he Church Militant. All are true
members of this great community of saints and children of God, allied
through the bond of love. This doctrine is very consoling to us. It
opens to us, as it were, even during our earthly life, the portals of
eternity. We may enter these in spirit, and seek and find help and
consolation amongst our glorified brethren, and also carry help and
consolation to our suffering brethren. One thing alone bars us from
this glorious communion and shuts heaven against us, and that is sin.
But in the Church there is provided for repentant sinners the
Absolution from Sins, the remission of sin and its penalty. When we
finally die in the grace of God our soul shall enjoy eternal life, and
our glorified body shall be joined to it on the great day of
resurrection.

This, then, is what we are taught to believe in the Apostles' Creed.
When we say this Creed with devotion and perfect faith, we honor and
glorify first of all the Blessed Trinity. But we refresh also the
teaching of the Gospel in our minds, and thus strengthen our faith. It
is an excellent means of awakening exalted sentiments of faith within
us, and of inspiring us to a courageous profession of our holy
religion.

The Creed is possessed of great power against the temptations of the
evil one. The Apostle exhorts us "to resist the devil strong in faith"
(I Pet. v, 8), and Holy Scripture calls the faith a shield against
which the darts of Satan are broken. Thus is the Creed, according to
its origin, and its contents, and efficacy, a holy and excellent
prayer. In conclusion, let me quote an exhortation from St. Augustine:
"Forget not," he says, "to recite the profession of your faith when you
rise in the morning, nor when retiring at night; repeat it frequently,
for its repetition is salutary for you, that no forgetfulness may
arise. Your creed should be your mirror. Examine yourself therein as to
whether you firmly believe everything you profess to believe, and
rejoice daily in the possession of faith." Well, then, let us bear in
mind this beautiful advice. Let us say the Creed daily, in order to
strengthen ourselves in the faith but especially let us say it with
great devotion as part of the holy Rosary. If here below we are true to
the faith we shall one day behold in reality what we now see only with
the eyes of faith, and in this vision enjoy eternal glory and bliss
without end. Amen.

VI. THE EXCELLENCE OF THE VARIOUS PARTS OF THE