and St. Paul were crucified at Rome about the year
65, that is, about thirty-two years after the death of Our Lord. St.
James was beheaded by order of King Herod. St. John lived the longest,
and was the only one of the Apostles who was not put to death, though he
was cast into a large vessel of boiling oil, but was miraculously saved.

Certainly by dying for their faith the Apostles showed that they were
not impostors or hypocrites. They must really have believed what they
taught, otherwise they would not have laid down their lives for it. They
were certain of what they taught, as we saw when speaking of St. Thomas.

*101 Q. Will the Holy Ghost abide with the Church forever?
A. The Holy Ghost will abide with the Church forever, and guide it in
the way of holiness and truth.

"Abide" means to stay with us.

Lesson 10
ON THE EFFECTS OF THE REDEMPTION

102 Q. Which are the chief effects of the redemption?
A. The chief effects of the redemption are two: the satisfaction of
God's justice by Christ's sufferings and death, and the gaining of grace
for men.

An effect is that which is caused by something else. If you place a
danger signal on a broken railroad track the effect will be preventing
the wreck of the train, and the cause will be your placing the signal.
Many effects may flow from one cause. In our example, see all the good
effects that may follow your placing the signal--the cars are not
broken, the passengers are not killed, the rails are not torn out of
their places, etc. Thus the redemption had two effects, namely, to
satisfy God for the offense offered Him by the sins of men, and to merit
grace to be used for our benefit.

103 Q. What do you mean by grace?
A. By grace I mean a supernatural gift of God bestowed on us, through
the merits of Jesus Christ, for our salvation.

"Supernatural," that is, above nature. "A gift"; something, therefore,
that God does not owe us. He owes us nothing, strictly speaking. Health,
talents, and such things are natural gifts, and belong to our nature as
men; but grace is something above our nature, given to our soul. God
gives it to us on account of the love He has for His Son, Our Lord, who
merited it for us by dying for us. "Merits." A merit is some excellence
or goodness which entitles one to honor or reward. Grace is a help we
get to do something that will be pleasing to God. When there is anything
in our daily works that we cannot do alone, we naturally look for