not, nor knoweth Him; but you shall know Him, because He shall abide with you, and be in you" (St. John xiv. 16, 17).

Summing up these various particulars, we see that the Church of Christ would consist of persons who, being baptised, were united in one body by the belief of one and the same faith, by the use of the same sacraments, and by submission to their lawfully appointed pastors or rulers. They were thus to form one body, because, as there is one Lord, one baptism, one hope to which we all look forward for eternity, so there is but one faith, one true religion, and one Church of Christ. Moreover, as the Church is composed of preachers and teachers, and of hearers who are commanded to listen and obey; as the pastors of the Church had to administer certain outward rites, such as baptism, it clearly follows, from her very nature and constitution, that the Church must be a visible body. Indeed so conspicuous is this property of the Church, that the sacred Scripture describes her as a mountain placed on the top of mountains, and exalted above the hills (Isa. ii. 2). Finally, the Church will be perpetual. Jesus Christ has promised to be with her to the end of the world; His Holy Spirit will abide in her for ever.

CHAP. XXVII. The Pope, or Head of the Church.

IT has been explained, that the members of the Church form two classes, viz. those who, like the Apostles, were appointed to teach and rule, and the general body of the faithful, who were to be taught and governed. Our Lord is Himself the Founder of this society, and was its visible Head during the time that He abode upon earth, and is still its invisible Ruler and Head now that He has ascended into heaven. But in order to preserve unity of faith and government in His Church after His departure, He chose from His Apostles one whom He made supreme over all the rest. The sacred Scripture records, first, the promise, and secondly, the actual appointment of St. Peter to be the Vicar of Christ, the visible head of the Church, and the spiritual father and teacher of all the faithful.

We read in St. Matthew (xvi. 18, 19) that our Lord in a solemn manner changed the name Simon, by which St. Peter had hitherto been known, into Peter, which signifies a rock. This was done in accordance with the ancient practice of conferring a name expressive of the office which the person who bore it fulfilled, or of changing the name to signify a new dignity or eminence to which he was raised. Our Blessed Lord, therefore, having indicated by this change of name that He was about to bestow some special favour on St. Peter, proceeds to make him the following promise: "Thou art Peter (i. e. a rock), and upon this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven" (St. Matt. xvi. 18, 19). We have here two figures, both of which declare the authority which was promised St. Peter as head of the Church.

1st. He is made the rock or foundation of the Church. As it is the foundation which supports and keeps together the whole building, so St. Peter, by being made the foundation of the Church, received power to support and maintain it.

2dly. To him are promised the keys ofthe kingdom of heaven, over and above the power of binding and loosing, which was likewise imparted to the other Apostles. To understand this expression, we must bear in mind that the possession of the keys of any place is a symbol of authority to rule and govern. Thus the governors of cities or fortresses hold the keys, and when their authority is to be transferred to another, this is done by delivering up the keys. When, therefore, our Lord promised to St. Peter the power of the keys, it was equivalent to the promise of making him the supreme ruler and head of His Church upon earth.

Such was the promise made to St. Peter; its accomplishment is recorded by St. John (xxi. 15-17). In answer to the threefold profession of love which was demanded of St. Peter, in reparation of his threefold denial, Jesus Christ commissioned this Apostle to feed His lambs and to feed

His sheep. Here again is a figurative expression, which would be easily understood in the time of our Lord, when kings and rulers were frequently called the shepherds of the people, and when the word which has been translated by "feed" commonly meant to rule or exercise authority in the same way that a shepherd does over his flock. The same figurative expression is preserved when we call the rulers of the Church pastors or shepherds. Our Lord, then, empowered St. Peter to feed both His lambs and His sheep; that is to say, He gave him the charge of His whole flock, both laity and clergy. He made him the supreme ruler of the Church, in order that there might always be one fold and the one shepherd.

St. Peter was appointed to his sublime office in order to show forth and to preserve the unity of the Church. Now if this were necessary when the teaching of our Lord was fresh in the recollection of His disciples, and when the faithful were so cemented together in charity that they are said by St. Luke "to have had but one heart and one soul," how much more would one supreme ruler be necessary in succeeding times! The office of St. Peter, therefore, did not expire with him; but as the Church was to subsist in unity throughout all ages, the supremacy of St. Peter was transmitted to his successors, the Popes or Bishops of Rome. By a providential dispensation, the See of Peter is the only one of the apostolic sees which has preserved the faith and the uninterrupted succession of Bishops to our own day.

CHAP. XXVIII. The Marks of the Church.

As the Church was established to perpetuate the work which our Lord Himself began for the good of souls, as she is the divinely-appointed channel through which we receive the true faith and the means of salvation, it is of the utmost importance to have some easy way of distinguishing her from all false pretenders. We are surrounded by a variety of religious bodies, all of which claim to be the true Church of Christ; but yet our reason tells us one : Church alone can make good her claim. Now, we cannot

suppose that God has left mankind in hopeless ignorance on the vital question which is the true Church. There must be some marks or notes by which we may distinguish her from the false sects which pretend to be the religion of Christ. What, then, are these marks of the true Church, that, by applying them to the religious bodies by whom we are surrounded, we may be able to ascertain where she may be found?

In the Nicene Creed, the characteristics of the true Church are clearly expressed: "I believe one holy Catholic and Apostolic Church." The true Church, therefore, must be One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic.

I. The Church is one in her doctrine (1) because, as her doctrine comes from Christ, it cannot contain contradictory articles. As there is one Lord, so must there be one faith. Hence St. Paul says, "Though we, or an angel from heaven, preach a gospel to you, besides (that is, different from) that which you have received, let him be anathema" (Gal. i. 8). (2) She is one in communion; that is, all her children have a right to participate in the same spiritual blessings, the same sacraments and sacrifice.

One Lord, one faith, one baptism" (Ep. iv. 4). "We, being many, are one bread, one body, all that partake of one bread" (1 Cor. x. 17). (3) She is one in government, for the Church is described by our Lord Himself as one fold, which is guided and directed by one shepherd (St. John x. 16).

II. Holy. The Church must be holy (1) in her doctrine because it is the revealed truth of God, who is infinitely holy. (2) She must be holy by furnishing the means of sanctification to her children, for the very object of the institution of the Church is to promote the glory of God by the sanctification and salvation of souls. (3) She must be holy by producing saints, for as the means were chosen by Christ Himself, they cannot fail to produce their effect.

III. Catholic. The Church is Catholic (1) in point of time; that is, she subsists in all ages. "I will ask the Father, and He shall give you another Paraclete, that He may abide with you for ever" (St. John xiv. 16). "Be

In

hold I am with you all days, even to the end of the world" (St. Matt. xxviii.). (2) She is Catholic in place, as being designed to exist in all nations. "Go teach all nations,' &c. (St. Matt. xxviii.). "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world" (St. Matt. xxiv. 14). (3) She must be Catholic by teaching all revealed truth. the commission which our Blessed Lord gave the Apostles to preach to all nations, He expressly enjoined them to teach them to observe all things whatsoever He had commanded; and He promised to send the Holy Spirit upon them for the very purpose of preserving them from error, and enabling them to teach the whole truth. "The Paraclete, the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring all things to your mind whatsoever I have said to you" (St. John xiv. 26).

IV. Apostolic. (1) The Church is apostolic in the uninterrupted succession of her pastors from the Apostles, who were appointed by our Lord Himself. We have already seen that Jesus Christ chose His Apostles and conferred upon them special powers for the work of the ministry, and promised to be with them all days to the end of the world. Hence those alone who can trace their descent from the Apostles are heirs of the promises made to the Apostles. As occasions arose, the Apostles appointed others, to assist them in their work, and to supply their place after their death. Thus they chose St. Matthias in place of Judas (Acts i.). Thus, again, they appointed the seven deacons, and ordained them for their work by prayer and the imposition of hands (Acts vi. 6). Thus, too, St. Paul tells us he established Bishops in the different cities which were converted to Christianity. He made St. Timothy Bishop of Ephesus, and St. Titus Bishop of Crete; and in his epistles to them he gives them rules for appointing successors, as he had appointed them. (2) The Church is apostolic in doctrine, because as the whole revealed truth was delivered to the Apostles as a sacred deposit, as Jesus Christ commissioned them to teach all whatsoever He had commanded, and as the Holy Spirit was given to them to teach them all truth (St. John xvi. 13), it clearly follows that the doctrine of the true Church must be the same