THE
CATECHISM
OF
THE COUNCIL OF TRENT.
PART III.
ON THE DECALOGUE.
THAT the Decalogue is an epitome of the entire law of God is the recorded opinion of St. Augustine. [1] The Lord, it is true, had uttered many things for the instruction and guidance of his people; yet two tables only were given to Moses. They were made of stone, and were called " the tables of the testimony," and were to be deposited in the ark; and on them, if minutely examined and well understood, will be found to hinge whatever else is commanded by God. Again, these ten commandments are reducible to two, the love of God and of our neighbour, on which " depend the whole Law and the Prophets." [2]
Imbodying then, as the Decalogue does, the whole Law, it is the imperative duty of the pastor to give his days and nights to its consideration; and to this he should be prompted by a desire not only to regulate his own life by its precepts, but also to instruct in the law of God the people committed to his care. "The lips of the priest," says Malachy, "shall keep knowledge, and they shall seek the law at his mouth, because he is the angel of the Lord of Hosts." [3] To the priests of the New Law this injunction applies in a special manner; they are nearer to God, and should be "transformed from glory to glory as by the Spirit of the Lord." [4] Christ our Lord has said that they are "the light of the world:" [5] they should, therefore, be "a light to them that are in darkness, the instructors of the foolish, the teachers of infants;" [6] and " if a man be overtaken in any fault, those who are spiritual should instruct such a one." [7] In the tribunal of penance the priest holds the place of a judge, and pronounces sentence according to the nature of the offence. Unless, therefore, he is desirous that his ignorance
