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"If you continue in My word, you shall be My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free*"(John viii 31-32).

Liberty, equality and fraternity! These words rang from one end of the world to the other at the time of the French Revolution, and had a magical effect in kindling enthusiasm in the minds of men, and we still hear them employed by those who, professing to be friends of the masses, strive to win the people over to their ways of thought. I do not know why so much fuss is made about these ideas, as if they had never been heard of before. Christianity has been preaching these three things for 1900 years. The ideas of liberty, equality and fraternity owe their introduction into the world to Christianity, and having thriven under her protection, they have been the cause of countless blessings to the human race. This is a fact, but it is also true that in course of time these ideas have been lamentably distorted and misused by those who pretend to wish to promote the happiness of the people. I desire to put you on your guard against a wrong use of these precious gifts bestowed by Christianity, and to supply you with a true comprehension of them, whilst at the same time I hope to show you what blessings result from putting them to their proper use.

You must not expect me to discuss these matters from the political point of view; the pulpit is a place, not for political speeches, but for the exposition of Divine truth, and I propose to deal with my subject only from this standpoint. Today I mean to speak of liberty, and to show you
    (1) in what it consists and
    (2) where it is to be found.

Let us begin by invoking the aid of the Holy Ghost.
    1. Reason and free will are the most precious possessions that we enjoy in this life, and nothing else distinguishes us so completely from the brutes as our having these gifts, which are tokens of our Divine origin, and enable us to enter into communion with God and gradually to grow more like Him, the most perfect of all beings. A beast must follow the prompting of its instinct, but man does only what he wills to do; by means of his reason he can determine to do or not to do an action, and no power on earth can violate his will. He may be tortured or even killed, but he cannot be forced to do anything that he wills not to do. In the first three centuries of the Christian era the pagans had recourse to every imaginable means of compelling the Christians to do sacrifice to false gods and deny their faith, but it was all in vain; they preferred to die rather than give up their liberty. In the same way you too may be oppressed and persecuted, or even imprisoned, but you cannot be compelled to tell lies, to steal, or to deny your faith.

Many people believe that true liberty consists in freedom to act as they like, and that they are as free to choose evil as to refrain from it and to choose good. A child supposes himself to be free, when he is out of his parents sight, and doing what he fancies. A young man supposes himself to be free, if he can follow his impulses without any let or hindrance. A socialist supposes himself to be free, if he can cast aside the laws of Church and State whenever it pleases him to do so, discard all morality and order, and gratify his sensual desires undisturbed. But is this real liberty? No; it is license, want of discipline and the enslavement of the spirit to the flesh. God gave us reason to guide us in our actions and to control and direct the lower impulses that we possess in common with the beasts. But if we allow ourselves to be directed and controlled by our sensual instincts and the desires of the flesh instead of by reason, we have ceased to be free, and have
become slaves to the flesh.

How shameful and dishonorable is this slavery! Which is more noble, the flesh or the spirit? You answer without hesitation: "The spirit, for it is the breath of God; it bears the impress of God's likeness; it is able to know and love God; it is immortal and destined for eternal life, whereas the body is nothing but dust, and must return to the dust of which it was formed." If such is the case, can anything be more shameful and lowering to human dignity than that a man should allow his immortal spirit to be enslaved and subjugated by his sinful body?

We certainly have the power to choose between good and evil, and if we decide in favor of evil, we cease to be free and become its slaves, for, as our Saviour said: "Whosoever committeth sin, is the servant of sin" (John viii, 34). We are truly free only if we decide in favor of good, freely, and not under compulsion from within or from without, but following the voice of reason. The ability to choose between good and evil is innate in us, and we require to be trained in true liberty, which is, as I have said, freedom to decide for oneself to do what is right.

You know that Adam's fall into sin brought inward corruption upon the whole human race, and that in consequence our evil desires strongly oppose reason and conscience, the voice of God speaking within us, telling us what is good and what is evil, stimulating us to do right and warning us against sin. As a result of Adam's fall our reason is weakened and obscured, our hearts are filled with selfishness, pride, sensuality and avarice, and our will is enfeebled to such a degree as to do what it rejects, and not to do what it wills. "I know," says St. Paul, "that there dwelleth not in me, that is to say, in my flesh, that which is good. For to will is present with me, but to accomplish that which is good, I find not. For the good which I will, I do not; but the evil which I will not, that I do. Now if I do that which I will not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that when I have a will to do good, evil is present with me. For I am delighted with the law of God, according to the inward man, but I see another law in my members, fighting against the law of my mind, and captivating me in the law of sin that is in my members" (Rom. vii, 18-23).

This is the case with every human being, however freely he may be able to choose the good, he is hindered and thwarted by the evil concupiscence that dwelleth in him, and frequently obtains the mastery over his will and reason, so that he can no longer do what he wills, but is obliged to do what he wills not. A pagan poet says very truly: " I perceive the better course and assent to it, but I follow the worse." You need only read the history of the human race to see to what terrible errors and sins this enslavement of the will by selfishness and sensuality has led mankind. Idolatry in all its horrible forms, the innumerable vices by which men degraded themselves lower than beasts devoid of reason, the slavery and other kinds of bondage that prevailed in olden times and were an outrage upon all Christian sentiment these are the consequences of this subjugation of the will and intellect resulting from sin. All these evils would recur if men with one accord made use of the license offered them by those who wish to ensnare them in their toils. If you want to know how a free man can be enslaved by selfishness and sensuality, you have only to look around you. Here is one who is a slave to drunkenness; when sober he has reproached himself times without number: he has wept tears of repentance, and sworn to his wife that he will amend, and give no more scandal to his innocent children—but his oaths are vain; he goes out sober and comes back drunk; he is weighed down by the fetters of his evil habit, and can no longer do as he desires, but is constrained to satisfy his craving and do what he wishes not to do.

Another is so much entangled in the snares of debauchery that he cannot free himself, however much he tries. He makes fresh resolutions daily, prays, and imposes on himself various mortifications; but it is all in vain; tomorrow he will break the resolutions that he makes today! It would be an endless task to enumerate all the forms of captivity in which men lie bound. St. Antony, being once in a dreary desert, had a wonderful vision, in which he beheld the whole world covered with traps, snares and toils. These were anger, envy, greed, avarice, lust, falsehood, deception and the countless other sins in which men entangle themselves and lose their freedom of will. "His own iniquities catch the wicked, and he is fast bound with the rope of his own sins" (Prov. iv, 22).

    2. (a) How can these fetters be broken, and the darkness of our understanding be scattered, so that we once more become able to recognize the truth? How can our will be strengthened so as to shake off the bonds of pride, ambition, avarice and lust, and be free to choose what is good? Who can restore our liberty, that we have lost through sin? Only our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, can do these things; He can deliver us from doubt and error, to which sin had subjected our understanding, and He can bring us the Divine light of truth, which enlightens every man that cometh into the world. Hence He said: " I am the way, and the truth and the life" (John xiv, 6). "He that followeth Me walketh not in darkness, but shall have the light of life. You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John viii, 12, 32).

Christ is called our Saviour and Redeemer because He released us from the bondage of sin and death, and we ask Him daily to deliver us from evil. "Because the children (of men) are partakers of flesh and blood, Christ also Himself in like manner hath been partaker of the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the empire of death, that is to say, the devil, and might deliver them who through the fear of death were all their lifetime subject to servitude" (Heb. i i , 14, 5). "But now being made free from sin, they have become servants of God" (Rom. vi, 22). 

True Christian liberty exists therefore for the man in whose heart Christ has destroyed the power of darkness and the reign of sin, so that, the tyranny of his passions being broken, he is free to take up his stand on the side of truth and goodness. In other words,
Christian liberty is childlike submission to the will of God as made known by Christ. This is why St. Paul says: "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty" ( II  Cor. iii, 17).

The more completely you are delivered from sin and sinful desires, and the better you serve God in the spirit of love, the greater is your liberty. Those pious souls who serve the Lord in simplicity of heart, who struggle to resist temptations, who crucify their flesh together with its vices and concupiscences, who with patience and submission bear the burden and heat of the day, who loyally and conscientiously fulfil in their home life the duties of their rank and calling, these are truly free, and these enjoy the glorious liberty of the sons of God.

But our Saviour did more than make known to us God's will, to guide us in all our actions; He merited for us God's grace, to sustain us in our weakness and strengthen our will, so that we might obey the dictates of conscience and God's Commandments, and be thus delivered from the bondage of concupiscence. "It is," says St. Paul, God who worketh in you both to will and to accomplish" (Phil, ii, 13), and although the same Apostle confesses that he saw in his members another law, fighting against the law of his mind and captivating him in the law of sin (Rom. vii, 23) he was none the less convinced that by God's grace it was possible for him to shake off the bonds of sin. "I can do all things in Him who strengthened me" (Phil, iv, 13).

You see therefore what is the source of liberty. It is a heavensent gift, bestowed upon us through the Son of God, who Himself took the form of a servant in order to deliver us from the bondage of sin. As He said: "If the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed" (John viii, 36).

Liberty was given to the world through Jesus Christ, and it is through Christianity, or rather through the Catholic Church, that it has obtained supremacy in the world, and it is in the Church that it has found the surest guarantee for its preservation.
   
(b) For over nineteen hundred years the Church has toiled incessantly, by means of instructions, commands and Sacraments, to deliver men from sin and error, from disorderly desires, passions and habits, and to establish the Kingdom of God, which is the rule of truth and liberty. During the present season of Lent, when she calls upon us to deny ourselves and mortify our flesh, she has no other end in view than to release us from the bondage of sin and the flesh, under which all mankind is groaning, and to give us the liberty of the sons of God. "Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin" (John viii, 34).*

The Church of Christ has always safeguarded external, personal and civil liberty as well as the internal or moral liberty of man. Let me quote a few instances in proof of this assertion: A father formerly possessed absolute rights of life and death over his children, and could dispose of them as he chose, giving them up to a life of shame or killing them; treating them in fact like cattle, that he could sell in the same way as a house or field. To what do children owe their liberty from this tyranny? To the Gospel, that has declared a child to belong to God, and his father to be responsible for the child's welfare and upbringing. Women at the present day cannot realize the harsh and degrading treatment suffered by their sex everywhere before our Saviour's birth, and still suffered in countries to which the light of His Gospel has not yet penetrated. Among non-Christian nations women are regarded as inferior creatures; a maiden is supposed to have no will of her own, so that she can be sold by her parents or bought by a suitor, as they think fit. A wife is merely a household drudge, to be ill treated or turned out, according to her husband's fancy. How different is the position held by women in Christian lands! Here a maiden is looked upon as a child of our heavenly Father, as one redeemed by our Lord, as consecrated by the Holy Ghost, and as an inheritor of eternal life, and ever since the most glorious of all virgins conceived and gave birth to the Saviour of the world, virginity has been highly esteemed, and a virgin is regarded as an ornament to the Church of God, and shares in all the grace and truth of the Gospel. As a result of Christianity the wife now occupies a place of honor beside her husband; they are two in one flesh, and their union is a type of the relation existing between Christ and His Church.

The socialists, however, set no value upon virginity, and reject marriage and family life. To them a woman is nothing but a prostitute, and when she has borne and suckled a child and taught it to eat and drink, they require her to hand it over to the State for education. Among people holding such opinions there can be no thought of love and duty between parents and children, for these things simply do not exist. Could any doctrines tend more to drag men down below the level of beasts?

Christianity has done much to alleviate, improve and sanctify the lot of the working classes. In the ancient world men were divided into masters and slaves. The slaves were the chattels of their masters, their property, to be dealt with as they chose, as slaves could have no liberty, no rights and no possessions. They were not looked upon as beings of the same kind as their masters, but as creatures of a lower order, destined by nature, like the domestic animals, for the service and use of their owners. A master could sell his slaves as he pleased, or ill-treat them according to the prompting of his bad temper, striking them as he would strike a dog or an ass; he might even blind or kill them, and no one had any right to find fault with him, far less to punish him. To five you some idea of the terrible lot of these unhappy people, It Is perhaps enough to tell you that slaves used to be sacrificed to the gods, fattened and thrown into ponds to feed the fish, and forced even to attack and slay one another for their master's amusement. One master often owned several thousand slaves, and one great Roman lady frequently required the services of two hundred female slaves. What did Christ do for these wretched creatures? He destroyed slavery altogether, by proclaiming that all men were equal, that all alike were children of God, who has no respect of persons. But He did more than this, for He laid down the law of brotherly love, to which there are no exceptions, and finally He died on the Cross for all men, including slaves, and opened the gates of eternal happiness to slaves as well as to their masters.

Has not civil liberty always been upheld and defended by the Church? and has it not often been assailed and destroyed by secular princes, who have aimed at increasing their own power and reputation, and, in order to accomplish this, have oppressed their subjects? For centuries the Catholic Church alone, with all the resources at her disposal, opposed the tyranny of princes and the oppression of the poor, and did her best to support the liberty of nations. It was under the influence of the Church that the constitutions securing most freedom came into being. England boasts of being the freest country in the world. From what period does her freedom date? From the age of the vaunted Reformation? No, certainly not; it dates from the time when every Englishman used to hear holy Mass daily.

You see, therefore, that the Catholic Church has always led the way in safeguarding civil liberty. She has never, however, encouraged rebellion and revolution, but she has invariably condemned them and admonished the nations to make for freedom by legal and constitutional methods. She has always insisted upon obedience to authority, and has taught that without law, discipline and order liberty cannot thrive or even exist. "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's'—this is the teaching of the Divine Founder of holy Church, and St. Paul says: "Let every soul be subject to higher powers, for there is no power but from God, and those that are, are ordained of God. Therefore he that resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God; and they that resist, purchase to themselves damnation" (Rom. xiii, 1-2). It is impossible to dispense with civil authority, as the socialists desire, for authority and laws are needed to check the vagaries of men's minds and hearts, and to prevent free will from degenerating into license, violence, tyranny and outrages upon the person, property and honor of others. Although the socialists declare man to be free and subject to no authority, yet their leaders regard themselves as having a right to control their followers, and tolerate no arguments or expression of contrary opinions, so that bitter quarrels happen at their meetings. They refuse to acknowledge any authority in State, Church, community or family, and yet they usurp it themselves. They say to the powers that be: "Give place to us;" but, as matters stand, we are far better off under the existing government than we should be under that which the socialists wish to introduce.

    (c) We have seen that Christianity gave liberty to the world, and it cannot thrive or even continue to exist apart from Christianity, which is its surest guarantee, for where Christianity does not prevail, men are dominated by their passions and are under the bondage of sin. What must we not therefore expect from those who talk much about liberty, but discard all the principles of Christianity? We know by sad experience that what they desire is not liberty for all men, but only for themselves and their comrades; they wish to be free, in order to rule over others more absolutely; they do not want liberty for truth and goodness, but liberty to spread abroad their false and pernicious doctrines; they want to be free, unfettered and unrestrained, in the gratification of all their passions. If another claims the right to have his own opinions and convictions, and reproaches them with their injustice, cunning and double dealing, they are infuriated against him, and employ all possible means of silencing him.

Beware, therefore, of these false prophets, and do not assent to their arguments, which are un-Christian and consequently evil and destructive; such men are aiming at enslaving you, not at setting you free. We too wish to enjoy liberty of conscience, of faith and of speech; we too desire to have liberty in civil life, but we want no license, no wanton violence and no rebellion; we have no wish to see one man tyrannize over another and reduce him to slavery; we insist upon freedom for all, for we desire the liberty of the children of God, for "where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty."

We have now seen in what true Christian liberty consists, to whom we owe it and how we should use it. Let me conclude with St. Peter's words: "So is the will of God, that by doing well you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men; as free, and not as making liberty a cloak for malice, but as the servants of God" (I . Peter ii, 15-16). If we remember that we are all God's servants and children, we shall not encroach upon our neighbor's rights and liberty; for the sake of God and conscience we shall respect authority, and peace and order will reign in our midst.

Above all let us strive to cast off the fetters of pride, avarice, envy, selfishness and lust. As long as we are bound by them, we are not free men, but slaves of sin; for whosoever commits sin, is the servant of sin. How many of us are still in bondage! Let us arise, and obey the call of the prophet who exclaims: "Shake thyself from the dust, arise, sit up; loose the bonds from off thy neck, O captive daughter of Sioni" (Is. lii, 2). O captive soul shake off the dust of earth which obscures thy beauty; arise and loose the bonds of sin, death and Satan by the threefold force of contrition, confession and satisfaction, for what is loosed on earth, shall be loosed also in heaven. Hasten, before the snares of death and the terrible bonds of hell, from which there is no escape, entangle thee. Easter is at hand, the holy season when our Lord and Saviour invites us all to cleanse ourselves from sin, and to come and keep the Pasch with Him. Come, therefore, all ye who are weighed down with sin and misery, groaning under the load of your disorderly inclinations, passions and habits, the Lord will set you free. He calls you, saying: "Come to Me, all you that labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you."

But when you are released from sin and made children of God, be careful to walk thenceforth as free men, guided by the Spirit of God, and not dominated by impure passions; be no longer slaves of sin, but servants of God. "Brethren," says St. Paul, "you have been called unto liberty; only make not liberty an occasion to the flesh, but by charity of the spirit serve one another" (Gal. v, 13). To serve the flesh is slavery, to serve Christ is to rule. "O, let us," exclaims St. Bernard, "remain bound by God's holy Commandments! The bonds of love constrained Him to come down to earth and submit to suffering; we on the other hand, who desire to be raised from earth to heaven, must first submit to the bonds of suffering, patience and obedience, that we may be one with Him, as He and the Father are one." Let us remain free from sin and sinful desires, let us be ever guided by the Spirit of the Lord, and subject only to His Commandments, and then we shall be free indeed, and at last for us, too, the golden gates of heavenly liberty will be opened, and we shall enter in and enjoy perfect freedom forever and ever. Amen.

*By proclaiming the truths of faith and inviting us to frequent the Sacraments, the Church is in no respect interfering with our liberty. She says: "You must believe this if you wish to be saved: but it rests with you to be saved or to perish; you can choose which you like." It depends, therefore, altogether upon a man's own will whether he obeys or rejects the call of grace; he is perfectly free to accept or to deny the truth. Faith is in any case a gift of God, but man's free will has to cooperate in it, for the simple reason that no one receives a gift which he is unwilling to accept.

ANT:  Come, Holy Ghost, fill the hearts of Thy faithful, and kindle in them the fire of Thy love.
     V.  Send forth Thy spirit, and they shall be created.
     R.  And Thou shalt renew the face of the earth.
                                                           
                                                                  Let us pray

O God, Who hast taught the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Ghost, grant that by the gift of the same Spirit we may be always truly wise, and ever rejoice in His consolations, through Christ our Lord.  Amen.

As a Catholic I feel I must take a stand against this atrocity. The Church cannot in anyway condone this sin. Below you will find a  link to a news story that sickened me and beneath that the CATHOLIC Churches teaching on this matter.  Remember, the Church cannot err in the teaching of faith or morals and this is definitely a moral issue. 

http://ncronline.org/news/politics/cardinal-dolan-pope-francis-opened-door-gay-civil-unions-debate

Read also:  From the Huffington Post

WASHINGTON -- Cardinal Timothy Dolan of the Archdiocese of New York said Sunday that Pope Francis' recent remarks on same-sex civil unions should not necessarily be interpreted as an endorsement of those unions.

Rather, said Dolan, the pope was suggesting that the Catholic Church should seek to understand why there is growing support for recognizing same-sex unions.

"If I saw the reports accurately, he didn't come right out and say he was for them," said Dolan in an interview with David Gregory of NBC's "Meet the Press." "Once again, in an extraordinarily sincere, open, nuanced way, he said, 'I know that some people in some states have chosen this. We need to think about that and look into it and see the reasons that have driven them.'" 

The pope, said Dolan, was arguing that "rather than quickly condemn" civil unions, "let's just ask the questions as to why that has appealed to certain people." 

Gregory asked Dolan whether civil unions would make him "uncomfortable."

"It would," said Dolan. "Marriage, between one man and one woman forever leading to life and love, that's not something that's just a religious, sacramental concern … It's also the building block of society and culture."

"If we water down that sacred meaning of marriage in any way, I worry that not only the church would suffer, I worry that culture and society would," he said.

Gregory also asked about Michael Sam, the University of Missouri football star who recently came out. "How did you view it?" Gregory asked Dolan, a native of Missouri.

"Good for him. I would have no sense of judgment on him. God bless ya," said Dolan. "Look, the same Bible that tells us, that teaches us well about the virtues of chastity and the virtue of fidelity and marriage also tells us not to judge people. So I would say, 'Bravo.'"

My comments:  So Dolan thinks "Bravo" that someone came out as gay?  Something is very, very wrong with that!

                                SINS THAT CRY TO HEAVEN FOR VENGEANCE
Sins that cry to heaven for vengeance are sins of great malice. They are: wilful murder, oppression of the poor, defrauding laborers of their wages, and the sin of Sodom. These sins are of so abominable a nature, that every man's feelings must revolt against them.

When Cain killed his brother Abel, God said to him:
"The voice of thy brother's blood crieth to Me from the earth " (Gen. iv. 10). Every nation on the face of the earth punishes murder with exceptional severity, generally by the execution of the criminal. The oppression of the helpless Israelites in Egypt was a sin that cried to heaven (Exod. iii. 7). The Pharisees were guilty of this sin; they oppressed the poor and prayed long prayers (Matt, xxiii. 14). God expressly forbade the Jews to injure the widow and orphan (Exod. xxii. 22; Ecclus. xxxiv. 26). To keep back the wages of the needy (Deut. xxiv. 14), is a sin that cries to heaven, also on some pretext or other to defraud them of the whole amount (Jas. v. 4). In the Middle Ages an action brought by a working man took precedence of all others in the law courts, and judgment was given within three days. The sin of Sodom takes its name from the inhabitants of Sodom, who were guilty of unnatural sins, by reason of which they were destroyed by God, Who rained down upon them brimstone and fire (Gen. xix. 24). The Dead Sea is still a mournful memorial of their sin; ONE SO SHAMEFUL THAT IT MUST NOT BE NAMED AMONG US.

From: The Catechism Explained by Spirago - Clarke, Imprimatur 1899


                                              Sins that Cry to Heaven for Vengeance
 76.  What are the sins that cry to heaven for vengeance/
  
    1st.  Wilful murder.
"The voice of thy brother's blood crieth to Me from the earth."  (Cor. iii. 15)
  
     2nd.  Sins against nature. 
"The cry of Sodom and Gomorrha is multiplied, and their sin is become exceedingly grievious." (Gen. xviii. 20)

Source:  Exposition of Christian Doctrine, Imprimatur 1919

                                                       DISCOURSE II
                                      ON THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT

Thou shalt not commit adultery.-—Exod. xx. 14.
HAVING shown you, dear Christians, what you are obliged to by this precept, and what you are forbid, and how great this sin is in Christians, who thereby defile the temple of the Holy Ghost, and dishonor the members of Jesus Christ, I shall proceed to show you the enormity of this vice, by the punishments God has and does inflict upon it in this life.

We reasonably judge of the greatness of a fault by the greatness of the punishment, when the judge who inflicts it is just and impartial. To punish a fault more than it deserves, is always injustice, and is usually the effect of some disorderly passion, the weakness of man. But when God punishes, who is the fountain of justice, and in whom there can be no imperfection, we must; conclude from the severity of his judgments, the grievousness of the fault he punishes.

I shall only relate some of those punishments, which the justice of God has inflicted upon such as have been guilty of the sin of impurity, to revenge this crime upon them, and to be a terror to future ages.

The first remarkable punishment we find in scripture, is that of the deluge, wherein Almighty God drowned the whole world about 1650 years after the creation, and buried under the waters all mankind, with all the birds and beasts upon the earth, excepting' only four men and four women, who were innocent, and reserved for the repeopling of a better world, and some few of the birds of the air and the beasts of the land, to preserve the species. These were secured from the devouring waves, in the ark or ship, which Noah was ordered to build; all the rest of the world perished in the water, which overspread the whole face of the earth. The sea over swelled its banks, and came roaring in upon the land; the floodgates of heaven were also opened upon their heads, and the rain poured down for forty days and forty nights without intermission, and covered the highest mountains as well as the tallest trees. Thus perished all mankind, once the favorites of heaven, made to the image of God, and made for a noble end, to serve him on earth, and to enjoy him in heaven; to share in, and to be happy by the same happiness whereby he himself is infinitely happy.

What caused this change? What drew this heavy and universal judgment upon them? It was their sins, and particularly the sins of impurity: "For all flesh," says the sacred text, "had corrupted its way upon the earth;" (Gen. vi. 12.) and God seeing that the thoughts of their hearts were bent upon evil, and being touched inwardly with sorrow of heart; I will destroy man, (says He,) with the birds and beasts, it repenteth me that I have made him and them.

It is with great difficulty that Almighty God is brought to these extremities; it is our repeated crimes that force him to it; for he "desires not the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; and why will you die, 0 house of Israel?" says he, by the prophet Ezechias, xxxiii. 11.

He had used means to reclaim them, but all in vain. Noah had preached to them for an hundred years together, but to little purpose. He admonished them of their crying sins, and the impending judgments of God, but they slighted both. And this is but too commonly the unhappy case of those who are given to the sins of impurity—they are hardly reclaimed either by advice or threats; they run on in their evil ways, without duly considering the greatness of the offence to Almighty God, or their own imminent danger; and this till the just judgment of God surprise their neglect, and bury them in greater floods of woe.

One would think this general and severe punishment should have been a warning to the small remains of the world, who were saved in the ark, and that they should have left such impressions of it in their posterity, as never again to dare to provoke the Almighty by such wickedness. But alas! all this water was not enough to extinguish the fire of lust; for as the world increased in number, it increased again in wickedness, and in a little time they attempted the raising of the tower of Babel, which they designed should reach heaven. For the punishing of this insolence, Almighty God was contented to change their language, and disperse them over the earth; but this was soon followed by a more hateful crime, which called for a more remarkable punishment:

the impurities of Sodom and Gomorrah grew great, and the cry of their sins grew loud, so that the ,God of purity, not able any longer to bear with these provoking crimes, resolved upon a more frightful judgment than that of the flood, to strike a greater terror into the minds of men, and give them a more lively sense of the greatness of the offence. He once drowned the world with floods of water from heaven, but now he pours down upon them floods of fire and brimstone, and in a moment reduces into ashes all the inhabitants of the towns and country, sending them flaming down to a greater fire below; with them perished all the buildings, and whatever grew upon the ground. The place, remains to this day a filthy lake, called the Dead Sea, so noisome that nothing can live in it. This, no doubt, is left to all posterity as a standing monument of God's great aversion to this sin of uncleanness, as is declared in the Book of Wisdom, 10, 7. "Whose land for a testimony of their wickedness is desolate, and smoketh to this day."
 
When Almighty God, whose nature is goodness, and who has that love for man, as to have made all things in this visible world for him, and man for himself, chastises him in this severe manner, both temporally and eternally; we may be sure the provocation is great; we may be sure the sins that drew down these heavy judgments upon their heads, were heinous in his sight; yes, dear Christians, and they were sins of impurity, as the sacred text
expressly mentions; no doubt they were guilty of many other crimes, but these being the blackest, darkened the others, and the most enormous called loudest for vengeance.

Had there been any hopes that these people would have been reclaimed, and like the Ninevites, returned to God upon the preaching of a Jonas, they had never been the dreadful victims of God's wrath at that time, nor the terrible mark of his vengeance to future ages; but they were bent on evil, and increased it daily, and laughed at the warning which Lot gave them, as others before ridiculed the preaching of Noah: or had there been but a small number of just, to have appeased the angel of God, Sodom might have stood to this day; for before he destroyed this infamous place, he acquainted Abraham with his design. "I am resolved, (says he, Gen. viii.) to destroy Sodom, this wicked town, that has completed the number of its sins." Lord, says Abraham, is there no means to appease your anger? You are too just to involve the righteous in the same ruin with the wicked; if there be but fifty just persons in the whole town, will not you spare the rest upon their account? Yes, says Almighty God, if there be but thirty, if there be but twenty, or if there be but ten just persons amongst them, I will spare the whole city for their sakes; but that number not being found, Lot and his little family were ordered to leave it. Then showers of fire and brimstone were poured down upon them from heaven, and in a moment set them all on flame.

What we read in the book of Numbers is not a little terrible; there we find twenty-four thousand of the people of Israel put to death by the express order of God, for the sin of fornication with the Moabites; and in the last chapter of the book of Judges, it is recorded, how almost the whole tribe of Benjamin was destroyed for an abomination of this nature. The seven successive husbands of the virtuous Sara, were all murdered by the devil Asmodeus, as is expressed in the book of Tobias, the first night of their marriage, for giving more way to their lust, than to the end and design of matrimony.  Her and Onan were struck dead also upon the place by Almighty God, as it is recorded in the book of Genesis, for committing a sin contrary to the end and duty of marriage. But there would scarce be an end, should i mention all those particular persons whom Almighty God has made visible examples of his anger, and recorded their punishment in holy writ for the terror of others, that they may avoid that rock whereupon so many millions have been shipwrecked.

But I shall pass by all these to come to the greatest of punishments which God inflicts, and but too often upon those who give themselves to this sin, though it appears not to the eyes of men, yet it carries with it all the anger of God and is the mark of his utmost indignation; and this is Almighty God's forsaking them; his leaving them to themselves, to their own passions, and to a reprobate sense. He calls upon them no more, chastises them no more; He no more speaks to their hearts by his preventing grace, or interior inspirations; he no more calls upon them by exterior affliction, or medicinal punishments, to bring them to their duty, but leaves them to work their own wills, and by increasing their sins, to increase their damnation, and that he may punish them in the fulness of their crimes, as the Holy Ghost expresses it.

This is what we find in St. Paul's epistle to the Romans, (c. 1.) speaking of those who know God, but did not honor him according to the knowledge they had of him, but gave the honor due to the incorruptible God, to corruptible creatures. " Wherefore, (says the apostle,) he delivered them up to the desires of their heart, unto uncleanness, to dishonor their own bodies;" and again, (v. 28.) he delivered them up to a reprobate sense, to do those those things which are not convenient."

To punish a sinner, and to punish him indeed, one would not expose him to the rage of wild beasts to be torn in pieces by lions and tigers; one would not set up gibbets or racks to fasten him to; one would not prepare ropes to hang him, fire to burn him, or the sword to destroy him; one would not expose him to the miseries of plagues, famine, or war. No; but to abandon him to himself, and his own passions, to fill the measure of his sins, that his damnation may be deeper and surer. The rage of wild beasts, fire or sword, plague, famine, or war, are temporal punishments, and of no long continuance: whereas the being abandoned by God is a spiritual punishment, and drawing many crimes after it, whereby he fixes and determines himself to an eternity of the greatest punishments; wherefore God delivered them up to their depraved desires, unto the passions of ignominy, unto a reprobate sense, filled with all iniquity.

We read in Ezechiel, of a strange figure of this truth; this prophet, surprised to see God abandon his temple, could not hold from saying: "Why Lord! will you no more remember your ancient promises, will you thus leave the place you once chose to dwell in? Yes, I am too much provoked, I will depart far from my sanctuary; and to shew thee that I have reason, look through this wall and see what passes there; and he beheld in vision seventy of the ancients of the House of Israel offering incense to false Gods. Come farther, and I will shew thee greater abominations;. and he saw women that sat mourning for the death of Adonis, the god or idol of impurity, &c. Can I stay here—is this a place for the God of purity? I will go; I will depart far from my sanctuary." The application, dear Christians, is easy.

Are not our bodies, by grace, made the temples of the Holy Ghost; and our souls the sanctuary which Christ has chosen? It is in us, and by us, that he would be known, adored, and loved; it is in us, and by us, he would have our passions sacrificed to him And what do we do, if instead of this we be found offering incense to Venus or Adonis? If instead of sacrificing our passions to him, we sacrifice him to our passions ? What can we expect from him, will he bear with these abominations for ever? Will his patience never be tired? Yes, dear Christians, he will depart far from this sanctuary, and leave them to themselves, to their infamous passions, which they have made the idols of their hearts.

He could send them temporal afflictions, but he finds they grow worse upon them; they are so far from reclaiming them from evil, that they occasionally increase it; for, as St. Gregory says, " Great afflictions have one of these two effects, they either make a saint like Job, or a reprobate like Antiochus." He could speak to their hearts by interior grace, as he has often done, but alas! they resist it all; he many times called upon them, and they as often refused to hear him. The word of God that was once the food of their souls, now makes no impression upon them; they hear the most terrible truths, and they little regard them; they hear the great and obliging promises of God reserved for his servants in another world, but the satisfactions of this stifle all sense of another. What shall God do when they are not to be gained by promises, nor overawed by threats? When heaven does not relish with them, nor hell affright them? when they continue in sin without remorse, and play with eternity without fear? when all past judgments are slighted, and present afflictions abused? when by continuance they grow obstinate in their evil ways, and deaf to all good counsel? they hear divine truths without any sense, and pray without any devotion? when all the means of salvation are neglected or abused, and the care of their souls has the least share in their thoughts? What shall God do with these, but leave them to themselves to take their own course, and by that means become their own greatest enemies ? Yes, God delivers them up, says the apostle, to a reprobate sense, to ignominious passions, to be their own executioners, and by daily augmenting their sins, to treasure up wrath in the day of wrath.

We have a remarkable confirmation of this truth in the second book of Machabees, where the author of it, after he had reckoned up the many calamities, oppressions, and extraordinary persecutions that nation suffered under Antiochus, gives this admonition to the reader. I beseech all, says he, that shall read this book, that they be not astonished at our adversities, but that they look upon those things that have happened to our nation not to be for the destruction, but the chastising of our generation; for not to suffer sinners a long time to do as they will, but forthwith to punish them, is a make of a great favor. For it is not with us as in other nations, that our Lord patiently expecteth, that when the day of judgment shall come, he may punish them in the fulness of their sins.

It is evident from hence, that there are those, whom God patiently expects not to repentance, for he foresees they will never seriously amend, but till they have completed the measure of their sins, that he may eternally punish them not for two or three crimes, but in the fulness of their sins, that their damnation may be so much the .greater, as their sins are more numerous".

Certainly, this is the greatest punishment God ever inflicts upon an obstinate sinner. The general flood that overflowed the whole earth; the fire and sulphur that rained down on Sodom, and the neighboring country; plagues, famine, war, or any other temporal punishments whatever, are small to this. As far as eternity exceeds time, as far as the torments of hell surpass the afflictions of this life, so far this punishment is greater than any we have named. And therefore, above all, sinners have reason to dread this, and all those evil dispositions which lead to it; as the neglect of prayer, contempt of instructions, the hearing the word of God without fruit, or desire of amendment, neglect or abuse of the sacraments, and obstinacy in sin. It is these which lead a sinner to a hard and obdurate heart, and it is these which force Almighty God to refuse them his grace and abandon them to their own passions, according to that of the psalmist, "The sinner has exasperated our Lord, and in the severity of his anger he looks not after him."

Here you have heard some of the most remarkable punishments which God has inflicted upon such as have given themselves to the sin of impurity; they are recorded in holy writ, and made public to the world, to be a lasting monument of God's great anger, and a continual warning to all ages. Those who were the first examples of the divine vengeance, no doubt, deserved what they suffered; but those who will not take warning by other's misfortunes, as they are more to blame, so they shall be more severely punished.

These, I say, are the public judgments of an offended God; but besides them, no doubt, there are innumerable private ones upon particular persons, in many sudden and unprovided deaths, or by being left in errors, or to a hard heart, and a reprobate sense, by bringing them to a sudden and an untimely end, or by an angry patience, leaving them to fill up the measure of their sins for their greater damnation.

I hope, dear Christians, that these judgments of Almighty God may make such an impression in your heart, that you may fly to his mercy in time, and, by a sincere and speedy repentance, obtain pardon for what is past, and, by a pious and exemplary life, deserve a reward for the time to come.

Source:  The Commandments and Sacraments Explained, 1819

                             7. MATRIMONY
         The Institution and Nature of Matrimony
"What food is to the individual, matrimony is to humanity in general. For as food serves to maintain the life of the individual, so marriage serves to maintain the life of the human race. Since the principal object of marriage, the right training of children, can only be attained when a man and a woman are united together by an indissoluble bond, the wise Creator in the beginning only created two human beings, saying : " They two shall be one in flesh " (Gen. ii. 24).
1. God Himself instituted matrimony in the beginning of the world, for the procreation of the human race, and the mutual assistance of husband and wife. Matrimony was instituted by God for the propagation of the human race; for He said to our first parents: "Increase and multiply and fill the earth" (Gen. i. 28). St. Francis of Sales calls matrimony the nursery-ground of Christianity, destined to fill the earth with believers, and complete the number of the elect in heaven. It was also instituted for the mutual support of the parties contracting it, for God said before Eve was created: "It is not good for man to be alone, let us make him a help like unto himself" (Gen. ii. 18). The woman being the weaker, needs some one on whom to lean; the man needs some one to care for him. The man is characterized by greater strength and energy; he seeks a sphere of activity in the world. The woman's nature is cast in a softer mould; her sphere of work is beside the domestic hearth. Thus the two complete each other, and each acts beneficially on the other. Matrimony has also a third object, that of preventing the sin of which the Apostle speaks in the first Epistle to the Corinthians (1 Cor. vii. 2). He who would set marriage aside, would give free rein to impurity. Many take a low view of marriage; they consider it as affording a legitimate means of indulging their lusts. Such persons will not be happy or contented, and will neglect the duties of their state. The happiness of matrimony depends to a great extent on taking an exalted view of its object.

Matrimony is a divine and by no means a human institution. It is because matrimony was ordained of God that the Church calls it a "holy and godly state." The opinion of the Manichees, that marriage was to be rejected, was condemned by the Church. Even the most uncivilized nations considered matrimony to be a divine institution, for they practised religious ceremonies of some kind on the occasion of a marriage, offering sacrifices or prayers. God Himself appointed the laws of marriage first through Moses and afterwards by Our Lord.

2. Christian marriage is a contract between man and woman, binding them to an undivided and indissoluble partnership, and conferring on them at the same time grace to fulfill all the duties  required of them.

Marriage is therefore not merely a contract; it is at the same time an act by which grace is conferred. This contract is not concluded in the presence of a minister of the Church solely for the sake of obtaining the ecclesiastical benediction upon the betrothed couple, but in order that they may be truly united together before God in wedlock. It was this covenant, entered into in presence of a minister of the Church, which Our Lord raised to the dignity of a sacrament.

Marriage contracted without the solemnities required by the Church in all countries where the decree of the Council of Trent has been duly promulgated is invalid and null (Council of Trent, 24, 1).  In the absence of a priest a valid marriage can be had by following the  Church laws of Canon 1098. A contract which is invalid cannot become a sacrament, any more than wine, if it be not really wine, can be converted in the Mass into the blood of Christ. Matrimony is a type of the union between Christ and the Church (Eph. v. 32). As the Church, the Bride of Christ is one, so the man has but one wife. As Christ and the Church are inseparably united, so the union of the married is perpetual and indissoluble.

As the union of Christ and the Church is a covenant of grace, so also is the union of husband and wife. Christ is the Head of the Church, and the man is the head of the woman. The Church is subject to Christ, so the wife is obedient to the husband. Christ and the Church are animated by one spirit, and so it should be with husband and wife. Christ never abandons the Church, and the Church can never be unfaithful to Christ; so married people must never be unfaithful to one another.

Matrimony is declared to be a sacrament by St. Paul, and the early Fathers of the Church. St. Paul calls matrimony a great sacrament, because it is typical of the union of Christ with the Church (Eph. v. 32), a union by which grace is imparted. St. Augustine says that the superiority of marriage among the people of God consists in the sanctity of the sacrament. "The heathens," says St. John Chrysostom, "estimated the happiness of marriage by the number of children, whereas the Christian considers rather the sanctity of the sacrament." Some of the Fathers are of opinion that Christ raised matrimony to a sacrament at the marriage of Cana. At any rate the Church expressly declares that it is truly and properly one of the seven sacraments of the evangelical law instituted by Christ (Council of Trent, 24, 1).

3. Civil marriage is to be distinguished from Christian marriage, inasmuch as it is no sacrament, and consequently in the sight of God no true and real marriage for Catholics.
 
Civil marriage may be said to have originated with Luther, for he prepared the way for the State to legislate concerning marriage. What he began, the French revolution completed; for marriage was then declared to be a civil contract, concluded before a government official. Civil marriage is obligatory or compulsory when, as is the case in some countries, the marriage is otherwise not recognized by the State; it is optional, when the parties are free to choose whether the ceremony shall be civil or religious, as in America; finally it is unavoidable, if on account of the priest being debarred from marrying them through political reasons, or on other obvious grounds, the persons desirous of being married cannot be united otherwise than by the secular authorities. Civil marriage is not a sacrament, because it is not contracted in the manner ordained by God and the Church; it is nothing ,more or less than a legal form, which must be gone through in order that the marriage may be recognized by the State, and Catholics must submit to it, if there is no other means of having their union recognized by the State. They should, however, see that
the ecclesiastical ceremony takes place as soon after as possible; for until their marriage has been solemnized by the Church, they are bound to live apart, as in the sight of God they are not really husband and wife. Catholics who contract a civil marriage and are not afterwards married in a church, cannot obtain absolution, and are excluded from the sacraments until they obtain the sanction of God and of the Church upon their union, or give it up altogether. Catholics who prefer civil marriage when it is optional, or content themselves with it when it is unavoidable, are excommunicated. The Holy See condemns civil marriages in no measured terms; Pope Pius IX. declares that the union of man and woman, if not a sacrament, is a shameful concubinage, although perfectly legal according to the civil code.* Civil marriage has disastrous results for the State, for it undermines faith, authority, and morals.

If you would like to finish reading this you can find it here:
https://ia600209.us.archive.org/23/items/catechismexplain00spiruoft/catechismexplain00spiruoft.pdf

Source: The Catechism Explained, Imprimatur 1899

''And other sheep I have, that are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd" (John x, 16).

I wish to address today on the subject:
    (1) of the present position, and
    (2) of the prospects of the Church. Let us begin by invoking the aid of the Holy Ghost.

1. In my last sermon I showed you how the Catholic Church adheres with inviolable fidelity to her Divinely taught doctrines regarding faith and morals, not allowing them to suffer the smallest modification. In this way she is the sole teacher of truth, the sole source of salvation, and the firmest anchorage of hope, and she will continue to be such, even if everything else crumbles into ruin.

This loyal adherence to the deposit of truth that she preserves is the most certain token of her Divine origin, but at the same time it gives rise to many attacks on the part of those outside the Church, and even on that of her own children, so that her position is rendered very perilous.

    (a) Heresy is the first antagonist assailing the Church on account of her loyalty; and heresy assumes so many forms that it is impossible to enumerate them. However widely these forms may differ from one another, and however bitterly they may be opposed, they all agree in hatred of the Catholic Church. Most teachers of heresy at the present day refuse to acknowledge any God, any truth and any religion that is not the outcome of their own intellect, and whatever stands as an obstacle in the way of their arrogance, incurs their hatred and hostility. As they cannot actually attack Jesus Christ, who sits at the right hand of God, His heavenly Father, they do their utmost to undermine all faith in His Divinity and in the redemption that He accomplished, and they reject His promises, His teaching and His Sacraments. Above all do they direct their fury against the Church that He founded, because she preserves and proclaims the faith, and administers the means of salvation.

I need hardly remind you of the efforts that are being made to injure, and if possible to annihilate, the Church. No method is too foul for the various heretical teachers to employ in order to attain their base and godless aims. Sometimes they represent the Church as an obsolete institution, that has lost all efficiency with lapse of time; sometimes they accuse her of shrouding men in darkness and of tyrannizing over conscience; and they never weary of trying to injure her by means of lies, calumnies, ridicule and all sorts of diabolical devices. Go where one will, everywhere one encounters these lying slanders and suspicions of the Church; they meet us in the streets and highways, in books and newspapers, and it is hardly possible to join in any conversation or to take up a paper without having cause to remember our Saviour's warning to beware of false prophets. But this is not all. These enemies of the Church are not content with attacking the Church herself, but they assail her members individually, and try in every way to make them turn against her, or at least become indifferent to her teaching. They assign to her children inferior positions in civil life and undermine their reputation and fortune, whilst those who are lukewarm or apostates are loaded with favors and honors. In order to insure the success of their plans, our enemies  ally themselves with men of every class, high and low, rich and poor, learned and simple, and often with the secular government.

Sometimes, however, they do not appear as ravening wolves, nor do they assail us openly, but they put on sheep's clothing and look like innocent lambs and then they are still more dangerous to the Church and her children. They know how to disguise their false doctrines under a semblance of Christian charity, and pretend to have at heart nothing but the welfare of mankind and the good of the whole human race. Hence they profess to believe in Jesus Christ and to desire to uproot unbelief; they say that they have no wish to limit the work of Christ, but only to purify it from human principles and additions; they maintain that it is their intention to reform, but not to destroy, the Church. They make these and many similar assertions, hoping thus to lure the unsuspicious into their snares and bring about their ruin. You must all know by experience that my account is not exaggerated, and you will agree with me in thinking that all this constitutes a grave danger to the Church at the present time. The socialists are now among the worst and most dangerous enemies that she has to encounter; Their first article of faith is: "There is no God;" the second is; ''There is no future life," and the third makes pleasure the supreme law. Hence all their efforts are directed primarily at robbing men of faith in God and Christ and in all that the Catholic Church requires us to believe.  When faith is gone, the ten Commandments must also cease to be the rule governing the thoughts and actions of men, and in their place is propounded to us as the one supreme law: "Enjoy all sensual pleasures to their fullest extent, since everything ends at death."
 
If the leaders, who have been initiated into the secrets of socialism were to state this rule; and others derived from it, in plain unmistakable terms to those whom they wish to win over to their party, all who still have in their hearts even a spark of Christian feeling would turn away from them in horror. So they begin by destroying the faith of Christians and by making them indifferent to religion; they speak of all kinds of advantages and  enjoyments to be derived from socialism, and unhappily they find among ignorant and credulous people only too many who follow their leaders like a flock of sheep.

    (b) In addition to the heresies assailing the Church from without, there is another no less deadly foe, that carries on his evil work within her very bosom. This is the spirit of worldliness, whichever since the time of St John has been like a venomous serpent trying to undo the work of God. This spirit is one of pride, avarice, and sensuality, and many Catholics who have become infected with it grow indifferent to the doctrines, commandments and practice of our holy religion. Their hearts, contaminated with this worldly spirit, seem almost incapable of aiming at anything higher thaik the gratification of their own selfishness and sensual desires.  They look upon life as an amusement, and think of nothing but how to derive the most enjoyment from it; fancies, and on the other hand, they fear and depreciate all that runs counter to these faincies.

Can we wonder that such people care very little about the Church, which incessantly impresses upon the minds of her children the fact that life is a serious matter and that death and immortality are inevitable? The Church insists upon humble faith and apposes private judgment; by her strict moral teaching she condemns lives of sinful frivolity, and puts definite restraints upon the audacity of men's minds, the insolence of their hearts and the corruption of their morals, saying sternly! "Thus far and no further." With aching heart she calls upon her unruly children and implores God; but only too often they are deaf to her entreaties, and openly go over to the camp of the enemies, with whom they unite in assailing their Mother the Church. Is not this literally true? Are there not many who have given up going to church, and who for years have not received the Sacraments? Are there not many in public life who are ashamed of their religion, and if they do not actually join in ridiculing it, at least utter no word in its defense? Are there not many whose evil, godless mode of life brings shame and dishonor upon the Church? Are there not many who have publicly renounced her and joined the ranks of her enemies?

It is true that at the present time the Church is in a precarious position; as in the past she is still misjudged, calumniated, falsely accused and persecuted. The Bride of Christ encounters opposition on all sides, and the Cross which she sets up above each of her buildings is still to the Jews a stumbling-block, to the heathen folly, and to unbelievers an object of ridicule and scorn. Her members still experience the lot foretold by our Saviour to His disciples when He said: "Behold, I send you as lambs among wolves." "You shall be hated by all nations for My Name's sake." "They will put you out of the synagogues: yea, the hour cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doth a service to God." It is no longer with fire and sword that men attack the Church; no longer do hordes of barbarians threaten to overwhelm her; no longer are schisms the only evil devastating Christianity; the standard of Antichrist has been raised and acclaimed in our day, and there is a countless host of men, calling themselves Christians, who rally round this standard in order to oppose their own mother. There are deadly weapons employed to spread abroad indifference, worldliness, unbelief and godlessness. We have indeed great reason for anxiety, and it is a disgrace when the Church is in peril for any Christian to look on with indifference, and not lift a hand to defend her. We may well fear for ourselves; for our intellect, that it may not be led astray; for our heart, that it may not be deceived; for our courage, that it may not fail; for our constancy, that it may not waver; and for our crown, that it be not lost. But for the Church we have no right to fear. In spite of all perils we must not feel alarm on her account, but cherish the fairest hopes, as I am about to show you.

    2. Although, as I have said, the Church is at the present day in a dangerous position; we need not fear for her, but we ought to look forward with hope and confidence to her increasing growth and prosperity. We are justified in so doing because hitherto she has invariably come forth triumphant from the worst persecutions and struggles, and so the most violent attacks upon her have only served to multiply her victories. The position in which she now stands is nothing new to her; she was in worse plight when pagans raged against her children with fire and sword, inflicting indescribable tortures and slaying thousands for their faith. She was in worse plight when heretics, in league with the secular power, tried by violence to rob her of her members. She was in worse plight in the 16th century, when millions fell away and rebelled against her, causing a terrible war that raged for thirty years, and brought unspeakable misery upon Europe. The Church was founded at the foot of the Cross, persecutions could not check her growth or dim her glory, and the holy age when the martyrs shed their blood and the Church groaned under the oppression of cruel tyrants, was nevertheless the period of her greatness and triumph. The blood of martyrs was the seed whence fresh converts sprang, and persecutions aroused the sluggish and indifferent from their inactivity, steeled their courage and kindled the sacred fire of zeal for and loyalty to the faith. If the Church is robbed of many of her children in one country, others are born to her elsewhere, who console her for the losses she has suffered. In spite of incessant persecutions the Church of Christ, so small at the first Pentecost that one room in Jerusalem contained all her members, now numbers about 300,000,000, spread over the whole world. How, then, is it possible to be anxious as to her future? Although, as the prophet says (Ps. ii, 2) : "The kings of the earth stood up and the princess met together, against the Lord and against his Christ," He frustrates all their plans. A host of enemies may assail the Church, but she will never perish, for with her is He to whom all power is given in heaven and on earth. The devils in hell may employ all their cunning and all their weapons against her, but she will not be overthrown, because "she is built upon a rock, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against her." Christ founded her at a time when everything was against her; He caused her to grow and increase, when circumstances seemed utterly opposed to her progress; He has preserved her for nineteen centuries, and whilst empires and kingdoms have risen and fallen, she has remained unchanged; surely He will keep her safe and protect her from the dangers now threatening her. He is bound to do so, for He said: "Behold, I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world." Heaven and earth may pass away, but His Word will not pass away.

The coming of the happy time when, in accordance with our Saviour's promise, there shall be one fold and one shepherd, is continually drawing nearer, so many are the converts to Catholicism in all countries. And who are these converts? Are they people devoid of faith, intelligence, fear of God and virtue, as are most of those, who in the last few years have left the Church? No, they are the best and noblest of the nation, men who, after spending years in study, have arrived at the conviction that the Catholic Church is the true Church of Christ. And why have they forsaken the Church to which they belonged? Many who leave the Catholic Church do so in order to be free from restraints upon their passions, or to draw attention to themselves and gain credit for being men of intellect. Is this the case with converts to the Church? Or do they expect to derive any prestige from joining her? No, indeed; they are well aware that the laws of the Catholic Church are far stricter than those of any other religious body, and they know that their conversion will bring upon them hatred, ridicule and contempt, and, if they have hitherto been ministers or teachers, they have to sacrifice their position and income. Nevertheless they come into the Church, renouncing all that the world can offer them, impelled of course primarily by God's grace, but also by their love of truth, the force of their conviction and desire to save their souls. They prefer to lose wealth and honor rather than to imperil their salvation; they choose to be objects of contempt and ridicule to men rather than to be abandoned by God; they think it better to reduce themselves and their families to poverty, than to live in luxury and suffer the loss of their souls.

When men such as I have described, occupying prominent positions, are received into the Catholic Church, she feels such intense joy that it consoles her in her sorrow over the apostasy and indifference of others, and justifies her hope that their example may induce many more to follow them.

During the last few years a new and vigorous spirit has pervaded the Church, heralding the coming of a second spring. The attacks Upon the Church have certainly caused some unworthy sheep to quit the fold, but they have also aroused many who were indifferent, and recalled to their allegiance many who were wayward. Many waverers have been confirmed in their faith and many lifeless members have been quickened to that fresh life, which makes itself felt in the Church and gives rise to fair hopes for the future. Moreover, many associations have recently been formed, having as their aim the religious education of children, the promotion of religion among girls and boys, men and women, the publication and circulation of good books, the support of missions, the erection of churches and the maintenance of priests and teachers in districts where Catholics are few, and without priest, church or school. The existence of such associations augurs well for the future.

Another circumstance that may well make us hopeful for the Church and very thankful to God, is that the Holy Ghost has given the Church, in the person of Benedict XV, a sovereign pontiff uniting in himself many most excellent qualities, and capable of coping with all the demands made upon him. Let us offer our homage to him, the supreme ruler and head of the Church! May God destroy his enemies and crown with success his noble efforts for the welfare of the nations and of holy Church! May He hear the prayer that rises daily from the hearts of millions of Catholics all over the world, imploring God to grant happiness to the Pope and growth and prosperity to the Church!

There is then good reason even at the present time for being hopeful, and our hopes will not be shattered, if only we stand firm with unwavering faith, and in loyal obedience to God and His Church, and if we persevere in earnest, fervent prayer.

Let us with heart and voice echo the following beautiful words, uttered by a great man (Ventura) in his enthusiasm for the faith: "O holy Roman Church, Mother of Churches and of all the faithful, and chosen by God to unite all His children in the same faith and the same charity; we will ever maintain thy unity from the very depths of our souls. If ever I forget thee, O holy Roman Church, may I forget myself, may my tongue wither and cleave to my mouth, if I think not first of thee, exult not in thee, and regard it not as my chief glory to be thy child. Hail, holy Church, great mother of us all! At our entrance into the world thou welcomest us, thou upholdest us in this vale of tears, where we are exiles from our true home, and thou keepest us in safety. May none of us ever be so unhappy as to forsake or scorn thee, espedaily at this time when many of our brethren, once cut off by heresy from thee and us, are stretching out their hands to the see of Peter, and coming to thee, who wast of old their mother, and who, despite their errors, hast not ceased to call them back. O tender mother, open thine arms and receive thy wayward children, returning from the paths of error to cast themselves at thy feet, may thy prayers, thy power and thy strength hasten the ardently desired moment, when for all Christians there shall be but one fold and one Shepherd!" ,

May that happy day soon dawn which shall bring back faith, peace and religious and political unity to all the world. We can hasten its coming, by the steadfastness of our faith, by our spirit of union and obedience, by the fervor of our prayers and the purity of our lives, so that at last we may see the fulfilment of our Saviour's promise: "Other sheep I have, that are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one Shepherd" (John x, 16). Amen.

We are told so little of him, and yet we seem to know so much. We are told nothing of his birth, nothing of his death, and nothing, except by inference, of his life at Nazareth. But then we know his office, and we know that God endows a man according to his rank, and that as St. Joseph was chosen Guardian Spouse of Mary Immaculate, foster-father to Jesus the Son of God, he must be privileged above all other mortals.

A lily of purity was St. Joseph because he had to guard the Virgin Mother and the Spotless One; the most prudent of councillors, for he had the secrets of the Most High in his keeping; the most tender of fathers, for he had to foster the Babe of Bethlehem, feed Him, and guard Him and hide Him; the most Godlike of workmen, for he had to teach the Divine Boy. All this was St. Joseph, Carpenter of Nazareth.

Must we not look to him in our striving after holy purity, to him when oppressed with care, to him when the trials of life weigh us down, to him—Father—when our hearts are sore? Will not the remembrance of the little arms once twined round his neck, the little hands held in his with loving confidence, rouse us to confidence and love!

If there were only space, how we could linger with these holy three, how we would learn from them, be rested by them, and enjoy their company. They would never be tiresome nor tedious, nor selfish. Why do we not oftener turn our eyes upward and pick out one or other heavenly companion and live with them not in imagination, but in very truth? It only wants an effort; let us try to make the effort.

Source: Manual of the Holy Catholic Church, Imprimatur 1906

Saint Patrick's own Lorica (or Breastplate), also called The Cry of the Deer (in Irish, Fáed Fíada) is written in Irish and Latin; there are variations aplenty.

A few have the line referring to Jordan although there seems to be no such original reference (whatever 'original' may be).

The Old (all right an old) tradition has it, that Saint Patrick and his companion missionaries were to travel to the court of King Laoghhaire. Along the way, waiting in ambush, were druid or druid henchmen who intended to attack and kill Saint Patrick and all his followers.

As Patrick and his companions walked, they chanted the Lorica. When they passed the would-be attackers, they appeared as a doe and twenty fawns - hence the title.

Did Saint Patrick actually write the Lorica? There, apparently, is no way for us to know - definitively. As Thomas Cahill so well puts it "Characteristics of the language would assign it to the seventh, or even to the eighth, century. On the other hand, it is Patrician1 to the core...The earliest expression of European vernacular poetry, it is, in attitude, the work of a Christian druid, a man of both faith and magic."
                                                                          1Cahill means 'of, or related to, Saint Patrick'.

So, decide for yourself. We think Cahill guides us well when he says: "If Patrick did not write it (at least in its current form), it surely takes its inspiration from him."

              An Ancient Irish Litany to the Holy Mother of God                                          (Translated from the Irish of the Eighth Century.)
His HOLINESS Pius IX., of Blessed Memory, granted a special indulgence
to all the Faithful of Ireland who devoutly recited it.
With the Approbation of His Eminence McCloskey, 1880

This Litany dates back to the middle of the eighth century.

O Great Mary,
Pray for us. *
O Mary, the greatest of Mary’s, *
O Most exalted among women, *
Queen of the Angels, *
Empress of the Heavens, *
Woman replete and overflowing with the grace of the Holy Ghost, *
Blessed and thrice Blessed, *
Mother of eternal glory, *
Mother of the heavenly and earthly Church, *
Mother of love and mercy, *
Mother of the golden effulgence, *
Honour of the sky, *
Harbinger of peace, *
Gate of Heaven, *
Golden Ark, *
Couch of charity and indulgence, *
Shrine of the Divinity, *
Beauty of the Virgins, *
Lady-Chief of the tribes, *
Fountain of the gardens, *
Cleansing of sins, *
Purifying of souls, *
Mother of the orphans, *
Refuge of the poor, *
Star of the sea, *
Handmaid of God, *
Mother of Christ, *
Abode of the Godhead, *
Graceful as the dove, *
Serene like the moon, *
Resplendent like the sun, *
Thou who dost cancel Eve's disgrace, *
Perfection of women, *
Head of the Virgins, *
Garden enclosed, *
Fountain ever-refreshing, *
Mother of God, *
Perpetual Virgin, *
Holy Virgin, *
Prudent Virgin, *
Comely Virgin, *
Chaste Virgin, *
Temple of the Living God, *
Royal Throne of the Eternal King, *
Sanctuary of the Holy Ghost, *
Virgin of the root of Jesse, *
Cedar of Mount Lebanon, *
Cypress of Mount Sion, *
Crimson rose of the land of Jacob, *
Blooming like the palm, *
Fruitful like the olive, *
Glorious son bearer, *
Light of Nazareth, *
Glory of Jerusalem, *
Beauty of the world, *
Noblest born of the Christian fold, *
O Queen of life, *
O Ladder of Heaven, *



Hear the petition of the poor; spurn not the wounds and the groans of the miserable.

Let our devotion and our sighs be carried through thee to the presence of the Creator, for we are not ourselves worthy of being heard because of our evil deserts.

O powerful Queen of heaven and earth, wipe out our trespasses and our sins.

Cancel our wickedness and depravity.

Raise the fallen, the miserable, and the fettered. Loose the condemned. Repair through thyself the faults of our unworthiness and our iniquity. Bestow upon us through, thyself the brightness and ornaments of good actions and virtues. Appease for us the Judge by thy prayers and thy supplications. Allow us not, for mercy sake, to be carried off from thee among the spoils of our enemies. Allow not our souls to be condemned, but take us to thyself for ever under thy protection.

We, moreover, beseech and pray thee, O Holy Mary, to obtain, through thy great power with thy only Son, that is, with Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, that He may guard us from all dangers and temptations. Obtain also for us from the God of all creatures, the forgiveness and remission of all our sins and trespasses; and may we receive from Him further, through thy intercession, the everlasting dwelling in the heavenly kingdom, through all eternity, in the presence of the saints and the saintly virgins of the world: which may we deserve, may we enjoy, in saecula seculorum. Amen.

Hymn to St. Patrick

All praise to Saint Patrick, who brought to our mountains
The gift of God's faith, the sweet light of His love!
All praise to the shepherd who showed us the fountains
That rise in the heart of the Savior above!
For hundreds of years, in smiles and in tears,
Our Saint has been with us, our shield and our stay;
All else may have gone, Saint Patrick alone,
He hath been to us light when earth's lights were all set,
For the glories of Faith they can never decay;
And the best of our glories is bright with us yet,
In the faith and the feast of Saint Patrick's Day.


There is not a Saint in the bright courts of heaven;
More faithful than he to the land of his choice;
Oh, well may the nation to whom he was given,
In the feast of their sire and apostle rejoice!
In glory above, true to his love,
He keeps the false faith from his children away:
The dark false faith, that is worse than death,
Oh! he drives it far off from the green sunny shore,
Like the reptiles which fled from his curse in dismay;
And Erin, when error's proud triumph is o'er,
Will still be found keeping Saint Patrick's Day.


Then what shall we do for thee, heaven-sent Father?
What shall the proof of our loyalty be?
By all that is dear to our hearts, we would rather
Be martyred, sweet Saint! than bring shame upon thee!
But oh! he will take the promise we make,
So to live that our lives by God's help may display
The light that he bore to Erin's shore:
Yes, Father of Ireland! no child wilt thou own,
Whose life is not lighted by grace on its way;
For they are true Irish, oh yes! they alone,
Whose hearts are all true on Saint Patrick's Day.

 

Walk worthy of God, in all things pleasing; being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God.-—Col. i, 10.

There are many people who are quite ready to admit that religion is indispensable, who even declare it to be of the utmost importance to man, and who are willing to accept the Christian revelation, at least in as far as it contains exalted moral teaching, but they maintain that Christianity and the Church ought to move with the times and adapt themselves to the spirit of the age. They say that everything is in a constant state of evolution and progress, and that consequently our religious principles need to be refined and perfected; that what is accepted by a child, is unsuitable for a full-grown man, and so on. It is of course true that in no age has so much been done as in the present to add to the comfort, charm and refinement of life and to develop trade and industry; great and beneficial discoveries are continually being made, and never before have men penetrated so deeply into the secrets of nature; never have the arts and sciences reached a higher pitch of perfection; never has education been more universal or civil liberty more complete. It is not therefore at first sight unreasonable to demand that religion should keep pace with this general progress. There are many who share this opinion, and they tell us frankly what they want. They say that the Church ought to conform to the feelings of the age, and abandon doctrines that are not universally acceptable, such as those of the ecclesiastical hierarchy, the One infallible Church, the Sacrament of Penance, and the real
presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist. Moreover, she ought not to insist so much upon morality, and would do well to give up ordering men to be chaste, humble, obedient and just, since each individual ought to be free to act as he thinks best or in accordance with the customs of the age. This is one of the many demands made by the children of this world, and, in making it, they believe themselves to be demanding only what is just. What should we, as Christians, think on the subject? Is it the duty of the Church to advance like everything else, and adapt herself to the spirit of the times? This is the question that I intend to discuss to-day.

The answer may be given at once—it is simply "No;
    (1) the Church can not and must not participate in the general advance, but
    (2) it is our duty to increase in our knowledge of Christian truth and in the practice of              Christian virtues."

1. Before proving the truth of my assertion that the Church can not advance with the times, I must, in order to avert misunderstandings, point out that we have here to distinguish between essentials and non-essentials. As non-essentials we may regard variations in the outward forms of worship, in prayers, hymns, external customs and arrangements, and in Church discipline as a whole. These things can of course be modified and ordered in accordance with the circumstances of time, place and individuals; for what once tended to edification may now have a contrary effect, and what once was unnecessary may now be of great importance. The external discipline of the Church has therefore always been liable to modification. For instance, the last day of the week used to be observed as the Lord's day, but now we observe the first day; formerly Holy Communion was celebrated in connection with so called love feasts, at which the poor were entertained by the rich, but in course of time these feasts were abolished. These things are non-essentials, and as such are subject to change and modification, not of course effected arbitrarily at the caprice of individuals, but by the governing authorities in the Church.

It is quite otherwise with doctrines regarding faith and morals, which are essential and unalterable! The Church's teaching on faith and morals consists of truths that had their origin in God, who is truth itself, and who can neither err nor be deceived, and not in the brain of any frail human being, prone to error and deception! The opinions and devices of men are subject to change and amendment, but what comes from God, is, like God Himself, perfect and unchanging. An edifice, reared today by one man, may tomorrow be overthrown by another, but the building that God erects Is founded upon a rock, and is able to defy all the storms and changes of time. ~~

The Church derives her teaching from the everlasting source, and it is the teaching of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was sent to preach the Gospel to the poor, and to make known the perfect law of God. He said: "My doctrine is not Mine, but His that sent Me; if any man will do the will of Him (the Father), he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of Myself (John vii, 16-17). Our Lord and His Apostles proclaimed this doctrine, not as a matter of opinion, but as Divine truth. "I give you to understand," says St. Paul, "that the Gospel which was preached by me is not according to man, for neither did I receive it of man, nor did I learn it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ" (Gal. i, 11-12). If, then, the Church's teaching on faith and morals is derived from God Himself, this Divine revelation can not possibly admit of any improvement. God is truth, and can not wish to deceive mankind, and the truth made known by Him is as unchanging as He is Himself. Supposing that the Catholic teaching or faith and morals were subject to change, would not God have given us a mere imperfect fragment, and have plunged us into an ocean of doubts and difficulties? And should we not in that case have to acknowledge that Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, "yesterday and to-day and the same for ever," and also the Holy Ghost had taught us in an imperfect and fallible  manner? Even to think of such a thing as possible is blasphemy.

God has at all times desired men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. It was for this reason that He sent His only-begotten Son into the world, and for the same reason that Christ after His ascension sent the Holy Ghost to teach truth and establish an infallible Church, with which He and the Holy Ghost were to abide until the end of the world, to teach her all truth and to guard her from all error and corruption. This Church is empowered to preserve and proclaim the living word of God, and she is bound to hand it on in all its purity, integrity and truth, just as she received it from above; it is her mission faithfully to make known on earth what she has received from heaven, and therefore she labors incessantly to sow the Divine word of truth on the earth, which is God's field; this is the seed that she distributes with loving zeal to all generations of men.

Is it conceivable that any mere man could improve the utterances of God, and reduce religion to a matter of private judgment? Before a man could do this he would have to share God's counsels, and see what is hidden in God; he would have to fathom the depths of the Godhead, and possess an intellect more vast and penetrating than that of God Himself, for otherwise he could never improve what proceeds from God. It is only possible to improve a thing if we are cleverer than the person who made it. Now look, I beg you, at the people who say that religion ought to be adapted to the spirit of the age, and progress with it. Can you imagine them to be capable of improving and perfecting the works of God? Are they not all weak, powerless, shortsighted and prone to error and deception, like all other human beings? How could proud, sensual, fickle and deluded mortals be in a position to alter arbitrarily the truths of faith and adapt them to the spirit of the age? A man's religion is the dearest and most sacred of his possessions, and can it be at the mercy of the prevalent love of change and innovation? No, the Church can never adapt herself to the spirit of the age, for what is that spirit? It is a spirit of pride and falsehood, a spirit that denies and contradicts the truths revealed by God, a spirit of disobedience, license and frivolity; it is, in short, the spirit of the devil, the prince of this world and the enemy of God and holy Church. How could religion adapt itself to such a spirit as this? No, it is impossible, for religion is, like God, eternal and unchanging, and, as our Lord said, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away;" "it is easier for heaven  and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail." St. Paul, too, says: "God is faithful, for our preaching which was to you was not "It is" and "It is not." The Apostle means that he did not today proclaim as true what tomorrow he would have to deny, for such a proceeding could only give rise to fresh anxieties, since every one would fear that what had been asserted, might be retracted. St. Paul even goes so far as to curse any who dare to tamper with the truths of Christianity. "Though we, or an angel from heaven, preach a Gospel to you besides that which we have preached to you, let him be anathema" (Gal, i, 8).

It seems as if men who have cut themselves off from Catholicism and fashioned for themselves a religion in accordance with the spirit of the age were destined never to prosper. Every religious sect that has abandoned the Catholic Church has lapsed into error and split up. What one man accepts as true, another rejects as false; what one believes, another condemns, until finally there is nothing left of the truths of Christianity. If the founders of the various sects could be restored to life, they would be astonished to see how little of their doctrine is still retained by those professing to be their followers. It is a lot common to all human institutions to be liable to continual change and alteration, whereas what is Divine is eternal and unchanging, like God Himself.

This truth was boldly proclaimed by Pope Gregory XVI, when the Emperor Nicholas of Russia came to Rome and demanded that he should sanction what had been done in Russia against the Catholics. The valiant old man replied: " In your country laws made by men can be altered, precisely because they were made by men, but the Divine laws of the Church are unalterable."
The teaching of the Church on matters of faith and morals can not be altered like a garment, to suit the prevailing fashion. Men can neither add to nor take away from the truth of our faith, and even the Pope, the visible head of the Church, is powerless to effect any modification. What the Apostles taught is taught at the present day and will be taught to the end of the world, and we have the strongest possible proof of the truth and Divine origin of our religion in the fact that the Church has withstood so many attacks and still stands firm, although storms rage on all sides, and everything else seems tottering to ruins.

We may say fearlessly and with full confidence that, when the passion for change and progress has destroyed all permanence, the Catholic Church will still be strong and vigorous; it will be to her that anxious souls will have recourse amidst the disasters threatening them, and she will be the sole fountain of truth and salvation, whither they will hasten to quench their thirst.

Do not be misled, therefore, by the specious arguments used by the so-called progressives and especially by the socialists. They wish to deceive you and to throw dust in your eyes, so that you may not detect their evil designs. What they really aim at is to ruin all existing order, to turn everything upside down, and then, profiting by the downfall of others, to raise themselves to supremacy. This will be possible, however, only if men lose all hold upon religion, which is so great a stumbling block to their designs that they are doing their utmost to bring it into contempt or disrepute. With this end in view they clamor for the modification or rejection of the Church's teaching on faith and morals, and
for a religion suited to the age, so that finally there may be nothing left except what each man can accept or reject at will. But, as I have shown, there is and can be no progress possible in the teaching of the Catholic Church on faith and morals, because it proceeds from God, the everlasting Truth, and is therefore, like Him, perfect and unchanging.

The Church does not, however, fail to appreciate progress in art and science, but tries to avail herself of it, and in this sense it is possible to say that she moves with the times. She makes use of the achievements of art and science in defending and promulgating the truths of faith, in public worship and in every case where she sees that they can benefit the faithful. But she does not and can not surrender the ancient truth; she may, in accordance with the needs of society and individuals, clothe it in a new and more beautiful garment, to which art and science contribute their part, and she thus obeys the rule laid down by our Saviour for the preachers of the Gospel, who were to bring forth out of their treasure new things and old, and become all things to all men, in order to bring light and salvation to all.

You see, then, that the teaching of the Church on faith and morals can not make progress, but it behooves us to go forward and increase in the knowledge of the truths of Christianity and in the practice of virtue.

    2. (a) It is our duty to increase in knowledge of the truths of Christianity. In my first sermon I showed you that no art or science could be compared in importance with the knowledge of Divine and heavenly things, and you can easily understand that a man can not strive after anything more worthy, more necessary and more profitable than after a more perfect knowledge of the truth. Truth is the greatest and noblest possession that we enjoy in this life. Solomon valued it far above wealth, and deemed it worthy of all his endeavors. " I wished," he writes, "and understanding was given me, and I called upon God, and the spirit of wisdom came upon me. And I preferred her before kingdoms and thrones, and esteemed riches nothing in comparison of her. Neither did I compare unto her any precious stone, for all gold and comparison of her is as a little sand, and silver in respect to her shall be counted as clay. I loved her above health and beauty and chose to have her instead of light, for her light can not be put out"
(Wisd. vii, 7-10).

You see how highly Solomon valued the truth, and how earnestly he strove to attain to it, setting us all an example that we should follow. As children you were trained in the truths of Christianity, but knowledge acquired in childhood is inevitably imperfect, and you have probably forgotten a good deal of what you then learned. You have good reason to exert yourselves and to make up for lost time by supplying deficiencies in your knowledge and increasing it. Our Saviour and the Apostles all insisted that this was needful. In almost every one of the epistles the faithful are urged to grow in the knowledge of Christ and of His doctrine, to search the Scriptures and try to understand them, so as to be able to give to every man a reason for their faith and hope. Are you exempt from this obligation? You advance day by day in your business or trade; as soon as any fresh discovery, bearing upon it, is made, you are eager to learn all about it. If, then, you are so anxious to advance in worldly matters, ought you not to show equal zeal in increasing in the knowledge of Divine truth? "What shall it profit a man," exclaimed our Saviour, "if he gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of his soul?" (Mark viii, 36).

Many people at the present day are trying to falsify and misrepresent the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and therefore we are more than ever bound to possess a thorough knowledge of the truths of Christianity, and every one who cares for religion and the salvation of his soul ought to aim at increasing this knowledge. Whoever does not thus advance is slipping back into indifference or unbelief. There is no lack of evidence proving this to be the case. We know that many make shipwreck of their faith, and become indifferent to it if not absolute infidels, ridiculing and despising religion; many, too, join the ranks of the socialists simply because they were satisfied with the meagre amount of religious knowledge that they learned as children, and not only failed to preserve it, but made no attempt to renew and increase it. Being insufficiently instructed in the truths of faith, they could not defend it, and were unable to solve difficulties when they arose, or to refute the arguments of unbelievers and to repel their attacks, and thus finally, for want of knowledge, many have fallen victims to unbelief or indifference.

It is most important for you to strive to increase your knowledge of the doctrines of Christianity, that you may be able to resist in the evil day . . . taking the shield of faith, wherewith you may be able to extinguish all the fiery darts of the most wicked one, . . . and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (Eph. v i) . No one nowadays has any excuse for remaining ignorant. The word of God is preached every Sunday, everyone can read and there is no lack of good books.

It behooves you, as Christians, to avail yourselves of your opportunities, to listen to sermons and instructions, doing your best to impress what you hear upon your memory. You ought to read good books, if you have time, and you all have time on Sundays and holidays, letting prayer accompany your reading, and liking God to give you understanding and wisdom. "If any of you want wisdom,? says St. James, "let him ask of God, who giveth to all men abundantly and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him" (James i , 5).

    (b) Faith requires us to advance also in the practice of virtue. St. Paul, in writing to the Thessalonians, says: "We pray and beseech you, brethren, in the Lord Jesus, that as you have received of , us, how you ought to walk, and to please God, so also you would walk, that you may abound the more. . . . For this is the will of God, your sanctification" ( I . Thess. i w , 1, 3). We have here indeed unlimited scope for advancement! It is our duty continually to become more perfect and more holy, in order that we may grow more like God, our great Example. This is the great aim of our existence, and no form of progress in the whole world can be more rich in blessings and rewards than progress in what is good. "He that hath looked into the perfect law of liberty, and hath continued therein, not becoming a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed" (James i , 35). But on the other hand, he who does not advance in keeping the Commandments, in virtue and in perfection, must inevitably fall back into sin and destruction. "No man putting his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." "Be ye therefore perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect." "If thou wilt enter into life, keep the Commandments."

How few there are who advance in goodness! Many think that everything in the world is wrong, and are willing to criticize and improve everything except themselves. They always look at others, never at themselves, and expect happiness and salvation from without and not from within; they talk of reforms and improvements, but they never reform or improve themselves. For this reason they are on bad terms with themselves, with their own conscience and with God Himself, and transfer their inward discontent to the world around them, with which they never seem to cease to find fault. Let us be on our guard against becoming people of this sort. If we want to improve others, let us begin by improving ourselves. If we desire others to make progress, let us lead the way by keeping the Commandments and increasing in virtue and perfection; let us "follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see God" (Heb. xii, 14).

I have shown you wherein, true progress consists. Let the children of this world persist in their quest of vain and fleeting things, and if they try to ensnare you by their specious arguments and seek to make you follow their example and adapt your religious principles to their views, say, like St. Peter: "Lord, we will never forsake Thee"  we will hold fast to Thine eternal, unchanging truth, "to whom should we go ? Thou hast the words of everlasting life."

Like Mary Magdalen sit at our Lord's feet, listening to His words, and, like our Lady, keeping them in your hearts, that they may be your guide, and that you may conform with ever greater perfection to His doctrine. The true sort of progress, which will make a man happy at the last, is to gain a thorough knowledge of one's religion, to make it a guide amidst the darkness of the world, to advance daily on the path of virtue, to win fresh victories daily over the world, the flesh and the devil, and to be able to say with St. Paul: "Now I live, yet not I , but Christ liveth in me." If you make it your aim to live thus, increasing in righteousness of life, I have no fear of your falling into the hands of the socialists, and you will be able to fulfil the law of charity, by instructing and warning others, so as to prevent their joining this party and so making shipwreck of their faith and of their temporal and eternal happiness.

Well for you, if you resolve during Lent that this shall be your aim! Well for you, if you grow in the knowledge of the truth, as you will do, if you avail yourselves of the opportunities offered you so abundantly in the Lenten sermons! Well for you, if you advance in self-denial and mortification, in prayer and penance, in virtue and holiness! You will be more and more convinced that the Catholic Church has no need to fear the light and to advance with the times, because she is already in full possession of the truth, and, if you search for them, you will daily discover fresh beauties in her. In the acceptance and practice of her doctrines you will find peace that the world can neither give nor destroy, and you will at last attain to that happiness which is promised to all who believe in and love our Lord, Amen.

"Beware lest any man cheat you by philosophy and vain deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the elements of the world, and not according to Christ, for in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead corporally"—Col. ii, 8, 9.

The Christian community at Colossa had been founded by Epaphras, one of St. Paul's disciples, but false teachers soon arose, who attempted to mislead the Christians. Like the socialists of the present day, they maintained that no one ought in his religious opinions or in his life to be influenced by the Divine revelation of Christianity, but by the dictates of human reason or by philosophy. St Paul was at this time undergoing his first imprisonment in Rome, and, on hearing the state of affairs at Colossa, he determined to write to the Colossians, to warn them most emphatically against these false doctrines. I have taken as my text one of the many beautiful and vigorous passages contained in this epistle: "Beware lest any man cheat you by philosophy and vain deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the elements of the world, and not according to Christ; for in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead corporally." That is to say: Beware of human wisdom that is not concerned with revealed truth, for human wisdom is vain, with no firm basis, and revelation comprises i n itself all truth. Human wisdom is deceptive, resulting in error and falsehood more often than in truth, depending upon the judgments of men liable to error, and still at the stage where they need to be instructed like children in the fundamental teaching of religion, whereas this is no longer seemly, now that the world has come to maturity and has been enlightened by Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

The words addressed by the Apostle to the Colossians are equally applicable to you. There are amongst men many who declare that there is no need for a Divine revelation, since the reason of each individual tells him what to believe and what to reject, what to do and what to avoid. They openly say that the doctrines taught by Christ were suited only to the childhood of the human race, and now, when men have attained to self-consciousness and have reached a higher stage of civilization and education, these doctrines ought to be superseded by the light of reason; religion is a matter for the individual in his private life, and churches and public worship are altogether superfluous. It may seem to you strange and incomprehensible that after 1900 years of Christianity there should still be people who refuse to admit its authority, and yet such is the case. You have only to look at one of the works written by modern unbelievers or to come in contact with these men in everyday life, and you will soon find that statements, such as I have mentioned, are made quite openly. They are put forward even from the pulpit in many churches professing to be Christian, though not Catholic, and this, too, is one of the signs of the times, to which I must draw your attention. Today I wish to discuss (1) the weakness and untrustworthiness of human reason, and (2) the benefits of Christian revelation. Let us begin by invoking the assistance of the Holy Spirit of God.

1. Human reason is a precious gift bestowed on us by God, and we can not be thankful enough for it . By its aid men have accomplished many great, glorious and admirable works; the most useful inventions, the most exquisite works of art, the treasures of science and learning and the innumerable things that contribute so much to the comfort, welfare and prosperity of mankind are all the result of human reason. It can reach up and calculate the magnitude, course and distance of the stars in heaven, and it can also descend into the depths and investigate the hidden secrets of the earth. It can control the waters of the ocean and subjugate the forces of lightning, steam and wind. It searches out the cause and action of things, and makes all creation serviceable to men.

Yet, however great may be the achievements of human reason, we must beware of idolizing it and of shutting our eyes to its limitations. There are indeed many things which it is capable of investigating and establishing, but there are still more which it is powerless to examine or test. As soon as reason passes from what is earthly and finite to what is eternal and Divine, its strength fails, its insight is obscured, its judgment is shaken, and it becomes involved in a web of difficulties that it can not solve. Man is finite and unable to know fully the Infinite God, who dwells in unapproachable splendor. The vast, inexplicable, all-embracing Being, who first created, and still preserves and governs the world, is invisible to our eyes, intangible to our hands; none of our senses can perceive Him. We see His works, but He who designed them remains hidden from us. That there is a God is made known by our reason, felt by our heart, acknowledged by our conscience and proclaimed by all the wonders of the universe. "Ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee, and the birds of the air, and they shall tell thee; speak to the earth, and it shall answer thee, and the fishes of the sea shall tell. Who is ignorant that the hand of the Lord hath made all these things?" (Job xll, 7-9). "That which is known of God is manifest in them, for God hath manifested it unto them," says St. Paul, "for the invisible things of Him, from the creation of the world, are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, His eternal power also and Divinity, so that they are inexcusable" (Rom. i , 19, 20). "Only the fool hath said in his heart: There is no God.'"

If, however, we go further and try to find out what God is, where He dwells, why He created us and in what relation we stand towards Him, reason either is silent or suggests only hypotheses. King Croesus once asked the famous philosopher, Thales, what the Deity was. Thales begged for a day in which to consider the matter. At the end of that time Croesus repeated his question, and Thales asked for a further delay of two days. When these were over, and the same question was again propounded to him, he begged for four days, then for eight, then for sixteen, and so on. At last the king; grew impatient and wanted to know why he thus delayed giving an answer, so Thales replied: "Marvel not, O great king, that I am so long in answering your question. It is too vast for my feeble intellect. The more I ask myself what God is, the more do I perceive my own inability to give an adequate answer. Fresh difficulties continually present themselves, and the further I carry my investigations, the greater becomes my lack of comprehension."

We have here an explicit acknowledgment, made by one of the greatest philosophers of antiquity, that human reason is too weak and powerless to probe the depths of the Godhead. Thales' words are in complete harmony with those of the prophet Isaias: "Verily thou art a hidden God, the God of Israel," and with St. Paul's exclamation: "How incomprehensible are His judgments and how unsearchable His ways! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? Or who hath been His counsellor?" (Rom. x i , 33, 34). You need only read the history of the human race to be convinced that the reason of man is weak, blind, untrustworthy and apt to make innumerable mistakes. Have not men at various times believed the most absurd and foolish things? The pagans worshipped not only sun, moon and stars, but also dead persons notorious for their outrageous vices, and Divine honors have been paid to brute beasts, and lifeless stones and images. The early Germans regarded the oak as a sacred tree and thought the rustling of its branches betokened the presence of some Deity. Men often fashioned for themselves gods of wood or stone, and i n their honor temples were built and altars set up, upon which not only animals, but even human beings were offered in sacrifice. Mothers often slew their children, hoping thus to appease the anger of some offended god. O, what terrible mistakes have been made by the intellect of man!

Not only individuals or isolated nations have blundered, but all the nations of antiquity went astray, with the exception of the Jews, and this state of error was not a passing phase, lasting a few years only, but it continued during 4,000 years, until the coming of Jesus Christ. Even the most highly civilized races, whose intellect had been very perfectly developed, fell into the most deplorable mistakes. As long as the world lasts the writings of the Greeks and Romans will be considered models of style, and it is a difficult matter for the most brilliant scholars at the present day even to approach them; they need not hope to surpass them. If, therefore, the human intellect was ever capable of evolving a rational religion, it must have been amongst these people. And yet their religion was a mass of folly and inconsistency, when it was not actually vicious. In proof of this statement, I need only remind you of the hundreds of gods whom they worshipped, whilst at the same time they ascribed the most shameful actions to these gods, or performed such actions in their honor.

There were, of course, amongst these pagans some wise men with greater insight, who perceived the absurdity of idolatry and abhorred the vices prevalent in their time, but they too often made mistakes, did not agree with one another, and were always in a state of uncertainty. The most enlightened among them realized their own ignorance, and those who were honest confessed that it was impossible for men to arrive at certainty and truth, unless God Himself spoke and instructed them. But some one may say that he is willing to grant Divinely given instruction to have been necessary for the ancients, who were still at a low stage of civilization, yet, at the present time, when everyone is enlightened and educated, such instruction can no longer be needed. In reply, let me ask whether the enlightened scholars of the present day can be compared with the Greeks and Romans. Is the human reason now less liable to error than it was 4,000 years ago? Is there less folly and senseless behavior now than there was of old? No one can read the history of our own times without seeing that even men of vigorous intellect often fall a prey to lamentable errors. The writings of modern philosophers show them to be involved in a bewildering confusion of opinions, and each one accuses the other of being mistaken, each is eager to demolish the other's theory, and no one is able to discover in his own intellect any firm foundation or certainty.

How could it be otherwise? Ever since Adam's fall there has been inherent in the human race a kind of corruption that paralyzes the faculties of our souls. Our understanding is clouded by sensuality, and borne down and thwarted by our passions and worldly interests, whenever it attempts to soar aloft, and to rise to the light of truth.

If our own reason fails us, whither can we turn for a certain trustworthy answer to all the questions suggested by our thirst for truth? Who can solve our difficulties and give peace to our hearts? Who can teach us to know God in His essence and perfections? Who can tell us whence evil originates, and how shall we be preserved from despondency and despair, when it weighs us down with its burden? Who can instruct us as to the reason of our creation and our final end? Is man, like the beasts, destined to toil and labor during his brief span of life simply in order to supply his bodily needs, and then, when at last he rests in the grave, is everything at an end for him? Have all his interests, joys, sorrows, memories and hopes perished with him? Who can assure us of the forgiveness of sins, when, like Cain, burdened with guilt, we wander in despair? Who can lift for us the dark veil separating this world from the next? We long for answers to these and many other questions; we want certainty, and if our own reason fails to supply it, how should that of other mortals give us what we desire? What man is infallible and free from the influence of his passions? No matter whither we turn, we must be afraid of falling into the hands of one who is either deceived or a deceiver. Those who trust the wise men of this world are themselves blind, at the mercy of blind guides; and we know that when one blind man leads another, both will probably fall into the pit. Where, then, can we find help? Where shall we discover an infallible teacher, able to dispel the darkness of our minds, to solve our difficulties, to support our weakness, and to answer those questions, which, as long as they remain unanswered, leave us no peace or happiness?

2. Bless the Lord, O ye people, and praise His mercy without end; He hath sent forth His spirit and renewed the face of the earth! He could not behold with indifference the countless errors of mankind, and none but God Himself was able to teach us aright what we ought to know about God and our relation to Him, since "the things which are of God no man knoweth, but the Spirit of God; no one knoweth the Father but the Son, and he to whom it shall please the Son to reveal Him." Consider how God first loved us, and gave us His only-begotten Son. The Word that in the beginning was with God, and that was God, was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory. He was the light of men, the light shining in the darkness, the true light, which enlightened every man that cometh into this world; and to as many as received Him, He gave power to be made the sons of God (John I ) . The darkness of ignorance was thenceforth removed, for the light, the Sun of Righteousness, had dispelled it; Jesus Christ, the Son of God, blessed for evermore, appeared upon earth, and all obscurity vanished when the Divine Master came down from heaven, speaking the truth and being Himself the way, the truth and the life. For three years He went up and down Judaea, teaching in the towns and villages, in the fields and on the sea, in synagogues and houses, wherever there were people willing to listen to Him. He sent His Apostles forth into all the world to preach the Gospel, the good tidings of the Kingdom of God, and He gave them at Pentecost the Holy Ghost to teach them the truth and to comfort, counsel and sanctify them, promising that He should remain with them and their successors to the end of the world. Christ founded the infallible Church, which, being guided, governed and protected by Him and the Holy Ghost, was to keep His doctrine pure and unalloyed for ever and make it known to men, as well as administer the Holy Sacraments, the channels of grace. This Church is, as St. Paul says, "the pillar and ground of the truth" ( I. Tim. iii , 15).

We can dispense with Moses and the prophets; we need not have recourse to philosophers and ask them to deliberate, to lay down hypotheses and deduce conclusions. We understand now the nature of God, for His voice has gone forth to the ends of the earth, and from His own lips we have learned all truth. It has been revealed to us that our soul is not liable to death, that our hopes do not perish when we die, that a better home than the grave awaits us. We are quite certain as to our destiny, and as to the ways and means of attaining it. We have no doubt regarding our fate, the value of our joys and the significance of our troubles. We now know more of God than our reason could tell us; we know Him as our Father, ready to guide, console and reward us; we know that Jesus Christ, His only-begotten Son, became Man, in order to redeem us and bring us to eternal happiness; we know whither to betake ourselves when our conscience is burdened with sin, and where to obtain pardon; we know that the Holy Ghost enlightens, comforts, strengthens and sanctifies us. A Christian possesses assurance and knowledge on the points where the wisdom of our ancestors so often went astray, and a Catholic child can tell us more about God and the destiny of man than the greatest of the Greek philosophers could have done.

Is it not true that "He that is mighty hath done great things to us?" and may we not apply to ourselves the words addressed by our Saviour to His disciples: "Blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear. For amen, I say to you, many prophets and just men have desired to see the things that you see, and have not seen them; and to hear the things that you hear, and have not heard them" (Matt, xiii, 16).

All these blessings are secured to us in the greatest abundance by Christianity, which you all profess, and which affords you so much happiness that it is impossible for you to understand what evil spirit can have taken possession of those who reject it , trample it under foot and venture to substitute for it their own reason as the sole teacher of truth and lawgiver. Christianity has for nearly 1900 years been extolled by countless millions as the light of the world, and regarded as the only anchor in time of tempest; it has stood firm, and proved its truth and Divine origin, in spite of all the attacks of scholars and the most cruel persecutions on the part of the world; and yet now men dare to assail her. I will tell you what impels them to do so. It is not that they are convinced that the doctrines of Christianity are untenable, for they have often no convictions of any kind, but it is pride that prevents them from obeying Christ, and it is sensuality, intolerant of the yoke that His Commandments would lay upon them.

    (a) Because the greatness and glory of Jesus Christ are offensive to their pride, they heap insults and scorn upon Him who for Igloo years has been the object of reverent worship of mankind, whose Cross they have embraced with love and veneration as their sole token of salvation and whose Name overshadows all human fame. As long as He is great, they are nothing; as long as He is the Teacher of the world, they, with all their boasted wisdom, are but pupils; as long as He rules the world they are His subjects, and this they refuse to be. They will not accept anything that they are required to believe, and so, setting up their own reason as supreme, they fall down and worship it . A man dominated by pride has no God but self, and hence the socialists maintain religion to be the private concern of the individual; hence, too, men boast nowadays of despising religion, and the denial and rejection of Christianity is considered the mark of an enlightened intellect. Any foolish, ignorant speaker can now win a cheap reputation by railing against what he calls the obscurantism and spiritual constraint and tyranny of the papacy. There is a certain pleasure in being known as a free-thinker, and many a person, who would otherwise never become in any way conspicuous, can not resist the temptation to win fame in this manner.

    (b) Self-indulgence and sensuality also cause men to rebel against the yoke of Christ. "Men," says St. Augustine, "love truths that attract, but they hate the truth that amends." Christianity is the truth that aims at amending mankind. People want to have and enjoy all that their unbridled fancy suggests, but Christianity interposes her veto, and condemns luxury, drunkenness, envy, avarice, fraud, guile and malice, in short it abominates all evil inclinations, habits and passions, all sins and vices, and praises those only who are pure in heart. The socialists and others like them can not endure this, for they wish to be left free to act and think as they choose. Hence they shut their eyes, lest they should see the light, and stop their ears, lest they should hear the precepts, warnings and threats of Christianity. When the voice of conscience is utterly stifled by their sins and enormities, they speak of Christianity as a superstition, of conscience as a delusion, of virtue as folly, of obedience as slavery, and then by means of their reason, corrupted as it is by their self-love and passions, they devise for themselves a religion that sanctions all their wildest extravagances and sets no limits upon their evil desires. "The sensual man," says St. Paul, "percieveth not the things that are of the Spirit of God, for it is foolishness to him, and he can not understand it " (I. Cor. ii, 4). Two never-do-wells were once talking about religion, and after they had both told several abominable stories regarding it, one said to the other: That's enough; after all what is the good of our stupid doubts? We should have more faith if we were not such rascals. A very true remark, worthy of careful consideration! No one recognizes the truth of Christianity who is unwilling to act according to its laws; and nothing strengthens our faith so much as living in conformity with it. This is why Christ said to the Jews: "My doctrine is not mine, but His that sent Me; if any man will do the will of Him (the Father), he shall know the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of Myself" (John vii, 16, 17).

After what has been said, need I give you any further warning against those who put human intellect in the place of Divinely revealed religion? You are aware that there are men corrupted in mind, who are destitute of the truth; to them may be applied our Lord's words: "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; because you shut the kingdom of heaven against men, for you yourselves do not enter in, and those that are going in, you suffer not to enter" (Matt, xxiii, 13). If such people had honestly examined themselves and discovered their own weakness and misery, they would never have been puffed up with pride and imagined that intellect alone was sufficient and required no assistance from God in order to understand what is Divine.

If , however, we too are to realize what the royal prophet meant when he said: "In Thy light, O God, we shall see light" (Ps. xxxv, 10); if we are to recognize the truth, we must henceforth not rely merely on our own intellect or take counsel of men like ourselves, but we must be enlightened by the Divine light that shines in the Church of Jesus Christ, and submit our intellect in obedience to Him, for "God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble" (James iv, 6 ) . In all humility let us hear and follow Him who is the way, the truth and the light, since those that follow Him, walk not in darkness, but shall have the light of life (John viii, 12). Then we shall be safe from error and deception, for we shall know the truth, and the truth shall make us free (John viii, 32); for the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth (Rom. i , 16).

Source: The Signs of the Times - A Course of Lenten Sermons, Imprimatur 1915

What I am going to tell you now happened many, many years since; in fact, as long ago as 1264. And it goes to show once again the tender goodness of our Lord Jesus Christ, truly present in the Holy Eucharist under the appearance of bread and wine.

We know, of course, that the bread when consecrated during Holy Mass becomes the true Body of Christ and the wine His true Blood. And we believe it most firmly because Jesus, Eternal Truth, tells us, "This is My Body." "This is My Blood."

So did the saintly priest whom we are going to speak of in this little story. He believed. But God permitted him to be troubled with cruel doubts, so that his belief in the real Presence of Jesus under the appearances of wine suffered great temptations.

Day and night the pious priest prayed to God to be relieved from this temptation. But his supplications seemed to be of no avail. So, sorely troubled, he finally set out for Rome to see the Vicar of Christ, the Holy Father, and get advice, strength, and consolation from him. For, being unable to fathom the mystery, he could no rid himself of his terrible doubt, though he prayed so much to God. Now, while passing through Italy on his way to Rome, he stopped at a little town called Bolsena, not far from Orvieto.  There he said Mass in the church of St. Christina; and there it was that God was pleased in a striking manner to answer his prayers and dispel his doubts. For at the consecration of the chalice, when the substance of the wine was changed into the substance of the Blood of Christ, that sacred Blood suddenly became agitated and trickled over the rim of the chalice. As it fell upon the corporal it took on the appearance of blood drops. Naturally, the priest was filled with reverential fear. He tried to conceal the fallen drops by folding the corporal together, but four drops fell upon the marble pavement at the foot of the altar. Seeing he could conceal the miracle no longer, and hearing that the Pope, Urban IV, was at that moment at Orvieto, the priest hastened thither with the blood-stained corporal, explained everything and received absolution,  The Pope, convinced of the miracle of the blood-besprinkled corporal, had it borne to the cathedral in solemn procession. But the marble stones upon which the four drops had fallen were kept in the church of St. Christina at Bolsena and are there treated with greatest reverence to this day. In 1290 the erection of an immense, magnificent church was begun, in which the miraculous corporal was then exposed for veneration.

Our religion is eternal truth, because it is the word of God; and though we do not see with our bodily eyes, yet with eyes of faith we penetrate the veils of hallowed mystery. Sometimes, indeed, as at Bolsena many years ago, God helps our faith in wondrous ways, but mostly He wants perfect faith. "Blessed," you know, "are they who see not and yet believe."
                                        Source; Tell Us Another- Imprimatur: 1925

We will be out of town for a few days and will catch up on our posts when we return on Wednesday, March 5th. 

 When it is evening you say: "It will be fair weather, for the sky is red." And in the evening: "Today there will be a storm, for the sky is red and lowering." You know then how to discern the face of the sky, and can you not know the signs of the times?—Matt, xvi, i-4.

You will wonder, no doubt, at my choosing for my Lenten sermons a text that has apparently no bearing at all upon this holy season, when the Church desires us to be recollected, making it a time of meditation, prayer, penance and amendment of life. A preacher is accordingly bound to conform to the wish of the Church, and to supply his people with the means of making a good use of this acceptable time, this day of salvation ( I I . Cor. vi, 2 ) . I have no intention of neglecting this duty, but I shall, I think, fulfill it best by pointing out to you the Signs of the Times, and suggesting how they may be interpreted, so that you may not incur the reproach :

"You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you do not know the signs of the times."

I invite you therefore now, at this holy season, to consider these signs, so that we may be able to answer the cry uttered by the prophet: "Watchman, what of the night?" Would that we could truthfully reply: " I behold the dawn of a bright and joyful day." Alas, we ought rather to say with the prophet: "The morning cometh, also the night."

Wherever we look we find enemies, we find signs foreboding tempests and storms, famine, and war with all its horrors. Yet still worse than all these perils are the doctrines and principles of the socialists—doctrines which threaten to undermine all human society and the Church herself, and to bring about the overthrow of all existing relations between men and nations. These people deny the very existence of God, and reject all Christian teaching on matters of faith and morals. They wish to abolish all authority in State, Church and family; they have no respect for the marriage bond, nor for the rights of property; they will not acknowledge that it is the duty of parents to bring up their own children, and they assert the absolute equality of all men with regard to their mutual relations, rights and obligations. Many even go so far as to renounce all law, both human and Divine, and to declare God, or rather faith in God, to be the source of all evils in human society, and so they assign to man, as his sole duty on earth, the task of seeking in every way to satisfy his own desires and passions. Those employed in diffusing these false and revolutionary doctrines and principles are incessantly active, and carry on their propaganda at public and private meetings, as well as in books, periodicals and newspapers, so that at every turn we are reminded of our Saviour's warning to beware of false prophets.

This is the reason why I wish to lay before you, in this course of sermons, the doctrines and principles current at the present day, in order to put you on your guard and to supply you with the means of refuting them; at the same time I hope to show you where to find guidance in the troubles that beset us, so that you may not lose hold of the anchor which alone can prove your salvation. With one hand we must ward off the enemies' attacks, and with the other build up the walls of the heavenly city.

I intend to begin my sermon to-day by considering a man who denies that religion is indispensable, and thinks it enough to lead an honest life in the world. I have undertaken a difficult task in proposing to discuss these subjects, a task that can not be accomplished without God's assistance and your good will; I can rely upon the latter, and trust that by your prayers you will help me to obtain the former. Let us therefore implore the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth and strength, to aid us, and enable us to begin, continue and end the work for the edification, encouragement and sanctification of God's faithful people.

I . At the present day, and especially among the upper classes there are many who maintain religion to be something superfluous, and say that it is enough for a man to lead an honest life. For this reason they cease to attend public worship, or attend it only for the sake of appearances and as a matter of form, whilst they look down with contemptuous amusement on such of their fellow creatures as still possess and profess some religion. They regard themselves as wise and enlightened, and others as ignorant and behind the times, and whilst they are very anxious to have a good reputation as men of honor, they cast doubts upon the honesty, uprightness and virtue of their neighbors. These are the people who by word and example have sown among the lower classes the seed of unbelief and indifference to religion, thus encouraging the socialists, who now boast of having conquered the religious feelings of their hearts and of having discarded the Church, that gloomy relic of medievalism!

But is it possible to conquer all religious feeling, and to dispense with religion? By religion I mean the sense of our possessing a finite nature dependent upon an infinite Being; I mean the recognition of God, and the worship of Him that results from such recognition; I mean the light from above that illumines our understanding and reveals to us God and the relation in which we stand to Him; finally I mean the bond uniting the creature with the Creator, man with God and earth with heaven. Innate in every human being is a sense of dependence upon some higher power, and this sense influences every mind not corrupted by evil doctrines. A child lifts its little hands in prayer to God, of whom it knows nothing, but whom it already fears. Go where you will , even to the backwoods of savage countries, whither Christianity has not yet penetrated, and everywhere you will find that men believe in a Supreme Being, who governs them and controls their destiny; everywhere some kind of worship, though it may be barbarous and very imperfect, is paid to this Being. No race exists either in the Old or in the New World devoid of all religion, and can we suppose it not to be indispensable, when every simple, uncorrupt individual nature, as well as all the nations of the earth, possesses an innate sense of religion? Men, beasts and plants require the light of the sun, if they are to live, grow and thrive, and in the same way we require religion, the light from above, to enlighten our minds and ennoble the feelings of our hearts. The knowledge and worship of God are as indispensable to the spiritual life of our souls as are food and drink to our physical life. "This," says our Saviour, "is eternal life, that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent" (John xvii, 3). "The bread of God is that which cometh down from heaven and giveth life to the world. . . . I am the bread of life" (John v i , 33, 35). "He that shall drink of the water that I will give him, shall not thirst for ever" (John iv, 13). The greatest and most learned men in every age have always recognized and insisted upon the necessity of religion. Who are those who nowadays maintain that they can do without it, and can be contented and happy when they have neither faith in nor love of God, and do no fear and reverence Him? They are ignorant, mad and unconscientious people, or else foolish windbags, unworthy to be mentioned in the same breath with the really great men to whom I have referred. But why, it may be asked, need we assert so emphatically that religion is absolutely indispensable to mankind? It is not merely for the reason already stated, but also because, without religion, it is impossible for men to be truly wise, good or happy.

II. 1. They can not be truly wise, for none deserve to be calledwise who know nothing of God, in spite of His revealing His existence, His omnipotence, His wisdom and His goodness in all the wonders of the universe. How can a man be truly wise, who fails to see what God has done and still does, day by day, for the welfare of the human race? How can he be wise, who is ignorant of the relation in which he stands to the one great God, and of the way in which he ought to act towards Him, and of what he may rightly hope or fear to receive from Him? A man may be learned in worldly matters and in scientific knowledge, but unless he understands the things of God, he is not truly wise. Just as God is highly exalted above men, and the heavens above the earth, so does the knowledge of things Divine and heavenly far surpass that of earthly and human affairs. The wisdom of this world is enmity against God because it aims at limiting His glory, and it is harmful to men because it originates in pride and ends in wickedness and shame. God is constrained, for the sake of His own majesty and glory, to overthrow this wisdom, and in His holy anger He has sworn to destroy it: "Wisdom shall perish from their wise men, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid" (Is. xxix, 14). "Where is the wise?" asks the Apostle, "where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?" ( I . Cor. i , 20). God effected this, first, by means of revelations given to the patriarchs and prophets, and afterwards through His only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, "who of God is made unto us wisdom, and justice, and sanctification, and redemption" (Ibid, v, 30). He alone is truly wise who knows God, and Jesus Christ, whom He hath sent. "The testimony of the Lord is faithful," says the Psalmist, "giving wisdom to little ones, the judgments of the Lord are more to be desired  than gold and many precious stones, and sweeter than honey and the honeycomb" (Ps. xviii, 9-11). Wisdom such as this is bestowed upon those only who are guileless as children, since it is the reward of humble piety.

A man who possesses the wisdom derived from religion may not perhaps make a great display, as do those versed in the knowledge of this world, but he knows how to lead a good, God-fearing life. He, may not be able to calculate the course of the stars, but he knows who spread out the heavens like a tent, and created sun, moon, and stars. He may not have read the records of history or the works of learned men, but he realizes that here below all is vanity and that whatever takes place in the world is subject to God's guidance. In short, those trained in the school of religion may not be wise in the sense of discussing every imaginable topic, nor do they possess a knowledge of a great many unprofitable, if not harmful things, but they are wise because they understand the most important thing of all, viz., how to please God and act rightly. Solomon was the wisest of men, and yet he acknowledges that it was the teaching of religion that made him wiser than his elders and more learned than his teachers.

2. Without religion a man can not be truly good and honest, for whoever cuts himself off from God, and severs the bond of union between himself and his Creator, is abandoning himself to his own perverse inclinations and to the dictates of a will ever prone to evil. By ceasing to think of the God who rewards the good and punishes the wicked, he throws off all restraint capable of curbing his disorderly desires and passions, and thus becomes liable to commit even the greatest crimes. Of course our conscience tells us what is right and what is wrong, but men devoid of religion are Godless, and consequently soon become deaf to the voice of conscience, which ceases to make itself heard as soon as it ceases to be regarded as the voice of God. Godless men, heedless of conscience, are little better than the beasts; in fact they are still lower than the brutes, inasmuch as they do more harm and are more prone to every form of wickedness, and at the same time less amenable to law and discipline.

It is useless to maintain that reason bids man act morally, for reason is often deceived when it no longer has a hold upon God, and then it accepts falsehood as truth and declares what is evil to be good. How often is it blinded by self-love and self-interest! Nothing hinders a man with no religion from overreaching, deceiving, robbing, slandering, persecuting and crushing his neighbor. Reason is often pressed into the service of disorderly cravings, for the flesh is ever apt to rebel against the spirit, and to impel man, against his better judgment, to gratify the lusts of the flesh. "I know," says St. Paul, "that there dwelleth not in me, that is to say, in my flesh, that which is good. For to will is present with me, but to accomplish that which is good, I find not. For the good which I will, I do not; but the evil which I will not, that I do" (Rom. vii, 18, 19). Religion alone tells us authoritatively what we ought to do and what not to do; it supplies us with the best means of living good and upright lives; it awakens within us true love of God by representing Him to us as merciful and holy, hating iniquity and loving righteousness; it deters us from evil by the threat of terrible punishments which God in His justice will inflict upon wrongdoers, and it stimulates us to do good, by promising us a reward that is indescribably great and imperishable. If men are deprived of religion they will act as they please, each will give free rein to his passions and use his strength to crush the weak, his cunning to outwit the simple, his eloquence to mislead the credulous and his power to stir up fear and bloodshed in every direction. St. Paul gives us an account of the condition of men without religion before our Saviour's coming. He says that they were filled with all iniquity, malice, fornication, avarice, wickedness; they were full of envy, murder, contention, deceit and malignity; they were whisperers, detractors, hateful to God, contumelious, proud, haughty, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, foolish, dissolute, without affection, without fidelity and without mercy (Rom. i, 29-31). Yes, indeed, if ever God's enemies should succeed in making all men socialists, human society would ultimately be nothing but an ungovernable rabble of savages.

It is impossible, in the short time at my disposal, to give you historical proofs of the manner in which up to the present day all this has repeated itself in the case of men, whenever they have fallen away from God and lost the restraint of religion. It is all recorded in history, where you can read it for yourselves, and I will merely quote a very remarkable utterance made by one who perhaps hated and injured Christianity more than any of those who preceded or succeeded him — I mean Voltaire, the famous philosopher of the 18th century. He said: "Unbelief is the vice of fools, and a mistake that can have originated only in the darkness of prisons. It is not merely opposed to morality and the welfare of mankind—for, where no God is recognized there is no obstacle to secret vice. An unbeliever's heart is capable of all baseness and of the vices of the most abandoned among men."

Experience will have taught you all more or less the truth of these words. Are those who go about ridiculing religion and the Church, and openly boasting that they believe in nothing, are those, as a rule, good, honest, gentle, chaste and amiable people ? As far as my knowledge of the world and of men goes, I must deny them to be such, and I think you will agree with me. With whom do you prefer to have business dealings? Whom do you trust in everyday life? A godless man or one with some sense of religion? Are you not afraid lest a Godless man should cheat you, simply because he has no religion and consequently no conscience? I have no desire to accuse anyone, but it is a fact that those who believe in nothing and do not care for the Church, are as a rule people capable of and even prone to every kind of injustice, sin and vice. They may proclaim their honesty and respectability, but those who know them will not believe them; and even if they are really worthy people, their goodness generally consists merely in avoidance of flagrant vice and of transactions which would bring them under the censure of the law.

It is because men devoid of religion can not be good and upright, that no civil society or state has ever been able to exist long without religion, for peace, order, personal safety, regard for the rights of ownership and for honor, and respect for the law can not exist without it , and they are the very foundations of society and the state. The pagans of old, recognizing this fact, declared faith in their gods to be the foundation of their government; and at the close of the 18th century the moving spirits of the French Revolution learned by experience that religion was indispensable to the settled order of the State. No sooner had they forbidden the French nation to believe in God and immortality, no sooner had they destroyed the churches, overthrown the altars and killed the priests, than the terrible results of their action filled them with alarm, and they were forced hastily to withdraw their prohibition and to allow the people to believe in God and immortality and to restore the churches and altars. The present French Republic is on the way to unbelief; it has banished religious instruction from the elementary schools, under the pretext of thus securing more time for subjects of greater importance, it has secularized education, driven out the religious orders and severed all connection with Rome, and all this has produced a terrible increase in the number of juvenile criminals. According to official statistics in one year almost 29,000 children under 16 years of age were convicted of serious offences, and 443 children committed suicide. If such is the case with the green wood, what will become of the dry? And what will be our fate when our people have lost all religion?;

3. Finally, men devoid of religion can not be happy. It is not necessary for me to say much in proof of this statement; I need only appeal to your experience and ask whether you have ever felt any happiness to compare with that which you feel when, with hearts cleansed from sin, you approach the table of the Lord and receive the Bread of angels. The happiness afforded by religion differs from that afforded by the pleasures, wealth and enjoyments of the world as widely as heaven differs from earth. St. Paul, in writing to the Corinthians, says: "Our glory is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity of heart and sincerity of God, and not in carnal wisdom, but in the grace of God, we have conversed in this world, and more abundantly towards you" (II. Cor. i ,12). Let me ask you another question: What gives you strength and courage in trouble and adversity? What comforts you in sorrow and supports you in misfortune? What enables you to bear poverty and trials with patience and composure? What makes you suppress your feelings of anger and vindictiveness when you are persecuted, insulted and slandered, and renders you calm and peaceable? What supplies you with fortitude in time of danger and temptation and in your struggles to resist sin? It is not your reason, not your passions, not your fellow men—it is nothing but religion, which teaches us that happiness and adversity both come from God, and that He who formed the light and created darkness is also He who makes peace and allows evil, and that there is no misfortune but with the Lord's permission. Religion tells us that God punishes us for our good, for "that which is at present momentary and light of our tribulation, worketh for us above measure exceedingly an eternal weight of glory" ( II. Cor. iv, 17).

Can anything but religion give us strength, comfort and hope at the last fearful conflict between life and death, when we have to leave everything, our dear ones, our possessions, our business and honors, when our intellect fails, the world with its deceptions and vain joys passes away, and the grave is ready to receive us? What can be our aid when we have to appear before the tribunal of our just but inexorable Judge? Religion robs death of its sting, the grave of its terrors, and hell of its victory, since it strengthens the inward man when the outward man perishes. It teaches us that after this fleeting life is over there will be another life that will last for ever, when God will wipe away all tears from our eyes, gratify all our desires and be Himself our reward exceeding great. It tells the anxious, though penitent sinner: "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord" (Apoc. xiv, 13).

It is a remarkable fact that almost all those who fancied themselves able to live happily without religion in the days of health and prosperity, evince very different sentiments when sickness lays its hand upon them. Then they are glad to see a priest and to receive the consolations of that religion which they used to ridicule. I myself have often visited sick persons who had previously regarded all religion as superfluous, and I know the truth of my assertion.

Enough has, I think, been said to prove to you that men need religion, and can not be truly wise, good or happy without it . How grievously, therefore, do those people sin who at the present day go about declaring religion to be unnecessary, and trying to destroy all reverence for what is holy and Divine. They are robbing mankind of their most precious possession, of their safest guide amidst the bewildering deceptions of the world, of their sole consolation in the sorrows aad suffering of this life and of their sweetest hope for the world to come. They are depriving virtue of its sole support, severing the bond between earth and heaven, giving men over to their disorderly lusts and desires and thus plunging their fellow creatures into ruin and bringing down upon themselves the curses of their contemporaries and posterity.

Beware of letting yourselves be led astray by these false prophets, these wolves in sheep's clothing; they are enemies of God and aim at the destruction of your souls. Hold fast to the faith of your forefathers, and be careful, each according to his power, to cling to the doctrines of the Church, to respect her principles and teaching, to obey her commandments, and avail yourselves of her aids and consolations. In these gloomy, ominous times nothing but religion can bring salvation, comfort and hope to the human race. It is the only anchor capable of keeping us safe amidst the waves that rage around us, and of preserving us from ruin. I trust most earnestly that you are still all true to your religion; cling to it, cherish it as the most precious treasure of your souls, and let it influence your whole life and all your thoughts and actions. If you do this, thrones may totter, the social order may be shaken to its very foundations and great disasters may come upon us, but you will always have a firm anchorage and will derive thence comfort, courage, help and hope whilst the ungodly fear and despair. Then will our Lord's promise be fulfilled: "Every one that heareth these My words, and doth them, shall be likened to a wise man that built his house upon a rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and they beat upon that house, and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock" (Matt, vii, 24, 25). Amen.

Source: The Signs of the Times - A Course of Lenten Sermons, Imprimatur 1915