ous and gracious design defeated, and could no longer look down with satisfaction upon degraded man. 'We all were by nature children of wrath,' because we were dead in sin' (Eph. ii. 3).

89. What fatal consequences have, with original sin, passed to all men?

1. Their disgrace with God, and at the same time their loss of the sonship of God, and of the right of inheriting the kingdom of Heaven; 2. Ignorance, concupiscence, and proneness to evil; and 3. All sorts of hardships, pains, calamities, and at last death. 1. See Eph. ii. 3. 'Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God' (John iii. 5). 2. 'I see another law in my members, fighting against the law of my mind' (Rom. vii. 23). "The imagination and thought of man's heart are prone to evil from his youth (Gen. viii. 21). 3. Great labor is created for all men, and a heavy yoke is upon the children of Adam, from the day of their birth until the day of their burial' (Ecclus. xl. 1). "God created man incorruptible; but by the envy of the devil death came into the world' (Wisd. ii. 23, 27). This doctrine of Divine revelation is confirmed by experience, and by the sad history of mankind (comp. Rom. vii. 18–24).

90. Did the fatal consequences of sin fall upon man only?

The punishment of God was also inflicted upon the earth, which had been created for man.

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'Cursed is the earth in thy work,' said God to Adam; with labor and toil shalt thou eat thereof all the days of thy life. Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee' (Gen. iii. 17, 18).

91. What would have become of man, if God had not shown him mercy?

No one could have received grace and been saved. 92. Why could no one have any more received grace?

Because the Divine justice demanded a satisfaction adequate to the sin; and no creature, but least of all man, who had fallen so deeply, was able to give such satisfaction.

93. How did God show mercy to man?

He promised him a Saviour, who, by a full satisfac

tion, should take sin away from him, and regain for him grace and the right of inheriting the kingdom of Heaven (Gen. iii. 15).

'Therefore, as by the offence of one [Adam] judgment came unto all men to condemnation; so also by the justice of one [Christ] grace came unto all men to justification of life; . that as sin hath reigned to death, so also grace might reign by justice unto life everlasting' (Rom. v. 18, 21).

94. If without the grace of the Redeemer no one can be saved, how then could those who lived before the coming of Christ go to Heaven?

Those who lived before the coming of the Redeemer of the world could not indeed enter Heaven before Him; but with the grace which God gave them on account of the Redeemer to come, they could merit the kingdom of Heaven, and then enter into it with Him.

The whole of the Old Testament bears witness of the many eminent graces which God gave to the Israelites, and to the just who lived under the Patriarchal law (Short Hist. of Rel., §§ 6-19).

95. Did God give grace also to the pagans for the salvation of their souls?

Yes; He manifested Himself also to the pagans, and in many ways exhorted them to repentance and amend

ment:

1. By the voice of conscience and interior impulse; 2. By natural benefits; 3. By His judgments; 4. By extraordinary men whom He raised among them or sent to them; 5. By the Israelites whom, with their holy books, He dispersed among them; and 6. Sometimes also by Angels, dreams, wonderful apparitions or events.

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1. Who [the Gentiles] show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness to them (Rom. ii. 15). 2. He left not Himself without testimony, doing good from Heaven, giving rains and fruitful seasons, etc. (Acts xiv. 16). 3. Deluge; punishment of Sodom, of Egypt, of Chanaan, and of other places (compare Wisd. xii. and xvi.-xviii.) 4. Job, Balaam, Jonas, Daniel, etc. 5. 'He hath therefore scattered you [Israelites] among the Gentiles, who know not Him, that you may declare His wonderful works, and make them known that there is no other almighty

God besides Him' (Tob. xiii. 4). 6. Cornelius, the centurion, was advised by an Angel (Acts x. 3); Nabuchodonosor, by dreams (Dan. ii. 4); Baltassar, by a mysterious hand (Dan. v.) ; Balaam, by an ass (Num. xxii. 22, 28–30).

96. Why did the Redeemer not come immediately after the fall of our first parents?

Because mankind had first to learn by experience into what great misery sin had plunged them, and that no one but God could save them.

Application. My child, be a beautiful image of God and hate sin, which has brought all evils into the world. Sin maketh nations miserable' (Prov. xiv. 34).

THE SECOND ARTICLE.

'And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord.'

1. What does this Second Article of the Creed teach us?

It teaches us that the Redeemer whom God promised and sent to us is the only Son of God, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

2. What does the name Jesus signify?

The name Jesus signifies Saviour or Redeemer. "Thou shalt call His name Jesus; for He shall save His people from their sins' (Matt. i. 21).

3. What does the word Christ signify?

The word Christ-in Hebrew Messias-signifies Anointed.

4. Why is Jesus called the Anointed?

Because in the Old Law the prophets, high-priests, and kings were anointed with oil, and Jesus is our greatest Prophet (Acts iii. 22), Priest (Hebr. iv. 14), and King (John xviii. 37).

'Jesus of Nazareth; how God anointed Him with the Holy Ghost, and with power (Acts x. 38). The anointing of Jesus is the plenitude of the Divinity that dwells in Him.

5. Why is Jesus called our Prophet, Priest, and

Jesus is called, and is, 1. Our Prophet, because He revealed the mysteries of God to us, and taught us all that we are to believe, to hope, and to do in order to be saved; 2. Our Priest, because He offered Himself for us on the Cross, and offers himself daily on the altar, and is also our mediator and intercessor for ever in Heaven; and 3. Our King, because He established a spiritual kingdom (the Church), of which He is, and will be through all eternity, the Head. 6. Why is Jesus Christ called the God'?

only Son of

Because Jesus Christ, as the Second Person of the Most Blessed Trinity, is the only true and real Son of God-i.e., Son of God from eternity, of one nature and substance with God the Father.

'To which of the Angels hath He said at any time: Thou art my Son, to-day [i.e., at present, from eternity] have I begotten thee (Hebr. i. 5). The Catholic Church has, in the Ecumenical Council of Nice, expressed this fundamental doctrine of the Christian Religion, respecting the one nature and substance of Jesus Christ with God the Father,' in the following terms: I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, and born of the Father before all ages; God of God, Light of Light, true God of true God; begotten, not made; consubstantial to the Father, by whom all things were made.

7. Are we not, then, also children of God?

Yes, we are children of God, but not by nature and from all eternity; we are only children adopted by grace.

As many as received Him, He gave them power to be made the sons of God' (John i. 12).

8. Why is Jesus Christ called Our Lord'?

Jesus Christ is called, and is, our Lord, 1. As God, because, being consubstantial with the Father, He is, like Him, Lord and Creator of Heaven and earth; and 2. As Man, because, in the human nature, He has redeemed us, and therefore bought us, with His Blood, as His property; and because, in the same nature. He will be one day our Judge,' and our Head and King through all eternity."

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16For you are bought with a great price' (1 Cor. vi. 20). It is He who was appointed by God, to be judge of the living and of the dead' (Acts x. 42). 3 And He [God] hath subjected all things under His feet, and hath made Him Head over all this Church' (Eph. i. 22).

Application. Constantly cherish the most ardent love and devotion to Jesus, in whose name every knee should bow, of those that are in Heaven, on earth, and under the earth' (Philip. ii. 10). Often invoke, with the greatest veneration and confidence, this Holy Name, especially in times of temptation. Take a delight in using this beautiful form of salutation: 'PRAISED BE JESUS CHRIST FOR EVERMORE, AMEN.'1 (Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus.)

1 This mode of saluting one another is quite common in Germany and Switzerland. An indulgence of one hundred days has been granted by Sixtus V. in 1587, and by Benedict XIII. in 1728, to those who salute each other, the one saying, 'Praised be Jesus Christ,' and the other answering, Amen,' or 'For evermore, Amen.' To those who have generally used this form of salutation during their life a Plenary Indulgence is granted at the hour of death. The same indulgences are imparted to those who teach others this holy practice.-THE TRANSL.

§ 1. Jesus Christ the Promised Messias.

9. How do we know that Jesus Christ is the Messias or Redeemer promised by God?

We know it because in Him has been fulfilled all that the prophets have foretold of the Redeemer, as may be seen in the life and sufferings of Christ. (On the prophets see Short Hist. of Rel., § 17.)

10. What have the prophets foretold of the Messias?

1. The time of His coming, the circumstances_of His birth, of His life, Passion, and death; 2. His Resurrection and Ascension, and the sending down of the Holy Ghost; 3. The destruction of Jerusalem, which happened after His death; the rejection of the Jews, and the conversion of the Gentiles; and 4. The founding, spreading, and duration of His Church.