'Judas [Machabeus] sent twelve thousand drachms of silver to Jerusalem for sacrifice to be offered for the sins of the dead. It is, therefore, a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins' (2 Mach. xii. 43, 46). That the Church has at all times prayed for the dead, and that the Apostles themselves ordained to remember them at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, is testified by the most ancient Fathers of the Church. (All Souls' Day.)
82. What profit do we derive from the mutual communion with the faithful on earth?
We participate in all the Masses, prayers, and good works of the Catholic Church, and, in general, in all her spiritual goods.
'God hath tempered the body together . . . that the members might be mutually careful one for another. . . . Now, you are the body of Christ, and members of member' (1 Cor. xii. 24-27).
83. Do sinners, as long as they are not cut off from the Church, also share in this communion?
Sinners as dead members forfeit, indeed, most of the spiritual goods; nevertheless, in virtue of their union with the Church, they still receive various blessings and graces, which help to their conversion.
Application. Every day pray for your fellow-Christians who are either combating on earth or suffering in Purgatory, and recommend yourself every morning and night to the protection of the Saints in Heaven. Above all, strive to lead a holy life; for ' we are fellow-citizens with the Saints, and the domestics of God' (Eph. ii. 19).
The Tenth Article.
'The Forgiveness of Sins.'
I. What does the Tenth Article of the Creed teach us?
That in the Catholic Church we can receive, through the merits of Jesus Christ, forgiveness of sins and of the punishment due to them.
