Page:Catechismoftrent.djvu/110

 prehension, has ordained that it should be manifested to us, through the intervention of certain sensible signs. As St. Chrysostom happily expresses it: " If man were not clothed with a material body, these good things would have been presented to him unveiled by sensible forms; but, as he is composed of body and soul, it was absolutely necessary to employ sensible signs, in order to assist in making them understood."

Another reason is, because the mind yields a reluctant assent to promises; and hence, God, from the beginning of the world, very frequently, and in express terms points our attention to the promises which he had made; and when designing to execute something, the magnitude of which might weaken a belief in its accomplishment, he confirms his promise by signs, which some times appear miraculous. When, for instance, God sends Moses to deliver the people of Israel; and Moses commissioned as he was by God, and shielded by his protecting arm, still hesitates, fearing his incompetency to the task imposed on him, or the incredulous rejection of the divine oracles on the part of the people, the Almighty confirms his promise by many signs. As, then, in the old law, God ordained that every important promise should be confirmed by certain signs; so, in the new, our divine Redeemer, when he promises pardon of sin, divine grace, the communication of the Holy Spirit, has instituted certain sensible signs which are so many pledges of the inviolability of his word pledges which we are well assured he will not fail to redeem.

A third reason is, that the Sacraments bring, to use the words of St. Ambrose, the healing remedies and medicines, as it were, of the Samaritan mentioned in the Gospel. God wishes us to have recourse to them in order to preserve or recover the health of the soul; for, through the Sacraments as through its proper channel, should flow into the soul the efficacy of the passion of Christ, that is the grace which he purchased for us on the altar of the cross, and without which we cannot hope for salvation. Hence, our most merciful Redeemer has bequeathed to his Church, Sacraments stamped with the sanction of his word, and sealed with the security of his promise, through which, provided we make pious and devout use of these sovereign remedies, we firmly believe that the fruit of his passion is really conveyed to our souls.

A fourth reason why the institution of the Sacraments may seem necessary is, that there may be certain marks and symbols to distinguish the faithful; particularly as, to use the words of St. Augustine, " no society of men, professing a true or a false religion, can, as it were, be incorporated, unless united and held together by some federal bond of sensible signs." Both these objects, the Sacraments of the new law accomplish; distinguish-