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what God has built. Look at the church of Christ.". (St. Chrysostom.)

Churches that are separated from the communion of the Church of Christ, are like branches that are broken off from the vine: they must wither and die. They are like members separated from the body: being no longer animated by the spirit, they cannot perform the functions of life. They may, indeed, for a time, preserve more or less of the external forms of the church of Christ; but there is within them a principle of dissolution, which destroys the interior substance of the body, and leaves an empty exterior appearance of true religion. They may be supported for a time in certain religious rites and forms of ecclesiastical government, by the civil power which has adopted them. But, in fact, they become nothing more than civil institutions, and will exist no longer, than whilst they are supported by the state, whose creatures they are. Every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted up. (Matt. xv. 13.) Not so the Catholic church. It lives in the body of the vine, and beareth fruit. It is the mystical body of Christ, animated and guided by his spirit. It possesses within itself, in the simplicity of its faith, a principle of immortality. Its spiritual powers are all derived from Christ. It has an existence independent of all temporal kingdoms. It can live without them. It will survive them all. The God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed; and his kingdom shall not be delivered up to another people: and it shall break in pieces and shall consume all these kingdoms; and itself shall stand for ever. (Dan. ii. 44.)

As, therefore, the church, which is in communion with the see of Rome, is the one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic church, the depositary and dispenser of the truths and mysteries of the Christian religion; it follows, that it is from the ministers of this church, as from the lawful successors of the apostles, that all nations are to learn with certainty what are the particular doctrines of faith which Christ revealed, and which he commanded all to believe; what are the precepts of supernatural morality which Christ delivered, and commanded all to observe; what are the sacred rites and ordinances which Christ instituted for the worship of his Father and the sanctification of the souls of men; and what are the dispositions

and conditions which Christ prescribed for the remission of sin and eternal salvation through him: that it is by the ministry of this church that the graces of justification are to be imparted to men; and that it is in this church, that true CHRISTIANITY, with all its blessings, is found.

Learn where is wisdom, where is strength, where is understanding, that thou mayest know also where is length of days and life. (Baruch iii. 14.)

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THE creed published by Pope Pius IV, in 1564, is an accurate and explicit summary of the faith of the Roman Catholic Church. All adults, who have lived out of the communion of the Catholic Church, are required, previously to their admission into it, to make a profession of their belief in all the articles of this creed. The Council of Trent commands, that all who are promoted to benefices, to which the care of souls is annexed, that all Dignitaries and Prebendaries in Cathedral Churches, that all Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church, and all Bishops in every part of the world, should make a profession of their faith, according to the articles of this creed, before proper authorities, previously to their promotion to their respective dignities and offices. In the conclusion of it, each ecclesiastical person says, "This true Catholic faith, without which none can be "saved, and which I now freely profess and truly hold, I promise, vow, "and swear most constantly to hold, and to profess the same, whole "and entire, with God's assistance, to the end of my life; and to "take care, to the best of my power, that it shall be held, taught, "and preached by those over whom I shall have authority, or with the 66 care of whom I shall be charged, by virtue of my office."*

So that this creed is a symbol, by which all the members of the Roman Catholic Church are united together, in the profession of the same faith, in all parts of the world. It is expressed in the following words:

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"I, N. N., with a firm faith believe and profess all and every one "of those things which are contained in that Creed, which the Holy "Roman Church maketh use of; viz. I believe in one God, the "Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth, of all things visible "and

As the conclusion of this article regards only persons, whose duty it is, by virtue of their office, to take care that this same faith is taught, and preached by all over whom they have authority; it should not appear surprising, that it is omitted in the profession of faith inserted in the ordo administrandi sacramenta, and prescribed to be taken by those who are admitted among the faithful, to the commu

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" and invisible; and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten "Son of God, and born of the Father before all ages; God of "God; light of light; true God of true God; begotten, not made; "consubstantial to the Father, by whom all things were made. "Who, for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven, "and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost, of the Virgin Mary, and "was made man. Was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; "he suffered and was buried; and the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures: he ascended into heaven; sits at the right hand of the Father, and is to come again with glory to judge the living and the dead; of whose kingdom there shall be no "end. And in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Life-giver, who pro"ceeds from the Father and the Son, who, together with the Father "and the Son, is adored and glorified, who spoke by the prophets. "And (I believe) one, holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church: I "confess one baptism for the remission of sins: and I look for "the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. "Amen.

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"I most steadfastly admit, and embrace apostolical and eccle"siastical Traditions, and all other observances and constitutions of "the same church.

"I also admit the holy Scriptures, according to that sense which "our holy Mother, the Church, has held, and does hold, to whom it "belongs to judge of the true sense and interpretation of the "Scriptures: neither will I ever take and interpret them otherwise, "than according to the unanimous consent of the Fathers.

"I also profess, that there are truly and properly seven sacraments, "of the new law, instituted by Jesus Christ our Lord, and necessary "for the salvation of mankind, though not all for every one: to "wit, baptism, confirmation, eucharist, penance, extreme unction, or"der, and matrimony; and that they confer grace and that of "these, baptism, confirmation, and order, cannot be reiterated with"out sacrilege. I also receive and admit the received and approved "ceremonies of the Calic Church, used in the solemn administra❝tion of all the afores 我 sacraments.

"I embrace and receive all and every one of the things which "have been defined and declared in the holy council of Trent, con"cerning original sin and justification.

"I profess, likewise, that in the mass there is offered to God a "true, proper, and propitiatory sacrifice for the living and the dead. "And that in the most holy sacrament of the eucharist, there is truly, really, and substantially, the body and blood, together with the soul "and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ: and that there is made a "conversion of the whole substance of the bread into the body, and

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"and of the whole substance of the wine into the blood; which "conversion the Catholic Church calls Transubstantiation. I also "confess, that under either kind alone, Christ is received whole and "entire, and a true sacrament.

"I constantly hold, that there is a purgatory, and that the souls "therein detained are helped by the suffrages of the faithful.

"Likewise that the saints, reigning together with Christ, are to be "honoured and invocated, and that they offer prayers to God for us, "and that their relics are to be had in veneration.

"I most firmly assert, that the images of Christ, of the Mother of "God, ever Virgin, and also of the other Saints, ought to be had "and retained, and that due honour and veneration is to be given "them.

"I also affirm, that the power of indulgences was left by Christ in "the Church, and that the use of them is most wholesome to Chris"tian people.

"I acknowledge the holy, Catholic, Apostolic, Roman Church, for "the mother and mistress of all churches; and I promise true obe"dience to the Bishop of Rome, successor to St. Peter, Prince of the Apostles, and Vicar of Jesus Christ.

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"I likewise undoubtedly receive and profess all other things delivered, defined, and declared by the sacred canons and general "councils, and particularly by the holy council of Trent. And I "condemn, reject, and anathematize all things contrary thereto, and "all heresies which the Church has condemned, rejected, and ana"thematized.

"This true Catholic faith, without which none can be saved, and "which I now freely profess and truly hold, I promise, vow, and "swear most constantly to hold, and to profess the same, whole and "entire, with God's assistance, to the end of my life and to take taught, and

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care, to the best of my power, that it shall be held. preached by those over whom I shall have authority, or with the care of whom I shall be charged, by virtue of my office."

NOTE [B], page 98.
LITURGIES.

The substance of the ancient Liturgies was derived from the Apostles, and communicated by them to the churches, where they preached and established the religion of Christ. The first Liturgy was that which was formed and used by the Apostles, in the church of Jerusalem. It is sometimes called the Liturgy of St. James, the first Bishop of that see. Then other Liturgies were introduced into

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