording the acts of saints, and who have been elevated to the office of protonotary and wear an official garment and a rochet, together with other officials who are attached to us and to the said see, when they are actually engaged in their duties, are exempt from all jurisdiction of ordinaries in both civil and criminal matters. Other notaries, however, not wearing the dress of the protonotariate, unless they have adopted it within three months after the publication of this present document, both themselves and others due to be elevated to the office in the future who do not regularly wear the official dress and a rochet, as well as other officials, our own and those of the said see, when not actually engaged in their duties, are to be subject to the jurisdiction of the said diocesans and ordinaries in both criminal and civil cases which involve sums not exceeding twenty-five golden ducats of the treasury. But in civil cases involving sums exceeding such an amount, they are to enjoy full exemption and to be totally excluded from the jurisdiction of the said diocesans and ordinaries. We also judge it worthy and appropriate that among the personal staff of cardinals of the holy Roman church, only those shall enjoy the privilege of exemption who belong to the household staff and are regular sharers of its board, or have been sent by the same cardinals to carry out their personal business, or perhaps are absent for a time from the Roman curia to refresh themselves. But for others, even when they are registered as belonging to the personal staff, the privilege of staff membership in no way entitles them to be outside the control of their diocesans and ordinaries. By the constitution published at the council of Vienne which begins Attendentes, there was given to the aforesaid diocesans full faculties to visit once a year the convents of nuns, in their dioceses, that are immediately subject to the apostolic see. We renew this constitution and we prescribe and command that it be strictly kept, notwithstanding any exemptions and privileges. By the foregoing, moreover, the same diocesans and ordinaries are not to be prejudiced by cases in which jurisdiction over exempt persons has been granted by law. Rather, we define that henceforth exemptions granted for a time without reasonable cause, and without any citation of those involved, are of no force or value. Since order in the church is confused if the jurisdiction of each person is not preserved, we rule and ordain, in an effort to support the jurisdiction of ordinaries (so far as we can with God’s favour), to impose more quickly an end to lawsuits, and to restrict the immoderate expenses of litigants, that individual cases, spiritual, civil and mixed, involving in any way an ecclesiastical forum and concerned with benefices -- provided that the actual benefices have not been under a general reservation and the incomes, rents and produce of the individual benefices do not surpass in value, by common reckoning, twenty-four golden ducats of the treasury -- shall in the first instance be examined and settled outside the Roman curia and before the local ordinaries. Thus, nobody may appeal prior to a definitive sentence, nor may an appeal (if made) be in any way admitted, except from an interlocutory judgment which may have the force of a definitive sentence, or by way of a complaint which in no way concerns the main business. For, redress cannot be obtained from a definitive sentence by means of an appeal, unless one of the litigants does not dare to go to law before the ordinary because of a genuine fear of his adversary’s power, or for some other acceptable and honourable reason which must be at least partially proved otherwise than by his personal oath. In these exceptional cases, the appeal can be begun, investigated and concluded in the Roman curia, even in the first instance . In other cases, the appeals and the commissions of these and other such suits, and whatever follows from them, shall henceforth be of no force or value. The judges and conservators appointed by the apostolic see, if they are not graduates in either civil or canon law, are obliged, on being asked by the parties concerned or by one of them, to take an assessor who is not under suspicion with the parties and to judge the case according to his report. We have learnt, by many and frequent reports, that very many churches and the bishops presiding over them, on both sides of the Alps, are being troubled and disturbed in their jurisdictions, rights and lordships by esquires, princes and nobles. These, under colour of a right of patronage which they pretend to hold in ecclesiastical benefices, without the support of any apostolic privileges, or of collations or letters from the ordinaries, or even of any pretence of a title, presume to confer benefices not only on clerics but also on layfolk; to punish at their own whim priests and clerics who are at fault; to remove, purloin and usurp in an arbitrary way, either directly or by ordering others, the tithes of everything on which they are obliged by law to pay, as well as tithes belonging to cathedrals, and other things which pertain to diocesan law and jurisdiction and are the exclusive concern of bishops; to forbid such tithes and any fruits to be taken out of their cities, lands and territories; to seize and unjustly hold fiefs, possessions and lands; to induce and compel, by threats, terror and other indirect means, the granting to them of fiefs and goods of churches and the conferring of ecclesiastical benefices on persons nominated by them; and not only to permit but even expressly to command very many other losses, damages and injuries to be inflicted on the aforesaid clerics and churches and their prelates. We take thought, then, that no power has been granted to lay people over clerics and ecclesiastics, or over property belonging to the church, and that it is right and just that laws should be made against those who refuse to observe this . We also consider how much such actions detract, with disastrous results which must be condemned, not only from the honour of ourself and the apostolic see but also from the peaceful and prosperous condition of churchmen. We desire too, to restrain from thoughtless acts of rashness, not so much by new penalties as by a renewed fear of existing ones that should be applied, those whom the rewards of virtues do not induce to observe laws. We therefore renew each and all of the constitutions hitherto issued regarding the payment of tithes; against violators and seizers of churches; against fire-raisers and pillagers of fields; against those seizing and holding cardinals of the holy Roman church, our venerable brother bishops and other persons of the church, both secular and regular, and unlawfully taking over in any way their jurisdiction and rights, or disturbing or molesting them in the exercise of their jurisdiction, or presumptuously forcing them to confer ecclesiastical benefices on persons named by them, or to dispose of them in some other way at their arbitrary choice, or to grant or otherwise sell fiefs and goods of the church in perpetual tenure, against making regulations in conflict with ecclesiastical liberty; against providing help, advice and support for the above practices. Since these acts are not merely opposed to law but are also in the highest degree insulting and contrary to ecclesiastical liberty, we therefore, in order that we may be able to give an honest account to God of the office entrusted to us, earnestly urge in the Lord, by fatherly sentiments and counsels, the emperor, kings, princes, dukes, marquises, counts, barons, and others of whatever other nobility, pre-eminence, sovereignty, power, excellence or dignity they may be, and we command them by virtue of holy obedience, to observe the foregoing constitutions and to make them inviolably observed by their subjects, notwithstanding any customs whatever to the contrary, if they wish to avoid the divine displeasure and the fitting reaction of the apostolic see. We decree that appointments made in the above-mentioned way to the said benefices are null and void, and those making use of them are rendered incapable of obtaining other ecclesiastical benefices until they have been dispensed in the matter by the apostolic see. We have also been carefully reflecting that, after Christ’s ascension into heaven, the apostles assigned bishops to each city and diocese, and the holy Roman church became established throughout the world by inviting these same bishops to a role of responsibility, and by gradually sharing the burdens by means of patriarchs, primates, archbishops and bishops; and that it has also been laid down by the sacred canons that provincial councils and episcopal synods ought to be established by such persons for the correction of morals, the settlement and limiting of controversies, and the observance of God’s commandments, in order that corruptions may be corrected and those neglecting to do these things may be subjected to canonical penalties. In our desire that these canons be faithfully observed, since it is right for us to be interested in what concerns the christian state, we place a strict obligation on the said patriarchs, primates, archbishops and bishops, in order that they may be able to render to God a worthy account of the office entrusted to them, that they order the canons, councils and synods to be observed inviolably, notwithstanding any privilege whatsoever. Besides, we order that henceforth a provincial council is to be held every three years, and we decree that even exempt persons are to attend them, notwithstanding any privelege or custom to the contrary. Those who are negligent in these matters are to know that they will incur penalties contained in the same canons. In order that respect for the papal dignity might be preserved, it was determined by the constitution issued at the council of Vienne, which begins In plerisque that no persons, especially no religious, may be provided to cathedral churches which are deprived of temporal goods, without which spiritual things cannot exist for long, and which lack both clergy and christian people. We renew this constitution, and we will and command that it must be observed inviolably unless we shall judge otherwise for some just reason to be approved in our secret consistory. We decree that anything attempted against the foregoing, or any part thereof, is null and void, notwithstanding any constitution or privilege to the contrary . Let nobody therefore ... If anyone however... [ON PRINTING BOOKS] Leo, bishop, servant of the servants of God, with the approval of the sacred council, for an everlasting record. Among the anxieties resting on our shoulders we come back with constant thought to how we can bring back to the path of truth those going astray, and gain them for God (by his grace working in us) . This is what we truly seek after with eagerness; to this we unremittingly direct our mind’s desires; and over this we watch with anxious earnestness. It is certainly possible to obtain without difficulty some learning by reading books. The skill of book-printing has been invented, or rather improved and perfected, with God’s assistance, particularly in our time. Without doubt it has brought many benefits to men and women since, at small expense, it is possible to possess a great number of books. These permit minds to devote themselves very readily to scholarly studies. Thus there can easily result, particularly among Catholics, men competent in all kinds of languages; and we desire to see in the Roman church, in good supply, men of this type who are capable of instructing even unbelievers in the holy commandments, and of gathering them for their salvation into the body of the faithful by the teaching of the christian faith . Complaints from many persons, however, have reached our ears and those of the apostolic see. In fact, some printers have the boldness to print and sell to the public, in different parts of the world, books -- some translated into Latin from Greek, Hebrew, Arabic and Chaldean as well as some issued directly in Latin or a vernacular language -- containing errors opposed to the faith as well as pernicious views contrary to the christian religion and to the reputation of prominent persons of rank. The readers are not edified. Indeed, they lapse into very great errors not only in the realm of faith but also in that of life and morals . This has often given rise to various scandals, as experience has taught, and there is daily the fear that even greater scandals are developing. That is why, to prevent what has been a healthy discovery for the glory of God, the advance of the faith, and the propagation of good skills, from being misused for the opposite purposes and becoming an obstacle to the salvation of Christians, we have judged that our care must be exercised over the printing of books, precisely so that thorns do not grow up with the good seed or poisons become mixed with medicines. It is our desire to provide a suitable remedy for this danger, with the approval of this sacred council, so that the business of book-printing may go ahead with greater satisfaction the more that there is employed in the future, with greater zeal and prudence, a more attentive supervision. We therefore establish and ordain that henceforth, for all future time, no one may dare to print or have printed any book or other writing of whatever kind in Rome or in any other cities and dioceses, without the book or writings having first been closely examined, at Rome by our vicar and the master of the sacred palace, in other cities and dioceses by the bishop or some other person who knows about the printing of books and writings of this kind and who has been delegated to this office by the bishop in question, and also by the inquisitor of heresy for the city or diocese where the said printing is to take place, and unless the books or writings have been approved by a warrant signed in their own hand, which must be given, under pain of excommunication, freely and without delay. In addition to the printed books being seized and publicly burnt, payment of a hundred ducats to the fabric of the basilica of the prince of the apostles in Rome, without hope of relief, and suspension for a whole year from the possibility of engaging in printing, there is to be imposed upon anyone presuming to act otherwise the sentence of excommunication. Finally, if the offender’s contumacy increases, he is to be punished with all the sanctions of the law, by his bishop or by our vicar, in such a way that others will have no incentive to try to follow his example. Let nobody therefore ... If anyone however... [On setting a date for those acknowledging the Pragmatic Sanction] Leo, bishop, servant of the servants of God, with the approval of the sacred council, for an everlasting record. Among other matters to be carried through in this sacred council, we especially desire to make known and proclaim what must be decided and announced concerning the sanction called the Pragmatic, which was issued by a number of leaders of the French nation, both clerics and laymen as well as nobles and others supporting them. This is in accordance with the wishes of our predecessor pope Julius II, of happy memory, who summoned this council. The prelates and other clergy and the aforesaid laity have been summoned on several occasions to appear before both our said predecessor, Julius, and ourself; and their obstinacy has quite often been alleged or been the subject of accusations in the said council. It was subsequently alleged on behalf of the prelates, clerics and laymen, including nobles, and their said supporters, who were legitimately summoned (as just stated) for this purpose, that there was no route which would allow them to travel in safety to the said council. In order that they may not be able to make this excuse, we have taken measures for a comprehensive safe-conduct to be granted and conveyed to them by the Genoans, through whose territory they can travel in safety to the Roman curia, so that they may be able to bring forward the views which they may wish to present in defence of this Pragmatic Sanction. To prevent them being able to bring up some further point against what has been set out and to claim a legitimate ignorance, and in order that their obstinacy may be overcome, we once again, with the approval of the sacred council, give notice and warning, regarding a final and definitive dead-line, to the clergy and laity, including nobles, prelates and their supporters, and to colleges of clerics and of seculars, that they must lawfully assemble (putting aside every excuse and delaying action) before I October next. We are extending the dead-line, for the aforesaid reasons and in order to remove all excuses, to the said I October, by way of a final postponement; and we grant and assign this anew. Once the dead-line has passed, however, proceedings will go forward at the next session to other matters and to the conclusion of the said business, even by means of a definitive sentence, notwithstanding their obstinacy and refusal to appear. This next eleventh session we summon for these and many other useful matters. with the approval of the sacred council, for 14 December after the next feast day of St Lucy. Let nobody therefore ... If anyone however ... SESSION 11 19 December 1516 [ON HOW TO PREACH] Leo, bishop, servant of the servants of God, with the approval of the sacred council, for an everlasting record. Under the protection of the supreme majesty by whose ineffable providence things in heaven and on earth are guided, as we carry out the office of watchman over the Lord’s flock committed to us, insofar as this is granted to our weakness, we reflect within ourselves in great depth that, among many other important matters, the office of preaching is also our concern. Preaching is of the first importance, very necessary and of great effect and utility in the church, so long as it is being exercised rightly, from genuine charity towards God and our neighbour, and according to the precepts and examples of the holy fathers, who contributed a great deal to the church by publicly professing such things at the time of the establishment and propagation of the faith . For, our redeemer first did and taught, and by his command and example, the college of twelve apostles -- the heavens alike proclaiming the glory of the true God through all the earth -- led back from darkness the whole human race, which was held by the old bondage under the yoke of sin, and guided it to the light of eternal salvation. The apostles and then their successors propagated far and wide and rooted deeply the word itself through all the earth and unto the ends of the world. Therefore those who are now carrying this burden ought to remember and frequently reflect that they in turn, with respect to this office of preaching, are entering into and maintaining that succession of the author and founder of this office, Jesus Christ our most holy redeemer, of Peter and Paul, and of the other apostles and disciples of the Lord. We have learnt from trustworthy sources that some preachers in our times (we record this with sorrow) do not attend to the fact that they are carrying out the office of those we have named, of the holy doctors of the church and of others professing sacred theology, who, ever standing by Christians and confronting false prophets striving to overturn the faith, have shown that the church militant remains unimpaired by her very nature; and that they ought to adopt only what the people who flock to their sermons will find useful, by means of reflection and practical application, for rooting out vices, praising virtues and saving the souls of the faithful. Reliable report has it, rather, that they are preaching many and various things contrary to the teachings and examples which we have mentioned, sometimes with scandal to the people. This fact influences our attitude very deeply when we reflect within ourself that these preachers, unmindful of their duty, are striving in their sermons not for the benefit of the hearers but rather for their own self-display. They flatter the idle ears of some people who seem to have already reached a state that would make true the words of the Apostle writing to Timothy: For, a time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching but, having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own likings, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander into myths . These preachers make no attempt whatever to lead back the deceived and empty minds of such people to the path of right and truth. Indeed, they involve them in even greater errors. Without any reverence for the testimony of canon law, indeed contrary to canonical censures, twisting the sense of scripture in many places, often giving it rash and false interpretations, they preach what is false; they threaten, describe and assert to be present, totally unsupported by legitimate proofs and merely following their own private interpretation, various terrors, menaces and many other evils, which they say are about to arrive and are already growing; they very often introduce to their congregations certain futile and worthless ideas and other matters of this nature; and, what is more appalling, they dare to claim that they possess this information from the light of eternity and by the guidance and grace of the holy Spirit. When these preachers spread this medley of fraud and error, backed by the false testimony of alleged miracles, the congregations whom they ought to be carefully instructing in the gospel message, and retaining and preserving in the true faith, are withdrawn by their sermons from the teaching and commands of the universal church. When they turn aside from the official sacred teachings, which they ought particularly to follow, they separate and move far from salvation those who listen to them. For, as a result of these and similar activities, the less educated people, as being more exposed to deceit, are very easily led into manifold errors, as they wander from the path of salvation and from obedience to the Roman church. Gregory, therefore, who was outstanding in this task, moved by the warmth of his charity, gave a strong exhortation and warning to preachers that, when about to speak, they approach the people with prudence and caution lest, caught up in the enthusiasm of their oratory, they entangle the hearts of their hearers with verbal errors as if with nooses, and while perhaps they wish to appear wise, in their delusion they foolishly tear asunder the sinews of the hoped-for virtue. For, the meaning of words is often lost when the hearts of the audience are bruised by too urgent and careless forms of speech. Indeed, in no other way do these preachers cause greater harm and scandal to the less educated than when they preach on what should be left unspoken or when they introduce error by teaching what is false and useless. Since such things are known to be totally opposed to this holy and divinely instituted religion, as being novelties and foreign to it, it is surely just for them to be examined seriously and carefully, lest they cause scandal for the christian people and ruin for the souls of their authors and of others. We therefore desire, in accord with the word of the prophet, Who makes harmony dwell in the house, to restore that uniformity which has lost esteem, and to preserve such as remains, insofar as we can with God’s help, in the holy church of God, which by divine providence we preside over and which is indeed one, preaches and worships one God and firmly and sincerely professes one faith. We wish that those who preach the word of God to the people be such that God’s church suffers no scandal from their preaching. If they are amenable to correction, let them abstain in future from these matters into which they have recently ventured. For it is clear that, in addition to the points which we have mentioned, a number of them are no longer preaching the way of the Lord in virtue and are not expounding the gospel, as is their duty, but rather invented miracles, new and false prophecies and other frivolities hardly distinguishable from old wives’ tales. Such things give rise to great scandal since no account is taken of devotion and authority and of its condemnations and rejections. There are those who make attempts to impress and win support by bawling everywhere, not sparing even those who are honoured with pontifical rank and other prelates of the church, to whom they should rather be showing honour and reverence. They attack their persons and their state of life, boldly and without discrimination, and commit other acts of this kind. Our aim is that so dangerous and contagious an evil and so mortal a disease may be thoroughly wiped out and that its consequences may be so completely swept away that not even its memory remains. We decree and ordain, with the approval of the sacred council, that nobody -whether a secular cleric or a member of any of the mendicant orders or someone with the right to preach by law or custom or privilege or otherwise -- may be admitted to carry out this office unless he has first been examined with due care by his superior, which is a responsibility that we lay on the superior’s conscience, and unless he is found to be fit and suitable for the task by his upright behaviour, age, doctrine, honesty, prudence and exemplary life. Wherever he goes to preach, he must provide a guarantee to the bishop and other local ordinaries concerning his examination and competence, by means of the original or other letters from the person who examined and approved him. We command all who undertake this task of preaching, or will later undertake it, to preach and expound the gospel truth and holy scripture in accordance with the exposition, interpretation and commentaries that the church or long use has approved and has accepted for teaching until now, and will accept in the future, without any addition contrary to its true meaning or in conflict with it. They are always to insist on the meanings which are in harmony with the words of sacred scripture and with the interpretations, properly and wisely understood, of the doctors mentioned above. They are in no way to presume to preach or declare a fixed time for future evils, the coming of antichrist or the precise day of judgment; for Truth says, it is not for us to know times or seasons which the Father has fixed by his own authority. Let it be known that those who have hitherto dared to declare such things are liars, and that because of them not a little authority has been taken away from those who preach the truth. We are placing a restriction on each and all of the said clerics, secular and regular and others, of whatever status, rank or order, who undertake this task. In their public sermons they are not to keep on predicting some future events as based on the sacred writings, nor presume to declare that they know them from the holy Spirit or from divine revelation, nor that strange and empty predictions are matters which must be firmly asserted or held in some other way. Rather, at the command of the divine word, let them expound and proclaim the gospel to every creature, rejecting vices and commending virtues. Fostering everywhere the peace and mutual love so much commended by our Redeemer, let them not rend the seamless garment of Christ and let them refrain from any scandalous detraction of bishops, prelates and other superiors and of their state of life. Yet these they rebuke and hurt before people generally, including the laity, not only heedlessly and extravagantly but also by open and plain reproof, with the names of the evildoers sometimes being stated by them. Finally, we decree that the constitution of pope Clement of happy memory beginning Religiosi, which we renew and approve by this present decree, must be observed by preachers without alteration, so that, preaching in these terms for the people’s advantage and winning them for the Lord, they may deserve to gain interest on the talent received from him and to win his grace and glory. But if the Lord reveals to certain of them, by some inspiration, some future events in the church of God, as he promises by the prophet Amos and as the apostle Paul, the chief of preachers, says, Do not quench the Spirit, do not despise prophesying, we have no wish for them to be counted with the other group of story-tellers and liars or to be otherwise hindered. For, as Ambrose bears witness, the grace of the Spirit himself is being extinguished if fervour in those beginning to speak is quietened by contradiction. In that case, a wrong is certainly done to the holy Spirit. The matter is important inasmuch as credence must not be easily given to every spirit and, as the Apostle states, the spirits have to be tested to see whether they come from God. It is therefore our will that as from now, by common law, alleged inspirations of this kind, before they are published, or preached to the people, are to be understood as reserved for examination by the apostolic see. If it is impossible to do this without danger of delay, or some pressing need suggests other action, then, keeping the same arrangement, notice is to be given to the local ordinary so that, after he has summoned three or four knowledgeable and serious men and carefully examined the matter with them, they may grant permission if this seems to them to be appropriate. We lay the responsibility for this decision on their consciences. If any persons dare to carry through anything contrary to any of the above, it is our will that, in addition to the punishments set down against such persons by law, they incur the penalty of excommunication from which, except at the imminent approach of death, they can be absolved only by the Roman pontiff . In order that others may not be urged on by their example to try similar acts, we decree that the office of preaching is forbidden to such persons for ever; notwithstanding constitutions, ordinances, privileges, indults and apostolic letters for religious orders and the aforesaid persons, including those mentioned in Mare magnum, even if perchance they have been approved, renewed or even granted anew by us, none of which in this matter do we wish to support at any point in their favour. Let nobody therefore ... If anyone however... [BULL CONTAINING AGREEMENTS BETWEEN THE POPE AND THE MOST CHRISTIAN KING OF FRANCE, ON THE PRAGMATIC] Leo, bishop, servant of the servants of God, with the approval of the sacred council, for an everlasting record. In accord with the dispensation of the divine mercy by which kings reign and princes rule, established as we are despite our lack of merit in the lofty watch-tower of the apostolate and set over nations and kingdoms, we ponder how permanent force and effect may be given to the things which have been granted, carried out, established, ordained, decreed and done by our praiseworthy and prudent arrangement, in union with our venerable brothers, the cardinals of the holy Roman church, for the wholesome and peaceful government of kingdoms and for the peace and justice of peoples, especially with regard to rulers who are well-deserving of the catholic faith, the christian state and the apostolic see. Nevertheless, we sometimes add the force of our renewed approval to such things, with the approval of the sacred council, so that these things may persist with greater steadiness in an undamaged state the more often they are strengthened by our authority as well as by the protection of a general council. We readily supply effective care for the preservation of such things in order that the kings and peoples of the kingdoms in question, full of gladness in the Lord because of such concessions, privileges, statutes and regulations, may rest together in the sweetness of peace, quiet and delight and may persevere more fervently in their accustomed devotion to the same see. Recently, in order that the church, our spouse, might be kept in a holy union and use might be made by Christ’s faithful of the sacred canons issued by Roman pontiffs and general councils, we ordained and decreed, with the unanimous advice and consent of our said brothers, the cardinals of the holy Roman church certain constitutions that had been treated with our dearly beloved son in Christ, Francis, the most christian king of France, while we were at Bologna with our curia, and which were to take the place of the Pragmatic Sanction and the things contained in it for the sake of peace and harmony in the kingdom of France and for the general and public advantage of the kingdom. These constitutions were carefully examined by our said brothers, agreed upon with the said king on their advice, and accepted by a legitimate procurator of the king. Their contents are contained rather fully in our letter which follows, Primitiva illa ecclesia . . . {Msi 32, 948-963, Raccolta di concordati su materie ecclesiastiche tra la Santa Sede e le autorita civili, edited by A. Mercati. I Rome. 1954. 233-25} The letter has been published chiefly in order that continuing charity and unbroken peace may abide in the mystical body, the church, and that any dissenting members may be re-grafted into the body in a convenient way. The letter will be better observed according as it is more clearly established that it has been approved and renewed by us, after mature and healthy consideration, with the approval of the said Lateran council. Although there is no need of another approval for the validity and reality of the same letter, however, to provide an ampler surety so that observance may be firmer and abolition more difficult, greater strength will be given to it by the approval of so many fathers. Therefore, with the approval of the sacred Lateran council, by apostolic authority and fullness of power, we approve and renew, and order to be observed and maintained in their totality and without change, the said letter together with each and every statute, ordinance, decree, explanation, agreement, compact, promise, wish, penalty, restraint and clause contained in it; especially the clause by which it was our will that if the said king of France does not approve and ratify the aforesaid letter, and each and every thing contained in it, within six months from the date of this present letter, and does not arrange for the contents to be read, published, sworn to and registered, like all other royal constitutions in his kingdom and in all other places and lordships of the said kingdom, for all future time without limit, by all the prelates and other ecclesiastical persons and courts of parlements, and if he does not convey to us, within the said six months, letters patent or authentic written documents concerning each and all of the aforesaid matters about the acceptance, reading, publication, oath and registration referred to, or does not deliver them to our nuncio attached to the king, in order to be passed on by him to us, and does not subsequently arrange for the letter to be read each year and effectively observed without alteration exactly as other binding constitutions and ordinances of the king of France have to be observed, then the letter itself and whatever follows from it are null and void and of no force or value. We decree and declare that the enduring effect only continues in the event of the said ratification and approval, and not otherwise or in any other way, and that all who are included in the said letter, regarding the observance of the actual letter and of each and every thing set down in it, are bound and obliged by the censures and penalties and other things contained in it, in accordance with the meaning and form of the same letter. This is notwithstanding apostolic constitutions and ordinances, all those things which we did not wish to oppose in the and any other things of any kind to the contrary. Let nobody If anyone however... [ON THE ABROGATION OF THE PRAGMATIC SANCTION] Leo, bishop, servant of the servants of God, with the approval of the sacred council, for an everlasting record. The eternal Father, who will never abandon his flock up to the close of the age, so loved obedience, as the Apostle testifies, that to make expiation for the sin of disobedience of the first parent, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death. Moreover, when he was about to depart from the world to the Father, he established Peter and his successors as his own representatives on the firmness of a rock. It is necessary to obey them as the book of the Kings testifies, so that whoever does not obey, incurs death . As we read in another place, the person who abandons the teaching of the Roman pontiff cannot be within the church; for, on the authority of Augustine and Gregory, obedience alone is the mother and protector of all virtues, it alone possessing the reward of faith. Therefore, on the teaching of the same Peter, we ought to be careful that what has been introduced in due season and for sound reasons by our predecessors the Roman pontiffs, especially in sacred councils, for the defence of obedience of this kind, of ecclesiastical authority and freedom, and of the apostolic see, should be duly discharged by our effort, devotion and diligence and be brought to the desired conclusion. The souls of the simple, of whom we shall have to render an account to God, are to be freed from the deceits and snares of the prince of darkness. Indeed, our predecessor of happy memory, pope Julius II, summoned the sacred Lateran council for lawful reasons which were then made clear, on the advice and with the consent of his venerable brothers, the cardinals of the holy Roman church, among whom we were then numbered. Together with the same sacred Lateran council, he pondered on the fact that the corruption of the kingdom of France at Bourges, which they call the Pragmatic Sanction, had been strong in the past and was still vigorous, resulting in very great danger and scandal to souls, and a loss and cheapening of respect for the apostolic see. He therefore entrusted discussion of the Pragmatic Sanction to specifically named cardinals and to the prelates of a certain congregation. Although the aforesaid sanction should clearly be subject to nullity on many counts, and was supporting and preserving open schism, and therefore it could have been declared to be essentially of no effect, null and invalid, without the need for any preceding formal citation, yet, from a great sense of caution, our same predecessor Julius, by a public edict -- which was to be fixed to the church doors of Milan, Asti and Pavia, since there was then no safe access to France -gave warning and summoned the prelates of France, the chapters of churches and monasteries, the parlements and the layfolk supporting them and making use of the said sanction, and each and all of the rest who were thinking that there was some advantage for them in the foregoing individually or collectively, to appear before him and the said council within a fixed period, which was then clearly stated, and to declare the reasons why the aforesaid sanction, and its corruptive and abusive effect in matters touching on the authority of the Roman church and the sacred canons, and on the violation of ecclesiastical liberty should not be declared null and invalid. During the lifetime of the said Julius our predecessor, various obstacles made it impossible to implement the summons or to discuss fully the business of the abrogation, as had been his intention . After his death, however, the summons, in full lawful form, was again brought forward by the promoter of the sacred council, the procurator fiscal. Those summoned and not presenting themselves were accused of obstinacy and the request was made for matters to be taken further. At the time we, who have been brought to the highest peak of the apostolate by the favour of the divine mercy after duly considering the whole situation, gave no response to the request, for definite reasons. Later, when a variety of impediments were being alleged by the said persons who had been warned and summoned, as to why they had been unable to present themselves at the appointed time (as stated above), we postponed, several times at several sessions, with the approval of the sacred council the date fixed by the said summons and warning to later dates, which have now long gone past, so that all occasion for just excuse and complaint might be taken away from them. Although all obstacles have been removed and all dead-lines have passed nevertheless the aforesaid persons, despite being warned and summoned, have not appeared before us and the said council, nor taken any steps to appear, in order to bring forward a reason why the said sanction should not be declared null. There is therefore no longer room for any excuse. They can justly be regarded as obstinate; as indeed, by the demands of justice, we reckoned them to be. We are therefore thinking seriously about this Pragmatic Sanction, or rather corruption, as has been stated, which was issued at the time of the schism by those who did not have the necessary power, and which is not at all in accord with the rest of the christian state or with God’s holy church. It was revoked, made void and abolished by the most christian king of France, Louis XI, of distinguished memory. It damages and lessens the authority, liberty and dignity of the apostolic see. It completely removes the power of the Roman pontiff to provide both cardinals of the holy Roman church, who work earnestly on behalf of the universal church, and learned men, with churches, monasteries and other benefices, in accordance with the demands of their status, even though such persons are numerous in the curia and it is by their counsel that the authority and power of the apostolic see, the Roman pontiff and the whole church is kept safe and its affairs guided and promoted into a prosperous state. Thus it offers excuses to church prelates of the aforesaid faction for breaking and violating the sacred nerve of obedience to ecclesiastical discipline and for setting up opposition against us and the apostolic see, their mother, and it opens the way for them to attempt such things. Clearly it is subject to nullity and is to be supported by no prop except of a temporary nature, or rather, of a kind of tolerance. Our predecessors as Roman pontiffs, for all their high hopes expressed in their own days, may have seemed to have tolerated this corruption and abuse, not being able to confront it completely either because of the evil nature of the times or because they were providing for it in some other way. We remember, however, that almost seventy years have passed since the publication of this sanction of Bourges, and that no council has been lawfully held within this time except the present Lateran council. Since we have been placed in this council by the Lord’s disposition, we therefore judge and resolve, with Augustine as our witness, that we cannot refrain or desist from the eradication and total annulment of the same vile sanction if we are to avoid disgrace to ourself and to the many fathers assembled in the present council as well as to avoid danger to our own soul and those of the above-mentioned persons using it. (Source: Church Councils / Fifth Lateran Council 1512-17 A.D.)
Just as pope Leo I, our predecessor of holy memory, whose footsteps we readily follow insofar as we can, gave orders and brought to pass that the measures which had been rashly carried out at the second synod of Ephesus, contrary to justice and the catholic faith, were later revoked at the council of Chalcedon, for the sake of the constancy of the same faith, so we too judge that we cannot, or ought not to, withdraw from or abandon the revocation of so evil a sanction and its contents if we are to preserve our own honour, and that of the church, with a safe conscience. The fact that the sanction and its contents were published at the council of Basel and, at the instance of the same council, were received and recognised by the meeting at Bourges, ought not to influence us since all those happenings after the transfer of the same council of Basel took place -- the transfer being made by pope Eugenius IV, our predecessor of happy memory -- have remained the deeds of the quasi-council, or rather the conventicle, of Basel. For, especially after that transfer, it did not deserve to be called a council any more and therefore its acts could not have any force. For it is clearly established that only the contemporary Roman pontiff, as holding authority over all councils, has the full right and power to summon, transfer and dissolve councils. This we know not only from the witness of holy scripture, the statements of holy fathers and our predecessors as Roman pontiffs, and the decisions of the sacred canons, but also from the declarations of the same councils. Some of this evidence we have decided to repeat, and some to pass over in silence as being sufficiently well known. Thus we read that the synod of Alexandria, at which Athanasius was present, wrote to Felix, bishop of Rome, that the council of Nicaea had decided that councils ought not to be celebrated without the authority of the Roman pontiff . Pope Leo I transferred the second council of Ephesus to Chalcedon. Pope Martin V authorised his presidents at the council of Siena to transfer the council with no mention being made of the council’s consent. The greatest respect was shown to our predecessors as Roman pontiffs: to Celestine by the first synod of Ephesus; to the said Leo by the synod of Chalcedon; to Agatho by the sixth synod; to Hadrian by the seventh synod; and to Nicholas and Hadrian by the eighth synod, of Constantinople. These councils submitted with reverence and humility to the instructions and commands of the same pontiffs which had been composed and issued by them in the sacred councils. Moreover, pope Damasus and the other bishops assembled at Rome, writing to the bishops at Illyricum about the council at Rimini, pointed out that the number of bishops assembled at Rimini counted for nothing since it was known that the Roman pontiff, whose decrees were to be preferred before all others, had not given his consent to their meeting. It appears that pope Leo I said the same when writing to all the bishops of Sicily. It was customary for the fathers of the ancient councils humbly to ask for and obtain a warrant and approbation from the Roman pontiff in order to corroborate the matters dealt with in their councils . This is clear from the synods and their acts held at Nicaea, Ephesus, Chalcedon, the sixth synod at Constantinople, the seventh at Nicaea, the Roman synod under Symmachus and the synods in Haimar’s book. We would certainly be without these recent troubles if the fathers at Bourges and Basel had followed this laudable custom, which it is known that the fathers at Constance also finally adopted. We desire this matter to be brought to its proper conclusion. We are proceeding on the strength of the many citations issued by us and our said predecessor Julius, and of the other things mentioned above which are so notorious that they cannot be hidden by any excuses or evasions, as well as in virtue of our pastoral office. We are supplying for each and every defect, both of law and of fact, if perchance any happen to exist in the above. We judge and declare, from our certain knowledge and from the fullness of apostolic power, with the approval of the same sacred council, by the contents of the present document, that the aforesaid Pragmatic Sanction or corruption, and its approbations however issued, and each and every decree, chapter, statute, constitution or ordinance that is included, or even inserted, in any way in the same and has been published by others, as well as the customs, expressions and uses, or rather abuses, in any way resulting from it and observed until the present, have been and are of no force or value. In addition, for a more extensive safeguard, we revoke, make void, abrogate, quash, annul and condemn that same sanction or corruption of Bourges and its approval, whether expressed or tacit, as said above, as well as each and every thing of whatever nature included or even inserted in it, and we judge, declare and will them to be considered as of no effect, revoked, made void, abrogated, quashed, annulled and condemned. Moreover, since subjection to the Roman pontiff is necessary for salvation for all Christ’s faithful, as we are taught by the testimony of both sacred scripture and the holy fathers, and as is declared by the constitution of pope Boniface VIII of happy memory, also our predecessor, which begins Unam sanctam, we therefore, with the approval of the present sacred council, for the salvation of the souls of the same faithful, for the supreme authority of the Roman pontiff and of this holy see, and for the unity and power of the church, his spouse, renew and give our approval to that constitution, but without prejudice to the declaration of pope Clement V of holy memory, which begins Meruit. In virtue of holy obedience and under the penalties and censures to be declared below, we forbid each and all of Christ’s faithful, both laity and secular clergy, and regulars of whatever order including mendicants, and other persons without restriction, of no matter what status, rank or condition they may be, including cardinals of the holy Roman church, patriarchs, primates, archbishops, bishops, and any others distinguished by ecclesiastical or worldly or any other honour, and each and all other prelates, clerics, chapters, secular convents, regulars of the aforesaid orders, including abbots and priors of monasteries, dukes, counts, princes, barons, parlements, royal officials, judges, advocates, notaries and scribes, both ecclesiastical and secular, and any other regular or secular ecclesiastics in any high office, as said above, who are now or shall be living in the said kingdom of France and the Dauphine and wherever the said Pragmatic has been in force directly or indirectly, silently or openly, to presume to make use of the aforesaid Pragmatic Sanction, or rather corruption, in any way or for any reason, by keeping silence or by clear speech, directly or indirectly, or by any other excuse or clever evasion, in any judicial or extrajudicial acts, or even to appeal to it or make judgments on its terms, or to quash, by themselves or through another or others, any judicial or extra-judicial acts on the grounds of the general meaning of the said sanction or of parts of it, and they may not permit or order these things to be done by means of others. They are not to keep the aforesaid Pragmatic Sanction, or sections or decrees contained in it, in their own houses or in other public or private places. Indeed, they are to destroy it, or have it destroyed, in archives, including royal and capitular ones, and in the above-mentioned places within six months from the date of this present letter. The penalties to be incurred, automatically and without the need for any further declaration, for each and all of the aforesaid persons, if they act to the contrary (though may they not!), are immediate major excommunication, the incapacity for all and singular legal acts of any kind, being branded as infamous, and the penalties expressed in the law of treason; in addition for the aforesaid ecclesiastical and religious persons, the loss of all patriarchal, metropolitan and other cathedral churches, of all monasteries, priories and convents, and of all secular dignities and ecclesiastical benefices, as well as the inability to hold them in the future; and in addition for secular persons, the loss of any fiefs held for any reason from the Roman or some other church, and the inability to hold them in the future. They cannot be absolved from these penalties by any faculty or by clauses contained in privileges regarding the hearing of confessions, no matter by what persons or verbal formulae they may have been granted. Except when at the point of death, they can only be absolved by the Roman pontiff acting canonically or by someone else having a faculty from him specifically for that purpose. By the knowledge, power and statements mentioned above we expressly and specifically repeal anything to the contrary. This is notwithstanding anything mentioned above as well as constitutions, ordinances, decrees and statutes, however they may have been published and granted, and frequently renewed, repeated, confirmed and approved, as enduring in their force, by apostolic or any other authority, even conciliar authority and even by our certain knowledge and fullness of apostolic power, the tenor of all of which we regard as sufficiently expressed and included, for the purposes of the above, as if they had been inserted herein word for word; notwithstanding if the apostolic see has granted to any communities and universities, and any individual persons mentioned above, even if they are the aforesaid cardinals, patriarchs, archbishops, bishops, marquises and dukes, or any others, whether individually or communally, that they cannot be interdicted, suspended, excommunicated, deprived or incapacitated by apostolic letters which do not make full and express mention, word for word, of the indult in question; and notwithstanding any other general or special privileges, indulgences and apostolic letters, of whatever tenor they may be, by means of which, because they are not expressed or included in whole in the present letter, the effect of the above might be impeded or deferred in any way, since special mention of their contents is to be regarded as included, word for word, in this our letter. Let nobody therefore .. . If anyone however ... [ON RELIGIOUS AND THEIR PRIVILEGES] Leo, bishop, servant of the servants of God, with the approval of the sacred council, for an everlasting record. We consider and diligently ponder the hardworking and anxious zeal, and the unending labours for the glory of the divine name, for the triumph of the catholic faith and the preservation of the church’s unity, and for the training and salvation of the souls of the faithful, which are carried on by bishops and their superiors, who have been placed by the apostolic see at the head of their churches in different parts of the world, as well as by the friars of the different orders, especially the mendicant orders, who are engaged without respite or rest. So great is the satisfaction that has reached our heart, as a result of their fruitful labours in the Lord’s vineyard and their opportune and praiseworthy actions, that we are devoting every effort to encourage the things which we know to contribute to the preservation of peace and quiet among them. We are conscious that the bishops have become partners in our anxiety . Ambrose bears witness that their distinction and greatness have no possible equal. We also know that religious have done much in the field of the Lord for the defence and advance of the christian religion and that they have produced and are daily producing abundant fruit. Consequently all of the faithful are aware that the good works of these bishops and religious have enabled the true faith to make progress and to spread everywhere throughout the world. These men have likewise not hesitated on innumerable occasions, with much dedication and competence, to destroy the schisms in God’s church, to bring unity to that church and to undergo innumerable pains so that the same church might gain the quiet of peace. Therefore it is just that we direct our efforts so to unite them to one another by the bond of peace and by a fraternal unity and charity that, linked in unity of doctrine and actions, they may foster more abundant fruits in God’s church. The exercise of spiritual rights, which concern the glory of God and the salvation of the souls of Christ’s faithful, has been entrusted to bishops and their superiors in their respective dioceses, since they have been chosen to be sharers of our burden, as we have already said, and since dioceses with defined boundaries have been assigned to each of the bishops. We truly desire, then, that these spiritual rights be exercised by the bishops, and that the right of freely exercising them be truly, as far as possible, kept intact for them. If our predecessors as Roman pontiffs and the apostolic see have granted any such spiritual rights to the said mendicant friars to the harm of the bishops we consider that such concessions made to religious ought in future to be limited, so that the friars themselves will be supported in all charity by the said bishops rather than be troubled and disturbed. For, regulars and seculars, prelates and subjects, exempt and non-exempt, belong to the one universal church, outside of which no one at all is saved, and they all have one Lord and one faith. That is why it is fitting that, belonging to the one same body, they also have the one same will; and just as the brethren are united by the bond of mutual charity, so it is not fitting that they arouse among themselves injustice and hurt, since the Saviour says, My commandment is that you love one another as I have loved you. We wish to preserve charity and mutual goodwill among bishops, their superiors, prelates and friars, as well as to promote divine worship and the peace and tranquillity of the universal church. We know this can be done only if each preserves as far as possible his own jurisdiction. We have therefore decided and decreed, with the approval of the sacred council, that the said bishops, their superiors and other prelates may visit the parish churches which legitimately belong to the same friars by reason of their residences, with regard to what concerns the care of the parishioners and the preservation and administration of the sacraments, without however the exceptional trouble and expense of official visitors. They may punish those responsible for the churches and failing in this matter: if they are religious, then in accordance with the rules of their order within the precincts of the religious house, if they are secular priests or friars who hold benefices of this kind, then they may freely punish them as being subject to their jurisdiction. Both prelates and secular priests who are not excommunicated may celebrate masses out of devotion in the churches of the said religious houses, if they wish to do so, and the friars themselves ought to welcome them. Friars who are invited by the same prelates to take part in solemn processions ought to agree, provided the suburban friary in question is not more than a mile away from the city. The friars’ superiors are bound to specify and present in person to the same prelates the friars whom they have chosen to hear for a time the confessions of the prelate’s subjects, if the prelates ask for them to be specified and presented to them; if not, then to their vicars; with the condition that they are not bound to go to prelates who are more than two days’ journey away. The friars in question may be examined by the same bishops and prelates, at least regarding the sufficiency of their learning and their other skills relative to this sacrament. If they are accepted, or if the refusal is unjust, then, in accordance with the constitution Omnis utriusque sexus, let them be considered as accepted at least as regards confession, and they can even hear the confessions of strangers. They have no power, however, to absolve layfolk and secular clergy from manimposed penalties. They may not administer the eucharist and extreme unction and the church’s other sacraments to those whose confessions they have heard, including the sick and the dying, who say that their own priest has refused to give the sacraments to them, unless the refusal was made without a just reason and this is proved by the testimony of neighbours or by an investigation carried out before a pubic notary. They have no authority to administer these sacraments to persons requesting their ministrations except during a period of actual service to them. Temporary agreements and contracts between friars and prelates or curates are valid unless they are rejected by the next general or provincial chapter and the rejection is duly communicated by the chapter. Friars may not enter parishes bearing a cross in order to carry out the funerals of those who have chosen to be buried at the churches of their houses or institutions, unless the parish priest, having received due notice and a request, does not refuse, and in that case without prejudice to himself and the ordinary; or unless there is an ancient custom on this point with the friars, which is currently in force and is mutually agreed upon. Those who wish to be buried in the habit of the said friars, but who live in their own houses and not in enclosure, are free to choose a burial place for themselves in their last wills. Friars due to be promoted to orders are to be examined by the ordinaries on grammar and their competence. Provided they answer adequately, they ought to be readily admitted by the ordinaries. They may not, however, be ordained in their churches or houses or other places by anyone except the diocesan bishop or his deputy (the latter is to be asked with due reverence), unless the bishop refuses on insufficient grounds or is absent from his diocese. They should not ask for the consecration of a church or an altar, or the blessing of a cemetery, from another bishop; and they may not arrange for the first stone of a church being built for them to be laid by a strange bishop, unless the ordinary refuses without any just reason after he has been asked two or three times with due reverence and urgency. Friars may not bless a bride and bridegroom without the consent of those in charge of the parish. In order to render to the mother church the honour due to her, friars and secular clerics may not ring the bells of their churches on Holy Saturday before those of the cathedral or mother church have been rung, even if they are supported on this point by a privilege of the apostolic see. Those acting otherwise incur a penalty of one hundred ducats. They are to publish and observe in the churches of their own houses the censures which are imposed promulgated and solemnly published by the ordinaries in the mother churches of cities as well as in the collegiate and parish churches of castles and towns, when they are asked to do this by the same ordinaries. To provide more fruitfully for the salvation of the souls of Christ’s faithful of both sexes, they are obliged to advise and encourage those whose confessions they have heard for a time, no matter of what standing or status they may be, that they are bound in conscience to pay tithes, or a portion of their goods or produce, in those places where such tithes or dues are customarily paid; and they are obliged to refuse absolution to those who will not pay them. They are bound, moreover, to include this in their public preaching and exhortations to the people when they are asked to do so. The conservators assigned for a time to the same friars by the apostolic see ought to be outstanding in learning and good reputation and of established ecclesiastical rank. They cannot oblige to appear before them anyone living more than two days’ journey away, notwithstanding any privileges granted to the conservators at other times. Excommunicated persons wishing to enter a mendicant order cannot be absolved when the interests of a third party are involved, unless satisfaction has previously been made. Procurators, business agents and workers in the service of the said friars are subject to sentences of excommunication which have been promulgated, if they have given cause for them or have offered help, favour or advice to the guilty. Brothers and sisters of the third order, and those known as the cloaked ones, the girdled ones and the devotees, and others no matter how named, living in their own homes, can choose whatever place of burial they wish. They are bound, however, to receive the eucharist at Easter as well as extreme unction and the other sacraments of the church, with the exception of the sacrament of penance, from their own priest . They are obliged to undertake the tasks incumbent upon the laity, and they can be brought before lay judges in a secular court. To avoid the cheapening of ecclesiastical censures, and sentences of interdict being regarded as of little importance, members of the said third orders are in no way to be admitted to hear divine services in the churches of their orders during a period of interdict, if they have given grounds for the interdict or encouraged or supported those grounds, or if they have in any way offered help, counsel or favour to the guilty . But those living in an official group, or dwelling with the enclosed, and women who are leading a life of virginity, celibacy or chaste widowhood under an expressed vow and with a habit, ought to enjoy the privileges of the order of which they are tertiaries. We wish and decree that each and all of the above norms are to be extended to and observed by, all other religious of other orders. In matters not mentioned above, the rights of the said bishops and friars and other religious are to be maintained. We do not wish to prejudice these rights in any way by the above statements, or to introduce anything new. This is notwithstanding apostolic constitutions and ordinances; statutes and customs of the said orders which have been strengthened by oath, apostolic confirmation or any other form of reinforcement; and privileges, indults and apostolic letters which have been granted to the same orders and are contrary to what has been set down above or to any part of it, even what was included in Mare magnum. If there is required a mention or other statement that is special, specific, clear, distinctive, word for word, and not by general clauses, regarding these things and their meaning, or if some other carefully chosen form should be used, in order that they might be abrogated, then we consider their meaning to be sufficiently expressed and included in this present letter, we expressly and specially abrogate anything to the contrary, and we decree as null and void anything that is knowingly or unknowingly attempted to the contrary in these matters by any person acting on any authority. We warn the friars, in virtue of holy obedience, to revere bishops with fitting honour and due respect, out of the reverence owed to us and the apostolic see, since they act as deputies in place of the holy apostles. As for bishops, we urge and appeal by the tender mercy of our God that, while attending to the friars with well-disposed affection, treating them with kindness and encouraging them, they present themselves to them as in no sense difficult or hard or peevish, but rather as easy, mild, well-disposed and liberal in loving generosity, and that in all the above-mentioned matters they welcome them with ready kindness as co-workers in the Lord’s vineyard and as sharers in their labours, and that they guard and defend their rights with all charity, so that both bishops and friars, whose works as burning lamps set on a hilltop ought to provide light to all Christ’s faithful, may move forward from strength to strength for the glory of God, the triumph of the catholic faith and the salvation of peoples, and in consequence deserve to obtain from the Lord, the most generous recompenser of all good deeds, the reward of eternal life. Let nobody therefore . . . If anyone however . .. SESSION 12 16 March 1517 [AGAINST THOSE ATTACKING THE HOUSES OF CARDINALS] Leo, bishop, servant of the servants of God, with the approval of the sacred council, for an everlasting record. Certain audacious persons disdain to show the appropriate deference to the cardinals of the holy Roman church, who are the chief pillars of the catholic church. They do not fear to lay violent hands, with impious boldness, on their possessions and properties. Their uncontrolled desire warns and induces us to strengthen, increase and extend -- in accordance with the character of the times and with what we perceive in the Lord to be soundly in keeping with so distinguished an office in God’s church -- those measures which, by wise planning, were established by our predecessors for the safe-guarding of the high office of the said cardinals, in order that the boldness of these people may be restrained before it extends even further. Indeed, there has recently grown up in Rome a damnable abuse and lack of restraint in wrongdoing. Thus, while there is a vacancy in the apostolic see, and the election of a future Roman pontiff is actually being discussed by the cardinals in conclave, if some rumour leaks out, even if false, that one of the cardinals has been elected as pontiff, the mob attacks his house with arms and contends by force with his servant-guards, while he is still in the conclave, over the despoiling of his house . If an entry is forced by breaking down the doors or digging under the wall, the mob rushes in to plunder all the goods that are there, unless a defence is made by armed guards. Sometimes there are some who are so audacious and headstrong that they do not fear even on other occasions to attack the houses of cardinals in a hostile fashion and with arms, under the guise of general brawling, and to strike and wound while they are there, as a result of which there is considerable loss to the honour of the cardinalate, by which the most holy church militant is fully adorned as by a purple garment, contempt for the cardinals is aroused, and occasion is given for murders and other scandals. We wish to suppress audacious tendencies of this kind by fitting punishments . We therefore renew by this letter, with the approval of the sacred council and by our apostolic authority, the published constitutions of our predecessors as Roman pontiffs, Honorius III and Boniface VIII of happy memory, against those pursuing any cardinal of the said church in a hostile manner, those assisting such persons by their presence, counsel or support, or knowingly harbouring or defending them, and those attacking their houses or dwellings, as said above, and their descendants and property. We decree that these constitutions must be observed everywhere without alteration for all future times. We also extend these same constitutions, with each and every censure and penalty contained in them, to each and every living person of whatever status, condition and distinction, who attacks with an armed band the home of any of the said cardinals, both at the time of the said conclave, even if the cardinal in question has been elected pope, and at other times and for any reasons, and who seizes anything in the house with violence like an enemy or wounds anyone of those dwelling there, and also their associates and those who have given orders for it to be done, or have given personal approval to the deed or have provided counsel and support to the attackers in the above matters and have defended them. This is notwithstanding apostolic constitutions and ordinances and other measures of whatever kind to the contrary. Let nobody therefore . . . If anyone however . .. [CONSTITUTION IMPOSING TAXES AND CLOSING THE COUNCIL] Leo, bishop, servant of the servants of God, with the approval of the council, for an everlasting record. We have been set over nations and kingdoms, as the prophet declared, although our merits are unequal to this. We are suitably carrying out the duty of our office when we renew again that reform of the whole church and its affairs which we have accomplished with profit; when we plan to apply suitable remedies for the unchallenged observance of the reform and to make provision for cathedrals and metropolitan churches so that they may no longer be without their pastors; and when we supervise these remedies with ever-present attention and untiring efforts, by means of which we may be able to render the Lord’s flock, which has been entrusted to our care, acceptable and submissive in the sight of the divine majesty. Our aim is also to crush the Turks and other infidels standing firm in the eastern and southern regions. They treat the way of true light and salvation with complete contempt and totally unyielding blindness; they attack the life-giving cross on which our Saviour willed to accept death so that by dying he might destroy death, and by the ineffable mystery of his most holy life he might restore life; and they make themselves hateful enemies of God and most bitter persecutors of the christian religion. Strengthened by defences not only spiritual but also temporal, we may be able, under God’s guidance and favour, to oppose the bitter and frequent sallies by which, in wild rage, they move savagely amidst christian blood. Indeed, pope Julius II, our predecessor of happy memory, acting in union with the holy Spirit, in a laudable and legitimate manner, for sound reasons, with the advice and consent of his venerable brothers, the cardinals of the holy Roman church, of whom we were then one, summoned the sacred Lateran council. He held five sessions and summoned a sixth. He then passed from the human scene. We were then raised to the summit of the highest apostolate by the favour of the divine mercy. We had always had a heartfelt desire, even at lesser meetings, to see a general council being celebrated as a very important development in the Lord’s field. We realised that an obligation had been added to our honourable and useful desire as a result of the duty of pastoral care now laid upon us. We therefore undertook this matter with a more burning commitment and a total readiness of mind. We gave approval in the said sixth session, with the advice and consent of our said brother cardinals and with the approval of the same sacred Lateran council, to the postponement of the council to a fixed date, which was then clearly stated, for reasons made clear from the situation and for others affecting our own and the minds of our said brother cardinals. The council was to continue towards the completion of the objectives for which it had been summoned; and especially that, once the terrible conflicts between christian princes and rulers were settled and weapons of war set aside, a universal and lasting peace could be established. Leaving nothing untried, we intended to use all our efforts to bring about this peace and to conclude it, as if it were a good of supreme advantage. We also declared that it is and shall be part of our unchangeable thought and intention that, once the matters concerning the praise of God and the exaltation of the aforesaid church have been completed, the holy and most necessary expedition against the enemies of the catholic faith shall take place and a successful triumph over them be accomplished with the aid of the most High. In order that those under an obligation to attend this most useful council might not be held back in any way from coming to it, and so that they might be unable to proffer any excuse, we provided and granted, with the approval of the said Lateran council, to each and all of those summoned to the celebration of the council by our predecessor Julius, and to their attendants, a safe-conduct while they were travelling to and staying in Rome for the purposes of the said Lateran council. We urged kings and princes, out of reverence for the apostolic see, not to molest those coming here but to permit them to travel in safety. We summoned the seventh session. We wanted nothing more than that those useful and necessary matters on account of which the said Lateran council had been summoned might be brought to their conclusion. We therefore set up three special committees of cardinals and other prelates to listen to and discuss matters of this kind and other conciliar business, and we ordered them to report to the council on what they had heard and discussed. One of the committees had the special task of establishing a universal peace between christian kings and princes, which was one of the chief reasons for the said council coming together, and of rooting out the schism; the second had the special task of general reform, including the reform of the curia; and the third had the special task of examining and abrogating the Pragmatic Sanction and of dealing with matters concerning the true faith. Each committee carefully examined many useful and necessary topics and accurately reported to us about them. The subjects discussed and investigated by them were completed and concluded by us, with God’s favour and the approval of the sacred council, in the remaining five sessions of the council which we held. We then knew beyond all doubt that God himself, the giver of gifts, had favoured our devout desires and those tending to the common good, out of his exceeding goodness and mercy, and that he had granted to us what we had planned in our own mind and for which we had greatly laboured namely that once the matters on account of which the council had been summoned had been concluded in conformity with the council’s aims, the council itself could be closed and discharged. The emperor-elect Maximilian, our dear son in Christ, in the time of our said predecessor Julius, and king Louis of France, of happy memory, in our own time, as well as other kings and princes adhered to the Lateran council, lawfully assembled in the holy Spirit, to the greatest satisfaction of everyone. The quasi-council at Pisa, which had been summoned by certain persons without the necessary authority and had been condemned by the same Julius who preceded us, was treated by them as condemned in accordance with the decision of the said Julius. The schism which had begun to grow from this was ended (although it is c ear that so long as the situation continued, it brought very many injures to prelates and others of Christ’s faithful at various times, as well as to other general councils held until this time). There was peace for the whole church and a resulting union. The moral habits of churchmen as well as of secular and other persons were reformed, insofar as this seemed appropriate, and several matters concerning the true faith were defined. Several other matters, after being carefully examined and debated in the three committees of cardinals and prelates mentioned above, were considered with care and skill in the said council and a final decision was reached. Finally, it was reported to us on several occasions, through the cardinals and prelates of the three committees, that no topics remained for debate and discussion by them, and that over several months nothing at all new had been brought before them by anyone. The bishops who had been invited to share with us the responsibility for the support and care of the Lord’s flock, as well as other prelates, had remained in Rome rather a long time beyond the normal usage of sacred councils, with inconvenience and loss to themselves and to their churches. Therefore there seemed to remain, of all the above things which we and the said committees so much desired to be completed in the council, only peace between kings and princes and a harmony of minds. Our attitude in favour of this, and our striving with every effort for its accomplishment, can be made abundantly clear to all who read our letters. God himself, who is the supreme light and truth of all things, knows how we never ceased to beg and implore of him, by many prayers and constant appeals, that he would deign of his mercy to influence the christian flock -- which he has entrusted to our care, despite our lack of merits -- to enter upon a stable and enduring peace, now that this same flock has been roused by the warmth of mutual charity. We have earnestly urged this in the Lord, whose cause is principally in question, upon kings and princes, by means of persuasive reasons, through the nuncios whom we keep at the court of the emperor-elect Maximilian and with the aforesaid kings and princes, and through letters; especially if they wish to provide and take measures, as is right, on behalf of the christian religion and the catholic faith, which have been brought into serious danger and risk by the recently extended power of the ruler of the Turks. We have learnt from the letters of the same nuncios, kings and princes that our appeals have been of such great power and efficacy with the said kings and princes, and have influenced their hearts and minds to such an extent, that the peace so long desired by us for the good of the whole christian state has been almost concluded in intention, and the hope is that if anything remains it will soon be resolved (by God’s favour). Our heart exults in our Lord Jesus Christ as we ponder over this in our mind and spirit. We give thanks for this to him, the giver of all graces, because he has guided these persons to the harmony we had longed for. We think that all Christ’s faithful should offer to God thanks and those signs of joy which are customary on such occasions, and that God be asked that the peace achieved may endure. It only remains, therefore, for the holy and very necessary campaign to be undertaken against the fury of the infidels thirsting for christian blood, and for all the measures decided upon as powerful safeguards in the eleven sessions, held partly by us and partly by our predecessor Julius, to be approved and renewed and ordered to be observed unchallenged. Accordingly, after mature deliberation on these matters with our brothers and other prelates, we approve and renew by apostolic authority, with the approval of the sacred council, all and each of the acts and decisions of the said eleven sessions, and the letters published above together with all the clauses contained in them -- apart from certain excepted matters which we judge should be conceded to specified persons for the sake of the peace and unity of the universal church -- as well as the business carried out by the committees. We decree and order that they are to be observed without alteration for ever, and that those carrying them out are to see that they and their contents are observed, namely: in the Roman curia, the current governor of our mother city and our vicar as well as the auditor general of the apostolic camera, who have the power to oblige and compel persons subject to them; and outside the Roman curia, we depute for this purpose each and all local ordinaries. We forbid each and all of Christ’s faithful, under penalty of immediate excommunication, to presume to interpret or gloss what has been produced and carried out in the present council without our permission and that of the apostolic see. We decree, with the approval of the sacred council, that the said campaign against the infidels is to be undertaken and carried through. Zeal for the faith prompts us to this. It has been so often proposed and promised by us and our predecessor Julius in the sessions referred to, when the business of the council was being explained. On several occasions it was communicated to, and discussed with, spokesmen at our court representing kings and princes. Pope Nicholas V, our predecessor of pious memory, summoned a general expedition against the infidels after the disastrous fall of Constantinople in order to crush their fury and to avenge the wounds of Christ. Callistus III and Pius II, of happy memory our predecessors as Roman pontiffs, urged on by zeal for the faith, followed in the same path with skill and energy. During a subsequent period of three years, we imitated them by means of an authorisation from ourselves and our said brothers for imposing and exacting a tithe on the revenues of churches, monasteries and other benefices throughout the world and for doing each and every other thing that is necessary and customary in a campaign of this kind. We continually pour forth holy, humble and earnest prayers to almighty God that the campaign may have a happy outcome. We order the same to be done by all Christ’s faithful of either sex. We exhort Maximilian, the emperor-elect, and kings, princes and christian rulers, whose courage God bids us to rouse, beseeching them by the tender mercy of our God, Jesus Christ, and appealing to them by his fearful judgment to remember that they shall have to render an account of their defence and preservation -- even by giving their lives -- of the church itself, which has been redeemed by Christ’s blood, and to rise up in strength and power for the defence of the christian faith, as is incumbent on them as a personal and necessary duty, with all mutual hatred being set aside and quarrels and conflicts among themselves being committed to everlasting oblivion. At this time of such great need, let them offer with eagerness their ready assistance in keeping with their resources. We urge with paternal affection and ask them that, at least during the campaign, out of reverence for almighty God and for the apostolic see, they assure the unbroken observance of the peace into which they have entered, so that such an important good, which we hope and desire will be obtained with the help of the Lord’s right hand, may not be impeded by some interruption from discord and dissension. (Source: Church Councils / Fifth Lateran Council 1512-17 A.D.)