Le Fleur de Lys too: The 15 Marks#links

Le Fleur de Lys too: The 15 Marks#links

The 15 Marks
We need to remember this stuff from time to time.The 15 Marks of the Catholic Church developed by St. Robert Bellarmine, S.J. 1542-1621, Doctor of the Church and Cardinal:

 <1> The Church's Name, Catholic, universal, and world wide, and not confined to any particular nation or people.

 <2> Antiquity, in tracing her ancestry directly to Jesus Christ. <3> Constant Duration, in lasting substantially unchanged for so many centuries.

<4> Extensiveness, in the number of her loyal members.

<5> Episcopal Succession, of her Bishops from the first Apostles at the Last Supper to the present hierarchy.

<6> Doctrinal Agreement, of her doctrine with the teaching of the ancient Church.

<7> Union, of her members among themselves, and with their visible head, the Roman Pontiff.

<8> Holiness, of doctrine in reflecting the sanctity of GOD.

<9> Efficacy, of doctrine in its power to sanctify believers, and inspire them to great moral achievement.

<10> Holiness of Life, of the Church's representative writers and defenders.

<11> The glory of Miracles, worked in the Church and under the Church's auspices.

<12> The gift of Prophesy found among the Church's saints and spokesmen.

<13> The Opposition that the Church arouses among those who attack her on the very grounds that Christ was opposed by His enemies.

<14> The Unhappy End, of those who fight against her.

<15> The Temporal Peace and Earthly Happiness of those who live by the Church's teaching and defend her interests.