The Faith of Our Fathers Part 28

The following pa.s.sages from St. Paul's Epistle to the Hebrews are sometimes urged as an argument against the sacrifice of the Ma.s.s: "Christ, ... neither by the blood of goats, or of calves, but by His own blood, entered once into the Holies, having obtained eternal redemption." "Nor yet that He should offer Himself often, as the High Priest entereth into the Holies every year."(402) Again: "Every Priest standeth, indeed, daily ministering, and often offering the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins, but this Man, offering one sacrifice for sin, forever sitteth at the right hand of G.o.d."(403)

St. Paul says that Jesus was offered once. How, then, can we offer Him daily? I answer, that Jesus was offered once in a b.l.o.o.d.y manner, and it is of this sacrifice that the Apostle speaks. But in the Sacrifice of the Ma.s.s He is offered up in an unb.l.o.o.d.y manner. Though He is daily offered on ten thousand altars, the Sacrifice is the same as that of Calvary, having the same High Priest and victim-Jesus Christ. The object of St. Paul is to contrast the Sacrifice of the New Law, which has only one victim, with the sacrifices of the Old Law, where the victims were many; and to show the insufficiency of the ancient sacrifices and the all-sufficiency of the Sacrifice of the new dispensation.

But if the sacrifice of the cross is all-sufficient what need then, you will say, is there of a commemorative Sacrifice of the Ma.s.s? I would ask a Protestant in return, Why do you pray, and go to church, and why were you baptized, and receive Communion, and the rite of Confirmation? What is the use of all these exercises, if the sacrifice of the cross is all-sufficient? You will tell me that in all these acts you apply to yourself the merits of Christ's Pa.s.sion. I will tell you, in like manner, that in the Sacrifice of the Ma.s.s I apply to myself the merits of the sacrifice of the cross, from which the Ma.s.s derives all its efficacy.

Christ, indeed, by His death made full atonement for our sins, but He has not released us from the obligation of co-operating with Him by applying His merits to our souls. What better or more efficacious way can we have of partic.i.p.ating in His merits than by a.s.sisting at the Sacrifice of the Altar, where we vividly recall to mind His sufferings, where Calvary is represented before us, where "we show the death of the Lord until He come," and where we draw abundantly to our souls the fruit of His Pa.s.sion by drinking of the same blood that was shed on the cross?

In the Old Law there were different kinds of sacrifices offered up for different purposes. There were sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving to G.o.d for His benefits, sacrifices of propitiation to implore His forgiveness for the sins of the people, and sacrifices of supplication to ask His blessing and protection. The Sacrifice of the Ma.s.s fulfils all these ends. It is a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, a sacrifice of propitiation and of supplication; hence that valued book, the "_Following of Christ_," says: "When a Priest celebrates Ma.s.s he honors G.o.d, he rejoices the angels, he edifies the church, he helps the living, he obtains rest for the dead, and makes himself a partaker of all that is good." To form an adequate idea of the efficiency of the Divine Sacrifice of the Ma.s.s we have only to bear in mind the Victim that is offered-Jesus Christ, the Son of the living G.o.d.

First-The Ma.s.s is a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. If all human beings in this world, and all living creatures, and all inanimate objects were collected and burned as a holocaust to the Lord, they would not confer as much praise on the Almighty as a single Eucharistic sacrifice.

These earthly creatures-how numerous and excellent soever-are finite and imperfect; while the offering made in the Ma.s.s is of infinite value, for it is our Lord Jesus, the acceptable Lamb without blemish, the beloved Son in whom the Father is well pleased, and who "is always heard on account of His reverence."

With what awe and grateful love should we a.s.sist at this Sacrifice! The angels were present at Calvary. Angels are present also at the Ma.s.s. If we cannot a.s.sist with the seraphic love and rapt attention of the angelic spirits, let us wors.h.i.+p, at least, with the simple devotion of the shepherds of Bethlehem and the unswerving faith of the Magi. Let us offer to our G.o.d the golden gift of a heart full of love and the incense of our praise and adoration, repeating often during the holy oblation the words of the Psalmist: "The mercies of the Lord I will sing forever."

Second-The Ma.s.s is also a sacrifice of propitiation. Jesus daily pleads our cause in this Divine oblation before our Heavenly Father. "If any man sin," says St. John, "we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the just; and He is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world."(404) Hence the Priest, whenever he offers up the holy sacrifice, recites this prayer at the offertory: "Receive, O holy Father, almighty, eternal G.o.d, this immaculate victim which I, Thy unworthy servant, offer to Thee, my living and true G.o.d, for my innumerable sins, offences and negligences, for all here present, and for all the faithful living and dead, that it may avail me and them to life everlasting."

Whenever, therefore, we a.s.sist at Ma.s.s let us unite with Jesus Christ in imploring the mercy of G.o.d for our sins. Let us represent to ourselves the Ma.s.s as another Calvary, which it is in reality. Like Mary, let us stand in spirit beneath the cross, and let our souls be pierced with grief for our transgressions. Let us acknowledge that our sins were the cause of that agony and of the shedding of that precious blood. Let us follow in mind and heart that crowd of weeping penitents who accompanied our Savior to Calvary, striking their b.r.e.a.s.t.s, and let us say: "Spare, O Lord, spare Thy people." Or let us repeat with the publican this heartfelt prayer: "O G.o.d, be merciful to me a sinner." At the death of Jesus the sun was darkened, the earth trembled, the very rocks were rent, as if to show that even inanimate nature sympathized with the sufferings of its G.o.d. And should not we tremble for our sins? Should not our hearts, though cold and hard as rocks, be softened at the spectacle of our G.o.d suffering for love of us, and in expiation for our offences?

Third-The Sacrifice of the Ma.s.s is, in fine, a sacrifice of supplication: "For, if the blood of goats and of oxen, and the ashes of a heifer being sprinkled, sanctify such as are defiled to the cleansing of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who, through the Holy Ghost, offered himself without spot to G.o.d, cleanse our conscience from dead works to serve the living G.o.d?"(405) If the prayers of Moses and David and the Patriarchs were so powerful in behalf of G.o.d's servants, what must be the influence of Jesus' intercession? If the wounds of the Martyrs plead so eloquently for us, how much more eloquent is the blood of Jesus shed daily upon our altars? His blood cries louder for mercy than the blood of Abel cried for vengeance. If G.o.d inclines His ear to us miserable sinners, how can He resist the pleadings in our behalf of the "Lamb of G.o.d who taketh away the sins of the world."

"Let us go, therefore, with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace in seasonable aid."(406)

Chapter XXIV.

THE USE OF RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES DICTATED BY RIGHT REASON.

By religious ceremonies we mean certain expressive signs and actions which the Church has ordained for the worthy celebration of the Divine service.

True devotion must be interior and come from the heart, for "the true adorers shall adore the Father in spirit and in truth. For the Father indeed seeketh such to wors.h.i.+p Him. G.o.d is a spirit; and they who wors.h.i.+p Him must wors.h.i.+p Him in spirit and in truth."(407) But we are not to infer from this that exterior wors.h.i.+p is to be contemned because interior wors.h.i.+p is prescribed as essential. On the contrary, the rites and ceremonies enjoined in the wors.h.i.+p of G.o.d and the administration of the Sacraments are dictated by right reason, are sanctioned by Almighty G.o.d in the Old Law, and by Christ and His Apostles in the New.

The angels, being pure spirits without a body, render to G.o.d a purely spiritual wors.h.i.+p. The sun, moon and stars of the firmament pay Him a kind of external homage. In the Prophet Daniel we read: "Sun and moon bless the Lord, ... stars of heaven bless the Lord, praise and exalt Him above all forever."(408) "The heavens show forth the glory of G.o.d, the firmament announces the work of His hands."(409) Man, by possessing a soul of spiritual substance, partakes of the nature of angels, and by possessing a body partakes of the nature of the heavenly bodies. It is therefore, his privilege, as well as his duty, to offer to G.o.d the twofold homage of body and soul; in other words, to honor Him by internal and external wors.h.i.+p.

Genuine piety cannot long be concealed in the heart without manifesting itself by exterior practices of religion; hence, though interior and exterior wors.h.i.+p are distinct, they cannot be separated in the present life. Fire cannot burn without sending forth flame and heat. Neither can the fire of devotion burn in the soul without being reflected on the countenance and even in speech. It is natural for man to express his sentiments by signs and ceremonies, for "from the fulness of the heart the mouth speaketh;" and as fuel is necessary to keep fire alive, even so the flame of piety is nourished by the outward forms of religion.

A devoted child will not be content with loving his father in his heart, but will manifest that love by affectionate language, and by the service of his body, if necessary. So will the child of G.o.d show his affection for his heavenly Father not only by interior devotion, but also by the homage of his body. "I beseech you," says the Apostle, "by the mercy of G.o.d, that you present your bodies, a living sacrifice, holy pleasing unto G.o.d, your reasonable service."(410)

The fruit of a tree does not consist in its bark, its leaves and its branches. Nevertheless, you never saw a tree bearing fruit unless when clothed with bark, adorned with branches and covered with leaves. These are necessary for the protection of the fruit. In like manner, though the fruit of piety does not consist in exterior forms, it must, however, be fostered by some outward observances or it will soon decay. There is as close a relation between devotion and ceremonial as exists between the bark and the fruit of a tree.

The man who daily bends his knee to the Maker, who recites or sings His praises, who devoutly makes the sign of the cross, who a.s.sists without constraint at the public services of the Church, who observes an exterior decorum in the house of G.o.d, who gives to the needy according to his means and duly attends to the other practices and ceremonies of religion, will generally be one whose heart is united to G.o.d, and who yields to Him a ready obedience. Show me, on the contrary, a man who habitually neglects these outward observances of religion and charity, and I will show you one in whose soul the fire of devotion, if not quite extinguished, at least burns very faintly.

The ceremonies of the Church not only render divine service more solemn, but also rivet our attention and lift it up to G.o.d. Our mind is so active, so volatile, so full of distractions, our imagination so fickle, that we have need of some external objects on which to fix our thoughts.

Almighty G.o.d considered ceremonial so indispensable to interior wors.h.i.+p that we find Him in the Old Law prescribing in minute detail the various rites, ceremonies and ordinances to be observed by the Jewish Priests and people in their public wors.h.i.+p. What is the entire book of Leviticus but an elaborate ritual of the Jewish church. Not, indeed, that external rites are to be compared in merit with interior wors.h.i.+p, but because they are as necessary for nouris.h.i.+ng internal devotion as food is necessary for our animal life.

Our Savior, though He came to establish a more spiritual religion than that of the Hebrew people, did not discard the outward forms of wors.h.i.+p.

He was accustomed to accompany His religious acts by appropriate ceremonies.

In the garden of Gethsemani "He fell upon His face"(411) in humble supplication.

He went in procession to Jerusalem, accompanied by a great mult.i.tude, who sang Hosanna to the Son of David.(412)

At the Last Supper He invoked a blessing on the bread and wine, and afterward chanted a hymn with His disciples.(413)

When the deaf and dumb man was brought to Him, before healing Him, He put His fingers into his ears and touched his tongue with spittle, "and, looking up to heaven, He groaned and said: Ephpheta, which is, Be thou opened."(414)

When He imparted the Holy Ghost to His disciples, He breathed on them(415) and the same Apostles afterward communicated the Holy Ghost to others by laying hands on them.(416)

The Apostle St. James directs that if any man is sick he shall call in the Priest, who will anoint him with oil.(417)

Now, are not all these acts which I have just recorded-the prostration and procession, the prayerful invocation, the chanting of a hymn, the touching of the ears, the lifting up of the eyes to heaven, the breathing on the Apostles, the laying on of hands and the unction of the sick-are not all these acts so many ceremonies serving as models to those which the Catholic Church employs in her public wors.h.i.+p, and in the administration of her Sacraments?

The ceremonies now accompanying our public wors.h.i.+p are, indeed, usually more impressive and elaborate than those recorded of our Savior; but it is quite natural that the majesty of ceremonial should keep pace with the growth and development of Christianity.

But where shall we find a ritual so gorgeous as that presented to us in the Book of Revelation, which is descriptive of the wors.h.i.+p of G.o.d in the heavenly Jerusalem? Angels with golden censers stand before the throne, while elders cast their crowns of gold before the Lamb once slain. Then that unnumbered mult.i.tude of all nations, tongues and people, clothed in white raiment, bearing palms of victory. Virgins, too, with harp and canticle, follow near the Lamb, singing the new song which they alone can utter.(418)

How glorious the pageant! How elaborate in detail!

Surely there ought to be some a.n.a.logy and resemblance, some proportion and harmony between the public wors.h.i.+p which is paid to G.o.d in the Church militant on earth, and that which is offered to Him in the Church triumphant in heaven.

Strange would it be if G.o.d, who, in the dispensation past and that to come, is seen delighting in external majesty, should have deprived the Christian Church (the living link between the past and the future) of all external glory. "For," as St. Paul says, "if the ministry of condemnation is glory, much more the ministry of justice aboundeth in glory."(419)

It is true that G.o.d uttered this complaint against the children of Israel: "This people draw near Me with their mouth and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me."(420) It is also true that He was displeased with their sacrifices and religious festivals.(421) But He blamed them not because they praised Him with their voice, but because their hearts felt not what their lips uttered. He rejected their sacrifices because they were not accompanied by the more precious sacrifice of a penitent spirit.

The same Lord who declares that the true adorer shall adore the Father in spirit commands also that public praise be given to Him in His holy temple: "Praise ye the Lord," He says, "in His holy places.... Praise Him with sound of trumpet. Praise Him with psaltery and harp. Praise Him with timbrel and choir. Praise Him with strings and organs."(422)

If He says in one place: "Rend your hearts and not your garments,"(423) immediately after He adds: "Blow the trumpet in Sion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn a.s.sembly. Gather together the people, sanctify the Church.... Between the porch and the altar the Priests, the Lord's ministers, shall weep and shall say: Spare, O Lord, spare Thy people!"(424) The Prophet first points out the absolute necessity of interior sorrow and contrition of heart, and then he insists on the duty of performing some acts of expiation, penance and humiliation, as you do when you have your forehead marked with ashes on Ash Wednesday, and when you observe the fast and abstinence of Lent.

When St. Paul says that though he speak with the tongues of angels and of men, and distribute all his goods to feed the poor, and deliver his body to be burned, and have not the love of G.o.d, it profiteth him nothing,(425) he points out the necessity of interior wors.h.i.+p. And when he says elsewhere that "in the name of Jesus every knee should bend of those that are in heaven, on earth and under the earth,"(426) he shows us the duty of exterior or ceremonial wors.h.i.+p.

When political leaders desire to influence the ma.s.ses in their favor they are not content with addressing themselves to the intellect. They appeal also to the feelings and imagination. They have torchlight processions, accompanied by soul-stirring music discoursing popular airs. They have flags and banners floating in the breeze. They have public meetings, at which they deliver patriotic speeches to arouse the enthusiasm of the people.

What these men do for political reasons the Church performs from the higher motives of religion. Therefore, she has her solemn processions. She has her heavenly music to soften the heart and raise it to G.o.d. She consecrates her sacred banners, especially the cross, the banner of salvation. She preaches with a hundred tongues, speaking not only to our head and heart by the Word of G.o.d, but to our feelings and imagination by her grand and imposing ceremonial.

Chapter XXV.

CEREMONIALS OF THE Ma.s.s.