purgatory, and prayers for the dead, invocation of the saints, and the like, they might have good cause, indeed, to laugh us to scorn; for where is it written that these were Sabbath days in which those meetings were kept?  Or where is it ordained they should be always observed?  Or, which is the sum of all, where is it decreed that the observation of the first day should abrogate or abolish the sanctifying of the seventh day, which God commanded everlastingly to be kept holy? Not one of those is expressed in the written word of God.”

In the “Catholic Catechism of Christian Religion,” on the subject of the third (fourth) commandment, we find these questions and answers:—­

     “Ques. What does God ordain by this commandment?

     “Ans. He ordains that we sanctify, in a special manner, this day
     on which he rested from the labor of creation.

     “Q. What is this day of rest?

     “A. The seventh day of the week, or Saturday; for he employed six
     days in creation, and rested on the seventh.  Gen. 2:2; Heb. 4:1,
     &c.

     “Q. Is it then Saturday we should sanctify in order to obey the
     ordinance of God?

“A. During the old law, Saturday was the day sanctified; but the church, instructed by Jesus Christ, and directed by the Spirit of God, has substituted Sunday for Saturday; so now we sanctify the first, not the seventh, day.  Sunday means, and now is, the day of the Lord.”

In “Abridgment of Christian Doctrine,” we find this testimony:—­

     “Ques. How prove you that the church hath power to command feasts
     and holy days?

“Ans. By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow of; and therefore they fondly contradict themselves by keeping Sunday strictly, and breaking most other feasts commanded by the same church.

     “Q. How prove you that?

     “A. Because by keeping Sunday they acknowledge the church’s power
     to ordain feasts, and to command them under sin.”

In the “Catholic Christian Instructed,” again we read:—­

     “Ques. What warrant have you for keeping the Sunday, preferable
     to the ancient Sabbath, which was the Saturday?

     “Ans. We have for it the authority of the Catholic church and
     apostolic tradition.

     “Q. Does the Scripture anywhere command the Sunday to be kept for
     the Sabbath?

“A. The Scripture commands us to hear the church (Matt. 18:17; Luke 10:16), and to hold fast the traditions of the apostles. 2 Thess. 2:15.  But the Scriptures do not in particular mention this change of the Sabbath.”

In the “Doctrinal Catechism,” we find further testimony to the same point:—­