acrament, how should we behave in the presence of the tabernacle on the
altar containing the Blessed Sacrament itself!

*82 Q. How did Christ die?
A. Christ was nailed to a cross and died on it, between two thieves.

"Two thieves," because they thought this would make His death more
disgraceful--making Him equal to common criminals. One of these thieves,
called the penitent thief, repented of his sins and received Our Lord's
pardon before his death. The other thief died in his sins. Holy writers
tell us that one of these thieves was saved to give poor sinners hope,
and to teach them that they may save their souls at the very last moment
of their lives if only they are heartily sorry for their sins and
implore God's pardon for them. The other thief remained and died
impenitent, that sinners may fear to put off their conversion to the
hour of death, thus rashly presuming on God's mercy. Persons who
willfully delay their conversion and put off their repentance to the
last moment, living bad lives with the hope of dying well, may not
accept the grace to repent at the last moment, but may, like the
unfortunate, impenitent thief, die as they lived, in a state of sin.

83 Q. Why did Christ suffer and die?
A. Christ suffered and died for our sins.

It was not necessary for Our Lord to suffer so much, but He did it to
show how much He loved us and valued our souls, and how much He was
willing to give for them. We, alas! do not value our souls as Christ
did; we sometimes sell them for the merest trifle--a moment's
gratification. How sinful!

*84 Q. What lessons do we learn from the sufferings and death of Christ?
A. From the sufferings and death of Christ we learn the great evil of
sin, the hatred God bears to it, and the necessity of satisfying for it.

We learn "the great evil of sin" also from the misery it brought into
the world; the "hatred God bears to it," from the punishment He
inflicted on the wicked angels and on our first parents for it; and
lastly, the "necessity of satisfying for it," from the fact that God
allowed His dear and only Son to suffer death itself for the sins even
of others.

*85 Q. Whither did Christ's soul go after His death?
A. After Christ's death His soul descended into hell.

*86 Q. Did Christ's soul descend into the hell of the damned?
A. The hell into which Christ's soul descended was not the hell of the
damned, but a place or state of rest called Limbo, where the souls of
the just were