passions; and when he was crucified, he spoke words which were destined to open the paths of moral progress to all humanity: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." It was the Jews who crucified Jesus by their will; but the Roman soldiers performed the outward action. When the multitude demanded his execution, Pilate delivered him up to their will by consenting to his death, and the crowd, always greedy for such spectacles, followed him with shouts and insults; but he was in the hands of the Roman soldiers who were charged with the execution of the sentence.

$296. According to Mark and Matthew, the Roman soldiers crucified Jesus; and according to Luke, it was the Jews.

We adhere to what we have just said. The Jews condemned Jesus by their moral act, and it was Pontius Pilate who judicially condemned Jesus to death. It was also the Jews who accompanied Jesus to watch over his execution; but the Roman soldiers executed the sentence, as the executioner fulfils the sentence of death pronounced by the judge. The narratives are designed to bring into relief both. the moral and material actions. Luke referred to the purely moral act of the Jews, which, in this case especially, was worse than the material act. The Roman soldiers were only passive instruments. Do you accuse the axe which falls on the neck of the innocent, for the unjust sentence which condemns him? Does not the whole responsibility rest on the erring judge or jury, and not on the executioner, or the iron which he uses? Matthew and Mark referred to the outward act.

The narrative of John (xix. 14–18, 23), which should not be isolated from those of the other Evangelists, included both the material and the moral action. The moral, in saying (v. 18) that the Jews crucified Jesus, and the material in saying (v. 23) that the soldiers effected the crucifixion.

all ultra-mundane influence to admit spiritual facts. The phenomena which attended the apparent death of Jesus were produced by the spirits around him, who were incalculably numerous.

It was necessary to strike the gross and ignorant masses with consternation, and to appeal to the material senses of those who only recognized matter; and the partial earthquake produced by the combination of fluids, and the vapour which obscured the light of day for a short time, were more effective than the miracles of mercy and charity which Jesus had been working for three years.

The darkening of the sun and the darkness which covered the earth were produced by opaque fluids collected and combined by the action of spirits. The earthquake was a partial phenomenon, affecting that part of the country where the Jews, who had pursued Jesus with hatred and insult were assembled. It extended to the Temple, where the priests and elders had returned after the execution. It was a purely spiritual phenomenon, which was effected by a simple combination of the requisite fluids. Ordinary earthquakes are a planetary crisis in the work of the progressive transformation of your world, and are produced by volcanic shocks, which are more or less violent in proportion to the distance and depth of the agency. But this earthquake was due to other causes, and did not differ, except in power, from those which disturb a room or furniture, and move objects before your eyes. but the agency was the same. also a physical phenomenon, produced by the same direct, but occult action of the spirits of the Lord, and took place at the same time as the shock which affected the Temple.

The action was stronger, The rending of the rocks was

Let it not be objected that the spirits used means unworthy of their character and elevation, and had recourse to jugglery. We reply beforehand to such criticisms that the Lord has placed in the hands of his servants the means required for the direction of the worlds, and the conversion of men ; and these means are employed according to the circumstances and necessities of the period.

(Matth. xxvii. 52, 53.)-This narrative reproduces the human idea (with its miraculous character and marvellous circumstances) of visible apparitions of spirits. The ignorance and prejudice of the men of that age were incapable of understanding and explaining the fact, and they believed in a corporeal resurrection by the return of a spirit into its corpse, which it either resumed in its decomposition, or reconstituted from the dust. The Apostles and Evangelists shared in the ignorance and superstition of the masses, in this respect.

The spirits who manifested themselves assumed forms which might be recognized, and make a greater impression on the people. We say assumed, for these manifestations were not produced by elevated spirits, but by good spirits of a relatively inferior order. The elevated spirits whose likeness the others assumed, and who were called, in the figurative language suited to the age, "the holy ones at rest," were the prophets, and those whose austere and just lives had earned public admiration. Thus, when the passage is interpreted in spirit and in truth, it simply signifies, "Spirits made themselves visible to the eyes of men." "They were seen by many"—i.e., by those who were, unknown to themselves, gifted with the faculty of seeing medianimically.

The Centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus witnessed the earthquake and the other phenomena which took place under their eyes at the very moment when Jesus uttered a loud cry. They were seized with terror; and as they supposed that the wrath of God was manifested before their eyes against the iniquity of the execution, they said, "Truly this was a just man; truly this was the Son of God." These two expressions here imply the same idea; and the term Son is not to be understood as descent, though it afterwards gave rise to the human dogma of the divinity of Christ, according to human interpretations, under the empire and veil of the letter.

tations and controversies, and still continue to do so. They do not mean that a man whose life has been one of crime and violence will be exempted from all expiation or reparation by the mere fact of his repentance, but only that by quitting life at such a moment, he is ready to enter on the path of progress which will lead him rapidly to well-doing. In fact, as regards the spirit, Paradise is not, as you have supposed, a place of escstatic blessedness, without an object, and with no hope of improvement. It is, on the contrary, the entrance to the luminous path which permits the spirit to behold the prize reserved for its labours. It is the comprehension of the future, joined with the ardent desire of attaining it.

It is in this sense that Jesus promised the penitent thief admission into Paradise, where the sufferings caused by remorse for past faults are a joy to the spirit who perceives the progress that he may make. Then Jesus himself would show him, by his good spirits, the road that he must follow, and the happiness which would await him at last.

§ 299. The Catholic Church has based on these words of Jesus her system of reprobation and grace, and indulgence granted to faith, independently of works, and has placed the penitent thief among the blessed from the mere fact of his sincere repentance, which she styles "perfect contrition."

This is a false interpretation of the Master's words, which have been understood literally, and not according to the spirit. We have just told you that the words of Jesus mean, "As soon as I resume my proper station, by returning to my own spiritual nature, you will re-enter spiritual life, and will see clearly both the path which you must follow, and the goal to be attained."

It is true that repentance is one means of attaining to profitable expiation, activity in experiences, and perseverance in the future. Sincere repentance is the removal of a bandage from the eyes of a blindfolded man, and he then perceives the dazzling light before him, and desires to attain it; but it is none the less needful that he should set out on the road. He can see the obstacles better, and overcome

them easier, and arrive at the goal more rapidly; but you must never forget that it will be given to each according to his works. Good works blot out evil ones; but the guilty spirit can only advance by reparation.

MATTHEW, CHAP. XXVII.-VERSES 45-50. MARK, CHAP. XV.-VERSES 33-37. LUKE, CHAP. XXIII. Verses 44, 46.

Apparent death of Jesus.

Matth. xxvii. (45) And from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land, until the ninth hour. (46) And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani ? that is, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? (47) And some of those who were standing there heard him, and said, This man calls for Elijah. (48) And immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, and filled it with vinegar, and having put it on a reed, gave him to drink. (49) And the rest said, Let him be; let us see whether Elijah will come to save him. (50) And Jesus cried out again with a great voice, and yielded up his spirit.

Mark xv. (33) And when it was the sixth hour there was darkness in the whole country until the ninth hour. (34) And at that hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani; which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, wherefore hast thou forsaken me? (35) And some of those who were standing by heard it, and said, Behold, he calls Elijah. (36) And some one ran and filled a sponge with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink, saying, Let him be; we will see if Elijah will come to take him down. (37) And Jesus, having cried with a loud voice, expired.

Luke xxiii. (44) And it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole country until the ninth hour. (46) And Jesus, having cried out with a loud voice, said, Father, into thy hands Í commit my spirit; and saying these words, he expired.

$300. The words of Jesus have been misinterpreted. Could he have been abandoned by the Lord when he had accomplished his mission? When the Divine Model left his tangible perispritic body on the cross, and his spirit regained its liberty, he cried out, "Lord, all is accomplished; here am I." We give you these words exactly, by the Master's orders.

In order to explain the various narratives of the Evangelists, we must explain what actually took place, and relate the facts with historical precision, likewise by the Master's orders.

After speaking to the penitent thief, Jesus uttered a loud