The morning star and Catholic messenger., 1876-06-11
E.coRREs oHRIsEI
THE AANNER'IN wHIoH, THIS GREAT FESTIVAL
10 soLEMNIzEp IN CATHOLIC COUNTRIES.
From the writinga Of bishop walshe.l

! emnity of the Body Of our Redeemer, in those
Catholic countries where the unrestricted and
public exercise of religion prevails, may serve
to enklndle the devotion and animate the zeal
Of their brethren In this distant portion of the
Church. Thepowerful In fluenc of ex tern al SYM
bols, rites and worship on the human heart has
Almighty Creator, who bresthed into our taber-
neoles OF clay living soul, the image Of Him
sell, has ordained, by the laws which regulate
their combined existence that this soul should
receive its Impressions .hrough the medium Of
the corporeal senses. Moreover, man ives the
homage of his body, we'll rs of his soul, to
the great Creator of both: And inasmuoh as
the soul is far superior TO the body 30 is spirit
ual homage, the worship of the heart, above
all mere corporeal worship. In fact, the very
essence Of religion oonsists of this interior
outward manifestation to the glory of God, or
to originate, cherish and extend it's interior
growth. Thus though God is o Spirit, and
those who truly adore Him, must do so in
spirit and in truth, yet His external glory 10
promoted by the public homage of His faithful
eervants on ear b, who, whilst they glorify
HIM, also edify each other, and increase the
bounds of His spiritual kingdom. No body of
men could ever be kept together in any society,
whether religious OF civil, without some ex.
ternal bond of union, or some out ward symbols
gustine observes. To decry exterior worship
is, therefore, to contradict the laws of our ma
ture, to rob the Almighty of His Glory, to de-
prive men of the most powerful incentives to
holiness and virtue, to reduce rel gion to q mere
shadow, or rather to extinguish it altogether
The notion OF an abstract spiritual igion is
preposterous and absurd. God, it is true
mig ght have Immediately communicated to the
soul all necessary religious knowledge, and by
His powerful grace have perpetuated reli-
gion of the heart WITHOUT having recourse to
the medium of the bodily senses; but that He
has not done 80, we have abundant proofs from
reason and Scripture, confirmed by our own
experience. We principally adore God by the
theological virtues of faith, hope and love;
md tr irrn y,4o LoI -
any thing that moves the heart to the exercise
of those great virtues. Now, philosophically
speaking, it matters very little through what
external medium those Impressions are con.
veyed or produced. The principle is the same,
whether the soul is affected through the sight,
the hearing, or any of the other senses. There
can be no more objection to the one than to the
other. The Christian may at one time open q
page of the great book of nature, and clearly
read there the attributes of it's Maker; at an.
other, he may peruse, in the written word, the
His adorable mysteries. Again, in some work
of art, in q devout image, or religious painting
he may contemplate the ineffa6le love of his
Redeemer, or the virtues and rewards Of His
sanity imitators. He may also hear an eloquent
sermon, or moving exhortation, from q minister
of Christ. But will not all tend to the Same
sslutsry purposef May not all serve to cherish
those sentiments of faith and confidence of
alteration and love, by which the Creator is
honored, and his commandments observed OF
what conseq quence is it whether those desirable
I0bulU6 COu0 through one sense more than
other; through sight more than hearing.
through the sight of an image or painting.
rather than that Of written or printed book
In order to be convinced of these truths. we
have but to open the sacred Scriptures, and be-
pleased to establish His worship on earth. The
sacrifices of the pstriarchs, the prayers and
offerings, and most minute and onerous cere
voice to our first parents-the dove and rain
bow of Noe the vision and stone of jacob, the
burning bush of Horeb, the thunders of Sinai,
the awful proclamation from it's summit, the
cherubim of the ark, and the mama and brsZen
serpent Of the desert, what are all these but
various appeals of his Creator to the heart of
man, through different sensesf We may OBJ
serve, too the public worship feasts and cere-
monies of the jews, sanctioned, and even OBJ
served, by the Redeemer Himself
From the earliest ages of Christianity this
mystery has been cemmemorated by the Church
on the Thursday before Easter-the memorable
day of it's institution-the day on which our
Divine Redeemer was betrayed into the hands
of sinners. 1t should be day of exultstion
and holy joy, on which we have received 80 in-
valuable gift. But how could we rejoice in
sorrowful a season How could we indulge
in canticles of spiritual gladness, whilst our
dear Saviour is delivered into the hands of His
enemies, is afflicted in the garden with the sad.
ness of death, ID overpowered by the weight
of our sins, and in His excessive grief is be.
dewing the earth with Precipitation of blood 7
During the whole of Passion ii me the Chrr oh
is plunged in the deepest af1ictio1 for the suf-
feriDgs of her Divine Spouse. The cessation
of all marks of joy, the color of her vestmen ts
the desolation OF her altars the mournful tones
of her prophecies and psalms, the increased aus
terities of her children, proclaim the depth of
her sorrow, and prove how completely che is
absorbed in the contemplation of the passion
of our Redeemer Hence the solemnities of
Holy Thursday, 90 far as they relate To the COM
memoration of the Eucharist, are but as faint
glimpses Of the sun during a day of universal
gloom.
But on this great festival of Corpus Christi
the church displays all her magnificance, and
INDUCES without restraint in all the effusions
of her joy. Her faithful children respond with
fervenJ devotion to her loving invitation.
Churches, parishes, cities provinces, and king
doms vie with each other in the celebration of
this feast. Kings and peasants, civilians and SOL
diers, the old aRd the young, unite in honoring
| the body of their common Redeemer. The
feast being celebrated in the most delightful
season of the year, when spring is clothed in
her rich livery of flowers and foliage, all ma
ture seems to rejoice at the homages paid to
that glorious Body, whose cruel death it be-
walled at the awful moment of the cruci6xion.
The churches and altars are decorated in the
most magnificent manner. Every thing most
val in able in THAR 10 cd The