RELIGION.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2891, 7 November 1895, Page 4

RELIGION.

The following is the conclusion of our report of the tenth lecture delivered by Bav. Father Le Meneant des Chesnais in St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church, Temuka, on Sunday evening : The conventual schools for girls of the Benedictines, Dominicans, Ursulines, the Sisters of the Visitation, of the Presentation, of Mercy, of the Missions, of the Sacred Heart, of St. Joseph, etc. The Confraternities of the Blessed Virgin, of the Guardian Angels, of St. Aloysius, for the sanctification of youth. The Catholic guilds and literary societies for young men. Are these not glaiing proofs of the sanctity of the Catholic Church ? Do not theaei facts show how anxious she is to preserve children and young people from the snares of tha world 1 For this noble work she shrinks from no sacrifice and spares no pains; and it is a fact worthy of notice that Catholics are the only ones, in all parts of the world who never neglect, cost what it may, the religious instruction of their children, who consider it more important than any secular knowledge, and the only solid foundation of morality. Does not this prove that the Catholic Church is animated by the spirit of her holy founder, assisted by Him, and truly holy indeed ? It may be objected that many Catholic youths turn out bad ; we do not deny it; this, owing to the evil influence of home, the want of watchfulness of parents, dangerous company, the reading of immoral books, and other such things over which the Church has no possible control; where parents are pious and prudent this is not generally the case; the Church can only advise that which is good and right; she can compel no one to do it, except by suasion, and in this respect she is never wanting in her duty. I pass now to another proof of the sanctity of the Catholic Church, namely, her untiring efforlsfor the sanctification of the Christian family. Jesus Christ sanctified marriage by elevating it to the dignity of a sacrament (Bphes. v.,25.); by abolishing polygamy, which prevailed everywhere, and bringing back marriage to its primitive unity; by making marriage indissoluble, except v y the death of one of the two contracting parties ; by proclaiming the mother the queen of the home and equal to her husband, instead of being only his slave or the instrument of his pleasure; by giving His holy mother as a model to all Christian mothers; by commanding little children to be consecrated to Him in holy baptism ; by declaring them candidates of paradise, and giving each of them a guardian angel to watch over them. The child is no longer at the mercy of its father. A parent who would destroy his child, as sanctioned by Plato, Aristotle, Sulon, Lycurgus, etc., would be thought guilty of an a’rocius crime. The Church has also condemned the horrible doctrine of Malthus for preventing the multiplication of children. A tree is known by its fruits. The Christian Church which has effected these things, through her divine founder, must certainly be most perfect and holy. The last proof I shall give of the sanctity of the Church is that, without hesitation, irrespective of persons or temporal consequences, she has always courageously condemned any error against faith or the moral la . In the East, when the empire was translated from Roma to Constantinople, the Byzantine Emperors, wishing to have absolute and independent spiritual and temporal authority, encouraged the Patriarch of Constantinople to claim the h'uue privileges as the Roman Pontiff, on the plea that Constantinople was a second Rome and therefore its Patriarch should hold supremacy of honor next to the Roman Pontiff. vain did the Pope protest; though acknowledging externally the supremacy of the Vicar of Christ, the Patriarch of Constantinople acted freqneatly without his sanction. In 484 Acacias, a creature of the Emperor, wily, proud, and obstinate, effeminate and urn principled, suppressed the name of the Pope from the diptychs, or list of the Popes, Patriarchs, and Bishops, linked with one another by apostolical succession and legitimate mission, and exercised independent authority, being supported by the weak-minded and ambitious Emperor Zeno, The orthodox bishops and priests were removed from their sees or churches, and intruders put in their place. The Pope was asked to ratify these acts of violence and usurpation. He courageously refused to do it. Who could help admiring the fortitude of Pope Simplicius ou this occasion 1 The energy of this holy Pontiff affirming that the Papacy in is the source of all ecclesiastical power and jurisdiction by the ordinance of our Lord Jesus Christ does flim great credit. In 519 the Formulary of Hormisdas, affirming the supremacy of the Holy Spe, and the necessity of communion with it for all important Church matters, was signed by 2500 bishops. This fact shows how the supremacy of the Roman pontiff was at that time universally acknowledged. In spite of all this in 091 the Oppppil of Trullo affirmed again the equality of jurisdiction of the Patriarch of CopX.tantinople and the Roman pontiff, and perwißfesd priests, deacons, and sub 1 .’-aeons to piarry. Pope Sergius condemneu tlie -°t t^e un J® '“° mcal oZS of ¥. s <h. •»* vin. demued all those contrary to the> rlgd*fiof Holy See and good morals. U n fler tne Byzantine Emperor Michael, drunkard,” Bardas, a favorite of the Emperor, led openly an incestuous and immoral life. Ignatius, Patriarch of Constantinople, refused to give him communion. He complained to the emperor, who deposed Ignatius, and appointed in hia place as Patriarch of Constantinople, Photius, a layman. He asked the Pope to confirm his election. The Pope, though he knew the consequences, absolutely refused to sanction it. Michael 111, and Photius theu entirely separated from Rome ; the branch was torn from the trunk and doomed to wither away according to the prophecy of Our Lord. A Greek Church was established instead of the One Catholic Church established by Jesus Christ with His Vicar as first representative and visible head. Michael Gerularius took the title of Patriarch of Constantinople, Antioch, and Alexandria; he c'oaed all the Batin Churches and expelled all the Latin monks from Constantinople. The schism was completed jn 1053. Is not that Church holy which consents to lose a whole empire sooner than sacrifice a principle or rpprove ef any immoral practice ? Which other Church would do the same? Lot us turn to Germany, Martin Luther, disappointed not to have boon chosen by the Popo to preach for subscriptions for the building of Bt. Peter, attacked the Dominicans. He preached erroneous doctrines Being rebuked by his superiors, ho refused to submit, and appealed to the Pope. The Pope tried every means of kindness to bring him to a sense of duty, Luther would yield to no reason. Being condemned by the Pope ho became furious. He denied the infallibility of the Church and of the Pope, the supremacy of the supremo pontiff, the celobacy uf the clergy,penance, fasting, religious vows. He said that the Bible should be interpretated by privato reason. Luther was supported by many princes, whr, being rebuked by the Pope

for their tyranny and immorality, were glad to have an opportunity to throw off his authority. x'hey also hated the monks, who frequently denounced their abuses. The pretended laxity of the monks, which had been greatly exaggerated, was only a pretence to suppress them and seize upon their property. Ulric de Utten, a sensualist and a sceptic of the type of Voltaire and Carlostad, archdeacon of Wittemberg, an immoral man, who took a wife, had the Bible read to him by working people, espoused the cause of Luther, and excited the people to plunder churches and monasteries. The Hussites of Bohemia, bitter enemies of the Pope, priests, and monks, gave also to him their support, and encouraged the people to throw off the supremacy of the Pope and of the Church, suppress monastries, and take the Bible alone as their guide. To these we may add many outlaws who thirsted after ’ plunder. Of all the friends of Luther the most moderate was Schwarzordc, surnamed Melanchton, a famous Greek scholar, but having a great contempt f>r monastic orders, which he knew only through incorrect and magnified reports. In Prussia, Pope Adrian VI. empowered Albert de Brandeburg to rectify some abases of the Teutonic monks. Albert de Brandeburg was the great master of the order. Although a monk, he was very worldly and lived like a prince. The Teutonic Knights were founded in Jerusalem (1128). They took care of the poor in the hospitals, and also fought for the defence of the Church. They were divided into three classes —the priests, the knights, and the lay-brothers. They wore a white cloak with a black cross. They were so very inch that in Germany alone they were the owners of a whole province. At first they were very fervent, charitable, and excellent landlords, but little by little they relaxed. The Pope wanted to remedy these abuses. Luther advised Albert de Brandeburg to throw off the supremacy of the Pope, to get married, and appropriate to himself the properties of the order and embrace Lutheranism. It was a tempting bait. Albert followed to the letter the advice of Luther. Ho had himself proclaimed Duke of Prussia, under the protection of Sigismond, King of Poland. He married the daughter of Frederick 1,, King of Denmark, encouraged his monks to embrace the Reformation and get married, and expelled all the priests and monks who would not imitate him. Pope Adrian protested, and died of sorrow and of grief. Is not the conduct of the Roman pontiffs admirable 1 They never sacrificed justice or truth, and preferred to lose many kingdoms than to compromise it. Is nut this a proof of the sanctity of the Church and of the assistance of the Holy Spirit, who guides and strengthens her ? She is not a time-serving Church, trying to please civil rulers or to be popular at the cost of truth or morality. Let us now come to England. Henry VIII,, “ Tudor of Richmond,” was at first a Roman Catholic. He was a bitter enemy of Lutheranism. Ho wrote a book in defence of the Catholic religion and the seven sacraments, which he dedicated to the Pope, and which obtained for him the title of “ Defender of the Faith ” (Defensor Fidei), still held by Her Majesty Queen Victoria. After having been married 18 years to Catherine of Aragon, and having had by her several children, one of whom was Queen Mary, he took a fancy to a lady of the Court of Margaret of Navarre, named Anna Boleyn, and wished to repudiate the Queen and marry her. The Pope opposed this adulterous union. Wolsey and a few servile couriers encouraged it. The king was married. He had himself ap : pointed head of the Church by a servile Parliament, and whosoever refused to acknowledge his spiritual and temporal supremacy had his goods confiscated and was put to death as a traitor, as was the case with Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, and Sir Thomas More, Chancellor of England. Had the Pope yielded to the desire of Henry VQI., he would probably have lived and died a Roman Catholic, and England to-day would be a Roman Catholic country; but morality and truth admit of no concession, and the Pope preferred to lose the British Dominions, whore so many saints and doctors had flourished, than sanction an adulterous union. To my mind, this inflexibility of the Church in matters of faith and morals, irrespective of any worldly consideration, is the greatest proof of her sanctity, Ido not mention these facts to give pain to our separated brethren ; yet it should make them think, and attentively consider whether they have not been misinformed about the doctrine and doings of the Catholic Church. In our next lecture we shall examine : (1) How was the Christian religion propagated 1 (2) How the integrity and purity of the Christian doctrine preserved / —tw o most interesting historical problems.