(Christopher Wendt)
Good evening, everyone, welcome to the second broadcast of the year. I’m Christopher Wendt from the Confraternity of Our Lady of Fatima, and tonight we have, once again, His Excellency Bishop Athanasius Schneider. Tonight’s format will be a catechism lesson on the Holy Catholic Church. Your Excellency, it’s so great to have you with us. Could you please lead us in a prayer?
(His Excellency)
In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.
Pater Noster, qui es in cælis, sanctificetur nomen tuum; adveniat regnum tuum; fiat voluntas tua, sicut in cælo et in terra. Panem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie; et dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris; et ne nos inducas in tentationem,
sed libera nos a malo. Amen.
In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.
(Christopher Wendt)
Thank you, Your Excellency. Just a few announcements, and then we’ll turn it over to you for the Catechism lesson.
To all the members of the Confraternity and everyone on the mailing list, you should have received a copy of our newsletter. This is our first one, and it chronicles some of the things we’re doing. You’ll also get to see some pictures of the apostolic work we’re involved in. I want to encourage all the members of the Fraternity to try to keep the promises: pray every day for the Holy Father to consecrate Russia, wear your scapular, and try to go to Confession once a month.
Remember, the whole point of the Confraternity of Our Lady of Fatima is to bring about the reign of Mary and to do our part as the lay faithful to help Our Lady triumph through her Immaculate Heart.
Also, there are some more opportunities if you want to go deeper. One of them is to do a consecration according to St. Louis de Montfort. We have these beautiful books available at cost, published by a10. If you want a copy and would like to get a group together, feel free to reach out to us, and we’ll send you your copies in the mail.
Additionally, I encourage you to organize a group and make a consecration, perhaps around the Annunciation or maybe May 13th on the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima. If you want to make the consecration for the Annunciation, you would start on February 20th, which is just about a week away. I have a link where you can get a copy of the consecration prayers until your copies arrive, and they will come pretty quickly.
But, to summarize, if you want to go deeper, I truly encourage you to consecrate yourself to Our Lady according to St. Louis de Montfort. If you’ve never done it before, I promise you that you will never be the same.
I also offer a five-week class on the True Devotion book, according to St. Louis de Montfort. I’ve been offering it to a few other groups, and I will be doing one for a group in Chicago and also for some seminarians in the Philippines on the island of Leyte. So if any other groups would like a five-week class on True Devotion via Zoom, please reach out to us.
One final item of news: this catechism book, My Catholic Faith, in English, is being translated into the Cebuano (Visayan) language. We’re very excited about that project. We have three talented laypeople on the island of Bohol in the Philippines, and they’re working very hard. By December, we will have this book available in the native Cebuano language, and we’re thrilled about it!
So, without further ado, I’ll turn it over to Your Excellency. Thank you so much for joining us and teaching us the true faith of Christ
(His Excellency)
Today, we will speak about Article Nine of the Apostles’ Creed: “I believe in the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints.” Today, we will focus on the first part: “I believe in the Holy Catholic Church.”
The word church comes from the Greek ecclesia, which means a calling forth. The Latin Church adopted this term without translating it, as ecclesia. Ancient pagan writers used this word to signify a meeting or assembly, whether the people gathered together were members of a true or false religion. For example, in the Book of Acts, it is written about the people of Ephesus that when the town clerk addressed the tumultuous assembly, he said, “And if you inquire after any other matter, it may be decided in a lawful church” (Acts 19:39). The Ephesians, who were worshipers of the goddess Diana, are thus called a lawful church (ecclesia).
Nor were only the Gentiles, who were not followers of God, called ecclesia (assembly); at times, even councils of wicked men and empires were designated by this name. As in Psalm 25, the prophet says, “I have hated the church (ecclesiam) of the wicked, and I will not sit with the ungodly” (Psalm 25:5).
In common scriptural usage, however, the word ecclesia (church) was subsequently employed to signify the Christian assembly, the only true assembly of the faithful, those who are called by faith to the light of truth and the knowledge of God. Having forsaken the darkness of ignorance and error, they may worship the living and true God piously and totally, serving Him with their whole heart.
St. Augustine says, “The church consists of the faithful dispersed throughout the entire world.” In this sense, the word church (ecclesia) encompasses important mysteries. Through the term calling forth, we recognize the benignity and splendor of divine grace. We understand that the Church is very unlike all other societies; other bodies rest on human reason and prudence, but the Church relies on the wisdom and counsel of God, who has called us inwardly by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. God opens the hearts of men, and outwardly, through the ministry of the shepherds of the Church.
Moreover, the end of this vocation the knowledge and possession of things eternal becomes clear when we remember why the faithful of the Old Law were called a synagogue, that is, a flock. St. Augustine teaches that they were called a flock because, like cattle that are accustomed to herd together, they looked only to terrestrial and transitory goods.
Therefore, the Christian people are justly called not a synagogue, but a church, because, despising earthly and passing things, they pursue only heavenly things, as St. Augustine says.
Other names given to the Church in Holy Scripture include “the house” or “the edifice of God.” St. Paul says to Timothy: “I tell you, then, that you must know how to behave in the house of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and the ground of truth” (1 Timothy 3:15). The Church is called the “house of God” because it is where one family is governed by one Father, enjoying a community of spiritual goods.
The Church is also called the “flock” of the sheep of Christ, of which Christ is both the door and the shepherd. It is further referred to as the “spouse of Christ,” as the Apostle Paul says: “I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:2). In his letter to the Ephesians, St. Paul writes: “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ also loved the Church”, and of marriage he says, “This is a great sacrament, but I speak in Christ and in the Church” (Ephesians 5:25-32).
Finally, the Church is called the “body of Christ,” the deepest and most profound expression and image of the Church. This is especially evident in the Holy Scriptures, particularly in the Epistles to the Ephesians and Colossians.
Each of these titles has a profound influence, urging the faithful to prove themselves worthy of the boundless mercy and goodness of God, who has called and chosen them to be His people.
Now, let us consider the parts of the Church. The Church consists of three parts: first, the Church Triumphant in heaven; second, the Church Militant on earth; and third, the Church Suffering in Purgatory.
The Church Triumphant is the most glorious and happy assembly of the blessed spirits, the angels, and the saints those who have overcome the struggles of life, defeated the iniquity of Satan, and now rest in the eternal bliss of God’s presence.
The Church Militant is the society of all the faithful still living on earth. It is called “militant” because it wages a constant battle against the implacable enemies: the world, the flesh, and the devil.
The Church Suffering consists of the souls of the departed, who are now being purified in Purgatory.
We are not, however, to infer that there are several churches. There is only one Church, comprised of different parts: one part has gone before us and is now in possession of the heavenly country; another part is following every day, until, at length, united with our Savior, it shall rejoice in endless felicity; and another part is still suffering in Purgatory.
Let us now consider the members of the Church Militant on earth. The Church Militant is composed of two classes of persons: the good and the bad. Both profess the same faith and partake of the same sacraments, yet they differ in their manner of life and morality. The good are those who are united not only by the profession of the same faith and the participation in the same sacraments, but also by the spirit of grace and the bond of charity.
That the Church includes both the good and the bad is testified by Scripture and the writings of the saints. We learn this from many parables contained in the Gospel. Thus, the Kingdom of Heaven, that is, the Church Militant, is compared to:
- a net cast into the sea;
- a field in which tares grow with the good grain;
- a threshing floor on which grain is mixed with chaff;
- and ten virgins, some of whom were wise, others foolish.
Long before, we see a figure and resemblance of the Church in the ark of Noah, which contained not only clean animals, but also unclean animals.
Although the Catholic faith uniformly and truly teaches that the good and the bad belong to the Church, it also declares that the condition of the two is very different. The wicked are contained in the Church as chaff is mingled with grain on the threshing floor, or as dead members sometimes remain attached to a living body.
Now, let us consider those who are not members of the Church. There are three main classes of persons excluded from the Church:
- Infidels,
- Heretics and schismatics,
- Excommunicated persons.
Infidels are outside the Church because they have never belonged to her, never knew her, and were never made partakers of any of the sacraments.
Heretics and schismatics are excluded from the Church because they have separated themselves from her. They belong to her only as deserters belong to the army from which they have deserted. However, it must not be denied that they are still subject to the jurisdiction of the Church, insofar as they may be summoned before her tribunals, punished, and anathematized.
Finally, excommunicated persons are not members of the Church because, by sentence, they have been cut off from the number of her children and no longer belong to her sacramental communion until they repent. Once they repent, they may be received again into the communion of the sacraments.
With regard to the rest, however wicked and evil they may be, it is certain that they still belong to the Church. Of this we are frequently to be reminded, in order to be convinced that, even if we are evil, the lives of her ministers of the Church may be debased by crime. They are still within the Church and therefore lose nothing of their power to administer the sacraments.
Other uses of the word “Church” refer to portions of the universal Church. These are usually also called churches, as in the Apostle’s mentioning the Church of God in Galatia, and so on. The private families of the faithful St. Paul also call these “domestic churches.” The church in the family of Priscilla and Aquila, St. Paul commands to be saluted in his letter to the Romans. In another place, he says, “Aquila and Priscilla greet the Church that is in their house” (1 Corinthians 16:19). Writing to Philemon, he makes use of the same word, “Church.”
Sometimes also, the word “Church” is used to signify the bishops, the pastors, the shepherds of the Church: “If he will not hear thee,” saith the Lord, “tell the Church.” Here, the Church means the authorities, the shepherds of the Church (Gospel of Matthew 18:17).
The place in which the faithful assemble to hear the Word of God, or for other religious purposes, is also called a church. But in this article of the Creed, the Church is specially used to signify both the good and the bad, the governing as well as the governed in the Church.
Let us now see the marks of the Church. The Church is one. The first mark of the true Church is described in the Nicene Creed and consists in unity. As Holy Scripture says in the Song of Songs (also called Canticles): “My dove is one, my beautiful one is one.” So a vast multitude scattered far and wide is called one, for the reasons mentioned by St. Paul in his Epistle to the Ephesians: “One Lord, one faith, one baptism.” There is unity in government. The Church has but one ruler and one governor.
The invisible one is Christ, whom the Eternal Father has made Head over all the Church, which is His body, as it is written in the Letter to the Ephesians 1:22. And then there is the visible ruler the Pope who is the legitimate successor of Peter, the Prince of the Apostles, and who fills the Apostolic Chair. It is the unanimous teaching of the Fathers of the Church that this visible head, Peter and his successors, is necessary to establish and preserve unity in the Church.
St. Jerome clearly perceived this and expressed it clearly when, in his work Against the Luciferians, he wrote: “One is elected, that by the appointment of a head, all occasion of schism may be removed.”
In his letter to Pope Damasus, St. Jerome writes: “I know that on that rock is built the Church. Whoever eats the lamb outside this house is profane. Whoever is not in the ark of Noah shall perish in the flood.”
The same doctrine was long before the first century established by other saints as well. St. Cyprian, speaking of the unity of the Church, observes:
“The Lord said to Peter, ‘I say to thee, Peter, thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church.’ He builds His Church on one. And although after His Resurrection He gave equal power to all of His Apostles, saying, ‘As the Father has sent Me, I also send you. Receive the Holy Ghost,’ yet to make unity more manifest, the Lord decided by His own authority that it should be derived from one alone in the militant Church on earth, Peter and his successors.”
On the other hand, in the time of St. Augustine, St. Optatus of Milevis, North Africa, says:
“You cannot be excused on the score of ignorance, knowing as you do that in the city of Rome the Episcopal chair was first conferred on Peter, who occupied it as head of the Apostles, in order that in that one chair, the unity of the Church might be preserved by all, and that the other pastors might not claim each a chair for himself. So that now, he who erects another chair in opposition to this single chair is a schismatic and a profane usurper.”
So said St. Optatus of Milevis.
From the first century onward, later on, St. Basil the Great wrote:
“Peter is made the foundation because he says, ‘Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ And he hears in reply that he is the rock. But although a rock, he is not such a rock as Christ, for Christ is truly the immovable rock. But Peter is only permitted to have that Rock, which is Christ Himself. For Jesus bestows His dignity so notice: He is a priest, and He makes a priest. He is a rock, and He makes a rock. Peter is made what belongs to Himself.”
On this same subject, St. Ambrose says:
“Because Peter alone, of all of them, professed Christ, he was placed above all.”
As Redeemer, Christ is not only the author of all the sacraments but also their invisible minister. It is He who baptizes; it is Christ who absolves in the Sacrament of Penance. Though men are appointed by Him as external ministers of the sacraments, so too has He placed over His Church, which He governs by His invisible Spirit, the Holy Spirit a man, chosen to be His vicar and the minister of His power.
A visible Church requires a visible head. Therefore, the Savior appointed Peter as head and pastor of all the faithful, when He committed to his care the feeding of all His sheep, in such ample terms that He willed the very same power of ruling and governing the entire Church to descend to Peter’s successors.
Unity in spirit, hope, and faith is essential. Moreover, the Apostle, writing to the Corinthians, tells them that there is but one and the same Spirit who imparts grace to the faithful, as the soul communicates life to the members of the body.
Exhorting the Ephesians to preserve this unity, St. Paul says:
“Be careful to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace: one body and one Spirit.”
As the human body consists of many members, animated by one soul which gives sight to the eyes, hearing to the ears, and to the other senses the power of discharging their respective functions so too the Mystical Body of Christ, which is the Church, though composed of many faithful, has one hope: the one hope to which we are called.
It is also one, as the Apostle tells us in the same place, to the Ephesians, and again to the Corinthians, for we all hope for the consummation: the eternal and happy life.
Finally, the faith to which all are bound to believe and profess is also one. As the Apostle says, “Let there be no schism among you” and “one baptism.” Baptism, which is the seal of our Christian faith, is also one.
The other mark of the Church is holiness. This is the second mark: holiness. As we learn from the words of the Prince of the Apostles:
“You are a chosen generation, a holy nation.”
The Church is called holy because she is consecrated and dedicated to God. For just as other things, set apart and dedicated to the worship of God, are rightly called holy, even though they are material, examples of these in the Old Law include vessels, altars, and sacred instruments. In the same sense, the firstborn, who were dedicated to the Most High God, were also called holy.
It should not be deemed surprising that the Church, despite numbering among her children many sinners, is called holy. For just as those who profess any art, even if they depart from its rules, are still called artists, so too, the faithful, although they may offend in many things and violate the engagements they have pledged themselves to, are still called holy. This is because they have been made the people of God and have consecrated themselves to Christ through faith and baptism.
Hence, St. Paul calls the Corinthians “sanctified” and “holy,” even though it is certain that among them there were some whom he severely rebuked, as well as others charged with grievous crimes.
The Church is also holy because she is united to her holy head, Christ the Lord, the fountain of all holiness, from whom flow the graces of the Holy Spirit and the riches of divine bounty.
St. Augustine, interpreting these words of the Prophet, said: “Preserve my soul, for I am holy.” He admirably expressed himself when he said, “Let the body of Christ boldly say, let also that one man, exclaiming from the ends of the earth, boldly say, with his head and under his head, ‘I am holy,’ for he has received the grace of holiness, the grace of baptism, and of remission of sins.”
If all Christians, and all the faithful, having been baptized in Christ, have put Him on according to these words of the Apostle: “As many of you as have been baptized in Christ have put on Christ” if they are made members of His Body, and yet say they are not holy, they do an injury to their Head, whose members are holy. These are the words of St. Augustine.
Moreover, the Church alone has the legitimate worship of the Eucharistic sacrifice, the only legitimate worship, and the salutary use of the other sacraments, which are the efficacious instruments of divine grace, used by God to produce true holiness in the soul. Hence, to possess true holiness, we must belong to this Church, which is called holy.
The Church, therefore, is holy, and holy because she is the Body of Christ, the Home in which she is sanctified and by whose blood she is washed.
The other mark is Catholicity. This means the Church is universal, and justly is she called Catholic. St. Augustine says she is diffused by the splendor of one faith, from the rising to the setting sun. Unlike states of human institution or the sects of dialectics, the Church is not confined to any one country or class of man, but embraces within the amplitude of her love all mankind whether barbarians or Scythians, slaves or free men, male or female, as St. Paul says in Colossians 3:11. Therefore, it is written in the Book of Revelation:
“Thou hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood, out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and hast made us unto our God a kingdom.” (Revelation 5:9)
Speaking of the Church, David says in the Psalm:
“Ask of Me, and I will give Thee the Gentiles for Thy inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for Thy possession.” (Psalm 2:8)
And in another Psalm, he says:
“I will be mindful of Rahab and Babylon, those who know Me, and of Tyre, and a man is born in her.” (Psalm 87:4)
Moreover, to this Church, built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, belong all the faithful who have existed from Adam to the present day, or who shall exist in the profession of the true faith until the end of time all of whom are founded and rest upon the one cornerstone, Christ, who made both one and announced peace to them that are near and to them that are far off. (Ephesians 2:17)
The Church is also called universal because all who desire eternal salvation must cling to it firmly, like those who entered the ark to escape perishing in the flood. This note of Catholicity, therefore, is a most reliable criterion by which to distinguish the true Church from the false one.
The last mark is apostolicity. The true Church is also to be recognized by her origin, which can be traced back under the law of grace to the apostles. For her doctrine is the truth, not recently given, not now first heard, but delivered of old by the pastors and disseminated throughout the entire world. Hence, no one can doubt the errors of those heresies that arose, as they differ from the doctrines taught by the Church from the days of the apostles to the present day. These heresies are clearly distinct from the faith of the true Church.
That all might know which is the Catholic Church, the Fathers of the Church, guided by the Spirit of God, added the word “Apostolic” to the Creed. The Holy Ghost, who presides over the Church, governs it through no other ministers than those of apostolic succession. The Spirit, first imparted to the apostles, has by the infinite goodness of God always continued in the Church. Just as this one Church, with her unchanging and perennial Magisterium, cannot err in faith and morals, since it is guided by the Holy Spirit, so, conversely, all other societies that arrogate to themselves the name of Church must necessarily, because they are guided by the spirit of error, be sunk in errors, both doctrinal and moral.
There are also figures of the Church in the Old Testament, which have great power to stimulate the minds of the faithful and to remind them of this most beautiful truth. It was for this reason chiefly that the apostles made use of these figures. Among these figures, the Ark of Noah holds a special place. It was built by the command of God, to make it clear that it was a symbol of the Church, which God has so constituted that all who enter through baptism may be saved from the danger of death, while those who are outside the Church like those who were not in the ark are overwhelmed by their own crimes.
Another figure presents itself in the great city of Jerusalem, which in Scripture often symbolizes the Church. In Jerusalem, it was lawful to offer sacrifice to God, and in the Church of God alone is found the true worship and the true sacrifice, which are all acceptable to God. The Church was founded not by man, but by God Himself, who built her upon the most solid rock. The prophet himself says, “The Lord has founded her.”
Hence, the Church is called the inheritance of God, the people of God. The power which she possesses is not from man, but from God. Since this power, therefore, cannot be of human origin, divine faith alone enables us to understand that the keys of the kingdom of heaven are entrusted to the Church. To her has been given the power of remitting sins, of denouncing and forgiving, of communicating, and of consecrating the real Body of Christ in the Eucharist. Moreover, the faithful are not to have here a permanent dwelling, but to look for one above.
We are therefore bound to believe that there is one holy Catholic Church with regard to the three persons of the Holy Trinity Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We not only believe in them but also believe in God. However, in this context, they make use of a different form of expression. We profess belief in the holy Catholic Church, not just in it. With this difference in expression, we distinguish God, the author of all things, from His works, and acknowledge that all the exalted benefits bestowed upon the Church are due to God’s mercy.
To summarize, the Catholic Church is a visible institution founded by Christ, in which men are trained for heaven. It has a visible Head, the visible ceremony of baptism by which members are received, and a visible formula of belief. Hence, Christ compares the Church to visible objects: a city placed on a mountain, a light on a candlestick, a body, the house of God, and a holy city.
There are two classes of people who maintain that the Church is not visible: heretics, who have been cut off from it, and thinkers and believers who attempt to shrink from the obligation of obeying a visible Church.
The Church has a living Cornerstone, Christ, who binds the faithful into one divine family, and the foundation stones are the apostles, with the faithful being the stones of that edifice. The Catholic Church, by remaining faithful to the Catholic religion, is as integral to the religion as the body is to the soul.
The Catholic Church is also called the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God, and the community of the faithful. The parables of the kingdom of heaven highlight various features of the Church. The Church prepares man for heaven by carrying out the threefold office that Christ conferred upon her: the office of teacher, priest, and shepherd.
This triple office was first exercised by Christ Himself and then passed on to the apostles and their successors, the bishops and priests. Christ gave commandments and commissioned the apostles first to teach all nations, second to exercise the power of the priesthood, to offer the sacrifice, and to forgive sins, and third to receive the office of Pastor, which includes the power of reproving, correcting, governing, binding, loosing, making, and revoking laws.
The words of Christ include the successors of the apostles, as well as the apostles themselves: “I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world.”
Thus, the Church is very properly called the mother of Christians, Holy Mother Church, because she gives man the true life of the soul and trains her members as a mother raises her children.
The Church confers in baptism the gift of sanctifying grace, the true life of the soul. These graces are gifts that claim to have, just as the father who goes away on a journey leaves all his power in the hands of the mother. So Christ, in leaving this earth, gave His Church full power. We should love God as our Father, says St. Augustine, and love the Church as our Mother.
The Lord and King of the Church is Christ. Christ directs the Church through the Holy Spirit. Hence, He is called the Head of the Church, of which Christians are the Body. Each one is a member of the Body of Christ, and the Church is also called the invisible hand. Christ left the apostle Peter and his successors as His vicars, as the visible hands of His Church on earth.
Because of His love for the Church, Christ is called the Bridegroom, and the Church is called His Bride. Christ gave His life for the Church and for all of us.
Thank you, Your Excellency, for reminding us of our unchanging faith regarding the Church and its marks. Could you please give us your blessing?
(His Excellency)
“Dominus vobiscum.”
Benedictio Dei Omnipotentis, Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti, descendat super vos et maneat semper. Amen.
(Christopher Wendt)
Thank you, Your Excellency, for taking the time today to be with us. We look forward to our next broadcast on March 13th. It will be a Q&A session, and we will gather the questions you have between now and then.
