I. Roman Liturgy, Mass, or Daily Service II. High Mass, as performed by a Bishop ........ III. Of the Breviary 171 .... 175 THE UNIV. OF PECULIAR DOCTRINES OF THE CHURCH OF ROME. "No Doctrine is to be received as an Article of Faith, unless delivered by Divine Revelation, and propounded by the Roman Catholic Church as a revealed Article of Faith. All other opinions, though they be the opinions of the most respectable writers; though they be the opinions of the Fathers of the Church; still they are but matters of opinion, and a Catholic may disbelieve them without ceasing to be a Catholic." BUTLER. SUMMARY OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC FAITH; BY PIUS IV. The Bull of PIUS IV. by Divine Providence, Pope, relative to the form of oath of the profession of the faith. 66 "PIUS, Bishop, the servant of the servants of God, for the perpetual remembrance of the deed. The Office of our Apostolical Ministry enjoins us, promptly to execute these decisions of the Holy Fathers with which the Almighty God has, for the good of his Church, inspired them, &c. Whereas, therefore, by the decree of the Council of Trent, all pastors who shall henceforth be placed over cathedrals and principal churches B and their dependencies, or who, entrusted with the care of souls, are provided for, must be obliged to make public profession of the orthodox faith, and to promise, and swear, that they will continue obedient to the Church of Rome; We, desirous that all this should be diligently attended to, by all so entrusted, in what department soever, whether in monasteries, convents, houses, and such like places, whether called regular, military, or by what name soever, and that the profession of the same faith may be uniformly exhibited to all, and one only and certain form of it might be made known to all men, and published in every nation, by those, whom, under the prescribed penalties it concerns, do strictly command, by our Apostolic authority, that the following aforesaid profession of faith, be solemnly made, according to this form only; viz. "Ego, I. N. firma fide credo, &c. I, I. N. firmly believe, and profess, all, and every thing, contained in this Creed, which the Holy Roman Church useth." Then follows the Nicene Creed, after which are the Twelve new Articles of the Trent Creed, as follow : "1. I most steadfastly admit and embrace the apostolical and ecclesiastical traditions, with the rest of the constitutions and observations of the said Church. "2. I also receive the Holy Scriptures according to that sense which the holy mother Church (to whom it belongs to judge of the true sense and interpretation of the Holy Scripture) did, and doth still hold, nor will I ever take and interpret it otherwise than according to the unanimous consent of the fathers. (1.) "3. I do also profess that there are truly and properly seven sacraments of the new law, instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ, and necessary to the salvation of mankind (although all the sacraments are not necessary to every person,) viz. Baptism, Confirmation, the Lord's supper, Penance, Extreme Unction, Orders and Matrimony; all which do confer grace: and whereof Baptism, Confirmation, and Orders, cannot be repeated without sacrilege. I do also receive and admit, all the received and approved rites of the Catholic Church, in the solemn administration of the aforesaid sacraments. "4. All, and every thing, which was declared and defined about original sin, and justification, by the most holy Council of Trent, I embrace and receive. "5. I do profess, also, that in the Mass is offered to God a true, proper, and propitiatory sacrifice for the quick and the dead, and that in the most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist, there is, really, and substantially, the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ, and that there is a conversion of the whole substance of the bread into his body, and of the whole substance of the wine into his blood, which conversion the Catholic Church calls Transubstantiation. ❝6. I do also confess, that under either kind or species only, whole and entire Christ, and the true Sacrament is received. "7. I stedfastly believe there is a Purgatory, and that the souls detained therein are helped by the prayers of the faithful. "8. I also believe that the saints who reign with Christ, are to be worshipped and prayed to, and that they do pray to God for us; and that their relics are to be venerated. "9. I most firmly assert, that the images of Christ and the Mother of God, who was always a virgin, are to be had, and retained, and that due honor and worship is to be given to them. "10. I do also affirm, that the power of Indulgences was left by Christ to his Church, and that the use of them is very helpful to christian people. "11. I acknowledge the Holy Catholic, and Apostolic Roman Church to be the mother and mistress of all churches; and I promise and swear true obedience to the Pope of Rome, who is the successor of Saint Peter, the Prince of the Apostles, and Vicar of Jesus Christ. (2.) "12. I also, without doubt, receive and profess all other things delivered, defined, and declared by the sacred Canons, and general Councils, and especially by the most holy Council of Trent; and all things contrary to them, with all heresies, condemned, rejected, and cursed by the Church, I likewise condemn, reject, and curse. (3.) "This true Catholic faith, out of which none can be saved, which I now freely profess, and truly hold, I, I. N. promise, vow, and swear, to retain, with God's assistance, whole and entire to my latest breath, and to procure to the extent of my power, that all my subjects, or those who, by virtue of my office, may be under my care, shall hold, teach, and preach the same. "Our pleasure is that these our present letters be read, according to custom, in our Apostolical Chancery; and that they may the more effectually be obeyed, that they be transcribed and printed, nor let any man dare to contravene this expression of our will and authority, under penalty of the indignation of the Almighty God, and of His blessed Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul. "Given at Rome in the year 1564, and in the fifth year of our Pontificate." |