The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1915-06-12

overpowered by the sense of His Ma
|jesty. He wells it. And is content to
dwell in hooks and corners of cities,
in towns and open country, on hillside
and in remote valleys. And at all
times He would have us enter into
His royal presence, without ceremony.
to converse with Him; at any hour
of the day or night we are welcomed
by Him with open arms, always sure
of a hearty welcome. He is ever
ready to console us, to dispel our dark
ness, to soften our hearts, to wash
away our sins, to strengthen our
weakness, to bestow fresh grace.
Imagine the thousand blessings the
lonely missionary enjoys in the ador-
able and loving presence of his Eu-
charistic God. Well may he exclaim
with the Psalmist lxxxiii: Blessed
are they that dwell in Thy house, o
Lord! They shall praise Thee forever
and ever"
When the early missionaries wendell
their way through the primeval for
ests, and when with prayerful conf
dence in a guiding Providence they
piled their canoes along the streams
that threaded this yet unexplored
country, their chief consolation was
to offer up on some rude altar on the
crest of the hill, or under leafy boughs
of some forest oak, the Eucharistic
Sacrifice; and their happiness was
~, A<d in tho
forest glade or on the crest of some
mound the little log church with it's
sanctuary lamp spreading its rays
amid the darkness of paganism. A
permanent abode, where the Master
might draw to Himself the hearts of
His savage children of the forest
Thence Breboeuf and Lallamant
among the Algonquins and Jogues
among the Iroquois, Blanchet and
Demers and Desmet among the tribes
of the Pacific Coast, and in the defiles
of the Rockies, drew their marvellous
strength, their indomitable courage.
Herein lay the secret of their success.
For the Author of grace and the sub
duer of hearts reigns from the taber-
nacle. Thence He sends forth the
darts of His grace and draws by the
sweet power of His love the hearts of
men. What would the mission be
without the Church, and the Church
would be what, without the Eucharist?
The world without the sun, the body
without the soul! So, too, is the
Eucharist the source of light and life,
| to the world, to the Church, to the
Christian life. The early savages
we're struck with admiration and over
awed by the celebration of the Divine
Mysteries.
But it was not the mere spectacle
of lonely missionary performing the
simple ceremonies of the Mass that
impressed them, but an overpowering
grace issuing from the tremendous
Sacrifice they were offering to the
Living God, the Sacrifice of the only
Son, the Mediator, the Restorer of our
fallen race. THE clean oblation of
fered to My Name from the rising to
the setting of the sum-" making Gods
name great among the Gentiles. It
was the love of Jesus, emanating from
the Eucharist, piercing the heart OF
| the swarthy savage and permeating
gradually through the nation, raising
up around the Mission Cross Chris,
tian people. What hope had. these
heralds of Christianity, these daunt
less pioneers of the Faith amid bar
barians STEPPED in immortality and
superstition, what hope to conquer the
Unborn ferocity and bring these proud
savage children of nature to bow be
fore the cross, to conform their lives
to the rigid precepts of the Gospe
i fcent light of Christianity? Theil
j hope was in the Eucharist, God whom
they brought to dwell in the midst Of
His wandering children. "Without
Me you can do nothing. Fear MOI
little flock, will not leave you or
phans. | will raise you up sacrifice
and a Priesthood, / will dwell in your
midst and / will be your Cod As
then so now. The Eucharist is oul
hope. The more the missionary relies
not on his own strength, but on Chris
in the Holy Eucharist, the more ne
conforms his life to the Eucharistit
Model. The more Faith and conf
dence and love he shows toward tha
heart that burns in the tabernacle, sc
much the more success he shall have
in drawing souls to the feet of the
Saviour, the more we shall participate
in tho prappc and pOucaIatiouC thai
j ever flew from that inexhaustible
fountain of all good, the Holy ant
Divine Sacrament of the Eucharist.