the Pope, was not held to be an integral part of Catholic conviction and belief?

Equally striking are the letters of Pope Agatho which, on the occasion of the council at Constantinople, in 680, he addressed to the Emperor Constantine IV. and through him to the members of the council. In one of these Agatho writes, "That only is the true rule of faith which has been constantly held by the apostolic Church which never has departed from the paths of apostolic Tradition, never has been changed by heretical innovations, but perseveres in the true faith till the end of time. For Jesus Christ said to Peter, 'I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not, and when thou be converted that thou confirm thy brethren.' Now, all this has been verified and realized fully in my predecessors, the Roman Pontiffs, as every one knows." To this papal letter the fathers of the council replied, "Severe maladies need powerful remedies, hence Christ the Lord has given your Holiness as a skilful physician to drive out the poison of the heretical plague by the teachings of the true faith, and to restore health to the members of the Church. For this reason we leave to you the final sentence in this matter of the Monothelite heresy, as to the highest authority in the universal Church which rests upon the immovable rock of true faith."

The council of Constantinople, in the year 869, passed a resolution in which it is asserted, "The Catholic religion and its sacred doctrines have always been believed by the Apostolic See and preserved from all blemish."

The two councils of Florence and that of Lyons say, "To the Pope belongs the fulness of authority, so that he is the teacher of all Christians and the one by whom are decided all questions of faith."

In the beginning of the sixth century an assembly of Oriental bishops wrote to Pope Symmachus, "Thou art taught daily by St. Peter to feed the sheep of Christ who are everywhere on earth committed to thy care." In more recent times nearly every provincial council becomes a witness to papal infallibility.

4. Amid these evidences, which could easily be multiplied by the hundred, is the proof that the dogma of infallibility, as promulgated by the Vatican Council, is no new doctrine or one discovered for the first time by that council. It lay buried in the conviction of the whole ancient Church. The Vatican Council merely gave outward and clearly defined expression of an old belief; it could not be more than declaratory, it was such only. Half the world had been busy with this question. Books for and against had been multiplied without number, the whole public press had discussed it in every conceivable manner. It had become a subject of universal comment and of world-wide contention and, therefore, the council could no longer defer the responsibility of a decision. When doubt and uncertainty had crept into the hearts of so many, the teaching authority in the Church was constrained to speak.

VI. THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IS THE ONLY SANCTIFYING AND SAVING CHURCH.

It must not be lost sight of that the Church does not say that only those who are baptized Catholics and brought up as such can be saved. She teaches that among all the so-called churches only the Catholic Church can secure our happiness. This doctrine does not judge or condemn any person for the reason that he does not belong to the outward communion of

the Catholic Church, but merely asserts that she alone possesses the means established by Christ which have the power of making us happy. Whoever belongs to the visible communion of the Catholic Church will be saved if he believes, desires, receives and retains the doctrines, means of grace, and commandments of the Church, as the Church wills and prescribes he should do. Even a man who does not belong to the external or visible body of the Church may be saved, but it will not be by the means supplied him in his own sect, which is false, but rather through a very special grace of God, with which such a person can cooperate if he have a truly good will and sincere desire of doing right.

The Catholic Church teaches that a man can be saved through herself and no other.

1. Because it is only within her communion that the means of salvation established by Christ can be found in all their purity and entirety.

Man can be saved only in Christ, that is to say, only in the way marked out by Him. No other name is given to us whereby we must be saved than the name of Jesus (Acts iv. 12). It can not, therefore, be a matter of free choice for any man to mark out for himself the way to salvation. Freedom in religion has been limited by the law of Christ. The means available and necessary to salvation are the doctrines, graces and commandments of Christ. These He has deposited in His own Church founded by Himself. What this true Church is, has been already demonstrated. It is the Catholic Church. Hence she alone possesses the right means of salvation, and for that reason is the only Church that has within herself the power to save souls.

2. Christ commands us to belong to this Church, to

believe her teachings, to make use of her means of grace, and to observe her precepts. "He who will not hear the Church, let him be to thee as the heathen and publican," says the Lord in Matthew xviii. 17. In another passage, too, He gives the same command, saying, "He that heareth you, heareth Me: and he that despiseth you, despiseth Me, and he that despiseth Me despiseth Him that sent Me" (Luke x. 16). On the necessity of accepting His teaching Christ says emphatically, "He that believeth not, shall be condemned" (Mark xvi. 16).

Hence if the Church could teach that man can secure his salvation in any church as safely as in her communion, she would contradict the word of God, declare herself to be other than the true Church of God, and would decide conclusively that it is a matter of indifference whether a man believe truth or error.

3. In regard to those persons who do not belong to the Church, such as unbaptized pagans and Jews, as well as heretics, and those schismatics who, though denying no tenet of the Church, are separated from her, and also excommunicated persons, the Church does not by any means teach that they are personally lost. She does teach that such persons as are outside of her pale, without any fault of their own, and who to the best of their ability keep God's commandments and sincerely desire the true faith, may succeed in saving their souls. But as to what persons are separated from the Church without any fault of theirs, she does not decide. That question belongs to God, because He only penetrates the hearts and brains of men. Hence the Church curses no person; she merely condemns error and abhors vice.

It is true that the question about a man's certainty or uncertainty of working out his salvation, in or out

of the Church, is far different. The Catholic Church is a secure conveyance for us to gain our salvation; outside of her communion, though salvation is possible under certain circumstances and fixed conditions, it is not promised.

This thought should impel us (1) to inward gratitude toward God, who, without any merit of ours, has called us to be members of His Church; (2) to unchangeable fidelity toward that saving institution, the Catholic Church; to a desire of knowing and believing her doctrines, of assiduously using her means of grace, and of keeping faithfully her commandments in every circumstance of our life; to an endeavor to manifest our faith through our mode of life, for indifferent and nominal Catholics are but as lukewarm water, insipid and unwholesome; and (3) to Christian charity, and to prayer for those who have not the happiness to be members of our Church. The Church herself prays for them and urges us to do the same. Therefore let us never forget this our Catholic duty. Our fellow-beings have

an immortal soul, created for heaven; let us commend them to the mercy of God.

VII. THE GROWTH AND UPHOLDING OF THE CHURCH.

The preaching of the apostles was attended with precious and blessed consequences, evidently the work of God rather than of men. These results consisted simply in the fact of their having converted the world, and substituting, in the place of the grossest superstitions and godlessness sanctioned by false religion, a respect for the true God, and having developed virtues of which no man prior to that time had any idea. All this was not the work of human abilities, but God's