22. An Act of Faith

100 Days, once a day. (See Instructions, p. 1.) MY Gop! I believe in Thee; I believe all that Thou hast revealed, and that the holy Catholic Church proposes for my belief. I believe, first, that the most blessed Virginis truly the Mother of God; I believe firmly, and with all certainty, that she is at the same time mother and virgin, and that she. is free from even the least actual sin. I also believe most firmly, and with all certainty, that by a sin- gular grace and privilege of Almighty Gop, in view of the merits of Jesus Curist, the Saviour of the human race, Mary was, in the first instant of her conception, preserved free from all stain of original sin. I believe most firmly and with all cer- tainty that when the Roman Pontiff speaks ex cathedra—that is, when, fulfilling the office of chief pastor and teacher of all Christians, he, in virtue of his supreme and apostolic authority, defines a doctrine concerning faith or morals to be held by the universal Church—by the divine assistance, promised him in the person of St Peter, possesses that infallibility with which the divine REDEEMER wished his Church to be endowed when defining matters of faith or morals; and, therefore, that such definitions of the Roman Pontiff are, of them- selves, and not from the consent of the Church, irreformable. I believe all this, because thy holy Church, which is the pillar and ground of truth, which has never erred and can never err, proposes it to be believed