INTRODUCTION.

THE HUNDRED SHORT SERMONS of Canon Thomas, now presented for the first time to the American public, may be said to constitute an epitome of Moral Theology, and of Dogmatic Theology also, so far as this is connected with Moral. The chief characteristics which mark these discourses are brevity, clearness, solidity, simplicity, unction, method and thorough

ness.

The Canon Penitentiary of Liege has much to say, and he says it well, without superfluity of words or circumlocution. He goes straight to the point, and deals seldom or but slightly in incidental matter, or in illustrations not directly pertinent to the subject. When you have read one of his SHORT SERMONS, you have before you the skeleton of a much more lengthy discourse; with all its parts in their proper places, and the whole well knit together. He is terse and condensed, without becoming either dry or obscure. And withal, there is a simplicity and an unction in the style and manner, which attracts you onward, and prevents your growing weary. In a moral or devotional work this is a great recommendation.

But what chiefly distinguishes the SHORT SERMONS from many other works of the kind with which we are acquainted, are the qualities of method and thoroughness. The Canon's method is based upon correct theological principles, and he carries out his plan so thoroughly as almost to exhaust the

whole subject of Christian morals and doctrine; for many points in Christian morals can not be understood, much less. developed, without a study and unfolding of the doctrines on which they are grounded. The Hundred Sermons are not on detached or disconnected subjects; they follow one another in regular order, and form a compact whole, remarkable for a Catholic unity growing out of the admirable harmony of its various parts. One subject naturally leads to another, and this to the following, in regular logical sequence. Thus the series is complete, and the amount of matter embraced in so narrow a compass is wonderful.

A few words on the method adopted by the author will more fully explain our meaning, and will, at the same time, serve as a not inappropriate Introduction to the work.

The Canon's plan is based upon a theological principle which is not new, but, on the contrary, very old and very well known. It is this: that Faith, Hope and Charity are the elements of the inner Christian life, and constitute the soul of the Church. These three great theological virtues lift up man unto God, and keep him united with God. They constitute the bonds of union between the soul and its Creator; thus carrying out the etymological meaning of the word Religion. The first bond of union between the soul and God, knitted in the garden of Eden, was broken by the primeval fall of man; the second bond, by which the manifold evils which followed the disruption of the first were repaired, was established by Jesus Christ, who by His abundant redemption thus bound man again to his God.

The soul has three faculties in the natural order, and she may be said to have also three faculties in that which is supernatural. By FAITH, she is taught of God; by HOPE, she is lifted up to God; by CHARITY, she is united with God. The Doctrines, the Moral Precepts, and the Sacraments, delivered or instituted by Jesus Christ, constitute the divine aliment on which these three virtues feed, and by which they are kept alive and in vigorous operation; while the solemn

warnings which He uttered against sin point to the poison which is to be carefully guarded against in the spiritual warfare.

The method of the SHORT SERMONS is based upon this idea. The series is divided into Six Parts, concerning each of which we will offer a few remarks.

I. The First Part treats of FAITH, which is "the beginning, the root, and the foundation of all justification," according to the holy Council of Trent. It embraces twenty-six Sermons; the first two of which are on the nature and characteristics of Faith, and the remaining twenty-four furnish an exposition of the leading articles of Faith contained in the Apostles' Creed.

II. The Second Part is on HOPE, "by which we are saved." It contains eleven Sermons; the first of which is on the nature and grounds of Hope, and the remainder on prayer in general, and on the various parts of the Lord's Prayer, and the Angelical Salutation. Hope, based itself on Faith, originates and elicits trustful prayer to God, invoking His all powerful and all bountiful aid in our manifold sorrows, necessities and sins; and it also inspires earnest and confident petitions to Her "Our tainted nature's solitary boast"—who is the sweet Mother of our Saviour God and Elder Brother Jesus Christ; and who is, by the fact, our Mother also, ever ready to look down on us with a Mother's eye from her bright seat in the heavens, and ever prepared, with a Mother's readiness and a Mother's undying love, to extend to us in our necessities and dangers a Mother's powerful protection, by efficacious intercession in our behalf with her divine Son. He whom she bore, and who never refused her any thing on earth, will not surely refuse to grant her petitions in heaven.

III. The Third Part treats of CHARITY, in its twofold aspect; the love of God above all things, and the love of our neighbor as ourselves. The test of love, given by our blessed Lord himself, is the keeping of the Commandments. Hence, after first treating in general of the love of God and of the neighbor, the author devotes the remaining Sermons of this part to

a lucid explanation of the Ten Commandments of God, unfolding the nature of their divine precepts, the powerful motives for observing them, and the practical manner of doing so with a fidelity persevering even unto the end. This is accomplished in twenty-four Sermons.

IV. The Fourth Part is a Sequel to the Third. It treats of the Commandments of the Church-which Christ commands us to hear-first in general, and then on each one of the Six in particular, thus containing seven Sermons.

V. Next to the Commandments come the Sacraments, which are treated of in twenty solid and well considered discourses. The Sacraments are the divinely constituted channels of grace, and, in a certain sense, the organs of the Church, through which its soul-consisting of Faith, Hope and Charity-lives and breathes in this outward world. We say lives, to denote that the Sacraments, though they somewhat resemble the organs of sense in the body, yet contain an internal life, which the merely corporeal organs have not. It belongs to the essence of a Sacrament to have a body and a soul;—an external form or organization, and an internal grace or life. The grace necessarily follows the external sign or emblem, unless an obstacle be interposed by human perversity daring to receive negligently or unworthily the holy things of God. It may be well to explain, a little more in detail, what we mean by denominating the seven Sacraments, in a qualified sense, the organs of Faith, Hope and Charity, which, as we have said, constitute the spiritual life of the Church.

Baptism may be called the Sacrament of Faith. By the early Greek Fathers, it was called the Sacrament of Illumination. By it we are initiated into the body of true believers, the Church of the Living God. By it and through it, saving Faith is bestowed, either actually or in its infused elements, on the recipient who opposes no obstacle to the action of grace. In Confirmation, this infused faith is strengthened by the Holy Ghost, who thereby enters into our souls and hearts, to enlighten and strengthen them for the combat. By the

Holy Eucharist, we are corporeally and sweetly united with Jesus Christ himself-the Way, and the Truth, and the Life,and, at the same time, the Living Fountain of divine Charity. In the Sacrament of Penance, the wounds which we may have received after Baptism in the battle of life are healed; while by Extreme Unction, the traces of these wounds-the remains of sin-are removed by the holy unction with prayer, and we are prepared to meet with Hope the Saviour God in judgment. By Holy Orders and Matrimony, we receive special graces for particular conditions and callings in life.

Thus the Seven Sacraments abundantly supply all our wants, and afford us adequate divine aid for every necessity and for every emergency of life. They all thus feed the three great virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity. They strengthen our weakness, animate our Faith, enliven our Hope, and inflame our Charity. They all lift us from earth, and raise us up toward heaven.

VI. After the lights come the shadows. After considering the aids to salvation comes serious reflection on the obstacles which may interpose. The work would be thus obviously incomplete, if it presented only the efficacy of Faith, the consolation of Hope, and the sweetness of Charity, with the arms of the holy Sacraments by which these virtues achieve victory over the devil, the world, and the flesh. It must exhibit along with the wholesome food the poison also, that we may beware of it; and by the side of the armory of God, the weapons likewise of Satan, that we may be able skillfully to parry them, and to turn them away harmless. Without this necessary safe-guard, Faith, Hope and Charity would fail effectually to accomplish their noble work of redemption. We would be exposed to lose these virtues in the great battle; we would fall mortally wounded, die in sin, and be lost eternally!

Hence the author of the SHORT SERMONS devotes a Sixth Part to the consideration of Sin in general, and of the Seven Deadly Sins in particular. This Part contains twelve Sermons, and these complete the work.