ARTICLE XVIII.

And I believe, that under one kind only, whole and entire, Christ is taken and received.

Exposition.-Bread and wine, after consecration, being turned into the substance of Christ's body and blood, without changing the species, the people are forbidden to receive the sacrament in both kinds.

The Council of Constance decreed, that Christ himself instituted the sacrament in both kinds, and that the faithful in the primitive church used so to receive it; yet, that the practice of receiving in one kind only, was highly censurable; they, therefore, appointed the continuance of the consecration in both kinds, and of giving to the laity only in one kind. For this they assigned the following curious reasons: lest the blood of Christ should be spilt the wine kept for the sick should fret-lest wine might not always be had-or lest some might not be able to bear the smell or taste.

The Council of Constance has the following words: "In the name of the holy and undivided Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen. This present sacred, general Council declares, decrees, and determines, that although Christ instituted and administered to his disciples this venerable sacrament after supper, under, both kinds of bread and wine; yet this, notwithstanding the laudable authority of sacred canons, and the approved custom of the church, hath maintained, and doth maintain, that such a sacrament as this ought not to be made after supper, nor to be received by the faithful, otherwise than fasting, excepting in case of infirmity, or other necessity granted or admitted by law, or by the church: and since, for avoiding some dangers and scandals, the custom has been rationally introduced. That though this sacrament was in the primitive church received by the faithful under both kinds, and afterwards by the makers of it, under both kinds, and by the laity only under the species of bread-such a custom as this ought to be accounted a law, which must not be rejected, or at pleasure changed, without the authority of the church. They who assert the contrary are to be driven away as heretics and severely punished by the diocesans of the place, or their officials, or by the inquisitors of heretical pravity".

The Council of Florence, speaking in relation both to this and the eucharist, decrees as follows: "The priest, speaking in the name of Christ, maketh this sacrament; for, by virtue of the very words themselves, the bread is changed into the body of Christ, and the wine into his blood; yet so that the whole Christ is contained under the species of bread, and the whole species of wine; also in every consecrated host and consecrated wine, when a separation is made there is whole Christ."

The host consists of a wafer composed of the finest flour and wine; and is that which is here called bread. They use wine, however, separately; the priest only partaking of this. The communicant, in receiving the sacrament, has a consecrated wafer placed upon his tongue by the priest, the former devoutly kneeling.

ARTICLE XIX.

I do firmly believe that there is a purgatory, and that the souls kept prisoners there do receive help by the suffrage of the faithful.

To this Bellarmine and the Rhenish Annotations have added-That the souls of the Patriarchs and holy meu, who departed this life before the crucifixion of Christ, were kept as in a prison, in a department of hell without pain-That Christ did really go into local hell, and deliver the captive souls out of this confinement. The fathers assert, that our Saviour descended into hell; went thither specially, and delivered the souls of the fathers out of their mansions.

Exposition.-Bellarmine says there is a purgatory after this life, where the souls of those that are not purged, nor have satisfied for their sins here, are to be purged, and give satisfaction, unless their time be shortened by the prayers, alms, and masses of the living. This is also asserted by the Council of Trent.

That same Council decreed, that souls who die in a state of grace, but are not sufficiently purged from their sius, go first into purgatory, a place of torment, bordering near upon hell, from which their deliverance may be expedited by the suffrages, that is, prayers, alms, and masses, said and done by the faithful.

It is also decreed, that souls are detained in purgatory till they have made full satisfaction for their sins, and are

thoroughly purged from them; and that whoever says that there is no debt of temporal punishment to be paid, either in this world or in purgatory, before they can be received into heaven, is accursed.

ARTICLE XX.

I do believe, that the saints reigning together with Christ are to be worhipped and prayed unto; and that they do offer prayers unto God for us; and that their relics are to be had in veneration.

Exposition. It must not hence be inferred, that the Roman Catholics worship the saints departed, or their relics, as their saviours or redeemers; but simply as inferior mediators, being near the throne of God, and having constant access to His divine presence. They believe that the prayers of these saints are always acceptable to Almighty God; and that as they are ministering spirits to the heirs of salvation on earth, they consequently know what is taking place in the church, and are specially mindful of the wants and desires of their suffering brethren below. So the faithful here think they may and ought to supplicate the good offices of the glorified saints before the footstool of the Omnipotent. The worship which is paid to these saints is far from supreme; it is merely the bowing with reverence, and the supplications of less favoured beings.

Relics of saints, &c. are held in veneration; but are not worshipped in anywise; but only as we hold in vene. ration the pictures or the goods of our dearest friends.

It would be amusing here to give a full account of the sacred relics which are deposited in the churches of the stations at Rome, exhibited during Lent, and upon other solemn occasions, to the veneration of the faithful; but the limits to which this work is confined forbid it.

There are fifty four stations held in Rome, the ceremonies of which commence upon the first day of Lent, and end on the Sunday Dominica in Albis or Low Sunday.

St. Isidor, who wrote about the twelfth century, does not allow any other signification to the word station than an offering made on a fixt and appointed day; and in support of that opinion cites the practice of Elkanah in the first book of Samuel, chap. i. "And the man went up yearly" (statutis diebus) "out of his city to worship, and

to sacrifice unto the Lord of hosts in Shiloh :" and in the following chapter, when Hannah brought to Samuel " a little coat from year to year, when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly (statutis diebus) sacrifice." From which it appears, Isidor considered the term station to be derived from the verb statuere, to which opinion Polidore Virgil seems to incline, when treating of this matter in his eighth book. But many object to this explanation, preferring the verb stars as more designative of the ceremony; quoting in support of their argument numerous authorities, some of very remote antiquity, to prove that the word station is not intended to signify any determinate place nor any particular ceremony performed on some certain day; but from the act of the people standing on such occasions, which custom upon these solemn days is invariably observed. In allusion also to the words of the gospel, "where two or three are gathered together in my name, I will be in the midst of them;" and also after the resurrection, in a congregation of the disciples of Jesus, where it is written stetit Jesus in medio eorum;" the Sovereign Pontiff, in quality of his title as Christ's vicar, by this act reminds the people of the promise.

Others pretend that it merely denotes the church, where the pope stands (or some one in his place) and preaches to the people, in imitation of Jesus, in the sixth chapter of St. John, and in other places, where it is said he stood and preached to the multitude; and which example was followed by Peter, as in the second chapter of the Acts, and from him handed down to the present time. The practice of preaching to the people standing continued, and is still observed on the days of holding the sta tions, in the time of Lent daily, as particularly noted in the homilies of St. Gregory when speaking of the custom; from which it is manifest, that it is not the church where the ceremony is observed, but the act from which the word station is derived. Some have ventured to attribute the origin of the custom to Pope Simplicius, from his directing the priests to attend at the churches of St. Peter and St. Paul; and of St. Lawrence, on the octaves of their festivals, to administer the sacraments of baptism and penance: but this is clearly erroneous, as the prac tice can be proved to be much more ancient than the

time of Simplicius. Finally, therefore, the word station is evidently derived from the act of standing, and not from the words of Christ, nor from the pontiff, nor from the priests appointed by Simplicius, but from the people solemnly assembling and conforming to a more ancient practice.

It was anciently the custom to go in procession to the church of the station; but the people at present go at such times of the day as suit their particular convenience; where, devoutly praying for a certain time, they return to their ordinary occupations. Pope Boniface VIII. granted an indulgence of one year and forty days to all those who, with true contrition, having confest, kept the stations regularly from the commencement on Ash Wednesday to the feast of Easter; besides all other indulgences granted by his predecessors, to each church, in particular, a remission of 100 days of penance to all such as were, under the same regulations, found attending the apostolic benedictions. The number of the stations, for legitimate causes, having been limited, and, for good reasons, changed, transferred, or incorporated with others, by Gregory, and other popes, the number is now reduced to forty-six, which, adding the octave of Easter, and the Dominica in Albis, make the total at present fifty-four; but, by revisiting some of the churches, the whole number where the stations are now held is reduced to forty-five, as follow: