petual living monument embodying and, throughout the ages, witnessing to the doctrine of the faith. To teach this doctrine by interpreting the meaning of the Church's life and action is the liturgical method. These three methods do not exclude one another. Each one of them, in turn, possesses its own special advantages for some divisions of the catechism; and the whole ground is best covered when they are combined. If we examine the homilies of the Fathers we shall find that they make use of the three plans.
Along with Benedict XIV. the present Supreme Pontiff calls the office of catechist the most useful of institutions for the glory of God. He observes that the teaching of the catechism is a work more important than that of the sacred orator who eloquently defends religion; or than that of the priest who laboriously compiles learned books to illustrate the truths of faith. The proper fulfilment of this office, he warns us, is not an easy task: "It is much easier to find a preacher capable of delivering an eloquent and elaborate discourse than a catechist able to impart instruction in a manner entirely worthy of praise. It must, therefore, be carefully borne in mind that whatever facility of ideas and language a man may have inherited from nature, he will never be able to teach the catechism to the young and the adult without preparing himself thoughtfully for the task."
The first indispensable condition for fruitful work is, according to St. Augustine, that the catechist bring to his task a spirit of love: " If you do not love God and your brethren how will you laboriously spell out the first words of faith to the ignorant? Where will you discover the secret of repeating again and again the same truth in a variety of ways? Whence will you draw the courage and industry necessary to cultivate this soil abounding only in briars and thistles? . . . You must repeat and repeat the same things. Let the love which animates you give them an appearance of novelty."
