66 66 66 4 "of every intelligence.' The Angels, the Powers, "the heavenly spirits, feed on it; they eat of it; they grow upon it, and yet the mysterious food lessens not.2 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God: take it, if "you can; eat it; it is food. Perhaps you will say "to me: Oh! yes, it is verily food; but I—I am a “babe; what I must have is milk; else I cannot "reach that Word you tell me of.' Well! since it "is milk you require, and yet there is no other food "for you save this of heaven (the Word), he will pass through the flesh, that he may thus be brought "within reach of your lips, for food does not become "milk, except by its passing through flesh. It is "thus a mother does. What the mother eats is what "her child drinks; but the little one not being, as "yet, strong enough to take the bread as it is, the "mother eats it, and then gives it to her child under a form that very sweetly suits the babe.5 He does "not receive the food such as it lay upon the table, "but after it has passed through the flesh, and so "made suitable to the child." Therefore was the "Word made Flesh, and dwelt among us; and man "hath eaten, thus, the bread of Angels.8 Eternal "Wisdom came down even to us, by the Flesh and "Blood of Him that was our Saviour; he came as "milk, which was full of all blessing to us."9 Oh! truly, the Bride may well say to the Spouse: Thy breasts are better than wine 10 He, beautiful Wisdom, has carried out his loving design. From the first outset, right up to the attainment of his purpose, there have been numberless obstacles; but he has mastered them all, and with a power to which one thing alone can be compared,-his matchless sweetness.11 66 1 In Psalm. cxxxiv. In Psalm. xxxiii. 3 St. John, i. 1. 4 Ps. cxix. 5 In Psalms xxxiii. 6 In Psalm. xxx. 7 St. John, i. 14. 8 Ps. lxxvii. 25. 9 In Ps. xxx. et cxxxiv. Confess. vii. 18. The Antiphonary of the celebrated monastery of Benchor, in Ireland, published by Muratori, and which was drawn up not later than the 7th Century, gives us the following Hymn, which is, at once, dignified and simple: HYMN. Quando communicarent Sacerdotes. Sancti, venite, Christi corpus sumite, Quo redempti sanguinem. Per crucem et sanguinem. Lege præceptum Lucis indultor Accedant omnes Coelestem panem Dat esurientibus, Præbet sitientibus. Come, ye just, take Christ's Body, and drink the sacred Blood, whereby ye were redeemed. By Christ's Body and Blood we were saved; by the same being fed, let us sing our praises to God. Christ, the Son, the giver of salvation, saved the world to God his Father, by his Cross and Blood. This Lord, who was slain for all, was himself both Priest and Victim. It was commanded in the Law, that victims should be slain; hereby were foreshadowed our divine Mysteries. He that gives the light, and is the Saviour of all men, has given to the just a splendid favour. Let all the Faithful approach with pure minds, and receive the eternal pledge of salvation. The Lord, who is keeper and ruler of the saints, grants life everlasting to them that believe. To the hungry, he gives bread from heaven; to the thirsty, he gives a drink from the living fount. He, Christ our Lord, Alpha and Omega, he is coming, who is to come to judge mankind. Alpha et Omega Judicare homines. Our readers, after this charmingly simple appeal, which was so long heard in Erin, will be interested, too, by the following lyric Antiphon, which, formerly, was used in the Church of Gaul. It was sung at the moment of Communion, on days of great solemnity, as an invitation calling the Faithful to a participation in the Immortal Mystery. Come, O ye people! receive the sacred and immortal mystery, and the libation prepared for you. Let us approach with fear and faith, holding out clean hands; let us take, in communion, the price of our repentance; for it was for our sakes that the Lamb was offered as a sacrifice to God the Father. Him alone let us adore, him let us glorify and, with the Angels, sing: Alleluia! Venite, populi, ad sacrum et immortale mysterium, et libamen agendum. Cum timore et fide accedamus manibus mundis, pœnitentiæ munus communicemus, quoniam propter nos Agnus Dei Patris sacrificium propositum est. Ipsum solum adoremus, ipsum glorificemus: Angelis clamantes: Alleluia. cum * VOL X. 2D WEDNESDAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE OF CORPUS CHRISTI. Let us adore Christ, the King, who ruleth the nations: who giveth fatness of spirit to them that eat him. Christum regem adoremus dominantem gentibus, qui se manducantibus dat spiritus pinguedinem. My days are vanished like smoke, and my bones are grown dry like fuel for the fire: I am smitten as grass, and my heart is withered: because I forgot to eat my bread. Thus sadly speaks the hundred and first Psalm, whose title is Prayer of the poor man, when he was anxious, and poured out his supplication before the Lord.1 And who is this poor man? It is Adam; it is the whole human race, the inheritor of Adam's miseries. God had given him his divine law, as his food; as the bread of his soul, he had given him the Word of God. Instigated by the old serpent, and led on by the woman, Adam took the forbidden fruit; he forgot the Word. Deservedly has he been blighted as the grass of the field deservedly has his heart been withered; for he has despised the fruit of life, he has drunk poison, he has preferred to eat ashes,2 rather than the nourishment that was made for him. But, lo! there appeareth the true bread of heaven, He, in whose Flesh thou mayest, if thou wilt, find the Word thou hadst forgotten. Cry out, from the depths of thy poverty, to heaven; regain thy former plenty. Eat! for thou art member of Him who hath said: I am the living Bread, which came down from heaven.3 Thou hadst forgotten to eat thy bread; but, now that 3 St. John, vi. 51. 1 Ps. ci. 1, 4. 2 Ibid. ci. 10. Christ is crucified, all the ends of the earth shall REMEMBER, and shall be converted unto the Lord. Poor withered grass! thy flesh 2 shall flourish again, because of the Saviour's Blood; it shall become, as St. Bernard tells thee, like that holy herb of the virgin field, that lies in the crib for thy sake.1 5 Bird of the desert! bird of the night, that sattest moaning on the heap of ruins, thy loneliness was scoffed at by the enemy that had scared thee. But the Lord God, thy Redeemer, hath broken the captive's chains. Peoples and kings, gathered together in Sion, declare his name in unity. It is their proclamation of his victory, the declaration of his greatness and his strength. "Jerusalem, then," says St. Augustine, "Jerusalem, our mother, having come back from exile, "and surrounded by her many children, answereth "him, her God, in unity. That God is one; the "Church is unity; unity alone can give response to "the God who is One." And Jesus, who is at the head, and is the head of this triumphant unity, which overthrows the kingdom of Babylonish discord and disunion, gives himself this response to his Father: In the midst of the Church, will I praise thee; in the sight of a great Church, I will pay my vows, I will offer the victim which is to save them; and the poor shall eat, and shall be filled; and their hearts, which before were parched up, shall become freshened unto life, and shall live for ever and ever.7 Praise and glory be to this Christ, the Saviour, who thus, by his Flesh offered up in Sacrifice, restores to us the bread of life and understanding! O Body of Jesus! most august temple built by eternal Wisdom to himself! It is from his Side, opened by a spear, that comes the sacred stream, which brings the 1 Ps. xxi. 28. 2 Is. xl. 6-8. 3 St. Aug. in Ps. ci. St. Bernard. ad mil, templ. vi. 5 P's. ci. 24., 6 In Psalm. ci. 7 Ps. xxi. 23-27. S Ecclus. xv. 3. 9 Ezechiel, xlvii. 2, |