7 An Abridgment of Christian Doctrine, CALCULATED TO ASSIST THE MEMORY OF THE FAITHFUL. The Ten Commandments of God.-Exodus xx. 1. I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, and out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt not have strange gods before me. Thou shalt not make to thyself a graven thing, nor the likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, nor of those things that are in the waters under the earth. Thou shalt not adore them, nor serve them : I am the Lord thy God, mighty, jealous, visiting the iniquity of fathers upon their children, unto the third and fourth generation of those that hate me; and shewing mercy unto thousands of those that love me, and keep my commandments. 2. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that shall take the name of the Lord his God in vain. 3. Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath-day. Six days shalt thou labour, and shalt do all thy works; but on the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: thou shalt do no work on it, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy beast, nor the stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and the sea, and all things that are in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it. 4. Honour thy father and thy mother, that thou mayest be long-lived upon the land which the Lord thy God will give thee. 5. Thou shalt not kill. 6. Thou shalt not commit adultery. 7. Thou shalt not steal. 8. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. 9. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife. 10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, nor his servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is his. The Six Precepts of the Church. 1. To hear Mass on Sundays, and all holidays of obligation. 2. To fast and abstain on the days commanded. 3. To confess our sins at least once a year. 4. To receive the blessed Eucharist at Easter. 5. To contribute to the support of our pastors. 6. Not to solemnise marriage at the forbidden times; no to marry persons within the forbidden degrees of kindred, o otherwise prohibited by the Church: nor clandestinely. The Four Cardinal Virtues. Prudence-Justice-Fortitude and Temperance. The Seven Gifts of the Holy Ghost.-Isa. xi. 2, 3. The Eight Beatitudes.-Matt. v. 1. Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 2. Blessed are the meek; for they shall possess the land. 3. Blessed are they that mourn; for they shall be comforted. 4. Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice; for they shall be filled. 5. Blessed are the merciful; for they shall obtain mercy. 6. Blessed are the clean of heart; for they shall see God. 7. Blessed are the peacemakers; for they shall be called the children of God. 8. Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. The Seven Deadly Sins, and the opposite Virtues. Presumption of God's mercy-Despair-Impugning the known truth-Envy at another's spiritual good-Obstinacy in sin-Final impenitence. Sins crying to Heaven for Vengeance. Wilful murder-The sin of Sodom-Oppression of the poor-Defrauding labourers of their wages. Nine Ways of being accessory to another's Sin. By counsel-By command-By consent-By provocation -By praise or flattery-By concealment By partaking-By silence-By defence of the ill done. Three Eminent Good Works. Alms-deeds, or works of mercy-Prayer-and Fasting. The Evangelical Counsels. Voluntary poverty-Chastity-and Obedience. The Four last Things to be remembered. Subjects for Daily Meditation. Remember, Christian soul, that thou hast this day, and every God to glorify, Jesus to imitate, day of thy life, The angels and saints to in voke, A soul to save, A body to mortify, Sins to expiate, Virtues to acquire, Heaven to gain, Eternity to prepare for, Time to profit of, Neighbours to edify, A Summary OF CHRISTIAN FAITH AND PRACTICE; OR WHAT EVERY CHRISTIAN MUST BELIEVE AND DO IN ORDER TO SALVATION. I. What every Christian must believe. EVERY Christian must believe that there is one God, and no more than one God: that this God is a pure Spirit, the Lord and Maker of heaven and earth, who has neither beginning nor end, but is always the same; is every where present; knows and sees all things; can do all things whatsoever he pleases; and is infinite in all perfections. 2. Every Christian is bound to believe that in this one God there are three several Persons, perfectly equal, and of the same substance: the Father, who proceeds from none; the Son, who is born of the Father before all ages; and the Holy Ghost, who proceeds eternally from the Father and the Son; and that these three Persons are all equally eternal, equal in wisdom and power, and are all three one and the same Lord, one and the same God. 3. We must all believe that this God created the angels to be with him for ever, and that one part of them fell from God by sin, and became devils; that God also created Adam and Eve,the first parents of all mankind, and placed them it the earthly paradise, from whence they were justly banishe for the sin they committed in eating of the fruit of the f |