living from the departed. That was an
intense delight to me.* The doctrine of penance, and the forgiveness
of sins in the Sacrament of Penance, had a wonderful beauty as soon
as I found them. To be taught that God had somehow given men power to
dispense His graces and mercies made me say, Oh, how delightful a
doctrine that is, if I only could believe it! The doctrine of the
Communion of Saints and that of the Sacrament of Penance were very
pleasing to me. Hence, I soon saw that what I already had of truth
and light; what my best nature and conscience and my clearest natural
knowledge told me was truth; was but elevated and lifted up beyond
all conception by these and other doctrines of the Church. From this
I was soon in a position to appreciate the Church's claim to
authoritative teaching. If she, and she alone, had taught such
things, she must possess God's teaching authority.

[* Reference is here made to the Catholic doctrine of the Communion
of Saints.]

"When, therefore, I went into Boston and saw Bishop Fitzpatrick (who
is now, I hope, in the kingdom of heaven), he had little to do with
me in the way of instruction. The Trinity and other fundamental
doctrines I accepted readily on the authority of the Church. He was
very anxious to argue with me about socialistic theories, on account
of my having been at Brook Farm and Fruitlands. But I told him I had
no such difficulties as he supposed; that I had only gone to these
places in search of truth, not because I had formed any such theories
as they generally held. He then asked me whether I would not prefer
to be received into the Church in New York, where my friends were. I
said I did not care; if he would give me a letter I would present it.
He gave me one to Bishop McCloskey, who was then coadjutor in this
city."

The reader may be interested in the terms in which the Catechism of
the Council of Trent expresses the doctrine of the Communion of
Saints. So far as that doctrine concerns the spiritual side of man it
is expounded in these words:

"For the unity of the Spirit, by which the Church is governed,
establishes among all her members a community of spiritual blessings,
whereas the fruit of all the sacraments is common to all the
faithful, and these sacraments, particularly baptism, the door, as it
were, by which we are admitted into the Church, are so many
connecting links which bind and unite them to Jesus Christ."

That it extends to the mystical and mi