abroad from the lofty eminence of Calvary. A new and brilliant prospect will then open before us, and a new light will burst upon our eyes. Then will we be able to view the Christian system in all its length and breadth, in all the wondrous harmony of its parts, and in all its divine adaptation to the wants of man. Then will we see and feel, that the atonement is truly the great center. of the Christian system, even as the sun is the center of the universe; that all the other doctrines of Christianity revolve around this central point, even as the planets revolve around the sun; and that, as in the material, so also in the spiritual world, the sun of the system is the living source of light and heat and life. Blot the material sun from the heavens, and how dark and cheerless and lifeless this world of ours would become! All the laws of nature would be arrested in their course; the heavens would no longer send down their dews and rains, the brooks and rivers would cease to flow, vegetation would wither and die, animal life would become extinct, and nature would return to its original chaos. So also, strike out the atonement from the Christian system, and human nature would again become, what it was before the coming of Christ, a dreary, dark, and frightful waste: the dews and rains of divine mercy would cease to distil from the heavens, the streams of grace would be dried up, no fragrant flowers and no luscious fruits of virtue would adorn and enrich the garden of the soul, all spiritual life would be extinguished, and man would descend from his lofty pre-eminence to a level with the mere animal creation. But with the blessed doctrine of the atonement, all is light, and warmth and life. Men no longer sit "in the region of the shadow of death,” but they bask in the genial sunshine of heaven. Earth is no longer severed from heaven, but the two have become one; extremes have met; justice and mercy have embraced. By the saving influence of the atonement, man has been reconciled to his God, and "the hand-writing of the decree which was against him has been taken out of the way and fastened to the cross." By the precious blood, which flowed from the wounds of Jesus Christ crucified, has salvation been purchased for all; and "through Him God has reconciled all things unto Himself, making peace through the blood of His cross, both as to the things that are on earth, and the things that are in heaven."2 For we "have not been redeemed with corruptible gold and silver; . . . but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb unspotted and undefiled." The pages of the New Testament are filled with similar passages, all proving that the blood of Christ, shed on the cross, is the great and only source and fountain-head of redemption, and of the lights, graces, and aids by which salvation can be obtained. "Nor is there salvation in any other. For there is no other name under heaven given to men, whereby we must be saved." No prayer will be heard which is not uttered in the name of the Crucified; no grace can be obtained which is not asked 1 Colossians ii, 14. 2 Colloss. i, 20. 31 Ep. S. Peter i, 18, 19. 4 Acts iv. 12. for through the blood of the cross. Every grace which ever was, or ever will be bestowed upon mankind, from the date of the fall to the end of the world, was or will be bestowed solely in consequence of the blood of the cross, either to be shed or actually shed. There is nothing more certain than this the whole scheme of salvation, whether in its germ under the old law, or in its full development under the new, rests upon this great cardinal truth. Thus the atonement operated both retrospectively and prospectively; and in point of time, as well as in vital importance, it is the great center of the spiritual world. The atonement was amply sufficient for all the wants of fallen human nature. In the prophetic language of the psalmist, it contained " an abundant redemption." It fully atoned not only for original sin, but also for all the actual sins of all mankind. Even one drop of the great Man-God's precious blood, would have superabundantly sufficed to expiate the sins of ten thousand worlds; because it was of infinite value and acceptance with God. The one great sacrifice of the cross obtained an eternal redemption," and "exhausted the sins of many." It fully paid the price of ransom for the sins of all the descendants of Adam. None were excepted from its influence; for "there is no exception of persons with God." All who had sinned in Adam, and had thereby incurred death, were ransomed in Christ.' The arms of the blessed Jesus extended on the cross embraced all mankind without exception: His heart loved all, and his heart's blood was bounteously poured out for all. And the system of belief, which would limit the atonement to a select few, is as unscriptural as it is narrow and unworthy of God. By the atonement ample means were thus provided for the salvation of every child of Adam. Whoever therefore is not saved, perishes solely through his own fault. God has fully and superabundantly done His part, and He may still address to the world the plaint formerly uttered against the house of Israel: "What is there that I ought to do more to my vineyard that I have not done to it? Was it that I looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it hath brought forth wild grapes ? " But man is free, either to use or to neglect these means of salvation; God offers no violence to his free will; he is still "placed in the hands of his counsel," and may choose either fire or water;- either the fire of the divine indignation, or the cooling streams of heavenly grace. God will compel none into heaven; He will bestow the crown of immortality only on those who have fought valiantly for it, and triumphed over sin through Jesus Christ. As St. Augustine has somewhere remarked, God, who created us without our consent or aid, will not save us without our co-operation. The abundant merits of the redemption will be applied to us, only on condition that we, on our part, do all that God requires of us, as preliminaries to the application; He Himself freely aiding and assisting us by His 1 Psalm exxix, 7. 4 Isaiah v, 4. 3 Bee Romans, ch. v. 2 Hebrews ix, 12 and 28. 5 Ecclesiasticus xv, 14. holy grace, both in beginning and perfecting the good work. Of ourselves we can, indeed, do nothing towards our salvation; but without our free cooperation the grace of God will certainly not save us. Salvation is thus the result of two agencies combined: the weakness of man, strengthened and rendered efficient by the grace of God. The same inspired apostle who said, "We are not sufficient to think any thing of ourselves, as of ourselves," also said, "I can do all things in Him who strengtheneth me."" With the blessed Saviour himself, the Catholic Church has ever taught, that the merits of the atonement are applied only to those who strive earnestly, with the grace of God, to imitate Christ, in His spirit, in His life, in His death. In the name of her divine Head and Spouse, she has ever addressed His words to all her children, as setting forth the essential conditions of discipleship: "If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me." With the inspired Paul, she has ever taught that, to be sharers in the redemption, we must "be nailed to the cross with Christ; and live, now not we, but Christ in us." 334 She tells us that "they who are Christ's have crucified their flesh, with the vices and concupiscences." She tells us daily that, like St. Paul, we must "chastise our bodies, and bring them into subjection," 6 and must "fill up those things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ in our flesh.' She tells us, that we must "do penance in sackcloth and ashes, "'8 as the Saviour said Tyre and Sidon would have done, had the works been performed in them that were done in Corozain and Bethsaida. She tells us, what John told the Jews on the banks of the Jordan : "Bring forth, therefore, fruit worthy of penance;" and what Christ said, speaking of John: "The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence and the violent bear it away."10 She tells us, that those only are foreknown by God and predestinated to life eternal, who "are made comformable to the image of His Son;"" and that we must "suffer with Christ, if we would reign with Him." 12 The whole New Testament abounds with such declarations, all going to show that we cannot expect to share in the merits of the redemption, unless we do violence to ourselves, deny ourselves, mortify our members, imitate the example of Christ, and catch His sacrificial and expiatory spirit. He was innocence itself, and yet was He made the victim of sin; we are guilty, we contributed to nail Him to the cross; we deserve to suffer. "The disciple is not above the master;" and, as St. Bernard well remarks, "it is not becoming that, under a head crowned with thorns, the members should be over delicate." No, no. Those deceive themselves, to their own eternal ruin, who think that they may be saved while reclining on a bed of roses, when Jesus entered into His glory by lying on the hard bed of the cross. Those fatally deceive them 1 2 Corinth. iii, 4. 4 Gallatians, ii, 19, 20. 7 Collossians i, 24. 10 Id. xi, 12. 2 Philippians iv, 13. 5 Gallatians. v, 24. 8 St. Matth. xi, 21, and Luke x, 13 3 St. Matth. xvi, 24. 6 1 Corinthians, ix, 27 9 St. Matthew iil, 8. 12 2 Timothy, ii, 12. selves, who think that they may reach heaven by treading the path of "primrose dalliance," while Jesus walked in a path bestrewed with thorns and marked by His own blood; and while He exclaimed: "How narrow is the gate, and straight is the way, which leadeth to life; and few there are who find it ! "'! --- All the saints of God, from the days of St. John the Baptist down to the present time, to say nothing of those who lived under the old law, have acted on these principles, and have walked in this narrow and thorny path; and, in doing so, they did but imitate the great SAINT OF SAINTS, Jesus Christ himself, "the Author and Finisher of our faith." This doctrine it was, which peopled the deserts with holy men of God; who fled from the soft blandishments of the world and of the flesh, to crucify themselves in solitude. This doctrine it was, which raised up whole armies of virgins and of holy celibataries; who, denying themselves and "crucifying their flesh with its vices and concupiscences," preserved to the end of life the lily of purity, and now are privileged in heaven to be · the special favorites of the Lamb, and "to follow Him whithersoever He goeth." This doctrine it was, which made the martyrs smile on death, and even sigh for its approach; that their blood might be mingled with that of the great expiatory sacrifice, and that they might die for Christ and with Christ. This doctrine, in fine, was the basis of the severe penitential discipline, which generally obtained among the ancient Christians, and which, though mitigated in rigor, still exists in the Catholic Church of the present day. Are we better than were the saints? Are we purer than was St. Paul? Can we expect to gain heaven by any easier way than that pressed and hallowed by the footsteps of ALL the special friends of God and of Christ, in all ages past? Have we fewer or less grievous sins to expiate than they had? Have we less need of penitential works? Have we less reason" to work out our salvation with fear and trembling," and "by good works to make sure our vocation and election?" We deceive ourselves, if we think so. Had there been an easier way to heaven than that we have indicated above, Christ and His apostles would certainly have pointed it out to us, by word or example, or by both. In voluntarily entering upon, and cheerfully pursuing the painful way of the cross, the saints sought, not only to be conformable to the outward example of Jesus Christ, but to enter into His spirit, and to offer themselves up as victims and holocausts of sin with Him. They presented "their members as instruments of justice to God;" and they were ready to die with Christ in expiation of their own sins, and of those of their brethren. Their sufferings and penitential works, they knew and felt, had no intrinsic efficacy whatever apart from the merits of Christ towards obtaining the remission of sin or an increase of sanctity; but united with the sufferings, and hallowed by the spirit, of the Redeemer, 1 St. Matth. vii, 14. 4 2 Peter i. 10. 2 Apocalypse xiv, 4. 3 Philip. ii, 14. 5 Romans, vi, 18 they were rendered acceptable to heaven, and became powerful aids to salvation. The sacrifice of the disciple was acceptable, only when united with the sacrifice of the Master. The Father loved those only, who were conformable to the image of His well-beloved Son. This spirit of sacrifice, springing thus from the great sacrifice of the Gross, is the source of those austerities, voluntary macerations, penances, fasting, bodily inflictions, and other satisfactions, which have ever been dear to the fervent members of the Catholic Church. The cross thus pervades the whole Catholic system, and hallows its every observance. Sin nailed Jesus Christ to the cross; and the penance of a whole lifetime should not be deemed too much atonement for a single transgression. The Catholic is exhorted to preserve always an humble and penitential spirit, to be ever lowly in mind, and to tremble at the very shadow of sin, to cherish a constant spirit of compunction, and, in a word, to live and die with Christ on the cross. Penance is represented to him as the only safeguard of virtue, and the only sure means of salvation: Unless you do penance, you shall all likewise perish.”1 - This holy compunction is daily nourished and strengthened by the great sacrifice of the new law; itself but a continuation and application of the one mediatorial sacrifice of Calvary. In the Mass, the same Victim of expiation, who freely bled on the cross for the sins of all mankind, is daily offered up, in an unbloody manner, on the altar; and thus "the death of the Lord is shown forth, until He come." " The cardinal idea of the sacrifice is thus kept fresh in the minds of the faithful; and the one great sacrifice of the cross is no longer a mere matter of history — a mere fact that is past but it is continually reproduced, and made present again, as a living and breathing reality. Far from impairing the value and efficacy of the great sacrifice offered up on the cross, the clean oblation of our altars leads the mind back continually to that bloody expiation; and brings the Catholic daily and hourly to the summit of Calvary, where his devotion receives a new impulse, and his soul kindles with a new fervor. The sacrifice of the Mass is an exhaustless fountain of mercy, containing the living waters which spring up unto everlasting life; at which the devoted hero of the cross may be constantly refreshed, and be prepared to make new sacrifices for the love of Christ crucified. Those who can not see all this, have never studied the Catholic doctrine in its length, breadth, and depth. Thus everything in the Catholic system is necessarily referred to the great doctrine of the atonement made once on the cross, as to its center and principle. This principle imparts health and vigor and life to all the doctrines and observances of Catholicity; and these, in their turn, recognize and set it off. The Christian life, as developed in the Catholic Church, is but an embodiment of the great atoning sacrifice,—of its spirit as well as of its outward form. The Catholic is told to keep his eye continually on Mount Calvary, where his loving Saviour was crucified : 1 Luke, xiii, 3. 2 1 Corinth. xi, 26. |