the clergy is sufficiently numerous, and the 14 yellow lights in the triangular branch extinguished at the end of each psalm, one by one, leaving only that which is a white one at the top lighted; and at the end of every second verse of the Benedictus,' one of the lights on the altar is also extinguished, till the whole six are put out; and during the psalm Miserere, the white candle is taken from the triangular branch, and hid till the noise, which is made to represent the convulsed state of nature at the time of the death of her Maker, and then brought forth, and put lighted in the place, on the branch from which it was taken, which is to remind us that the divinity never was separated from the humanity.

"Maundy-Thursday, in memory of our Lord's last supper, when he instituted the blessed sacrament of his precious body and blood, so called from the first word of the anthem, Mandatum, &c. (John 13: 34), 'I give you a new command, that you love one another as I have loved you;' which is sung on that day in the church, when the prelates begin the ceremony of washing the people's feet, in imitation of Christ's washing those of his disciples before he instituted that blessed sacrament. On Maundy-Thursday there is but one Mass, the organ plays and bells ring during the Gloria in excelsis Deo, and then cease till the same begins on Holy Saturday. On this day two hosts are consecrated, one of which is left for public adoration the remainder of the day; and various decorations are usual in this country in honor of this solemnity of the blessed sacrament.

"Good Friday, the most sacred and memorable day, on which the . great and glorious work of our redemption was consummated by our Savior Jesus Christ on his bloody cross, between two thieves at Jerusalem. The sacred host continues exposed during the office, for there is no Mass on this day; the passion from St. John is read, the cross is uncovered with great solemnity, and the justly merited relative respect paid by the faithful, as to the image of that on which the redemption

1 "Benedictus" (= blessed) is the first word uttered by Zacharias in Luke 1: 68–78, and hence the name given to the entire prophecy.

2 “Miserere” (= have mercy) is the first word of Psalm li. [Ps. 1., in the Vulgate and Douay Bibles], and hence a common name of this penitential psalm.

"Mandatum" (= commandment) is the first word of the Vulgate in John 13: 34, which is in the English version, "A new commandment I give unto you," &c. ▲ “ Gloria in excelsis Deo" = Glory to God on high (see Chap. XIV.).

of mankind was completed.-There is a discourse in general on this occasion.

"Holy Saturday.-The great functions of this day were formerly done in the night, and are begun by blessing the fire, lighting the triple candle, blessing the paschal candle, and grains of incense, in form of five nails, which are stuck into it, reading twelve prophecies concerning the great events which those days represent, blessing the font for baptizing;...1 and the first Mass and vespers for Easter is said. On beginning the Gloria in excelsis Deo, the organ plays and the bells ring, which they had not done from the same time on Maundy-Thursday. From this day till the ascension, the paschal candle is lighted up at the gospel, to remind us that our blessed Savior was with us on the earth till his glorious ascension, instructing his apostles and faithful in all truths.

Easter-Day, in Latin Pascha [= passover], a great festival in memory and honor of our Savior's resurrection from the dead on the 3d day after his crucifixion (Matt. 28: 6)."

The Protestant view of the festivals and fasts of the Roman Catholic church may be presented in very few words. The authority for the institution of them is human, not divine; the multiplication of them and the enforced observance of so many impose an intolerable burden on industry and thrift and enterprise, encourage idleness and all its attendant evils, and tend undeniably to the profanation of the Lord's day and the extinction of vital godliness which are so notorious in all Roman Catholic countries. The observance of days and months and times and years was a characteristic bondage of the Mosaic dispensation, from which Christians are freed (Gal. 4: 9, 10. Col. 2: 16); but the observance of the Lord's day as the day of holy rest and religious worship and other special duties of the Christian life, is sanctioned by the New Testament (Acts 207. 1 Cor. 16: 2. Rev. 1: 10, &c.), and is essential to the physical and moral well-being of mankind. The showy and costly processions, the pompous and elaborate exhibitions of priests and trained artists, and the minute and careful atten

1 See Chapter XIV.

tion which is everywhere given by Roman Catholics to the outward forms, all tend to an undue exaltation of the visible and earthly at the expense of the spiritual and heavenly, to a supreme regard for the created and human, and a consequent neglect of the Creator and Redeemer and Lord of all. The regulations for fasting in Lent which are annually published in every diocese, the commandment of abstinence from flesh on Fridays and other days, and the enforcement of these manmade rules by all the terrors of excommunication and, where there is the power, by all the weight of legal penalties also, are an unwarrantable infringement of Christian liberty and a daring usurpation of the prerogative of the Supreme Judge. "Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth," are distinctive marks of those who "depart from the faith" (1 Tim. 4:1-3). To the priest, bishop, or pope, who claims to decide what and when another professed servant of Christ may eat and drink, and to punish that other for non-conformity to his decision, we may properly use those words which the apostle Paul himself addressed to the Christians at Rome:

"Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up; for God is able to make him stand. . . . For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost" (Rom. 14:4, 17).

CHAPTER XVII.

CONFESSION AND THE CONFESSIONAL.

Confession is defined in the "Catechism of the Council of Trent,"

“A sacramental accusation of one's self, made to obtain pardon by virtue of the keys."1

This catechism-and other catechisms and devotional works agree with it in substance-teaches that the institution of confession is most useful and even necessary; that this sacrament was instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ; and that it is obligatory upon all of both sexes, who have arrived at the use of reason, to confess their sins at least once a year. Frequent confession is warmly recommended, especially to those who have committed mortal3 sins. The minister of this sacrament, who is commonly called the "confessor," must be a priest possessing ordinary or delegated jurisdiction, it being provided,

1 The reference of course, is to Matt. 16:19. On this passage see the beginning of Chapter III. of this volume.

2 The proof-text quoted in the catechism is John 20:22,23. To this bishop Challoner in his "Catholic Christian Instructed" adds several others (Num. 5: 6, 7. Matt. 36. James 5:16. Acts 19: 18); but no Protestant would dream that any or all of these passages-not one of which mentions or implies special confession to a priest—were sufficient to establish the scriptural authority of such a practice; and certainly, when it is said (James 5:16), "Confess your faults one to another" (= mutually), the inspired writer inculcated confession of others to a priest no more than of a priest to them.

3 On the distinction between mortal and venial sins, see Chapter XVIII.

"that no bishop or priest, except in case of necessity, presume to exercise any function in the parish of another without the authority of the ordinary [= bishop]," though, “in case of imminent danger of death, . . . . it is lawful for any priest, not only to remit all sorts of sins, whatever faculties they might otherwise require, but also to absolve from excommunication." This catechism says expressly:

"According to the doctrine of the Catholic Church, a doctrine firmly to be believed and professed by all her children, if the sinner have recourse to the tribunal of penance1 with a sincere sorrow for his sins, and a firm resolution of avoiding them in future, although he bring not with him that contrition which may be sufficient of itself to obtain the pardon of sin, his sins are forgiven by the minister of religion, through the power of the keys. Justly, then, do the holy fathers proclaim, that by the keys of the church, the gate of heaven is thrown open; a truth which the decree of the Council of Florence, declaring that the effect of penance is absolution from sin, renders it imperative on all unhesitatingly to believe."

Collot's Catechism, translated by Mrs. Sadlier, and approved by the late archbishop Hughes, teaches that the virtue of absolution "is that of effacing sin and remitting eternal punishment.”

Secrecy is specially inculcated by the Roman Catholic authorities. Thus the "Catechism of the Council of Trent"

says:

"The faithful are to be admonished that there is no reason whatever to apprehend, that what is made known in confession will ever be revealed by any priest, or that by it the penitent can, at any time, be brought into danger or difficulty of any sort. All laws human and divine guard the inviolability of the seal of confession, and against its sacrilegious infraction the Church denounces her heaviest chastisements."

1 That is, the confessional, or place where the priest hears confessions, imposes penances, &c.