supremacy of St. Peter, of itself shows the perpetuity of his
office. This supremacy is the Rock on which the Church is built.
But a foundation must last as long as the building itself; it can
neither be removed nor changed; therefore the supremacy of Peter
must endure with the Church itself.
Again, the reason for which Christ instituted the Primacy exists
always, and, indeed, demands much more imperatively its
continuance than it did require at first its foundation. The
reason is thus expressed by St. Jerome: "__Ut capite constituto,
schismatis tolleretur occasio__"--"That a head being
constituted, the occasion of schism might be removed." [Footnote
84]
[Footnote 84: Lib. i. adv. Jov. 26.]
{221}
The preservation of unity was the reason for instituting the
primacy. What is the reason of a central government, with a
president at its head, in Washington? The preservation of unity
among the States. It is the unanimous teaching of tradition that
Christ established the Primacy in the Church for the same
reason--the preservation of unity among all particular churches
and Bishops, by their dependence on one Mother Church and one
Chief Bishop. But there was far less necessity to guard against
schism, and to watch over the preservation of unity by means of a
head or central authority, in the days of the Apostles, who were
all saints and inspired, in the days of persecution, of primitive
zeal and piety, and when the members of the Church were few and
her extent limited, than at any subsequent period. The Primacy
was more necessary after the Apostolic age than during it,
therefore it was intended to continue. The supremacy of St. Peter
once admitted--and it is proved by invincible arguments--the
continuance of this power in his successors follows necessarily.
The seat of power is the Roman Church, of which St. Peter was the
founder and first Bishop.
This requires no proof; for the Bishop of Rome is the only one
who claims the power of St. Peter, and his title is admitted by
all those who admit any supremacy in the Church, according to the
universally received tradition.
{222}
St. Peter, after having preached in different regions without
having fixed himself in any particular see, for about six years,
founded the Patriarchal See of Antioch, which he governed for
seven years, and then, having consecrated another Bishop in his
place, went to Rome, where he fixed his See permanently, and,
having presided over it for twenty-five years, was crucified, in
the year of our Lord 67 or 68, under Nero; St. Paul being at the
same time beheaded.
The New Testament contains no regular or complete history of the
events of the Apostolic Age, but only some fragmentary annals of
some of the acts of the Apostles, chiefly of St. Paul, and some
allusions in the Epistles.
It is not surprising, therefore, that it gives no account of the
foundation of the Roman Church. St. Paul, however, in his
celebrated Epistle to the Roman Church, already speaks of that
Roman Faith, "__fides Romana__" which has been in every age so
admirable and so renowned throughout the world: "First, I give
thanks to my God, through Jesus Christ, for you all, because your
faith is spoken of in the whole world." [Footnote 85] He also
predicts the future greatness of the Roman Church: "And the God
of peace crush Satan under your feet speedily." [Footnote 86]
This is a form of speech which expresses a prediction under the
form of a prayer.
[Footnote 85: Rom. i. 18.]
[USCCB: Rom. i. 8.]
[Footnote 86: Rom. xvi. 20.]
{223}
Now, how was Satan crushed under the feet of the Roman
Christians, if it were not when, by the conversion and victory of
Constantine, this great capital of the world and seat of idolatry
was changed into the capital of Christendom, the heathen temples
transformed into Christian churches, and the cross everywhere
erected in triumph over this proud and pagan city?
There is no event in history better established than the
episcopate and martyrdom of St. Peter at Rome. It is admitted by
a great number of the most learned Protestants. It is proved by
the catalogues of Roman Bishops in ancient writers all tracing
back the succession to St. Peter. It is proved by pictures,
statues, and other ancient monuments; by the pilgrimages which
from ancient times were made to the tomb of the Apostles, of
which even Eusebius in the fourth century makes mention. It is
proved by the testimony of St. Clement, the immediate successor
of St. Peter; St. Ignatius, Papias, St. Dionysius, St. Irenæus,
Caius, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, St. Cyprian, Eusebius,
Lactantius, St. Athanasius, St. Epiphanius, Julian the Apostate,
St. Augustine, Palladius, and others. Indeed, any one who would
dispute the fact, that the Bishops of Rome have succeeded each
other in that see in a direct line from St. Peter, might as well
dispute the succession of the Roman emperors from Julius Cæsar,
of the English kings from Alfred, and the kings of France from
Charlemagne.
{224}
The fact that the Bishops of Rome succeeded also to the supremacy
of St. Peter over the whole Catholic Church is also proved by a
crowd of testimonies in every age. It is, as every one will see,
not convenient, in a discourse like the present, to cite and
explain at length those passages from the ancient writers,
especially after having already taxed your patience so severely.
I will therefore cite only a few passages as samples of the
manner in which ancient writers have spoken on this subject, and
leave it to yourselves to read over the testimonies more
carefully in some of the various works where they are collected.
St. Irenæus, Bishop of Lyons, who conversed with the immediate
disciples of the apostles, says: "With this Church, on account of
the more powerful principality, it is necessary that every
Church, that is, the faithful who are in every direction, should
agree." [Footnote 87]
[Footnote 87: L. iii. c. 3. Kenrick.]
Tertullian, about the end of the second century, exclaims: "From
no other cause have heresies arisen and schisms sprung up, except
from a want of obedience to the priest of God, and because they
do not remember that there is one judge for the time being in the
Church, in the place of Christ."
{225}
The great and general Council of Nice, A.D. 325, in one of its
canons says: "The Roman Church has always held the Primacy." The
Council of Sardica, in a letter to the Pope, says: "This seems
excellent and most suitable, that the priests of the Lord from
the respective provinces should report to the Head," __i.e.__,
to the See of the Apostle Peter. In the fifth century, all the
Bishops of the province of Aries, in France, in a letter to Pope
Leo, say: "The Holy Roman Church, through the most blessed Peter,
Prince of the Apostles, has the principality above all the
churches of the world." The grand Council of Chalcedon, where six
hundred Bishops were present, mostly from the East, and out of
the limits of the particular patriarchate of Rome, when the
letter of the same Pope Leo was read, defining the faith of two
distinct natures, divine and human, in Christ, exclaimed with one
voice, "Peter has spoken by the mouth of Leo." At the beginning
of the sixth century, the Bishop of Patara said to the Emperor
Justinian: "There may be many sovereigns on the earth; but there
is one Pope over all the churches of the universe." Not only
Christian bishops and councils speak in this way of the Roman
See, but emperors, and even pagans, use the same language.
{226}
In the year 268, when Paul, Patriarch of Antioch, was condemned
of heresy by a council, the pagan Emperor Aurelian directed that
the Church of Antioch "should be delivered up to those whom the
Bishops of Italy and the Bishop of Rome should appoint." Ammianus
Marcellinus, a pagan writer of the fourth century, affirms that
"the Bishops of the Eternal City enjoy a greater authority." The
Christian Emperor Valentinian, in a decree of the year 455, says:
"The merit of the blessed Peter, who is the Prince of priestly
order, and the dignity of the Roman city, the authority also of
the Synod, strengthened the Primacy of the Apostolic See." These
testimonies extend from the sixth back to the second century,
when the disciples of the Apostles still lived. They are not
merely the testimonies of the Bishops of Rome themselves, or of
those who lived in the vicinity and under the immediate influence
of Rome, but they are collected from Italy, France, Africa, and
the whole Eastern Church, where those great Patriarchs flourished
who afterwards renounced their subjection to Rome. Thus, it is
evident, from these and a host of similar testimonies, that,
during the first six centuries, the Bishops of Rome claimed to
exercise the supremacy in the place of Peter, and that this claim
was universally acknowledged.
{227}
This is only a confirmation of the texts of Holy Scripture which
I have already cited, and was foreshadowed when Christ chose the
bark of St. Peter in preference to the rest, to preach from it to
the multitude on the shore. The conversion of nations through
missionaries sent by the Pope is Peter superintending the
miraculous draught of fishes and drawing them upon the shore. His
exercise of authority over patriarchs, bishops, and churches
throughout the world is only the fulfilment of the commission,
"Feed my lambs--feed my sheep"--be the pastor of my entire flock,
the prince of pastors, the Bishop of bishops. The might, the
power of the Roman See, is the fulfilment of the prophecy, "On
this rock I will build My Church." On the foundation of Peter,
the Catholic Church was built, and on this foundation she has
ever rested. To Peter was given the power of the keys, of binding
and of loosing, and his successors have ever exercised this
supreme authority. If time permitted, I should now go on to show
that this authority committed to St. Peter and his successors is
the same, and equally of divine right in his present glorious
successor, Pius IX., as it was in the times of the martyr popes
of the first century; that the Roman Church has never failed,
never fallen, never forfeited her supremacy, and never will while
the world shall stand. But I must waive all further consideration
of the attributes and notes of the Catholic Church. At present, I
will only allude to the concluding part of our Lord's promise to
St. Peter: "The gates of hell shall never prevail against it."
{228}
Here there is the divine assurance that this rock on which the
Church is founded shall stand until the end of the world, and the
Church itself, on account of the firmness of its foundation,
shall never be overthrown. The supremacy of his successors shall
endure until the last day, and that Church which is governed by
the successors of St. Peter shall alone continue to be the true
Church. The gates of hell shall wage perpetual warfare against
it, but in vain. That rock shall remain immovable and
impregnable. By this rock it is that Jesus Christ has provided
for the preservation of the Faith and for the salvation of the
world. Let us recall to mind the object which we had before our
minds at the commencement of these discourses: it was to find the
sure and immovable basis of the Catholic faith and religion. And
how admirable is the provision of Almighty God for this purpose!
He has taken the greatest and most powerful city of the earth,
the capital of the world; there He has erected the beacon-light
of faith; there He has fixed the immovable seat of truth; there
He has established the capital city of Christianity, the chief
city of His kingdom on earth; there Jesus Christ has placed His
Vicar, the pastor and teacher of the world, that Rome, once the
mistress of the world by her arms, might rule by her faith as the
Mother and Mistress of churches, and that title of the Eternal
City which was given her by her pagan soothsayers might be
literally fulfilled.
{229}
Happy those who, amid the storms and winds of error, doubt, and
ever-changing doctrine, take refuge within the walls of the
Eternal City; whose faith is built not upon the shifting sands of
private judgment, but on the immovable basis of church authority;
whose wanderings terminate, like those of St. Paul, at Rome,
whence, like him, they ascend to that celestial city whose
builder and maker is God! Such a person is like the wise man of
whom our Lord speaks, "that built his house upon a rock, and the
rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon
that house, and it fell not; FOR IT WAS FOUNDED UPON A ROCK."
---------------------
{230}
Sermon XV.
The Thought Of Heaven.
(For The Fourth Sunday After Easter.)
Heb. iv. 9.
"__There remaineth therefore a rest
for the people of God__."
These words, my dear brethren, are full of consolation to each
and every one of us. They lift our minds, at this Paschal season,
far away from this earth, and fix them in contemplation on that
happy land, the heavenly Jerusalem, where there is no sorrow, no
pain, no sickness, and no death; they take us with the beloved
disciple to see that celestial country, the city of God, in which
stands the tree of life, and where flows the river of life,
beside whose banks are seated all those who have died in the
Lord, and rest from their labors. They open those pearly gates to
allow us to behold the white-robed army of saints who stand
before the Lamb; and we can almost hear their anthems of praise,
set to music which no human heart can conceive of, that swell the
courts of heaven with the celestial cry of, "Holy, Holy, Holy
Lord God Almighty, who was, and who is, and who is to come!"
{231}
Heaven, a rest after the toils of life are over! Heaven, a reward
for fidelity! Oh! how good is the thought of heaven! How
necessary to many as a stimulant to practise virtue and persevere
therein! What a reward for a good life! The thought of heaven is
very good, for it encourages us when we grow faint-hearted; the
thought of heaven is that which prompts a man to abstain from
evil and do good, because he knows that heaven will be his
reward, and the loss of it his punishment. It is necessary; for,
without this thought being before the mind of a Christian, he
might give way to many an enticing temptation. It is far more
meritorious, also, than the thought of hell, just as an act of
__contrition__ is more meritorious than an act of
__attrition__; for the former excites us to sorrow for having
offended a good God, who has created us for heaven, and the
latter excites us to fear lest we incur the displeasure of an
angry God and be condemned to hell.
The Holy Church, as a stimulant to the doing of good, as an
encouragement to persevere under many difficulties and
temptations, and as a reward for all our labors in saving our
souls, ever keeps the thought of heaven before our minds. In the
Sacraments she does this.
{232}
The unregenerate cannot go to heaven because there is an
obstacle--original sin; it is removed in Baptism; and the
strength to fight in the spiritual warfare, is given by
Confirmation. She calls us to Confession, because something is
again between the soul and heaven, and that is mortal sin. She
absolves us, and sends us to Holy Communion, which is a foretaste
of heaven. She anoints the dying, that all the peculiar
temptations which attack them in the hour of death may be
overcome. She unites the "children of the saints" in Matrimony,
because marriage is a sign of the union of heaven and earth, and
gives the grace for the married couple to "marry in the Lord."
She ordains her clergy, that they may teach the way to heaven,
and distribute all those means of grace that are sure to bring us
there. So you perceive that this seems to be the leading thought
in the mind of the Church. It is the development of the response
to the question that every Catholic child can answer--Why did God
create you? "That I might know Him, and love Him, and serve Him
here in this world, and be happy with Him for ever in the next."
The thought of heaven conveys the greatest consolation to those
who in this world find but little happiness, and are surrounded
by peculiar difficulties in the practice of virtue. It gives
strength to those who grow tired of the spiritual life, and who
would give up were it not for this thought. Hence the thought of
heaven is good, necessary, and comforting.
{233}
The rest spoken of in the text is not for all, but only for the
people of God. Who are the people of God? They are the people of
God who are baptized and made members of the Catholic Church. But
not all will enter into that rest prepared for them, because
something more is necessary than simply being called by that
name. Baptism is a sacrament which requires those whom it admits
to be __heirs__ of the kingdom of heaven, first to answer
certain questions, and imposes certain obligations to be
observed. The priest says to the person to be baptized, "If thou
wilt enter into life, keep the commandments, love the Lord thy
God with thy whole heart, and thy neighbor as thyself." So you
see that, at this very instant, the thought of heaven is
suggested to the person, and the way to arrive there is clearly
shown. And, before the priest pours the sanctifying water on the
brow of the person, he says, "Dost thou renounce Satan and all
his works and all his pomps?" When the person promises, "Yes, I
do renounce them," then baptism is administered, and that person
takes his place in the world a Christian. But not all who are
called Christians are Christians indeed. Many do not live as
though they believed in a God, a church, a heaven, or a hell.
{234}
They follow the inclinations of their own sinful hearts, and live
up to the false maxims of this wicked world. They do not walk
according to the Spirit, but rather according to the flesh. They
look on life as something to be enjoyed to the utmost, and when
that is ended they consider all ended, body and soul. Ah! foolish
people! who thus deceive themselves, who are ashamed of the
religion of Jesus Christ, who violate without any remorse their
baptismal vows, who treat our Lord far worse than did the Jews of
old, for they never professed to believe in Him.
The way, then, to be a Christian in deed as well as in name is to
live up to that "perfect law of liberty," that law which was made
and given by God, which allows the highest kind of freedom to its
observers, and which ennobles and elevates man rather than
degrades him. This law is simple, and, if it is observed, all
things will go on peaceably. As of old, the saying was, "All are
not Israelites that are of Israel," [Footnote 88] so they are not
heirs of the kingdom of heaven who do not walk in the path marked
out for them to follow, or who do not fulfil the conditions
required for a holy life. "Not every one that says to me, Lord,
Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven: but he that doeth
the will of My Father who is in heaven." [Footnote 89]
[Footnote 88: Rom. ix. 6.]
[Footnote 89: St. Matt. vii. 21.]
{235}
And that will is made known to us all by the Catholic Church. She
is the ark that will bring us safe to the haven of rest. She sets
herself in array against the powers of this world and wicked men,
because she is holy; she is born of God, and divine; she does
this by her sacraments, her sacrifices, her laws, instructions,
missions, and her institutions of charity. She teaches men
reverence for holy persons and holy things; she teaches them to
venerate the name of their Creator; she tells them to sanctify
Sundays and holydays; she enjoins, under pain of eternal
death--which includes the loss of heaven--honesty, justice,
purity, sobriety, and all the other requirements of the
decalogue. She is not conformed to this world or its ways. The
world says: "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth." "If your
enemy strike you, strike him back; if he calumniate you, never
forget it; if he do you an act of injustice, if he slander you,
treasure it up, do not forgive, but pay him back some day with
interest." The world says: "Eat and drink, grow rich in this
world's goods, have a gay time, make the most of life: heaven is
far away, and you will have opportunity to prepare when the time
comes for it." "Make plenty of money," says the world, "no matter
whether the business be just or lawful, you may get to heaven
after all; others worse than you have had time to do penance
before they died."
{236}
But the Holy Church says differently. She enjoins charity,
meekness, poverty of spirit, preparation for death. "If thine
enemy hunger, give him to eat; if he thirst, give him to drink."
[Footnote 90] "If a man strike thee on one cheek, turn to him the
other." [Footnote 91] "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs
is the kingdom of heaven." [Footnote 92] These are her lessons of
heavenly doctrine, which all must learn and put in practice, if
they would obtain entrance into the kingdom of heaven. And every
day she writes in letters of fire before our eyes: "In the hour
that ye think not, the Son of Man cometh."
[Footnote 90: Rom. xii. 20.]
[Footnote 91: St. Matt. v. 39.]
[Footnote 92: St. Matt. v. 3.]
So we perceive that man needs to pay attention to that immortal
soul of his just as much as to attend to his mortal body. And a
man cannot attend to a business of importance in a short time, of
which he has been ignorant all his life, and in which he has had
no practice, and therefore very little experience. It would be a
difficult task, indeed, for a man who has been nothing but a
salesman in a store all his life, to become a scientific
artificer, or to undertake to discharge the duties that devolve
on a professor of the higher branches of science, because he has
never given any thought or study to these things. So will it be
very, very difficult for that Catholic to properly prepare for
heaven after long years of neglect of the means to obtain it,
and, because he has never thought about it, it will be hardly
possible for him in his last hours to make proper preparation for
it.
{237}
The mind will be so absorbed with the past, and so perplexed as
to the future, that he cannot give his famishing soul the
nourishment that it needs. The death-bed scenes of worldly-minded
men certify to the truth of this. They have viewed heaven as
something to be thought about in the future, and intended to
prepare for it, but all of a sudden sickness prostrates them, and
when told they will never hear another sermon, never attend
another Mass, the trouble begins not so much about their soul as
about their body and the business of this world.
But thanks be to God! while there are those who are walking on
that broad and pleasant way which many, too many, find, and which
leads to destruction, there are many faithful Christians who,
even though some of them have but little or no comfort here, are
looking forward, and hastening unto that reward which awaits
those who love our Lord Jesus Christ. Heaven, to them, is no
gloomy word. Heaven does not make them regret leaving this world,
with all its fleeting joys, for heaven is a most interesting and
important subject to them. Heaven is the reason of all their
hopes, the reward of all their prayers, fastings, and other good
works.
{238}
To the pious and virtuous, the thought of heaven is the polar
star which guides them to their eternal happiness, To the poor
and desolate, it opens the celestial country where flow milk and
honey, and where the foot is never weary, where all tears are
wiped away from their eyes, and where the sweetest consolation of
an eternal reward awaits them. The thought of heaven brings the
young to give their hearts early to God. It leads them to their
first Confession, and encourages them to make their first
Communion, so that, by keeping God's holy laws, they may receive
the crown of life. The thought of heaven helps the old, who are
weak and trembling, for they receive new strength when they see
the evening of their lives, and view the dawning of that happy
land, the Canaan of the children of God.