Part I, Faith: The Eleventh and Twelfth Articles of the Creed: The Last Things

1. DEATH.

Every day some eighty-eight thousand men die ; that is, one death per second.

1. At death the soul is separated from the body, and enters the world of spirits; the body decays, and falls into dust.

St. Paul speaks of death as a dissolution (2 Tim. iv. 6), and St. Peter calls the body a tabernacle of the soul (2 Pet. i. 14). The body is, as it were, a shell through which the soul breaks to enter in its new life. " The soul is freed from its prison at death," is the expression of St. Augustine. The body, deprived of the soul, is no longer alive, because it has no longer the principle of life. At death the spirit returns to the God Who gave it (Eccles. xii. 7). "Death," says St. John Chrysostom, " is a journey into eternity." Hrnee it is wrong to believe with the ancient Egyptians that the soul is joined to other forms, whether human or animal ; and those too are mistaken who think that the soul enters into a sort of sleep till the day of judgment. After death the body returns to the dust from which it came (Gen. iii. 19) ; exception was made, however, in the case of the bodies of Christ and of His blessed Mother; and the bodies of some of the saints have been preserved free from corruption to the present day. At the last day our bodies will all rise again. Death is represented symbolically as a skeleton carrying a scythe, with which he cuts short our lives as the reaper mows the grass of the field (Ps. cii. 15) ; he is also represented carrying a key to open to us the gates of everlasting life.

2. All men must die, because death is the consequence of original sin,

Our first parents lost by their sin the gift of immortality, and as a consequence we all have to die. " By one man sin entered into the world and by sin death ; and so death passed upon all men, in whom all have sinned" (Rom. v. 12). Death is the punishment of man's ambition to be as God. Henoch (Gen. v. 24) and Elias (4 Kings ii. 11) alone were removed from earth without dying, and they are to return before the Last Day, and then die; St. Thomas teaches that even those who survive till the Day of Judgment shall die. Christ alone was not under the law of death because He was free from all sin ; His death for us was a purely voluntary act. " Life," says St. John Chrysostom, " is a play in which for a short time one man represents a judge, another a general, and so on; after the play no further account is made of the dignity which each one had." We are all like so many chess-men, who at the beginning of the game have our fixed places on the board, but at the end are all tumbled into a box. The rich man cannot take his riches along with him (Job xxvii. 15). After death many who have been the first on earth shall be last, and the last first (Matt. xix. 30). Our days upon earth

The Apostles' Creed. 255

are but a shadow (Job viii. 9) ; our years shall be considered as a spider's web (Ps. Ixxxix. 9) ; life is a vapor which appeareth for a little while, and afterwards shall vanish away (Jas. iv. 15). The hour of our death is unknown to us. We shall die when we expect it not (Matt. xxiv. 44); death will come like a thief (Matt. xxiv. 43). To use the expression of St. Ephrem, death is like the pounce of the hawk, or the spring of the wolf. St. Gregory of Nyssa compares life to a torch, which a slight puff of wind may put out. To some of the saints the hour of their death has been revealed, but from most men it is hidden. We see in this arrangement the action of God's wisdom and goodness. Since we do not know the hour of our death, we should always be ready to die : " Wherefore be you also ready, because at what hour you know not the Son of man will come " (Matt. xxiv. 44). The parable of the ten virgins (Matt, xxv.) is another warning on this subject. " Death is a great lord," says St. Ephrem, " waiting on no one and demanding that all wait upon him." As a man lives, so he dies. Those who put off reforming their lives are like those students who begin to study when the examination is already upon them.

3. Death is terrible only to the sinner, in no wise to the just.

To the sensual and self-seeking only is death fearful, for it means the end of their enjoyment and the beginning of woe. " The death of the just man," says St. Vincent Ferrer, " is like the pruning of a tree preparing it to bear nobler fruit in the future; while the death of the sinner is the uprooting of the tree before it is cast into the fire." " For the just man there is no death but a passing into everlasting life." The saints rejoiced in death, desiring like St. Paul to be dissolved and to be with Christ (Phil. i. 23). St. John Chrysostom compares the desire of the saints for death with that of a traveller for the end of his journey, or a farmer for his harvest; in another place he speaks of death as of a change from a tumbledown cottage to a beautiful mansion. " O how sweet it is to die, if one's life has been a good one ! " exclaims St. Augustine. It is not the kind of death, but the state of the soul that is important : " As the tree falls so shall it lie," says Holy Writ (Eccles. xi. 3); so it is with man: as his will was directed on earth, so shall it be directed after death. Happy the man whose will has been always fixed on God; in other words who has in his heart the love of God and sanctifying grace; he will see God. Unhappily, many are bent solely on things of the earth, those, for instance, who love the world and are not in the state of grace ; they remain separated from God forever.

4. In order to secure a happy death, we should in our dailyprayer ask God to grant us a happy death, and of our own accord detach ourselves now from earthly goods and pleasures.

He dies a happy death who is reconciled with God, and has put his worldly affairs in order. We ought often to pray that God may give us the grace to receive the last sacraments before dying. It is also a duty to make a will in good time; to do this is to behave like a prudent captain who heaves his cargo overboard to avoid shipwreck. A sudden death is not a thing to be desired, for we cannot

256 Faith.

then, put into order our spiritual or temporal affairs ; hence we pray in the Litanies : " From a sudden and unprovided death deliver us, O Lord." The Church often recalls the thought of death, on All Souls, Ash Wednesday, by the passing-bell, etc. The thought of death is useful for keeping us out of sin : " In all thy works remember thy last end, and thou shalt never sin " (Ecclus. vii. 40). Whoever thinks seriously of death will take as little pleasure in the things of the world as the condemned criminal in a good meal; he is another Damocles, with the sword hanging over him by a hair. Every day's sunset is a reminder from God of death, and sleep is an image of it. We ought to detach ourselves even now from earthly goods and pleasures. After death our eyes will no longer see, nor our ears hear, nor our tongues speak; and we should prepare for that state by our voluntary restraint now. We should crush the curiosity of the eyes and the ears, our unruly speech and inordinate enjoyment of good, following the counsel of St. Basil : " Let us die that we may live." The good works which the Church imposes on us, such as prayer, fasting, and almsdeeds, are nothing but a loosening of the heart from earthly ties. Only those who have this detachment shall see God after death : " Blessed are the clean of heart for they shall see God" (Matt. v. 8).

2. The Particular Judgment

1. Immediately after death follows the particular judgment.

" As soon as the soul leaves the body," says St. Augustine, " it is judged." We learn from the parable of Dives and Lazarus that both were judged immediately after death. St. Paul tells us : " It is appointed unto man once to die, and after this the judgment" (Heb. ix. 27) . In the hour of death God will say to us : " Give an account of thy stewardship" (Luke xvi. 2). After judgment comes the sentence. If God has ordained that the workman should not be kept waiting for his wage, it is not likely that He will delay to reward him who has labored faithfully. " Death is the reward of merit, the crown of the harvest" (St. Ambrose).

Christ will sit as Judge in the particular judgment. He will examine our whole lives, and will deal with us as we have dealt with our fellow-men.

Christ will be our Judge: "For neither doth the Father judge any man, but hath given all judgment to the Son " (John v. 22). He promised His apostles at the Last Supper to return after His ascension and take them to Himself (John xiv. 3). Evidently this meant at their death ; of St. John too He said : " So I will have him remain till I come" (John xxi. 22). The apostles rejoiced at the thought of seeing Christ again (1 John iii. 2) ; so long as they were in the flesh they were in some sense far from Christ (2 Cor. v. 6). We are not to imagine that the soul is led before Christ in heaven. He enlightens the departed soul in such a manner that it is quite convinced that its Saviour has passed a true judgment upon it. " As lightning cometh out of the east and appeareth even into the west, so shall

The Apostles' Creed. 257

also the coming of the Son of man be " (Matt. xxiv. 27) ; that is, as Blessed Clement Hofbauer puts it, at our death, when Christ comes to us, our whole life will be revealed to us with the rapidity and clearness of lightning. A man's works shall be revealed at his death (Ecclus. xi. 29). All those who have been near to death say that in that moment all sorts of things long forgotten and occurring in childhood are presented to the mind. At death, too, our most secret deeds are brought to light: "For there is not anything secret that shall not be made manifest, nor hidden that shall not beknown and come abroad" (Luke viii. 17). We must give an account even of every idle word that we have spoken (Matt. xii. 36). St. Basil compares the soul to an artist who has produced a number of pictures; at the hour of death the veil is removed from these, and they cover him with glory, or if they prove to be wretched work, condemn him to disgrace. As the sun reveals to us the floating particles in the air, so when the Sun of justice shines into our souls we shall see there even our slightest faults. " On the Day of Judgment," says Louis of Granada, " God will wear the same aspect to us as we have shown in our lifetime to our neighbor." God is, as it were, a mirror, reflecting most perfectly the image of him who looks into it. " With what measure you mete, it shall be measured to you again" (Matt, vii. 2).

2. After the particular judgment the souls of men go into hell, or heaven, or purgatory.

W© see from the parable of Dives and Lazarus that the sentence of the judge is carried out at once (Luke xvi.). The Church has defined that those who have not sinned after Baptism, and those who having sinned after Baptism, have expiated those sins on earth or in purgatory, are received at once into heaven; while those who die in mortal sin descend at once to hell (Council of Lyons, ii., 1274). St. Gregory the Great and St. Justin taught the same in their time. Those are in error who believe, as in the Greek schismatic Church, that the souls of the just have merely a foretaste of their blessedness after death, and have complete happiness only when they are joined to their bodies, and that the wicked experience full damnation only after the resurrection. They are very few who enter heaven at once, for : " Nothing defiled can enter heaven" (Apoc. xxi. 27). According to Bellarmine it is seldom even that a just man escapes purgatory. All have it in their power to be saved, but not all use their graces. After the particular judgment there is to be a general judgment; in the former the soul receives its punishment or reward for the evil or good it has done; in the latter the body shares in the dispensation as the instrument of the soul.

3. HEAVEN. Heaven is an abode of everlasting joy.

Christ gave His apostles on Mount Thabor some foretaste of the joys of heaven (Matt. xvii.). The heavens opened at the baptism of ^ Christ (Matt. iii. 16). St. Stephen saw the heavens open (Acts vii. 55). St. Paul was rapt into the third heaven (2 Cor. xii. 2).

258 Faith.

Heaven is both a place and a state. Many divines teach that it is somewhere beyond the stars; though this view is not of faith, yet it has some foundation, for Christ came down from heaven, and ascended again to heaven. Heaven is also a state of the soul; it consists in the vision of the Godhead (Matt, xviii. 10), and in the peace and joy of the Holy Spirit (Rom. xiv. 17) ; so the angels and saints do not leave heaven when they come to our assistance. Christ is the King of heaven. He called Himself King before Pilate, though He maintained that His kingdom was not of this world (John xviii. 36); He was acknowledged as King by the penitent thief: " Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom " (Luke xxiii. 42) ; in heaven the angels worship Christ (Heb. i. 6). Heaven is our true home; on this earth we are but strangers (2 Cor. v. 6).

The joys of heaven are unspeakably great: the blessed are free from even the slightest pain; they enjoy the vision of God and the friendship of all the inhabitants of heaven.

Of the joys of heaven St. Paul writes : " Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, what things God hath prepared for them that love Him" (1 Cor. ii. 9). " This happiness may be felt, but not described," says St. Augustine. And David addresses God : " They shall be inebriated with the plenty of Thy house, and Thou shalt make them drink of the torrent of Thy pleasure" (Ps. xxxv. 9). "The present life," says St. Gregory the Great, " in comparison of everlasting bliss, is more like death than life." We shall enjoy there the same delights as God Himself (Matt. xxv. 21), for we shall be made partakers of the divine nature (2 Pet. i. 4) and like to God (1 John iii. 2). We shall be transformed in heaven like the iron in the fire. In heaven there are many mansions (John xiv. 2) ; the kingdom of heaven is like to a banquet (Matt, viii. 11; Luke xiv. 16), in which Our Lord Himself waits upon the guests (Luke xii. 37). In heaven there is no bodily, only a spiritual food (Tob. xii. 19) ; there is a great light (1 Tim. vi. 16) ; there are heard the songs of the angels (Ps. Ixxxiii. 5). The saints are robed in white (Apoc. vii. 14) ; they are crowned by their Lord (Wisd. v. 17) ; they have perfect freedom, and are set over all God's works (Matt. xxiv. 47). "If, O my God, Thou dost give us such beautiful things here in our prison, what wilt Thou do in Thy palace ! " exclaims St. Augustine. Lastly the joys of heaven are not sensual (Matt. xxii. 30). The blessed are free from all suffering. "It is easier," says St. Augustine, " to name the evils from which the blessed are free than to count up their joys." They shall neither hunger nor thirst (Apoc. vii. 16) ; death shall be no more, nor mourn ing, nor sorrow (Apoc. xxi. 4) ; and night will no more be (Apoc. xxii. 5). The blessed see always the face of God (Matt, xviii. 10); they see God as He is (1 John iii. 2), and face to face (1 Cor. xiii. 12) ; nor do they see God as it were in an image, but He is as present to the understanding as a visible object to the eye which sees it. The blessed enjoy this vision not by any power of their own, but by a special divine operation, called the light of glory, and in consequence of this they become like to God (1 John iii. 2). This vision of God is the source of untold happiness. " The blessed," says St. Bonaventure, " rejoice more over (rod's blessedness than over their

The Apostles' Creed. 259

own." " If the contemplation of creation is so sweet," says St. Charles Borromeo, "how much more so must be the contemplation of the Creator ! " With the knowledge of God is necessarily linked the love of God, and increase of one means increase of the other. Hence this great joy banishes all sadness. The blessed in heaven also love one another; they are as one (John xvii. 21). " The love of the elect in paradise," says Blessed Suso, " is so great that souls removed at an infinite distance from one another love with a greater affection than that which exists between parent and child." " It is love alone," says St. Augustine, " which separates the children of the eternal kingdom from the children of perdition. What happiness to meet again our relations and friends after so long and painful a separation ! "

The joys of heaven last forever.

Christ says : " The just will enter into everlasting life." The Holy Spirit will be united with them forever (John xiv. 16). This joy no man can take from them (John xvi. 22). No one can snatch them from the hand of the Father (John x. 29). Great kings and princes support their dependents even when these are no longer capable of rendering service; surely God, Who is the King of kings, will not be less generous. His reward is eternal, the only one worthy of Him. Were it not so, the joy of heaven would be incomplete from the fear of its coming to an end.

1. The happiness of the blessed varies according to their merits.

The master in the gospel of St. Luke (xix. 16, etc.), gave to the servant who had used his ten talents to gain other ten talents the command of ten cities, and to the one who had successfully used his five talents the command of five cities. Thus God acts, and in so doing acts with the greatest justice. St. Paul says : " He who soweth sparingly shall also reap sparingly, and he who soweth in blessings shall also reap of blessings" (2 Cor. ix. 6). The just see in heaven the triune God, yet some see Him more perfectly than others according to their merits (Council of Florence). "One is the glory of the sun [Christ], another the glory of the moon [Mary], and another the glory of the stars [the saints] " (1 Cor. xv. 41). The knowledge and love of God are greater in one saint and less in another; and the same is true of the joy of heaven. Men are intended to take the place of the fallen angels, and of these there are some from all the nine choirs of angels. The degree of glory in heaven depends on the amount of sanctifying grace which a man has at his death (Eccles. xi. 3) ; in other words the degree of glory is greater in proportion as a man has at his death more of the Holy Spirit, or more of the love of God in his heart. The degree of glory in the blessed cannot be increased nor diminished throughout eternity; yet there are accidental delights, as for instance when special honor is paid to a saint. Our Lord revealed that there is a particular joy in heaven when a sinner is converted (Luke xv. 7). The canonization, beatification, the feast day of a saint on earth, the prayers, the holy sacrifice, and other good works which the faithful perform on earth in honor of a saint are a special source of joy to that saint, St. Gertrude saw on such occasions the saints clothed in more resplen-

260 Faith.

dent raiment, and surrounded by a glorious escort; they seemed also to be raised to a state of greater bliss. Yet among the blessed there is no envy. They are all children of one Father and have received their portion from Him (Matt. xx). To use the homely illustration of St. Francis de Sales: two children receive from their father a piece of cloth to make a garment; the smaller child will not envy his brother the bigger garment, but will be quite satisfied with the one that fits him. So it is in heaven, and more than this, each one rejoices over the happiness of the other as though it were in some measure his own.

2. Only those souls enter heaven which are free from all sin, and from the penalty due to sin.

According to the Council of Florence, the souls only of those who after Baptism have not sinned, or who, if they have sinned, have done perfect penance on earth or in purgatory, can enter heaven. "Nothing defiled can enter heaven" (Apoc. xxi. 27). Moreover none could enter heaven before the death of Christ ; they had to remain in limbo.

3. Heaven is won by suffering and self-denial.

St. Paul writes : " By many tribulations must we enter the kingdom of God" (Acts xiv. 21), and Christ's words are: " He that loveth his life shall lose it, and he that hateth his life in this world keepeth it unto life eternal" (John xii. 25). i.e., he who goes after all the joys and pleasures of this world will be damned, and he who despises them will be saved. There is no blessedness without self-denial. The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure or a costly pearl; whoever will possess it must give his all for it (Matt. xiii. 44-46), i.e., he must give up all inordinate attachment to the things of this world. " The kingdom of heaven suffers violence " (Matt. xi. 12). " Narrow is the gate and straight is the way that leadeth to life " (Matt. vii. 14). He wins the prize in the race who runs swiftly and steadily, and refrains from all things (1 Cor. ix. 25). He who would be among the blessed must be a martyr at least in intention. The greater efforts we make to secure salvation, the greater will be our joy.

4. For the just heaven begins already on earth.

" While we seek life eternal we already enjoy it," says- St. Augus tine. The just have the true peace (John xiv. 28) ; they have the peace of God which surpasses all understanding (Phil. iv. 7) ; hence they are joyful even when fasting (Matt. vi. 17), and in the midst of sufferings (Matt. v. 12). The just possess the Holy Ghost, hence they are, even while still on earth united with God (1 John iv. 16). Christ ever dwells in their hearts (Eph. iii. 17) ; they have within them the kingdom of God (Luke xvii. 21). "Think of the reward and thou wilt suffer with joy," says St. Augustine. The sufferings of this world are not to be compared with the glory which shall be manifested unto us (Rom. viii. 18). "If we think of the joys of heaven, the things of this world will appear worthless" (St. Gregory the Great). "He who stands on a hill-top," says St. John Chrysostom, " either does not see objects in the valley, or they appear to him very small."

The Apostles9 Creed. 261

4. HELL. 1. Hell is the abode of everlasting torment.

The unhappy rich man of the Gospel prayed Abraham to send one from the dead to his brothers " that they might not come to this place of torments" (Luke xvi. 28). In His discourse on the general judgment Christ speaks of hell as "everlasting punishment" (Matt, xxv. 46). Hell is both a place and a state. As a place it is situated beneath the earth. Hence the expression in the Creed " Descended into hell"; and we call hell an abyss. In the exorcisms we find the expression : " God has cast you from the heights of heaven into the bowels of the earth." Hell is sharply defined from heaven; between them yawns a chasm (Luke xvi. 26). The lost are separated from the saints (Matt. xxiv. 51). With good reason St. John Chrysostom exhorts us not to inquire so much where hell is as how to avoid it. Hell is a state, and moreover the continuation of that same state in which the sinner is found at death. " Thus," says St. John Damascene, " the pains of hell are due not so much to God as to man himself." Since hell is also a state, it is quite clear that the evil spirits may be near to us (1 Pet. v. 8), and even dwell in sinners (Matt. xii. 45). Even the pagans believed in a hell; hence the story of Tantalus, condemned to suffer perpetual hunger and thirst, and unable to satisfy either, because the water which he tried to drink or the fruit which he attempted to eat withdrew from his lips; the Danaids, condemned to draw water in sieves, and Sisyphus, forced ever to push a great rock to the top of a hill only to see it roll down again, furnish other examples of this belief.

The torments of hell are terrible; for the damned never see God, they are in the company of evil spirits and in fire, they endure great anguish of mind, and after the resurrection will have to suffer in their bodies.

St. Paul says: "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God " (Heb. x. 31). St. John of the Cross teaches us that as a hundredfold is promised for every sacrifice that is made, so for every unlawful pleasure indulged in, a hundredfold penalty must be paid. St. John Chrysostom applies the words of St. Paul on heaven to describe hell : " Neither eye hath seen nor ear heard, nor hath it entered the heart of man to conceive what God has prepared for them that love Him not " (1 Cor. ii. 9). Christ calls hell an " unquenchable fire " (Mark ix. 44), because the sensation of burning is the greatest pain which man can conceive on earth. In other places He speaks of the " outer darkness " (Matt. xxii. 13) because the damned never see God, the source of eternal light. It is the place where there is " weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matt. viii. 12), where the^'worm never dies" (Mark ix. 43), and conscience never ceases to reproach the damned. Christ also speaks of the lost as "bound hand and foot," to show that they have no freedom and are in a place of banishment. From the words used by Christ to the damned : " Depart from Me, into everlasting fire" (Matt. xxv. 41), we learn that they have a double pain; they are banished from the vision of God (pain of loss),

262 Faith.

and condemned to suffer torment (pain of sense). The pain of loss is the greatest of the sufferings of hell. The greater the value of what is lost, the greater is the pain of the loss. " The damned have lost what is of infinite worth, hence their pain is infinite," says St. Alphonsus. How keenly does he suffer who is cut off from the sight of the beauty of creation by blindness; yet how much greater is his suffering who is deprived of the sight of the infinite beauty of God (St. John Damascene). The possession of God, the highest good, is the end of every rational being. This is evident from the way in which man in this life strives after the greatest happiness. This longing increases after death, for then the things of earth no longer distract the mind, nor can they give any more satisfaction. What an awful fate if this longing can never throughout eternity be satisfied ! In the words of St. Augustine: "It is right that he who rejects God should be rejected of God." The sorrow of Esau in the loss of his father's blessing is but a type of the sorrow of the damned for the loss of the vision of God. The saints have trembled at the mere thought of this loss. The damned have no communication with the blessed. They may see them as the rich man saw Lazarus : " They see them not to their joy, but to their sorrow," says St. Vincent Ferrer, " they see them as a hungry man may look on a plenteous table which he may not touch." Besides this the damned have much to suffer from evil spirits; and it is meet that those who sided with and subjected themselves to the evil spirits on earth should be of their company after death. We are warned in the book of Job and in the case of the possessed persons in the Gospel, how cruel the devil is when he has a little power. What an awful experience it must be for the damned in hell, where the devil has full power ! The damned in hell cause one another great suffering; for they hate one another. In that region of hatred of God there is no love of God. Hence the numbers in hell only increase its torments. Moreover fire will torture the lost souls. " They shall be sunk in fire like fish in the sea," says St. Alphonsus. And we learn from the teaching of Christ (Luke xvi. 24) and the holy Fathers that this fire is a real fire. Even on earth God punished by fire the sins of Sodom and Gomorrha (Gen. xix. 24; 4 Kings i. 14). "If," says Bellarmine, "the soul can be united to the body so as to suffer in company with it, so can the soul be reached by this avenging fire." Is it so much beyond almighty power that God could not call into being all those sensations in the soul, which the latter had while in the body ? It is probable also that the fire of hell is not like fire as we know it on earth. Our fire destroys; that of hell does not consume but rather preserves, as salt preserves meat (Mark ix. 48) ; our fire gives light, while in hell there is darkness (Matt. xxii. 13). Our fire warms, while the fire of hell is accompanied by an insupportable cold, and moreover it is much more painful ; " Our fire," says St. Vincent Ferrer, " is cold in comparison with that of hell." The soul suffers also from continual remorse of conscience. The lost are given up to despair; they recognize what fools they were to reject God's grace so often, and to prefer a passing pleasure to eternal happiness. How unhappy they are in losing forever that God Who loved them so much ! And their shame is ever present, for their sins are revealed to all, and those whom they despised and laughed to scorn on earth are now in honor.

TJie Apostles' Creed. 263

" They will be tortured with envy," says St. Anthony, " for they will envy the blessed their glory." Our experience on earth teaches us that mental suffering is often greater than bodily pain; suicides confirm this. After the resurrection the lost will have to suffer also in the body: "They shall come forth to the resurrection of judgment" (John v. 29). All their senses will receive punishment; the sight by darkness, the hearing by the wailing and cursing of the other lost souls (Matt. viii. 12), the taste by hunger (Luke vi. 25) and thirst (Luke xvi. 24), the smell by the unbearable stench, and the sense of touch by the torture of heat and cold. Other pains may be added ; for instance, we read of wicked men whose bodies were devoured by worms (Acts xii. 23).

The tortures of the damned are eternal.

Satan with his followers is cast into a pool of fire and brimstone, where he will be tormented day and night forever (Apoc. xx. 10). In hell there is no redemption, for the day of grace is gone (John iii. 36). Life in hell is the "everlasting death" or "second death" (Apoc. xxi. 8), for a life without joy and full of torture is rather death than life. " O Death ! " says Innocent III., " how sweet wouldst thou be to those to whom thou wert so bitter ! " Christ tells us that the pains of hell are eternal ; He calls the fire of hell an everlasting fire (Matt. xxv. 4-1), the torment of hell eternal (Matt. xxv. 46). So too teaches the Church in the Council of Trent. The error attributed to Origen (254 A.D.) that the punishment of hell came to an end was condemned by the Church (Council of Constan tinople, ii., 553). "Eternal woe is due to him who destroys in himself eternal good," says St. Augustine. Our judges on earth inflict lifelong punishment on criminals, and even a sentence of death.

The torments of the damned are not all alike, but vary according to the sin.

"The punishments in hell are not all alike" (Council of Florence). According to St. Thomas they are as various as the sins committed on earth; they depend on the nature, number, and gravity of the sin. Those who have lived in pleasure shall be punished by a corresponding amount of suffering and torment (Apoc. xviii. 7). The inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrha will have a lighter judgment than that city which rejected the apostles (Matt. x. 15).

2. The souls of those who die in mortal sin go to hell.

By grave sin a man cuts himself off from God ; and in that state is like a branch broken off from Christ the vine, which withers and is cast into the fire (John xv. 6). The souls of those who die in mortal sin go at once into hell (Council of Lyons, ii.). In particular the following go to hell: the enemies of Christ (Ps. cix. 1), all those who refuse to believe in the Gospel (John iii. 18), the impure, thieves, covetous, railers (1 Cor. vi. 10), all who have neglected the talents given to them by God (Matt. xxv. 30) ; many who were among the first on earth (Matt. xix. 30). Those, too, who die with only original sin on their souls (unbaptized children) go to hell; (i.e., are excluded from the vision of God), but are not visited with the suffer-

264 Faith.

ings of those who have committed actual sin (Council of Lyons, ii.). A single mortal sin, done however secretly, is enough to send a man to eternal perdition.

Sinners begin their hell even on earth.

The wicked are like the raging sea which can never rest (Is. Ivii. 20). Every sinner sits in "darkness and in the shadow of death" (Luke i. 79). To him the lessons of religion are folly (1 Cor. ii. 14). It is in the hour of death that the worldling will awake to his misery ; at present he feels it not, because he is distracted by a thousand things. Think often about hell ; the thought will keep us from sin. " Often go down to hell during thy lifetime, that thou mayst not have to go after death" (St. Bernard). "He who despises hell or forgets it," says St. John Chrysostom, " will not escape it."

5. Purgatory

1. Purgatory is a place where the souls of those must suffer for a time, who, though dying without grave sin on their souls, have not done complete penance for their offences against God.

Judas Machabeus was convinced that the souls of those who had died in battle with idols on them had to be punished, and for that reason ordered sacrifices to be offered for them in Jerusalem (2 Mach. xii. 43). " The stains which the soul has received during its sojourn in the body must be removed by the purging fire," says St. Gregory of I^yssa; and St. Gregory I^azianzen tells us that in the future life there is a baptism of fire, a hard and weary baptism, to destroy what is earthly in man. As to the situation of purgatory, most of the saints seem to think it is beneath the earth ; hence the prayer of the Church : A porta inferi, etc. (" From the gates of hell deliver him, O Lord ! ") and the De Profundis (" Out of the depths I have cried to Thee, O Lord"). Some also believe that many souls, for a time at least, suffer their purgatory in those places on earth where their sins were committed, and that they are often present at the prayers which are offered for them. It is certain also that the holy souls have appeared to many saints, e.g., to St. Teresa, St. Bridget, St. Philip Neri. As to the state of the holy souls, the saints are of opinion that they suffer in all resignation to God's will. St. Catherine of Genoa tells us that God fills them with His love, so that their greatest pains become tolerable. Moreover the knowledge that they will finally attain the vision of God and that they are secure of their eternal salvation, gives them great consolation. " Besides," as St. Frances of Rome tells us, " they are comforted by the prayers of the faithful on earth, and the blessed in heaven, and by the visits of holy angels." " The consciousness that they are making atonement to God and suffering for Him makes them courageous as martyrs " (St. Catherine of Genoa).

The holy souls suffer in purgatory to expiate either their venial sins, or those mortal sins, which, though absolved, have not been completely atoned for.

TJie Apostles' Creed. 265

Venial sins are visited with temporal punishment, as in the case of Zachary who doubted the angel, or Moses. Mortal sins also, though repented of and put away, are often visited with temporal punishment, as in the case of Adam and David. The Council of Trent (6, 30), teaches that whoever does not satisfy completely for his sins on earth, must do so in purgatory. So on earth a man may be punished by a fine ; if he does not pay it he must go to prison. Hence we should not be satisfied with the penance given us by our confessor; we should add something of our own. Much may be done by patient enduring of sickness or willing acceptance of death. Not even the least sins should be neglected ; they must all be atoned for.

The sufferings in purgatory include exclusion from the vision of God and other great pains.

Hence the prayer: "Grant rest to the souls of the faithful departed, and let perpetual light shine upon them." When we burn candles by the coffins or on the graves of the dead, we pray that the poor souls may be admitted to the sight of God. Apart from the duration, there is no distinction between the torments of hell and those of purgatory (St. Thomas). "The same fire," says St. Augustine, " burns the lost and the saved." Hence we see why the Church, in the "Requiem Mass, prays God to deliver the souls from the pains of hell (Benedict XIV.). St. Augustine tells us that the pains of purgatory are greater than the sufferings of all the martyrs ; and St. Thomas teaches that the least pain in purgatory is greater than the greatest on earth. " All the tortures that one can conceive of in this world are," says St. Cyril of Alexandria, " refresh ing, compared with the least pain of purgatory."

The greatness and duration of the sufferings in purgatory vary according to the gravity of the sins.

St. Augustine tells us that those are longer in the purging fire who have been more attached to the goods of this world; that those who have grown old in sin take longer to pass through the cleansing stream. The foundation Masses going on for centuries, lead us to suppose that some souls have to suffer through many generations of men; were this impossible the Church would have abolished such Masses. Catherine Emmerich, in her revelations, says that Our Lord descends into purgatory every Good Friday, and frees one or more souls of those who had been witnesses of His Passion. Even where the punishment has lasted only an hour, we are told by St. Bridget, that it appears intolerably long. Those who wear the scapular are assured of a considerable shortening of their sufferings. Several saints hold the view that some souls suffer no pain but are merely excluded from the vision of God. According to St. Mathilda the sufferings in purgatory are in intimate relation to the past sins. St. Bridget saw souls suffering most in those things in which they had sinned most; and St. Margaret of Cortona saw some who could not be released till the evil done by them on earth had been made good.

2. That there is a purgatory we learn from the teaching of Christ, and especially from the practice and doctrine of the Church,

266 Faith.

Moreover, it is a remarkable fact that nearly all the nations of the earth believe in a purging fire. In addition we know from sound reason that there must be a purgatory.

Christ's words are : " He that shall speak against the Holy Ghost, 'it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world nor in the world to come" (Matt. xii. 32); He compares purgatory to a prison: " Amen, I say to thee, thou shalt not go out from thence till thou repay the last farthing" (Matt. v. 26). And St. Paul adds that many shall be saved, yet so as by fire (1 Cor. iii. 15). The practice of the Church in the following points reminds us of purgatory: the prayer for the dead said in every Mass (the Memento after the Consecration) ; the Masses for the dead, in particular those on All Souls' Day, on the day of death and burial, and on anniversaries; the passing-bell (which calls upon us to pray for the departed), and the solemnities on All Souls' Day, which were first introduced in 998 by the abbot Odilo of Cluny, and later extended by the Popes to the universal Church. St. John Chrysostom reminds us that " the practices of Christians are not meant for mere show, but that they are ordained by the Holy Spirit." The bishops of the Church at Florence (1439), and Trent (1445-1463) expressly defined that there is a purgatory. The idea of purgatory is common among the nations. The Egyptians believed in the transmigration of souls into animals. Among the Greeks we have the story of Prometheus, condemned to be bound to a rock and his liver gnawed by a vulture, because he stole fire from heaven. The Jews had the same belief, for they offered sacrifice for the dead, as we saw in the case of Judas Machabeus. The early Christians were accustomed to pray for the dead during the holy sacrifice. St. Augustine relates that his mother St. Monica, on her death-bed, said to him and his brother : " Bury me where you will ; only, I pray you, think of me always at God's altar." St. John Chrysostom declares that the Christians from the very beginning prayed during Mass for the dead by order of the apostles. St. Cyril of Jerusalem writes : " It is of great service to pray for the dead when the holy sacrifice is being offered." Hence the oldest Mass-books contain prayers for the dead. Reason also teaches that there must be a purgatory. We know, for instance, that nothing defiled can enter heaven (Apoc. xxi. 27) ; yet there is many a man not so wicked as to be lost forever ; and if he can enter neither heaven nor hell there must be a third place where he can be purified.

3. The faithful on earth can help the holy souls in purgatory by good works; in particular by prayer, fasting, alms-deeds, by offering or being present at Mass, by receiving the sacraments and gaining indulgences.

The holy souls cannot help themselves, since they can no longer do good works to satisfy for their sins. After death "the night cometh when no man can work " (John ix. 4). Hence they must payoff their debt by enduring the pains which God has laid upon them. Yet we on earth can help to diminish their pains by Masses, by prayer and almsgiving, and other works of piety (Council of Lyons, ii., 1274) ; the holy sacrifice is of all things the most helpful to

The Apostles' Creed. 267

them (Council of Trent, 25), and according to St. Bonaventure the offering of holy communion is of very great assistance. " Not by weeping," says St. John Chrysostom, " but by prayer and almsgiving are the dead relieved." No pompous funeral nor profusion of wreaths are of any avail without good works ; it is far more to the purpose to give to the poor the money which is spent on idle show. As to the prayers, God does not regard so much their length as their fervor. Christ once said to St. Gertrude : " A single word from the heart has far more power to free a soul than the recital of many prayers and psalms without devotion ; the hands are cleaned better by a little water and much rubbing than by merely pouring a large quantity of water over them." We are not to conclude from this that in ordinary cases a short prayer, an Our Father, for instance, will at once set free a soul. " For," says Maldonatus, " God would be very cruel if He kept a soul, for which He had shed His own blood, in such terrible suffering for the sake of an Our Father which had been omitted." The Church uses holy water in the burial service because it has great efficacy for the holy souls. But the greatest help which we can give is the Heroic Act, that is, the resignation in their behalf of all the satisfaction made to God by our good works. Those who make this act gain, every time they approach the Holy Table, a plenary indulgence applicable to the holy souls ; and priests, who make the Heroic Act, have, every day they say Mass, the personal privilege of a privileged altar (Pius IX., Sept. 10, 1852).

The relatives of the departed are bound to help them.

To them apply the words of Holy Writ: "Have pity on me, at least you my friends, because the hand of the Lord hath touched me " (Job xix. 21). God sometimes reveals the unhappy state of the dead to their relatives. In the year 202 St. Perpetua saw in a dream her young brother imprisoned in a dark place, all covered with dirt, and parched with thirst. She began to offer up fervent prayer for him, and soon after he appeared again to her but this time beautiful and happy (Meh. vi., 413). When St. Elizabeth of Thuringia received news of the death of her mother Gertrude, Queen of Hungary, she began to pray and scourge herself with disciplines, and soon she had the satisfaction of seeing her mother in a vision, and of knowing that she was delivered from purgatory. Yet we should not rely too much on the good works which our relatives may do for us after death; for the proverb comes often only too true : " Out of sight, out of mind ;" and besides, after all, the works done for us after death can avail us only to a limited extent. " One Mass devoutly heard during life," says St. Anselm, " is of more value than a great sum left for the celebration of a hundred Masses after death." " God," says St. Bonaventure, "values more a little voluntary penance done in this life than a severe and involuntary satisfaction in the next."

Prayer for the dead is of great benefit to ourselves, for it is a work of mercy.

It might be objected that by doing too much for the -ioly souls, a man neglects himself. But this is not true. Prayer confers a blessing on him who is prayed for, and on him who prays. He who has pity on the holy souls will find in God a merciful Judge : " Blessed are the

268 Faith.

merciful, for they shall obtain mercy " (Matt. v. 7) ; Christ accepts every deed of mercy as a favor done to Himself (Cf. Matt. xxv. 40) ; the departed also display their gratitude when they get to heaven. Says Marie Lataste : " Thou canst do nothing more acceptable to God or profitable to thyself than to pray for the holy souls; for they will be mindful of your favors in heaven, and will pray unceasingly for you . . . that you may become holier in life and be freed from purgatory soon after death." " It is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins " (2 Mach. xii. 46).

6. The Resurrection of the Body

The Jews had some sort of belief that the bodies of the dead would rise again. Job consoled himself in the midst of his suffer ings by the thought of the resurrection (Job xix. 25) ; so too the brothers Machabees (2 Mach. vii. 11) ; and Martha said to Jesus : " I know that my brother will rise again in the resurrection at the Last Day" (John xi. 24).

Christ on the Last Day will raise the bodies of all men from the dead, and unite them to the soul forever.

1. He often declared that He would raise the bodies of all men from the grave, and proved His power by miracles; this resurrection will be heralded by many signs in nature.

We proclaim in the Apostles' Creed that Christ will come to judge the living and the dead ; that is, He will call to life the bodies of those who are already dead, while for those who survive till that day such a change will take place in their bodies that in a moment they will die and awake again to a new life (1 Thess. iv. 16) ; those will arise who are in the grace of God as well as those who are in mortal sin (John v. 28 ; Matt. xxv. 31) ; and this resurrection will take place in a moment (1 Cor. xv. 52). Christ announced that He would raise the dead to life again : " The hour cometh wherein all that are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God. And they that have done good things shall come forth unto the resurrection of life; but they that have done evil unto the resurrection of judgment " (John v. 28, 29) ; on another occasion: " He that eateth My flesh and1 drinketh My blood hath everlasting life, and I will raise him up in the Last Day" (John vi. 55). Our Lord often compared death to sleep, e.g., when He said that the daughter of Jairus (Matt. ix. 24) and Lazarus (John xi. 11) were sleeping. In face of the fact of the resurrection death may well be called a sleep (1 Thess. iv. 13). The following miracles were performed by Christ in proof of His power to raise the dead ; the raising of the daughter of Jairus in her own house, that of the son of the widow of Nairn before the gates of the city, and that of Lazarus from the grave itself. We might add His own glorious resurrection and that of His Virgin Mother. In very truth Christ might say of Himself : " I am the resurrection and the life " (John xi. 25). Many natural phenomena show that the idea of the resurrection is in harmony with the rest of nature; for instance, our own periods of rest and activity, the reawakening of spring after the

The Apostles' Creed. 269

winter sleep; the change in many insects of the larva into the pupa, and of the pupa again into the butterfly ; the coming forth of the bird from the egg, the sprouting of the seed buried in the earth, and so on.

2. God will awake our bodies to life again to prove His justice, and to honor Our Redeemer.

If the soul only were rewarded, there would be a want of completeness ; " for," as Tertullian says, " there are many good works, such as fasting, chastity, martyrdom, which can be carried out in their perfection only in the body; hence it is right that the latter should share in the reward of the soul." God's justice demands that the body should take part in the triumph. Again, Tertullian reminds us that Our Saviour redeemed mankind body and soul. Had the body been unredeemed the devil would have secured a triumph by destroy ing it. Such a thought is unworthy. " By a man came death, and by a man the resurrection of the dead " (1 Cor. xv. 21).

3. As to the state of our bodies after the resurrection, we have the following facts: (1). After the resurrection we shall have the same 'bodies as we now have. (2). The bodies of the just will be glorious and those of the wicked hideous. (3). All the risen bodies will be without defect and immortal.

We shall have the same bodies after the resurrection: "For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality" (1 Cor. xv. 53). This we learn also from the Athanasian Creed. Even Job knew it to be true : " I shall be clothed again with my skin, and in my flesh I shall see my God " (Job xix. 26) ; and one of the Machabean brothers, in the midst of his torments, addressed the tyrant thus as his limbs were being torn away : " These I have from heaven but for the laws of God I now despise them; because I hope to receive them again from Him" (2 Mach. vii. 11). While St. Perpetua and her fellow martyrs were being exposed to the vulgar gaze of the heathens, she addressed them thus : " Look well and mark now our faces, that you may know them again in the Day of Judgment ; " and her words converted many of the bystanders. For this reason we rise in our bodies " that every one may receive the proper things of the body, according as he hath done whether it be good or evil" (2 Cor. v. 10). It is not beyond God's power to rejoin the scattered elements of our bodies ; if He could make that which had no existence, He can replace that which already has had an existence. St. Thomas teaches us that just as our bodies remain the same bodies over periods of ten or twenty years, in which time the component elements have been renewed again and again, so the bodies of the risen will be the same, even supposing they are not composed of the same identical elements as before. It is the thought of the resurrection that makes Christians careful in the burial of the dead, and in their veneration of the relics of the saints. Our risen bodies will not be all alike. " We shall all rise again ; but we shall not all be changed" (1 Cor. xv. 51). The bodies of the just will resemble the glorified body of Christ (Phil. iii. 21), and will have the following properties: they will be impassible (Apoc. xxi. 4), shining like the sun (Matt. xiii. 43), swift as thought, and capable of penetrating

270 -Faith.

matter. The word spiritual is sometimes used to describe the risen body, because the latter will be quite subject to the spirit and freed from earthly concupiscence (Luke xx. 35). The beauty of the body will be in proportion to that of the soul (Rom. viii. 11 ; 1 Cor. xv. 41). The most wretched cripple, if he has lived a good life, will have a beautiful body; while one who has had every personal charm and lived a bad life, will rise again to be an object of aversion. The bodies of sinners will have to suffer, and will be bound hand and foot (Matt. xxii. 13). The risen bodies will be without any defect. The martyrs will recover their limbs, and their wounds, visible like Christ's, will be glorious and resplendent. The risen bodies will also have no trace of old age, sickness, or mutilation. The wicked will have their bodies also complete, but for punishment; for the more perfect the body is the more it can suffer. All the bodies of the risen will be immortal (1 Cor. xv. 42). Just as in paradise the fruit of the tree of life gave immortality to the body, so now the Blessed Sacra ment in communion, for it is a pledge of the resurrection and of immortality (John vi. 55). The bodies of the damned are also immortal, but for their torment.

4. Belief in the resurrection is a great help to us; it consoles us in our sufferings, and comforts our relatives and friends when we come to die.

Job cheered himself with this reflection (Job xix. 25) ; and it was belief in the resurrection which gave the early Christians such courage and calm in the great persecutions. Christians who believe in the resurrection ought not to mourn for their dead like the heathen who have no hope (1 Thess. iv. 12). St. Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage (258 A.D.), used to caution his flock against such excessive grief, lest the heathen should come to think that the Christians had no firm belief in the life to come. Hence he considered it unbecoming to wear mourning for those who were rejoicing before the throne of God. Those only should be mourned for who died in mortal sin.

7. The General Judgment

1. Immediately after the resurrection the general judgment will take place.

For Christ has often said that after the resurrection all mankind will be assembled before Him to be judged.

The return of Christ as Judge was announced to the apostles by the angels on the occasion of Our Lord's ascent into heaven (Acts i. 11). Christ Himself spoke about the judgment in the following terms: (1). The form of a cross is to appear in the heavens announcing the coming of Christ : and the sight of it will fill the wicked with confusion (Matt. xxiv. 30). (2). Christ will come in great power and majesty (Matt. xvi. 27; Luke xxi. 27). Hence we cannot conclude that the divine essence will be manifested to all at the judgment, for this no man could see without being rapt in heavenly joy. According to St. Thomas, the lost will have some sort of perception of God's majesty and essence. Possibly they will see it as manifested

The Apostles' Creed. 271

through the veil of the sacred humanity of Christ at the Judgment. (3). The holy angels will accompany Our Saviour (Matt. xxv. 31). They helped to the salvation of mankind and now they will receive their meed of honor. (4). All the nations of the earth will be assembled before Christ seated on His throne (Matt. xxv. 32). (5). He will separate the sheep and the goats; the blessed will be placed on His right hand, and the lost on His left (Matt. xxv. 33). When the prophets speak of the judgment being held in the valley of Josaphat (Joel iii. 2), they do not mean that the nations will be gathered into that particular valley lying between Jerusalem and Mount Olivet; they mean simply that mankind will be assembled in the vale of the " judgment of God " (Josaphat in Hebrew means the judgment of God), i.e., in some place appointed by God for this judgment. We speak of the general judgment because angels as well as men will be judged (Jude 6), and of the Last Judgment because it will be held on the Last Day.

2. The general judgment will take place in order that God's wisdom and justice may be made manifest to all creatures. Christ will be Judge in order that the honor of which He was robbed may be restored to Him before all creation.

On this day God will reveal to men with what wisdom He disposed the career of mankind and of each individual, so that all might attain their end and be happy even on earth. It will then be seen how various kinds of evil, the sufferings and even the sins of men have been turned by God to their advantage. Much which the world now esteems foolishness will then be seen to have been wisdom. This judgment will also demonstrate God's justice; He will then bring forward what could not have been brought forward at the particular judgment. The deeds, words, writings, of many men have produced their results often only after their death ; what blessings, for instance, apostles and missionaries have conferred on whole nations, and what harm has been done by heretics, not only to their contemporaries, but to those coming after them. Christ will be Judge, this office demanding wisdom in an especial degree, and Christ is the eternal wisdom. Moreover He will be Judge because the honor due to Him was refused by so many and by all irreligious and godless men ever since. He was condemned as a malefactor by Pilate and, as the Apostle says, " Christ crucified was to the Jews a stumbling block, and to the Gentiles foolishness" (1 Cor. i. 23). Then will His enemies call upon the mountains to fall upon them, and the hills to hide them (Luke xxiii. 30) ; hence Christ's words : " For neither doth the Father judge any man, but hath given all judgment to the Son. That all men may honor the Son as they honor the Father" (John v. 22). When Christ was on earth He repudiated all judicial power : " I judge not any man" (John viii. 15). Christ is Judge at the Last Day because He became man : " The Father hath given Him power to do judgment because He is the Son of man " (John v. 27). God's mercy, too, has ordained that the Judge of mankind should be a man. No wonder St. Thomas of Villanova exclaimed in ecstasy, "Happy am I to have my Saviour for my Judge."

3. Christ will conduct the judgment in the following man-

272 Faith.

ner: He will reveal all, even the most hidden things, will exact an account from all men of the works of mercy they have or ought to have performed, and by a final sentence separate forever the good from the bad.

The general judgment is thus a solemn repetition of the particular judgment ; and it might also be called a repetition of the world's history, for each event will be represented to the eyes of the assembled multitude : " And the books were opened . . . and the dead were judged by those things which were written in the books accord ing to their works" (Apoc. xx. 12). The Lord "will bring to light the hidden things of darkness " (1 Cor. iv. 5). He " will search Jerusalem with lamps" (Sophon. i. 12). It is to the general judgment that these words of Our Lord apply : " There is not anything secret that shall not be made manifest, nor hidden that shall not beknown and come abroad" (Luke viii. 17). When the sun rises the snows melt and leave bare all that lies beneath them; so shall it be when the Sun of justice mounts the heavens. All sins will be revealed, and the revelation will be worse than hell to the sinner, while to the just there will be glory because they did penance. " The white robe of sanctifying grace," as St. Gertrude tells us, " will hide the sin, and instead of the stains which were removed by penance there will be ornaments of gold." All good works will then be revealed (Eccles. xii. 14), and the secrets of men's hearts shall be known (1 Cor. iv. 5). The martyrs will receive honor for the contempt which they endured, and sinners will exclaim as they look on the just: " These are they whom we had some time in derision and for a parable of reproach. We fools, esteemed their life madness and their end without honor. Behold how they are numbered among the children of God and their lot is among the saints" (Wisd. v. 3-5). Works of mercy will be required of every man (Matt. xxv. 34-36) ; the Gospel explains to us why the saints and all pious Christians are so eager in the performance of works of mercy. When people asked St. Elizabeth why she was so zealous in good works, she used to answer : " I am preparing for the Day of Judgment." There will be rio question then of riches or social position, for God is no respecter of persons (Rom. ii. 11); on the contrary: "to whomsoever much is given, of him much shall be required" (Luke xii. 48). The judgment will end with the sentence of the Judge, which will divide for ever the good from the bad (Matt. xxv. 46). This separation was foreshadowed in the parable of the cockle : " Gather up first the cockle and bind it in bundles to burn, but the wheat gather ye into My barn" (Matt. xiii. 30). Many friends and relatives will be separated forever on that day (Matt. xxiv. 40) ; many who were rich and powerful will be lost, and their dependents, or those who sued as beggars to them, will be saved. " Then, too," says St. Augustine, " creation will take on a new and glorious form, to correspond to the glorified bodies of the elect." " We look for new heavens and a new earth according to His promises, in which justice dwelleth " (2 Pet. iii. 13). The existing universe will be destroyed by fire, and this fire will purge those who have yet to do penance for sin ; and since there will be no purgatory after the Pay of Judgment the want of duration will be made up by the intensity of the pain; as for the just, they,

The Apostles' Creed. 273

like the three children in the furnace, will remain untouched by the flames. The thought of the judgment is a wholesome one. St. Methodius had a picture executed for the King of the Bulgarians, representing the dividing of the good from the bad at the Last Day; the king could never expel the image from his mind, and in consequence became a Christian and promoted Christianity with great zeal in his kingdom. In the Acts we read (Acts xxiv. 25) how Felix trembled when St. Paul spoke of the judgment to come; yet Felix does not seem to have acted up to grace, for he broke off the discourse and gave up St. Paul to the Jews.

2. The Day of Judgment is unknown to us, though certain signs have been revealed which are to herald its approach.

Christ said: " Of that day and hour no one knoweth; no not the angels of heaven, but the Father alone" (Matt. xxiv. 36). The knowledge of it would be of as little use as the knowledge of the hour of our death. St. Augustine recommends us to do now as we should do if to-morrow were to be the Last Day ; then we shall have no occasion to dread the coming of the Judge. Christ gave some signs of the approach of the Last Day (Matt. xxiv. 3, etc.), so that Christians might remain steadfast and courageous. The signs are :

1. The Gospel shall be preached to the whole world (Matt, xxiv. 14).

Some two-thirds of the world are still pagans.

2. The greater part of mankind will be without faith (Luke xviii. 8; 2 Thess. ii. 3) and immersed in things of earth (Luke xvii. 26, etc.).

Mankind will be much as they were in the days of Noe (Matt. xxiv. 38).

3. Antichrist will appear.

Antichrist is a man who will give himself out to be Christ, and by the help of the devil will perform many wonders (2 Thess. ii. 9). He will be a terror by the persecution which he will raise (Apoc. xx. 3-9). It is probable that he will choose for his kingdom Jerusalem and those places where Christ lived. Our Lord will kill him on the Last Day (2 Thess. ii. 8). Types and forerunners of Antichrist have existed from time to time (1 John ii. 18), "for the mystery of iniquity already worketh " (2 Thess. ii. 7).

4. Henoch and Elias will return and preach penance.

"Behold I will send you Elias the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to their fathers " (Mai. iv. 5) ; i.e., he will bring round the Jews to the sentiments of their forefathers, the patriarchs; Christ also foretold that Elias should come and restore all things (Matt. xvii. 11). Of Henoch we know that " Henoch pleased God and was translated into paradise that he may give repentance to the nations" (Ecclus. xliv. 16). Henoch and Elias will preach for three years and a half, and recover

274 FaitU.

many souls from Antichrist, who in the end will kill them, and their bodies will be left miburied. After three days and a half God will raise them to life again (Apoc. xi. 3-11).

5. The Jews will be converted.

The conversion of the Jews was foretold by Osee : " The children of Israel shall sit many days without king, and without prince, and without sacrifice, and without altar, and without ephod, and without theraphim. And after this the children of Israel shall return and shall seek the Lord their God and David their king; and they shall fear the Lord and His goodness in the last days " (Osee iii. 4-5) ; blindness was to be the lot of Israel until the fulness of the Gentiles should come in (Rom. xi. 25). Elias is to restore the tribes of Jacob (Ecclus. xlviii. 10).

6. Dreadful signs will appear in the heavens and great tribulations will come upon mankind.

" The sun shall be darkened and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens shall be moved " (Matt. xxiv. 29) ; war, pestilence, and famine shall come as at the time of the siege of Jerusalem (Matt. xxiv. 7, etc.). Men shall wither with fear and from expectation of the things that will come upon the earth (Luke xxi. 25).