a charm endearing by the recollections of the past, endearing by the enjoyment of the present, and endearing by the prospects of the future, &c. CONCLUSION. Recapitulate, that, in the abstract, the minister of religion has a right natural and divine, to be supported by the people, to whom he gives his services; that this principle was made matter of special legislation in the Old Law by God Himself; that in the New Law the principle of good will, enriched with the grace and blessing of heaven, took the place of the constrained. system; that this principle, finding access to the temporal powers, led to the endowment of the Church; that with this endowment, nevertheless, always existed the system of voluntary personal oblations of the faithful; that the robbing of the Church followed by means of revolution; that Ireland shared in the general wreck more than almost any other country; that, nevertheless, through God's special blessing in maintaining His people and Priests of Ireland in invincible union, the Church has revived in all her institutions by the voluntary liberality of the faithful; that bringing that liberality into other lands, we are fulfilling an apostolic destiny, spreading the faith, advancing the standard of the cross, &c. O let us pray that God may preserve this spontaneous liberality amongst us; that we may hand down our holy religion to those, who are to come after us, pure and undefiled, without spot or wrinkle, as we received it from the generations that have gone before us in unbroken succession, since it was imported to our shores by our holy Apostle, St. Patrick. Consult "Sincere Christian," vol. 1, chap. xv., sec. 4. SIXTH PRECEPT OF THE CHURCH. "Not to solemnize marriage within forbidden times, or forbidden degrees of kindred, or clandestinely, or in any other way prohibited by the Church." INTRODUCTION. Refer to preceding subject, briefly recapitulating the points, after which, announce present subject, asserting its importance by observing the happiness of mankind is bound up with it, that society is made up of families, and families have their origin from Marriage; that, consequently, if the origin be good, much is gained for the family and society, and if the origin be bad, the evil descends on the offspring, and goes forth on society. [Invite attention, and beg a blessing.] BODY OF THE SUBJECT. 1. Marriage takes its commencement from these words of God, Gen. i. 27, 28, which quote as far as "multiply." Observe how, first, He blessed their union; secondly, how He indicated to them the purpose of their union, saying, "increase, and," &c. Observe how the whole human race is come from this union of one man and one woman blessed and celebrated by God Himself; that He could have created mankind in any number He liked, but that it was His adorable will, that we should all have the same first father and mother, and be therefore all brothers and sisters, and so love each other as members of the same family, &c. 2. Marriage, having thus a Divine origin, was therefore a religious act, and celebrated with religious ceremonies from the beginning amongst the people of God. But our Divine Lord raised it to the dignity of a Sacrament, and not only a Sacrament, but “a great Sacrament," which in the union of husband and wife was destined to represent the union of our Divine Lord with His spouse the Church, (Quote Ephes. v. 32,) and, therefore, the Apostle exhorts the husband to love his wife, as Christ loves His Church. Quote Ephes. v. 25, 26, 27, 28. Infer, that on this account the Sacrament of Marriage was always a very precious concern of the Church, and that it has been a subject of special legislation in her Councils, at different periods of the Church's history; and that in her legislation she appointed particularly the conditions, under which Marriage should be lawful, and even valid. Hence arise what she calls impediments, impediments of her own legislation, besides those arising from the Divine and natural law. 3. Go on to observe, that under the Sixth Precept of the Church, we are concerned only for the impediments enacted by the Church, and not even for all her impediments, but for those special ones mentioned in the Precept. To treat of them all would require several instructions, as they are the matter of an extensive treatise of Theology. Confining yourself therefore to the Precept of the Church, you will first lay down, that she forbids the solemnization of Marriages within certain times. State the times and give the reasons. Observe that a dispensation may be procured on sufficient grounds. Explain the meaning of solemnize; and observe, how even with a dispensation, the public celebration should be avoided. Further lay down this to be an impediment of prohibition only, and here take occasion to distinguish between the two kinds of impediments, those of prohibition only, and annulling impediments, stating the effect of each, and repeating that the impediment as to time is only an impediment of prohibition, &c. 4. Proceed to the second part of the precept, distinguishing between consanguinity and affinity. State the impediment for each separately, mentioning not only the degrees, but the cousinships, e.g. after saying to the fourth degree, add: first cousins cannot marry; second cousins cannot marry; third cousins cannot marry, but fourth cousins can. Say that in blood relationship the impediment holds equally and to the same number of degrees, whether the relationship proceed from the half-blood or the whole blood (explain), or whether it be legitimate, or illegitimate. Respecting affinity, after stating the impediment, and how far it extends, explain the cousinships as above, first with respect to the husband, and then with respect to the wife, and add, that this impediment exists not only in the case of lawful wedlock, but also in the case of sinful intercourse, but not to the same extent, in the latter case reaching only to the second degree, or the degree of first cousins. Repeat these cases of consanguinity and affinity to be annulling impediments. 5. Explain Clandestinity. As to Parish Priest and Bishop of the diocese, how either can act independently of the other in the case, and give authority to other priests for the Marriage. CONCLUSION. Conclude by observing, that the precept does not mention any other impediment, but hints at others, which, as you observed already, are too numerous to be treated of, &c. Wind up with a recapitulation, and some exhortation to parents to observe the laws of the Church in the Marriage of their children, and pointing out that so many Marriages prove unhappy on account of neglect on this head. Consult Theology; also "Sincere Christian," vol. I, chap. xv., sec. 5. N.B.-If you have time, notice, in its proper place, the reasons the Church has for prohibiting, and annulling Marriages within prohibited degrees of kindred, &c. See" Sincere Christian," ibid. THE PRECEPTS OF THE CHURCH IN GENERAL. CONCLUDING INSTRUCTION. "These things I write to thee that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of truth."—1 TIM. iii. 14, 15. INTRODUCTION. In these remarkable words St. Paul reminds his beloved disciple Timothy of the end and purpose of his writing to him, namely, that he might know, &c. It is for a similar end and purpose we learn the Precepts of the Church, and study them, that we, like St. Timothy, may know how likewise to behave ourselves as true members of the Church. Observe, that before entering on the Precepts of the Church, we gave an instruction on the Precepts generally; that that instruction was prospective, taking a general view in advance, or beforehand, of the Church's Precepts ; that in the same way, after having treated of them singly, it may be useful to take a general look back upon them, in order to insure all the better their observance. [Invite attention, and add a short invocation.] BODY OF THE SUBJECT. 1. The observance of the Precepts of the Church is possible. She follows the inspiration of the Holy Ghost in her laws, and imitates the legislation of God |