onfirmation by praying that the
faithful may receive the Holy Ghost and laying their hands upon them.
The successors of the apostles do likewise. Who will say that this
practice is not reasonable? Baptism gives spiritual life; Confirmation
increases it. Baptism makes persons children of God; Confirmation
strengthens them, causes them to grow, and makes them strong men and
soldiers of Jesus Christ.

All the morality of life is implied in the sacrament of Confirmation. It
strengthens man, it gives him courage to confess God; and as sin is the
denial of God, whoever has courage to confess _God will practise
virtue_.

V. Honoring the Blessed Virgin

"The angel Gabriel was sent from God . . . to a Virgin . . . and the
Virgin's name was Mary. And the angel being come in said to her: Hail,
full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women"
(_Luke_ i. 26, 28).

"From henceforth all generations shall call me blessed" (_Luke_ i. 48).

THESE words from St. Luke show that the Catholic practice of honoring
Mary is scriptural. We alone fulfil the prophecy, "From henceforth all
generations shall call me blessed." If Mary was so pure that the
archangel Gabriel could salute her as full of grace; if she was so
perfect as to be honored, respected, and loved by her divine Son, Jesus
Christ, is it not reasonable that we, too, should honor, respect, and
love her?

How we honor the sword of Washington! What a cluster of tender
recollections clings to the staff of Franklin! Is there a loyal American
citizen who does not think with feelings of love and respect of the
mother of our Revolutionary hero, or who would not doff his hat at the
unveiling of a statue of the sage of Monticello? And why? Is it on
account of their intrinsic merit? No. We honor them principally on
account of the relation they bear to those three brightest stars in the
American firmament. So it is with the honor we show to Mary, the Mother
of God. Although she was an example of all virtues, we honor her
principally because it was through her instrumentality He was born by
whom we achieved not civil liberty, but the liberty of the children of
God. She did not draw lightning from heaven, nor the scepter from kings;
but she brought forth Him who is the Lord of heaven and King of kings.

The principal reason, then, why we honor Mary is because she is the
Mother of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. This honor consists of
love, respect, and veneratio