* Q. How do you know that they have not unity of doctrine?

A. I know that they have not unity of doctrine, because they do not profess the same Faith. For instance, some say that Jesus Christ is God, others that he is not; some that he is really present in the Eucharist, and others that he is not present, or that he is there only in a figurative manner. Q. Are they equally divided on the other articles of our Faith?

A. Yes, they are equally divided on the other articles of our faith.

Q. If such a division was general, would it not be impossible for the greater number of mankind to know the truth?

A. Yes, if such a division was general the greater part of mankind could not know the truth; Jesus Christ wished that all men, young and old, learned and unlearned, should know the truths which he has taught us; and these they could not know if all, young and old, learned and unlearned, were occupied in discussing what was the truth.

* Q. Does this universal division exist amongst Protestants?

A. Division must necessarily exist amongst Protestants, since each one believes that he has the right of rejecting the opinions of others; but although this division is very great, it is not quite universal; because such a state of things is contrary to the nature of man.

* Q. What do you mean by that?

A. I mean to say that it is contrary to the nature of man, that all should dispute in what religion consists; the greater part of Protestants believe what is taught by that authority to which they think proper to listen.

Q. What authority have the greater part of Protestants obeyed up to the present time?

A. The greater part have obeyed any minister

who had ability to render himself remarkable, and whose opinions agreed with those of his hear

ers.

* Q. Have there ever been any ministers who were able to reunite in one opinion, all the different members of their sect?

A. No minister has ever succeeded in reuniting in one opinion, the different members of his sect, nor even to retain for any length of time, in a state of union, those who had been reunited. Hence the divisions which exist amongst Protestants.

Q. But are there not also disputes among Catholics?

A. There are no disputes amongst Catholics respecting truths defined by the Church, and the Church defines all the truths which are necessary to salvation, in order that we may be made acquainted with them.

Q. On what points then do Catholics dispute? A. Catholics dispute merely on trifling opinions which the Church has not defined, and which are not necessary to be known.

Q. If the Protestants have not unity of doctrine, have they not at least unity of Sacraments? A. No, Protestants have not unity of Sacraments; some admit a greater, others à less number of Sacraments.

* Q. Have Protestants unity of Prayer?

A. No, Protestants have not unity of Prayer; some adore Jesus Christ as God, others do not adore him; some pray for the dead, others do not, and we might enumerate other instances.

* Q. But have not Catholics different prayers also?

A. No, the prayers of Catholics are the same, since all have the same object; they only differ in expression.

Q. Is there not another difference between the prayers of Protestants and those of Catholics?

A. Yes; Catholics in all parts of the world pray for each other; this union of prayer does not exist in the Protestant sects.

* Q. Have the Protestants unity of Pastors?

A. No, Protestants have not unity of Pastors, because their Pastors are independent; first, of each other, and second, of any head or chief Pastor.

Q. Is the Protestant Church holy?

A. No, it is not holy; for, first, the founders of the Protestant Church were wicked men, and second, they abandoned the doctrines, the morality and the Sacraments of Jesus Christ, the author of holiness, who instituted these as the means to make saints.

Q. When you say that the doctrine and Sacraments of the Church were established to make Saints, do you mean to say that all Catholics are Saints?

A. No, I do not mean to say that the doctrines and the Sacraments of the Church make all Catholics become Saints, but I do mean to say that they sanctify all those who neglect nothing to profit by them.

Q. What do you think of those Catholics who take no trouble to obtain those good dispositions which are necessary, in order to derive benefit from the teaching, the Sacraments, and the Prayers of the Church?

A. I think they are more culpable than Protestants.

Q. Is the Protestant Church Catholic or universal?

A. No, the Protestant Church is not Catholic, since this means universal; whereas Protestants are divided into a multiplicity of small particular churches, none of which extend to all the countries of the world.

LESSON XXVIII.

SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED.

* Q. Do not Protestants say that the Catholic Church is not Apostolical?

A. Yes, they say that the Catholic Church is not Apostolical, and also that they have restored the true doctrine of Jesus Christ, and are his real disciples.

* Q. And how does the Church reply?

A. She replies that this is not possible, since Jesus Christ said, that the true Church would be always visible, like a city built on a mountain; like a kingdom composed of princes and subjects; like a flock conducted by a shepherd.

Q. And what does the Church further reply?

A. She replies further, that Protestants cannot form the True Church, since they separate themselves from the successors of the Apostles, with whom Jesus Christ promised to remain until the end of the world.

Q. Has the Church always said the same to all heretics, as she does to Protestants?

A. Yes, the Church has said the same to all heretics who have appeared since the time of the Apostles.

Q. What else does she say?

A. She also says, How can you believe that I have changed the doctrine of the Apostles, since it has always been my maxim never to change anything that has been transmitted to me; and how can you, who are always changing, and glory in novelty, pretend to retain this doctrine?

* Q. Are you then certain that the Church has not changed the doctrine of Jesus Christ and his Apostles?

A. Yes, I am certain that the Church has not

changed the doctrine of Jesus Christ and his Apostles, as to dogmas and rule of life,

Q. What do you mean by dogmas?

A. By dogmas, I mean the truths which the Church declares to have been revealed by God. * Q. But how can you be certain that the Church has not changed these truths?

A. I am as certain that the Church has not changed these truths, as I am certain that a family possesses property acquired by one of its ancestors, when it can be proved that this property has descended from father to son, from the period of its first lawful acquisition until the present time.

Q. What do you mean by that?

A. I mean to say that Jesus Christ confided the deposit of his docrtrine to his Apostles, and to their successors; that is to say, the Bishops united to the Pope, and that this sacred deposit has been transmitted without any interruption.

Q. Is the doctrine of Jesus Christ a deposit?

A. Yes, the doctrine of Jesus Christ is a deposit: it is the name given it by St. Paul, and all the Bishops have given it the same title in repeating the words of this great Apostle, "keep the deposit, avoid profane novelties.'

Q. Are the Bishops unexceptionable witnesses that this deposit of the doctrine of Jesus Christ has not been altered?

A. Yes, they are unexceptionable witnesses, because they could not be deceived, nor did they I wish to deceive.

Q. Why might not the Bishops have been deceived?

A. Because the deposit confined to the care of so many Pastors could not have been changed without the alteration being perceived; the Bishops in all the different countries throughout the world, could not at one and the same time have been induced to believe that a new invented