Original Douay–Rheims Annotations2 Timothy 1

In thy grandmother.

^◦ Though God shew mercy to many that be of incredulous, heretical or ill parents, yet it is a goodly benediction of God to have good education and to have good faithful progenitors and Catholic parents. And it is a great sin to forsake the faith of our fathers that be Catholics, or contrary to our education in the Church to follow strange doctrines, abandoning not only our next natural parent's faith, but the ancient faith and belief of all our progenitors for many hundred years together. And if to follow the faith of mother and grandmother only, the Christian religion being then but newly planted, was so commendable even in a Bishop, how much more is it now laudable to cleave fast to the faith of so many our progenitors and ages that continued in the same Christian religion which they first received?

^[1]

Our Protestants in their great wisdom laugh at good simple men when they talk of their father's faith. But S. Hierom ^[2], I am a Christian, saith he, and born of Christian parents, and carry the sign of the cross in my forehead. And again ep. 65. c. 3. Until this day the Christian world hath been without this doctrine, that faith will I hold fast being an old man, wherein I was born a child. And the holy Scriptures set us often to school to our fathers. ^[3] Ask thy fathers, and they will shew thee, thy ancestors, and they will tell thee. And again, ^[4] Our fathers have shewed unto us. And commonly the true God is called the God of the faithful and of their forefathers. Dan. 2. 3. And false gods and new doctrines or opinions be named, New and fresh, such as their fathers worshipped not. Deut. 32. Finally S. Paul both here and ^[5] often else allegeth for his defence and commendation, that he was of faithful progenitors. And it is a case that Heretics cannot lightly brag of, no one sect commonly during so long without intermission, that they can have many progenitors of the said sect. Which is a demonstration that their faith is not true, and that it is impossible our Catholic faith to be false, supposing the Christian religion to be true.

• 1 The people's speeches of their father's faith, is very Christian and laudable.
• 2 Apol. cont. Ruff. li. 1. c. 8.
• 3 Deut. 32.
• 4 & Ps. 43.
• 5 * Act. 24. 2. Cor. 11.
• ◦ A great blessing, to have Catholic progenitors: and very commendable to cleave fast to their faith.

Depositum.

^◦ A great comfort to all Christians, that every of their good deeds and sufferings for Christ, and all the worldly losses sustained for defence or confession of their faith, be extant with God, and kept as depositum, to be repayed or received again in heaven. Which if the worldlings believed or considered, they would not so much marvel to see Catholic men so willingly to lose land, liberty, credit, life and all for Christ's sake and the Church's faith.

• ◦ All our good deeds are laid up with God, to be rewarded.

A form.

The Apostles did set down a platform of faith, doctrine, & phrase of Catholic speech and preaching, & that not so much by writing (as here we see) as by word of mouth: to which he referreth Timothee over and above his Epistles unto him. ^◦ And how precisely Christian Doctors ought to keep the form of words anciently appropriated to the mysteries and matters of our religion, S. Augustine expresseth in these words li. 10 de civit. c. 23. Philosophers speak with freedom of words &c. but we must speak according to a certain rule, lest licentious liberty of words breed an impious opinion of the things also that are signified by the same. Trinity, person, essence, Consubstantial, Transubstantiation, Mass, Sacrament, and such like, be verba sana (as the Apostle speaketh) sound words, given to express certain high truths in religion, partly by the Apostles and first founders of our religion under Christ, and partly very aptly invented by holy Councels and fathers, to express as near as could be the high ineffable or unspeakable verity of some points, and to stop the Heretics' audacity and invention of new words and profane speeches in such things, which the Apostle warneth Timothee to avoid 1 ep. c. 6. 20. and 2 ep. 2, 16. See the Annotations there.

• ◦ We must speak in Catholic terms, after a certain rule of faith, and form of words.

Our Lord.

^◦ To have this prayer of an Apostle, or any Priest or poor Cath. man so relieved, giveth the greatest hope at the day of our death or general judgement, that can be: and it is worth all the lauds, honours, and riches of the world.

• ◦ Relievers of Cath. prisoners.