the Father, so, by the communion, which all the members of Jesus Christ's mystical body have one with another, are applicable to the faithful upon earth.
That our Lord Jesus Christ has given his Church the power to grant Indulgences, is evident from the inspired volume; for, 1st, he says to St. Peter: Thou art Peter . . . and I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, shall be loosed also in heaven. St. Matt, xvi 19. In which words our Saviour gives to St. Peter, as the Chief Pastor of his Church, an ample and universal power to conduct the faithful to heaven, by loosing them from every thing that might hinder them from going thither; provided, always, they be properly disposed, and perform the conditions required upon their part. Now, there are only two things that can hinder a soul from going to heaven, viz.: the guilt of sin, and the debt of temporal punishment; until that debt be paid, none can enter therein: consequently, our Saviour's saying, whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, shall be loosed in heaven, manifestly includes both, and assures us that, when the Chief Pastor looses the faithful from their sins in the sacrament of penance, or from the debt of temporal punishment, by granting an Indulgence, this sentence is ratified in heaven, and stands good in the sight of God himself. 2dly, On another occasion, declaring that he that will not hear the. Church— that is, the Pastors and Rulers of the Church — is to be considered as a heathen and a publican, he immediately says to these Pastors, in the person of all the Apostles: Amen, I say unto you, whatsoever you shall bind upon earth, shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever you shall loose upon earth, shall be loosed also in heaven. St. Matt, xviii 18. In which words, by the same reasoning as in the former ease, we see the power of granting Indulgences conferred on the first Pastors or Bishops of the Church, as successors of the Apostles. It is given to the head of the Church with regard to all the faithful, and to the Bishops of the Church With regard to that portion of the faithful committed to their charge, to be exercised by them under such regulations as the Church herself, in her sacred Councils, has judged proper to appoint. 3dly, St. Paul though not one of the twelve Apostles present with our Saviour when this power was given them, both exercised
