Page:Essays on Catholicism, Liberalism, and Socialism.djvu/80

supernatural facts they could not be legitimately explained, without referring to a cause which, in its nature supernatural, must have had an exterior manifestation in conformity with its own essence, that is, supernatural. This cause, which is supernatural in itself and supernatural in its action, is grace.

Grace was merited for us by our Lord when he suffered a frightful death on the cross, and the Apostles received it, when the Holy Ghost, the author of all grace and of all sanctification, descended upon them. The Holy Ghost infused into the Apostles the grace which was merited for us by the death of the Son, through the compassion of the Father. The Holy Trinity in this manner effected the ineffable work of our salvation, as before it had created the world.

This helps to explain two things, which otherwise would be quite unintelligible, namely, why it was that the Apostles performed greater miracles than their Divine Master, and why their miracles were productive of greater results than those of our Lord, as he himself repeatedly and on different occasions foretold to them. The reason is that, during the prolongation of ages, extending from the days of Adam to the end of time, the universal redemption of mankind was to be the price of the bloody tragedy on the cross; and until this sacrifice was consummated, the gates of the heavenly mansions were firmly closed against the unfortunate race of Adam.

In the fullness of time, the Spirit of God descended upon the Apostles like a whirlwind, under the form of tongues of fire. Then it came to pass that, without any transition whatever, they were instantly and completely renewed, by the action of a supernatural and divine