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to the Incarnation of the Word, through Whom the salvation of the ian race was restored, according to that word of the Apostle: “He hath purposed * * * to reestablish all things in Christ, that are in heaven and of earth, in Him” (Eph. i, 9, 10); the Eucharist, according to the testimony of the Holy Fathers, is a continuation and an expansion of the Inearnation. For by it the substance of the Incarnate Word is united to men; and the supreme sacrifice of Calvary is renewed in a manner that is full of mystery. This the prophet Malaehy signified in the words: “In every place : iere is sacrifice, and there is offered to My Name a clean oblation” (I. IL) And this miracle, the greatest of all, is accompanied by innumerable others, for here all the laws of nature are suspended; the whole substance of the bread and wine is changed into the Body and Blood of Christ; the species of bread and wine are sustained without a subject by Divine power; the Body of Christ dwells at the same time in as many places as the Sacrament is c »seerated. But hunian reason is enabled the better to reverence so great a mystery by the prodigies which have been performed in its glory in past ages and in our own days, of which, indeed there still exist nowned and publie proofs, and that not in one place merely. We see, therefore, that by this Sacrament faith is fostered, the soul nourished, the falsehoods of rationalists dissipated, and the whole order of the supernatural made clear to our eyes.

But it is not pride alone, but depravity ot mind as well, that makes faith in Divine things grow weak. For if it happens that the better the morals the clearer the intelligence ; if even the prudence of the Gentiles per-

eived that the mind is blunted by the pleasures of the body, as Divine wisdom has already borne testimony (Sap. i, 4); then so much more in Divine things do the pleasures of the body obseure the light of faith, and even extinguish it altogether in God's just punishment. And for these pleasures ther hurning in these days y, a eupiaty which like the eonta-

an inantinhlo eunidit i v

| gion of disease, widely infects all even from their first tender years. There is a remedy for this terrible evil in the Divine Eucharist For, first of all, by increasing charity, it cheeks voluptuous desire: as Augustine says : “The nourishment (of charity) is the lessening of lust ; perfection, no lust” (De diversis quaestionibus, Ixxxiii., ! quaest. xxxvi.). pubis the most chaste flesh of Jesus restrains the luxury of our flesh, as Cyril of Alexandria i has said—"For Christ existing in us ealms the law of | the flesh raging in qur members" (Lib. iv., e. 2, in | Joann, vi. 57) But even more the peculiar and most . precious fruit of the Eucharist is that signified in the saying of the prophet—*What is the wood thing of Him (Christ), and what is His beautiful thing but the corn a the elect, and wine springing forth virgins /’ (Zach. 17) namely, the strong and constant resolves of sasea virginity, which, while the ave slips away in pleasures, flourishes in the Catholic C hureh more widely

and more fruitfully from day to day, and, indeed, what

a great advantage and ornament this is everywhere | . religion and even to ordinary human intercourse is well known. Moreover, this Sacrament strengthens beyond conception the hope of immortal blessings and the confidence of Divine aid. For the desire of happiness, which is in the minds of all, is more and more sharpened and strengthened by the emptiness of all earthly goods, by the unjust violence of wicked men and by all the

other troubles of mind and body.

Now the august sacrament of the Eucharist is at

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| once the cause and pledge of happiness and glory not , | only for the soul, but also for the body. For while it | j enriches the soul with an abundance of heavenly gifts, it also fills it with joys so sweet that they far SUpass every thought and hope of man ; in adve sity it sustains; " in the strife of virtue it contirms : it leads to everlasting ] life as by an open pathway. But to the frail and perlh ishable body that Divine Host gives n future resurrec-

4 tion for the immortal Body of C hrist implants the seed UT | of immortality forth,

which is sometime to hud

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advantage, both to soul and body, the Church has at all times taught, following Christ who said —"He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood, hath everlasting life; and I will raise him up on the last day.” (Joann, vi. 55) And here it is of great importance to consider that the Eucharist, being instituted by Christ as a “perennial memorial of His passion" St. Thomas Aquin., opusc., lvii.: Offic. de festo Corp. Christi), declares to all Christian men the necessity of mortifying themselves. For Jesus said to His first priests—“Do this for a commemoration of Me" (Lue. xxii, 19), that is, do this to commemorate My sorrows, griefs, tortures, and death on the eross. Hence this sacrament, which is also a Sacrifice, is a ceaseless exhortation, for all time to penance and every spiritual effort ; it is also a solemn and severe reproof of those pleasures which shameless men praise and exalt so highly: “As often as you shall eat this bread, and drink this chaliee, you shall show the death of the Lord until He come." I Cor. xi, 26.

Moreover if you diligently examine into the causes of the present evils, you will find that they arise from the fact that the charity cf men towards one another has grown faint according as the love of God grew cold. They have forgotten that they were sons of God and brothers in Jesus Christ; they think of nothing but themselves, the rights of others they not only disregard, but attack and invade. Hence the frequent quarrels and contentions among the various classes of citizens; the arrogance, harshness, dishonesty among the more powerful; the misery, envy, and spirit of revolt among the weaker. For these evils it is vain to seek a remedy from the enaetments of law, the fear of punishment, or the plans of human prudence. What must be aimed at as We Ourselves have more than once recommended, is to reconcile the various orders of citizens by a mutual union of duties, « union which would come from God and give birth to works stamped with the true spirit and charity of Christ. This union Christ brought upon earth: by it He wished all things to be inspired, as

being the one thing that could bring some happiness, even in the present, not only to the soul, but also to the body, restraining as it does man’s immoderate love of himself, and repressing the passion for riches, which is “the root of all evils.” (Tim. vi. 10).

But although it is necessary that all just rights should be well protected, it is nevertheless lawful to establish and preserve in society that salutary "equality" (2 Cor, viil., 14) which St. Paul recommended. "his, therefore, is what Christ wished in instituting this august Saerament—to excite love towards God and to foster charity among men. For the one flows, as is evident, of its very nature and almost spontaneously, from the other: nor can men live without it at all, nay, it must even burn and flourish in their hearts, if they consider the charity of Christ towards them in this Sacrament, in which He has maintained His marvellous power and wisdom, and also “poured forth the mehes of His divine love for men.” Cone. Trid. Sess. xiii, De Euchar. e. 11.) And as Christ has given us such an example of love, how we should love and help ench other, bound together as we are still more elosely by the needs of our common brotherhood! Moreover, the outward symbols of the Sacrament are in a special manner calculated to incite us to union, For St. Cyprian says—‘The very sacrifices of redemption themselves proclaim the necessity of Christian concord to the firm and inseparable bonds of charity. For when the Lord calls His body bread which is made up of the union of many grains, He indicates the union of that people whose sins, He bore ; and when He ealls His blood wine, whieh is drawn from many ripe grapes, again He signifies a flock made one by the union of the multitude.” Ep. 69. ad Magnum n. 5 (al. 0.) Similarly the Angelie Doctor following St. Augus tine says—“Our Lord commended His body and blood in those things whieh are moulded in unity: for the first, the bread, namely, is made one from many grains, and the other, the wine, also becomes one from many erapes : and therefore Augustine elsewhere says -O Sa-

piness, | to the ove of hich is

rights | to esuality” This, his auto fosvident, ‘ow the it must onsider rament, ver and 3 divine wr. €. Vie) of love, ogether ^0mmon of the Lo incite ucrifices ssity of bonds of d whieh ndicutes ad when n many i by the n. 5 (al.

Augus nd blood : for the / grains n many 3.) Sa-

crament of piety, O sign of unity, O bond of eharity. (Summa Theol. iii. p. q. Ixxix., a. |.)

All this is confirmed by the declaration of the Council of Trent, that Christ left the Eucharist to the Church *as a symbol of that union and love with whieh He wished all Christians to be bound together—a symbol of that body of which He is head, and to which He wished us to be united as members by the most firm bonds of faith and hope and charity” (Sess, xiii, De Euehar., ch. IL) And this St. Paul himself had declared : “For we, being many, are oue bread, one body, all that partake of one bread" (1 Cor. x. 17). Yes, truly, here is à most beautiful example of Christian brotherhood and of social equality, that all should approach the same altars without distinction ; the nobility and the people, the rich and the poor, the learned and the unlearned, are equally sharers in the same heavenly banquet. And if it has been the glory of the Church that in the first ages, “the multitude of believers had but one heart and soul” (Act. iv. 32), it cannot be doubted that such a wonderful blessing was due to the eustom of approaching the Holy Table; for of them we find it recorded—"And they were persevering in the doetrine of the Apostles, and in the communication of the breaking of bread" (Act. ii., 42). Moreover, the graee of mutual charity among the living, so much strengthened and increased as it is by the Sacrament of the Eucharist ; flows out into all who are in the eommunion of Saints particularly through the power of the Holy Sucritice, For the communion of Saints, ns all know, is nothing than the mutual communication of aid, expiation, prayer, and benefits among the faithful, whether in heaven or enduring the expiatory fires of purgatory, or still abiding upon earth, but all forming one state, whose head is Christ, and whose life giving principle is love, It is also a matter of (aith that while to God alone the Holy Satritice uuty be offered, yet It can also be eek

else

brated in honor of Saints reigning dm heaven with God “Who crowned them, to obtain their patronage und

proteetion, and also to blot out the stains of the brethren who have died in the Lord, but who have not yet made full atonement. That true charity, therefore, which is wont to do and endure ali things for the salvation and utility of all, leaps and burns into life from the Most Holy Eucharist, in which Christ is really present, in which He gives way to His love for us in the highest form, and, under the impulse of His divine love, perpetually renews His saerifice, It is from this that the arduous labors of Apostolic ien, as well as the various institutions that have had their origin among Catholics and deserve so well of the human race, derive their influence, strength, constancy, and successful results.

These few things written by Us on a great subject will, We doubt not, prodnee much fruit if you, venerable brethren, seasonably expound and commend them to the faithful.

At the same time, this Sacrament is so great and so abounding in virtue that no one has ever yet adequately praised it by his eloquenee or worshipped it by his ado-

‘ation. Whether you meditate upon it or rightly worship it, or better still, purely and worthily receive it, it is to be regarded as the great centre round whieh turns the whole Christian life, to it all other forms of piety lead, in it they end. In the self-same mystery that gracious invitation and still more gracious promise of Christ: "Come to Me all vou that ltbor and are. burdened, and 1 will refresh you” lage xi, 28), are renewed and daily fuifilled. Lastly, it is, as it were, the soul of the Church, towards which iy aa the fulness of sacerdotal grace through the various grades of orders From the very same source does the Church draw all her power and glory, all the ornaments of her divine ritual, and all the eflieaey of her blessings. Therefore, she takes the greatest care to instruct the faithful and lead them to this intimate union with Christ by the Saerament of His Body and Blood ; and for the sume rea son, she adorns it and makes it more worthy of reverence by means of the most sacred ceremonies. ‘The constant

rethren +t made vhieh is ion and e Most sent, in highest perpethe arvarious atholies heir ints.

subject veneid them

; and so quately his adoly worve it, it h turns f piety iat cra mise of re burare re- ‘ere, the ' fulness f orders lraw all » divine ierefore, ful and the Saine. ren "verenee “onustant