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Sample Pages from [em]The Chief Truths of the Faith[/em] by Fr. John Laux

CONTENTS PAGE IINTRODUCTION: The Nature and Value of Apologetics A. Knowledge and the Sources of Knowledge. , xi B.FaithandltsJustification xii C. Nature and Division of Apologetics xiv D. The Value of Apologetics xiv SECTION I REASONABLENESS OF OUR BELIEF IN GOD CHAPTER I. The Exist~nce of God A. The Arguments for the Existence of God in General. I B. The Teleological Argument, or the Reign of Law in the Universe 4 C. The Cosmological Argument, or God and the Origin of the Universe 10 D. The Moral Argument, or God in Conscience. !4 E. The Historical Argument, or Man's Need of God. 17 F. The Nature and Attributes of God 19 CHAPTER ". Man and His Place in the Universe A. The Immortality of the Soul 25 I. The Possibility of Immortality 26 2. The Fact of Immortality 28 3. Objections to the Belief in Immortality 3! B. Man and the Lower Animals 32 C. Prehistoric Man 35 D. The Age of Man 37 SECTION n REASONABLENESS OF OUR BELIEF IK CHRIST CHAPTER 1. Revelation and the Signs of Revelation. 47 CHAPTER ". Sourees of Our Knowledge of Christ and His Teaching A. Non-Christian Sources 53 B. Christian Sources 55 I. The Epistles of St. Paul and the Other Apostles. 55 2. The Four Gospels 5; a) The Gospels are Genuine 58 b) The Gospels are Intact 62 c) The Gospels are Truthfnl 65 3. TheActsoftheApostles 68 ix x CONTENTS ! CHAPTER III. The Claims of Jesus A. JesusClaimedtobetheMessias.,..., , ",.,...,"" 71 B.Jesus Claimed to be the SonofGod ",..., , 7] C. Some Difficulties Solved ,...,..,.,.."..."..., , 75 CHAPTER IV. Jesus Justified His Claim!; A. The Perfect Holiness of Jcsus , ,. 82 B. The Superhuman Wisdom of Jesus , ,. R3 C. The Miracles of J esus , 86 SECTION In REASONABLENESS OF OUR BELIEF IN THE CHURCH CHAPTER I. The Founding of the Church, , ..., , , , , 93 CHAPTER II. The Constitution of the Church. ., , , ., ., .., , .99 CHAPTER III. The Primacy of St. Peter. , ., , 1O3 CHAPTER IV. The Primacy of the Roman Pontiff. , .., .., 1o9 CHAPTER V. The Infallibility of the Church and the Pope A. The Church of Christ Must Be Infallible , 115 B. The Infallibility of the Pope 117 C. Some Objections Answered , " 118 CHAPTER VI. Outside the Church There Is No Salvation. 123 INDEX ,', , 131 r ! Introduction THE NATURE J\ND V ALUE OF ApOLOGETICS A. Knolvledgc (uld the ,~ources 01 Knolvledge I. We possess all our knowledge in the form of judgments. -We know something only when '\'e state, at least mentally, that two ideas or concepts, one of which is called the subject, the other the predicate, agree with each other, or do not agree with each other, I f I say: "Shakespeare is a dramatist," I assert the agree- ment of the two concepts "Shakespeare" and "dramatist." I f I say: "Men are not angels," I assert the disagreement of the t\VO concepts "men" and "angels." 2. If our judgment is in harmony with reality, it is a true judgment, as "Heat expands iron" ; if it is not in harmony with reality, it is a false judgment, as " A circle is not round," I four judgments are uttered without fear of error, they are cerfain; if they are uttered with fear of error, they are ftnccrfain, and therefore mere opinions. "Twice two is four," is a certain judg- ment; "Tomorrow will be rainy," is nothing but an opinion. 3. Before making a judgment we must have a reason for doing so.-We get our reasons for forming our judgments from what are cal!ed the sources of knO'ltIledgc. There are of various kinds : a) Some truths are in themselves so evident as to be clearly understood by al! who have the use of reason, as soon as they are put in words. Such truths are cal!ed sclf-evident, because they require no demonstration. For example, when once we understand the meaning of the terms, we cannot fail to grasp that "the whole is greater than its part," or that "the radii of a circle are equal," or that "everything which begins to exist must have been brought into existence by something distinct from itself," or that "what is, is, and cannot at the same time not be." b) From these self-evident and necessary truths another class of truths is drawn by a process of reasoning, that is, not by com- paring two concepts directly ,vith each other, but by comparing each with a third, on the principle that two things which are equal to the same thing are equal to each other. xiii -:T- INTl{ODUCTION c) Other things we know to be true from the evidence of our se1JSes. We can trust our senses unhesitatingly if the sense we are using, e.g., sight or hearing, is in a normal condition and properly applied to the object. d) Lastly, there, are many things which we do not know of our- selves, but which we accept on the authority of otl1er people. If our belief rests on the testimony of man, who can err, it is human faith; i f it rests on the testimony of God, who cannot err, it is Divine Faith.. B. Faith and Its Justification I. To have Divine Faith means to hold firmly and without doubting, all that Go<.! has revealed and, through His Church, pro- poses for our belief. The truths of revelation are the Object of Faith; the authority of God, implying infallibility in knowledge, and truth in utterance, is the M olive of faith, the reason 'It,hy we believe what God has revealed. The Church is the ordinary and infallible means by which we know the truths revealed by God. Our reason left to itself gives assent only to such judgments as are evidently true. Hence, since the Articles of Faith are not evident, the u.j/l plays a very important part in the making of an Act of Faith. O11ly he can belil"lle '(('ho is '(t.illillg to believe. The will gives assent to the word of God because it sees in God its highest good. With Simon Peter it says: "Thou hast the words of eternal life" (John 6,69). In giving its assent, the will is ele- vated and strengthened by the grace of G od. By grace, our Faith becomes supernatural; by the assent of the will, it becomes a free , moral, and, therefore, meritorious act. 2. Our Faith is not an affair of sentiment, a leap in the dark, or an "abdication of our reason" ; on the contrary, it is a "seeing faith," a "reasonable service." Every intelligent Catholic should be in a position to justify his Faith at the bar of his reason and his conscience. He must, in other words, be able to form the fol- lowing judgments : a) I tI~ay and can believe these truths proposed for my belief, because God has revealed them ; b) I must believe these truths, because God is my supreme Lord and my only salvation. The first of these judgments, which is called the judgment of ~- INTRODUCTION xv "Lord to whom shall we go ? Thou hast the words of , eternal life." (John 6, 69) crcdibility (judiciun� credibilitatis) rests on three other judg- ments: I. There is a God who can neither deceive nor be deceived. 2. This God has revealed Himself to tIS in the Old Testament through the Patriarchs and the Prophets, in the New Testament through Christ and the Apostles. 3. Christ fo�mdcd a ChurcJ~ which He endowed with infallibil- ity for the safeguarding and propagation of Divine Revelation. These three judgments are called motives of credibility ( 7notiva rrcdibilitatis) .The first is philosophical, the other two are histori- cal. In the case of the second, viz., that God has revealed Himself to us, it is sufficient to prove that J esus Chrlsl ir Ike S(71t (7/ C(7tt' ond //w rn.rJ'rUntC;1tJ' (7/ .D"VI:'t"" ..R """/al'..0,,,,- He guarantees for us the revelations =ade ir7 the Old Testarnent j and by His teaching and the sending of the Holy Ghost on the Apostles, He also guar- antees the revelations made through the Apostles. 3. The Mysteries of our Faith cannot be proved from reason INTRODUCTION xv "Lord, to whom shall we go ? Thou hast the words of eternal life." (John 6, 69) credibility (judiciunt credibilitatis) rests on three other j udg- ments: I. There is a God who can neither deceive nor be deceived. 2. This God has re'"llealed Himself to us in the Old Testament through the Patriarchs and the Prophets, in the New Testament through Christ and the Apostles. 3. Christ fotmded a Church which He endowed with infallibil- ity for the safeguarding and propagation of Divine Revelation. These three judgments are called motives of credibility ( 1notiva credibilitatis) .The first is philosophical, the other two are histori- cal. In the case of the second, viz., that God has revealed Himsel f to us, it is sufficient to prove that lest's Christ is the Son of God and tlze instruntent of Divine Revelation. He guarantees for us the revelations made in the Old Testament; and by His teaching and the sending of the Holy Ghost on the Apostles, He also guar- antees the revelations made through the Apostles. 3. The Mysteries of our Faith cannot be proved from reason xvi INTRODUCTION and history, because they are beyond reason and therefore incom- prehensible. "The divine mysteries," says the Council of the Vatican, "by their own nature so far transcend the. created intelligence that, even when delivered by Revelation and received by Faith, they remain covered with a veil of Faith itself, and shrouded in a certain degree of darkness, so long as \ve are pilgrims in this mortal life, not yet with God."* In regard to these mysteries we must content ourselves \vith proving that they are not contrary to reason and that they possess an ine~timable value for our souls. It is different with the three truths on which the reasonableness of our Faith rests. The exist- ence of God, the Divinity of Christ, and the divine institution of the Church can be proved by philosophical and historical arguments. c. Nature and Division 01 Apologetics The science which proves the reasonableness of the Catholic Faith is called Apologc.tics, from the Greek word apologia, "de- fense," "justification." "Be ready always," says St. Peter, "to .I"atisfy everyone that asketh you a reason of that hope which is in yOlI" (I Pet. 3,15). I. Apologetics answers three questions.- I. ~Vhy 1nust we worship God? 2. rv.h.v m/.tst 'l{'e be Christians? 3. ~Vhy mJ.tst 'l('e be Caiholics? 2. In our defense of our Faith we have three classes of opponents to deal with.- I. .4thcists, Pantheists, and .L11aterialists, who deny the exist- ence of a Living, Personal God; i.e. of a Being endowed with intelligence and free will, the First Cause of all things distinct from Jlimself. 2. J e'lt'S, M ohammedans, Deists ( Rationalists) , and lndiffer- ('ntists, who deny the divine origin of the Christian Religion. 3. If eretics of various kinds, \V ho deny one or more articles of the Catholic Faith. D. The "alue 01 Apologetics I. Apologetics cannot produce supernatural Faith.-Faith is a gift of God. In Baptism God even "gives us the eyes with which to see Him." Besides, Apologetics appeals entirely to the *Vatican Council I (1870) is referred to here. -Editor (1990). - INTRODUCTION xvii THE HARMONY OF FAITH AND REASON intellect, whereas Faith is a matter both of the intellect and th~ will. "Faith," says St. Thomas, "is an act of the ltnderstanding adhering to Divine Truth by command of the will moved by the grace of God." 2. Apologetics does not claim to be able to prove the foon- dations of Faith with mathematical certainty.- The proposi- tion "The whole is greater than its part" forces conviction on us because the contrary proposition is unthinkable. But the proposi- tion "Jesus of"Nazareth arose from the dead" is not evident in the same way. It is an historical statement, the contrary of which is not impossibIe or unthinkable. The highest kil1d of certainty We can have in regard to it is that Jvhich t';rclttdcs a!! reasonab!r doubt. Our proofs are conclusive, but not coercive. They carry convictiol1 to those who consider them with open minds, but not to those who are blinded by Passion or preJudIce. "lIlathematical propositions," says the French philosopher Malebranche ,re ~ot attacked sim?ly because the human passions are not interested i; ~cki?g t?em. But If the Pythagorean proposition imposed any moral !Igatlon, It would certainly be attacked If Some AcademfS. t h S..Yo Clence re o set up. t. e Ixth and Seventh Commandments as scientific propo- D~S. the valIdIty of these propositions would immediately be called in stlon by all the adulterers and thieves in the world." -- INTRODUCTION xvii THE HARMONY OF FAITH AND REASON intellect, whereas Faith is a matter both of the intellect and th- will. "Faith," says St. Thomas, "is an act of the Itnderstandin9 adhering to Divine Truth by command of the will moved by the grace of God." 2. Apologetics does not claim to be able to prove the foun- dations of Faith with mathematical certainty.-The proposi- tion "The whole is greater than its part" forces conviction on us because the contrary proposition is unthinkable. But the proposi- tion "Jesus of"Nazareth arose from the dead" is not evident in the same way. It is an historical statement, the contrary of which is not impossible or unthinkable. The highest kind of certainty we can have in regard to it is that \vhich e.rclude.1' allreasonabll' doubt. Our proofs are conclusive, but not coercive. They carry conviction to those who consider them with open minds, but not to those who are blinded by passion or prejudice. "Mathematical propositions," says the French philosopher Malebranche, "are not attacked simply because the human passions are not interested in attacking them. But if the Pythagorean proposition imposed any moral obligation, it would certainly be attacked. If some Academy of Science were to set up the Sixth and Seventh Commandments as scientific propo- sitions, the validity of these propositions would immediately be called in question by all the adulterers and thieves in the world." c I a xviii INTRODUCTION 3. The real function of Apologetics is twofold.-(a) to sat- isfy the intellect of the honest inquirer, and, with the aid of grace, to awaken in him the pius credulitatis affectus-the pious longing for the Faith; ( b) to strengthen in the believer the resolve never to barter his holy Faith for the shallow theories of a false philos- ophyor the mess of pottage of a false morality. In a letter dated January 6, 1815, Volta, the famous scientist, declares: "I have always believed and still believe the holy Catholic Faith to be the one true and infallible religion. In this Faith I recognize a pure gift of God, a supernatural grace. But I have not neglected those human means which confirm belief and overthrow such doubts as may arise to tempt me. I have given attentive study to the �oundations of my Faith. I have read in the works both of defenders and assailants of the Faith arguments �or and against it, and have derived thence arguments in its �avor which render it most acceptable even to the purely natural reason and prove it to be such that any mind unperverted by sin and passion, any healthy and generous mind, carnlot but accept and love it" (Kneller, Christianity and the Repre- sentatives of Moder,~ Science, St. Louis: B. Herder Book Co., p. 116). 4. In order to profit by the study of Apologetics, we must approach it in the right spirit-the sfririt of h~tmility; for if there is a God, the attitude of ollr soul towards Him must necessarily be the humble petition: "Lord, that I may see." And we must purge our hearts from the dominion of the passions, for only the pure of heart shall see God-in this life as well as in the next. 5. The student of Apologetics should heed the admonition of St. Augustine : "We must not want to solve all the difficulties against the Faith before \\.e believe, in order that our life may not come to an end without faith. Simple faith gives us an ever deeper understanding of the things of faith. By faith we subject ourselves to God. If we subject ourselves to God, we shall live right; if we live right, our heart becomes pure; and if Ollr heart is pure, we shall see the truth of what we believe." Supplementary Reading Faith Is a Gift of God Faith is a gift of God, and not a mere act of our own, which we are free to exert when we will. It is quite distinct from an exercise of reason. though it follows, upon it. I may �eel the force of an argument for the divine origin of the Church; I may see that I ought to believe; and yet I may be unable to believe. ...Faith is not a mere conviction in reason, it is a firm assent, it is a clear certainty greater than any other certainty; INTRODUCTION xix and this is wrought in the mind by the grace of God, and by it alone. As then men may be convinced, and not act according to their conviction, so may they be convinced, and not believe according to their conviction. ... In a word, the arguments fQr religion dQ not compel anyone to believe, just as arguments for good conduct do not compel anyone to obey. Obedience is the consequence of willing to obey, and faith is the consequence of willing to believe; we may see what is right, whether in matters of faith or obedience, of ourselves, but we cannot will what is right without the grace of God. -NEWMAN, Discourses to Mired Congregations, p. 224. The Study of the Science of Apologetics N ecessary Especially in Our Dajl Though the existence of God is a truth koowable, and easily knowable, \y the light of reason, there are many that call that truth in question. Professed Agnostics are perhaps more numerous now than they have ever been before. How to account for this increase in Agnosticism, who can tell ? The advances made in physical science can give no clue to it. ... But whatever the reason may be, Agnosticism is apparently on the increase. It is difficult to avoid contact with Agnostics. They are to be met with in every rank of life. Some of them are aggressive and wish to meet us in discussion. Others profess a wish to believe, and invite us to remove their difficulties. If we ought to be prepared to justify the faith that is i~ us, much more ought we to be prepared to justify that conviction of God's existence, which is presupposed by all our faith. We ought to be able to defend this conviction against any that might choose to assail it; and still more ought we to be able to extend a helping hand to such as might come tD us in the spirit of honest inquiry. We say in a spirit of honest inquiry, for it may very well be that one who has through no fault of his lost belief in God, is no\V honestly endeavoring to find his way back to the truth. -GILDEA, Introduction to HAMMERSTEIN, Foundations of Faith, St. Louis: B. Herder Book Co., p. ix. SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDY AND REVIEW I. In what form do we possess all our knowledge ? 2. When are our judgments true ? false ? certain ? uncertain ? 3. What is meant by the sources of knowledge ? 4. What is meant by self-evident truths ? Give examples. S. How do we acquire knowledge of truths which are not self-evident ? 6. When are our senses infallible sources of truth ? 7. What is the difference between human and divine faith ? 8. Define divine faith. VlThat is its motive ? its object ? 9. What part does the will play in the act of faith ? 10. Is faith an abdication of reason ? Why not ? 11. What is meant by the judgment of credibility ? On what other judgments does it rest ? What are these called ? - xx INTRODUCTION 12. What is our position in regard to mysteries ? 13. Define Apologetics. What three questions does it answer ? 14. Who are the opponents of the Catholic Apologist ? 15. What kind of certainty can we attain in regard to the foundations of our faith ? 16. What is the real function of Apologetics ? 17. Why should we study Apologetics in the spirit of humility ? 18. Write a brief paragraph on each of the following : Agnostic, St. Tholnas Aq..inas, Vatican Council, J.falebranche, Volta, Sf. Augusfine. (Consult the New Catholic Dictionary or the Catholic Encyclopedia.)
Excerpted from The Chief Truths of the Faith by Fr. John Laux Used with permission.

Sample Pages from [em]The Chief Truths of the Faith[/em] by Fr. John Laux

CONTENTS PAGE CHAPTER I. The Sacraments in General I. NatureoftheSacraments I 2. Number of the Sacraments 3 3. DivisionoftheSacraments 5 4.EffectsoftheSacraments 6 5. Administration and Reception of the Sacraments. 7 CHAPTER II. Baptism 12 Rite of Baptism. 2I CHAPTER III. Confirmation 26 Rite of Confirmation 32 CHAPTER IV. The Holy Eucharist Introduction. 35 A. THE REAL PRESENCE OF CHRIST IN THE EUCHARIST I. Proofs of the Real Presence 38 a) The Words of Promise 38 b) The Words of Institution...; 40 c) The Words of St. Paul 4I d) Teaching and Practice of the Church. 42 2. Transubstantiation. 44 3. Eucharistic Adoration 46 B. THE HOLY EUCHARIST AS A SACRIFICE I. Nature of Sacrifice 49 II. The Sacrifices of the Old Law 51 III. The Sacrifice of the New Law 53 a) The Sacrifice of the Cross 53 b) The Sacrifice of the Mass , 54 I. Nature of the Mass 54 2. Institution of the Mass 56 3. The Sacrifice of the Mass in the Teaching and Wor- ship of the Church 60 4. The Four Ends of the Mass 62 5. The Fruits of the rv[ass 62 6. The Celebration of Mass 66 7. Assisting at Mass 68 8. The Sacred Liturgy, or the Rite of the Mass. 69 9. The Language of the Mass 73 10. Some Notes on the Liturgy of the Mass 74 ix i , : x CONTENTS C. HOLY COMMUNION I. Nature and Necessity of Holy Communion 83 2. Dispositions for Receiving Holy Communion. 87 3. Effects of Holy Communion 89 CHAPTER V. Penance I. Nature and Necessity of the Sacrament of Penance 95 2. Contrition and Purpose of Amendment. 99 3. Confession a) NecessityofConfession 102 b) Qualities of a Good Confession 103 4. Satisfaction. 104 5. Indulgences. 105 CHAPTER VI. Extreme Unction 114 Riteof ExtremeUnction 117 CHAPTER Vll. Holy Orders. 121 CHAPTER VIII. Matrimony I. Marriage in Pre-Christian Times 129 2. Marriage in Christian Times 130 3. The Marriage Laws of the Church. Mixed Marriages. 133 Rite of Matrimony 137 CHAPTER IX. The Sacramentals of the Church. 139 APPENDIX. The "Ordinary of the Mass" in Latin and English with Rubrics and Explanatory Notes. 143 INDEX. 197 CHAPTER I The Sacraments in General I. THE NATURE OF THE SACRAMENTS I. Means of Grace.- Without grace we can do no good work of ourselves towards our salvation. Hence the all-important ques- tion is, how can we obtain God's grace ? The principal means of obtaining grace are Prayer and the re- ception of the Sacraments. Prayer will be treated under the Ten Commandments; for the present it will suffice to point out the dif- ference between prayer and the sacraments as means of grace : a) The sacraments produce grace in us; prayer obtains it for us. b) Through the sacraments we obtain those special graces for which they were instituted; through prayer we receive all kinds of graces, except those which are given only by the sacraments. The word sacrament comes from the Latin word sacramentum, which the Romans used for any holy or sacred thing, such as forfeit money deposited in a temple or the military oath of allegiance. In the early Church it was applied to any religious object, rite, or ceremony which was hidden from the knowle1ge of the heathen; it was synonymous with mystery. In the course of time it received its present restricted meaning. 2. A Sacrament is an outward or sensible sign instituted by Christ through which inward grace is imparted to the soul. Hence three things are necessary for a sacrament : a) An outward or sensible sign ; b) A corresponding inward or invisible grace ; c) Institution by Christ. a) The Outward Sign.-An outward or sensible sign is some- thing that can be perceived by one or other of the senses. Its purpose is to make something hidden known to us; thus a word, a movement of the hand, an inclination of the head makes known to us what is hidden in another's mind. The outward signs of the sacraments make knO'Z(In to us the inward grace that is being pro- duced in the soul. The outward sign of the sacraments is composed of two things, matter and form. The matter of the sacrament is the sensible thing I I ~ 2 THE MEANS OF GRACE or exterior act used in its administration, such as water, oil, bread and wine. The form consists in the words pronounced by the min- ister when he applies the matter, e.g., "I baptize thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." To constitute a sacrament, the form must be united to the mat- ter. "Take the word away," says St. Augustine, "and what else is baptismal water except ordinary water ? but add the words to the element and it becomes a sacrament" (In Joan. tract. 80,3). The matter of a sacrament is remote or proxi11wte, according as we consider it in itself or in its actual application. Water in itself is the remote, the pouring of the water the proximate mat- : ter of the sacrament of Baptism. b) The Inward Grace.-The outward signs of the sacraments do not merely signify grace, but actually impart the graces which they signify, unless we on our part put some obstacle in the way (Council of Trent, Session VII, Canon 6). When a priest pours water on the forehead of a child and pronounces the words, at that very moment the child is really cleansed from original sin and made holy and pleasing to God.. c) Institution by Jesus Christ.-No sensible things or out- ward signs have of themselves the power to produce inward super- natural grace, nor can any created being give such power to ~ sensible things. If they have this power, it must have been given I to them by God. He who merited grace for us, the God-Man Jesus Christ, attached to certain outward signs the power of imparting inward grace and sanctification to our souls. These signs have thus become the sacred channels through which flow to us the graces which Jesus Christ merited for us by His Passion and Death. 3. But why, it may be asked, should God bestow His super- natural favors upon us by means of outward signs and material symbols ? The reason is because He adapts His methods to our nature. We are not pure spirits, but beings composed of body as well as of soul; so that even in our most spiritual operations we constantly make use of material and physical elements. Thus, when we wish to convey an intellectual idea to others we have to clothe it in language written or oral. In the same way God makes use of visible things as the vehicles of His invisible graces and blessings. We thus have visible Pledges of the invisible graces. There is another reason why God should convey His graces by visible signs, namely, to unite us all more closely together. "Since THE SACRAMENTS IN GENERAL 3 the sacraments are conferred under visible forms, we cannot re- ceive them without giving public testimony of our faith, and of our fellowship with the millions of other Catholics spread through- out the world. We thereby prove ourselves to b~ members of the same Church, and sharers in the same benefits, and sheep of the same divine Shepherd." 4. Sacramental Ceremonies.-Christ gave His Church tht /' power to administer the sacraments. Hence the Church also has the power to prescribe certain cere1nonies and prayers, to be used before and after their administration. Their purpose is a) To direct our attention to the graces received in the sacra- ments; b) To prepare us for those graces ; c) To represent to us the dignity of the sacrament ; d) To increase our devotion and reverence. Some of these ceremonies have Christ Himself as their author ; others were instituted by the Apostles; others, again, by the Church at different times. As the ceremonies do not belong to the matter and form of the sacraments, they can be omitted or abbreviated in case of necessity. 2. NUMBER OF THE SACRAMENTS 1. The Council of Trent declared that there are seven, and only seven, sacraments instituted by Christ.-Baptism, Con- firmatiC/n, Holy Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unction, Holy Or- ders, and Matrimony. In the case of four of the sacraments-Baptism, Holy Eucha- rist, Penance, Holy Orders-we know when Christ instituted them ; Confirmation and Extreme Unction were administered by the Apostles; the sacramental character of Matrimony is clearly indi- cated in Holy Scripture. The Greek Church, \vhich separated from the Catholic Church in the ninth century, also recognizes seven, and only seven, sacra- ments. The Coptic, Armenian and Syrian Monophysites, who sep- arated in the fifth century, have seven, and only seven, sacraments -a proof that the doctrine of seven sacraments was universally recognized in the Church at the time of their separation. Lutherans admit only two sacraments, Baptism and the Eucharist. Luther at first also counted Penance among the sacraments, but later rejected it. When the Protestants of Germany sent a copy of their articles of faith
Excerpted from The Chief Truths of the Faith by Fr. John Laux Used with permission.

Sample Pages from [em]the Children's Homer[/em] by Padraic Colum

I.

THIS is the story of Odysseus, the most renowned of all the heroes the Greek poets have told us of -of Odysseus, his wars and his wanderings. And this story of Odysseus begins with his son, the youth who was called Telemachus.

It was when Telemachus was a child of a month old that a messenger came from Agamemnon, the Great King, bidding Odysseus betake himself to the war against Troy that the Kings and Princes of Greece were about to wage. The wise Odysseus, foreseeing the disasters that would befall all that entered that war, was loth to go. And so when Agamemnon's messenger came to the island of Ithaka where he was King, Odysseus pretended to be mad. And that the messenger, Palamedes, might believe he was mad indeed, he did a thing that no man ever saw being done before-he took an ass and an ox and yoked them together to the same plough and began to plough a field. And when he had ploughed a furrow he sowed it, not with seeds that would grow, but with salt. When Palamedes saw him doing this he was nearly persuaded that Odysseus was mad. But to test him he took the child Telemachus and laid him down in the field in the way of the plough. Odysseus, when he came near to where the child lay, turned the plough aside and thereby showed that he was not a mad man. Then had he to take King Agamemnon's summons. And Agamemnon's word was that Odysseus should go to Aulis where the ships of the Kings and Princes of Greece were being gathered. But first he was to go into another country to seek the hero Achilles and persuade him also to enter the war against Troy.

And so Odysseus bade good-bye to his infant son, Telemachus, and to his young wife, Penelope, and to his father, old Laertes. And he bade good-bye to his house and his lands and to the island of Ithaka where he was King. He summoned a council of the chief men of Ithaka and commended to their care his wife and his child and all his household, and thereafter he took his sailors and his fighting men with him and he sailed away. The years went by and Odysseus did not return. After ten years the City was taken by the Kings and Princes of Greece and the thread of war was wound up. But still Odysseus did not return. And now minstrels came to Ithaka with word of the deaths or the homecomings of the heroes who had fought in the war against Troy. But no minstrel brought any word of Odysseus, of his death or of his appearance in any land known to men. Ten years more went by. And now that infant son whom he had left behind, Telemachus, had grown up and was a young man of strength and purpose.

II

ONE day, as he sat sad and disconsolate in the house of his father, the youth Telemachus saw a stranger come to the outer gate. There were many in the court outside, but no one went to receive the newcomer. Then, because he would never let a stranger stand at the gate without hurrying out to welcome him, and because, too, he had hopes that some day such a one would bring him tidings of his father, Telemachus rose up from where he was sitting and went down the hall and through the court and to the gate at which the stranger stood.

'Welcome to the house of Odysseus,' said Telemachus giving him his hand. The stranger clasped it with a friendly clasp. 'I thank you, Telemachus,' he said, 'for your welcome, and glad I am to enter the house of your father, the renowned Odysseus.'

The stranger looked like one who would be a captain amongst soldiers. His eyes were grey and clear and shone wonderfully. In his hand he carried a great bronze spear. He and Telemachus went together through the court and into the hall. And when the stranger left his spear within the spearstand Telemachus took him to a high chair and put a footstool under his feet. He had brought him to a place in the hall where the crowd would not come. There were many in the court outside and Telemachus would not have his guest disturbed by questions or clamours. A handmaid brought water for the washing of his hands, and poured it over them from a golden ewer into a silver basin. A polished table was left at his side. Then the house- dame brought wheaten bread and many dainties. Other servants set down dishes of meat with golden cups, and afterwards the maids came into the hall and filled up the cups with wine.

But the servants who waited on Telemachus and his guest were disturbed by the crowd of men who now came into the hall. They seated themselves at tables and shouted out their orders. Great dishes of meat were brought to them and bowls of wine, and the men ate and drank and talked loudly to each other and did not refrain even from staring at the stranger who sat with Telemachus.

'Is there a wedding-feast in the house?' the stranger asked, 'or do the men of your clan meet here to drink with each other ?'

A flush of shame came to the face of Telemachus. ' There is no wedding-feast here,' he said, 'nor do the men of our clan meet here to drink with each other. Listen to me, my guest. Because you look so wise and because you seem so friendly to my father's name I will tell you who these men are and why they trouble this house.'

THEREUPON Telemachus told the stranger how his father had not returned from the war of Troy although it was now ten years since the City was taken by those with whom he went. ' Alas,' Telemachus said, 'he must have died on his way back to us, and I must think that his bones lie under some nameless strait or channelof the ocean. Would he had died in the fight at Troy! Then the Kings and Princes would have made him a burial-mound worthy of his name and his deeds. His memory would have been reverenced amongst men, and I, his son, would have a name, and would not be imposed upon by such men as you see here - men who are feasting and giving orders in my father's house and wasting the substance that he gathered.'

'How come they to be here?' asked the stranger.

Telemachus told him about this also. When seven years had gone by from the fall of Troy and still Odysseus did not return there were those who thought he was dead and would never be seen more in the land of Ithaka. Then many of the young lords of the land wanted Penelope, Telemachus' mother, to marry one of them. They came to the house to woo her for marriage. But she, mourning for the absence of Odysseus and ever hoping that he would return, would give no answer to them. For three years now they were coming to the house of Odysseus to woo the wife whom he had left behind him. ' They want to put my lady-mother between two dread difficulties,' said Telemachus, , either to promise to wed one of them or to see the substance of our house wasted by them. Here they come and eat the bread of our fields, and slay the beasts of our flocks and herds, and drink the wine that in the old days my father laid up, and weary our servants with their orders.'

When he had told him all this Telemachus raised his head and looked at the stranger: ' O my guest,' he said, 'wisdom and power shine out of your eyes. Speak now to me and tell me what I should do to save the house of Odysseus from ruin. And tell me too if you think it possible that my father should still be in life.'

The stranger looked at him with his grey, clear, wonderfully- shining eyes. ' Art thou verily the son of Odysseus ? ' said he.

'Verily, I am the son of Odysseus,' said Telemachus.

'As I look at you,' said the stranger, 'I mark your head and eyes, and I know they are such a head and such eyes as Odysseus had. Well, being the son of such a man, and of such a woman as the lady Penelope, your spirit surely shall find a way of destroying those wooers who would destroy your house.'

' Already,' said Telemachus, , your gaze and your speech make me feel equal to the task of dealing with them.'

'I think,' said the stranger, 'that Odysseus, your father, has not perished from the earth. He may yet win home through labors and perils. But you should seek for tidings of him. Harken to me now and I shall tell you what to do.

' To-morrow summon a council of all the chief men of the land of Ithaka, and stand up in that council and declare that the time has come for the wooers who waste your substance to scatter, each man to his own home. And after the council has been held I would have you voyage to find out tidings of your father, whether he still lives and where he might be. Go to Pylos first, to the home of Nestor, that old King who was with your father in the war of Troy. Beg Nestor to give you whatever tidings he has of Odysseus. And from Pylos go to Sparta, to the home of Menelaus and Helen, and beg tidings of your father from them too. And if you get news of his being alive, return: It will be easy for you then to endure for another year the wasting of your substance by those wooers. But if you learn that your father, the renowned Odysseus, is indeed dead and gone, then come back, and in your own country raise a great funeral mound to his memory, and over it pay all funeral rites. Then let your mother choose a good man to be her husband and let her marry him, knowing for a certainty that Odysseus will never come back to his own house. After that something will remain for you to do: You will have to punish those wooers who destroy the goods your father gathered and who insult his house by their presence. And when all these things have been done, you, Telemachus, will be free to seek out your own fortune: you will rise to fame, for I mark that you are handsome and strong and most likely to be a wise and valiant man. But now I must fare on my journey .'

The stranger rose up from where he sat and went with Telemachus from the hall and through the court and to the outer gate. Telemachus said: 'What you have told me I shall not forget. I know you have spoken out of a wise and a friendly heart, and as a father to his son.'

The stranger clasped his hands and went through the gate. And then, as he looked after him Telemachus saw the stranger change in his form. He became first as a woman, tall, with fair hair and a spear of bronze in her hand. And then the form of a woman changed too. It changed into a great sea-eagle that on wide wings rose up and flew high through the air. Telemachus knew then that his visitor was an immortal and no other than the goddess Athene who had been his father's friend.


Excerpted from The Children's Home: The Adventures of Odysseus and the Tale of Troy by Padraic Colum, Copyright 1918

Sample Pages from [em]The Curé of Ars[/em] by Abbé Trochu

Chapter One

First Years

(1786-1793)

The village of Dardilly is set among the low hills that rise in the neighbourhood of Lyons. One of its inhabitants was Pierre Vianney, husband of Marie Charavay. Besides being a prosperous farmer, he was likewise a man of faith,a nd much given tot he practice of the Christian virtue of charity. In July, 1770, the fame of shig ood works brought to hsi door a mendicant who was also a saint.

Tortured by scruples, Benoit Labre had just left the Trappist monastery of Sept-Fonds, where had been a novice under the name of Brother Urban. He had now acquired a certainty that his vocation was to be a wayfarer for the remainder of his life, so he set out for Rome. His first halt was Paray-le-Monial, where he paid long visits to the chapel fo the Apparitions. From Paray he journeyed to Lyons, but rather than etner the city at nightfall he chose to spend the night at Dardilly. On observing a number of poor persons going to the house of Pierre Vianney, he went along with them.

Benoit Labre was strangely attired. He wore the novice's tunic, which he had been permitted to retain on leaving the monastery. A wallet was suspended from his shoulders, a rosary hung round his neck, and a brass crucifix shone on his breast. A breviary, an Imitation, and the book of the gospels constituted his luggage.

In these weird accoutrements he entered the small enclosure in front of the low-roofed house of the Vianneys. the master of the house received him as he received all destitute persons. The children gazed with pity as the hapless man in whom their parents had taught them to see Jesus Christ himself. Matthieu, one of the five boys, was there. little did he guess. Little did he guess, as he contemplated this youthful mendicant, so pale and so meek, who was telling his beads all the time, that oen day he hismelf would be the father of a saint. In the vast kitchen, near the hearth, where, sixteen years later, the child of predestination would warm his little bare feet, Benoit Labre and his companions in distress sat down with the Vianneys before plates of steaming soup, followed by meat and vegetables. Afer grace and night prayers, the guests were shown a place over the bakehouse, where they were to sleep, and where a thick layer of straw was to be their bed. On the morrow, ere they departed, one and all thanks their hosts, but the refined, gentle youth expressed his gratitude in terms which plainly showed that he was no common beggar.

Great was the surprise of Pierre Vianney when, a little later, he received a letter from the poor pilgrim. Benoit Labre wrote but seldom; the hospitality of Dardilly must have touched him deeply; perhaps God had vouchsafed to give him a presentiment of the child of benediction, who was one day to shed undying lustre upon this house.

Eight years after htis event, on February 11, 1778, at Ecully, a village barely a league from Dardilly, Mattieu Vianney married Marie Beluse. If Matthieu was a good Christian, so also was his young wife, who brought him as the most precious of dowries a keen and enlightened faith.

Their union was blessed by God. They had six children, all of whom, as was the touching customf o the time, were consecrated to our Lady even before their birth. The children's names were: Catherine, who married at an early age and died shortly after her marriage; Jeanne-Marie, who departed to a better world when about five years old; Francois, the heir to the ancestral home; Jean-Marie, now scarcely known by any other name than that of "The Curé of d'Ars"; Marguerite, the only one of the six to survive, and that by several years, her holy brother; lastly, another Francois, called Cadet, who, on joining the army, left Dardilly never again to return.

Jean_Marie was born about midnight on May 8, 1786, and baptized that same day. His godfather and godmother were an uncle and aunt - namely, Jean-Marie Vianney, a younger brother of his father, and his wife Francoise Martinon. The godfather, without looking further afield, was content simply to give his own name to his godson.

So soon as the last comer, a favourite apparently from the start, began to notice things, his mother took pleasure in pointing out to him the crucifix and the pious pictures that adorned the rooms of the farmhouse. When the little arms became strong enough to move with some ease, she guided the tiny hand from teh fore head to the breast and from the breast to the shoulders. The child soon grew into the habit of doing this, so that one day - he was then about fifteen months old - his mother having forgotten to help him to make the sign of the cross before giving him his food, the little one refused to open his mouth, at the same time vigorously shaking his head. Marie Vianney guessed what he meant, and soon as she had helped the tiny hand the pursed-up lips opened spontaneously.

Are we to conclude that even from the cradle Jean-Marie Vianney gave unequivocal proofs of future holiness, such as we read of in the lives of St. Raymond Nonnatus, St. Cajetan, St. Alphonsus Liguori, St. Rose of Lima and so many others? Not one of the existing documents suggests such a phenomenon. However, in all that had to do with religion he was a precocious child, and resopnded much more readily than his brothers and sisters to the solicitude of his admirable mother. His was one of those dispositions that are easily directed towards God. From the age of eighteen months, when the family met for night prayers, he would, of his own accord, kneel down with them - maybe merely from natural imitativeness - and he knew quite well how to join his little hands in prayer.

Prayers ended, his pious mother put h im to bed, and, before a final embrace, she bent over him, talking to him of Jesus, of Mary, of his Guardian Angel. In this way did the fond mother lull the child to sleep.

So soon as he could stand on his feet, he was to be found all over the house, though he did not stray far from the threshold, becuase, on the far side of the yard in the direction of the garden, there was a deep trough where the cattle used to drink. For this reason Jean-Marie hardly ever left his mother's side, busy as she was; on her part, she began the task of her little son's education whilst doing her housework, teaching him in a manner that could be readily grapsed by his cihldish mind. In this way she taught him the "Our Father" and the "Hail Mary" together with some elementary notions of God and of the soul.

The little one, who was very wide awake for his age, woudl himself ask naive questions. What interested him most was the sweet mystery of our Lord's birth at Bethlehem and the story of the manger and the shepherds.

These familiar talks were sometimes prolonged far into the night. For the sake of hearing the story of the Bible, Jean-Marie was willing to sit up late with his mother and Catherine, the most devout of his sisters. Soemtimes he even knelt on the stone floor, folding his hands and putting them within those of his mother.

In fine weather Matthieu Vianney set out very early for the fields, where his wife and the children came to join him in the course of the morning. Catheirne and the elder Francois walked ahead, stick in hand, driving the sheep and cows. A donkey brought up the rear, carrying on his back Jean-Marie and Marguerite, whose pet name was Gothon. On arriving at the fields, the children played on the sward or tended the grazing flock. Jean-Marie was a bright and lively boy, who could put endless zest into their games. Contrary to the assertion of his first biogrpaher, he was very far from being one of those youthful prodigies who have none of the charm and vivacity of their age. This brown-haired, blue-eyed boy, with his pale copmlexion and expressive countenance, did not lack a certain petulance, even though his piety was far in advance of his years. "He was born with an impetuous nature"; his perfect meekness was the fruit of prolonged and meritorious efforts. But from his tenderest years the sensitive and nervous child studied the art of self-conquest. His mother, fully aware of the power of example, often held him up as a pattern to his brothers and sisters; "See," she would say, when they refused to obey promptly, "Jean-Marie is much more obedient than you; he does at once what he is told."

However, once, at least, there were tears. The boy had a rosary which he greatly prized. Gothon, who was eighteen months younger, took a fancy to her brother's beads, and, of course, wished to get possession of them. It came to a scene between brother and sister; there was screaming, stamping of feet, and even a preliminary skirmish, when suddenly, full of grief, the poor child ran to his mother. Gently, but firmly, she bade him give the beads to Gothon: "Yes, my darling, give them to her for the love of the good God." Jean-Marie, though bathed in tears, immediately surrendered his precious rosary. For a child of four this was surely no mean sacrifice! Instead of petting and fondling the child with a view to drying his tears, his mother gaev him a small wooden statue of our Lady. The rude image had long stood on the mantelpiece of the kitchen chimney, and the little one had often wished to possess it. At last it was his, really his! What joy! "Oh! how I loved that statue," he confessed seventy years later; "neither by day nor by night would I be parted from it. I should not have slept had I not had it beside me in my little bed... the Blessed Virgin was the object of my earliest affetions; I loved her even before I knew her."

Some of his contemporaries, his sister Marguerite in particular, have related how, at the first sound of the Angelus, he was on his knees before anybody else. At other times he might be found in a corner of the house kneeling before the image of our Lady, which he had placed on a chair.

Children do not fall victims to the foolish disease called human respect. Wherever he happened to be, whether at home, in the garden, in the street, Jean-Marie, following the exapmle of hsi mother, was in the habit of "blessing the hour," - that is, so soon as he heard the clock strike the hour, he would cross himself and recite a "Hail Mary," ending with another sign of the cross. A neighbour who one day saw him carry out this practice, remarked to Matthieu Vianney: "I believe that little brown-haired fellow of yours takes me for the devil." When Matthieu related the incident, the boy's mother asked him for an explanation: "I did not know our neighbour was looking," was the reply, "but do we not cross ourselves before and after prayers?"

Some women of the neighbourhood, hearing the child praying aloud, said to his parents: "He knows his litanies well. You will have to make him either a priest or a Brother."

Marie Vianney may not have had any inkling of the wonderful future of her favourite child; none the less, the beauty of his soul was precious in her eyes, and she spared no pains to keep from him the very shadow of sin: "See, mon Jean," she used to say, "if your brothers and sisters were to offend the good God, it would indeed cause me much pain, but I should be far sorrier were you to offend him."

Her Jean-Marie was no ordinary child. Even before the powers of his mind had reached their full development, the privileged child of grace had made the first step out of the common way, for this seems to be the true explanation of the following occurrence.

One evening - he was then about four years old - Jean-Marie left the house unnoticed. As soon as his mother became aware of his absence she called to him by his name, but no answer came. With ever-increasing anxiety she looked for him in the yard, behind the straw rick and the piles of timber. The little one was not to be found. Yet he never failed to answer the very first call. As she proceeded in the direction of the stable where he might be hiding, the distracted mother suddenly remembered with horror that deep pond full of murky water, from which the cattle were wont to drink! But what was her surprise when she beheld the spectacle that now presented itself to her eyes? There, in a corner of the stable, among the cattle peacefully chewing the cud, was her boy on his knees, praying with folded hands before his little statue of our Lady. In an instant she had caught him in her arms, and, pressing him to her heart: "Oh! my darling, you were here!" she cried, in a flood of tears. "Why hide yourself when you want to pray? You know we all say our prayers together."

The child, unable to think of anything but his mother's grief, exclaimed: "Forgive me, maman, I did not think; I will not do it again."

Whilst these homely scenes were being enacted in a small and obscure hamlet, events of an appalling nature had taken place in France. However, neither the pillage of Saint-Lazare and the taking of the Bastille (July 13 and 14, 1789) nor the decree depriving the clergy of their benefices (November 2); nor that which suppressed the monasteries and the vows of religion (February 13, 1790), appear to have affected the good country folk: they were either ill-informed or unable to grasp the significance of these events. Hence, their peace of mind was not perturbed until the day when, by the civil constitution of the clergy, the Revolution threatened their priests and their altars (November 26, 1790).

Mme. Vianney was a woman of "eminent piety." If at all possible, she would go to daily Mass. Catherine, her eldest daughter, accompanied her as a rule, but soon her favourite companion came to be the little four-year-old, whose precocious piety caused him to relish the things of God. Whenever the bells of the church near by announced that Mass was about to be said, Jean-Marie entreated his mother to let him go with her. The request was granted. She placed him before her in the family pew, and explained to him what the priest was doing at the altar. The child soon developed a love for the sacred ceremonies. However, his attention was divided: the embroidered vestment of the celebrant entranced him, whilst he was wholly overocme with admiration for the red cassock and white rochet of the altar boy. He, too, would haev liked to serve at the altar, but how could his frail arms lift that heavy Missal? From time to time he turned to his mother; it was an inspiration merely to see her so absorbed in prayer, and as it were transfigured by an interior fire.

In subsequent years, when people congratulated him on his early love for prayer and the Church, he used to say with many tears: "After God, I owe it to my mother; she was so good! Virtue passes readily from the heart of a mother into that of her children. A child that has the happiness of having a good mother should enver look at her or think of her without tears."
Excerpted from The Curé of Ars by Abbé Trochu Copyright 1927, TAN Books and Publishers, Used with permission.

Sample Pages from [em]The Curé of Ars[/em] by Mary Fabyan Windeatt

Chapter One

Shepherd Boy

My name is John, and I have been dead since August 4, 1859. How happy I am! For my soul is in Heaven. Yes, for eternity I am privileged to see God... For endless eternity I enjoy a happiness that is beyond the power of mere words to describe. And nothing can ever take this happiness from me! Or from my friends - the millions of men and women and boys and girls who are with me in Paradise! For the joy we have is everlasting. It is eternal. God has said so, and of course He cannot lie.

It was not easy to win this joy. When a soul comes into the world, the Devil tries very hard to drag it down to Hell. So it was with nearly everyone who is in Heaven today, the chief exceptions being those who died shortly after Baptism - babies and very small children. But I - well, my life on earth lasted for more than seventy-three years, and many, many times during that period the Devil tried to discourage me in my efforts to please God and to win the place which He had prepared for me in Paradise.

Did he succeed? Of course not. And why? Because of the wonderful courage God gave me whenever I called upon Him. For in my day (even as in any day) whenever there was a temptation to do wrong, to go over to the Devil's side and give up the struggle to win Heaven, God was always ready with His grace. Since He wills that every soul in the world shall someday enjoy the good things of Heaven, naturally He does not withhold the means to obtain them. But what a pity that so few people understand this, and that when trials and temptations come they never think of asking God for the grace to remian true to Him. Because of such neglect, the struggle against the Devil is generally far harder than it needs to be. Many times, alas, it even ends in defeat--in Hell, with all its terrible darkness and misery and pain.

My struggle to outwit the Devil and to win Heaven (although it was some time before I really understood about such thigns) began on May 8, 1786, in Dardilly, a village not far from the city of Lyons, in France. My parents, Matthew Vianney and Maria Beluse, already had three children: Catherine, Jane and Francis. But they were delighted to have still another, and on the same day that I was born I was taken to the village church to be baptized. Here I was given two names: John, in honor of Saint John the Baptist, and Marie (the French form of Mary) in honor of the Blessed Virgin.

"I wonder what little John Marie Vianney will be when he grows up?" some of the neighbors asked one another thoughtfully. "He seems to be a fine, strong boy."

"Why, he'll be a farmer like his father," was the general opinion.

The reply was certainly a natural one. For generations my people had tilled the soil. What was more likely than that I should follow in their footsteps? And follow in their footsteps I did, at least during the early years of my life. Of course my tasks were just simple ones at first, such as feeding the chickens, gathering the eggs, weeding the garden. But when I was seven years old my father made an important announcement.

"John, I think you're big enough now for real work," he said. "Tomorrow you may take the sheep to pasture."

How happy I was at this new responsibility! My brother Francis, two years older than I, had been in charge of the flocks for some time. Now I was considered trustworthy enough to take his place. Now I would be allowed to be away from home all day, seeing that the sheep found good grazing land, that they did not stray into neighbors' fields, that they came to no harm from other animals. And if I did my work well, nine-year-old Francis could be spared for still other duties on the farm.

So it was that I became a shepherd. Frequently my little sister Marguerite (who was seventeen months younger than I and whose pet name was Gothon) accompanied me into the fields. Then, when the sheep were peacefully grazing, we played games with neighboring shepherd children who came to visit us. However, there were many days when the other children did not come. At such times Gothon and I played by ourselves or knitted stockings.

Perhaps to children in America it may seem strange that a boy should know how to knit. In my day this was not considered strange at all. Every country child was expected to make hismelf useful, even when he was quite small. And since we were very hard on our stockings, our mother taught us how to make new ones with the wool from our own sheep.

I had been born in 1786. Shortly afterwards, many political disturbances arose throughout France. In the year when I was given charge of my father's flocks, godless men had long been in control of the government. Churches and monasteries were closed. All priests and nuns who acknowledged the pope as Head of the Church were hunted down as though they were wild beasts, and cruelly murdered. Finally, unless one were willing to pay with his life, it was no longer possible to attend the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, or to receive the Sacraments.

"Children, our cuontry is being punished for its sins," said my mother sorrowfully. "Oh, what a dreadful thing it is to offend the good God! See what hardship and pain it brings, even to the innocent!"

I was just a seven-year-old boy, but my mother's words made a deep impression on me. And I was even more grieved when I heard that there were priests who, to protect themselves, had sworn to uphold the new government. These continued to say Mass publicly, although of course no good Catholic would attend.

"There are many brave priests, though, who refuse to have anything to do with the wicked government," my mother told us. "They are in hiding."

"In hiding?" I asked curiously, not quite understanding what this phrase meant.

"Yes. They dress like farmers or peddlers or tramps. But they are priests just the same. Perhaps it will be possible for us to go to their Masses."

For several years we managed to do just that. Late at night (as though we were bent on committing some great crime) we would creep from our beds and walk the mile or more to the barn or farmhouse which had been selected as a meeting place. All of us children were sworn to the utmost secrecy, and never would we have dreamed of mentioning to any stranger what we were doing or where we were going at that hour of the night without so much as a candle or a lantern to guide us over the rough country road. We would rather have died than betray the whereabouts of a priest who had remained faithful to the Pope, and who that very night would hear Confessions, offer Mass and give Holy Communion to his little flock.

Of course I was all eyes and ears when we finally reached the makeshift church--especially for the priest, who was risking death to bring us farmer folk the consolations of our Holy Faith. What a brave man he was! How wise! How holy! And yet in appearance he was just like anyone else...

"But he isn't just like anyone else," my mother whispered. "Even in Heaven he will be set apart from other men."

And then as best she could, she explaiend about the priesthood--how it is a supernatural state of life to which God calls certain men, so that they may become channels for His grace. Through these men, who take the place of Christ on earth, God pours forth His love and mercy. Through them He receives the greatest prayer the world can ever know - the Sacrifice of the Mass. Through them He takes away the stain of Original Sin in Baptism, in Confession forgives any sin it is possible for man to commit, in the Holy Eucharist gives Hismelf as food to struggling mankind, and in Confirmation sends the Holy Spirit to help souls profess and spread the Catholic Faith. Through priests He unites men and women in the holy partnership of marriage, prepares the souls of the dying to enter into eternity, and in Holy Orders gives the same powers to other men, so that the priesthood will last as long as the world itself.

I often thought about my mother's words. How wonderful to be chosen by God to be a priest! How fortunate were those boys who, having received the call, had the chance to study the many things necessary to fulfill this vocation! So carried away was I by such thoughts that before long an idea for a fine new game had presented itself. I, seven-year-old John Marie Vianney, would make believe that God was calling me to be a priest. Even more. I would not be simply a student. I woudl be already ordained. I would have the right to preach and to conduct church services.

Witha little coaxing, Gothon and the other shepherd children joined in the new pastime and agreed to be my congregation. Thus, each day while the sheep were peacefully grazing, we said the Rosary, sang hymns and marched in procession through the fields behind a makeshift cross. Later I preached a sermon - but only a short one, because my listeners were not partial to long speeches. Occasionally we also gathered before a little clay statue of the Blessed Virgin which I had made (I kept it hidden in a tree turnk near the brook) and decorated it with moss and wildflowers.

So the years passed - 1793, 1794, 1795. Religious persecution still went on in France, and although certain loyal Catholic families managed to attend Mass, they still had to do so in secret. As a result, it was impossible for us younger country children to make our First Confessions, or to receive Holy Communion, since there was no way for us to have regular instructions from the various priests who moved from one village to another under constant threat of death. Indeed, I was eleven years old before I went to Confession, and thirteen years old before I received my First Communion.

Probably this great even woudl have been postponed even longer had I not been able to spend some months visiting Aunt Marguerite, my mother's sister, in the neighboring town of Ecully. Here lived several priests (although a stranger would have taken one for a cook, another for a shoemaker, a third for a carpenter, so successfully had these servants of God disguised themselves in order to escape capture by the police). These were also two good women in Ecully who had been nuns in the Cognregation of Saints Charles before the government had driven them into exile.

"My nephew John Marie has never been to school," Aunt Marguerite told these faithful souls. "Do you suppose you coudl teach him a little reading and writing? And something about Catechism?"

Father Groboz (who worked as a cook) and Father Balley (who worked as a carpenter) agreed to do what they could for me. So did the two women who had been nuns.

"John Marie may join the First Communion class," they said. "There are fifteen other children already enrolled."

The time and place for the meetings of the First Communion class were as secret as those for the Holy Sacrifice, and the danger was as great for both teachers and pupils. For instance, what would happen if the police came when we were studying our Catechism? How could we explain why we were gathered there? Suppose we became excited and let slip some information about the priests and nuns who were our teachers? Yet the weeks passed, no police came, and finally the beautiful day of First Communion arrived.

How happy I was to receive Our Lord! What did it matter that there were no white dresses for the girls, no new suits for the boys? That the great event was not taking place in a flower-decked church but in a farmhouse with wagonloads of hay drawn up before the windows so that no godless stranger could tell what was going on inside? I did not think of any of these things. All that mattered was that at last Our Lord had come - He, who could make my soul clean and pleasing to Him...Who could help me to do my work well..

"I love You, dear Lord," I said. "But I know that I can love You still more if only You will show me how. Will You? Please?"
Excerpted from The Curé of Ars by Mary Fabyan Windeatt Copyright 1947, TAN Books and Publishers, Used with permission.

Sample Pages from [em]The Curé of Ars[/em] by Milton Lomask

Chapter One

Jean-Marie

Jean-Marie Vianney walked up from the valley where he had settled his sheep for the night. It was beginning to rain. Within the walled-in farmyard on the hilltop the first patters made a sharp, jarring sound.

Jean-Marie ran. He skirted the pond in front of the house, pulling up short on the stoop to kick off his wooden shoes.

The door was open. In the yellow-lit kitchen he could see his mother going about her work. He watched her take some onions from under the cupboard and carry them to the big center table. Her shadow, cast by the fireplace, flickered over the opposite wall--over the dressed sheep hanging there, over a row of fish strung up to dry near the open stairway door.

"You are alone, Mama?" He stepped in.

Madame Vianney turned with a start, fixing him with eyes as soft as the rest of her was rough and ungainly. "So it's you, Jean-Marie." She fairly barked the words. "Yes, I am alone." She seated herself at the table and tackled the onions with a long knife. "Only alone is not the word. I have been deserted."

"Deserted, Mama? How could that be?" Jean-Marie stood by the hinged shelf under the window. The shelf was high. He had to stand on tiptoe to reac the soap lying alongside the washbowl. "When I left this morning, Papa said..."

He got no further. "Papa said!" His mother picked up his words in a mocking shout. "Ah, yes! This was the day your brother and your sisters were to stay home and help with the spring cleaning. That's what your papa told them this morning. But then what happened? Perhaps you can guess."

"No, Mama. What did happen?"

"Our neighbor dropped in, our Monsieur Vincent from down the road. He was on his way to Ecully. And why to Ecully?"

"Why, indeed, Mama?"

"Because there was a herd of cows for sale in Ecully today. That's why. And what kind of cows, Little One? Cows made of gold, to hear M'sieur Vincent tell it." Madame Vianney's shoulders shook, for she was always the first to chuckle at her own wit.

Jean-Marie chuckled too. Cows made of gold indeed! Only Mama could think of anything as delicious as that.

"Ah, yes, of gold!" Madame was still laughing. "And when your father heard about the cows, what did he do?"

"I suppose he wanted to see them too."

"Exactly, Little One. He, too, must go to Ecully. But is he content to go along with M'sieur Vincent? Ah, no. Never! Your brother and your little sisters must go with him. and so...!"

Madame Vianney's tone changed abruptly. Her voice sank to a whisper. Rather it sank to what she thought was a whisper, for no one ever had been able to convince Madame that hers was an unusually loud voice. Even her whisper filled every crack and corner of the big kitchen.

"Ma foi!" She clapped a hand to her mouth. "The racket I make. It is enough to wake the dead."

She leaped to her feet and hurried across the room. Softly, very softly, she closed the stairway door.

Jean-Marie stared at her with suddenly widened eyes. "Mama!" he pointed ceilingward. "We have a guest in the best bedroom?"

Madame Vianney nodded vigorously. "He came before your father left this morning. A little breakfast, then right to bed. He's sleeping still, I daresay. Unless of course, my racket has awakened him, thoughtless creature that I am!"

"Is it another priest, Mama?"

"Yes, Little One."

"I'm glad!"

"Glad!" Madame Vianney sped to the cupboard and grabbed a plate. At the fireplace she fished hunks of bacon out of a blackened pot and ladled them onto the platter. "Glad!" You will not feel glad when you see this one. The man is so tired. Ah, how worn and tired his poor face is!"

She placed the platter, generously filled now, on the center table. "No doubt the poor man is hungry. You will take him his supper."

"Yes, Mama. I shall be happy to."

Taking a yard-long loaf of bread from the cupboard, Madame Vianney laid it on the priest's platter. Then she got a bottle of wine.

"There now!" She turned, facing her son who was still standing at the far side of the table. "Jean-Marie!" Her manner was suddenly stern, almost sad. "Come here."

Hurrying around the table, Jean-Marie stumbled over a low stool. Madame Vianney's hands went to her hips. She leaned back, shaking with silent laughter.

"Jean-Marie!" she cried. "You are the clumsy one. If you were in the biggest field in the world and if there was only one object in the whole field, you would stumble over it. Would you not, my Little One?"

And, Jean-Marie having reached her, she lifted him with her strong hands, kissed him, and planted him on the stone floor again. Then she seated herself on the table bench and motioned to him to sit beside her. "One second before you go," she said. "I have a question to ask you."

"Yes, Mama." He sat down on the bench. Mama's face, he could see, was solemn again. "Jean-Marie!" She spoke softly now. "Whenever a priest stays with us I see you following him around. I see you looking at him with your heart in your eyes."

Madame Vianney paused. She uttered a sigh as sharp and loud as one of her whispers. "Tell me, Little One," she went on, "would you like to be a priest yourself when you grow up?"

Jean-Marie hung his head. For a second he had trouble finding his voice. It seemed to have got lost. "Oh, Mama," he said finally. "I... I... Is it wrong of me, Mama? To have such dreams, I mean?"

Madame Vianney smiled. "My question, Jean-Marie? What do you say to my question? Is it yourwish to become a priest?"

"Yes, Mama."

"Ah!" Madame Vianney looked away, far away. Her next words were directed to herself. "Only eight years old and laready he dreams of becoming a man of God!"

Jean-Marie tugged at her dress. "You have not answered my question, Mama. Is it bad of me - what I wish?"

"No, Jean-Marie." Madame Vianney sighed again. "It is not abd. Only..."

"Only what?"

"Only it is not easy being a priest in France now. You know how it is with our beloved country. Surely Papa has told you."

Jean-Marie nodded. Yes, Papa had told him. He had told him how, shortly before his own birth, bloody strife had torn France in two. The Revolution of 1789, Papa called it, because that's when it had all started. The French people had revolted - some of them, anyhow. They had cut off the head of King Louis the Sixteenth, and of his queen, too.

The new rulers of France, Papa said, were godless men. In Paris they had chased the priests out of Notre Dame Cathedral. They had set up an idol there, an idol they called the Goddess of Reason. Now here in Dardilly, and in all the other towns of France, the churches were closed. Mass was said in remote barns. Priests lived in hiding like that poor, tired man in the best bedroom upstairs. The priests had to go about disguised as carpenters or cooks. If they were caught, they were sent off to be galley slaves on French ships. Sometimes they were sent to a prison camp in a faraway country called Guiana.

"Yes, Mama," he said. "I know how it is."

"Well, then!" Madame Vianney leaped to her feet. "You must think hard before making a decision. You must think hard and pray. Now, off with you. Our holy guest will be starved. But wait..." Madame Vianney snatched an iron oil lamp from the table. She lighted it at the fire and handed it to her son. "There! Can you manage everything?"
"Of course."
Jean-Marie tucked the wine bottle under his arm. He held the platter in one hand, the oil lamp in the other. His mother held the door for him. He could hear it closing softly behind him as he climbed the steep stone stairs.
Excerpted from The Curé of Ars by Milton Lomask Copyright 1958, Ignatius Press, Used with permission.

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