Sunday Origins

The Divine Marriage Proposal –Intercepted

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CATHECHISMUS ROMANUS

The  Cathechismus Romanus was commanded by the Council of Trent and published by the Vatican Press by order of Pope Pius V in 1566. This catechism for priests reads: “It pleased the church of God, that the religious celebration of the Sabbath day  should be transferred to ‘the Lord’s day.'” Catechism of the Council of Trent (Donovan’s translation, 1867) Part 3, chap. 4, p. 345.  The same, in slightly different wording, is in the McHugh and Callen translation, 1937 ed. p. 402.

The following are excerpts from the Cathechismus Romanus, which contains confessions and admissions from many prestigious religions leaders and scholars in regard to the change from observing the Sabbath to observing Sunday.

A CONTRADICTION

“Question – Henry Tuberville asked the following question about the churches authority to change the Sabbath to Sunday: How prove you that the Church has power to command feasts and holy days?”

“Answer – 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.” – Henry  Tuberville,  An Abridgement of the Christian Doctrine (1833 approbation), p. 58. (Same statement in Manual of Christian Doctrine  [ed., by Daniel Ferris [1916 ed.,] p. 67).

A SUBSTITUTION

“Question – Keeman asked: Have you any other way of proving that the Church has power to institute festivals of precept?”

“Answer – Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which  all  modern religionists agree with her; – she  could  not have  substituted the observance of Sunday the first day  of  the week,  for the observance of Saturday the seventh day,  a  change for which there is no Scriptural authority.” – Stephen Keenan, A Doctrinal Catechism (3rd ed.), p. 174.

“The  Catholic  Church, . . . by virtue  of  her  divine  mission, changed the day from Saturday to Sunday.” – The Catholic Mirror,  Sept. 23, 1893.

THE SABBATH DAY IS:

  • “Is  Saturday the 7th day according to the Bible and the 10 Commandments?

“I answer yes.”

  • Is Sunday the first day of the week and did the Church change the 7th day – Saturday – for Sunday, the 1st day?

“I answer yes.”

  • Did Christ change the day?

“I answer no!”

“Faithfully yours,  J. Card. Gibbons.” (Gibbons autograph letter)

SUNDAY INSTEAD OF SATURDAY

“Question – Which is the Sabbath day?

“Answer – Saturday is the Sabbath day.”

“Question – Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?”

“Answer – We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church transferred the solemnity  from  Saturday  to Sunday.” – Peter Geiermann,  The Convert’s Catechism of Catholic Doctrine (1946 ed.), p. 50. Geiermann received the “apostolic blessing” of Pope Pius X in his labors Jan. 25, 1910.

NO AUTHORITY

“You may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification of  Sunday. The Scriptures enforce the religious observance of Saturday, a day which we never sanctify.” – James Cardinal Gibbons,  The Faith of Our Fathers (1917 ed.), pp. 72, 73.

NOWHERE IN THE BIBLE

“Nowhere in the Bible is it stated that worship should be changed from  Saturday to Sunday. The fact is that the Church was in existence for several centuries before the Bible was given to the world. The Church made the Bible, the Bible did not make the Church.

“Now  the Church . . .  instituted, by God’s authority, Sunday as the day of worship. This same Church, by the same divine authority,  taught the doctrine of Purgatory long before the Bible  was made. We have, therefore, the same authority for Purgatory as we have for Sunday.” – Martin J. Scott, Things Catholics Are  Asked About (1927 ed.), p. 136.

IF THE BIBLE IS CONSULTED

“If  we consulted the Bible only, we should still have  to  keep holy the Sabbath Day, that is Saturday.” – John Laux, Course  in Religion  for Catholic High Schools and Academies, vol. 1, (1936 ed.),  p. 51. Quoted by permission of Benziger Brothers, Inc., proprietors of the copyright.

WHO CHOSE SUNDAY?

“Some theologians have held that God likewise directly determined the Sunday as the day of worship in the New Law, that He Himself has explicitly substituted the Sunday for the Sabbath. But this theory  is not entirely abandoned. It is now commonly held  that God simply gave His Church the power to set aside whatever day or days she  would deem suitable as Holy Days. The Church chose Sunday, the first day of the week, and in the course of  time added other days, as holy days.” – Vincent J. Kelly (Catholic), Forbidden Sunday and Feast-Day Occupations (1943 ed.), p. 2.

CATHOLICS DO NOT ACCEPT THE BIBLE

“Regarding  the change from the observance of the Jewish  Sabbath to the Christian Sunday, I wish to draw your attention to the facts:

“1)   That Protestants, who accept the Bible as the only rule of faith and religion, should by all means go back to the observance of  the Sabbath. The fact that they do not, but on the contrary observe the Sunday, stultifies them in the eyes of every thinking man.

“2)   We Catholics do not accept the Bible as the only rule of faith. Besides the Bible we have the living Church, the authority  of the Church, as a rule to guide us. We say, this Church, instituted by Christ to teach and guide man through life, has  the right  to change the ceremonial laws of the Old  Testament  and hence, we accept her change of the Sabbath to Sunday.  We frankly say, yes, the Church made this change, made this law, as she made many other laws, for instance, the Friday abstinence, the  unmarried priesthood, the laws concerning mixed marriages, the regulation of Catholic marriages and a thousand other laws.

“3)  We also say that of all Protestants, the Seventh-day  Adventist denomination is the only major Protestant denomination  that reasons correctly  and is consistent with its teaching. It  is always somewhat  laughable, to see the Protestant  churches,  in pulpit and legislation, demand the observance of Sunday, of which there is nothing in their Bible.” – Father Peter R. Kraemer, Catholic Church Extension Society, Chicago, IL

A $1,000 REWARD

“My brethren, look about you upon the various wrangling sects and denominations.  Show me one that claims or possesses the power to make laws binding on the conscience.  There’s but one on the face of  the earth – the Catholic Church – that has the power to  make laws  binding  upon the conscience, binding before  God,  binding under  pain of hell fire.  Take, for instance, the day  we celebrate  –  Sunday.   What right have the  Protestant  churches  to observe  that  day?  None whatever.  You say it is  to  obey  the commandment,  ‘Remember  the Sabbath day to keep  it  holy.’ But Sunday  is not the Sabbath according to the Bible and the  record of time.

“Everyone  knows that Sunday is the first day of the week,  while Saturday is the seventh day, and the Sabbath, the day consecrated as a day of rest.  It is so recognized in all civilized  nations.  I have repeatedly offered $1,000 to any one who will furnish  any proof  from  the Bible that Sunday is the day we  are  abound  to keep, and no one has called for the money.  If any person in this town  will show any scripture for it, I  will  tomorrow  evening publicly  acknowledge it and thank him for it. It was  the  Holy Catholic  Church  that changed the day of rest from  Saturday  to Sunday, the first day of the week.  And it not only compelled all to keep Sunday, but at the Council of Laodicea, A.D. 364, anathematized those who kept the Sabbath and urged all persons to labor on the seventh day under penalty of anathema.

“Which  church does the whole civilized world obey?   Protestants call us every horrible name they can think of – anti-Christ,  the scarlet  colored  beast,  Babylon, etc. – and at  the  same  time profess great reverence for the Bible, and yet by  their  solemn act of keeping Sunday, they acknowledge the power of the Catholic Church.

“The Bible says: ‘Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.’  But the  Catholic Church says, ‘No, keep the first day of the  week,’ and the whole world bows in obedience.”- Father T. Enright, Roman Catholic Priest, Kansas City, MO

NO PROOF

“Incidentally, there is no proof in scripture that God willed the Sabbath to be changed from Saturday to Sunday, so that those non-Catholics who do not accept the value of tradition as a source of faith, should logically still observe Saturday as the  Sabbath.”  This  Is  The Faith – Catholic Theology For Laymen,  Francis  J. Ripley, p. 176).

Note:   

All  of these quotations are from Catholic authors and/or published by Catholic publishing houses.