Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii I. The Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 II. The Church's Books (1) The Bible . . . . . . . . 21 III. " " (2) The Prayer Book . . . . . 40 IV. The Church's Sacraments . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 V. Baptism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 VI. The Blessed Sacrament . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 VII. The Lesser Sacraments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 VIII. Confirmation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 IX. Holy Matrimony . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 X. Holy Order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 XI. Penance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 XII. Unction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 Dear Saviour! make our hearts to burn, And make our lives to shine, Oh! make us ever true to Thee, And true to all that's Thine-- Thy Church, Thy Saints, Thy Sacraments, Thy Scriptures; may we own No other Lord, no other rule, But Thee, and Thine alone. A. G. {1} THE CHURCH. CHAPTER I. THE CHURCH ON EARTH. _Christus Dilexit Ecclesiam_: "Christ loved the Church"[1]--and if we love what Christ loved, we do well. But three questions meet us:-- (1) What is this Church which Christ loved? (2) When and where was it established? (3) What was it established for? First: _What is the Church?_ The Church is a visible Society under a visible Head, in Heaven, in Paradise, and on Earth. Who is this visible Head? Jesus Christ--visible to the greatest number of its members (i.e. in Heaven and in Paradise), and vicariously represented here by "the Vicar of Christ upon Earth," the Universal Episcopate. {2} Next: _When and where was it established?_ It was established in Palestine, in the Upper Chamber, on the first Whitsunday, "the Day of Pentecost". Then: _What was it established for?_ It was established to be the channel of salvation and sanctification for fallen man. God may, and does, use other channels, but, "according to the Scriptures," the Church is the authorized channel. As such, let us think of the Church on earth under six Prayer-Book names:-- (I) The Catholic Church. (II) The National Church. (III) The Established Church. (IV) The Church of England. (V) The Reformed Church. (VI) The Primitive Church. (I) THE CATHOLIC CHURCH.