The San Francisco call., 1910-09-11
$4,000 WORSHIP
in THE open AIR
Solemn Ceremony of the Eu-
charistic Congress in City
of Montreal

MONTREAL. Sept 1O.-A throng o
5000 persons assembled on Fletcher
ield today for the first open air cere
nony of the eucharistic congress
Archbishop Farley of New York. VIII
,resided at the ceremony. drove out &
he place of assemblage with Arch
bishop Bruchesl. ON mis- arrival he wa
'scorted to the temporary chapel wher
le said the mass.
IONSIGNOR O'CONNELL's SERMON
The preacher of the day was Monsi Z
Tor O'Connell, archbishop OF Boston
Who in his sermon said:
When, ages ago, this fair por-
t1on OF the earth rose above the
subSlding waters, the eternal God
from the glory OF his heavens
then that on this day and in this
place the great ones of the world
would gather here arOund the altar
of his love to offer him. hidden
beneath the euchariStic veil. all the
homage of their hearts. Ages be-,
fore the sons of men built theiH
habitations on the banks of this
mighty river the all seeing eye of
God beheld reflected from this
majestic stream the gleam of JehO-
vah's banners and tOday's long
train of triumphal procession bear
ing amid hymns and anthems the
great sacrament of his presence
Centuries and centuries before the
city of Mary had erected her glOri-
Gus cathedrals the paeans of praise
which We raise here under the blue
dome of Gods great temple of na-
ture had sounded their echoes alOft
to the very throne OF God; so that
before the inhabitants of this beau
tful city. had framed the laws -
which II is governed or planned the
spacious streets through which we
now have passed, Gods favor had
rested upon this place and his
blessings had descended over IL
When on the sad night before
Christ'S passion in the dim supper
chamber of the Pasch. the Son OF
God instituted the blessed sacra-
ment of his love. he knew full we'll
that We here present today should
bear in our loving arms in tri-
umphal procession the mystery
which then was concealed amid re-
tirement and poverty. And thus
today we take our place in this
majestic scene with the conscious
plans of God and realizing the eter-
nal designs of Jesus Christ present
TO his mind on the eve of his great
passion. Truly, IL heaven and earth
are filed with Gods glory. thrice
sacred is the spot sanctif1ed by his
Sacramenta1 presence And privi-
legged indeed is this people to whom
the King of Kings himself has
come today as a friendly visitor.
During these historic days, when
the Son of God is a nations guest.
heaven itself surely Is very near
10 this people. And this fair city /,
which has become a sacred shrina[
OF Gods presence. is teeming with
his graceS and benedictiOns. Look
around you and consider we'll the
full beauty and the fuller stgnifi-
n ar frrI No
ture and grace, earth and heaven.
are blending here all their varied
SplendOrS. For the moment this
royal mount is become a second
opened above this hallowed place
where the angels of God descend in
silent alteration around the throne
of the holy eucharist.
What tongue of man can Voice
the sentiment of faith which at this
moment fills to OverffOwinE each
Catholic soul here present. reveal
ing the presence of the Son OF God
As truly as on that first Christmas
night the tender child of Mary lay
within her loving arms. as truly as
when in Judea he sat upon the hill
sides and taught the people the
wonderful truths of God. as truly
as when he healed the leper and fed
the multitudes and gave sight to the
blind. as truly as when at last he
earth and heaven, just so truly Is
Jesus Christ, our king with us and
before US. there in the sacrament
of his love
sacred to pass in fruitless ques-
tiOnings- There is plenty OF time
Tor scientific inquiry and merely
menta! investigatiOn of the how
ings with men. Today we only
hear the OmnipOtent words of the
Son of God Transforming bread
and wine into his own body and
power Omnipotence. And we hear
only his words and our hearts bow
down before the miracle OF his
power. This is my body; this IS
Either God is not God at all and
the whole universe is mere fiction
or these words are true. He who
doubts must take his choice. We
stand with Gods eternal promises.
suDumely confident and perfeGtly
sure that what he says is true.
Oh, CathOlicSi Let us begin to-
day to fully realize the enormous
treasury of grace contained in the
central act of the churchs wor-
ship. Even one holy mass offered
In one place in all the world would
have in itself such value that all
the wealth and gold of the earth
would be but meanneSS and deSti-
tuition compared to IL. On. Catho-
lies! Stop for a moment and think
what our lives would be today IL
the priesthood of Christ were ex-
ttnguished upon earth and never
again until the end of time the
euchariStiC sacrifice should be Of
fered upon our altars. How desti-
tute would all the world seem
them What could the inventions
of man ever produce to fill the ach-
ing void in our hearts thus created?
The very thought makes US shud-
der Thanks to Gods infinite good
ness, this awful anathema will
never come upon us.
When the papal legate. Cardinal
'annutelli, arrived at the foot Of the
FOUNTAIN, escorted by mounted
quad of Hibernians. a set OF chimes
Thich had been placed on the mount
ang out a welcome
Announcement was made today thai
he next eucharistic congress will be
eld at Vienna. Austria There is a
disability that the permanent commit
ee OF the congress may be asked tc
old it's sessions In the United States
n 1913. Cardinal Gibbons has been 4
otent advocate of the An-irican
iaims'
TREAT ADTICTC EOD