DIALOGUE I.

ON PURGATORY AND INDULGENCES.

Paul and Murphy.

Paul. HAVE you seen the Bull of Pope Pius the Seventh ?*

Murphy. Indeed I have; and it rejoices my heart as much as if I had drunk six noggins of whisky.

Paul. And what is there in it to produce such ecstatic delight, Murphy?

Murphy. In it! Why, for sure, there is every thing in it that a good Christian could wish for. You know I am no Melchisedek, but that I had

*The Plenary Indulgence sent by Pope Pius VII. to Dr. Moylan, Bishop of Cork, granted on the 14th of May, 1809, and published in Cork in the year of our Lord 1813, as appears by the following extracts from the Doctor's Pastoral Address:—

"BELOVED Brethren,

"ANIMATED with the warmest desires of promoting your eternal welfare, we resolved immediately on completing our cathedral chapel to establish a Mission in it of pious exercises and instructions, for the space of a month; and in order to induce our bre

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a father, and a mother, and a grandfather, and a grandmother, like other Christians. And good Catholics they were too, as ever the sun shone upon;-except that now and then the dear

thren to attend thereat, and to profit by those effectual means of sanctification, we applied to the Holy See for a solemn Plenary Indulgence, in the form of a Jubilee, which the Holy Father was most graciously pleased to grant by a Bull, as follows:

"Pius VII., by Divine Providence, Pope, grants unto each and every one of the faithful of Christ, who after assisting at least eight times at the holy exercise of the Mission, (in the new cathedral of Cork,) shall confess his or her sins with true contrition, and approach unto the holy communion; shall visit the said cathedral chapel, and there offer up to God, for some time, pious and fervent prayers for the propagation of the holy Catholic faith, and to our intention, a Plenary Indulgence, applicable to the souls in purgatory by way of suffrage, and this in form of a Jubilee.'

"Such, beloved brethren, is the great, the inestimable grace, offered to us by the Vicar of Jesus Christ. Prepare, beloved, prepare your hearts to receive the fulness of the divine mercy: it is offered to all; let no one refuse to accept of it. Let sinners by its means become just, and let the just by it become more justified. It is written, God will hear us in the acceptable time : surely this holy time of Indulgence must be that most acceptable time. Those days of grace and mercy must be the days of your salvation. Ah! profit of them; be reconciled to your offended God. If you neglect this grace, if you suffer this holy time of Indulgence to pass without profiting by it, there is every reason to fear that the time of God's mercy shall pass away from you, never more to return. Behold, the treasures of God's grace are now open to you! The Ministers of Jesus Christ, invested with his authority, and animated by his Spirit, expect you with a holy impatience, ready to ease you of that heavy burden of sin under which you have so long laboured. Were your sins as red

cratur and they were rather too intimate; at which times they would be a little quarrelsome, and would curse and swear, and tap the crowns of any who came in their way with their shillelaghs. But though these things were not quite as they should have been, yet they got through life, with the help of the Priest, very comfortably; for at any time he would quiet their consciences by granting them absolution

as scarlet, by the grace of the absolution and application of this Plenary Indulgence, your souls shall become white as snow, &c.

"Wherefore, dearly beloved, that you may all know that which, according to the Bull of His Holiness, is necessary to gain the benefit of this Plenary Indulgence, granted in form of a Jubilee, you will observe,

"First, That it will commence in the new cathedral chapel, on the first Sunday in Advent, being the 28th day of November instant; and continue to the festival of St. John the Evangelist, the 27th day of December. Second, To gain this Plenary Indulgence, it is necessary to be truly penitent; to make a good confession, &c., according to the above Bull and intention of our holy Father the Pope; five Paters, and five Aves, and a Creed, to the above intention, fulfil the above obligations. Thirdly, All Priests approved of by us to hear confessions, can, during the above time, absolve all such persons as present themselves with due dispositions at confession, in order to obtain this Plenary Indulgence from all sins and censures reserved to the Holy See, or to us; they enjoining on such persons as are thus absolved a salutary penance.

"We order this Pastoral Letter and Instruction to be read in every chapel of our diocese, in town and country, at every mass, on Sunday, the 14th, the 21st, the 28th of November instant, and on Sunday, the 5th of December next. Given at Cork, Nov. 2, 1813."-Ouseley's Old Christianity, pp. 177-179.

for all their sins for three or four tenpennies, more or less, as the nature and degree of the offence might be. But since their death, the poor souls have been in purgatory, where the Priest tells me they are most miserably scorched with fire, and in great torment. And to relieve the poor dear creatures I have had many masses said for them, for which the Priest has received many pounds; yet after all I could never learn that they were much relieved. But the Holy Father's Bull-O blessed Bull!-grants them deliverance from the flames of purgatory, on condition of my saying for them five Paters, five Aves, and the Creed, for four succeeding Sundays. If this were all, is not this sufficient almost to make a good Catholic leap out of his skin? But this is not all; for by saying these Paters, and Aves, and the Creed, and by going eight times to the new cathedral at Cork, and there with contrition confessing my sins to the Priest, I shall obtain a Plenary Indulgence, that is, a complete deliverance from all sins and censures: and die when I may, my spirit shall immediately fly away to paradise, without so much as being singed by the fire of purgatory. Now, is not this enough almost to make a man frantic with joy?

Paul. Then, Murphy, do you really believe that there is any such place as purgatory? and that your forefathers are frizzling there? and

that the Priests can continue them in, or let them out, as they please?

Murphy. Indeed I do believe the whole and every part of it.

Paul. But will you tell me why you believe it?

Murphy. Why I believe it? Why, if I did not believe it, I should be a heretic; and then I should go farther than purgatory, and fare worse; for without doubt I should be damned everlastingly.

Paul. I perceive, Murphy, you are a strong believer, and that you have given implicit credence to what your Priest has told you about the certain damnation of all heretics, that is, of all Christians who are not within the pale of the Romish Church. But have you no other reasons for believing this than the mere assertion of your Priest?

Murphy. Yes, I have; but before I assign them I wish to know why you say "the Romish Church," and not "the Roman Catholic Church," which is the name we always give it. Paul. My reason is simply this,—because I am not an Irishman.

Murphy. I don't know what you mean. I wish you would explain yourself.

Paul. I mean no offence, Murphy; but you know your dear country has the reputation of being famous for bulls, and the term "Roman