Joseph Deharbe

“ Each one of these Sects presumed, after the example of Luther, to reform the faith. At last impious Free-thinkers, first in England and afterwards in France, carried their presumption to the highest pitch, and contrived the infernal scheme totally to abolish Religion, and to exterminate for ever the Belief in Christ. Under the pretence of enlightening mankind, they deluged the world with writings in which they scoffed at all Holy things, grossly calumniated the Pope and the Clergy, and openly advocated the most shameful licentiousness. ”

“ If you do not love God and your brethren how will you laboriously spell out the first words of faith to the ignorant? Where will you discover the secret of repeating again and again the same truth in a variety of ways? ”

“ That it is much better for him to confess his sins to one Priest, bound by secrecy, than to live always uneasy in sin, to die unhappy for ever, and to be put to shame at the last day before the whole world.
As the Confessor is bound to suffer even martyrdom rather than reveal anything heard in Confession, so is every one else, who may have accidentally overheard any part of a Confession, bound to the strictest secrecy. ”

“ Why is the work of our sanctification especially ascribed to the Holy Ghost?
Because He, as the Spirit of Love, is the Giver of all inward holiness, and the Dispenser of all supernatural gifts and graces, whereby we are sanctified.
It is true, the work of our sanctification is common to all the three Divine Persons; nevertheless, as a work of love it has a special relation to the Holy Ghost—the Spirit of Love. ”

“ Never presume to curse, to abuse, or to strike any one; but, as it is becoming to a child of God, be peaceable, kind, and meek. Shun a seducer, as the devil; for he is about to kill your soul, let his words or promises be ever so charming and pleasing. Beware of murdering your neighbor's soul by any scandalous act or word. ”

“ Pour forth, we beseech Thee, Lord, Thy grace into our hearts, that we, to whom the Incarnation of Christ Thy Son was made known by the message of an Angel, may, by His Passion and Cross, be brought to the glory of His Resurrection, through the same Christ our Lord. ”

“ Is it not, then, true that the Bible alone is the only Rule of Faith? Or, in other words: Is not every private individual to search the Bible, and nothing but the Bible, until he finds out what he has to believe?
No; for not the Bible alone, but the Bible and Tradition, both infallibly interpreted by the Church, are the right Rule of Faith.
1. If it were the will of our Saviour that we should arrive at the knowledge of the truths of salvation simply by reading and searching the Scripture, why is it written: 'Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the [preaching of the] Word of Christ'? ”

“ Faith is a virtue infused by God into our souls, by which we believe, without doubting, all those things which God has revealed, and proposes by His Church to our belief.
'To believe' means, in general, to hold to be true what another says, and for this reason, because he says it. To believe God means, therefore, to hold firmly and without doubting what God has revealed, and because He has revealed it, although we can neither see nor completely understand it; for faith is founded, not on our seeing or complete understanding, but on the word of God. ”

“ Order, prosperity, and public safety disappeared together with Religion; even the throne was overturned and shattered to pieces. France was for two years the scene of such horrible atrocities as are unequalled in the annals of history. Human blood flowed in torrents. Neither age nor sex was safe from the fury of those monsters. The total number of the people slaughtered in this Reign of Terror was, according to some, two millions. And all this was done under the pretence of promoting the happiness of mankind. Enlightenment was their word when they abolished Religion ”

“ Why is this sin so shameful?
Because man, who, as the image and temple of God, is called to a pure and holy life, is degraded by it to the level of an impure or unclean animal; whence it is styled. Sin of impurity or uncleanness (comp. 1 Cor. iii. 17) .
10. What are the consequences of impurity?
1. It robs man of his innocence, and infects his body and soul; 2. It leads him to many other sins and vices, and often to murder and despair; and 3. It plunges him into misery, ignominy, and shame, and finally into eternal damnation. ”

“ Why is Jesus Christ called "Our Lord"?
Jesus Christ is called, and is, our Lord, 1. As God, because, being one with the Father, He is, like Him, Lord and Creator of Heaven and earth; and 2. As Man, because, in the human nature. ”

“ Is it, then, not true that the Church, by Indulgences, frees us from the obligation of doing Penance?
No; she does not free us from the obligation of doing Penance according to our capacity, since, the greater is our penitential zeal and love to God, the more do we participate in the Indulgence; she will only assist us in our inability to expiate all temporal punishment in this life, and thus, by a generous Indulgence, effect what, in ancient times, she endeavored to attain by the rigorous Penitential Canons. ”

“ I firmly believe that Thou art one God in three Divine Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. I believe that the Divine Son became man, and died for our sins, and that He will come to judge the living and the dead. ”

“ To what should the remembrance of God's holiness and justness animate us?
It should animate us, 1. Carefully to avoid all evil, and to become more and more holy; and 2. Not to pride ourselves in our pretended righteousness. ”

“ Is the doctrine of the Most Holy Trinity also important to us?
Yes, it is most important; for it is the principal and fundamental doctrine of Christianity, insomuch that to reject it would be to deny the Christian Faith. ”

“ Peter, compares the Church to an army, in which the privates are subordinate to the captains, the captains to the colonels, and these again to the general.
Application. Always cherish in your heart a profound reverence and an humble submission to the Holy Father the Pope, and to the Bishops and Priests united with him; for they are set over you in the place of God, and it is their duty to instruct you in the name of God, to make you partake of the Divine graces, and to lead you to eternal salvation. Woe to them who despise the Clergy and create schisms! ”

“ Why does God permit the wicked Angels to lay snares for us?
He permits it because He knows how to make their snares serve unto His own honor and to the salvation of men.
'And they talked among themselves, saying: "What word is this, for with authority and power He [Jesus] commandeth the unclean spirits, and they go out? And the fame of Him was published into every place of the country' (Luke iv. 36, 37) . 'And the people with one accord were attentive to those things which were said by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. ”

“ We have now, in a small compass, surveyed the history of our Holy Religion, and considered the blessings it has conferred upon mankind from Adam, our first parent, to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and from Him, the Divine Head and Founder of our Church, to His present Vicegerent, Pius X. How sublime and beautiful is the Religion we profess! Everything connected with it calls out to us: God alone could have given such a Religion to mankind. Man has not invented it ”

“ When we firmly hope that God will hear our prayer, inasmuch as it is conducive to His honor and to our salvation.
'Let him ask in faith, nothing wavering; for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, which is moved and carried about by the wind. Therefore let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord' (James i. 6, 7) . ”

“ She can truly be called the Tree of Life which God has planted, that all men should peacefully rest under its shade, and refresh themselves with its fruit. Never has a nation abandoned this Tree of Life without plunging itself into religious confusion and misery. ”

“ Augustine, the celebrated Father of the Church, makes a striking observation upon this: 'If the miracles,' he says, 'wrought by the Apostles could be denied, this would be the greatest miracle: that the world believed without miracles.'
6. [5] But the Christian Church is not only founded on miracles; her duration itself is a continual and perpetual miracle. Kingdoms and empires, in spite of their power, perish in the course of time; the Kingdom of Christ alone, outlasts them all, and is constantly increasing. ”

“ O my God! relying on Thy infinite goodness and promises, I hope to obtain pardon of my sins, the help of Thy grace, and life everlasting, through the merits of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Redeemer.
AN ACT OF CHARITY.
O my God! I love Thee above all things, with my whole heart and soul, because Thou are all-good and worthy of all love. I love my neighbor as myself for the love of Thee. I forgive all who have injured me, and ask pardon of all whom I have injured.
Charity here means love.
10. What is acquired virtue? ”

“ God is good means that out of love He will do good to all creatures, and that He really bestows innumerable blessings upon us.
'Thou lovest all things that are, and hatest none of the things which Thou hast made' (Wisd. xi. 25) . 'Thus saith the Lord: Can a woman forget her infant, so as not to have pity on the son of her womb? And if she should forget, yet will not I forget thee' (Isai. xlix. 15) .
26. Which is the greatest proof of God's love and goodness?
That He delivered His own Son up to death for the salvation of us sinners. ”

“ But why does God often permit the wicked to prosper, whilst evil befalls the good?
1. Because He will not only deter the sinner from his evil ways by punishment, but will also win him by benefits; 2. Because He reserves to Himself to punish the wicked, and to reward the good, especially in eternity; and 3. Because He will not even leave the little good which the wicked may do entirely unrewarded, and, therefore, as He cannot reward it in the next world on account of their impenitence. ”

“ Jesus bestowed favors upon the Jews such as no one had ever witnessed before: He made the blind to see and the lame to walk; He restored the sick to health, and raised the dead to life; in a word, He relieved every kind of suffering and misery. Nevertheless, He had many enemies, especially among the Scribes and Pharisees, who hated Him because He reprimanded them for their sins and vices, and also because He would not establish a temporal kingdom and elevate them to high dignities. ”

“ This our son is rebellious and stubborn, he slighteth hearing our admonitions, he giveth himself to revelling, and to debauchery and banquetings: the people of the city shall stone him, and he shall die; that you may take away the evil out of the midst of you, and all Israel hearing it may be afraid' (Deut. xxi. 18-21) .
10. What have those children to expect who do not fulfil their duties towards their parents?
In this life they have to expect the curse of God, disgrace, and ignominy; and in the life to come, eternal damnation. ”

“ Between the Holy Scripture as interpreted by the Church on the one side, and science on the other, there never can be any real contradiction; for God, who is the Author both of Faith and reason, cannot contradict Himself. ”

“ In order to excite ourselves to Imperfect Contrition, let us consider how terrible are the pains of Hell or of Purgatory, which we have deserved; how beautiful Heaven, which we have lost; how detestable sin, which nailed the Son of God to the Cross, has deprived our soul of grace, disfigured it, rendered it foul and execrable before God and His Angels, etc. ”

“ And why do we say that 'God is infinitely perfect'?
Because God is not like created beings, good only in some measure, but because He unites in Himself all good perfections without measure, or bounds, or number. ”

“ When do we love the goods of this world in a Christian manner?
When we love them, 1. As far as all created things have their origin in God and are His gifts; and 2. As far as they serve us, to promote the honor of God, to assist the needy, and to fulfil the duties of our state of life. ”

“ The moment He expired the earth quaked, the rocks split asunder, the veil of the temple was rent in two from the top to the bottom, the graves were opened, and many bodies of the Saints that had slept arose and appeared in Jerusalem. The centurion or captain and the soldiers, who stood near the cross, were struck with awe, and said, ' Indeed this was the Son of God.' Thus Jesus became 'the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world' (1 John ii. 2) . ”

“ Whilst the Holy Fathers of the Church especially distinguished themselves as defenders of the true faith, the Hermits, or Solitaries, and monks, shone as models of the most austere penance. The hermits were pious Christians who fled from the seductive pleasures of the world, to prepare themselves in solitude, by prayer and self-denial, for a happy death. ”

“ How do we know that we are able to keep the Commandments?
We know it, 1. Because God inflicts eternal punishment upon those who break them; and 2. Because there have been at all times Saints who faithfully observed them. ”

“ What do we call the mystery of one God in three Persons?
We call it the mystery of the Most Blessed Trinity.
44. Can we comprehend this mystery?
No; it is impossible that our weak and limited intellect, which cannot understand even created things except imperfectly, should understand a mystery which is infinitely above all created things. ”

“ We must not examine ourselves too hastily and superficially; 2. We must not conceal our favorite sins from ourselves; 3. We must not take all that to be trifling which the world considers as such; but we should place ourselves in spirit before the tribunal of God; 4. On the other hand, we must avoid becoming too scrupulous.
21. How much time ought we to employ in the Examination of Conscience?
The more carelessly we have lived, and the longer we have stayed from Confession, the more time and diligence ought we to employ in examining ourselves. ”

“ When do we sin against our Spiritual Superiors?
1. When, by word or deed, we violate the reverence due to them, or when, by speaking ill of them, we lower their character; 2. When we oppose them, and thereby may be the cause of schism and scandal; and 3. When, contrary to our duty, we refuse to contribute towards their support, and to provide for the Divine Service. ”

“ Therefore, to despise the Commandments of the Church is to despise Christ Himself. 'He that heareth you, heareth me; and he that despiseth you, despiseth me' (Luke x. 16) .
3. Has the Church no further right than to give Commandments?
She has also a right to watch over the observance of these Commandments, and to punish those who break them; for instance, to refuse them the Holy Sacraments (Matt, xviii. 18) , and finally to exclude them from the Church, and to deprive them of Christian burial when they die (1 Cor. v. 3-5) . ”

“ Paul (Col. i. 24) . 'He who made you without your concurrence, will not save you without it' (St. Augustine) .
Application. Oh! that you would never forget how much Jesus has loved you, and what He has suffered for you. For out of mercy, and 'for His exceeding charity wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins' (Eph. ii. 4, 5) , He has redeemed us through His most bitter Passion and death, and has placed us in the kingdom of His grace. ”

“ When our Love is not Perfect, and when, therefore, our fear of Hell and of the loss of Heaven, or our sense of the heinousness of sin itself, must unite with it in causing us to detest sin above all other evils, and to resolve to offend God no more. ”

“ Catechetical instruction, Pius X. observes, is the basis of all other kinds of religious instruction. Ignorance of the catechism he declares to be the chief cause of that rapid increase of infidelity and immorality which he witnesses, not only among the poorer classes, " but in the highest walks of life and among those who, inflated with knowledge, rely upon a vain erudition and think themselves at liberty to turn religion into ridicule and to blaspheme that which they know not." ”