punishment. Of the possession of these powers the apostles were conscious from the very first, since they thus expressed themselves: "It hath seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us," to lay such and such commands upon you.
6. Thus we see that Christ founded in very deed a living, infallible authority, with the commission and command to transmit His religion in its entirety to all future generations; this authority is the college of the apostles. Equally certain is it that the Roman Catholic Church, as it exists in the present day, is the legitimate continuation of the college oi the apostles. Such a continuation must indeed exist in all centuries after Christ as an infallible teaching authority; for Christ has said : "I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world. Now among ail religious systems there is only one which lays claim to the possession of an infallible body of teachers, and this is the Roman Catholic Church alone. When we assert that the Catholic Church is infallible, we mean that she can not err in matters of faith and morals.
If this claim were unfounded, if it were a mere pretension, it would follow that the Church of Christ would to-day have vanished from the face of the earth. But this is not possible, for were it otherwise what would become of the promise of Christ: "The gates of hell shall not prevail against it"? What would become of the divinity of Jesus Christ Himself?
Thus we see that in one Church alone, in the Roman Catholic Church, does Christ still reign as teacher, priest, and king. Our joy and pride it is that we are children of this Holy Catholic Church.
