in the morning; for
Mary Magdalene and these good women were Jews, and strictly observed the
Jewish law. You must know that Our Lord Himself, the Blessed Virgin, St.
Joseph, and the Apostles were Jews; and that the Jewish religion was the
true religion up to the coming of Our Lord; but as it was only a figure
and a promise of the Christian religion, it ceased to have any meaning
or to be the true religion when the Christian religion itself was
established by Our Lord.

89 Q. On what day did Christ rise from the dead?
A. Christ rose from the dead, glorious and immortal, on Easter Sunday,
the third day after His death.

"Rose" by His own power. This is the greatest of all Our Lord's
miracles, because all He taught is confirmed by it and depends upon it.
A miracle is a work that can be performed only by God, or by someone to
whom He has given the power. If anyone performs a real miracle to prove
what he says, his words must be true; for God, who is infinite truth,
could not sanction a lie--could not help an impostor to deceive us. Now
Our Lord said He was the Son of God; that He could forgive sins, etc.;
and He performed miracles to prove what He said. Therefore He must have
told the truth. So all those whom God sent to do any great work were
given the power to perform miracles that the people might know they were
really messengers from God. They, on the other hand, who claim--as many
have done from time to time in the world--that they have been sent by
God to do some great work, and can give no convincing proof of their
mission, are not to be believed. Thus, when Martin Luther claimed that
he was sent by God to reform the Catholic Church--which had existed
nearly 1,500 years before he was born--he performed no miracles, nor did
he give any other proof that he had any such commission from God; and he
cannot therefore be believed.

God has established all the laws of nature permanently. They will not
vary or change, so that we can depend upon them. We can always be sure
that the sun will rise and set; that the seasons will come; that fire
will burn, etc. Now, if we see three young men in a great fiery furnace
without being burned (Dan. 3), we say it is a great miracle; because
naturally the fire would burn them up if God did not prevent it. Again,
water will not stand up like a high wall without something keeping it
back; it will always run about and fill every empty spot near it. If,
therefore, we see water standing up