How divine, and hence consoling, are the doctrines of the Catholic Church ? The Catholic Church alone satisfies the reason of the intellect, as well as the feelings and the aspirations of the heart. The Divine Author of our faith is the same God who stamped His own image on the soul of man, and breathed into his heart pure and warm love. The great Creator has lighted up the heart of man with ardent, tender love for family and friends. To-day the family chain is broken; there is a missing link, a loved and loving one is gone to her everlasting account; here we are consoled by the doctrine of purgatory. Separation from this vale of tears only purifies and intensifies our affections for the dear departed. How happy the children feel that they can kneel and pray over the graves of their fond parents, and help them to the enjoyment of eternal bliss! But more heartless and cruel than the tyrant death, and colder than the grave, is the Pro

testant Creed, that snaps all connection between the living and the dead, and sternly forbids the loving daughter to whisper a prayer for a fond mother or sister in pain beyond the grave.

Consoling and holy, because divine, in like manner is the doctrine of the Communion of Saints. Every Christian says in the "APOSTLES' CREED," "I BELIEVE IN THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS." Singular enough, Protestants retain the same Creed, make the same profession of faith; yet few appear to understand it, none to believe or practise it.

The Catholic doctrine of the Communion of Saints soars up, so to speak, to the highest and most purified affections and aspirations of the human heart, and strikingly illustrates the tender mercy of God.

A loved and loving member of the family circle departs this life, and wings her flight to paradise. The soul now lost, so to speak, in the blissful glory of God, vividly sees what it is to lose or win heaven. From St. Paul we know that faith and hope have ceased in heaven, that charity, the queen of virtues, reigns supreme; in fact, love is the essence of eternal blis. What, therefore, is more natural than the belief that the child pos

sessing the glory of God, looks down to those she loved on earth; looks, with a purer, holier, and more intensified love, to her fond parents, sisters, and brothers; watches over them, prays for them, never forsakes them, till with herself they reign with God in glory.

Nobody denies that friends on earth can pray for and help each other. What is more natural than to believe that this friendship is continued and intensified beyond the grave, and that the friendly soul, seeing the thousand temptations, dangers, and fearful risks to which her friend is exposed; and knowing the infinite and everlasting joys he can so easily obtain by a few years strife and fidelity, with unspeakably more energy and efficacy helps her friends to paradise.

There is another, and, perhaps, a greater consolation in the "COMMUNION OF SAINTS." THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS means, the mutual interchange of good offices between the Church militant and the Church triumphant; between us on earth and all the Saints of God in glory. We honour, respect, love them, and thank, and praise God for their glory and happiness; the Saints, on their part, take the deepest interest in our spiritual welfare, watch over us, and continually pray

and intercede with the Almighty for the salvation of our immortal souls.

It is encouraging, to know, therefore, that we, in our exile, in this vale of tears, exposed to countless temptations day and night, giving battle to three powerful and relentless enemies-the world, the flesh, and the devilthe road of salvation beset with inumerable pitfalls, dangers, and risks; it is, we repeat, encouraging to look up to heaven, and to be assured that we have in heaven a mighty army, countless millions of Angels and Saints, who look down upon us with sympathy, take a deep interest in, and help us, in our struggles, and intercede with God for our eternal salvation.

Each country has her natural heroes, men renowned for deeds of greatness, sacrifice, and courage. These heroes are immortalized by the brush and the chisel, by prose and song, and are kept before the eyes of each rising generation as models of imitation and emulation. The Church, too, has had, in every age, her heroes, men renowned for deeds of sacrifice and greatness; she has had her Apostles, Martyrs, Confessors, and Virgins; men who conquered the world, the flesh, and the devil; men who in human flesh have led the lives of Angels in heaven,

and the lustre of whose virtues shine brighter as age succeeds age. These are the models the Church holds up to the youth of every age to admire, imitate, or emulate.

SECTION III.

The Old Testament on the Invocation of Saints.

The doctrine of the Catholic Church, that the Angels and Saints pray for us, that God hears their prayers for us, and that "it is good and useful suppliantly to invoke them, and have recourse to their prayers, aid, and help, for obtaining benefits from God, through his Son Jesus Christ, our Lord, who is our sole Redeemer and Saviour," is clearly proved from the Old and New Testament, and from the tradition of the Church.

In the Old Law, Angels prayed, and God heard their prayers for His rebellious people. An Angel thus prayed for the city of Jerusalem: "And the Angel of the Lord answered, and said: O Lord of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem, and on the cities of Juda, with which thou hast been angry? this is now the seventieth year. And the Lord answered the Angel that spoke in me good words, comfortable