On the Ninth Article

252. What is the Church? The Church is a divinely instituted community of men, united by the orthodox faith, the law of God, the hierarchy, and the Sacraments. 253. What is it to believe in the Church? It is piously to honor the true Church of Christ, and to obey her doctrine and commandments, from a conviction that grace ever abides in her, and works, teaches, and governs unto salvation, flowing from her one only everlasting Head, the Lord Jesus Christ. 254. How can the Church, which is visible, be the object of faith, when faith, as the Apostle says, is the evidence of things not seen? First, though the Church be visible, the grace of God, which dwells in her, and in those who are sanctified in her, is not so; and this it is which properly constitutes the object of faith in the Church. Secondly, the Church, though visible so far as she is upon earth, and contains all Orthodox Christians living upon earth, still is at the same time invisible, so far as she is also partially in heaven, and contains all those that have departed hence in true faith and holiness. 255. On what may we ground the idea that the Church is at once upon earth and in heaven? On the following words of the Apostle Paul, addressed to Christians: Ye are come unto Mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and Church of the first-born, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus Christ the Mediator of the new covenant. Heb. xii. 22-24. 256. How are we assured that the grace of God abides in the true Church? First, by this: that her Head is Jesus Christ, God and man in one person, full of grace and truth, who fills his body also, that is, the Church, with like grace and truth. John i. 14, 17. Secondly, by this: that he has promised his disciples the Holy Ghost to abide with them forever, and that, according to this promise, the Holy Ghost appoints the pastors of the Church. John xiv. 16. The Apostle Paul says of Jesus Christ, that God the Father gave him to be head over all things to the Church, which is his body. Eph. i. 22, 23. The same Apostle says to the pastors of the Church: Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over which the Holy Ghost hath made you Bishops, to feed the Church of our Lord and God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. Acts xx. 28. 257. How are we further assured that the grace of God abides in the Church even till now, and shall abide in it to the end of the world? Of this we are assured by the following sayings of Jesus Christ himself and his Apostle: I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Matt. xvi. 18. I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. Matt. xxviii. 20. Unto him, God the Father, be glory in the Church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. Eph. iii. 21. 258. Why is the Church one? Because she is one spiritual Body, has one Head, Christ, and is animated by one Spirit of God. There is one body and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all. Eph. iv. 4-6. 259. Are we still more expressly assured that Jesus Christ is the one only Head of the one Church? The Apostle Paul writes, that for the Church, as the building of God, other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 1 Cor. iii. 10, 11. Wherefore the Church, as the Body of Christ, can have no other Head than Jesus Christ. The Church, being to abide through all generations of time, needs also an ever-abiding head; and such is Jesus Christ alone. Wherefore, also, the Apostles take no higher title than that of ministers of the Church. Col. i. 24, 25. 260. What duty does the unity of the Church lay on us? That of endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Eph. iv. 3. 261. How does it agree with the unity of the Church, that there are many separate and independent churches, as those of Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria, Constantinople, Russia? These are particular churches, or parts of the one Catholic Church: the separateness of their visible organization does not hinder them from being all spiritually great members of the one body of the Universal Church, from having one Head, Christ, and one spirit of faith and grace. This unity is expressed outwardly by unity of Creed, and by communion in prayer and Sacraments. 262. Is there likewise unity between the Church on earth and the Church in heaven? Doubtless there is, both by their common relation to one Head, our Lord Jesus Christ, and by mutual communion with one another. 263. What means of communion has the Church on earth with the Church in heaven? The prayer of faith and love. The faithful who belong to the Church militant upon earth, in offering their prayers to God, call at the same time to their aid the saints who belong to the Church in heaven; and these, standing on the highest steps of approach to God, by their prayers and intercessions purify, strengthen, and offer before God the prayers of the faithful living upon earth, and by the will of God work graciously and beneficently upon them, either by invisible virtue, or by distinct apparitions, and in divers other ways. 264. On what is grounded the rule of the Church upon earth to invoke in prayer the saints of the Church in heaven? On a holy tradition, the principle of which is to be seen also in holy Scripture. For instance, when the Prophet David cries out in prayer, O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel our fathers, he makes mention of saints in aid of his prayer, exactly as now the Orthodox Church calls upon Christ our true God, by the prayers of his most pure Mother and all his saints. See 1 Chron. xxix. 18. Cyril of Jerusalem, in his explanation of the divine Liturgy, says: We make mention also of those who are before departed, first, of the Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, and Martyrs, that by their entreaties and intercession God may receive our prayers. (Cat. Myst. v. c. 9.) Basil the Great, in his sermon on the day of the Forty Holy Martyrs, says: Whoever is afflicted has recourse to the Forty, and whoever is joyful runs to the same; the one that he may find relief from his sorrows, the other that he may keep his happiness. Here the pious wife is to be seen praying for her children; another asks the return of her absent husband; another the restoration of health to the sick. Yes; let your petitions be with the Martyrs. 265. Is there any testimony of holy Scripture to the mediatory prayer of the saints in heaven? The Evangelist John, in the Revelation, saw in heaven an angel, to whom was given much incense, that he should offer it, by the prayers of all saints, upon the golden altar which was before the throne; and the smoke of the incense ascended up by the prayers of the saints out of the hands of the angel before God. Rev. viii. 3, 4. 266. Is there any testimony of holy Scripture to beneficent apparitions of saints from heaven? The Evangelist St. Matthew relates that after the death of our Lord Jesus Christ upon the cross, many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves, after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. Matt. xxvii. 52, 53. And since a miracle so great could not be without some adequate end, we must suppose that the saints which then arose appeared for this, that they might announce the descent of Jesus Christ into hell, and his triumphal resurrection; and so move men born in the Church of the Old Testament to pass over the more readily into that of the New, then opened. 267. What testimonies are there to confirm us in the belief that the saints, after their departure, work miracles through certain earthly means? The second (fourth in the Greek) book of Kings testifies that by touching the bones of the Prophet Elisha a dead man was raised to life. 2 (4) Kings xiii. 21. The Apostle Paul not only in his own immediate person wrought healings and miracles, but the same was done also in his absence by handkerchiefs and aprons taken from his body. Acts xix. 12. By this example we may understand that the saints, even after their deaths, may in like manner work beneficently through earthly means, which have received from them holy virtue. Gregory the Divine, in his first discourse against Julian, says: Thou wast not abashed by the sacrifices offered for Christ, nor didst fear the great athletes, John, Peter, Paul, James, Stephen, Luke, Andrew, Thecla, and the rest, who before and after these suffered for the truth; who withstood both fire and sword, the torturers, and all sufferings present or threatened, as if their bodies were not their own, or they had had no bodies at all. For what? That they might not, so much as by a word, betray their religion. To whom also great honors and triumphs are with just reason awarded: by whom devils are expelled and diseases healed: who appear in visions, and prophecy: whose very bodies, though separate, when touched or reverenced, have like power with their holy souls; and drops of whose blood, those least tokens of their suffering, like power with their bodies. John Damascene writes thus: The relics of the saints have been given us by our Lord Jesus Christ as salutary springs, from which manifold blessings flow. And as if in explanation of this, he remarks, that through the mind their bodies also were inhabited of God. (Theol. lib. iv. cap. 15, 3, 4.) 268. Why is the Church holy? Because she is sanctified by Jesus Christ through his passion, through his doctrine, through his prayer, and through the Sacraments. Christ loved the Church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify it, having cleansed it with the washing of water by the Word, 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. Eph. v. 25-27. In his prayer to God the Father for believers, Jesus Christ said among other things: Sanctify them through thy truth: thy Word is truth. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. John xvii.17, 19. 269. How is the Church holy, when she has in her sinners? Men, who sin, but purify themselves by true repentance, hinder not the Church from being holy; but impenitent sinners, either by the visible act of Church authority, or by the invisible judgment of God, are cut off from the body of the Church; and so she is, in respect of these, also kept holy. Put away from among yourselves that wicked person. 1 Cor. v. 13. Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal: The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. 2 Tim. ii. 19. 270. Why is the Church called Catholic, or, which is the same thing, Universal? Because she is not limited to any place, nor time, nor people, but contains true believers of all places, times, and peoples. The Apostle Paul says that the Word of the Gospel is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit (Coloss. i. 5, 6), and that in the Christian Church there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian nor Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all. Coloss. iii. 11. They which be of faith, are blessed with faithful Abraham. Gal. iii. 9. 271. What great privilege has the Catholic Church? She alone has the sublime promises that the gates of hell shall not prevail against her; that the Lord shall be with her even to the end of the world; that in her shall abide the glory of God in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever; and consequently that she shall never apostatize from the faith, nor sin against the truth of the faith, or fall into error. We undoubtingly confess, as sure truth, that the Catholic Church can not sin, nor err, nor utter falsehood in place of truth; for the Holy Ghost, ever working through his faithful ministers the fathers and doctors of the Church, preserves her from all error. (Missive of the Eastern Patriarchs on the Orthodox Faith, Art. 12.) 272. If the Catholic Church contains all true believers in the world, must we not acknowledge it to be necessary for salvation that every believer should belong to her? Exactly so. Since Jesus Christ, in the words of St. Paul, is the Head of the Church, and he is the Saviour of the Body, it follows that, to have part in his salvation, we must necessarily be members of his body, that is, of the Catholic Church. Eph. v. 23. The Apostle Peter writes that baptism saveth us after the figure of the ark of Noah. All who were saved from the general deluge were saved only in the ark; so all who obtain everlasting salvation obtain it only in the one Catholic Church. 273. What thoughts and remembrances should we associate with the name of the Eastern Church? In Paradise, planted in the East, was founded the first Church of our parents in innocence; and in the East, after the fall, was laid a new foundation of the Church of the redeemed, in the promise of a Saviour. In the East, in the land of Judæa, our Lord Jesus Christ, having finished the work of our salvation, laid the foundation of his own proper Christian Church: from thence she spread herself over the whole universe; and to this day the orthodox Catholic œcumenical faith, confirmed by the seven œcumenical Councils, is preserved unchanged in its original purity in the ancient Churches of the East, and in such as agree with them, as does by God's grace the Church of Russia. 274. Why is the Church called Apostolic? Because she has from the Apostles, without break or change, both her doctrine and the succession of the gifts of the Holy Ghost, through the laying on of consecrated, hands. In the same sense the Church is called also Orthodox, or Rightly-believing. Ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God, and are built on the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone. Eph. ii. 19, 20. 275. What does the Creed teach us, when it calls the Church Apostolic? It teaches us to hold fast the Apostolical doctrine and tradition, and eschew such doctrine and such teachers as are not warranted by the doctrine of the Apostles. The Apostle Paul says: Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word or our epistle. 2 Thess. ii. 15. A man that is a heretic after the first and second admonition reject. Titus iii. 10. For there are many unruly, vain talkers and deceivers, especially they of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped; who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake. Titus i. 10, 11. But if thy brother neglect to hear the Church, let him be to thee as a heathen man and a publican. Matt. xviii. 17. 276. What ecclesiastical institution is there through which the succession of the Apostolical ministry is preserved? The ecclesiastical Hierarchy. 277. Whence originates the Hierarchy of the Orthodox Christian Church? From Jesus Christ himself, and from the descent of the Holy Ghost on the Apostles; from which time it is continued, in unbroken succession, through the laying on of hands, in the Sacrament of Orders. And he gave some, Apostles; and some, Prophets; and some, Evangelists; and some, Pastors and Teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the Body of Christ. Eph. iv. 11, 12. 278. What hierarchical authority is there which can extend its sphere of action over the whole Catholic Church? An œcumenical Council. 279. Under what hierarchical authority are the chief divisions of the Catholic Church? Under the Orthodox Patriarchs and the Most Holy Synod. 280. Under what ecclesiastical authority are lesser orthodox provinces and cities? Under Metropolitans, Archbishops, and Bishops. 281. What rank in the Hierarchy is held by the Most Holy Russian Synod? The same rank with the Most Holy Orthodox Patriarchs. (See the Letters of the M. H. Patriarchs on the institution of the M. H. Synod.) 282. If any one desire to fulfill his duty of obedience to the Church, how may he learn what she requires of her children? This may be learned from holy Scripture, from the canons of the holy Apostles, the holy œcumenical and provincial Councils, and the holy Fathers, and from the books of Ecclesiastical Rules and Rubrics.