NOTES.

NOTE A, p. 24.

TESTIMONY OF THE FATHERS TO THE ANCIENT USE OF THE SIGN OF THE CROSS.

THIS "sign of the Son of Man " has always been considered to be the sign of the Cross. The use of this sign has prevailed in the Church from the very beginning of Christianity to the present day.

Tertullian, who was nearly the earliest of the Fathers, and lived in the second century, describes the use of it as a custom then universal and firmly established in the Church. His words are, "In all our travels and movements, in all our coming in and going out, in putting on our clothes and shoes, at the bath, at the table, in lighting our lamps, in lying down, in sitting down, whatever employment occupies us, we mark our foreheads with the sign of the cross. For these and such like rules, if thou requirest the law in the Scriptures, thou shalt find none: superstition will be pleaded to thee as originating, custom as confirming, and faith as observing them."-De Coron. Mil. n. 3, 4.

Again, St. Cyril of Jerusalem, in the fourth century, says, "Let us not, therefore, be ashamed of the cross of Christ; but even though another hide it, do thou openly seal it on thy brow, that the devils, beholding that royal sign, may flee far away trembling. But make thou this sign when thou eatest and drinkest, sittest or liest down, risest up, speakest, walkest; in a word, on every occasion; for He who was here crucified is above in the heavens."-Catech. iv. n. 14, p. 58.

See "Faith of Catholics attested by the Fathers of the First Five Centuries," by Rev. James Waterworth.-Vol. iii. pp. 430— 433.

NOTE B, p. 35.

THE SUPREMACY OF THE POPE IN THE EARLY

CHURCH.

In these passages our Lord compares His Church to a house, and makes S. Peter the foundation of it; to a flock, and makes him the shepherd of it; and then, without figure, gives him the office of confirming his brethren with a distinct guarantee that his faith shall not fail.

This antecedent proof of the supremacy of S. Peter and his successors corresponds accurately with the subsequent history of the Church.

1. We find S. Peter, immediately on the ascension of his Master, taking on himself the guidance of the Church. He, on all occasions, speaks for his brethren, and puts the first hand to every undertaking.

2. The Popes, from the beginning, assumed a like authority. We find the Popes of the first five centuries using very much the tone which Pope Pius IX. uses at this day; and we find illustrious bishops, of the most important sees in the world, acquiescing without a murmur. For instance, Pope S. Julius, in the fourth century, says, "And why were we not written to concerning the Church, especially of Alexandria? or, are you ignorant that this has been the custom, first to write to us, and thus what is just be decreed from this place? If, therefore, any suspicion fell on the bishop there, it was befitting to write to this Church."—Ep. ad Eusebium, n. 21, p. 13.

S. Damasus, another Pope in the same century, says, “Although, dearest brethren, the decrees of the Fathers are known to you, yet we cannot wonder at your carefulness as regards the institutes of our forefathers, that you cease not, as custom has ever been, to refer all those things which can admit of any doubt to us, as to the head, that thence you may derive answers whence you received the institution and rule of living rightly. . . . . Not that you are in any way deficient in knowledge of the law of the Church; but that, supported by the authority of the Apostolic See, you may not deviate in any thing from its regulations. . . It does with reason concern us, who ought to hold the chief government in the Church, if we by our silence favour error.”—Epis. v. Prospero Numid. et aliis. "After having

S. Innocent I., Pope in the fifth century, says, caused your letter to be several times read to me, I noticed that a kind of injury was done to the Apostolic See, unto which, as unto the head of the Churches, that statement was sent the sentence of that See being still treated as doubtful. The renewed questioning contained in your report compels me, therefore, to repeat in plainer terms the subjects concerning which I remember having written to you."-Ep. xvii. n. I.

Pope S. Boniface, also in the fifth century, says, "The institution of the Universal Church took its beginning from the honour bestowed on Blessed Peter, in whom its government and headship reside. For from him, as its source, did ecclesiastical discipline flow over all the Churches when the culture of religion had begun to make progress. The precepts of the Synod of Nicæa bear no other testimony; insomuch that that Synod did not attempt to make any regulations in his regard, as it saw that nothing could be conferred that was superior to his own dignity: it knew, in fine, that every thing had been bestowed on him by the word of the Lord. It is, therefore, certain that this Church is, to the Churches spread over the whole world, as the head is to its members; from which Church whoso has cast himself off, becomes an alien from the Christian religion, whereas he has begun not to be in the same bonds of fellowship."-Ep. xiv. Epis. Thess.