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MIRAE CARITATIS
ENCYCLICAL OF POPE LEO XIII
ON THE HOLY EUCHARIST
To Our Venerable Brethren, the Patriarchs, Primates,
Archbishops, Bishops, and other Local Ordinaries,
having Peace and Communion with the Holy See.
Venerable Brethren, Health and Apostolic Benediction.
To examine into the nature and to promote the effects of those manifestations
of His wondrous love which, like rays of light, stream forth from Jesus Christ-this,
as befits Our sacred office, has ever been, and this, with His help, to
the last breath of Our life will ever be Our earnest aim and endeavour.
For, whereas Our lot has been cast in an age that is bitterly hostile to
justice and truth, we have not failed, as you have been reminded by the Apostolic
letter which we recently addressed to you, to do what in us lay, by Our instructions
and admonitions, and by such practical measures as seemed best suited for
their purpose, to dissipate the contagion of error in its many shapes, and
to strengthen the sinews of the Christian life. Among these efforts of Ours
there are two in particular, of recent memory, closely related to each other,
from the recollection whereof we gather some fruit of comfort, the more seasonable
by reason of the many causes of sorrow that weigh us down. One of these
is the occasion on which We directed, as a thing most desirable, that the
entire human race should be consecrated by a special act to the Sacred Heart
of Christ our Redeemer; the other that on which We so urgently exhorted all
those who bear the name Christian to cling loyally to Him Who, by divine
ordinance, is "the Way, the Truth, and the Life," not for individuals alone
bur for every rightly constituted society. And now that same apostolic charity,
ever watchful over the vicissitudes of the Church, moves and in a manner
compels Us to add one thing more, in order to fill up the measure of what
We have already conceived and carried out. This is, to commend to all Christians,
more earnestly than heretofore, the all-holy Eucharist, forasmuch as it
is a divine gift proceeding from the very Heart of the Redeemer, Who "with
desire desireth" this singular mode of union with men, a gift most admirably
adapted to be the means whereby the salutary fruits of His redemption may
be distributed. Indeed We have not failed in the past, more than once, to
use Our authority and to exercise Our zeal in this behalf. It gives Us much
pleasure to recall to mind that We have officially approved, and enriched
with canonical privileges, not a few institutions and confraternities having
for their object the perpetual adoration of the Sacred Host; that We have
encouraged the holding of Eucharistic Congresses, the results of which have
been as profitable as the attendance at them has been numerous and distinguished;
that We have designated as the heavenly patron of these and similar undertakings
St. Paschal Baylon, whose devotion to the mystery of the Eucharist was so
extraordinary.
2. Accordingly, Venerable Brethren, it has seemed good to Us to address
you on certain points connected with this same mystery, for the defence
and honour of which the solicitude of the Church has been so constantly
engaged, for which Martyrs have given their lives, which has afforded to
men of the highest genius a theme to be illustrated by their learning, their
eloquence, their skill in all the arts; and this We will do in order to
render more clearly evident and more widely known those special characteristics
by virtue of which it is so singularly adapted to the needs of these our
times. It was towards the close of His mortal life that Christ our Lord left
this memorial of His measureless love for men, this powerful means of support
"for the life of the world" (St. John vi., 52). And precisely for this reason,
We, being so soon to depart from this life, can wish for nothing better than
that it may be granted to us to stir up and foster in the hearts of all men
the dispositions of mindful gratitude and due devotion towards this wondrous
Sacrament, wherein most especially lie, as We hold, the hope and the efficient
cause of salvation and of that peace which all men so anxiously seek.
3. Some there are, no doubt, who will express their surprise that for
the manifold troubles and grievous afflictions by which our age is harassed
We should have determined to seek for remedies and redress in this quarter
rather than elsewhere, and in some, perchance, Our words will excite a certain
peevish disgust. But this is only the natural result of pride; for when this
vice has taken possession of the heart, it is inevitable that Christian faith,
which demands a most willing docility, should languish, and that a murky
darkness in regard of divine truths should close in upon the mind; so that
in the case of many these words should be made good: "Whatever things they
know not, they blaspheme" (St. Jude, 10). We, however, so far from being hereby
turned aside from the design which We have taken in hand, are on the contrary
determined all the more zealously and diligently to hold up the light for
the guidance of the well disposed, and, with the help of the united prayers
of the faithful, earnestly to implore forgiveness for those who speak evil
of holy things.
The Source of Life
4. To know with an entire faith what is the excellence of the Most Holy
Eucharist is in truth to know what that work is which, in the might of His
mercy, God, made man, carried out on behalf of the human race. For as a
right faith teaches us to acknowledge and to worship Christ as the sovereign
cause of our salvation, since He by His wisdom, His laws, His ordinances,
His example, and by the shedding of His blood, made all things new; so the
same faith likewise teaches us to acknowledge Him and to worship Him as really
present in the Eucharist, as verily abiding through all time in the midst
of men, in order that as their Master, their Good Shepherd, their most acceptable
Advocate with the Father, He may impart to them of His own inexhaustible
abundance the benefits of that redemption which He has accomplished. Now
if any one will seriously consider the benefits which flow from the Eucharist
he will understand that conspicuous and chief among them all is that in which
the rest, without exception, are included; in a word it is for men the source
of life, of that life which best deserves the name. "The bread which I will
give is my flesh, for the life of the world" (St. John vi., 52). In more
than one way, as We have elsewhere declared, is Christ "the life." He Himself
declared that the reason of His advent among men was this, that He might
bring them the assured fulness of a more than merely human life. "I am come
that they may have life, and may have it more abundantly" (St. John x., 10).
Everyone is aware that no sooner had "the goodness and kindness of God our
Saviour appeared" (Tit. iii., 4), than there at once burst forth a certain
creative fore;. which issued in a new order of things and pused through all
the veins of society, civil and domestic. Hence arose new relations between
man and man; new rights and new duties, public and private; henceforth a
new direction was given to government, to education, to the arts; and most
important of all, man's thoughts and energies were turned towards religious
truth and the pursuit of holiness. Thus was life communicated to man, a life
truly heavenly and divine. And thus we are to account for those expressions
which so often occur in Holy Writ, "the tree of life," "the word of life,"
"the book of life," "the crown of life," and particularly "the bread of life."
5. But now, since this life of which We are speaking bears a definite
resemblance to the natural life of man, as the one draws its nourishment
and strength from food, so also the other must have its own food whereby
it may be sustained and augmented. And here it will be opportune to recall
to mind on what occasion and in what manner Christ moved and prepared the
hearts of men for the worthy and due reception of the living bread which
He was about to give them. No sooner had the rumour spread of the miracle
which He had wrought on the shores of the lake of Tiberias, when with the
multiplied loaves He fed the multitude, than many forthwith flocked to Him
in the hope that they, too, perchance, might be the recipients of like favour.
And, just as He had taken occasion from the water which she had drawn from
the well to stir up in the Samaritan woman a thirst for that "water which
springeth up unto life everlasting" (St. John iv., 14), so now Jesus availed
Himself of this opportunity to excite in the minds of the multitude a keen
hunger for the bread "which endureth unto life everlasting" (St. John vi.,
27). Or, as He was careful to explain to them, was the bread which He promised
the same as that heavenly manna which had been given to their fathers during
their wanderings in the desert, or again the same as that which, to their
amazement, they had recently received from Him; but He was Himself that
bread: "I," said He, "am the bread of life" (St. John vi., 48). And He urges
this still further upon them all both by invitation and by precept: "if
any man shall eat of this bread, he shall live for ever; and the bread which
I will give is my flesh, for the life of the world" (St. John vi., 52). And
in these other words He brings home to them the gravity of the precept: "Amen,
Amen, I say to you, unless you shall eat the flesh of the Son of Man and
drink His blood, you shall not have life in you" (St. John vi., 54). Away
then with the widespread but most mischievous error of those who give it
as their opinion that the reception of the Eucharist is in a manner reserved
for those narrow-minded persons (as they are deemed) who rid themselves of
the cares of the world in order to find rest in some kind of professedly
religious life. For this gift, than which nothing can be more excellent or
more conducive to salvation, is offered to all those, whatever their office
or dignity may be, who wish-as every one ought to wish-to foster in themselves
that life of divine grace whose goal is the attainment of the life of blessedness
with God.
6. Indeed it is greatly to be desired that those men would rightly esteem
and would make due provision for life everlasting, whose industry or talents
or rank have put it in their power to shape the course of human events. But
alas! we see with sorrow that such men too often proudly flatter themselves
that they have conferred upon this world as it were a fresh lease of life
and prosperity, inasmuch as by their own energetic action they are urging
it on to the race for wealth, to a struggle for the possession of commodities
which minister to the love of comfort and display. And yet, whithersoever
we turn, we see that human society, if it be estranged from God, instead
of enjoying that peace in its possessions for which it had sought, is shaken
and tossed like one who is in the agony and heat of fever; for while it anxiously
strives for prosperity, and trusts to it alone, it is pursuing an object
that ever escapes it, clinging to one that ever eludes the grasp. For as
men and states alike necessarily have their being from God, so they can do
nothing good except in God through Jesus Christ, through whom every best
and choicest gift has ever proceeded and proceeds. But the source and chief
of all these gifts is the venerable Eucharist, which not only nourishes and
sustains that life the desire whereof demands our most strenuous efforts,
but also enhances beyond measure that dignity of man of which in these days
we hear so much. For what can be more honourable or a more worthy object of
desire than to be made, as far as possible, sharers and partakers in the divine
nature? Now this is precisely what Christ does for us in the Eucharist, wherein,
after having raised man by the operation of His grace to a supernatural state,
he yet more closely associates and unites him with Himself. For there is
this difference between the food of the body and that of the soul, that whereas
the former is changed into our substance, the latter changes us into its
own; so that St. Augustine makes Christ Himself say: "You shall not change
Me into yourself as you do the food of your body, but you shall be changed
into Me" (confessions 1. vii., c. x.).
The Mystery of Faith
7. Moreover, in this most admirable Sacrament, which is the chief means
whereby men are engrafted on the divine nature, men also find the most efficacious
help towards progress in every kind of virtue. And first of all in faith.
In all ages faith has been attacked; for although it elevates the human mind
by bestowing on it the knowledge of the highest truths, yet because, while
it makes known the existence of divine mysteries, it yet leaves in obscurity
the mode of their being, it is therefore thought to degrade the intellect.
But whereas in past times particular articles of faith have been made by
turns the object of attack; the seat of war has since been enlarged and extended,
until it has come to this, that men deny altogether that there is anything
above and beyond nature. Now nothing can be better adapted to promote a
renewal of the strength and fervour of faith in the human mind than the
mystery of the Eucharist, the "mystery of faith," as it has been most appropriately
called. For in this one mystery the entire supernatural order, with all its
wealth and variety of wonders, is in a manner summed up and contained: "He
hath made a remembrance of His wonderful works, a merciful and gracious Lord;
He bath given food to them that fear Him" (Psalm cx, 4-5). For whereas God
has subordinated the whole supernatural order to the Incarnation of His Word,
in virtue whereof salvation has been restored to the human race, according
to those words of the Apostle; "He bath purposed...to re-establish all things
in Christ, that are in heaven and on earth, in Him" (Eph. i., 9-10), the
Eucharist, according to the testimony of the holy Fathers, should be regarded
as in a manner a continuation and extension of the Incarnation. For in and
by it the substance of the incarnate Word is united with individual men,
and the supreme Sacrifice offered on Calvary is in a wondrous manner renewed,
as was signified beforehand by Malachy in the words: "In every place there
is sacrifice, and there is offered to My name a pure oblation" (Mal. i.,
II). And this miracle, itself the very greatest of its kind, is accompanied
by innumerable other miracles; for here all the laws of nature are suspended;
the whole substance of the bread and wine are changed into the Body and the
Blood; the species of bread and wine are sustained by the divine power without
the support of any underlying substance; the Body of Christ is present in
many places at the same time, that is to say, wherever the Sacrament is
consecrated. And in order that human reason may the more willingly pay its
homage to this great mystery, there have not been wanting, as an aid to
faith, certain prodigies wrought in His honour, both in ancient times and
in our own, of which in more than one place there exist public and notable
records and memorials. It is plain that by this Sacrament faith is fed, in
it the mind finds its nourishment, the objections of rationalists are brought
to naught, and abundant light is thrown on the supernatural order.
8. But that decay of faith in divine things of which We have spoken is
the effect not only of pride, but also of moral corruption. For if it is
true that a strict morality improves the quickness of man's intellectual
powers, and if on the other hand, as the maxims of pagan philosophy and the
admonitions of divine wisdom combine to teach us, the keenness of the mind
is blunted by bodily pleasures, how much more, in the region of revealed
truths, do these same pleasures obscure the light of faith, or even, by the
just judgment of God, entirely extinguish it. For these pleasures at the present
day an insatiable appetite rages, infecting all classes as with an infectious
disease, even from tender years. Yet even for so terrible an evil there is
a remedy close at hand in the divine Eucharist. For in the first place it
puts a check on lust by increasing charity, according to the words of St.
Augustine, who says, speaking of charity, "As it grows, lust diminishes; when
it reaches perfection, lust is no more" (De diversis quaestionibus, lxxxiii.,
q. 36). Moreover the most chaste flesh of Jesus keeps down the rebellion
of our flesh, as St. Cyril of Alexandria taught, "For Christ abiding in us
lulls to sleep the law of the flesh which rages in our members" (Lib. iv.,
c. ii., in Joan., vi., 57). Then too the special and most pleasant fruit
of the Eucharist is that which is signified in the words of the prophet:
"What is the good thing of Him," that is, of Christ, "and what is His beautiful
thing, but the corn of the elect and the wine that engendereth virgins" (Zach.
ix., 17), producing, in other words, that flower and fruitage of a strong
and constant purpose of virginity which, even in an age enervated by luxury,
is daily multiplied and spread abroad in the Catholic Church, with those
advantages to religion and to human society, wherever it is found, which
are plain to see.
9. To this it must be added that by this same Sacrament our hope of everlasting
blessedness, based on our trust in the divine assistance, is wonderfully
strengthened. For the edge of that longing for happiness which is so deeply
rooted in the hearts of all men from their birth is whetted even more and
more by the experience of the deceitfulness of earthly goods, by the unjust
violence of wicked men, and by all those other afflictions to which mind and
body are subject. Now the venerable Sacrament of the Eucharist is both the
source and the pledge of blessedness and of glory, and this, not for the
soul alone, but for the body also. For it enriches the soul with an abundance
of heavenly blessings, and fills it with a sweet joy which far surpasses man's
hope and expectations; it sustains him in adversity, strengthens him in the
spiritual combat, preserves him for life everlasting, and as a special provision
for the journey accompanies him thither. And in the frail and perishable body
that divine Host, which is the immortal Body of Christ, implants a principle
of resurrection, a seed of immortality, which one day must germinate. That
to this source man's soul and body will be indebted for both these boons has
been the constant teaching of the Church, which has dutifully reaffirmed the
affirmation of Christ: "He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood bath
everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day" (St. John vi.,
55).
10. In connection with this matter it is of importance to consider that
in the Eucharist, seeing that it was instituted by Christ as "a perpetual
memorial of His Passion" (Opusc. Ivii. Offic. de festo Corporis Christi),
is proclaimed to the Christian the necessity of a salutary self-chastisement.
For Jesus said to those first priests of His: "Do this in memory of Me"
(Luke xxii, 18); that is to say, do this for the commemoration of My pains,
My sorrows, My grievous afflictions, My death upon the Cross. Wherefore this
Sacrament is at the same time a Sacrifice, seasonable throughout the entire
period of our penance; and it is likewise a standing exhortation to all manner
of toil, and a solemn and severe rebuke to those carnal pleasures which some
are not ashamed so highly to praise and extol: "As often as ye shall eat
this bread, and drink this chalice, ye shall announce the death of the Lord,
until He come" (1 Cor. xi., 26).
The Bond of Charity
11. Furthermore, if anyone will diligently examine into the causes of
the evils of our day, he will find that they arise from this, that as charity
towards God has grown cold, the mutual charity of men among themselves has
likewise cooled. Men have forgotten that they are children of God and brethren
in Jesus Christ; they care for nothing except their own individual interests;
the interests and the rights of others they not only make light of, but often
attack and invade. Hence frequent disturbances and strifes between class
and class: arrogance, oppression, fraud on the part of the more powerful:
misery, envy, and turbulence among the poor. These are evils for which it
is in vain to seek a remedy in legislation, in threats of penalties to be
incurred, or in any other device of merely human prudence. Our chief care
and endeavour ought to be, according to the admonitions which We have more
than once given at considerable length, to secure the union of classes in
a mutual interchange of dutiful services, a union which, having its origin
in God, shall issue in deeds that reflect the true spirit of Jesus Christ
and a genuine charity. This charity Christ brought into the world, with it
He would have all hearts on fire. For it alone is capable of affording to
soul and body alike, even in this life, a foretaste of blessedness; since
it restrains man's inordinate self-love, and puts a check on avarice, which
"is the root of all evil" (1 Tim. vi., 10). And whereas it is right to uphold
all the claims of justice as between the various classes of society, nevertheless
it is only with the efficacious aid of charity, which tempers justice, that
the "equality" which St. Paul commended (2 Cor. viii., 14), and which is so
salutary for human society, can be established and maintained. This then is
what Christ intended when he instituted this Venerable Sacrament, namely,
by awakening charity towards God to promote mutual charity among men. For
the latter, as is plain, is by its very nature rooted in the former, and springs
from it by a kind of spontaneous growth. Nor is it possible that there should
be any lack of charity among men, or rather it must needs be enkindled and
flourish, if men would but ponder well the charity which Christ has shown
in this Sacrament. For in it He has not only given a splendid manifestation
of His power and wisdom, but "has in a manner poured out the riches of His
divine love towards men" (Conc. Trid., Sess. XIIL, De Euch. c. ii.). Having
before our eyes this noble example set us by Christ, Who bestows on us all
that He has assuredly we ought to love and help one another to the utmost,
being daily more closely united by the strong bond of brotherhood. Add to
this that the outward and visible elements of this Sacrament supply a singularly
appropriate stimulus to union. On this topic St. Cyprian writes: "In a word
the Lord's sacrifice symbolises the oneness of heart, guaranteed by a persevering
and inviolable charity, which should prevail among Christians. For when our
Lord calls His Body bread, a substance which is kneaded together out of many
grains, He indicates that we His people, whom He sustains, are bound together
in close union; and when He speaks of His Blood as wine, in which the juice
pressed from many clusters of grapes is mingled in one fluid, He likewise
indicates that we His flock are by the commingling of a multitude of persons
made one" (Ep. 96 ad Magnum n. 5 (a1.6)). In like manner the angelic Doctor,
adopting the sentiments of St. Augustine (Tract. xxxvi., in Joan. nn. 13,
17), writes: "Our Lord has bequeathed to us His Body and Blood under the form
of substances in which a multitude of things have been reduced to unity, for
one of them, namely bread, consisting as it does of many grains is yet one,
and the other, that is to say wine, has its unity of being from the confluent
juice of many grapes; and therefore St. Augustine elsewhere says: `O Sacrament
of mercy, O sign of unity, O bond of charity!' " (Summ. Theol. P. IIL, q.
lxxix., a.l.). All of which is confirmed by the declaration of the Council
of Trent that Christ left the Eucharist in His Church "as a symbol of that
unity and charity whereby He would have all Christians mutually joined and
united. . . a symbol of that one body of which He is Himself the head, and
to which He would have us, as members attached by the closest bonds of faith,
hope, and charity" (Conc. Trid., Sess. XIIL, De Euchar., c. ii.). The same
idea had been expressed by St. Paul when he wrote: "For we, being many, are
one bread, one body, all we who partake of the one bread" (I Cor. x., 17).
Very beautiful and joyful too is the spectacle of Christian brotherhood and
social equality which is afforded when men of all conditions, gentle and
simple, rich and poor, learned and unlearned, gather round the holy altar,
all sharing alike in this heavenly banquet. And if in the records of the Church
it is deservedly reckoned to the special credit of its first ages that "the
multitude of the believers had but one heart and one soul" (Acts iv., 32),
there can be no shadow of doubt that this immense blessing was due to their
frequent meetings at the Divine table; for we find it recorded of them: "They
were persevering in the doctrine of the Apostles and in the communion of
the breaking of bread" (Acts ii., 42).
12. Besides all this, the grace of mutual charity among the living, which
derives from the Sacrament of the Eucharist so great an increase of strength,
is further extended by virtue of the Sacrifice to all those who are numbered
in the Communion of Saints. For the Communion of Saints, as everyone knows,
is nothing but the mutual communication of help, expiation, prayers, blessings,
among all the faithful, who, whether they have already attained to the heavenly
country, or are detained in the purgatorial fire, or are yet exiles here
on earth, all enjoy the common franchise of that city whereof Christ is the
head, and the constitution is charity. For faith teaches us, that although
the venerable Sacrifice may be lawfully offered to God alone, yet it may be
celebrated in honour of the saints reigning in heaven with God Who has crowned
them, in order that we may gain for ourselves their patronage. And it may
also be offered-in accordance with an apostolic tradition-for the purpose
of expiating the sins of those of the brethren who, having died in the Lord,
have not yet fully paid the penalty of their transgressions.
13. That genuine charity, therefore, which knows how to do and to suffer
all things for the salvation and the benefit of all, leaps forth with all
the heat and energy of a flame from that most holy Eucharist in which Christ
Himself is present and lives, in which He indulges to the utmost. His love
towards us, and under the impulse of that divine love ceaselessly renews
His Sacrifice. And thus it is not difficult to see whence the arduous labours
of apostolic men, and whence those innumerable designs of every kind for
the welfare of the human race which have been set on foot among Catholics,
derive their origin, their strength, their permanence, their success.
14. These few words on a subject so vast will, we doubt not, prove most
helpful to the Christian flock, if you in your zeal, Venerable Brethren,
will cause them to be expounded and enforced as time and occasion may serve.
But indeed a Sacrament so great and so rich in all manner of blessings can
never be extolled as it deserves by human eloquence, nor adequately venerated
by the worship of man. This Sacrament, whether as the theme of devout meditation,
or as the object of public adoration, or best of all as a food to be received
in the utmost purity of conscience, is to be regarded as the centre towards
which the spiritual life of a Christian in all its ambit gravitates; for
all other forms of devotion, whatsoever they may be, lead up to it, and in
it find their point of rest. In this mystery more than in any other that gracious
invitation and still more gracious promise of Christ is realised and finds
its daily fulfilment: "Come to me all ye that labour and are heavily burdened,
and I will refresh you" (St. Matt. xi., 28).
15. In a word this Sacrament is, as it were, the very soul of the Church;
and to it the grace of the priesthood is ordered and directed in all its
fulness and in each of its successive grades. From the same source the Church
draws and has all her strength, all her glory, her every supernatural endowment
and adornment, every good thing that is here; wherefore she makes it the
chiefest of all her cares to prepare the hearts of the faithful for an intimate
union with Christ through the Sacrament of His Body and Blood, and to draw
them thereto. And to this end she strives to promote the veneration of the
august mystery by surrounding it with holy ceremonies. To this ceaseless and
ever watchful care of the Church or Mother, our attention is drawn by that
exhortation which was uttered by the holy Council of Trent, and which is
so much to the purpose that for the benefit of the Christian people We here
reproduce it in its entirety. "The Holy Synod admonishes, exhorts, asks and
implores by the tender mercy of our God, that all and each of those who bear
the name of Christian should at last unite and find peace in this sign of
unity, in this bond of charity, in this symbol of concord; and that, mindful
of the great majesty and singular love of Jesus Christ our Lord, Who gave
His precious life as the price of our salvation, and His flesh for our food,
they should believe and revere these sacred mysteries of His Body and Blood
with such constancy of unwavering faith, with such interior devotion and worshipful
piety, that they may be in condition to receive frequently that supersubstantial
bread, and that it may be to them the life of their souls and keep their
mind in soundness of faith; so that strengthened with its strength they may
be enabled after the journey of this sorrowful pilgrimage to reach the heavenly
country, there to see and feed upon that bread of angels which here they
eat under the sacramental veils" (Conc. Trid., Sess. XXII, c. vi).
16. History bears witness that the virtues of the Christian life have
flourished best wherever and whenever the frequent reception of the Eucharist
has most prevailed. And on the other hand it is no less certain that in
days when men have ceased to care for this heavenly bread, and have lost
their appetite for it, the practice of Christian religion has gradually
lost its force and vigour. And indeed it was a needful measure of precaution
against a complete falling away that Innocent III, in the Council of the
Lateran, most strictly enjoined that no Christian should abstain from receiving
the communion of the Lord's Body at least in the solemn paschal season.
But it is clear that this precept was imposed with regret, and only as a
last resource; for it has always been the desire of the Church that at every
Mass some of the faithful should be present and should communicate. "The
holy Synod would wish that in every celebration of the Mass some of the faithful
should take part, not only by devoutly assisting thereat, but also by the
sacramental reception of the Eucharist, in order that they might more abundantly
partake of the fruits of this holy Sacrifice" (conc. Trid., Sess. XIII.
de Euchar. c. viii).
The Sacrifice of the Mass
17. Most abundant, assuredly, are the salutary benefits which are stored
up in this most venerable mystery, regarded as a Sacrifice; a Sacrifice which
the Church is accordingly wont to offer daily "for the salvation of the
whole world." And it is fitting, indeed in this age it is specially important,
that by means of the united efforts of the devout, the outward honour and
the inward reverence paid to this Sacrifice should be alike increased. Accordingly
it is our wish that its manifold excellence may be both more widely known
and more attentively considered. There are certain general principles the
truth of which can be plainly perceived by the light of reason; for instance,
that the dominion of God our Creator and Preserver over all men, whether
in their private or in their public life, is supreme and absolute; that our
whole being and all that we possess, whether individually or as members of
society, comes from the divine bounty; that we on our part are bound to show
to God, as our Lord, the highest reverence, and, as He is our greatest benefactor,
the deepest gratitude. But how many are there who at the present day acknowledge
and discharge these duties with full and exact observance? In no age has
the spirit of contumacy and an attitude of defiance towards God been more
prevalent than in our own; an age in which that unholy cry of the enemies
of Christ: "We will not have this man to rule over us" (Luke xix., 14), makes
itself more and more loudly heard, together with the utterance of that wicked
purpose: "let us make away with Him" (]er. xi., II); nor is there any motive
by which many are hurried on with more passionate fury, than the desire utterly
to banish God not only from the civil government, but from every form of
human society. And although men do not everywhere proceed to this extremity
of criminal madness, it is a lamentable thing that so many are sunk in oblivion
of the divine Majesty and of His favours, and in particular of the salvation
wrought for us by Christ. Now a remedy must be found for this wickedness
on the one hand, and this sloth on the other, in a general increase among
the faithful of fervent devotion towards the Eucharistic Sacrifice, than
which nothing can give greater honour, nothing be more pleasing, to God.
For it is a divine Victim which is here immolated; and accordingly through
this Victim we offer to the most blessed Trinity all that honour which the
infinite dignity of the Godhead demands; infinite in value and infinitely
acceptable is the gift which we present to the Father in His only-begotten
son; so that for His benefits to us we not only signify our gratitude, but
actually make an adequate return.
18. Moreover there is another twofold fruit which we may and must derive
from this great Sacrifice. The heart is saddened when it considers what a
flood of wickedness, the result-as We have said-of forgetfulness and contempt
of the divine Majesty, has inundated the world. It is not too much to say
that a great part of the human race seems to be calling down upon itself
the anger of heaven; though indeed the crop of evils which has grown up here
on earth is already ripening to a just judgment. Here then is a motive whereby
the faithful may be stirred to a devout and earnest endeavour to appease
God the avenger of sin, and to win from Him the help which is so needful in
these calamitous times. And they should see that such blessings are to be
sought principally by means of this Sacrifice. For it is only in virtue of
the death which Christ suffered that men can satisfy, and that most abundantly,
the demands of God's justice, and can obtain the plenteous gifts of His clemency.
And Christ has willed that the whole virtue of His death, alike for expiation
and impetration, should abide in the Eucharist, which is no mere empty commemoration
thereof, but a true and wonderful though bloodless and mystical renewal of
it.
19. To conclude, we gladly acknowledge that it has been a cause of no
small joy to us that during these last years a renewal of love and devotion
towards the Sacrament of the Eucharist has, as it seems, begun to show itself
in the hearts of the faithful; a fact which encourages us to hope for better
times and a more favourable state of affairs. Many and varied, as we said
at the commencement, are the expedients which an inventive piety has devised;
and worthy of special mention are the confraternities instituted either with
the object of carrying out the Eucharistic ritual with greater splendour,
or for the perpetual adoration of the venerable Sacrament by day and night,
or for the purpose of making reparation for the blasphemies and insults of
which it is the object. But neither We nor you, Venerable Brethren, can allow
ourselves to rest satisfied with what has hitherto been done; for there remain
many things which must be further developed or begun anew, to the end that
this most divine of gifts this greatest of mysteries, may be better understood
and more worthily honoured and revered, even by those who already take their
part in the religious services of the Church. Wherefore, works of this kind
which have been already set on foot must be ever more zealously promoted;
old undertakings must be revived wherever perchance they may have fallen
into decay; for instance, Confraternities of the holy Eucharist, intercessory
prayers before the blessed Sacrament exposed for the veneration of the faithful,
solemn processions, devout visits to God's tabernacle, and other holy and
salutary practices of some kind; nothing must be omitted which a prudent piety
may suggest as suitable. But the chief aim of our efforts must be that the
frequent reception of the Eucharist may be everywhere revived among Catholic
peoples. For this is the lesson which is taught us by the example, already
referred to, of the primitive Church, by the decrees of Councils, by the authority
of the Fathers and of the holy men in all ages. For the soul, like the body,
needs frequent nourishment; and the holy Eucharist provides that food which
is best adapted to the support of its life. Accordingly all hostile prejudices,
those vain fears to which so many yield, and their specious excuses from
abstaining from the Eucharist, must be resolutely put aside; for there is
question here of a gift than which none other can be more serviceable to
the faithful people, either for the redeeming of time from the tyranny of
anxious cares concerning perishable things, or for the renewal of the Christian
spirit and perseverance therein. To this end the exhortations and example
of all those who occupy a prominent position will powerfully contribute, but
most especially the resourceful and diligent zeal of the clergy. For priests,
to whom Christ our Redeemer entrusted the office of consecrating and dispensing
the mystery of His Body and Blood, can assuredly make no better return for
the honour which has been conferred upon them, than by promoting with all
their might the glory of his Eucharist, and by inviting and drawing the hearts
of men to the health-giving springs of this great Sacrament andSacrifice,
seconding hereby the longings of His most Sacred Heart.
20. May God grant that thus, in accordance with Our earnest desire, the
excellent fruits of the Eucharist may daily manifest themselves in greater
abundance, to the happy increase of faith, hope, and charity, and of ail
Christian virtues; and may this turn to the recovery and advantage of the
whole body politic; and may the wisdom of God's most provident charity, Who
instituted this mystery for all time "for the life of the world,"shine forth
with an ever brighter sight.
21. Encouraged by such hopes as these, Venerable Brethren, We, as a presage
of the divine liberality and as a pledge of our own charity, most lovingly
bestow on each of you, and on the clergy and flock committed to the care
of each, our Apostolic Benediction.
Given at Rome, at St. Peter's on the 28th day of May, being the Vigil
of the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, in the year 1902, of Our Pontificate
the five and twentieth.
LEO XIII
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