Order; and by Matrimony, the married couple, when properly disposed, receive grace to discharge the weighty duties of their state, and bring up their children in the fear and love of God.

The Roman Catholic Church always made use of ceremonies in the administration of the sacraments, for the greater decency and majesty of religion, and to place, in a striking manner, before the faithful, the graces conferred on them by these sacred symbols, and excite them to devotion; but none of these are believed by divine faith, but such as have been from the beginning revealed.

They believe that sin is forgiven gratis by divine mercy, for the sake of Jesus Christ; that original sin is taken away entirely in baptism by grace; that in justification, the sins are really washed away, and the soul rendered truly just and holy, before God: and that we owe to the pure mercy of God, the justice which is in us by the Holy Ghost; and that all the good works conducive to eternal salvation, which we do, are so many gifts of the grace of God.

They believe also, that a temporal punishment is often due for our sins, after the sins themselves have been remitted by the sacrament of penance. To redeem this debt, as well as to preserve the penitent from relapsing into his sins, the confessor imposes a suitable penance, such as fasting, prayers, alms, &c. in the sacrament of confession; and Roman Catholics believe, that a just man, by such works, either enjoined him as a penance, or undertaken and performed of his own accord for

that end, can, through the merits of Jesus Christ, satisfy the divine justice for temporal punishment due for sin; but their Church has not declared whether such works are satisfactory, de congruo, or de condigno; whether they are so, because God promised to accept of them, or because he accepts of them out of benevolence: neither is it of faith, that a just man can satisfy for another, or that any works, but works of charity, or such as are done out of the motive of charity, will suffice to satisfy for the temporal punishments I have spoken of. That the just, by good works done by grace, merit eternal glory, is one of their dogmas; but we are to remember, that they believe that all these good works are the gifts of the grace of Jesus Christ; and, even by these, the Roman Catholic faith does not affirm, whether the just merit eternal glory, ex congruo, or ex condigno, or because God promised to give eternal life as a reward of our good works. Nor is it of faith that all the good works of the just merit eternal life. For Roman Catholic theologians dispute, whether by charity alone, and works done out of the motive of charity, the just merit a crown of glory, or whether they can merit it by other good works.

They constantly hold, that in the Mass there is offered to God, a true, proper, and propitiatory sacrifice for the living and the dead. The consecration and oblation of his own body and blood for the remission of sins, under the appearance of bread and wine, which Christ himself made at his last supper, and ordained that his apostles and

their successors should do the like, in remembrance of him, this very thing they believe is done in mass; and they hold, that the sacrifice offered up to God by Christ upon the cross, and that offered up to God in mass upon their altars, are the same, but different in the manner of offering. Christ offered himself upon the cross in a bloody manner for the redemption of mankind; and Christ offers himself upon the altar by the hands of his ministers, in an unbloody manner, to apply to man the fruits of the sacrifice of the cross. As Christ really shed his blood upon the cross; so, to represent the same, Christ is offered upon the altar under the separate appearance of bread and wine; this being a commemorative sacrifice, shewing forth the death of Christ until he comes. To offer up this sacrifice, as it should be, whether it be considered on the part of the priest, who officiates at the altar, or on the part of the people, who assist at mass, it is believed by them to be the sublimest act of religion man is capable of, and the highest honour they can give to God. Besides the first and essential end of glorifying the Supreme Being by this act, their bishops and parish priests every Sunday and holiday, offer up the sacrifice of the mass for the spiritual good of their flocks; and the people are taught to offer it up, along with their pastor, for God's glory, in thanksgiving for all his blessings, in satisfaction for their sins, and for obtaining what graces they may stand in need of: and they are told that, if with a lively faith, a contrite heart, and reverential awe, they assist at these divine mysteries, they may, through

Christ, offered up for them, obtain grace, and by grace, find mercy; and in this sense, the sacrifice of the mass is propitiatory for the living. And it is so, when offered for the dead, suffering in purgatory, by either mitigating their pains, or shortening the time of their sufferings, or releasing them entirely from them; but it is not against Catholic faith to say, that this sacrifice is of no service to the dead, further than it shall please God to accept of it for that end.

To preserve uniformity in the public worship of God, and to prevent the frequent changes to which the modern languages are subject, the Church allows in her liturgy only the Latin language, used by her in the western parts of the world, since the days of the Apostles, and the Greek and SyroChaldaic, which were used from the beginning in the Churches of the East;' but as this is merely a point of discipline, Pope John VIII. in the ninth century, permitted St. Methodius to use the Sclavonian language in the liturgy of that nation, lately converted to the faith, a privilege they enjoy to this day. As celebrating mass is the office of the Priest only, addressing himself to God, and as the people are instructed how to join him with their own prayers in offering up the sacrifice, the Church does not think, that the good arising from celebrating in the vulgar language of each country, would

2

1 Vide Bonam rer. liturg. 1. 1. c. v. § 4. p. 79. t. 1. et Salam. in not. ad Bonam. 1. c. not. 6. p. 85. et Bonam. in Append. t. 1. p. 416. et Dissertat. Honorati a S. Maria, ibid.

2

Ep. Joan. VIII. 247. t. 9. Concil. Labbe, p. 176.

counterbalance the inconveniences arising from the same she therefore, with the above exception, adheres in her Liturgy to the three languages already mentioned, which have been used by her since the apostolic age.

Roman Catholics constantly hold, that there is a Purgatory, and that the souls therein detained, are helped by the suffrages of the faithful.

By Purgatory, they mean a middle state of souls, who, departing this life in friendship with God, yet not without some lesser stains, or guilt of temporal punishment, suffer there, until they are perfectly cleansed from these, and have given full satisfaction to divine justice, before they can be admitted to the company of the saints and angels in heaven; but where this place is, the nature and duration of the pains suffered in it, are things with which the Roman Catholic faith has nothing to do. That the souls detained for a time in this place of purgation, are helped by the prayers, alms, and sacrifice of the mass offered for them by the faithful on earth, has been in all ages, since the Apostles, the constant belief of the Roman Catholic Church.1

1 2 Mac. xii. 43. 46. Dr. Jer. Taylor, Lib. of Proph. 1. 1. § 20. n. 11. p. 345. Vide all Ancient Liturgies. Constit. Apost. 1. 8. c. xiii. St. Cyr. Hieros. Catech. 19. n. 9. p. 328. ed. Ben. Arnob. 1. 4. ad gentes. See Le Brun. Litur. Tertull. 1. de Cor. c. iii. 1. de Monog. c. x. S. Cypr. Ep. 1. ed. Oxon. S. Chrys. de Sacerd. 1. 6. p. 424. ed Montf. Hom. 51. in 1. Cor. t. 10. p. 393. Hom. 3. in Phil. t. 11. p. 217. ed. Montf. S. Clem. Alexand. Strom. 1. 7. p. 794. 865. S. August. Enchir. c. cx. De Civ. Dei, 1. 21. c. xxiv. S.