The Path To Heaven/Introductory
A TABLE
Of all the Feasts observed in England; with an obligation of hearing Mass and resting from servile works.
All Sundays in the year.
January 1 The Circumcision of our Lord, or New Year's day.
January 6 The Epiphany, or Twelfth-day.
June 29 St. Peter and St, Paul, Apostles.
August 15 The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
November 1 All Saints.
December 25 Christmas-day.
Ascension-day.
Carpus Christi-day (being 1st Thursday after Trinity Sunday). DAYS OF DEVOTION.
FEBRUARY 2 The Purification, or Candlemas-day.
24 St. Matthias, Apostle.
MARCH 19 St. Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin.
25 The Annunciation of the B.V. or Lady-day.
APRIL 28 St. George the Martyr.
MAY 1 St. Philip and St. James, Apostles.
3 The Finding of the Cross.
JUNE 24 The Nativity of St. John Baptist.
JULY 25 St. James, Apostle.
26 St. Anne, Mother of the Blessed Virgin.
AUGUST 10 St. Laurence, Martyr.
24 St. Bartholomew, Apostle.
SEPTEMBER 8 The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin.
21 St. Matthew, Apostle.
29 Michaelmas-day.
OCTOBER 28 St. Simon and St. Jude.
NOVEMBER 30 St. Andrew, Apostle.
DECEMBER 8 Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin.
21 St. Thomas, Apostle.
26 St. Stephen the Martyr.
27 St. John, Apostle.
28 Holy Innocents.
29 St. Thomas of Canterbury, Easter Monday and Tuesday. Monday and Tuesday in Whitsun-week.
For Ireland and Scotland, see p. 1004.
FASTING DAYS.
All the week-days of Lent, beginning on Ash-Wednesday.
The Wednesdays and Fridays in Advent.
Ember-days, four times a year, viz. the Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays—
1. Next after the first Sunday in Lent ;
2. In Whitsun-week;
3. Next after the fourteenth of September;
4. Next after the third Sunday of Advent.
DAYS OF ABSTINENCE PROM FLESH MEAT.
All Fridays, except when Christmas-day falls on a Friday.
VIGILS, WITH PASTS OF OBLIGATION ANNEXED TO THEM
1. The Vigil of SS. Peter and Paul, June 28.
2. The Vigil of the Assumption, August 14.
3. The Vigil of All Saints, October 31.
4. The Vigil of the Nativity of our Lord, December 24.
5. The Vigil of Pentecost. -
The solemnising of Marriage is forbidden from the first Sunday in Advent until after the Twelfth-day, and from the beginning of Lent
until Low-Sunday. An Abridgment of Christ Doctrine.
CALCULATED TO ASSIST THE MEMORY OF THE FAITHFUL.
The Ten Commandments of God. — Exodus xx.
1. I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, and out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt not have strange gods before me. Thou shalt not make to thyself a graven thing, nor the likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, nor of those things that are in the waters under the earth. Thou shalt not adore them, nor serve them: I am the Lord thy God, mighty, jealous, visiting the iniquity of fathers upon their children, unto the third and fourth generation of those that hate me; and shewing mercy unto thousands of those that love me, and keep my commandments.
2. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that shall take the name of the Lord his God in vain.
3. Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath-day. Six days shalt thou labour, and shalt do all thy works; but on the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: thou shalt do no work on it, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy beast, nor the stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and the sea, and all things that are in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it.
4. Honour thy father and thy mother, that thou mayest be long-lived upon the land which the Lord thy God will give thee.
5. Thou shalt not kill.
6. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
7. Thou shalt not steal.
8. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
9. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife.
10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, nor his servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is his.
The Six Precepts of the Church.
1. To hear Mass on Sundays, and all holidays of obligation.
2. To fast and abstain on the days commanded.
3. To confess our sins at least once a year.
4. To receive the blessed Eucharist at Easter.
5. To contribute to the support of our pastors.
6. Not to solemnise marriage at the forbidden times ; nor to marry persons within the forbidden degrees of kindred, or otherwise prohibited by the Church : nor clandestinely.
Seven Sacraments.
| Baptism | Matt, xxviii. 19. |
| Confirmation | Acts viii. 17. |
| Eucharist. | Matt. xvi. 26. |
| Penance | John xx. 23. |
| Extreme Unction | James v. 14. |
| Holy Orders | Luke xxii. 19. |
| Matrimony | Matt. xix. 6. |
The Three Theological Virtues.
Faith — Hope — and Charity.
The Four Cardinal Virtues
Prudence— Justice — Fortitude— and Temperance,
The Seven Gifts of the Holy Ghost — Isa. xi. 2, 5.
| Wisdom, | Fortitude, | The fear of the |
| Understanding, | Knowledge, | Lord. |
| Counsel, | Piety, | and |
The Twelve Fruits of the Holy Ghost.
| Charity, | Longanimity, | Fidelity, |
| Joy, | Goodness | Modesty |
| Peace, | Benignity, | Continency, and |
| Patience, | Mildness | Chastity. |
The Spiritual Works of Mercy.
To counsel the doubtful,
To instruct the ignorant,
To admonish sinners,
To comfort the afflicted,
To forgive offences,
To bear wrongs patiently,
To pray for the living and the dead.
The Corporal Works of Mercy.
To feed the hungry,
To give drink to the thirsty,
To clothe the naked,
To harbour the harbourless,
To visit the sick.
To visit the captive, and
To bury the dead.
The Bight Beatitudes.— Matt. v.
1. Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
2. Blessed are the meek; for they shall possess the land.
3. Blessed are they that mourn; for they shall be comforted.
4. Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice; for they shall be filled.
5. Blessed are the merciful; for they shall obtain mercy.
6. Blessed are the clean of heart; for they shall see God.
7. Blessed are the peacemakers; for they shall be called the children of God.
8. Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice sake; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
The Seven Deadly Sins, and the opposite Virtues.
| Pride, | -- Con -- | Humility. |
| Covetousness, | -- tr -- | Liberality. |
| Lust, | -- ary -- | Chastity. |
| Anger, | -- Vir -- | Meekness. |
| Gluttony, | -- tu -- | Temperance. |
| Envy, | -- es. -- | Brotherly love. |
| Sloth, | Diligence. |
Sins against the Holy Ghost.
Presumption of God's mercy — Despair — Impugning the known truth — Envy at another's spiritual good — Obstinacy
in sin — Final impenitence. Sins crying to Heaven for Vengeance.
Wilful murder — The sin of Sodom — Oppression of the poor — Defrauding labourers of their wages.
Nine Ways of being accessory to another's Sin.
By counsel — By command — By consent — By provocation — By praise or flattery— By concealment— By partaking — By silence — By defence of the ill done.
Three Eminent Good Works.
Alms-deeds, or works of mercy— Prayer — and Fasting.
The Evangelical Counsels.
Voluntary poverty — Chastity— and Obedience.
The Four last Things to be remembered.
Death— Judgment — Hell— and Heaven.
Subjects for Daily Meditation.
Remember, Christian soul, that thou hast this day, and every day of thy life,—
| God to glorify, | Heaven to gain, |
| Jesus to imitate, | Eternity to prepare for, |
| The angels and saints to in- | Time to profit of, |
| voke, | Neighbours to edify, |
| A soul to save, | The world to despise, |
| A body to mortify, | Devils to combat, |
| Sins to expiate, | Passions to subdue, |
| Virtues to acquire, | Death perhaps to suffer, |
| Hell to avoid, | And Judgment to undergo. |
A Summary
OF
CHRISTIAN FAITH AND PRACTICE;
OR
WHAT EVERY CHRISTIAN MUST BELIEVE AND DO IN ORDER TO SALVATION.
I. What every Christian must believe.
Every Christian must believe that there is one God, and no more than one God: that this God is a pure Spirit, the Lord and Maker of heaven and earth, who has neither beginning nor end, but is always the same; is every where present; knows and sees all things; can do all things whatsoever he pleases; and is infinite in all perfections.
2. Every Christian is bound to believe that in this one God there are three several Persons, perfectly equal, and of the same substance: the Father, who proceeds from none; the Son, who is born of the Father before all ages; and the Holy Ghost, who proceeds eternally from the Father and the Son; and that these three Persons are all equally eternal, equal in wisdom and power, and are all three one and the same Lord, one and the same God.
3. We must all believe that this God created the angels to be with him forever, and that one part of them fell from God by sin, and became devils; that God also created Adam and Eve, the first parents of all mankind, and placed them in the earthly paradise, from whence they were justly banished for the sin they committed in eating of the fruit of the forbidden tree; and that by this transgression of Adam we are all born in sin, and must have been lost for ever, if God had not sent us a Saviour.
4. We are bound to believe in this Saviour of all mankind, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, true God, and true man; perfect God from all eternity, equal to his Father in all things; and perfect man, from the time of his coming down from heaven for us, having a body and soul like us.
5. We must believe that this Jesus Christ, our Saviour, who had been long foretold by the prophets, was, at God's appointed time, conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary, by the power of the Holy Ghost, without having any man for his father, and was born of her, she still remaining a pure virgin: that, during the time of his mortal life, he founded the Christian religion by his heavenly doctrine and wonderful miracles, and then offered himself a sacrifice for the sins of the whole world, by dying upon a cross, to purchase mercy, grace, and salvation, for us; and that neither mercy, nor grace, nor salvation, either can, or ever could, since Adam's fall, be obtained any otherwise than through this death and passion of the Son of God.
6. We must believe that Jesus Christ, after he had been dead and buried for part of three days, rose again on the third day from death to life, never to die any more; and that, for the space of forty days, he was pleased, at different times, to manifest himself to his disciples, and then ascended into heaven in their sight; where, as man, he continually intercedes for us. From thence he sent down the Holy Ghost upon his disciples, to abide with them for ever, as he had promised, and to guide them and their successors into all truth.
7. We must believe the Catholic or universal Church of Christ, of which he is the perpetual Head, and his Spirit the perpetual Director; which is founded upon a rock, and is ever victorious over all the powers of death and hell. This Church is always one, by all its members professing one faith, in one communion, under one chief pastor, succeeding St. Peter, to whom Christ committed his whole flock; St. John xxi. 15, 16, 17. This same Church is always holy, by teaching a holy doctrine, by inviting all to a holy life, and by the eminent holiness of many of her children. She is Catholic, or universal, by subsisting in all ages, by teaching all nations, and maintaining all truth: she is apostolical, by deriving her doctrine, her communion , her orders, and her mission, by an uninterrupted succession from the Apostles of Christ.
8. With this Catholic Church, the Scriptures, both of the Old and New Testament, were deposited by the Apostles; she is, in her pastors, the guardian and interpreter of them, and the judge of all controversies relating to them. These Scriptures, thus interpreted, together with the traditions of the Apostles, are to be received and admitted by all Christians for the rate of their faith and practice.
We roust believe that Jesus Christ has instituted in his Church seven sacraments, or mysterious signs and instrumental causes of divine grace in our souls. Baptism, by way of a new birth, by which we are made children of God, and washed from sin. Confirmation, by which we receive the Holy Ghost, by the imposition of the hands of the successors of the Apostles; Acts viii. The blessed Eucharist, which feeds and nourishes our souls with the body and blood of 'Christ, really present under the forms of bread and wine, or under either of them. Penance, by which penitent sinners are absolved from their sins, by virtue of the commission given by Christ to his ministers; St. John xx., and St. Matt, xviii. Extreme Unction, which wipes away the remains of sin, and arms the soul with the grace of God in the time of sickness; St. James v. Holy Orders, by which the ministers of God are consecrated. And Matrimony, which, as a sacred sign of the indissoluble union of Christ and his Church, unites the married couple in a holy band, and imparts a grace to them suitable to that state; Eph. v.
10. We must believe that Jesus Christ has also instituted the great Eucharistic Sacrifice of his body and blood in remembrance of his death and passion. In this sacrifice he is mystically immolated every day upon our altars, being himself both priest and victim. This sacrifice is the principal worship of the new law, in which, and by which, we unite ourselves to Jesus Christ, and with him and through him we adore God m spirit and truth, give him thanks for all his blessings, obtain his grace for ourselves and the whole world, und pardon for all our sins, and those of the living and the dead.
11. We must believe that there is, in the Catholic or universal Church of God, a communion of saints, by means of which we communicate with all holy ones and in all holy things. We communicate with the saints in heaven, as out fellow-members under the same head, Christ Jesus; we give thanks to God for his gifts to them, and we beg a share in their prayers. We communicate with all the saints upon earth in the same sacraments, and sacrifice, and in a holy union of faith and charity. And we communicate with the faithful, who have departed this life in a more imperfect state, and who, by the law of God's justice, are for a while in a place of suffering, by offering prayers and alms and sacrifice to God for them.
12. We must believe also the necessity of divine grace, without which we cannot make so much as one step towards heaven; and that all our good and all our merits are the gift of God; that Christ died for all men; that God is not the author of sin; and that his grace does not take away our free will.
13. We must believe that Jesus Christ will come from heaven at the last day to judge us all; that all the dead, both good and bad, shall rise from their graves at the sound of the last trumpet, and shall be judged by him according to their works; that the good shall go to heaven with him, body and soul, to be happy for all eternity in the enjoyment of the Sovereign Good; and that the wicked shall be condemned, both body and soul, to the torments of hell, which are most grievous and everlasting.
II. What every Christian must do,
1. Every Christian, in order to life everlasting, must worship God as his first beginning and last end. This worship is to be performed, first, by faith, which makes both the understanding and the will humbly adore and embrace all those truths which God has taught, however obscure and incomprehensible they may be to our weakness. 2dly, By hope, which honours the infinite power, goodness, and mercy of God, and the truth of his promises; and, upon these grounds, raises the soul to an assured expectation of mercy, grace, and salvation, through the merits of Jesus Christ. 3dly, By charity, which teaches us to love God with our whole hearts, for his own sake, and our neighbours as ourselves, for God's sake. 4thly, By the virtue of religion, the chief acts of which are adoration, praise, thanksgiving, oblation of ourselves to God, sacrifice, and prayer, which ought to be the daily employments of a Christian soul.
2. We must fly all idolatry, all false religions and superstitions; under which name are comprehended all manner of divinations or pretensions to fortune-telling; all witchcraft, charms, spells, observations of omens, dreams, &c. All these things are heathenish, and contrary to the worship of the true and living God, and to that dependence a Christian soul ought to have on him.
3. We must reverence the name of God and his truth by a religious observance of all lawful oaths and vows, and by carefully avoiding all false, rash, unjust, or blasphemous oaths and curses.
4. We must dedicate some notable part of our time to his divine service; and, more especially, consecrate to him those days that he has ordered to be sanctified or kept holy.
5. Under God, we must love, reverence, and obey our parents and other lawful superiors, spiritual and temporal, and observe the laws of the Church and State; as also, we must have a due care of our children, and of others that are under ear charge, both as to their souls and bodies.
6. We must abstain from all injuries to our neighbour's person, by murder or any other violence; and from all hatred, envy, and desire of revenge; as also from spiritual murder, which is committed by drawing him into sin, by words, actions, or ill example.
7. We must abstain from adultery, and from all uncleanness of thoughts, words, and actions, and from every thing which may lead to such.
8. We must not steal, cheat, or any other way wrong our neighbour in his goods and possessions; we must give every one his own, pay our debts, and make restitution for all unjust damages which we have caused.
9. We must not wrong our neighbour in his character or good name, by detraction or rash judgment; or in his honour, by reproaches and affronts; or rob him of the peace of his mind, by scoffs and contempt; or of his friends, by carrying stories backwards and forwards. In all which cases, whosoever wrongs his neighbour is obliged to make restitution or satisfaction.
10. As we are commanded to abstain from all deeds of lust and injustice, so are we also strictly obliged to restrain all desires in these kinds, and to resist the irregular motions of concupiscence. So far the Ten Commandments; which are a short abridgment of the whole eternal and natural law, which
admits of no dispensation. Prayer
BEFORE ASSISTING AT THE DIVINE OFFICE, OR OTHER DEVOTIONS
O almighty, everlasting God, I, thy most unworthy creature, appear here before the throne of thy grace, desiring to pour out my heart before thee, and to worship thee, my God, as well and as perfectly as I can. Wherefore I begin and will faithfully continue this office [or, this prayer] in union with the love wherewith thy -Son worshipped thee, and wrought all the whole work of our redemption; beseeching thee that I may be enabled to pay thee a tribute of honour and praise like that which the most precious Humanity of Jesus and the most holy Virgin Mary rendered thee unceasingly. And to this end I offer these my prayers to thee, in the virtue and merit of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, in his name and in that of all thy holy angels and saints, to thy eternal praise and glory. I humbly implore thee to preserve me from ail distraction and dryness of spirit, and to enable me duly to bring thee this my appointed tribute of prayer and praise. Amen.
ASPIRATION BEFORE OFFICE.
O Lord Jesus, in union with the intention and love with which thou didst give praise to God the Father, I offer and will recite [or, assist at] this holy office.
The above prayers may he used in church before any service. They are taken from St. Gertrude.