nd earth" and everything we can see or know of.
"Jesus Christ." Our Lord is called by many names, but you must not be
confused by them, for they all mean the same person, and are given only
to remind us of some particular thing connected with Our Lord. He is
called "Jesus," which signifies Saviour, and "Christ," which means
anointed. He is called the "Second Person of the Blessed Trinity," and
when we call Him "Our Lord," we mean the Second Person of the Blessed
Trinity after He became man. He is called the "Messias" and the "Son of
David" to show that He is the Redeemer promised to the Jews. Also at the
end of all our litanies He is called the "Lamb of God," because He was
so meek and humble and suffered death so patiently. In the Litany of the
Holy Name of Jesus we will find many other beautiful names of Our Lord,
all having their special signification.
"His only Son," to show that God, the First Person of the Blessed
Trinity, was His real Father. We are called God's children, but we are
only His created and adopted children.
"Who was conceived," i.e., He began to exist by the power of the Holy
Ghost in the womb of His Mother, the Blessed Virgin.
"Suffered." We shall see in the explanation of the Passion what He
suffered.
"Under" means here, at the time a man named Pontius Pilate was governor.
If anyone were put to death today in this country, we should say he was
executed under Governor or President so-and-so. "Crucified," i.e.,
nailed to a cross. We say "died," because Our Lord is the Giver of Life,
and no one could take His life away unless He allowed it. Therefore we
say He died, and not that He was killed, to show that He died by His own
free will and not against His will.
"Was buried." This we say to show that He was really dead; because if
you bury a man who is not really dead he must die.
"Hell" here does not mean the place where the damned are, but a place
called "Limbo." You know that when our first parents sinned, Heaven was
closed against them and us, and no human being could be admitted into it
till after the death of Our Lord; for He by His death would redeem
us--make amends for our fall and once more open for us Heaven. Now from
the time Adam sinned till the time Christ died is about four thousand
years. During that time there were at least some good men, like Abraham,
Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, and others, in the world, who tried to serve
God as best they could--keeping all the divine la
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