The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1914-09-19
GOETHE ON THE SEVEN SAcRA.
MENTS.

IN physical and civil matters, ff1aii
does not like to do anything on the
spur of the moment; he needs a Sc
quence from which results habit;
what he is to love and to perform he
can not represent to himself as single
or isolated; and, if he is to repeat
anything willingly, 1t must not have
become strange to him. If the Prot
estant worship lacks fulness in gen.
eral, so let it be investigated in de-
tail, and 1t will be found that the
Protestant has too few Sacramento
nay, indeed, he has only one in which
he is himself an actef-the Lords
Supper; for baptism he Sees only
when it is performed on others, and is
not greatly edited by it. The Sacra-
ments are the highest part of religion,
the symbols to our senses of an ex-
traordinary divine favor and grace. In
the Lords Supper earthly lips are to
receive divine Being embodied, and
partake of heavenly, under the form
of an earthly nourishment. This i'm
port is the same in all kinds of Chris
tian churches: whether the Sacrament
is taken with more or less submission
to the mystery, with more or less ac-
commodation as to that which is in
telligible, it remains great, holy
thing, which in reality takes the place
of the possible or the impossible, the
place of that which man can neither
attain nor do without. But such a
Sacrament should not stand alone; no
Christian can partake of it with the
true joy for which it is given, if the
not fostered within him. He must be
accustomed to regard the inner re-
ligion of the heart and that of the
external church as perfectly one, as
the great universal sacrament, which
again divides itself into so many 9th
ers, and communicates to these parts
it's holiness, indestructibility, and
eternity.
Here youthful pair join hands, not
for passing salutation or for the
dance the priest pronounces his
blessing upon them, and the bond is
indissoluble. 1t is not long before this
welded pair brings a likeness to the
threshold of the altar: it is purified
with holy water, and so incorporated
into the Church, that it can not for
felt this benefit but through the most
monstrous apostasy. 20 ,a
The child in the course of life goes
on progressing in earthly things of
his own accord, in heavenly things
he must be instructed. Does it prove
on examination that this has been
fully done, he is now received into
the bosom of the Church as an actual
lessor, not without outward tokens Of
the weightiness of this act. Now,
only, he is decidedly Christian, now
for the first time he knows his adj
vantages and also his duties. But in
the meantime, great deal that is
strange has happened to him as a
man: through instruction and Attic
ton he has come to know how critical
appears the state of his inner self, and
J there will constantly be question OF
doctrines and of transgression; but
punishment shall no longer take place
which he must entangle himself, amid
the conflict of natural and religious
claims, an admirable expedient is Civ.
en- him, in confiding his deeds and
misdeeds, his infirmities and doubts
to worthy man, appointed expressly
| e. Uyhn Knows how tN
calm, to warn, to strengthen him, to
chasten him likewise by symbolical
punishments, and at last, by com
plete washing away of his guilt, to
render him happy and to give him
back, pure and cleansed, the tablet OF
his manhood. Thus prepared, and
purely set at rest by several, sacra
mental acts, which on closer eXamina
ton branch forth again into minute1
sacramental traits, he kneels down tc
receive the host; and, that the mys
terry of this high act may be still en-
HANGED, he sees the chalice only in
the distance: it is no common eating
and drinking that satisfies, it is
heavenly feast, which makes him
thirst after heavenly drink.
Yet let not the youth believe that
this is all he has to do: let not even
the man believe it. In earthly rela
tions we are at last accustomed to de-
pend on ourselves; and even there
knowledge, understanding, and char
acter will not always suffice; in heav'
emily things, on the contrary, we have
never finished learning. The feeling
within us, which often finds itself not
even truly at home, is, besides, OPP
pressed by so much from without, that
our own power hardly administers all
that is necessary for counsel, consola
ton, and help. But, to this end, that
remedy is instituted for our whole
life; and an intelligent, pious man is
continually waiting to show the right
way to the wanderers, and to relieve
the distressed.
And what has been so well tried
through the whole life, is now to show
forth all it's healing power with ten
fold activity at the gate of death. Ac
cording to trustful custom, incul
Gated from youth upwards, the dying
man receives with fervor those sym
bolical, significant assurances; and
there. where every earthly warranty
fails, he is assured, by heavenly one
of a blessed existence for all eternity
He feels perfectly convinced that