'Love of the Catholic Faith' Section

The Catholic Church is Key to Happy Life

"The Catholic Church is the key to a happy life. Those who follow her precepts are deeply happy and fulfilled, those who don't suffer many avoidable tragedies. Society is proof!" (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

Also See: The Church is at Our Side Throughout Our Life | The Church is Heaven in Miniature | The Church is Removed by Only One Degree from Heaven | The Church is the Safe Guide to Conscience / The Church is Errorless | Divine Origin of the Catholic Church | Forgiveness of Sins is a Comfort to the Guilty | No Greater Gift Than the Catholic Faith | Nothing More Glorious Than Belonging to the Church | Praise of the Church | Social Fruits of Catholicism

Note: Categories are subjective and may overlap. For more items related to this topic, please review all applicable categories. For more 'Reflections' and for Scripture topics, see links below.

Top | Reflections: A-Z | Catg. | Scripture: A-Z | Catg. | Help

Catholic Law vs. Modern Law

"Modern law is based on man. Catholic law is based on God. Catholic law looks at things from the angle of man's supreme and last end - that is to say, God in Three Divine Persons; modern law from that of man as his own self-sufficing end. Catholic law begins by taking account of the dependence upon God of ever created thing, and especially of every community and every State. Modern law bases that union of wills on which a community is founded, merely on the will of each of the component individuals, independent of the Divine Will. Catholic law is the establishing of the reign of God by His own right over the individual and over society. Modern law is the practical negation of Catholic truth and of all divine truth. It is the official establishment, sanctioned by law, of laicism, atheism, and all other errors. In short, Catholic law is justice; it is the power and authority which spring from justice put at the service of truth, which alone can save men and nations. Modern law is the authority and power of justice put at the service of man to degrade legally - and, therefore, it is thought, legitimately - intelligence and wills, communities and societies to the level of deified man, that is to say, of man considered as the beginning and the end of all things. Compare the constitutions of nations proceeding from modern principles, with those proceeding from Catholic principles, and you will get some slight idea of the disasters produced by modern law." (Fahey)

Also See: The Catholic Church is Key to Happy Life | The Church Alone Has Teaching Mandate | The Church is the Safe Guide to Conscience / The Church is Errorless | Divine Origin of the Catholic Church | Praise of the Church | Social Fruits of Catholicism | The Unshakable Church | The World Needs the Church

Note: Categories are subjective and may overlap. For more items related to this topic, please review all applicable categories. For more 'Reflections' and for Scripture topics, see links below.

Top | Reflections: A-Z | Catg. | Scripture: A-Z | Catg. | Help

The Church Alone Has Teaching Mandate

"[The Church] alone has been given by God the mandate and the right to teach with authority" (Pope Pius XI, "Ubi Arcano Dei Consilio", 1922)

Also See: The Church is the Safe Guide to Conscience / The Church is Errorless | The Church's Faithfulness to Her Mission | Divine Origin of the Catholic Church | Nothing More Glorious Than Belonging to the Church | Social Fruits of Catholicism | The Unshakable Church | The World Needs the Church | Catholic Basics Section | Non-Catholics (apologetics)

Note: Categories are subjective and may overlap. For more items related to this topic, please review all applicable categories. For more 'Reflections' and for Scripture topics, see links below.

Top | Reflections: A-Z | Catg. | Scripture: A-Z | Catg. | Help

The Church is at Our Side Throughout Our Life

"The Christian, at almost every important stage of his mortal career, finds at his side the priest with power received from God, in the act of communicating or increasing that grace which is the supernatural life of his soul. Scarcely is he born before the priest baptizing him, brings him by a new birth to a more noble and precious life, a supernatural life, and makes him a son of God and of the Church of Jesus Christ. To strengthen him to fight bravely in spiritual combats, a priest invested with special dignity makes him a soldier of Christ by holy chrism. Then, as soon as he is able to recognize and value the Bread of Angels, the priest gives It to him, the living and life-giving Food come down from Heaven. If he fall, the priest raises him up again in the name of God, and reconciles him to God with the Sacrament of Penance. Again, if he is called by God to found a family and to collaborate with Him in the transmission of human life throughout the world, thus increasing the number of the faithful on earth and, thereafter, the ranks of the elect in Heaven, the priest is there to bless his espousals and unblemished love; and when, finally, arrived at the portals of eternity, the Christian feels the need of strength and courage before presenting himself at the tribunal of the Divine Judge, the priest with the holy oils anoints the failing members of the sick or dying Christian, and reconsecrates and comforts him. Thus the priest accompanies the Christian throughout the pilgrimage of this life to the gates of Heaven. He accompanies the body to its resting place in the grave with rites and prayers of immortal hope. And even beyond the threshold of eternity he follows the soul to aid it with Christian suffrages, if need there be of further purification and alleviation. Thus, from the cradle to the grave the priest is ever beside the faithful, a guide, a solace, a minister of salvation and dispenser of grace and blessing." (Pope Pius XI, "Ad Catholici Sacerdotii", 1935)

Also See: The Church is Heaven in Miniature | The Church is Removed by Only One Degree from Heaven | The Church's Faithfulness to Her Mission | Divine Origin of the Catholic Church | Forgiveness of Sins is a Comfort to the Guilty | No Greater Gift Than the Catholic Faith | Nothing More Glorious Than Belonging to the Church | Outside the Church is Night | Praise of the Church | Social Fruits of Catholicism | The Unshakable Church | The World Needs the Church | Sacraments Section

Note: Categories are subjective and may overlap. For more items related to this topic, please review all applicable categories. For more 'Reflections' and for Scripture topics, see links below.

Top | Reflections: A-Z | Catg. | Scripture: A-Z | Catg. | Help

The Church is Heaven in Miniature

"You have the church which is a refuge, and, if I may dare to say so, is a heaven in miniature. You have a sacrifice offered up and consummated; you have the house wherein the Holy Ghost showers down abundant graces; you have the tombs and relics of the martyrs and saints, and many other things which should induce you to return from a state of sin and indifference to that of grace and justice." (St. John Chrysostom, Doctor of the Church)

Also See: The Catholic Church is Key to Happy Life | The Church is at Our Side Throughout Our Life | The Church is Removed by Only One Degree from Heaven | The Church is the Safe Guide to Conscience / The Church is Errorless | Divine Origin of the Catholic Church | Forgiveness of Sins is a Comfort to the Guilty | No Greater Gift Than the Catholic Faith | Nothing More Glorious Than Belonging to the Church | Outside the Church is Night | Praise of the Church | Social Fruits of Catholicism | The Unshakable Church

Note: Categories are subjective and may overlap. For more items related to this topic, please review all applicable categories. For more 'Reflections' and for Scripture topics, see links below.

Top | Reflections: A-Z | Catg. | Scripture: A-Z | Catg. | Help

The Church is Removed by Only One Degree from Heaven

"Nothing contributes more to the spiritual joy and advantage of pious persons than the contemplation of the exalted dignity of this most august Sacrament [of the Holy Eucharist]. In the first place they learn how great is the perfection of the Gospel Dispensation, under which we enjoy the reality of that which under the Mosaic Law was only shadowed forth by types and figures. Hence St. Denis divinely says that our Church is midway between the Synagogue and the heavenly Jerusalem, and consequently participates of the nature of both. Certainly, then, the faithful can never sufficiently admire the perfection of the holy Church and her exalted glory which seems to be removed only by one degree from the bliss of heaven. In common with the inhabitants of heaven, we too possess Christ, God and man, present with us. They are raised a degree of us, inasmuch as they are present with Christ and enjoy the Beatific Vision; while we, with a firm and unwavering faith, adore the Divine Majesty present with us, not it is true, in a manner visible to mortal eye, but hidden in a miracle of power under the veil of the sacred mysteries. Furthermore the faithful experience in this Sacrament the most perfect love of Christ our Savior. It became the goodness of the Savior not to withdraw from us that nature which He assumed from us, but to desire, as far as possible, to remain among us so that at all times He might be seen to verify the words: My delight is to be with the children of men. (Prov. viii. 31)." (Catechism of the Council of Trent)

Also See: The Catholic Church is Key to Happy Life | The Church is at Our Side Throughout Our Life | The Church is Heaven in Miniature | The Church Prefigured in the Old Testament | The Church's Faithfulness to Her Mission | Divine Origin of the Catholic Church | No Greater Gift Than the Catholic Faith | Nothing More Glorious Than Belonging to the Church | Outside the Church is Night | Praise of the Church | Social Fruits of Catholicism | The Unshakable Church

Note: Categories are subjective and may overlap. For more items related to this topic, please review all applicable categories. For more 'Reflections' and for Scripture topics, see links below.

Top | Reflections: A-Z | Catg. | Scripture: A-Z | Catg. | Help

The Church is the Safe Guide to Conscience / The Church is Errorless 

"[T]he Church is the safe and sure guide to conscience, for to her safe-keeping alone there has been confided the doctrines and the promise of the assistance of Christ" (Pope Pius XI, "Ubi Arcano Dei Consilio", 1922)

"[T]he faith of the universal Church...cannot err, since Our Lord said (Luke 22:32): 'I have prayed for thee,' Peter, 'that thy faith fail not.'" (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

Also See: The Catholic Church is Key to Happy Life | Catholic Law vs. Modern Law | The Church Alone Has Teaching Mandate | The Church's Faithfulness to Her Mission | Divine Origin of the Catholic Church | Social Fruits of Catholicism | The Unshakable Church | Catholic Basics Section

Note: Categories are subjective and may overlap. For more items related to this topic, please review all applicable categories. For more 'Reflections' and for Scripture topics, see links below.

Top | Reflections: A-Z | Catg. | Scripture: A-Z | Catg. | Help

The Church Prefigured in the Old Testament

"For in the Books of both Testaments [St.] Jerome saw the Church of God foretold. Did not practically every one of the illustrious and sainted women who hold a place of honor in the Old Testament prefigure the Church, God's Spouse? Did not the priesthood, the sacrifices, the solemnities, nay, nearly everything described in the Old Testament shadow forth that same Church? How many Psalms and Prophecies saw he fulfilled in that Church? To him it was clear that the Church's greatest privileges were set forth by Christ and His Apostles. Small wonder, then, that growing familiarity with the Bible meant for Jerome growing love of the Spouse of Christ." (Pope Benedict XV, "Spiritus Paraclitus", 1920)

Also See: The Church is Removed by Only One Degree from Heaven | The Church is the Safe Guide to Conscience / The Church is Errorless | The Church's Faithfulness to Her Mission | Divine Origin of the Catholic Church | Love For the Church | Nothing More Glorious Than Belonging to the Church | Praise of the Church | Social Fruits of Catholicism | The Unshakable Church | Scripture / Parables Section

Note: Categories are subjective and may overlap. For more items related to this topic, please review all applicable categories. For more 'Reflections' and for Scripture topics, see links below.

Top | Reflections: A-Z | Catg. | Scripture: A-Z | Catg. | Help

The Church's Faithfulness to Her Mission

"When [the Church] judges she cannot accept certain changes, it is because she knows she is bound by Christ's manner of acting. Her attitude, despite appearances, is therefore not one of archaism but of fidelity" (Pope Paul VI)

"The Church, founded on these principles and mindful of her office, has done nothing with greater zeal and endeavor than she has displayed in guarding the integrity of the faith. Hence she regarded as rebels and expelled from the ranks of her children all who held beliefs on any point of doctrine different from her own." (Pope Leo XIII, "Satis Cognitum", 1896)

"Amidst all the aberrations of human thought, infatuated by a false emancipation from every law and curb; and amidst the awful corruptions of human malice, the Church rises up like a bright lighthouse warning by the clearness of its beam every deviation to right or left from the way of truth, and pointing out to one and all the right course that they should follow." (Pope Pius XI, "Ad Catholici Sacerdotii", 1935)

"The Church of Christ is the true and sole teacher of virtue and guardian of morals. She it is who preserves in their purity the principles from which duties flow, and, by setting forth most urgent reasons for virtuous life, bids us not only to turn away from wicked deeds, but even to curb all movements of the mind that are opposed to reason, even though they be not carried out in action." (Pope Leo XIII, "Immortale Dei", 1885)

"They who stand against the Church oppose her in three ways: with hate, with words, and with bodily tortures. The Church on the other hand loves them, as it is here, 'Love your enemies'; does good to them, as it is, 'Do good to them that hate you'; and prays for them, as it is, 'Pray for them that persecute you and accuse you falsely' (Mt. 5)." (9th/12th Century Gloss)

"As the history of the Church bears witness, members of the religious orders under the inspiration of God's love, have often gone to such lengths in their work of preaching the Gospel that they have given up their lives for the salvation of souls, thus by their death spreading the unity of the faith and the doctrine of Christian brotherhood and at the same time extending farther and farther the boundaries of the Kingdom of Christ." (Pope Pius XI, "Ubi Arcano Dei Consilio", 1922)

"We saw men and nations cut off from God, stirring up strife and discord and hurrying along the road to ruin and death, while the Church of God carries on her work of providing food for the spiritual life of men, nurturing and fostering generation after generation of men and women dedicated to Christ, faithful and subject to him in his earthly kingdom, called by him to eternal bliss in the kingdom of heaven." (Pope Pius XI, "Quas Primas", 1925)

"When have prayers not been offered in the Church, to obtain the gift of faith for infidels and for her enemies?" (As quoted by Pope Pius XI in "Ad Salutem", 1930)

"[T]he Catholic Church, to whom God has entrusted the defense of the integrity and purity of morals, standing erect in the midst of the moral ruin which surrounds her, in order that she may preserve the chastity of the nuptial union from being defiled by this foul stain, raises her voice in token of her divine ambassadorship and through Our mouth proclaims anew: any use whatsoever of matrimony exercised in such a way that the act is deliberately frustrated in its natural power to generate life is an offense against the law of God and of nature, and those who indulge in such are branded with the guilt of a grave sin." (Pope Pius XI, "Casti Connubii", 1930)

"In fact, the most persistent enemies of the Church, who from Moscow are directing the struggle against Christian civilization, themselves bear witness, by their unceasing attacks in word and act, that even to this hour the Papacy has continued faithfully to protect the sanctuary of the Christian religion, and that it has called public attention to the perils of Communism more frequently and more effectively than any other public authority on earth." (Pope Pius XI, "Divini Redemptoris", 1937)

"Certainly the loving Mother [the Church] is spotless in the Sacraments by which she gives birth to and nourishes her children; in the faith which she has always preserved inviolate; in her sacred laws imposed on all; in the evangelical counsels which she recommends; in those heavenly gifts and extraordinary graces through which with inexhaustible fecundity, she generates hosts of martyrs, virgins and confessors. But it cannot be laid to her charge if some members fall, weak or wounded. In their name she prays to God daily: 'Forgive us our trespasses;' and with the brave heart of a mother she applies herself at once to the work of nursing them back to spiritual health." (Pope Pius XII, "Mystici Corporis Christi", 1943)

"It is the will of Jesus Christ that the whole body of the Church, no less than the individual members, should resemble Him. And we see this realized when, following in the footsteps of her Founder, the Church teaches, governs, and offers the divine Sacrifice. When she embraces the evangelical counsels she reflects the Redeemer's poverty, obedience and virginal purity. Adorned with institutes of many different kinds as with so many precious jewels, she represents Christ deep in prayer on the mountain, or preaching to the people, or healing the sick and wounded and bringing sinners back to the path of virtue - in a word, doing good to all. What wonder then, if, while on this earth she, like Christ, suffer persecutions, insults and sorrows." (Pope Pius XII, "Mystici Corporis Christi", 1943)

"We are leaving nothing undone to provide timely relief for so many ills and all possible comfort for the accumulated miseries that weigh on not a few nations. But of the almost countless ills born of the dire struggle none so hurts or so wounds Our paternal heart as that which involves a host of innocent children, millions of whom it is estimated are in many countries without the necessities of life and are suffering from cold, hunger and disease. Often, too, in their utter dereliction they feel the want not only of food, clothes and shelter but also of the affection which their tender years so need. As you know, Venerable Brethren, We have done all that We could to solve this problem." (Pope Pius XII, "Quemadmodum", 1946)

"As the Catholic Church declares in the strongest terms the simplicity, spirituality, and immortality of the soul, so with unequalled constancy and publicity she ever also asserts its freedom. These truths she has always taught, and has sustained them as a dogma of faith, and whensoever heretics or innovators have attacked the liberty of man, the Church has defended it and protected this noble possession from destruction. History bears witness to the energy with which she met the fury of the Manichaeans and others like them; and the earnestness with which in later years she defended human liberty at the Council of Trent, and against the followers of Jansenius, is known to all. At no time, and in no place, has she held truce with fatalism." (Pope Leo XIII, "Libertas Praestantissimum", 1888)

"We Ourselves have several times declared what great dangers are impending, and have pointed out the best ways of warding them off. To princes and other rulers of the State we have offered the protection of religion, and we have exhorted the people to make abundant use of the great benefits which the Church supplies. Our present object is to make rulers understand that this protection, which is stronger than any, is again offered to them; and We earnestly exhort them in our Lord to defend religion, and to consult the interest of their Lord to defend religion, and to consult the interest of their States by giving that liberty to the Church which cannot be taken away without injury and ruin to the commonwealth." (Pope Leo XIII, "Diuturnum", 1881)

"Inspired by the Divine Spirit, the Sacred Writers composed those books [of the Bible], which God, in His paternal charity towards the human race, deigned to bestow on them in order 'to teach, to reprove, to correct, to instruct in justice: that the man of God may be perfect, furnished to every good work.' This heaven-sent treasure Holy Church considers as the most precious source of doctrine on faith and morals. No wonder therefore that, as she received it intact from the hands of the Apostles, so she kept it with all care, defended it from every false and perverse interpretation and used it diligently as an instrument for securing the eternal salvation of souls, as almost countless documents in every age strikingly bear witness." (Pope Pius XII, "Divino Afflante Spiritu", 1943)

"Thus, from the very first ages of the Church, the Catholic doctrine has encountered a multitude of most bitter adversaries, who, deriding the Christian dogmas and institutions, maintained that there were many gods, that the material world never had a beginning or cause, and that the course of events was one of blind and fatal necessity, not regulated by the will of Divine Providence. But the learned men whom We call apologists speedily encountered these teachers of foolish doctrine and, under the guidance of faith, found arguments in human wisdom also to prove that one God, who stands preeminent in every kind of perfection, is to be worshipped; that all things were created from nothing by His omnipotent power; that by His wisdom they flourish and serve each their own special purposes." (Pope Leo XIII, "Aeterni Patris", 1879)

"For, since Jesus Christ delivered Himself up for the salvation of the human race, and to this end directed all His teaching and commands, so He ordered the Church to strive, by the truth of its doctrine, to sanctify and to save mankind. But faith alone cannot compass so great, excellent, and important an end. There must needs be also the fitting and devout worship of God, which is to be found chiefly in the divine [Eucharistic] Sacrifice and in the dispensation of the Sacraments, as well as salutary laws and discipline. All these must be found in the Church, since it continues the mission of the Savior forever. The Church alone offers to the human race that religion - that state of absolute perfection - which He wished, as it were, to be incorporated in it. And it alone supplies those means of salvation which accord with the ordinary counsels of Providence." (Pope Leo XIII, "Satis Cognitum", 1896)

'O Catholic Church, true Mother of Christians! Not only doest thou preach to us, as is meet, how purely and chastely we are to worship God Himself, Whom to possess is life most blessed; thou does moreover so cherish neighborly love and charity, that all the infirmities to which sinful souls are subject, find their most potent remedy in thee. Childlike thou are in molding the child, strong with the young man, gentle with the aged, dealing with each according to his needs of mind of body. Thou does subject child to parent in a sort of free servitude, and settest parent over child in a jurisdiction of love. Thou bindest brethren to brethren by the bond of religion, stronger and closer then the bond of blood ... Thou unitest citizen to citizen, nation to nation, yea, all men, in a union not of companionship only, but of brotherhood, reminding them of their common origin. Thou teachest kings to care for their people, and biddest people to be subject to their kings. Thou teachest assiduously to whom honor is due, to whom love, to whom reverence, to whom fear, to whom comfort, to whom rebuke, to whom punishment; showing us that whilst not all things nor the same things are due to all, charity is due to all and offense to none.' (St. Augustine, Doctor of the Church)

"To satisfy this pastoral duty, our predecessors always gave tireless attention that the saving doctrine of Christ be spread among all the peoples of the earth, and with equal care they watched that, wherever it was received, it was preserved sound and pure. Therefore, the bishops of the whole world, now individually, now gathered in Synods, following a long custom of the churches and the formula of the ancient rule, referred to this Holy See those dangers particularly which emerged in the affairs of faith, that there especially the damages to faith might be repaired where faith cannot experience a failure. The Roman Pontiffs, moreover, according as the condition of the times and affairs advised, sometimes by calling ecumenical Councils or by examining the opinion of the Church spread throughout the world; sometimes by particular synods, sometimes by employing other helps which divine Providence supplied, have defined that those matters must be held which with God's help they have recognized as in agreement with Sacred Scripture and apostolic tradition. For, the Holy Spirit was not promised to the successors of Peter that by His revelation they might disclose new doctrine, but that by His help they might guard sacredly the revelation transmitted through the apostles and the deposit of faith, and might faithfully set it forth. Indeed, all the venerable fathers have embraced their apostolic doctrine, and the holy orthodox Doctors have venerated and followed it, knowing full well that the See of St. Peter always remains unimpaired by any error, according to the divine promise of our Lord the Savior made to the chief of His disciples: 'I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and thou, being once converted, confirm thy brethren' [Luke 22:32]. So, this gift of truth and a never failing faith was divinely conferred upon Peter and his successors in this chair, that they might administer their high duty for the salvation of all; that the entire flock of Christ, turned away by them from the poisonous food of error, might be nourished on the sustenance of heavenly doctrine, that with the occasion of schism removed the whole Church might be saved as one, and relying on her foundation might stay firm against the gates of hell." (Vatican Council I, 1870 A.D.)

Also See: The Church Alone Has Teaching Mandate | The Church is the Safe Guide to Conscience / The Church is Errorless | Divine Origin of the Catholic Church | Praise of the Church | Social Fruits of Catholicism | The Unshakable Church

Note: Categories are subjective and may overlap. For more items related to this topic, please review all applicable categories. For more 'Reflections' and for Scripture topics, see links below.

Top | Reflections: A-Z | Catg. | Scripture: A-Z | Catg. | Help

The Church's Tender Care for Minorities / Abolishing Slavery

"Finally, We cannot pass over in silence those whose long-continued unhappy lot implores and demands succor from men of apostolic zeal; We refer to the Indians and the Negroes who are to be found within the confines of America, the greatest portion of whom have not yet dispelled the darkness of superstition. How wide a field for cultivation! How great a multitude of human beings to be made partakers of the blessing derived through Jesus Christ!" (Pope Leo XIII, "Longinqua", 1895)

"We confess that We feel a special paternal affection, which is certainly inspired of Heaven, for the Negro people dwelling among you; for in the field of religion and education We know that they need special care and comfort and are very deserving of it. We therefore invoke an abundance of heavenly blessing and We pray fruitful success for those whose generous zeal is devoted to their welfare." (Pope Pius XII, "Sertum Laetitiae", 1939)

"Thus, the powerful influence of the Church has ever been manifested in the custody and protection of the civil and political liberty of the people. The enumeration of its merits in this respect does not belong to our present purpose. It is sufficient to recall the fact that slavery, that old reproach of the heathen nations, was mainly abolished by the beneficent efforts of the Church." (Pope Leo XIII, "Libertas Praestantissimum", 1888)

Also See: The Church's Faithfulness to Her Mission | Divine Origin of the Catholic Church | Social Fruits of Catholicism | The Unshakable Church

Note: Categories are subjective and may overlap. For more items related to this topic, please review all applicable categories. For more 'Reflections' and for Scripture topics, see links below.

Top | Reflections: A-Z | Catg. | Scripture: A-Z | Catg. | Help

Divine Origin of the Catholic Church

Also See: Catholic Apologetics (Topic Page)

"Jesus said to him [that is, St. Peter, the first pope] in reply, 'Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.'" (Mt. 16:17-19)

"But in this bestowing of a new name [on Simon, i.e. Peter, 'Rock'] is a happy foundation of the Church, and a rock worthy of that building, which should break up the laws of hell, burst the gates of Tartarus, and all the shackles of death. And to show the firmness of this Church thus built upon a rock, He adds, And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." (St. Hilary of Poitiers, Doctor of the Church)

"I will go peaceably and firmly to the Catholic Church: for if Faith is so important to our salvation, I will seek it where true Faith first began, seek it among those who received it from God Himself." (St. Elizabeth Ann Seton)

"But she [the Church] is Divine and has herself come down from heaven; so she does not guess, or think, or hope - she knows." (Benson)

"[T]he Church is of God, for He Himself built it with His blood." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

"'Christ loved the Church, and delivered Himself up for it, that He might sanctify it, cleansing it by the laver of water in the word of life, that He might present it to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish (cf. Eph. 5:25-27).'" (Pope Pius XII, "Haurietis Aquas", 1956)

"For both the juridical mission of the Church, and the power to teach, govern and administer the Sacraments, derive their supernatural efficacy and force for the building up of the Body of Christ from the fact that Jesus Christ, hanging on the Cross, opened up to His Church the fountain of those divine gifts, which prevent her from ever teaching false doctrine and enable her to rule them for the salvation of their souls through divinely enlightened pastors and to bestow on them an abundance of heavenly graces." (Pope Pius XII, "Mystici Corporis Christi", 1943)

"But, how many, how wonderful, how splendid are the proofs at hand by which human reason ought to be entirely and most clearly convinced that the religion of Christ is divine, and that 'every principle of our dogmas has received its root from above, from the Lord of the heavens,' and that, therefore, nothing is more certain than our faith, nothing more secure, that there is nothing more holy and nothing which is supported on firmer principles. For, in truth, this faith is the teacher of life, the index of salvation, the expeller of all faults, and the fecund parent and nurse of virtues, confirmed by the birth, life, death, resurrection, wisdom, miracles, prophecies of its author and consummator, Christ Jesus; everywhere resplendent with the light of a supernatural teaching and enriched with the treasures of heavenly riches, especially clear and significant by the predictions of so many prophets, by the splendor of so many miracles, by the constancy of so many martyrs, by the glory of so many saints, revealing the salutary laws of Christ and acquiring greater strength every day from these most cruel persecutions, (this faith) has pervaded the whole earth by land and sea, from the rising to the setting of the sun, under the one standard of the Cross, and also, having overcome the deceits of idolaters and torn away the mist of errors and triumphed over enemies of every kind, it has illuminated with the light of divine knowledge all peoples, races, nations, howsoever barbarous in culture and different in disposition, customs, laws, and institutions; and has subjected them to the most sweet yoke of Christ Himself, 'announcing peace' to all, 'announcing good' [Isa. 52:7]. All of this certainly shines everywhere with so great a glory of divine wisdom and power that the mind and intelligence of each one clearly understands that the Christian Faith is the work of God. And so, human reason, knowing clearly and openly from these most splendid and equally strong proofs that God is the author of the same faith, can proceed no further; but, having completely cast aside and removed every difficulty and doubt, it should render all obedience to this faith, since it holds as certain that whatever faith itself proposes to man to be believed or to be done, has been transmitted by God." (Pope Pius IX, 1846 A.D.)

Also See: The Church Alone Has Teaching Mandate | The Church is the Safe Guide to Conscience / The Church is Errorless | The Church Prefigured in the Old Testament | The Church's Faithfulness to Her Mission | Name 'Catholic' Distinguishes from Heretics | Praise of the Church | Social Fruits of Catholicism | The Unshakable Church | Catholic Basics Section | Non-Catholics (apologetics)

Note: Categories are subjective and may overlap. For more items related to this topic, please review all applicable categories. For more 'Reflections' and for Scripture topics, see links below.

Top | Reflections: A-Z | Catg. | Scripture: A-Z | Catg. | Help

Forgiveness of Sins is a Comfort to the Guilty

Also See: Penance / Confession (Topic Page)

"What a comfort to the guilty, when, stung with remorse and repenting of his sins, he hears the word of the priest who says to him in God's name: 'I absolve thee from thy sins!' These words fall, it is true, from the lips of one who, in his turn, must needs beg the same absolution from another priest. This does not debase the merciful gift; but makes it, rather, appear greater; since beyond the weak creature is seen more clearly the hand of God through whose power is wrought this wonder. As an illustrious layman has written, treating with rare competence of spiritual things: '...when a priest, groaning in spirit at his own unworthiness and at the loftiness of his office, places his consecrated hands upon our heads; when, humiliated at finding himself the dispenser of the Blood of the Covenant; each time amazed as he pronounces the words that give life; when a sinner has absolved a sinner; we, who rise from our knees before him, feel we have done nothing debasing...We have been at the feet of a man who represented Jesus Christ,...we have been there to receive the dignity of free men and of sons of God.'" (Pope Pius XI, "Ad Catholici Sacerdotii", 1935)

Also See: The Catholic Church is Key to Happy Life | The Church is at Our Side Throughout Our Life | The Church's Faithfulness to Her Mission | Divine Origin of the Catholic Church | No Greater Gift Than the Catholic Faith | Social Fruits of Catholicism | The Unshakable Church | Sacraments Section

Note: Categories are subjective and may overlap. For more items related to this topic, please review all applicable categories. For more 'Reflections' and for Scripture topics, see links below.

Top | Reflections: A-Z | Catg. | Scripture: A-Z | Catg. | Help

Love For the Church

"[T]o the extent that one loves the Church of Christ, to that extent does he possess the Holy Spirit." (St. Augustine, Doctor of the Church) 

"...there can be no true sanctity without [love of the Church]" (Gueranger)

"A filial love for the Church is the sign of the elect; obedience to her commandments is the mark of a soul in which God has set His kingdom." (Gueranger)

"All, moreover, are bound to love the Church as their common mother, to obey her laws, promote her honor, defend her rights, and to endeavor to make her respected and loved by those over whom they have authority." (Pope Leo XIII, "Immortale Dei", 1885)

"We can, certainly, and should love ourselves, bear ourselves kindly toward our fellow men, nourish affection for the State and the governing powers; but at the same time we can and must cherish toward the Church a feeling of filial piety, and love God with the deepest love of which we are capable." (Pope Leo XIII, "Sapientiae Christianae", 1890)

"Now, if the natural law enjoins us to love devotedly and to defend the country in which we had birth, and in which we were brought up, so that every good citizen hesitates not to face death for his native land, very much more is it the urgent duty of Christians to be ever quickened by like feelings toward the Church. For the Church is the holy City of the living God, born of God Himself, and by Him built up and established. Upon this earth, indeed, she accomplishes her pilgrimage, but by instructing and guiding men she summons them to eternal happiness. We are bound, then, to love dearly the country whence we have received the means of enjoyment this mortal life affords, but we have a much more urgent obligation to love, with ardent love, the Church to which we owe the life of the soul, a life that will endure forever. For fitting it is to prefer the good of the soul to the well-being of the body, inasmuch as duties toward God are of a far more hallowed character than those toward men." (Pope Leo XIII, "Sapientiae Christianae", 1890)

"We cannot refrain from again and again exhorting all to love holy Mother Church with a devoted and active love. If we have really at heart the salvation of the whole human family, purchased by the precious Blood, we must offer every day to the Eternal Father our prayers, works and sufferings, for her safety and for her continued and ever more fruitful increase. And while the skies are heavy with storm clouds, and exceeding great dangers threaten the whole of human society and the Church herself, let us commit ourselves and all that we have to the Father of Mercies, crying out: 'Look down, we beseech Thee, Lord, on this Thy family, for which our Lord Jesus Christ did not hesitate to be betrayed into the hands of evil men and to undergo the torment of the Cross.'" (Pope Pius XII, "Mystici Corporis Christi", 1943)

"He is a true and genuine Catholic who loves the truth of God, the Church, and the Body of Christ; who puts nothing before divine religion and the Catholic Faith, neither the authority nor the love nor the genius nor the eloquence nor the philosophy of any man whatsoever, but despising all that and being fixed, stable, and persevering in his faith, is determined in himself to hold and believe that only which he knows the Catholic Church has held universally and from ancient times." (St. Vincent of Lerins, c. 434 A.D.)

"Such is the Church: a spiritual, but at the same time an exterior and visible society; just in the same way as man is spiritual and because of his soul and material because of his body, which is an essential part of his being. The Christian, therefore, should love the Church such as God has made her; he should detest that false and hypocritical spiritualism which, with a view to subvert the work of Christ, would confine religion within the exclusively spiritual domain. We never can admit such a limitation. The Divine Word has assumed our flesh; he permitted his creature man to hear and see and handle him; and when he organized his Church on earth, he made it speaking, visible, and so to say palpable. We are a vast state; we have our king, or magistrates, our fellow citizens; and we should be willing to lay down our lives for this supernatural country, whose excellence is as far superior to that of our earthly country as heaven is better than the whole earth." (Gueranger)

Also See: The Catholic Church is Key to Happy Life | The Church is at Our Side Throughout Our Life | The Church is Heaven in Miniature | The Church's Faithfulness to Her Mission | Divine Origin of the Catholic Church | No Greater Gift Than the Catholic Faith | Praise of the Church | Social Fruits of Catholicism | The Unshakable Church 

Note: Categories are subjective and may overlap. For more items related to this topic, please review all applicable categories. For more 'Reflections' and for Scripture topics, see links below.

Top | Reflections: A-Z | Catg. | Scripture: A-Z | Catg. | Help

Name 'Catholic' Distinguishes from Heretics

Also See: Those Outside the Church (Topic Page)

"When we are called Catholics, it is by this name that our people are kept apart from any heretical name." (St. Pacianus of Barcelona)

Also See: The Church Alone Has Teaching Mandate | The Church Prefigured in the Old Testament | The Church's Faithfulness to Her Mission | Divine Origin of the Catholic Church | No Greater Gift Than the Catholic Faith | Praise of the Church | Social Fruits of Catholicism | The Unshakable Church | Non-Catholics (apologetics) | Coming Home Section

Note: Categories are subjective and may overlap. For more items related to this topic, please review all applicable categories. For more 'Reflections' and for Scripture topics, see links below.

Top | Reflections: A-Z | Catg. | Scripture: A-Z | Catg. | Help

No Greater Gift Than the Catholic Faith

"[N]o gift of God either to individuals or to nations is greater than to receive by His grace the Catholic faith, and having received it, to keep it with perseverance. This gift contains an abundance of other gifts by means of which individual persons receive both eternal happiness in heaven and greatness and prosperity for their state on earth." (Pope Leo XIII, "Quod Multum", 1886)

Also See: The Catholic Church is Key to Happy Life | The Church is at Our Side Throughout Our Life | The Church is Heaven in Miniature | The Church is Removed by Only One Degree from Heaven | The Church's Faithfulness to Her Mission | Divine Origin of the Catholic Church | Nothing More Glorious Than Belonging to the Church | Outside the Church is Night | Praise of the Church | Social Fruits of Catholicism | The Unshakable Church 

Note: Categories are subjective and may overlap. For more items related to this topic, please review all applicable categories. For more 'Reflections' and for Scripture topics, see links below.

Top | Reflections: A-Z | Catg. | Scripture: A-Z | Catg. | Help

Nothing More Glorious Than Belonging to the Church

"For nothing more glorious, nothing nobler, nothing surely more honorable can be imagined than to belong to the One, Holy Catholic, Apostolic and Roman Church, in which we become members of one Body as venerable as it is unique; are guided by one supreme Head; are filled with one divine Spirit; are nourished during our earthly exile by one doctrine and one heavenly Bread, until at last we enter into the one, unending blessedness of heaven." (Pope Pius XII, "Mystici Corporis Christi", 1943)

Also See: The Catholic Church is Key to Happy Life | The Church is at Our Side Throughout Our Life | The Church is Heaven in Miniature | The Church is Removed by Only One Degree from Heaven | The Church's Faithfulness to Her Mission | Divine Origin of the Catholic Church | No Greater Gift Than the Catholic Faith | Outside the Church is Night | Praise of the Church | Social Fruits of Catholicism | The Unshakable Church 

Note: Categories are subjective and may overlap. For more items related to this topic, please review all applicable categories. For more 'Reflections' and for Scripture topics, see links below.

Top | Reflections: A-Z | Catg. | Scripture: A-Z | Catg. | Help

Outside the Church is Night

"One thing in this world is different from all other. It has a personality and a force. It is recognized, and (when recognized) most violently loved or hated. It is the Catholic Church. Within that household the human spirit has roof and hearth. Outside it, is the Night." (Belloc)

Also See: The Catholic Church is Key to Happy Life | The Church is Heaven in Miniature | The Church is Removed by Only One Degree from Heaven | The Church's Faithfulness to Her Mission | Divine Origin of the Catholic Church | No Greater Gift Than the Catholic Faith | Nothing More Glorious Than Belonging to the Church | Praise of the Church | Social Fruits of Catholicism | The Unshakable Church 

Note: Categories are subjective and may overlap. For more items related to this topic, please review all applicable categories. For more 'Reflections' and for Scripture topics, see links below.

Top | Reflections: A-Z | Catg. | Scripture: A-Z | Catg. | Help

Praise of the Church

"Nothing is equal to the Church; (says St. John Chrysostom,) 'how many have opposed the Church and have themselves perished? The Church reaches to the heavens; such is the Church's greatness. She conquers when attacked; when beset by snares she triumphs; she struggles and is not overthrown, she fights and is not conquered.' Not only is she not conquered, but she preserves that corrective power over nature, and that effective strength of life that springs from God Himself, and is unchanged by time." (Pope Leo XIII, "Exeunte Iam Anno", 1888)

"How grand is our faith!" (Gueranger)

"It is written in praise of the Church (Psalm 45:10) that she is 'surrounded with variety': and a gloss on these words says that 'the Queen,' namely the Church, 'is bedecked with the teaching of the apostles, the confession of martyrs, the purity of virgins, the sorrowings of penitents.'" (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church") 

"O Church of our God! Thou art sanctified in truth! By thee we are taught the whole doctrine of our Jesus! By thee we are put in the path of that holiness, which is thy very life. What would we have more, having truth and holiness? They that seek them out of thee, seek in vain. Happy, we who have nothing to seek, because we have thee for our mother, who art ever lavishing upon us all thy grand gifts and lights!" (Gueranger)

"It is just to return thanks to thee, O eternal God, through Christ our Lord, Who delivered to the Church the eminent power he had received from thee, and, on account of that honor, constituted her queen and bride. To her sovereignty he subjected all things, and ordered her judgments to be ratified in heaven. She is the mother of all the living, and her glory is enhanced by the number of her children; for daily by the Holy Spirit she brings forth sons to God. The whole world is filled with her branches: and suspending her shoots on the tree that supports her, she raises them up to the kingdom of heaven. She is the city built on the summit of the lofty mountain, visible to all, well known to all; whose builder and indweller is the same Jesus Christ our Lord thy Son, whom together with thee, O almighty Father, the angels praise." (Preface)

"Mankind, then, owes its safety to the Ark. O saving Ark, that wast planned by God Himself, and didst sail unhurt amidst the universal wreck! But if we can thus bless this contemptible wood, how fervently should we love that other Ark, of which Noah's was but the figure, and which, for [then] eighteen hundred years, has been saving and bringing men to their God! How fervently should we bless that Church, the bride of our Jesus, out of which there is no salvation, and in which we find that truth which delivers us from error and doubt, that grace which purifies the heart, and that food which nourishes the soul and fits her for immortality! O sacred Ark! Thou art inhabited, not by one family alone, but by people of every nation under the sun. Ever since that glorious day, when our Lord launched thee in the sea of this world, thou hast been tossed by tempests, yet never wrecked. Thou wilt reach the eternal shore, witnessing, by thy unworn vigor and beauty to the divine guidance of the Pilot, who loves thee, both for thine own sake, and for the work thou art doing for His glory. It is by thee that He peoples the world with His elect, and it is for them that He created the world. When He is angry, He remembers mercy, because of thee, for it is through thee that He has made His covenant with mankind. O veritable Ark! Be though our refuge in the deluge!" (Gueranger)

Also See: The Catholic Church is Key to Happy Life | The Church is Heaven in Miniature | The Church is Removed by Only One Degree from Heaven | The Church's Faithfulness to Her Mission | Divine Origin of the Catholic Church | No Greater Gift Than the Catholic Faith | Nothing More Glorious Than Belonging to the Church | Outside the Church is Night | Social Fruits of Catholicism | The Unshakable Church | The World Needs the Church

Note: Categories are subjective and may overlap. For more items related to this topic, please review all applicable categories. For more 'Reflections' and for Scripture topics, see links below.

Top | Reflections: A-Z | Catg. | Scripture: A-Z | Catg. | Help

Social Fruits of Catholicism

Click here for 'Reflections' related to this topic

Note: Categories are subjective and may overlap. For more items related to this topic, please review all applicable categories. For more 'Reflections' and for Scripture topics, see links below.

Top | Reflections: A-Z | Catg. | Scripture: A-Z | Catg. | Help

The Unshakable Church

Also See: Catholic History (Topic Page)

"Dynasties, empires, forms of government, have succeeded each other, and only one institution has stood unchanged - the Church." (Gueranger)

"The true religion has shown forth with greater splendor the more it has been oppressed." (Pope St. Symmachus, c. 506 A.D.)

"It is the peculiar property of the Church that when she is buffeted, she is triumphant; when she is assaulted with argument she proves herself in the right; when she is deserted by her supporters, she holds the field." (St. Hilary of Poitiers, Doctor of the Church)

"The Church can never be brought down. Indeed it grows under persecution, and those who attack it are destroyed." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

"In vain will the Princes of the earth seek, in their conceited calculations, to destroy the Church: God, who has founded her, will make her triumph. Empires shall pass away, and their persecutions: the Church will survive them all, knowing neither wrinkle or decay." (Dom Gueranger)

"The Church has ever proved indestructible. Her persecutors have failed to destroy her; in fact, it was during times of persecution that the Church grew more and more; while the persecutors themselves, and those whom the Church would destroy, are the very ones who came to nothing... Again, errors have assailed her; but in fact, the greater number of errors that have arisen, the more has the truth been made manifest...Nor has the Church failed before the assaults of demons: for she is like a tower of refuge to all who fight against the devil." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

"Other societies depend for their very existence upon a congenial human envelopment; she [the Church] flourishes in the most uncongenial. Other societies have their day and pass down to dissolution and corruption; she alone knows no corruption. Other dynasties rise and fall; [She] remains unmoved. Other causes wax and wane with the worldly influence which they can command; she is usually the most effective when her earthly interest is at the lowest ebb... [She] takes mortal things - a perishing pagan language, a debased architecture, an infant science or philosophy - and infuses them into her own immortality. She takes superstitions of a countryside, and retaining their 'accidents', 'transubstantiates' them into truth; the customs or rites of a pagan society, and makes them the symbols of living worship. And into all she infuses a spirit that is all her own - a spirit of delicate grace and beauty of which she alone has the secret." (Benson)

"As for what concerns the exterior and temporal prosperity of the Church, it is evident that she has to cope with most malicious and powerful adversaries. Too often has she suffered at their hands the abolition of her rights, the diminution and oppression of her liberties, scorn and affronts to her authority, and every conceivable outrage. And if in their wickedness her enemies have not accomplished all the injury they had resolved upon and striven to do, they nevertheless seem to go on unchecked. But, despite them the Church, amidst all these conflicts, will always stand out and increase in greatness and glory. Nor can human reason rightly understand why evil, apparently so dominant, should yet be so restricted as regards its results; whilst the Church, driven into straits, comes forth glorious and triumphant." (Pope Leo XIII, "Octobri Mense", 1891)

"[M]en should realize that all attempts to overthrow the 'House of God' are in vain. For this is the Church founded on Peter, 'Rock,' not merely in name but in truth. Against this 'the gates of hell will not prevail', 'for it is founded on a rock.' There has never been an enemy of the Christian religion who was not simultaneously at wicked war with the See of Peter, since while this See remained strong the survival of the Christian religion was assured. As St. Irenaeus proclaims openly to all, 'by the order and succession of the Roman pontiffs the tradition from the Apostles in the Church and the proclamation of the truth has come down to us. And this is the fullest demonstration that it is the one and the same life-giving faith which has been preserved in the Church until now since the time of the Apostles and has been handed on in truth.'" (Pope Pius VII, "Diu Satis", 1800)  

"O precious and necessary gift of Infallibility in the Church! Gift without which the mission of the Son of God would have been a failure! Gift whereby faith, that essential element of man's salvation, is preserved upon the earth! Yes, we have the promise; and the effects of this promise are evident even to them that are not of the Church. Where is there an unprejudiced man, who would not recognize in the hand of God in the perpetuity of the Catholic Symbol of Faith, whereas everything else on earth is for ever changing? Can we attribute to natural causes such a result as this - that a society, whose link is unity of belief, should live through so many ages, and yet lose nothing of the truth it possessed at its commencement, nor imbibe anything of the falseness of the world around it; that it should have been attacked by thousands of sects, and yet have triumphed over them all, survived them all, and be as pure in the faith now at this present day, as it was on the day when first formed by its divine Founder? Is it not an unheard-of prodigy, that hundreds of millions of men, differing from each other in country, character, and customs, yea, and frequently enemies to each other, should be united in one like submission to the same authority, which, with a single world, governs their reason in matters of faith?" (Gueranger)

"Believe me, O man, there is no power like the power of the Church. Cease thy battling, lest thou lose thy strength; wage not war with heaven. When it is with man thou warrest, thou mayst win or lose; but when thy fighting is against the Church, it is impossible though shouldst conquer, for God is above all in strength... If though will not believe [Christ's] word, believe facts. How many tyrants have sought to crush the Church? They had their gridirons and fiery furnaces, and wild beasts, and swords - and all failed. Where are those enemies now? Buried and forgotten. And the Church? Brighter than the sun. All they had is now past, but her riches are immortal. If the Christians conquered when they were but few in number, canst thou hope to vanquish them, now that the whole earth is filled with the holy religion? 'Heaven and earth shall pass, but my words shall not pass.' Wonder not at it; for the Church is dearer unto God than the very heavens. He took flesh not from heaven, but from his Church on earth; and heaven is for the Church, not the Church for heaven." (St. John Chrysostom, Doctor of the Church)

"Nothing human is lasting; but the Church's ceaseless duration will excite the spleen of incredulity and baffle all its calculations. Persecutions, heresies, schisms, apostasies, and scandals - all will strive to work her ruin; but she will survive them all. The descendants of her bitterest foes will call her mother. Thrones and dynasties, nations, and even whole races, will be carried away by the tide of time, she alone will subsist throughout the ages, stretching out her arms to receive all men, teaching ever the same truths, repeating, even to the last day, the same symbol of faith, and ever faithful to the instructions given her by our Risen Jesus during these forty days preceding his Ascension (Acts 1:3)." (Gueranger)

"The world goes on its laborious way, proud of its riches, of its power, of its arms, of its genius; the Church goes onward along the course of ages with an even step, trusting in God only, to Whom, day and night, she lifts her eyes and her suppliant hands. Even though in her prudence she neglects not the human aid which Providence and the times afford her, not in these does she put her trust, which rests in prayer, in supplication, in the invocation of God. Thus it is that she renews her vital breath; the diligence of her prayer has caused her, in her aloofness from worldly things and in her continual union with the Divine will, to live the tranquil and peaceful life of Our very Lord Jesus Christ; being herself the image of Christ, Whose happy and perpetual joy was hardly marred by the horror of the torments He endured for us. This important doctrine of Christian wisdom has been ever believed and practiced by Christians worthy of the name." (Pope Leo XIII, "Octobri Mense", 1891)

"The Church, instituted by the Lord and confirmed by the Apostles, is one for all men; but the frantic folly of the diverse impious sects has cut them off from her. It cannot be denied that this tearing asunder of the faith has arisen from the defect of poor intelligence, which twists what is read to confirm to its opinion, instead of adjusting its opinion to the meaning of what is read. However, while individual parties fight among themselves, the Church stands revealed not only by her own doctrines, but by those also of her adversaries. And although they are all ranged against her, she confutes the most wicked error which they all share, by the very fact that she is alone and one. All the heretics, therefore, come against the Church; but while all the heretics can conquer each other, they can win nothing for themselves. For their victory is the triumph of the Church over all of them. One heresy struggles against that teaching of another, which the faith of the Church has already condemned in the other heresy, - for there is nothing which the heretics hold in common, - and the result is that they affirm our faith while fighting among themselves." (St. Hilary of Poitiers, Doctor of the Church, c. 356 A.D.)

"As these ages sped, the Church of God, though afflicted by many a disaster and social upheaval, torn by many a heresy and schism, anguished by the treason of her followers and by the disloyalty of her sons, nevertheless, trusting in the promises of her Founder, while human institutions of varying origin that surrounded her fell in ruins, not only stood safe and unharmed, but also in every age glowed with brighter beauty in noble lives of holiness and devotion, while in many Christians she made the fire of charity burn with growing heat. Moreover, thanks to her missionaries and martyrs she brought into her Fold fresh nations, among whom the pristine glory of virginity renews its bloom and the rank of priest and Bishop keeps its vigor. In fine, so deeply has she imbued all peoples with her spirit of charity and justice, that the very men who treat her with indifference or hostility, cannot refrain from borrowing her way of speaking and acting." (Pope Pius XI, "Ad Salutem", 1930)

"O holy Roman Church! Thou hast for ever put thy trust in the Lord; and He, faithful to His promise, has humbled before thee the haughty ones that defied thee, and the proud cities that were against thee. Where now are the Caesars, who boasted that they had drowned thee in thine own blood? Where the emperors, who would ravish the inviolate virginity of thy faith? Where the heretics, who, during the past centuries of thine existence, have assailed every article of thy teaching and denied what they listed? Where the ungrateful princes, who would fain make a slave of thee, who hast made them what they were? Where that empire of Mahomet, which has so many times raged against thee, for that thou, the defenseless State, did arrest the pride of its conquests? Where the reformers, who were bent on giving the world a Christianity, in which thou was to have no part? Where the more modern sophists, in whose philosophy thou wast set down as a system that had been tried, and was a failure, and is now a ruin? And those kings who are acting the tyrant over thee, and those people that will have liberty independently and at the risk of truth, where will they be in another hundred years? Gone and forgotten as the noisy anger of a torrent; whilst thou, O holy Church of Rome, built on the immovable rock, wilt be as calm, as young, as unwrinkled as ever. Thy path through all the ages of this world's duration, will be right as that of the just man; thou wilt ever be the same unchanging Church, as thou hast been during the [two thousand] years past, whilst everything else under the sun has been but change. Whence this thy stability, but from Him who is very truth and justice? Glory be to Him in thee!" (Dom Gueranger)

Also See: The Church is the Safe Guide to Conscience / The Church is Errorless | The Church's Faithfulness to Her Mission | Divine Origin of the Catholic Church | Name 'Catholic' Distinguishes from Heretics | No Greater Gift Than the Catholic Faith | Praise of the Church | Social Fruits of Catholicism | The World Needs the Church | Catholic Basics Section | Non-Catholics (apologetics)

Note: Categories are subjective and may overlap. For more items related to this topic, please review all applicable categories. For more 'Reflections' and for Scripture topics, see links below.

Top | Reflections: A-Z | Catg. | Scripture: A-Z | Catg. | Help

The World Needs the Church

"For the preservation of the moral order neither the laws and sanctions of the temporal power are sufficient, nor is the beauty of virtue and the expounding of its necessity. Religious authority must enter in to enlighten the mind, to direct the will, and to strengthen human frailty by the assistance of divine grace. Such an authority is found nowhere save in the Church instituted by Christ the Lord." (Pope Pius XI, "Casti Connubii", 1930)

Also See: Catholic Law vs. Modern Law | The Church Alone Has Teaching Mandate | The Church is the Safe Guide to Conscience / The Church is Errorless | The Church's Faithfulness to Her Mission | Divine Origin of the Catholic Church | No Greater Gift Than the Catholic Faith | Praise of the Church | Social Fruits of Catholicism | The Unshakable Church

Note: Categories are subjective and may overlap. For more items related to this topic, please review all applicable categories. For more 'Reflections' and for Scripture topics, see links below.

Top | Reflections: A-Z | Catg. | Scripture: A-Z | Catg. | Help