An emperor once gave a large estate to one of his subjects, a man of rank, on the condition that he should always be faithful to him. But the nobleman proved to be a traitor. Thereupon the emperor took his land and his title from him and banished him from his dominions. The man’s treachery brought misfortune on his children; they could not inherit either the property or the title that had been their father’s. All that he could bequeath to them was a legacy of disgrace and poverty. Our case is a similar one. Our first parents had and lost their supernatural privileges, and we are also deprived of them. They caused injury to both the soul and the body: this is handed down to us. Only one thing is beyond our power to comprehend that we inherit the sin of Adam; this is and ever will be a mystery of faith.
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