Course 3, Chapter 8: Christianity established. — Manners of the Christians, continued. — First Century

1. What did our fathers oppose to the laws of hatred and cruelty which prevailed among the pagans?

To the law of hatred and cruelty which prevailed among the pagans, our fathers opposed the law of universal charity; they fulfilled to the letter the command of our Saviour; Thou shall love thy neighbor «.s thyself.

2. Explain this answer?

In the first place, fathers and mothers loved their children; instead of destroying them either before or after their birth, they took the greatest care to preserve them; they considered them as a sacred trust, and used every means to instruct them and form them to virtue.

3. What was their greatest care V

Their greatest care was to keep their children from evil company and dangerous books; the Gospel was the only book they placed in their hands; they wished their children to be neat in their dress, but free from all extravagance and vanity.

4. Did fathers and mothers love each other also?

Fathers and mothers loved each other with a Christian love, which was manifested by a constant affability, affectionate kindness, unremitting attention

and above all, by frequent and unceasing prayers for the one who had not the happiness of being a Christian. The children imitated the example of their parents, they loved one another with the most sincere affection, they prayed together, and died side by side in the amphitheatres.

5. Did the first Christians all love one another? A. The first Christians so loved one another, that the astonished pagans exclaimed, " See how they love one another, and how ready they are to die one for another."

6. By what names did they call one another? A. To show the tenderness of their charity, they called one another father, mother, brother, sister, son, daughter, showing thereby that they all constituted but one family. This spirit of charity was evinced even towards the most distant churches.

7. Who were the particular objects of their charity?

The particular objects of their charity were the

ministers of the Lord, the poor, and above all, the

Christians condemned to the mines on account of the

faith.

8. Did our fathers in the faith love all men? A. Our fathers in the faith loved all men, even the pagans their persecutors; they extended to them all kinds of good offices, prayed for them, paid faithfully their taxes and acquitted themselves of all the duties of goo:l soldiers and good citizens. They also extended their charity to the dead, to the burial of whom they paid a special attention — they washed the dead bodies, embalmed them and wrapped them up in fine linen and cloth of silk — they prayed for them and gave alms for the repose of their souls.

264 CATECHISM OF PERSEVERANCE.