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care of our holy mother, the Church, in this matter is summed up in the exhortation of the Council of Trent an exhortation breathing forth wonderful charity and piety, aud worthy of being entirely recalled again by Us to the Christian World: E ith paternal affection the Holy Synod admonishes, exhorts, entreats all, without exception, who are called C ‘hristis ans, to sometimes meet and tind peace in this sign of unity, in this bond of charity, in this syinbol of concord : to be mindful of th: ut immense majesty and of that wonderful love of Jesus Christ, Our Lord, Who gave His life as price of our salvation, and His flesh to Le our food; to believe and venerate those sacred mysteries of His Body and Blood with such consistene y and firmness of faith, sue 'h devotion of mind and piety and zeal, that they may be able to frequently receive that supersubstantial bread, so that He mav be truly to them the hfe of their soul and the pe rpetual health of their mind : and thus, that strer igthened by its vigor they may be able, after the j journey of this migera ble e xile, to reach their heave nly country and eat without any veil upon their eyes the very same bread of angels whieh they now eat concealed under the sacred species,” (Sess, xili., de Euchur, eh, viii.)

Now, history bears witness that Christian life flourished better in the times when the reception of the Blessed Eucharist was more frequent. On the other hand, it is not less certain that whe. men began to negleet and almost despise this he "avenly bread the vigor of the Christian profession sensibly diminished, Le ‘st it should some time pass away altogether, Innocent HIE, in the Council of Lateran imposed the most solemn precept that, at the ve rv least, no Christian should abstain at Paschal time from rece iving the Body of the Lord. This precept, however, was imposed with reluctance, and, itis elear, only as the last remedy ; for i has been alw: avs the wish of the Chureh that the faith ful should approach the holy table at eve ry sacrifice, “The most holy Synod woul | wish the faithful attending

anal Mace tn conmmini Pate nat anle enieitiall.: !

JUINIS iiy Dui ever

| sacramentally, so that they might receive more abun- | dantly the fruits of the Saerifice.—(1 Con. Trid. Sess. : xxii, e. VI) | | And this most sacred mystery contains, as à sacri- pA | fice, the plenitade of salvation not only for individuals, "T hut for all men ; henee the Chureh is accustomed to offer Ld | it uneeasingly "for the salvation of the whole world." It " | is fitting, therefore, that by the common zeal of the i | devout there should be greater love and. esteem for this \ sacrifice ; in this age partieula:ly there is no more pres- $5 | sing necessity. Accordingly, We desire that its effieney | and power should be remeinbered more widely and even &, ) more diligently proclaimed, Principles evident from the p ! very light of reason tell. us that God, the Creator and Ne | preserver of all things, has a supreme and absolute do: D» | minion over men, both privately and publiely ; that all à

that we have and are in every sphere has come from His bounty ; and that we, in turn are bound to give Him the highest reverenee as our Master and the greater gratitude as our most generous benefactor. And yet how few are there to-day who fulfil those duties with | suitable piet,

This age, if any, surely manifests the spirit of rebellion against God ; in it that impious cry against Christ again grows strong: We will not have this man to reign over us"— Lue. xix., 14)— and that impious | resolve, "Let us eut Him of" —(Jer. xi, 19)—nor, indeed, is anything urged more vehemently by very many than this, that they should banish and separate God from all intereonrse With men. ‘This eriminal madness is not universal, We joyfully admit; yet it is lamentable how many have forgotten the divine Majesty and His bene fits. and the salvation that was obtained chiefly through Christ. Now, this wiekedness and folly must be resist od by an inerease of general devotion and zeal in the worship of the Eucharistie Sacrifice, Nothing would of iteolf be more full of sweetness and consolation to the Christian soul. For the Victim that is immolated is Divino, and, accordingly, the honor that we render through

ye abunrid. Sess.

18 à sacridividuals, ed to offer world." It eal of the im for this more presits effieney ; and even it from the reator and bsolute dov; that all Ome from d to give the great-

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spirit of rery against have this at impious nor, indeed, many than od from all less Is not ntable how His bene- {lv through i be resistzeal in the no would of ation to the sated is Dider through

it to the Holy Trinity is in proportion to its gnity ; we offer also to the Father His Son—an offering that is infinite in v acceptable ; hence it is that we not only give Him thanks for His goodness, but even make Him a return. There is also another twofold and wonderful fruit which may and ought to be derived froin this great Sacrifice The mind grows sad when it refleets on the fearful mul. titude of crimes which abound on all sl les, God, us We have said, being neglected and the divine Majssty despised. The human race, in great part, seems to call upon the divine anger ; although, indeed, that harvest of evil which has been reaped contains in itself the ri peness of a just punishment. The zeal of the faithful should, therefore, be aroused to appease God, the nvengring Judge of erime, and obtain from Him the reform ot a sinful age. This is to be done chiefly by the aid of this holy sacrifice. For it is by virtue alone of ¢ ‘hrist’s death that men ean fully satisfy the demands of divine justice, and abundantly obtain pardon and merey, But this power of expiation or of entreaty Christ wished to remain wholly in the Eucharist, which is not a mere commemoration of His death, but a real and wonderful, although unbloody and mystie, renewal of it.

At the same time let Us confess We

little joy in knowing that in those last vears the minds of the faithful seem to have been renewed in love and reverence for the Sacrament of the Eucharist; and this gives us a better hope for the future, For. ns We said in the beginning, ingenious piety has done much in this direetion, especially in. sodalities, either by increasing the splendor of the Eucharistic rites, or worshipping the Holy Sacrament constantly by day and night, and :naking atonement for the insults and injuries it receives But, Venerable Brethren. it is not lawful for you to stop here; for yet many more things remain to be done or undertaken, so that this, the most divine work of all, may be put in a clearer light and held in greater honor among those who praetice the

infinite dionly bevotten alue and infinitely

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