Bøger af Brother Hermenegild Tosf

The duty of imparting Religious Instruction to others is, for all these upon whom it devolves, a very serious and important duty; and highly advantageous, when properly discharged, both to the Instructor and the Instructed. IIow very desirable, therefore, it is, that all who undertake this important and responsible duty should fit themselves for discharging it in a proper luanner! And it is with the view of assisting them in this that the following "A Full Course of Instructions for the Use of Catechists" is presented to them. It claims not, indeed, to be entirely the original composition of him who presents it; but professes to be, in a great measure, selected and compiled from various Authors. The Instructions are drawn up in a condensed form, with the design of rendering them more useful to those, for whose assistance they are mainly intended. For, thereby, preparation for instructing becomes more easy; and, moreover, something is left to be drawn out by the Catechist.

The subject of faith, although one of absorbing interest at all times, has, perhaps, in recent years, given rise to more discussion than at any time in hlstory. Differences of opinion in connexion with it at the present time turn not so much upon the truths of faith-upon what men are bound to believe and what they are to reject as upon the nature of faith itself. The great Encyclical of our Holy Father the Pope on the errors of Modernism (Pascendi) brings this fact prominently before us. Yet these errors could not have arisen if men had not previously rejected certain fundamental and supernatural truths, and amongst them the authority of the Catholic Church. If the elements which go to make up Divine faith are overlooked by the persons who discuss this question or write upon it, errors most fatal and disastrous are certain to appear, and those errors will, in many cases, be so far-reaching in their effects as ultimately to lead to the complete overthrow of all revealed religion. We have, therefore, devoted the opening chapter of the treatise to an explanation of the virtue of faith, its supernatural character, and its influence on the faculty in which it inheres. We have tried to explain how it is acquired, and the various ways in which it may be lost, and also suggested to the reader some of the differences which exist between it and the moral virtues. In referring to the nature and causes of faith we are reminded that the Vatican Council (Cap. 3, De Fide) teaches that faith is a supernatural virtue by which, under the inspiration and help of God's grace, we believe that those things which were revealed by Him are true, not because their intrinsic truth is perceived by the natural light of reason, but on account of the authority of God who reveals them and who can neither deceive nor be deceived; that to secure a reasonable assent to faith God has willed that the external arguments for revelation should be joined to the internal assistance of the Holy Spirit; and that those external arguments are, in the first place, miracles and prophecy which, since they go to demonstrate God's onmipotence and infinite knowledge, are unquestionable signs of Divine revelation and are also suited to the intellectual capacities of all.

Towards the end of his life Saint Robert Bellarmine composed himself a little retreat for his own spiritual benefit, so that he might find the eternal happiness of the saints. Let us also profit from his sage considerations and meditations. Saint Robert Bellarmine writes: This name is continually occurring in the Holy Scripture. The abode of the saints in heaven is called a "Paradise," because it is a most beautiful place, abounding in delights. But because men might suppose that paradise was a garden placed near a house, which could contain but few people, the Holy Spirit has added the name, "House," because it is a royal mansion, a great palace, wherein, besides a garden, there are halls, couches, and many other excellent things. But because a house, however large, cannot contain many people, and lest we should think that very few will possess eternal life, the Scripture adds the word "City," which contains many gardens and many palaces. But since St. John, speaking of the number of the blessed, saith: "After this I saw a great multitude which no man could number." And as, moreover, no city can contain an innumerable multitude, the word "Kingdom" is used, to which is added, "the kingdom of heaven" than which no place in the whole universe is more boundless and extensive. But, again, since in a most extensive kingdom there are many who never see each other, nor know their names, nor whether they ever existed; and since it is certain that all the blessed behold each other, and know each other, and converse familiarly with one another as friends and relations: therefore the Scriptures, not content with the name of "Kingdom," added that of a "City," that we might know its inhabitants are truly citizens of the saints, and as familiar, and as closely united together, as the inhabitants of the very smallest city. But, in order that we might likewise remember, that these happy men are not only citizens of the saints, but also friends of God, therefore the Holy Spirit calls that a "House," which it also named a "City." In fine, because all the blessed in heaven abound in delights, it is likewise called "Paradise." Hence these four words Kingdom, House, City, Paradise mean one and the same thing; and the Paradise is so extensive, that it can truly be called a House, City, and Kingdom. Wherefore, concerning this most blessed place I will first, under the word "Kingdom"; then under that of a "City;" afterwards under that of a "House;" and, lastly, under the word "Paradise" meditate in the chamber of my heart; and, with God s assistance, commit to writing what He shall please to suggest unto me.

I T WAS on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception that the idea first occurred to me of writing a popular work on the Litany of Loreto. This Litany has been held in honor throughout the Church for many centuries: it is daily recited by millions of the faithful, and has even become an integral part in some of our public acts of worship. We have therefore thought that it would not be- out of place to inquire into its doctrinal meaning, and to give to light the fruits of our studies for the edification of the Christian people. For it seemed to us that while others on this great occasion were offering to Mary profound and erudite treatises, this tender Mother would none the less deign to accept a work, unworthy indeed of her, but yet a pledge of boundless love and gratitude. Encouraged by this hope, we set ourself to the task, and were presents surprised to see how easy it is, by the application of simple principles, to trace in these invocations all the mysteries of the life of the Blessed Virgin: her excellences, her privileges, and her sorrows. In reciting the Litany, the faithful, mayhap unconsciously, go over the whole field of Marian theology. As everyone knows, Mary occupies a unique position in the economy of the universe. Her divine Maternity has raised her higlt above all creatures, even the very angels: she is the epitome of God's works and through the Incarnation of the Word, she is in some sort bound to the Most Holy Trinity by the ties of parentage. Now, the full tale of all these privileges and splendors is, in our opinion, summed up in the Litany of Loreto, that Litany which is, as it were, the Christian people's hymn in honor of Mary, their daily tribute of praise and love to this divine Mother. Moreover, a pious custom has been universally introduced, of honoring Mary in a special manner during the month of May. In many places the praiseworthy custom obtains of a course of sermons about the Blessed Virgin, in which the prerogatives and the mysteries of her mortal life are dwelt upon. But although it is easy to speak about Mary, it is not equally easy to do so in a fitting manner. For this there is required a profound knowledge of Catholic doctrine, since in Mary are to be found the perfections of the entire universe: rather we should say that in Marian theology the whole deposit of Christian faith and morality in some way or another lies hid. It behoves us, therefore, to give the most faithful and exact utterance, to all that concerns the Mother of. God. If indeed the Church cares, as with a holy jealousy, about Mary's honor, if the name of this holy Virgin is in the mouth of all the faithful, if her sanctuaries are spread over all the earth, in a word, if Mary is that Woman seen in the Apocalyptic vision, "clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet and on her head a crown of twelve stars," Is it not fitting that we should strive our utmost to study and know her as she is? In studying Mary we study Jesus, we contemplate the Holy Trinity, we meditate on grace, the sacraments and our last end, because in all the works of God, Mary holds her assigned place: "The Lord possessed me in the beginning of His ways, before He made anything from the beginning."

Let us consider the definition of ethics: "Ethics, Moral Philosophy, or the Science of Natural Law-all designations of the same study--is that science of moral rectitude, which is gathered from and based upon the principles of Natural Reason. It is, first of all, justly denominated a science, because it is a knowledge acquired from first principles. It is, in the second place, properly termed the Science of Moral Rectitude; and this for two reasons: primarily, because its material object, as we say, or subject-matter, is the moral constant, the human act; and because, secondly, its formal or specifying object is the ordination or correct adjustment of human activity to the attainment of man's final end, or destiny. Like every other department of philosophy, it is of course occupied with the pursuit of truth. But, differently from other philosophical studies, its special aim is practical, not speculative truth; that is, it seeks to establish and codify the true principles upon which human conduct should be invariably formed and regulated. It is, finally, a science based upon principles of Natural Reason, to distinguish it, in the first instance, from: Moral Theology. For Moral Theology also deals, like Moral Philosophy, with the right adjustment of human actions to man's final end, but, differently from Ethics, it deals with this adjustment upon the principles of revealed religion and ecclesiastical legislation, rather than upon principles of merely Natural Reason. Ethics is, for this reason, distinguished in the second place from every form of modern moral empiricism. These theories of moral science are built exclusively upon the laws, customs, traditions, and social features of nations, peoples, tribes, families, and not, accordingly, upon reason and the created nature of things. Finally, the Science of Ethics is based upon Natural Reason, to distinguish it from the moral conclusions gathered from any feature of exaggerated Rationalism, such as the Moral Purism ofKant, the Pessimism of Hartmann and Schopenhauer, the Moral AEstheticism of Herhart, and the Cresarism and Moral Pantheism of the Hegelian School of Ethical Science." And let us summarize: "Ethics, thus defined as the Science of Moral Rectitude upon principles of Natural Reason, is divided primarily into General Ethics and Special Ethics." We continue on into the Ethical Standard. This is followed by a consideration of the Natural Law, which is written on our hearts. Then the Tribunal of Conscience is considered. Father Conway closes with a lecture on the Rights of Man.

Father Jean-Jacques Olier is the founder of the Sulpicians and an inspirational priest, as well as Catholic Author. In his earlier days he crossed paths with Saint Francis de Sales. Let us consider the details of his ordination: "On the 12th of March, 1633, M. Olier received the sub-diaconate, and on the 26th of the same month the diaconate; and, finally, on the 21st of May, being the Saturday before Trinity Sunday, he was ordained priest by M. Etienne Puget, Bishop of Dardania, who was also at the time Bishop Auxiliary of Metz and subsequently became Bishop of Marseilles. But, not content with making the ordinary retreat, he desired, like other good and pious priests, to employ some considerable time in "adorning" (to adopt M. Faillon's words) "the interior sanctuary of his heart before offering for the first time the Lamb without spot." Accordingly, he spent an entire month in a course of spiritual exercises, intermitting all other occupations."

This is a fifteen volume set, which is being brought back into print for the edification of the Faithful. Anyone who wishes to appreciate the timeless Tridentine Mass and liturgy will find this set a valuable aid in that endeavor. Dom Gueranger has produced a most excellent work, which began the liturgical movement. We pray that this set of books will bring many more to a true appreciation of the Latin Mass and the Divine Office of the Catholic Church. At one time, under the impulse of that Spirit, which animated the admirable Psalmist and the Prophets, she takes the subject of her canticles from the Books of the Old Testament; at another, showing herself to be the daughter and sister of the holy Apostles, she intones the canticles written in the Books of the New Covenant; and finally, remembering that she, too, has had given to her the trumpet and harp, she at times gives way to the Spirit which animates her, and sings her own new canticle. From these three sources comes the divine element which we call the Liturgy. The Prayer of the Church is, therefore, the most pleasing to the ear and heart of God, and therefore the most efficacious of all prayers. Happy, then, is he who prays with the Church, and unites his own petitions with those of this Spouse, who is so dear to her Lord, that he gives her all she asks. It was for this reason that our Blessed Saviour taught us to say our Father, and not my Father; give us, forgive us, deliver us, and not give me, forgive me, deliver me. Hence, we find that, for upwards of a thousand years, the Church, who prays in her temples seven times in the day, and once again during the night, did not pray alone. The people kept her company, and fed themselves with delight on the manna which is hidden under the words and mysteries of the divine Liturgy. Thus initiated into the sacred Cycle of the mysteries of the Christian year, the faithful, attentive to the teachings of the Spirit, came to know the secrets of eternal life; and, without any further preparation, a Christian was not unfrequently chosen by the Bishops to be a Priest, or even a Bishop, that he might go and pour out on the people the treasures of wisdom and love, which he had drunk in at the very fountain-head. For whilst Prayer said in union with the Church is the light of the understanding, it is the fire of divine love for the heart. The Christian soul neither needs nor wishes to avoid the company of the Church, when she would converse with God, and praise his greatness and his mercy. She knows that the company of the Spouse of Christ could not be a distraction to her. Is not the soul herself a part of this Church, which is the Spouse? Has not Jesus Christ said: Father, may they be one, as we also are one? and, when many are gathered in his name, does not this same Saviour assure us that he is in the midst of them? The soul, therefore, may converse freely with her God, who tells her that he is so near her; she may sing praise, as David did, in the sight of the Angels, whose eternal prayer blends with the prayer which the Church utters in time.

THE present work is the outcome of lectures on General Introduction, delivered during several years in St. John's Boston Ecclesiastical Seminary, and is chiefly intended as a text-book for similar institutions. As such it deals with the questions which it behooves theological students most to be acquainted with before they enter on the scientific interpretation of the sacred text, and which fall under the three general heads of the Canon, Text and Versions, and Hermeneutics of the Holy Scriptures. In works of this kind it is customary to join to the study of these leading topics that of Biblical Inspiration, and in consequence, a concise treatment of the history, proofs, nature and extent of the inspiration of Holy Writ will be found in an appendix to the present volume. The method which the writer has pursued in the study of these important and difficult questions is the one which was inaugurated towards the end of the seventeenth century by the French Oratorian, Richard Simon, and which is almost universally adopted by leading contemporary scholars. It is the historico-critical method, called thus from the general purpose it has in view, viz., to give as genuine facts or as valid inferences from facts, only those which, in the light of historical knowledge and sound criticism, are entitled to be considered as such. It is in virtue of this truly scientific method that each part of the volume is mainly devoted to a historical account of the facts or theories connected with its respective topic, and will be found to embody an application of the generally acknowledged Canons of scriptural criticism. Thus it is hoped that the student of Biblical Introduction will not only secure a certain amount of positive information, but also acquire gradually personal habits of reflection and accuracy. Although the writer has felt obliged to be brief in his treatment of the various topics, yet he is not without confidence that at least every important question has received its fair share of attention and development. Moreover he has been careful to supply the reader with constant references to the best books from which further information can easily be gathered. The facsimiles of MSS, inscriptions. etc., which are found at the end of the volume. will also render its use more profitable to the student. Finally, it will be noticed that the present volume deals only with the questions appertaining to General Introduction; but the writer hopes to be soon able to add as a sequel to the work now offered to the public, two volumes of Special Introduction to the Old and New Testaments.

Christian Science will run its course, as other systems of thought, once much in evidence, have run theirs, and will not be materially influenced by the discussions to which it has given rise. Yet to discuss the subjects of the day is an intellectual need. The process of winnowing out truth from error must go on without interruption, the more so in this case, as Christian Science skims over many subjects of the very highest importance, opening up to controversial minds fair vistas of debatable ground. But why associate New Thought with its traditional foe? The answer must be sought in the treatise itself, which makes plain that, whatever minor differences there may be between these two organizations, their wider aims and common pursuits unite them in a clearly defined group, and blend together naturally in a common discussion. Mind healing is not exactly an American invention or monopoly. We shall see that it is practically coeval and coextensive with the human race. Yet in our own days and place it has taken on hues and shapes that differentiate it radically both from its remoter and its nearer ancestors, and it is assuming proportions that may yet put its European prototypes completely in the shade. In its American dress, it has crossed both the Atlantic and the Pacific, and is making a successful bid for world supremacy in its chosen field. Under these circumstances, an inquiry into the origin, the underlying principles, and the methods of these movements must prove of interest, even if, from a religious point of view, they are not of sufficient moment to claim attention. Such an investigation is no longer a pioneer work. Many Protestant authors have turned their attention to this newer Protestantism. Not a few scent, in this new gospel of health, danger for what they are pleased to call orthodox Christianity; their works are polemical in character, and, of the whole, of but little intrinsic worth. Others, not particularly interested in the Churches, have been attracted by the psychological problems which the real or pretended successes of these mind healers have forced on their consideration. These, though pursuing strictly scientific methods of investigation, but too often mar their work by an ill-disguised hostility, or a studied indifference to revealed religion, so that hardly any work of either class could be unreservedly recommended. From the Catholic viewpoint, few of the publications that have appeared, valuable though they are in their own way, can be said to do justice to the subject. A fairly complete list of these books, pamphlets and articles will be found in the bibliography, page 262. Among these we might single out, as of greater excellencc, Father Lambert's Christian Science before the Bar of Reason, Fr. Thurston's Christian Science, in Lectures on the History of Religions, Fr. Searle's work entitled The Truth about Christian Science, and especially-in its scieutific aspect-Dr. Walsh's various works on psychotherapy. The present essay proposes, besides briving a short historical survey of mental healing, followed by a discussion of the causes that may serve to account for whatever success the movement has achieved, to discuss from the Catholic standpoint more fully than has as yet been done, its philosophical and religious presuppositions, implications and doctrinal statements. There yet remains for me to fulfill the pleasant duty of thanking all those who have helped me in the preparation of this essay in any way whatever, by counsel, correction, or revision of the manuscript. I desire more particularly to express my sincere thanks to Rev. Charles C. Aiken, D.D., Dean of the Faculty of Sacred Sciences at the Catholic University of America, who suggested this work and who, by advice, encouragement, and kind interest, very materially cooperated in its completion.

This life of the sainted missionary, John Francis Regis, of the Society of Jesus, was undertaken by the author very much as a labor of love, and not altogether without a certain sense of justice, so to speak, toward a man highly honored in his own country, but of whom English-speaking readers of sacred biography know scarcely anything at all. Or, if indeed, a few may perhaps have heard of Saint Regis, still their ideas have been so obscured by the clouds of misunderstanding and even calumny which overshadowed the man himself, when he lived, that it were better to know nothing at all than to lend credence to some of the things said of this Saint, -for instance, that he was headstrong and untractable, that he was even dismissed from the Society of Jesus. It is the aim of this biography to tell in a simple and straightforward way the true story of what manner of man Saint John Francis Regis really was. The so-called "ultra-pious" method has been avoided, -yet, on the other hand, the idea of some recent writers, who seem to delight in emphasizing the human failings of the saints, is considered a more serious fault than over-idealization, and so finds no place in this book

It is customary among Catholics to prepare for the celebration of the principal festivals of the year by certain pious exercises, such as fasts, novenas, triduums, and meditations on the divine mysteries; also by reading the lives of the saints and striving to imitate their virtues, mortifications, and heroic actions. In this manner the faithful prepare to solemnize the feasts of Christmas, Pentecost, and Corpus Christi; of the Immaculate Conception, Nativity, and Assumption of the Blessed Virgin; of All Saints, and of those saints for whom they have a particular devotion. They not only devote days and weeks to preparing themselves for the worthy observance of those feasts which they purpose to celebrate with special piety, but they also consecrate whole months to the honor of the objects of their particular devotion. For instance, the month of May is dedicated to the celebration of the glories and triumphs of the Virgin Mother of Jesus Christ; the month of June to the commemoration of the Most Sacred Heart of our Holy Redeemer; and in recent times the whole of November, particularly in Catholic Spain and the Southern Republics, has been devoted to the souls in purgatory. Now, if the faithful so commendably dispose themselves to celebrate those feasts which may be considered secondary ones, why should we not do as much, and even more, for Easter, which is the feast of feasts? I say Easter, because on that day our Holy Redeemer triumphed over the world, over death, and over hell, achieving this threefold victory by His glorious resurrection, and sealing, as it were, the fulfilment of that grand and memorable sacrifice which released us from the bondage of sin and the tyranny of hell, made us heirs of heaven, and declared us adopted children of God. The most practical way of preparing -ourselves for the celebration of Easter is not alone by prayer, penance, mortification, and retirement, -acts peculiar to the Lenten season, -but also by meditating on the passion of J esns Christ. Though this is a devotion adapted" to all seasons, it is particularly suited to Lent, because our holy Mother the Church has consecrated this time to the commemoration of the sufferings of the Man-God. My object in preparing this work was to provide a spiritual guide for secular persons; and, knowing from experience how difficult it is for them, when engaged in temporal affairs, to apply their thoughts to serious and merely abstract ideas, I thought it proper to render the consideration of the sufferings of Jesus historical, moral, and, as far as possible, local. But the passion of our Lord is of such a nature, that in order to derive profit from the history of it, it is not sufficient to read it as we read the lives of the saints and other histories: it requires meditation. It is true that the word "meditation" dismays, at first, persons who are not accustomed to such spiritual entertainment, and sometimes even those who frequently make pious reflections. For such persons I have obviated all cause of alarm by reducing the present considerations to simple spiritual reading, which will yield the fruits of meditation by mere perusal. But I request that these considerations be not read in haste nor many at a time, but slowly and with reflection, one every day, either in the morning during Mass, or in the evening before retiring. For those persons consecrated to God in a special manner, and who are accustomed to meditate, I have divided each consideration into two parts, which will furnish matter for morning and evening meditation during the Lenten seaso

A century ago Pope Saint Pius X issued two decrees. One for frequent, even daily Communion and another encouraging much earlier Communion. This work comments on this latter decree. It is good to know the mind of this holy Pope in issuing this most important decree.

Henry Edward Cardinal Manning wrote this prior to the First Vatican Council. Cardinal Manning lays out the reasons both for and against defining the infallibility of the Pope. The first reason he gives in favor of the definition is: "That if the Episcopate, priesthood, and people, are, with so few exceptions, unanimous in receiving with submission and assent the, Pontifical Acts, there would not only be no risk in promulgating such a decree, but they would rejoice to see the formal reason of that Catholic submission justified by an authoritative definition; or if the number of those who refuse submission be more numerous, a necessity thereby is proved for the declaration of the truth." Later on he gives us some interesting points: "'Both Catholics and heretics agree in two things; first, that the Pontiff, even as Pontiff and with his counsellors, or even with a General Council, may err in controversies as to particular facts, which chiefly depend on the information and testimonies of men; secondly, that. the Pontiff, as a private doctor, may err even in questions of faith and morals; and that from ignorance, as at times happens to other doctors. Next, all Catholics agree in two other things, not indeed with heretics, but among themselves. First, that the Pontiff, with a General Council, cannot err in framing decrees of faith, or general precepts of morals. Secondly, that the Pontiff alone, or with his own private Council, whether he may err or not, in deciding anything in a dubious matter is, nevertheless, to be obediently listened to by all the faithful. These points so disposed of, only four opinions remain. The first is, that the Pontiff, even as Pontiff, although he define a doctrine with a General Council, may be a heretic himself, and teach heresy. . . . This is the opinion of all heretics, especially of Luther and Calvin. The second, that the Pontiff, even as Pontiff, may be a heretic, and may teach heresy if he define without a General Council. This is the opinion of Nilus and the later Greeks, of Gerson, Almain, and others. 'The third, that the Pontiff cannot in any way be heretical, or publicly teach heresy, even though he alone frame a definition: which is the opinion of Pighius in book iv., chap. 3, of the "Ecclesiastical Hierarchy. " The fourth, which lies between these extremes, is, that the Pontiff, whether personally he can be a heretic or no, cannot, in any event, define anything heretical to be believed by the whole Church. " This is the most common opinion of nearly all Catholics," as S. Thomas says. Of these four opinions, the iirst is heretical: the second not proprie heretical, for we sec still that it is tolerated in the Church; yet it appears to be altogether erroneous, and proximate to heresy.' It is to be borne in mind that Bellarmine wrote this before the Four Articles of 1682 had been framed or censured. The third opinion is probable, but not certain. The fourth opinion is most certain, and to be asserted. Bellarmine in later years reviewed his 'Controversies, ' and wrote of this point as follows: - This opinion is more rightly the common judgment of Catholics; for opinion implies uncertainty, and we hold this judgment to be certain.' And again, 'I said that the opinion of those who teach that infallibility of judgment resides not in the Pope, but in the General Council, is not plainly heretical, but erroneous and proximate to heresy., Ve do not, indeed, venture to pronounce that opinion plainly heretical, because they who follow it have, neither they nor their books, been condemned by the Church. Nevertheless, it seems to us so manifestly erroneous, that it may deservedly be declared by the judgmen t of the Church to be heretical.

THE following pages may naturally be divided into four parts: two novenas of meditations on the Sacred Heart, with special reference to the devotion of the First Fridays; a novena of meditations on the kindred subject of the Apostleship of Prayer; and a brief account of the devotional exercise of the Holy Hour, with accompanying meditations. This latter exercise is very intimately associated with the Apostleship of Prayer. These constituent portions of the book were not all written at the same time, nor was it my original intention to combine them into one. This was an afterthought, suggested by some persons who considered that the gathering together of these meditations in a single book would prove of use to many fervent clients of the Sacred Heart. I hope this explanation may suffice for those who discover any want of unity or continuity of treatment in the meditations. Indeed, the division into three novenas is not without its own advantages. Furthermore, these twenty-seven meditations, together with the four devoted to the Holy Hour, making thirty-one in all, supply sufficient matter for an entire Month of Meditations on the Sacred Heart. The book may thus be used as a book of Meditations for the Month of June. The Points for Self-Examination given in connection with the first nine meditations, as well as some of the matter of these meditations of the first series, are taken largely, at least in substance, from the very excellent Latin work Sacerdos, written many years ago by Father Petit, S.J., a well-known Belgian Jesuit. May our Lord Himself vouchsafe to bless this effort, however small and unworthy, to promote devotion to His most Sacred Heart.

BEING more anxious to show the spirit of the late pontificate than to write a full catalogue of its achievements, I have passed lightly over all but the greater incidents in this history of a quarter of a century of battles. Perhaps a rapid story may be acceptable to many Catholic readers who find fuller biographies too long and too costly. NEVER since the days of Hildebrand has the Church seen so remarkable a pontificate as that which has just closed. The long reign of Pius IX., far exceeding in duration that of any of his predecessors, and surpassing even the traditional "years of Peter" which a popular prediction declared that no pope should ever see, was crowded with momentous political events, involving the most important changes in the condition of a large part of the civilized world, and in nearly all these changes the Sovereign Pontiff was the central figure. Ideas which were just beginning to ripen into action at the time of his birth became the ruling force of Europe before the close of his career. The ancient society of Christian nations was broken up. Christendom as a political entity ceased to exist. A new order of civilization, founded on new principles, took its place. In all these vicissitudes the Roman See was the one institution which suffered no change. Time and time again has it seemed to be the pivot around which moved the revolutions of a world. And the part of Pius IX. in this turmoil of transformation was no less strange than eventful. The early years of his pontificate showed that there was no reasonable liberty of which the Church might not be the protectur, anti for a few weeks the whole world sang hymns of praise to the Pope who had proved the compatibility of the authority of Rome with political freedom, and her sympathy with all noble and patriotic aspirations. Yet the World and the Church were soon in conflict, though the Pope never changed. Empires and republics rose and fell. Princes turned democrats. Democrats assumed the crown. Kingdoms were blotted off the map. Nations sprang into life. The Church was stripped of all her temporal possessions. Governments which had been her stanchest supporters suddenly become her foes. And in the midst of this hurry of revolutions-political, social, and religious-the Papacy alone retained its stability. The world beat against it, and beat in vain. When it was deemed friendless it was strongest. When it had no help except the unseen hand of Heaven, it was most formidable in the unity of its episco. pate, the affection of its children scattered far and wide over the earth, the clearness of its teachings, and the quick and full assent which all Catholics yielded to the authoritative voice that spoke to them from the Vatican. "There is, perhaps, hardly any pontiff," says Cardinal Manning, "who has governed the Church with more frequent exercises of supreme authority than Pius IX."

This book is essential for anyone who wishes to learn Gregorian Chant. Few words are necessary to introduce the present work to English speaking students of plainsong. Such a handbook has long been needed and is sure of its welcome. Neither the well known Stan brook Grammar of Plainsong nor Madame Ward's valuable school courses cover so much ground as Dom Gregory Sunol in his Spanish "Metoda". The book first appeared in 1905, prefaced by a commendatory letter from Dom Andre Mocquereau, the famous director of the Solesmes School. Its author has many years of teaching experience behind him, as well as sound theoretical knowledge of his subject. His work has proved its popularity and practical usefulness by going through a number of editions in the original Spanish, besides being translated into French and German. Indeed by compressing the Solesmes teaching within the narrow limits of a general text book Dom Sunol has rendered good service to the Gregorian cause. Not everyone has access to the monumental publications of Solesmes, the Monographies gregoriennes or the Paleographie Musicale, and countless students will be glad to find the subject matter of this latter work, especially the important seventh volume on Gregorian Rhythm, here summed up and analysed, while the extensive quotations from Dom Mocquereau's Nombre Musical gregorien, with which the Spanish author has enriched his later editions, will make them desirous of seeing this fascinating synthesis of the whole subject brought out in English. The French translation of Dom Suf'lol's work was made by Dom Maur Sablayrolles who tells us in his preface that he inserted a few additional chapters and altered and developed his original here and there in inconsiderable ways, always with the author's permission. The present English version is a faithful rendering of the sixth French edition, and except for some extension of the note on Latin pronunciation, now embodied in the text, nothing of any importance has been added. But the work has been prepared under the direct supervision of the Solesmes Benedictine Fathers at Quarr Abbey who have supplied invaluable help on almost every page, mainly in the direction of ensuring greater accuracy, clearing up obscure- passages, simplifying technical points and generally making the book more accessible to the ordinary student of plainsong. The Spanish handbook was placed under the patronage of our Lady of Montserrat. In its English dress it is offered to our Lady of Quarr with the prayer that she may everywhere bless the work of those who are teaching the Catholic world to sing the praises of her Divine Son.

This little book contains the conversation of Jesus with the soul of His servant. He adapts Himself to her needs, inviting her loving confidence by knocking at her door, asking for admittance. He says that, if she will allow Him to come in, He will speak to her and tell her many wonderful secrets.He promises, too, to be her dearest and most intimate Friend. She must not refuse His visit, because, though she may save her soul, her life neither here nor hereafter will be so sweet as if she allows Jesus to take full possession of her; and this He will surely do if she will only open the door to Him at His loving call.

The only explanation, which it is perhaps fitting to make, in introducing this interesting and classical work to the public, would concern the length of time it has been permitted to lie unknown. Every copy but one, so far as I know, has perished, and that copy lies as it were lost, neither referred to by historians, nor mentioned by bibliographers under its distinguished author's name. The explanation is that it originally did its work so well, that it would never have been wholly unknown, and that in altered forms it is popular enough. It has been translated into Latin and Spanish, and twice into Italian; it has also been abbreviated, remodelled and modernized. Its substance is therefore very well known, for this little book is in effect the germ of all the martyrologies that have been written about the sufferers under Queen Elizabeth. A long chapter of bibliography would be needed to set forth all the variously modified forms under which the contents of this book have reached us. I shall return to this subject later, but first a few words. about the author. Of William Cardinal Allen, it would be hard indeed to speak too highly. If we except Blessed Edmund Campion, there was perhaps no one among the English Catholics of his day who can be placed higher. Amid all the miseries and sufferings of persecution and exile his co-religionists greeted him as "our Moses," "Pater Patrire," "the man upon whom all depends," though it was he who most of all insisted on their enduring those miseries without flinching. The explanation is given us by Campion's words below, "Neither shall this Church here ever faile, so long as Priests and Pastors be found for the sheepe; rage man or devil never so much." It was, indeed, due to Campion that this assurance could be given, for it was his glorious zeal which enkindled the spirit of martyrs throughout the whole Catholic community; but it was not only due to Allen that" Priests and Pastors" were actually" found for the sheepe," but he had also been the first to foresee the way out of the difficulty. He had done so at the very moment when the fortunes of Catholicism seemed desperate, and he had devoted life, fortune, influence, everything to the building up of that seminary at Douay in which the "Priests and Pastors" were taught and ordained.

These lectures are The Four Great Evils of the Day The Sovereignty of God The Grounds of Faith The Four Great Evils of the Day are The Revolt of the Intellect Against God The Revolt of the Will Against God The Revolt of Society From God and The Spirit of Antichrist

The present crisis in world affairs has brought woman's position to the forefront in the programs of both friends and enemies of Christ and His Church. We welcome then the opportunity to discuss woman's duties in social and political life. Woman's dignity is from God. It is Our task to preserve and increase that dignity. The educational, economic and political position of modern woman hinge on one thing alone-woman's dignity. It is Our duty to maintain and strengthen that dignity, especially today when the world is passing through a momentous crisis. To view woman's position merely from an economic, political, or educational angle, would be to shirk the real point at issue, which is woman's dignity. It would do no good to anyone, least of all woman herself. Woman's dignity comes from God and rests in God. Hence no system advocating woman's rights can benefit woman unless its teaching is rooted in this basic principle.

The pages which these words introduce to the reader arc a graceful tribute from a Dominican Tertiary in the Old World to a Dominican Tertiary of the New World; they are at the same time a message from a sainted Tertiary of the New World to Tertiaries aiming at sanctity, outside the cloister and within the cloister, both in the Old World and in the New. May they help to knit together in closer bonds of greater practical faith and stronger fraternal love the members of the Third Order of St. Dominic here and there; for they arc all of the same spiritual kith and kin, and all, though separated by seas, arc of one flesh and one blood, and all speak the same English mother-tongue in which this book is written. Seas not only separate kingdoms and continents, they nnite them as well; they arc not walls of division, but links and bonds of union. St. Raymund of Pennafort defied the waves, by crossing the sea on his cappa, or cloak. We can cross seas and mountains and deserts and plains without even a miraculous cloak; We are carried on the wings of thought and love. 'Many waters cannot quench charity, neither can rivers drown it, '! nor can they be a barrier to its development and extension. English-speaking Tertiaries throughout the world are members of the same family, ruled by the same laws, helped by the same traditions, influenced by the example of the same saints, and encouraged everywhere by the same Dominican spirit. A Dominican saint is the saint, not of a country, but of the Order and of the Church; not the Saint of an age, but of all time. St. Rose, though a child of America, and a native of sunny Lima, is a Dominican and a Catholic saint. This life will aid in making her known as such on both sides of the great Atlantic Sea. We may not say that St. Rose was the first saint of the New World, for God only knows His own; but she was the first of America's children to be placed in the calendar of canonized saints the first flower gathered from that part of the great garden over which St. Dominic has been placed as the husbandman of Jesus Christ. It was In a sense appropriate that the firstfruits of sanctity in that land of young and hopeful promise should have been a child of St. Dominic, for his Order had a share in the glory of the discovery of the New \Vorld-a discovery which changed the face of the Old World, giving it a new life, a new interest, a new hope, and with that life, that interest, that hope, a renewal of power, of vigour, we might almost say of youth. It was on the eve of St. Dominic's Feast-August 3, 1492-that, in the spirit of a Crusader, Columbus set sail from the shores of Spain into, A world of waves, a sea without a shore, Trackless and vast and wild, ' in search-a hopeless search, as many said-of a continent as yet unknown. The little ship which was destined to gain a new world to Christendom no less than 9,000 miles long, with an area of more than 13,000,000 square miles, as she ploughed her way through the vast unknown sea, bore on her deck, by the side of the brave Admiral who will be famous to all time, three friars-a Dominican, a Franciscan, and a member of the Order of Mercy. When the unknown land was found, Columbus planted on its shore the flag of the Spanish monarch, and claimed it in the name of the King of Spain; the friars planted the Cross of Christ, and claimed it for the King of heaven. It was a Dominican, Bartholomew de las Casas, who sang the first High Mass ever intoned in the newly-discovered land. It was this same intrepid son of St. Dominic who, in after years, became the protector of the savage tribes against the persecutions of their cruel oppressors, four several times crossing the great Atlantic (no easy task in those days) to plead their cause before the Spanish King. Another Dominican, Dominic de Belancos, founded more than a hundred convents in America-a hundred centres of light and learning, of sanctity and love

THOSE who are familiar with "The Hidden Life of the Soul," "The Science of the Cross," and "The Spiritual Maxims," will gladly hail another work by the same author. "The Spiritual Maxims," recently published in London, were written as a continuation or supplement to this work, the "Characteristics of True Devotion;" and in the closing chapter the author speaks of his purpose and intention of writing it. This is so eminently practical, and so perfectly adapted to all classes of Christians, it is hoped it will meet with the hearty approval its great merit deserves. For daily devotional reading it is very earnest and searching, and cannot fail to enrich and stimulate those who are endeavoring to lead a higher spiritual life. In all Pere Grou's writings there is a remarkable simplicity and directness; and they are so saturated with the mind and heart of Christ that no one can read them without feeling: that the Christian life is a very real and a very great thing, and by no means an easy thing, and that love and humility are its foundation-stones. In these religious works there is in the French a certain intensity of expression which is necessarily lost in the translation; but the translator of this little work has faithfully sought to catch the spirit of the author, and to reproduce it as closely as was possible in the cooler English tongue. A few passages, which seemed only adapted to the religious, and in no way suited to the secular, she has taken the liberty to omit. Trusting that her humble labor may be blessed, and that this little book may be the means of leading many souls up to a truer and higher devotion, she commends it to all earnest Christian readers.

THIS history of The Life and Times of St. Benedict has been translated with the hope that it may increase in some small degree the knowledge of a saint who in good old Catholic days held a place in the heart of nearly every Englishman. That this was so we cannot doubt, seeing that his sons brought to our land the gift of the true faith, and with it all that was noblest and best, and that Benedictine Abbeys were studded over the length and breadth of the country. When the Reformation swept away the monasteries and sea ttered the monks, devotion to St. Benedict gradually declined and becam.e extinct. Now, however, when a brighter day is dawning for the Church in England, surely it is time to stir up and re-enkindle in our hearts the love of our forefathers for a saint to whom we owe so much. The translation is a very free one, and some stories and traditions culled from old writers have been here and there inserted with a view of enhancing the interest of the book. As regards dates, many of them are the subject of controversy; but on this point it has been thought best to adhere strictly to our author. As formerly St. Benedict gathered some of the greatest of his saints from our English soil, so may he now reap once again a fresh and yet more fruitful harvest from a land which has so long lain fallow.

The revival of wide-spread interest in the English martyrs and confessors of the sixteenth and following centuries, and the steps recently taken for their beatification, are a sufficient apology for the publication of whatever may throw fresh light on the subject. To fill this gap as regards the Franciscans is the motive and object of the present volume. The reason for thus treating them as a separate group is simple and obvious. Each Order has its distinctive spirit, and historic truth and devotion alike are best served by drawing out the characteristics of each. This is especially true with respect to the Franciscans. Contempt for the world and h aman respect, insatiable thirst for poverty, humiliations, and suffering, and passionate longing for union with Jesus crucified, which naturally led to indomitable courage, childlike simplicity and joyousness, and tender personal love of our Lord, were the heritage bequeathed to them by their Seraphic Father. This peculiar Franciscan spirit may be traced throughout their history, and gives a certain unity of character to their early prosperity, their fearless defiance of Henry VIII., and all their martyrdoms. A further motive for the publication of this volume- is afforded by the nature of the original materials from which almost exclusively it is drawn.

This is a photographic reprint of the original to insure faithfulness to the original. Lecture 1: The Revolt of the Intellect Against God But yet the Son of Man, when He cometh, shall He find, think you, faith on earth? By this question our Divine Lord intends us to understand that, when He comes, He shall find many who do not believe, many who have fallen from the faith. It foretells that there shall be apostasies; and if apostasies, therefore that He shall still find the truth; .but He will find also those that have fallen from it. And this is what the Holy Ghost, speaking by the Apostle, has distinctly prophesied. St. Paul says, ' Now the Spirit manifestly saith that, in the last times, some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to spirits of error, and doctrines of devils.' Lecture 2: The Revolt of the Will Against God The wisdom of the flesh is an enemy to God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither can it be.' ON looking back at what I have hitherto said, I feel more than ever the difficulty under which I have been, in laying before you a subject which, if it had been treated in detail, with the exactness which a philosophical or a theological argument would require, must have become entirely impossible in such a popular form. But the treating it in a popular form may perhaps lay my statement open to question and to cavil. Between t.hese two difficulties I can only attempt to give a correct outline. I will therefore remind you briefly of what I have said. Lecture 2: The Revolt of Society Against God The nation and the kingdom that will not serve Thee shall perish.' THESE, vords are the promise of God to His Incarnate Son, the King of kings, and Lord of all the earth, which He has redeemed with His precious blood. It, vas to Him also that the words were spoken: 'Sit Thou at My right hand, until I make Thy enemies Thy footstool.'! The Son of God declares of Himself: 'I am appointed King by Him over Sion His holy mountain.' Before He ascended into heaven, our Lord said to His. Disciples, 'All power in heaven and on earth is given unto Me;' and He promised them, s ying, 'I dispose' that is, I give- 'unto you a kingdom, as My Father has disposed unto Me.' Lecture 4: The Spirit of Antichrist If the world hate you, know ye that it hath hated ]fe before you. If you had been of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.' Mask it as we may, there is an irreconcilable enmity between God and the world. The Christian world may put on the vestments and bear the name of Christianity, but it is the world, after all. Not that t.here is enmity on God's part against the -world; for 'God so loved the world as to give His only - begotten Son; that whosoever believeth in Him, may not perish, but may have life everlasting.' But 'the friendship of this world is an enemy against God, ' as we have already seen, because it is not subject to the law of God, nor can be.

The aim which we have had in view, has been as much the refutation of Pantheism, as the satisfaction of a strong desire on our part of presenting the whole body of Catholic truths in all their universality, unity, grandeur, and beauty. We are firmly convinced, with all the thinking minds of the century, that the form of controversy with the human mind, as exhibited in all the signs of the present time, must be thoroughly changed. Hitherto, we have endeavored to lead men's minds to Catholic truth by external evidence; we must now change our tactics and convince them by internal evidence. When, at the dawn of Protestantism, the human mind rebelled against the authority of the Church, it did not and could not reject all other dogmatic truths, and the consequences resulting from them, by the action of which European society had been formed and which had been so deeply rooted in men's minds, as to become -the very flesh and blood of Christendom. Men then unable to throw off the habit of thinking, which they had inherited from sixteen Christian centuries; a habit which had grown with their growth, and which everything around them, language, customs, laws, arts and sciences cop-spired to make deeper and deeper, were forced almost instinctively to admit most of revealed truth. It was easy, then, for the controversialist to take a standing-point from the dogmatic truths fully admitted and agreed upon by his adversary, and to show how necessarily and logically they led to the admission of the authority of the Church. But the steady and swift work of three centuries of demolition, the action of that principle of disintegration proclaimed by Luther have not only eliminated from men's minds all dogmatic truth, but have given them a sceptical turn of mind, which will take nothing for granted, unless sifted to the very bottom, unless accompanied by internal evidence as far as the subject will admit. In former times it was not difficult to convince a man who believed in the existence, and had a true idea, of God, who admitted the possibility of revelation, that of miracles and prophecies, how logically these things pointed out to the existence of an infallible authority, and led him necessarily to the Church. External evidence was, as it were, a home argument to him, because it chimed in and agreed with the bent of his mind. But now that he does not believe in, nor has a true idea of, God, who rejects scornfully all possibility of anything supernatural and superintelligible, it is impossible for us to follow the beaten track, but must find a new way of presenting the Catholic truths to him; that is to lay them out before him in all the internal evidence of which they are capable internal evidence, which results not only from reasons, with which each particular truth may be supported, but that which emanates from the link by which all truths hang upon each other, from the bearing which they have on all the fundamental problems raised by the human mind; from the "relations they possess with all the orders of human knowledge; in a word, do not present to man's mind all the truths of the Church only piecemeal, and, as it were, dissect ed (this has to be be done to obtain an accurate idea of them) but lay them out before him, as it were, in a beautiful panorama, one depending on the other, and all forming a most compact and harmonious whole; show him how the system fits his mind, and satisfies the best aspirations of his soul; inculcate upon him that the system alone is the type of all intelligibility, all life, all beauty, that it is the pattern and origin of all science, all action, all arts, and man's mind, which, after all, was made for truth, will naturally, and almost instinctively, embrace it. This is what we attempted to do in th: s work, of which only a portion of the first part appears now, under the title of Catholicity and Pantheism

UNLESS a Priest esteem the Holy Sacrifice as it deserves, he can never celebrate it with suitable devotion. Assuredly there is no action, which man can perform, so sublime, so sacred, as the celebration of Mass. God himself could not enable a man to perform anything greater than the celebration of Mass. All the ancient sacrifices, by which God was so much honored, were but shadows and figures of our sacrifice of the altar. All the honor that angels by their adorations, and men by their good works, austerities, and even martyrdoms, have ever rendered or will ever render to God, never could, and never will, give him so much glory as one single Mass; for, while the honor of all creatures is only finite, that which accrues to God from the holy Sacrifice of the Al tar is infini te, inasmuch as the victim which is offered is of infinite value. The Mass, therefore, offers to God the greatest honor that can be given him; subdues most triumphantly the powers of hell; affords the greatest relief to the suffering souls in purgatory; appeases most efficaciously the wrath of God against sinners, and brings down the greatest blessings on mankind. Hence St. Bonaventure says, that in the Mass God manifests to us all the love which he has borne us, and includes in it, as in a compendium, all his benefits. On this account the devil has always endeavored to abolish the Mass througbout the world by means of heretics, making them the precursors of Antichrist, who before all things will endeavor to abolish, and in fact will, in punishment of the sins' of men, succeed in abolishing the holy sacrifice of the altar, according to the prediction of Daniel: "And strength was given him against the continual sacrifice, because of sins: and truth shall be cast down on the ground, and he shall do and shall prosper."

THIS volume, though entire in itself, is also the continuation of a former work, the" Formation of Christendom," already written and published by me in three volumes. It is, in fact, the further unfolding of the subject under a particular aspect. In truth, the relation between Church and State leads perhaps more directly than any other to the heart of Christendom; for Christendom, both in word and idea, means not only one and the same Church subsisting in all civil governments, but also a community of Christian governments, having a common belief and common principles of action, grounded upon the Incarnation of the Son of God, and the Redemption wrought thereby. For this reason, the Formation of Christendom can hardly be described, unless the relation which ought by the institution of God to subsist between the two great Powers, the Spiritual and Civil, appointed to rule human society, is first clearly established. In this volume, therefore, I treat first of the relation of these two Powers before the coming of Christ. Secondly, of their relation as it was affected by that coming, in order to show what position the Church of Christ originally took up in regard to the Civil Power, and what the behaviour of the Civil Power towards the Church was. And, thirdly, the question of principles being thus laid down, the remainder of the volume is occupied with the historical exhibition of the subject during the first three centuries; that is, from the Day of Pentecost to the Nicene Council. The supreme importance of that period will appear to all who reflect that the Church from the beginning, and in the first centuries of her existence, must be the same in principles with the Church of the nineteenth and every succeeding century. And this volume is, in fact, a prelude to the treatment of the same subject in the first three centuries, down to the Ecumenical Council of the Vatican. The subject which I am treating is, then, strictly historical, being the action of a King in the establishment of a kingdom; the action of a Lawgiver in the legislation which He gave to that kingdom; the action of a Priest in founding a hierarchy, whereby that kingdom consists; but, moreover, which is something much more-the action of One who is Priest, Lawgiver, and King at once and always, and therefore whose work is at once one and triple, and indivisible in its unity and triplicity, and issuing in the forming of a people which is simply the creation of its King.

SINCE the love of God is the most precious thing in creation-the noblest of all actions, the most meritorious of all motives, the best of all possessions, the most efficacious of all prayers-it is obvious that if we are wise we shall pursue the love of God with eagerness and spare no effort to achieve it. The philosophers' stone for which the alchemists of the Middle Ages sought untiringly, which was to turn all metals into gold, and the Fountain of Youth, which was to heal all diseases, were mere fictions, which no one nowadays would be so foolish as to try to find. But in the life of the soul there is a fountain of youth and there is a philosophers' stone-the pure love of God. Whoever has this incomparable possession can turn even the least of his actions to the purest gold of heavenly merit, and he has within him a fountain of healing to cure every ailment of his soul and keep him young with the angelic youthfulness of heaven. Nothing is so precious and so well worth having as the love of God, and the true understanding of it simplifies and clarifies the whole spiri tual life. "Love God," said St. Augustine, "and do as you please" -because if you truly love God, you will not please to do anything contrary to His law, and that love will be as a holy instinct in you leading you simply to accomplish God's will. There are nowadays a great many very good people who make the spiritual life a very complicated and perplexing thing. They conceive the service of God as a task as delicate and difficult as balancing on a wire. A great number of intricate considerations assail their conscience, and puzzling questions of perfection and duty distract their mind. What a great benefit it would be for them to understand that the short cut to perfection, the compendium of holiness, is the simple and pure love of God. The saints understood this principle, and it led them through amazingly different paths to the one clear summit of sanctity. They differed in many ways-in time, in nationality, in tastes, in learning, in customs, in station-but they all resembled one another in their love of God. They even showed that love in astonishingly different ways. Some of them, like St. Louis of France, and St. Ferdinand of Castile, went to war for the love of God. Others, like St. Francis and St. Genevieve, were the most peacable folk in the world, and cherished from harm even the beasts of the field, because they saw in these the creatures of God's love. Some of them, like St. Anthony of the Desert, fled to the loneliest solitudes so as to be free to think of God and praise Him the entire day and far into the night. Others, like St. Francis Xavier, coursed about the world like a restless flame, ever on the move, ever in the midst of throngs of men to whom they made themselves all in all that they might win them all to the love of God. Some, like St. Simon Stylites, and St. Benedict Joseph Labre, did penance in strange and appalling ways for the love of God. Others, like St. Francis de Sales and St. Vincent de Paul, mingled intimately with the life of great cities and dealt constantly with worldly affairs that they might put upon them the stamp of consecration to God's service and glory.

History of the Vatican Council Together with the Latin and English Text of the Papal Syllabus and the Vatican Decrees