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.
Death-Judgment-Hell-and Heaven.

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,
Hell to avoid,

Heaven to gain,
Eternity to prepare for,

Time to profit of,
Neighbours to edify,
The world to despise,
Devils to combat,
Passions to subdue,
Death perhaps to suffer,
And Judgment to undergo.

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 in the earthly paradise, from whence they were justly banished for the sin they committed in eating of the fruit of the for

bidden tree; and that by this transgression of Adam we are all born in sin, and must have been lost for ever, if God had not sent us a Saviour.

4. We are bound to believe in this Saviour of all mankind, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, true God, and true man; perfect God from all eternity, equal to his Father in all things; and perfect man, from the time of his coming down from heaven for us, having a body and soul like us.

5. We must believe that this Jesus Christ, our Saviour, who had been long foretold by the prophets, was, at God's appointed time, conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary, by the power of the Holy Ghost, without having any man for his father, and was born of her, she still remaining a pure virgin that, during the time of his mortal life, he founded the Christian religion by his heavenly doctrine and wonderful miracles, and then offered himself a sacrifice for the sins of the whole world, by dying upon a cross, to purchase mercy, grace, and salvation, for us; and that neither mercy, nor grace, nor salvation, either can, or ever could, since Adam's fall, be obtained any otherwise than through this death and passion of the Son of God.

6. We must believe that Jesus Christ, after he had been dead and buried for part of three days, rose again on the third day from death to life, never to die any more; and that, for the space of forty days, he was pleased, at different times, to manifest himself to his disciples, and then ascended into heaven in their sight; where, as man, he continually intercedes for us. From thence he sent down the Holy Ghost upon his disciples, to abide with them for ever, as he had promised, and to guide them and their successors into all truth.

7. We must believe the Catholic or universal Church of Christ, of which he is the perpetual Head, and his Spirit the perpetual Director; which is founded upon a rock, and is ever victorious over all the powers of death and hell. This Church is always one, by all its members professing one faith, in one communion, under one chief pastor, succeeding St. Peter, to whom Christ committed his whole flock; St. John xxi. 15, 16, 17. This same Church is always holy, by teaching a holy doctrine, by inviting all to a holy life, and by the eminent holiness of many of her children. She is Catholic, or universal, by subsisting in all ages, by teaching all nations, and maintaining all truth: she is apostolical, by deriving her

doctrine, her communion, her orders, and her mission, by an uninterrupted succession from the Apostles of Christ.

8. With this Catholic Church, the Scriptures, both of the Old and New Testament, were deposited by the Apostles; she is, in her pastors, the guardian and interpreter of them, and the judge of all controversies relating to them. These Scriptures, thus interpreted, together with the traditions of the Apostles, are to be received and admitted by all Christians for the rule of their faith and practice.

9. We must believe that Jesus Christ has instituted in his Church seven sacraments, or mysterious signs and instrumental causes of divine grace in our souls. Baptism, by way of a new birth, by which we are made children of God, and washed from sin. Confirmation, by which we receive the Holy Ghost, by the imposition of the hands of the successors of the Apostles; Acts viii. The blessed Eucharist, which feeds and nourishes our souls with the body and blood of Christ, really present under the forms of bread and wine, or under either of them. Penance, by which penitent sinners are absolved from their sins, by virtue of the commission given by Christ to his ministers; St. John xx., and St. Matt. xviii. Extreme Unction, which wipes away the remains of sin, and arms the soul with the grace of God in the time of sickness; St. James v. Holy Orders, by which the ministers of God are consecrated. And Matrimony, which, as a sacred sign of the indissoluble union of Christ and his Church, unites the married couple in a holy band, and imparts a grace to them suitable to that state; Eph. v.

10. We must believe that Jesus Christ has also instituted the great Eucharistic Sacrifice of his body and blood in remembrance of his death and passion. In this sacrifice he is mystically immolated every day upon our altars, being himself both priest and victim. This sacrifice is the principal worship, of the new law, in which, and by which, we unite ourselves to Jesus Christ, and with him and through him we adore God in spirit and truth, give him thanks for all his blessings, obtain his grace for ourselves and the whole world, and pardon for all our sins, and those of the living and the dead.

11. We must believe that there is, in the Catholic or universal Church of God, a communion of saints, by means of which we communicate with all holy ones and in all holy things. We communicate with the saints in heaven, as our fellow-members under the same head, Christ Jesus; we give