By Very Rev. THOMAS S. PRESTON, V.G.,
The life communicated to the church is for the end of completing the work of Christ, and making known His Gospel to the successive generations of men. The Holy Ghost abiding in His temple is the divine light shining in the darkness of earth. And the most necessary office of the church is to teach to all men the faith by which they may be saved. As the incorruptible body of Christ, and the dwelling of the eternal Spirit, she must possess a supernatural knowledge of the truth, and the power to teach,without the possibility of error. There is also another faculty which comes from the life of her soul, the Spirit of God. It is the power not only toteach, but to give the grace which pre-pares the way of truth, and enablesthe hearer to appreciate and improve it.In the second gift of the Holy Ghost to the church are comprehended, therefore, inerrancy in receiving divine revelation, infallibility in teaching it, and supernatural unction in imparting it. In these three departments of her infallibility the church acts, as she can only act, as the organ of the Spirit. She has no life without Him, and never can her union with Him be sundered, not even for a moment. It is always the Holy Ghost, who lives, speaks, and acts in and through her. Let us briefly glance at these fruits of the divine presence in the church. They are among the plainest yet most fundamental truths of our religion.
