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Show Catholic Doctrine I on Indulgence Communion of Saints Is Explained -The Relationship Between the Church Militant Suffering and Triumphant. f . (Art. I.) In St. Matthew's gospel, xvich, 19 v., we read: "And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou slialt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven." In order to. clearly understand the doctrine of the Catholic ehureii on Indulgences, In-dulgences, it is necessary, in the first place, to possess a full knowledge of the Catholic dogmas on which this teaching is based. These dogmas are termed the "communion "com-munion of saints," and the "spiritual treasure" o? the church. We say in the apostolic creed that we "believe in the communion of saints." I The word "communion" or "common union," denotes a binding together, a society of many individuals united in one, as various members in the same body. Hence, it is applied to society of the faithful, forming only one c hurch or one body, having Christ for its head and the holy ghost animating and enlivening en-livening it. The church may be viewed under three different aspects.. Those of the faithful, who, having ended their mortal mor-tal career, now enjoy the beatific vision in heaven, and constitute what is called the "church triumphant;" those detained de-tained in purgatory 'to pay any debts they may have contracted by sin. compose com-pose the "suffering church." In fine, those w ho, in this land of exile, in the midst of trials and temptations of various vari-ous kinds, and battling against them, make up what we call the "church militant." mili-tant." These- three bodies, distinct by reason rea-son of their different positions, form, in reality, only one body, one church, whose head is Christ. But. , to confine - ourselves-- to the church militant. The closest union exists ex-ists amongst, them: a union which ! neither distance of place, nor of manner or customs, can alter, since, to use the words of St. Paul, the Scythian and barbarian, the'freeman and the slave, are all one in Jesus Christ. "But Christ Is all and in all." (Coll. iii. 2.) . : This happy union, or rather, perfect unitywhich the Holy Ghost forms amongst "all" his members. Is what we mean by the "communion of saints." It is this unity which our divine Lord prayed for to his Father shortly before his death, "for his own." "Father, I pray to you for them, that my disciples may be all one, as Thou, Father, in me, and I in you, that they also maybe may-be one in us. . . . In them and thou in me, that they may be made perfect per-fect in unity." (St. John, xvii, 21:23.) Hence, the godlike unity exhibited, and, as it were, reproduced, in the church, wherein all tends to, or is, unity, agreeably to what St. Paul wrote to the Ephesians: Careful to preserve the unity of the Holy Spirit in the bond of peace. One body, and one spirit, as you are called in one hope of your calling. call-ing. One Lord, one faith, one baptism." (Eph.. iv, .3, 4. 5.) This unitv is what we have in the Catholic church, and in it alone. I "Next to the Divinity," says Bos-i Bos-i suet, "there is nothing so beautiful as j the Catholic church, wherein is dis- played a heavenly or divine unity." j In the same lecture this illustrious ! prelate cries out: "O holy church of j Rome, mistress of churches and mother of all the faithful: O church selected by God for the union of his children ; in the same faith and charity! To thy unity shall we always cling with all i ' the earnestness of our heart." ; From the fact that this unity exists therein, the same author concludes that the church is indefectible, and that ! the "gates of hell shall never prevail , ' against her." In other words, that j division, the source of weakness and I characteristic of hell, shall never cl- j stroy her unity, which is the touchstone touch-stone or principle of power and a. ; "mark of the true church." , Hence we see that all sects that scp- ; arate themselves from her, or from j , holy unity, become by that very fact detached bodies, disunited also amongst I themselves and destined to give way J sooner or later. ' ? Now. the sreat advantage of this I unity, this communion of saints, la ! that when by grace we are "living" , :' l members of the church, we have an immediate participation in all her spir- I itual treasures the holy mass, the sac- raments, divine offices, etc. for all these are her property, her dowry, and 1 from which, in virtue of that holy al- . i liance, each one of us - has his share. We are made partakers of all tho j ' merits of the faithful, just as in the j ! human body each member performs J -; its function for the common benefit of ' ! f the whole frame. "We are all," says ! j St. Paul, "every one, members of unu another." (Rom. xii. 5.) if "As in the natural body," says St. , Thomas, the angelic doctor, "the ac- ; I tion of each member contributes to i the well-being of the whole frame, so likewise in the spiritual body, the i S church." ' ' I Who, therefore, can doubt that it is I so in the "communion of saints." in the "communion of goods." in the one true I church of God? Therefore, hy prayer, fastings, almsdeeds, works of penance, : zeaT. acts of charity, etc., the truo j Christian assists in promoting the wel- ; fare of the whole- body and that of j f ach of its members. He imparts j I strength to the weaker brethren and shares his wealth with those who ar f in need, he being linked to them by j faith and charity. : Jn this way ne satisnes mo jjivim; 11. Justice, not only for himself, hut also j . for his brethren, thereby fulfilling the , f command of St. Paul. "Bear ye one another's burdens." (Gall. vi. 2.) j The faithful thus, by virtue of the "communion of saints," have power to j assist one another. f Hence, as we learn from Tertullian. ,- 5 St. Cyprian and others, the pastors of '. I the church often granted to repentant sinners a remission from the canonical punishments to which they were sub- j. jected. at the entreaty of some of the J martyrs, when on the point of martyr- dom. the martyrs took upon them- ; selves to offer their sufferings in behalf be-half of their brethren. - ' So much regarding the dogma of the . "communion of saints," a dogma so i plain, so reasonable, so clearly in con- : formity with holy scripture that it is . : difficult to understand how. many persons per-sons who profess to believe in the Bible and in the apostles' creed, nevertheless j f deny a doctrine so manifestly contained con-tained in both the doctrine of the "communion of saints." Bearing all its particulars in mind, i we shall consider in the next article , the dogma relating to the "treasure of ' the church." the clear knowledge of " which is also necessary in order to j fully understand the oft-misconceived f and miseonstructed doctrine of the f Catholic church on indulgences. I 3 |