Chapter 10

"A Rock in Mid-Ocean


I.   How small and insignificant was the Church in its origin! Twelve poor fishermen and a handful of disciples, how should they convert the world? But protected and strengthened by their divine Master, the Christian community continually increased, in spite of the bloody persecutions, in the course of which the all-powerful rulers of the mighty Roman Empire caused hundreds and thousands of the Church's children to be slain. After the lapse of a few brief centuries the Roman Empire was shattered to pieces, but the Church had conquered the world.
   Fresh enemies arose; heresiarchs appeared and strove to rob the Church of the true faith, or at least to falsify it. They were often most learned and talented men, protected by princes, kings, and emperors. At first they counted a great number of adherents, they endeavored to found churches of their own; but the protection and blessing of the Saviour was not with them but with His own Church; hence their work came to nothing.
   Thus has it ever been, down to the present day, and thus will it continue to be until time shall be no more; all who repudiate or attack the faith of the Church, cast themselves headlong into the raging billows of a stormy ocean, and cause their own destruction upon the rock of the Church. Yes, verily, the Church is a rock in mid-ocean, and this rock is indestructible. because the Catholic Church is the sole possessor of the true faith, and is infallible in proclaiming it.
II.   For the infallibility of the Church as a teacher the word of Christ Himself is pledged. He has made to her a threefold promise.
   In the first place, He promised that He would remain with the Church "even to the consummation of the world." Shortly before His ascension, He said to the apostles: "Going, therefore, teach all nations . . . and behold, I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world." These words are not addressed to the apostles as private individuals, for otherwise they would be meaningless, since before the close of the first century all the apostles had died, not excepting John. If, therefore, Christ promised to remain with His apostles even to the consummation of the world, it follows that the college of the apostles, that is the Church in her office as teacher, must continue to exist through all centuries. And if Christ, who is eternal truth, remains with the Church, her teaching must necessarily be infallible. For He does not remain with her in order to teach her error. Rather does He intend to signify, by making use of the words we have quoted above, that He will protect her from all error.
III.   Christ promised, in the second place, that the Spirit of truth should ever abide with the Church. "I will ask the Father, and He shall give you another Paraclete, that He may abide with you forever, the Spirit of truth. . . . He will teach you all things."
   In these words Jesus promises that the Holy Ghost should so assist the apostles and their successors in their office as teachers that they should only proclaim the true doctrines of Christ. How can those be right who assert that the Church can err, and has already erred; for in that case the Spirit of truth would have departed from her, the promise of Christ would not be fulfilled, and His divinity would be at an end! Let him who can overthrow this argument!
IV.   In the third place, Jesus promised: "The gates (the power) of hell shall not prevail against it (the Church)." This power of hell, namely, the devil, would certainly overcome, i.e., prevail against the Church, if she would act in accordance with his will and desire. Before all else, however, he wills and desires that the Church should lose the true doctrines of Christ, whereby men are to be saved, and should teach what is false. As soon as he could succeed in bringing this about, he would prevail against the Church. But he can not conquer her, because of the promise of the Saviour; hence it follows that the Church can never err in matters of faith and morals; she must necessarily be infallible.
V.   But as far as you, my dear young friend, are concerned, what follows from the fact of the Church's infallibility? This especially: make it your constant endeavor to became better acquainted with the true doctrine of the Catholic Church. How much mischief has resulted in the case of individuals, as well as in that of whole families, communities, and states, from the fact that they were in ignorance, either willful or otherwise, of the true doctrine of the Church. Seek, therefore, a thorough explanation, a clear understanding of all that is taught by the infallible Church. This is more especially necessary in the days in which our lot is cast.

Come, Holy Ghost, Creator, come,

From Thy bright, heavenly throne;

Come, take possession of our souls,

And make them all Thy own.

O! quite our minds with Thy blest light,

With love our hearts inflame;

And with Thy strength, which ne'er decays,

Confirm our mortal frame.

Far from us drive our hellish foe,

True peace unto us bring;

And through all perils lead us safe,

Beneath Thy sacred wing."

Chapter 9

"Christ Reins


I.   No doubt, dear reader, the name of Voltaire, the infidel, the enemy of God, is not unknown to you. He lived in France, towards the close of the eighteenth century, and made it the chief aim of his life to carry into effect his well-known saying: Ecrasez Y infame, "extirpate the infamous thing!" Thus did he designate the holy Church of God. And surprising, indeed, it is to see what efforts this man made, and how persistently he endeavored by speech, writings, and actions, to give effect to his favorite saying, to extirpate this holy Church, to uproot it from the face of the earth.
   But what did he gain by his proceedings? The outbreak of the most horrible, the most sanguinary revolution the world has ever seen, the slaughter of hundreds and thousands, the dissolution of all order and propriety, --- but never the destruction of Holy Church.
  And Voltaire does not stand alone in this respect; in all ages there have been enemies of the Church and of God, who with similar fury and persistence, and with the like weapons, persecuted the Church of God, but never, never could they succeed in uprooting it. And why not? Because the Church is the work of God, because Christ founded it, because Christ reigns in the Church and through the Church.
II.   Christ reigns; for (a) He founded a living, infallible authority (Church) commissioning and empowering her to propagate His religion pure and undefiled throughout the whole world; and (b) the Roman Catholic Church now represents this living authority in a legitimate manner.
III.   Christ founded a living, infallible authority. At the very outset He gathered together twelve disciples, designated apostles. To them He said, shortly before His death: "As the Father hath sent Me, I also send you." Thus we see that Christ entrusted to the apostles His own mission; but Christ was sent by the Father as teacher, priest, and king.
   As a teacher He taught everywhere, first of all in the Temple, then in the synagogues, in towns and villages, on mountains, on the Lake of Genesareth, in the desert, and so on. And since Christ knew quite well that the apostles were but human, and as such might err and make mistakes, He expressly added to the words we quoted above: "I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world."
   Now everything was provided for. And with the consciousness of a mission that was directly divine, the apostles proceeded for the future. They did not ask permission of the emperor Tiberius, for they were sent by Christ.
IV.   Furthermore, Christ was a priest; He officiated as such, He absolved souls and healed them, He offered up Himself on Mount Calvary.  In like manner were the apostles also sent as priests. They had partaken of the Sacrifice at the last supper, and by Christ's command they were to offer it up in future: "Do this in commemoration of Me!" He gave them power to forgiven sins: "Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them"; Also to baptize: "Going, therefore, baptize all nations."
V.   In a similar way was Christ sent as a shepherd, as a king: Ego sum rex, "I am a King." But He is not a king like other monarchs; "My kingdom is not of this world." Earthly kings care for the natural, temporal, civil welfare of their subject, Christ for the supernatural, spiritual, and eternal.
   The apostles were likewise, shepherds and kings, and as such possessed a threefold power: to give laws, to pass judgment, and to inflict punishment. Of the possession of these peers the apostles were conscious from the very first, since they thus expressed themselves: "It hath seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us," to lay such and such commands upon you.
VI.   Thus we see that Christ founded in very deed a living, infallible authority, with the commission and command to transmit His religion in its entirety to all future generations; this authority is the college of the apostles. Equally certain is it that the Roman Catholic Church, as it exists in the present day, is the legitimate continuation of the college of the apostles. Such a continuation must indeed exist in all centuries after Christ as an infallible teaching authority; for Christ has said: "I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world." Now among all religious systems there is only one which lays claim to the possession of an infallible body of teachers, and this is the Roman Catholic Church alone. When we assert that the Catholic Church is infallible, we mean that she can not err in matters of faith and morals." [The Church is infallible when speaking Ex Cathedra (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05677a.htm) on matters of faith and morals but the individual is capable of sin or error otherwise.]
   "If this claim were unfounded, if it were a mere pretension, it would follow that the Church of Christ would to-day have vanished from the face of the earth. But this is not possible, for were it otherwise what would become of the promise of Christ: "The gates of hell shall not prevail against it"? What would become of the divinity of Jesus Christ Himself?
   Thus we see that in one Church alone, in the Roman Catholic Church, does Christ still reign as teacher, priest, and king. Our joy and pride it is that we are children of this Holy Catholic Church.

Calm when fiercest storms prevail,

See the Ship of Peter sail;

Still unarmed from age to age

Though wild winds and storms may rage.

Fashioned by a hand all-wise,

Hell's worst onslaught she defies."

(In blue are my own words.)

Chapter 8

"Christ Conquers


I.   In Front of St. Peter's in Rome there stands a lofty obelisk which the ancient Romans brought over from Egypt. For centuries it remained buried deep under heaps of rubbish; Pope Sixtus V caused it to be set up one more, and this inscription to be engraved upon it: "Christus vincit, Christus regnal liberal." "Christ conquers, Christ reigns, Christ governs; Christ delivers us from every evil."
   Christ conquers: He does this by means of His glorious resurrection from actual death, for this is the most striking, the most incontrovertible proof of His divinity. The Resurrection of Christ stands forth as a prominent fact in the world's history, and enemies of Christianity are not less compelled to own its truth than were His adherents and believing disciples. All the attempts of unbelief to argue it away have until now been utterly put to shame, and will be confounded forever. The facts of the Gospel stand as firm as mountains; all storms pass over them without leaving any trace.
II.   Christ conquers; He had Himself foretold His resurrection, and regard it as a miracle that should prove Him to be the Son of God in the eyes of the whole world. When with a scourge He drove the buyers and sellers out of the Temple, and the Jews asked Him in virtue of what right He acted thus, He replied: "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." "But," adds the evangelist, "He spoke of the temple of His body." In these words Our Lord referred to His future resurrection on the third day. Did this really take place? Yes, in the pages of the Gospel we find it proved to demonstration.
III.   In the first place, the Gospel proves with absolute certainty that the Saviour really expired upon the cross. In order to make certain of His death, a soldier pierced His side with a lance; blood and water flowed from the wound, this being the surest sign that the heart had been pierced and death had actually occurred. Indeed, the wound was so deep, that, at a subsequent period, the apostle Thomas was able to place his hand in it; thus it was a mortal wound. All those who witnessed the crucifixion were convinced of Our Lord's death, four evangelists are unanimous upon this point. And even the chief priests and scribes, the bitter enemies of Jesus, bore witness to His death, since they asked permission to place a guard at His grave. Moreover, His closest adherents doubted not the fact; they wrapped His body in linen cloths, laid it in a grave, and closed it with a slab of stone.
IV.   We now come to the most important point. In order that no deception might be practiced, and the body not be stolen, the sepulcher was sealed and guards were placed before it, in compliance with the request of the Pharisees. But it was these very quarts who bore the most incontrovertible witness to the resurrection, since they presented themselves on the third day and affirmed on oath they had seen Christ come forth from the sepulcher.
   The obdurate Jews, however, went so far in their blindness that after taking counsel, "they gave," as the evangelist tells us, "a great sum of money to the soldiers, saying: Say you, His disciples came by night, and stole Him away when we were asleep." What incredible folly is this! Would any man in his senses accept the testimony of witnesses who were asleep? But God, in His wisdom, permitted things to happen in this manner, in order that our faith in the fundamental truth of Christianity, namely, the Resurrection, and therefore in the divinity of Jesus Christ, should be established in a more firm and convincing manner.
V.   Yet a further proof. The risen Lord appeared to His followers. The women who early on Easter morning repaired to the grave declared that they found it empty, as did also the apostles Peter and John. Soon after ward Jesus showed Himself to St. Peter. On the same day He appeared to the two disciples, as they were proceeding to Emmaus. In the following night He appeared to all the apostles when they were gathered together, with the exception of Thomas to whom He manifested Himself at a later period, when he was present with the others. Furthermore, the Saviour repeatedly appeared to the disciples in Galilee; He ate with them and made arrangements concerning the Church of the future. On one accession He appeared to five hundred disciples at once, and on the fortieth day after His resurrection He ascended into heaven in the sight of the apostles.
   These appearances could not have been the result of imagination on the part of the apostles; they could not have fancied that they saw what they so earnestly desired to behold; for from the conversation of the disciples on the road to Emmaus, and conduct of St. Thomas, it is plain that they despaired of proving the truth of Our Lord's claims.
VI.   Thus once again let us repeat: Christ conquers! Rejoice therefore, O Christian, to know that our faith is firm as a rock! Yes, know that our faith is from as a rock! Yes, verily, firm as a rock! For no fact in the history of the world has been proved in so undeniable a manner as the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Wherefore bow down in a spirit of humility, confidence, and lively faith before this God and Saviour, exclaiming with St. Peter: "Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God!" Conquer, reign, and rule in my heart.

O death! where's now thy mortal sting?

Where's now thy victory?

To-day His glorious praise we sing,

Who triumphed over thee.

Not  triumphed for Himself alone;

But, by His mighty power,

Taught us to triumph in our turn,

Nor dread thy terrors more.

Fore lo! the dread of death is sin

And never-ending woe;

From thence our evils flow.

But now, from sin and hell set free,

No longer death we'll fear;

But longing for eternity

Rejoice when it draws near.

Ye angels, now, who watch around

The Conqueror's heavenly throne,

Aid us to make the skies resound

The victory for us won.

Aid us to sing His worthy praise

With one united heart;

Aid us to walk in all His ways,

Till we from life depart.

-Oratory Hymns."

Chapter 7

"Christ is Truly God

I.   The heir of a mighty monarch once traveling incognito and unattended, visited a lonely mountain valley which belonged to his father's dominions. In order that he might be suitably received, he told the inhabitants his name and his exalted rank. Since, however, no persons throughout the valley had ever seen the crown prince, or even a likeness of him, they refused to believe in his identity without further proof, but required him to show that he was the true and lawful crown prince. And the good people were certainly not to be blamed for requiring such a proof; since otherwise any one who took it into his head to do so, might claim to be the crown prince.
II.   Nineteen hundred years ago, far away in Palestine, a Man made His appearance; He claimed to be, not merely the heir of this or that mighty monarch, but the Son of the King of heaven and earth. Yes, when this Man stood arraigned as a criminal before the high priest, said to Him: "I adjure Thee the Christ, the Son of God," this Man replied, earnestly and solemnly, "Thou hast said it, I am He!"
   Thus publicly, earnestly, and solemnly, did Jesus Christ declare Himself to be the Son of God; thus did He announce Himself as true God. And He formerly required of His hearers, as He now in like manner requires of us, that His doctrines should be accepted, and His claims received. We, therefore, on our part, have a perfect right to demand that He should prove to us that we must believe in Him, that He should show His credentials, and prove Himself to be the Son of God, prove Himself to be true God. And indeed, there is not any lack of such proofs, of such credentials. Let us examine this matter somewhat more closely.
III.   He who asserts that He is the Son of God, that He is truly God, must in the first place lead a life absolutely free from sin. When Christ stood before His mortal foes and asked, "Which of you shall convince me of sin?" they were silent. Thus we see that Christ fulfilled the primary condition, that He should be without sin. In order to furnish a proof of His divinity it was necessary that He should do works which only God could accomplish. He must be Lord of the winds and waves, of the devil, of the powers of nature, of the living and the dead. Did Christ perform such essentially divine works, which could not possible be the result, either of natural causes or of the agency of the devil?
IV.   Unbelievers have objected that in order to judge whether we have before us a work which is a miracle, and essentially divine, we need to be thoroughly acquainted with the powers of nature, and also of the devil. To this we make reply that it is only necessary to know what the forces of nature are not able to accomplish. For example, if you, dear reader, are in a room, it is plain that you can not leave that room if every opening to it is closed. Equally true it is, that ordinary mud, if rubbed upon the eye, will not cure blindness; that the devil influences no soul for good, and so on. Therefore whatever exceeds the power, either of nature or of the devil, is an essentially divine action.
   If, without involving the aid of God, without first praying for help, Christ performed such actions, He performed them in virtue of His own divine omnipotence. Christ wrought miracles by His own power; the apostles and the saints performed wonders in the name of Jesus and through prayer. If Christ really did this, by so doing He showed Himself to be truly God.
V.   That Christ performed a great number of miracles, the evangelists, the Fathers of the Church, and heathen writers alike testify. I will only mention the occasions on which He raised the dead. At Naim He recalled a dead youth to life by merely uttering this word of command: "Young man, I say to thee; Arise."
   Christ knew that Lazarus was dead, without any announcement of the fact having reach Him, and He imparted the news to the apostles, and restored Lazarus to life, although he had been four days in the grave. Numerous persons witnessed this marvelous miracle, which caused the enemies of Our Lord to determine upon His death, because they consequences. But the Pharisees entertained no doubt as to the reality of His miracles.
VI.   Thus we see that the Saviour was a divine person. He Himself on several occasions asserted it openly, and this assertion was confirmed when He was baptized in the Jordan, by a voice from heaven which declared: "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
   The adversaries of Christ affirms miracles to be impossible; therefore, say they, there were no miracle at all. Hence I might simply say to any one who had fallen from a ladder: "It is not possible to fall, therefore you have not fallen!" Thus it is utterly foolish to deny the possibility of any fact, the existence of which is self-evident. Therefore even Rousseau, who did not believe in Christ, declared that he who denies the possibility of miracles ought to be placed in a lunatic asylum.
VII.   Thus do we perceive that our faith rests upon the most solid basis; Christ is truly God, He has indisputably attested Himself to be such by means of His sinless life and His glorious miracles. Wherefore gaze upon your Saviour with the eye of faith, and say:

My Lord and God I Thee confess to be,

Though foes deride, and will know naught of Thee.

Thy wondrous works reveal to human sight

Thy love divine, Thy Glory, and Thy might."

Chapter 6

"Produce Your Witnesses


I.   We KNOW that Jesus Christ lived upon this earth, not because we have seen Him with our eyes or heard Him with our ears, but because the holy Gospels relate the story of His life, because those who saw and heard Him tell us about Him.
   In the first place, it is of the utmost importance to perceive in a clear and convincing manner that everything we are told concerning the life of Our Lord is the truth, and nothing but the truth. This life of Christ, as contained in the Gospel, forms a portion of Holy Scripture, and is inspired by the Holy Spirit of God; it rests, therefore, upon divine authority, and is worthy of absolute belief. But even apart from its divine character, this history is as worthy of belief as the most trustworthy of the earliest records. And why is this? When do you, dear reader believe that any history which you read is true? Only when you are quite convinced as to its in particular, when you are able to persuade yourself that the writer knew the truth, and desired to tell it. Well, then, the four evangelists, who related the life of Christ, can come forward and bear witness to its truth.
II.   In the first place, there is no disputing the fact that the authorship of the Gospels has not only been ascribed to these four men, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, but that they, and they alone, did write them in very deed. And to this fact the Fathers of the Church who lived and wrote in the time immediately succeeding the apostolic ages, and numerous Christian theologians who shed their blood for the Faith, bear unhesitating witness; heretics, moreover, do the same, inasmuch as they endeavor to prove their false religious opinions by quotations from the Gospel; the Talmud also, the modern legal code of the Jews, acknowledges the gospel miracles as facts; finally the heathen sages, Celsus and Porphyrius, and even the apostate emperor, Julian, who poured scorn and contempt upon the religion he had so basely abandoned, did not attempt to deny that the life of Christ was written by the four evangelists.
III.   Furthermore, these writers of the Gospel, these witnesses for the truth of it, are entirely trustworthy; their testimony is absolutely reliable. In the first place, they were in a position to tell the truth, since they were well acquainted with the facts. Who indeed could better know the truth than St. Matthew and St. John, who received their vocation as apostles from the divine Redeemer Himself, and who were privileged to be His constant companions, to hear His words and behold His wonderful works? And the two other evangelists, St. Mark and St. Luke, were fully acquainted with the life of Christ, because they wrote their gospels at the suggestion and under the direction of two apostles, St. Peter and St. Paul.
IV.   No reasonable man can doubt that the holy evangelists spoke the truth if he attentively considers the manner in which they wrote. Any one who wishes to deceive the reader, to misrepresent circumstances or facts, would certainly not write in so straightforward, frank, and honest a manner as we find that the sacred historians invariably do. He who desires to distort or conceal the truth would assuredly not relate his own faults and failings and those of his dearest friends as the evangelists do. For this reason Rousseau, one of the bitterest enemies of Christ, is fain to confess: "A history like that of the Gospel is not invented." The Gospel possesses such touching, such utterly inimitable marks of truthfulness, that if the author were an inventor and impostor, he would be more worthy of admiration than the one who is the subject of the gospel narrative. It would be, indeed, a shameless proceeding to reproach an apostle with deceit, unless some further proof were forthcoming. What reasonable motive could they have had to lie? Persecution, chains, imprisonment, death --- no one deceives for such gain as this; no one would get himself hung for a lie!
V.   And yet more! The evangelists wrote amid circumstances and in times which rendered it well-nigh impossible for them to deceive.
   In the days when Jesus lived and labored, people had sharp eyes and ears, just as in our day, and the enemies of Christianity were not less cunning and malicious than they are at present. Can you imagine that these people would have been good-natured enough to hold their tongues if the disciples of Jesus had related in the Gospel facts concerning Him which were either falsehoods, or, to say the least, gross misrepresentations? And when, about thirty years after Christ, St. Matthew wrote his gospel, there were still living a great number of those who had formerly been among the bitter enemies of Christ. How would they have attacked the apostle, had he taken upon himself to invent either facts or miracles concerning the life of Christ!
VI.   Thus the evangelists stand before us as absolutely reliable witnesses to the truth. And herein consists the secret of the beauty, simplicity, sanctity, and indestructible power of the holy Gospel. It is not the soul, the mind, the gifts of the writers that we find in them, but the soul, the mind, the thoughts, the maxims of Him who forms the subjects of their writings. Jesus lives in the gospels; He acts, He speaks, He touches the heart, He enlightens and sanctifies. Venerate, therefore, these wondrous pages! Read them in a spirit of faith and with a heart overflowing with the love of God; For

In Hole Scripture God His truth displays,
  And yet its pages, read in various ways,
Bring faith to some; cause doubt in other minds:
  That one sucks honey, this one poison finds."

Jesus is God

"Jesus is God

Jesus is God! the glorious bands

Of golden angels sing

Songs of adoring praise to Him,

Their maker and their king.

He was true God in Bethlehem's crib,

On Calvary's cross true God,

He who in heaven eternal reigned,

In time on earth abode.

Jesus is God! alas! they say

On earth the numbers grow

Who His divinity blaspheme

To their unfailing woe.

And yet what is the single end

Of this life's mortal span,

Except to glorify the God

Who for our sakes was man?

Jesus is God! let sorrow come,

And pain, and every ill;

All are worth while, for all are means

His glory to fulfil;

Worth while a thousand years of life

To speak one little word,

If by our Credo we might own

The Godhead of Our Lord!

Jesus is God! O could I now

But compass land and sea,

To teach and tell this single truth,

How happy should I be!

O had I but an angel's voice,

I would proclaim so loud,---

Jesus, the good, the beautiful,

Is everlasting God!

----Oratory Hymns."

Chapter 5

"(History, not Legend)


I.   Pagans thought out for themselves many things concerning the being of God, and then related their imagines as if they were facts. Such imaginings may be counted by hundreds. But since the world began, no man has ever imagined, in the remotest manner, that the charity of a God could go so far as to lead Him to appear amount men in the form of a man, and for their happiness and salvation to deliver Himself up to death. However, this marvel of divine love which it never entered into the heart of man co connive, and which is sufficient to astonish heaven and earth, found its accomplishment in the only true religion, which is the Christian.  "God so loved the world, as to send His only begotten Son into the world." Such is the voice which for more than nineteen hundred years has echoed throughout the universe.
   Jesus Christ is the name of the only begotten Son of God, who was sent into the world; He in every deed lived and labored in the world; This is an historical fact, no mere tradition, legend, myth, or fable. Listen to some proofs of this.
II.   History teaches by means of the most reliable facts that from the beginning the greatest and most noble among mankind have readily accepted the Christian faith, the holy Gospel. Amongst these we find a proconsul of Paphos, a captain of the Roman cohorts, Deonysius, the Athenian sage, Flavius the consul, a cousin of Emperor Dointian; the most learned, moreover, amount the men who lived in those times; Justin, Athnagoras, Mintuius, and many others, men prominent among the scientists of the day, jurists, and government officials.
   But it can not be supposed that all these men accepted the new doctrines, the new gospel, with careless indifference. On the contrary, they thoroughly examined in the first place the holy Gospel and the writings of the apostles, and more particularly they convinced themselves of the facts relating to the life of Jesus.
III.   Furthermore, the disciples and apostles of Jesus bore witness to the truth of their convictions, to the facts of the life of Jesus Christ, by confessing these truths with their blood. When have there ever been impostors in the world, especially where religion was concerned, who have not striven either covertly or openly after notoriety, pleasure, dignities, and riches? Did the apostles, perchance, look for any of these things, or at least aim at attaining them? No, indeed! On the contrary, they knew perfectly well that they had nothing to expect but mockery, contradiction, shame, persecution and death.
   With such a prospect as this could the apostles have lied and deceived, could they have invented the history of the life of Christ? No reasonable man could seriously assert such a thing.  No; the apostles were themselves completely persuaded of the truth of everything which they preached to the world, and wrote down in the Sacred Scriptures concerning Jesus Christ. Nor did they hesitate for a moment to lay down their life as a testimony to the truth.
IV.   Moreover, even Jewish and pagan historians bear explicit witness to the fact that Christ really lived. For example, a Jewish writer, Josephus Flavius, thus expresses himself in the first century: "At that time lived Jesus, a wise man, if indeed he may be called a man. For he performed many wonderful works. . . .  When Pilate, in consequence of an accusation brought against him by the most prominent men of our nation, condemned him to be crucified, his disciples still adhered to him. He rose again, and appeared to them alice on the third day, according to what the holly prophets had foretold of him in this, and a thousand other marvelous respects."
   Similar is the testimony borne by heathen writers such as Tacitus, Suetonius, Pliny the younger, in regard to Christ. The first mentioned says that the founder of the Christian religion was condemned to death by Pilate, the Roman governor, during the reign of the emperor Tiberius. Heathen philosophers, such as Celsus and Porphyrius, who lived in the first and second centuries, did indeed write against Christ and His doctrines, but they never called in question the fact of His existence.
   "Rejoice in the Lord," then, my youthful reader! Christ has in very deed lived on earth, and, as the Apostle says: "Christ is our peace." Christ alone can unite us to God, to the God who created the heavens and the earth, and in whom, to quote the words of the same apostle, "we live and move and are." And this Christ is now present in the Holy Eucharist, our Emmanuel, of whom the Angelic Doctor sing: Lauda Sion Salvatorem

Sion, lift thy voice and sing:

Praise thy Saviour and thy King,

Praise with hymns thy Shepherd true:

Strive thy best to praise Him well;

Yet doth He all praise excel;

None can ever reach His due.

Jesus! Shepherd of the sheep!

Thy true flock in safety keep.

Living Bread! Thy Life supply;

Strengthen us, or else we die;

Fill us with celestial grace

Thou, who feudist us below!

 Source of all we have or know!

Grant that with Thy saints above,

Sitting at the feast of love,

We may see Thee face to face."

Chapter 4

Chapter 4 (Death is not Annihilation)


"I.   In These modern days, when faith has grown cold or vanished altogether, there are people, and even lads of fifteen or sixteen years of age, who, when they are exhorted to reflect from time to time upon death and eternity, merely reply: "I am no child to be frightened with nursery tales; who knows whether death is not annihilation!"
   Words like these, when uttered by youthful lips, fill us truly with horror and pity. But how is it possible to speak in this way? Simply because, in the case of those who this express themselves, the belief in one of the fundamental truths of all religion, the belief in the immortality of the soul, has been destroyed.
   Since you, dear reader, must go forth into like and be exposed to the dangers of unbelief, it is of the utmost importance that the conviction that "death is not annihilation" should be deeply rooted in your heart; wherefore, ponder carefully the principal grounds upon which this conviction is based.
II.   Death is not annihilation, but the soul lives on after the death of the body. It is immortal. The very nature of the soul proves this; it is a simple, indivisible being; it can not be separated into parts, or destroyed.
   Now, however, the unbelievers, the so-called materialists, appear upon the scene, and say: "Man does not possess a soul independent of the body, a soul which has its own separate existence." And as proof (?) of this they assert that since a violent blow upon the head destroys consciousness, the power of thought is therefore dependent upon the brain; the brain being the cause of thought, no spiritual soul is needed for this purpose.
   This conclusion certainly appears plausible, but it contains a grievous fallacy. In a similar manner I could "PROVE" that there is no sun! Just tell me whether, if you close the shutters of your room, the light does not disappear from it; but in proportion as you re-open them, the light streams in again more or less brightly. Therefore the light in the room depends upon the window, the window is the cause of it; hence no other cause is needed, no sun! Thus my young friend, if you had not seen the sun for yourself, you might believe that there is not a sun at all. In both instances, the fallacy of the deduction or conclusion is obvious. Just as certainly as there is a sun, so certainly does man posses an immortal soul, with an independent existence of its own.
III.   The conviction of all nations years witness to the immortality of the human soul; it is inscribed by the hand of nature in the heart of every man in characters which can never be effaced. Nature can never deceive. False representations concerning the future life of the soul by no means prove that it is not immortal.
   This belief in the immortality of the soul may indeed be dislodged from the head, but never torn out of the heart.  "It is difficult," a simple person once remarked to me, "to believe that those whom we love do not merely die, but are dissolved into nothingness."  And, truly, all our feelings rise in revolt and the voice we hear within us pretests against the assumption that death is annihilation.
IV.   No, no, thus it can not be: there shall be a "Wiedersehen" of our kindred; we shall meet again those whom we have loved and lost. If, indeed, there were no such future meeting, we should be justified in raising an accusing voice to Heaven, and exclaiming: "Thou hast deceived us by implanting affections within our breast which are only doomed to be disappointed!"  Is, then, everything to be ended at the close of this short life, so replete often with suffering, and is only nothingness to remain! Are love and friendship to be mere empty words, are virtue and justice to exist only in imagination?
   What then!  The robber and the robbed, the traitor to his country and he who gives his life for his fatherland, the martyr and his torturer, the unnatural son and the model daughter, are they all to share the same fate in annihilation ----- in the same nothingness?  No, it is impossible even to imagine anything so preposterous.
V.   But all has not been said. We have within us a heart which yearns after endless, everlasting happiness! Happiness! the mere mention of this word makes our heart beat more quickly, and stirs our being to its inmost depths. This craving for happiness, this intense longing, must be destined to be satisfied at some future period. But where? Where is this endless and complete happiness for which we long so ardently --- where is it to be found? Everything teaches us, everything proves to us, that it can not be found upon earth. Our heart is, indeed, not very large, but the universe does not suffice to fill it. Caesar, to whom at one time half the world was subject, said with melancholy discontent: "Is that all?"
   Therefore, if the longing for happiness is so firmly rooted in our heart, and yet can never find complete or permanent satisfaction upon earth, it follows that it must be possible for man to attain it after this life is ended, that means that death is not annihilation. This reasoning should suffice.
VI.   But we have kept the most conclusive argument to the last. We have the words of Christ Himself as a pledge that there is a future life; and He speaks as follows: "The just shall go into life everlasting, and the wicked unto everlasting punishment."

There is not death! What seems so is transition.

This life of mortal breath

is but a suburb of the life elision

Whose portal we call death.

-Longfellow, Resignation."

(Wiedersehen German [auf ˈviːdərzeːən]

sentence substitute

goodbye, until we see each other again)

Chapter 3

"Chapter 3 (The Music of the Soul)


I.   A peasant betook himself to a priest in Rome, and laid before him the following extraordinary doubt.  "Your Reverence," he said, " I can scarcely believe that I have a soul!"   It may readily be imagined that this unexpected statement caused the priest no slight astonishment. It cost him an effort to discover how he could, in a brief and clear manner, convince the foolish man that he really had a soul. The Spirit of God taught him what to say.
   He questioned the doubter thus: "Now, my good man, why can not you believe that you have a soul?"  "Because I can not see it!" "Well, then think of whatever you like" ; and after the lapse of a few minutes he inquired: "Have you really thought of something?" "Yes, I have done as your Reverence bade me." "But," continued the priest, "I can not believe why not, may I ask?"  "Because I can not see your thought." In this convincing manner was the man freed from his doubt.
   For, indeed, it would be unreasonable to doubt that we are able to think, will and remember. On this account it would be equally unreasonable to refuse to believe in the presence within us of a should endowed with reason.
II.   Thus the power of thought is a proof of the existence within us of an independent and retinal soul. But stop! We have reckoned without our host, that is, without the modern unbelieving scientists! They think scornfully of our old-fashioned ideas, and exclaim: "O you silly people! Thought is nothing more than an act of the brain! In order to do this there is no need of a soul; that is to say, no need of a spiritual and independent being."
   But pause awhile, you wiseacres, and allow us to ask you a question. From a neighboring house the sound of a masterly performance on the piano reaches our ears. Do you mean to assert that the music is nothing more than an act of the piano, that the instrument plays of itself? Every child would say of you, "these people are too clever by half." Therefore, good gentlemen, we continue to believe that thought is the music of the soul; and that where thoughts exist, there must be a soul capable of thought, just as, where there is the sound of music from a piano, there must be also a performer.
III.   What now is the case of animals, especially those which are most highly trained, as for instance the dog, the horse, or the monkey? Have not they likewise a soul? Certainly the animal possesses sensible impressions, feelings, impulses, a memory, and as far as this goes, one may speak of a soul. But the soul of the animal is essentially and immeasurably removed from the soul of man, because it is not possessed of reason. Even, to use a common phrase, the most intelligent animal is destitute of self-consciousness and reason or understanding. Every child knows that "two and two make four," but no animal could comprehend the fact, though it were to try to do so for a century or more.
IV.   Upon us, however, there shines not merely the light of natural reason, but also the sun of faith. The rays of this sun enable us to see that our soul is like unto God, an image of God. Holy Scripture expressly teaches us this, for in the beginning of it we read that God solemnly pronounced theses words of vast import: "Let us make man to our image and likeness." Thus if man is like God, who is a pure spirit, this likeness can certainly not consist in anything physical or material, but in the possession of a soul, which is a spirit also, made in God's image, simple as God is, living as God is, immortal as God is. Wherefore, lay well to heart the following verse:

O man, to God's own image made,

Destined that God to see in light arrayed,

Keep thou His law, unto thy ways take heed;

Let love of Him rule every word and deed."

Continuation of Chapter 2

"IV.   To go yet further! Religion is the mainspring of all virtue, the solid foundation of all morality; and he who should attempt to found, extend, and perpetuate the kingdom of virtue apart from the kingdom of religion, would be like a man who should build a house upon the sand. Without religion, man is the sport of his passions. He resembles a ship which, being destitute of cable or anchor, is certain sooner or later to go to pieces on the rocks when overtaken by a storm. In a way, religion is to man what the flower is to the plant; if the flower is cut off, the fruit is destroyed at the same time.

   Now, my dear young friend, you know what you ought to think of the frivolous way of talking which those adopt who assert that people can get on very well without religion. Yes, they can get on, but after what fashion! Do you, therefore, repeat with heart and voice the following lines:

Come, sacred Light, from Heave above

With power the heart of man to raise

And teach to hymn his Maker's praise,

And with that brightness let him shine

In presence of the King divine."

Chapter 2

"Chapter 2 (The Creator and the Creature)


I.   In the studio of a sculptor a magnificent statue is standing. The famous artist has chiseled it out of pure white marble; the masterpiece is the object of universal admiration. We regard it as a matter of course that the sculptor has every right to do as he pleases with his work, and will only surrender this right to another for a very large sum of money. Yet it can scarily be said that he created the statue, since the form of it alone is the work of his hands, and not the marl out of which he fashioned it.
   Now, dear reader, look once more at the marvelous work of the universe, and all that it contains; look especially at man and tell me whether He who not only made all this, but created it out of nothing, whether God Almighty has not an absolute, unlimited, and immutable right of possession over it all? Must not, therefor, the whole of creation, and especially man, who is endowed with reason, serve and obey this God as the supreme Lord and Master of all, and do His will in all things?
   And it is this relation of dependence and subservience in which man stands to God which is termed religion.
II.   Religion (from religare, "to bind back, to bind fast") expresses the bond of piety by means of which God has drawn man to Himself, in order that we may were Him as our master, and obey Him as our father. Man must, indeed, serve God; that is, he must both do and suffer His will. But since man is endowed with free will, can he nor to whatever he likes? Most assuredly not! For his free will comes not from himself, but is the gift of God. And it is impossible that God can have endowed man with free will in order that he should do what he likes, but in order that he should do what he ought, and do it quite willingly of his own free will.
   All creation fulfills the purpose of its existence; the sun, the moon, and the stars revolve in their appointed orbits, not voluntarily, but in unswerving obedience to the laws of nature, with such mathematical regularity that astronomers can calculate their movements with perfect precision.  The animal world likewise, compelled by the law of instinct, fails not to fulfill the object for which it was created. Man, on the other hand, is so constituted that he ought to serve, honor, and worship God deliberately and of his own free will.
III. This consciousness, this conviction that he is bound to honor and worship God, is deeply and ineradicably implanted in the heart of every human being. Hence we find that in ancient times no nation was with our its own religion. It is impossible that this universal conviction of mankind can be a deception or a lie; it is, on the contrary, a plain proof that, to quote the word of a Christian writer of the early Church, "the soul is of its very nature religious."
   And indeed the most ancient books of Holy Scripture teach us that not only did Abraham and his descendants worship the true God, but that all nations with whom they came in contact had, and adored, their own deities.
   Both Greek and Roam historians tell a similar tale. Plutarch, for instance, expresses himself in the following terms: "If one were to wander over the whole world, one might find cities with our walls, with our literature, and without written laws, . . . but a city without temples and divinities no one has discovered as yet."
   In our own day research has been carried so far that scarcely any country has remained unexplored, or any nation unknown. And all honest explorers bear unanimous witness that just as it was of old, so also in modern times there is no nation which does not possess its own religion."

(Chapter two to be continued)

Continuation of Chapter 1

"III   Fix your gaze upon the splendors of the universe. Behold the countless multitude of the heavenly bodies, as they revolve in their orbits; he bold the wondrous creations which are upon this earth, as comprised in the animal, vegetable, or mineral kingdoms. Does not the most consummate imaginable skill, everywhere meet the eye?
   But now listen to what certain unbelieving scientists, naturalists, and astronomers say to all this. The friend to whom reference was made above asserted that the watch had made itself. Our scientists go still farther and obstinately assert that the infinitely more wonderful machine of the entire universe, earth, sun, moon, and stars, likewise came into being of itself, having gradually developed out of a mass of primeval matter, which had always been in existence.
IV   How ridiculous and absurd! But let us for a memento assent to the theory of these over wise gentlemen, let us submit our understanding to them; they owe us, however, a clear and ample explanation of the most important point of all, and are bound to tell us whence came this primeval matter, and the forces at work within it, by means of which the entire universe came into being.
   The good gentlemen will thus find themselves driven into a very tight corner, and in order to get out of the dilemma they will be compelled to retreat to a certain extent from the positioning which they have entrenched themselves, and say: "If you persist in having a God, you may give the name of God to this primary matter." But this will not help settle the question, for to have such a God as a tantamount to having no God at all.
V   Look forth on some clear and beautiful night in autumn, and contemplate the star bespangled sky; see how the innumerable heavenly bodies have all their appointed orbits, so that none of them interfere with the others. Examine, moreover, the animal and vegetable kingdoms, and see how everything suits its purpose! Even the smallest plant is formed in its every detail with the most perfect exactitude. And every little creature, down to the insect which crawls in the dust at our feet, is so made as best to fulfill the object for which it was created. "What a piece of work is a man!" exclaims Hamlet; "how noble in reason! how infinite in faculty! in form and moving how express and admirable! in action how like an angel! in apprehension how like a god!" Thus, wherever we look around us in the immense, the boundless universe, we everywhere perceive object, design, and order.
   Can not we then comprehend, by means of our common-sense, that all this is not the work of chance, and was not brought into being by unintelligent, unreasoning forces and laws? Must we not rather exclaim in the inspired language of David: "The heavens show forth the glory of God"? Yes, let us say with grateful joyous hearts: There is a God; an omnipotent, an all-wise, an infinitely good and bountiful God!
   Thank God, dear reader, for the most precious of all gifts, for the grace which enables you to say from the bottom of your heart, and with the most intense conviction: " I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth." Pray that you may always persevere in this faith.

The fool alone can not descry

God's work in earth and sea and sky;

The more enlightened eye can trace

His all-wise hand in Nature's face;

And where sight fails, there faith alone

The great Creator's skill will own."

(The end of "The Panoply of War".)

"The Young Man's Guide"

"The Young Man's Guide", Written by Father Lasance, Published by Keefer's Catholic Gifts.
(And this is were we begin in the book)
"Part First - The Panoply of War
Chapter 1 (Is There a God?)
I.    The young man's lot is to go out into a hostile life. What is necessary for him? Behold the warrior, as he goes forth to the field of battle. Is he not amply provided with all needful weapons? When you, my dear young friend, go forth into the world, your are going to encounter mighty enemies,the enemies of your soul. You must, therefore, put on the a strong suit of armor, on which is capable of protecting you. And what is the suit of armor? The apostle St. Paul describes it in the following words: "Put you on the armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the deceits of the devil"(Eph. vi. II).
       The first and most powerful weapon in this suit of armor is the shield of faith, as the same apostle says: "in all things taking the shield of faith, wherewith you main be able to extinguish all the fiery darts of the most wicked one"(Eph. vi. 16). And, indeed, faith is an impenetrable shield against the fiery darts of the devil. When the latter strives to lead us astray, by inciting us to voluptuousness, faith lays bare to our view the abyss of hell, in order that we may behold the torments which will be the punishment of the unchaste. When he desires to dazzle us with the glitter of the riches, honors, and glories which the world has to offer us, faith throws open the portals of heaven, where the highest rewards are prepared for those who persevere in the love of God and the pursuit of virtue. Wherefore contemplate this shield of faith on every side, in order that you may be convinced of its indispensable necessity, may gladly take it into your hand, and grasp it firmly. Let us turn our attention first to the foundation of all faith, of all religion: namely, to the existence of God. Is there a God? That is the first question.
II.    "Is there a God?"  What an unnecessary question, you are saying to yourself. And you are quite right. In regard to this point David says in one of his Psalms: "The fool hath said in his heart: There is no God." And truly; only a man destitute of reason, a man who is mad, could make such a an assertion, could question the existence of God.
   Let us suppose that you show your watch to a friend, and say to him: "Must not the individual who made this watch, and arranged the works, have understood his business very well? Must he not be a very clever fellow, and possess a first-rate head-piece?" Now, suppose he were to reply: "Oh, nonsense! The watch made itself!" Should you not gaze fixedly at him, and make such remark as the following: "My good friend, if you are in earnest, and really mean what you say, there must be a screw loose in you upper story." And you would be quite justified in addressing him. Yet wait awhile, and pay attention to the practical application of all this."
(to be continued)

This is the reason for blogging.

Hello All,
I have come across an amazing spiritual reading book that has not only strengthened my faith, but helped me understand it as well. I will be the first person to admit that i don't know everything, but when i come across truth I can't help but want to share and talk about it with others. Work will not allow me to share, and my wife can only take so much of my talking while she is taking care of me and the kids(She's the best). I really hope this book will reach out to those who want so badly to grow in their walk with Our Lord Jesus Christ, and to pick up their daily cross and carry forward with God's will. As you have already noticed I am not a great writer and do not plan on writing solo. I will be typing my blog out verbatim of the book, "The Young Men's Guide". I hope to put a blog out as often as i can, and look to share a section of the book for every blog. Everything i write in this blog i give full credit to the author Father Lasance. Even though i wish these were my words, I am not that creative with putting my words on to paper. I hope you enjoy and gain from these blogs so that our service here on earth may be fruitful and pleasing to God.

-Jimmy