Name, especially in times of temptation. Take a delight in using this beautiful form of salutation: "Praised be Jesus Christ-For evermore, Amen.”+ (Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus.)

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

§. 1. Jesus Christ, the Promised Messias.

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

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

10. What have the Prophets foretold of the Messias? 1. The time of His coming, the circumstances of His birth, of his life, passion, and death; 2. His Resur rection and Ascension, and the sending down of the Holy Ghost; 3. The destruction of Jerusalem, which happened after His death; the rejection of the Jews, and the conversion of the Gentiles; and 4. The founding, spreading, and duration of His Church.

11. How did they indicate the time of His coming? The Prophet Daniel (9, 24.etc.) foretold that not quite seventy weeks of years, i.e. 490 years, should elapse from the time when it was commanded that Jerusalem should be rebuilt, until the death of Christ; 2. Jacob prophesied that at the time of the coming of the Messias, the sceptre should have been taken away from Juda. Others again foretold, that then the

temple of Jerusalem should still exist, and the world be in great expectation. And all this was exactly fulfilled in Jesus. (Short Hist. of Rel. §§. 8 and 18.) 12. What did they prophesy of His birth?!

That He should be born at Bethlehem of a Virgin, of the tribe of Juda and family of David, and should be adored by kings from distant countries. (Isai. 7, 14; 11,1; and 60, 6. Mich. 5, 2. Ps. 71, 10.)

13.* What account do they give us of His life? They give us an account of His public teaching, of His miraculous cures, of His forbearing charity and meekness, of His entering into Jerusalem upon an ass, etc. (Isai. 61. and 35, 3. etc. Zach. 9, 9.)

14.* What do they relate of His passion and death? They relate almost all, even the least circumstances; for example, that they would sell Him for thirty pieces of silver, strike Him, pull out His hair, spit in His face, give Him gall and vinegar to drink, pierce His hands and feet, and cast lots for His garment; that those who see Him would mock Him, and wag their heads, saying, "He hoped in the Lord, let Him deliver Him." (Zach. 11, 12. 13. Isai. 50, 6. Ps. 21, 7. etc.,

and 68, 22.)

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The Prophets did indeed promise a great King, but not a King of this world, as the Jews are still expecting; otherwise they would not have described Him as a man of sorrows," (Isai. 53, 3.4.) nor called Him, the "reproach of men, and the outcast of the people" (Ps. 21, 7); but a King of a spiritual and supernatural Kingdom of God (the Church), which was indeed to begin and spread on earth, but is to be consummated only in Heaven, and to last for ever.

15.* What do they say of His Resurrection and Ascension, and of His sending down the Holy Ghost?

They say, that His sepulchre shall be glorious, and that He shall not see corruption, but shall mount above the Heaven of heavens, and pour out His Spirit upon all flesh. (Ps. 15, 10; and 67, 19. 34. Isai. 11, 10. Joel 2, 28. 29.)

16. What did the Prophets foretell of the destruction of Jerusalem, and of the rejecting of the Jews ?*

1. After the Messias shall have been slain, a people with their leader shall come, and destroy Jerusalem and the temple, and the desolation shall continue even to the consummation, and to the end; 2. The Jews, blinded, rejected, dispersed among all nations, shall have no longer a sacrifice, nor a temple; however, they shall not be extirpated by God, but the remnant may be saved at the end of the world. (Dan. 9, 26. 27; Ps. 68, 24-26. and 108; Isai. 10, 21. and 59, 20.) (How this was accomplished, see Short Hist. of Rel. §. 31.)

17.* What did they prophesy of the conversion of the Gentiles, and of the foundation, spreading and duration of the Church?

All that we see already accomplished, or being accomplished. They prophesied, 1. That the Messias shall be the light of the Gentiles, and that all nations of the earth shall be blessed in Him; (Gen. 22, 18; Ps. 71; Isai. 42, 6. etc.) and 2. That He shall establish a new sacrifice, and a new priesthood, and found a kingdom of God, that shall reach from sea to sea to the end of the earth, and shall never be destroyed, but stand for ever. (Mal. 1, 11; Isai. 66, 21; Jer. 3, 15; Zach. 9, 10; Dan. 2, 44; and 7, 14. etc.)

18. Did the Prophets prophesy long before the coming of Christ?

Malachias, the last of the Prophets, prophesied four hundred and fifty years before Christ.

19. Were their prophecies also known long before Christ?

Yes; they had already been written many centuries before Christ, and were preserved and read by the Jews as Divine writings; they were also translated into other languages, and spread among the Pagan nations.

20. Did not also Christ and the Apostles. appeal to the testimony of the Prophets?

Yes; Christ and the Apostles proved to the Jews from the writings of the Prophets, that the Messias was come, and that He Himself-Jesus of Nazareth -was the Messias.

"Search the Scriptures," said Jesus to the Jews, "and the same are they that give testimony of Me." (John 5, 39.) He convinced also the unbelieving Disciples from the Prophets. (Luke 24, 25-27; and 44, 47.) St. Peter convinced by the prophecies, the three thousand, and the five thousand who were baptized." (Acts 2 and 3.) St. Paul protested before King Agrippa, saying: "Being aided by the help of God, I stand unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying no other thing than those which the Prophets and Moses did say should come to pass." (Acts 26, 22.) The Evangelists, in their narrative, always refer to the Prophets. It is also said of Apollo: "With much vigour he convinced the Jews openly, shewing by the Scriptures, that Jesus is the Christ," i.e., the Promised Messias. (Acts 18, 28.)

21. Do we see nothing else fulfilled in Christ, but the Prophecies ?

We see also in Him the fulfilment of all the Figures, by which the deeds and sufferings of the Messias were indicated many centuries before.

22. Which are the most remarkable Figures of the Messias ?

1. His Passion and Death were prefigured by Abel, Isaac, Joseph, David, the Paschal Lamb, the Propitiatory Sacrifice, and the Brazen Serpent; 2. His Priesthood, chiefly by Melchisedech; 3. His Office of Prophet and Mediator, by Moses; 4. His Resurrection, by Jonas in the whale's belly; and 5. His Church and the Holy Sacraments, by the Ark, the Red Sea, the Manna, and the Temple with its various appurtenances and sacrifices. (Hebr. 9.)

Application.-How happy you are, to know and possess the promised Saviour of the world, for whom the holy Patriarchs sighed so long and so ardently!

May He always find in your heart a dwelling agreeable to Him! Endeavour, therefore, at all times, and especially during the holy season of Advent, to prepare it well for Him.

§. 2. Jesus Christ, True God.

23. Whence do we know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and true God?

We know it, 1. From the Prophecies; 2. From the testimony of His Heavenly Father; 3. From His own testimony; 4. From the teaching of the Apostles; and 5. From the doctrine of the Catholic Church.

24. What do the Prophets say?

They call the promised Redeemer: "God, God with us, the Saint of Saints, the Wonderful, the Father of the world to come." (Isai. 7, 14. and 9, 5. Dan. 9, 24.) Isaias (35, 4.) says of Him: "God Himself will come and will save you; " and Jeremias (23, 6.) says: "This is the name that they shall call Him: The Lord, Jehova, Our Just One."

25. What is the testimony of His Heavenly Father ?

At the Baptism of Christ in the Jordan, and at His Transfiguration on Mount Tabor, a voice from Heaven was heard, saying: "This is My Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." (Matt, 3, 17. and 17, 5.)

26. What is the testimony of Christ ?

Christ, 1. Testified that He is the Son of God, and true God, like His Father; 2. He confirmed His testimony by the holiness of His life, as well as by miracles and prophecies; and 3. He sealed it with His death.

"He

"I and the Father are one. Believe that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father." (John 10, 30. 38.) that seeth Me, seeth the Father also." (John 14, 9.) "All things whatsoever the Father hath, are Mine." (John 16,