cing the mysteries of faith, and inculcating the precepts of morality, the instruction is to be accommodated to the capacity and intelligence of the hearers ; that, whilst the minds of the strong are filled with spiritual food, the little ones be not suffered to perish with hunger, " asking for bread, whilst there is none to break it to them."
FifthNor should our zeal in communicating Christian knowledge be relaxed, because it is sometimes to be exercised in expounding matters apparently humble and unimportant, and, therefore, comparatively uninteresting to minds accustomed to repose in the contemplation of the more sublime truths of religion. If the wisdom of the eternal Father descended upon the earth in the meanness of our flesh, to teach as the maxims of a heavenly life, who is there whom the love of Christ does not compel[1] to be come little in the midst of his brethren ; and, as a nurse fostering her children, so anxiously to wish for the salvation of his neighbour, that as the Apostle testifies of himself, he desires to deliver not only the Gospel of Jesus Christ to them, but even his own life for them.[2]
Where the doctrines of Christianity are contained.But all the doctrines of Christianity, in which the faithful are to be instructed, are derived from the word of God, which includes Scripture and tradition. To the study of these, therefore, the pastor should devote his days and his nights, always keeping in mind the admonition of St. Paul to Timothy, which all who have the care of souls should consider as addressed to themselves ; "Attend to reading, to exhortation, and to doctrine,[3] for all Scripture divinely inspired, is profitable to teach, to reprove, to correct, to instruct in justice, that the man of God may be perfect, furnished to every good work."[4]
Division of the work.But as the truths revealed by Almighty God, are so many and so various, as to render it no easy task to comprehend them, or, having comprehended them, to retain so distinct a recollection of them as to be able to explain them with ease and promptitude when occasion may require; our predecessors in the faith have very wisely reduced them to these four heads—The Apostle's Creed—The Sacraments—The ten Commandments—and the Lord's Prayer. First part.The Creed contains all that is to be held according to the discipline of the Christian faith, whether it regard the knowledge of God, the creation and government of the world; or the redemption of man, the rewards of the good and the pu-
