1. St. Paul teaches so, who calls Matrimony in the Church "a great Sacrament ;"+ (Ephes. 5, 32.)

2. The Church has, at all times, believed and taught so, as is evident, not only from the Holy Fathers, but also from the teaching of those Sects, who in the first ages separated themselves from us.

St. Paul teaches that husbands and wives should be united with each other, as Christ and His Church are united. Now, the union that subsists between Christ and His Church, is supernatural, and replete with graces; consequently, Matrimony is a sign to which invisible grace is attached, and, therefore, a Sacrament.

6. What then is Matrimony in the Church of Christ?

Matrimony is a Sacrament by which two single persons, man and woman, are married to each other, and receive grace from God, to discharge the duties of their state faithfully until death.

7. How is this Sacrament received?

The bridegroom and the bride declare before their Pastor and two witnesses, that they take each other for wife and husband, whereupon the Priest blesses their union.

Another Priest can only unite them in Matrimony, when commissioned by the Pastor of the parties, or by the Bishop, for that purpose.

8. What are the duties of married persons?

1. They should take the mutual love of Christ and His Church for their model, and live with each other in peace and conjugal fidelity, until death separates them;

2. They should edify each other by leading a holy life;t

3. They should concur together in bringing uptheir children in the fear of God, and suffer no ser

vants to be in their house, who might endanger their innocence.

4. The husband should treat his wife with kindness, support and cherish her; the wife should obey her husband in all that is just and honourable, and conscientiously manage the domestic concerns.‡

†“Marriage honourable in all, and the bed undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge." (Hebr. 13, 4.) -"As the Church is subject to Christ, so also let the wives be to their husbands in all things;" i.e. that are just and honourable. "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ also loved the Church, and delivered Himself up for it. . . . For no man ever hated his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it, as also Christ doth the Church." (Ephes. 5, 24—29.)

9.* What should married people consider, when they are tempted to break their conjugal fidelity?

1. That by adultery they break the solemn contract they have made in the presence of God and of the Church;

2. That they break the most sacred bond by which, according to God's disposal, human society is united and kept together;

3. That they disturb domestic peace, hinder the good education of their children, and destroy the happiness of the whole family; and

4. That they expose themselves to the danger of falling into disgrace and misery, and all sorts of sins and vices, and even, of being severely chastised, and ultimately entirely rejected by God Himself.

"He that is an adulterer, shall destroy his own soul; he gathereth to himself shame and dishonour, and his reproach shall not be blotted out." (Prov. 6, 32. 33.)

In the Old Law, adultery was, by God's command, punished with death, and in the primitive Church, with public penance of many years, like manslaughter.-Sin and punishment of King David.

10. What should those people bear in mind, who intend to enter the married state?

1. They should not thoughtlessly espouse each other;

2. They should be properly instructed, and be free from impediments;

3. They should live innocently whilst they are espoused, and not think that, during that time, they are allowed greater liberties, or to live together in the same house;

4. They should enter the married state with a pure and holy intention; and

5. Before they marry, they should make a good Confession, and worthily receive Holy Communion.

"We are the children of saints, and we must not be joined together like heathens that know not God." (Tob. 8, 5.)

Example of Sara who could say to God: "Thou knowest, O Lord, that I never coveted a husband, and have kept my soul clean from all lust. Never have I joined myself with them that play, neither have I made myself partaker with them that walk in lightness. But a husband I consented to take, with Thy fear, not with my lust." (Tob. 3, 16—18.)

11.* Who may be said to espouse each other thoughtlessly?

1. All who neglect to have previous recourse to God, and disregard His will, the advice of their parents, and the salvation of their own soul in the affair; (Prov. 19, 14.)

2. Those who, in their choice, care less for religion and virtue, than for temporal advantages, etc.; and

3. Those who do not first consider whether they will be able to fulfil the weighty duties of the married state.

The husband should be able to maintain his wife and children; he should not be a free-thinker, or addicted to gamb

ling, drinking, quarreling, cursing, etc. The wife should be free from vanity, love of finery, and capriciousness; she should be chaste, pious, modest, industrious, and economical. Both should possess the requisite virtue, intelligence, and learning in religious matters, in order to be able to give their children a Christian education.

12. Are people bound to keep their promise of marriage ?

Yes, under pain of grievous sin; unless both parties voluntarily retract it, or either of them, for par ticular reasons, has a right to retract, which is to be decided by their spiritual superiors.

13. What sin do they commit, who receive the Sacrament of Matrimony with an unholy intention, or in the state of mortal sin ?

They render themselves guilty of sacrilege, and, therefore, unworthy of all the Divine graces and blessings.

14. How many kinds of Impediments are there? There are two kinds :

1. Such as render marriage unlawful; as, for instance, The forbidden times, the simple vow of chas-tity, a promise of marriage to another person, etc.;

2. Such as render it also null; for instance, Con-sanguinity and affinity to the fourth degree inclusively; spiritual relationship, a solemn vow of chastity; one of the parties not being a Christian; likewise (in those places where the Council of Trent has been received and published) the marriage not being: contracted in the presence of the Pastor, or of a Priest commissioned by him, and of two witnesses at least; and others.

In order to discover whether there are any Impediments of marriage, it is very advisable for the parties to make a sincere General Confession some time before they enter into the contract. For this same reason, the Bans are published in

the Church; and any one who knows of an Impediment, is in conscience bound to declare it to the Pastor.

15. What is understood by the forbidden times?

1. The time which begins with the first Sunday of Advent, and ends with the Epiphany of our Lord; and 2. That which begins with Ash-Wednesday, and ends with Low Sunday, within which times the Church forbids the solemnizing of marriage, because they have been particularly set apart for penance and prayer.

In many Dioceses it has been decreed that within these times no marriage is to be contracted without a special dispensation from the Bishop. But even in case this is granted, the married parties, conformably to a general command of the Church, are forbidden to celebrate their wedding_with pageantry, entertainments, and rejoicings; nor is the Priest allowed to say the Mass appointed in the Missal for the Bridegroom and the Bride, or to give them the solemn nuptial Benediction independently of this Mass.

16.* Can the Impediments of Marriage never be dispensed with ?

The Church can dispense with some, when there are sufficient reasons, but not with all; on this subject the parties must confer with their Pastor.

Only the Church, in whose power it is to grant or to refuse the dispensation (and not those who ask for it, and are too easily deceived by a blind passion), is competent to decide whether the reasons be sufficient. That these reasons must, at all events, be weighty, is evident from the Decree of the Council of Trent (Sess. 24. Ch. 5), which says that "Impediments of marriage are either never, or but rarely, to be dispensed with." A dispensation got by fraud, though valid before men, is, nevertheless, invalid before God.

17. What should we think of mixed marriages, i.e. of marriages, which are contracted between Catholics and non-Catholics, especially Protestants?

That the Church has, at all times, disapproved of