Los Angeles herald., 1910-03-07
HUNDREDS ENJOY
LENTEN SERVICE.
LAST SUPPER Is THEME OF
BISHOP C0NATY
EUcHARlSTic SACRIFICE SHOWN
BY OLD FREscoEs
Speaker Shows How Bread and Wine
Figuratively Represented
Body and Blood of the
Nazarene

Bishop Conaty preached the fourth
sermon in the Lenten series at st.
Vibiana's cathedral yesterday at the
1880 mass to n large congregation
His subject was "Christ's Real Pres
ence in the Eucharist" and he took
his text from Matthew 26; 1928;
whilst they were at supper Jesus
took bread and blessed and broke; and
gave it to his disciples, and said:
Take We and cat. This is my body
And taking the chalice he gave thanks,
and gave to them, saying: Drink ye
all of this. For this is my blood of
the New Testament which shall be
shed for many unto remission of sins"
Bishop Conaty said that as in the
previous sermons we saw the doctrine
of the church with regard to the for
giveness of sin, so in this sermon on
the eucharist we would see the insti-
tuition of the sacrament of divine love,
one of the greatest means established
by Christ as preservative against sin
and a help to the highest perfection of
our spiritual nature. The bishop said:
"The Catholic church teaches
through the decree of the Council Of
Trent that in the august sacrament
of the holy eucharist, under the conse-
Grafton of the bread and wine, our
Lord Jesus Christ. true God and true
man. is really and substantially COM
tanned under the species or appearance
of these sensible things The change
by which this Is effected is expressed
by the word transubstantiation.
which means that the substance of
the bread and the substance of the
wine are changed into the body and
blood of Christ. This change was eff
fected by Christ himself at the last
supper, and is effected daily in the
holy sacrament of the mass by the
words of Christ spoken by the priest"
Origin of Belief
In answer to the question as TO the
origin of this belief, Bishop Conaty
said:
1T is as old as Christianity itself.
and has supporting ii all the traditions
of the Christian councils and the doc
tors of the church. 1t roots itself in
the very words of Christ clearly indi
eating to MS its institution by our
divine Savior himself"
The bishop then spoke of the Incl
dents in the sixth chapter of st. John,
In which Christ made the promise Of
new gift which clearly was not faith.
nor a representation of himself, nor
figure, as not any or all of these
would constitute new gift. but
rather he promised a substantial food.
IN taCt, MS own 0eSn ana DloOd under
the appearance Of bread. when he
said. THE bread which I will give
you is my flesh for the life of the
world" Continuing. the bishop said:
ITO understand the meaning of a
word or verse. one should strive to
place himself in the time or circum
stances in which it was uttered or
written, Christ sought TO win the
Jews to his doctrine. He would natu-
rally avoid anything which would dis
gust them. To eat flesh or drink blood
was forbidden by their precepts. As
fgurative meaning it expressed cal
umny. The Jews murmured,' says the
Scriptures. How can this man give us
his flesh to cat They evidently did
not understand 1t figuratively, but
rather literally. They even said. The
saying is hard and who can bear it
Christ always took pains to correct
the Jews in any misunderstanding of
his doctrine, as is noticed in Nicode-
mus relative to baptism, the leaven OF
the Pharisees, as we'll as other inct-
dents, but i'm this particular circum-
stance he does not correct them. but
repeats with emphasis. Unless you eat