THE ADORATION OF THE BLESSED
SACRAMENT.

It is difficult to supply to a Christian a greater occasion than is presented in this Divine Sacrament, wherein God himself renders present to us the Body which He has assumed. For although He is equally present at all times, and in all places, as well by His substance as by His aid, yet, as it is impossible for us, at all times, and in all places, to direct our mind expressly to Him, and to render Him perpetual signs of honor, prudence will point out the propriety, in ordering the details of divine worship, of making of certain times, places, causes, and occasions. And God himself, in assuming a human body into the unity of His Person, has given us a peculiar and most signal occasion of adoring Him ; for no one will doubt the justice and congruity of adoring God while He appears in the visible form of Christ; and the same must be admitted wherever it is certain that Christ is corporeally present (for the Divinity is present in all places and times), even though it be after an invisible manner; now

it is perfectly certain that this condition is fulfilled in the most holy Sacrament. Hence, if there be any case in which the practice of adoring may congruously be introduced, it is in the case of this Sacrament. And thus it has been justly ordained that the highest solemnity of external Christian worship should be devoted to the Sacrament of the Eucharist; because the object proposed by our Saviour in its institution, was to enkindle the love of God, which is the highest act of external Christian worship, and to testify and nourish charity. For when our Lord, at the Last Supper, delivered the supreme commands of His last will, He wished that we should remember Him (like all who love and are beloved in turn), and that we should love one another as members of His one Body, whereof He has made us all partakers. And hence the Church has always employed the Eucharist as the test of unity, and has been careful not to admit to its mysteries, which may be regarded as the inmost recesses of Christianity, any except the proven and purified. To no others, indeed, was it permitted to be even present at the mysteries. It is certain, moreover, that the ancients also adored the Eucharist; and indeed Ambrose and Augustine expressly apply to the adoration of Christ's Body in the mysteries the words of the Psalm, " Adore ye His footstool."

And in the end, since the necessity has ceased for deferring to Pagan prejudices, either by concealing the mysteries, or by abstaining from certain external signs, which might offend the weak, or wear the semblance of Paganism, it has gradually come to pass that the most exquisite rites of our external worship have been devoted to this venerable Sacrament; especially in the West, where there has not been any necessity to consult for the prejudices of the Saracens. Hence it has been ordained, not only that the people prostrate themselves at the elevation of the Sacrament after consecration; but also, that when borne to the sick, or otherwise carried in procession, it shall be attended with every demonstration of honor; that from time to time, whether on occasions of public necessity, or from some other cause, it shall be exposed for adoration; and that as the pledge of God's presence on earth, it shall be celebrated yearly by a special festival, with the utmost joy, and, as it were, triumph of the Church.

GOTTFRIED WILHELM VON LEIBNITZ,

Systema Theologicum.

A PROCESSION OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT IN THE CATHEDRAL OF AMIENS.

I CAN almost fancy that I see it now, as I saw it for the first time on such an evening as this. The stupendous height of the vaulted roof; the rich foliage of the piers; the tall lancet arches throwing themselves upward; the interlacings of the decorated window-tracery; the richness of the stained glass; the glow of the sunlight on the southern chapels; the knotted intricacies of the vaulting ribs; the flowers and wreaths and holy symbols, that hung self-poised over the head; the graceful shafts of triforium; the carved angels, that with outstretched wings keep guard over the sacred building; the low, yet delicately carved choir-stalls; the gorgeous altar, faintly seen beyond them; the sublime apse, with its inimitably slim lancets, carrying the eye up higher and higher, through the dark cloister-gallery, through the blaze of the crimson clere-story to the marble grandeur of the fretted roof; lights and carving and jewels, and gold, and the sunny brightness of the

nave, and the solemn grayness of the choir; these are all but accessories to the scene. The huge nave-piers rise from the midst of a mighty multitude; the high-born lady; the peasant mother, with her infant; the gray-headed laborer; the gay bourgeoisie; the child that knows only the sanctity of the place; the strong man and the cripple; the wise and the unlearned; the great and the small; the rich and the poor; all meet as equals. The sweet music floats along from the choir; the amen bursts from the congregation. Now the organ, at the west-end, takes up the strain, sweetly and solemnly, like the music of far-off angels, and as the holy doors open, pours forth the hymn, "The banners of the King come forth." White-robed boys strew the way with rose-leaves; there is the gleaming and the perfume of silver censers; there are the rich silver crosses and the pastoral staff; there is the sumptuous pall that covers the Host; there is an endless train of priests with copes and vestments bright as the hues of a summer sunset, gemmed with jewels of many lands, lustrous with gold, and chased with flowers, and wreaths, and devices of pearl; but each and all bearing, though in different forms, that one symbol, the cross. Right and left the crowd part as the train passes, and as the pall is borne by, every knee is bent,