but that of which it is written, "My yoke is sweet and My burden light " (Matthew xi. 30).

This yoke is light, really and truly, for it secures to its bearer peace and contentment of mind. The Catholic believes firmly that his Church is infallible, and therefore places his entire and unqualified faith in her and finds thereby complete and perfect peace. The Protestants, on the other hand, having shaken off this yoke, recognize no infallible teaching office on earth and consequently believe, for they must believe it, that their Church can err. Hence in regard to the most vitally important question of life and eternity they can have no security or peace of mind. The yoke of faith and obedience is quite natural. He who carries it moves securely, never fails, never strays into labyrinths, the exits of which are impossible to find, and in which those necessarily lose themselves who are left to themselves. The child is early accustomed to faith in, and obedience toward, its parents and teachFaith and obedience are the foundation-stones on which rests the whole fabric of human society. To Catholics, therefore, nothing is more reasonable than that God has established a teaching office. Whoever asserts his belief on this point does so most naturally, and by complying with the laws of the Church he acts logically. Whoever admits the rights of authority in other circumstances of life and denies them to religion, acts unnaturally. As often as he confides in the doctrine of a preacher, he acts illogically, for he must convince himself of all by private examination, and believe only the Holy Ghost when speaking to him interiorly. Does not this lead into endless pitfalls and labyrinths? How happy the Catholic is with his obedience! He knows whom he obeys and he knows that this obedience will lead him to salvation.

ers.

1. CHRIST HAS FOUNDED A CHURCH.

Passages from the Scriptures and from the Fathers.

"THOU art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church" (Matthew xvi. 18).

"If he will not hear them, tell the Church; and if he will not hear the Church, let him be to thee as the heathen and publican " (Matthew xviii. 17).

"Other sheep I have, that are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd " (John x. 16).

"God hath subjected all things under Christ's feet: and hath made Him head over all the Church, which is His body, and the fulness of Him, who is filled all in all" (Ephesians i. 22-23).

"To God be glory in the Church " (Ephesians iii. 21).

"Christ is the head of the body, the Church" (Colossians i. 18; Ephesians v. 23).

"The Church shines from the rising to the setting of the sun" (Origen).

"The Church, beaming all through with the light of the Lord, sheds her rays over the whole earth" (St. Cyprian).

"It would be easier to extinguish the sun than to destroy the Church" (St. Chrysostom).

"The Church is the body of Christ, of which body you are a member " (St. Augustine).

Reason Teaches that Christ must have Founded a Church.

Christ the Lord, not wishing to remain forever on What then was to

this earth, ascended into heaven.

become of His work of redemption? He came to save men during all time. Whoever would be saved must accept and believe the doctrines preached by Christ, make use of the methods of grace established by Him, and keep His commandments. It was thus that Christ ordained, and thus it will remain for all time. There is no other way by which man can obtain eternal salvation, for there is no other name given to us by which we can be saved, but the name of Jesus. But since Jesus returned to heaven He must have established certain institutions in order that His truth might be transmitted pure and unchanged, His means of grace be dispensed in full strength, and His laws be observed with unimpaired strictness.

If Christ desired the end, namely, the eternal happiness of men, He must have placed within the reach of all men the means enabling them to reach such happiness. This institution necessarily desired and established by Christ, and which places within our reach such means for eternal happiness, we call the Church. This Church ever ceases to discharge the duty committed to it by its divine Founder. Hence it follows that as sure as Christ wished to redeem and to save all men, so surely must He have founded a Church in which and through which all men could find true happiness.

2. THE BISHOPS.

Passages from the Scriptures and from the Fathers.

"And going up into a mountain, He called unto Him whom He would Himself and they came to Him. And He made that twelve should be with

:

Him and that He might send them to preach' (Mark iii. 13, 14).

"Paul and Barnabas ordained to them priests in every church" (Acts xiv. 22).

"Take heed to yourselves, and to the whole flock wherein the Holy Ghost hath placed you bishops, to rule the Church of God" (Acts xx. 28).

"If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. It behooveth, therefore, a bishop to be blameless" (1 Timothy iii. 1).

"For this cause I left thee, Titus, in Crete, that thou shouldst set in order the things that are wanting, and shouldst ordain priests in every city" (Titus i. 5).

"Show all due reverence to your bishop, though it be not so much to him as to Jesus Christ, the Father, who is the bishop of all. It is becoming, then, to render obedience and honor without hypocrisy, for we would not only wrong the visible bishop, but also mock the invisible" (St. Ignatius of Antioch, in his letter to the Magnesians).

"Wherever the bishop shows himself, there let the people be, just as where Christ is, for there is the Catholic Church" (The same, in a letter to the Smyrnians).

"Among us the bishops occupy the place of the apostles" (St. Jerome).

"The bishops are all followers of the apostles " (St. Augustine).

"The places of the apostles are taken by the bishops (St. Gregory the Great).

Priests and Bishops are Different in Rank.

In his book of the Apocalypse St. John writes that he had seen the Son of man with seven stars in His hand and seven candlesticks about Him. This picture

is explained as follows: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches of Asia and the seven candlesticks are the seven churches themselves (Apocalypse i. 12, 16 and 20). Then he imparts to each one of the churches what God said to him for them. These seven angels, as appears from the import of the given proofs, as well as from common tradition, were the seven bishops. Naturally one can not conceive of civic heads of churches, nor admit that in each church there was but one priest. St. Ignatius writes, in his epistle to the Smyrnians, " You shall all obey the bishop as if he were Jesus Christ your Father, and also the priests, as if apostles." He thus places the bishop before the priests, making him the head of the priests. In his letter to the Ephesians, while praising the priests for being so united with their bishop, he says, "Your praiseworthy clergy are as intimately united to your bishop as are the chords to the lyre." He distinguishes priest from bishop. In his epistle to the Tralliers he draws a clear-cut line of their respective powers, saying, "What else is a bishop but the one who has rank and power above all the others? What is the priesthood but a sacred association, the advisers and assessors of the bishop? The fact that in the Sacred Scriptures the apostles are in some places called priests, while in other places the subordinates or elders are called bishops, can be easily explained, for the bishops cared for the guidance of the congregation itself, while the priests were the local guardians and administrators.

The distinction could not be so sharply brought out because even the apostles themselves could and must have considered the bishops appointed by themselves as their subordinates. The fact that the first disciple of the apostles, even in his time, made such a decided