hear you rather than God, judge ye. We cannot but speak the things that we have heard and seen.' Cast into prison a second time for preaching the gospel, he was this time cruelly scourged, but went away from the judgment-seat with the other Apostles, rejoicing, as the Holy Scripture says, that he was "accounted worthy to suffer reproach for the name of Jesus " (Acts iv., v.).

ELEVENTH INSTRUCTION.

Ninth Article-The Catholic Church-Jesus Christ the invisible Head of the Church-The Pope, the successor of St. Peter, its visible Head.

Q. What is the ninth article of the Creed?

A. The ninth article of the Creed is, "The Holy Catholic Church, the Communion of Saints."

We have now gone through the first eight articles of the Creed, which all relate to one or other of three Persons of the B. Trinity. The remaining four articles contain four of the principal truths revealed to us by God. The most important of all is contained in the ninth article, The Holy Catholic Church, the Communion of Saints.

But why do I say that this truth is more important than any of the others? Because, if we believe in the Holy Catholic Church, we believe in all that she teaches, that is to say, in all the other truths of religion. All that is contained in the other articles of the Creed is, therefore, contained in this single one, The Holy Catholic Church.

There is another reason, my dear children, besides its importance, why this article comes in that place in the Creed which it occupies, immediately after the eighth article which treats of the Holy Ghost. It is because the Church of Christ is the special work of the Holy Spirit. You remember that our B. Lord, while he was yet on earth, ordained his Apostles priests, and bade them go and baptize all nations, teaching them all that he had taught to them (Matt. xxviii. 19). But they were not to begin their mission until after the coming of the Holy Ghost; wherefore he told them to return to Jerusalem after he had ascended, and remain there until they should

be "endued with power from on high" (Luke xxiv. 49; Acts i. 4). On the feast of Pentecost this promise was fulfilled. The Holy Ghost came down upon them, enlightening their minds with a wonderful knowledge of heavenly things, inflaming their hearts with a holy zeal, and bestowing upon them those miraculous powers which they required in order to prove to their hearers that they were sent by God. From that day the Old or Jewish Law was done away with, and the New Law, the teaching of Jesus Christ, of which the Jewish Law had been only a figure, remained in its place.

No sooner had they received the Divine Spirit, than the Apostles went forth from that upper room to begin their mission. The first sermon was preached on that very day by St. Peter in the streets of Jerusalem, and three thousand souls were converted to Jesus Christ. From Jerusalem the Apostles soon carried the Divine word to the other cities of Judea, and from thence to the principal countries of the then known world. Wherever they went they converted thousands, both Jews and Pagans, and baptized them, according to our Lord's instructions, in the name of the B. Trinity. But the Apostles could not remain always with their new converts to complete their instruction and administer the Sacraments; there were other cities and other nations to which the Gospel had not yet been preached. Besides, there were future generations to be provided for, millions yet unborn when the Apostles went to receive their crown. What,

then, did the Apostles do, that their work might not die with them? Following the instructions which our Lord had given them, they ordained, wherever they went, Bishops and Priests to take charge of the newly-converted flocks, instruct them more fully, and administer to them the Holy Sacraments. Thus were numerous Christian congregations formed over the whole world, all of whom were united in believing what the Apostles had taught them, and in worshipping God in the manner in which they had instructed them.

You will now better understand the meaning of the answer to the next question, which, at a time when there

are so many false religions set up in the world, is one of the greatest importance.

Q. What is the Catholic Church?

A. The Catholic Church is the union of all the faithful under one head.

The Catholic Church is the union, or assembly, of all the faithful, that is, of all those who profess the true faith, under one head. From this you see that those do not belong to the Catholic Church who deny her doctrines or do not acknowledge her head. Infidels, therefore, that is, unbelievers, heretics who call in question the teaching of the Church, and schismatics who refuse obedience to her head, are not members of the Church at all.

You will perhaps ask me whether those are members of the Church who believe what she teaches and acknowledge her head, but who lead wicked and irreligious lives. Yes, my dear children, they are members of the Church upon earth; but they will never be members of the Church in heaven, unless they sincerely repent. For the Church on earth consists of all who are baptized and believe, whether good or bad; wherefore our Lord likens her to " a net cast into the sea and gathering together of all kinds of fishes" (Matt. xiii. 47). But at the day of general judgment, the angels will go forth, and will separate the good from the bad, and the good only shall be gathered into the kingdom of heaven.

The Apostle St. Paul beautifully compares the Catholic Church to the human body, which is composed of many different senses and members, each having its own separate office, but all closely united under one head, which rules and directs them all (Ephes. iv. 15, 16, v. 23). Thus, the feet carry the body from place to place, the eyes keep watch to preserve it from danger, the hands do their part in providing for its wants, while the head thinks for and directs the whole. So is it in the Church of Christ. There are many members, or persons who compose it, but all have not the same duty or office. There are those who have to teach and those who have to learn, those who have to give the Sacraments and those who have to

receive them, those who have to rule and those who have to obey. In other words, there are the pastors of the Church, that is, the Bishops and Priests, and there are the simple faithful. Each of these two classes have their own separate office, but both are united in believing the same doctrines and acknowledging the same head.

Q. Who is the Head of the Catholic Church?

A. The Head of the Catholic Church is Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yes; Jesus Christ our Lord is the head of the Catholic Church. It was he who founded it, and it is he who governs and preserves it. Before he founded the Catholic Church, it was the Jewish Church or Synagogue which taught mankind what they had to believe and do in order to gain heaven. This Church, too, was founded by God, and had God for its head; but it was only a figure of and to prepare the way for the Catholic Church, which our Lord was to establish, and which was to continue to teach mankind until the end of time. Of this Church Jesus Christ is the Head.

It was not, however, the Will of God that his Divine Son should always remain visibly among men, that is to say, in the sight of mankind. He had to ascend to his Heavenly Father, there to sit at the right hand of God, no longer visible to man, till he should come at the last day to judge the world. That his disciples, therefore, might have some one to whom they could have recourse, and from whom they could learn his Will, he chose out of his twelve Apostles one, whom he made their chief, and to whom he gave power to govern his Church and exercise his authority till he should come again. But this is explained to you more fully in the two next answers of the catechism, which I will now ask you.

Q. Has not the Church a visible Head on earth?

A. Yes; the Church has a visible Head on earth, the Bishop of Rome, who is the Vicar of Christ.

Q. Why is the Bishop of Rome the Head of the Church?

A. The Bishop of Rome is the Head of the Church, because he is the successor of St. Peter, whom Christ appointed to be the Head of the Church.

From these answers, my dear children, you learn two

important truths; first, that it is the holy Apostle S Peter, whom Christ appointed to be the Head of the Church; and secondly, that it is the Bishop of Rome, who succeeds to St. Peter, who now rules the Church in his place. For St. Peter was the first Bishop of Rome; there he governed the Church, and there he suffered martyrdom for the love of Jesus. But though St. Peter is dead, he still lives in the person of his successor, who, in succeeding to the Bishopric of St. Peter, succeeds also to his power and authority. The Bishop of Rome is, therefore, like St. Peter, the visible head of the Catholic Church, being, like him, the Vicar of Christ, that is to say, ruling the Church in the name of our B. Lord and by virtue of his authority. For this is the meaning of the word vicar—one who acts in the place or name of another. Thus, in every diocese there is some priest who acts in the name of the Bishop in certain things which the Bishop puts under his charge, and he is hence called the Bishop's vicar, or the vicar of the diocese. In this diocese the Very Rev. is the vicar, as he has been appointed by the Right Rev. our Bishop, to act in his name. Every one, therefore, is bound to obey the Very Rev. the same as the Bishop, because he acts in his place and by his authority. Just in the same way, we are bound to obey the Bishop of Rome as we would obey Jesus Christ himself, because the Bishop of Rome is appointed by our Lord as his Vicar to govern his Church upon earth.

Q. How do you know that Christ appointed St. Peter to be the Head of the Church?

A. I know that Christ appointed St. Peter to be the Head of the Church, because Christ said to him: "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it; and to thee will I give the keys of the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. xvi. 18, 19).

These words, my dear children, were spoken by our B. Saviour to St. Peter, and were the reward of the glorious profession of faith made by that great Apostle. For our Lord, having one day asked his disciples whom men commonly considered him to be, they answered that some said that he was St. John the Baptist come to life again, and