Course 2, Chapter 26: Of union with our Lord, the new Adam, by cnarity. First Commandment

1. Why is it necessary to observe the decalogue?

It is necessary because it is the great law given by God to men, and is the principle and sanction of aliother laws.

2. Is the decalogue very old?

The decalogue is as old as the world. God, in giving it to Moses, only wrote a law which was already existing: and our Lord came on earth to recall man to the observance of the decalogue, and set him the example.

3. Which is the first commandment?

" / am the Lord thy God who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, and out of the house of bondage. Thou shall not have strange god before me. Thou shall not make to thyself any graven thing, nor the likeness of any thing that is in the heaven above, or in the earth, or in the waters under the earth; thou shall not adore them nor serve them"*

4. To what are we obliged by the first command ment?

To adore God, and love him with all our heart. To adore God, is to acknowledge him to be the creator, preserver, and sovereign master of all things, and a being infinitely perfect.

5. How do we adore God?

We adore God by faith, whereby we acknowledge him to be truth itself; by hope, whereby we acknowledge him to be goodness itself; by charity, whereby we acknowledge him to be the infinite good; by the virtue of religion, whereby we manifest our faith, our hope, our charity, and our absolute dependence on him.

6. When are we obliged to make acts of faith, hope and charity?

We are obliged to make acts of faith, hope and charity; 1st, when we have attained the age of reason; 2d, when we are pressed by temptation; 3d, from time to time during life; 4th, at the hour of death.

7. What is the virtue of religion?

The virtue of religion is a habit by which we render to God the worship which is due to him. Man, jclng composed of a l»ody and soul, owes to God the

192 CATECHISM OF PERSEVERANCE.

homage of his whole being; hence the necessity of exterior as well as interior worship.

8. What are the sins opposed to the virtue of religion?

They are irreligion, superstition, and unlawful worship. We sin by irreligion, when we are wanting in respect for persons, places, or things consecrated to God. We, sin by superstition, when we render to things the worship due only to God; this is called idolatry; or when we have recourse to the devil, which latter is superstition properly so termed.

9. Which are the principal ways by which recourse is had to the devil?

The principal ways by which recourse is had to the devil, are magic, divination, sorcery, and heathenish observations of omens, dreams, and?uch like fooleries.

10. What is unlawful worship?

Unlawful worship consists in worshiping God in a manner different from what he prescribes. Unlawful worship and superstition are artifices of the devil, by which he would disfigure religion, detach men from God, draw them to himself, and finally destroy them.

11. Is it lawful to honor or pay reverence to the ungels and saints, to the crucifix and images?

Yes, it is lawful to pay reverence to angels, for ihey are the ministers of God and are our friends; to the saints, for they are our protectors, and their bodies were the living temples of the Holy Ghost; to the cross and to images, for they recall to mind our Lord and his saints; and the reverence we pay them is referred to the objects they represent.

12. Is the honor we pay to angels and saints the same as we pay to God?

No; the honor we pay to angels and saints is not the same as we pay to God; we adore God, but we do not adore the angels and saints; we pray to God to hear our prayer, and to the angels and saints to intercede for us.