Henry Formby

The Seven Sacraments of the Catholic Church Henry Formby

St. Peter directs the faithful, that they should employ all care, to minister in their faith, virtue, and in their virtue Knowledge. Ignorance of the marvellous Work of God in the Redemption of Man, cannot be otherwise than a scandal and a disgrace, in one who expects to benefit by this Redemption. St. Paul writes, " Brethren, I would not that you should be ignorant" and in another place, "2" would have you to be wise in good, and simple in evil."The present little book upon the Seven Sacraments of the Church is not by any means meant as a book of piety alone. It is rather intended as a book of general popular knowledge. It has been written to make it interesting to a Christian, desiring to open his mind upon questions connected with the reasonableness and benefits of his faith. For it must be very unwise to leave knowledge to the mercy of chance and to wish to sustain religion in the mind by piety alone. The Spirit of Knowledge is one of the Seven Gifts of the Holy Ghost, which are given for the protection of Christian Life. Nothing, therefore, can well exceed the folly of the Christian, who imagines any part of the armour, which Divine Wisdom offers to him for his defence, to have become a superfluous and useless thing. The Apostle says, " Put on the whole armour of God."