The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1902-08-02
POPE LEO ON THE BLESSED EUCHARIST
Continuation of EncycIicaThis Admirable Sacrament the
Most Efioaoous Means Towards Progress
CONTINUED from Last Week.

slOn OF the EUCHARIST is in a manner
reserved for those narrow minded per-
sons tas they are deemed) who rid
themselves Of the cares of the world in
order to find rest in some kind of pro-
fessedly religious life For this gift
than which nothing can be more ex-
cellent or more conducive to salvation,
is offered to all those, whatever their
Office or dignity may be- who wish-as
everyone ought to wish-to foster in
themselves that life of divine grace
whose goal is the attainment of the
life OF blessedness with God
Indeed, it is greatly to be desired that
those men would rightly esteem and
would make due provision for life ever
lasting, whose industry or talents or
rank have put ii in their power to
shape the course of human events But
alas, we see with sorrow that such
men too often proudly 1atter them
selves that they have conferred upon
yhs world as ii were a fresh lease of
life and prosperity. inasmuch as by
thcr own energetic action they are
urging it on to the race for wealth
20 a struggle for the possession of
commodities which minister to the love
of comfort and display. And yet.
whithersOever we turn, we see that
human society. if il be estranged from
God instead of enjoying that peace
in its possessions for which il had
sought is shaken and tossed like one
who is in the agony and heat of fever,
for while it anXiously striveSsfor pros
perty, and trusts to ii alone, it is pur-
suing an object that ever escapes it,
Clinging to one that ever eludes the
H.
necessarily have their being from God,
so they can do nothing good except in
God through Jesus Christ, through
whom every best and choicest gift has
ever proceeded and proceeds. But the
source and chief of all these gifts is
the venerable Eucharist. which not
only nourishes and sustains that life
the desire whereof demands our most
strenuous efforts. but also enhances
beyond measure that dignity of man of
which in these days We hear so much
For what can be more honora bic or a
more worthy object of desire than to
he made, as far as possible, sharers
and partakers in the divine nature?
Now this is precisely what Christ does
for us in the Eucharist, wherein. after
having raised man by the operation of
his grace to a supernatural state, he
vet more closely associates and unites
him with himself. For there is this
difference between the food of th9
body and that of the soul, that where
DIS the former is changed into our sub
stance. the latter changes us into its
own; so that st. Augustine makes
Christ himself say: You shall not
change me INTO yourself as you do the
food of your body, but you shall be
changed into me-" Confessions l. vii,
c. X0.
Moreover. in this most admirable sac
rameut, which is the chief means
whereby men are engrafted on the di-
vine nature men also find the most
efficacious help toward progress in eV-
cry kind of virtue. And first of all in
faith In all ages faith has been at
tackled: for although il elevates the hu-
man mind by bestowing on 1t the
knowledge of the highest truths, yet be
cause while it makes known the exist
ence of divine mysteries, 1t yet leaves
in obscurity the mode of their being, II
is therefore thought to degrade the in
reflect. But whereas in past times par
1icular articles Of faith have been made
bv turns the object of attack; the seat
of war has since been enlarged and eX-
tended until it has come to this, that
men DENY altogether that there is any
thing above and beyond nature. Now
nothing can be better adapted to pro-
mote a renewal of the strength and
fervor Of faith in the human mind than
the mystery of the Eucharist, the
mystery of faith" as it has been most
appropriately called. For in this one
mystery the entire supernatural order
with all it's wealth and variety of won
ders. is in a manner summed up and
contained: He hath made d remem-
brance of his wonderful works, mer=
Ciful and gracious Lord; he hath given
food TO them that fear him psalm
*. 4-5). For whereas God has subor-
dina ted the whole supernatural order
to the Incarnation of his Word, in virtue
whereof Galva'tion has been restored to
the human race, according to those
words Of the apostle: He hath pur-
posed = to re- tablish all things
in Christ, that are in heaven and on
earth in him. (Eph. /, 9-l0), the Eu-
charist. according to the testimony OF
the holy fathers should be regarded as
in a manner a continuation and extern
sion of the incarnation. For in and by
it the substance of the lncarnate Word
is united with the individual men, and
the supreme sacrifice offered on Cal
vary is in a wondrous manner renewed,
as was signitied beforehand by Malachy
in the words
In every place there is sacrifice, and
there is offered to my name pure OBJ
lation" CMal. /, ID And this miracle,
itself the very greatest of its kind, is
accompanied by innumerable other
miracles; for here all the laws of nature
are. suspended: the whole substance OF
the bread and wine are changed into
the body and the blood; the species OF
bread and wine are sustained by the
divine power without the support of
any underlying substance: the body OF
Christ is. present in many places at the
same time, wherever the sacrament IS
consecrated.
And in order that human reason may
the more willingly pay its homage to
this great mystery, there have not been
wanting as an aid to faith. certain
prodigies wrought in his honor, both in
ancient times and in our own, of which
in more than one place there exist pub
lie and notable records and memorials.
II is plain that by this sacrament faith
is fed. in it the mind finds its nourish-
ment. the objections of rationalists, are
brought to naught, and abundant light
is thrown on the supernatural order
But that decay of faith in divine
things Of which we have spoken is the
effect not only of pride, but also of
moral corruption. For If ii is. true that
a strict morality improves the quick
ness OF mans intellectual powers, and
II on. the other hand as the maXims of
pagan philosophy and the admonitions
OF divine wisdom combine to teach us
the keenness of the mind is blunted by
bodily pleasures. how much more III
the region of revealed truths, do these
same pleasures obscure the light OF
faith. or even by the just judgment Of
God. entirely extinguish it, For these
pleasures at the present day an insa-
table appetite RACES injecting all
classes as with an infectious disease.
even from tender years. Yet even for
So to,.rilnla an evil there is a remedy