Page:PracticalCommentaryOnHolyScripture.djvu/794

 have buried  thy  husband  are  at  the  door,  and  they  shall  carry thee out.”

Immediately she  was  struck  dead  at  his  feet,  and  the  young men, coming  in,  carried  her  out  also,  and  buried  her  with  her husband. “And there  came  a great  fear  upon  the  whole  Church”, because the  faithful  saw  the  justice  of  God  in  the  sudden  death of Ananias  and  Saphira.

The Worship  of  God  consisted  in  the  earliest  days  of  the  Church, as it  does  now,  in  the  preaching  of  Christian  doctrine,  in  prayer  said in common,  in  the  offering  of  the  Holy  Sacrifice  of  the  Mass,  and  in Holy  Communion. The love  and  devotion  of  the  first  Christians  to  the Holy Eucharist  was  so  great  that,  as  a rule,  they  received  Holy  Communion at  every  Mass.

The Internal  Unity  of  the  Church. A common  proverb  says: “Many heads, many  minds”;  but  the  first  Christians  proved  the  fallacy  of  the saying. The Christian  flock  counted  many  thousand  heads,  but  they were all  of  one  mind,  as  if  they  had  one  heart  and  one  soul. This wonderful unity  was  the  work  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  whose  grace  changed the hearts  of  the  faithful,  and  made  them  all  ready  to  obey  the  Apostolic teaching. Thus was  granted  the  prayer  of  our  great  High  Priest  for His Church:  “I  pray  that  all  may  be  one,  that  the  world  may  know that Thou  hast  sent  Me”  (John  17,  21).

The External  Unity  of  the  Church  can  equally  be  traced  in  the days of  the  first  Christians. They all  professed  the  same  faith,  had  the same worship,  and  the  same  government. They all  reverenced  the apostles as  the  chosen  servants  of  God  and  their  spiritual  fathers  and superiors, and  all  acknowledged  Peter  as  the  chief  pastor  and  visible head of  the  Church. We can  see  in  what  light  the  apostles  were  regarded, by  the  fact  that  the  faithful  reverently  laid  at  their  feet  the  price of the  possessions  which  they  had  sold,  to  be  distributed  by  them  as they  thought  fit. The Church,  to  be  the  true  Church  of  Christ,  must be internally  and  externally  one,  as  it  was  in  the  days  of  the  apostles.

The Primacy  of  Peter.  St.  Peter  shines  forth  unmistakably  as  the supreme pastor  of  the  Church. He it  was  who  interrogated  Ananias and Saphira,  and  it  was  to  him  that  the  Holy  Ghost  revealed  their deceit. He too  exercised  the  supreme  authority  of  the  Church,  in  punishing the  hypocrites  with  the  penalty  of  death.

The love  of  God  and  the  love  of  our  neighbour.  The  first  Christians observed in  a sublime  manner  that  first  and  greatest  commandment which contains  in  itself  all  the  other  commandments,  namely  the  love of God  and  of  our  neighbour. They proved  their  love  for  God  by  their