Chapter VII.
PREPARATION FOR THE FIRST COMMUNION—INITIATION
TO IDOLATRY.
NOTHING can exceed the care with which Roman Catholic
priests prepare children for their first communion. Two
and three months are set apart every year for that purpose. All
that time the children between ten and twelve years of age are
obliged to go to church almost every day, not only to learn by
heart their catechism, but to hear the explanations of all its
teachings.
The priest who instructed us was the Rev. Mr. Morin, whom
I have already mentioned. He was exceedingly kind to children,
and we respected and loved him sincerely. His instructions to
us were somewhat long; but we liked to hear him, for he always
had some new and interesting stories to give us.
The catechism taught as a preparation for our first communion
was the foundation of the idolatries and superstitions
which the Church of Rome gives as the religion of Christ. It
is by means of that catechetical instruction that she obtains for
the Pope and his representatives that profound respect, I might
say adoration, which is the secret of her power and influence.
With this catechism Rome corrupts the most sacred truths of
the gospel. It is there that Jesus is removed from the hearts
for which he paid so great a price, and that Mary is put in his
place. But the great iniquity of substituting Mary for Jesus is
so skillfully concealed, it is given with colors so poetic and
beautiful, and so well adapted to captivate human nature,
that it is almost impossible for a poor child to escape the
snare.
One day the priest said to me, "Stand up, my child, in order
to answer the many important questions which I have to ask
you."
I stood up.
"My child," he said, "when you had been guilty of some
fault at home, who was the first to punish you—your father, or
your mother?"
After a few moments hesitation I answered, "My father."
"You have answered correctly, my child," said the priest.
"As a matter of fact, the father is almost always more impatient
with his children, and more ready to punish them, than the
mother."
"Now, my child, tell us who punished you most severely—
your father or your mother?"
"My father," I said, without hesitation.
"Still true, my child. The superior goodness of a kind
mother is perceived even in the act of correction. Her blows
are lighter than those of the father. Further, when you had
deserved to be chastised, did not one sometimes come between
you and your father's rod, taking it away from him and pacifying
him?"
"Yes," I said; "mother did that very often, and saved me
from severe punishment more than once."
"That is so, my child, not only for you, but for all your
companions here. Have not your good mothers, my children,
often saved you from your fathers' corrections even when you
deserved it? Answer me."
"Yes, sir," they all answered.
"One question more. When your father was coming to
whip you, did you not throw yourself into the arms of some one
to escape?"
"Yes, sir; when guilty of something, more than once, I
threw myself into my mother's arms as soon as I saw my father
coming to whip me. She begged pardon for me, and pleaded
so well that I often escaped punishment."
"You have answered well," said the priest. Then turning
to the children, he continued:
"You have a Father and a Mother in heaven, dear children.
Your father is Jesus, and your mother is Mary. Do not forget
that a mother's heart is always more tender and more prone to
mercy than that of a father.
"Often you offend your Father by your sins; you make Him
angry against you. What takes place in heaven then? Your
Father in heaven takes His rod to punish you. He threatens to
crush you down with His roaring thunder; He opens the gates
of hell to cast you into it, and you would have been damned
long ago had it not been for the loving Mother whom you have
in heaven, who has disarmed your angry and irritated Father.
When Jesus would punish you as you deserve, the good Virgin
Mary hastens to Him and pacifies Him. She places herself
between Him and you, and prevents Him from smiting you.
She speaks in your favor, she asks for your pardon and she
obtains it.
"Also, as young Chiniquy has told you, he often threw himself
into the arms of his mother to escape punishment. She
took his part, and pleaded so well that his father yielded and
put away the rod. Thus, my children, when your conscience
tells you that you are guilty, that Jesus is angry against you and
that you have good reason to fear hell, hasten to Mary! Throw
yourselves into the arms of that good mother; have recourse to
her sovereign power over Jesus, and be assured that you will be
saved through her!"
It is thus that the Pope and the priests of Rome have
entirely disfigured and changed the holy religion of the gospel!
In the Church of Rome it is not Jesus, but Mary, who represents
the infinite love and mercy of God for the sinner. The
sinner is not advised or directed to place his hope in Jesus, but
in Mary, for his escape from deserved chastisement! It is not
Jesus, but Mary, who saves the sinner! Jesus is always bent on
punishing sinners; Mary is always merciful to them!
The Church of Rome has thus fallen into idolatry: she
rather trusts in Mary than in Jesus. She constantly invites
sinners to turn their thoughts, their hopes, their affections, not to
Jesus, but to Mary!
By means of that impious doctrine Rome deceives the intellects,
seduces the hearts, and destroys the souls of the young
forever. Under the pretext of honoring the Virgin Mary, she
insults her by outraging and misrepresenting her adorable Son.
Rome has brought back the idolatry of old paganism under
a new name. She has replaced upon her altars the Jupiter
Tonans of the Greeks and Romans, only she places upon his
shoulders the mantle and she writes on the forehead of her idol
the name of Jesus, in order the better to deceive the world!
