depository of the doctrine that came from heaven; there alone will you find true light, divine grace, the words of life, of eternal life. AMEN.

SERMON XXIII.

NINTH ARTICLE OF THE CREED.-(CONTINUED.)

COMMUNION OF SAINTS.

"Giving thanks to God the Father, who hath made us worthy to be partakers of the lot of the saints in light."-COLOSSIANS, i: 12.

THE ninth article of our creed is thus set forth: "The Holy Catholic Church, the Communion of Saints." I have already explained to you the first part; I have told you what is this Church, founded by our Lord Jesus Christ, and by what characteristic marks you can distinguish it from all the sects that dare boast of being that holy fold, of which Jesus Christ is the Supreme Pastor; of being the church which He has firmly built upon a rock, and against which the gates of hell can never prevail. You know now that this church, one, holy, Catholic and Apostolic, is the Church of Rome, in which you have had the happiness of being born. It remains for me now to explain the second part of the ninth article, which is the Communion of Saints. Give me your undivided attention.

When good Christians are called out of this life by God, they do not cease to belong to the Catholic Church, and to be still children of the spouse of Jesus Christ. While some of her children still wage war upon earth, against the world, the flesh, and the devil, the enemies of all God's servants; others, already victorious in the fearful combat, triumph and rejoice in heaven; and others again suffer great pains in purgatory, in expiation of the faults, which through human frailty, they have committed, and for which they

had not entirely satisfied the divine justice when death came to call them to judgment. Hence the Church is usually divided into the Church Militant, the Church Triumphant, and the Church Suffering.

The Church Militant is composed of the Saints who are still on earth; it is this visible Church, whose members are here below engaged in battle with the enemy of their salvation. All indeed are not Saints, although the Apostle calls them such; but all should and could become Saints, and all have been stamped with the seal of sanctity in their baptism.

The Church Triumphant is composed of the Saints in heaven. It is that glorious Church of which St. Paul speaks; that Church perfectly holy, where there is neither stain, nor spot, nor wrinkle, nor any such thing; it is that City of God, that Heavenly Jerusalem, whence death is forever banished, and where tears, and weeping, and sorrow shall be no more, because these things have passed away for those who inhabit it.

Finally, the Church Suffering is formed by the Saints in purgatory, where the souls of the faithful are detained, who have departed this life in the grace of God, but in whom His all-seeing eye has discovered faults not yet fully expiated, and stains which must be purified in the crucible of sufferings, before they can be admitted to the Beatific Vision. For as nothing defiled can enter the kingdom of heaven, these holy souls will be excluded from it until the fire of purgatory will have taken away their least stain, and rendered them pure and white as snow.

Whether carrying on a warfare on earth, reigning with Jesus Christ in heaven, or suffering in purgatory, the members of the Catholic Church are all united to one another, by mutual relations, and by indissoluble ties. This union we call, with the Apostles, the Communion of Saints. It consists in a union of the Saints on earth among themselves, a union of the Saints on earth with the Saints in heaven, a union of the Saints on earth with the Saints in purgatory.

How are the Saints on earth united among themselves? On earth, all constitute one and the same kingdom, one and the same family, and the Barbarian and Scythian, bond and free, all are but one in Christ Jesus, says the Apostle. All form one and the

same body, of which Jesus Christ is the head, and of which the Holy Ghost is the soul and the life. In this body, each member receives gifts, and performs actions, which are his property, but which at the same time also are for the benefit of all. Jesus Christ has bequeathed to His Church all spiritual blessings as her dowry and inheritance. It is in common, therefore, that we possess them, and the virtue of each particular Christian becomes a benefit to the whole society in such a way, that every faithful soul in the Church can say, that he has his part in the merits of all those who fear the Lord and keep His commandments. Yes, my Brethren, each faithful Christian partakes in all the prayers which are offered in the Church, in all the virtues which are practised within her pale, in all the graces which her children receive, in all the merits which they acquire, in all the talents, in all the titles, in all the sublime deeds which we so much admire, in all the victories which they have achieved, and in all the wonders which they have performed. The abundance of one supplies the want of another. All these good works form, as it were, an immense treasure, from which all are invited to draw salvation and sancification. And what is particularly touching in this beautiful Communion of Saints, is that sinners, even the most guilty, are not absolutely excluded, as long as they remain in the Church and preserve the faith of Jesus Christ. They are dead branches, it is true, but still hanging to the tree; they can revive and bloom again, and once more bring forth good fruits. They are the unnatural children of the most affectionate of mothers; but the Church preserves toward them all her natural tenderness; she intercedes in their behalf as if each one were her only child, and though their sins deprive them of all these spiritual benefits, which they can not possess without being in the state of grace, nevertheless, they have a large share in the unspeakable groanings which the Church continually sends up to heaven to obtain the grace of perseverance for the just and the grace of conversion for sinners.

There is a Communion of Saints on earth; hence the Apostles exhort Christians to remain always united in mind and heart, to entertain a truly fraternal affection and tenderness toward each other, helping each other by mutual assistance, and above all, "to pray for one another, so that all may be saved." This mutual affection

this brotherly love-the soul of the Communion of Saints, in the Church militant, is also the bond of intimate union which unites the children of the Church militant with the Saints of the Church triumphant. "These Saints are seated on the same throne with Jesus Christ, as Jesus Christ is seated on the same throne with His Father," says St. John the Apostle; that is to say, they are inseparably united to Jesus Christ, and reign with Him in His glory. We have nothing then to ask for the Saints who are in heaven. Their sanctity, like their happiness, is beyond the reach of danger; they have no need of our prayers; but they know how much we stand in need of theirs. "They see in the light of Jesus Christ," says St. Paulinus, "things the most secret and the most distant; they see all things in God, in whom all are contained." Jesus Christ says to them: I do not call you servants any more, because the servant knoweth not what his master does; but I call you friends, because I have nothing hidden from you. "They know in heaven infinitely better than on earth," says St. Bernard, "our affections, our desires, our miseries, our weaknesses, our cares, our temptations, our dangers, our misfortunes; they do not forget that they are still our brethren; they take a lively interest in every thing that regards our welfare; they pray, and, as friends of the Saviour, they obtain for us the graces which we so much need."

Behold, what the Saints do for us. And we, on our part, honor them as the blessed children of God, we take them as our models, we love them as friends, we invoke them as protectors, and in this flowing and reflowing of charity we find an abundant source of succors and blessings.

But, while we receive from the Saints of heaven aid and assistance, there are other souls much cherished by God, who have recourse to us, and implore our prayers and intercession: these are the faithful departed. They died, it is true, in the grace of God, but their love was not sufficiently perfect to efface all the remains of their sins; they are, therefore, "saved, but so as by fire." They suffer and will continue to suffer, until they have discharged their entire debt. They are unable to help themselves, but we can assist them, for we can obtain grace and mercy for ourselves and for them. We offer for the repose of the souls in purgatory, prayers and sacrifices; for the Holy Ghost says, "it is a holy and a wholesome

thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from their sins." The poor man offers his prayers for the suffering souls, and thereby relieves and delivers them. The rich,-the man to whom the Lord has intrusted a part of the good things of this world, draws upon his treasury and gives to the poor in behalf of the souls in purgatory, and his alms cover and blot out in the other world a multitude of sins. Oh, how beautiful, how sweet and consoling it is to be able to say, that even a penny given to buy bread for the destitute, can deliver a poor soul from its frightful sufferings, and give it a place at the banquet of the Lord, in the eternal mansions! Let us pray then for the souls in purgatory; let us give alms, let us perform good works, and let us ask God to apply the merit of them to the suffering souls, and be sure, my Brethren, that we shall obtain, if not their entire deliverance, at least the remission of a portion of their debts, a diminution of sufferings for them, and abundant consolation for ourselves. Ah! my Brethren, is not gratitude the virtue of the Saints? The holy souls, whom we will deliver by our prayers, will pray for us, and God will grant us graces to assist us to persevere in truth and virtue,—in the way of faith and salvation.

Behold, my Brethren, this beautiful and divine Communion of Saints, your belief in which from your childhood, you have learned to profess every time you repeated the Apostles' Creed. Let us never forget it. Let us congratulate ourselves on belonging to this holy Church, out of which, no one can have part in the Communion of Saints; let us keep ourselves closely united to the Saints on earth, meriting, by our piety, the privilege of partaking in all the good works they perform; to the Saints in purgatory, by seizing with pious eagerness every occasion of aiding them by our prayers and good works; to the Saints in heaven, by devoutly and sincerely imploring the assistance of their prayers and their powerful intercession with God; that walking in their footsteps and imitating their virtues, we may merit to be one day admitted into their triumphant society, to enjoy in the bosom of Abraham the eternal delights of the blessed.-AMEN.