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AN EXHORTATION

TO A WOMAN WHO COMES TO BE CHURCHED
AFTER CHILD-BEARING.

As the goodness of God has delivered you from the perils you have gone through in child-bearing, and turned your anguish and sorrow into joy; and has also, by the sacrament of Baptism, received your child into the number of His children; you come here to the house of God, to present yourself before His altar, in order to return Him thanks for all His mercies and favours to you and to yours. It is certainly most just, that the first visit you make, when able to come abroad, should be to our Lord in His temple; and that you should bring along with you a heart full of gratitude and love, to be presented to Him, This is the principal intent of your coming hither: this is the offering He expects here at your hands. In return for this offering, He is ready to impart to you by our ministry, the benediction which you crave, both for yourself, and your child; to the end, that His peace, His mercy and His grace may continue with you unto everlasting life. Kneel down, then, here, in the entry of the church, holding this lighted candle in your hand, as an emblem of your faith and devotion, whilst I recite over you the twenty-third psalm; pray

ing that you may receive a blessing from the Lord, and mercy from God, your Saviour. After which I shall present to you the end of the priestly stole, to introduce you into the Church, where you are to kneel before the altar, there to offer your homage and thanksgiving to the Son of the Blessed Virgin, the Author of all our good: and from thence to receive the solemn benediction, which I shall give you in His name; and so dismiss you in peace.

EXHORTATION

TO A CONVERT, WHO IS TO BE RECEIVED INTO THE CHURCH.

DEAR Brother (or Sister), I cannot but express my satisfaction at seeing you come to acknowledge your submission to the holy Catholic Church. It is undoubtedly the duty of every rational creature to seek for truth; you have sought it, you have found it, and are now happily, come to embrace and profess it. The Son of God Himself came down from heaven to establish the promised new covenant with mankind. He came to teach men the religion which was most pleasing to Him, and which He commanded to be received, believed, and professed throughout the whole world, declaring, He that believeth

not, shall be condemned. (Mark xvi. 16.) He commissioned His apostles to preach the same doctrine, and they used their utmost endeavours to convince mankind of the necessity of submitting to it, with exclusion of all false doctrines. There is, says St. Paul, but one Lord, one faith, and one Baptism. (Ephes. iv. 5.) The successors of the Apostles have in every age continued to teach the same, and to hold fast the form of sound words. (2 Tim. i. 13.) In order to preserve this doctrine pure through all ages, our Saviour promised to His Apostles, and their lawful successors, that He Himself would always abide with them: and moreover, that He would send them another comforter, even the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of Truth, to be their guide, to guide them into all truth, and to continue with them for ever. Behold, says He, I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world. (Matt. xxviii. 20.) And, I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, that he may abide with you for ever. (John xiv. 16.) It is in consequence of these promises of divine assistance and direction, that St. Paul calls the church of God, the pillar and ground of truth. (1 Tim. iii. 15.) And our Saviour Jesus Christ having promised thus to support, assist, and direct His Church and its pastors, said to them, He that heareth you, heareth me: and he that despiseth you, despiseth me: and

he that despiseth me, despiseth him that sent me. (Luke x. 16.) Yet, many men, full of pride, self-conceited, and impatient of subjection, have presumed to preach a faith different from, and contrary to that which was once delivered to the saints (Jude, 3.), to teach new doctrines, and depart from the Church of Christ, and from the unity of its faith.

From this view of the general state of religion, you have reason to rejoice at your happiness, in having discovered the true path that leads to salvation. Acknowledge the goodness of God, in showing you the errors in which you were engaged, and in imparting to you the light of truth. And now make an open profession of the Catholic Faith, with a full conviction of its truth, and a resolution of firmly adhering to it till the last moment of your life.

EXHORTATION

AFTER RECEIVING A CONVERT INTO THE
CHURCH.

Through the mercy and goodness of God you have now made a full and open profession of the Catholic Faith, and, according to your earnest desire, are now admitted as a true member of that One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church-which Christ Himself

first founded-which the Apostles, according to His command, propagated through all nations and which Almighty God, in a multitude of places in the holy Scriptures, has promised shall continue to exist as long as the sun and moon shall endure. We read in the Acts of the Apostles, that to this Church the Lord added daily such as should be saved. (Acts, ii. 47.) And what was then daily done, has been continually done since.Christ never appointed two ways to heaven. There is no other name under heaven given to men whereby we must be saved, but the name of Jesus (Acts, iv. 12.); and that name is no otherwise given under heaven than in the Catholic Church. As none were saved from the deluge but such as were within the ark with Noah, framed for their reception by the command of God: as none of the first-born of Egypt lived, but such as were within those habitations, whose door-posts were sprinkled with blood, by the appointment of God, for their preservation: as none of the inhabitants of Jericho could escape the fire or sword, but such as were within the house of Rahab, for whose protection a covenant was made: so none will ever escape the eternal wrath of God, who belong not to the Church of God. Since, then, Almighty God has in His mercy called you to this Church, and now made you a member of it, what remains for me to recommend to you is, earnestly to contend for

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