na:uiiiiiiiu:imir THE DUBLIN EUCHARISTIC CONGRESS Ad Address Delivered in the Catholic Hoar By His Eminence William Cardinal O’Connell National Council of Catholic Men Sponsor of the Catholic Hour Washington, D. C. THE DUBLIN EUCHARISTIC CONGRESS An Address Delivered in the Catholic Hour By His Eminence William Cardinal O’Connell National * Council of Catholic Men Sponsor of the Catholic Hour Washington, D. C. Printed and distributed by Our Sunday Visitor Huntington, Indiana INTRODUCTORY One of the most si^ificant Catholic events in the year 1932 was the Thirty-first International Eucharistic Congress held in Dublin, Ireland. Its catholic significance, as well as its Catholic significance, was indicated by the fact that when Cardinal Lauri, the Papal Legate, officially opened it, at three o'clock in the afternoon of June 22 in St. Mary's Pro-Cathe- dral, there were gathered there the faithful from all the world—from Europe and Asia, from Africa and Australia, from Hawaii and the Philippines, from North and South Ame- ica, from almost every land under the sun. Just fifty-one years and one day before that, on June 21, 1881, the first Eucharistic Congress had been held in Lille, France. It was but a relatively small affair, and purely local in character; but from that small seed a great movement had grown. In the intervening years there had been Con- gresses in Rome; in Antwerp, Belgium; in London, England; in Genoa, Italy; in Sydney, Australia; in Jerusalem, on the very spot where Christ suffered His agony in the Garden; in Montreal, Chicago, Carthage, and in many other of the cities of the world. And the practice of holding such Con- gresses had so well reflected the faith and devotion of Cath- olics the world over that by 1932, in a year of world-wide poverty and hardship, upwards of half a million pilgrims travelled countless miles to do honor to the Eucharistic Pre- sence of their Risen Saviour. To be able to put the people of America directly in touch with this great religious festival abroad, that they might draw from it some measure of its abundant inspiration, was the privilege of the National Council of Catholic Men. And it was the added privilege of the Council to be able to pre- sent so distinguished a speaker as His Eminence William Car- dinal O'Connell, the ranking prelate of the American Hier- archy. Cardinal O'Connell, speaking direct from the scene of the Congress in Dublin, on Sunday, June 26, the day of its conclusion, appraised for his fellow-countrymen across the sea this tremendously important event, appropriately dwelling on its central feature, the Eucharistic Sacrifice. It is in the hope that others may be moved to a greater love for the Bread of Life through the example of these devout pilgrims in Dublin, that his wwds are reproduced here. The National Council of Catholic Men wishes to acknowl- edge its gratitude to Cardinal O'Connell for his kindness in preparing and delivering this inspiriting address, to the Na- tional Broadcasting Company for its generosity in donating the services of its international broadcasting facilities, and to its affiliated stations in this country who cooperated in broad- casting this program as a feature on the Catholic Hour. NATIONAL COUNCIL OF CATHOLIC MEN. The Dublin Eucharistic Congress His Eminence . William Cardinal O’Connell The Thirty-first International Eucharistic Con- gress which was held in Dublin, Ireland, has passed into history. It was a glorious event in its purpose and in all the details of its celebration. From the lovely lakes and vales and the picturesque hills and mountain sides of the Emerald Isle, the Faithful came to do honor to their Eucharistic King and to give a public demonstration of the Faith planted in Ireland by the great Apostle, St. Patrick, and nur- tured through all the centuries by his devoted and loyal successors. And here too came the highest re- presentatives of Church and State, and thousands of devout Christians from all over the world, in- spired by the same faith in Christ their King, and warmed by the same devotion to the Real Presence of Christ in the Sacrament of His Love. The sight of such a gathering was an inspiration. The hundreds of thousands kneeling with heads bowed, as the Sacred Host was raised in benediction above them, was a scene never to be forgotten by those who beheld it. The very atmosphere was charged with a sentiment so mystic, so subtle and penetrating, that one instinctively felt the spiritual thrill which the soul experiences in the presence of its Lord and God. Here indeed was exemplified the unity of Christ’s Church, for the thought and the sentiment and the faith and the devotion was the same in the hearts and the consciences of all these representatives of the various nations and races that inhabit the broad earth—here assembled in one hope, one faith, one love. Herq too was demonstrated in a most notable 6 THE DUBLIN EUCHARISTIC CONGRESS way the Catholicity of the Church of Christ. For the moment all thoughts of the difficulties and the dangers with which the world is at present beset, had vanished. The weakness of human government, the follies of human passion, the malign influences which have wrought such havoc, spiritual and economic, the world over were utterly forgotten, and there was an outpouring of human aspirations for the blessings that can come from God alone. There was something in the faces of the hun- dreds of thousands assembled around the altar that convinced you that truly God was in the midst of His people and that the Great Emmanuel had come to comfort the suffering by raising their souls above earthly care and anxiety and that once again He was stretching out His Hand over the troubled waters and commanding them : “Peace—Be still”. In a certain sense the whole story of God’s deal- ings with man is summed up in the Holy Eucharist. In this tremendous mystery is all the omnipotence of that power which created the Universe and all the intensity of the Love which redeemed it. The inflnite love of God for humanity is shown in the Incarnation of His only Son, Christ Jesus. The Son of God came down upon earth that He might bring us back by His love to our Eternal Father. If the Incarnation proves anything, it cer- tainly proves this—^that God Himself, because of His Love, became Man for our redemption; and as the Son of God stooped to the Humility of the Incarna- tion, He was not merely willing, but even desirous, to be the Food of our souls by His Presence in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar. During His mortal life. His very presence radiated benediction, and it His EMINENCE WILLIAM CARDINAL O’CONNELL 7 was His wonderful plan that even after His death, He would still be “God with us”—Emmanuel. During His last moments on earth He left us a perpetual memorial of His Love—His greatest tes- tament. To His apostles assembled about Him in that sad hour of parting Christ said, as He held in His Hands the bread that He was to give them for their sanctification : “This is My Body”. Then as He took the Chalice of wine and breathed upon it, again He spoke saying: “This is My Blood”. Ordaining His apostles priests forever, according to the order of Melchisedech, He commanded them: “Do this in commemoration of Me” ; and from that day unto this, the royal priesthood of Christ has repeated those sacred words which were the breath of a new life to the Church established by Him. Christ was about to leave them. He yearned to remain with them and all His disciples even until the end of time. It was Infinite Love that found the way and Infinite Power that furnished the means whereby the Eternal Son of God might always be wherever a human soul lived. We believe with a Faith that nothing can shake the words spoken by Christ in this most solemn hour of His life on earth. When Jesus said : “This is My Body; This is My Blood”, the apostles accepted His words as the words of God Himself ; and we, like them, bow down before this great Sacrament of Di- vine Love and adore Him as really, as truly, as gen- uinely present as He was to all who beheld Him dur- ing His mortal life on earth. Here is Faith sublime indeed—but Faith founded on the omnipotence and word of God Himself Who can neither deceive nor be deceived. And so in the Blessed Sacrament the great sac- 8 THE DUBLIN EUCHARISTIC CONGRESS rificial atonement is multiplied ten million times. Christ, knowing the depths of our wickedness, the loneliness of our souls, has become our Food and Drink, so that being a million times more close to us in this Sacrament than He was to those who saw Him in the Flesh He might be the embodiment of - our Faith and the embodiment of His Love. And the doctrines of the Church converge in the Blessed Sacrament. All the long story of the Church’s progress through the .ages is but the triumph of the Holy Eucharist down the centuries of human worship. If the Catholic priesthood is a sacred Hierarchy it is because of the mystic sacrifice of Christ on the altar. The magnificent basilicas and cathedrals—stupendous monuments of Christian art—are the loving shelter offered by Catholic devo- tion to Christ in the Tabernacle. In a word, the Blessed Sacrament is the “all in all” of Christ’s Holy Church. Possessed of it, all the riches of heaven are hers, even during this mortal pilgrimage. And so while the mind is fed on God’s Truth and God’s Law, the souls of the faithful are nourished by this Bread of Angels. And so, as long as the world shall last, the Church of Christ will continue to gather around her holy altars all her children of every race and clime—to offer Holy Mass in obedi- ence to Christ’s command and to feed them with the Sacrament of His Love and to bless them by His Real Presence among them. This is the significance of this great Congress which is now a part of history. This was the sub- lime inspiration which gathered these hundreds of thousands from all over the world around the altar of the Blessed Sacrament. They felt Christ’s Pre- ms EMINENCE WILLIAM CARDINAL O’CONNELL 9 sence. They knew that He was in their midst—as truly as the apostles knew it in the Cenacle on the eve of His departure. When at last the Sacred Host was raised in benediction above their bowed heads, they left that Sacred Presence fortified in their faith, strengthened in their love of God, ready again to face life with all its difficulties and anxieties and perplexities ; and they are now prepared to return each one to his home in the various parts of the world, knowing that as they came to do Christ honor He will accom- pany them back to their daily tasks and be with them till the end. That in brief is the meaning of this religious assembly—^that and the feeling that many of us had, that here in Ireland, where our forefathers lived and suffered for the Faith, we might feel by the touch of its sacred soil a renewal within us of that loyalty and fidelity to the Faith of Christ and the love of His Holy Church which the children of Erin have cherished above all earthly wealth and honors, know- ing it to be God’s own gift and therefore the most precious possession in life. The Dublin Eucharistic Congress is ended. Its purpose has been accomplished and Christ in the Blessed Sacrament is better known and loved. Its blessings will soon be felt in every nation and among every people as God will surely answer the prayers of the thousands of pilgrims who assembled here. The one prayer uppermost in the minds and hearts of all who participated in this great religious demonstration has been that God’s peace and blessing will descend upon the world and that this solemn act of adoration to Him and to His Divine 10 THE DUBLIN EUCHARISTIC CONGRESS Son will bring new. light and help to those who are burdened with the government of nations so that they may see the real true condition of things as they exist in the world today and may recognize their causes and thus fit themselves, as God’s chosen instruments, to secure the relief so much desired by all men. The hundreds of thousands of pilgrims are now scattering—some to return at once to their home- lands, and others to do so after a little travel in Europe. These pilgrims have journeyed to this beautiful country of Ireland from all parts of the world, from Australia and farthest India as well as from America and Africa and all countries in Eur- ope and Asia—and they are now departing, with a deep seated regret that their stay was so short but nevertheless with hearts full of gratitude and happi- ness because they have been privileged to share in the events of this past week. The Boston pilgrimage—which was the largest individual group to arrive and which numbered ap- proximately 1500 pilgrims—was a great success in every way and will result in many blessings for the diocese as well as for our beloved State of Massachu- setts and the City itself. The spell of Ireland has so wrapped itself about me that I shall leave tomorrow with a few compan- ions to visit some of the beauty spots before embark- ing on July third—God so willing—^for America. And so speaking for all American pilgrims to our friends at home, I wish to conclude by saying: We are all very happy and delighted with our won- derful experiences of the past week, but we look for- ward with keen pleasure to greeting you one and all HIS EMINENCE WILLIAM CARDINAL O’CONNELL 11 in our own dearly beloved America. May God save Ireland—May God bless her. May God bless Ame- rica. May God bless you all. Hear And Help The Catholic Hour SPONSORED BY THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF CATH- OLIC MEN, WASHINGTON, D. C. Your Contribution to the Continuance of These Weekly Broadcasts of Catholic Truth is Needed and Solicited^ The following Stations in the System of the National Broadcasting Company Hour Every Asheville, N. C. WWNC Atlanta, Ga. WSB Baltimore, Md. WFBR Billings, Mont. KGHL Birmingham, Ala. WAPI Bismarck, N. D. KFYR Boston, Mass. WEEI Buffalo, N. Y. WBEN Butte, Mont. KGIR Cincinnati, Ohio WSAI Chicago, 111. WENR Cleveland, Ohio WTAM Davenport, Iowa WOC Des Moines, Iowa WHO Denver, Colo. KOA Detroit, Mich. WWJ Duluth-Superior WEBC Fargo, N. D. WDAY Fort Worth, Tex. WBAP Hartford, Conn. WTIC Houston, Tex. KPRC Jackson, Miss. WJDX Jacksonville, Fla. WJAX Kansas City, Mo. WDAF Madison, Wis. WIBA Memphis, Tenn. WMC Miami, Fla. WIOD present the Catholic Sunday. Nashville, Tenn. WSM New York, N. Y. WEAF New Orleans, La. WSMB Oklahoma City, Okla. WKY Omaha, Neb. WOW Philadelphia, Pa. WLIT Phoenix, Ariz. KTAR Pittsburgh, Pa. WCAE Portland, Me. WCSH Portland, Ore. KEX Providence, R. I. WJAR Richmond, Va. WRVA St. Louis, Mo. KSD St. Paul-Minneapolis, Minn. KSTP San Antonio, Tex. WOAI San Francisco, Cal. KPO Schenectady, N. Y. WGY Seattle, Wash. KJR Shreveport, La. KTBS Spokane, Wash. KGA Tampa, Fla.WFLA-WSUN Tiilsa, Okla. KVOO Washington, D. C. WRC Worcester, Mass. WTAG