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A. Yes; they must receive it either in effect or in desire.

Q. What do you mean by desire ?

A. A readiness and wish to receive it when possible.

Q. Will intense sorrow for sin suffice without the sacrament, either in effect or desire when this condition may be complied with?

A. No; because our sorrow will avail us nothing, without the merit of Christ; and the sacrament of penance is purposely instituted by Christ for the application of that merit to us after baptism.

Q. Why should not God pardon the sinner when he repents, though he refuse to receive the sacrament of penance?

A. Because there can be no true repentance, where there is resistance to a divine ordinance; and the sinner by this conduct is directly setting aside the institution of Jesus Christ. He offends his God at the very time that he asks his forgive

ness.

Q. Will ignorance excuse such sinners?

A. It may save them from a new sin; but it can never restore lost grace and justice.

Q. But may not Jesus Christ extend to such sinners a free pardon?

A. Jesus Christ is master of his own gifts; but in justice to himself he cannot act in opposition to his own decrees. The heavens and the earth shall pass away, but my words shall not. (Mark xiii. 31.)

CONFIRMATION.

Confirmation is a Sacrament by which the Faithful, who have already been n ade Children of God by their Baptism, receive the Holy Ghost in a more particular Manner, by the Unction of the Holy

Chrism, and Imposition of the Hands of the Bishops, the Successors of the Apostles, (Acts viii. 15, and xix. 5, 6.) in order to their being made strong and perfect Christians, and valiant Soldiers of Jesus Christ. It is called Confirmation from its Effect, which is to confirm or strengthen those who are to receive it in the Profession of the true Faith; to give them Courage and Resolution, so as to be willing rather to die than to turn from it, and to fortify them in general against all their spiritual Enemies.

This Sacrament being originally designed and instituted by our Lord for all Christians, is consequent ly a divine Ordinance, which all should comply with, and so necessary for all, that the neglect of receiving it would be a great omission; more especially in such Circumstances where Persons are exposed to Persecutions on Account of their Religion, or to other Temptations against Faith.

The principal Effects of this Sacrament are, a fortifying Grace, in order to strengthen the Soul against all the visible and invisible Enemies of the Faith; and a certain Dedication and Consecration of the Soul to the Holy Ghost, the Mark of which Dedication and Consecration is left in the Soul, as a Character which can never be effaced.

Hence this Sacrament can be received but once; and it would be a Sacrilege to attempt to receive it a second Time: for which reason also the Faithful are bound to take extreme Care to come to this Sa crament duly disposed, lest, if they should be so unhappy as to receive it in mortal Sin, they would receive their own Condemnation, and run the Risk of being deprived for ever of the Grace of it.

THE ORDER FOR ADMINISTERING THE SACRAMENT OF CONFIRMATION.

The Bishop turning towards those that are to be confirmed, with his Hands joined before his Breast,

says,

B. MAY the Holy Ghost come down upon you;

and the power of the Most High keep you from

all sin.

R. Amen.

Then signing himself with the Sign of the Cross, he says,

B. Our help is in the name of the Lord.
R. Who made heaven and earth.

B. O Lord, hear my prayer.

R. And let my cry come to thee.
B. The Lord be with you.
R. And with thy spirit.

Then extending his Hands towards those who are to be confirmed, he addresses this solemn Prayer to the eternal Father, begging of him, through Jesus Christ his Son, that he would send down his Holy Spirit, with all his Gifts, into their Souls.

The Bishop.

Let us pray.

O ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who hast vouchsafed to regenerate those thy servants by water and the Holy Ghost, and who hast given them the remission of all their sins, send forth pon them thy seven-fold Holy Spirit, the Paraclete from heaven.

R. Amen.

B. The spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
R. Amen.

B. The spirit of counsel and of fortitude.
R. Amen.

B. The spirit of knowledge and of piety?
R. Amen.

B. Replenish them with the spirit of thy fear, and sign them with the sign of the cross of Christ, in thy mercy, unto life everlasting, through the same Jesus Christ thy Son, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the same Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen,

Then the Bishop takes the Name of each Person that is to be confirmed, which may either be the same they received in Baptism, or the Name of any Saint whom they choose for their Patron, and makes the Sign of the Cross on the Forehead of each with the holy Chrism, or consecrated Oil, saying,

B. N. I sign thee with the sign of the cross,

and I confirm thee with the chrism of salvation, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

R. Amen.

Then he gently strikes the Person confirmed on the Cheek, saying Pax tecum, Peace be with thee.

After all have been confirmed, the Bishop washes his hands; and, in the mean Time, is said or sung the following Anthem :

Confirm, O God, that which thou hast wrought in us from thy holy temple, which is in Jerusa lem. Glory be to the Father, &c. As it was in the beginning, &c.

¶ Then, after repeating again the Anthem, confirm, O God, &c. the Bishop, standing turned towards the Altar, prays as follows:

B. Shew us, O God, thy mercy :
R. And grant us thy salvation.
B. O Lord, hear my prayer:
R. And let iny cry come unto thee.
B. The Lord be with you:
R. And with thy spirit.

* The Chrism, with which the sacrament of confirmation is admi❤ mistered in the Catholic Church, is a compound of oil of olives and balm, or balsam, solemnly consecrated by the Bishop, kept with great veneration in the church, and made use of only in the consecration of such things as are in a particular manner set apart for the service of God, and dedicated and sanctified to him. St. Paul.evidently res fers to this anointment in his 2d Ep. to the Cor. ii. 21.

The Bishop.

Let us pray.

O God, who gavest the Holy Ghost to thy apostles, and hast been pleased to ordain, that by them, and by their successors, he should be given to the rest of the faithful; mercifully look down upon what we thy poor servants have done, and grant that the hearts of these thy faithful, whose foreheads we have anointed with the sacred chrism, and signed with the sign of the holy cross, may, by the same Holy Ghost coming down upon them, and by his vouchsafing to dwell in them, be made the temple of his glory. Who with the Father, and the Son, and the same Holy Ghost, livest and reignest God, world without end. Amen.

Then the Bishop gives his Benediction to all present, in these Words:

Behold, thus shall every man be blessed who feareth the Lord. May the Lord bless you from Sion, that you may see the good things of Jerusalem all the days of your life; and that you may live with him for all eternity. Amen.

THE FORM OF SOLEMNIZATION OF

MARRIAGE.

The Banns of all that are to be married, (unless by Licence) must be published in the Church, three several Sundays or Holy-days, in the Time of divine Service, the Priest saying in the following Manner:

I PUBLISH the Banns of Marriage between N. of and N. of. If any of you know cause, or just impediment, why these two persons should not be joined together in holy Matrimony, ye are to declare it: this is the first, second or third) time of asking.

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