A. The Angel Gabriel came to announce to her, on the part of God, that she should conceive and bring forth the Son of the Most High; and immediately the Son of the Most High, that is to say, the Son of God, became incarnate in her womb.

Q. Why has the Church established the Feast of the Visitation?

A. The Church has established the Feast of the Visitation, which she celebrates on the 2nd of July, in memory of the visit which the Blessed Virgin made to her cousin St. Elizabeth.

Q. What occurred on occasion of this visit? A. On this visit three remarkable things occurred: the first was the sanctification of St. John in the womb of his mother; the second was the salutation of St. Elizabeth, who declared Mary to be blessed among women; the third was the admirable reply of Mary by the Magnificat.

Q. What virtue does the Church honour on the 2nd of February, the day of the Purification? A. The Church honours, on the day of the Purification, the perfect obedience of the Blessed Virgin to the law of Moses, and her profound humility.

Q. How did she practise this profound humility? A. The Blessed Virgin practised this profound humility, 1st, by going to purify herself, although she was perfectly pure; 2nd, in not being ashamed to offer two doves, or pigeons, which were the usual offerings of the poor on such occasions. Q. What grace does the Church honour on the 15th of August?

A. On the 15th of August, the day of the Assumption, the Church honours the triumphant entrance of Mary into Heaven, and her glorification by her divine Son.

Q. How has Jesus Christ glorified the Blessed Virgin?

A. Jesus Christ has glorified the Blessed Virgin by raising her above all the choirs of angels. Q. Did both the body and soul of the Blessed Virgin ascend into Heaven?

A. Yes, both her body and her soul ascended into Heaven, such is the pious belief of the Church.

LESSON CIV.

FESTIVALS OF THE SAINTS.

Q. Why has the Church established Festivals in honour of the Saints?

A. The Church has established Festivals in honour of the Saints, 1st, in order to thank God for having assisted them in the practice of the greatest virtue; 2nd, to excite us to imitate them; 3rd, to pray to them that they will obtain for us from God, the grace to become their faithful imitators.

Q. Is it then good and useful to pray to the Saints?

A. Yes, it is very good and very useful to pray to the Saints, because they can obtain for us many graces from God.

Q. Cannot the Blessed Virgin obtain more graces for us than the other Saints?

A. Yes, she can obtain more graces for us, because her intercession is more powerful with God.

Q. Do you pray to the Saints as you pray to God?

A. No, we pray to God, as the Master of all that exists, that he will give us all things necessary; and we pray to the Saints to obtain the same for us from God.

Q. It cannot, then, be said that the Saints bestow graces upon us?

A. No, they can only obtain them from God. Q. On what day does the Church usually honour Saints?

A. The Church usually honours Saints on the day of their death, which she terms their nativity. Q. Why does the Church term the day of the death of her Saints their nativity or birthday?

A. Because, in dying to the world, they were born to Heaven and eternal glory.

Q. What Saints does the Church recommend us to honour and invoke in a special manner?

A. The Church recommends us especially to honour the holy patrons whom we received in baptism, the patrons of our parish, of our diocese, of our Church, and of our country.

Q. Why does the Church give us these Patrons! A. The Church gives to each of the faithful one or more patrons, in order that we may invoke them with special confidence, and imitate their holy example.

Q. Why does she give patrons to parishes, to dioceses, and to kingdoms?

A. She gives these patrons in order to induce the faithful, who reside in the parish, diocese, or kingdom, to invoke their holy patrons.

Q. Why has the Church established the festival of all Saints?

A. The Church has established the festival of all the Saints, 1st, in order to return thanks to God for the sanctification of all the blessed, of all ages, sexes, and conditions, in all ages, and in all countries; 2nd, in order to honour all those Saints which are unknown to us, or those who, without being unknown to us, yet are not invoked in a special manner; 3rd, to animate our courage by the example of so many Christian heroes.

Q. Why ought their example to encourage us? A. The example of the Saints ought to encourage us, because they were weak, and tempted

as we are; and we also can, like them, triumph over our temptations and weaknesses.

Q. What is the happiness of the Saints in Heaven?

A. The happiness of the Saints in Heaven is so great, that we can neither describe nor comprehend it.

Q. Do we, then, know nothing of this happiness?

A. Yes, we know that it is superior to all other happiness, and that it consists in the vision and possession of Almighty God.

LESSON CV.

ON PRAYING FOR THE DEPARTED.

Q. Why do you say the departed, and not the dead?

A. Because, conformably to the faith of the Church, what we call death, is only a passage from this life to a better.

Q. Why has the Church fixed the Commemoration of the souls departed this life, on the day following the Commemoration of all the Saints?

A. The Church has fixed the Commemoration of the souls departed, on the day following the Commemoration of all the Saints, in order to show that the Church triumphant, the Church suffering, and the Church militant, are united by bonds of the strictest charity.

Q. Is the usage of praying for the departed a very ancient custom in the Church?

A. Yes, the usage of praying for souls departed may be traced to the time of the Apostles. Q. Why do we pray for the departed?

A. We pray for the departed in order to obtain their release from a state of suffering.

Q. Are the departed souls assisted by our prayers?

A. Yes, the souls departed are assisted by our prayers, especially by the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

Q. Why especially by the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass?

A. Because by it the merits of Jesus Christ, the victim offered up for all men, are applied to the souls in Purgatory.

Q. Does the Church pray for the souls of all who have departed this life?

A. The Church prays for all who have departed this life in her Communion.

Q. For whom of those who have departed this life are we especially bound to pray?

A. We must pray especially, 1st, for the souls of our parents, friends, and benefactors; 2nd, for the souls of those who have no one to pray for them, since the Church, like a good mother, recommends them to our charity.

Q. By what symbols does the Church express her belief, that the bodies of those departed souls, for which she prays, shall rise again?

A. The Church expresses this belief by the lights which are used when Mass is celebrated for the dead.

Finis.