673. The second property of the Church is Sanctity; for we say in the Symbol: “I believe One, Holy… Church.” Certainly the Church is distinguished in the Sacred Letters by those names which most clearly show its sanctity. For it is everywhere called “the kingdom of heaven,” “the Body of Christ,” “the spouse of Christ,” “the holy temple, the dwelling place of God,” “the house of God,” “the city of God.” Especially the Church, according to the testimony of the Apostle in Ephesians 1.23, is the Body of Christ; and therefore, adhering to the head and receiving from him the continual influx of sanctity, it cannot but be holy.
674. But if there is no difficulty in asserting the sanctity of the Church generally, defining the true concept of its sanctity is not without difficulty. For while the Innovators confess the Church to be holy and ascribe sanctity to it on account of several titles which we too acknowledge, nevertheless they deny that it is holy on account of other titles which are also true titles of sanctity.
675. It will help first of all to note certain general reasons according to which the Church is called and is Holy. Therefore the Church is Holy: 1. by reason of its Author and invisible Head, which is Jesus Christ; 2. by reason of its end, which is the same as that which Christ established for himself in his mission, as we demonstrated above; 3. by reason of its means. For if sanctity of end is owed to the Church, sanctity of means cannot be denied to it. Hence especially its doctrine must be holy, not only because it flows from Christ, who is holy, but also because it leads to sanctity; holy are the sacraments, which are ordered to sanctification and produce sanctity, etc.; 4. especially the Church is called holy because, as the Catechism of the Council of Trent says, on the ninth article of the Symbol, number 15, “it has been consecrated and dedicated to God. For thus other things of this sort… have been accustomed to be called holy, when they are assigned and dedicated to divine worship. Of this kind in the old law are vessels, vestments, altars; in it also the firstborn, who were dedicated to God Most High, were called holy.”
676. But in order that we may come nearer to defining the concept of that sanctity which we here vindicate for the Church, it must be observed that, although the name of sanctity is taken in many ways in the Scriptures themselves, nevertheless properly, as Suarez says in On the Incarnation, disputation 17, section 6, “that is called holy which is pure and clean before God, as is established from the usage of Scripture.” With this agree the things which Benedict XIV writes in On the Canonization of Saints, book 3, chapter 21, article 3: “Sanctity is nothing other than perfect purity, free from every uncleanness and altogether immaculate.” But since, in the present state, we acquire immunity from uncleanness of spirit, or from sin, through the infusion of sanctifying grace and virtues, that society will rightly and deservedly be called holy which has as its end sanctifying grace and the exercise of virtues; suitable means of effectively procuring these things; and a people which in fact continually obtains interior grace and exercises virtues.
677. Hence the sanctity of the Church can be considered in two ways, actively and passively. The sanctity of the Church considered actively is its continual action and efficacy, and also its solicitude and industry in sanctifying its members, through the instruction of doctrine, through the sacraments, government, etc., all of which are means in themselves most efficacious for sanctity. This seems to be called sanctification rather than sanctity. But sanctity taken passively is the effect of active sanctity, namely the exercise of virtues and internal grace flourishing in the members of the Church. Moreover each belongs to the Church, but in a diverse mode and degree.
678. Now, with regard to the active sanctity of the Church, only the wondrous fecundity of the Church must be noted, by which it both constantly and perpetually brings forth children to God, and promotes some of them to an outstanding exercise of virtue and to eminent grace. To this also belongs the grace of miracles, which Christ both used for the conversion of men and wished the Apostles to use. But with regard to passive sanctity, it is necessary to observe certain things, lest, with its concept wrongly understood, difficulties should arise. And - 1) indeed, the subject of which passive holiness is asserted is the very Body of the Church, or the society which Christ instituted, not all and each of the members of that body or society. For passive holiness depends not only on the activity of the Church, but also on the free cooperation of men; and since this can fail, and sometimes does fail, in individual persons, the holiness of the Church on earth, under this respect, is not consummated but begun. These things are clear from what has already been established concerning the members of the Church. 2) But the dead or languid members which are in the Church by no means prevent the Church from being, and from truly being called, holy. For a) that some members are languid or dead, they certainly do not have from the Church; indeed, in order to be such, they must rather resist the continual action and influence of the Church, and prevent the life of the Church from flowing down to them and being communicated to them. b) As Suarez rightly observes (On Faith, disp. 9, sect. 7, no. 2): the Church receives this denomination, holy, first from the better part; for there are always in her very many just persons, and although they are fewer in number than sinners, nevertheless, because before God one just person is of greater esteem than many sinners, the Church can be denominated from them, especially since the holiness of the just is from the intention and institution of the Church, whereas wickedness is contrary to her. Compare also no. 3. 3) “Nor ought it seem wonderful to anyone,” says the Catechism of the Council of Trent (loc. cit.), “that the Church is called holy, although she contains many sinners. For the faithful are called holy who have been made the people of God, and who, having received faith and baptism, have consecrated themselves to Christ; although they offend in many things and do not perform what they promised; just as also those who profess some art retain the name of artisans even if they do not observe the precepts of the art…” St. Augustine excellently, interpreting those words of the Prophet, “Preserve my soul, for I am holy,” says: “Let the Body of Christ dare, let that one man, crying from the ends of the earth, with his head and under his head, dare to say: I am holy.” For he has received the grace of baptism and the remission of sins. 4) Since “to each one grace is given according to the measure of the donation of Christ,” and since the cooperation of men with the grace received is diverse, the passive holiness of the Church, in the members themselves which are actually holy, has diverse degrees (cf. On Grace, no. 1109 ff.). Hence there is a) some degree of holiness which can be called common; it consists in this, that men, aided by the grace of God, keep the precepts and are preserved in the state of grace. b) There is a more perfect degree of holiness in those who, by no means content with observing only the precepts, labor also to observe the evangelical counsels, and embrace that state of life which is called the state of perfection. c) In these very degrees there are other and still other degrees: for “star differs from star in brightness.” But the degree of holiness especially to be considered is that which is called heroic, and is described by Cardinal Laura (in Benedict XIV, op. cit., book 3, chapter 21, no. 10) as “that degree, perfection, or splendor and excellence of virtue which makes a man, concerning the matter of that virtue [what is said of one particular virtue is to be said also of the complex of virtues], operate above the common mode of operation of other men [just men], and in this be like God.” 5) Therefore holiness is asserted of the Church not only insofar as several of her members are actually holy, but also insofar as those diverse degrees of holiness are found in diverse members; whence deservedly the words are applied to her (Ps. 44.10): “the queen stood at thy right hand in gilded clothing, surrounded with variety.” Indeed, if the discussion is about holiness which also includes the counsels, it is evident that it cannot be lacking to the Church; for Christ wills and promotes in the Church holiness according to the norm proposed in the Gospel, and those counsels are evangelical. Hence there are also always some in the Church who attain the heroic degree of virtue; nor can it be understood that Christ the Lord should find in no member of his the perfection to which he exhorted, and which he intends, namely that by which one is perfect as the heavenly Father is perfect.
679. In order that we may thoroughly understand this active and passive holiness of the Church, which is her genuine holiness, it is helpful to recall what we established above (nos. 410 ff.), namely that the Church consists of soul and body, and that she is the Body of Christ (no. 412); and therefore she is not like a corpse without life and without motion, but is living with the life of Christ and operating. Now 1) just as the soul, although it is the principle of life in the body, nevertheless does not vivify it unless it is intimately united to it, communicates to it a new being and new operations, and the body in turn serves the operations of the soul itself; so also, in the Church, in order that she can be called living and be living, or be a living body, it is necessary that, in its own manner, there intervene between her soul and body a union by which the soul and body of the same Church exert their power, and the body, by serving the soul, as it were manifests and exercises the life which it has received. 2) In the human individual, when the seed has been generated, the body is first developed; then the soul is infused into it, which informs and vivifies it. So likewise the Church begins from generation, which comes to her through baptism; and, if the discussion is about adults, she is prepared through the preaching of the word of God, which things are external, until through the infusion of faith, hope, charity, and sanctifying grace, which are internal gifts, there is had the soul by which one becomes a living member of the Church. 3) Just as the body is nourished by foods received from without, and the mind is informed and perfected by word or instruction, so the Church is nourished by the word of God and the other external aids, since these are so many vehicles of grace and holiness, and conduce to the perfecting of the soul itself: the body serves the soul. In turn, the soul, vivifying the body, operates in it, with it, and through it. Moehler writes excellently on this matter (Symbolism, part 1, chapter 4, section 48). In the English version cited here, he says in substance that Catholics teach that the visible Church comes first and gives birth to the invisible, whereas Lutherans reverse the order; he then explains that the kingdom of God came to men from without through Christ and through external media, and that the invisible Church continually springs from the visible Church. Thus the soul also perfects the body; and thus the Church externally manifests her interior life, or holiness. 4) But the Church, as we have seen (nos. 454 ff.), from her end and from Christ’s institution is as it were eminently visible as the true Church of Christ; therefore her life must be manifested in such a way that no place for deception can exist. For this reason this manifestation of the Church’s life is adorned not only by profession of faith, exterior worship of God, holy operations, and so forth, but also by wonderful fecundity, miracles, and the other supernatural charisms. 5) Since here the question is about supernatural life, whose Author is the Holy Spirit, who therefore (no. 418) is called the Heart of the Church, Albert the Great deservedly explains the article of the Symbol, “I believe the holy Church,” in this way (On the Sacrament of the Mass, tract 2, chapter 9): “Looking,” he says, “to this, that the Holy Spirit is given and sent for the sanctifying of the creature, which holiness never fails in the Church, although sometimes it may fail in a person, he said, the holy Church. And because every article is founded upon divine and eternal truth, not upon created truth, because every creature is vain and does not have solid truth, therefore this article is to be resolved thus to the proper work of the Holy Spirit: I believe in the Holy Spirit, not only according to himself, as the preceding article says, but I also believe in him according to his proper work, which is that he sanctifies the Church; which holiness he pours forth in the sacraments and virtues and gifts which he gives for the perfection of holiness, and finally in miracles and gifts gratuitously given, such as wisdom, knowledge, faith, discernment of spirits, operation of healings, prophecy, and things of this kind, which the Spirit gives for the demonstration of the holiness of the Church.”
680. This is the genuine idea of the Holiness of the Church. Protestants, however, 1) do not deny some active holiness of the Church, although they exclude the chief means, such as the Sacraments, government, and so forth; but these are not matters for this place. 2) Some so exaggerate passive holiness that they suppose the Church consists only of holy members: this error we refuted above (nos. 616 ff.). Others, among whom, as it seems, are Litton and the Established Church of England in its homilies (in Murray, disp. 8, sect. 1, no. 16), so attenuate it that they think it can fail in all members. 3) But all seem more or less to deny that splendid manifestation of holiness, which expels every doubt, through miracles and the other charisms. Middleton candidly states the cause of this denial (Introductory Discourse, p. 51), saying in substance: if you accept the ancient writers who narrate these miracles as upright witnesses, you must also admit the practices and doctrines which those miracles were done to confirm, or with which they are inseparably connected; and these are precisely the things which Protestants reject, such as monastic institutions, the cult of relics and images, prayers for the dead, and the invocation of the saints.
681. From these things it is plainly understood what holiness we must vindicate for the Church. Therefore: Section II. The Proposed Question Is Solved. Proposition XXIX. To the Church of Christ, which in the sacred letters is proclaimed holy in manifold ways, there is chiefly to be attributed holiness both 1. active, by which she continually labors for the sanctification of men through most efficacious means, and 2. passive, by which holy members are never lacking in her bosom. 3. Moreover, each is so excellent that not only by the profession of faith and the exercise of good works, but also by wonderful fecundity, miracles, and the other supernatural charisms, it renders the Church conspicuous to all as a body living with supernatural life.
682. The first part is proved. I. It is read (Ezek. 37.26 ff.): “And I will establish them and multiply them, and I will give my sanctification in the midst of them forever. And my tabernacle shall be in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And the nations shall know that I am the Lord, the Sanctifier of Israel, when my sanctification shall be in the midst of them forever.” And (Eph. 4): “And he gave some apostles, and some prophets, and others evangelists, and others pastors and teachers, for the consummation of the saints unto the work of ministry, unto the edification of the body of Christ,” etc. See no. 651. In the cited words of Ezekiel, the immediate subject is Judah and Israel, who under one king David were to constitute one kingdom; but just as Judah and Israel represent all peoples, so David represents Christ, with whom God entered into an everlasting covenant concerning that people, or concerning the Church. Therefore, from the cited testimonies it is established that God is the Sanctifier of his people, namely the Church, forever, and that he works sanctification through the ministry of Apostles, Pastors, and Doctors, namely of the teaching Church. Therefore this Church forever labors for the sanctification of men. But active holiness consists in this. Therefore.
683. II. Christ communicated to the Church his very mission; and therefore he willed that in his stead she should teach men the way of salvation through an external ministry, cleanse them from sin, sanctify them, and, for attaining this, he furnished her with suitable and efficacious means (nos. 482 ff.). But the Church can never fail from her end and from her institution; this will be clearer where we treat of the indefectibility of the Church. Therefore the Church continually labors, through the means which she has received from Christ and which are most efficacious, for the salvation of men. But the active holiness of the Church consists in this. Therefore.
684. III. The Church, as Spouse of Christ, is most closely joined to him in will; and, as subject to the interior influence of the Holy Spirit, being moved by him she continually operates (no. 419). But the will of Christ is the sanctification of men, and the operation of the Holy Spirit tends to our sanctification. Therefore the Church continually labors for this sanctification; and therefore active holiness can never be absent from her.
685. IV. In the Church, as we shall soon prove, holy persons can never be lacking. But Christ placed all the means of salvation in the Church. Therefore these means are always employed by the Church for sanctifying her members; and consequently active holiness always flourishes in the Church.
686. The second part is proved. I. From Scripture. For - 1) very often in the Scriptures there is expressed the ardent and efficacious desire of Christ to sanctify his people, that is, the Church; but it is altogether incredible that such a desire should lack every effect, even for a time. Therefore holy persons are never lacking in the Church. The major is proved. It is said (Luke 12.49 ff.): “I have come to cast fire upon the earth, and what do I will except that it be kindled? But I have a baptism with which I am to be baptized, and how am I constrained until it be accomplished?” And (John 15.16): “I have chosen you and appointed you, that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain.” And (17.19): “And for them I sanctify myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. And I ask not for them only,” etc. And (Eph. 5.25): “Christ loved the Church and delivered himself up for her, that he might sanctify her,” etc. And (Titus 2.14): “He gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and cleanse for himself an acceptable people, a pursuer of good works.” The argument is confirmed, because from Adam to Noah, from Noah to Moses, and through the whole time of the Old Law, some holy persons were never lacking, although at times they were few in number. Therefore, since after Christ there is a greater abundance of graces, so that we are said to live under the Law of grace, they can never be lacking in the Church. 2) It is read (Isa. 62.3 ff.): “And thou shalt be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God. Thou shalt no longer be called Forsaken, and thy land shall no more be called Desolate; but thou shalt be called My Will in Her, and thy land Inhabited, because the Lord has been well pleased in thee, and thy land shall be inhabited. For the young man shall dwell with the virgin, and thy sons shall dwell in thee. And the bridegroom shall rejoice over the bride, and thy God shall rejoice over thee,” etc. ”…And they shall call them, The holy people, the redeemed of the Lord. But thou shalt be called, A city sought, and not Forsaken.” And (Eph. 5): “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ also loved the Church and delivered himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, cleansing her by the laver of water in the word of life; that he might present to himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she might be holy and immaculate. So also husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies.” Let the similar testimonies already given above be recalled. Hence: the Church is often called in the Scriptures - a) the object of divine complacency and of special love, and indeed forever, since she is the city not forsaken. But the object of such complacency and love is only the just (cf. On Grace, no. 1008 ff.). Therefore. b) The Church is called the land inhabited by God, the House of God, the Temple of God, the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. But God is not said to inhabit except through sanctifying grace (cf. On Grace, no. 1027 ff.). Therefore. c) The Church is called the Spouse of Christ; therefore Christ loves her with the love of friendship, and with the same love he is loved by her. But only the just are loved by God with this love, and only the just so love him. Therefore. d) The Church is called the Body of Christ. But the body of Christ cannot be dead, but lives by the very life of Christ; and the life of Christ is the life of grace. Therefore. 3) The same can be concluded from parables cited several times. For - a) the good fruit grows together with the bad until the consummation of the age (Matt. 13.24); b) in the parable of the dragnet, good and bad fish remain together and are to be separated only at the end of the world (Matt. 13.47); c) in the parable of the great house, gold and silver vessels exist in it just as wooden and earthen vessels do (2 Tim. 2.20). But by the field, the dragnet, and the great house the Church is signified; and by the good fruits, good fish, and precious vessels the just are signified. Therefore.
687. II. From the Fathers. St. Irenaeus (book 23, chapter 24, no. 1): “For where the Church is, there also is the Spirit of God; and where the Spirit of God is, there is the Church and all grace: but the Spirit is truth.” St. Cyril of Jerusalem (Catechesis 18, no. 23): “For the Church is truly called catholic… also because she subjects every kind of men to right worship, rulers and private persons, learned and unlearned. And finally, because in general she cures and heals every kind of sins which are perpetrated through soul and body; and she possesses every kind of virtue, by whatever name it may be signified, in deeds and words, and in spiritual gifts of every species.” St. Ambrose (Hexaemeron, book 4, no. 22): “The Synagogue says in the Song of Songs: ‘Tell me, thou whom my soul has loved, where thou feedest, where thou liest at midday, lest perhaps I become one wrapped about above the flocks of thy companions,’ that is, tell me, O Christ, whom my soul has loved. Why not rather, whom it loves? But the Synagogue loved; the Church loves, nor does she ever change her affection toward her Christ.” As regards St. Augustine, after so many passages already adduced (no. 619) in which it is affirmed that the Church consists of good and bad members, it seems superfluous to bring forward here other testimonies from the same author. I shall add only what he has (sermon 214): “Honor, love, and proclaim also the holy Church, your mother, as the heavenly Jerusalem, the holy city of God. She is the one which in this faith that you have heard fructifies and grows throughout the whole world, the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of truth; she bears the evil, who are to be separated at the end, while meanwhile she withdraws from them by disparity of morals, in the communion of the sacraments.” St. Prosper (On Psalm 131), considering the words, “because the Lord has chosen Zion, he has chosen her beforehand for a habitation for himself,” says: “Zion itself is the Church, and she herself is the heavenly Jerusalem, to whose peace those run who even now are on pilgrimage. She is the city of God, which, according to the better part of herself, has always remained with her author; and she awaits the part which daily by the grace of God is called back from exile, so that together she may be the whole building of her inhabitant.” St. Cyril of Alexandria (On Micah 5-6): “‘Glorious things are said of thee, O city of God.’ For Christ inhabits the Church and made her a city proper to himself, although by the nature of divinity he fills all things. This city of God, therefore, is as it were a certain land and region of those sanctified and of those enriched by unity in God through the Spirit.”
688. The third part is proved. I. From Scripture. For it is read (John 14.12): “Amen, amen, I say to you: he who believes in me, the works which I do, he also shall do, and greater than these he shall do, because I go to the Father.” And (Mark 16.17-18): “But these signs shall follow those who believe: in my name they shall cast out demons, they shall speak with new tongues, they shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not harm them; they shall lay hands upon the sick, and they shall be well.” And (1 Cor. 12): “There are divisions of operations, but the same God who works all in all. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit unto utility. To one indeed through the Spirit is given the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith in the same Spirit; to another the grace of healings in one Spirit; to another the working of powers; to another prophecy; to another discernment of spirits; to another kinds of tongues; to another interpretation of speeches.” Hence: 1) in the cited testimonies are contained Christ’s promises concerning the charisms which ought to be in the Church. But promises of this kind are not restricted to any definite time. Therefore they ought always to be in the Church. 2) Christ addresses those to whom he promised that he would be present until the consummation of the age, and he promises those charisms for the good of the society instituted by him, or of the Church. Therefore the same charisms ought to last as long as the assistance of Christ lasts, and as long as the Church herself lasts, namely until the consummation of the age. 3) Indeed, since, according to the Apostle (1 Cor. 14.22), signs were given to unbelievers, not to believers, these extraordinary gifts of God will persevere as long as unbelievers are to be converted to Christ through the Church. But the fullness of the Gentiles, as the same Apostle says (Rom. 11.25), is not to enter into the Church except toward the end of the world; therefore those gifts ought to endure in the Church until the end of the world. 4) In fact, Christ instituted the succession of the Apostles so that through it he might continue to obtain those fruits which he was obtaining through the Apostles; therefore the activity of the Church cannot differ substantially from that of the Apostles in activity and fecundity. Therefore she must have those means by which the preaching of the Apostles obtained fecundity. But among these prodigies were eminent; therefore these also cannot be absent from the ministry of the Church. Therefore, just as the Apostles attested their mission by signs and thus converted the people, so the Church needs prodigies in order to bring unbelievers to the faith and to have a continual testimony to the divinity of her existence. For this reason, as long as there remain nations to be converted or recalled to Christ, so long there remains both the object of mission and the necessity of fecundity in the Church. But the clearest prophecies both of the ancient prophets and of Christ himself foretell that all nations will be converted to Christ. Thus Isaiah (54.1 ff.) addresses the Church: “Praise, O barren one, who dost not bear; sing praise and neigh, thou who didst not bear, because many are the children of the desolate woman, more than of her who has a husband, says the Lord. Enlarge the place of thy tent, and stretch out the skins of thy tabernacles; spare not. Make thy cords long, and strengthen thy stakes. For thou shalt penetrate to the right and to the left, but thy seed shall inherit the nations.” The Apostle expounds these things as concerning the Church of Christ to be gathered from the Gentiles (Gal. 4.27). Many prophecies of this kind exist in the Psalms; and Christ himself (Matt. 8.11) affirms that “many shall come from the east and the west, and shall recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven”; indeed, he foretells that his Gospel is to be preached in the whole world.
689. II. From the Fathers. For - 1) they not only report many miracles wrought in their own time in the Church, but also from them prove that the Catholic Church is the true Church of Christ. Thus, for example, St. Irenaeus (Against Heresies, book 1, chapter 56) writes: “They [the heretics] cannot give sight to the blind, nor hearing to the deaf, nor drive away all demons, except those which are sent in by themselves, if indeed they even do this; nor restore the weak or paralytics or the lame; so far are they from raising a dead man, as the Lord raised, and as the Apostles did by prayer, and very often in the brotherhood, when for some necessary reason the whole Church in any place, asking through fasting and much supplication, the spirit returned to the dead man, and the man was granted to the prayers of the Saints, that they might believe that there is a resurrection from the dead.” Tertullian has similar things (in the Apology against the Gentiles, chapter 23; To Scapula, chapter 2); St. Athanasius (book On the Incarnation of the Word); Origen (book 1 Against Celsus); Theodoret and Eusebius (passim in Ecclesiastical History); St. Jerome (letter 17, To Marcella); St. Chrysostom (homily 4 on Matthew); St. Augustine (The City of God, chapter 8), etc. 2) But if some, such as St. Augustine (On True Religion, chapter 25, no. 47) and St. Gregory (homily 29 on the Gospels), seem to restrict miracles and other signs to the beginnings of the Church, they understand this not absolutely but relatively, namely insofar as they are not now so frequent as they were formerly. This is clear - a) from their express doctrine. Indeed St. Augustine (loc. cit., On True Religion) had written: “Since the Catholic Church has been spread and founded throughout the whole world, those miracles were not permitted to endure into our times, lest the mind should always seek visible things, and the human race should grow cold by the customary occurrence of those things by whose novelty it once burned.” But in book 1 of the Retractations, chapter 13, no. 7, he says: “But what I said must not be taken in such a way that no miracles are believed to be done now in the name of Christ. For I myself, when I wrote that very book, already knew that, at the bodies of the Milanese Martyrs in that same city, a blind man had been enlightened, and certain other things, such as happen even in these times, so that we cannot know all of them, nor enumerate those which we do know.” Likewise St. Gregory the Great explains the things which he had written in homily 29 on the Gospels (book 27 on Job, chapter 18, no. 36, Maurist edition), saying: “Then indeed the holy Church needed the aids of miracles, when the affliction of persecution pressed. For after she subdued the pride of unbelief, she no longer requires signs of powers, but only the merits of works; although she also shows those signs to very many when opportunity requires.” And no. 27: “What wonder is there, then,” he says, “if, when the faith has been propagated, miracles are not done frequently?” Certainly each Father reports many miracles wrought in his own age. b) This is clear also from the very nature of the thing. For those charisms are means ordered to the conversion of the nations and to the attestation of the divinity of the Church; therefore they ought to have been more frequent in that age in which more things were required for each end. But now the Christian faith has already been made more manifest by the triumph almost everywhere won over idolatry, by the marvelous propagation and preservation of the Church of Christ, and by so many prodigies which have long since been accomplished in her bosom. Therefore it ought not seem wonderful if prodigies in our times are less frequent than in the age of the Apostles. It is easy from this to understand in what sense St. Augustine said (On the Unity of the Church, chapter 19) that he did not wish to settle the question concerning the truth of the Church from the fact that “throughout the whole world, in holy places which our communion frequents, such great wonders, whether of hearings or of healings, are done.” He does not reject absolutely the proof from miracles; but, disputing against the Donatists, who boasted of their own miracles, he judged this way to be long, and therefore preferred to employ the easier demonstration from catholicity. Hence the holy Doctor writes: “Let no one, therefore, sell you fables: Pontius did a miracle, and Donatus prayed and God answered him from heaven; either they are deceived or they deceive.” But after adducing the sacred testimonies concerning the catholicity of the Church, he adds (chapter 5): “Let open truth cry out; let it shine; let it burst upon stopped ears; let it strike the eyes of those who dissemble.” Once the demonstration from the catholicity of the Church has been most clearly completed, he rightly concludes against the Donatists: “Whatever things of this sort are done in the Catholic Church are therefore to be approved because they are done in the Catholic Church; the Church is not manifested because these things are done in her.”