Page:Essays on Catholicism, Liberalism, and Socialism.djvu/331

inflicted severe penances upon themselves, keeping their appetites always in subjection. And more than this, after his death they firmly believed the most stupendous and incredible things. They believed that he who had been crucified was the only Son of God, and was God; that he had been conceived by the Holy Ghost in the womb of a virgin; that he who had been born in a manger, and wrapped in humble swaddling clothes, was Lord of heaven and earth; that after his death he descended into hell, from whence he released the pure and just souls of the ancient patriarchs; that he afterward resumed his own body, and glorified, rising with it from the grave, raised himself in the heavens, transfigured and resplendent; that the woman who had borne him in her womb was at the same time a loving mother and an immaculate virgin; that she was carried to heaven by the angels, where the angelical hosts proclaimed her to be, in virtue of a sovereign edict, Queen of Creation, the mother of the afflicted, the intercessor of the just, the advocate of sinners, mother of God, and spouse of the Holy Ghost. They believed that all things visible. are of little value and only worthy of contempt, compared to those which are invisible; that the true good is to accept afflictions and tribulations with joy, and to suffer unceasingly; and that the only real evil is pleasure and sin. They believed that the waters of baptism purify; that the confession of sin obtains its remission; that bread and wine are changed into the body and blood of Christ; that God is in us and everywhere surrounds us; that even the hairs of our head are numbered, so that not one hair can fall without the knowledge and permission of God; that if man thinks, it is because God grants him the power of thought; that if