Volume Iv Part 2 (1/2)
When these accounts are examined, one is appointed to prevent, if he can, the canonization. He is sometimes called the devil's advocate, because it is his business to find fault with all the accounts and miracles, and prove them false if possible. This is done to make certain that all the accounts are true and the miracles real. If everything is found as represented, then the good man is declared venerable, later beatified, i.e., called blessed, and still later canonized, i.e., declared a saint. If he is only beatified, he can be honored publicly only in certain places or by certain persons; but if he is canonized, he can be honored throughout the whole Church by all the faithful.
Thus we understand the three branches of the one true Church--the Church Militant, i.e., all those who are on earth trying to save their souls; the Church Suffering, those in Purgatory, having their souls purified for Heaven; and the Church Triumphant, those already in Heaven.
The ”communion of saints” means that these three branches of the Church can help one another. We help the souls in Purgatory by our prayers and good works, and the saints in Heaven pray for us. But ”communion of saints” means still more. Let us take an example. Suppose there are in a family, living together, a mother and three sons. The eldest son earns a large salary, the second son enough to support himself, and the youngest very little. They give their earnings to their mother, who from the combined amounts provides for the wants of all and draws from the large salary of the eldest to supply the needs of the youngest. Thus he who has too little for his support is--through his mother--aided by the one who has more than he needs. Now, the Church is our mother, and some of her children--the great saints--were rich in good works and did more than was necessary to gain Heaven, while others did not do enough. Then our mother, the Church, draws from the abundant satisfaction of her rich children to help those who are poor in merit and good works. The greatest treasure she has to draw from for that purpose is the more than abundant merits of Our Lord and the superabundant satisfaction of the Blessed Virgin and the greatest saints. Our Lord could have redeemed us all by the least suffering, and yet He suffered dreadful torments, and even shed His blood and died for us. The Blessed Virgin never sinned, yet she performed many good works and offered many prayers. Therefore ”communion of saints” means, also, that we all share in the merits of Christ and in the superabundant satisfaction of the Blessed Virgin and of the saints; also in the prayers and good works of the Church and of her faithful and pious children.
”The forgiveness of sins,” i.e., by the Sacrament of Penance, through the power that G.o.d gave His priests; also by Baptism.
”The resurrection of the body,” i.e., on the last day (Matt. 24:29; Luke 21:25). When on the last day, at the general judgment, G.o.d's angel sounds the great trumpet, all the dead will arise again and come to judgment, in the same bodies they had while living. But you will say: If their bodies are reduced to ashes and mixed with the earth, or if parts of them are in one place and parts in another, how is this possible?
Very easily, with G.o.d. If He in the beginning could make all the parts out of nothing, with how much ease can He collect them scattered here and there! When G.o.d made man He gave him a body and a soul, and wished them never to be separated. Man was to live here upon earth for a time, and then be taken up into Heaven, body and soul, as Our Lord is there now. But when man sinned, in punishment G.o.d commanded that he should die; i.e., that these two dear friends, the body and the soul, should be separated for a time. Death is caused by the separation of the soul from the body. The body and soul together make a man, and neither one alone can be called a man. A dead body is only part of a man. At the resurrection every soul will come from Heaven, Purgatory, or h.e.l.l, to seek its own body; they will then be united again as they were in life, never to be separated--to be happy together in Heaven if they have been good upon earth, or miserable together in h.e.l.l if they have been bad upon earth.
”Life everlasting”--either, as we have said, in Heaven or h.e.l.l. There was a time when we did not exist but it can never be said of us again we do not exist. When once we have been created, we shall live as long as G.o.d Himself, i.e., forever. When we have lived a thousand years for every drop of water in the ocean; a thousand years for every grain of sand on the seash.o.r.e; a thousand years for every blade of gra.s.s and every leaf on the earth, we shall still be existing. How short a time, therefore, is a hundred years even if we live so long--and few do--compared with all these millions of years! And yet it depends upon the time we live here whether all these millions of years in the next world will be for us years of happiness or of misery. The whole life of a man extends through the two worlds, viz., from the moment of his creation through all eternity; and surely the little while he stays upon earth must seem very short when, after spending a million of years in the next world, he looks back to his earthly life. There is a good example to ill.u.s.trate this. If you stand on a railroad, and look away down the track for about a mile, it will seem to you that the rails come nearer and nearer, till at last they touch. It seems so on account of the distance, for where they seem to touch they are just as far apart as where you are standing. So, also, when you look back from eternity, the day of your birth and the day of your death will seem to coincide, and your life on earth appear nothing. Then, if you are among the lost souls you will think, What a fool I was to make myself suffer all this long eternity for that silly bit of earthly pleasure, which is of no benefit to me now! And this thought will serve only to make you more miserable.
But, on the other hand, if you look back from a happy eternity, you will wonder at G.o.d's goodness in giving you so much happiness for so short a service upon earth.
THE CONFITEOR
I confess to Almighty G.o.d, to blessed Mary ever Virgin, to blessed Michael the Archangel, to blessed John the Baptist, to the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and to all the saints, that I have sinned exceedingly, in thought, word, and deed, through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault. Therefore I beseech blessed Mary ever Virgin, blessed Michael the Archangel, blessed John the Baptist, the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and all the saints, to pray to the Lord our G.o.d for me.
May the Almighty G.o.d have mercy on me, forgive me my sins, and bring me to everlasting life. Amen.
May the Almighty and merciful Lord grant me pardon, absolution, and remission of all my sins. Amen.
This is another beautiful prayer. In it we can imagine that we are permitted to enter Heaven. What do we see there? G.o.d, the Blessed Virgin, the thousands of angels, the Apostles, all the saints, martyrs, confessors, doctors and virgins. They cease singing G.o.d's praises, as we enter, and fix their eyes upon us. Our guardian angel conducts us before the great throne of G.o.d, and we kneel down in the presence of the whole court of Heaven, to acknowledge our sins and faults, while all listen attentively. Touched by so sublime a sight and the thought of having offended a G.o.d of so much glory, we begin our accusation of ourselves.
We fix our eyes first upon G.o.d, and say: ”I confess,” i.e., accuse myself, ”to Almighty G.o.d.” Then we look upon the rest of the blessed, and say: ”to the Blessed Mary ever Virgin,” etc. Thus we call the whole court of Heaven to be a witness of the fact that we ”have sinned,” not lightly, but ”exceedingly,” i.e., very greatly, and in three ways: ”in thought,” by thinking of things sinful and forbidden; ”in word,” by lies, curses, slanders, etc.; ”in deed,” by every bad action that we have committed; and each of us can say: I have done all this ”through my fault,” i.e., willingly and deliberately; and it was not a small fault, but an exceeding great fault, because G.o.d was helping me by His grace to overcome temptations and avoid bad thoughts, words, and actions, and I would not accept His help, but willingly did what was wrong. What am I to do, therefore? Will G.o.d pardon all these offenses if I alone ask Him, seeing that all the angels and saints know that I have thus offended Him? What shall I do? I will ask them to help me by their prayers, and to beg G.o.d's pardon for me. He may grant their prayers, especially those of the Blessed Mother and of the saints, when He would not grant mine.
”Therefore I beseech the Blessed Mary ever Virgin,” etc., ”to pray to the Lord our G.o.d for me.”
When we kneel down to say the Confiteor, if we could imagine what I have just described to take place, how well we should say it! With what attention, respect, and sorrow we should ask the prayers of the saints!
When we say the Confiteor, and indeed any prayer, we say it in the presence of G.o.d, and of the whole court of Heaven, though we are not in Heaven and cannot see G.o.d. The angels and saints do hear us and will pray for us. When, therefore, you are saying the Confiteor, imagine that you see all I have described, and you will never say it badly.
AN ACT OF FAITH
O my G.o.d! I firmly believe that Thou art one G.o.d in three divine persons, Father, Son and Holy Ghost; I believe that Thy divine Son became man, and died for our sins, and that He will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe these and all the truths which the Holy Catholic Church teaches, because Thou hast revealed them, Who canst neither deceive nor be deceived.
An ”act,” i.e., a profession, of faith. The whole substance of the act of faith is contained in this: I believe all that G.o.d has revealed and the Catholic Church teaches. We might mention one by one all the truths G.o.d has revealed, i.e., made known to us, and all the truths the Catholic Church teaches as revealed by G.o.d. For example, we might say, I believe in the Holy Trinity, in the Incarnation of Our Lord in the Holy Eucharist, in the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin, in the infallibility of the Pope, and so on, till we write an act of faith twenty pages long, and yet it would all be contained in the words: I believe all G.o.d has revealed and the Catholic Church teaches. Hence we find in prayerbooks and catechisms acts of faith differing in length and words, but they are all the same in substance and have the same meaning.
The act of faith in our Catechism gives a few of the chief truths revealed, that it may be neither too short nor too long, and that all may learn the same words.
AN ACT OF HOPE
O my G.o.d! relying on Thy almighty power and infinite goodness and promises, I hope to obtain pardon of my sins, the help of Thy grace, and life everlasting, through the merits of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Redeemer.
The substance of this act is: I hope for Heaven and the means to obtain it. The means by which I will obtain it are the pardon of my sins by G.o.d, and the grace which He will give me in the reception of the Sacraments and in prayer, by which grace I will be able to know Him, love Him, and serve Him, and thus come to be with Him forever. Here again we could make a long act by mentioning all the things we hope for; viz., a good death, a favorable judgment, a place in Heaven, etc.
AN ACT OF LOVE