The pastor should use his best
endeavors to induce the faithful to keep continually in view these words: I
am the Lord thy God. From them they will learn that their Lawgiver is none
other than their Creator, by whom they were made and are preserved, and that
they may truly repeat: He is the Lord our God, and we are the people of his
pasture and the sheep of his hand. 2 The
frequent and earnest inculcation of these words will also serve to induce the
faithful more readily to observe the Law and avoid sin.
The next words, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of
the house of bondage, seem to relate solely to the Jews liberated from the
bondage of Egypt. But if we consider the meaning of the salvation of the entire
human race, those words are still more applicable to Christians, who are
liberated by God not from the bondage of Egypt, but from the slavery of sin and
the powers of darkness, and are translated into the kingdom of his beloved
Son. 3 Contemplating the greatness of this favor,
Jeremias foretold: Behold the days come, saith the Lord, when it shall be
said no more: The Lord liveth that brought forth. the children of Israel out of
the land of Egypt; but: The Lord liveth that brought the children of Israel out
of the land of the north and out of all the lands to which I cast them out; and
I will bring them again into their land which gave to their fathers. Behold, I
send many fishers, saith the Lord, and they shall fish them, etc. 4 And, indeed, our most indulgent Father has gathered together,
through His beloved Son, His children that were dispersed, 5 that being made free from sin and made the servants of justice, 6 we may serve before him in holiness and justice all our days. 7
Against every temptation, therefore, the faithful should arm themselves
with these words of the Apostle as with a shield: Shall we who are dead to sin
live any longer therein? 8 We are no longer our own, we
are His who died and rose again for us. He is the Lord our God who has
purchased us for Himself at the price of His blood. Shall we then be any longer
capable of sinning against the Lord our God, and crucifying Him again? Being
made truly free, and with that liberty wherewith Christ has made us free, 9 let us, as we heretofore yielded our members to serve injustice,
henceforward yield them to serve justice to sanctification. 10
The pastor should teach that the first part of the Decalogue contains
our duties towards God; the second part, our duties towards our neighbour. The
reason (for this order) is that the services we render our neighbour are
rendered for the sake of God; for then only do we love our neighbour as God
commands when we love him for God's sake. The Commandments which regard God are
those which were inscribed on the first table of the Law.
(The pastor) should next show that the words just quoted contain a
twofold precept, the one mandatory, the other prohibitory. When it is said: Thou
shalt not have strange gods before me, it is equivalent to saying: Thou
shalt worship me the true God; thou shalt not worship strange gods.
The (mandatory part) contains a precept of faith, hope and charity.
For, acknowledging God to be immovable, immutable, always the same, we rightly
confess that He is faithful and entirely just. Hence in assenting to His
oracles, we necessarily yield to Him all belief and obedience. Again, who can
contemplate His omnipotence, His clemency, His willing beneficence, and not
repose in Him all his hopes? Finally, who can behold the riches of His goodness
and love, which He lavishes on us, and not love Him? Hence the exordium and the
conclusion used by God in Scripture when giving His commands: I, the Lord.
{a}
The (negative) part of this Commandment is comprised in these words: Thou
shalt not have strange gods before me. This the Lawgiver subjoins, not
because it is not sufficiently expressed in the affirmative part of the
precept, which means: Thou shalt worship me, the only God, for if He is
God, He is the only God; but on account of the blindness of many who of old
professed to worship the true God and yet adored a multitude of gods. Of these
there were many even among the Hebrews, whom Elias reproached with having halted
between two sides, 12 and also among the Samaritans,
who worshipped the God of Israel and the gods of the nations. 13 {b}
After this it should be added that this is the first and principal
Commandment, not only in order, but also in its nature, dignity and excellence.
God is entitled to infinitely greater love and obedience from us than any lord
or king. He created us, He governs us, He nurtured us even in the womb, brought
us into the world, and still supplies us with all the necessaries of life and
maintenance.
Against this Commandment all those sin who have not faith. hope and
charity. such sinners are very numerous, for they include all who fall into
heresy, who reject what holy mother the Church proposes for our belief, who
give credit to dreams. fortune-telling, and such illusions; those who,
despairing of salvation, trust not in the goodness of God; and those who rely
solely on wealth, or health and strength of body. But these matters are
developed more at length in treatises on sins and vices. {c}
In explanation of this Commandment it should be accurately taught that
the veneration and invocation of holy Angels and of the blessed who now enjoy
the glory of heaven, and likewise the honour which the Catholic Church has
always paid even to the bodies and ashes of the Saints, are not forbidden by
this Commandment. If a king ordered that no one else should set himself up as
king, or accept the honours due to the royal person, who would be so foolish as
to infer that the sovereign was unwilling that suitable honour and respect
should be paid to his magistrates? Now although Christians follow the example
set by the Saints of the Old Law, and are said to adore the Angels, yet they do
not give to Angels that honour which is due to God alone.
And if we sometimes read that Angels refused to be worshipped by men, 14 we are to know that they did so because the worship which they
refused to accept was the honour due to God alone.
The Holy Spirit who says: Honour and glory to God alone, 15 commands us also to honour
our parents and elders; and the holy men who adored one God only are also said
in Scripture to have adored, that is, supplicated and venerated kings. If
then kings, by whose agency God governs the world, are so highly honored, 16 shall it be deemed unlawful to honour those angelic spirits whom
God has been pleased to constitute His ministers, whose services He makes use
of not only in the government of His Church, but also of the universe, by whose
aid, although we see them not, we are every day delivered from the greatest
dangers of soul and body ? Are they not worthy of far greater honour, since
their dignity so far surpasses that of kings?
Add to this their love towards us, which, as we easily see from
Scripture, 17 prompts them to pour out their prayers for
those countries over which they are placed, as well as for us whose guardians
they are, and whose prayers and tears they present before the throne of God. 18 Hence our Lord admonishes us in the Gospel not to offend the
little ones because their angels in heaven always see the face of their
Father who is in heaven. 19
Their Intercession, therefore, we ought to invoke, because they always
see the face of God, and are constituted by Him the willing advocates of our
salvation. The Scriptures bear witness to such invocation. Jacob entreated the
Angel with whom he wrestled to bless him; 20 nay, he
even compelled him, declaring that he would not let him go until he had blessed
him. And not only did he invoke the blessing of the Angel whom he saw, but also
of him whom he saw not. The angel, said he, who delivers me from all
evils, bless these boys. 21
From all this we may conclude that to honour the Saints who nave slept
in the Lord, to invoke them, and to venerate their sacred relics and ashes, far
from diminishing, tends considerably to increase the glory of God, in
proportion as man's hope is thus animated and fortified, and he himself
encouraged to imitate the Saints.
This is a practice which is also supported by the authority' of the
second Council of Nice, 22 the Councils of Gangra, 23 and of Trent, 24 and by the testimony of the Fathers. In order, however, that the
pastor may be the better prepared to meet the objections of those who deny this
doctrine, he should consult particularly St. Jerome against Vigilantius and St.
Damascene. To the teaching of these Fathers should be added as a consideration
of prime importance that the practice was received from the Apostles, and has
always been retained and preserved in the Church of God.
But who can desire a stronger or more convincing proof than that which
is supplied by the admirable praises given in Scripture to the Saints? For
there are not wanting eulogies which God Himself pronounced on some of the
Saints. If, then, Holy Writ celebrates their praises, why should not men show
them singular honour? 25
A stronger claim which the Saints have to be honored and invoked is
that they constantly pray for our salvation and obtain for us by their merits
and influence many blessings from God. If there is joy in heaven over the
conversion of one sinner, 26 will not the citizens of heaven assist those who repent? When they are
invoked, will they not obtain for us the pardon of sins, and the grace of God ?
Should it be said, as some say, that the patronage of the Saints is
unnecessary, because God hears our prayers without the intervention of a mediator,
this impious assertion is easily met by the observation of St. Augustine: There
are many things which God does not grant without a mediator and intercessor.
27 This is confirmed by the well-known examples of Abimelech and
the friends of Job who were pardoned only through the prayers of Abraham and of
Job. 28
Should it be alleged that to recur to the patronage and intercession of
the Saints argues want or weakness of faith, what will (the objectors) answer
regarding the centurion whose faith was highly eulogized by the Lord God
Himself, despite the fact that he had sent to the Redeemer the ancients of
the Jews, to intercede for his sick servant? 29
True, there is but one Mediator, Christ the Lord, who alone has
reconciled us to the heavenly Father through His blood, and who, having
obtained eternal redemption, and having entered once into the holies,
ceases not to intercede for us. 30 But it by
no means follows that it is therefore unlawful to have recourse to the
intercession of the Saints. If, because we have one Mediator Jesus Christ, it
were unlawful to ask the intercession of the Saints, the Apostle would never
have recommended himself with so much earnestness to the prayers of his
brethren on earth. 31 For the prayers of the living
would lessen the glory and dignity of Christ's Mediatorship not less than the
intercession of the Saints in heaven.
But who would not be convinced of the honour due the Saints and of the
help they give us by the wonders wrought at their tombs? Diseased eyes, hands,
and other members are restored to health; the dead are raised to life, and
demons are expelled from the bodies of men ! These are facts which St. Ambrose 32 and St. Augustine, 33 most unexceptionable witnesses, declare in their writings, not
that they heard, as many did, nor that they read, as did man very reliable
men, but that they saw.
But why multiply proofs? If the clothes, the handkerchiefs, 34 and even the very shadows
of the Saints, while yet on earth, banished disease and restored health, who
will have the hardihood to deny that God can still work the same wonders by the
holy ashes, the bones and other relics of the Saints ? Of this we have a proof
in the restoration to life of the dead body which was accidentally let down
into the grave of Eliseus, and which, on touching the body (of the Prophet),
was instantly restored to life. 35 {d}
"Thou shalt not make to thyself a graven thing, nor the likeness of
any thing that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, nor of those things
that are in the waters under the earth: thou shalt not adore them nor serve
them" 36
Some, supposing these words which come next in order to constitute a
distinct precept, reduce the ninth and tenth Commandments to one. St.
Augustine, on the contrary, considering the last two to be distinct
Commandments, makes the words just quoted a part of the first Commandment. 37. His division is much
approved in the Church, and hence we willingly adopt it. Furthermore, a very
good reason for this arrangement at once suggests itself. It was fitting that
to the first Commandment should be added the rewards or punishments entailed by
each one of the Commandments.
Let no one think that this Commandment entirely forbids the arts of
painting, engraving or sculpture. The Scriptures inform us that God Himself
commanded to be made images of Cherubim, 38 and also the brazen serpent. 39. The interpretation, therefore, at which we must arrive, is that
images are prohibited only inasmuch as they are used as deities to receive
adoration, and so to injure the true worship of God.
As far as this Commandment is concerned, it is clear that there are two
chief ways in which God's majesty can be seriously outraged. The first way is
by worshipping idols and images as God, or believing that they possess any
divinity or virtue entitling them to our worship, by praying to, or reposing
confidence in them, as the Gentiles did, who placed their hopes in idols, and
whose idolatry the Scriptures frequently condemn. The other way is by
attempting to form a representation of the Deity, as if He were visible to
mortal eyes, or could be reproduced by colors or figures. Who, says
Damascene, can represent God, invisible, as He is, incorporeal,
uncircumscribed by limits, and incapable of being reproduced under any shape.
40 This subject is treated
more at large in the second Council of Nice. 41 Rightly, then, did the Apostles say (of the
Gentiles): They changed the glory of the incorruptible God into a likeness
of birds, and of four-footed beasts, and of creeping things; 42 for they worshipped all these
things as God, seeing that they made the images of these things to represent
Him. Hence the Israelites, when they exclaimed before the image of the calf: These
are thy gods, Israel, that have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, 43 are denounced as idolaters,
because they changed their glory into the likeness of a calf that eateth
grass. 44
When, therefore, the Lord had forbidden the worship of strange gods, He
also forbade the making of an image of the Deity from brass or other materials,
in order thus utterly to do away with idolatry. It is this that Isaias declares
when he asks: To whom then have you likened God, or what image will you make
for him? 45.
That this is the meaning of the prohibition contained in the Commandment is
proved, not only from the writings of the holy Fathers, who, as may be seen in
the seventh General Council, {e} give to it this interpretation: but is also
clearly declared in these words of Deuteronomy, by which Moses sought to
withdraw the people from the worship of idols: You saw not, he says, any
similitude in the day that the Lord spoke to you in Horeb, from the midst of
the fire. 46 These words this wisest of legislators
spoke, lest through error of any sort, they should make an image of the Deity,
and transfer to any thing created, the honor due to God.
To represent the Persons of the Holy Trinity by certain forms under
which they appeared in the Old and New Testaments no one should deem contrary
to religion or the law of God. For who can be so ignorant as to believe that
such forms are representations of the Deity? - forms, as the pastor should
teach, which only express some attribute or action ascribed to God. Thus when
from the description of Daniel God is painted as the Ancient of days,
seated on a throne, with the books opened before him, the eternity of
God is represented and also the infinite wisdom, by which He sees and judges
all the thoughts and actions of men. 47
Angels, also, are represented under human form and with wings to give
us to understand that they are actuated by benevolent feelings towards mankind,
and are always prepared to execute the Lord's commands; for they are all
ministering spirits, sent to minister for them who shall receive the
inheritance of salvation. 48
What attributes of the Holy Ghost are represented under the forms of a
dove, and of tongues of fire, in the Gospel 49 and in the Acts of the Apostles, 50 is a matter too well known
to require lengthy explanation.
But to make and honor the images of Christ our Lord, of His holy and
virginal Mother, and of the Saints, all of whom were clothed with human nature
and appeared in human form, is not only not forbidden by this Commandment, but
has always been deemed a holy practice and a most sure indication of gratitude.
This position is confirmed by the monuments of the Apostolic age, the General
Councils of the Church, and the writings of so many among the Fathers, eminent
alike for sanctity and learning, all of whom are of one accord upon the
subject.
But the pastor should not content himself with showing that it is
lawful to have images in churches, and to pay them honour and respect, since this
respect is referred to their prototypes. He should also show that the
uninterrupted observance of this practice down to the present day has been
attended with great advantage to the faithful, as may be seen in the work of
Damascene on images, 51 and in the seventh General Council, the second of Nice.
But as the enemy of mankind, by his wiles and deceits, seeks to pervert
even the most holy institutions, should the faithful happen at all to offend in
this particular, the pastor, in accordance with the decree of the Council of
Trent, 52 should use every exertion in his power to
correct such an abuse, and, if necessary, explain the decree itself to the
people.
He will also inform the unlettered and those who may be ignorant of the
use of images, that they are intended to instruct in the history of the Old and
New Testaments, and to revive from time to time their memory; that thus, moved
by the contemplation of heavenly things, we may be the more ardently inflamed
to adore and love God Himself. He should, also, point out that the images of
the Saints are placed in churches, not only to be honored, but also that they
may admonish us by their examples to imitate their lives and virtues. {f}
"I am the Lord thy God,
mighty, jealous, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, to the
third and fourth generation of them that hate me, and showing mercy unto
thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments." 53
In this concluding clause of this Commandment two things occur which
demand careful exposition. The first is, that while, on account of the enormous
guilt incurred by the violation of the first Commandment, and the propensity of
man towards its violation, the punishment is properly indicated in this place,
it is also attached to all the other Commandments.
Every law enforces its observance by rewards and punishments; and hence
the frequent and numerous promises of God in Sacred Scripture. To omit those
that we meet almost on every page of the Old Testament, it is written in the
Gospel: If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments; 54 and again: He
that doth the will of my Father who is in heaven, he shall enter into the
kingdom of heaven; 55 and also: Every tree that doth not yield good fruit shall be cut
down and cast into the fire; 56 Whosoever
is angry with his brother shall be guilty of the judgment; 57 If you will not forgive men, neither will your Father forgive
you your offences. 58
The other observation is that this concluding part (of the Commandment)
is to be proposed in a very different manner to the spiritual and to the carnal
Christian. To the spiritual who is animated by the Spirit of God, and who
yields to Him a willing and cheerful obedience, it is, in some sort, glad
tidings and a strong proof of the divine goodness towards him. In it he
recognizes the care of his most loving God, who, now by rewards, now by
punishments, almost compels His creatures to adore and worship Him. The
spiritual man acknowledges the infinite goodness of God towards himself in
vouchsafing to issue His commands to him and to make use of his service to the
glory of the divine name. And not only does he acknowledge the divine goodness,
he also cherishes a strong hope that when God commands what He pleases, He will
also give strength to fulfil what He commands.
But to the carnal man, who is not yet freed from a servile spirit and
who abstains from sin more through fear of punishment than love of virtue, (this
sanction) of the divine law, which closes each of the Commandments, is
burdensome and severe. Wherefore they should be encouraged by pious
exhortation, and led by the hand, as it were, in the way of the law. The
pastor, therefore, as often as he has occasion to explain any of the
Commandments should keep this in view.
But both the carnal and the spiritual should be spurred on, especially
by two considerations which are contained in this concluding clause, and are
highly calculated to enforce obedience to the divine law.
The one is that God is called the strong. That appellation needs
to be fully expounded; because the flesh, unappalled by the terrors of the
divine menaces, frequently indulges in the foolish expectation of escaping, in
one way or another, God's wrath and threatened punishment. But when one is
deeply impressed with the conviction that God is the strong, he will
exclaim with the great David: Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither
shall I flee from thy face? 59
The flesh, also, distrusting the promises of God, sometimes magnifies
the power of the enemy to such an extent, as to believe itself unable to
withstand his assaults; while, on the contrary, a firm and unshaken faith,
which wavers not, but relies confidently on the strength and power of God,
animates and confirms man. For it says: The Lord is my light and my
salvation; whom shall I fear? 60
The second spur is the jealousy of God. Man is sometimes tempted to think
that God takes no interest in human affairs, and does not even care whether we
observe or neglect His law. This error is the source of the great disorders of
life. But when we believe that God is a jealous God, the thought easily keeps
us within the limits of our duty.
The jealousy attributed to God does not, however, imply disturbance of
mind; it is that divine love and charity by which God will suffer no human
creature to be unfaithful to Him with impunity, and which destroys all those
who are disloyal to Him. The jealousy of God, therefore, is the most tranquil
and impartial justice, which repudiates as an adulteress the soul corrupted by.
erroneous opinions and criminal passions.
This jealousy of God, since it shows His boundless and incomprehensible
goodness towards us, we find most sweet and pleasant. Among men there is no
love more ardent, no greater or more intimate tie, than that of those who are
united by marriage. Hence when God frequently compares Himself to a spouse or
husband and calls Himself a jealous God, He shows the excess of His love
towards us.
The pastor, therefore, should here teach that men should be so warmly
interested in promoting the worship and honour of God as to be said rather to
be jealous of Him than to love Him, in imitation of Him who says of Himself: With
zeal have I been zealous for the Lord God of hosts, 61 or rather of Christ
Himself, who says: The zeal of thy house hath eaten me up. 62
Concerning the threat contained in this Commandment it should be
explained that God will not suffer sinners to go unpunished, but will chastise
them as a father, or punish them with the rigor and severity of a judge. This
was elsewhere explained by Moses when he said: Thou shalt know that the Lord
thy God is a strong and faithful God, keeping his covenant and mercy to them
that love him, and to them that keep his commandments, unto a thousand
generations; and repaying forthwith them that hate him. 63. You will not, says Josue, be able to serve the Lord;
for he is a holy God, and mighty and jealous, and will not forgive your
wickedness and sins. If you leave the Lord and serve strange gods, he will turn
and will afflict you, and will destroy you. 64
The faithful are also to be taught that the punishments here threatened
await the third and fourth generation of the impious and wicked; not that the
children are always chastised for the sins of their ancestors, but that while
these and their children may go unpunished, their posterity shall not all
escape the wrath and vengeance of the Almighty. This happened in the case of
King Josias. God had spared him for his singular piety, and allowed him to be
gathered to the tomb of his fathers in peace, that his eyes might not behold
the evils of the times that were to befall Juda and Jerusalem, on account of
the wickedness of his grandfather Manasses; yet, after his death the divine
vengeance so overtook his posterity that even the children of Josias were not
spared. 65
How the words of this Commandment are not at variance with the
statement of the Prophet: The soul that sins shall die, 66 is clearly shown by the authority of St. Gregory, supported by
the testimony of all the ancient Fathers. Whoever, he says, follows
the bad example of a wicked father is also bound by his sins; but he who does
not follow the example of his father, shall not at all suffer for the sins of
the father. Hence it follows that a wicked son, who dreads not to add
his own malice to the vices of his father, by which he knows the divine wrath
to have been excited, pays the penalty not only of his own sins, but also of
those of his father. It is just that he who dreads not to walk in the footsteps
of a wicked father, in presence of a rigorous judge, should be compelled in the
present life to expiate the crimes of his wicked parent. 67
The pastor should next observe that the goodness and mercy of God far
exceed His justice. He is angry to the third and fourth generation; but He
bestows His mercy on thousands.
The words of them that hate me display the grievousness of sin. What
more wicked, what more detestable than to hate God, the supreme goodness and
sovereign truth? This, however, is the crime of all sinners; for as he that
hath God's commandments and keepeth them, loveth God, 68 so he who despises His law
and violates His Commandments, is justly said to hate God.
The concluding words: And to them that love me, point out the manner
and motive of observing the law. Those who obey the law of God must needs be
influenced in its observance by the same love and charity which they bear to
God, a principle which should be brought to mind in the instructions on all the
other Commandments. {g}
1>
Exod.
xx. 2-6.
2>
Ps.
xciv. 7.
3>
Col.
i. 13.
4>
Jerem.
xvi. 14 ff.
5>
John
xi.52.
6>
Rom.
vi. 18.
7>
Luke
i. 74, 75.
8>
Rom.
vi. 2.
9>
Gal.
iv. 31.
10> Rom. vi. 19.
11> Exod. xx. 3.
12> 3 Kings xviii. 21.
13> 4 Kings xvii. 33.
14> Apoc. xix. 10; Apoc. xxii.
9.
15> 1 Tim. i. 17; Exod. xx. 12;
Levit. xix. 32.
16> Gen. xxiii. 7; 2 Kings xxiv.
20; 1 Par. xxix. 20.
17> Dan x. 13
18> Tob. xii. 12; Apoc. viii. 3.
19> Matt. xviii. 10.
20> Gen. xxxii. 26.
21> Gen. xlviii. 16.
22> Act. 6.
23> Can. xx.
24> Sess. xxv.
25> Eccl. xliv, xlv, xlvi,
xlvii, xlviii, xlix; Heb. xi.
26> Luke xv. 7, 10.
27> Super Exod. quæst. 71. Serm. ii. et iv., De S. Steph.
28> Gen. xx.
29> Matt. vii. 10; Luke vii. 3.
30> Heb. ix. 12; vii. 25.
31> Rom. xv. 30; Heb.xiii. 18.
32> Epist. xxii.
33> De Civit. Dei, lib. xxii. c.
8.
34> Acts xix. 12 et v. 15.
35> 4 Kings xiii. 21.
36> Exod. xx. 4.
37> Super Exod. quæst. 71, and
in Ps. xxxii., serm ii.
38> Exod. xxv. 18; 3 Kings vi.
23.
39> Num. xxi. 8, 9.
40> De Fide Orth. lib. iv. c17.
41> Art. 3.
42> Rom. i. 23.
43> Exod. xxxii. 4.
44> Ps. cv. 20.
45> Isa. xl. 18; Acts vii. 40.
46> Deut. iv. 15, 16.
47> Dan. vii. 9, 10.
48> Heb. i. 14.
49> Matt. iii. 16; Mark i. 10;
Luke iii. 22; John i. 32.
50> Acts ii. 3.
51> De Fid. Orthod., lib. iv,
cap. 17.
52> Sess. xxv.
53> Exod. ii. 5.
54> Matt. xix. 17.
55> Matt. vii. 21.
56> Matt. iii. 10: vii 10.
57> Matt.v. 23.
58> Matt. vi. 15.
59> Ps. cxxxviii. 7.
60> Ps. xxvi. 1.
61> 3 Kings xix. 14.
62> Ps. lxviii. 10; John ii. 17.
63> Deut. vii. 9, 10.
64> Josue xxiv. 19, 20.
65> 2 Paralip. xxxiv. 28; 4
Kings xxii. 19, 20; xxiii. 26.
66> Ezech. xviii. 4.
67> Moral. 15. c. 21
68> John xiv. 21
{a}
On the virtues of faith, hope, and charity and religion see Summa Theol. 2a.
2æ. i-xlvi; lxxxi and following; St. Alphonsus, Theol. Mor. ii.; Code of Canon
Law, Canons 2314 ff.
{b}
On the vices opposed to the virtue of relirion see Summa Theol. 2a. 2æ.
lcii-c.: Code of Canon Law. canons 2320 ff.
{c}
the first Commandment see Summa Theol. 2a 2æ. cxxii. 2: St. Alphonsus, Theol.
Mor. ii.: iii. tr. 1.
{d}
On the honor and invocation of the Angels and Saints see Summa Theol. 2a. 2æ.
ciii: lxxxiii. 4, 11; Code of Canon Law, canons 1276 ff.
{e}
The second Council of Nice, held in 787.
{f}
On the veneration of images see Summa Theol. 2a. 2æ. xciv.; lxxxi. 3 ad 3; 3a.
xxv. 3, 4, 6; Code of Canon Law, canons 1279 ff.
{g}
On the concluding words of this Commandment see Summa Theol. 1a. 2æ. xxviii. 4;
lxxxi. 1; lxxxvii. 8; 2a. 2æ. cviii. 4; 3a. lxxxiv.